+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Mark 6:27
Theme: The Ultimate Price
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Life is tenuous. God is reliable. We are never more than a single accident, incident, or impediment from realized mortality. That makes life precious. What comfort could you offer to John the Baptist and his followers? Beheaded for calling King Herod to integrity by condemning his adultery, he suffered martyrdom under the most capricious of circumstances. How could it be that the Lord’s prophet, the forerunner of the Messiah- lauded as one of whom no one greater had been born of women- would meet his demise at the whim of an intoxicated despot? He was given no opportunity for testimony in his final hour. Yet, the gruesome record of His death is recorded as a witness for the ages. It stands as a memory, a monument, and a motivation to faithfulness. Six months older than Jesus, he died before Jesus reached the cross. Christ Himself was naturally grieved. The Scripture says, “When Jesus heard what had happened, He withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.”1
John’s faith endured the ultimate test. Faith that is not tested soon grows fat. It gets lazy. The bearing of our crosses is not a motionless, sedentary activity. What does the apostle say? “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.2 Faith engages a dual struggle simultaneously. On the one hand we grapple with taking God at His word. The purity of His grace is more than the uncleanness of our souls can bear. On the other hand we wrestle against the temptations of sin; the tug of Satan, the pressure of the world, the pull of selfishness. This is a lot for faith to do.
But faith isn’t really doing the doing, God is doing the doing; faith is doing the trusting. It’s easy to bear the kindness and generosity of God, and indeed, we rightly praise Him for it. It’s another matter, however, to bear His darkness. Christ promises escape from eternal death. Nowhere does He preach a life of luxury, effortlessness, or painlessness. Christ calls on us to love others selflessly. That requires sacrifice. The Bible nowhere teachers that devotion to Christ makes life more carefree; but it absolutely makes it more meaningful. Note how Peter encourages the scattered believers. “…though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.”3
Dear friends, the reign and rule of God will always be contested. It always has been; it always will be. The human ego prefers to answer to no one. Every generation makes some kind of effort to discount the profound impact of sin on the human race. Complete denial that sin exists is rarely asserted-yet- but the parameters and consequences are continually revised to suit the whims and agendas of those with the most invested. Manipulation of the moral code has always been a favourite pastime of people and we shouldn’t expect that to change. The mere declaration that God does not change- while true enough- will not suffice to redress hearts and minds steeped in the conviction that change is always commensurate with progress. Like the addict we must be given the words that express the hope of recovery. But only an outside power can initiate the process towards transformation. Christians know that only the Holy Spirit can initiate genuine repentance; a repentance that in some real way must recognize the relevant and powerful consequences of sin. Repentance is never generic. I am a sinner. You are sinners. We are equally at the mercy of God’s clemency.
When we have nothing left but the bare promises of God, the naked word…not material comforts, no ‘miraculous cures’, no evidence of God’s indulgent action, no one to empathize or dry our tears…is grace then really sufficient? Do we wait upon God’s promise? A resurrection is a fine-sounding idea, but do we not prefer to cling to the troubles we know? Can release from sin be so fantastic, immortality so stupendous, the vision of God so mesmerizing that we would chose to forego the pleasures which we have already tasted in this life? Would we choose to be immediately translated into the presence of God as were Enoch and Elijah?
A corpse hanging from a rough-hewn instrument of torture…that is our ransom. The death of a single man, but not any man, is the price of our freedom. This man is God-in-the-flesh; “God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God”, a Shepherd, a Redeemer, a King. His is Immanuel, God with us. He is the architect of life, the author of faith, and the master over death. Once crowned with thorns, He is the Servant King. He serves you with the sacrament of His presence and power at this altar. The Spirit makes you a participant of His death and resurrection in your baptism. As His baptized people you have high and holy callings in this world.
