+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Luke 19:11-27
Theme: The Return of Christ
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
God doesn’t leave loose ends. He allows for no unfinished business. On this last Sunday in the Church Year we are reminded that Christ will “come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.”1 The inauguration of Christ’s kingdom is initially interpreted by His followers as a defeat. Our gospel account begins by telling us that because Jesus is near Jerusalem “people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once.”2 In other words, they thought that the dramatic revelation of God’s glory was upon them. But Jesus commences the establishment of His dominion through suffering, scorn, ridicule, injustice, crucifixion, and death. Considering the shocking contrast with their expectations it’s easy to see their misunderstanding. But we shouldn’t think it’s merely a problem of human miscalculation. God grants the eyes of faith to perceive divine mysteries only in His time. The mind of God is not transparent.
Today’s parable ends with the horrifying reality of God’s judgment. It’s not something that can simply be overlooked. The judgment of sin and unbelief is a trenchant and comprehensive teaching of Scripture. All attempts to downplay the final execution of God’s wrath, which is nothing less than eternity in hell, are misguided. Appeals to the doctrine of God’s love don’t allow us to brush aside His justice. The consequences of a compromised doctrine of sin are far-reaching. Humans seek to be the arbiters of conflict and the sole determiners of truth and value. Personal accountability before God becomes a nonentity. Soon guilt and repentance are nothing more than psychological or therapeutic concepts. Finally, the very reason for Christ’s sacrifice, death and resurrection are eliminated. Repeated biblical warnings about people being unprepared for Christ’s return should suffice to convict us of our sin and the need for His grace. Still, the Holy Spirit must direct us.
The difficulty raised in speaking of the return of Christ is the implication that He has been gone. This is a natural, human way of thinking. People go on trips and journeys and then they return. Meanwhile, life goes on in their absence often with little or no influence from them. There may be preparation for their return accompanied by new expectations. But in the meantime circumstances and even fundamental realities change, often beyond the person’s control.
Things are a different with Christ. Nothing changes without His approval. We do not have an absentee Saviour. And is the Holy Spirit is not an agent that only acts in Christ’s stead. Remember Jesus said to His disciples before His ascension, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”3 Fleshing out what this means is pivotal for life in this “one, holy Christian and Apostolic church”4 in which we reside. We are not the body of Christ that exists without access to His body. To operate as such is to over-spiritualize the Bible’s teaching on the church and limit the parameters of God’s presence. The prophet said, “The virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us).”5
Yes, God with us, in adversity and prosperity, in sorrow and in joy. God with us, forgiving, renewing, restoring, reclaiming. God with us through the humble means of word and sacrament. The sacraments are testimonies against the teaching- explicit or implicit- of the ‘real absence’ of Christ. Elvis may have left the building but Christ has not left His people.
You are His baptized child. Baptism incorporates you into the life of the Holy Trinity, not by your decision or confession, but by His willingness to receive you as His child; His willingness to be identified with you. And once He identifies with you He doesn’t forsake you. As true God and true man he addresses our every need. Consider what the Lutheran confessions say, “He has instituted His Holy Supper for the certain assurance and confirmation of this, so that He will be with us, and dwell, work, and be effective in us also according to that nature from which He has flesh and blood.”6
So how do these truths relate to today’s parable? We are subjects of the King, but we are not to live as if the King is absent. His return is not a matter of an absentee landlord returning to be brought up to speed on His business. His coming in glory is a matter of the final consummation of His kingdom. We live now as members of His kingdom entrusted with His gifts. Faithfulness is the key teaching here. Note that none of the servants claim to have gained more money on their own. “Sir, your mina has earned ten more, etc.”7 It’s not talent, ability or accomplishment that is the focus, but the integrity and trustworthiness of those entrusted with the riches of others. There will always be differences in outcomes. It’s no use fretting over the gifts and talents others seem to have which exceed your own. It is easy to be jealous of the blessings of others. But such comparisons are not helpful.
The man who simply hid his gift was driven by fear. He did not trust the nobleman or understand what was being asked of him. He didn’t understand himself as a subject of the king so he did not participate in the activity of the kingdom. His was a different loyalty. His heart was in a different place. His motivation was to protect himself. He feared the nobleman but did not trust him. For Him the king did not return in grace and glory but for retribution.
But for the saints, we poor sinners who labor under the cross, it will be pure joy. We will see with our eyes what we can only now see by faith. Remember the saga of the trapped miners in Chile. They were held captive in the bowels of the earth. How joyous was their freedom! There is more than one lesson in their rescue and transition back to the daylight. The Chilean miners’ eyes had to re-adjust to the light of the sun. This is a good analogy for the limitations of this existence. The darkness of sin prevents us from looking upon the brilliance of God. Even to see God as He has veiled Himself in His incarnate Son requires the Holy Spirit’s provision of spiritual vision. To see Christ in His glory will be something altogether more than anything human beings have ever experienced.
Dear friends, the Bible says, “God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him[Christ], and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.”8 He died for your sins and He is risen. He lives eternally. At the precipice of death, the Lord, our righteousness, swallows up all fears, darkness, and doubt; He swallows up hell’s power. Then the hidden baptismal life is instantly transformed to resurrected glory. God doesn’t leave loose ends. He allows for no unfinished business. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Last Sunday of the Church Year
21 November 2010
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Nicene Creed
2 Luke 19:11
3 Matthew 28:20
4 Nicene Creed
5 Matthew 1:23
6 SD VIII, 79
7 Luke 19:16
8 Colossians 1:19-20
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Twenty-First Sunday After Pentecost C
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Luke 18:1-8
Theme: God’s Justice
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
The Christian life is a marathon not a sprint. God deals with us accordingly. The temptation to lose heart, to give up- to concede in the mind and will that God will not intervene- is always lurking about. The perceived inaction of God is easily misconstrued. People start to doubt the certainty of God’s help and search for other measures of security. Even the disciples were prone to this. Today He told them the parable of the persistent widow and the unjust judge.
The widow’s determination is commended. But the contrast between God and this judge is the main point. Jesus wants us to see the comparison. It is necessary that He constantly brings things into perspective. As sinful humans we are incessantly plagued with self-focused and narrow-minded vision. Even an unscrupulous person in authority may respond to the requests of someone they are not naturally inclined to assist. No doubt this unrighteous judge had no vested interest in helping the widow. He was frustrated and irritated by her. Yet he reasoned it was better to get her off his back than keep hearing her cries for justice. How much more inclined to us is our merciful God than this judge was to the widow!
Jesus says, “And will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? I tell you, He will see that they get justice, and quickly.”1 What a tremendous promise we have here from God. God acts. And when its time He acts quickly. We only waste time and energy if we fret and worry about when that time will be. It can be a vicious and never-ending cycle. When will the locusts come and how bad will they be? What will happen to the grain prices? When will so and so apologise so our relationship can be reconciled? How will the government accomplish anything worthwhile? Does God not see? Can He not hear?
The Bible bids us to persist in our prayers and wait for God’s will to be carried out in His time. Our energies and resources are to be directed elsewhere. The prophet Isaiah says, “Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, not His ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.”2 Can we admit that we often try to coerce God into coming into line with our agendas? Dare we act in arrogance or selfishness? Dare we dismiss our sins as insignificant, remain unrepentant and yet demand justice and fairness from God?
How often are our complaints due to ignorance His word? Here is what Paul says to Timothy, “From infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”3 From infancy! How little regard there is for this truth today. The Bible is treated like an obsolete resource that parents can refer their children to when and if they show interest at some point, rather than the very word of God. Still, where the Word is proclaimed, the Spirit works when and where He pleases. Repentance is initiated. Faith is created and the church is called into existence and enlarged.
When God begins something He promises the means to nourish and complete it. The great importance of infant baptism should be noted here. Baptism is a promise of grace and an actual means by which the Holy Spirit imparts forgiveness in Christ. There is no limit of age. An infant can hear the voice of God, just as it can hear-even before birth- the voice of its father or mother. Who are we to limit the work of the Holy Spirit on the heart, mind, and will of another? God’s work is often hidden to the naked eye, but in faith we trust His activity is taking place.
Trusting that God is both Creator and Redeemer gives us a very different perspective on reality. Our hope doesn’t rest in humanity, but in the hands of Him who was cradled in a manger and had His arms stretched out on a cross. Jesus forgives our sins. He reconciles us to the Father by giving His own life. He resolves the crises of mankind. He finally subdues all forces of evil. He banishes all falsehood, Satan, and hell. He declares sinners to be righteous. Our hope doesn’t lie in scientific solutions. Our reconciliation isn’t in human ingenuity or our justice in perfect government. Christ is Saviour and Lord.
