+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti Amen. +
Text: John 20:27
Theme: Thomas’ Gift
Christ is risen!
Dear worshippers of the risen Jesus,
Things change. Easter changes things. Sometimes things change gradually and almost imperceptibly, at other times immediately and emphatically. Some change is good, other change is bad. Good or bad God uses change to move history towards its conclusion. Unbelief invites the final separation from God for which it strives while Christ prepares the faithful for an unending fellowship with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In heaven change (as it relates to aging and decay) becomes obsolete.
Following Jesus’ resurrection from the dead the disciples faced dramatic changes in their lives. Thomas is a key person in these post-resurrection events. The disciple named Thomas was a twin. He was commonly referred to in this manner until Jesus’ resurrection. He was later dubbed “doubting Thomas.” He has been known in this way ever since. Absent when the risen Lord first appeared to His disciples Thomas was not convinced Jesus was alive. “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my hand into His side, I will not believe it.”1
And so it was that Jesus allowed Thomas not only to see but also to touch His resurrected body. But Jesus doesn’t simply give in to Thomas’s request or use it as a way to make an ostentatious show of power. This is about more than just Thomas; it is about the faith of the apostolic church throughout the ages. It was on the testimony of these witnesses that the church would be built. The words of these eye-witnesses, recorded in the New Testament testifying how Christ was the fulfillment of the Old, would be the means by which the Spirit gathers the church. St. John says today, “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.”2
It is commonplace to believe things on the testimony of others. Were you there when Plato and Socrates waxed lyrical, Alexander the Great subdued nations, or Rome stood for a thousand years and then crumbled? Were you present when the pyramids were built in Egypt, the Great Wall in China, or the Mayan temples in Mexico? You have not seen these things, and yet do you not believe them?
Satan though is very skilled at placing seeds of doubt. He cultivates deeply, scatters broadly, and waters frequently. This is true in regards to the minor issues that contribute to the fabric of our Christian faith and life as well as the major ones that form the foundation. Doubt can come unexpectedly. Lord Halifax, a former foreign secretary of Great Britain, once shared a railway compartment with two prim and proper-looking spinsters. A few moments before reaching his destination the train passed through a tunnel. In the complete darkness Halifax kissed the back of his hand noisily several times. When the train drew into the station, he rose, lifted his hat, and in a gentlemanly way said: "May I thank whichever one of you two ladies I am indebted to for the charming incident in the tunnel." He then beat a hasty retreat, leaving the two ladies glaring at each other. How much more cleverly does the devil cause us to question and then bid us to glare at each other!
The tendency to doubt that God is always and ever concerned with our well-being is what drives every lapse towards unbelief. We may deplore our sins, but we’d often rather trust ourselves as sinners than Christ, the one who has conquered sin and frees us from its retribution. The law of God constantly calls us to self-recognition of our failings, sins, and short-comings. It demands we own up to our transgressions. It finally insists that we accept the truth about ourselves: We remain sinners always in need of the mercy of God. That situation will not change as long as we live on this earth.
Our sin is also the cause of tension, confusion, and even brokenness in our human relationships. We become tangled in battles of will; sometimes locked in an embrace of mutual determination that holds little hope of being broken. We become inflexible towards those to whom we should be most vulnerable, unavailable to those to whom we should be most helpful, condescending towards those to whom we should be most humble.
God knows that we grapple. Attacks come relentlessly. We are stretched by doubt, tested by trials, and tempered by failures. Our passion becomes quenched, our integrity compromised, and our apathy immovable. But Christ is risen, and He sends the Spirit to breathe new life. Again, and again remember His promises. Again, and again receive His forgiveness. We are not baptised without purpose or effect. We are cross-bearing people and the resurrection of Christ doesn’t make our struggles trivial, it invests them with real meaning.
Thomas is for us-if we are honest- someone with whom we can resonate. But we dare not ask for what he did. Jesus needs to make no such concession to us. Thomas’s witness is a gift to our faith. An historical faith in the biblical witness is not saving faith. The Holy Spirit forms within the heart a reliance on the Christ who was not only part of history but who directs history to the fulfillment of His purposes. Abraham was called from Ur of the Chaldeans, Moses led the people from life along the Nile in Egypt to the deserts of the Sinai peninsula, David ruled the united kingdom from Jerusalem, Jesus was crucified under Pontius Pilate. These events happed at specific times and in distinct places as part of God’s plan of salvation. On the other hand to claim we have saving faith- trust that Jesus died for our sins- but that the historical events are more or less irrelevant is a contradiction that undermines the very foundations of Christianity. The two always go together.
And we are not left without God’s tangible means. Jesus has broken into our world to alter its destiny. His presence is not maintained by the power of the mind or the skill or the imagination. We still hear, we still see, we still taste the blessing of God. Thomas touched the flesh of the risen Christ. You receive His flesh and blood in, with, and under the forms of bread and wine. How privileged were those who were eye-witnesses to the risen Jesus! How privileged are we to have this sacred food! Thomas’s Lord and God is our Saviour. In this meal we participate in the continuity of salvation history.
Jesus lives! Like Thomas many still doubt that this could be true. For others it just seems irrelevant. For many the drudgery of life continues on under the dark shadow of sin. To them Christians are lights in dark places. We bring glimmers of hope and reflections of peace. We engage people not with artificial happiness but humble and honest reflection on the truth. The power of death has lost its sting. Christ has freed sinners from their fate! Existence does not hinge on correct solutions to global warming or the blind chance of evolutionary theory. The sacrifice once made is still accomplishing its purpose. Jesus was not a footnote in history. History finds its completion in Him. The risen Christ is a preview of the believer’s own resurrection. “To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve His God and Father- to Him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.”3
Christ is risen!
+ in nomine Jesu +
Second Sunday of Easter
11 April 2010 Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 John 20:25
2 John 20:31
3 Revelation 1:5-6
Monday, April 12, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Sermon for the Resurrection of our Lord
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti Amen. +
Text: Luke 24:8
Theme: Remembering His Words
Christ is risen!
Dear worshippers of the risen Jesus,
The tomb was empty. The body of Jesus did not suffer decay. Death’s victory was short-lived. Our celebration is eternal! Jesus Christ was not resuscitated in the manner in which Lazarus was raised. Lazarus was restored to the life he knew before- limited by the rigors and constrains of an existence still governed by sin. But Jesus’ time of limitation was ended. He had assumed His glorified body for eternity. He had inaugurated His kingdom of glory. Easter dawns with the unending light of His immortal existence.
The Holy Spirit generates joy in the heart and praise on the lips of all who continue to be gathered to that great cloud of witnesses to these events. Then women were the first. “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you, while He was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again’”1
Then others followed. The apostle Paul says, “What I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”2And so the ancient Christian Church has confessed it in like manner- stating it similarly in the Nicene Creed. In that universal confession of faith we say “and the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures.” This is the vindication of His passion. His death was not in vain.
But how can we verify these truths? The Holy Spirit engenders faith, but only and always through the vehicle of the word. The Jesus we have is always the Jesus of the Holy Scriptures. The tendency to disconnect the work of the Holy Spirit from the Word is an extension of the practice of unshackling Christ from the Scriptures. But the two tendencies have a mutual influence on one another. The human will always wants to be free to reconstruct the evidence of Jesus in a manner suitable to its own wisdom.
But this alleged freedom is really bondage to human philosophy and capitulation to the desire of individual interpretation. The meaning of the individual’s take on the resurrection, or crucifixion, or sending of the Spirit supersedes the common witness of the church. “What does this mean?” is cast aside in favour of “What does this mean to me?” The temptation is to answer in an ego-centric manner. This may go no further than harmless speculation or even helpful edification about God’s purpose and place for you in life. The danger lies in making this the method of determining God’s truth. The satisfaction gained from arriving at a pleasing answer is often short-lived. We soon find ourselves chasing up further affirmation and questioning our assessment. What is the Holy Spirit saying to me now? Has God’s plan changed in this new situation? How can my feeling of the Spirit’s work in my life be sustained? These questions must be answered by the unchangeable biblical witness or even the resurrection risks becoming relegated to the past.
A number of motivations underpin this pursuit. One is a degree of skepticism about the ancient witnesses. It is a desire to be distanced from any ideas or interpretations that appear to be too rudimentary or fundamentalist. Consider the phenomena of the crucifixion, including the hours of darkness and the earthquake; the descriptions of Easter morning, including the angels, the empty tomb, and the bodily resurrection of Jesus- the modern mind often wants to be free from an archaic interpretation of any details which are unverifiable by science. It balks at being identified with dogmatic beliefs. Yet there stands the risen Christ with nails marks still visible.
More influential still is the intense need to feel God’s personal working in one’s life. People seek to answer crises of meaning by believing that God has singled them out for a special purpose or the Holy Spirit leads them in a way that is unique. Modern secular marketing has its spiritual parallels. Identify your ‘giftings’ and claim the niche in God’s kingdom that is rightfully yours. The inescapable heresy involved is that one must convince God to acknowledge something more appealing in us than He does in others and so expect He will treat us differently.
