+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Matthew 28:19-20
Theme: Trinitarian Fellowship
Dear people of God blessed by the Spirit,
To celebrate the Trinity as the one God who exists in three persons is to celebrate His self-revelation to us. One in essence, three in persons, the triune God is disclosed to us through the Holy Scriptures. Therefore, Jesus says today, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”1 God’s name is not an honorary title. It is descriptive of His identity, the way in which He chooses to be made known. Wherever His name is called upon, there His presence and power are attendant.
And that’s exactly why the Holy Spirit gathers us for the hearing of divine truth. Of course, those who hear cannot all be painted with the same brush. Some are “all ears”. They eagerly expect the blessing of God. They understand and receive the benefits. Others perceive the sound but fluctuate between their interest being piqued and their apathy being affirmed. Still others filter very discriminatingly wanting to avoid any exposure that would threaten their perspective on life and the way it’s governed. God knows all this. He knows our needs.
Therefore, the Holy Spirit commences conversations through crisis. He’s doing that all around the world right now as people work through the trauma of losing freedom, opportunities, assets, and life itself on a scale not seen in recent memory. Sorrow in the world is opportunity for rejoicing in heaven. Only the sick need a doctor. Each soul the Spirit brings to a knowledge of the truth is a cause for rejoicing. God is always in pursuit of lost souls. He pursues lost sheep to the very moment they take their last breath.
That’s true not just for strangers out there who we hope will be reached with the message of the gospel. It’s true also for your family and friends who have wandered from the faith and become estranged from the church. The Good Shepherd is pursuing these lost and wandering sheep also. Many of them don’t recognize they are lost and still consider themselves to be firmly in the fellowship of believers. It’s a subtle and powerful deception. But God is not deceived. He reads the heart.
Faith, you see, is not a token assent to truth. It entails the irrepressible desire to follow. Faith is conviction in action. Yes, it struggles constantly with the confidence that God is faithful, that God is honest, that God is attentive. Sometimes God’s goodness is abundantly clear to us. At other times it may appear God is aloof, judgmental, or even cruel. Your faith may be strong or weak, or somewhere in between, but it’s no good claiming that your faith is invariable because it is a living thing. There’s nothing static or linear about faith. It’s not one dimensional. You can’t put it on the shelf for a while and expect it not to diminish.
It’s no coincidence that on this Trinity Sunday we hear the very first words of the Bible. God’s creation reaches its pinnacle with the formation of Adam and Eve. “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”2 It’s profoundly humbling to know we are created in the image of God. It’s also the lens for our understanding of the entirety of existence.
If we don’t believe that humanity is tied organically and without exception to Adam, the first man, and propagated through Eve, the first woman, then our worldview is not biblical. Our truths and values are then resting, at least partially, on different foundations. When the storm that is Second Coming and final judgment arrive those foundations will crumble away like sandcastles on the beach.
The Trinity made Adam in His own image. He placed Adam and Eve in an unspoiled paradise where they could live as recipients of His blessings forever. Death was not in the world before the fall into sin. Death is not natural; it is part of the curse. It is the result of separation from God. Perpetual cycles of propagation and mortality do not explain the origin of life, but only describe what we now observe. Evolutionary science has not explained the origin of life and it never will because it is impossible to repeat it.
These matters aren’t just issues of curiosity. The biblical witness is all tied together- from beginning to end. It is seamlessly woven. Like the tunic of Christ, it’s all of one piece3. If Christ is mistaken in His commendation of the Mosaic account of creation, then redemption too becomes unhinged from history. Furthermore, Jesus is found to be a false interpreter of the Scriptures. A world that has always had death in it cannot be restored to its original purity. Death is not a property of perfection. If we stand in judgment over particular teachings of the Bible what’s to stop us from claiming judgment over all of Scripture? The emasculation of the Scriptures continues apace in many parts of the church.
Dear friends, the self-revelation of God is tied exclusively to the Bible. If we could truly understand God through the wonders of creation- and the creation is mind-bogglingly magnificent- there would be no need for the publication of the gospel. If we could grasp God, access Him, come to Him, truly know Him by applying only human intellect, determination, and ingenuity, there would be no need for the righteousness of faith. There would be no point to the coming of Christ in the flesh, His suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension. His atoning work would be unnecessary. Yet, God decided not only to save us, but to spare no expense in doing so. The immortal, holy, Son of God, sacrificed Himself for your sins and mine.
It was an act of grace when God spoke creation into existence. It was a profound outpouring of His love. The fact that we exist, that anything exists at all is not due to obligation or entitlement, but to the free act of the Holy Trinity desiring to be in fellowship with creation. We can throw all kinds of why questions and other queries at this truth, but we won’t be able to uncover the mystery. Why was God compelled to create? Was He compelled? Why did He not abandon His fallen creation? He is eternal, incomprehensible love. Beyond this we can say little more. But the coming of Christ says everything that God needs to say. The Holy Spirit doesn’t waste words. And He doesn’t speak in riddles. He communicates to us clearly and consistently the redeeming love of Jesus. We hear it in the delightful words of the gospel, we taste it in the Sacrament of the Altar, we are cleansed by it in the waters of baptism.
Trinity Sunday, is a day to celebrate your baptism. In your baptism the triune God severed your identity with the old eon, the fallen age, the dominion of Satan and claimed you for His kingdom of light and joy and immortality. Today is a day to celebrate your creation in the Father’s image, your renewal in the image of the Son, and the companionship you have in the Spirit. Today is a day to remember how small your problems are compared to the largeness of God’s solutions; how temporary our sufferings are compared to the permanency of His glory. The intent is not to make light of our struggles but to put them in perspective. There is nothing we lack that God cannot supply.
It doesn’t matter what you have, if you don’t have the gospel you don’t have anything of lasting value. It doesn’t matter what you lack, what you’ve been deprived of, or what things rightfully yours, that have been taken from you, when you have the grace of God in Jesus Christ, you have everything. Hell is no treat to you. Death cannot harm you. There are no earthly treasures or riches, accomplishments or acclamations that compare to possessing the righteousness of Him who covered your sins. Through the cross we come to the day of resurrection and into the presence of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The promise of Jesus Christ cannot fail, “Behold, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”4 The triune God established our existence and He will bring it to completion eternally. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Holy Trinity
7 June 2020
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Matthew 28:19 2 Genesis 1:27
3 See John 19:23 4 Matthew 28:20
Tuesday, June 9, 2020
Monday, June 1, 2020
Day of Pentecost (A) 2020
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Acts 2:17
Theme: The Spirit Poured Out
Dear people blessed by the Spirit,
Jesus summoned the Spirit. The Father released Him. He hovered over the waters of creation. He animated the prophets. He confused languages at Babel. He directed the patriarchs and matriarchs. He rebuked the king. He forgave the king. He departed from the temple. He returned to the temple. He comforted the exiles. He sustained hope in the remnant. He overshadowed the Virgin. He left the human body of Jesus and returned to it on the third day. These things He did in the first age.
Again, Jesus summoned the Spirit. The Father released Him. He overshadowed the apostles. He came down as tongues of fire. He empowered the church. Visitors to the earthly Jerusalem were astounded. Hopefuls of the heavenly Jerusalem were vindicated. The gospel was proclaimed. Babel was reversed. Languages were multiplied for the cause unity. Faith was gifted. Unbelief was defeated. These things happened on Pentecost. The final age had begun.
Dear friends, we live in the final age. And we are no further from the power and presence of God than believers were on the Day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit is not one second older or one step slower than He was on that day or when He hovered over the waters at the first creation. He is not the tiniest bit fatigued. He is not a fraction impaired. He betrays not a trace of apathy. The Spirit’s love burns with eternal brightness and warmth. His passion is undiminished. His passion burns for you.
It’s no coincidence that there was quite a cosmopolitan crowd gathered in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost. The gospel is intended for every people group of every time and every place. No knowledge, no news, no blessing is more relevant or more essential than the gospel. It is meant for all ears and all hearts at all times. It’s probably impossible for most of us to imagine what it was like to hear the gospel in your mother tongue for the first time. It is life changing. However, the gospel is not only the most relevant and essential declaration ever to be published it is also- because of its intent- the most vehemently opposed.
Even on the Day of Pentecost some thought the apostles were drunk. They apparently didn’t believe God would manifest His power. Jesus said that when the Spirit came, He would “convict the world of guilt in regard to sin.”1 Remember, the Holy Spirit is not how we wish Him to be. The Holy Spirit is as the Scriptures reveal a Him. Gods of our own making are called idols and they are as fickle and fallible as the people who construct them. All of us are prone to god-making in one form or another. We might not recognize it as such, thinking we are only fortifying our ideals with religious, moral, or spiritual justification. Do we mine the Bible in search of evidence for our preconceived notions? Is the Bible used as a proof book for our otherwise established opinions and values?
Most pastors would be happy to know people were mining the Bible at all. But the Scriptures can be used to support a wide range of falsehoods when taken out of context. That tends to be our mode of operation especially when we reflect on our own sinfulness. We manipulate the context. Have you ever noticed how easy it is to disguise your repentance under the cloak of anonymity? To acknowledge generally, but not seriously and specifically, that you are a sinner?
Undoubtedly that’s why Luther plies us with such direct and personal questions in the catechism. “Consider your place in life according to the Ten Commandments: Are you a father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife or worker? Have you been disobedient, unfaithful, or lazy? Have you been hot-tempered, rude, or quarrelsome? Have you hurt someone by your words or deeds? Have you stolen, been negligent, wasted anything, or done any harm?2 We’re not just generic sinners, we think, plan, say, and do very specific sinful things. The Holy Spirit is not the affirmer of our inflated egos. He is a masterful surgeon. He humbles us so that God may lift us up in due time.
