+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: John 3:21
Theme: Into The Light
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
“God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God,” with these words we confess the same truth with those who forged the Nicene Creed nearly 17 centuries ago concerning the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. We concur that Christ is Light out of Light1, the second Light referring to God the Father. Jesus possesses and participates in the same essential divinity as the Father. The allusion here is to a particular quality of that divinity denoted as light. Now lest we think this is much ado about nothing our gospel today instructs us otherwise. It says, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.”2 Light is required for vision. In Christ we see God, not with fleshly eyes, but through Spirit-given eyes of faith.
St Paul describes God as dwelling in unapproachable light.3 Human beings are not capable of peering into this light because it is qualitatively different than the created light to which we are accustomed. It is tied up with the magnificence of His glory. It is not proper for us to speculate about mysteries which are not yet disclosed to us so the question again follows: What benefit is there to linger longer on the topic except as a reference point to confess and give glory to God as we do in the Nicene Creed? Again, the reward is that Christ and His work are understood all the more clearly. God did not remain recessed in His own inaccessible light leaving us with only the fading light of the natural sun; rather, He clothed His own pure light in human flesh in the person of Jesus. Even as the Psalmist says, “He wraps Himself in light as with a garment.”4
Christ comes for a purpose and His work is twofold. Firstly, the Light exposes. Until this happens Jesus’ proper work of forgiveness and salvation comes to no effect. Christ came to a dark world. You know the darkness. It resonates with your natural self, your sinful nature, your devious spirit. You know what it means when your motives dart around in the shadows, when they look for concealment in the dark corners of your mind. You know when the darkness presses in, clouding your judgment and weighing on your conscience. The history of the darkness of sin is long and deep. How dark was the exit5 from the Garden of Eden for our first parents! How dark was the ninth plague on the Egyptians!6 How dark was the situation when Jesus said at the moment of His betrayal, “This is you hour-when darkness reigns.”7 How dark is the sinner who thinks they need no forgiveness from God!
Lest we think we can present our dark deeds as products of the light- and we are indeed led to such deception because the world fortifies us in such audacity- the holy law of God emphatically exposes our hypocrisy and deception. He says through Isaiah, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.”8
Our sins, you see, can never be cast in a good light, or in better light. Lent does not fit us with rose-coloured glasses. The Scriptures do not give us circus mirrors with which to view ourselves. Even if celebrated by the world our sins are condemned by Him who judges it. Under the light of divine judgment there are no shadows. He bends the light to reveal every angle. He sees the tangled web of lies we weave, the labyrinth in which we conceal our motives; and the arrogance and jealousy which fuels our egos. He knows the anger that boils in our blood, the bitterness that festers in our hearts; the regrets that darken our souls. He sees our neglect of the Sabbath, our disregard for authority, and our mistreatment of our spouses- all for what they really are.
The Light exposes. The Light also reveals. That is Christ’s second, but primary and proper work. He reveals truth. On public display is the Messiah, the King of the Jews hanging there on the cross being sacrificed for the sins of the world. Hear again the Scriptures, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved- and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”9 “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”10
He is resurrected. He lives and so the light of Easter never fades. Jesus says today, “Whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”11 Christians do not have a hidden agenda. We’re not part of a secret society. We unapologetically, but with gentleness and respect, endeavor to shine His light into the dark places of people’s lives.
In every way believers are connected to Christ. To only pretend so is to just play clever but dangerous spiritual games. Christ is the Shepherd, the Vine, the Head, the Cornerstone, the Bridegroom, the Light of the World. The Shepherd has sheep. The vine has branches. The Head has a body. The Cornerstone has a temple. The Bridegroom has a bride. The Light has objects which it illumines. Those descriptions all refer to you, His baptized. You have no other purpose than to reflect His light. You are baptized, forgiven, and fed with His body and blood to be strengthened for that very purpose.
Dear friends when the servant of God, the pastor, lifts up his hands and says, “The Lord make His face shine on you…”12 the Holy Spirit can through that divine promise rekindle tenuous faith, brighten darkened souls, and cheer the downcast in heart. All of the glitz and glimmer of the world, the very best human resourcefulness has to offer- the capability of medicine, the proficiency of technology, the competency of psychiatric and psychological expertise- is all utter darkness in the presence of Him who is Life and Light. You, dear friends, are not in darkness for Christ is the Light no darkness can overcome. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Fourth Sunday In Lent
15 March, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 φώς Îκ φωτός, Light of Light, Greek
2 John 3:19
3 See 1 Timothy 6:16
4 Psalm 104:2
5See Genesis 3:23
6 See Exodus 10:21-23
7 Luke 22:53
8 Isaiah 5:20
9 Ephesians 2:4-6
10 John 3:16
11John 3:21
12Numbers 6:25
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Third Sunday In Lent (B) 2015
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: John 2:17
Theme: Zeal For God’s House
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
God is patient. He is long-suffering even with the unbeliever. God wishes to spare people from the grief of openly sinning against others. He wishes to protect the most vulnerable from the exploits of the most powerful. The commandments serve to define, protect, and nurture the believer’s relationship with God and with other people. But they apply also to those who do not believe, warning believer and unbeliever alike that there are consequences for disregarding God’s will.
The law convicts the heart and threatens punishment. When Christians follow God’s commandments out of fear of punishment, shame, or consequences they are showing that their sinful nature has gotten the upper hand. The Old Adam must be repressed with threats. When, however, we follow His commands out of trust that they are for our well-being and the good of others, there evidence of faith. When God is taken at His word the commandments are already fulfilled; for Christ kept them perfectly. When the command of God is doubted or despised nothing is fulfilled; we have severed ourselves from Christ.
God’s love is fully known only in Christ. Jesus was a regular worshipper in the synagogue and frequent visitor to the temple. He did not invent a self-styled religion. He fulfilled the hope that had been promised to Adam and Eve, ratified by covenant with the patriarchs, and forecasted by the prophets. Today He exercised His moral authority by driving out of the temple courts those who were brazenly fleecing the worshippers at the temple. Not surprisingly, the religious leaders were not impressed. They challenged His authority.
Jesus was not obliged to cater to anyone’s demands or bow to anyone’s requests. The Jews were always seeking a sign from Him. The miracles He did perform they often denied or ignored. Still, some miracles were witnessed by so many people and were so irrefutable that the authorities had to deal with the consequences. In today’s response for a sign Christ said, “‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up’…He was speaking about the temple of His body.”1 An unmistakable prediction of His resurrection; it also connected Him with the temple. The place to find God was transitioning from a house of stone to a body of flesh- Jesus Himself.
