+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Luke 7:7
Theme: “Say The Word”
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
If God had not spoken, nothing would have happened- ever! No joys, sorrows, or activity, period. God would have continued to reside in self-sustaining glory. But we, and the rest of the universe would simply not exist. Vacuum, void, and nothingness would be the limit of vocabulary. But God did speak. His speaking was firstly a creative act, the nature of which we have no comparisons with which to enlighten us. His speaking also has redemptive power. He restores that which is broken, damaged, wounded and dead. Our ‘divine speaker’ became, in the person of Jesus, the human Saviour.
What does this have to do with today’s account? A centurion was a well-paid member of the Roman military establishment in charge of the discipline and oversight of one hundred soldiers, who, in turn, formed part of a larger group of 6000 called a legion. This Gentile military man was sympathetic to the Jewish faith. He may have been a God-fearer, a person with genuine piety and interest, who had not formally converted to Judaism. He was wealthy enough to finance the construction of a synagogue. He was clearly highly thought of by the local Jewish council.
The man had a servant who was at the point of death. The preacher from Galilee was his only hope. Undoubtedly Jesus’ powers were well publicized by now. But how respectful was this centurion? Assuming Jesus to be a traditional Rabbi he did not presume to seek an audience from Him. Instead, he sent his Jewish friends to make the request. Ironically, they petitioned Jesus on the basis of his worthiness; but he considered himself to be unworthy.
The centurion understood the proper exercise of and response to authority. He expected his commands to be followed. He honours Jesus with the same respect, “Say the word, and my servant will be healed.”1 Say the word! Jesus verifies that this response was actually a statement of great trust. “I tell you the truth, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.”2 When the messengers returned home the man was found to be well.
Say the word! Words can be very powerful. Words can be petty, hurtful, and hollow. They are always subject to misinterpretation. The rhetoric of politicians can be confusing and maddening. Words are not always spoken with honest motive and candid intention. And we all know that words can be trivial, overused, redundant and tedious. Words can be both the fruit and the cause of sin.
Why do humans struggle so much to listen to and follow God’s word? When God condemns us for not following the ‘Ten Words’, His commands He makes it clear that there are consequences. He threatens punishment- punishment we justly deserve. The centurion knew well what problems rebelliousness, deceit, or selfishness caused for a Roman legion. Penalties were harsh. Safety and well-being was at stake.
Dear friends, that’s exactly what we so often fail to see as sinners: We fail to see what’s at stake. We may even believe that disobedience to God’s will is a benefit to us. How many see sexual immorality, dishonesty, or selfishness as being personally detrimental to them? There are sins of ignorance, sins of weakness, and sins of determination. We don’t like to have our own desires opposed. Consider Paul’s words to the Galatians, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel- which is really no gospel at all.”3 Would Paul express the same incredulity to the church today?
Words can wound. But words can heal. Words are used to express inner desires. The Jews of Capernaum were sympathetic to the centurion. They didn’t want him grieved by the death of his servant so they sent word to Jesus. Sympathy is a strong motivator of human activity. And, as well it should be. It is a reflection of God’s image. It is tainted with selfishness, yes; but sympathy is a movement of the heart.
Your words are powerful too. You may not think they are but if others are candid with you they will likely confirm it. Of course the influence of anyone’s words very much depends on whether they practice what they preach. We all soon recognize the boy who cried wolf. You have the words of a father, or mother, a son or daughter, a boss or employee, a friends or professional. Your words flow from the purpose of your vocation and support the well-being of others. The speech of a Christian should reflect God’s speech to us.
The word is the Holy Spirit’s means to create and sustain faith in Christ who is the Word-become-flesh. The Scripture says, “He sends out His command to the earth; His word runs swiftly.”4 Again, “He sent out His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.”5 And again, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness, made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”6
Dear friends, the presence of Jesus is actualized through His word. Christ did not go to the centurion’s servant. Proximity (understood in human terms) neither restricts nor facilitates Jesus’ power. He healed the servant without ever meeting him face to face. Christ is as good as his word. At the baptismal font Jesus meets us face to face. His visage is hidden in the aquatic compound but His voice is heard through the audible scriptures. Our inability to see His physical presence does not erase the reality. Would we say that a blind man involved in personal conversation was not talking face to face with someone? Would we claim that a deaf woman reading braille was not coming face to face with the author? At the communion rail we see Jesus eye to eye. He is veiled in bread and wine but His body and blood are offered as life-giving food. Sight is sometimes an aid to enjoying physical food but many a delicacy is enjoyed with eyes closed. Tasting Christ in the sacrament strengthens the vision of faith.
God has sent His Word- His Son- to us. He makes good on all His promises. Christ never leaves us drowning in our sins. He hears our cries for rescue. He answers our pleas. He lifts of the burden of guilt and condemnation from us. He was crucified. He has been raised. He is enthroned over all creation. He has sent to us the Spirit. He transforms our hearts so that we can delight in His word. At the bodily resurrection the triumph over sin will be completely accomplished in us. The scales will fall from our eyes. We will not need words. Faith will be obsolete. We will meet Him face to face and see eye to eye in glory. We might enjoy meeting the centurion too! Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Second Sunday After Pentecost
29 May, 2016
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Luke 7:7
2 Luke 7:9
3 Psalm 147:15
4 Joel 2:32
5 Psalm 107:20
6 2 Corinthians 4:6
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Friday, May 27, 2016
Holy Trinity (C) 2016
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: John 7:38
Theme: ‘Flowing Into The Future’
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
The theme for the 2016 convention of the district is “Flowing into the Future”. The river is the lifeblood of our region. The thematic tie-in with Pentecost fits nicely. The Holy Spirit’s work in baptism and His subsequent toil in sanctification are “aquatic endeavors.” What does the water of baptism signify? Luther explains, “It indicates the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to life before God in righteousness and purity forever.”1 Christian living is a daily reality.
It can hardly be surprising that water is a key theme throughout the biblical narrative. God designated water as a compound that sustains life. Lack of water is symbolic of spiritual deprivation. The Spirit brooded over the face of the water at creation. God used water at the time of Noah to cleanse the earth. The Israelites crossed the Red Sea to be tested in the desert. They traversed the Jordan River to enter the Promised Land. God ordained water to be the chief element in baptism. Jesus met the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well and quenched her thirst with living water. The heavenly Jerusalem is depicted with the river of life flowing from the temple.
Calls to repentance and warning of judgment make occasional reference to water too. “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Sovereign Lord, ‘when I will send a famine through the land- not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.’”2 Could this happen to us? To transgress the 3rd Commandment (the Sabbath Day) is to despise the preaching of God’s Word. The welfare of the world’s population in the future largely depends on the management of physical water. What about spiritual water? Access to dependable water will determine where populations can expand and will be a significant factor in in contentions and disputes. Water is an essential. The Riverland depends on the flow of the Murray. The Murray doesn’t always flow. Droughts remind us we are dependent on the providence of God. What about spiritual water?
What does it mean that streams of living water will flow from the believer? Well, how gratuitous that we’re given an immediate explanation, “By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive.3 The Spirit’s activity will be unmistakable in the lives of believers. Spiritual vitality depends both on baptismal water and the continued quenching of spiritual thirst through the life-giving word. This is the work of the Spirit. Today is also Holy Trinity Sunday. We acknowledge one God in three persons; the Trinity in unity. It is a mystery beyond human comprehension. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist in a dynamic oneness, sharing one divine essence, yet as three distinct persons working in concert for our salvation.
Whenever the church meets in convention we try to assess the bigger picture and plan for the future. Where is the LCA headed? Are we flowing into the future, and if we are, what’s our salinity? Are we fresh enough to bring life to a parched land? Are we salty enough to give the flavor of God’s love to a bland culture? Are we stagnant or even flowing in reverse, as it were? These are questions for individuals and the church collectively.
We’re not without centuries of Christian history to guide us. The church has been through spiritual droughts before. It has been under persecution. It has had the mission field at its doorstep, as we do now. Did the early church have a strategic plan? Did they have a governance review? Did they even have a mission statement? What programs has the church undertaken over the centuries in order to revive itself? Have they been effective?
The early Christians carried the message of the crucified and risen Jesus wherever they went. Some were welcomed. Some were rebuffed. Some were martyred. They were not sinless or self-reliant. They needed shepherds. They were contentious, apathetic, arrogant. They were greedy, lazy, and immoral. They were like us! The people they rubbed shoulders with were like people in our society. The depravity of original sin does not change with the times.