To be favoured by God is not the same thing as being His favourite. “Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord,”3 and Mary was greeted by Gabriel as the one who was “highly favoured.”4 The mystery of why they were chosen is not solved by claiming they had a higher degree of inherent righteousness. They were favoured by God, they were not His favourites. The particular expression of God’s blessing to one believer does not compromise His grace to the next. In heaven any temptations to such speculation will be obsolete. The promise of Easter is that Christ’s victory over death is universal- the same blessing to one and to all.
Most problematic of all is the desire to be in control. When the influence of the common witness of the church and the objective meaning of the Scriptures are kept to a minimum one can easily arrive at a self-directed life of sanctification. This may be done under the auspices of the Holy Spirit but only loosely regulated by the inspired Word. Everything then becomes turned on its head. The individual becomes the judge of which biblical truths are desirable and which are obstacles to the pursuit of his or her personal spiritual agenda. This makes us vulnerable to the short-comings of self-limiting the content of faith.
Self-authenticated faith lacks dexterity. Café-style faith is not fortified and nourished by the full wisdom and truth of God in Jesus Christ. We soon find that our own resources are very limited. How will you negotiate the minefields of temptation, fear, failure and doubt? What will cushion your fall when you plummet from the heights of self-reliance, crumble under weight of expectations or despair in the goodness of humanity? Will you take comfort in your record of obedience? Will you flee to the certainty of your feelings? Will you recommit yourself to doing better and trying harder?
The grace of Christ frees you from these pressures. You are one of God’s elect. You know this not from believing you believe strongly enough to never falter. You know it from the promise of your baptism. God calls you by name at a particular time and place and in a specific way. In it the Holy Spirit applies the objective promise of God to you. God promises to be faithful to you. He does not lie. Of course baptism is not a means to short-cut the struggle of faith. No one can play God as the fool. Like grace, it is not a license for apathy, idolatry, or immorality.
But Baptism is where the divine favour of God becomes relevant to the human soul. God’s chooses you- a sinner- and takes in hand to wash away your sins, receive you into the fellowship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, saints, and angels, and promise you life and salvation. Adam’s curse which bound you is overcome by Christ’s favour which frees you. The Bible says of Noah’s flood, “This water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also- not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”5
Dear friends, today we rejoice that the living voice of the gospel continues to proclaim ancient truth to a new generation. We worship in continuity with the saints across the ages. We receive the same body and blood and are freed by the same promise of forgiveness. The liturgy of the church is the edifice that supports the interface between time and eternity. The words of Scripture are the currency the Holy Spirit uses to draw us into an ancient conversation. On this Easter Sunday, and every Sunday, we worship with a living community of believers. Some are still bound in time others exist in eternity. But all have the same future- through the risen Christ: Eternity with the triune God. Amen.
Christ is risen!
+ in nomine Jesu +
The Resurrection of our Lord
4 April 2010 Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Luke 24:5-7
2 1 Corinthians 15:3-4
3 Genesis 6:8
4 Luke 1:28
5 1 Peter 3:21
Text: Luke 24:8
Theme: Remembering His Words
Christ is risen!
Dear worshippers of the risen Jesus,
The tomb was empty. The body of Jesus did not suffer decay. Death’s victory was short-lived. Our celebration is eternal! Jesus Christ was not resuscitated in the manner in which Lazarus was raised. Lazarus was restored to the life he knew before- limited by the rigors and constrains of an existence still governed by sin. But Jesus’ time of limitation was ended. He had assumed His glorified body for eternity. He had inaugurated His kingdom of glory. Easter dawns with the unending light of His immortal existence.
The Holy Spirit generates joy in the heart and praise on the lips of all who continue to be gathered to that great cloud of witnesses to these events. Then women were the first. “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you, while He was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again’”1
Then others followed. The apostle Paul says, “What I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”2And so the ancient Christian Church has confessed it in like manner- stating it similarly in the Nicene Creed. In that universal confession of faith we say “and the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures.” This is the vindication of His passion. His death was not in vain.
But how can we verify these truths? The Holy Spirit engenders faith, but only and always through the vehicle of the word. The Jesus we have is always the Jesus of the Holy Scriptures. The tendency to disconnect the work of the Holy Spirit from the Word is an extension of the practice of unshackling Christ from the Scriptures. But the two tendencies have a mutual influence on one another. The human will always wants to be free to reconstruct the evidence of Jesus in a manner suitable to its own wisdom.
But this alleged freedom is really bondage to human philosophy and capitulation to the desire of individual interpretation. The meaning of the individual’s take on the resurrection, or crucifixion, or sending of the Spirit supersedes the common witness of the church. “What does this mean?” is cast aside in favour of “What does this mean to me?” The temptation is to answer in an ego-centric manner. This may go no further than harmless speculation or even helpful edification about God’s purpose and place for you in life. The danger lies in making this the method of determining God’s truth. The satisfaction gained from arriving at a pleasing answer is often short-lived. We soon find ourselves chasing up further affirmation and questioning our assessment. What is the Holy Spirit saying to me now? Has God’s plan changed in this new situation? How can my feeling of the Spirit’s work in my life be sustained? These questions must be answered by the unchangeable biblical witness or even the resurrection risks becoming relegated to the past.
A number of motivations underpin this pursuit. One is a degree of skepticism about the ancient witnesses. It is a desire to be distanced from any ideas or interpretations that appear to be too rudimentary or fundamentalist. Consider the phenomena of the crucifixion, including the hours of darkness and the earthquake; the descriptions of Easter morning, including the angels, the empty tomb, and the bodily resurrection of Jesus- the modern mind often wants to be free from an archaic interpretation of any details which are unverifiable by science. It balks at being identified with dogmatic beliefs. Yet there stands the risen Christ with nails marks still visible.
More influential still is the intense need to feel God’s personal working in one’s life. People seek to answer crises of meaning by believing that God has singled them out for a special purpose or the Holy Spirit leads them in a way that is unique. Modern secular marketing has its spiritual parallels. Identify your ‘giftings’ and claim the niche in God’s kingdom that is rightfully yours. The inescapable heresy involved is that one must convince God to acknowledge something more appealing in us than He does in others and so expect He will treat us differently.
To be favoured by God is not the same thing as being His favourite. “Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord,”3 and Mary was greeted by Gabriel as the one who was “highly favoured.”4 The mystery of why they were chosen is not solved by claiming they had a higher degree of inherent righteousness. They were favoured by God, they were not His favourites. The particular expression of God’s blessing to one believer does not compromise His grace to the next. In heaven any temptations to such speculation will be obsolete. The promise of Easter is that Christ’s victory over death is universal- the same blessing to one and to all.
Most problematic of all is the desire to be in control. When the influence of the common witness of the church and the objective meaning of the Scriptures are kept to a minimum one can easily arrive at a self-directed life of sanctification. This may be done under the auspices of the Holy Spirit but only loosely regulated by the inspired Word. Everything then becomes turned on its head. The individual becomes the judge of which biblical truths are desirable and which are obstacles to the pursuit of his or her personal spiritual agenda. This makes us vulnerable to the short-comings of self-limiting the content of faith.
Self-authenticated faith lacks dexterity. Café-style faith is not fortified and nourished by the full wisdom and truth of God in Jesus Christ. We soon find that our own resources are very limited. How will you negotiate the minefields of temptation, fear, failure and doubt? What will cushion your fall when you plummet from the heights of self-reliance, crumble under weight of expectations or despair in the goodness of humanity? Will you take comfort in your record of obedience? Will you flee to the certainty of your feelings? Will you recommit yourself to doing better and trying harder?
The grace of Christ frees you from these pressures. You are one of God’s elect. You know this not from believing you believe strongly enough to never falter. You know it from the promise of your baptism. God calls you by name at a particular time and place and in a specific way. In it the Holy Spirit applies the objective promise of God to you. God promises to be faithful to you. He does not lie. Of course baptism is not a means to short-cut the struggle of faith. No one can play God as the fool. Like grace, it is not a license for apathy, idolatry, or immorality.
But Baptism is where the divine favour of God becomes relevant to the human soul. God’s chooses you- a sinner- and takes in hand to wash away your sins, receive you into the fellowship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, saints, and angels, and promise you life and salvation. Adam’s curse which bound you is overcome by Christ’s favour which frees you. The Bible says of Noah’s flood, “This water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also- not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”5
Dear friends, today we rejoice that the living voice of the gospel continues to proclaim ancient truth to a new generation. We worship in continuity with the saints across the ages. We receive the same body and blood and are freed by the same promise of forgiveness. The liturgy of the church is the edifice that supports the interface between time and eternity. The words of Scripture are the currency the Holy Spirit uses to draw us into an ancient conversation. On this Easter Sunday, and every Sunday, we worship with a living community of believers. Some are still bound in time others exist in eternity. But all have the same future- through the risen Christ: Eternity with the triune God. Amen.
Christ is risen!