People demanding evidence for Christianity must finally find it here. Jesus the Christ was laid in a tomb, death had taken Him. But death could not hold Him. On the morning after the Sabbath, He rose bodily from the grave and began to show Himself alive to His followers. Christ alone has power over death. Immortality resides in Him. Life emanates from Him. The Scripture says He “has destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”2 The gospel is not answerable to human logic.
Human reason has its limits. We can paint God into a box and reflect happily on our achievement, but God’s not really in there. We’ve only deceived our own conscience. Let God be true and every man a liar3, the Bible says. Trying to decide on a case by case basis when to follows God’s wisdom compared to human wisdom is to chase diminishing returns. More importantly, it tears authority and truth away from God and locates them within human jurisdiction. The authority of the forgiveness of sins is not dependent on some human consensus of what is fair. The sins of repentant sinners are forgiven because God, in Christ, declares it to be so. You are forgiven, not because some criteria have been met by you, but because Christ hung from the cross.
Dear friends, Christ’s passion in cleansing the temple should remind us that we easily fall under Satan’s spell of lethargy. Spiritual numbness dampens our interest and appreciation of holy things. The Holy Spirit’s attentiveness to us counters the devil’s work. It is not without reason that we sing, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.”4
Well, aware that spiritual apathy is a perennial danger for Christians Luther constructed his final question for those preparing to take communion in as follows: “But what should you do if you are not aware of this need and have no hunger or thirst for the Sacrament? To such a person no better advice can be given than this: first, he should touch his body to see if he still has flesh and blood. Then he should believe what the Scriptures say of it in Galatians 5 and Romans 7. Second, he should look around to see whether he is still in the world, and remember that there will be no lack of sin and trouble, as the Scriptures say in John 15-16 and 1 John 2 and 5. Third, he will certainly have the devil also around him, who with his lying and murdering day and night will let him have no peace, with or without…”5
Note how tangible Luther’s advice is. If apathy has quenched your desire for Holy Communion he doesn’t recommend some highbrow spiritual meditation as an antidote. He says to pinch yourself to see if you’re still alive. He tells us to look around at the world and observe the sin and turmoil that is so prevalent. He tells us not to naively think that Satan is napping. All of his advice directs us to Scripture, apart from which we can have no certainty or any desire for God’s grace at all.
Time and wear begin to take their toll on our bodies and minds. In sickness or trauma our decay can accelerate. But the soul does not age. Your spirit is not liable to the effects of time. Rather, it is vulnerable to any and every temptation to doubt God’s word. The mature Christian can regress back to an adolescent and even an infantile faith when estranged from God’s means of grace even for a short period of time. Yet every time your soul receives the promise of forgiveness, the comfort of the Spirit, and the peace of Christ that anchors us even in the raging storms of life, you are refreshed with the vibrancy of the risen Saviour.
Christ was zealous for the Lord’s house. God is zealous for you. He is firm with the skeptical. He is gentle with the weak. He is unyielding with the schemer. He is full of cheer for the sorrowful. He is hope for those who are despairing. He is pure, unbounded, unconditional love for the sinner. He is never remiss, never inattentive. He is the Physician of the body and the anchor of the soul6. Christ cleared the temple with a whip of cords. He then cleared the debt of sin after the whip was put to His own back. God’s house still stands because He is its foundation, its head; its very life. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Third Sunday In Lent
8 March, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 John 2:19-21
2 2 Timothy 1:10
3 See Romans 3:4
4 LHS, p.13
5 Luther’s Small Catechism
6 See Hebrews 6:19
Text: John 2:17
Theme: Zeal For God’s House
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
God is patient. He is long-suffering even with the unbeliever. God wishes to spare people from the grief of openly sinning against others. He wishes to protect the most vulnerable from the exploits of the most powerful. The commandments serve to define, protect, and nurture the believer’s relationship with God and with other people. But they apply also to those who do not believe, warning believer and unbeliever alike that there are consequences for disregarding God’s will.
The law convicts the heart and threatens punishment. When Christians follow God’s commandments out of fear of punishment, shame, or consequences they are showing that their sinful nature has gotten the upper hand. The Old Adam must be repressed with threats. When, however, we follow His commands out of trust that they are for our well-being and the good of others, there evidence of faith. When God is taken at His word the commandments are already fulfilled; for Christ kept them perfectly. When the command of God is doubted or despised nothing is fulfilled; we have severed ourselves from Christ.
God’s love is fully known only in Christ. Jesus was a regular worshipper in the synagogue and frequent visitor to the temple. He did not invent a self-styled religion. He fulfilled the hope that had been promised to Adam and Eve, ratified by covenant with the patriarchs, and forecasted by the prophets. Today He exercised His moral authority by driving out of the temple courts those who were brazenly fleecing the worshippers at the temple. Not surprisingly, the religious leaders were not impressed. They challenged His authority.
Jesus was not obliged to cater to anyone’s demands or bow to anyone’s requests. The Jews were always seeking a sign from Him. The miracles He did perform they often denied or ignored. Still, some miracles were witnessed by so many people and were so irrefutable that the authorities had to deal with the consequences. In today’s response for a sign Christ said, “‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up’…He was speaking about the temple of His body.”1 An unmistakable prediction of His resurrection; it also connected Him with the temple. The place to find God was transitioning from a house of stone to a body of flesh- Jesus Himself.
People demanding evidence for Christianity must finally find it here. Jesus the Christ was laid in a tomb, death had taken Him. But death could not hold Him. On the morning after the Sabbath, He rose bodily from the grave and began to show Himself alive to His followers. Christ alone has power over death. Immortality resides in Him. Life emanates from Him. The Scripture says He “has destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”2 The gospel is not answerable to human logic.
Human reason has its limits. We can paint God into a box and reflect happily on our achievement, but God’s not really in there. We’ve only deceived our own conscience. Let God be true and every man a liar3, the Bible says. Trying to decide on a case by case basis when to follows God’s wisdom compared to human wisdom is to chase diminishing returns. More importantly, it tears authority and truth away from God and locates them within human jurisdiction. The authority of the forgiveness of sins is not dependent on some human consensus of what is fair. The sins of repentant sinners are forgiven because God, in Christ, declares it to be so. You are forgiven, not because some criteria have been met by you, but because Christ hung from the cross.
