+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Mark 1:31
Theme: Freed To Serve
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
The state of the body sometimes exists in tension with the health of the soul. The one is ailing while the other is prospering. Only in Christ is perfect wellbeing a completed reality. Sound physical conditioning should not be equated with spiritual wellness, neither should bodily illness should not be associated with weakness in the faith. In the midst of a culture in which physical health has become a holy grail we must remember we are part of a community with more holistic aspirations. When the soul prospers the harshest adversity of the body can be endured with hope.
Sickness is an opportunity for witness. No one will be deprived of the opportunity. Under what circumstances we may not yet know; or perhaps we already know all too well! Did Simon Peter’s mother-in-law have chronic health problems? We know almost nothing about her. Today Jesus encountered her while she was plagued with a fever. He drove the fever out and she began to wait on Him and the disciples. That same evening He healed many who had various diseases. Healings were important evidence of Jesus’ divinity.
Bodily health increases the opportunity to serve others but there is not necessarily a positive correlation between the two. The devil too, is happy to befriend able-bodied people. It is often in the times of greatest trial that Christians give their most important witness. Adversity tests our character. Character is refined under the Father’s chastisement, shaped by the Saviour’s compassion, and polished by the Spirit’s presence. Our witness begins with honest confession of our need. Sin cannot be hidden from God. When it is repressed in the heart it begins to fester in the body. King David spoke with some transparency in the Psalms, “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’ - and You forgave the guilt of my sin.”1
Dear friends, freedom from the guilt of sin is medicine to the soul. You are saved by grace. You are justified, declared righteous purely by the mercy of God in Christ. His grace is not tolerance. It is not a lenience that mindlessly, apathetically, or intentionally overlooks the offence of sin. The sacrifice of Christ means very little if the guilt of sin is not taken into account. What need is there for a Saviour if there is no condemnation for sinners? What need to be ransomed if there is no price to be paid? What need to be rescued if the lost sheep can find their own way back into the fold?
For the grace of God to be understood a crucifixion was necessary. Yes, we can wax lyrical about the general benevolence of the Almighty- and many have-, naming kindness and generosity as virtues of God seen in His providence. As the apostle says, even unbelievers should be able to recognize God’s eternal power and divine nature2 by reflecting on creation. But this is not yet grace. Grace is not a general revelation of God’s love. It is the distinctive precise- personal and intimate- communication of the living God to the dying sinner.
Christ puts flesh and blood on God’s mercy. He’s the living, breathing, Second Adam who succeeds where the first Adam failed. His blood was drawn for you and for your salvation. Grace is not a general advertisement; it is a personal love letter. It is not ambiguous. It is meticulous. It is the source of our joy, our hope, and our gratitude.
Every time we gather in God’s house of worship it is an opportunity for thanksgiving. This sanctuary is a spiritual hospital. It is a refuge from the chaos of the world. It is a place of prayer and meditation. It is a workshop for the remedial sinner. It is the location where our souls are absolved with the cleansing word of truth. It is the venue in which our hearts overflow with gratitude to God.
Thanksgiving to God should not be limited to a scheduled occasion. It can be stimulated by established reminders but the deepest gratitude of the heart is generated by a genuine desire of the soul to respond to God’s blessings. In this sense it cannot be fabricated or restrained. It is a Spirit-wrought activity. Faith is expressed in gratitude in even in the midst of trial.
Life involves an accumulation of traumas. Though our sins directly implicate us in many hardships, other afflictions arise simply because of our existence in a fallen world. Both the perversity and the consequences occasioned by the poisoning of creation remain beyond the reach of human understanding. We can ask why bad things happen (and it is often instructive to do so) but we can’t expect that our human natures will be satisfied with the answer. Faith plays a role that logic or human wisdom can never dethrone.
God is honoured when we rely unconditionally on Him alone. People pray to be healed from all sorts of illnesses and frailties. Sometimes healing is complete; sometimes partial; sometimes there is none at all. Sometimes we are left confused; sometimes baffled, sometimes disappointed; sometimes despairing. We seek patience to accept God’s will asking that His name be glorified through us.
Do we wish to receive the best prescription that exists? The Doctor of souls offers us the medicine of immortality. Christ gives His life-restoring body and soul-reviving blood. He has experienced death. He has been raised to life. He promises to make everything new. No one and nothing else can do that; including the so-called “marvels” of modern medicine. Yes, ageing will be mitigated but it will not be arrested. Yes, particular cures will be prominent but they will never be panaceas. To say so is not pessimism but biblical realism. Human ingenuity will help us to better manage the infirmities of life but a resurrection will be required for restoration to be achieved. A preview of that resurrection has already been given to the baptized.
Dear friends, you will be made whole. You will be completely restored. Body, mind, and spirit will reconstructed to a state of existence more vibrant than that which we have ever experienced. The bodily resurrection of the dead is the consummation of the believer’s hope. Job expresses the heart of our creed when He says, “I know that My Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes.”3
Meanwhile, we live now in Christian witness; always being mended but never without infirmities. The thorn was not removed from Paul’s flesh. Grace was sufficient. The diagnosis was not terminal. The thorn of sin will not be removed from your life either. His mercy is sufficient. The diagnosis is not terminal. Sin has lost its power to condemn. Hell has lost its power threaten. Death has lost its grip. Christ lives. He lives in perfect health, whole and vibrant, a preview of what we too will possess. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Fifth Sunday After Epiphany
8 February, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Psalm 32:3-5
2 See Romans 1:20
3 Job 19:25-27
Monday, February 9, 2015
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Fourth Sunday After Epiphany (B) 2015
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Mark 1:25
Theme: Satan Silenced.
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Christians always have prominent enemies. As goes the Master; so go His servants. If Satan were not your enemy Christ would not be your Lord. No one can be both a child of God and an ally of Satan. Light and darkness are not compatible; the presence of the one excludes the possibility of the other. So do not fear; you are a child of God. “God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all.”1 The adversary cannot endure His light.
Today a man in the synagogue was freed from the enemy. The situation was not unusual and it is instructive for us. The gospels record a number of encounters between Jesus and evil spirits. He rebuked them. He condemned them. He sentenced them. He silenced them. He never negotiated with them. Never was there possibility of consensus. Whenever Christ comes near the evil spirits recognize Him. They always fear Him.
It does not lie within our power to subdue wickedness. Christ does it all. We do nothing. There are no conversations to be had with Satan. He is not a colloquial companion. He is not a competitor with whom we spar. He is not a diversion to be toyed with. Curiosity killed the cat. Satan often speaks smoothly but his breath is laden with malice. His intentions are vile. To think otherwise is to be dangerously deceived.
Evil is not an artificial construct. That doesn’t mean humans aren’t active participants in the propagation of sin. The rebellion of Adam and betrayal of Eve are propensities unfailingly passed down with each generation. We’re not only sinners by virtue of realities beyond our control we are intentional pursuers of our own agendas. And for the acquisition of our agendas we may regard God to be a help or a hindrance. A discretionary deity is always the preferred option for self-directed beings: God’s there when you need Him but doesn’t interfere when you don’t. We seek to be the potter and make God the clay.
But wickedness is something bigger than us. Evil is something more than the sum of its parts. It is a complex reality that can only be managed, let alone understood, by God. Yet the Bible calls us to clearly identify the foes aligned against us. The devil, the unbelieving world, and our own sinful nature cooperate to form fearsome opponents. The symptoms of disobedience to God are as numerous as motives are perverse. Not infrequently does the Bible catalogue them. Sometimes they are singled out. “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.”2
When we nurse a grudge we raise the next generation of hostility. Antagonism festers in the bones. Bitterness chafes the soul. It gnaws at the very marrow of our psyche. When an attitude of enmity takes up residence it poisons the entire demeanor of the person. It controls us. Finally, the blame is placed on God. How could He allow us to be wronged! How could He permit us to be sinned against!
Perhaps the definition of evil needs to be periodically re-established? Falsehood is the foundation of everything foul. Falsehood has many masks, many colours, many forms, and many disguises. It’s always marked by discord. Truth, however, is a unity defined by Christ and what He has done. Truth is presented openly for all the world to witness. Evil is not defined by what we deem unpalatable but by what God declares harmful. Our consensus is not required; only our obedience. “Hate what is evil,” says the apostle, “Cling to what is good.”3
Loss of perspective is typically caused by the fears that influence our motives. A faithful Christian is often locked in a struggle between a proper fear of sin and evil on the one hand, and the confidence that there is nothing that God can’t handle on the other. The Scripture says, “The sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other.”4 So, on the one hand we are tempted to lose hope in difficult times forgetting God promises to be our fortress and help; forgetting that He is gracious and forgiving. On the other hand we tend to minimalize our own sinful ways in hopes of justifying ourselves, though improperly. Other peoples’ sins usually seem worse than our own. God calls us to repent of discounting our own misdeeds.