Have no doubt, people of God that the Holy Spirit is with you. If you honestly believe Christ is your Redeemer, you have the Holy Spirit. He is the Comforter, the Advocate, the Helper. The Holy Spirit is the giver of faith and the taker of doubt, the breath of life and the repeller of death. He strides through the dark world as a bearer of light- the light of Him who is the light of the world, the light of Him who is the light of men, Jesus, the Redeemer. Christ is the physician for those yearning to be rid of their cancer. He is the balm for those harried by the festering wounds of their sins. He is the medicine for those who are spiritually sick. He is light for those living in darkness and the shadow of death.
Pentecost was a grand and glorious day for the dissemination of the Good News. The work of prophets and angels was conferred on apostles and disciples. Angels, those sublime, swift and powerful creatures are privileged to proclaim that gospel. They attend the throne of God and yet they long to look into the mystery. Rightly understood, that is profoundly humbling. The atoning, sacrificial love of the Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity is so incomprehensible that angels struggle to understand it. No wonder the Holy Spirit is required for us to believe it. And yet it’s not incomprehensible because it is a secret, or in doubt, or requires an academic degree to receive or benefit from it. It is the plainest, clearest message in the world. It is incomprehensible because it’s far beyond our capacity to appreciate why God loves us so much!
What do the Scriptures say? “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”3 Again, “He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”4 The Holy Spirit came to teach us these truths. He came to comfort us with the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ. The Suffering Servant was crucified for you but gained victory over death on the third day.
The Spirit also came to lead us in battle, in the daily struggle of a cross-bearing life. Against the tendencies of our sinful natures the Holy Spirit seeks to sanctify us. From God’s perspective we are already declared righteous by grace, through faith for Christ’s sake. This is the miracle of God justifying sinners through His Son. Yet, from our perspective, it’s always a work in progress; messy, incomplete, unpredictable, and somewhat mysterious. Think only of question three in the confession and absolution: “Do you intend with the help of the Holy Spirit to live as in God's presence, and to strive daily to lead a holy life, even as Christ has made you holy?”5 The tension will not be resolved until we transition to the next life.
Meanwhile, the Spirit will continue to work in and through you. It won’t always be painless. But He promises that at some point it will be rewarding. Will you have the strength, will you have the wisdom, will you have the courage, will you have the humility to love others as Christ has loved you? Will you be continually and cheerfully able to sacrifice your interests for the sake of others? Or will you be hindered by selfishness, by greed, by apathy, by hard-heartedness? Of course you will! God knows our limitations and we do well to learn them too. Don’t try to shoulder burdens that only God can lift. But don’t fear lifting the burdens of others who don’t have the strength. God will lift you up in due time.
The Holy Spirt won’t be controlled or manipulated by the strength or cleverness of men. He is grieved by rejection. He is driven away by steadfast unbelief. But He is not disheartened. He is never lacking in zeal. He binds Himself to the written word, the Holy Scriptures, and the Incarnate Word, the Lord Jesus. And through them He can thaw the coldest hearts and cheer the darkest minds. Joy, and peace, and hope always accompany Him.
These have been trying times for God’s baptised people all around the world. The promised Holy Spirit came to gather His church on Pentecost, and He has begun to gather it again. We pray that the struggles and lessons of isolation prove to be beneficial. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be blessed. So too, we pray that those who are hungering and thirsting for the Supper of our Lord and the close fellowship of the faithful will be overflowing with joy in the Spirit when we arrive at the appointed time. “God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.”6 Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
The Day of Pentecost
31 May 2020
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 John 16:8 2 Luther’s Small Catechism
3 2 Corinthians 4:6 4 Titus 3:5-7
5 LH page 6 6 Romans 5:5
Text: Acts 2:17
Theme: The Spirit Poured Out
Dear people blessed by the Spirit,
Jesus summoned the Spirit. The Father released Him. He hovered over the waters of creation. He animated the prophets. He confused languages at Babel. He directed the patriarchs and matriarchs. He rebuked the king. He forgave the king. He departed from the temple. He returned to the temple. He comforted the exiles. He sustained hope in the remnant. He overshadowed the Virgin. He left the human body of Jesus and returned to it on the third day. These things He did in the first age.
Again, Jesus summoned the Spirit. The Father released Him. He overshadowed the apostles. He came down as tongues of fire. He empowered the church. Visitors to the earthly Jerusalem were astounded. Hopefuls of the heavenly Jerusalem were vindicated. The gospel was proclaimed. Babel was reversed. Languages were multiplied for the cause unity. Faith was gifted. Unbelief was defeated. These things happened on Pentecost. The final age had begun.
Dear friends, we live in the final age. And we are no further from the power and presence of God than believers were on the Day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit is not one second older or one step slower than He was on that day or when He hovered over the waters at the first creation. He is not the tiniest bit fatigued. He is not a fraction impaired. He betrays not a trace of apathy. The Spirit’s love burns with eternal brightness and warmth. His passion is undiminished. His passion burns for you.
It’s no coincidence that there was quite a cosmopolitan crowd gathered in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost. The gospel is intended for every people group of every time and every place. No knowledge, no news, no blessing is more relevant or more essential than the gospel. It is meant for all ears and all hearts at all times. It’s probably impossible for most of us to imagine what it was like to hear the gospel in your mother tongue for the first time. It is life changing. However, the gospel is not only the most relevant and essential declaration ever to be published it is also- because of its intent- the most vehemently opposed.
Even on the Day of Pentecost some thought the apostles were drunk. They apparently didn’t believe God would manifest His power. Jesus said that when the Spirit came, He would “convict the world of guilt in regard to sin.”1 Remember, the Holy Spirit is not how we wish Him to be. The Holy Spirit is as the Scriptures reveal a Him. Gods of our own making are called idols and they are as fickle and fallible as the people who construct them. All of us are prone to god-making in one form or another. We might not recognize it as such, thinking we are only fortifying our ideals with religious, moral, or spiritual justification. Do we mine the Bible in search of evidence for our preconceived notions? Is the Bible used as a proof book for our otherwise established opinions and values?
Most pastors would be happy to know people were mining the Bible at all. But the Scriptures can be used to support a wide range of falsehoods when taken out of context. That tends to be our mode of operation especially when we reflect on our own sinfulness. We manipulate the context. Have you ever noticed how easy it is to disguise your repentance under the cloak of anonymity? To acknowledge generally, but not seriously and specifically, that you are a sinner?
Undoubtedly that’s why Luther plies us with such direct and personal questions in the catechism. “Consider your place in life according to the Ten Commandments: Are you a father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife or worker? Have you been disobedient, unfaithful, or lazy? Have you been hot-tempered, rude, or quarrelsome? Have you hurt someone by your words or deeds? Have you stolen, been negligent, wasted anything, or done any harm?2 We’re not just generic sinners, we think, plan, say, and do very specific sinful things. The Holy Spirit is not the affirmer of our inflated egos. He is a masterful surgeon. He humbles us so that God may lift us up in due time.
Have no doubt, people of God that the Holy Spirit is with you. If you honestly believe Christ is your Redeemer, you have the Holy Spirit. He is the Comforter, the Advocate, the Helper. The Holy Spirit is the giver of faith and the taker of doubt, the breath of life and the repeller of death. He strides through the dark world as a bearer of light- the light of Him who is the light of the world, the light of Him who is the light of men, Jesus, the Redeemer. Christ is the physician for those yearning to be rid of their cancer. He is the balm for those harried by the festering wounds of their sins. He is the medicine for those who are spiritually sick. He is light for those living in darkness and the shadow of death.
Pentecost was a grand and glorious day for the dissemination of the Good News. The work of prophets and angels was conferred on apostles and disciples. Angels, those sublime, swift and powerful creatures are privileged to proclaim that gospel. They attend the throne of God and yet they long to look into the mystery. Rightly understood, that is profoundly humbling. The atoning, sacrificial love of the Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity is so incomprehensible that angels struggle to understand it. No wonder the Holy Spirit is required for us to believe it. And yet it’s not incomprehensible because it is a secret, or in doubt, or requires an academic degree to receive or benefit from it. It is the plainest, clearest message in the world. It is incomprehensible because it’s far beyond our capacity to appreciate why God loves us so much!
What do the Scriptures say? “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”3 Again, “He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”4 The Holy Spirit came to teach us these truths. He came to comfort us with the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ. The Suffering Servant was crucified for you but gained victory over death on the third day.
The Spirit also came to lead us in battle, in the daily struggle of a cross-bearing life. Against the tendencies of our sinful natures the Holy Spirit seeks to sanctify us. From God’s perspective we are already declared righteous by grace, through faith for Christ’s sake. This is the miracle of God justifying sinners through His Son. Yet, from our perspective, it’s always a work in progress; messy, incomplete, unpredictable, and somewhat mysterious. Think only of question three in the confession and absolution: “Do you intend with the help of the Holy Spirit to live as in God's presence, and to strive daily to lead a holy life, even as Christ has made you holy?”5 The tension will not be resolved until we transition to the next life.
Meanwhile, the Spirit will continue to work in and through you. It won’t always be painless. But He promises that at some point it will be rewarding. Will you have the strength, will you have the wisdom, will you have the courage, will you have the humility to love others as Christ has loved you? Will you be continually and cheerfully able to sacrifice your interests for the sake of others? Or will you be hindered by selfishness, by greed, by apathy, by hard-heartedness? Of course you will! God knows our limitations and we do well to learn them too. Don’t try to shoulder burdens that only God can lift. But don’t fear lifting the burdens of others who don’t have the strength. God will lift you up in due time.