Dear friends, Christ’s passion in cleansing the temple should remind us that we easily fall under Satan’s spell of lethargy. Spiritual numbness dampens our interest and appreciation of holy things. The Holy Spirit’s attentiveness to us counters the devil’s work. It is not without reason that we sing, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.”4
Well, aware that spiritual apathy is a perennial danger for Christians Luther constructed his final question for those preparing to take communion in as follows: “But what should you do if you are not aware of this need and have no hunger or thirst for the Sacrament? To such a person no better advice can be given than this: first, he should touch his body to see if he still has flesh and blood. Then he should believe what the Scriptures say of it in Galatians 5 and Romans 7. Second, he should look around to see whether he is still in the world, and remember that there will be no lack of sin and trouble, as the Scriptures say in John 15-16 and 1 John 2 and 5. Third, he will certainly have the devil also around him, who with his lying and murdering day and night will let him have no peace, with or without…”5
Note how tangible Luther’s advice is. If apathy has quenched your desire for Holy Communion he doesn’t recommend some highbrow spiritual meditation as an antidote. He says to pinch yourself to see if you’re still alive. He tells us to look around at the world and observe the sin and turmoil that is so prevalent. He tells us not to naively think that Satan is napping. All of his advice directs us to Scripture, apart from which we can have no certainty or any desire for God’s grace at all.
Time and wear begin to take their toll on our bodies and minds. In sickness or trauma our decay can accelerate. But the soul does not age. Your spirit is not liable to the effects of time. Rather, it is vulnerable to any and every temptation to doubt God’s word. The mature Christian can regress back to an adolescent and even an infantile faith when estranged from God’s means of grace even for a short period of time. Yet every time your soul receives the promise of forgiveness, the comfort of the Spirit, and the peace of Christ that anchors us even in the raging storms of life, you are refreshed with the vibrancy of the risen Saviour.
Christ was zealous for the Lord’s house. God is zealous for you. He is firm with the skeptical. He is gentle with the weak. He is unyielding with the schemer. He is full of cheer for the sorrowful. He is hope for those who are despairing. He is pure, unbounded, unconditional love for the sinner. He is never remiss, never inattentive. He is the Physician of the body and the anchor of the soul6. Christ cleared the temple with a whip of cords. He then cleared the debt of sin after the whip was put to His own back. God’s house still stands because He is its foundation, its head; its very life. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Third Sunday In Lent
8 March, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 John 2:19-21
2 2 Timothy 1:10
3 See Romans 3:4
4 LHS, p.13
5 Luther’s Small Catechism
6 See Hebrews 6:19
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Second Sunday In Lent (B) 2015
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Mark 8:34-37
Theme: More Than The World
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Life is a gift. Therefore, we never possess it on our own terms. The whole of our journey in this time and space involves receiving from the Giver that we may be reshaped in the image of His Son, beginning in time; completed in eternity. Lent’s call to repentance consistently directs us back to the cross for the source of our spiritual life. A person can attempt to live before God without fear of judgment out of arrogance; that is the mark of unbelief. But to live before God without fear in faith is to do nothing else than live beneath the cross.
Living in this way does not come naturally. Consider today’s conversation between Jesus and Peter. Was not Saint Peter, eminent among the disciples, at this point in time, the example and advocate of a humanistic and skeptical understanding of Christ’s mission? Sacrifice was not in the cards; not sacrifice to the point of death. Peter saw his dreams of a restored Israel quickly unravelling. He saw his place of power vanishing. We can hardly imagine a sharper rebuke from the Lord. His apostle could have no misgivings about the necessity of the crucifixion. Even though the disciples’ eyes weren’t fully opened until Pentecost it was essential that Christ was clear about His intent. His rebuke is applicable to every individual of the human race. The Scripture says, “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”1
The viability of religion in many people’s lives today depends on a combination of factors, including; personal convenience, relevance, felt needs, and flexibility in belief and lifestyle choices. People want their spiritual life to be meaningful, yet relatively effortless. They want to feel their needs are being met and that they are contributing to something important. But, generally, they don’t want to be held to any definitive beliefs nor have their lifestyles impinged upon by a greater authority. The Bible is often carefully employed to serve these expectations.
Even a cursory study of history shows the Bible has been used to support a wide diversity of philosophies and ideologies, theoretical and pragmatic, which are not consistent with the truth of Christianity. Such misuse has a long history testified to by St. Paul’s own defence when he said, “Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity.”2 The contemporary pace of such misuse is perhaps as rapid as ever. Recent decades have seen people claim support in the Scriptures for things ranging from fatalism to feminism, abortion to homosexuality, universalism to pacifism, relativism to skepticism. Many claims are held in contradiction. When the Bible is made to say everything, in the end it often says nothing, at least not anything authoritative. That’s exactly the goal of some.
The pace of the secularization of our culture has increased. The luxury previous generations perhaps had in assuming that a Christian ethos and foundation was widely understood and accepted in society is quickly vanishing. Apathy about Christian truth is commonplace. But faith in Jesus Christ is not like claiming allegiance to a political party or other organizations whose agenda you support. It involves a holistic embrace of God’s will for us in Christ. Eternal things are at stake. “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of Me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes again in His Father’s glory with the holy angels.”3
There could be no compromise between Christ and Peter at this pivotal juncture. Peter’s position was satanic. There is no getting around the fact that the biblical teaching on salvation is exclusive. Redemption is unapologetically unilateral. There is no possibility of cooperative effort, no room to incorporate supplementary strategies. Christ alone is the Light, the Door, the Shepherd, the way and the truth and the life. More explicitly, His death alone was the ransom price for all held captive by sin’s power. Believers are freed and forgiven because Christ allowed Himself to receive the punishment due from the Father’s wrath against sin. The Scripture says, “God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him!”4
The truth of Christ is like an anvil. On it are crushed all human opinions and efforts that conflict with God’s will. Christ interprets the Psalm about Himself saying, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone’? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”5 On it is crushed the will and power of Satan. On it is hammered out the punishment for our sins. On Christ, the Rock, the church has an unshakeable foundation.
Lent is always a foreshadowing of coming blessings. Lent is a time to take leave of the past, those sins and attitudes which drag us down and haunt us. Today Both Abram and Sarai had their names changed. The new reality was resonant with the fulfillment of God’s promise to them. The struggles of the past were behind them. In faith they already looked forward to the coming of God’s Son. We are the spiritual children Abraham. Note what the Scripture says, “The words ‘it was credited to him’ were not written for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness- for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”6
These are not pious but immaterial wishes. The Holy Spirit makes this divine act of love relevant to the individual. To really trust that the Father loves us unconditionally through the Son requires the Spirit’s power. It is too much for us to handle. Faith is a gift. Just as we cannot sustain our physical lives without outside support- the daily nutrition we must have- so too, we cannot sustain our spiritual lives without the continual nourishment of His grace. We are brought to life through the Holy Spirit’s work in baptism and nurtured with a steady diet of the word of forgiveness and the bread and wine of the altar. These gifts are of greater worth than all the world’s riches. There is nothing we can give in exchange for the soul. But Christ gave everything. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Second Sunday In Lent
1 March, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 1 Corinthians 1:18
2 2 Corinthians 2:17
3 Mark 8:36-38
4 Romans 5:8-9
5 Luke 20:17-18
6 Romans 4:24-25
Text: Mark 8:34-37
Theme: More Than The World
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Life is a gift. Therefore, we never possess it on our own terms. The whole of our journey in this time and space involves receiving from the Giver that we may be reshaped in the image of His Son, beginning in time; completed in eternity. Lent’s call to repentance consistently directs us back to the cross for the source of our spiritual life. A person can attempt to live before God without fear of judgment out of arrogance; that is the mark of unbelief. But to live before God without fear in faith is to do nothing else than live beneath the cross.