That doesn’t mean the Bible ever calls on us to be naïve or gullible optimists. We don’t throw caution to the wind. Salvation is not a given. It is a gift. Knowledge of who we are and what we are capable of –that is, our capacity for evil- drives our need for God. To know yourself is to know you need forgiveness. This reality never changes while you draw life and breath. We are baptized and so live in repentance. In Christ we are secure but never resting on our laurels. We can be content but never lax. St. Peter says, “Be sober-minded; be watchful.”4 Our eternal well-being is hardly a trivial or light-hearted matter. But this never excludes joy, hope, and peace. The Holy Spirit lifts the heaviest loads off the most burdened consciences. He shines the light of Christ into the darkest of hearts.
These same truths are what we mirror to those outside the communion of saints. Our mission to the world should be marked with urgency, but not panic. We have a positive outlook, but not baseless giddiness; skepticism of human ability but confidence in divine truths. These truths teach us to sacrifice for the sake of the disadvantaged, especially spiritually, take risks for the unenlightened, and generally love our neighbour.
Outcomes are left to God. But we have the joy of knowing the church is always growing because the number of those in heaven is never decreased. God prevails for His saints, in their midst and on their behalf. He does bring justice. None will finally oppose Him. Widows will be given a fair trial. The downtrodden will be lifted up. Those without a voice will be heard. Those in bondage will be set free. The crucified, risen and living Christ sees to these things. We look forward to the unhindered enjoyment of His victory as Jeremiah says today, “The time is coming…I will put My law in their minds and write it on their heart…no longer will a man teach his neighbour, or a man his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest.”5 Amen.
+ in nomine Jesu +
Twenty-First Sunday After Pentecost
17 October 2010
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Luke 18:7-8
2 Isaiah 59:1-2
3 2 Timothy 3:15
4 1 Peter 5:8
5 Jeremiah 31:31, 33-34
Text: Luke 18:1-8
Theme: God’s Justice
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
The Christian life is a marathon not a sprint. God deals with us accordingly. The temptation to lose heart, to give up- to concede in the mind and will that God will not intervene- is always lurking about. The perceived inaction of God is easily misconstrued. People start to doubt the certainty of God’s help and search for other measures of security. Even the disciples were prone to this. Today He told them the parable of the persistent widow and the unjust judge.
The widow’s determination is commended. But the contrast between God and this judge is the main point. Jesus wants us to see the comparison. It is necessary that He constantly brings things into perspective. As sinful humans we are incessantly plagued with self-focused and narrow-minded vision. Even an unscrupulous person in authority may respond to the requests of someone they are not naturally inclined to assist. No doubt this unrighteous judge had no vested interest in helping the widow. He was frustrated and irritated by her. Yet he reasoned it was better to get her off his back than keep hearing her cries for justice. How much more inclined to us is our merciful God than this judge was to the widow!
Jesus says, “And will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? I tell you, He will see that they get justice, and quickly.”1 What a tremendous promise we have here from God. God acts. And when its time He acts quickly. We only waste time and energy if we fret and worry about when that time will be. It can be a vicious and never-ending cycle. When will the locusts come and how bad will they be? What will happen to the grain prices? When will so and so apologise so our relationship can be reconciled? How will the government accomplish anything worthwhile? Does God not see? Can He not hear?
The Bible bids us to persist in our prayers and wait for God’s will to be carried out in His time. Our energies and resources are to be directed elsewhere. The prophet Isaiah says, “Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, not His ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.”2 Can we admit that we often try to coerce God into coming into line with our agendas? Dare we act in arrogance or selfishness? Dare we dismiss our sins as insignificant, remain unrepentant and yet demand justice and fairness from God?
How often are our complaints due to ignorance His word? Here is what Paul says to Timothy, “From infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”3 From infancy! How little regard there is for this truth today. The Bible is treated like an obsolete resource that parents can refer their children to when and if they show interest at some point, rather than the very word of God. Still, where the Word is proclaimed, the Spirit works when and where He pleases. Repentance is initiated. Faith is created and the church is called into existence and enlarged.
When God begins something He promises the means to nourish and complete it. The great importance of infant baptism should be noted here. Baptism is a promise of grace and an actual means by which the Holy Spirit imparts forgiveness in Christ. There is no limit of age. An infant can hear the voice of God, just as it can hear-even before birth- the voice of its father or mother. Who are we to limit the work of the Holy Spirit on the heart, mind, and will of another? God’s work is often hidden to the naked eye, but in faith we trust His activity is taking place.
Trusting that God is both Creator and Redeemer gives us a very different perspective on reality. Our hope doesn’t rest in humanity, but in the hands of Him who was cradled in a manger and had His arms stretched out on a cross. Jesus forgives our sins. He reconciles us to the Father by giving His own life. He resolves the crises of mankind. He finally subdues all forces of evil. He banishes all falsehood, Satan, and hell. He declares sinners to be righteous. Our hope doesn’t lie in scientific solutions. Our reconciliation isn’t in human ingenuity or our justice in perfect government. Christ is Saviour and Lord.
That doesn’t mean the Bible ever calls on us to be naïve or gullible optimists. We don’t throw caution to the wind. Salvation is not a given. It is a gift. Knowledge of who we are and what we are capable of –that is, our capacity for evil- drives our need for God. To know yourself is to know you need forgiveness. This reality never changes while you draw life and breath. We are baptized and so live in repentance. In Christ we are secure but never resting on our laurels. We can be content but never lax. St. Peter says, “Be sober-minded; be watchful.”4 Our eternal well-being is hardly a trivial or light-hearted matter. But this never excludes joy, hope, and peace. The Holy Spirit lifts the heaviest loads off the most burdened consciences. He shines the light of Christ into the darkest of hearts.
These same truths are what we mirror to those outside the communion of saints. Our mission to the world should be marked with urgency, but not panic. We have a positive outlook, but not baseless giddiness; skepticism of human ability but confidence in divine truths. These truths teach us to sacrifice for the sake of the disadvantaged, especially spiritually, take risks for the unenlightened, and generally love our neighbour.
Outcomes are left to God. But we have the joy of knowing the church is always growing because the number of those in heaven is never decreased. God prevails for His saints, in their midst and on their behalf. He does bring justice. None will finally oppose Him. Widows will be given a fair trial. The downtrodden will be lifted up. Those without a voice will be heard. Those in bondage will be set free. The crucified, risen and living Christ sees to these things. We look forward to the unhindered enjoyment of His victory as Jeremiah says today, “The time is coming…I will put My law in their minds and write it on their heart…no longer will a man teach his neighbour, or a man his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest.”5 Amen.
+ in nomine Jesu +
Twenty-First Sunday After Pentecost
17 October 2010
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Luke 18:7-8
2 Isaiah 59:1-2
3 2 Timothy 3:15
4 1 Peter 5:8
5 Jeremiah 31:31, 33-34
Monday, October 11, 2010
Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost C
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Luke 17:17
Theme: All Were Cleansed
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
The one leper who returned was a Samaritan. This was significant. Jesus’ reference to him as a ‘foreigner’ allows us to infer that the other nine were Jewish. Why had they not returned to thank Jesus? Was this not another example in the long history of the people of Judah and Jerusalem rejecting the prophets sent to them? Was it a preview of the coming renunciation of Him at His suffering and crucifixion? The consequences of such rejection are no different today. Christ says, “Whoever acknowledges Me before men, I will also acknowledge him before My Father in heaven. But whoever disowns Me before men, I will disown him before My Father in heaven.”1
Jesus’ habit of holding up Samaritans as good spiritual examples was insulting to the Jews. It probably seemed insensitive and unnecessary to many. But this served to make Jesus’ teaching all the more effective. The Jews could be called to repentance at the same time Gentiles were assured they too could be included in the kingdom. There is no ancestry, bloodline, class or status that either assures or prevents membership in the kingdom. The law condemns all. Grace opens heaven’s gates without prejudice.
All ten lepers were cleansed, but were all saved? They were healed in body, but were they restored in soul? Only God can judge. Part of spiritual wisdom is having the humility to “get the log out of our own eye”2, and the maturity to endorse God’s forgiveness to others. This is not easy. We live in community with other believers. Like us, they are sinners. Jesus explained that important petition in the Lord’s Prayer in this way, “If you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”3 Can we condemn those whom Christ has forgiven? Can we enslave those whom Christ has freed? Can we snub those whom Christ has welcomed? Is our sense of justice and satisfaction more holy than God’s? Are our standards more rigorous than His? Can our need for revenge take higher priority than His declaration of absolution?
We are told today that the leper who retuned was made well by his faith4. Only he had the appropriate response to Jesus; humility, worship, thanksgiving. These are marks of the Holy Spirit’s activity. Faith is always a ‘receiver’ of God’s gifts. Faith is never a negotiating strategy. No one is owed anything from God because they have faith in Him. Faith itself is a gift from Him. And remember, our trust in God is not predicated on what benefits we think He can offer us- even if these are eternal blessings. Least of all can we bargain with God hoping to gain certain advantages after vowing specific acts of charity or obedience. We believe in God because His promises are true and Christ is truth. Everything is sorted out on that basis.