The Holy Spirt won’t be controlled or manipulated by the strength or cleverness of men. He is grieved by rejection. He is driven away by steadfast unbelief. But He is not disheartened. He is never lacking in zeal. He binds Himself to the written word, the Holy Scriptures, and the Incarnate Word, the Lord Jesus. And through them He can thaw the coldest hearts and cheer the darkest minds. Joy, and peace, and hope always accompany Him.
These have been trying times for God’s baptised people all around the world. The promised Holy Spirit came to gather His church on Pentecost, and He has begun to gather it again. We pray that the struggles and lessons of isolation prove to be beneficial. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be blessed. So too, we pray that those who are hungering and thirsting for the Supper of our Lord and the close fellowship of the faithful will be overflowing with joy in the Spirit when we arrive at the appointed time. “God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.”6 Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
The Day of Pentecost
31 May 2020
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 John 16:8 2 Luther’s Small Catechism
3 2 Corinthians 4:6 4 Titus 3:5-7
5 LH page 6 6 Romans 5:5
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
ANZAC DAY 2020 Address (from 25 April 2020)
(My apologies I forgot to post this earlier)
Anzac Day Address 2020
“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13
Sacrifice means that one person or group of people is benefitted in some way at the expense of another. One loses, another gains. One gives, another receives. One takes on risk, another enjoys safety. One faces peril, the other is protected. One suffers injury, another has health. One dies, another lives. In war, a price is paid, and like the worth of a life itself, only the omniscient God can put a value on it. Today we remember those who paid the highest price. They shall not be forgotten.
Many right now, in these days of seclusion and separation, are making sacrifices. Some feel like they are being sacrificed, their jobs, their careers, their businesses and retirements, their hopes and their dreams. To many, the future is filled with uncertainty and even fear. Yet, how small are our sacrifices compared to what many of those who went to war had to surrender? How minor are our deprivations compared with what they had to forfeit?
Being separated from family and loved ones during these times of restriction helps us understand more empathetically the heartache of those who went to conflict. Combat always comes with the possibility of mortality, a confronting truth to face, and often with little time to do it. Many went off to battle not knowing that the psychological struggle, the spiritual contest, might be even more severe than the physical conflict. The warrior must come to terms, one way or another, sooner or later, with the possibility of never seeing loved ones, home, and family again.
The warrior must be prepared to meet his or her Maker. The ultimate test of someone’s integrity is measured by their actions under threat of mortality. Does self-preservation or sacrifice rule in the heat of battle? The Almighty doesn’t require flawlessness. He knows we are flesh and blood, weak-in-the-knees, faint of heart, have feet of clay. In the real world of war there are no comic book superheroes. But there are noble warriors. And they are not rare birds. Each one who puts duty and country before personal well-being is just such a dutiful servant. They shall not be forgotten.
War causes upheaval. It changes lives. World War 1, World War 2, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, many other conflicts altered the lives not only of the soldiers, but of those who kept the home fires burning. Families were shattered, lives were ruined, dreams were lost. Yet through these sacrifices, others prospered and the freedoms we enjoy were protected. Our liberties were established and maintained. They shall not be forgotten.
ANZAC Day remembrances should always teach us anew how exceedingly precious life is. We take it for granted so easily. We abuse its privileges. We demand submission to our own ideals, to our own expectations and parameters of liberty. So, lest we fallaciously think we are entitled to liberty, our remembrance calls us back to gratitude. We have nothing that we are not finally given, and that from God. We don’t finally have the power to preserve our own freedoms and livelihoods. We entrust that to our gracious Lord.
Yes, there are still vexing questions. Why does God work as He does? We are not privy to the details. One person is healed while another is taken. One family experiences tragedy while another lives carefree. One person suffers loss while another prospers. All this makes God appear unpredictable, almost fickle. How can God avoid the verdict of favouritism! Logic cannot answer these mysteries and only faith can endure them. Sometimes God loves the individual at what appears to be the expense of the greater community. Other times the individual seems to suffer on behalf of the common good. Yet God is not a distant dictator decreeing arbitrary laws. He immersed Himself in the disorder of humanity, its frailty and fallenness. In the person of Jesus Christ God did not sanitize death. He endured it. He suffered through it and He conquered it.
“This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”1 John 4:10 “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13 “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us.” 1 John 3:16 The world is not free from conflict. And some will use our extraordinary circumstances to disadvantage the distracted or the weak. Still, we have the presence and promise of Him for whom all the fury and savagery of men is no threat. May the merciful God, for sake of His Son give us the determination to pursue peace, the courage to value life, the means to protect the vulnerable, and the respect necessary to properly honour the fallen.
Prayer
Merciful Lord God, giver and restorer of life, at this hour of solemn observance we recognise the sacrifice of those who paid the ultimate price. We commend to you our reflections made with the help of words and those silent meditations that rest deep within caring hearts. Bless those families and individuals affected by the legacy of conflict and war. Embrace them in Your love. Guide the leaders of our nation. Equip them with wisdom and arm them with integrity. Favour us with your divine love for the sake of Him who gave His life in sacrifice for all. Amen.
Anzac Day Address 2020
“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13
Sacrifice means that one person or group of people is benefitted in some way at the expense of another. One loses, another gains. One gives, another receives. One takes on risk, another enjoys safety. One faces peril, the other is protected. One suffers injury, another has health. One dies, another lives. In war, a price is paid, and like the worth of a life itself, only the omniscient God can put a value on it. Today we remember those who paid the highest price. They shall not be forgotten.
Many right now, in these days of seclusion and separation, are making sacrifices. Some feel like they are being sacrificed, their jobs, their careers, their businesses and retirements, their hopes and their dreams. To many, the future is filled with uncertainty and even fear. Yet, how small are our sacrifices compared to what many of those who went to war had to surrender? How minor are our deprivations compared with what they had to forfeit?
Being separated from family and loved ones during these times of restriction helps us understand more empathetically the heartache of those who went to conflict. Combat always comes with the possibility of mortality, a confronting truth to face, and often with little time to do it. Many went off to battle not knowing that the psychological struggle, the spiritual contest, might be even more severe than the physical conflict. The warrior must come to terms, one way or another, sooner or later, with the possibility of never seeing loved ones, home, and family again.
The warrior must be prepared to meet his or her Maker. The ultimate test of someone’s integrity is measured by their actions under threat of mortality. Does self-preservation or sacrifice rule in the heat of battle? The Almighty doesn’t require flawlessness. He knows we are flesh and blood, weak-in-the-knees, faint of heart, have feet of clay. In the real world of war there are no comic book superheroes. But there are noble warriors. And they are not rare birds. Each one who puts duty and country before personal well-being is just such a dutiful servant. They shall not be forgotten.
War causes upheaval. It changes lives. World War 1, World War 2, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, many other conflicts altered the lives not only of the soldiers, but of those who kept the home fires burning. Families were shattered, lives were ruined, dreams were lost. Yet through these sacrifices, others prospered and the freedoms we enjoy were protected. Our liberties were established and maintained. They shall not be forgotten.
ANZAC Day remembrances should always teach us anew how exceedingly precious life is. We take it for granted so easily. We abuse its privileges. We demand submission to our own ideals, to our own expectations and parameters of liberty. So, lest we fallaciously think we are entitled to liberty, our remembrance calls us back to gratitude. We have nothing that we are not finally given, and that from God. We don’t finally have the power to preserve our own freedoms and livelihoods. We entrust that to our gracious Lord.
Yes, there are still vexing questions. Why does God work as He does? We are not privy to the details. One person is healed while another is taken. One family experiences tragedy while another lives carefree. One person suffers loss while another prospers. All this makes God appear unpredictable, almost fickle. How can God avoid the verdict of favouritism! Logic cannot answer these mysteries and only faith can endure them. Sometimes God loves the individual at what appears to be the expense of the greater community. Other times the individual seems to suffer on behalf of the common good. Yet God is not a distant dictator decreeing arbitrary laws. He immersed Himself in the disorder of humanity, its frailty and fallenness. In the person of Jesus Christ God did not sanitize death. He endured it. He suffered through it and He conquered it.
“This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”1 John 4:10 “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13 “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us.” 1 John 3:16 The world is not free from conflict. And some will use our extraordinary circumstances to disadvantage the distracted or the weak. Still, we have the presence and promise of Him for whom all the fury and savagery of men is no threat. May the merciful God, for sake of His Son give us the determination to pursue peace, the courage to value life, the means to protect the vulnerable, and the respect necessary to properly honour the fallen.
Prayer
Merciful Lord God, giver and restorer of life, at this hour of solemn observance we recognise the sacrifice of those who paid the ultimate price. We commend to you our reflections made with the help of words and those silent meditations that rest deep within caring hearts. Bless those families and individuals affected by the legacy of conflict and war. Embrace them in Your love. Guide the leaders of our nation. Equip them with wisdom and arm them with integrity. Favour us with your divine love for the sake of Him who gave His life in sacrifice for all. Amen.
Seventh Sunday of Easter (A) 2020
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: 1 Peter 5:6
Theme: In Due Time
Dear followers of Christ Jesus,
God tolerates unbelief. He bears with wickedness, but He doesn’t do so passively. He’s always seeking, always searching, always renovating. He governs the dominions of the world in a such a way as to make possible the proclamation of His Word. The way He does this is by no means always clear to us. In fact, it often appears that God is powerless in human affairs. But, rest assured, nothing could be further from the truth. His judgement, His justice, and His mercy will all prevail and redound to His glory for eternity. Faith anchors us to Christ so that through the mystery of God’s providence and the maelstrom of the world’s fury, we are kept hidden in His wounds until- according to the apostolic injunction- we reach the final epiphany. The Spirit says to you, “You died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”1
But, none of us are in glory yet. And the devil would like to prevent us from getting there.