Living in this way does not come naturally. Consider today’s conversation between Jesus and Peter. Was not Saint Peter, eminent among the disciples, at this point in time, the example and advocate of a humanistic and skeptical understanding of Christ’s mission? Sacrifice was not in the cards; not sacrifice to the point of death. Peter saw his dreams of a restored Israel quickly unravelling. He saw his place of power vanishing. We can hardly imagine a sharper rebuke from the Lord. His apostle could have no misgivings about the necessity of the crucifixion. Even though the disciples’ eyes weren’t fully opened until Pentecost it was essential that Christ was clear about His intent. His rebuke is applicable to every individual of the human race. The Scripture says, “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”1
The viability of religion in many people’s lives today depends on a combination of factors, including; personal convenience, relevance, felt needs, and flexibility in belief and lifestyle choices. People want their spiritual life to be meaningful, yet relatively effortless. They want to feel their needs are being met and that they are contributing to something important. But, generally, they don’t want to be held to any definitive beliefs nor have their lifestyles impinged upon by a greater authority. The Bible is often carefully employed to serve these expectations.
Even a cursory study of history shows the Bible has been used to support a wide diversity of philosophies and ideologies, theoretical and pragmatic, which are not consistent with the truth of Christianity. Such misuse has a long history testified to by St. Paul’s own defence when he said, “Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity.”2 The contemporary pace of such misuse is perhaps as rapid as ever. Recent decades have seen people claim support in the Scriptures for things ranging from fatalism to feminism, abortion to homosexuality, universalism to pacifism, relativism to skepticism. Many claims are held in contradiction. When the Bible is made to say everything, in the end it often says nothing, at least not anything authoritative. That’s exactly the goal of some.
The pace of the secularization of our culture has increased. The luxury previous generations perhaps had in assuming that a Christian ethos and foundation was widely understood and accepted in society is quickly vanishing. Apathy about Christian truth is commonplace. But faith in Jesus Christ is not like claiming allegiance to a political party or other organizations whose agenda you support. It involves a holistic embrace of God’s will for us in Christ. Eternal things are at stake. “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of Me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes again in His Father’s glory with the holy angels.”3
There could be no compromise between Christ and Peter at this pivotal juncture. Peter’s position was satanic. There is no getting around the fact that the biblical teaching on salvation is exclusive. Redemption is unapologetically unilateral. There is no possibility of cooperative effort, no room to incorporate supplementary strategies. Christ alone is the Light, the Door, the Shepherd, the way and the truth and the life. More explicitly, His death alone was the ransom price for all held captive by sin’s power. Believers are freed and forgiven because Christ allowed Himself to receive the punishment due from the Father’s wrath against sin. The Scripture says, “God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him!”4
The truth of Christ is like an anvil. On it are crushed all human opinions and efforts that conflict with God’s will. Christ interprets the Psalm about Himself saying, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone’? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”5 On it is crushed the will and power of Satan. On it is hammered out the punishment for our sins. On Christ, the Rock, the church has an unshakeable foundation.
Lent is always a foreshadowing of coming blessings. Lent is a time to take leave of the past, those sins and attitudes which drag us down and haunt us. Today Both Abram and Sarai had their names changed. The new reality was resonant with the fulfillment of God’s promise to them. The struggles of the past were behind them. In faith they already looked forward to the coming of God’s Son. We are the spiritual children Abraham. Note what the Scripture says, “The words ‘it was credited to him’ were not written for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness- for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”6
These are not pious but immaterial wishes. The Holy Spirit makes this divine act of love relevant to the individual. To really trust that the Father loves us unconditionally through the Son requires the Spirit’s power. It is too much for us to handle. Faith is a gift. Just as we cannot sustain our physical lives without outside support- the daily nutrition we must have- so too, we cannot sustain our spiritual lives without the continual nourishment of His grace. We are brought to life through the Holy Spirit’s work in baptism and nurtured with a steady diet of the word of forgiveness and the bread and wine of the altar. These gifts are of greater worth than all the world’s riches. There is nothing we can give in exchange for the soul. But Christ gave everything. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Second Sunday In Lent
1 March, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 1 Corinthians 1:18
2 2 Corinthians 2:17
3 Mark 8:36-38
4 Romans 5:8-9
5 Luke 20:17-18
6 Romans 4:24-25
Sunday, February 22, 2015
First Sunday In Lent (B) 2015
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Mark 1:15
Theme: Repent! Again?
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Coincidences only are so in appearance. What’s hidden from our eyes is seen with clarity by God with. Chance is the currency of skeptics. Purpose is the motivation of God. It was not by coincidence that after His baptism Christ was led immediately by the Spirit into the wilderness. There was no time for sentimental celebration of His anointing; the work of redemption had to be begun in earnest. Lent reminds us that Christ is not a casual companion of those seeking to medicate their miseries or change their worldly fortunes. He is the resolute Redeemer who sacrifices life and limb to ransom unworthy sinners.
Satan always has a very busy Lenten season. He has no authority to challenge God’s truth but that doesn’t stop him from trying. He despises all contact believers have with God’s word. He especially hates a renewed focus on forgiveness and a commitment to truth; particularly Christ as the way and the truth and the life1. Falsehood loves uncertainty. Error thrives on ambiguities. The less clarity on a certain teaching or specific belief the more opportunity Satan has to create doubt and confusion. In today’s culture he is aided by the pervasive influence of political correctness. Any claim of absolute truth is met with targeted derision. Even the most credible evidence is often dismissed out of hand. Though its core nature remains unchanged the appearance of falsehood is always in flux. It has no stability.
But Christ is our unshakable foundation. Today Jesus leaves the wilderness and begins the most significant span of three years in the history of the human race. His objective is nothing less than the conquest of Satan, the downfall of hell, and the defeat of death. Part and parcel is the establishment of righteousness and truth in the kingdom of God. Lent is a microcosm of Christ’s public ministry.
The first words to roll off His lips in the public ministry are familiar ones, “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”2 Does it ever end? Do we ever get past the need for repentance? Or are we meant to go on, and on, laboring, agonizing; struggling with the complications and consequences of our transgressions? Where does it all stop? Repentance is not something we can initiate or accomplish on our own. The Holy Spirit must soften our hardened hearts and transform our self-focused wills.
