Monday, February 10, 2020

Fifth Sunday After Epiphany (A) 2020

+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.

Text: Matthew 5:17-20
Theme: Righteousness Fulfilled


Dear followers of the Saviour,

The entire Bible is about Jesus. Today He says He came to fulfill, not abolish, the Law and the prophets. The Law and the Prophets is essentially shorthand for the entire Old Testament. Jesus didn’t spring on the scene unannounced. Centuries of clear and careful testimony predicted His coming. God has His prohibitions, and He has His promises; declarations of forgiveness and salvation. All of God’s covenants come to clarity and completion in Christ.

Of course, His decrees are immediately contentious to sinners. And it can be no other way. Remember though, the laws of God are not arbitrary. They are summed up in the Ten Commandments. These are boundaries of love for our safety and well-being. We are finite creatures that need fixed parameters. We cannot thrive outside of our limitations. Just as we’re not naturally equipped to breathe underwater or float safely in outer space, so too, we’re not designed to live outside the bounds of God’s holy will.

And yet, we do. The primary reason people don’t follow God’s will is because of sin. But what does that mean? Is sin just some generic force that makes people ignorant of, or adverse to the truth of God? No, sin is the reality of being in violation God’s will. Both cause and affect are part of the equation. On the surface of it, the violation of God’s will is easily expressed. People may think His commands are simply wrong, saying for instance, - “I don’t believe being faithful in marriage is in my best interest”, or, “I shouldn’t have to obey authority”, or, “I don’t think a few ‘white lies’ ever hurt anyone.” The unbelieving person, of course, can only be expected to follow God’s commands insofar as they coincide with civil law. Some of the most important ones do. Yet other civil laws that coincide with God’s law are in dispute, and some have been repudiated or completely ignored.

Still, it’s against the law in most societies to murder or physically injure someone, to steal, and to commit perjury. Therefore, obedience to authority is also enforced by many civil laws. So, the motivation to follow civil law (for unbelievers) is fear of punishment or hope of reward. Behavior, in this situation, is ultimately driven by self-interest. The unbeliever may experience guilt for transgressing God’s will but not be self-aware the Holy Spirit is convicting the conscience.

Apart from faith, apart from the Holy Spirit, no one can obey God’s law from a proper motive, let alone a pure one. The motivation of the heart is not changed by coercion, it is changed by the Spirit. That happens when, and only when, we receive the gospel, as we do in the spoken word (particularly absolution), in holy baptism, and in receiving the Lord’s Supper. Through these means God changes people’s hearts, minds, and wills.

Believer’s, then, are given the desire to follow God’s will. Faith necessarily initiates new motivations. It doesn’t mean self-serving impulses are eradicated, far from it, but it does mean a genuine struggle now exists. We are living in that struggle all the time. It’s a struggle that involves more than human effort or initiative. The agenda of Satan clashes with the presence of the Spirit. Remember, the devil’s schemes are not abstract. They are not impersonal. We don’t have the luxury of sitting back thinking the devil is only interested in some cosmic, but disconnected plan to wrest power away from God.

Satan’s focused sphere of activity is the life of each individual believer. His war with the kingdom of light is lost, but he still seeks to win the conflict with individual warriors. His efforts are focused on creating deserters. He dangles the carrot of instant gratification while trying to shield our eyes from God’s eternal reward. And Satan will coddle you. Don’t think he won’t. He’ll happily emerge you in a world of self-absorption.

The primary reason Christians fail to follow God’s will is that they are overcome in the struggle. Temptation is too powerful. In times of pressure we might give in. Remember, faith doesn’t mean the motives of believers are always pure, they certainly are not. There’s no end to the way we try to rationalize our actions and justify ourselves. When we’re giving into temptation, often our first inclination is to minimize or excuse it. We’re typically more saintly in our own eyes than we are in reality. And we like to extend the idea of minimalization to the law itself. We try to lower the bar. But as Jesus said, that’s not the solution to our failure.