Speaking to believers who were doing it pretty tough under persecution, the apostle says today, “If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.”2 Now, that’s completely contrary to human intuition. Surely if the Spirit of God rests on us we would be shielded from insult and injury? Surely life should be trouble-free?
And that’s exactly the danger of domesticating Christianity and trying to make it serve the systems of the world. Last week I said that the contented ego is not shaken from its stronghold by the seduction of usefulness. I also said- as a parallel statement- that unbelief is not cured by arguments for utility. The decree of God attacks our egos. It especially attacks egos plated with the armor of self-righteousness. The ego must be dethroned. People who believe they are in charge of their own destinies naturally think paradise is in store for them. But that is the most tragic delusion imaginable. If your ego is ruling a kingdom with faulty foundations it will eventually come crashing down. The Scripture therefore says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time.”3
Let’s consider what the contented ego means. Contentedness generally means that one is happy with the current circumstances, not seeking something else, not yearning, not complaining. St Paul says, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”4 And again, “If we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.”5 And finally, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.”6 So, the contented ego I’m referring to here is not the person who is satisfied with what God has provided. Contentedness with God’s provision is a godly thing, a gift and fruit of faith. Imagine how much less stress there would be in relationships specifically and life generally if people were content with their blessings!
Instead, I’m speaking of the person content in his or her own independence from God, in his or her own self-righteousness. It need not mean the person is an egomaniac per se. But it does relate to people who are satisfied with their position regarding ultimate authority, and finally, mortality and eternity. It is the person who is happy to either venture their final destiny without God or stand on his or her own merits before God’s throne of judgment. So, a person with a contented ego could be (and often is) a very religious person. Christ singled out the Pharisees as just such type of people. They had the appearance of holiness but were decidedly smug in their self-righteousness. As such, they were farther from the kingdom of God than repentant prostitutes and tax-collectors7.
Now the premise is that people with contented egos are not shaken from their positions of security (even though their consciences are falsely pacified), and are not shaken from moral and spiritual self-reliance, by the appeal that Christianity will be useful to them. Again, St Peter says, “If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed.”8 How does that entice followers? An autocrat doesn’t stop being a despot because someone offers him assistance in consolidating power. But what about the average Joe? What will shake the contented person in Western society today, in our prosperous society; what will shake them out of unbelief or pseudo Christian faith? Will the fall out caused by the coronavirus do it? Perhaps? And if so, thanks be to God!
Neither Christ, nor the prophets before Him, nor the apostles after Him went out proclaiming: “Follow the way of Christianity because it will be very helpful to you.” “Follow Jesus because His teachings are full of useful ideas.” “Become a Christian so that you fit in with society.” No, the clarion call of the prophetic, Christological, and apostolic message is repentance and faith. So, the question is not whether God and the teachings of Jesus are useful to us but whether they are true. Are they authoritative? Are they destiny-altering? Are they definitive for the very meaning of life, its purpose and existence? Indeed, they are. The question then becomes, “In what way are we useful to God?”
Why do secular, officially atheistic, and sometimes even authoritarian governments tolerate, support, and even promote expressions of Christianity? The general answer is usefulness. When governments believe that Christianity, on the whole, is more of a positive influence on society than a negative one, they’re more likely to tolerate it. The key function of government is stability. The goal is prosperity and the betterment of temporal society. In so for as Christianity contributes to these goals it may be countenanced. Of course, key here is which goals or values are held by the majority of society or those in power, and do they align with Christian truth? It’s exactly at this point that friction is increasing between the unchanging divine truth and the morphing values of our society.
But remember, Satan is the real adversary and he has drawn a target on your back. St. Peter says, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour”9 Sin grips us, and we can’t shake it off with good intentions or enthusiastic attempts at moral rectitude. Satan knows this. Sin must be forgiven, and the sinful nature must be crucified. Satan hates that. These realities are worked out in your baptism and in its continual relevance in your life as the word again and again calls you to repentance and faith. The Holy Spirit wasn’t a guest at your baptism, He’s a constant companion, an advocate, an intercessor in your cross-bearing following of Jesus. We live a cross-bearing life that God makes useful for His kingdom according to His good pleasure.
Jesus Christ was sacrificed on the altar of the cross and there the dominion of sin was broken. His perfect life was given on behalf of sinners. Could you offer your life to atone for your own sins, let alone the sins of others? Could you compensate for your smallest indiscretion not to mention you most flagrant iniquities? Could you make a convincing argument that God should be patient with you? Lest you entertain for a moment that some measure of these things might be possible, hear clearly the holy word spoken by the Spirit of truth10, “The ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough.”11 But the life of Jesus was more than sufficient.
We’re nearing the third of the three great Christian festivals. Jesus Christ ascended bodily to heaven forty days after His resurrection from the dead. The Holy Spirit was unleashed on day 50. But the Son hasn’t left us, and the Spirit isn’t ‘social-distancing’ from us either. The Father’s work is being done, often hidden behind the forbearance of God. Yes, Jesus has made the once-for-all sacrifice. But the activity of individual reclamation goes on until His final epiphany. The gospel is an inextinguishable light. The darkness will not overcome it. And we are already possessors of the divine promises. Dear friends, believers are not waiting to find out whether they will inherit eternal life (at least they shouldn’t be), we already possess it. So, just as we are pilgrims on earth, our feet firmly planted on the terra firma, while at the same time being citizens of heaven, we also operate in the dimension of time, while simultaneously participating in the rest of Him who transcends time. We are dual citizens.
Don’t be too quick, then, to judge what God tolerates. There’s more going on than meets the eye. God is patient. He is patient with sinners. But’s He’s not slow to shower us with His love. He’s not remiss in attending to our real needs. “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”12 He will lift you up in due time. He will lift you beyond any memory of struggle or adversity, sorrow or despair, pain or rage. And He will do it not because it’s practical, but because without Him it is impossible. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Seventh Sunday of Easter
24 May 2020
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Colossians 3:3-4 2 1 Peter 4:14
3 1 Peter 5:6 4 Philippians 3:11
5 1 Timothy 6:8 6 1 Timothy 6:6
7 See Matthew 21:31 8 1 Peter 4:14
9 1 Peter 5:8 10 See John 14:17
11 Psalm 49:8 121 Peter 5:7
Text: 1 Peter 5:6
Theme: In Due Time
Dear followers of Christ Jesus,
God tolerates unbelief. He bears with wickedness, but He doesn’t do so passively. He’s always seeking, always searching, always renovating. He governs the dominions of the world in a such a way as to make possible the proclamation of His Word. The way He does this is by no means always clear to us. In fact, it often appears that God is powerless in human affairs. But, rest assured, nothing could be further from the truth. His judgement, His justice, and His mercy will all prevail and redound to His glory for eternity. Faith anchors us to Christ so that through the mystery of God’s providence and the maelstrom of the world’s fury, we are kept hidden in His wounds until- according to the apostolic injunction- we reach the final epiphany. The Spirit says to you, “You died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”1
But, none of us are in glory yet. And the devil would like to prevent us from getting there.
Speaking to believers who were doing it pretty tough under persecution, the apostle says today, “If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.”2 Now, that’s completely contrary to human intuition. Surely if the Spirit of God rests on us we would be shielded from insult and injury? Surely life should be trouble-free?
And that’s exactly the danger of domesticating Christianity and trying to make it serve the systems of the world. Last week I said that the contented ego is not shaken from its stronghold by the seduction of usefulness. I also said- as a parallel statement- that unbelief is not cured by arguments for utility. The decree of God attacks our egos. It especially attacks egos plated with the armor of self-righteousness. The ego must be dethroned. People who believe they are in charge of their own destinies naturally think paradise is in store for them. But that is the most tragic delusion imaginable. If your ego is ruling a kingdom with faulty foundations it will eventually come crashing down. The Scripture therefore says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time.”3
Let’s consider what the contented ego means. Contentedness generally means that one is happy with the current circumstances, not seeking something else, not yearning, not complaining. St Paul says, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”4 And again, “If we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.”5 And finally, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.”6 So, the contented ego I’m referring to here is not the person who is satisfied with what God has provided. Contentedness with God’s provision is a godly thing, a gift and fruit of faith. Imagine how much less stress there would be in relationships specifically and life generally if people were content with their blessings!
Instead, I’m speaking of the person content in his or her own independence from God, in his or her own self-righteousness. It need not mean the person is an egomaniac per se. But it does relate to people who are satisfied with their position regarding ultimate authority, and finally, mortality and eternity. It is the person who is happy to either venture their final destiny without God or stand on his or her own merits before God’s throne of judgment. So, a person with a contented ego could be (and often is) a very religious person. Christ singled out the Pharisees as just such type of people. They had the appearance of holiness but were decidedly smug in their self-righteousness. As such, they were farther from the kingdom of God than repentant prostitutes and tax-collectors7.
Now the premise is that people with contented egos are not shaken from their positions of security (even though their consciences are falsely pacified), and are not shaken from moral and spiritual self-reliance, by the appeal that Christianity will be useful to them. Again, St Peter says, “If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed.”8 How does that entice followers? An autocrat doesn’t stop being a despot because someone offers him assistance in consolidating power. But what about the average Joe? What will shake the contented person in Western society today, in our prosperous society; what will shake them out of unbelief or pseudo Christian faith? Will the fall out caused by the coronavirus do it? Perhaps? And if so, thanks be to God!