Often we get the whole equation backwards. We approach things as if God needed us; as if He was dependent on us to keep His church going. Oh what a favour we’re doing for God when we show up in house! How could God ever manage without us! Dear friends, does the infant ever say to the parents, “How could you ever manage without me? How would you look after yourselves? God is not wandering around looking for meaning and purpose in life; people are the ones desperate for identity and fulfillment. God is not lost or lonely; people are. God doesn’t abandon people or fail people; people fail and abandon God. God is not in need; we are. But this same God is zealous for you with an unparalleled love.
Perhaps we’re weary of hearing the Good News? Are we so over-indulged in cheap grace that we have no appetite for forgiveness? Do we believe our indiscretions to be minor and therefore in need of no redress? Once you can verify with absolute certainty that you are no longer a sinner, that your every interaction with others is above reproach, that every thought in your mind and word that comes off your lips is holy and true, that your very nature is so pure that the Almighty God has made you the poster child of righteousness, then repentance has become obsolete for you. You have to tick all the boxes. But self-acknowledged sinners always hunger and thirst for righteousness.
It has been verified, however, with absolute certainty that punishment for the sins of those who are repentant are no longer held against them. The Bible says, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”3 Decisive action was taken at a place called Calvary. The sentence was decreed. The crown was fitted. The nails were driven. The cross was raised. The insults were hurled. The libation was offered. The Spirit was released. The task was finished. The power to be made new was unleased. “For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him [Christ], and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things…by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.”4
He died and rose for you. You are saved by His grace.
And you are saved for a purpose here and now. Christianity allows the freedom to serve others without self-interest. It flows from the confidence of knowing that our needs will be met in Christ. The things we cannot grasp or concur with here in time, the things we grapple with and cause us angst, will be resolved in eternity. Knowledge will be perfect as will unanimity in truth. Meanwhile, we struggle on together giving witness to God’s love for the world in word and deed.
Lent is a time for renewal. The word Lent relates to the new life that comes with spring. For Christians it became associated with the 40 days leading up to Easter. The world desperately needs such renewal. There were forty days of rain and the earth was cleansed. The children of Noah had hope. “I will establish My covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”5 Humanity began anew. God had made a covenant. The rainbow was a sign of the promise. Through a small amount of baptismal water the Christian is cleansed. The soul begins anew. God makes a covenant. Perhaps a rainbow should be depicted over every baptismal font? In baptism the storm of death passes by and a new day dawns.
Lent is a time to remember that God’s involvement in our lives is not haphazard. Human frailty often capitulates to coincidence. Too much effort is required to reconcile the deeper issues, to consider how God is working through it all. But we can rest in Christ’s purposes. The Scripture says, “The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me”6 Faith reposes in God’s promises. Christ is your Anointed. He is your Champion. He is your Lent. That is not happenstance. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
First Sunday In Lent
22 February, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
Text: Mark 1:15
Theme: Repent! Again?
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Coincidences only are so in appearance. What’s hidden from our eyes is seen with clarity by God with. Chance is the currency of skeptics. Purpose is the motivation of God. It was not by coincidence that after His baptism Christ was led immediately by the Spirit into the wilderness. There was no time for sentimental celebration of His anointing; the work of redemption had to be begun in earnest. Lent reminds us that Christ is not a casual companion of those seeking to medicate their miseries or change their worldly fortunes. He is the resolute Redeemer who sacrifices life and limb to ransom unworthy sinners.
Satan always has a very busy Lenten season. He has no authority to challenge God’s truth but that doesn’t stop him from trying. He despises all contact believers have with God’s word. He especially hates a renewed focus on forgiveness and a commitment to truth; particularly Christ as the way and the truth and the life1. Falsehood loves uncertainty. Error thrives on ambiguities. The less clarity on a certain teaching or specific belief the more opportunity Satan has to create doubt and confusion. In today’s culture he is aided by the pervasive influence of political correctness. Any claim of absolute truth is met with targeted derision. Even the most credible evidence is often dismissed out of hand. Though its core nature remains unchanged the appearance of falsehood is always in flux. It has no stability.
But Christ is our unshakable foundation. Today Jesus leaves the wilderness and begins the most significant span of three years in the history of the human race. His objective is nothing less than the conquest of Satan, the downfall of hell, and the defeat of death. Part and parcel is the establishment of righteousness and truth in the kingdom of God. Lent is a microcosm of Christ’s public ministry.
The first words to roll off His lips in the public ministry are familiar ones, “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”2 Does it ever end? Do we ever get past the need for repentance? Or are we meant to go on, and on, laboring, agonizing; struggling with the complications and consequences of our transgressions? Where does it all stop? Repentance is not something we can initiate or accomplish on our own. The Holy Spirit must soften our hardened hearts and transform our self-focused wills.
Often we get the whole equation backwards. We approach things as if God needed us; as if He was dependent on us to keep His church going. Oh what a favour we’re doing for God when we show up in house! How could God ever manage without us! Dear friends, does the infant ever say to the parents, “How could you ever manage without me? How would you look after yourselves? God is not wandering around looking for meaning and purpose in life; people are the ones desperate for identity and fulfillment. God is not lost or lonely; people are. God doesn’t abandon people or fail people; people fail and abandon God. God is not in need; we are. But this same God is zealous for you with an unparalleled love.
Perhaps we’re weary of hearing the Good News? Are we so over-indulged in cheap grace that we have no appetite for forgiveness? Do we believe our indiscretions to be minor and therefore in need of no redress? Once you can verify with absolute certainty that you are no longer a sinner, that your every interaction with others is above reproach, that every thought in your mind and word that comes off your lips is holy and true, that your very nature is so pure that the Almighty God has made you the poster child of righteousness, then repentance has become obsolete for you. You have to tick all the boxes. But self-acknowledged sinners always hunger and thirst for righteousness.
It has been verified, however, with absolute certainty that punishment for the sins of those who are repentant are no longer held against them. The Bible says, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”3 Decisive action was taken at a place called Calvary. The sentence was decreed. The crown was fitted. The nails were driven. The cross was raised. The insults were hurled. The libation was offered. The Spirit was released. The task was finished. The power to be made new was unleased. “For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him [Christ], and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things…by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.”4
He died and rose for you. You are saved by His grace.
And you are saved for a purpose here and now. Christianity allows the freedom to serve others without self-interest. It flows from the confidence of knowing that our needs will be met in Christ. The things we cannot grasp or concur with here in time, the things we grapple with and cause us angst, will be resolved in eternity. Knowledge will be perfect as will unanimity in truth. Meanwhile, we struggle on together giving witness to God’s love for the world in word and deed.
