+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: John 20:19
Theme: Peace in the Resurrection
Christ is Risen! Alleluia!
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
God achieves and establishes peace for His people. At the Messiah’s birth the angels proclaimed “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favour rests.”1 The apostles explains, “For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him [Christ], and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things…by making peace through His blood, shed on a cross.”2 Jesus Himself often comforted His disciples with expressions of peace. In the Upper Room He said, “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”3 And now when He greets them after His resurrection His first words are, “Peace be with you!”4
It’s a fitting way to announce the resurrection. Satan’s real power of war is broken. Forgiveness is achieved for and offered to humanity. The resurrection shatters the bondage sin has on creation and all its creatures. It reverses the inevitable march towards eternal death instituted at the fall into sin. The hopeless situation of the sinner estranged from God now shows promise. Do not doubt that without Christ overcoming death you were surely lost. Do not doubt that all who snub His forgiveness still stand in judgment. Do not dare to spurn His grace for all who do not die with Him through repentance, baptism, and faith and are not raised from their spiritual death. Only in Christ do you have new and full life.
We do not take these matters lightly because surely it is not easy not to doubt. Doubt often plagues the mind and soul. Thomas could not help but be skeptical. Even the word of his companions was not good enough. Thankfully, he would soon see the scars of the resurrected Jesus. God grant that the Holy Spirit would make us mindful of these scars that we may see with the eyes of faith. Fewer, it seems, have such trust these days.
In commenting on the phenomenon of the association of Easter with chocolate a columnist for The Weekend Australian Magazine makes this statement, “These days, educated Christians mostly accept that the resurrection is a metaphor. This is sensible, of course. But at the same time you can’t help feeling the whole show has become a bit like one of those cheap chocolate bunnies- kind of hollow at the centre. But what can you do? We live in a post-Christian world now, and there’s no going back.” (April 9-10, 2011 edition)
Note the stated bias towards the so-called ‘educated’. Education has supposedly demystified Christianity. As if the first Christians made up ‘Christ-stories’ because they knew they could pull the wool over the eyes of others. The ancients had no less of an understanding of the origin of things than we do today. For all of our accumulated knowledge and applied science we know not one iota more about how this universe could have come into existence. But today the educated need not believe things they cannot personally verify. The resurrection becomes nothing more than an ancient legend propagated by pious followers.
Dear friends, Christians (educated or not) who think the resurrection is a metaphor- only a symbolic way speaking- aren’t really Christians. They are misnamed. If you believe that the body of Jesus rotted in the grave then your faith is not actually in the Living God who has overcome death. Such skepticism is nothing new. It is as ancient as Adam’s fall. St. Paul says it bluntly, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”5
If you don’t believe in God then you can’t believe in miracles. Miracles are a transgression of the laws of nature. And if you don’t believe God can bypass the law He Himself established then you can’t really believe in a resurrection of any sort. Of course, the educated are generally expected to believe the entire universe just spontaneously brought itself into existence under its own power. This is supposed to be based on science and fact. Darwinian evolution claims chaotic and random powers gave birth to the highly organized and astoundingly complex array of life we witness today. To believe this requires a giant leap of faith. The cosmos is allegedly self-organized. All talk of the person and work of Christ aside, how could an educated person truly believe that?
Many years ago, a retired French diplomat decided that Christianity was no longer for him. He saw Church institutions as being in decline, he criticized the clergy for lack of zeal, he thought all Church-goers were hypocrites; he questioned Jesus' teachings on the "Sermon on the Mount," and so on. One day, he made his feelings known to his friend, Talleyrand, a famous French statesman. "What if I should decide to start a new religion?" he asked. "How would you suggest I begin?" To which Talleyrand replied, "I would recommend, my friend, that you get yourself nailed to a cross, and then die. But be sure to return again on the third day."
There are many religions in the world and who knows how many more will be invented. But there is only one way of salvation; only one that has the Good News of Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection. There is only one truth about salvation by grace, through faith. There is only one body of Christ on earth in which the Holy Spirit operates, the baptismal water cleanses, and the sacred meal nourishes. For this we give thanks in the way St. Peter leads us today, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade- kept in heaven for you.”6
That inheritance awaits us even as we continue this pilgrimage. This journey of our mortality involves the accrual scars. We are battered and bruised as we get knocked around in life. We conceal wounds within and reveal traumas without. We are fallible, frail, and mortal. But we are only living life’s “little day.” Our scars will be healed by the wounds of Christ. Thomas felt the wounds of the risen Lord and in them he found peace. What is the last word the minister, the undershepherd of the Good Shepherd, speaks at the conclusion of the Divine Service? Peace! “The Lord look upon you with favour, and give you peace.”7 Peace is the last word. It is the Saviour’s word. It is language for eternity. Amen.
Christ is Risen! Alleluia!
+ in nomine Jesu +
Second Sunday Of Easter
1 May, 2011
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Luke 2:14 2 Colossians 1:19-20
3 John 16:33 4 John 20:19
5 1 Corinthians 15:17-20 6 1 Peter 1:3-4
7 Lutheran Hymnal, p.22
Monday, May 2, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
The Resurrection of our Lord 2011
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Matthew 28:1-10
Theme: The Bodily Resurrection
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Christ is Risen! Alleluia!
Bodies of the deceased could not be prepared for burial on the Jewish Sabbath. The sacred command was to first honour the living God and His holy day. Before dawn the Marys went to attend to this task for the body of Jesus. We can see the irony. Their experience is recorded in a candid and uncomplicated manner. They were greeted by angels. The tomb was open. The body of Jesus was not there. They met Christ on the way to tell the disciples the news. They had witnessed the event that would change the world and alter eternity. At the moment they were stupefied to see Jesus alive.
Without the living Christ humanity would face a living hell. Jesus resurrection proves- among other things- that the Father accepted His Son’s sacrifice to atone for the sins of the world. This is the crux of the matter. Many are greatly offended at the idea that they would need assistance to be worthy of the next life. It’s much less confronting to the ego to assume that one can safely pass to the next world based on personal merit and accomplishment. Some simply believe there is no obstacle at all. Christian truth makes quick work of these falsehoods. It’s a great offense to assume you are not a sinner that needs the benefit of the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ.
Many explanations have been put forth to explain away the miracle of the resurrection. The earliest is recorded here in Matthew “When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, ‘You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’”1 Others have claimed that He never really died but recovered and walked away from the experience. None are satisfactory even from a secular, historical standpoint. Those who deny the veracity of Christian truth are better off remaining aloof from discussions of the resurrection.
The Christian faith is deeply rooted in historical reality. Jesus was crucified. His tomb was found empty. He was seen alive. There were many witnesses. Paul mentions more than 500 at one time. This miracle is the bedrock of our belief. But your personal faith cannot be sustained by unique miraculous experiences or signs from God. Your confidence must rely on His word and sacraments. We see Him through these means with eyes of faith. The person who demands other proof from God- some sort of personal testimony, a vision or grating of a wish- can never have certainty. The memory fades, doubt rises and a new sign is demanded. This approach is as old as Adam’s fall.
Cain was given a mark. But the ungodly still transgressed God’s command. The Israelites saw God’s mighty deliverance in crossing the Red Sea. But soon doubt and complaint set in and many lost their faith. Many throughout the ages right up to the present day have had their faith dashed when- in some way, shape, or form- they thought God failed to show them the proper sign- to give them “proof”. The Jews repeatedly asked Jesus for signs and He said, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”2 In other words, the death and resurrection of Jesus was THE sign.
Undeniably Jesus did many miracles during His earthly ministry. Miracles continued in the apostolic age. Today God still sends His angels and interventions as He sees fit. But there is no promise that this is His ongoing program to engender faith. He does not employ a regimen of personal signs and miracles to convert people from unbelief to faith. Were that the case humanity would require a constant stream of spectacular displays. “What have you shown me lately?” would be the cry. These too would soon be met with skepticism and complaint. Short of forcing people to fall prostrate those of hardened heart would never honour God.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the validation of divinity and proof that the Father accepted His sacrifice to cover the world’s sins. Christ’s bodily resurrection will not remain limited to His own person. As a preview of what’s to come the graves of believers were opened in Jerusalem on that first Easter. The Scripture says, “They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.”3 Now, how can you be convinced that you also will be raised bodily from death? Irrational assumptions are of little use. The Holy Spirit directs your heart and mind to the One who has been there and done that.