Think of the new bride. Three weeks after her wedding day, Susan called her minister in hysterics. She was crying, “Pastor, John and I had our first fight together! It was awful. What am I going to do?" The experienced pastor, leaned back in his chair and shook his head saying, "Calm down, Susan, this isn’t nearly as bad as you think. Every marriage has to have its first fight. It’s normal." "I know, I know," Susan said impatiently. "But what am I going to do with the body?" Indeed, the consequences of sin can quickly get beyond our control. But not God’s.
Dear friends, God is not your enemy. A cross stands between Him and you. That cross has changed His countenance. His piercing wrath and indignation- His just fury against the affront of sin- is absorbed by the body of His own Son. This is no petty sacrifice like those which were meant to appease pagan idols. The cross accomplishes reconciliation between a holy God and damnable sinners. The risen Christ embraces us with His life. You are no longer God’s enemy; you are His beloved. You are His baptized; His cherished. “Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing of water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant church.”5
He tends to the members of His church with blessings that the world cannot offer; divine gifts for redeemed sinners; sacred things for holy people. When King David was fleeing the wrath of Saul he came to the city of priests at Nob for refuge. Ahimelech, the priest, gave him of the bread of the Presence because there was no common bread on hand. When we come to the house of God seeking refuge from the assaults of the world, we do not come for common bread. We come for the bread of presence, the Bread of Heaven, the life-giving bread. Christ strengthens us for our journey with His own body and blood. It’s a journey that requires spiritual vision.
Dear friends, an infant, upon opening its eyes, does not gain its depth perception immediately. Gradually things come into focus. Gradually the clarity is defined. Epiphany is a season for our spiritual eyesight to become sharper. The eyes of faith come into focus when our ears are attentive to the voice of the Shepherd. Paul prays in this manner, “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you.”5
Our confidence in Christ comes from the full range of testimony in Holy Scripture. When debating with the Jews Jesus said, “If you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me.”6 Yes, Moses said today, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.”7 His eyewitnesses said, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched- this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it.”8 Satan has no authority over THAT LIFE.
When you are summoned before the throne of God the devil will be shouting at the top of his lungs- voicing accusations and condemnations- but not a single word will be heard. He has been silenced. His every decibel of sound has been stifled by the event of the cross. Because this is so, God can hear with perfect clarity the faintest whisper of you, His beloved. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Fourth Sunday After Epiphany
1 February, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 1 John 1:5 2 Ephesians 4:26-27
3 Romans 12:9 4 Galatians 5:17 5 Ephesians 5:25-27
6 John 5:46 7 Deuteronomy 18:15 8 1 John 1:1-2
Text: Mark 1:25
Theme: Satan Silenced.
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Christians always have prominent enemies. As goes the Master; so go His servants. If Satan were not your enemy Christ would not be your Lord. No one can be both a child of God and an ally of Satan. Light and darkness are not compatible; the presence of the one excludes the possibility of the other. So do not fear; you are a child of God. “God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all.”1 The adversary cannot endure His light.
Today a man in the synagogue was freed from the enemy. The situation was not unusual and it is instructive for us. The gospels record a number of encounters between Jesus and evil spirits. He rebuked them. He condemned them. He sentenced them. He silenced them. He never negotiated with them. Never was there possibility of consensus. Whenever Christ comes near the evil spirits recognize Him. They always fear Him.
It does not lie within our power to subdue wickedness. Christ does it all. We do nothing. There are no conversations to be had with Satan. He is not a colloquial companion. He is not a competitor with whom we spar. He is not a diversion to be toyed with. Curiosity killed the cat. Satan often speaks smoothly but his breath is laden with malice. His intentions are vile. To think otherwise is to be dangerously deceived.
Evil is not an artificial construct. That doesn’t mean humans aren’t active participants in the propagation of sin. The rebellion of Adam and betrayal of Eve are propensities unfailingly passed down with each generation. We’re not only sinners by virtue of realities beyond our control we are intentional pursuers of our own agendas. And for the acquisition of our agendas we may regard God to be a help or a hindrance. A discretionary deity is always the preferred option for self-directed beings: God’s there when you need Him but doesn’t interfere when you don’t. We seek to be the potter and make God the clay.
But wickedness is something bigger than us. Evil is something more than the sum of its parts. It is a complex reality that can only be managed, let alone understood, by God. Yet the Bible calls us to clearly identify the foes aligned against us. The devil, the unbelieving world, and our own sinful nature cooperate to form fearsome opponents. The symptoms of disobedience to God are as numerous as motives are perverse. Not infrequently does the Bible catalogue them. Sometimes they are singled out. “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.”2
When we nurse a grudge we raise the next generation of hostility. Antagonism festers in the bones. Bitterness chafes the soul. It gnaws at the very marrow of our psyche. When an attitude of enmity takes up residence it poisons the entire demeanor of the person. It controls us. Finally, the blame is placed on God. How could He allow us to be wronged! How could He permit us to be sinned against!
Perhaps the definition of evil needs to be periodically re-established? Falsehood is the foundation of everything foul. Falsehood has many masks, many colours, many forms, and many disguises. It’s always marked by discord. Truth, however, is a unity defined by Christ and what He has done. Truth is presented openly for all the world to witness. Evil is not defined by what we deem unpalatable but by what God declares harmful. Our consensus is not required; only our obedience. “Hate what is evil,” says the apostle, “Cling to what is good.”3
Loss of perspective is typically caused by the fears that influence our motives. A faithful Christian is often locked in a struggle between a proper fear of sin and evil on the one hand, and the confidence that there is nothing that God can’t handle on the other. The Scripture says, “The sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other.”4 So, on the one hand we are tempted to lose hope in difficult times forgetting God promises to be our fortress and help; forgetting that He is gracious and forgiving. On the other hand we tend to minimalize our own sinful ways in hopes of justifying ourselves, though improperly. Other peoples’ sins usually seem worse than our own. God calls us to repent of discounting our own misdeeds.
Think of the new bride. Three weeks after her wedding day, Susan called her minister in hysterics. She was crying, “Pastor, John and I had our first fight together! It was awful. What am I going to do?" The experienced pastor, leaned back in his chair and shook his head saying, "Calm down, Susan, this isn’t nearly as bad as you think. Every marriage has to have its first fight. It’s normal." "I know, I know," Susan said impatiently. "But what am I going to do with the body?" Indeed, the consequences of sin can quickly get beyond our control. But not God’s.
Dear friends, God is not your enemy. A cross stands between Him and you. That cross has changed His countenance. His piercing wrath and indignation- His just fury against the affront of sin- is absorbed by the body of His own Son. This is no petty sacrifice like those which were meant to appease pagan idols. The cross accomplishes reconciliation between a holy God and damnable sinners. The risen Christ embraces us with His life. You are no longer God’s enemy; you are His beloved. You are His baptized; His cherished. “Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing of water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant church.”5
He tends to the members of His church with blessings that the world cannot offer; divine gifts for redeemed sinners; sacred things for holy people. When King David was fleeing the wrath of Saul he came to the city of priests at Nob for refuge. Ahimelech, the priest, gave him of the bread of the Presence because there was no common bread on hand. When we come to the house of God seeking refuge from the assaults of the world, we do not come for common bread. We come for the bread of presence, the Bread of Heaven, the life-giving bread. Christ strengthens us for our journey with His own body and blood. It’s a journey that requires spiritual vision.
Dear friends, an infant, upon opening its eyes, does not gain its depth perception immediately. Gradually things come into focus. Gradually the clarity is defined. Epiphany is a season for our spiritual eyesight to become sharper. The eyes of faith come into focus when our ears are attentive to the voice of the Shepherd. Paul prays in this manner, “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you.”5
Our confidence in Christ comes from the full range of testimony in Holy Scripture. When debating with the Jews Jesus said, “If you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me.”6 Yes, Moses said today, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.”7 His eyewitnesses said, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched- this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it.”8 Satan has no authority over THAT LIFE.
When you are summoned before the throne of God the devil will be shouting at the top of his lungs- voicing accusations and condemnations- but not a single word will be heard. He has been silenced. His every decibel of sound has been stifled by the event of the cross. Because this is so, God can hear with perfect clarity the faintest whisper of you, His beloved. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Fourth Sunday After Epiphany
1 February, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 1 John 1:5 2 Ephesians 4:26-27
3 Romans 12:9 4 Galatians 5:17 5 Ephesians 5:25-27
6 John 5:46 7 Deuteronomy 18:15 8 1 John 1:1-2
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Third Sunday After Epiphany (B) 2015
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Mark 1:15
Theme: The Time Has Come
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
“Timing is everything.” “Timing is key.” “Timing is important.” “All in good time.” “All in God’s time.” These phrases are all familiar to us. The instrumentality of perfect timing often facilitates momentous events that would have otherwise never have happened. It’s also important for a stable routine in daily life. There is a time for work, a time for nourishment, a time for rest, and a time for prayer. Today Jesus raises the magnitude of timing’s importance, “‘The time has come,’ He said. ‘The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!’”1 In Christ, the time for God’s redemptive work had come.