+ in nomine Jesu +
The Resurrection of our Lord
4 April 2010 Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Luke 24:5-7
2 1 Corinthians 15:3-4
3 Genesis 6:8
4 Luke 1:28
5 1 Peter 3:21
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Good Friday
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti Amen. +
Text: John 19:10-11
Theme: The Greater Power
Dear baptized in the Lord Jesus,
Something unrepeatable happens on Calvary. It is a singular even of unparalleled consequence. Humanly it is inconceivable and immeasurable. It is inconceivable not in the sense that we would be appalled that this righteous man would be sentenced to die, but in the sense that God would undertake to redeem the world in this way. Human beings do not- they cannot- naturally think in this way. According to human wisdom the cross is the pinnacle of irony, tragedy, and failure. It is pure nonsense.
All others miracles aside, at His death Jesus appears to succumb to weakness. How could His passivity accomplish redemption! History records the role of human powers. Pilate was accustomed to an unchallenged use of his authority. “Don’t you realize I have the power either to free you or crucify you?”1 He could not fully understand what Jesus meant when He responded, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.”2 Yet he sensed that it was something to be reckoned with and it caused him fear. “From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free.”3
Many deaths have happened and will happen, but only this death, His death, is the sacrifice for sins. The countless sacrifices carefully numbered by the priests generation after generation now reach their obsolescence. It was the goal for which they were destined. The significance does not escape the writer to the Hebrews. “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sin. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God.”4
But old habits die hard. We always prefer to do things our way- in all things- spiritual pursuits included. People sometimes try to seek comfort in the death of Christ while still rejecting its full implications. They doubt it is at the centre of existence to the extent that it gives meaning to absolutely everything. This doubt can be dressed up in all kinds of sophistication. The universe seems much too large and complex to be finally explained and governed by the crucifixion of a First Century Jewish man. In harboring this doubt modern people share the proclivities of the ancient Greeks who believed matter was eternal and the soul was trapped in the body waiting for release. Contemporary thinking resonates with such skepticism: Time passes, old events become obsolete, new ideas are embraced, things change, meaning is elusive. But original false teachings are only re-introduced with new images and there is nothing new under the sun. Human wisdom always doubts God would limit Himself to such historical circumstances.
But God did chose to define reality and meaning within such parameters. These events are historical. Their meaning is not the putty for religious theory. Christ died because you are a sinner. No other reason is finally relevant to you. Christ bore your punishment on the cross. Everything else you know is secondary to that. The law leaves you no escape. But the gospel offers you full pardon. You partake of His body and blood as a concrete expression of these truths. To trust that Christ did this out of unconditional love for you is to see God- and approach life- in a different light.
There was a sculptor who invested painstaking time and effort crafting a life-sized statue of Christ. It was considered by even the strongest critics to be a masterpiece. When it was unveiled people came and admired it from every angle and perspective. They praised the detail and skill that it displayed. But they approached it only as a work of art. The artist, however, had a different intention. He said, “If you want to see it rightly, it’s best to kneel.” This is the spiritual posture of the baptismal life.
God sees us through the challenges we encounter. Pain, doubt, fear, sickness, disappointment, confusion, apathy, and the list is endless. But on this Good Friday what takes centre stage is the resolution of our mortality. Only Christ has this power. The questions faced at the threshold of death are quickly sifted. Trivial matters immediately become irrelevant. Weightier matters come to the fore: relationships yet unreconciled, dreams still unfulfilled, hopes never realized- these things occupy the heart and mind when death draws near. But one concern dominates them all: On what basis will God be faced? What confidence do I have in His acceptance? When your own conscience threatens to desert you where will you turn?
When you are dying you want the assurance of someone who’s been there. Finally no half-way measures will do; no equivocation. There are no negotiations, no other options; the believer will pass this way. There is no other gateway, no other portal, no other entrance. When the believer reclines in death the soul completes its journey in the footsteps of Christ and there reposes until the glorification of the body. The approximations, and the guesswork, and the naïve speculations about what it really means to die can only be resolved in Him who has the power over death. For those without faith consideration of death may quickly become not only a time of intense doubt, but of frantic disillusionment and despair.
For the believer too it comes with its challenges and temptations. The Old Adam fights within us to the end. Yet we face the throne as saints declared righteous by grace. We can stand before Him illuminated in Easter glow. We need not fear what He has conquered. Christ teaches us how to die. We cannot by-pass death, but Jesus has the greater power. Equal to the Father; one with the Spirit; superior to angels; a Redeemer of mortals, Jesus the Christ died once for all. In that one death He died as if suffering innumerable deaths and immeasurable pain. Sin cannot rule Him. Satan cannot judge Him. Hell cannot contain Him. Death cannot hold Him.
Dear friends, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was unpreventable and is unrepeatable. It makes possible for us an unchanging eternity. This one event of death effects the resurrection of the many. Our participation in the death of Christ is not the same as our participation in His resurrection. When our sins are put to death in His body we are spared the pain, torment, and condemnation which He endured. But in the resurrection we will fully experience in our glorified bodies the vibrancy of His life. In death He bears the sentence. In life we enjoy the victory. His sacrifice is the commentary on all existence- for from it all who are consecrated by Him and for Him receive immortal life. Amen.
+ in nomine Jesu +
April 2 2010
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 John 19:10
2 John 19:11
3 John 19:12
4 Hebrews 10:11-12
Text: John 19:10-11
Theme: The Greater Power
Dear baptized in the Lord Jesus,
Something unrepeatable happens on Calvary. It is a singular even of unparalleled consequence. Humanly it is inconceivable and immeasurable. It is inconceivable not in the sense that we would be appalled that this righteous man would be sentenced to die, but in the sense that God would undertake to redeem the world in this way. Human beings do not- they cannot- naturally think in this way. According to human wisdom the cross is the pinnacle of irony, tragedy, and failure. It is pure nonsense.
All others miracles aside, at His death Jesus appears to succumb to weakness. How could His passivity accomplish redemption! History records the role of human powers. Pilate was accustomed to an unchallenged use of his authority. “Don’t you realize I have the power either to free you or crucify you?”1 He could not fully understand what Jesus meant when He responded, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.”2 Yet he sensed that it was something to be reckoned with and it caused him fear. “From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free.”3
Many deaths have happened and will happen, but only this death, His death, is the sacrifice for sins. The countless sacrifices carefully numbered by the priests generation after generation now reach their obsolescence. It was the goal for which they were destined. The significance does not escape the writer to the Hebrews. “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sin. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God.”4
But old habits die hard. We always prefer to do things our way- in all things- spiritual pursuits included. People sometimes try to seek comfort in the death of Christ while still rejecting its full implications. They doubt it is at the centre of existence to the extent that it gives meaning to absolutely everything. This doubt can be dressed up in all kinds of sophistication. The universe seems much too large and complex to be finally explained and governed by the crucifixion of a First Century Jewish man. In harboring this doubt modern people share the proclivities of the ancient Greeks who believed matter was eternal and the soul was trapped in the body waiting for release. Contemporary thinking resonates with such skepticism: Time passes, old events become obsolete, new ideas are embraced, things change, meaning is elusive. But original false teachings are only re-introduced with new images and there is nothing new under the sun. Human wisdom always doubts God would limit Himself to such historical circumstances.
But God did chose to define reality and meaning within such parameters. These events are historical. Their meaning is not the putty for religious theory. Christ died because you are a sinner. No other reason is finally relevant to you. Christ bore your punishment on the cross. Everything else you know is secondary to that. The law leaves you no escape. But the gospel offers you full pardon. You partake of His body and blood as a concrete expression of these truths. To trust that Christ did this out of unconditional love for you is to see God- and approach life- in a different light.
There was a sculptor who invested painstaking time and effort crafting a life-sized statue of Christ. It was considered by even the strongest critics to be a masterpiece. When it was unveiled people came and admired it from every angle and perspective. They praised the detail and skill that it displayed. But they approached it only as a work of art. The artist, however, had a different intention. He said, “If you want to see it rightly, it’s best to kneel.” This is the spiritual posture of the baptismal life.
God sees us through the challenges we encounter. Pain, doubt, fear, sickness, disappointment, confusion, apathy, and the list is endless. But on this Good Friday what takes centre stage is the resolution of our mortality. Only Christ has this power. The questions faced at the threshold of death are quickly sifted. Trivial matters immediately become irrelevant. Weightier matters come to the fore: relationships yet unreconciled, dreams still unfulfilled, hopes never realized- these things occupy the heart and mind when death draws near. But one concern dominates them all: On what basis will God be faced? What confidence do I have in His acceptance? When your own conscience threatens to desert you where will you turn?
When you are dying you want the assurance of someone who’s been there. Finally no half-way measures will do; no equivocation. There are no negotiations, no other options; the believer will pass this way. There is no other gateway, no other portal, no other entrance. When the believer reclines in death the soul completes its journey in the footsteps of Christ and there reposes until the glorification of the body. The approximations, and the guesswork, and the naïve speculations about what it really means to die can only be resolved in Him who has the power over death. For those without faith consideration of death may quickly become not only a time of intense doubt, but of frantic disillusionment and despair.