Jesus truly was (and is) saintly. He didn’t lower the standard, He met it. Only He could do it. Apart from Christ the law is only an intolerable burden. Jesus said, “I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”1 What is this righteousness? It sounds pretty important!

Jesus didn’t mean that the scribes and Pharisees didn’t make genuine and even heroic efforts to be pious and godly. He meant that they were pursing righteousness apart from Him and that could only end in failure. They thought they were pursuing holiness according to the Law and the Prophets, but remember, Jesus came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. He had freed them, just as He has freed us from the burden of currying the favour of God. But they couldn’t see it.

Jesus Christ did not come to bind consciences, but to liberate them. He didn’t come to burden us with regulations, but to free us for service. He didn’t come to control or micromanage us; He came to equip us. Most importantly, He didn’t come to string us along with threats of punishments for failing to reach perfection while still prodding us toward that possibility. He is the favour of God for us. He is the perfect image of the Father. He is the sacrifice. Our true righteousness is Jesus. He declares believers to be innocent by grace, through faith. The Scripture says, “In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: 'The LORD is our righteousness.'”2 This is true not in name, but in reality. The death and resurrection of Jesus reconciles believers to the Father in heaven.

(It might seem like a stretch to tie in this righteousness with our celebration of Harvest Thanksgiving. But the Scriptures themselves use such language to describe God’s blessings.
“You heavens above, rain down righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness grow with it; I, the Lord, have created it.”3 And again, “Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until He comes and showers righteousness on you.”4)

Dear friends, regardless of what challenges are before you at this moment; whether you’re fearful about your health, at wits end regarding a certain relationship, struggling just to get through an average day, or even on the very brink of collapse, pause and let this truth sink into your ears: God declares you righteous in Christ. His verdict cannot be nullified. Its legitimacy cannot be overturned. Jesus hung on the tree until He breathed His last so that the divine decree would not be a matter of words, but of power.

His resurrection from death was the proof of His triumph. And we celebrate that victory every Sunday, yes, even every day. You weren’t baptised as a symbolic gesture to add a sense of religious decorum to your history. Baptism is not an act of hollow piety. You were baptised into the life of Him whose power created and subdued the cosmos. You’re baptized into the name of Him who has the authority to forgive your sins and lead you through the gates of heaven. Jesus doesn’t leave anything unfinished. Your worries, cares, anxieties and concerns may all be very real, but they are temporary. The Scripture says we can be “confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”5 Jesus doesn’t abolish any biblical decrees. He abolishes the power of sin. He’s done that for you. Amen.

+ In nomine Jesu +

Fifth Sunday After Epiphany
9 February 2020
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt

1 Matthew 5:20 2 Jeremiah 23:6
3 Isaiah 45:8 4 Hosea 10:12
5 Philippians 1:6

Ruby Gutsche Funeral (31 January 2020)

+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.

Text: John 11:25
Theme: Resurrection and Life




Dear family, friends, and loved ones of Ruby, and especially you; Greg, her son,

Ruby (Lorna) Gutsche has been released from all the constrictions and complications of sin. Her soul now rests in the care of the immortal God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. She is at peace. Ruby needs nothing from us now; not even our prayers. She has been relieved of every worry, anxiety, and care. She experiences no pain and faces no fear or distress. She now knows what it is to go beyond death. Thanks be to the Saviour who has secured the victory over sin and brought life and immortality to our fallen existence. Ruby has been freed from our fallenness.

But for us who remain, death is still a towering black shadow. God’s promises are for the living, having become fulfilled for the deceased. No one can outrun the specter of mortality. It overtakes us all. It brings us face to face with the big questions of existence. What considerations could be more serious than death and eternal destinies? Death is the universal nightmare of humanity. To believe otherwise is foolish. Therefore, reflection on mortality is not a time for conjecture, but for conviction. It’s not a time for ‘trying our luck’ or ‘throwing caution to the wind’. That’s why attention to the only One with complete credibility on the issue is essential. Who else can say, “I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever!”1 and that it was accomplished under one’s own power? Jesus alone!