Lent is a time for renewal. The word Lent relates to the new life that comes with spring. For Christians it became associated with the 40 days leading up to Easter. The world desperately needs such renewal. There were forty days of rain and the earth was cleansed. The children of Noah had hope. “I will establish My covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”5 Humanity began anew. God had made a covenant. The rainbow was a sign of the promise. Through a small amount of baptismal water the Christian is cleansed. The soul begins anew. God makes a covenant. Perhaps a rainbow should be depicted over every baptismal font? In baptism the storm of death passes by and a new day dawns.
Lent is a time to remember that God’s involvement in our lives is not haphazard. Human frailty often capitulates to coincidence. Too much effort is required to reconcile the deeper issues, to consider how God is working through it all. But we can rest in Christ’s purposes. The Scripture says, “The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me”6 Faith reposes in God’s promises. Christ is your Anointed. He is your Champion. He is your Lent. That is not happenstance. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
First Sunday In Lent
22 February, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Ash Wednesday 2015
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti Amen +
Text: Psalm 51:1
Theme: Divine Pardon
Dear fellow travelers to the cross,
Lent looks forward. In Lent you can look forward to the reconstitution of your ashes; that is, your decaying physical frame and its complement, your soul. You can view the future because Christ has reconciled the past. He has covenanted with you. And He is true to His word. Return to the Lord. The imperative of the prophet is clear. But it is no legalistic demand. It is the summons for the weary sinner to be embraced by a merciful God. The Father runs to the Prodigal while he is still a long way off.
The theme for this 2015 Lenten season involves a look at some of the Psalms of repentance. Candid, vivid, and profound they penetrate the heart of the human condition. They are always suitable, never obsolete. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to Your great compassion blot out all my transgressions…Against You, You only have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight…Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.”1David pleads that the Lord would hide His face from the sins of the king. It was an urgent supplication asking God to look away, turn aside, and cover His eyes lest the divine gaze of judgment be more than he could bear.
Every time Lent comes around the devil has a problem on His hands. People are drawn nearer to God. Reconciliation is proclaimed. He also has an opportunity. Self-righteousness can be cemented. Our dark thoughts and past sins, our secret offences and hidden faults are an open book before God. We can encase them in denial, conceal them in silence, and bury them in regret; but they still exist, lingering, lurking in the shadows of our heart until the opportune time. Then they grab our conscience by the throat, suffocating our vain and foolish idea that they will just die a natural death. Dear friends, the guilt of sin never dies a natural death. It must be taken to the grave by the Crucified One. Guilt must die a “divine death” otherwise it lives on.
Time heals all wounds but it doesn’t forgive sins. Christ forgives sins. Do not take your unconfessed sin to the grave. Christ went to the grave so that you wouldn’t have to. God sees. He knows. He pardons. He heals. The prophet says, “The Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion.”2 The Scripture says, “All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ.”3 He is gracious and merciful. He desires that ours be a steady diet of grace and not the artificial sweeteners of the world. That’s really what fasting is all about.
The church throughout the ages has recognized the value of a focused piety and honest solemnity during the season of Lent. A plain reading of the text indicates that Jesus didn’t consider fasting to be optional. When, not if, is His directive. In a culture in which affluence has a long-standing tenure the mindset of intentional deprivation is largely a foreign concept. Our society associates meaning with indulgence. But there is more to life than the material comforts we have come to cherish. The Bible says, “We brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.”4 Consider a mini fast before receiving Holy Communion, it may give you a new perspective. More importantly, consider the value of deliberate self-denial as a beneficial spiritual discipline. Christ sacrificed everything for you.
What is the nature of the Lenten journey and the entire baptismal life for that matter?
The Holy Spirit is not teaching us to be navel-gazers. Faith is not a venture of introspection. If you look into your own heart you will find darkness, enmity, jealousy, selfishness, callousness, the need to be like; the desire to control. When you look at the heart of God you find pure compassion, unmatched love, unrestrained mercy. Christ hung from the cross in self-giving sacrifice. The heart of God was rent at the cross. There our mortality was rescued from the jaws of death and the gates of hell. His resurrection opened the gates of heaven.
Where do we find a gracious God? We can’t go back to meet Him at the cross. He comes forward to meet us here. He claims us in the waters of baptism. He dines with us at the altar. He wore a crown of thorns that you might wear the crown of life. The conveyance of information is only the incidental purpose of Scripture. Its purpose is to kill in order to bring life; condemn in order to free; suffocate in order to revive. Scripture brings us into contact with the God who acts. The Word of God is living and active. The Spirit is dynamic. Like enzymes facilitating the processes that transform from one state into the next, the Word of God brings light where there is darkness, hope where there is despair and life where there is death.
Dear friends, you, individually, are a particular collection of ashes. Your baptismal identity with God is more specific than the most powerful forensic tools we possess. He has a place for you beyond the scope of this existence. You are a living stone in His temple. And you, collectively, are the body of Christ. You are defenders of His truth and agents of His mercy. Just as from the cross Jesus said, “It is finished!”5 and He made all things new. So too, every time the declaration reaches you that your sins are forgiven the promise holds in heaven itself. You have a new lease, a new hope, a new horizon. Lent looks forward- to your future. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
1 Psalm 51:1, 4, 9
2 Isaiah 30:18
3 2 Corinthians 5:18
4 1 Timothy 6:7
5 John 19:30
6 Proverbs 13:12
7 Isaiah 53:5
Ash Wednesday
18 February 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
Text: Psalm 51:1
Theme: Divine Pardon
Dear fellow travelers to the cross,
Lent looks forward. In Lent you can look forward to the reconstitution of your ashes; that is, your decaying physical frame and its complement, your soul. You can view the future because Christ has reconciled the past. He has covenanted with you. And He is true to His word. Return to the Lord. The imperative of the prophet is clear. But it is no legalistic demand. It is the summons for the weary sinner to be embraced by a merciful God. The Father runs to the Prodigal while he is still a long way off.
The theme for this 2015 Lenten season involves a look at some of the Psalms of repentance. Candid, vivid, and profound they penetrate the heart of the human condition. They are always suitable, never obsolete. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to Your great compassion blot out all my transgressions…Against You, You only have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight…Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.”1David pleads that the Lord would hide His face from the sins of the king. It was an urgent supplication asking God to look away, turn aside, and cover His eyes lest the divine gaze of judgment be more than he could bear.
Every time Lent comes around the devil has a problem on His hands. People are drawn nearer to God. Reconciliation is proclaimed. He also has an opportunity. Self-righteousness can be cemented. Our dark thoughts and past sins, our secret offences and hidden faults are an open book before God. We can encase them in denial, conceal them in silence, and bury them in regret; but they still exist, lingering, lurking in the shadows of our heart until the opportune time. Then they grab our conscience by the throat, suffocating our vain and foolish idea that they will just die a natural death. Dear friends, the guilt of sin never dies a natural death. It must be taken to the grave by the Crucified One. Guilt must die a “divine death” otherwise it lives on.