Neither Christ, nor the prophets before Him, nor the apostles after Him went out proclaiming: “Follow the way of Christianity because it will be very helpful to you.” “Follow Jesus because His teachings are full of useful ideas.” “Become a Christian so that you fit in with society.” No, the clarion call of the prophetic, Christological, and apostolic message is repentance and faith. So, the question is not whether God and the teachings of Jesus are useful to us but whether they are true. Are they authoritative? Are they destiny-altering? Are they definitive for the very meaning of life, its purpose and existence? Indeed, they are. The question then becomes, “In what way are we useful to God?”
Why do secular, officially atheistic, and sometimes even authoritarian governments tolerate, support, and even promote expressions of Christianity? The general answer is usefulness. When governments believe that Christianity, on the whole, is more of a positive influence on society than a negative one, they’re more likely to tolerate it. The key function of government is stability. The goal is prosperity and the betterment of temporal society. In so for as Christianity contributes to these goals it may be countenanced. Of course, key here is which goals or values are held by the majority of society or those in power, and do they align with Christian truth? It’s exactly at this point that friction is increasing between the unchanging divine truth and the morphing values of our society.
But remember, Satan is the real adversary and he has drawn a target on your back. St. Peter says, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour”9 Sin grips us, and we can’t shake it off with good intentions or enthusiastic attempts at moral rectitude. Satan knows this. Sin must be forgiven, and the sinful nature must be crucified. Satan hates that. These realities are worked out in your baptism and in its continual relevance in your life as the word again and again calls you to repentance and faith. The Holy Spirit wasn’t a guest at your baptism, He’s a constant companion, an advocate, an intercessor in your cross-bearing following of Jesus. We live a cross-bearing life that God makes useful for His kingdom according to His good pleasure.
Jesus Christ was sacrificed on the altar of the cross and there the dominion of sin was broken. His perfect life was given on behalf of sinners. Could you offer your life to atone for your own sins, let alone the sins of others? Could you compensate for your smallest indiscretion not to mention you most flagrant iniquities? Could you make a convincing argument that God should be patient with you? Lest you entertain for a moment that some measure of these things might be possible, hear clearly the holy word spoken by the Spirit of truth10, “The ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough.”11 But the life of Jesus was more than sufficient.
We’re nearing the third of the three great Christian festivals. Jesus Christ ascended bodily to heaven forty days after His resurrection from the dead. The Holy Spirit was unleashed on day 50. But the Son hasn’t left us, and the Spirit isn’t ‘social-distancing’ from us either. The Father’s work is being done, often hidden behind the forbearance of God. Yes, Jesus has made the once-for-all sacrifice. But the activity of individual reclamation goes on until His final epiphany. The gospel is an inextinguishable light. The darkness will not overcome it. And we are already possessors of the divine promises. Dear friends, believers are not waiting to find out whether they will inherit eternal life (at least they shouldn’t be), we already possess it. So, just as we are pilgrims on earth, our feet firmly planted on the terra firma, while at the same time being citizens of heaven, we also operate in the dimension of time, while simultaneously participating in the rest of Him who transcends time. We are dual citizens.
Don’t be too quick, then, to judge what God tolerates. There’s more going on than meets the eye. God is patient. He is patient with sinners. But’s He’s not slow to shower us with His love. He’s not remiss in attending to our real needs. “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”12 He will lift you up in due time. He will lift you beyond any memory of struggle or adversity, sorrow or despair, pain or rage. And He will do it not because it’s practical, but because without Him it is impossible. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Seventh Sunday of Easter
24 May 2020
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Colossians 3:3-4 2 1 Peter 4:14
3 1 Peter 5:6 4 Philippians 3:11
5 1 Timothy 6:8 6 1 Timothy 6:6
7 See Matthew 21:31 8 1 Peter 4:14
9 1 Peter 5:8 10 See John 14:17
11 Psalm 49:8 121 Peter 5:7
Monday, May 18, 2020
Sixth Sunday of Easter (A) 2020
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: John 14:21
Theme: Practical Christianity
Dear followers of Him who is the way, and the truth and the life,
People are pragmatic by necessity if not by nature. So, it’s understandable that many would take a practical approach to God and Christianity. They ask such questions as, “What difference will it make in my life if I believe in God?” Let’s put aside the eternal destiny considerations of heaven or hell and just focus on the present implications. (After all, who wouldn’t say they believe in God if they were convinced the only alternative without Him was ending up in hell?) And let’s focus on the present circumstances employing the terms Jesus uses today. He speaks of loving, knowing, and obeying God. How is it possible to know God, love God, follow God, and obey God? Doing so inevitably has very real, tangible consequences for our lives.
Show me a Bible verse that says, “Once you’re a believer life is guaranteed to go better.”
We should not try to promote or market Christianity with claims that it’s practical, useful, or worst of all, a charter or endowment for prosperity. The cynical enquiry of “how Christianity can help me?” cannot be addressed by trying to satisfy the skepticism tangibly. Unbelief is not cured by arguments for utility. It is not answered with logic. It is overcome by truth. The contented ego is not shaken from its stronghold by the seduction of usefulness, but by unanswerable condemnation and self-denying, incorruptible love. Only God is that love. Only Christ reveals it. Only the Holy Spirit makes it accessible.
As we continue to work our way through the latter chapters of John’s gospel we’re hearing more about the Holy Spirit. It’s not surprising because Pentecost is only two weeks off. The Holy Spirit is key to following God quite aside from whether we think it’s practical to do so. What’s telling is that the Holy Spirit doesn’t make Jesus redundant. The Holy Spirit has nothing to teach you except the love of Jesus. But in teaching you the love of Christ He has more than He can teach you in a thousand lifetimes.
Why do we need the Spirit? Let’s look at core biblical truth. The Bible says you must repent. This truth is not really up for debate. Except for those who think salvation will automatically happen for everyone, it is widely accepted. Contrition, true sorrow for sin, is necessary before one can genuinely receive the forgiveness of sins. So, repentance is mandatory. But can we repent? Here there is confusion, disagreement, and division. To state the question more precisely, can a human being under the natural powers of the human will turn him or herself from servitude to sin to trust in the promises of God? Here servitude to sin need not mean pursuing an openly ungodly life but only that life is lived without reference to, or care of, the will of God. In short, can we turn from unbelief to faith under our own power? And, can we repeatedly bend our own wills back to God in true repentance?
The biblical answer is an unequivocal no. But, as just mentioned, many Christians falsely think the human will does have such natural ability. Yet, the Scripture says, “The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.”1 And again, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”2 Or, to use Jesus’ own words today, “The world cannot accept [the Holy Spirit] , because it neither sees Him nor knows Him.”3 Stated generally, original sin means that a person is unable, by nature, to truly know, love, or trust in God or turn to Him. We are spiritually incapacitated from the time of birth. Even spiritually dead. Understanding this underscores the importance of baptism which is a life-giving spiritual gift. St. Peter says today that the deliverance wrought in baptism is akin to the rescue of Noah’s family at the time of the flood- a divine intervention.
So yes, God does ask, even demands that we do the impossible. He demands that we recognize our misplaced trust and redirect it to the proper place, God Himself. But this is exactly what we are unable to do. God demands the humanly impossible. Why? It doesn’t seem fair. He demands this so that we completely despair of any hope of saving ourselves or contributing even in the tiniest measure to our own salvation. You see, if we were able to convert ourselves, if we were able to recognize God’s goodness, His mercy in Christ, to initially choose Him, to decide for Him under our own steam, through our own independent decision-making, then we would have already taken a big step towards our salvation. And surely we would deserve some credit- at least a little!
But the Holy Spirit will not be robbed of His majesty. And Christ will not be made redundant. No individual will be given credit or receive praise for his or her own conversion or the conversion of someone else. Claiming to have converted someone else can be a dizzying exaltation of one’s ego. Believing you have converted yourself is an overt claim, even if unrecognized, to possess divine power. If we deludedly think we can save ourselves, we are deifying ourselves. This is the opposite of godliness, it is blasphemy. It undermines and even eliminates the need for Christ’s sacrificial work.
Without the Spirit we cannot repent. Without the Spirit we cannot believe. And without such faith we would have no serious interest in the will of God- what He says, or what it means to follow Him- practical or not. Repentance isn’t a one-off thing, and neither is faith. It’s hard to express these biblical truths more winsomely and directly than Luther does in his Third Article explanation. “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.”4
Perhaps you’re thinking at this point that the sermon is too narrowly focused? When do we come in? What’s our part? Doesn’t the Bible say we all have a role to play? Yes, but until we see what only the Holy Spirit can show us, until we believe that Jesus is the indispensable component of the equation, any calculation will always be false regardless of the other components. Until we see that He is the head of the body, all the other parts of the body are unable to function, they have no direction, no coordination, no purpose. A body cannot live without a head.
A particular financial institution had professional, honest, and well-trained staff, a safe and useable facility, a reliable security system, and all the structures and protocols in place to meet the needs of customers. But it had one problem. It didn’t have any money. Even a well-run institution without money is not a bank. If it has no money it has nothing to loan, nothing to debit, nothing to credit, cannot collect any fees or give any grants, it is not really a bank. A bank without money is just a building with people and other assets. A plan of salvation without Jesus is an exercise in futility, and a tragic one at that.