Their entire pilgrimage involved coming to terms with this God who had come to them in human flesh. Remember the contentions that arose of Jesus’ identity today. They were Jews struggling to be Christians; or pagans struggling to be Christians. What are we? Christians struggling to remain as such? Modern secularists trying to find our way to true Christianity? Hedonists or Darwinists at heart trying to assess if we can handle being publicly labeled as followers of Jesus? Is knowledge of biblical history becoming obsolete among us? Are Adam and Eve mythical figures to us? Is Jesus a legendary hero but a modern-day has been? If we are ignorant or conviction-less about these matters can we expect unbelievers to interested or convinced?
Dear friends, the sacrifice of Christ doesn’t become less relevant over time. He is the Saviour now as He was then. His work of redemption transcends time and place. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”4 That salvation is still by grace, through faith. We’re living in an age when identity with Christianity makes one increasingly vulnerable to opposition. Jesus says, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.”5 But what could be more antithetical to worldly wisdom than to rejoice in suffering? We will find few concessions from society here. There will be little capitulation. The clash of values is acute. Suffering is to be avoided at nearly all costs. Here we face a call to integrity as believers. How deep are the inroads of cultural ideology into our hearts?
The Scripture promises suffering begets perseverance; perseverance, character; character hope. “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.”6 We live in exciting times. Challenges are mounting; but opportunities are multiplying. We have a precious treasure that’s long been part of our heritage. We have confidence in God’s word of truth. We have the shinning brilliance of sins forgiven that we can offer to a guilt-driven world. We have true freedom from the accusations of Satan, the threat of hell, and the fear of death. Christ has walked the gauntlet for us and His triumph has been achieved.
We know what’s served in the sacred meal. The shed blood of Christ; His sacrificed body, consoling, absolving, reviving us. We know our prayers do not go unanswered; the tiniest request bends His ear. We know the promises of Christ to intercede never go unfulfilled. We know the Father never errs, the Son never sleeps, the Spirit never falters. Sin cannot triumph. Confusion will give way to clarity. Doubt will be overcome with certainty. Fear will be surpassed by courage. Grief will be superseded by joy. The old order of things will pass away. Resurrected, we will see God in our own flesh- for, Jesus is the resurrection and the life.
The church is the ark of salvation. In it we navigate the stormy seas of this life. The Lord Jesus Christ is the captain and He sails us into the future. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
First Sunday After Pentecost
Holy Trinity
SA/NT District Synod
22 May, 2016
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Luther’s Small Catechism
2 Amos 8:11
3 John 7:39
4 Joel 2:32
5 Matthew 5:11-12
6 Romans 5:5
Text: John 7:38
Theme: ‘Flowing Into The Future’
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
The theme for the 2016 convention of the district is “Flowing into the Future”. The river is the lifeblood of our region. The thematic tie-in with Pentecost fits nicely. The Holy Spirit’s work in baptism and His subsequent toil in sanctification are “aquatic endeavors.” What does the water of baptism signify? Luther explains, “It indicates the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to life before God in righteousness and purity forever.”1 Christian living is a daily reality.
It can hardly be surprising that water is a key theme throughout the biblical narrative. God designated water as a compound that sustains life. Lack of water is symbolic of spiritual deprivation. The Spirit brooded over the face of the water at creation. God used water at the time of Noah to cleanse the earth. The Israelites crossed the Red Sea to be tested in the desert. They traversed the Jordan River to enter the Promised Land. God ordained water to be the chief element in baptism. Jesus met the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well and quenched her thirst with living water. The heavenly Jerusalem is depicted with the river of life flowing from the temple.
Calls to repentance and warning of judgment make occasional reference to water too. “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Sovereign Lord, ‘when I will send a famine through the land- not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.’”2 Could this happen to us? To transgress the 3rd Commandment (the Sabbath Day) is to despise the preaching of God’s Word. The welfare of the world’s population in the future largely depends on the management of physical water. What about spiritual water? Access to dependable water will determine where populations can expand and will be a significant factor in in contentions and disputes. Water is an essential. The Riverland depends on the flow of the Murray. The Murray doesn’t always flow. Droughts remind us we are dependent on the providence of God. What about spiritual water?
What does it mean that streams of living water will flow from the believer? Well, how gratuitous that we’re given an immediate explanation, “By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive.3 The Spirit’s activity will be unmistakable in the lives of believers. Spiritual vitality depends both on baptismal water and the continued quenching of spiritual thirst through the life-giving word. This is the work of the Spirit. Today is also Holy Trinity Sunday. We acknowledge one God in three persons; the Trinity in unity. It is a mystery beyond human comprehension. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist in a dynamic oneness, sharing one divine essence, yet as three distinct persons working in concert for our salvation.
Whenever the church meets in convention we try to assess the bigger picture and plan for the future. Where is the LCA headed? Are we flowing into the future, and if we are, what’s our salinity? Are we fresh enough to bring life to a parched land? Are we salty enough to give the flavor of God’s love to a bland culture? Are we stagnant or even flowing in reverse, as it were? These are questions for individuals and the church collectively.
We’re not without centuries of Christian history to guide us. The church has been through spiritual droughts before. It has been under persecution. It has had the mission field at its doorstep, as we do now. Did the early church have a strategic plan? Did they have a governance review? Did they even have a mission statement? What programs has the church undertaken over the centuries in order to revive itself? Have they been effective?
The early Christians carried the message of the crucified and risen Jesus wherever they went. Some were welcomed. Some were rebuffed. Some were martyred. They were not sinless or self-reliant. They needed shepherds. They were contentious, apathetic, arrogant. They were greedy, lazy, and immoral. They were like us! The people they rubbed shoulders with were like people in our society. The depravity of original sin does not change with the times.
Their entire pilgrimage involved coming to terms with this God who had come to them in human flesh. Remember the contentions that arose of Jesus’ identity today. They were Jews struggling to be Christians; or pagans struggling to be Christians. What are we? Christians struggling to remain as such? Modern secularists trying to find our way to true Christianity? Hedonists or Darwinists at heart trying to assess if we can handle being publicly labeled as followers of Jesus? Is knowledge of biblical history becoming obsolete among us? Are Adam and Eve mythical figures to us? Is Jesus a legendary hero but a modern-day has been? If we are ignorant or conviction-less about these matters can we expect unbelievers to interested or convinced?
Dear friends, the sacrifice of Christ doesn’t become less relevant over time. He is the Saviour now as He was then. His work of redemption transcends time and place. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”4 That salvation is still by grace, through faith. We’re living in an age when identity with Christianity makes one increasingly vulnerable to opposition. Jesus says, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.”5 But what could be more antithetical to worldly wisdom than to rejoice in suffering? We will find few concessions from society here. There will be little capitulation. The clash of values is acute. Suffering is to be avoided at nearly all costs. Here we face a call to integrity as believers. How deep are the inroads of cultural ideology into our hearts?
The Scripture promises suffering begets perseverance; perseverance, character; character hope. “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.”6 We live in exciting times. Challenges are mounting; but opportunities are multiplying. We have a precious treasure that’s long been part of our heritage. We have confidence in God’s word of truth. We have the shinning brilliance of sins forgiven that we can offer to a guilt-driven world. We have true freedom from the accusations of Satan, the threat of hell, and the fear of death. Christ has walked the gauntlet for us and His triumph has been achieved.
We know what’s served in the sacred meal. The shed blood of Christ; His sacrificed body, consoling, absolving, reviving us. We know our prayers do not go unanswered; the tiniest request bends His ear. We know the promises of Christ to intercede never go unfulfilled. We know the Father never errs, the Son never sleeps, the Spirit never falters. Sin cannot triumph. Confusion will give way to clarity. Doubt will be overcome with certainty. Fear will be surpassed by courage. Grief will be superseded by joy. The old order of things will pass away. Resurrected, we will see God in our own flesh- for, Jesus is the resurrection and the life.