When things are going smoothly in life it’s easy to accept these propositions. When we’re healthy, happy and prosperous, free from crisis or trauma we readily tolerate the favour of God. When there is no opposition to our Christian belief or no conflict raised by living the same we might be quick to think God is rewarding our piety. Or we may wrongly assume life is naturally meant to be trouble-free and that our sanctification is facilitated effortlessly.
But, in fact, the reality is otherwise. Life is plagued with misery and we are often surprised with hardship or sorrow. God allows or even sends to us difficulties and sorrows? There is no way to gloss-over or excuse this truth. How then, can this be a basis for faith? How can we judge or measure God’s intentions? It’s unhelpful and dangerous to speculate beyond what the Scriptures reveal to us.
Evil often seems to come as a random succession of disparate events. An accident occurs, a job is lost, a crime is committed, a sickness is diagnosed- all in close proximity. Yet Satan always works to unite these in purpose and goal. He tries to wear us down. What the secular world may call a string of bad luck is in fact, a highly coordinated effort. But God is at work here too. The question is in what way? The specifics are beyond our perception. We can’t know the hidden mind of God. But the purpose is not in doubt. God persistently seeks to crucify our sinful nature, curb our self-centredness, conform us to Christ, and cultivate genuine thankfulness. Someone once said, “In adversity we usually want God to do a removing job when He wants to do an improving job. To realize the worth of the anchor, we need to feel the storm.”
Our focus is so often misplaced. We fret and worry about so many things. Is my faith strong enough? Am I good enough for God? Will my health ever be restored? Will my relationships ever be mended? Will I get through this grief? How do I measure up in the eyes of others? These are not unimportant concerns. But they are not resolved by any abilities that we have or can acquire. Remember the mustard seed. If what Christ has done isn’t true than none of that matters anyway. If Christ’s death was not an atonement for sins than all other concerns are trivial by comparison. The apostle Paul says it clearly, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.”5
The question is not so much “What can God do for me?” But “Can you not see what God has already done!” His blessings are not haphazardly dispensed in some random or un-unified way. God is not reactive. He is neither like a primed emergency services authority poised to respond to the next disaster, nor like a harried Father scrambling to find ways to help His wayward or endangered children. He who creates and He who redeems and He who blesses and restores does so according to His unchanging nature revealed in Christ.
God doesn’t trail human history. He designs, authorizes, and executes it. Even Satan’s powers are in subjection. As such, existence flows from and returns to the source He designates. The love of God is on display on the cross. There exposed publicly for the world to witness is the deep and mysterious compassion of the Almighty. There His power is hidden in weakness and His authority is veiled in helplessness. There the heavenly and just wrath is absorbed by the sacrifice of the Messiah’s own blood. There Satan meets his doom. There the Son of God dies for the children of men. There life prevails; for lepers, thankful or ungrateful- for us.
And God is pleased through seemingly ordinary means to promise extraordinary things.
Your baptism isn’t a past or temporary event, but a present reality. It not only ties you into the historical reality of Jesus’ death and resurrection, but makes you a participant in the eternal kingdom. Holy Communion is more a participation in a future feast than it is in a perishable meal whose vitality soon expires. The words of Scripture, the words of the Spirit, are not provisional human words, but the voice of God. These are all previews of things to come. Amen.
+ in nomine Jesu +
Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost
10 October 2010
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Matthew 10:32-33
2 See Matthew 7:5
3 Matthew 6:14-15
4 See Luke 17:19
5 1 Corinthians 15:17
Text: Luke 17:17
Theme: All Were Cleansed
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
The one leper who returned was a Samaritan. This was significant. Jesus’ reference to him as a ‘foreigner’ allows us to infer that the other nine were Jewish. Why had they not returned to thank Jesus? Was this not another example in the long history of the people of Judah and Jerusalem rejecting the prophets sent to them? Was it a preview of the coming renunciation of Him at His suffering and crucifixion? The consequences of such rejection are no different today. Christ says, “Whoever acknowledges Me before men, I will also acknowledge him before My Father in heaven. But whoever disowns Me before men, I will disown him before My Father in heaven.”1
Jesus’ habit of holding up Samaritans as good spiritual examples was insulting to the Jews. It probably seemed insensitive and unnecessary to many. But this served to make Jesus’ teaching all the more effective. The Jews could be called to repentance at the same time Gentiles were assured they too could be included in the kingdom. There is no ancestry, bloodline, class or status that either assures or prevents membership in the kingdom. The law condemns all. Grace opens heaven’s gates without prejudice.
All ten lepers were cleansed, but were all saved? They were healed in body, but were they restored in soul? Only God can judge. Part of spiritual wisdom is having the humility to “get the log out of our own eye”2, and the maturity to endorse God’s forgiveness to others. This is not easy. We live in community with other believers. Like us, they are sinners. Jesus explained that important petition in the Lord’s Prayer in this way, “If you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”3 Can we condemn those whom Christ has forgiven? Can we enslave those whom Christ has freed? Can we snub those whom Christ has welcomed? Is our sense of justice and satisfaction more holy than God’s? Are our standards more rigorous than His? Can our need for revenge take higher priority than His declaration of absolution?
We are told today that the leper who retuned was made well by his faith4. Only he had the appropriate response to Jesus; humility, worship, thanksgiving. These are marks of the Holy Spirit’s activity. Faith is always a ‘receiver’ of God’s gifts. Faith is never a negotiating strategy. No one is owed anything from God because they have faith in Him. Faith itself is a gift from Him. And remember, our trust in God is not predicated on what benefits we think He can offer us- even if these are eternal blessings. Least of all can we bargain with God hoping to gain certain advantages after vowing specific acts of charity or obedience. We believe in God because His promises are true and Christ is truth. Everything is sorted out on that basis.
When things are going smoothly in life it’s easy to accept these propositions. When we’re healthy, happy and prosperous, free from crisis or trauma we readily tolerate the favour of God. When there is no opposition to our Christian belief or no conflict raised by living the same we might be quick to think God is rewarding our piety. Or we may wrongly assume life is naturally meant to be trouble-free and that our sanctification is facilitated effortlessly.
But, in fact, the reality is otherwise. Life is plagued with misery and we are often surprised with hardship or sorrow. God allows or even sends to us difficulties and sorrows? There is no way to gloss-over or excuse this truth. How then, can this be a basis for faith? How can we judge or measure God’s intentions? It’s unhelpful and dangerous to speculate beyond what the Scriptures reveal to us.
Evil often seems to come as a random succession of disparate events. An accident occurs, a job is lost, a crime is committed, a sickness is diagnosed- all in close proximity. Yet Satan always works to unite these in purpose and goal. He tries to wear us down. What the secular world may call a string of bad luck is in fact, a highly coordinated effort. But God is at work here too. The question is in what way? The specifics are beyond our perception. We can’t know the hidden mind of God. But the purpose is not in doubt. God persistently seeks to crucify our sinful nature, curb our self-centredness, conform us to Christ, and cultivate genuine thankfulness. Someone once said, “In adversity we usually want God to do a removing job when He wants to do an improving job. To realize the worth of the anchor, we need to feel the storm.”
Our focus is so often misplaced. We fret and worry about so many things. Is my faith strong enough? Am I good enough for God? Will my health ever be restored? Will my relationships ever be mended? Will I get through this grief? How do I measure up in the eyes of others? These are not unimportant concerns. But they are not resolved by any abilities that we have or can acquire. Remember the mustard seed. If what Christ has done isn’t true than none of that matters anyway. If Christ’s death was not an atonement for sins than all other concerns are trivial by comparison. The apostle Paul says it clearly, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.”5
The question is not so much “What can God do for me?” But “Can you not see what God has already done!” His blessings are not haphazardly dispensed in some random or un-unified way. God is not reactive. He is neither like a primed emergency services authority poised to respond to the next disaster, nor like a harried Father scrambling to find ways to help His wayward or endangered children. He who creates and He who redeems and He who blesses and restores does so according to His unchanging nature revealed in Christ.
God doesn’t trail human history. He designs, authorizes, and executes it. Even Satan’s powers are in subjection. As such, existence flows from and returns to the source He designates. The love of God is on display on the cross. There exposed publicly for the world to witness is the deep and mysterious compassion of the Almighty. There His power is hidden in weakness and His authority is veiled in helplessness. There the heavenly and just wrath is absorbed by the sacrifice of the Messiah’s own blood. There Satan meets his doom. There the Son of God dies for the children of men. There life prevails; for lepers, thankful or ungrateful- for us.
And God is pleased through seemingly ordinary means to promise extraordinary things.
Your baptism isn’t a past or temporary event, but a present reality. It not only ties you into the historical reality of Jesus’ death and resurrection, but makes you a participant in the eternal kingdom. Holy Communion is more a participation in a future feast than it is in a perishable meal whose vitality soon expires. The words of Scripture, the words of the Spirit, are not provisional human words, but the voice of God. These are all previews of things to come. Amen.