For the believer too it comes with its challenges and temptations. The Old Adam fights within us to the end. Yet we face the throne as saints declared righteous by grace. We can stand before Him illuminated in Easter glow. We need not fear what He has conquered. Christ teaches us how to die. We cannot by-pass death, but Jesus has the greater power. Equal to the Father; one with the Spirit; superior to angels; a Redeemer of mortals, Jesus the Christ died once for all. In that one death He died as if suffering innumerable deaths and immeasurable pain. Sin cannot rule Him. Satan cannot judge Him. Hell cannot contain Him. Death cannot hold Him.
Dear friends, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was unpreventable and is unrepeatable. It makes possible for us an unchanging eternity. This one event of death effects the resurrection of the many. Our participation in the death of Christ is not the same as our participation in His resurrection. When our sins are put to death in His body we are spared the pain, torment, and condemnation which He endured. But in the resurrection we will fully experience in our glorified bodies the vibrancy of His life. In death He bears the sentence. In life we enjoy the victory. His sacrifice is the commentary on all existence- for from it all who are consecrated by Him and for Him receive immortal life. Amen.
+ in nomine Jesu +
April 2 2010
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 John 19:10
2 John 19:11
3 John 19:12
4 Hebrews 10:11-12
Maundy Thursday
'For You'
Text: 1 Corinthians 11:24
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
The blood of Jesus was shed for you. That’s what the Scripture says. Our focus on this Maundy Thursday is the foundational realities that underpin this truth. Holy Communion was never considered to be a supplemental sacrament appended to the otherwise standard worship of the Christian church. From the beginning it was the sacred but regular meal that nourished the faithful. In this gift we have a convergence of mysteries. Christ is present in a unique way with the power of forgiveness. Holy Communion is a participation in the mystery of the incarnation.
The “for you” nature of Holy Communion is rooted in the fact of Jesus’ presence. Appreciating the importance of this is challenging in an age of skepticism about anything not scientifically verifiable. Christian teaching must be careful not to capitulate to a theology of the absence of Jesus. The Holy Spirit is not a substitute for the human nature of Jesus. The ascension is sometimes misunderstood as a loss of the presence of Christ; almost as if at His ascension Jesus went back to being a spirit being only- a sort of “dis-incarnation.” The Holy Spirit is not a replacement for the bodily presence of Christ. The Holy Spirit unites the church in the blessings and benefits of His bodily presence. The Holy Spirit does no other work than this. If the Spirit is not leading a person to a deeper affirmation of the truth of Jesus’ body given for them then it’s not the Holy Spirit that’s doing the leading.
The ascension of Jesus into heaven doesn’t mean He confines Himself to that dimension or is no longer present here on earth. At His ascension Jesus was fully exalted and enthroned at the Father’s right hand. The sacrifice completed, death overcome, He began His rule as true God and true man for eternity. The ascension was truly a gain, not a loss. He is present bodily with His church on earth wherever and whenever He desires it. He has ordained that He will be present in the sacrament of Holy Communion in that way.
Here we not only “proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes,”1 as Paul says, but also receive the risen, ascended, and glorified Christ. Hidden under these elements of bread and wine Jesus comes to you with the forgiveness of sins. We commune always in the pale of the cross but in the light of the resurrection. When we commune we make ourselves vulnerable to the purifying work of the cross. Grace can only be received in repentance. To approach the throne in unbelief invites only judgment.
Therefore the unrepentant sinner seeks anonymity. If not ruled by self-righteousness his thoughts easily turn to excuse and avoidance. Perhaps the tangled mass of sinful humanity can become an advantage after all? Maybe in the menagerie of sorting out the judgment we can just be lost in the shuffle? Maybe our deeds won’t be revealed and the evil intentions of our hearts remain undiscovered? Of course Scripture says otherwise. “Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”2
The heart knows that God sees. And the piercing eyes of God do not allow the smallest sin to escape unnoticed. False piety is also an offense to Him. Try to claim that you’re not worth His effort and see how quickly your intended humility is shown to be arrogance. Precisely in your ‘noble’ desire to be of no trouble to Him you end up discounting His sacrifice. We might do this not by any intentional slander or rejection of His suffering and crucifixion but by questioning whether we were worth the effort. In doing so we rob Christ of the fullness of His glory. You are trouble to Him, everyone is. That is precisely the point.
But you have never committed a sin He has not seen before. You cannot shock Him. You will not surprise Him. Even if you did something so original and evil that it has never happened in the history of the world, still God can see the potential for such wickedness conceived in the original fall. There is no actual sin that is more pernicious than the total corruption of human nature which is its source. Christ was crucified not only for the actual sins of men but for the very possibilities which complete rebellion against God- idolatry- leads to.
No soul is expendable to God. God does not follow a utilitarian ethic. He will not overlook the one for the good of the many. He is not constrained to make decisions which would throw humans into a quandary. He is not forced to choose the well-being of one above the other. “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”3 Christ did this for the world and He did it for you.
Christ suffered for you. Luther says, “Of what help is it to you that God is God, if he is not God to you?”4 The sacrificial nature of Jesus is shown with clarity during His last meal with His disciples before His arrest. There He was, nearing His last hour, facing all the forces of darkness and what does Jesus do? He performs the task of a servant. He washes their feet. He models the humility that the disciples would need to imitate in their apostolic ministry. It was important symbolically, but it wasn’t merely an object lesson. Christians don’t just occasionally swallow their pride to perform lowly tasks on behalf of others; servanthood is the Christian way of life in all circumstances. Christians walk the path of humility not as a matter of personality or individual choice but as evidence they are bearing the cross and being conformed to Christ.
Dear friends, our Lord holds nothing back as He offers Himself for the forgiveness of your sins. In the Upper Room He blessed His followers before His death. In this place where He meets you He offers the same blessings. The Bible says, “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all- how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?”5 The cross was raised for you. For you the nails were hammered. His blood was shed for you. For you His body was broken. The stone was rolled for you. For you death was conquered. For you He bore the insults, the humility, the curses and the shame. For you He lives and intercedes before the Father. For you baptismal water is poured. For you the Spirit is given. For you He will return. Amen.
+ in nomine Jesu +
Maundy Thursday
April 1 2010
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 1 Corinthians 11:26
2 Hebrews 4:13
3 Romans 4:25
4 “A Meditation On Christ’s Passion”
5 Romans 8:31-32
Text: 1 Corinthians 11:24
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
The blood of Jesus was shed for you. That’s what the Scripture says. Our focus on this Maundy Thursday is the foundational realities that underpin this truth. Holy Communion was never considered to be a supplemental sacrament appended to the otherwise standard worship of the Christian church. From the beginning it was the sacred but regular meal that nourished the faithful. In this gift we have a convergence of mysteries. Christ is present in a unique way with the power of forgiveness. Holy Communion is a participation in the mystery of the incarnation.
The “for you” nature of Holy Communion is rooted in the fact of Jesus’ presence. Appreciating the importance of this is challenging in an age of skepticism about anything not scientifically verifiable. Christian teaching must be careful not to capitulate to a theology of the absence of Jesus. The Holy Spirit is not a substitute for the human nature of Jesus. The ascension is sometimes misunderstood as a loss of the presence of Christ; almost as if at His ascension Jesus went back to being a spirit being only- a sort of “dis-incarnation.” The Holy Spirit is not a replacement for the bodily presence of Christ. The Holy Spirit unites the church in the blessings and benefits of His bodily presence. The Holy Spirit does no other work than this. If the Spirit is not leading a person to a deeper affirmation of the truth of Jesus’ body given for them then it’s not the Holy Spirit that’s doing the leading.
The ascension of Jesus into heaven doesn’t mean He confines Himself to that dimension or is no longer present here on earth. At His ascension Jesus was fully exalted and enthroned at the Father’s right hand. The sacrifice completed, death overcome, He began His rule as true God and true man for eternity. The ascension was truly a gain, not a loss. He is present bodily with His church on earth wherever and whenever He desires it. He has ordained that He will be present in the sacrament of Holy Communion in that way.
Here we not only “proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes,”1 as Paul says, but also receive the risen, ascended, and glorified Christ. Hidden under these elements of bread and wine Jesus comes to you with the forgiveness of sins. We commune always in the pale of the cross but in the light of the resurrection. When we commune we make ourselves vulnerable to the purifying work of the cross. Grace can only be received in repentance. To approach the throne in unbelief invites only judgment.
Therefore the unrepentant sinner seeks anonymity. If not ruled by self-righteousness his thoughts easily turn to excuse and avoidance. Perhaps the tangled mass of sinful humanity can become an advantage after all? Maybe in the menagerie of sorting out the judgment we can just be lost in the shuffle? Maybe our deeds won’t be revealed and the evil intentions of our hearts remain undiscovered? Of course Scripture says otherwise. “Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”2
The heart knows that God sees. And the piercing eyes of God do not allow the smallest sin to escape unnoticed. False piety is also an offense to Him. Try to claim that you’re not worth His effort and see how quickly your intended humility is shown to be arrogance. Precisely in your ‘noble’ desire to be of no trouble to Him you end up discounting His sacrifice. We might do this not by any intentional slander or rejection of His suffering and crucifixion but by questioning whether we were worth the effort. In doing so we rob Christ of the fullness of His glory. You are trouble to Him, everyone is. That is precisely the point.