Jesus says, “He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die.”4 He says, “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”5 These are the promises we rely on. We will find on this earth no fountain of youth. Oh what little certainty human strength and ingenuity can give us. God grants humans many skills but the outcomes still depend on Him.
A hospital administrator was alarmed to see a patient fleeing down the hall out of the operating room, his loose hospital gown flapping in the breeze behind him. He stopped the patient and said, "Do you mind telling me why you ran away from the operating room?" The patient looked at him with startled eyes and said, "It was because of what the nurse said." The administrator said, "Oh, what did she say?" "She said, 'Be brave! An appendectomy is quite simple.'" The administrator said, "Well, so what? It is quite simple; I would think that would comfort you." The patient said, "The nurse wasn't talking to me; she was talking to the doctor."
Yes, sometimes human assurances are of little comfort. A farmer in a drought area went into a small town bank to see about getting a loan on his farm. "I think I might be able to do it," said the banker. "But maybe we'd better drive out and appraise your property." "No need to trouble yourself," said the farmer, looking out the window at a vast dust cloud rolling up over the horizon. "Here it comes now." Certainty in human affairs is elusive. That’s why we have laws, lawyers and lawsuits; codes and regulations. And still, it’s not enough. What is certain is God’s love in Christ.
His resurrection effects a spiritual resurrection in all believers. In baptism you were raised in faith. You live now in that faith clothed with the righteousness of the crucified and risen Lord. Your future is in God’s hands. Today is the day of victory. Each Sunday marks its celebration. Every Lord’s Day we have the privilege to gather as His people. The Table is set in the new “holy of holies.” We no longer eat the flesh of the Passover lamb, but the body and blood of the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.6 We live in the new era of salvation. The risen Lord prepares us for His return. Daily we are sustained by His promises. May the words of Job spoken so many centuries ago be our source of confidence and joy on this day of resurrection, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the end He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.”7
Thanks be to God for His unspeakable love in Christ! Amen.
Christ is Risen! Alleluia!
+ in nomine Jesu +
The Resurrection of our Lord
Easter Sunday
24 April, 2011
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Matthew 28:12-13 2 Matthew 12:39-40
3 Matthew 27:53 4 John 11:25-26
5 John 5:54 6 See John 1:29
7 Job 19:25-26
Text: Matthew 28:1-10
Theme: The Bodily Resurrection
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Christ is Risen! Alleluia!
Bodies of the deceased could not be prepared for burial on the Jewish Sabbath. The sacred command was to first honour the living God and His holy day. Before dawn the Marys went to attend to this task for the body of Jesus. We can see the irony. Their experience is recorded in a candid and uncomplicated manner. They were greeted by angels. The tomb was open. The body of Jesus was not there. They met Christ on the way to tell the disciples the news. They had witnessed the event that would change the world and alter eternity. At the moment they were stupefied to see Jesus alive.
Without the living Christ humanity would face a living hell. Jesus resurrection proves- among other things- that the Father accepted His Son’s sacrifice to atone for the sins of the world. This is the crux of the matter. Many are greatly offended at the idea that they would need assistance to be worthy of the next life. It’s much less confronting to the ego to assume that one can safely pass to the next world based on personal merit and accomplishment. Some simply believe there is no obstacle at all. Christian truth makes quick work of these falsehoods. It’s a great offense to assume you are not a sinner that needs the benefit of the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ.
Many explanations have been put forth to explain away the miracle of the resurrection. The earliest is recorded here in Matthew “When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, ‘You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’”1 Others have claimed that He never really died but recovered and walked away from the experience. None are satisfactory even from a secular, historical standpoint. Those who deny the veracity of Christian truth are better off remaining aloof from discussions of the resurrection.
The Christian faith is deeply rooted in historical reality. Jesus was crucified. His tomb was found empty. He was seen alive. There were many witnesses. Paul mentions more than 500 at one time. This miracle is the bedrock of our belief. But your personal faith cannot be sustained by unique miraculous experiences or signs from God. Your confidence must rely on His word and sacraments. We see Him through these means with eyes of faith. The person who demands other proof from God- some sort of personal testimony, a vision or grating of a wish- can never have certainty. The memory fades, doubt rises and a new sign is demanded. This approach is as old as Adam’s fall.
Cain was given a mark. But the ungodly still transgressed God’s command. The Israelites saw God’s mighty deliverance in crossing the Red Sea. But soon doubt and complaint set in and many lost their faith. Many throughout the ages right up to the present day have had their faith dashed when- in some way, shape, or form- they thought God failed to show them the proper sign- to give them “proof”. The Jews repeatedly asked Jesus for signs and He said, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”2 In other words, the death and resurrection of Jesus was THE sign.
Undeniably Jesus did many miracles during His earthly ministry. Miracles continued in the apostolic age. Today God still sends His angels and interventions as He sees fit. But there is no promise that this is His ongoing program to engender faith. He does not employ a regimen of personal signs and miracles to convert people from unbelief to faith. Were that the case humanity would require a constant stream of spectacular displays. “What have you shown me lately?” would be the cry. These too would soon be met with skepticism and complaint. Short of forcing people to fall prostrate those of hardened heart would never honour God.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the validation of divinity and proof that the Father accepted His sacrifice to cover the world’s sins. Christ’s bodily resurrection will not remain limited to His own person. As a preview of what’s to come the graves of believers were opened in Jerusalem on that first Easter. The Scripture says, “They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.”3 Now, how can you be convinced that you also will be raised bodily from death? Irrational assumptions are of little use. The Holy Spirit directs your heart and mind to the One who has been there and done that.
Jesus says, “He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die.”4 He says, “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”5 These are the promises we rely on. We will find on this earth no fountain of youth. Oh what little certainty human strength and ingenuity can give us. God grants humans many skills but the outcomes still depend on Him.
A hospital administrator was alarmed to see a patient fleeing down the hall out of the operating room, his loose hospital gown flapping in the breeze behind him. He stopped the patient and said, "Do you mind telling me why you ran away from the operating room?" The patient looked at him with startled eyes and said, "It was because of what the nurse said." The administrator said, "Oh, what did she say?" "She said, 'Be brave! An appendectomy is quite simple.'" The administrator said, "Well, so what? It is quite simple; I would think that would comfort you." The patient said, "The nurse wasn't talking to me; she was talking to the doctor."
Yes, sometimes human assurances are of little comfort. A farmer in a drought area went into a small town bank to see about getting a loan on his farm. "I think I might be able to do it," said the banker. "But maybe we'd better drive out and appraise your property." "No need to trouble yourself," said the farmer, looking out the window at a vast dust cloud rolling up over the horizon. "Here it comes now." Certainty in human affairs is elusive. That’s why we have laws, lawyers and lawsuits; codes and regulations. And still, it’s not enough. What is certain is God’s love in Christ.
His resurrection effects a spiritual resurrection in all believers. In baptism you were raised in faith. You live now in that faith clothed with the righteousness of the crucified and risen Lord. Your future is in God’s hands. Today is the day of victory. Each Sunday marks its celebration. Every Lord’s Day we have the privilege to gather as His people. The Table is set in the new “holy of holies.” We no longer eat the flesh of the Passover lamb, but the body and blood of the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.6 We live in the new era of salvation. The risen Lord prepares us for His return. Daily we are sustained by His promises. May the words of Job spoken so many centuries ago be our source of confidence and joy on this day of resurrection, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the end He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.”7
Thanks be to God for His unspeakable love in Christ! Amen.
Christ is Risen! Alleluia!