+ in nomine Jesu +
Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost
10 October 2010
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Matthew 10:32-33
2 See Matthew 7:5
3 Matthew 6:14-15
4 See Luke 17:19
5 1 Corinthians 15:17
Monday, October 4, 2010
Nineteenth Sunday After Pentecost C
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Luke 17:6
Theme: Small Faith, Big God
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
The Holy Spirit and faith always exist in a cause and effect relationship. Human nature recognizes that to be exposed to God’s workings makes one vulnerable. The person whose mind and heart are ruled by sin will respond to God with fight or flight measures. In “fight mode” people either assert their self-righteousness or independence from God or both. In “flight mode” people seek to retreat from God’s presence and remain aloof from any contact. Only when the Holy Spirit, through repentance and faith, cloaks us with Christ’s own righteousness can we fruitfully suffer God’s exertion.
Faith trusts God’s motives but cannot alter them. Jesus’ response to the disciples’ request for an increase in faith initially seems odd. He doesn’t give them any commitments. He doesn’t even commend their request. First comes the mustard seed analogy. This tiny seed has the potential to grow into a mighty plant. The apostles, though they don’t know it yet, already have enough faith to do great things for the kingdom. But these things aren’t as visible and measurable as they’d like. Preaching and teaching the gospel, forgiving sins, seeking the lost, and healing hurting souls are often not recognized as very impressive in the world’s eyes. In fact, the world often despises these things as a waste of time and energy.
Second is the story of the servant who comes in from plowing or tending the sheep. Even when the servant has spent the day laboring in the fields he may still be required to prepare the meal. It was a lesson of humility for the disciples. Jesus said, “So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty,’”1 The apostles were not to understand their vocation as a means of raising their status among others. Christians, likewise, are on the wrong track if they are motivated towards self-sacrifice and generosity by the hope of recognition. Christianity as a means to self-glorification is nothing more than a legalistic philosophy- and a bankrupt one at that!
So what is the place of faith? The Danish philosopher Kierkegaard once said, “We clever humans prefer to treat faith as if it were something finite, as if it were something for the betterment and enjoyment of temporal life. It is supposed to bring us meaning and fulfillment and happiness and direction. This kind of religion is nothing but a deception.”2 Faith is not a tool to acquire earthly happiness. And our trust in God is not predicated on what benefits we think He can offer us- even if these are eternal blessings. We believe in God because His promises are true and Christ is truth. Everything is sorted out on that basis.
One of the great challenges in interpreting Holy Scripture is to distinguish between analogy and literal meaning. Here careful attention to Jesus’ teaching is the key. Often Christ speaks in parables as He did with the analogy of the mustard seed today. However, we cannot extend such symbolism too far. The Bible is not a compendium of spiritual analogies. It is the account of God’s activity of salvation in Jesus Christ. As such it is historical and literal. Christ was truly born, lived, suffered, died, rose, ascended, and will return- as the creeds summarize. Sin is not an analogy for bad luck, mistaken choices, or innocent victimhood. Sin is the tangible and humanly un-rectifiable consequence of separation from God. No one is exempt from the guilt of sin. The condemnation it imposes is real and will be eternally observable.
But the grace and forgiveness offered through Christ is no less real, no less literal. When the Bible says “that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them,”3 it is not using mere symbolism. Jesus is not simply a model for better human behavior. He is not an allegorical or mythical heroic figure. Christ truly restores us to fellowship with God through His blood. When the word of absolution is spoken, we are truly freed and forgiven, washed clean.
Christianity stands on these incarnational and redemptive promises. We are declared righteous and holy because of Christ’s sacrificial death and glorious resurrection. We attain this justification only by grace and through faith. But the Christian lives no leisurely existence. The Holy Spirit daily renews, restores and leads us forward towards the reception of our baptismal inheritance. Sin and Satan rage against us with deception, temptation, and falsehood but when Christ comes again these will be completely vanquished. Believers will be resurrected and perfected in body and soul for eternity. Apart from these things, the church has very little to say.
Divine truth both confounds and transcends human wisdom. How privileged we are to have Christ condescend to us, not in imagery, but in reality. Holy Communion is an actual participation in the blessings of Christ’s salvation. It is not merely a representation of Jesus’ last meal with His disciples. To be sure the description of a Christ as the sacrificial Lamb is to be understood as a representation of all the animals slain on Jewish altars. In Christ, these sacrifices become obsolete. But when Jesus commands His disciples to drink of His blood any possibility of symbolism is ended. The Jews were told to participate in the Passover meal by eating the lamb, so the transition to eating Jesus’ body in Holy Communion was fairly straightforward. But the consumption of blood was strictly prohibited. Life was in the blood. Now Jesus tells them also to drink of His blood. This was a radical reversal. Those Christian churches who would drain Holy Communion of its blessing and power by not offering Christ’s body and blood- but only a memorial of bread and wine-cannot solve the paradox of the command to drink blood by calling it symbolism. Why would Christ tell His disciples to do something only symbolically that was always forbidden in actuality?
Dear friends, no Christian can use either the concern or the excuse that their faith is too meager. The mustard seed example applies to all. You are God’s child and you serve Him through loving your neighbour. Success does not depend on the fortitude of our faith but on the strength of our God. Lesser faith does not get you a lesser God. Neither does stronger faith earn you a stronger God. All depends on His grace and promises fulfilled in Christ. Paul reminds us today, “This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Saviour, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”4 “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross.”5 Amen.
+ in nomine Jesu +
Nineteenth Sunday After Pentecost
3 October 2010
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Luke 17:10
2 Soren Kierkegaard, Provocations
3 2 Corinthians 5:19
4 2 Timothy 1:9-10
5 Hebrews 12:2
Text: Luke 17:6
Theme: Small Faith, Big God
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
The Holy Spirit and faith always exist in a cause and effect relationship. Human nature recognizes that to be exposed to God’s workings makes one vulnerable. The person whose mind and heart are ruled by sin will respond to God with fight or flight measures. In “fight mode” people either assert their self-righteousness or independence from God or both. In “flight mode” people seek to retreat from God’s presence and remain aloof from any contact. Only when the Holy Spirit, through repentance and faith, cloaks us with Christ’s own righteousness can we fruitfully suffer God’s exertion.
Faith trusts God’s motives but cannot alter them. Jesus’ response to the disciples’ request for an increase in faith initially seems odd. He doesn’t give them any commitments. He doesn’t even commend their request. First comes the mustard seed analogy. This tiny seed has the potential to grow into a mighty plant. The apostles, though they don’t know it yet, already have enough faith to do great things for the kingdom. But these things aren’t as visible and measurable as they’d like. Preaching and teaching the gospel, forgiving sins, seeking the lost, and healing hurting souls are often not recognized as very impressive in the world’s eyes. In fact, the world often despises these things as a waste of time and energy.
Second is the story of the servant who comes in from plowing or tending the sheep. Even when the servant has spent the day laboring in the fields he may still be required to prepare the meal. It was a lesson of humility for the disciples. Jesus said, “So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty,’”1 The apostles were not to understand their vocation as a means of raising their status among others. Christians, likewise, are on the wrong track if they are motivated towards self-sacrifice and generosity by the hope of recognition. Christianity as a means to self-glorification is nothing more than a legalistic philosophy- and a bankrupt one at that!
So what is the place of faith? The Danish philosopher Kierkegaard once said, “We clever humans prefer to treat faith as if it were something finite, as if it were something for the betterment and enjoyment of temporal life. It is supposed to bring us meaning and fulfillment and happiness and direction. This kind of religion is nothing but a deception.”2 Faith is not a tool to acquire earthly happiness. And our trust in God is not predicated on what benefits we think He can offer us- even if these are eternal blessings. We believe in God because His promises are true and Christ is truth. Everything is sorted out on that basis.
One of the great challenges in interpreting Holy Scripture is to distinguish between analogy and literal meaning. Here careful attention to Jesus’ teaching is the key. Often Christ speaks in parables as He did with the analogy of the mustard seed today. However, we cannot extend such symbolism too far. The Bible is not a compendium of spiritual analogies. It is the account of God’s activity of salvation in Jesus Christ. As such it is historical and literal. Christ was truly born, lived, suffered, died, rose, ascended, and will return- as the creeds summarize. Sin is not an analogy for bad luck, mistaken choices, or innocent victimhood. Sin is the tangible and humanly un-rectifiable consequence of separation from God. No one is exempt from the guilt of sin. The condemnation it imposes is real and will be eternally observable.
But the grace and forgiveness offered through Christ is no less real, no less literal. When the Bible says “that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them,”3 it is not using mere symbolism. Jesus is not simply a model for better human behavior. He is not an allegorical or mythical heroic figure. Christ truly restores us to fellowship with God through His blood. When the word of absolution is spoken, we are truly freed and forgiven, washed clean.