The church is the ark of salvation. In it we navigate the stormy seas of this life. The Lord Jesus Christ is the captain and He sails us into the future. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
First Sunday After Pentecost
Holy Trinity
SA/NT District Synod
22 May, 2016
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Luther’s Small Catechism
2 Amos 8:11
3 John 7:39
4 Joel 2:32
5 Matthew 5:11-12
6 Romans 5:5
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Pastors' Conference Address- May 19, 2016
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Romans 10:21
Theme: Divine Forbearance
Dear Brothers, fellow stewards of the mysteries,
Who can measure the forbearance of God? Can the preacher probe this mystery? The scholar? The exegete? Is the minimalizing of God’s forbearance our primary angle as preachers to prevent laxity? Ah, yes, we know the proclivities of the flesh! If God is believed to have infinite patience what is to prevent casualness that begets apathy; apathy that begets negligence, negligence, contempt, and contempt, apostasy? Cheap grace is the mantra leveled at those who believe that faith is an active, mighty, living thing; Spirit-hewn through the promise of the gospel! We know well the concern of Erasmus!
“All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people,”1 says the Lord God. How do we assess people’s receptivity to the divine word? Luther was well-known for not mincing words. “God’s Word and grace is a passing rain shower which does not return where it once was. And you Germans need not think that you will have it forever, for ingratitude and contempt will not make it stay. Therefore, seize it and hold it fast, whoever can; for lazy hands are bound to have a lean year.”2 As Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem He warned them of judgment because they did not recognize the time of their visitation.3 “Repent!” is the decree. The day of the last visitation we do not know.
Yet, we are not occupied with speculation but with things we do know. We deal with real people, with real struggles, with real needs. They have addictions, are troubled by conflict, are burdened by confusion; they experience loves, joys, heartaches, and sorrows. They ache for the freedom truth brings. They might not know it.
So, keep planting THE seed. His seeds are parcels of divine power. The Word doesn’t lose potency. Lotus seeds dredged from peat moss bogs in China were found to be more than 800 years old. They were displayed as artifacts in museums for decades more. When planted they germinated with nearly flawless efficiency. You can google it. The Word of God does not decay with time or circumstance. The seed can remain latent and sowing should be ceaseless. Last month God gave me the humbling honour of baptizing a 95-year-old member of the parish. For me it was a ten-year project. For his wife it was 70 years in the making; an extraordinary example of divine forbearance. What more encouragement does a preacher need?
Dear brothers, don’t wait around to be recipients of unmediated encouragement. The Spirit is an accomplice of the incarnation. God uses means. He uses feeble, faulty, fraternal brothers to support one another- empathetic reciprocity in the shared work of the ministry. Brothers be patient in listening, swift in supporting, genuine in admonishing, and lavish in forgiving one another. The word will not return empty. But the word doesn’t return to us; it returns to God. The harvest isn’t stored in our treasury of accomplishments but in God’s celestial repository.
“All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people,”4 says the Lord God. How can the patience of God be measured? The father of the prodigal makes a suggestion. The colours of Christ come blazing through as the father makes a preemptive strike. The preeminence of grace comes to the fore. Compassion makes haste; running with adrenaline-fueled joy- ignoring custom, transgressing etiquette, foregoing dignity-the father embraces the son who was lost. The curator of the inheritance rushes to accept the undeserving heir- with open arms. Here the parameters divine forbearance become incarnational. Forgiveness came before the apology was spoken. What a blessed thing it is when the angst of a pending confession is slain by preemptive absolution! It is a sacred crucifixion. Those who possess it will cherish it for what it is. A resurrection always results preparing us for the bodily fulfillment of that apostolic word: “The dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive…” 5, well, you know the rest. He concludes, “Therefore encourage one another with these words.”6
Brothers, take courage, you are stewards of the mysteries. What is baptism if not the charity of divine forbearance? The Spirit condescends to our filth and washes us with heavenly holiness. What is the Sacrament of the Altar if not the food of divine forbearance? The immortal Son nurses mortals who would suffer famine without His rich supply. We are both beneficiaries and ambassadors of these gifts. Be of good cheer brothers, God loves even pastors. The mystery of God’s patience is not locked away in the inscrutable recesses of the divine will. “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, that is the word of faith we are proclaiming.”7 It is the same word you have received. THAT Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
District Pastors’ Conference
19 May, 2016
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Romans 10:21
2 Luther’s Works, AE 45:352
3 Luke 19:44
4 Romans 10:21
5 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 6 1 Thessalonians 4:18 7 Romans 10:8
Text: Romans 10:21
Theme: Divine Forbearance
Dear Brothers, fellow stewards of the mysteries,
Who can measure the forbearance of God? Can the preacher probe this mystery? The scholar? The exegete? Is the minimalizing of God’s forbearance our primary angle as preachers to prevent laxity? Ah, yes, we know the proclivities of the flesh! If God is believed to have infinite patience what is to prevent casualness that begets apathy; apathy that begets negligence, negligence, contempt, and contempt, apostasy? Cheap grace is the mantra leveled at those who believe that faith is an active, mighty, living thing; Spirit-hewn through the promise of the gospel! We know well the concern of Erasmus!
“All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people,”1 says the Lord God. How do we assess people’s receptivity to the divine word? Luther was well-known for not mincing words. “God’s Word and grace is a passing rain shower which does not return where it once was. And you Germans need not think that you will have it forever, for ingratitude and contempt will not make it stay. Therefore, seize it and hold it fast, whoever can; for lazy hands are bound to have a lean year.”2 As Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem He warned them of judgment because they did not recognize the time of their visitation.3 “Repent!” is the decree. The day of the last visitation we do not know.
Yet, we are not occupied with speculation but with things we do know. We deal with real people, with real struggles, with real needs. They have addictions, are troubled by conflict, are burdened by confusion; they experience loves, joys, heartaches, and sorrows. They ache for the freedom truth brings. They might not know it.
So, keep planting THE seed. His seeds are parcels of divine power. The Word doesn’t lose potency. Lotus seeds dredged from peat moss bogs in China were found to be more than 800 years old. They were displayed as artifacts in museums for decades more. When planted they germinated with nearly flawless efficiency. You can google it. The Word of God does not decay with time or circumstance. The seed can remain latent and sowing should be ceaseless. Last month God gave me the humbling honour of baptizing a 95-year-old member of the parish. For me it was a ten-year project. For his wife it was 70 years in the making; an extraordinary example of divine forbearance. What more encouragement does a preacher need?
Dear brothers, don’t wait around to be recipients of unmediated encouragement. The Spirit is an accomplice of the incarnation. God uses means. He uses feeble, faulty, fraternal brothers to support one another- empathetic reciprocity in the shared work of the ministry. Brothers be patient in listening, swift in supporting, genuine in admonishing, and lavish in forgiving one another. The word will not return empty. But the word doesn’t return to us; it returns to God. The harvest isn’t stored in our treasury of accomplishments but in God’s celestial repository.
“All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people,”4 says the Lord God. How can the patience of God be measured? The father of the prodigal makes a suggestion. The colours of Christ come blazing through as the father makes a preemptive strike. The preeminence of grace comes to the fore. Compassion makes haste; running with adrenaline-fueled joy- ignoring custom, transgressing etiquette, foregoing dignity-the father embraces the son who was lost. The curator of the inheritance rushes to accept the undeserving heir- with open arms. Here the parameters divine forbearance become incarnational. Forgiveness came before the apology was spoken. What a blessed thing it is when the angst of a pending confession is slain by preemptive absolution! It is a sacred crucifixion. Those who possess it will cherish it for what it is. A resurrection always results preparing us for the bodily fulfillment of that apostolic word: “The dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive…” 5, well, you know the rest. He concludes, “Therefore encourage one another with these words.”6
Brothers, take courage, you are stewards of the mysteries. What is baptism if not the charity of divine forbearance? The Spirit condescends to our filth and washes us with heavenly holiness. What is the Sacrament of the Altar if not the food of divine forbearance? The immortal Son nurses mortals who would suffer famine without His rich supply. We are both beneficiaries and ambassadors of these gifts. Be of good cheer brothers, God loves even pastors. The mystery of God’s patience is not locked away in the inscrutable recesses of the divine will. “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, that is the word of faith we are proclaiming.”7 It is the same word you have received. THAT Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
District Pastors’ Conference
19 May, 2016
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Romans 10:21
2 Luther’s Works, AE 45:352
3 Luke 19:44
4 Romans 10:21
5 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 6 1 Thessalonians 4:18 7 Romans 10:8
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Day of Pentecost 2016
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Acts 2:4
Theme: Filled With The Holy Spirit
Dear Saints of our Risen Lord,
What a commotion it was! The utterances of God being proclaimed in all these different tongues! Some thought it was due to intoxication but they soon found out it meant liberation. It was a phenomenal event never witnessed before and never matched since. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the apostles at Pentecost was more than just a showy event in the biblical narrative. It was the fulfillment of Christ’s promise to the church until the end of time. The Spirit was unleashed. The tongues of the apostles were loosed. The triune God reveals the truth about Himself in the Son and through the Spirit. His self-disclosure brings light into a very dark world. Where the Spirit soars life ascends to the praise of its Maker.