That doesn’t mean your part in the picture is unimportant, but it is completely contingent. Without Him we are like a body without a head, like a bank without any money. But with, and in, and through Him we are part of a marvelous and mysterious reality- the fellowship of believers- and everyone has their part. Believers do follow God and seek His will. Maybe you excel at listening, or you’re more skilled at explaining. Maybe showing hospitality is your specialty. Perhaps giving is a capacity you’ve been blessed with and it fills you with joy to be generous? Maybe you’re best at one-on-one or better at coordinating groups? Perhaps you prefer to work behind-the-scenes, or maybe being in the front row doesn’t fuss you? Possibly your best efforts involve high energy periodic bursts of activity? Or maybe slow and steady suits you just fine?
Regardless, you can pursue the following of God’s will fearlessly. There is nothing that you can sacrifice that Christ can’t restore. Jesus said to His anxious disciples today, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”5 Here is the pure, sweet comfort of the gospel. If you do not have a favourite Bible verse perhaps you’d like to consider this one? Dear friends, the one, holy, Christian and apostolic church is an orphanage for sinners. Believers are cut-off, abandoned, deserted by the world, and left for dead by Satan. Those who do not give allegiance to the world’s agenda are deserted by it. But you are kept by God. You are possessed by Him. You are part of an orphanage with the King of the universe as the head of the house. You are not fatherless; you have divine patronage. And you have life in His Son. Jesus says, “Because I live, you also will live.”6 We believe in Christ and follow Him not because it’s practical to do so, but because His teaching is truth. We are gripped by the immortal love of the crucified and risen One. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Sixth Sunday of Easter
17 May 2020
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Romans 8:7 2 1 Corinthians 2:14
3 John 14:17 4 Luther’s Small Catechism
5 John 14:18 6 John 14:19
Text: John 14:21
Theme: Practical Christianity
Dear followers of Him who is the way, and the truth and the life,
People are pragmatic by necessity if not by nature. So, it’s understandable that many would take a practical approach to God and Christianity. They ask such questions as, “What difference will it make in my life if I believe in God?” Let’s put aside the eternal destiny considerations of heaven or hell and just focus on the present implications. (After all, who wouldn’t say they believe in God if they were convinced the only alternative without Him was ending up in hell?) And let’s focus on the present circumstances employing the terms Jesus uses today. He speaks of loving, knowing, and obeying God. How is it possible to know God, love God, follow God, and obey God? Doing so inevitably has very real, tangible consequences for our lives.
Show me a Bible verse that says, “Once you’re a believer life is guaranteed to go better.”
We should not try to promote or market Christianity with claims that it’s practical, useful, or worst of all, a charter or endowment for prosperity. The cynical enquiry of “how Christianity can help me?” cannot be addressed by trying to satisfy the skepticism tangibly. Unbelief is not cured by arguments for utility. It is not answered with logic. It is overcome by truth. The contented ego is not shaken from its stronghold by the seduction of usefulness, but by unanswerable condemnation and self-denying, incorruptible love. Only God is that love. Only Christ reveals it. Only the Holy Spirit makes it accessible.
As we continue to work our way through the latter chapters of John’s gospel we’re hearing more about the Holy Spirit. It’s not surprising because Pentecost is only two weeks off. The Holy Spirit is key to following God quite aside from whether we think it’s practical to do so. What’s telling is that the Holy Spirit doesn’t make Jesus redundant. The Holy Spirit has nothing to teach you except the love of Jesus. But in teaching you the love of Christ He has more than He can teach you in a thousand lifetimes.
Why do we need the Spirit? Let’s look at core biblical truth. The Bible says you must repent. This truth is not really up for debate. Except for those who think salvation will automatically happen for everyone, it is widely accepted. Contrition, true sorrow for sin, is necessary before one can genuinely receive the forgiveness of sins. So, repentance is mandatory. But can we repent? Here there is confusion, disagreement, and division. To state the question more precisely, can a human being under the natural powers of the human will turn him or herself from servitude to sin to trust in the promises of God? Here servitude to sin need not mean pursuing an openly ungodly life but only that life is lived without reference to, or care of, the will of God. In short, can we turn from unbelief to faith under our own power? And, can we repeatedly bend our own wills back to God in true repentance?
The biblical answer is an unequivocal no. But, as just mentioned, many Christians falsely think the human will does have such natural ability. Yet, the Scripture says, “The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.”1 And again, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”2 Or, to use Jesus’ own words today, “The world cannot accept [the Holy Spirit] , because it neither sees Him nor knows Him.”3 Stated generally, original sin means that a person is unable, by nature, to truly know, love, or trust in God or turn to Him. We are spiritually incapacitated from the time of birth. Even spiritually dead. Understanding this underscores the importance of baptism which is a life-giving spiritual gift. St. Peter says today that the deliverance wrought in baptism is akin to the rescue of Noah’s family at the time of the flood- a divine intervention.
So yes, God does ask, even demands that we do the impossible. He demands that we recognize our misplaced trust and redirect it to the proper place, God Himself. But this is exactly what we are unable to do. God demands the humanly impossible. Why? It doesn’t seem fair. He demands this so that we completely despair of any hope of saving ourselves or contributing even in the tiniest measure to our own salvation. You see, if we were able to convert ourselves, if we were able to recognize God’s goodness, His mercy in Christ, to initially choose Him, to decide for Him under our own steam, through our own independent decision-making, then we would have already taken a big step towards our salvation. And surely we would deserve some credit- at least a little!
But the Holy Spirit will not be robbed of His majesty. And Christ will not be made redundant. No individual will be given credit or receive praise for his or her own conversion or the conversion of someone else. Claiming to have converted someone else can be a dizzying exaltation of one’s ego. Believing you have converted yourself is an overt claim, even if unrecognized, to possess divine power. If we deludedly think we can save ourselves, we are deifying ourselves. This is the opposite of godliness, it is blasphemy. It undermines and even eliminates the need for Christ’s sacrificial work.
Without the Spirit we cannot repent. Without the Spirit we cannot believe. And without such faith we would have no serious interest in the will of God- what He says, or what it means to follow Him- practical or not. Repentance isn’t a one-off thing, and neither is faith. It’s hard to express these biblical truths more winsomely and directly than Luther does in his Third Article explanation. “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.”4
Perhaps you’re thinking at this point that the sermon is too narrowly focused? When do we come in? What’s our part? Doesn’t the Bible say we all have a role to play? Yes, but until we see what only the Holy Spirit can show us, until we believe that Jesus is the indispensable component of the equation, any calculation will always be false regardless of the other components. Until we see that He is the head of the body, all the other parts of the body are unable to function, they have no direction, no coordination, no purpose. A body cannot live without a head.
A particular financial institution had professional, honest, and well-trained staff, a safe and useable facility, a reliable security system, and all the structures and protocols in place to meet the needs of customers. But it had one problem. It didn’t have any money. Even a well-run institution without money is not a bank. If it has no money it has nothing to loan, nothing to debit, nothing to credit, cannot collect any fees or give any grants, it is not really a bank. A bank without money is just a building with people and other assets. A plan of salvation without Jesus is an exercise in futility, and a tragic one at that.
That doesn’t mean your part in the picture is unimportant, but it is completely contingent. Without Him we are like a body without a head, like a bank without any money. But with, and in, and through Him we are part of a marvelous and mysterious reality- the fellowship of believers- and everyone has their part. Believers do follow God and seek His will. Maybe you excel at listening, or you’re more skilled at explaining. Maybe showing hospitality is your specialty. Perhaps giving is a capacity you’ve been blessed with and it fills you with joy to be generous? Maybe you’re best at one-on-one or better at coordinating groups? Perhaps you prefer to work behind-the-scenes, or maybe being in the front row doesn’t fuss you? Possibly your best efforts involve high energy periodic bursts of activity? Or maybe slow and steady suits you just fine?
Regardless, you can pursue the following of God’s will fearlessly. There is nothing that you can sacrifice that Christ can’t restore. Jesus said to His anxious disciples today, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”5 Here is the pure, sweet comfort of the gospel. If you do not have a favourite Bible verse perhaps you’d like to consider this one? Dear friends, the one, holy, Christian and apostolic church is an orphanage for sinners. Believers are cut-off, abandoned, deserted by the world, and left for dead by Satan. Those who do not give allegiance to the world’s agenda are deserted by it. But you are kept by God. You are possessed by Him. You are part of an orphanage with the King of the universe as the head of the house. You are not fatherless; you have divine patronage. And you have life in His Son. Jesus says, “Because I live, you also will live.”6 We believe in Christ and follow Him not because it’s practical to do so, but because His teaching is truth. We are gripped by the immortal love of the crucified and risen One. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Sixth Sunday of Easter
17 May 2020
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Romans 8:7 2 1 Corinthians 2:14
3 John 14:17 4 Luther’s Small Catechism
5 John 14:18 6 John 14:19
Monday, May 11, 2020
Fifth Sunday of Easter (A) 2020
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: John 14:8-9
Theme: Seeing God
Dear followers of Him who is the way, and the truth and the life,
The greatest struggle faced by any Christian at any time in any circumstance is the temptation of unbelief. On the surface of it, that claim may sound wrong-headed, inconsistent, and lacking in tangible evidence. After all, sincere, faithful, trust-filled Christians face all kinds perilous, torturous, and troubling adversities and still cling steadfastly to their trust in God’s mercy. Here the Holy Spirit is the champion; or we would all- strong or weak in the faith- lose hope in God’s aid. Our faith is never a self-sustaining reality. It is completely and continually dependent on the Spirit for its viability.