In Christ, your vocations are never trivial. They may seem tedious or laborious. Providing for your family, making ends meet, balancing relationships with family, friends, and work colleagues can tax us to the limit. We may question what the point and purpose is. But in the everyday routine of life, God gives us ample opportunity to accomplish His high and holy purposes. The considerate provision for a child; the patient compassion for a spouse; the honest effort done at work, all are godly expressions of vocation. We may often feel we don’t get due appreciation for our efforts. The squeaky wheel tends to get the grease. The quiet sufferer is often overlooked. But God notices and He takes all things into account.
The apostle reminds us today that God is not reactionary. He does not work haphazardly or on a whim. Time and eternity are in His purview. Our lives are in His hands.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight…in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”4 Our faith will always be tested. But Christ has already passed the ultimate test. He has made the supreme sacrifice. Thanks be to God! Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Seventh Sunday After Pentecost
12 July, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Matthew 14:13
2 1 Corinthians 9:24-25
3 1 Peter 1:6-7
4 Ephesians 1:3-4, 7
Monday, July 13, 2015
Monday, July 6, 2015
Sixth Sunday After Pentecost (B) 2015- (Concordia wedding)
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Mark 6:1-6
Theme: Authoritative Teacher, Rejected Prophet, Faithful Bridegroom
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Creation and redemption are punctuated with nuptial overtones. The Holy Scriptures begin and end with distinct depictions of marriage. Both divine-human, and human-human relationships are described within this analogy. All believers collectively constitute the Bride- the church. Christ is the loyal Bridegroom. Note again, how the apostle concludes one of the most detailed descriptions of marriage in the Bible, “‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a profound mystery- but I am talking about Christ and the church.”1 His love for us is unfathomably broad and deep. While our comprehension of it is like a drop in the ocean. But the Holy Spirit is always leading us into a fuller appreciation of God’s grace in Christ.
Today’s gospel account is a stark reminder that the full implications of Jesus’ identity and mission are not naturally accepted. Today Jesus got a cold reception from the hometown folks. The citizens of Jesus’ own hometown simply couldn’t come to terms with Him being the Messiah. Does that mean that no one from Nazareth was saved? Certainly not! We hear of the steadfastness of His family members later in the story. The same mindset is prevalent today: The expert usually thought to come from somewhere else. Familiarity breeds contempt. It is a contempt that is often born of jealously. Christ performed no miracles in Nazareth because of their lack of faith. They had place for the human Jesus, but not for the divine.
Dear friends, an age-old dogma is quickly regaining ascendancy in our society: The supremacy of self. We have little room for God. It’s not really new, but only the same old ego re-asserting and re-inventing itself. Natural law no longer underpins the full scope of shared values of our culture. Convictions held for generations about the limit of personal liberties and parameters of human relationships are quickly being eroded. Christians should expect this trend to continue. It’s human nature to push the boundaries of self-indulgence. Previous taboos and former restraints are quickly vanishing. The self-control St. Paul mentions as a fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 is rarely held up as a virtue.
We should be clear in understanding that human nature never fundamentally changes. Sin motivates the heart and governs the will until God intervenes. Every human from the time of conception is turned away from the will of the Almighty. We are bent on going our own way. The townspeople took offence at Jesus. They couldn’t bear the upshot of His teaching. No one can until the Holy Spirit softens the heart. People will show no faithfulness to Christ as a Bridegroom until they believe that they need rescue from the power of sin and death and that He is the only one who can do it. The pureness and tenderness of His love means little to the person satiated with the affection of other things. The pretense of love is the deception of idolatry. It is the powerful draw of egocentricity. It is alluring, but hollow. It has serious consequences.
We rightly lament how many marriages today fail. But the conundrum is more broad-based. The pressure is on all relationships; parent with child, child with parent, sibling with sibling, friend with friend, co-worker with co-worker. At the core is a crisis of identity; a complex contradiction about how any individual relates properly to another, and most importantly, to God. Only Christ can resolve this deeply pervasive chaos of the heart. Only the forgiveness that He bestows- a forgiveness forged in the fire of the cross- can bear up under any assault humans can muster.