Christianity stands on these incarnational and redemptive promises. We are declared righteous and holy because of Christ’s sacrificial death and glorious resurrection. We attain this justification only by grace and through faith. But the Christian lives no leisurely existence. The Holy Spirit daily renews, restores and leads us forward towards the reception of our baptismal inheritance. Sin and Satan rage against us with deception, temptation, and falsehood but when Christ comes again these will be completely vanquished. Believers will be resurrected and perfected in body and soul for eternity. Apart from these things, the church has very little to say.
Divine truth both confounds and transcends human wisdom. How privileged we are to have Christ condescend to us, not in imagery, but in reality. Holy Communion is an actual participation in the blessings of Christ’s salvation. It is not merely a representation of Jesus’ last meal with His disciples. To be sure the description of a Christ as the sacrificial Lamb is to be understood as a representation of all the animals slain on Jewish altars. In Christ, these sacrifices become obsolete. But when Jesus commands His disciples to drink of His blood any possibility of symbolism is ended. The Jews were told to participate in the Passover meal by eating the lamb, so the transition to eating Jesus’ body in Holy Communion was fairly straightforward. But the consumption of blood was strictly prohibited. Life was in the blood. Now Jesus tells them also to drink of His blood. This was a radical reversal. Those Christian churches who would drain Holy Communion of its blessing and power by not offering Christ’s body and blood- but only a memorial of bread and wine-cannot solve the paradox of the command to drink blood by calling it symbolism. Why would Christ tell His disciples to do something only symbolically that was always forbidden in actuality?
Dear friends, no Christian can use either the concern or the excuse that their faith is too meager. The mustard seed example applies to all. You are God’s child and you serve Him through loving your neighbour. Success does not depend on the fortitude of our faith but on the strength of our God. Lesser faith does not get you a lesser God. Neither does stronger faith earn you a stronger God. All depends on His grace and promises fulfilled in Christ. Paul reminds us today, “This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Saviour, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”4 “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross.”5 Amen.
+ in nomine Jesu +
Nineteenth Sunday After Pentecost
3 October 2010
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Luke 17:10
2 Soren Kierkegaard, Provocations
3 2 Corinthians 5:19
4 2 Timothy 1:9-10
5 Hebrews 12:2
Monday, September 27, 2010
Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost C
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Luke 16:29
Theme: On Good Authority
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
The story of the rich man and Lazarus is gripping and challenging. In His preaching Christ had a profound way of tackling the human condition. He allowed no escape from considering the full consequences of our beliefs and behaviors. The story involves a decadent and faithless glutton and a miserable, but trusting beggar. Both die. Lazarus goes to heaven while the glutton finds himself in hell. A conversation ensues through which Jesus teaches about the kingdom.
The conclusion here is inescapable. Jesus warns of the punishment of hell for those who persistently and willfully show disregard for the well-being of others. Such hard-heartedness is a sign of unbelief. For the Pharisees who were known as ‘lovers of money’ Jesus’ warning especially relates to their hypocritical and uncharitable practices and their idolatry of financial gain. Conversely, the beggar, Lazarus, receives eternal riches. The last shall be first and the first shall be last.
Reflection on mortality is not easily procrastinated indefinitely. Every person will die. Then what will happen? The anxiety that might be caused by the deliberation of such weighty issues is a chief reason for avoiding or skimming lightly over the subject. But assurance of what happens to us beyond this life is what every human longs for at the deepest level. Amid ceaseless participation in life’s mundane activities such sacred concerns are always poised to suspend our existence. Christ has the answers.
Other unmistakable conclusions about biblical teaching are clear. Firstly, there is no interchange between heaven and hell. Eternity is sealed when one arrives at either location. There are no second chances, no opportunities or possibilities of leaving hell. In the same way, residents in heaven will not have to worry about losing their place.
Secondly, the evidence for salvation is already sufficient. No extraordinary measures are necessary. When the rich man pleads with Abraham about warning his brothers Abraham directs him to Moses and the Prophets; that is, the Holy Scriptures- the word of God. God has already said all that needs to be said about the matter. The rich man thought that if Lazarus was allowed to come back to warn his brothers they would repent. But Abraham’s answer implies that the witnesses they already have- all the words and promises of the Bible- are just as reliable, in fact, more so, than a personal experience. His answer suggests the man’s brothers might have been initially astounded, but still remained hard-hearted and unrepentant.
The rich man then presses his point about the influence of someone coming from the dead. “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’”1 Abraham responds with a re-enforcing reflection. “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead?”2 Here the listener is intentionally invited to contemplate Jesus’ own ministry. The reference is to His resurrection. Even after He is risen from the dead many would not believe. How many throughout history witnessed God’s miracles publicly or privately; from Noah’s flood, through the Israelites crossing of the Red Sea, right up through Jesus’ feeding the five thousand, rising from the dead and Pentecost- and still did not believe.
The Holy Spirit’s power in the word of God is the Almighty’s chosen and regular way of bringing sinners to repentance and faith. Though the Holy Spirit could use other more ‘spectacular’ or private measures as He sees fit, nowhere are we promised that these are superior, more effective, or even to be expected. The Lutheran Confessions teach “We should not and cannot always judge from feeling about the presence, work, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, as to how and when they are experienced in the heart…we should be certain about and agree with the promise that God’s Word preached and heard is truly an office and work of the Holy Spirit. He is certainly effective and works in our hearts by them.”3
Dear friends, Christianity involves a journey. You cannot reach salvation apart from it. You cannot take shortcuts. From the moment of baptism we exist in overlapping dimensions. The old age is marked by darkness, decay, and death. The new is marked by light, renewal, and life. This old aeon is apprehended by all our senses. The new is grasped only by faith. But the one is as real as the other. Yet only the new will endure. The Spirit says it this way in Corinthians, “For the world in its present form is passing away.”4 And this way in Hebrews, “For here we do not have and enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.”5 And Christ says it like this, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”6
But we must travel through the old even though we have already been initiated into the new. We cannot opt out of bearing the cross for now and opt back in later at a time of our choosing. We are always in the fray. We are in constant need of renewal, restoration, and guidance. That is why we are here. Are you so righteous that you can go on indefinitely without forgiveness? Is your soul so Spartan you can carry on at length without sacred food? Is your learning so profound you have no need of God’s wisdom? Left to ourselves we quickly stray from the path. But the destination is never in doubt. Jesus Christ is “the way and the truth and the life,”7 and He has prepared an eternal inheritance for believers in heaven.
The rich man did not value the greater heavenly treasures. He did not believe and therefore showed no generosity. He could not see beyond his earthy riches. From 1945-1985 a woman by the name of Eunice Pike worked with the Mazatec natives in south-western Mexico. During this time she discovered some interesting things about these beautiful people. For instance, the people seldom wish someone well. Not only that, they are hesitant to teach one another or to share the gospel with each other. If asked, "Who taught you to bake bread?" the village baker answers, "I just know," meaning he has acquired the knowledge without anyone's help. Eunice says this odd behavior stems from their concept of "limited good." They believe there is only so much good, so much knowledge, so much love to go around. To teach another means you might drain yourself of knowledge. To love a second child means you have to love the first child less. To wish someone well--"Have a good day"--means you have just given away some of your own happiness, which cannot be reacquired.
Imagine living with the horrible conviction that there is ‘limited good’! How privileged we are to be benefactors of the Living God who gives without measure. Jesus Christ gave His own invaluable life that we might have limitless sacred and eternal treasures. He suffered, died, rose, and ascended to give us access to the unlimited ‘good’ of the triune God. Cherish the freedom you have to be generous with your finite earthly resources knowing that heavenly riches are yours beyond measure. There is no attempt at generosity that could ever be matched by the shedding of Christ’s blood.
A man by the name of Henderson once said, “The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” Let us be bold to plant trees for the well-being of others. For we not only look forward to the eternal luxury of the new Eden, but we are forever sustained by Him who is the very tree of life- Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
+ in nomine Jesu +
Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost
26 September 2010
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Luke 16:30
2 Luke 16:31
3 SD II, 56
4 1 Corinthians 7:31
5 Hebrews 13:14
6 Luke 21:33
7 John 14:6
Text: Luke 16:29
Theme: On Good Authority
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
The story of the rich man and Lazarus is gripping and challenging. In His preaching Christ had a profound way of tackling the human condition. He allowed no escape from considering the full consequences of our beliefs and behaviors. The story involves a decadent and faithless glutton and a miserable, but trusting beggar. Both die. Lazarus goes to heaven while the glutton finds himself in hell. A conversation ensues through which Jesus teaches about the kingdom.
The conclusion here is inescapable. Jesus warns of the punishment of hell for those who persistently and willfully show disregard for the well-being of others. Such hard-heartedness is a sign of unbelief. For the Pharisees who were known as ‘lovers of money’ Jesus’ warning especially relates to their hypocritical and uncharitable practices and their idolatry of financial gain. Conversely, the beggar, Lazarus, receives eternal riches. The last shall be first and the first shall be last.