Think about the nature of being tested though. What does it mean to struggle with temptation? The very thing that causes an experience to be a struggle and not a joy is the temptation to doubt that God really is who He says He is or will do what He says He will do. Forget about the philosophical concepts of God, the Deity, being all-powerful or providential. The devil seeks to convince you that it is an utterly ridiculous proposition to believe that God, any god for that matter, omnipotent or otherwise, could be unfailingly attentive to you. Therefore, while the temptation of lust, or greed, or dishonesty, or over-indulgence may seem unrelated to the temptation of disbelief, they are really just symptoms, of which compromised trust in God’s ability or willingness to provide is the core problem. Today, Philip (and the other disciples) were wrangling with this core problem.
You see, the fully appreciated, unfailing attentiveness of God- once the consequences of sin are removed- is called heaven. Philip was looking for just such a God- one in heaven. He wanted to see the Father. He wanted to get a glimpse into heaven. Drawing on his inner Thomas, he wanted his senses satisfied. He wanted the perceptible glory of God. He craved the certainty of palpable evidence. He ought to have known Jesus pretty well. He witnessed many miracles. He saw Him command the elements and restore human frailty. He saw Him arrested and crucified. He witnessed the scars on His hands and in His side after His resurrection. Still, he said, “Show us the Father and that will be enough for us,”1. In other words, reveal the majesty of the Almighty and we’ll be convinced.
Philip wasn’t the first one to make such a request. Remember when Moses was ‘wrangling’ with God about the rebelliousness of the Israelites he said, “Show me Your glory…and the Lord said, ‘I will cause all My goodness to pass in front of you…but…you cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.’”2 That was God’s response to Moses. What was God’s response to Philip? “Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'”?3
It would be arrogant, however, to suggest that Philip didn’t have faith. Clearly, he believed Jesus to be the Messiah. Still, he was apparently being tempted to believe that Jesus wasn’t fully God. Or, we might say, he was somewhat disbelieving. Yet, not in a depraved way. So, while faith can exist in the heat of temptation- in fact, faith is only honed through testing, not through resting- faith cannot coexist with steadfast unrepentance. A person cannot acknowledge his or her sins while simultaneously denying those same sins. Black is not white, and white is not black. You cannot desire God’s forgiveness or goodness while simultaneously despising that forgiveness and goodness.
Now, that doesn’t mean that a person can’t desire forgiveness and desire to trust in God while at the same time wanting to continue in a particular sin. More specifically, wanting the indulgence or pleasure that participating in that sin provides. The clarity is important, because it is central to repentance that in our heart, mind, and will we want to be rid of the sin, especially the sin of unbelief. Yet, it still controls us. So, we are often conflicted. We are characterized by paradox, paradox of the sort that typically reveals our falseness.
Jesus was telling Philip, and all who suffer from his temptation, including us, that He didn’t have power on loan from the Father. His was not a borrowed divinity. Jesus was God. Jesus is God. Jesus has always been God. Jesus will always be God. If you don’t know Christ as God, you don’t know the Father- and you don’t have the Spirit. And Jesus the incarnate Son of God, “God of God, Light of Light…being of one substance with the Father.”4 came to attend unfailingly to YOU! That is why He went to the cross and rose from the grave. No amount of re-interpreting the Scriptures can eradicate this truth. This is the eternal, published, candid, nothing-to-hide gospel.
Jesus doesn’t merely announce your salvation. He doesn’t just explain your salvation. He doesn’t even fast-track your salvation. Jesus Christ is your salvation. He is your “righteousness, holiness, and redemption.”5 In baptism, the Spirit cures your blindness so the in seeing Jesus you can see the Father. So, the sooner we cease and desist from looking for any lasting goodness, compassion, knowledge, tenderness, or understanding from God apart from the crucified and risen Lord Jesus the better off we’ll be. At the end of every Christ-less search for God is the devil. We’re not trying here to limit what God can do. God can do anything. We’re talking about what He has promised to do. He has promised to save us through Jesus. He has promised to come to us through the Word and Spirit. He has promised to be accessible to us through water, bread and wine. And, while God is present everywhere, He is NOT accessible for us ubiquitously.
Dear friends, this life is a continual fray, a fracas, a dust-up. Only death resolves it. Today is Mother’s Day and mothers understand that. We pray that you mothers who are listening are strengthened more by the promise that God is faithful than you are overcome by the temptation to desire the resolution of your mortality. Even our purest desires are tainted by sin. Yet, they are holy insofar as they are produced by the Spirit. That is exactly the struggle of following the will of God. Have a read of Romans chapter seven. The apostle Paul candidly discloses the struggle between the will of the sinful nature and the leading of the Holy Spirit. It’s a clash that will continue until we draw our final breath. It cannot be avoided. Satan doesn’t take holidays. The temptation to doubt, to disbelieve that God will be faithful is always lurking. Sometimes it steps out of the shadows. It doesn’t serve us well to ignore it. And we cannot mature beyond it.
Nevertheless, believers are truly freed from the condemnation of sin. The favour of God does rest upon us because Christ is our righteousness. We do possess a timeless and otherworldly peace. We have hope that is not wishful thinking or desperate wanting. Death has been defeated. Sin has been atoned for. The just verdict declaring that we are deserving of hell has been annulled. We are citizens of heaven. You are who you are not because of how you feel about yourself, how you define yourself, or how you perceive others define you. You are who you are because of your identity in Christ. You are His baptized. You dine at the family table. And what does our Scripture say today, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.”6
Martin Luther, in an effort to comfort a woman severely beset with doubt ended his letter to her in this way, “May our dear Lord Jesus Christ show you His hands and His side and gladden your heart with His love, and may you behold and hear only Him until you find your joy in Him.”” Her name was Barbara. God grant this also, for each of us. The countenance of Jesus is the unfailing attentiveness of God. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Fifth Sunday of Easter
10 May 2020
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 John 14:8 2 Exodus 33:18-20
3 John 14:9 4 The Nicene Creed
5 1 Corinthians 1:30 6 1 Peter 2:9
7 Letter to Barbara Lisskirchen, from ‘Letters of Spiritual Counsel’
Text: John 14:8-9
Theme: Seeing God
Dear followers of Him who is the way, and the truth and the life,
The greatest struggle faced by any Christian at any time in any circumstance is the temptation of unbelief. On the surface of it, that claim may sound wrong-headed, inconsistent, and lacking in tangible evidence. After all, sincere, faithful, trust-filled Christians face all kinds perilous, torturous, and troubling adversities and still cling steadfastly to their trust in God’s mercy. Here the Holy Spirit is the champion; or we would all- strong or weak in the faith- lose hope in God’s aid. Our faith is never a self-sustaining reality. It is completely and continually dependent on the Spirit for its viability.
Think about the nature of being tested though. What does it mean to struggle with temptation? The very thing that causes an experience to be a struggle and not a joy is the temptation to doubt that God really is who He says He is or will do what He says He will do. Forget about the philosophical concepts of God, the Deity, being all-powerful or providential. The devil seeks to convince you that it is an utterly ridiculous proposition to believe that God, any god for that matter, omnipotent or otherwise, could be unfailingly attentive to you. Therefore, while the temptation of lust, or greed, or dishonesty, or over-indulgence may seem unrelated to the temptation of disbelief, they are really just symptoms, of which compromised trust in God’s ability or willingness to provide is the core problem. Today, Philip (and the other disciples) were wrangling with this core problem.
You see, the fully appreciated, unfailing attentiveness of God- once the consequences of sin are removed- is called heaven. Philip was looking for just such a God- one in heaven. He wanted to see the Father. He wanted to get a glimpse into heaven. Drawing on his inner Thomas, he wanted his senses satisfied. He wanted the perceptible glory of God. He craved the certainty of palpable evidence. He ought to have known Jesus pretty well. He witnessed many miracles. He saw Him command the elements and restore human frailty. He saw Him arrested and crucified. He witnessed the scars on His hands and in His side after His resurrection. Still, he said, “Show us the Father and that will be enough for us,”1. In other words, reveal the majesty of the Almighty and we’ll be convinced.
Philip wasn’t the first one to make such a request. Remember when Moses was ‘wrangling’ with God about the rebelliousness of the Israelites he said, “Show me Your glory…and the Lord said, ‘I will cause all My goodness to pass in front of you…but…you cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.’”2 That was God’s response to Moses. What was God’s response to Philip? “Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'”?3
It would be arrogant, however, to suggest that Philip didn’t have faith. Clearly, he believed Jesus to be the Messiah. Still, he was apparently being tempted to believe that Jesus wasn’t fully God. Or, we might say, he was somewhat disbelieving. Yet, not in a depraved way. So, while faith can exist in the heat of temptation- in fact, faith is only honed through testing, not through resting- faith cannot coexist with steadfast unrepentance. A person cannot acknowledge his or her sins while simultaneously denying those same sins. Black is not white, and white is not black. You cannot desire God’s forgiveness or goodness while simultaneously despising that forgiveness and goodness.
Now, that doesn’t mean that a person can’t desire forgiveness and desire to trust in God while at the same time wanting to continue in a particular sin. More specifically, wanting the indulgence or pleasure that participating in that sin provides. The clarity is important, because it is central to repentance that in our heart, mind, and will we want to be rid of the sin, especially the sin of unbelief. Yet, it still controls us. So, we are often conflicted. We are characterized by paradox, paradox of the sort that typically reveals our falseness.