+ in nomine Jesu +
The Resurrection of our Lord
Easter Sunday
24 April, 2011
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Matthew 28:12-13 2 Matthew 12:39-40
3 Matthew 27:53 4 John 11:25-26
5 John 5:54 6 See John 1:29
7 Job 19:25-26
Monday, April 25, 2011
Good Friday 2011
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: John 19:11
Theme: The End For Sin
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
At Golgotha women wailed and angels wept. Many mourned Him but none came to His aid. The sun went dark and the earth shook. The face of the Father was turned away. The triumph of evil was at hand. Yet the victory of salvation was taking place. Such is the paradox of the death of the Son of God.
To relive the trauma and emotion of that first Good Friday can serve only the interest of speculation or a desire to make it relevant. But the event is in every respect unrepeatable. What concerns us is the consequence. The judgment for your sins coincides with the death of Christ. When He dies the atonement is made. When He breathes His last the price is paid; the debt is canceled. There are no further negotiations. Reconciliation is complete. The eternal fate of the believer is sealed. The countenance of God changes from wrath to favour, from judgment to acceptance.
Now the reality of time can make this truth hard to fathom because the Bible clearly says there will still be a judgment day. Yes, He will still gather all humanity before Him in public display of His justice and glory. Then there will be no uncertainty about those who are His. Then Satan’s little day is done and unbelief is brought to an end. The Bible is abundantly clear that those who believe and have shown the fruits of faith will be saved and those who have rejected God’s grace- as shown by their lack of fruits- will be consigned to hell.
Certainly the image of the judgment and the picture of Christ Himself are awe-inspiring. John gives this description in Revelation, “His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes were blazing like fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.”1 It’s an image to be reckoned with to say the least.
But the last judgment will not involve a tallying of both sides of the ledger to see whether each individual has done enough good to outweigh the bad. If there were a weighing in the balance at the judgment NONE would be saved. The Psalmist says it this way, “If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?”2 The scales were tipped at the crucifixion. The last judgment serves to separate out those who died in faith or who were living in faith at the time of the Second Coming from those who oppose God’s will and His ways. Good works are the fruit of faith not the cause. They are the evidence, not the source. Only God can identify faith in the heart. The outward signs only assist the rest of us. The veracity of these biblical truths is indisputable.
Still, doubt is commonplace. Satan’s tool is fear. To the human intellect and emotion death is a vast ocean of darkness and uncertainty. We should never approach it with arrogance. No human knows the secret to death. God humbled Job saying, “Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God’s dominion over earth...Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?”3 Physical death is the final, evil consequence of sin. And the darkness of eternal death is not only impenetrable but horrifying beyond imagination. Need we anything more to drive us to humility and repentance?
The death of Christ changes everything. Human reason cannot reckon what makes His sacrifice so scared. The Holy Spirit must teach us and grant us an unconditional faith in the prophet and Messiah of Galilee. He was not a likely leader by this world’s standards. He had no upbringing or training to make a splash in the public eye. He had no countenance for television. We would not have been naturally drawn to His image. The Scripture says rather, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering.”4
Yet, we have here no spineless Redeemer. Christ is not gutless or faint-of- heart. He does no deals with Satan. He makes no negotiations with death. He does not walk on egg shells fearing to offend His opponents. He resolutely sets His face to the task. And a daunting, seemingly insurmountable task it was. He prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from Me, yet not My will, but yours be done.”5 But He did drink the cup of the Father’s wrath- for us and for our salvation.
The death of Jesus changes the game. Into His death is incorporated the eternal death each sinner deserves. In baptism we pass right through the horrors of eternal death so that at our physical death we merely realize our mortality and are freed from sin’s constraints. We are forgiven. Holy Communion is a testimony to these truths. And the more prepared we are to face death the livelier our Christian faith will be. We live in profound joy for Him who did not come down from the cross and whom the grave could not hold. Amen.
+ in nomine Jesu +
Good Friday
22 April, 2011
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Revelation 1:14-16 2 Psalm 130:3
3 Job 38:33, 17 4 Isaiah 53:2-3
5 Luke 22:42
Text: John 19:11
Theme: The End For Sin
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
At Golgotha women wailed and angels wept. Many mourned Him but none came to His aid. The sun went dark and the earth shook. The face of the Father was turned away. The triumph of evil was at hand. Yet the victory of salvation was taking place. Such is the paradox of the death of the Son of God.
To relive the trauma and emotion of that first Good Friday can serve only the interest of speculation or a desire to make it relevant. But the event is in every respect unrepeatable. What concerns us is the consequence. The judgment for your sins coincides with the death of Christ. When He dies the atonement is made. When He breathes His last the price is paid; the debt is canceled. There are no further negotiations. Reconciliation is complete. The eternal fate of the believer is sealed. The countenance of God changes from wrath to favour, from judgment to acceptance.
Now the reality of time can make this truth hard to fathom because the Bible clearly says there will still be a judgment day. Yes, He will still gather all humanity before Him in public display of His justice and glory. Then there will be no uncertainty about those who are His. Then Satan’s little day is done and unbelief is brought to an end. The Bible is abundantly clear that those who believe and have shown the fruits of faith will be saved and those who have rejected God’s grace- as shown by their lack of fruits- will be consigned to hell.
Certainly the image of the judgment and the picture of Christ Himself are awe-inspiring. John gives this description in Revelation, “His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes were blazing like fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.”1 It’s an image to be reckoned with to say the least.
But the last judgment will not involve a tallying of both sides of the ledger to see whether each individual has done enough good to outweigh the bad. If there were a weighing in the balance at the judgment NONE would be saved. The Psalmist says it this way, “If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?”2 The scales were tipped at the crucifixion. The last judgment serves to separate out those who died in faith or who were living in faith at the time of the Second Coming from those who oppose God’s will and His ways. Good works are the fruit of faith not the cause. They are the evidence, not the source. Only God can identify faith in the heart. The outward signs only assist the rest of us. The veracity of these biblical truths is indisputable.
Still, doubt is commonplace. Satan’s tool is fear. To the human intellect and emotion death is a vast ocean of darkness and uncertainty. We should never approach it with arrogance. No human knows the secret to death. God humbled Job saying, “Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God’s dominion over earth...Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?”3 Physical death is the final, evil consequence of sin. And the darkness of eternal death is not only impenetrable but horrifying beyond imagination. Need we anything more to drive us to humility and repentance?
The death of Christ changes everything. Human reason cannot reckon what makes His sacrifice so scared. The Holy Spirit must teach us and grant us an unconditional faith in the prophet and Messiah of Galilee. He was not a likely leader by this world’s standards. He had no upbringing or training to make a splash in the public eye. He had no countenance for television. We would not have been naturally drawn to His image. The Scripture says rather, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering.”4
Yet, we have here no spineless Redeemer. Christ is not gutless or faint-of- heart. He does no deals with Satan. He makes no negotiations with death. He does not walk on egg shells fearing to offend His opponents. He resolutely sets His face to the task. And a daunting, seemingly insurmountable task it was. He prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from Me, yet not My will, but yours be done.”5 But He did drink the cup of the Father’s wrath- for us and for our salvation.
The death of Jesus changes the game. Into His death is incorporated the eternal death each sinner deserves. In baptism we pass right through the horrors of eternal death so that at our physical death we merely realize our mortality and are freed from sin’s constraints. We are forgiven. Holy Communion is a testimony to these truths. And the more prepared we are to face death the livelier our Christian faith will be. We live in profound joy for Him who did not come down from the cross and whom the grave could not hold. Amen.
+ in nomine Jesu +
Good Friday
22 April, 2011
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Revelation 1:14-16 2 Psalm 130:3
3 Job 38:33, 17 4 Isaiah 53:2-3
5 Luke 22:42
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Maundy (Holy) Thursday 2011
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: John 13:31
Theme: Glorified In Blood
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Not every moment of history is of equal consequence. That certain events in the earthy life of God’s Son are of much greater import than others does not trivialize the events of our lives. It should serve to put them into perspective. When Judas departed the Upper Room in which Jesus instituted the Sacrament of the Altar, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in Him.”1 It’s a hallowed and weighty statement. What are we to make of it? How can glory be added to God? God exists in self-sustaining majesty. It is far beyond us to understand how glory could be given to the heavenly Father.