The Messiah comes to warn sinners with the intent of saving them. Sinners are always at risk of becoming secure in their offenses. Christ says, “The time has come.”2 The time has come, and is now, for you to repent. The time looms when each of us will stand before the judgment seat of God. How can we be righteous before Him? Our preparations for that time should not be delayed. We should be ready to face the Almighty within the next week, the next day, yes, the next hour. Not that our preparation should involve panic. Irrational commotion gets us nowhere. We should be clear-headed and resolute. The Scripture says, “Prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revelaed.”3
The time to make amends, the time to heal, the time to restore may be tomorrow and it may be every day after that. But the time to repent is never tomorrow; it is today. The time has come to reconcile that relationship that you had been avoiding. The time is now to forgive that person you have been nursing a grudge against. The time has arrived to humbly confess to God your transgressions. Faith is evidenced by its actions. Faith always strives to move away from self towards the well-being of others. Temptation can only be resisted by the power of the Holy Spirit and He will not desert you in time of need.
In the bigger picture we recognize that we live to advance permanent life in the midst of a transient world. St. Paul reminds us today, “This world in its present form is passing away.”4 This truth is a watershed. Either we believe that the world can keep going on under its own steam; or we believe- as the Scriptures say- that it is fallen and in the process of decay. Either we believe that life will evolve on its own to higher forms and more stable structures; or we believe that God sustains life and prevents the universe from collapse. We might not spend much time pondering these things but our world view is informed by our convictions on these matters. How can the benefits we have as God’s redeemed be extended to others? Jonah, one single man, was the Holy Spirit’s instrument to move the great city of Nineveh to repentance. The disciples were sent out be fishers of men. He calls you to less dramatic but not less important tasks. Time is of the essence.
Tomorrow the country celebrates the privileges and blessings the nation of Australia enjoys. We easily take for granted the liberties that we have. The majority of people in the history of the world and many living today do not have these freedoms. Decades ago Australia was dubbed the ‘lucky country’. It’s a secular moniker that resonates with many. But the Christian perspective must be more penetrating. God is generous beyond our comprehension. The greatest blessings of God are always spiritual. Better to be poor and have faith than to be affluent in unbelief. Material wealth does not open the door to heaven. “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”5 We are not sustained by wealth, or by luck, but by grace.
What better time than an occasion that galvanizes the national consciousness to remember that God places us in community. Here a tension exists between the meaning of democracy as it is popularly misunderstood and the Christian walk of faith. If you, yourself, or anyone you know thinks that the exercise of the Christian faith can happen as a confidential matter between the individual and God; that faith can be maintained, nourished and renewed privately, that autonomy is one of the higher virtues of Christian teaching; then you are a Christian living under false pretenses. Faith is nurtured in community. Your faith was conceived in the fellowship of the Holy Trinity at the baptismal font and it is nourished here where you have contact with His means of grace. Here absolution is declared to you. Here you receive forgiveness in His body and blood.
If you are honest with yourself you will admit that sometimes you take issue with God’s timing. Why was this trauma allowed to happen now? Why did the darkness of death pierce my life then? Why am I struggling with my health or personal life at this moment? God says through Isaiah, “In the time of My favour I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you.”6 Paul interprets, “I tell you, now is the time of God’ favour, now is the day of salvation.”7 Dear friends, God does not withhold His grace from us until a later time. He does not ration His mercy. He is not stingy.
Perhaps the problem lies with our expectations. Our view of happiness is heavily coloured by the world’s preferences. Happiness in the world’s eyes is marked by self-indulgence, self-fulfillment, and a liberal gratification of the senses with the least amount of effort and responsibility attached. God never promises happiness in this sense. If you believe God wants you to be happy in this way you better make very certain which God you are worshipping. Satan is quite eager to facilitate happiness when it serves his ends.
God does want you to be filled with joy. And that is possible even when your life is severely lacking in worldly-defined happiness. The Holy Spirit seals you in baptism. “He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”8 What is to come is abundant life beyond our current comprehension. All these blessings are guaranteed in Christ who secured them through His life, death, and resurrection.
“When the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law.”9 The timing of Christ’s crucifixion to coincide with Passover was no accident. Jesus died at the time the sacrificial lambs were to be killed. When the times seemed to be at their darkest- the disciples were terrified, their Master was dead, the Jews were hunting them, their hopes were dashed; the future looked bleak, before the sun rose- Christ, the Son of the eternal Father, stepped out of the grave. He stood there alive, not as a magician, not as a charlatan, not as the beneficiary of an elaborate scheme of deception, but as the victor over death, hell, and the grave. The time had come to end the shedding of blood. The time had come to deprive Satan of his power. The time had come for the new era to dawn.
The time is now. The good news is our and in it we have life. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Third Sunday After Epiphany
25 January, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Mark 1:15 2 Mark 1:15
3 1 Peter 1:13 4 1 Corinthians 7:31 5 Mark 10:25
6 Isaiah 49:8 7 2 Corinthians 6:2 8 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 9 Galatians 4:4-5
Text: Mark 1:15
Theme: The Time Has Come
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
“Timing is everything.” “Timing is key.” “Timing is important.” “All in good time.” “All in God’s time.” These phrases are all familiar to us. The instrumentality of perfect timing often facilitates momentous events that would have otherwise never have happened. It’s also important for a stable routine in daily life. There is a time for work, a time for nourishment, a time for rest, and a time for prayer. Today Jesus raises the magnitude of timing’s importance, “‘The time has come,’ He said. ‘The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!’”1 In Christ, the time for God’s redemptive work had come.
The Messiah comes to warn sinners with the intent of saving them. Sinners are always at risk of becoming secure in their offenses. Christ says, “The time has come.”2 The time has come, and is now, for you to repent. The time looms when each of us will stand before the judgment seat of God. How can we be righteous before Him? Our preparations for that time should not be delayed. We should be ready to face the Almighty within the next week, the next day, yes, the next hour. Not that our preparation should involve panic. Irrational commotion gets us nowhere. We should be clear-headed and resolute. The Scripture says, “Prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revelaed.”3
The time to make amends, the time to heal, the time to restore may be tomorrow and it may be every day after that. But the time to repent is never tomorrow; it is today. The time has come to reconcile that relationship that you had been avoiding. The time is now to forgive that person you have been nursing a grudge against. The time has arrived to humbly confess to God your transgressions. Faith is evidenced by its actions. Faith always strives to move away from self towards the well-being of others. Temptation can only be resisted by the power of the Holy Spirit and He will not desert you in time of need.
In the bigger picture we recognize that we live to advance permanent life in the midst of a transient world. St. Paul reminds us today, “This world in its present form is passing away.”4 This truth is a watershed. Either we believe that the world can keep going on under its own steam; or we believe- as the Scriptures say- that it is fallen and in the process of decay. Either we believe that life will evolve on its own to higher forms and more stable structures; or we believe that God sustains life and prevents the universe from collapse. We might not spend much time pondering these things but our world view is informed by our convictions on these matters. How can the benefits we have as God’s redeemed be extended to others? Jonah, one single man, was the Holy Spirit’s instrument to move the great city of Nineveh to repentance. The disciples were sent out be fishers of men. He calls you to less dramatic but not less important tasks. Time is of the essence.
Tomorrow the country celebrates the privileges and blessings the nation of Australia enjoys. We easily take for granted the liberties that we have. The majority of people in the history of the world and many living today do not have these freedoms. Decades ago Australia was dubbed the ‘lucky country’. It’s a secular moniker that resonates with many. But the Christian perspective must be more penetrating. God is generous beyond our comprehension. The greatest blessings of God are always spiritual. Better to be poor and have faith than to be affluent in unbelief. Material wealth does not open the door to heaven. “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”5 We are not sustained by wealth, or by luck, but by grace.
What better time than an occasion that galvanizes the national consciousness to remember that God places us in community. Here a tension exists between the meaning of democracy as it is popularly misunderstood and the Christian walk of faith. If you, yourself, or anyone you know thinks that the exercise of the Christian faith can happen as a confidential matter between the individual and God; that faith can be maintained, nourished and renewed privately, that autonomy is one of the higher virtues of Christian teaching; then you are a Christian living under false pretenses. Faith is nurtured in community. Your faith was conceived in the fellowship of the Holy Trinity at the baptismal font and it is nourished here where you have contact with His means of grace. Here absolution is declared to you. Here you receive forgiveness in His body and blood.
If you are honest with yourself you will admit that sometimes you take issue with God’s timing. Why was this trauma allowed to happen now? Why did the darkness of death pierce my life then? Why am I struggling with my health or personal life at this moment? God says through Isaiah, “In the time of My favour I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you.”6 Paul interprets, “I tell you, now is the time of God’ favour, now is the day of salvation.”7 Dear friends, God does not withhold His grace from us until a later time. He does not ration His mercy. He is not stingy.