Time heals all wounds but it doesn’t forgive sins. Christ forgives sins. Do not take your unconfessed sin to the grave. Christ went to the grave so that you wouldn’t have to. God sees. He knows. He pardons. He heals. The prophet says, “The Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion.”2 The Scripture says, “All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ.”3 He is gracious and merciful. He desires that ours be a steady diet of grace and not the artificial sweeteners of the world. That’s really what fasting is all about.
The church throughout the ages has recognized the value of a focused piety and honest solemnity during the season of Lent. A plain reading of the text indicates that Jesus didn’t consider fasting to be optional. When, not if, is His directive. In a culture in which affluence has a long-standing tenure the mindset of intentional deprivation is largely a foreign concept. Our society associates meaning with indulgence. But there is more to life than the material comforts we have come to cherish. The Bible says, “We brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.”4 Consider a mini fast before receiving Holy Communion, it may give you a new perspective. More importantly, consider the value of deliberate self-denial as a beneficial spiritual discipline. Christ sacrificed everything for you.
What is the nature of the Lenten journey and the entire baptismal life for that matter?
The Holy Spirit is not teaching us to be navel-gazers. Faith is not a venture of introspection. If you look into your own heart you will find darkness, enmity, jealousy, selfishness, callousness, the need to be like; the desire to control. When you look at the heart of God you find pure compassion, unmatched love, unrestrained mercy. Christ hung from the cross in self-giving sacrifice. The heart of God was rent at the cross. There our mortality was rescued from the jaws of death and the gates of hell. His resurrection opened the gates of heaven.
Where do we find a gracious God? We can’t go back to meet Him at the cross. He comes forward to meet us here. He claims us in the waters of baptism. He dines with us at the altar. He wore a crown of thorns that you might wear the crown of life. The conveyance of information is only the incidental purpose of Scripture. Its purpose is to kill in order to bring life; condemn in order to free; suffocate in order to revive. Scripture brings us into contact with the God who acts. The Word of God is living and active. The Spirit is dynamic. Like enzymes facilitating the processes that transform from one state into the next, the Word of God brings light where there is darkness, hope where there is despair and life where there is death.
Dear friends, you, individually, are a particular collection of ashes. Your baptismal identity with God is more specific than the most powerful forensic tools we possess. He has a place for you beyond the scope of this existence. You are a living stone in His temple. And you, collectively, are the body of Christ. You are defenders of His truth and agents of His mercy. Just as from the cross Jesus said, “It is finished!”5 and He made all things new. So too, every time the declaration reaches you that your sins are forgiven the promise holds in heaven itself. You have a new lease, a new hope, a new horizon. Lent looks forward- to your future. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
1 Psalm 51:1, 4, 9
2 Isaiah 30:18
3 2 Corinthians 5:18
4 1 Timothy 6:7
5 John 19:30
6 Proverbs 13:12
7 Isaiah 53:5
Ash Wednesday
18 February 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
Sunday, February 15, 2015
Harvest Thanksgiving (B) 2015
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Matthew 6:33
Theme: “These Things Given…As Well.”
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Harvest Thanksgiving is more than an agriculturally-themed Christian observance. It signifies our origins; our roots. Adam was told that he would return to the soil. “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”1 Christ promises to reconstitute those particles of believer’s dust and place them in the new and nobler Garden of Eden. Not only crops, but core truths are in our frame of view today.
Human relationship with the soil is more than casual; it is incarnational. That is, the flesh and blood of Adam was formed from the dust of the earth. It is also a reminder of our mortality. Our physical constitution has no life of its own apart from the life-giving power of God. Without the animating power of the Almighty all matter would be inert, dead. Often times we don’t feel like being thankful. We can put on appearances before others but the heart tells a different story. All ingratitude has its source in the frailty of the spiritual life. When sin rules the heart there can be no true thankfulness, only spiritual decay and death. Only the Holy Spirit can overcome this barrier. Thankfulness is not a child of sin but of repentance and faith.
Today Jesus begs the question, “What distinguishes us from the pagans?” What separates us from those who have no belief in God and invest their time only in pursuing the pleasures of this life or managing its adversities? Is it only a token allegiance to God? Is it a Sunday-only practice of the faith? Is it a different moral compass or ideological perspective? Do we seek to clothe our true desires with a veneer of Christianity? Are our expressions of gratitude hollow?
“Do not worry saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.”2 What things cause you the most anxiety? Is it the prospect of a failed harvest? Still today famines occur when there are crop failures. Is it the constant stress of making ends meet? The day to day struggle for survival or the race to get ahead consumes many. Is your anxiety caused primarily by unresolved conflict or traumatic events that remain unaddressed? Left unchecked, worry can take on a life of its own. God feeds the birds of the air. He clothes the lilies of the fields. “Are you not much more valuable than they?3 asks Christ.
Valuable you are indeed! And why so? Not because of some inherent quality. Not because you have done so much more than others to be worthy of God’s attention. Not because of your name or status or position or piety. Only because of Christ! The miracle that He created and has preserved you is matched only by the miracle that He was willing to redeem you. He died and rose for you. Do you seek a greater miracle?
Did the miracles Jesus performed cause people to believe in Him? Or did those who believed in Him see the miracles for what they were? We’d be hard-pressed to deny, on the basis of the biblical evidence, that both were not the case. Though the Holy Spirit often worked trust purely through the words of Christ alone – and without a doubt faith is not possible apart from the Holy Spirit- Jesus also said, “At least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.”4 Still, it should not escape our notice that there were many who saw Christ’s miracles but in the end did not believe. They stood at the foot of the cross and demanded that He come down.
Do we believe in God because He provides a good harvest and meets all our needs? Do believe because Jesus fed the 5000, healed the sick or calmed the storm? Do we search for other evidence? The cross is the evidence, but the message of the cross is called “foolishness.”5 The resurrection is the evidence, but even that has been rationalized by those who wish to do so. The test of faith comes when adversity strikes; especially when adversity lingers. Can the same God who is so lavishly good also test us with hardship?
God is not a projection of the mystery and complexity of the material world. The eternity of matter has no place in Christian teaching. God created. God is other than His creation. He is not matter; He is spirit. Yet, in Christ God embraces His creation. He assumes to Himself complete human nature. He unites with created beings. Though Adam and Eve were to rule over creation by subduing it, they were also designed to serve it. It was a preview of Christ’s work. His rule is characterized by service. Creation is God’s gift to humanity, but He remains the owner and we the stewards.