Here Christ speaks of His pending crucifixion. The sacrifice of the Son brings glory to the Father because through it human beings have access to the divine blessings. God is glorified in those things which allow rascals to participate in His magnificence. Yes God is glorified when scoundrels are led on the narrow way to life. The Scripture says, “When we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son.”2 God is glorified when we poor sinners are rescued from disobedience, ignorance, and death and are gifted with light, servanthood, and life.
Only Jesus fully understood the tension in the Upper Room. Judas would soon betray Him; Peter deny Him, and the others forsake Him. Now was the prelude to the events of His passion. God chose this point in time- and these people- to be written into the history of the sacrifice of the Messiah. Most interesting theatrical dramas have villains and heroes. The struggle between good and evil captivates something deep in our psyche. It’s a tussle human beings inherently know they are part of. The contest between good and evil has consequences.
How do we understand what was going on here with Christ and His disciples, Satan and Judas. It’s a war not of physical struggle or brute force but of words and wills. It’s a contest of truth and falsehood, of deception and honesty. The greatest battle was not a physical feat, per se, but a triumph of sacrifice over selfishness, of compassion over coldness, of fidelity over rebelliousness.
How great is that love that patiently endures humiliation, shame, and derision without cause! How great is the love that bears the divine wrath and tastes bitter death! How great is that love which passionately desires to be with its beloved for all eternity. Christ’s love is a love that stoops to wash our feet. It is a love that suffers the loss of its own dignity to raise sinners to nobility. His love is the only unfailing, unconditional love. He tells His disciples, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”3 He expects them to do this not by their own strength, seeking their own praises, or boosting their own pride. He prepares them for what the Holy Spirit will do through them as they distribute Christ’s love throughout the world.
The last Passover the disciples celebrated with Jesus was also the first Holy Communion. It serves for us a as a continual fountain of grace. The baptized who gather at the altar gather to have their faith nourished by the deepest mystery offered to human beings in this dimension. The magnitude of what is offered demands integrity of intention. It’s nothing ever to take for granted. If you scarcely give a passing thought to your participation in Holy Communion than hear the words of the Holy Spirit. They are written to jolt your conscience out of apathy or arrogance. “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.”4 Unrepentant souls are condemned in their callous reception.
But the test is not self-worthiness, but faith. Otherwise none could rightly partake. If you feel too unworthy to partake then that’s exactly when you should come. The contrite soul is ripe for forgiveness. The weak in faith and frail in heart come to be strengthened, fortified and comforted. If you leave feeling a burden has been lifted, then rejoice that God has allowed you such a privilege? But if you leave with misgiving and worry still lingering in your heart do not doubt that His promise to you is still valid. The Sacrament may change your disposition and outlook in the midst of struggle, but it does not promise to change your personality, it does not promise to dissolve all of your struggles.
Yet what the heart cannot always comprehend or appreciate the Spirit guarantees. The unworthiness that still troubles you is nevertheless pardoned by God. Christ said to the paralytic “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”5 He said to the woman subject to bleeding, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”6 He said to the woman caught in adultery, “Neither do I condemn you...Go now and leave your life of sin.”7 All were repentant. All sought His mercy. None were turned back. He sent them away freed from guilt; free to live in grace.
He sends the humble soul from His altar nourished with the food of immortality. He sends you with identity and purpose. You go from the sacred presence of God to the mundane and often profane atmosphere of the world. You are armed with the weapons of righteousness to do battle with falsehood. You are an agent of peace in a world of conflict. You are an ordered being in a climate of chaos. Maundy Thursday invites us to see with clarity how God orders our lives.
Our Scripture says that when Judas left the Upper Room it was night.8 He had fallen into darkness. The others remained with Jesus, the Light of the World. And so let us also remain with Him. Amen.
+ in nomine Jesu +
Maundy Thursday
21 April, 2011
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 John 13:31 2 Romans 5:10
3 John 13:34 4 1 Corinthians 11:27-28
5 Matthew 9:2 6 Luke 8:48
7 John 8:11 8 See John 13:30
Text: John 13:31
Theme: Glorified In Blood
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Not every moment of history is of equal consequence. That certain events in the earthy life of God’s Son are of much greater import than others does not trivialize the events of our lives. It should serve to put them into perspective. When Judas departed the Upper Room in which Jesus instituted the Sacrament of the Altar, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in Him.”1 It’s a hallowed and weighty statement. What are we to make of it? How can glory be added to God? God exists in self-sustaining majesty. It is far beyond us to understand how glory could be given to the heavenly Father.
Here Christ speaks of His pending crucifixion. The sacrifice of the Son brings glory to the Father because through it human beings have access to the divine blessings. God is glorified in those things which allow rascals to participate in His magnificence. Yes God is glorified when scoundrels are led on the narrow way to life. The Scripture says, “When we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son.”2 God is glorified when we poor sinners are rescued from disobedience, ignorance, and death and are gifted with light, servanthood, and life.
Only Jesus fully understood the tension in the Upper Room. Judas would soon betray Him; Peter deny Him, and the others forsake Him. Now was the prelude to the events of His passion. God chose this point in time- and these people- to be written into the history of the sacrifice of the Messiah. Most interesting theatrical dramas have villains and heroes. The struggle between good and evil captivates something deep in our psyche. It’s a tussle human beings inherently know they are part of. The contest between good and evil has consequences.
How do we understand what was going on here with Christ and His disciples, Satan and Judas. It’s a war not of physical struggle or brute force but of words and wills. It’s a contest of truth and falsehood, of deception and honesty. The greatest battle was not a physical feat, per se, but a triumph of sacrifice over selfishness, of compassion over coldness, of fidelity over rebelliousness.
How great is that love that patiently endures humiliation, shame, and derision without cause! How great is the love that bears the divine wrath and tastes bitter death! How great is that love which passionately desires to be with its beloved for all eternity. Christ’s love is a love that stoops to wash our feet. It is a love that suffers the loss of its own dignity to raise sinners to nobility. His love is the only unfailing, unconditional love. He tells His disciples, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”3 He expects them to do this not by their own strength, seeking their own praises, or boosting their own pride. He prepares them for what the Holy Spirit will do through them as they distribute Christ’s love throughout the world.
The last Passover the disciples celebrated with Jesus was also the first Holy Communion. It serves for us a as a continual fountain of grace. The baptized who gather at the altar gather to have their faith nourished by the deepest mystery offered to human beings in this dimension. The magnitude of what is offered demands integrity of intention. It’s nothing ever to take for granted. If you scarcely give a passing thought to your participation in Holy Communion than hear the words of the Holy Spirit. They are written to jolt your conscience out of apathy or arrogance. “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.”4 Unrepentant souls are condemned in their callous reception.
But the test is not self-worthiness, but faith. Otherwise none could rightly partake. If you feel too unworthy to partake then that’s exactly when you should come. The contrite soul is ripe for forgiveness. The weak in faith and frail in heart come to be strengthened, fortified and comforted. If you leave feeling a burden has been lifted, then rejoice that God has allowed you such a privilege? But if you leave with misgiving and worry still lingering in your heart do not doubt that His promise to you is still valid. The Sacrament may change your disposition and outlook in the midst of struggle, but it does not promise to change your personality, it does not promise to dissolve all of your struggles.
Yet what the heart cannot always comprehend or appreciate the Spirit guarantees. The unworthiness that still troubles you is nevertheless pardoned by God. Christ said to the paralytic “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”5 He said to the woman subject to bleeding, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”6 He said to the woman caught in adultery, “Neither do I condemn you...Go now and leave your life of sin.”7 All were repentant. All sought His mercy. None were turned back. He sent them away freed from guilt; free to live in grace.
He sends the humble soul from His altar nourished with the food of immortality. He sends you with identity and purpose. You go from the sacred presence of God to the mundane and often profane atmosphere of the world. You are armed with the weapons of righteousness to do battle with falsehood. You are an agent of peace in a world of conflict. You are an ordered being in a climate of chaos. Maundy Thursday invites us to see with clarity how God orders our lives.