But old habits die hard and established perceptions are often very hard to alter. Politics is proof of that. Once caricatured, reputations can be difficult to amend. The truth is often compromised. Misunderstandings about God can also be notoriously challenging to dispel. Popular opinion can be more influential than credible witness. Fact and fiction are blurred. The perception of the disciples at Pentecost was that they were drunk. In reality they were now ambassadors of the most sobering truth ever told: “God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”1
As we celebrate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit we recognize that many false perceptions remain regarding His person and work. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, fully God. His is a dynamic work of convicting, converting, and convincing. Through the gospel He engenders faith in Christ and sanctifies those He has converted. The Holy Spirit is not like an inanimate asset that you can store away in your safety deposit box. Nor is the Holy Spirit like the Lone Ranger, a loose cannon, unpredictable, volatile, and fickle. The Holy Spirit is transparent with His agenda. He has no hidden motives. Pentecost is still about Jesus.
Today Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the “Spirit of truth.”2 Previously He had said to the Jewish believers “If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”3 Here’s where the Spirit’s work becomes absolutely essential. You see, we don’t have the means or even the inclination to free ourselves. We don’t even fully understand what it means to be under the rule of sin. We might be familiar with sin’s particularly undesirable consequences. We know what it means to suffer pain, to feel heartache, to endure loss. We struggle with doubt, dishonesty, jealousy, and addiction. We may have, at least, a cognitive recognition of our mortality. We may be quick to complain and cry foul when we are sinned against. Yes, from these consequences we may be yearning to be freed.
But what about those indulgences which might appear to be for our benefit? Do we long to be freed from self-centeredness? Do we ache to have our selfish will ignored and let God’s will be done? Do we recognize greed as bondage, lust as slavery, egotism as idolatry? Do we realize that locating our purpose and meaning in life in anything other than God is captivity? The Scripture says, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them.”4
The Spirit swiftly convicts us and call us to repentance. And this repentance, though it’s a movement within our heart and our will, is actually gifted to us from without. He brings the dead to life. Only in His light can we see darkness for what it is. And so, here we are, with Luther, confessing that we are unable to believe on our own because those powers are far beyond us. What comfort these words of Jesus must have been to the apostles, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever- the Spirit of truth.”5
The Holy Spirit, because He is the giver of life, calls us from spiritual death and constantly revives our fainting soul. The Holy Spirit, because He is the Spirit of truth will instruct us in no other teaching than that of the prophetic and apostolic scriptures. The Holy Spirit, because He is the Comforter, will console us with no other hope than the forgiveness of sins we have Jesus, the Christ. The Holy Spirit, because He is the illuminator of divine grace, will light no other path for us than the road to Calvary. The Holy Spirit, because He is also serves at the sacred table, will nourish us with no other food than the body and blood of the Saviour. The Holy Spirit, because He knows the mind of God, will tune our desires only to be in harmony with the will of the Almighty. The Holy Spirit will never lead us astray; only Satan does that.
People often worry or fret about whether God is calling them to do this or wanting them to do that. Does the Holy Spirit want me to move here or go there; to take this job or that? Should I follow this path; invest these resources; pursue this goal; expend this energy? Is this relationship in my best interests? People look for signs and then try to assess whether those signs are valid. Most affirmations are foregone conclusions. We often see the sign we want to see and disregard the rest.
But because we make decisions every day, these are not unimportant matters. The Scriptures are clear: We have freedom within the parameters of God’s revealed will to engage in whatever He countenances. We need not agonize over making a right or wrong choice when either option is equally valid. The details are left to our discretion; arrived at by prayer, sanctified common sense, and the advice of trustworthy people. The Bible does not teach fatalism or determinism. God is always honoured when we seek to please Him out of faith.
Most importantly, we need not wonder what God’s ultimate will for us is. We are baptized. A cross has been raised and the Son of God has been hung upon it. The sacrifice is complete. Sin is atoned for. The tomb was found empty. Jesus proved Himself alive. He intercedes for us before the throne. The Holy Spirit was sent so that in Christ we could know the love of the Father. There is no partitioning of the agenda of the Trinity. From baptism to bodily resurrection God brings to completion His work in believers.
On Pentecost the small band of the faithful was sent out with a world-changing mission. That mission continues today. The sinful habits of the human race die hard. Caricatures about sin and grace, good and evil, heaven and hell will always occupy the psyche of the unbelieving world. But against these the Holy Spirit always advances the truth. May God confirm in your hearts these words of His apostle, one who was there on Pentecost, “This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.”6 Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
The Day of Pentecost
15 May, 2016
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Romans 5:8
2 John 14:17
3 John 8:31-32
4 1 Corinthians 2:14
5 John 14:16-17
6 1 John 4:2
Text: Acts 2:4
Theme: Filled With The Holy Spirit
Dear Saints of our Risen Lord,
What a commotion it was! The utterances of God being proclaimed in all these different tongues! Some thought it was due to intoxication but they soon found out it meant liberation. It was a phenomenal event never witnessed before and never matched since. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the apostles at Pentecost was more than just a showy event in the biblical narrative. It was the fulfillment of Christ’s promise to the church until the end of time. The Spirit was unleashed. The tongues of the apostles were loosed. The triune God reveals the truth about Himself in the Son and through the Spirit. His self-disclosure brings light into a very dark world. Where the Spirit soars life ascends to the praise of its Maker.
But old habits die hard and established perceptions are often very hard to alter. Politics is proof of that. Once caricatured, reputations can be difficult to amend. The truth is often compromised. Misunderstandings about God can also be notoriously challenging to dispel. Popular opinion can be more influential than credible witness. Fact and fiction are blurred. The perception of the disciples at Pentecost was that they were drunk. In reality they were now ambassadors of the most sobering truth ever told: “God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”1
As we celebrate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit we recognize that many false perceptions remain regarding His person and work. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, fully God. His is a dynamic work of convicting, converting, and convincing. Through the gospel He engenders faith in Christ and sanctifies those He has converted. The Holy Spirit is not like an inanimate asset that you can store away in your safety deposit box. Nor is the Holy Spirit like the Lone Ranger, a loose cannon, unpredictable, volatile, and fickle. The Holy Spirit is transparent with His agenda. He has no hidden motives. Pentecost is still about Jesus.
Today Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the “Spirit of truth.”2 Previously He had said to the Jewish believers “If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”3 Here’s where the Spirit’s work becomes absolutely essential. You see, we don’t have the means or even the inclination to free ourselves. We don’t even fully understand what it means to be under the rule of sin. We might be familiar with sin’s particularly undesirable consequences. We know what it means to suffer pain, to feel heartache, to endure loss. We struggle with doubt, dishonesty, jealousy, and addiction. We may have, at least, a cognitive recognition of our mortality. We may be quick to complain and cry foul when we are sinned against. Yes, from these consequences we may be yearning to be freed.
But what about those indulgences which might appear to be for our benefit? Do we long to be freed from self-centeredness? Do we ache to have our selfish will ignored and let God’s will be done? Do we recognize greed as bondage, lust as slavery, egotism as idolatry? Do we realize that locating our purpose and meaning in life in anything other than God is captivity? The Scripture says, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them.”4
The Spirit swiftly convicts us and call us to repentance. And this repentance, though it’s a movement within our heart and our will, is actually gifted to us from without. He brings the dead to life. Only in His light can we see darkness for what it is. And so, here we are, with Luther, confessing that we are unable to believe on our own because those powers are far beyond us. What comfort these words of Jesus must have been to the apostles, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever- the Spirit of truth.”5
The Holy Spirit, because He is the giver of life, calls us from spiritual death and constantly revives our fainting soul. The Holy Spirit, because He is the Spirit of truth will instruct us in no other teaching than that of the prophetic and apostolic scriptures. The Holy Spirit, because He is the Comforter, will console us with no other hope than the forgiveness of sins we have Jesus, the Christ. The Holy Spirit, because He is the illuminator of divine grace, will light no other path for us than the road to Calvary. The Holy Spirit, because He is also serves at the sacred table, will nourish us with no other food than the body and blood of the Saviour. The Holy Spirit, because He knows the mind of God, will tune our desires only to be in harmony with the will of the Almighty. The Holy Spirit will never lead us astray; only Satan does that.