Perhaps the problem lies with our expectations. Our view of happiness is heavily coloured by the world’s preferences. Happiness in the world’s eyes is marked by self-indulgence, self-fulfillment, and a liberal gratification of the senses with the least amount of effort and responsibility attached. God never promises happiness in this sense. If you believe God wants you to be happy in this way you better make very certain which God you are worshipping. Satan is quite eager to facilitate happiness when it serves his ends.
God does want you to be filled with joy. And that is possible even when your life is severely lacking in worldly-defined happiness. The Holy Spirit seals you in baptism. “He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”8 What is to come is abundant life beyond our current comprehension. All these blessings are guaranteed in Christ who secured them through His life, death, and resurrection.
“When the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law.”9 The timing of Christ’s crucifixion to coincide with Passover was no accident. Jesus died at the time the sacrificial lambs were to be killed. When the times seemed to be at their darkest- the disciples were terrified, their Master was dead, the Jews were hunting them, their hopes were dashed; the future looked bleak, before the sun rose- Christ, the Son of the eternal Father, stepped out of the grave. He stood there alive, not as a magician, not as a charlatan, not as the beneficiary of an elaborate scheme of deception, but as the victor over death, hell, and the grave. The time had come to end the shedding of blood. The time had come to deprive Satan of his power. The time had come for the new era to dawn.
The time is now. The good news is our and in it we have life. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Third Sunday After Epiphany
25 January, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Mark 1:15 2 Mark 1:15
3 1 Peter 1:13 4 1 Corinthians 7:31 5 Mark 10:25
6 Isaiah 49:8 7 2 Corinthians 6:2 8 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 9 Galatians 4:4-5
Monday, January 19, 2015
Second Sunday After Epiphany (B) 2015 - LWSA Retreat
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Colossians 2:12
Theme: Baptism: Final Destination
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
God never grows weary. “Have you not heard?” says the prophet, “He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.”1 But what about us? Dragging around this yoke of mortality can be exhausting. Physically, yes! But what of the heart? The emotions? The will? The Christian life is a marathon, not a sprint. The finish is all that matters. Thanks be to God that in Christ we have not only the source of our strength but the final destination!
So what is the nature of this marathon that we participate in everyday but often plod through in a spiritual sleepwalk? A genuine tension exists in the baptismal life. Baptismal life is a very deliberately chosen synonym for Christian life; the life of obedience and faith. A better analogy for our voyage than running might be swimming; for baptism defines and sustains the conditions for our travel.
The tensions of our baptismal life can be best understood in an already/ not yet framework. The Bible speaks in this way. We are already citizens of the celestial realm. The Scripture says, “Our citizenship is in heaven.”2 But we have not yet been released from the restrictions of this fallen nature. It says, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”3 We are already freed from sin’s condemnation, but we are not yet liberated from the temptation to sin. Christ is the One who has already come to redeem us. Through His sacrificial death our salvation is signed, sealed, and delivered. Yet He has not yet returned to endow us with the full experience of our inheritance.
Of course faith is the means by which we straddle this already/not yet tension; a tension that infallibly characterizes the Christian life. It is inescapable. We have peace; but there is no resting on our laurels. We have an inheritance; but there is no attitude of entitlement. We have grace; but there is no presumption that we are owed it. The genius of Satan is His ability to deceive people into thinking they’re either on a spiritual welfare system or they can have the recognition of earning their own way into God’s favour.
So instead of seeking God’s wisdom we often look to solve our spiritual problems in our own way. In doing so we usually create other problems. One day a traveler was driving down a back country road when he noticed that there was a three-legged chicken running alongside his car. He stepped on the pedal but at 50 kilometers per hour, the chicken was still keeping up. After about a mile of running, the chicken ran up a farm lane and into a barn behind an old farm house. The man turned around and drove up the farm lane. He knocked at the door and when the farmer answered he told him what he had just seen. The farmer said that his son was a geneticist and he had developed this breed of chicken because he, his wife and his son each like a drumstick when they have chicken and this way they only have to kill one chicken at a time." That's the most fantastic thing I've ever heard," said the tourist. "How do they taste?" "I don't know," said the farmer. "We've never caught one."
Dear friends, we can never outpace the temptation to sin. Sin is not overcome by negotiating with it. Just as addiction cannot be satiated by indulging it, so too, our sinful natures cannot be placated by catering to them. When the sinful nature grows an extra limb it is more agile than before. There is no human solution to the power of sin. It requires divine intervention. Our sinful tendencies can never just be managed, they must be crucified. The Spirit calls us to repentance, not compromise.
Christ made no compromises when He secured our salvation. The Scriptures say we can be absolutely confident of it. It depends completely on Christ. That’s why the promise of your baptism is more certain than any subjective measure of your faith. The historical fact that at a particular time and place (regardless of your remembrance of it) God’s promise to you was ratified through this sacrament is an unshakeable foundation. This is not a pedantic point but a crucial spiritual truth. It distinguishes a biblical, Lutheran understanding of where certainty lies from an emotional one that is often wrongly labeled as charismatic. Faith is only present where the Holy Spirit is present. And the Holy Spirit is only present where the word and promise of God are.
Faith is a vehicle but it is never itself the object. It is not the origin of truth or the basis of salvation. Just as it is not your faith that makes Christ’s body and blood present in Holy Communion, but rather God’s word; so too, baptism is valid by virtue of God’s promise upon which it is founded. The difference may sound subtle but it relates to the source and certainty of our knowledge. Faith is tested but is never to be subjectively measured. The person who begins reflecting on how humble they are is in immediate danger of losing that modesty; they are already in the process. But the person who reflects on God’s grace finds certainty and comfort.
Our gathering over the past few days has given us opportunity to be renewed in the baptismal life. Sadly, living it has fallen on hard times. Why are the recent generations becoming so distanced from organized church? I don’t claim to be privy to particular reasons for particular people or circumstances but some generalizations are worth pondering. People don’t believe the church speaks relevantly or authoritatively to the tension in which they live. The church herself has created doubt. When the words “I believe in God the Father Almighty Maker of heaven and earth”4 roll off the lips, how many Christians actually believe what they are saying?
When the authority of God’s word is conceded the church starts to float on a sea of human opinion. Commands become guidelines. Creeds become conjectures. Confessions become theories. Absolutes become opinions. Christ was never a consensus-builder. He was a truth-proclaimer. He had no interest in fairness according to human standards. He was just according to divine standards. He absolved prostitutes. He condemned Pharisees. He dined with tax-collectors.
When the forgiveness of sins is no longer valued as essential, the need for church can quickly fade. For many, church involves little more than an opportunity for social interaction and the chance to satisfy the ego by “doing their little bit for God.” Any talk of sin and grace, repentance and forgiveness, heaven and hell is simply tolerated as a pious scheme of by-gone days. But there’s little need to preach to the choir. Still, the better we understand the more faithful our witness can be.
We cannot disconnect Christ from the Scriptures. To do so is like disconnecting a marriage from any vows, communication, or relationship. It becomes a theoretical exercise and an absurd one at that! Truth cannot be found by looking deeper into our hearts. Christ is not merely a messenger pointing the way to heaven; He is the means and the destination. He is the crucified and risen Lord and we are incorporated into His death and resurrection through baptism. This is our access to Him.
The Scripture says you have been, “…buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead.”5 With Christ we are never without hope. With the Spirit we are never without comfort. With the Father we are never without a future. We are baptized. We are redeemed. In baptism you have already reached the final destination. You are at the finish line. But you cannot yet fully enjoy the reward. It’s only a matter of time. A small obstacle for Him who has already triumphed over the grave! Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Second Sunday After Epiphany
Lutheran Women of SA Retreat
18 January, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Isaiah 40:28 2 Philippians 3:20
3 Romans 8:18 4 Apostles’ Creed 5 Colossians 2:12
Text: Colossians 2:12
Theme: Baptism: Final Destination
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
God never grows weary. “Have you not heard?” says the prophet, “He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.”1 But what about us? Dragging around this yoke of mortality can be exhausting. Physically, yes! But what of the heart? The emotions? The will? The Christian life is a marathon, not a sprint. The finish is all that matters. Thanks be to God that in Christ we have not only the source of our strength but the final destination!
So what is the nature of this marathon that we participate in everyday but often plod through in a spiritual sleepwalk? A genuine tension exists in the baptismal life. Baptismal life is a very deliberately chosen synonym for Christian life; the life of obedience and faith. A better analogy for our voyage than running might be swimming; for baptism defines and sustains the conditions for our travel.