Our Scripture says that when Judas left the Upper Room it was night.8 He had fallen into darkness. The others remained with Jesus, the Light of the World. And so let us also remain with Him. Amen.
+ in nomine Jesu +
Maundy Thursday
21 April, 2011
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 John 13:31 2 Romans 5:10
3 John 13:34 4 1 Corinthians 11:27-28
5 Matthew 9:2 6 Luke 8:48
7 John 8:11 8 See John 13:30
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Palm Sunday (A) 2011
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Matthew 21:9
Theme: Hosanna!
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Not every celebration is planned. God sometimes startles us with blessings that demand immediate expression of joy. The conception of a child, a cancer-free diagnosis, the acquisition of a job, rescue from an accident or pending disaster are but a few examples. Our sinful human nature is so potent at nurturing skepticism we are often surprised by His mercies great and small. Though such things tend to provide a boost to our faith, God desires that our trust be anchored more deeply in His promises. Our faith should not rely on a quota of personal satisfactions but the bare- and often masked- certainty of His Word.
Jesus’ final entry into Jerusalem was not exactly a planned celebration. But hopes ran high and people joined the gathering crowd to welcome Jesus as a deliverer and ruler. Perhaps this would be the moment for Israel to regain independence and glory. It was actually a minor expectation compared to what Christ actually did accomplish. The climax of the Christian Church Year begins today. Shouts of jubilation on Palm Sunday crescendo to cries of “Crucify Him!” on Good Friday. It was an intense and bewildering week for Jesus’ disciples that ended with His resurrection.
All the hype of Palm Sunday was dashed by Good Friday. Pilate posed the question, “What is truth?”1 Others ridiculed Him saying, “Come down from the cross and save Yourself!”2 Jesus responded with, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing,”3 and, “My kingdom is not of this world.”4 But the suspicion goes on. Falsehood, skepticism, and doubt about Christian truth increasingly saturate public discourse and educational institutions. It wears on the believer. It slowly erodes the underpinnings of our belief. Sometimes we hardly notice it. The frog is not boiled instantly. The water is slowly heated and the frog adjusts.
But before the frog attempts to leap to safety it is too close to death. It is paralyzed. Faith is more commonly lost through a gradual slipping away than it is by a dramatic turn of events. Through neglect and apathy faith loses it vigor and becomes vulnerable to attack. Faith is never partial. Saving faith is always a complete faith. But faith can be strong or weak and everything in between. A defenseless faith may limp along for a while- until the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.
Throughout much of western society the image of God has transitioned from that of a father, with whom we have a relationship and to whom we are accountable, to that of an ageing and frail grandfather about whom people only reminisce and with whom there is little association. God is to be neither feared nor revered as Judge or Redeemer but only passingly referenced an obsolete concept.
Many believers have responded by retreating into a confidential sheltering of their faith. Yet the self-deception of being a ‘private’ Christian is a nearly always an infallible sign of danger and decay. It’s not, of course, that this withdrawal is usually planned or perpetrated with evil intent. Rejection of the Holy Spirit’s work is not usually as crass as we assume it to be. Overt blasphemy is not an activity even determined skeptics often care to engage in. Denial of God’s truth is more often manifest as a capitulation to indulgences that appeal to our selfish desires or a tacit failure to speak or act against evil or falsehood. Often rejection of the Holy Spirit’s work is clearly a triumph of human self-governance over God’s will. We want our way, God’s approval not excepted. Other things take priority in life, and little by little, God is squeezed out. Repentance for giving in to this temptation should be a regular part of our confession.
Into this milieu of complexity and spiritual struggle the cry of Palm Sunday goes up, “Hosanna, Lord save!” Lord, save us from rampant materialism in this age. Lord, save us from the skepticism and doubt that tears away the anchor of our souls. Lord, save us from denying your truth because of shame or fear. Lord, save us from addiction, depression and loss of hope. Lord, save us from loss of compassion for the unborn, the elderly, and the most vulnerable of society. Lord, save us from idolatry of persons and things.
Lord, grant depth to our devotion. Give stability to witness. Lord, increase our passion for your truth. Lord you were crowned with thorns that we might be crowned with eternal life. Make us worthy heirs of your sacred treasures. In all these petitions Christ does not fail us. He is the incarnate love of God. He rode a donkey, not a stallion; wore a crown of thorns not a crown of gold. He did not shrink back from bearing your sins and mine to the cross. He dealt death its fatal blow. He opened the gates of heaven to all repentant sinners who take refuge in Him.
The parents of a five-year-old daughter girl named Lindsay overheard her telling her little friend about Jesus. The children were sitting on the front steps of the house, and the parents tiptoed up to the window to see and hear better. Lindsay told her friend that Jesus had forgiven her sins and if she believed in Him she would go to heaven. The little girl was convinced, and said a prayer of thanks to God. When she was done praying, she looked up at Lindsay and asked, "Will my mother be in heaven too?" Lindsay thought for a moment and replied, "Yeah, if she believes in Jesus. But if you don't want her there, don't tell her about Him!"
Still, such possessiveness exists. St. Matthew says, “When the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things He did and the children shouting in the temple area, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David,’ they were indignant. ‘Do you hear what these children are saying?’ they asked Him. ‘Yes,’ replied Jesus, ‘have you never read, ‘from the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise’?”5 Yes, out of the mouths of babes!
Christ is still the Lord of the church. Let us not be ashamed to follow a crucified Saviour. Let us not be embarrassed to worship the Servant King. The Lord of compassion welcomes those who are humble in heart. He raises us above strictly worldly concerns. You are not baptized into a kingdom of this world. You do not partake at this altar of cultural or earthly food. You need not wait to be surprised by God’s blessings. Always, the living Christ is with you.
Fittingly, the resurrection soon became the most important expression of joy in the early church. Once recovered from their stupor and enlightened by the Holy Spirit those early believers made Sunday the new Sabbath. They understood creation had been remade and restored. On the seventh day of creation God rested. But on the first day of the week, the eighth day, the dawn of the new era, He redeemed that lost creation. “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! “6 Amen.
+ in nomine Jesu +
Palm Sunday
17 April, 2011
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 John 18:38 2 Mark 15:30
3 Luke 23:34 4 John 18:36
5 Matthew 21:15-16 6 Matthew 21:9
Text: Matthew 21:9
Theme: Hosanna!
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Not every celebration is planned. God sometimes startles us with blessings that demand immediate expression of joy. The conception of a child, a cancer-free diagnosis, the acquisition of a job, rescue from an accident or pending disaster are but a few examples. Our sinful human nature is so potent at nurturing skepticism we are often surprised by His mercies great and small. Though such things tend to provide a boost to our faith, God desires that our trust be anchored more deeply in His promises. Our faith should not rely on a quota of personal satisfactions but the bare- and often masked- certainty of His Word.
Jesus’ final entry into Jerusalem was not exactly a planned celebration. But hopes ran high and people joined the gathering crowd to welcome Jesus as a deliverer and ruler. Perhaps this would be the moment for Israel to regain independence and glory. It was actually a minor expectation compared to what Christ actually did accomplish. The climax of the Christian Church Year begins today. Shouts of jubilation on Palm Sunday crescendo to cries of “Crucify Him!” on Good Friday. It was an intense and bewildering week for Jesus’ disciples that ended with His resurrection.
All the hype of Palm Sunday was dashed by Good Friday. Pilate posed the question, “What is truth?”1 Others ridiculed Him saying, “Come down from the cross and save Yourself!”2 Jesus responded with, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing,”3 and, “My kingdom is not of this world.”4 But the suspicion goes on. Falsehood, skepticism, and doubt about Christian truth increasingly saturate public discourse and educational institutions. It wears on the believer. It slowly erodes the underpinnings of our belief. Sometimes we hardly notice it. The frog is not boiled instantly. The water is slowly heated and the frog adjusts.