People often worry or fret about whether God is calling them to do this or wanting them to do that. Does the Holy Spirit want me to move here or go there; to take this job or that? Should I follow this path; invest these resources; pursue this goal; expend this energy? Is this relationship in my best interests? People look for signs and then try to assess whether those signs are valid. Most affirmations are foregone conclusions. We often see the sign we want to see and disregard the rest.
But because we make decisions every day, these are not unimportant matters. The Scriptures are clear: We have freedom within the parameters of God’s revealed will to engage in whatever He countenances. We need not agonize over making a right or wrong choice when either option is equally valid. The details are left to our discretion; arrived at by prayer, sanctified common sense, and the advice of trustworthy people. The Bible does not teach fatalism or determinism. God is always honoured when we seek to please Him out of faith.
Most importantly, we need not wonder what God’s ultimate will for us is. We are baptized. A cross has been raised and the Son of God has been hung upon it. The sacrifice is complete. Sin is atoned for. The tomb was found empty. Jesus proved Himself alive. He intercedes for us before the throne. The Holy Spirit was sent so that in Christ we could know the love of the Father. There is no partitioning of the agenda of the Trinity. From baptism to bodily resurrection God brings to completion His work in believers.
On Pentecost the small band of the faithful was sent out with a world-changing mission. That mission continues today. The sinful habits of the human race die hard. Caricatures about sin and grace, good and evil, heaven and hell will always occupy the psyche of the unbelieving world. But against these the Holy Spirit always advances the truth. May God confirm in your hearts these words of His apostle, one who was there on Pentecost, “This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.”6 Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
The Day of Pentecost
15 May, 2016
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Romans 5:8
2 John 14:17
3 John 8:31-32
4 1 Corinthians 2:14
5 John 14:16-17
6 1 John 4:2
Monday, May 9, 2016
Seventh Sunday of Easter (C) 2016
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: John 17:20
Theme: Future Faith
Dear Saints of our Risen Lord,
Heaven is not a remote, confined location. Heaven is the dimension of God’s unmediated presence- as close as the person sitting next to you. Forty days after His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ ascended bodily into heaven. The parting promise to His disciples was that He would return in the same manner in which He had left. His return will bring to an end existence in this fallen world. He will come again not to atone for sins, but to gather to Himself those who believe. The Scripture says, “Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.”1 In this context, “to bring salvation” does not mean to proclaim the gospel, but to deliver believers from this world of sorrow to the bliss of eternity.
Meanwhile, as the church eagerly and confidently awaits His bodily and glorious return, the challenges of this world must be faced. The scope and influence of the Christian church in the future is beyond our knowing. What plans God has ordained for the nature and size of His church is a mystery that is revealed to us only as it happens. But this much we know with certainty: The word of God will accomplish its purposes and future believers will be gathered into the fold. Jesus prays today saying, “My prayer is not for them alone (the disciples). I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message.”2 This general promise of future faith is realized in the specific details of the Holy Spirit’s work.
The church is entrusted with the means by which faith is created and nurtured, and is charged with being diligent in administering these gifts. The Augsburg Confession says, “In order to obtain this faith, the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the sacraments was instituted. For through the Word and sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Spirit is given, and the Holy Spirit produces faith, where and when it pleases God, in those who hear the Gospel.”3 The Holy Spirit converts and sanctifies and He is pleased to do it through the Word of God committed to the church.
Here we must come to terms with some fixed realities. Firstly, we are born in a state of condemnation. We are not born in a state of faith, but in a state of unbelief. That is the upshot of original sin. Left to ourselves, we are certainly lost for eternity. Secondly, even as believers, we do not have the luxury of playing fast and loose with God’s will. Nor do we have the leverage to negotiate or manipulate or even plea bargain. Going ahead with our sin, and planning to repent later, or arguing about exactly what constitutes a transgression of God’s will and what doesn’t only seems make headway from our perspective. In reality it’s like standing on the brow of the Titanic dreaming of a joyous reunion. Denial doesn’t change reality. It’s playing with fire. We are not in control.
And, thanks be to God that we are not in control! Salvation is by grace through faith. It is the work of God for us. Then we see that the living of our baptismal life mirrors our justification. Our growth in the faith, our place in the church here and now, our role in living Christ-like lives is molded, shaped and directed by the Word and Spirit. It is a life filled with joys, challenges and surprises. It is a life under the freedom of the gospel. We must understand that the details of our service to God are in His hands.
Today is the Sunday after the Ascension. Next Sunday is Pentecost. Fifty days after the resurrection the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the disciples. And so begins the season of the church year in which we focus on living in the grace that is freely ours through Jesus Christ. In other words, the fact of our conversion- our being brought to the faith through Holy Baptism by the gospel- is worked out in our daily routine of living before God.
The church grows spiritually and adds new souls as it continues to center its life around the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Life under the cross becomes not flippant and frivolous but focused and confident. Baptismal living is not aimless but purposeful. In Christ we learn the reason we exist. We have specific vocations in the real world. As we engage the challenges of sin we know the power rests with Christ. The Scripture says, “If Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies.”4
Under the humility of the cross, but with confidence in the message of the cross, the Christian church must continue to let the world know that Christ has been sent from the Father and salvation is found only in Him. Everyday your lips and your lives attest to this message. We are the body of Christ in this place and within this community. What is your Christian vocation? You are not Paul. You are not an apostle. You may not stand before kings or councils as did Luther. But you are called to be a faithful witness of Christ to your spouse, your children, your grandchildren, your parents, your friends, your boss, your co-worker; perhaps most importantly to people you don’t even like or even know. Will you be flawless in your witness? No! Will you often fail? Yes! If you didn’t your claim to be a Christian would be a sham. Does your seemingly small part matter? Yes; in absolutely every way. For Christ working through you will not fail. And this makes an eternal difference.
As Christians, we cannot be self-fashioned individuals going our own way. We are members of a living organism with Christ as the head. In unity of heart and mind we move forward in Christ’s mission. Resources must be ventured. Opportunities must be seized. Failures must be recognized. Transgressions must be repented of. Trust must be maintained. Love must prevail. Truth must always be adhered to. Forgiveness must always be sought and applied and believed. Christ seeks not a utopia on earth, but that on earth sinners may be shown the gate of heaven. One day all believers will trace the path of His ascension. Heaven is where Christ has already banished sin. It is our future.
Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Seventh Sunday of Easter
8 May, 2016
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Hebrews 9:28
2 John 17:20
3 The Augsburg Confession, Article V
4 Romans 8:10-11
Text: John 17:20
Theme: Future Faith
Dear Saints of our Risen Lord,
Heaven is not a remote, confined location. Heaven is the dimension of God’s unmediated presence- as close as the person sitting next to you. Forty days after His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ ascended bodily into heaven. The parting promise to His disciples was that He would return in the same manner in which He had left. His return will bring to an end existence in this fallen world. He will come again not to atone for sins, but to gather to Himself those who believe. The Scripture says, “Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.”1 In this context, “to bring salvation” does not mean to proclaim the gospel, but to deliver believers from this world of sorrow to the bliss of eternity.
Meanwhile, as the church eagerly and confidently awaits His bodily and glorious return, the challenges of this world must be faced. The scope and influence of the Christian church in the future is beyond our knowing. What plans God has ordained for the nature and size of His church is a mystery that is revealed to us only as it happens. But this much we know with certainty: The word of God will accomplish its purposes and future believers will be gathered into the fold. Jesus prays today saying, “My prayer is not for them alone (the disciples). I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message.”2 This general promise of future faith is realized in the specific details of the Holy Spirit’s work.
The church is entrusted with the means by which faith is created and nurtured, and is charged with being diligent in administering these gifts. The Augsburg Confession says, “In order to obtain this faith, the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the sacraments was instituted. For through the Word and sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Spirit is given, and the Holy Spirit produces faith, where and when it pleases God, in those who hear the Gospel.”3 The Holy Spirit converts and sanctifies and He is pleased to do it through the Word of God committed to the church.