The tensions of our baptismal life can be best understood in an already/ not yet framework. The Bible speaks in this way. We are already citizens of the celestial realm. The Scripture says, “Our citizenship is in heaven.”2 But we have not yet been released from the restrictions of this fallen nature. It says, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”3 We are already freed from sin’s condemnation, but we are not yet liberated from the temptation to sin. Christ is the One who has already come to redeem us. Through His sacrificial death our salvation is signed, sealed, and delivered. Yet He has not yet returned to endow us with the full experience of our inheritance.
Of course faith is the means by which we straddle this already/not yet tension; a tension that infallibly characterizes the Christian life. It is inescapable. We have peace; but there is no resting on our laurels. We have an inheritance; but there is no attitude of entitlement. We have grace; but there is no presumption that we are owed it. The genius of Satan is His ability to deceive people into thinking they’re either on a spiritual welfare system or they can have the recognition of earning their own way into God’s favour.
So instead of seeking God’s wisdom we often look to solve our spiritual problems in our own way. In doing so we usually create other problems. One day a traveler was driving down a back country road when he noticed that there was a three-legged chicken running alongside his car. He stepped on the pedal but at 50 kilometers per hour, the chicken was still keeping up. After about a mile of running, the chicken ran up a farm lane and into a barn behind an old farm house. The man turned around and drove up the farm lane. He knocked at the door and when the farmer answered he told him what he had just seen. The farmer said that his son was a geneticist and he had developed this breed of chicken because he, his wife and his son each like a drumstick when they have chicken and this way they only have to kill one chicken at a time." That's the most fantastic thing I've ever heard," said the tourist. "How do they taste?" "I don't know," said the farmer. "We've never caught one."
Dear friends, we can never outpace the temptation to sin. Sin is not overcome by negotiating with it. Just as addiction cannot be satiated by indulging it, so too, our sinful natures cannot be placated by catering to them. When the sinful nature grows an extra limb it is more agile than before. There is no human solution to the power of sin. It requires divine intervention. Our sinful tendencies can never just be managed, they must be crucified. The Spirit calls us to repentance, not compromise.
Christ made no compromises when He secured our salvation. The Scriptures say we can be absolutely confident of it. It depends completely on Christ. That’s why the promise of your baptism is more certain than any subjective measure of your faith. The historical fact that at a particular time and place (regardless of your remembrance of it) God’s promise to you was ratified through this sacrament is an unshakeable foundation. This is not a pedantic point but a crucial spiritual truth. It distinguishes a biblical, Lutheran understanding of where certainty lies from an emotional one that is often wrongly labeled as charismatic. Faith is only present where the Holy Spirit is present. And the Holy Spirit is only present where the word and promise of God are.
Faith is a vehicle but it is never itself the object. It is not the origin of truth or the basis of salvation. Just as it is not your faith that makes Christ’s body and blood present in Holy Communion, but rather God’s word; so too, baptism is valid by virtue of God’s promise upon which it is founded. The difference may sound subtle but it relates to the source and certainty of our knowledge. Faith is tested but is never to be subjectively measured. The person who begins reflecting on how humble they are is in immediate danger of losing that modesty; they are already in the process. But the person who reflects on God’s grace finds certainty and comfort.
Our gathering over the past few days has given us opportunity to be renewed in the baptismal life. Sadly, living it has fallen on hard times. Why are the recent generations becoming so distanced from organized church? I don’t claim to be privy to particular reasons for particular people or circumstances but some generalizations are worth pondering. People don’t believe the church speaks relevantly or authoritatively to the tension in which they live. The church herself has created doubt. When the words “I believe in God the Father Almighty Maker of heaven and earth”4 roll off the lips, how many Christians actually believe what they are saying?
When the authority of God’s word is conceded the church starts to float on a sea of human opinion. Commands become guidelines. Creeds become conjectures. Confessions become theories. Absolutes become opinions. Christ was never a consensus-builder. He was a truth-proclaimer. He had no interest in fairness according to human standards. He was just according to divine standards. He absolved prostitutes. He condemned Pharisees. He dined with tax-collectors.
When the forgiveness of sins is no longer valued as essential, the need for church can quickly fade. For many, church involves little more than an opportunity for social interaction and the chance to satisfy the ego by “doing their little bit for God.” Any talk of sin and grace, repentance and forgiveness, heaven and hell is simply tolerated as a pious scheme of by-gone days. But there’s little need to preach to the choir. Still, the better we understand the more faithful our witness can be.
We cannot disconnect Christ from the Scriptures. To do so is like disconnecting a marriage from any vows, communication, or relationship. It becomes a theoretical exercise and an absurd one at that! Truth cannot be found by looking deeper into our hearts. Christ is not merely a messenger pointing the way to heaven; He is the means and the destination. He is the crucified and risen Lord and we are incorporated into His death and resurrection through baptism. This is our access to Him.
The Scripture says you have been, “…buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead.”5 With Christ we are never without hope. With the Spirit we are never without comfort. With the Father we are never without a future. We are baptized. We are redeemed. In baptism you have already reached the final destination. You are at the finish line. But you cannot yet fully enjoy the reward. It’s only a matter of time. A small obstacle for Him who has already triumphed over the grave! Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Second Sunday After Epiphany
Lutheran Women of SA Retreat
18 January, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Isaiah 40:28 2 Philippians 3:20
3 Romans 8:18 4 Apostles’ Creed 5 Colossians 2:12
Sunday, January 11, 2015
The Baptism of our Lord (B) 2015
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Mark 1:10-11
Theme: God’s Public Notice
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Today is the first Sunday in the season of Epiphany. Epiphany means “revelation,” or “showing forth.” The season of Epiphany highlights those events in the life of Christ that reveal Him to be God in the flesh. The Epiphany season is framed and highlighted by two events; Christ’s baptism at the Jordan River and His transfiguration on the mountain. The Child of Bethlehem has been proclaimed by angels, looked upon by shepherds and visited by wisemen. Jesus, now approximately thirty years of age, begins His public ministry. Jesus’ public mission begins with the event of His baptism.
Preliminary to the baptism of Jesus and Christian baptism was the work of John the Baptist. His work was preparatory. The people who came to John heard a message of repentance. The coming of the Messiah was imminent. His coming would involve judgment against all unrighteousness. “He will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire.”1 The hearts and lives of all are laid bare before the all-knowing Lord. Nothing we have or are or do is hidden from Him. We dare not allow our consciences to become desensitized to the power of sin in our lives and God’s promise to judge it. The Law of God leaves room for no exceptions; all are unworthy of God’s grace. The truly convicted heart takes seriously God’s wrath and longs for mercy. True repentance involves not only shame and embarrassment for being caught, but a genuine desire for compassion and desire to please God. The Bible says, “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”2 The Holy Spirit grants the repentant person faith to trust in Christ. Baptism is a means by which this happens. Trust in Christ is never misplaced. Our gospel explains why.
John announces the approach of Jesus to the banks of the Jordan with the words which found their way into the church’s worship in song, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”3 In the act of His baptism, Jesus unites in solidarity with sinful humanity. He submits Himself to this sacrament of repentance and forgiveness for which He has no need. He is not a sinner. He has committed no transgression. He was born with no original guilt. Precisely for this reason He humbles Himself as He does. The entire earthly life of Jesus Christ was a substitutionary endeavor. He took our place under the Law. He bore the punishment of the Father’s wrath. He endured the torment of judgment. He did this on our behalf. He was our scapegoat. He was our sacrificial Lamb. “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”4 Christ lived, died, rose and ascended so that we might live in holiness with the triune God.
Clear expressions of the Trinity are evident at Jesus’ baptism. The Holy Spirit is visible in the form of a dove. At the creation the Holy Spirit hovered over the waters and during the flood Noah sent out a dove to mark the beginning of new life. The voice of the Father is audible at Jesus’ baptism. It was reminiscent of many manifestations in the Old Testament. Yet these distinctions of persons are not to be overshadowed by unity of purpose. Here we see Father, Son and Holy Spirit united in the plan of redemption to be completed by the Son in the flesh. This is the key to true and meaningful knowledge about God.
The revelation of the Trinity is tied directly with the revelation of the Son. We know the temperament of the triune God towards us; we know God in a saving way only as He is revealed through Jesus. We do not learn what we know about Christ from general knowledge of God. We learn what we know about God from specific knowledge of Christ.
Our relationship with Christ must define and characterize our entire lives. He initiates and sustains this relationship through His appointed means. Baptism is not an auxiliary teaching of Scripture. Baptism is foundational for understanding the manner in which God relates to humanity. It is a specific administration of the gospel. It is a tangible, visible way in which God comes into contact with people in a saving manner. God, through His Word and Spirit can change the heart of every human being. The Word and promise of God are clear and firm. “How can water do such great things?” Certainly not just water, but the word of God in and with the water does these things, along with faith which trusts this word of God in the water. For without God’s word the water is plain water and no Baptism. But with the word of God it is a Baptism, that is, a life-giving water, rich in grace, and a washing of new birth in the Holy Spirit.”5 What happens in baptism is not magic, but it is miraculous. Faith is always the greatest miracle for an infant or an adult. It means that God is willing and able to overcome the bondage of sins by which we are held.