But before the frog attempts to leap to safety it is too close to death. It is paralyzed. Faith is more commonly lost through a gradual slipping away than it is by a dramatic turn of events. Through neglect and apathy faith loses it vigor and becomes vulnerable to attack. Faith is never partial. Saving faith is always a complete faith. But faith can be strong or weak and everything in between. A defenseless faith may limp along for a while- until the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.
Throughout much of western society the image of God has transitioned from that of a father, with whom we have a relationship and to whom we are accountable, to that of an ageing and frail grandfather about whom people only reminisce and with whom there is little association. God is to be neither feared nor revered as Judge or Redeemer but only passingly referenced an obsolete concept.
Many believers have responded by retreating into a confidential sheltering of their faith. Yet the self-deception of being a ‘private’ Christian is a nearly always an infallible sign of danger and decay. It’s not, of course, that this withdrawal is usually planned or perpetrated with evil intent. Rejection of the Holy Spirit’s work is not usually as crass as we assume it to be. Overt blasphemy is not an activity even determined skeptics often care to engage in. Denial of God’s truth is more often manifest as a capitulation to indulgences that appeal to our selfish desires or a tacit failure to speak or act against evil or falsehood. Often rejection of the Holy Spirit’s work is clearly a triumph of human self-governance over God’s will. We want our way, God’s approval not excepted. Other things take priority in life, and little by little, God is squeezed out. Repentance for giving in to this temptation should be a regular part of our confession.
Into this milieu of complexity and spiritual struggle the cry of Palm Sunday goes up, “Hosanna, Lord save!” Lord, save us from rampant materialism in this age. Lord, save us from the skepticism and doubt that tears away the anchor of our souls. Lord, save us from denying your truth because of shame or fear. Lord, save us from addiction, depression and loss of hope. Lord, save us from loss of compassion for the unborn, the elderly, and the most vulnerable of society. Lord, save us from idolatry of persons and things.
Lord, grant depth to our devotion. Give stability to witness. Lord, increase our passion for your truth. Lord you were crowned with thorns that we might be crowned with eternal life. Make us worthy heirs of your sacred treasures. In all these petitions Christ does not fail us. He is the incarnate love of God. He rode a donkey, not a stallion; wore a crown of thorns not a crown of gold. He did not shrink back from bearing your sins and mine to the cross. He dealt death its fatal blow. He opened the gates of heaven to all repentant sinners who take refuge in Him.
The parents of a five-year-old daughter girl named Lindsay overheard her telling her little friend about Jesus. The children were sitting on the front steps of the house, and the parents tiptoed up to the window to see and hear better. Lindsay told her friend that Jesus had forgiven her sins and if she believed in Him she would go to heaven. The little girl was convinced, and said a prayer of thanks to God. When she was done praying, she looked up at Lindsay and asked, "Will my mother be in heaven too?" Lindsay thought for a moment and replied, "Yeah, if she believes in Jesus. But if you don't want her there, don't tell her about Him!"
Still, such possessiveness exists. St. Matthew says, “When the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things He did and the children shouting in the temple area, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David,’ they were indignant. ‘Do you hear what these children are saying?’ they asked Him. ‘Yes,’ replied Jesus, ‘have you never read, ‘from the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise’?”5 Yes, out of the mouths of babes!
Christ is still the Lord of the church. Let us not be ashamed to follow a crucified Saviour. Let us not be embarrassed to worship the Servant King. The Lord of compassion welcomes those who are humble in heart. He raises us above strictly worldly concerns. You are not baptized into a kingdom of this world. You do not partake at this altar of cultural or earthly food. You need not wait to be surprised by God’s blessings. Always, the living Christ is with you.
Fittingly, the resurrection soon became the most important expression of joy in the early church. Once recovered from their stupor and enlightened by the Holy Spirit those early believers made Sunday the new Sabbath. They understood creation had been remade and restored. On the seventh day of creation God rested. But on the first day of the week, the eighth day, the dawn of the new era, He redeemed that lost creation. “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! “6 Amen.
+ in nomine Jesu +
Palm Sunday
17 April, 2011
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 John 18:38 2 Mark 15:30
3 Luke 23:34 4 John 18:36
5 Matthew 21:15-16 6 Matthew 21:9
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Midweek Lenten Sermon 13 April 2011
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: 1 John 1:7
Theme: Cleansed With Blood
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Forgiveness is not easy. Oh yes, if we decide there is little at stake for us, then forgiveness is easy. If we’re not really hurt or damaged or inflicted with personal pain the duty to forgive someone can be a comfortable process. But in these cases forgiveness isn’t nearly so essential or restorative. The presupposition of seeking and granting forgiveness is the fact that a wrong has been committed and recognized and restoration is needed. Something has caused separation and reconciliation is required. Fear has been induced and trust needs to be regained. Then the work begins.
Tonight’s image is about blood and the source of forgiveness. Blood is the divine currency of our redemption. It speaks to the supremacy of forgiveness. Do we casually assume that it is easy for God to forgive? Do we think that because He is God it is a trivial and simple matter? Dear friends, procuring divine forgiveness was an excruciatingly arduous task. How exactly that is is unknowable to us. But this we do know: Jesus Christ hung upon the cross and cried “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”1 “[God] did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all.”2 “The blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.”3
Many question the need for such a strong emphasis on forgiveness. Did the people of biblical times have a pre-occupation with sin? Did they worry too much about spiritual matters? To others the historical chasm seems too great to overcome. Time and distance are thought to be barriers too large to get past. Jesus was then. We are now. Creation is past. Creatures are present. The ancients were darkened. We are enlightened. Such thinking governs the contemporary, scientific, and rational collective intellect. The prehistoric past is dismissed as the age of superstition. The present lauded as the age of reason. They had fear and fantasy. We have self-reliance and evidence.
That’s a fine illusion until you stand at the threshold of death. Call then upon your science, your humanism, and philosophy. Barter your good deeds and your selfless intentions with the consuming darkness. Convince yourself that sin and forgiveness don’t matter. Suddenly the bedrock of human certainty and accomplishment crumbles away like a child’s sand castle washed over by a gentle wave. All the components of our exalted system of human genius are pulled apart like tiny particles of sand absorbed into a vast ocean of uncertainty. Who can speak about the powers of death except Him who has conquered it? In the lower left of this painting the risen Christ is treading on death and Satan. No one else could do it. In this victory the believer participates by faith.
The gospel is always contemporary. It puts us in contact with the living Christ. Time and distance are not barriers to the Holy Spirit. If Christ lives and He is immortal than of what concern is time and space? His promise is as effective for you now as it was for the saints in the past. In this picture the artist stands under the shower of Christ’s blood. It is a unique and powerful image. The Scripture says, “This is the one who came by water and blood- Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.”4 He came that you might be cleansed from your deepest, darkest deeds.
There was a pastor named Timothy Brown who never got along well with his congregation. But they all turned out for his very last service and hope of reconciliation was in the air. In his last sermon, he quoted from John 14, "In my Father's house are many rooms…I go there to prepare a place for you." That ended the sermon and the service. It seemed to be a gracious conclusion to His ministry, an olive branch. It was not until several days later that the congregation learned that Pastor Brown had left to be the pastor at the state penitentiary. "In my Father's house are many rooms…I go to prepare a place for you."
Forgiveness is not easy. Our sinful natures always want reconciliation on their own terms just as a selfish faith wants to have the blessings of the inheritance without having a living relationship with God. This, of course, is really no faith at all. You can’t simply show up at the reading of the will. You can’t you have the blessings of marriage without having a spouse. You can’t appreciate parenthood without having a child. You can’t be snatched from the gates of hell without being transported to God’s presence in heaven.
Childish ideas about eternity must go. Jesus is not the chief tour guide of a celestial entertainment mecca. He is not there to provide the fulfillment of every indulgent request- such ideas won’t even cross our minds then. He Himself and the entire company of heaven are the all-sufficient activity of the next life. We will be more than contentedly occupied just to be in the presence of the Holy Trinity. Christ IS the enjoyment of eternal life!