Here we must come to terms with some fixed realities. Firstly, we are born in a state of condemnation. We are not born in a state of faith, but in a state of unbelief. That is the upshot of original sin. Left to ourselves, we are certainly lost for eternity. Secondly, even as believers, we do not have the luxury of playing fast and loose with God’s will. Nor do we have the leverage to negotiate or manipulate or even plea bargain. Going ahead with our sin, and planning to repent later, or arguing about exactly what constitutes a transgression of God’s will and what doesn’t only seems make headway from our perspective. In reality it’s like standing on the brow of the Titanic dreaming of a joyous reunion. Denial doesn’t change reality. It’s playing with fire. We are not in control.
And, thanks be to God that we are not in control! Salvation is by grace through faith. It is the work of God for us. Then we see that the living of our baptismal life mirrors our justification. Our growth in the faith, our place in the church here and now, our role in living Christ-like lives is molded, shaped and directed by the Word and Spirit. It is a life filled with joys, challenges and surprises. It is a life under the freedom of the gospel. We must understand that the details of our service to God are in His hands.
Today is the Sunday after the Ascension. Next Sunday is Pentecost. Fifty days after the resurrection the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the disciples. And so begins the season of the church year in which we focus on living in the grace that is freely ours through Jesus Christ. In other words, the fact of our conversion- our being brought to the faith through Holy Baptism by the gospel- is worked out in our daily routine of living before God.
The church grows spiritually and adds new souls as it continues to center its life around the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Life under the cross becomes not flippant and frivolous but focused and confident. Baptismal living is not aimless but purposeful. In Christ we learn the reason we exist. We have specific vocations in the real world. As we engage the challenges of sin we know the power rests with Christ. The Scripture says, “If Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies.”4
Under the humility of the cross, but with confidence in the message of the cross, the Christian church must continue to let the world know that Christ has been sent from the Father and salvation is found only in Him. Everyday your lips and your lives attest to this message. We are the body of Christ in this place and within this community. What is your Christian vocation? You are not Paul. You are not an apostle. You may not stand before kings or councils as did Luther. But you are called to be a faithful witness of Christ to your spouse, your children, your grandchildren, your parents, your friends, your boss, your co-worker; perhaps most importantly to people you don’t even like or even know. Will you be flawless in your witness? No! Will you often fail? Yes! If you didn’t your claim to be a Christian would be a sham. Does your seemingly small part matter? Yes; in absolutely every way. For Christ working through you will not fail. And this makes an eternal difference.
As Christians, we cannot be self-fashioned individuals going our own way. We are members of a living organism with Christ as the head. In unity of heart and mind we move forward in Christ’s mission. Resources must be ventured. Opportunities must be seized. Failures must be recognized. Transgressions must be repented of. Trust must be maintained. Love must prevail. Truth must always be adhered to. Forgiveness must always be sought and applied and believed. Christ seeks not a utopia on earth, but that on earth sinners may be shown the gate of heaven. One day all believers will trace the path of His ascension. Heaven is where Christ has already banished sin. It is our future.
Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Seventh Sunday of Easter
8 May, 2016
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Hebrews 9:28
2 John 17:20
3 The Augsburg Confession, Article V
4 Romans 8:10-11
Monday, May 2, 2016
Sixth Sunday of Easter (C) 2016
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: John 14:27
Theme: Divine Peace
Dear Saints of our Risen Lord,
Christ gives a peace that the world cannot give. This is no trivial promise. You cannot give something you do not have. The world does not possess this peace. The world can strive for cessation of hostilities among nations, it can work toward economic and cultural stability, it can offer armament for personal safety- and it should pursue these things. But it cannot give the peace that passes all understanding. His peace steadies the heart and consoles the soul. It does so even when life crumbles and collapses all around because Christ is immortal, immovable, immutable: He is incarnate love.
Pentecost draws near. The Lord makes careful reference to the Holy Spirit today. The disciples need the motive and the means to be steeled with tenacity. Presently they are timid and filled with uncertainty. They are not at peace. The ascension is at hand. The heavenly coronation of their Master seems too remote to give them courage. How will they cope? Jesus promises the sending of the Spirit. The disciples cannot conjure the Spirit, as by some pious, but magical incantation. He- the Spirit- gathers them from the darkness.
As God, He comes from God. The Spirit does not proceed from the church. He is not the collective consciousness of believers. The Spirit creates the church through the word. The Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. The Scriptures are the Spirit’s words as much as they are Christ’s words. The Spirit speaks. And He speaks only for the purpose of making known the Son so that all who know the Son may know the love of the Father as well. The Holy Spirit does not circumvent the public record of the divine will. The Holy Scriptures are that record: The books of the Old and New Testaments of the prophets and apostles. The Spirit does not run a clandestine operation. He speaks openly through the word.
Dear friends, it’s only through God’s word that we can truly know what threatens us and where we find help. We live in a culture that increasingly exalts science and downplays sin. If evil is not real, if judgment is not certain, if hell is not substantive, then we are wasting our time being concerned with forgiveness, grace, and salvation. If the justice of God will not be rendered, we might as well kick back with levity and frivolity and invite Epicurus to dinner. Perhaps that’s why so few are in church on any given Lord’s Day. If sin is only a projection of inadequate sensitivity to others there would be no need for the peace that the world cannot give. There would be no need for grace. The church could then become a philanthropic society helping to improve life only in the here and now. There would finally be nothing to be saved from. There’s no need for a Redeemer when a therapist or breadwinner can meet your most critical needs. Ah, but what needs are really most critical?
Should the conviction prevail that human crises are really so shallow then we will find ourselves in a parallel situation to that which Paul describes when he says, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.”1 If we believe we only need some guidance, aid, or protection, to help us journey through this life more easily we are to be pitied for missing the deepest challenges and opportunities of existence.
Ignorance is not bliss. Not when Satan is the headmaster. Under his tutelage there is no distinguishing between heaven and hell, there is no contrast between light and darkness, there is no distinction between love and hate because all under his power are blinded by the first deception, the promise made to Eve in the Garden, “You will be like God.”2 Dear friends, the eternal Son of God did not breach time and space in abject humility to wipe our runny noses and entertain us with cups of tea. He came to prepare us for the heavenly banquet and wipe away the tears caused by sin and death. Christ has been crucified and raised to life for us and for our salvation.
It’s easy to worry about the decline of Christianity in our culture today. But would Noah agree with the lament that too few are in church? He was one of only eight on the ark. Would Elijah resonate with the concern? Only 7000 believers remained in all of Israel3 How many attended the service on the cross that first Good Friday. A handful? We need not despair. For the sake of the elect the days will be shortened. The One who had triumphed over death says, “Take heart! I have overcome the world.”4
The world we live in is a world that needs Christ. What can you do? Aaron and Hur propped up the arms of Moses as he held the staff of God in his hand. Only Moses could hold the staff. But others bore the weight that was too much for him to bear. You cannot carry the cross of another but you can be the support that eases their burden. Jesus says those who offer a cup of cold water will not lose their reward. Who dare to challenge His words? You can do nothing at all apart from Him; nothing godly and spiritual, that is. But with Him and through Him you can do all things. You can move mountains because He is the mover. You can remain unmoved when Satan blows through like a tempest because He is the anchor. You can run into the fray when others run for cover because He bears your armor. You can press through the darkness because He is the light of the world. You can touch lepers because his blood cleanses from all sin.
Dear friends, Luther reminds us in his teaching on the Lord’s Prayer that the kingdom of God comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit5. Where the Spirit is there is life. Though our physical frames will succumb to the power of death, we already have spiritual life that cannot be defeated. God’s promises will all come to fulfillment. The trumpet will sound. The valley of dry bones will become a festal gathering of the heavenly banquet. The Jordan will swell into the river of life. The desert of the Negev will be transformed into a new paradise. The faithful will rise. The brave and the timid, the weak and the strong, and those who were always too tender for this harsh and cruel world. And you will stand among them, lifted by the Spirit, beholding the Son face to face. You will have peace. Amen.
Christ is risen. Alleluia!
He is Risen, indeed. Alleluia!
+ In nomine Jesu +
Sixth Sunday of Easter
1 May, 2016
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 1 Corinthians 15:17-19
2 Genesis 3:5
3 See 1 Kings 19:17
4 John 16:33
5 See Luther’s Small Catechism
Text: John 14:27
Theme: Divine Peace
Dear Saints of our Risen Lord,
Christ gives a peace that the world cannot give. This is no trivial promise. You cannot give something you do not have. The world does not possess this peace. The world can strive for cessation of hostilities among nations, it can work toward economic and cultural stability, it can offer armament for personal safety- and it should pursue these things. But it cannot give the peace that passes all understanding. His peace steadies the heart and consoles the soul. It does so even when life crumbles and collapses all around because Christ is immortal, immovable, immutable: He is incarnate love.