But you have never committed a sin He has not seen before. You cannot shock Him. You will not surprise Him. Even if you did something so original and evil that it has never happened in the history of the world, still God can see the potential for such wickedness conceived in the original fall. There is no actual sin that is more pernicious than the total corruption of human nature which is its source. Christ was crucified not only for the actual sins of men but for the very possibilities which complete rebellion against God- idolatry- leads to.
No soul is expendable to God. God does not follow a utilitarian ethic. He will not overlook the one for the good of the many. He is not constrained to make decisions which would throw humans into a quandary. He is not forced to choose the well-being of one above the other. “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”3 Christ did this for the world and He did it for you.
Christ suffered for you. Luther says, “Of what help is it to you that God is God, if he is not God to you?”4 The sacrificial nature of Jesus is shown with clarity during His last meal with His disciples before His arrest. There He was, nearing His last hour, facing all the forces of darkness and what does Jesus do? He performs the task of a servant. He washes their feet. He models the humility that the disciples would need to imitate in their apostolic ministry. It was important symbolically, but it wasn’t merely an object lesson. Christians don’t just occasionally swallow their pride to perform lowly tasks on behalf of others; servanthood is the Christian way of life in all circumstances. Christians walk the path of humility not as a matter of personality or individual choice but as evidence they are bearing the cross and being conformed to Christ.
Dear friends, our Lord holds nothing back as He offers Himself for the forgiveness of your sins. In the Upper Room He blessed His followers before His death. In this place where He meets you He offers the same blessings. The Bible says, “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all- how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?”5 The cross was raised for you. For you the nails were hammered. His blood was shed for you. For you His body was broken. The stone was rolled for you. For you death was conquered. For you He bore the insults, the humility, the curses and the shame. For you He lives and intercedes before the Father. For you baptismal water is poured. For you the Spirit is given. For you He will return. Amen.
+ in nomine Jesu +
Maundy Thursday
April 1 2010
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 1 Corinthians 11:26
2 Hebrews 4:13
3 Romans 4:25
4 “A Meditation On Christ’s Passion”
5 Romans 8:31-32
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Palm Sunday
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti Amen. +
Text: Luke 19:38
Theme: “In the Name of the Lord”
Dear baptized in the Lord Jesus,
As Jesus enters Jerusalem at the beginning of Holy Week people greet Him with hope and praise. They adorn His route with palm branches and lay down their garments indicating their high view of what He has done and might further do. The first Palm Sunday was about expectations- and they were high. The prophet from Nazareth had already changed the lives of many. He impressed people with His authoritative teaching and His miracles. Now maybe something could happen on a grander scale. Would He overturn the political and social institutions? Would he usher in a new era? The people were abuzz wondering about the possibilities.
It was a stark contrast to the mood five days later. There He hung dying tragically on a cross. What kind of hope could be realized in the pending death of this man? More than 2000 years later the debate still rages about the meaning of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Was it all in vain or did it really change the world? The Bible calls us to clear witness of what these events means and warns us about engaging in the sophistry of the world. When rebuked by the Pharisees for letting His followers publicly worship Him as God Jesus replied, “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”1 The church’s cry must be unequivocal: Christ is crucified for sins!
The way an issue is “spun” is often critical for its public acceptance. For example, supporters of abortion are careful to say little or nothing about the victim or the procedure itself, focusing only on the alleged rights of the mother. Advocates know that if people saw the process of late-term abortion, many would be horrified. Even if people understood the emotional and spiritual trauma involved the matter would be much more strongly opposed: Out of sight out of mind. Christians recognize life as sacred. From conception to grave it is pure gift. Made in His image each person is endowed by Him with a soul. Sin throws the orientation, understanding, and appreciation of this God-given life into chaos and darkness. Like Cain wandering in exile2 we find no permanent resting place until we rest in God alone.
But human reason fights desperately against arriving at this destination. We’d rather construct a refuge of our own. People may be open to the idea of God facilitating their understanding of happiness, security and well-being; but to risk leaving all things to the wisdom of God is another matter. The bottom line is we don’t readily trust God to look after our well-being and we don’t naturally believe that the most important thing we need from Him is salvation. Like the first Palm Sunday worshippers were soon to discover, Jesus comes to address what we need not necessarily what we’d prefer. To clarify and come to terms with this is the unending work of the church.
Remember how Jesus taught His disciples to pray? “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.”3 Here is the heart of the matter. Yet this forgiveness often seems to people to be so irrelevant, so peripheral, even perhaps, so unnecessary. This type of thinking underpins the modern drive to change the church into primarily a social and therapeutic community. People don’t see the point in making a big issue about the forgiveness of sins. This is how the devil would have it. He desires to make the forgiveness of sins appear so mundane, uninteresting, and ineffective so as to almost be a waste of time. But without it we are crippled to one degree or another and finally we would be lost
Dear friends, we are all sinners. Believe that the greatest human need is always to be reconciled to the Father. This happens only through His Son. The Holy Spirit draws you here for that very purpose. The minister stands in the stead of Christ and declares in the name of the triune God that the sins of the repentant are forgiven. This assurance of absolution is valid before God in heaven. Your lapses into lust or selfishness or greed; your worry and doubt about your image among peers; your tactless indiscretions and mishandling of truth; your intentional unkindness and ingratitude towards co-workers, family, and friends; your cold-hearted lack of concern for those in need; the transgressions of your dark past and the failings of the present; these are washed away by the blood of the Lamb.
The gift of your baptism is the divine pledge that the punishment for your sins was laid upon Jesus at the cross. It involves entrance into new life because those who die with Him live with Him through the power of His resurrection. You bear that new life even in the midst of this world of decay. The struggle of baptismal living, of bearing the cross, is the struggle of confessing with your very life that which seems to contradict the evidence at hand. You may scarcely feel like you’re able to forgive yourself, let alone be reconciled to your spouse or others. But Christ bears this burden. What we desperately want to grasp with tangible reliability the Holy Spirit makes all the more certain through divine promise. The Spirit spares you from your own unstable assessment of whether the forgiveness offered to you is really true and piles all the accountability on Christ.
Then it is our privilege to make forgiveness tangible to others. Despite our intense feelings of hurt and anger we are called to accept those who seek to be reconciled to us in true repentance. Jesus said, “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”4 Not surprisingly the apostles responded by saying to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”5 Remember, the forgiveness you extend to others is a small reflection of divine absolution. Most crucially, in this aspect: The giving and receiving of grace. Forgiveness doesn’t settle all matters of fairness, justice, or who is in the right; in fact, it often overlooks these.
If you’ve become accustomed to thinking that forgiveness in your relationships is contingent upon first sorting out who is in the wrong, then you’ve completely misunderstood the gospel. You are operating under a human standard of justice that is necessary for the functioning of society but is not the basis upon which Christians imitate the reconciliation of Christ. We typically want others brought to justice, but do we understand what justice means for us spiritually! It would mean certain and unequivocal condemnation. Before God- our sins exposed and exposed as sinners- we are guilty, unholy, powerless, and spiritually naked. But divine love settled the matter of justice at the cross. Believers are freed from the sentence of condemnation. The gates to hell are slammed shut and locked. Christ has the only key.
What those first Palm Sunday worshippers wanted was a man who would overturn the institutions of society what they got was a Redeemer who overthrew much greater and sinister powers. They sought someone who would give them temporal provision and freedom from political tyranny, they received a Saviour that provided spiritual sustenance and freedom from the consequences of sin and death. But they didn’t understand this at the time. We might ask whether we understand it any better today. Christ doesn’t take you out of the world but He ultimately liberates you from its fallenness. “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”6 Amen.
+ in nomine Jesu +
Palm/Passion Sunday
28 March 2010 Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Luke 19:40
2 See Genesis 4:12
3 Luke 11:4
4 Luke 17:3-4
5 Luke 17:5
6 Luke 19:38
Text: Luke 19:38
Theme: “In the Name of the Lord”
Dear baptized in the Lord Jesus,
As Jesus enters Jerusalem at the beginning of Holy Week people greet Him with hope and praise. They adorn His route with palm branches and lay down their garments indicating their high view of what He has done and might further do. The first Palm Sunday was about expectations- and they were high. The prophet from Nazareth had already changed the lives of many. He impressed people with His authoritative teaching and His miracles. Now maybe something could happen on a grander scale. Would He overturn the political and social institutions? Would he usher in a new era? The people were abuzz wondering about the possibilities.
It was a stark contrast to the mood five days later. There He hung dying tragically on a cross. What kind of hope could be realized in the pending death of this man? More than 2000 years later the debate still rages about the meaning of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Was it all in vain or did it really change the world? The Bible calls us to clear witness of what these events means and warns us about engaging in the sophistry of the world. When rebuked by the Pharisees for letting His followers publicly worship Him as God Jesus replied, “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”1 The church’s cry must be unequivocal: Christ is crucified for sins!