Jesus was telling Philip, and all who suffer from his temptation, including us, that He didn’t have power on loan from the Father. His was not a borrowed divinity. Jesus was God. Jesus is God. Jesus has always been God. Jesus will always be God. If you don’t know Christ as God, you don’t know the Father- and you don’t have the Spirit. And Jesus the incarnate Son of God, “God of God, Light of Light…being of one substance with the Father.”4 came to attend unfailingly to YOU! That is why He went to the cross and rose from the grave. No amount of re-interpreting the Scriptures can eradicate this truth. This is the eternal, published, candid, nothing-to-hide gospel.
Jesus doesn’t merely announce your salvation. He doesn’t just explain your salvation. He doesn’t even fast-track your salvation. Jesus Christ is your salvation. He is your “righteousness, holiness, and redemption.”5 In baptism, the Spirit cures your blindness so the in seeing Jesus you can see the Father. So, the sooner we cease and desist from looking for any lasting goodness, compassion, knowledge, tenderness, or understanding from God apart from the crucified and risen Lord Jesus the better off we’ll be. At the end of every Christ-less search for God is the devil. We’re not trying here to limit what God can do. God can do anything. We’re talking about what He has promised to do. He has promised to save us through Jesus. He has promised to come to us through the Word and Spirit. He has promised to be accessible to us through water, bread and wine. And, while God is present everywhere, He is NOT accessible for us ubiquitously.
Dear friends, this life is a continual fray, a fracas, a dust-up. Only death resolves it. Today is Mother’s Day and mothers understand that. We pray that you mothers who are listening are strengthened more by the promise that God is faithful than you are overcome by the temptation to desire the resolution of your mortality. Even our purest desires are tainted by sin. Yet, they are holy insofar as they are produced by the Spirit. That is exactly the struggle of following the will of God. Have a read of Romans chapter seven. The apostle Paul candidly discloses the struggle between the will of the sinful nature and the leading of the Holy Spirit. It’s a clash that will continue until we draw our final breath. It cannot be avoided. Satan doesn’t take holidays. The temptation to doubt, to disbelieve that God will be faithful is always lurking. Sometimes it steps out of the shadows. It doesn’t serve us well to ignore it. And we cannot mature beyond it.
Nevertheless, believers are truly freed from the condemnation of sin. The favour of God does rest upon us because Christ is our righteousness. We do possess a timeless and otherworldly peace. We have hope that is not wishful thinking or desperate wanting. Death has been defeated. Sin has been atoned for. The just verdict declaring that we are deserving of hell has been annulled. We are citizens of heaven. You are who you are not because of how you feel about yourself, how you define yourself, or how you perceive others define you. You are who you are because of your identity in Christ. You are His baptized. You dine at the family table. And what does our Scripture say today, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.”6
Martin Luther, in an effort to comfort a woman severely beset with doubt ended his letter to her in this way, “May our dear Lord Jesus Christ show you His hands and His side and gladden your heart with His love, and may you behold and hear only Him until you find your joy in Him.”” Her name was Barbara. God grant this also, for each of us. The countenance of Jesus is the unfailing attentiveness of God. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Fifth Sunday of Easter
10 May 2020
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 John 14:8 2 Exodus 33:18-20
3 John 14:9 4 The Nicene Creed
5 1 Corinthians 1:30 6 1 Peter 2:9
7 Letter to Barbara Lisskirchen, from ‘Letters of Spiritual Counsel’
Sunday, May 3, 2020
Blessing of the Seed and Soil (3 May 2020)
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: John 20:20-26
Theme: Jesus, the Single Grain
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all He created.”1 Everything good is from above. The first of these gifts is the Son of God Himself. He condescended to us in pure grace and incarnate love. With and through Him comes every other blessing of body and soul, physical and spiritual. Included in these blessings are those foundational things needed to sustain life; the sun, the rain, the fertility of the soil, the virility of the seed. Local farmers now turn their focus to these things and the wider community depends on them.
Without the Life-giver acting through these means no creature on earth could be nourished. You are inextricably connected to the soil. Everyone is. There are no exceptions. It’s not surprising Jesus used agricultural references to teach spiritual truths. He says, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain- first the stalk, then the head…”2 Of course, the soil doesn’t do it all by itself. No created thing does anything by itself, especially us sinful mortals. The earth is part of creation. It doesn’t have the power of life. But God works so winsomely and imperceptibly most of the time that we don’t discern His power, His presence, and His purpose in the daily activities of life as we should.
That truth is a double-edged sword. God keeps the world ticking over even when we’re ignorant, apathetic, or incapacitated. Our lack of observation or comprehension doesn’t prevent God from working towards our good. Think of how many blessings we receive before we’re even conscious of them? Conversely, to take something for granted, means, by definition, that we don’t recognize it as a gift. Ingratitude is not only a culpable offence before God, it is a particularly powerful poison in human relationship. No one likes to be unceasingly unappreciated.
Mercifully, God is able to handle the insult of ingratitude much more affably than we are. The Spirit is grieved by ungratefulness- it is a fruit of unbelief- but it doesn’t put Him off His goal of reconciling sinners. In recognition of both our limitations and our needs we look to God. We have prayed for rain and look how the Lord has provided! We pray for a favourable growing season and entrust that to His care. Farming is a vocation of faith. May God give us the faith to see that in seasons of drought or seasons of plenty, His blessings are generous far beyond what we deserve. We pray “Give us today our daily bread.”3 What does this mean? “God certainly gives daily bread to everyone without our prayers, even to all evil people, but we pray in this petition that God would lead us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.”4 God “sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous.”5
Jesus compares Himself to a grain of wheat that falls into the soil and dies6. Unless it dies, unless it ‘sacrifices’ itself, it remains only a single seed. To provide life for others, its own life must be consumed. Of course, it was no figure of speech when Jesus was hung upon the cross. His life was sacrificed to atone for the sins of the world. All of our fretting and praying, our seeding and reaping, our grumbling and rejoicing, our fears and our hopes mean nothing if we’ve lost sight of Him who both created and redeems.
Dear friends, Jesus is risen! He is living! Life will prevail not because we’ll be able to save the world from collapse through human ingenuity; not because we’ve developed better farming practices or have more competent industries and governance. Life will prevail because all existence is reliant on Christ and His life is incorruptible. The Scripture says, “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest…will never cease.”7 And when that happens, when the sowing and the reaping are done, a fuller enjoyment of His blessing will have just begun. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Fourth Sunday of Easter
3 May 2020
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 James 1:17-18
2 Mark 4:26-28
3 Matthew 6:11
4 Luther’s Small Catechism
5 Matthew 5:45
6 See John 12:23-24
7 Genesis 8:22
Text: John 20:20-26
Theme: Jesus, the Single Grain
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all He created.”1 Everything good is from above. The first of these gifts is the Son of God Himself. He condescended to us in pure grace and incarnate love. With and through Him comes every other blessing of body and soul, physical and spiritual. Included in these blessings are those foundational things needed to sustain life; the sun, the rain, the fertility of the soil, the virility of the seed. Local farmers now turn their focus to these things and the wider community depends on them.
Without the Life-giver acting through these means no creature on earth could be nourished. You are inextricably connected to the soil. Everyone is. There are no exceptions. It’s not surprising Jesus used agricultural references to teach spiritual truths. He says, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain- first the stalk, then the head…”2 Of course, the soil doesn’t do it all by itself. No created thing does anything by itself, especially us sinful mortals. The earth is part of creation. It doesn’t have the power of life. But God works so winsomely and imperceptibly most of the time that we don’t discern His power, His presence, and His purpose in the daily activities of life as we should.
That truth is a double-edged sword. God keeps the world ticking over even when we’re ignorant, apathetic, or incapacitated. Our lack of observation or comprehension doesn’t prevent God from working towards our good. Think of how many blessings we receive before we’re even conscious of them? Conversely, to take something for granted, means, by definition, that we don’t recognize it as a gift. Ingratitude is not only a culpable offence before God, it is a particularly powerful poison in human relationship. No one likes to be unceasingly unappreciated.
Mercifully, God is able to handle the insult of ingratitude much more affably than we are. The Spirit is grieved by ungratefulness- it is a fruit of unbelief- but it doesn’t put Him off His goal of reconciling sinners. In recognition of both our limitations and our needs we look to God. We have prayed for rain and look how the Lord has provided! We pray for a favourable growing season and entrust that to His care. Farming is a vocation of faith. May God give us the faith to see that in seasons of drought or seasons of plenty, His blessings are generous far beyond what we deserve. We pray “Give us today our daily bread.”3 What does this mean? “God certainly gives daily bread to everyone without our prayers, even to all evil people, but we pray in this petition that God would lead us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.”4 God “sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous.”5
Jesus compares Himself to a grain of wheat that falls into the soil and dies6. Unless it dies, unless it ‘sacrifices’ itself, it remains only a single seed. To provide life for others, its own life must be consumed. Of course, it was no figure of speech when Jesus was hung upon the cross. His life was sacrificed to atone for the sins of the world. All of our fretting and praying, our seeding and reaping, our grumbling and rejoicing, our fears and our hopes mean nothing if we’ve lost sight of Him who both created and redeems.
Dear friends, Jesus is risen! He is living! Life will prevail not because we’ll be able to save the world from collapse through human ingenuity; not because we’ve developed better farming practices or have more competent industries and governance. Life will prevail because all existence is reliant on Christ and His life is incorruptible. The Scripture says, “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest…will never cease.”7 And when that happens, when the sowing and the reaping are done, a fuller enjoyment of His blessing will have just begun. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Fourth Sunday of Easter
3 May 2020
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 James 1:17-18
2 Mark 4:26-28
3 Matthew 6:11
4 Luther’s Small Catechism
5 Matthew 5:45
6 See John 12:23-24
7 Genesis 8:22
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