We must believe that now by faith. Take Him at His word. The blood of the cross accomplished the cleansing of your soul. The guilt of your sins was buried at your baptism. Return there in humility and trust. The Holy Spirit will greet you. Bend not just your knee but your heart at His altar. There He will feed you with His own divine life. Yes, your body still needs to pass through the portal of death. But your soul goes unhindered to Him who is the resurrection and the life. Amen.
1 Psalm 22:1
2 Romans 8:32
3 1 John 1:7
4 1 John 5:6
+ in nomine Jesu +
Midweek Lenten Service 13 April 2011
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
Text: 1 John 1:7
Theme: Cleansed With Blood
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Forgiveness is not easy. Oh yes, if we decide there is little at stake for us, then forgiveness is easy. If we’re not really hurt or damaged or inflicted with personal pain the duty to forgive someone can be a comfortable process. But in these cases forgiveness isn’t nearly so essential or restorative. The presupposition of seeking and granting forgiveness is the fact that a wrong has been committed and recognized and restoration is needed. Something has caused separation and reconciliation is required. Fear has been induced and trust needs to be regained. Then the work begins.
Tonight’s image is about blood and the source of forgiveness. Blood is the divine currency of our redemption. It speaks to the supremacy of forgiveness. Do we casually assume that it is easy for God to forgive? Do we think that because He is God it is a trivial and simple matter? Dear friends, procuring divine forgiveness was an excruciatingly arduous task. How exactly that is is unknowable to us. But this we do know: Jesus Christ hung upon the cross and cried “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”1 “[God] did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all.”2 “The blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.”3
Many question the need for such a strong emphasis on forgiveness. Did the people of biblical times have a pre-occupation with sin? Did they worry too much about spiritual matters? To others the historical chasm seems too great to overcome. Time and distance are thought to be barriers too large to get past. Jesus was then. We are now. Creation is past. Creatures are present. The ancients were darkened. We are enlightened. Such thinking governs the contemporary, scientific, and rational collective intellect. The prehistoric past is dismissed as the age of superstition. The present lauded as the age of reason. They had fear and fantasy. We have self-reliance and evidence.
That’s a fine illusion until you stand at the threshold of death. Call then upon your science, your humanism, and philosophy. Barter your good deeds and your selfless intentions with the consuming darkness. Convince yourself that sin and forgiveness don’t matter. Suddenly the bedrock of human certainty and accomplishment crumbles away like a child’s sand castle washed over by a gentle wave. All the components of our exalted system of human genius are pulled apart like tiny particles of sand absorbed into a vast ocean of uncertainty. Who can speak about the powers of death except Him who has conquered it? In the lower left of this painting the risen Christ is treading on death and Satan. No one else could do it. In this victory the believer participates by faith.
The gospel is always contemporary. It puts us in contact with the living Christ. Time and distance are not barriers to the Holy Spirit. If Christ lives and He is immortal than of what concern is time and space? His promise is as effective for you now as it was for the saints in the past. In this picture the artist stands under the shower of Christ’s blood. It is a unique and powerful image. The Scripture says, “This is the one who came by water and blood- Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.”4 He came that you might be cleansed from your deepest, darkest deeds.
There was a pastor named Timothy Brown who never got along well with his congregation. But they all turned out for his very last service and hope of reconciliation was in the air. In his last sermon, he quoted from John 14, "In my Father's house are many rooms…I go there to prepare a place for you." That ended the sermon and the service. It seemed to be a gracious conclusion to His ministry, an olive branch. It was not until several days later that the congregation learned that Pastor Brown had left to be the pastor at the state penitentiary. "In my Father's house are many rooms…I go to prepare a place for you."
Forgiveness is not easy. Our sinful natures always want reconciliation on their own terms just as a selfish faith wants to have the blessings of the inheritance without having a living relationship with God. This, of course, is really no faith at all. You can’t simply show up at the reading of the will. You can’t you have the blessings of marriage without having a spouse. You can’t appreciate parenthood without having a child. You can’t be snatched from the gates of hell without being transported to God’s presence in heaven.
Childish ideas about eternity must go. Jesus is not the chief tour guide of a celestial entertainment mecca. He is not there to provide the fulfillment of every indulgent request- such ideas won’t even cross our minds then. He Himself and the entire company of heaven are the all-sufficient activity of the next life. We will be more than contentedly occupied just to be in the presence of the Holy Trinity. Christ IS the enjoyment of eternal life!
We must believe that now by faith. Take Him at His word. The blood of the cross accomplished the cleansing of your soul. The guilt of your sins was buried at your baptism. Return there in humility and trust. The Holy Spirit will greet you. Bend not just your knee but your heart at His altar. There He will feed you with His own divine life. Yes, your body still needs to pass through the portal of death. But your soul goes unhindered to Him who is the resurrection and the life. Amen.
1 Psalm 22:1
2 Romans 8:32
3 1 John 1:7
4 1 John 5:6
+ in nomine Jesu +
Midweek Lenten Service 13 April 2011
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Fifth Sunday In Lent A (2011)
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: John 11:4
Theme: “[It] Will Not End In Death”
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Life involves the honest recognition of limitations. We have limited capacities. Daily we are reminded of our mortality. Our need for sleep, our struggles in relationships, our mistakes in business, our impatience at work, our frailty in health, our inability to rectify past failures; these are all symptomatic of our limited faculties. These issues tend to dominate the daily life of the average person but much greater issues loom in the background. Can you merit God’s favour? Or do you take it for granted? Can you forgive sins? Can you prohibit death? Can you negotiate your status in eternity? Are you conscious of your place in His kingdom here and now? The movement of these considerations from the background to the foreground is a sign of the activity and maturity of your faith. Only in Christ can these restrictions be transcended. Only by grace can we participate in the ultimate blessings God alone possesses.
These truths are vividly illustrated by today’s gospel account. Jesus is called to the aid of a close friend named Lazarus. Though Lazarus was very near death, Christ delays His arrival. It seemed perplexing. He said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”1 But Lazarus did die. He had been in the tomb for four days when Jesus finally arrived. In the meantime the hours must have been filled with sorrow and doubt for Mary and Martha, his sisters. Was Jesus wrong? Had they misunderstood? Were they deceived about who He was?
Yet He delayed for the benefit of His disciples and the other witnesses. God is not constrained by the circumstances which demand urgency from humans. When all hope of human aid is lost, God brings restoration and life. That is what He did for Lazarus. Such examples should bolster our prayers and our faith. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die.”2
This biblical account is more than a tender but powerful show of Christ’s compassion. It is a lesson about our limitations and dependence on God. There is a parallel between the physical and spiritual power over life and death that human beings possess. Just as we possess the power to bring physical death we can also initiate spiritual death. Faith can be smothered and finally snuffed out. But we have neither the power of physical life nor of spiritual life. This privilege is God’s alone. Lazarus could not raise himself to life. No person can bring themselves to spiritual life. Only the Holy Spirit can raise the soul from death. Should you choose to end your life you would have no power to bring it back. That is the very definition of dead and death. Without Christ spiritual and finally eternal death reign unchallenged.
That’s what makes baptism so important and magnificent. It is Christ’s very own promise and action of sending the Holy Spirit to grant faith and spiritual life to an individual. The Scripture says, “Faith comes through hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”3 Baptism is a visible and tangible vehicle for the word of God and the work of the Holy Spirit. The word is clothed with water and carries the authority of God’s own name.
Baptism is not a family ritual or mere religious ceremony. It is the beginning of a life of faith. It is a participation in the death and resurrection of Christ. It is the means by which Christ initiates people into His body, the church. Let us not forget what an astounding privilege it is to be received into the one, holy, Christian and apostolic church! Life in the church is marked by a continual contact with Christ: Hearing His promises, receiving His forgiveness, partaking of His body and blood, walking the way of the cross.