The way an issue is “spun” is often critical for its public acceptance. For example, supporters of abortion are careful to say little or nothing about the victim or the procedure itself, focusing only on the alleged rights of the mother. Advocates know that if people saw the process of late-term abortion, many would be horrified. Even if people understood the emotional and spiritual trauma involved the matter would be much more strongly opposed: Out of sight out of mind. Christians recognize life as sacred. From conception to grave it is pure gift. Made in His image each person is endowed by Him with a soul. Sin throws the orientation, understanding, and appreciation of this God-given life into chaos and darkness. Like Cain wandering in exile2 we find no permanent resting place until we rest in God alone.
But human reason fights desperately against arriving at this destination. We’d rather construct a refuge of our own. People may be open to the idea of God facilitating their understanding of happiness, security and well-being; but to risk leaving all things to the wisdom of God is another matter. The bottom line is we don’t readily trust God to look after our well-being and we don’t naturally believe that the most important thing we need from Him is salvation. Like the first Palm Sunday worshippers were soon to discover, Jesus comes to address what we need not necessarily what we’d prefer. To clarify and come to terms with this is the unending work of the church.
Remember how Jesus taught His disciples to pray? “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.”3 Here is the heart of the matter. Yet this forgiveness often seems to people to be so irrelevant, so peripheral, even perhaps, so unnecessary. This type of thinking underpins the modern drive to change the church into primarily a social and therapeutic community. People don’t see the point in making a big issue about the forgiveness of sins. This is how the devil would have it. He desires to make the forgiveness of sins appear so mundane, uninteresting, and ineffective so as to almost be a waste of time. But without it we are crippled to one degree or another and finally we would be lost
Dear friends, we are all sinners. Believe that the greatest human need is always to be reconciled to the Father. This happens only through His Son. The Holy Spirit draws you here for that very purpose. The minister stands in the stead of Christ and declares in the name of the triune God that the sins of the repentant are forgiven. This assurance of absolution is valid before God in heaven. Your lapses into lust or selfishness or greed; your worry and doubt about your image among peers; your tactless indiscretions and mishandling of truth; your intentional unkindness and ingratitude towards co-workers, family, and friends; your cold-hearted lack of concern for those in need; the transgressions of your dark past and the failings of the present; these are washed away by the blood of the Lamb.
The gift of your baptism is the divine pledge that the punishment for your sins was laid upon Jesus at the cross. It involves entrance into new life because those who die with Him live with Him through the power of His resurrection. You bear that new life even in the midst of this world of decay. The struggle of baptismal living, of bearing the cross, is the struggle of confessing with your very life that which seems to contradict the evidence at hand. You may scarcely feel like you’re able to forgive yourself, let alone be reconciled to your spouse or others. But Christ bears this burden. What we desperately want to grasp with tangible reliability the Holy Spirit makes all the more certain through divine promise. The Spirit spares you from your own unstable assessment of whether the forgiveness offered to you is really true and piles all the accountability on Christ.
Then it is our privilege to make forgiveness tangible to others. Despite our intense feelings of hurt and anger we are called to accept those who seek to be reconciled to us in true repentance. Jesus said, “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”4 Not surprisingly the apostles responded by saying to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”5 Remember, the forgiveness you extend to others is a small reflection of divine absolution. Most crucially, in this aspect: The giving and receiving of grace. Forgiveness doesn’t settle all matters of fairness, justice, or who is in the right; in fact, it often overlooks these.
If you’ve become accustomed to thinking that forgiveness in your relationships is contingent upon first sorting out who is in the wrong, then you’ve completely misunderstood the gospel. You are operating under a human standard of justice that is necessary for the functioning of society but is not the basis upon which Christians imitate the reconciliation of Christ. We typically want others brought to justice, but do we understand what justice means for us spiritually! It would mean certain and unequivocal condemnation. Before God- our sins exposed and exposed as sinners- we are guilty, unholy, powerless, and spiritually naked. But divine love settled the matter of justice at the cross. Believers are freed from the sentence of condemnation. The gates to hell are slammed shut and locked. Christ has the only key.
What those first Palm Sunday worshippers wanted was a man who would overturn the institutions of society what they got was a Redeemer who overthrew much greater and sinister powers. They sought someone who would give them temporal provision and freedom from political tyranny, they received a Saviour that provided spiritual sustenance and freedom from the consequences of sin and death. But they didn’t understand this at the time. We might ask whether we understand it any better today. Christ doesn’t take you out of the world but He ultimately liberates you from its fallenness. “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”6 Amen.
+ in nomine Jesu +
Palm/Passion Sunday
28 March 2010 Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Luke 19:40
2 See Genesis 4:12
3 Luke 11:4
4 Luke 17:3-4
5 Luke 17:5
6 Luke 19:38
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Midweek Lenten Series Sermon
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti Amen. +
Text: Isaiah 53:1
Theme: Who Has Believed Our Message?
Dear baptized in the Lord Jesus,
The Holy Spirit reminds us, “We live by faith, not by sight.”1 The currently unobservable promises of God will one day be realized, while the tangible struggles that now press upon us will become like fleeting memories, phantoms which never caused a moment’s stress. This is our conviction. God will not fail to deliver.
But this conviction is hardly a widely-held consensus. Isaiah inquires “Who has believed our message?”2 The piercing question of the prophet continues to ring out through the ages. How commonly people turn a deaf ear. The message is easily naysayed. The need: A Saviour from sin, death, and hell. The provision: A victim hung on a cross, a sacrifice, a humble King, a Suffering Servant. Not very stunning by the world’s standards! Oh how the wisdom of God sounds like foolishness to men!
So the skeptic asks: Why doesn’t God do something more dramatic and undeniable if He wants more people to believe in Him? Why not something beyond questioning and of inescapable relevance to all? Well, He will when Christ comes again in glory. The Scripture says, “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”3 Every knee, every tongue, great or small, wicked or faithful,
skeptic or disciple, no exceptions; all will recognize Christ for who He is.
Meanwhile, we live in this dimension of time and space and that requires faith. Not that God hasn’t provided enough incontrovertible evidence already! Christ was publicly crucified by the Roman authorities outside of the city of Jerusalem and laid to rest in a rock-hewn tomb. Three days later He rose and then walked the earth for forty more days before His ascension. This is the central event upon which Christianity is founded. What need is there for more evidence? But remember the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. As the rich man languished in hell Abraham responded to his request that his brothers be warned by saying, “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”4 This is a categorical indictment on all humanity.
The issue is deeper. Faith does not finally rely on tangible evidence of God’s power. Such signs maybe an aide to faith-witnessing the healing of the sick, the subjugation of nature, and the raising of the dead. But acknowledging God’s power is not the same thing as believing He is gracious to you.
“Who has believed our message?” Faith can never be grounded on an assent to a collection of abstractions about God. It is proper and necessary to believe that God is holy, righteous, and eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, and all-knowing; these are essential characteristics of His nature. He transcends time and space. He foresees the future. But a general concept of a deity is not yet saving faith. Of the three great ecumenical creeds of the Christian church- the Apostles’, the Nicene, and the Athanasian- only the Athanasian contains a list of these intangible virtues of the Divinity. And the reason for listing these characteristics is to assert the equality of the Son and the Holy Spirit with the Father. Rather the creeds purposefully compile the essential historical facts about Jesus the Christ- in His humanity- and confess Him as Lord.
Here is where Christianity emerges from the generic mass of ideas and assertions about a ‘god-concept’ to stand uniquely upon the doctrine of the incarnation. We proclaim unapologetically that there is no God apart from the flesh and blood of Jesus the Christ. It is an ambitiously monumental claim! God makes Himself accessible in the man Jesus. He says “When a man believes in Me, he does not believe in Me only, but in the One who sent Me. When he looks at Me, he sees the One who sent Me.”5
Here is the critical and decisive thing: The mystery of the Christian teaching is that the Deity, who in His absolute holiness completely separates Himself from sin, nevertheless unites Himself to you, the sinner, in the person of the crucified Jesus- His Suffering Servant. The God who does this, though profoundly mysterious, is not anonymous or enigmatic. He reveals Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We have access to Him and saving knowledge of Him only through Jesus who came in human flesh. He is distributed to you through word and water, bread and wine. Luther says bluntly that apart from Christ people cannot distinguish between God and the devil.
Who has believed the message? What is the most common religion in Australia and much of the Western world? Most common not in terms of numbers associated with a particular denomination or religious group but of actual beliefs about the person, activity, and will of God? It is probably best described as a generic deism. The deist believes in the existence of a ‘supreme being’ and may even commit time and resources to religious causes. Yet how is this relationship characterized. Is it not this uneasy tension with a God to whom people concede existence and power but are reluctant to trust as gracious? In the civic religion that grows from a decaying Christianity God is granted some providence yet not even recognized as the Creator. We’re told time and chance have gotten us to where we are now? Is it not claimed that God’s advice is particularly obsolete in regards to ethical and morals issues? Is God not merely one resource among many for those seeking therapeutic healing, spiritual enlightenment, or meaningful resolution to life-shattering experiences- and always with the understanding that God’s input is optional?