Pentecost draws near. The Lord makes careful reference to the Holy Spirit today. The disciples need the motive and the means to be steeled with tenacity. Presently they are timid and filled with uncertainty. They are not at peace. The ascension is at hand. The heavenly coronation of their Master seems too remote to give them courage. How will they cope? Jesus promises the sending of the Spirit. The disciples cannot conjure the Spirit, as by some pious, but magical incantation. He- the Spirit- gathers them from the darkness.
As God, He comes from God. The Spirit does not proceed from the church. He is not the collective consciousness of believers. The Spirit creates the church through the word. The Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. The Scriptures are the Spirit’s words as much as they are Christ’s words. The Spirit speaks. And He speaks only for the purpose of making known the Son so that all who know the Son may know the love of the Father as well. The Holy Spirit does not circumvent the public record of the divine will. The Holy Scriptures are that record: The books of the Old and New Testaments of the prophets and apostles. The Spirit does not run a clandestine operation. He speaks openly through the word.
Dear friends, it’s only through God’s word that we can truly know what threatens us and where we find help. We live in a culture that increasingly exalts science and downplays sin. If evil is not real, if judgment is not certain, if hell is not substantive, then we are wasting our time being concerned with forgiveness, grace, and salvation. If the justice of God will not be rendered, we might as well kick back with levity and frivolity and invite Epicurus to dinner. Perhaps that’s why so few are in church on any given Lord’s Day. If sin is only a projection of inadequate sensitivity to others there would be no need for the peace that the world cannot give. There would be no need for grace. The church could then become a philanthropic society helping to improve life only in the here and now. There would finally be nothing to be saved from. There’s no need for a Redeemer when a therapist or breadwinner can meet your most critical needs. Ah, but what needs are really most critical?
Should the conviction prevail that human crises are really so shallow then we will find ourselves in a parallel situation to that which Paul describes when he says, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.”1 If we believe we only need some guidance, aid, or protection, to help us journey through this life more easily we are to be pitied for missing the deepest challenges and opportunities of existence.
Ignorance is not bliss. Not when Satan is the headmaster. Under his tutelage there is no distinguishing between heaven and hell, there is no contrast between light and darkness, there is no distinction between love and hate because all under his power are blinded by the first deception, the promise made to Eve in the Garden, “You will be like God.”2 Dear friends, the eternal Son of God did not breach time and space in abject humility to wipe our runny noses and entertain us with cups of tea. He came to prepare us for the heavenly banquet and wipe away the tears caused by sin and death. Christ has been crucified and raised to life for us and for our salvation.
It’s easy to worry about the decline of Christianity in our culture today. But would Noah agree with the lament that too few are in church? He was one of only eight on the ark. Would Elijah resonate with the concern? Only 7000 believers remained in all of Israel3 How many attended the service on the cross that first Good Friday. A handful? We need not despair. For the sake of the elect the days will be shortened. The One who had triumphed over death says, “Take heart! I have overcome the world.”4
The world we live in is a world that needs Christ. What can you do? Aaron and Hur propped up the arms of Moses as he held the staff of God in his hand. Only Moses could hold the staff. But others bore the weight that was too much for him to bear. You cannot carry the cross of another but you can be the support that eases their burden. Jesus says those who offer a cup of cold water will not lose their reward. Who dare to challenge His words? You can do nothing at all apart from Him; nothing godly and spiritual, that is. But with Him and through Him you can do all things. You can move mountains because He is the mover. You can remain unmoved when Satan blows through like a tempest because He is the anchor. You can run into the fray when others run for cover because He bears your armor. You can press through the darkness because He is the light of the world. You can touch lepers because his blood cleanses from all sin.
Dear friends, Luther reminds us in his teaching on the Lord’s Prayer that the kingdom of God comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit5. Where the Spirit is there is life. Though our physical frames will succumb to the power of death, we already have spiritual life that cannot be defeated. God’s promises will all come to fulfillment. The trumpet will sound. The valley of dry bones will become a festal gathering of the heavenly banquet. The Jordan will swell into the river of life. The desert of the Negev will be transformed into a new paradise. The faithful will rise. The brave and the timid, the weak and the strong, and those who were always too tender for this harsh and cruel world. And you will stand among them, lifted by the Spirit, beholding the Son face to face. You will have peace. Amen.
Christ is risen. Alleluia!
He is Risen, indeed. Alleluia!
+ In nomine Jesu +
Sixth Sunday of Easter
1 May, 2016
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 1 Corinthians 15:17-19
2 Genesis 3:5
3 See 1 Kings 19:17
4 John 16:33
5 See Luther’s Small Catechism
Monday, April 25, 2016
Fifth Sunday of Easter (C) 2016
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: John 13:31-34
Theme: Glorified In Love
Dear Saints of our Risen Lord,
Love is the greatest1, so says the apostle. There could scarcely be a more commonly used term in modern Christianity than love. Love lies at the heart and centre of the Bible and our understanding of God and His will in Christ. Jesus said to His disciples, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”2 God’s love is all-pervading. It is the fabric that makes the existence of life possible. God’s love of the sinner is also unconditional. Without it we would perish eternally.
Yet, the commonplace use of the word love- we employ it with great latitude- leaves it open to misunderstanding. Distinctions are necessary. Context can be the key to those distinctions. Context is often a very reliable tool for discerning the intended meaning of a word or phrase. Contextual interpretation often happens intuitively by the participants in or witnesses to any particular conversation. For example, if at a wedding reception the groom says he loves his wife, and then in the next breath says he loves the genre of music chosen for their celebration, it hardly needs to be explained that His use of the word love is not the same in each circumstance. No one will be confused about whether he loves hip-hop music more than his bride. At least we’d hope, or the marriage is off to a precarious start!
So, what about love in relation to God? Danger ensues when we attempt to impose our understandings, as accepted and common as they may be, over God’s divine truths. If we’re going to operate under our own definitions of love (or of other concepts relating to human behavior and belief) then we’d better be very certain of how those definitions compare with Scripture. Otherwise, whether it’s intentionally, or unwittingly, we will find ourselves in direct conflict with the divine will. And that will always have consequences both in the present life and the life to come. God’s clear decrees and the Bible’s unambiguous truths are not subject to contextual reinterpretation to fit even our well-intentioned motives. Idolatry, for example, isn’t just wrong in certain contexts. It’s always a fundamental transgression of God’s will.
One of the powers and consequences of sin is that over time it impairs our vision and judgment. It’s essential that the Holy Spirit continually, rebuke, reform, and restore us through the word. Otherwise, human opinions inevitably replace divine truths. Then God’s word seems radically out of step. First Century Roman culture was so steeped in a polytheistic mindset they just couldn’t fathom the claim that there was only one true God. They were even prepared to make a place for this Jewish Messiah. But to worship Him alone was unthinkable. So deeply ingrained was their polytheistic thinking that while speaking at the Areopagus Paul makes reference to their altar built to “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.”3
Today our society is becoming indoctrinated with a materialist understanding of reality and with relativistic ideology pertaining to the dynamic of all human relationships. A pure materialist doesn’t believe there is a spiritual realm at all. Existence is made up only of combinations of atoms and their smaller components. Though not everything is currently observable, it is believed to be “scientifically” discoverable and measurable. The actual creation of matter becomes an unanswerable dilemma for the materialist. Relativism is the belief that there are no absolute truths. Everything is subjective and valued only according to context. What one individual or society holds to be valuable has no objective merit to those who hold a different view. It’s not hard to see how love is stretched to its relativistic limits.
Biblically, love embraces both grace and justice. It is broader than those two realities considered separately. To be outside of Christ is to be outside of grace but not outside of justice. To incur God’s wrath through final, willful impenitence (that is, steadfast rejection of God and denial of the guilt of sin until the day of death) does not mean that God is no longer a God of love. God remains who He says He is. We cannot vindicate ourselves by trying to shift the blame to God. Not one person of any time in history, of any circumstance of prosperity or adversity, of any degree of faithfulness or denial, has been or will ever be outside of God’s justice. The Scripture says, “We will all stand before God’s judgment seat.”4
Love requires the demands of the law to be met: “Love is the fulfillment of the law.”5 At the same time love meets those demands. But it happens in a very particular way. Christ is the only one that fulfills those requirements. He is Love. But, let us not think these things can be fully understood by human intellect. They are ultimately matters of faith. The sheer immensity of God’s threatening presence in His words of warning (think here of God being referred to as consuming fire6) can only be understood by the unconverted or unrepentant person as a tactic of intimidation. God appears to be a tyrant, unreasonable and unable to be satisfied. What’s the use in trying to please Him?