Spiritual freedom, true freedom, radically changes our perspective on life and our relationship with God and one another. Our membership in the kingdom of God transcends all earthly associations. God shows no favoritism, but receives all who repent and believe. How difficult this was for the Jewish Christians who looked down upon Gentile believers! How difficult to believe that God receives open sinners as readily as those who strive to be righteous. Jesus Himself said to the chief priests, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.”6 Yet that is the reality of God’s undeserved love in Christ. It is undeserved for great and small alike.
In Christ we all reach parity in regards to redemption. This equality is achieved in baptism and it is the basis of our fellowship and unity. Though we are all different, none of us is of greater or lesser importance to the body of Christ. At Jesus’ baptism the fellowship of the Trinity is illustrated. As the body of Christ our fellowship with one another mirrors that relationship. We are called upon to put others ahead of ourselves; their interests ahead of ours. The fruits of our faith ripen to maturity.
The Scripture gives these directives, “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”7 And trust firmly in the promise that your labour in the Lord is never in vain8. Christ has been shown through manger, cross, and empty tomb to be the bearer of our sins and the giver of new life. He tends us as a Shepherd, feeds us with sacred food, and cleanses us with baptismal water. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
First Sunday After Epiphany
The Baptism of Our Lord
11 January, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Luke 3:17
2 2 Corinthians 7:10
3 John 1:29
4 2 Corinthians 5:21
5 Luther’s Small Catechism
6 Matthew 21:31
7 Romans 12:9-13
8 1 Corinthians 15:58
Text: Mark 1:10-11
Theme: God’s Public Notice
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Today is the first Sunday in the season of Epiphany. Epiphany means “revelation,” or “showing forth.” The season of Epiphany highlights those events in the life of Christ that reveal Him to be God in the flesh. The Epiphany season is framed and highlighted by two events; Christ’s baptism at the Jordan River and His transfiguration on the mountain. The Child of Bethlehem has been proclaimed by angels, looked upon by shepherds and visited by wisemen. Jesus, now approximately thirty years of age, begins His public ministry. Jesus’ public mission begins with the event of His baptism.
Preliminary to the baptism of Jesus and Christian baptism was the work of John the Baptist. His work was preparatory. The people who came to John heard a message of repentance. The coming of the Messiah was imminent. His coming would involve judgment against all unrighteousness. “He will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire.”1 The hearts and lives of all are laid bare before the all-knowing Lord. Nothing we have or are or do is hidden from Him. We dare not allow our consciences to become desensitized to the power of sin in our lives and God’s promise to judge it. The Law of God leaves room for no exceptions; all are unworthy of God’s grace. The truly convicted heart takes seriously God’s wrath and longs for mercy. True repentance involves not only shame and embarrassment for being caught, but a genuine desire for compassion and desire to please God. The Bible says, “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”2 The Holy Spirit grants the repentant person faith to trust in Christ. Baptism is a means by which this happens. Trust in Christ is never misplaced. Our gospel explains why.
John announces the approach of Jesus to the banks of the Jordan with the words which found their way into the church’s worship in song, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”3 In the act of His baptism, Jesus unites in solidarity with sinful humanity. He submits Himself to this sacrament of repentance and forgiveness for which He has no need. He is not a sinner. He has committed no transgression. He was born with no original guilt. Precisely for this reason He humbles Himself as He does. The entire earthly life of Jesus Christ was a substitutionary endeavor. He took our place under the Law. He bore the punishment of the Father’s wrath. He endured the torment of judgment. He did this on our behalf. He was our scapegoat. He was our sacrificial Lamb. “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”4 Christ lived, died, rose and ascended so that we might live in holiness with the triune God.
Clear expressions of the Trinity are evident at Jesus’ baptism. The Holy Spirit is visible in the form of a dove. At the creation the Holy Spirit hovered over the waters and during the flood Noah sent out a dove to mark the beginning of new life. The voice of the Father is audible at Jesus’ baptism. It was reminiscent of many manifestations in the Old Testament. Yet these distinctions of persons are not to be overshadowed by unity of purpose. Here we see Father, Son and Holy Spirit united in the plan of redemption to be completed by the Son in the flesh. This is the key to true and meaningful knowledge about God.
The revelation of the Trinity is tied directly with the revelation of the Son. We know the temperament of the triune God towards us; we know God in a saving way only as He is revealed through Jesus. We do not learn what we know about Christ from general knowledge of God. We learn what we know about God from specific knowledge of Christ.
Our relationship with Christ must define and characterize our entire lives. He initiates and sustains this relationship through His appointed means. Baptism is not an auxiliary teaching of Scripture. Baptism is foundational for understanding the manner in which God relates to humanity. It is a specific administration of the gospel. It is a tangible, visible way in which God comes into contact with people in a saving manner. God, through His Word and Spirit can change the heart of every human being. The Word and promise of God are clear and firm. “How can water do such great things?” Certainly not just water, but the word of God in and with the water does these things, along with faith which trusts this word of God in the water. For without God’s word the water is plain water and no Baptism. But with the word of God it is a Baptism, that is, a life-giving water, rich in grace, and a washing of new birth in the Holy Spirit.”5 What happens in baptism is not magic, but it is miraculous. Faith is always the greatest miracle for an infant or an adult. It means that God is willing and able to overcome the bondage of sins by which we are held.
Spiritual freedom, true freedom, radically changes our perspective on life and our relationship with God and one another. Our membership in the kingdom of God transcends all earthly associations. God shows no favoritism, but receives all who repent and believe. How difficult this was for the Jewish Christians who looked down upon Gentile believers! How difficult to believe that God receives open sinners as readily as those who strive to be righteous. Jesus Himself said to the chief priests, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.”6 Yet that is the reality of God’s undeserved love in Christ. It is undeserved for great and small alike.
In Christ we all reach parity in regards to redemption. This equality is achieved in baptism and it is the basis of our fellowship and unity. Though we are all different, none of us is of greater or lesser importance to the body of Christ. At Jesus’ baptism the fellowship of the Trinity is illustrated. As the body of Christ our fellowship with one another mirrors that relationship. We are called upon to put others ahead of ourselves; their interests ahead of ours. The fruits of our faith ripen to maturity.
The Scripture gives these directives, “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”7 And trust firmly in the promise that your labour in the Lord is never in vain8. Christ has been shown through manger, cross, and empty tomb to be the bearer of our sins and the giver of new life. He tends us as a Shepherd, feeds us with sacred food, and cleanses us with baptismal water. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
First Sunday After Epiphany
The Baptism of Our Lord
11 January, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Luke 3:17
2 2 Corinthians 7:10
3 John 1:29
4 2 Corinthians 5:21
5 Luther’s Small Catechism
6 Matthew 21:31
7 Romans 12:9-13
8 1 Corinthians 15:58
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Second Sunday After Christmas (B) 2015
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti Amen +
Text: John 1:1-18
Theme: Dwelling Among Us
Dear Friends in Christ Jesus,
Existence is reconstituted in the coming of Jesus. In the beginning God spoke and creation came into existence out of nothing. Essential to the meaning of His incarnation, of Christmas, is the understanding that in these events all creation is taken back to the beginning. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.”1 In the flesh of Christ, a perfect state of material being again exists. In the person of Jesus, the image of true humanity is restored. Our continued celebration of Christmas involves the promise that believers will be restored in both body and soul for eternity according to the words of the Spirit, “Christ…will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.”2 This future is God’s original intent for us.
Fundamental to the Biblical perspective of life is understanding that what is commonly known as the natural state of things is actually a state of estrangement from God. Human beings, as they are, in and of themselves, are not in the state God originally intended and created. We are born divorced from proper fellowship with God. His ways and works are alien to our instincts and desires. This is true not just for those who are willfully and outwardly evil, but even for those who appear to be honest and godly in their actions. Since this truth cannot be empirically proven, it must be believed. The Scripture says, “He [that is, Christ] was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him.”3
The creation does not, in fact, cannot, recognize her Creator. To acknowledge the existence of God intellectually is not the same as believing in Him, as loving Him. The First Commandment says, “You shall have no other gods.”4 “What does this mean? We should fear, love and trust in God above all things.”5 It means to look to Him for our only hope and security, our only source of life and strength. Faith in Christ necessarily involves the repudiation of self and all other sources of hope. In Christ, we then become what we are meant to be. Our gospel says, “To all who received Him, to those who believe in His name, He gave the right to become the children of God- children born not of natural decent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”6
Spiritual conversion is a wholly supernatural activity. The Bible excludes any place for human ability and capacity when it comes to gathering people into His kingdom. Just as we are born to parents, born into a family completely apart from our choosing or cooperation, so too are we brought into the family of God. It should not be surprising that baptism, the means by which this takes place, is described as bringing about a new birth. “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour.”7 Thus from start to finish God is, as the Bible says, “the author and perfecter of our faith.”8 “He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”9
The forgiveness we have is not some theoretical concept. It was earned through the suffering of Christ’s body and His sacrifice unto death. The promise of absolution has the guarantee of His flesh and blood. The sins of repentant believers, sins great and small, truly are forgiven, removed, washed away. Even as Christ is risen from the dead, we too are raised to a new spiritual life here and now. Dear Friends, do not take it lightly that by faith you are resurrected beings. Christ has bestowed on humans an honor higher than that of angels.