“Who has believed our message?” Dear friends, how important it its return regularly to the words of the catechism about the Third Article! “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to Him.”6 To confess the inability to believe on one’s own is to truly lay bare the ego and humble the will. The dead are always at the mercy of Him who gives life. God grants this gift in baptism. Acknowledgment that unbelief, including the inability to believe, is the most profound consequence of sin in this life is a true measure of contrition. It is this type penitential heart which the exercise of Lent seeks to mold.
“But the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.”7 The EVENT- a 1st century Judean man dying the pathetic death of a criminal- was God’s way of atoning for your sin. His unassuming act of vacating His own grave under His own power was no less subdued. He didn’t alert the religious elite to announce it in the temple or send notice to the Roman authorities to make a civil declaration. Instead He commissions a small band comprised mostly of fishermen to proclaim to the world that the crucified Christ is alive and His kingdom far surpasses all earthly dominions.
Isaiah is our companion and teacher this Lenten season. He writes as if he was an eye-witness to the crucifixion and commissioned to explain the event. He refers to the Messiah as God’s Servant; the One who suffers for us. This Suffering Servant takes up our infirmities, carries our sorrows, is pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, punished that we might have peace, and wounded that we might be healed. Your peace of mind doesn’t depend on the fickle whim of a faceless ‘supreme being.’ It is rooted in the actions and promises of Him who died upon the tree. He turns His face toward you on the cross. He carries you through the grave. This is our message and we have no other. Amen.
+ in nomine Jesu +
Midweek Lenten Series
2010 Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 2 Corinthians 5:7
2 Isaiah 53:1 3 Philippians 2:10-11
4 Luke 16:31 5 John 12:44-45
6 Luther’s Small Catechism 7 same
Text: Isaiah 53:1
Theme: Who Has Believed Our Message?
Dear baptized in the Lord Jesus,
The Holy Spirit reminds us, “We live by faith, not by sight.”1 The currently unobservable promises of God will one day be realized, while the tangible struggles that now press upon us will become like fleeting memories, phantoms which never caused a moment’s stress. This is our conviction. God will not fail to deliver.
But this conviction is hardly a widely-held consensus. Isaiah inquires “Who has believed our message?”2 The piercing question of the prophet continues to ring out through the ages. How commonly people turn a deaf ear. The message is easily naysayed. The need: A Saviour from sin, death, and hell. The provision: A victim hung on a cross, a sacrifice, a humble King, a Suffering Servant. Not very stunning by the world’s standards! Oh how the wisdom of God sounds like foolishness to men!
So the skeptic asks: Why doesn’t God do something more dramatic and undeniable if He wants more people to believe in Him? Why not something beyond questioning and of inescapable relevance to all? Well, He will when Christ comes again in glory. The Scripture says, “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”3 Every knee, every tongue, great or small, wicked or faithful,
skeptic or disciple, no exceptions; all will recognize Christ for who He is.
Meanwhile, we live in this dimension of time and space and that requires faith. Not that God hasn’t provided enough incontrovertible evidence already! Christ was publicly crucified by the Roman authorities outside of the city of Jerusalem and laid to rest in a rock-hewn tomb. Three days later He rose and then walked the earth for forty more days before His ascension. This is the central event upon which Christianity is founded. What need is there for more evidence? But remember the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. As the rich man languished in hell Abraham responded to his request that his brothers be warned by saying, “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”4 This is a categorical indictment on all humanity.
The issue is deeper. Faith does not finally rely on tangible evidence of God’s power. Such signs maybe an aide to faith-witnessing the healing of the sick, the subjugation of nature, and the raising of the dead. But acknowledging God’s power is not the same thing as believing He is gracious to you.
“Who has believed our message?” Faith can never be grounded on an assent to a collection of abstractions about God. It is proper and necessary to believe that God is holy, righteous, and eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, and all-knowing; these are essential characteristics of His nature. He transcends time and space. He foresees the future. But a general concept of a deity is not yet saving faith. Of the three great ecumenical creeds of the Christian church- the Apostles’, the Nicene, and the Athanasian- only the Athanasian contains a list of these intangible virtues of the Divinity. And the reason for listing these characteristics is to assert the equality of the Son and the Holy Spirit with the Father. Rather the creeds purposefully compile the essential historical facts about Jesus the Christ- in His humanity- and confess Him as Lord.
Here is where Christianity emerges from the generic mass of ideas and assertions about a ‘god-concept’ to stand uniquely upon the doctrine of the incarnation. We proclaim unapologetically that there is no God apart from the flesh and blood of Jesus the Christ. It is an ambitiously monumental claim! God makes Himself accessible in the man Jesus. He says “When a man believes in Me, he does not believe in Me only, but in the One who sent Me. When he looks at Me, he sees the One who sent Me.”5
Here is the critical and decisive thing: The mystery of the Christian teaching is that the Deity, who in His absolute holiness completely separates Himself from sin, nevertheless unites Himself to you, the sinner, in the person of the crucified Jesus- His Suffering Servant. The God who does this, though profoundly mysterious, is not anonymous or enigmatic. He reveals Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We have access to Him and saving knowledge of Him only through Jesus who came in human flesh. He is distributed to you through word and water, bread and wine. Luther says bluntly that apart from Christ people cannot distinguish between God and the devil.
Who has believed the message? What is the most common religion in Australia and much of the Western world? Most common not in terms of numbers associated with a particular denomination or religious group but of actual beliefs about the person, activity, and will of God? It is probably best described as a generic deism. The deist believes in the existence of a ‘supreme being’ and may even commit time and resources to religious causes. Yet how is this relationship characterized. Is it not this uneasy tension with a God to whom people concede existence and power but are reluctant to trust as gracious? In the civic religion that grows from a decaying Christianity God is granted some providence yet not even recognized as the Creator. We’re told time and chance have gotten us to where we are now? Is it not claimed that God’s advice is particularly obsolete in regards to ethical and morals issues? Is God not merely one resource among many for those seeking therapeutic healing, spiritual enlightenment, or meaningful resolution to life-shattering experiences- and always with the understanding that God’s input is optional?
“Who has believed our message?” Dear friends, how important it its return regularly to the words of the catechism about the Third Article! “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to Him.”6 To confess the inability to believe on one’s own is to truly lay bare the ego and humble the will. The dead are always at the mercy of Him who gives life. God grants this gift in baptism. Acknowledgment that unbelief, including the inability to believe, is the most profound consequence of sin in this life is a true measure of contrition. It is this type penitential heart which the exercise of Lent seeks to mold.
“But the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.”7 The EVENT- a 1st century Judean man dying the pathetic death of a criminal- was God’s way of atoning for your sin. His unassuming act of vacating His own grave under His own power was no less subdued. He didn’t alert the religious elite to announce it in the temple or send notice to the Roman authorities to make a civil declaration. Instead He commissions a small band comprised mostly of fishermen to proclaim to the world that the crucified Christ is alive and His kingdom far surpasses all earthly dominions.
Isaiah is our companion and teacher this Lenten season. He writes as if he was an eye-witness to the crucifixion and commissioned to explain the event. He refers to the Messiah as God’s Servant; the One who suffers for us. This Suffering Servant takes up our infirmities, carries our sorrows, is pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, punished that we might have peace, and wounded that we might be healed. Your peace of mind doesn’t depend on the fickle whim of a faceless ‘supreme being.’ It is rooted in the actions and promises of Him who died upon the tree. He turns His face toward you on the cross. He carries you through the grave. This is our message and we have no other. Amen.
+ in nomine Jesu +
Midweek Lenten Series
2010 Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 2 Corinthians 5:7
2 Isaiah 53:1 3 Philippians 2:10-11
4 Luke 16:31 5 John 12:44-45
6 Luther’s Small Catechism 7 same
Monday, March 22, 2010
Fifth Sunday in Lent
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti Amen. +
Text: John 12:1-8
Theme: Service and Devotion
Dear baptized in the Lord Jesus,
Jesus has spoken repeatedly of His impending arrest and crucifixion. There was no question that His time was nearing its end. Mary seems to sense this. As a touching and poignant act of love she wished to anoint Him with perfume that would generally be used at burial. Judas condemns her act as wasteful. The poor could have been helped, he said. But his motivations were far from pure. Judas was a thief. The sinner always finds a better use for someone else’s possessions. But Jesus does not reprimand him or reveal his transgression. Instead He commends Mary’s act of devotion. God will judge. God will bring all things to light whether good or evil. But it was not quite Judas’s time.
One of the early preachers of the church speaks of the folly of all who would follow in Judas’ footsteps. “They indeed defraud you of your money, but they strip themselves of the good will and help of God. And he that is stripped of that, though he clothe himself with the whole wealth of the world, is of all people most poor, just as he who is poorest of all, if he has God’s help, is the wealthiest of all.”1 But who in the world really believes this? How many would forego material luxury to acquire spiritual treasure? Are we any different than those who lived centuries ago? The more things change the more they stay the same.