You see, dear friends, the difficult part of Christianity is not the doing, but the believing. Christ has done the work. He has paid the price. He has served the sentence. He has borne the guilt. He has appeased the divine wrath. The difficult part for us is the believing. So completely incapable are we at taking God at His word, the Holy Spirit must do all the heavy lifting. He must first breathe life into our dead souls. He must grant us the faith we cannot muster for ourselves. Then the eyes of faith begin to see God for who He is. That was the case for Ruby from the moment of her baptism. The essentials of everyone’s faith journey are similar.

The ‘doing’, the following of God’s will, the striving to be obedient -even until death (a promise Ruby would have made at her confirmation)- then flows seamlessly from the believing. There are analogies. The infatuated groom doesn’t have to be told to desire his wife. The panicked child doesn’t have to be told to run to her mother’s arms. So, it is with the believer who desires to do God’s will. And this is true even though the selfish nature tries to reassert itself. One thing is for sure, God cannot be deceived. Do you think the Almighty God will be fooled by one single person who puts on the pretense of following God when there really is no faith in the heart? I wouldn’t count on those odds. The Scripture says, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”2 We can only repent of trying to fool God and others into thinking we’re not really poor, helpless sinners.

But we are, right to our last breath, Ruby not excluded. Ruby grew up on the farm and life on the farm in the first half of last century wasn’t for the faint of heart. Those years formed Ruby into the kind of person she would later need to be. The perseverance she developed carried her through many challenging circumstances. Herb’s death, nearly 30 years ago already, meant that Ruby faced a long widowhood. By God’s grace she carried on. Ruby lived during a time of tremendous change. She witnessed the transition from horses, to cars, to computers. She adjusted and made her way in the world. The world changed. The times changed. But her Saviour did not change. His love was an immutable constant in her life.

Ruby believed in a God who made good on His promises. Actions speak louder than words! Christ wasn’t a man of hollow words. He didn’t make speeches for the purpose of impressing audiences. He wasn’t running for public office or satisfying constituents. He spoke His intentions truthfully and He fulfilled those intentions to the point of death. He rose again from the grave and lives eternally. Not one promise is left unmet. Not one pledge is proven to be false. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies.”3

Similarly, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”4 Ruby has fully made that transition. She awaits, with every believer from every time and place, the resurrection of the body on that great and glorious day, and its reunion with the soul. But her waiting is not characterized by boredom or drudgery. She dwells in the awesome majesty of God, experiences perfect peace, and is filled with inexpressible joy. Jesus said to the thief on the cross, “Today you will be with Me in paradise.”5

This fantastic truth tempers grief. The Scriptures say believers do not grieve like those who have no hope. Christians still mourn the loss of loved ones to be sure. Grief can be incapacitating. A vacancy takes place in family and community life. Adjustments must be made. Routines are altered. Emotions are strained. Memories are recalled to the frontal cortex again, and again, and again. And through that process we come to terms with the loss; but also, and more so over time, we offer up gratitude for the life that was. Greg, your mother will never be replaced.

But…..!!!! The grief of Christians does not end in despair. Greg, your mum has moved up to an even higher calling. The truth that is most audacious, most nonsensical, most ridiculous to the world is the only truth that matters in the end: Again, Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies.”6 No one else could bear the sins of the world. No one else could silence Satan. No one else could conquer death. Ruby understood that.

In the last phase of her life Ruby’s frailty restricted her participation in many of the things she loved. Ageing brought with it many health challenges. She soldiered on, but with limited capacity. Still, God granted her a long and active life. No one reaches the end of this journey without regrets, reservations, doubts or sadnesses. Ruby would have been no different. We don’t make light of them. We just entrust the weight of our mortality- with its darknesses, doubts, and disappointments- to Him who beams with resurrection light; remembering this, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”7 Amen.

+ In nomine Jesu +

Christian Burial of Lorna (Ruby) Gutsche
31 January 2020
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt

1 Revelation 1:18
2 Hebrews 4:13
3 John 11:25
4 John 5:24
5 Luke 23:43
6 John 11:25
7 Revelation 21:4