In due time, our spiritual resurrection will give way to a physical resurrection when we pass through death into life. We should long for this each and every day. Our life here is but temporary. Our life there is forever. Then all the frailties of the human body, all the weakness of the human mind, all that torments heart and soul will be resolved. The blindness that strikes the eyes, the deafness that strikes the ear, the confusion that mutes the tongue, the lameness that hinders the limb, the atrophy that cripples the joints, the cancer that commandeers the flesh, the Alzheimer’s that decimates the mind, the frailty that simply drains strength, all the bitterness and hardship with which we must cope will vanish in an instant. There is noting that we suffer now that will not quickly become a vanishing and fleeting memory.
Yes, in this life we will struggle. But the point of Christmas is that Christ is with us. “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.”10 We can now live in such away so as to bring the presence of God among others. The year 2015 is before us and we are faced with great challenge and opportunity. Despite the affluence of our culture (or we may say somewhat because of it) human need is as great as ever. People live in open ungodliness and societal mores become more secular. Our own country is a vast mission field right at our doorstep. Across the world some nations and people groups suffer great physical want others have never heard the gospel proclaimed or the word of God taught. As individual Christians and as a church, we are held to account. We must prioritize our resources and energies in sacrifice of our neighbour and in honour of God’s name. No effort, regardless how small, is insignificant. In Christ, we can meet the future with determination and excitement.
It is appropriate that during the season of Christmas, one calendar year comes to an end and a new year begins. We go forward knowing that Christ is with us. Through water and the word, through His Spirit, through the sacramental bread and wine, He dwells in and among us. We go forward knowing that in the Lord even the most menial daily tasks are not in vain. We go forward with the boldness to hold high the Light of the world in a spiritually dark age. We go forward with the eagerness to more fully understand His will. We go forward with the comfort and confidence of knowing the future is secured. Christ is Immanuel, God with us, and He will never leave. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Second Sunday After Christmas
4 January, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 John 1:1-2
2 Philippians 3:20-21
3 John 1:10-11
4 Exodus 20:3
5 Martin Luther, Explanation to the First Commandment
6 John 1:12-13
7 Titus 3:5-6
8 Hebrews 12:2
9 Colossians 1:13-14
10 John 1:14
Text: John 1:1-18
Theme: Dwelling Among Us
Dear Friends in Christ Jesus,
Existence is reconstituted in the coming of Jesus. In the beginning God spoke and creation came into existence out of nothing. Essential to the meaning of His incarnation, of Christmas, is the understanding that in these events all creation is taken back to the beginning. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.”1 In the flesh of Christ, a perfect state of material being again exists. In the person of Jesus, the image of true humanity is restored. Our continued celebration of Christmas involves the promise that believers will be restored in both body and soul for eternity according to the words of the Spirit, “Christ…will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.”2 This future is God’s original intent for us.
Fundamental to the Biblical perspective of life is understanding that what is commonly known as the natural state of things is actually a state of estrangement from God. Human beings, as they are, in and of themselves, are not in the state God originally intended and created. We are born divorced from proper fellowship with God. His ways and works are alien to our instincts and desires. This is true not just for those who are willfully and outwardly evil, but even for those who appear to be honest and godly in their actions. Since this truth cannot be empirically proven, it must be believed. The Scripture says, “He [that is, Christ] was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him.”3
The creation does not, in fact, cannot, recognize her Creator. To acknowledge the existence of God intellectually is not the same as believing in Him, as loving Him. The First Commandment says, “You shall have no other gods.”4 “What does this mean? We should fear, love and trust in God above all things.”5 It means to look to Him for our only hope and security, our only source of life and strength. Faith in Christ necessarily involves the repudiation of self and all other sources of hope. In Christ, we then become what we are meant to be. Our gospel says, “To all who received Him, to those who believe in His name, He gave the right to become the children of God- children born not of natural decent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”6
Spiritual conversion is a wholly supernatural activity. The Bible excludes any place for human ability and capacity when it comes to gathering people into His kingdom. Just as we are born to parents, born into a family completely apart from our choosing or cooperation, so too are we brought into the family of God. It should not be surprising that baptism, the means by which this takes place, is described as bringing about a new birth. “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour.”7 Thus from start to finish God is, as the Bible says, “the author and perfecter of our faith.”8 “He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”9
The forgiveness we have is not some theoretical concept. It was earned through the suffering of Christ’s body and His sacrifice unto death. The promise of absolution has the guarantee of His flesh and blood. The sins of repentant believers, sins great and small, truly are forgiven, removed, washed away. Even as Christ is risen from the dead, we too are raised to a new spiritual life here and now. Dear Friends, do not take it lightly that by faith you are resurrected beings. Christ has bestowed on humans an honor higher than that of angels.
In due time, our spiritual resurrection will give way to a physical resurrection when we pass through death into life. We should long for this each and every day. Our life here is but temporary. Our life there is forever. Then all the frailties of the human body, all the weakness of the human mind, all that torments heart and soul will be resolved. The blindness that strikes the eyes, the deafness that strikes the ear, the confusion that mutes the tongue, the lameness that hinders the limb, the atrophy that cripples the joints, the cancer that commandeers the flesh, the Alzheimer’s that decimates the mind, the frailty that simply drains strength, all the bitterness and hardship with which we must cope will vanish in an instant. There is noting that we suffer now that will not quickly become a vanishing and fleeting memory.
Yes, in this life we will struggle. But the point of Christmas is that Christ is with us. “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.”10 We can now live in such away so as to bring the presence of God among others. The year 2015 is before us and we are faced with great challenge and opportunity. Despite the affluence of our culture (or we may say somewhat because of it) human need is as great as ever. People live in open ungodliness and societal mores become more secular. Our own country is a vast mission field right at our doorstep. Across the world some nations and people groups suffer great physical want others have never heard the gospel proclaimed or the word of God taught. As individual Christians and as a church, we are held to account. We must prioritize our resources and energies in sacrifice of our neighbour and in honour of God’s name. No effort, regardless how small, is insignificant. In Christ, we can meet the future with determination and excitement.
It is appropriate that during the season of Christmas, one calendar year comes to an end and a new year begins. We go forward knowing that Christ is with us. Through water and the word, through His Spirit, through the sacramental bread and wine, He dwells in and among us. We go forward knowing that in the Lord even the most menial daily tasks are not in vain. We go forward with the boldness to hold high the Light of the world in a spiritually dark age. We go forward with the eagerness to more fully understand His will. We go forward with the comfort and confidence of knowing the future is secured. Christ is Immanuel, God with us, and He will never leave. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Second Sunday After Christmas
4 January, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 John 1:1-2
2 Philippians 3:20-21
3 John 1:10-11
4 Exodus 20:3
5 Martin Luther, Explanation to the First Commandment
6 John 1:12-13
7 Titus 3:5-6
8 Hebrews 12:2
9 Colossians 1:13-14
10 John 1:14
Sunday, January 4, 2015
New Year's Eve 2014
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: 1 Peter 1:23
Theme: God’s Living and Enduring Word
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”1 It’s a biblical maxim that can seem to ears trained to want something new and revolutionizing to be uninspiring and even irrelevant. The pace of change has so captivated our way of thinking and living that we often have false expectations. Change is often associated with progress; and often this is true. Other times it is nothing more than the re-emergence of Satan’s forgotten schemes.
The Year of Our Lord 2014 has come to a close. Think what can happen over the course of a year. The biblical record recalls momentous events. During the time of Noah the earth went from its daily business to being submerged in flood waters in forty days lasting for nearly four month. During the time of Moses the Israelites were released from centuries of bondage and journeyed across the Red Sea in haste before wandering in the desert. Christ Himself rose from virtual obscurity to being pursued by the masses in a matter of months. Things can quickly change. Over the course of a year wars are engaged, dictators are toppled, economies falter. The world sometimes lurches forward and then back. Over the course of a year students graduate, jobs are lost or secured; children are born or leave home, illness strikes or recovery progresses, death visits some that are prepared for it and some who are not. But at the end of the year as at the beginning God is with His people.