There will never be a utopia on earth because people are utterly selfish and sinful.
One person is lacking food, while the next is starved for attention. One person is given physical support while the next remains bereft of emotional help. Perhaps the stomach is indulged while the soul withers. Or one individual is granted great personal freedom but becomes enslaved to his own lack of self-control. We selfishly confuse our wants with needs and people uncharitably make judgments about what is best for others. These complexities of human existence and sinfulness will always be with us. Christians are called to be bearers of mercy and hope. But we harbor no naïve ideals about the perfection of the human race. Pure sacrifice seeks no hope of having the favour returned. The Christian serves others because there is need, not because of reward. And we do it not to build people’s confidence in the goodness of the world but to point them to Christ.
What does the Bible say? “Though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”2 This power is the Word of God. Oh, what confidence has been lost in the word of God! How seldom we find it taken seriously. The bible is scarcely viewed as anything more than a dusty collection of stories of a by-gone age. Even amongst many Christians the biblical accounts are often marginalized as nothing more than harmless moralistic stories for children. Such attitudes betray the degree to which arrogance and unbelief so easily rule hearts and minds. Satan doesn’t need overly-cunning deceptions or temptations to outwit humans; he need only maintain enough cynicism, ignorance, or apathy to render God’s promises ineffective.
But the Word of God still commands its own audience and the Holy Spirit gathers His own followers. God works despite our foibles, faults, forgetfulness, and faithlessness.
Lent draws us right into the fray, and, angst, and paradox of remembering that we may forget. That is, of recalling Christ’s suffering that our sins may be forgotten; of claiming the reason for His crucifixion, that we might be identified with Him in the resurrection; of appreciating the past to make sense of the present and look toward the future. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”3 And the prophet says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”4
Dear friends, we believe that the doctrine of Christ crucified and risen has far-reaching consequences. Christ initiated a great reversal which presses on in the face of ridicule and doubt and is often unobserved. Sometimes we are privileged to witness great flashes of God’s power but more often than not the gospel does its work quietly and always in the midst of struggle and tension. By it the Holy Spirit converts hearts and transforms minds; yet our righteousness is by declaration and our holiness not our own, but Christ’s. And though this righteousness seems less tangible because it isn’t fully grasped by human senses, it is all the more certain because it rests on Christ’s work alone. He claims you as His child in baptism and no one can gainsay His testimony or overturn His claim. He declares to the penitent that his or her sins are forgiven and nothing can give greater freedom. He provides His own body and blood, and better nourishment for the soul cannot be found.
Even in the midst of decay the old is being made new. In the midst of dying the power of life gathers force. In the face of despair hope springs anew. The Christ hidden from our senses nevertheless lives in our souls. Human eyes search vainly in the darkness but the eyes of faith plainly behold the image of the cross. God is no less Creator now than He was in the beginning. Darkness fled when He commanded light to shine. Demons still flee whenever and wherever the Light of the World holds sway.
That which is broken can be repaired. Those who are estranged can be reconciled. All who have transgressed can be forgiven. The lost are sought and found. The enslaved are identified and freed. The weak are given strength, the ignorant wisdom, the sorrowful joy. Those whose appreciation for the beauty and elegance of creation has gone pass all memory are reintroduced to a remade Eden. The thankless are given a reason to praise. This is the work of the gospel even now. Mary’s act of devotion will always be remembered because Christ says it will.
Christ does all these things. Now in the piecemeal manner that suppresses our arrogance, subdues our selfishness, and increases our dependence on His mercy. Only in this manner is our faith now served. As the apostle says, “Not that I have already attained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”5 But then, on the Last Day, at the last trumpet, in dramatic and comprehensive fashion, when we see Him face to face and as He IS- then will the consequence of sin and evil of death be swallowed up by life. Amen.
+ in nomine Jesu +
Fifth Sunday in Lent
21 March 2010 Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Chrysostom
2 2 Corinthians 10:3-4
3 Hebrews 13:8
4 Isaiah 43:18-19
5 Philippians 3:12
Text: John 12:1-8
Theme: Service and Devotion
Dear baptized in the Lord Jesus,
Jesus has spoken repeatedly of His impending arrest and crucifixion. There was no question that His time was nearing its end. Mary seems to sense this. As a touching and poignant act of love she wished to anoint Him with perfume that would generally be used at burial. Judas condemns her act as wasteful. The poor could have been helped, he said. But his motivations were far from pure. Judas was a thief. The sinner always finds a better use for someone else’s possessions. But Jesus does not reprimand him or reveal his transgression. Instead He commends Mary’s act of devotion. God will judge. God will bring all things to light whether good or evil. But it was not quite Judas’s time.
One of the early preachers of the church speaks of the folly of all who would follow in Judas’ footsteps. “They indeed defraud you of your money, but they strip themselves of the good will and help of God. And he that is stripped of that, though he clothe himself with the whole wealth of the world, is of all people most poor, just as he who is poorest of all, if he has God’s help, is the wealthiest of all.”1 But who in the world really believes this? How many would forego material luxury to acquire spiritual treasure? Are we any different than those who lived centuries ago? The more things change the more they stay the same.
There will never be a utopia on earth because people are utterly selfish and sinful.
One person is lacking food, while the next is starved for attention. One person is given physical support while the next remains bereft of emotional help. Perhaps the stomach is indulged while the soul withers. Or one individual is granted great personal freedom but becomes enslaved to his own lack of self-control. We selfishly confuse our wants with needs and people uncharitably make judgments about what is best for others. These complexities of human existence and sinfulness will always be with us. Christians are called to be bearers of mercy and hope. But we harbor no naïve ideals about the perfection of the human race. Pure sacrifice seeks no hope of having the favour returned. The Christian serves others because there is need, not because of reward. And we do it not to build people’s confidence in the goodness of the world but to point them to Christ.
What does the Bible say? “Though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”2 This power is the Word of God. Oh, what confidence has been lost in the word of God! How seldom we find it taken seriously. The bible is scarcely viewed as anything more than a dusty collection of stories of a by-gone age. Even amongst many Christians the biblical accounts are often marginalized as nothing more than harmless moralistic stories for children. Such attitudes betray the degree to which arrogance and unbelief so easily rule hearts and minds. Satan doesn’t need overly-cunning deceptions or temptations to outwit humans; he need only maintain enough cynicism, ignorance, or apathy to render God’s promises ineffective.
But the Word of God still commands its own audience and the Holy Spirit gathers His own followers. God works despite our foibles, faults, forgetfulness, and faithlessness.
Lent draws us right into the fray, and, angst, and paradox of remembering that we may forget. That is, of recalling Christ’s suffering that our sins may be forgotten; of claiming the reason for His crucifixion, that we might be identified with Him in the resurrection; of appreciating the past to make sense of the present and look toward the future. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”3 And the prophet says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”4
Dear friends, we believe that the doctrine of Christ crucified and risen has far-reaching consequences. Christ initiated a great reversal which presses on in the face of ridicule and doubt and is often unobserved. Sometimes we are privileged to witness great flashes of God’s power but more often than not the gospel does its work quietly and always in the midst of struggle and tension. By it the Holy Spirit converts hearts and transforms minds; yet our righteousness is by declaration and our holiness not our own, but Christ’s. And though this righteousness seems less tangible because it isn’t fully grasped by human senses, it is all the more certain because it rests on Christ’s work alone. He claims you as His child in baptism and no one can gainsay His testimony or overturn His claim. He declares to the penitent that his or her sins are forgiven and nothing can give greater freedom. He provides His own body and blood, and better nourishment for the soul cannot be found.
Even in the midst of decay the old is being made new. In the midst of dying the power of life gathers force. In the face of despair hope springs anew. The Christ hidden from our senses nevertheless lives in our souls. Human eyes search vainly in the darkness but the eyes of faith plainly behold the image of the cross. God is no less Creator now than He was in the beginning. Darkness fled when He commanded light to shine. Demons still flee whenever and wherever the Light of the World holds sway.
That which is broken can be repaired. Those who are estranged can be reconciled. All who have transgressed can be forgiven. The lost are sought and found. The enslaved are identified and freed. The weak are given strength, the ignorant wisdom, the sorrowful joy. Those whose appreciation for the beauty and elegance of creation has gone pass all memory are reintroduced to a remade Eden. The thankless are given a reason to praise. This is the work of the gospel even now. Mary’s act of devotion will always be remembered because Christ says it will.
Christ does all these things. Now in the piecemeal manner that suppresses our arrogance, subdues our selfishness, and increases our dependence on His mercy. Only in this manner is our faith now served. As the apostle says, “Not that I have already attained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”5 But then, on the Last Day, at the last trumpet, in dramatic and comprehensive fashion, when we see Him face to face and as He IS- then will the consequence of sin and evil of death be swallowed up by life. Amen.
+ in nomine Jesu +
Fifth Sunday in Lent
21 March 2010 Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Chrysostom
2 2 Corinthians 10:3-4
3 Hebrews 13:8
4 Isaiah 43:18-19
5 Philippians 3:12
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)