Reflection on mortality is not easily procrastinated indefinitely. Every person will die. Then what will happen? The anxiety that might be caused by the deliberation of such weighty issues is a chief reason for avoiding or skimming lightly over the subject. But assurance of what happens to us beyond this life is what every human longs for at the deepest level. Amid ceaseless participation in life’s mundane activities such sacred concerns are always poised to suspend our existence. Christ has the answers.
Other unmistakable conclusions about biblical teaching are clear. Firstly, there is no interchange between heaven and hell. Eternity is sealed when one arrives at either location. There are no second chances, no opportunities or possibilities of leaving hell. In the same way, residents in heaven will not have to worry about losing their place.
Secondly, the evidence for salvation is already sufficient. No extraordinary measures are necessary. When the rich man pleads with Abraham about warning his brothers Abraham directs him to Moses and the Prophets; that is, the Holy Scriptures- the word of God. God has already said all that needs to be said about the matter. The rich man thought that if Lazarus was allowed to come back to warn his brothers they would repent. But Abraham’s answer implies that the witnesses they already have- all the words and promises of the Bible- are just as reliable, in fact, more so, than a personal experience. His answer suggests the man’s brothers might have been initially astounded, but still remained hard-hearted and unrepentant.
The rich man then presses his point about the influence of someone coming from the dead. “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’”1 Abraham responds with a re-enforcing reflection. “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead?”2 Here the listener is intentionally invited to contemplate Jesus’ own ministry. The reference is to His resurrection. Even after He is risen from the dead many would not believe. How many throughout history witnessed God’s miracles publicly or privately; from Noah’s flood, through the Israelites crossing of the Red Sea, right up through Jesus’ feeding the five thousand, rising from the dead and Pentecost- and still did not believe.
The Holy Spirit’s power in the word of God is the Almighty’s chosen and regular way of bringing sinners to repentance and faith. Though the Holy Spirit could use other more ‘spectacular’ or private measures as He sees fit, nowhere are we promised that these are superior, more effective, or even to be expected. The Lutheran Confessions teach “We should not and cannot always judge from feeling about the presence, work, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, as to how and when they are experienced in the heart…we should be certain about and agree with the promise that God’s Word preached and heard is truly an office and work of the Holy Spirit. He is certainly effective and works in our hearts by them.”3
Dear friends, Christianity involves a journey. You cannot reach salvation apart from it. You cannot take shortcuts. From the moment of baptism we exist in overlapping dimensions. The old age is marked by darkness, decay, and death. The new is marked by light, renewal, and life. This old aeon is apprehended by all our senses. The new is grasped only by faith. But the one is as real as the other. Yet only the new will endure. The Spirit says it this way in Corinthians, “For the world in its present form is passing away.”4 And this way in Hebrews, “For here we do not have and enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.”5 And Christ says it like this, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”6
But we must travel through the old even though we have already been initiated into the new. We cannot opt out of bearing the cross for now and opt back in later at a time of our choosing. We are always in the fray. We are in constant need of renewal, restoration, and guidance. That is why we are here. Are you so righteous that you can go on indefinitely without forgiveness? Is your soul so Spartan you can carry on at length without sacred food? Is your learning so profound you have no need of God’s wisdom? Left to ourselves we quickly stray from the path. But the destination is never in doubt. Jesus Christ is “the way and the truth and the life,”7 and He has prepared an eternal inheritance for believers in heaven.
The rich man did not value the greater heavenly treasures. He did not believe and therefore showed no generosity. He could not see beyond his earthy riches. From 1945-1985 a woman by the name of Eunice Pike worked with the Mazatec natives in south-western Mexico. During this time she discovered some interesting things about these beautiful people. For instance, the people seldom wish someone well. Not only that, they are hesitant to teach one another or to share the gospel with each other. If asked, "Who taught you to bake bread?" the village baker answers, "I just know," meaning he has acquired the knowledge without anyone's help. Eunice says this odd behavior stems from their concept of "limited good." They believe there is only so much good, so much knowledge, so much love to go around. To teach another means you might drain yourself of knowledge. To love a second child means you have to love the first child less. To wish someone well--"Have a good day"--means you have just given away some of your own happiness, which cannot be reacquired.
Imagine living with the horrible conviction that there is ‘limited good’! How privileged we are to be benefactors of the Living God who gives without measure. Jesus Christ gave His own invaluable life that we might have limitless sacred and eternal treasures. He suffered, died, rose, and ascended to give us access to the unlimited ‘good’ of the triune God. Cherish the freedom you have to be generous with your finite earthly resources knowing that heavenly riches are yours beyond measure. There is no attempt at generosity that could ever be matched by the shedding of Christ’s blood.
A man by the name of Henderson once said, “The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” Let us be bold to plant trees for the well-being of others. For we not only look forward to the eternal luxury of the new Eden, but we are forever sustained by Him who is the very tree of life- Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
+ in nomine Jesu +
Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost
26 September 2010
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Luke 16:30
2 Luke 16:31
3 SD II, 56
4 1 Corinthians 7:31
5 Hebrews 13:14
6 Luke 21:33
7 John 14:6
Monday, September 20, 2010
Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost C
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Luke 16:1-11
Theme: Christ and Adversity
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Jesus’ words today are arguably some of the most puzzling in the Bible. He speaks of a manager who was heavily indebted to his employer. Unable to repay he doctors the accounts of some of the rich man’s debtors. Though the action resulted in a loss of income for the owner, he still commends his manager for being shrewd. Jesus does not condone dishonesty. He does, however, counsel people to be wise about how the unbelieving world handles its affairs and wants us to understand the full implications. Jesus said to His apostles, “Be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”1
The way we handle our daily affairs is an indicator of our integrity. The same holds for our spiritual life. Integrity is not measured by the amount of assets or degree of responsibility we have, but by faithfulness to our charge, great or small. Jesus says today, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?”2
The age and circumstances in which we live in no way nullify the application of Jesus’ words. Satan is happy to work with the opportunities of the times. Prosperity and adversity both have their unique ways of testing our faith. In the midst of prosperity people are tempted to doubt the need for God’s grace. In the midst of adversity we are tempted to question its existence. That God sometimes allows us to prosper is easily assumed to be something due us. That God, at other times, allows us to suffer strikes us as uncharitable and harsh. The danger of prosperity is self-reliance and self-righteousness. The danger of adversity is suspicion and doubt. Either way, God is marginalized as unnecessary, inept, or unreliable. Everything that marginalizes the need for Christ, whether overt or subtle should be recognized as a call to repentance.
It is clear by the way Christ interacted with people that He never trivialized their adversity, nor did He seek to simply transcend it. Our Lord was not unfamiliar with the challenges of this mortal existence. His solidarity with humanity was not artificial. Temptation, testing, grief, anguish, affliction, and misery marked His earthly journey. The fact of His divinity in no way limited or dulled His experience of mortality. Our salvation was accomplished not by lightning bolts cast down from heaven, but by the fleshly body of the man Jesus Christ. In His sinless-ness, He never remained aloof from poor miserable sinners.
This great truth of the incarnation has on-going and far-reaching significance. The presence of Jesus Christ in our lives isn’t limited to memories of a Bethlehem manger, a Calvary cross, and an empty tomb. Christ is in the details of our lives; in adversity and prosperity. Baptism brings us into union with Him. The Holy Spirit guides and consoles us with His promises. Holy Communion gives us a taste of His forgiveness. Christ concerns Himself with our smallest fears and our largest traumas. He constantly intercedes for our well-being. And in so doing He constantly nudges us closer to Him. He desires that we become more dependent that we might cling all the more tightly to His blessings.
Dear friends, this is where our human view usually diverges from His divine perspective. We always want prosperity- physical, emotional, spiritual- but God often sends adversity. To rejoice in the suffering that God allows strikes at the heart of living Christianly, of bearing the cross. To have our lives conformed to God’s truth when there is no opposition is not yet the essence of the imitation of Christ. Our sinful nature-its desires, pursuits and falsehoods- struggles against the Holy Spirit’s work. Truth always meets with opposition. We’d like to have that tension resolved, but God uses it to hone our faith.
In an effort to resolve just this problem the church is tempted to tailor the Biblical message in such a way that unpleasant experiences are explained without reference to God’s will in Christ. Christianity can become primarily an ethical pursuit or a motivation for social activism. Again, God is marginalized as the One who is either uninterested or uncharitable and so things are taken into human hands.
But the church should never defined by the influences which seek to corrupt it or the circumstances which attend it. If, when boiled down, stripped of all of its accessories, undressed of all its cosmetic elements, Christianity means anything, it must mean this: God reconciles the ungodly to Himself through Christ. It must mean that the entry into eternal security, divine presence and everlasting bliss is not accessed by human striving, great or small; not by purity of heart, clarity of mind, or earnestness of deed. The unapproachable Godhead is not approached by the feeble human being. Mortals have merited no avenue to Him who alone is immortal and incorruptible. Christ freely gives what can never be forcefully seized.