On the other hand, who could understand that this God who cannot be pacified by humans would sacrifice His own Son! The Holy Spirit is required for us to believe that. The cross wasn’t very glorious from a human perspective. Yet it was God’s definitive revelation of love. The broken, beaten, wounded, dying Jesus fastened to this macabre instrument of death is the very image of God’s heart. Here justice was rendered. Here grace triumphed. Here, and nowhere else, in no other act, in no other way, was the means to balance the divine equation. In financial terms it was the avoidance of bankruptcy with full impunity. The saving love of God simply isn’t available to us apart from the cross. The risen Jesus now lives to serve us.
Baptism is the point the unconditional love of God first becomes accessible to us. In this promise of water and the word the Holy Spirit brings us into true relationship with the crucified and risen Christ through faith. The baptismal font is the point of departure from Satan’s domain and the place entry into the inheritance of the triune God. We leave the chaotic waters of unbelief where we are tossed about by every wave of human opinion and we find safe haven in the ark of salvation. God will see us through to the end. And the “end”, heaven, is really just the beginning.
John describes heaven today by listing key things that have been abolished. “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”7 We have no direct frame of reference to understand how fantastic the new creation will be. But we can certainly relate to the experience of suffering in this life. Pain will be annulled. Grief will be eliminated. Death will be undone. Our resurrected existence will be completely freed from any of the consequences of sin.
The Christian pilgrimage is a life-long journey of coming to terms with the parameters of God’s love in Christ. Holy Communion is food for the journey. Paul prays that the Ephesians might be “established in love, [and] may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge…”8 The Scripture says, “This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”9 Amen.
Christ is risen!
He is Risen, indeed. Alleluia!
+ In nomine Jesu +
Fifth Sunday of Easter
24 April, 2016
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 See 1 Corinthians 13:13
2 John 13:34
3 Acts 17:23
4 Romans 14:10
5 Romans 13:10
6 See Deuteronomy 4:24
7 Revelation 21:4
8 Ephesians 3:17-19
91 John 4:9-10
Text: John 13:31-34
Theme: Glorified In Love
Dear Saints of our Risen Lord,
Love is the greatest1, so says the apostle. There could scarcely be a more commonly used term in modern Christianity than love. Love lies at the heart and centre of the Bible and our understanding of God and His will in Christ. Jesus said to His disciples, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”2 God’s love is all-pervading. It is the fabric that makes the existence of life possible. God’s love of the sinner is also unconditional. Without it we would perish eternally.
Yet, the commonplace use of the word love- we employ it with great latitude- leaves it open to misunderstanding. Distinctions are necessary. Context can be the key to those distinctions. Context is often a very reliable tool for discerning the intended meaning of a word or phrase. Contextual interpretation often happens intuitively by the participants in or witnesses to any particular conversation. For example, if at a wedding reception the groom says he loves his wife, and then in the next breath says he loves the genre of music chosen for their celebration, it hardly needs to be explained that His use of the word love is not the same in each circumstance. No one will be confused about whether he loves hip-hop music more than his bride. At least we’d hope, or the marriage is off to a precarious start!
So, what about love in relation to God? Danger ensues when we attempt to impose our understandings, as accepted and common as they may be, over God’s divine truths. If we’re going to operate under our own definitions of love (or of other concepts relating to human behavior and belief) then we’d better be very certain of how those definitions compare with Scripture. Otherwise, whether it’s intentionally, or unwittingly, we will find ourselves in direct conflict with the divine will. And that will always have consequences both in the present life and the life to come. God’s clear decrees and the Bible’s unambiguous truths are not subject to contextual reinterpretation to fit even our well-intentioned motives. Idolatry, for example, isn’t just wrong in certain contexts. It’s always a fundamental transgression of God’s will.
One of the powers and consequences of sin is that over time it impairs our vision and judgment. It’s essential that the Holy Spirit continually, rebuke, reform, and restore us through the word. Otherwise, human opinions inevitably replace divine truths. Then God’s word seems radically out of step. First Century Roman culture was so steeped in a polytheistic mindset they just couldn’t fathom the claim that there was only one true God. They were even prepared to make a place for this Jewish Messiah. But to worship Him alone was unthinkable. So deeply ingrained was their polytheistic thinking that while speaking at the Areopagus Paul makes reference to their altar built to “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.”3
Today our society is becoming indoctrinated with a materialist understanding of reality and with relativistic ideology pertaining to the dynamic of all human relationships. A pure materialist doesn’t believe there is a spiritual realm at all. Existence is made up only of combinations of atoms and their smaller components. Though not everything is currently observable, it is believed to be “scientifically” discoverable and measurable. The actual creation of matter becomes an unanswerable dilemma for the materialist. Relativism is the belief that there are no absolute truths. Everything is subjective and valued only according to context. What one individual or society holds to be valuable has no objective merit to those who hold a different view. It’s not hard to see how love is stretched to its relativistic limits.
Biblically, love embraces both grace and justice. It is broader than those two realities considered separately. To be outside of Christ is to be outside of grace but not outside of justice. To incur God’s wrath through final, willful impenitence (that is, steadfast rejection of God and denial of the guilt of sin until the day of death) does not mean that God is no longer a God of love. God remains who He says He is. We cannot vindicate ourselves by trying to shift the blame to God. Not one person of any time in history, of any circumstance of prosperity or adversity, of any degree of faithfulness or denial, has been or will ever be outside of God’s justice. The Scripture says, “We will all stand before God’s judgment seat.”4
Love requires the demands of the law to be met: “Love is the fulfillment of the law.”5 At the same time love meets those demands. But it happens in a very particular way. Christ is the only one that fulfills those requirements. He is Love. But, let us not think these things can be fully understood by human intellect. They are ultimately matters of faith. The sheer immensity of God’s threatening presence in His words of warning (think here of God being referred to as consuming fire6) can only be understood by the unconverted or unrepentant person as a tactic of intimidation. God appears to be a tyrant, unreasonable and unable to be satisfied. What’s the use in trying to please Him?
On the other hand, who could understand that this God who cannot be pacified by humans would sacrifice His own Son! The Holy Spirit is required for us to believe that. The cross wasn’t very glorious from a human perspective. Yet it was God’s definitive revelation of love. The broken, beaten, wounded, dying Jesus fastened to this macabre instrument of death is the very image of God’s heart. Here justice was rendered. Here grace triumphed. Here, and nowhere else, in no other act, in no other way, was the means to balance the divine equation. In financial terms it was the avoidance of bankruptcy with full impunity. The saving love of God simply isn’t available to us apart from the cross. The risen Jesus now lives to serve us.
Baptism is the point the unconditional love of God first becomes accessible to us. In this promise of water and the word the Holy Spirit brings us into true relationship with the crucified and risen Christ through faith. The baptismal font is the point of departure from Satan’s domain and the place entry into the inheritance of the triune God. We leave the chaotic waters of unbelief where we are tossed about by every wave of human opinion and we find safe haven in the ark of salvation. God will see us through to the end. And the “end”, heaven, is really just the beginning.
John describes heaven today by listing key things that have been abolished. “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”7 We have no direct frame of reference to understand how fantastic the new creation will be. But we can certainly relate to the experience of suffering in this life. Pain will be annulled. Grief will be eliminated. Death will be undone. Our resurrected existence will be completely freed from any of the consequences of sin.
The Christian pilgrimage is a life-long journey of coming to terms with the parameters of God’s love in Christ. Holy Communion is food for the journey. Paul prays that the Ephesians might be “established in love, [and] may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge…”8 The Scripture says, “This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”9 Amen.
Christ is risen!
He is Risen, indeed. Alleluia!
+ In nomine Jesu +
Fifth Sunday of Easter
24 April, 2016
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 See 1 Corinthians 13:13
2 John 13:34
3 Acts 17:23
4 Romans 14:10
5 Romans 13:10
6 See Deuteronomy 4:24
7 Revelation 21:4
8 Ephesians 3:17-19
91 John 4:9-10
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