One thing that will never change is our need for God’s grace because sin too, is unrelenting. The human nature of the next child to be conceived in this town is essentially no different than that of the very first. Neither genetic, nor social, nor cultural, nor environmental circumstances can eliminate, mitigate, or circumvent the power and presence of original sin. The apple does not fall very far from the tree. We are all fruit of Adam’s tree. The next child conceived needs Christ just as much as the child conceived 100 years ago and 1,000 years ago. If we don’t believe that then we’ve lost sight of what the Scriptures mean when they say, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.”2 Original sin is not a genotype that can be bred out of the human race. It’s not a gap in civilized virtue that only needs mending. It’s not a flawed perspective on Utopian society. Original sin is the glaring truth that apart from intervention of divine proportions we would all be lost.
Oh yes, we can put on the appearance that everything is basically running smoothly. That also helps alleviate our urge for any true repentance. We are adept at justifying ourselves. There were four Christians. They were called: Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was job to do: Love God and love your neighbour as yourself. Everybody was asked to do it. But Everybody was sure Somebody would. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody.
If we have it all together what help do we need from God? But stability in the ceaseless cycle of the world’s activity is an illusion. Not that we should fail to pray for stability in the temporal sphere. God rules the civil sphere, the left-hand kingdom, with power and providence. We should pray for it, vote wisely to promote it, and do what we can to support it. Orderliness in society provides not only the basis of safety for all, but also the opportunity for the Word of God to be openly proclaimed- ideally with impunity. But we should not be misinformed about what it offers us.
Is the world a more dangerous place than a year ago? Terror touched the lives of people in places as far flung as Sydney, Ottawa, and Pakistan. War and civil unrest continue unabated in many parts of the world. People become unsettled and even filled with fear when disorder goes unchecked and strikes by surprise. Yet Christ Himself says, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed…these are the beginning of birth pains.”3
Dear friends, in a world of uncertainty and instability Christ is an unfailing and immovable. Our Scripture for this New Years’ Eve says Christians now participate in His immortal power. “You have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.”4 Seeds are remarkable entities of God’s creation. A seed can lay dormant, imperious to dust and draught, wind and woe, quietly biding its time. Then it springs to life. When it takes root it can quickly establish a growing plant that soon bears fruit.
Perhaps you will be pursuing some kind of personal change in the coming year? What approaches will you take? What type of sacrifices will need to be made? What are your expectations? A woman went to the police station to report a missing husband. She described him as "29 years old, six foot three, athletic, and handsome." The sergeant shook his head. "Wait a minute, madam, I know your husband. He’s 50, short, and overweight." "Sure he is” the woman replied, "But I never said which husband!”
Christians are sometimes accused of looking at the world through rose-coloured glasses; of being idealistic and impractical. But Christian hope is not the same as false optimism. Cheerful conviction is not the same as childish naivety. As we mature in the faith we learn not to be reliant on fallible schemes of human wisdom. The Almighty God says, “When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants, it is I who keep steady its pillars.”5 He says we are “receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken.”6 It is only because God is immutable that we can be transformed by the constancy of His love. “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.”7
Viewed in biblical perspective Christians can face the coming year with hope and promise. The Year of Our Lord 2015 is the next calendar year in your baptismal journey. Yet in God’s time our days tick off in parallel with the timelessness of eternity. Constant in love; faithful in mercy, God in Christ will not fail to attend to us in prosperity and adversity. Your strength, forgiveness, and hope will continue to come from the same sources it always has: The Word, The Spirit, returning to the font, kneeling to receive the body and blood of the Saviour. Christ for us. Christ in us. Christ crucified. Christ risen. Christ living, interceding, and ruling on behalf of His redeemed people. In a few hours the calendar turns over but God’s favour is never turned away. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
New Year’s Eve
31 December 2014
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Hebrews 13:8
2 Romans 5:12
3 Matthew 24:6, 8
4 1 Peter 1:23
5 Psalm 75:3
6 Hebrews 12:28
7 1 Peter 1:3-4
Text: 1 Peter 1:23
Theme: God’s Living and Enduring Word
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”1 It’s a biblical maxim that can seem to ears trained to want something new and revolutionizing to be uninspiring and even irrelevant. The pace of change has so captivated our way of thinking and living that we often have false expectations. Change is often associated with progress; and often this is true. Other times it is nothing more than the re-emergence of Satan’s forgotten schemes.
The Year of Our Lord 2014 has come to a close. Think what can happen over the course of a year. The biblical record recalls momentous events. During the time of Noah the earth went from its daily business to being submerged in flood waters in forty days lasting for nearly four month. During the time of Moses the Israelites were released from centuries of bondage and journeyed across the Red Sea in haste before wandering in the desert. Christ Himself rose from virtual obscurity to being pursued by the masses in a matter of months. Things can quickly change. Over the course of a year wars are engaged, dictators are toppled, economies falter. The world sometimes lurches forward and then back. Over the course of a year students graduate, jobs are lost or secured; children are born or leave home, illness strikes or recovery progresses, death visits some that are prepared for it and some who are not. But at the end of the year as at the beginning God is with His people.
One thing that will never change is our need for God’s grace because sin too, is unrelenting. The human nature of the next child to be conceived in this town is essentially no different than that of the very first. Neither genetic, nor social, nor cultural, nor environmental circumstances can eliminate, mitigate, or circumvent the power and presence of original sin. The apple does not fall very far from the tree. We are all fruit of Adam’s tree. The next child conceived needs Christ just as much as the child conceived 100 years ago and 1,000 years ago. If we don’t believe that then we’ve lost sight of what the Scriptures mean when they say, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.”2 Original sin is not a genotype that can be bred out of the human race. It’s not a gap in civilized virtue that only needs mending. It’s not a flawed perspective on Utopian society. Original sin is the glaring truth that apart from intervention of divine proportions we would all be lost.
Oh yes, we can put on the appearance that everything is basically running smoothly. That also helps alleviate our urge for any true repentance. We are adept at justifying ourselves. There were four Christians. They were called: Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was job to do: Love God and love your neighbour as yourself. Everybody was asked to do it. But Everybody was sure Somebody would. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody.
If we have it all together what help do we need from God? But stability in the ceaseless cycle of the world’s activity is an illusion. Not that we should fail to pray for stability in the temporal sphere. God rules the civil sphere, the left-hand kingdom, with power and providence. We should pray for it, vote wisely to promote it, and do what we can to support it. Orderliness in society provides not only the basis of safety for all, but also the opportunity for the Word of God to be openly proclaimed- ideally with impunity. But we should not be misinformed about what it offers us.
Is the world a more dangerous place than a year ago? Terror touched the lives of people in places as far flung as Sydney, Ottawa, and Pakistan. War and civil unrest continue unabated in many parts of the world. People become unsettled and even filled with fear when disorder goes unchecked and strikes by surprise. Yet Christ Himself says, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed…these are the beginning of birth pains.”3
Dear friends, in a world of uncertainty and instability Christ is an unfailing and immovable. Our Scripture for this New Years’ Eve says Christians now participate in His immortal power. “You have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.”4 Seeds are remarkable entities of God’s creation. A seed can lay dormant, imperious to dust and draught, wind and woe, quietly biding its time. Then it springs to life. When it takes root it can quickly establish a growing plant that soon bears fruit.
Perhaps you will be pursuing some kind of personal change in the coming year? What approaches will you take? What type of sacrifices will need to be made? What are your expectations? A woman went to the police station to report a missing husband. She described him as "29 years old, six foot three, athletic, and handsome." The sergeant shook his head. "Wait a minute, madam, I know your husband. He’s 50, short, and overweight." "Sure he is” the woman replied, "But I never said which husband!”
Christians are sometimes accused of looking at the world through rose-coloured glasses; of being idealistic and impractical. But Christian hope is not the same as false optimism. Cheerful conviction is not the same as childish naivety. As we mature in the faith we learn not to be reliant on fallible schemes of human wisdom. The Almighty God says, “When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants, it is I who keep steady its pillars.”5 He says we are “receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken.”6 It is only because God is immutable that we can be transformed by the constancy of His love. “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.”7
Viewed in biblical perspective Christians can face the coming year with hope and promise. The Year of Our Lord 2015 is the next calendar year in your baptismal journey. Yet in God’s time our days tick off in parallel with the timelessness of eternity. Constant in love; faithful in mercy, God in Christ will not fail to attend to us in prosperity and adversity. Your strength, forgiveness, and hope will continue to come from the same sources it always has: The Word, The Spirit, returning to the font, kneeling to receive the body and blood of the Saviour. Christ for us. Christ in us. Christ crucified. Christ risen. Christ living, interceding, and ruling on behalf of His redeemed people. In a few hours the calendar turns over but God’s favour is never turned away. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
New Year’s Eve
31 December 2014
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Hebrews 13:8
2 Romans 5:12
3 Matthew 24:6, 8
4 1 Peter 1:23
5 Psalm 75:3
6 Hebrews 12:28
7 1 Peter 1:3-4
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)