If the gospel means anything important it means God acts. He sacrifices His own son and reckons believers righteous on His account. It means God forgives. He clears the slate casting sins away as far as the east is from the west. It means God restores. He mends broken hearts and re-assembles shattered lives. It means God gives. He graciously bestows every blessing of body and soul. It means adversity has a purpose; a godly purpose, a holy purpose.
The Scriptures are filled with examples of people drowning in adversity. They don’t strike us at first as being premier examples of prosperous and trouble-free saints. But they are real people, people with issues, struggles, and failures, people like you and me. They are people thrown into the fray, but with whom God perseveres and promises deliverance. Christianity is not a hobby. Jeremiah is our case-in-point today.
Do our prayers lack the integrity and tenacity of a Jeremiah who poured out His heart to the Lord in fervent plea? “Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her king no longer there?”3 In our prayers do we seek apathetically to patronize a God we actually believe is remote and uninterested? Or do we seek to rouse to action the deliverer of Zion, the rock of salvation, the One who turns back evil and raises the dead! Is our worship a ritual shell of a deceased or dying body of faith? Or do we trust in the Living God- the immortal one who clothed Himself with our mortality; the giver of life who subjected Himself to death; the invisible Deity robed with human flesh?
Adversity is not a sign of God’s apathy, but the means by which He pulls us nearer. May He grant you the eyes of faith to see the blessings that come in such disguises. Amen.
+ in nomine Jesu +
Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost
19 September 2010
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Matthew 10:16
2 Luke 16:10-11
3 Jeremiah 8:19
Text: Luke 16:1-11
Theme: Christ and Adversity
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Jesus’ words today are arguably some of the most puzzling in the Bible. He speaks of a manager who was heavily indebted to his employer. Unable to repay he doctors the accounts of some of the rich man’s debtors. Though the action resulted in a loss of income for the owner, he still commends his manager for being shrewd. Jesus does not condone dishonesty. He does, however, counsel people to be wise about how the unbelieving world handles its affairs and wants us to understand the full implications. Jesus said to His apostles, “Be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”1
The way we handle our daily affairs is an indicator of our integrity. The same holds for our spiritual life. Integrity is not measured by the amount of assets or degree of responsibility we have, but by faithfulness to our charge, great or small. Jesus says today, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?”2
The age and circumstances in which we live in no way nullify the application of Jesus’ words. Satan is happy to work with the opportunities of the times. Prosperity and adversity both have their unique ways of testing our faith. In the midst of prosperity people are tempted to doubt the need for God’s grace. In the midst of adversity we are tempted to question its existence. That God sometimes allows us to prosper is easily assumed to be something due us. That God, at other times, allows us to suffer strikes us as uncharitable and harsh. The danger of prosperity is self-reliance and self-righteousness. The danger of adversity is suspicion and doubt. Either way, God is marginalized as unnecessary, inept, or unreliable. Everything that marginalizes the need for Christ, whether overt or subtle should be recognized as a call to repentance.
It is clear by the way Christ interacted with people that He never trivialized their adversity, nor did He seek to simply transcend it. Our Lord was not unfamiliar with the challenges of this mortal existence. His solidarity with humanity was not artificial. Temptation, testing, grief, anguish, affliction, and misery marked His earthly journey. The fact of His divinity in no way limited or dulled His experience of mortality. Our salvation was accomplished not by lightning bolts cast down from heaven, but by the fleshly body of the man Jesus Christ. In His sinless-ness, He never remained aloof from poor miserable sinners.
This great truth of the incarnation has on-going and far-reaching significance. The presence of Jesus Christ in our lives isn’t limited to memories of a Bethlehem manger, a Calvary cross, and an empty tomb. Christ is in the details of our lives; in adversity and prosperity. Baptism brings us into union with Him. The Holy Spirit guides and consoles us with His promises. Holy Communion gives us a taste of His forgiveness. Christ concerns Himself with our smallest fears and our largest traumas. He constantly intercedes for our well-being. And in so doing He constantly nudges us closer to Him. He desires that we become more dependent that we might cling all the more tightly to His blessings.
Dear friends, this is where our human view usually diverges from His divine perspective. We always want prosperity- physical, emotional, spiritual- but God often sends adversity. To rejoice in the suffering that God allows strikes at the heart of living Christianly, of bearing the cross. To have our lives conformed to God’s truth when there is no opposition is not yet the essence of the imitation of Christ. Our sinful nature-its desires, pursuits and falsehoods- struggles against the Holy Spirit’s work. Truth always meets with opposition. We’d like to have that tension resolved, but God uses it to hone our faith.
In an effort to resolve just this problem the church is tempted to tailor the Biblical message in such a way that unpleasant experiences are explained without reference to God’s will in Christ. Christianity can become primarily an ethical pursuit or a motivation for social activism. Again, God is marginalized as the One who is either uninterested or uncharitable and so things are taken into human hands.
But the church should never defined by the influences which seek to corrupt it or the circumstances which attend it. If, when boiled down, stripped of all of its accessories, undressed of all its cosmetic elements, Christianity means anything, it must mean this: God reconciles the ungodly to Himself through Christ. It must mean that the entry into eternal security, divine presence and everlasting bliss is not accessed by human striving, great or small; not by purity of heart, clarity of mind, or earnestness of deed. The unapproachable Godhead is not approached by the feeble human being. Mortals have merited no avenue to Him who alone is immortal and incorruptible. Christ freely gives what can never be forcefully seized.
If the gospel means anything important it means God acts. He sacrifices His own son and reckons believers righteous on His account. It means God forgives. He clears the slate casting sins away as far as the east is from the west. It means God restores. He mends broken hearts and re-assembles shattered lives. It means God gives. He graciously bestows every blessing of body and soul. It means adversity has a purpose; a godly purpose, a holy purpose.
The Scriptures are filled with examples of people drowning in adversity. They don’t strike us at first as being premier examples of prosperous and trouble-free saints. But they are real people, people with issues, struggles, and failures, people like you and me. They are people thrown into the fray, but with whom God perseveres and promises deliverance. Christianity is not a hobby. Jeremiah is our case-in-point today.
Do our prayers lack the integrity and tenacity of a Jeremiah who poured out His heart to the Lord in fervent plea? “Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her king no longer there?”3 In our prayers do we seek apathetically to patronize a God we actually believe is remote and uninterested? Or do we seek to rouse to action the deliverer of Zion, the rock of salvation, the One who turns back evil and raises the dead! Is our worship a ritual shell of a deceased or dying body of faith? Or do we trust in the Living God- the immortal one who clothed Himself with our mortality; the giver of life who subjected Himself to death; the invisible Deity robed with human flesh?
Adversity is not a sign of God’s apathy, but the means by which He pulls us nearer. May He grant you the eyes of faith to see the blessings that come in such disguises. Amen.
+ in nomine Jesu +
Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost
19 September 2010
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Matthew 10:16
2 Luke 16:10-11
3 Jeremiah 8:19
Monday, September 13, 2010
Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost C
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Luke 15:1-10
Theme: A Seeking Saviour
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
God is a seeker. He is THE seeker. And only He searches out of pure motives. All creatures seek out of some need or desire. Humans especially search for safety, or indulgence or fulfillment. We also search for meaning. God alone seeks as an expression of His unbounded love. He seeks not that He may find a reward, but that the lost might live. He seeks not to unearth something undiscovered or find purpose- nothing exists that God isn’t privy to. And His life isn’t lacking meaning. God seeks because He would not suffer one of His children to remain estranged from Him.
Today’s gospel contains two parables of Jesus that illustrate His nature as the one who seeks us. The shepherd goes hunting for his one lost sheep and the woman searches diligently for her one lost coin. Of course the need for God to seek arises from the fact of something being lost. It’s the dread reality of this situation- our situation- that Christ wishes us to understand. As the Scripture says, “The light shines in the darkness.”1
The true consequence of being lost is helplessness. Jesus means to bring to mind not a temporary situation which will be rectified with a little guidance. We might easily associate being lost with the inconvenience of being without a GPS. Or a situation in which we face a major decision and we need advice to decide which way to go. We might equate confusion or ignorance with being lost. Something more serious is meant here.
To be lost in spiritual darkness is to be personally incapacitated and completely at the mercy of external aid. Original sin is the Bible’s teaching on this condition. Spiritual ‘lost-ness’ is defined not only by the inability to find one’s way (to God), but the lack of desire to even do so. Until the law brings people to a recognition of what it means they are lost, they are content to remain so. Of course the unbelieving or self-righteous person would never consider himself or herself to be lost. Perhaps the parables reach their limit at this point. Could a sheep or a coin willfully desire to be separated from its owner?