This season of Lent is marching on and Holy Week draws near. It is the most sacred time of year marked by the most intense sorrow, repentance, humility, hope and joy. As such, it necessarily defines Christianity. The raising of Lazarus today is a little preview of Easter. But Easter cannot be equally recognized by people of faith as a secular holiday and the most important Christian celebration. We are headed for a parting of the ways. It can be no other way because the Lord knows those who are His4. We can disregard the truth. We can ignore it. But we cannot nullify it. Eventually we will all be called to account. We cannot prevent those things which God decrees. And we cannot initiate and complete things God does not countenance. If God intends to judge sin and unbelief, who can stop Him? If He promises to raise those who believe in Him, who can prevent it?
Thanks be to God that He has sent us His Son to lift from us the weight of sin and death! As the prophet Ezekiel described earlier, He has come to this valley of dry bones5 and raised us out of spiritual deadness by breathing into us His own life and clothing us with His own righteousness. The apostle says the same thing this way, “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies thorough His Spirit, who lives in you.”6
To have Christ live in you through the Spirit is to be freed to confidently serve others. There is a story about a hunter in the jungle who came across an elephant that was limping. The hunter followed it closely. Finally it toppled over. The hunter examined its feet. In one foot there was a very large thorn so he removed. Being a regular and seasoned hunter who encountered many elephants the man eventually forgot about the incident. Many years passed and the hunter was in the cheap seats at a circus which had come to town. A turn was given by a troupe of performing elephants. One of these elephants reached out its trunk, encircled his waist, and lifted him from his cheap seat and set him down in a seat in a private box.
A timely favour is rarely forgotten by those with integrity and never by God. But whether or not we receive appreciation when we think it’s due is not really our concern. Our efforts are not for self-recognition but for the sake of the kingdom. As the apostle says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially those who belong to the family of believers.”7
Dear friends, this mortal life is not an end in itself unless unrepentance and unbelief bind it with that limitation. Lazarus’s return to life was not yet a resurrection. It was a resuscitation. Christ restored him to his previous bodily state, an existence still governed by a fallen world and its consequences. The resurrection of believers on the last day is something much, much more. It is modeled on Jesus’ own resurrection. The Scripture says, “[Christ] will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.”8 Life involves the acceptance of limitations. But the sickness of sin will not end in eternal death. Christ has no limitations. He is the life, hope, and eternal salvation of all who believe. Amen.
+ in nomine Jesu +
Fifth Sunday In Lent
10 April, 2011
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 John 11:4 2 John 11:25-26
3 Romans 10:17 4 See 2 Timothy 2:19
5 See Ezekiel 37:1-14 6 See Romans 8:11
7 Galatians 6:9-10 8 Philippians 3:21
Text: John 11:4
Theme: “[It] Will Not End In Death”
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Life involves the honest recognition of limitations. We have limited capacities. Daily we are reminded of our mortality. Our need for sleep, our struggles in relationships, our mistakes in business, our impatience at work, our frailty in health, our inability to rectify past failures; these are all symptomatic of our limited faculties. These issues tend to dominate the daily life of the average person but much greater issues loom in the background. Can you merit God’s favour? Or do you take it for granted? Can you forgive sins? Can you prohibit death? Can you negotiate your status in eternity? Are you conscious of your place in His kingdom here and now? The movement of these considerations from the background to the foreground is a sign of the activity and maturity of your faith. Only in Christ can these restrictions be transcended. Only by grace can we participate in the ultimate blessings God alone possesses.
These truths are vividly illustrated by today’s gospel account. Jesus is called to the aid of a close friend named Lazarus. Though Lazarus was very near death, Christ delays His arrival. It seemed perplexing. He said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”1 But Lazarus did die. He had been in the tomb for four days when Jesus finally arrived. In the meantime the hours must have been filled with sorrow and doubt for Mary and Martha, his sisters. Was Jesus wrong? Had they misunderstood? Were they deceived about who He was?
Yet He delayed for the benefit of His disciples and the other witnesses. God is not constrained by the circumstances which demand urgency from humans. When all hope of human aid is lost, God brings restoration and life. That is what He did for Lazarus. Such examples should bolster our prayers and our faith. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die.”2
This biblical account is more than a tender but powerful show of Christ’s compassion. It is a lesson about our limitations and dependence on God. There is a parallel between the physical and spiritual power over life and death that human beings possess. Just as we possess the power to bring physical death we can also initiate spiritual death. Faith can be smothered and finally snuffed out. But we have neither the power of physical life nor of spiritual life. This privilege is God’s alone. Lazarus could not raise himself to life. No person can bring themselves to spiritual life. Only the Holy Spirit can raise the soul from death. Should you choose to end your life you would have no power to bring it back. That is the very definition of dead and death. Without Christ spiritual and finally eternal death reign unchallenged.
That’s what makes baptism so important and magnificent. It is Christ’s very own promise and action of sending the Holy Spirit to grant faith and spiritual life to an individual. The Scripture says, “Faith comes through hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”3 Baptism is a visible and tangible vehicle for the word of God and the work of the Holy Spirit. The word is clothed with water and carries the authority of God’s own name.
Baptism is not a family ritual or mere religious ceremony. It is the beginning of a life of faith. It is a participation in the death and resurrection of Christ. It is the means by which Christ initiates people into His body, the church. Let us not forget what an astounding privilege it is to be received into the one, holy, Christian and apostolic church! Life in the church is marked by a continual contact with Christ: Hearing His promises, receiving His forgiveness, partaking of His body and blood, walking the way of the cross.
This season of Lent is marching on and Holy Week draws near. It is the most sacred time of year marked by the most intense sorrow, repentance, humility, hope and joy. As such, it necessarily defines Christianity. The raising of Lazarus today is a little preview of Easter. But Easter cannot be equally recognized by people of faith as a secular holiday and the most important Christian celebration. We are headed for a parting of the ways. It can be no other way because the Lord knows those who are His4. We can disregard the truth. We can ignore it. But we cannot nullify it. Eventually we will all be called to account. We cannot prevent those things which God decrees. And we cannot initiate and complete things God does not countenance. If God intends to judge sin and unbelief, who can stop Him? If He promises to raise those who believe in Him, who can prevent it?
Thanks be to God that He has sent us His Son to lift from us the weight of sin and death! As the prophet Ezekiel described earlier, He has come to this valley of dry bones5 and raised us out of spiritual deadness by breathing into us His own life and clothing us with His own righteousness. The apostle says the same thing this way, “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies thorough His Spirit, who lives in you.”6
To have Christ live in you through the Spirit is to be freed to confidently serve others. There is a story about a hunter in the jungle who came across an elephant that was limping. The hunter followed it closely. Finally it toppled over. The hunter examined its feet. In one foot there was a very large thorn so he removed. Being a regular and seasoned hunter who encountered many elephants the man eventually forgot about the incident. Many years passed and the hunter was in the cheap seats at a circus which had come to town. A turn was given by a troupe of performing elephants. One of these elephants reached out its trunk, encircled his waist, and lifted him from his cheap seat and set him down in a seat in a private box.
A timely favour is rarely forgotten by those with integrity and never by God. But whether or not we receive appreciation when we think it’s due is not really our concern. Our efforts are not for self-recognition but for the sake of the kingdom. As the apostle says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially those who belong to the family of believers.”7
Dear friends, this mortal life is not an end in itself unless unrepentance and unbelief bind it with that limitation. Lazarus’s return to life was not yet a resurrection. It was a resuscitation. Christ restored him to his previous bodily state, an existence still governed by a fallen world and its consequences. The resurrection of believers on the last day is something much, much more. It is modeled on Jesus’ own resurrection. The Scripture says, “[Christ] will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.”8 Life involves the acceptance of limitations. But the sickness of sin will not end in eternal death. Christ has no limitations. He is the life, hope, and eternal salvation of all who believe. Amen.
+ in nomine Jesu +
Fifth Sunday In Lent
10 April, 2011
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 John 11:4 2 John 11:25-26
3 Romans 10:17 4 See 2 Timothy 2:19
5 See Ezekiel 37:1-14 6 See Romans 8:11
7 Galatians 6:9-10 8 Philippians 3:21
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