God uses you to care for His creation in many and various ways, fore mostly through your care of other created beings; people, to be precise. The vocations you hold determine who you are most valuable to. There are few surprises here. Spouses serve one another practicing self-sacrifice that lifts up the other. Parents serve their children by providing and protecting, teaching and chastising. Children obey their parents and honour them as gifts from God. Employers serve their employees by providing work and in turn should receive their respect. The strong should bear with the weak, the cheerful with those experiencing sorrow, those with conviction with those who doubt.
Dear friends, the fruit of the soil is not attained without the labour that is required. The ability to work is itself a gift from God. Solomon said, “Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labour under the sun during the few days of life God has given him.”6
While our bellies savor the fruits of the earth our souls relish food more directly from heaven. Holy Communion is called by St. Paul the Eucharist7, the Greek word for thanksgiving. In this meal the fruit of the vine is elevated to the highest status; the grain of the paddock invested with the most holy of tasks. Bread and wine are carriers of Christ Himself. He is the second Adam whose body was broken and blood was spilled so that we may be spared through His sacrifice. More than spared; that we have life and we have it abundantly.
Not all harvests work out as planned. Some promising starts fail; other questionable prospects surprise. The harvests of the Spirit are no different. Some of the baptized fall away and are forever lost. Others are saved in the eleventh hour. We are still sowing and reaping from one season to the next. The final harvest is yet to come. Then all of our Harvest Thanksgivings will come at once. All of our Christmases, Easters, and Pentecosts will fuse into the stupefying and spellbinding experience of uninhibited interaction with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the new paradise that will excel Eden. Thanks be to God! Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Transfiguration of our Lord
Harvest Thanksgiving
15 February, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
Text: Matthew 6:33
Theme: “These Things Given…As Well.”
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Harvest Thanksgiving is more than an agriculturally-themed Christian observance. It signifies our origins; our roots. Adam was told that he would return to the soil. “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”1 Christ promises to reconstitute those particles of believer’s dust and place them in the new and nobler Garden of Eden. Not only crops, but core truths are in our frame of view today.
Human relationship with the soil is more than casual; it is incarnational. That is, the flesh and blood of Adam was formed from the dust of the earth. It is also a reminder of our mortality. Our physical constitution has no life of its own apart from the life-giving power of God. Without the animating power of the Almighty all matter would be inert, dead. Often times we don’t feel like being thankful. We can put on appearances before others but the heart tells a different story. All ingratitude has its source in the frailty of the spiritual life. When sin rules the heart there can be no true thankfulness, only spiritual decay and death. Only the Holy Spirit can overcome this barrier. Thankfulness is not a child of sin but of repentance and faith.
Today Jesus begs the question, “What distinguishes us from the pagans?” What separates us from those who have no belief in God and invest their time only in pursuing the pleasures of this life or managing its adversities? Is it only a token allegiance to God? Is it a Sunday-only practice of the faith? Is it a different moral compass or ideological perspective? Do we seek to clothe our true desires with a veneer of Christianity? Are our expressions of gratitude hollow?
“Do not worry saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.”2 What things cause you the most anxiety? Is it the prospect of a failed harvest? Still today famines occur when there are crop failures. Is it the constant stress of making ends meet? The day to day struggle for survival or the race to get ahead consumes many. Is your anxiety caused primarily by unresolved conflict or traumatic events that remain unaddressed? Left unchecked, worry can take on a life of its own. God feeds the birds of the air. He clothes the lilies of the fields. “Are you not much more valuable than they?3 asks Christ.
Valuable you are indeed! And why so? Not because of some inherent quality. Not because you have done so much more than others to be worthy of God’s attention. Not because of your name or status or position or piety. Only because of Christ! The miracle that He created and has preserved you is matched only by the miracle that He was willing to redeem you. He died and rose for you. Do you seek a greater miracle?
Did the miracles Jesus performed cause people to believe in Him? Or did those who believed in Him see the miracles for what they were? We’d be hard-pressed to deny, on the basis of the biblical evidence, that both were not the case. Though the Holy Spirit often worked trust purely through the words of Christ alone – and without a doubt faith is not possible apart from the Holy Spirit- Jesus also said, “At least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.”4 Still, it should not escape our notice that there were many who saw Christ’s miracles but in the end did not believe. They stood at the foot of the cross and demanded that He come down.
Do we believe in God because He provides a good harvest and meets all our needs? Do believe because Jesus fed the 5000, healed the sick or calmed the storm? Do we search for other evidence? The cross is the evidence, but the message of the cross is called “foolishness.”5 The resurrection is the evidence, but even that has been rationalized by those who wish to do so. The test of faith comes when adversity strikes; especially when adversity lingers. Can the same God who is so lavishly good also test us with hardship?
God is not a projection of the mystery and complexity of the material world. The eternity of matter has no place in Christian teaching. God created. God is other than His creation. He is not matter; He is spirit. Yet, in Christ God embraces His creation. He assumes to Himself complete human nature. He unites with created beings. Though Adam and Eve were to rule over creation by subduing it, they were also designed to serve it. It was a preview of Christ’s work. His rule is characterized by service. Creation is God’s gift to humanity, but He remains the owner and we the stewards.
God uses you to care for His creation in many and various ways, fore mostly through your care of other created beings; people, to be precise. The vocations you hold determine who you are most valuable to. There are few surprises here. Spouses serve one another practicing self-sacrifice that lifts up the other. Parents serve their children by providing and protecting, teaching and chastising. Children obey their parents and honour them as gifts from God. Employers serve their employees by providing work and in turn should receive their respect. The strong should bear with the weak, the cheerful with those experiencing sorrow, those with conviction with those who doubt.
Dear friends, the fruit of the soil is not attained without the labour that is required. The ability to work is itself a gift from God. Solomon said, “Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labour under the sun during the few days of life God has given him.”6
While our bellies savor the fruits of the earth our souls relish food more directly from heaven. Holy Communion is called by St. Paul the Eucharist7, the Greek word for thanksgiving. In this meal the fruit of the vine is elevated to the highest status; the grain of the paddock invested with the most holy of tasks. Bread and wine are carriers of Christ Himself. He is the second Adam whose body was broken and blood was spilled so that we may be spared through His sacrifice. More than spared; that we have life and we have it abundantly.
Not all harvests work out as planned. Some promising starts fail; other questionable prospects surprise. The harvests of the Spirit are no different. Some of the baptized fall away and are forever lost. Others are saved in the eleventh hour. We are still sowing and reaping from one season to the next. The final harvest is yet to come. Then all of our Harvest Thanksgivings will come at once. All of our Christmases, Easters, and Pentecosts will fuse into the stupefying and spellbinding experience of uninhibited interaction with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the new paradise that will excel Eden. Thanks be to God! Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Transfiguration of our Lord
Harvest Thanksgiving
15 February, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
Monday, February 9, 2015
Fifth Sunday After Epiphany (B) 2015
+ 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
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
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