We should put out of our mind the possibility that the one lost sheep might serendipitously wander back into the fold. The sheep is nowhere in sight. The shepherd must go searching for it. The imminent threat of predators and the elements would soon put its life in grave danger. The sound of bleating might just as easily reach the ears of wolves as the ears of the shepherd. The lost sheep will not find the shepherd and the lost coin will not find its owner. And the human being, regardless of age, status, knowledge, ability, or determination, can never ‘find’ God. Apart from Christ we would remain lost. Apart from the Holy Spirit we would remain adrift. Apart from the word we would remain astray. Apart from baptism we would still be estranged. This is not a disputable opinion but absolute fact.
This truth cannot be grasped too well. The more we believe it the greater is the comfort of the gospel. The author George Orwell describes a wasp that "was sucking jam on my plate and I cut him in half. He paid no attention, merely went on with his meal, while a tiny stream of jam trickled out of his severed esophagus. Only when he tried to fly away did he grasp the dreadful thing that had happened to him." The wasp and people without Christ have much in common. Severed from their souls, but greedy and unaware, people continue to consume life's sweetness. Only when it's time to fly away will they gasp their dreadful condition.
The context in which Jesus is teaching today is noteworthy. The Pharisees are grumbling because Jesus was welcoming ‘sinners’. This was particularly offensive to them because they considered themselves to the moral and upright members of the community and yet Jesus was commending the tax-collectors and sinners. Yet they were repentant and the Pharisees were not. To be people of reputable social standing in no way exempts us from being in the category of ‘sinners.’ The grace of God isn’t shown in our piety but in our humility.
It is significant that both the shepherd and the woman who finds her coin call together their friends and neighbours to rejoice. In ancient times celebration always had a community dimension. In fact it was always understood to be a collective activity. It’s an image of the nature of the church. How underappreciated is the privilege of being part of the fellowship of Christ’s body! Both your identity and purpose are incomplete apart from the collective members of Christ’s body. This is true in an absolute sense.
Strictly speaking there are no independent, autonomous or private members of the body of Christ. The rugged individualism of modern Western society undermines the biblical teaching of the church. It is a charade and deception to think a person can be a true believer in Christ and remain detached from the communion of saints. An immediate consequence of the Holy Spirit’s gift of faith is incorporation into the mystical body of Christ. The relationship is maintained by a participation in the common gifts of word and sacrament. To be sure outward associations involve the particular preferences of individuals, that is, belonging to this or that congregation and/or denomination in a particular place. But each believer is part of the body and the body can only function properly with all its members.
Consider what the Bible says, “We were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free- and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”2 We are baptized into one family and together partake of one sacred meal. And here is the implication, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.”3 God not only seeks for us, when He finds us He positions us uniquely within His ordered kingdom.
Why does God seek? Is it not His greatest glory to show compassion to the helpless, grace to the undeserving, mercy to the lost? The words of Paul today can help us. “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners- of whom I am the worst.”4 The great apostle speaks of what he is, not what he was. He still remains a sinner. Yet he is forgiven. He is also a saint.
And so it is with you, you are sinner and saint. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: You have been baptized into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. You are forgiven. Though your sinful nature fights until the day you take your last breath, you have been redeemed. Christ has won the victory. He has paid the price. Through His death and resurrection He has called you out of darkness, defended you from Satan, rescued you from hell, and spared you from eternal punishment. Recall what Jesus said to Zaccheus, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”5
+ in nomine Jesu +
Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost
12 September 2010
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 John 1:5
2 1 Corinthians 12:13
3 1 Corinthians 12:26
4 1 Timothy 1:15
5 Luke 19:9-10
Text: Luke 15:1-10
Theme: A Seeking Saviour
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
God is a seeker. He is THE seeker. And only He searches out of pure motives. All creatures seek out of some need or desire. Humans especially search for safety, or indulgence or fulfillment. We also search for meaning. God alone seeks as an expression of His unbounded love. He seeks not that He may find a reward, but that the lost might live. He seeks not to unearth something undiscovered or find purpose- nothing exists that God isn’t privy to. And His life isn’t lacking meaning. God seeks because He would not suffer one of His children to remain estranged from Him.
Today’s gospel contains two parables of Jesus that illustrate His nature as the one who seeks us. The shepherd goes hunting for his one lost sheep and the woman searches diligently for her one lost coin. Of course the need for God to seek arises from the fact of something being lost. It’s the dread reality of this situation- our situation- that Christ wishes us to understand. As the Scripture says, “The light shines in the darkness.”1
The true consequence of being lost is helplessness. Jesus means to bring to mind not a temporary situation which will be rectified with a little guidance. We might easily associate being lost with the inconvenience of being without a GPS. Or a situation in which we face a major decision and we need advice to decide which way to go. We might equate confusion or ignorance with being lost. Something more serious is meant here.
To be lost in spiritual darkness is to be personally incapacitated and completely at the mercy of external aid. Original sin is the Bible’s teaching on this condition. Spiritual ‘lost-ness’ is defined not only by the inability to find one’s way (to God), but the lack of desire to even do so. Until the law brings people to a recognition of what it means they are lost, they are content to remain so. Of course the unbelieving or self-righteous person would never consider himself or herself to be lost. Perhaps the parables reach their limit at this point. Could a sheep or a coin willfully desire to be separated from its owner?
We should put out of our mind the possibility that the one lost sheep might serendipitously wander back into the fold. The sheep is nowhere in sight. The shepherd must go searching for it. The imminent threat of predators and the elements would soon put its life in grave danger. The sound of bleating might just as easily reach the ears of wolves as the ears of the shepherd. The lost sheep will not find the shepherd and the lost coin will not find its owner. And the human being, regardless of age, status, knowledge, ability, or determination, can never ‘find’ God. Apart from Christ we would remain lost. Apart from the Holy Spirit we would remain adrift. Apart from the word we would remain astray. Apart from baptism we would still be estranged. This is not a disputable opinion but absolute fact.
This truth cannot be grasped too well. The more we believe it the greater is the comfort of the gospel. The author George Orwell describes a wasp that "was sucking jam on my plate and I cut him in half. He paid no attention, merely went on with his meal, while a tiny stream of jam trickled out of his severed esophagus. Only when he tried to fly away did he grasp the dreadful thing that had happened to him." The wasp and people without Christ have much in common. Severed from their souls, but greedy and unaware, people continue to consume life's sweetness. Only when it's time to fly away will they gasp their dreadful condition.
The context in which Jesus is teaching today is noteworthy. The Pharisees are grumbling because Jesus was welcoming ‘sinners’. This was particularly offensive to them because they considered themselves to the moral and upright members of the community and yet Jesus was commending the tax-collectors and sinners. Yet they were repentant and the Pharisees were not. To be people of reputable social standing in no way exempts us from being in the category of ‘sinners.’ The grace of God isn’t shown in our piety but in our humility.
It is significant that both the shepherd and the woman who finds her coin call together their friends and neighbours to rejoice. In ancient times celebration always had a community dimension. In fact it was always understood to be a collective activity. It’s an image of the nature of the church. How underappreciated is the privilege of being part of the fellowship of Christ’s body! Both your identity and purpose are incomplete apart from the collective members of Christ’s body. This is true in an absolute sense.
Strictly speaking there are no independent, autonomous or private members of the body of Christ. The rugged individualism of modern Western society undermines the biblical teaching of the church. It is a charade and deception to think a person can be a true believer in Christ and remain detached from the communion of saints. An immediate consequence of the Holy Spirit’s gift of faith is incorporation into the mystical body of Christ. The relationship is maintained by a participation in the common gifts of word and sacrament. To be sure outward associations involve the particular preferences of individuals, that is, belonging to this or that congregation and/or denomination in a particular place. But each believer is part of the body and the body can only function properly with all its members.
Consider what the Bible says, “We were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free- and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”2 We are baptized into one family and together partake of one sacred meal. And here is the implication, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.”3 God not only seeks for us, when He finds us He positions us uniquely within His ordered kingdom.
Why does God seek? Is it not His greatest glory to show compassion to the helpless, grace to the undeserving, mercy to the lost? The words of Paul today can help us. “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners- of whom I am the worst.”4 The great apostle speaks of what he is, not what he was. He still remains a sinner. Yet he is forgiven. He is also a saint.
And so it is with you, you are sinner and saint. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: You have been baptized into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. You are forgiven. Though your sinful nature fights until the day you take your last breath, you have been redeemed. Christ has won the victory. He has paid the price. Through His death and resurrection He has called you out of darkness, defended you from Satan, rescued you from hell, and spared you from eternal punishment. Recall what Jesus said to Zaccheus, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”5
+ in nomine Jesu +
Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost
12 September 2010
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 John 1:5
2 1 Corinthians 12:13
3 1 Corinthians 12:26
4 1 Timothy 1:15
5 Luke 19:9-10
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