Forgiveness that is only a formality, a fine-sounding, but hollow religious concept will have little or no effect on relationships in desperate need of healing and fortification. The forgiveness of Christ; the One who suffered willingly; the One who bled publically; the One who surrendered openly is no imaginary reality. It’s not an abstract concept intended a grist for the mill of human ideas. It’s a divine benevolence that has the power to transform.
You are absolved when He says the word. Your slate is wiped clean. You are freed by the same power with which you were baptized. You are forgiven when you take His body and blood upon your lips in faith. His pardon is a present reality. It’s not an IOU. It’s not a pledge that becomes activated at some future date. It’s not dependent on any conditions still to be met. Faith receives the pure and complete mercy of Christ. He died and rose for you and that gives you the greatest certainty.
Certainty is one of the great blessings that flow from adherence to Christ’s truth. The conscience can only truly be at ease when it rests on the clear promises of God. And so believers are free to engage in the discussions of secular society; in fact, they are encouraged to do so as salt, light, and leaven in the world. But we do so speaking the truth in love. We do so with the conviction and courage that the battle is not ours, but Christ’s.
Think how many battles throughout history were surrendered prematurely because courage was lost! Think how many sporting contests were yielded, not because the opponent had greater skill, but because courage failed! Countless are the examples where even well-intentioned people lost hope because the obstacles appeared too great. The spies sent to survey the land of Cana returned saying, “All the people we saw there were of great size…We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”2
But the Lord of heaven and earth says, “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”3 And He says even more emphatically, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”4 He says of His people, “I give then eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand.”5
Dear friends, God has always faced rejection and Christ knew how to meet it; by marching headlong to the cross. When Adam and Eve fell afoul of God’s favour they tried to hide from Him. They attempted to cover their shame. But God provided proper clothing, more practical, yes; but imminently more significant. He clothed them with His armor, spiritual garments that foreshadowed the sacrifice of Jesus Himself. As we reflect on the wedding of Graham and Lori today, we pray that God would protect every husband and wife with His spiritual armor and that every member of the Bride of Christ, every believer, would be clothed with the same purity and power.
Christ is the faultless Bridegroom. He is beyond reproach. In His devotion to His Bride, the church, He utterly exhausted the full capacity of His love. It took from Him His last breath. Adam gave up a rib. Perhaps his was a restless sleep. But his union with Eve completed the divine ordering of creation. Christ, however, gave up an impeccable life. His rest in the tomb was a spiritual eclipse, deep and black. But His resurrection prepared the way for a reunion with His Bride; an event of such cosmic proportions that it is nothing short of the divine ordering of eternity. Christ is faithful, now and forever! Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Sixth Sunday After Pentecost
5 July, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Ephesians 5:31-32
2 Number 13:32-33
3 John 16:33
4 Matthew 10:28
5 John 10:28
Text: Mark 6:1-6
Theme: Authoritative Teacher, Rejected Prophet, Faithful Bridegroom
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Creation and redemption are punctuated with nuptial overtones. The Holy Scriptures begin and end with distinct depictions of marriage. Both divine-human, and human-human relationships are described within this analogy. All believers collectively constitute the Bride- the church. Christ is the loyal Bridegroom. Note again, how the apostle concludes one of the most detailed descriptions of marriage in the Bible, “‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a profound mystery- but I am talking about Christ and the church.”1 His love for us is unfathomably broad and deep. While our comprehension of it is like a drop in the ocean. But the Holy Spirit is always leading us into a fuller appreciation of God’s grace in Christ.
Today’s gospel account is a stark reminder that the full implications of Jesus’ identity and mission are not naturally accepted. Today Jesus got a cold reception from the hometown folks. The citizens of Jesus’ own hometown simply couldn’t come to terms with Him being the Messiah. Does that mean that no one from Nazareth was saved? Certainly not! We hear of the steadfastness of His family members later in the story. The same mindset is prevalent today: The expert usually thought to come from somewhere else. Familiarity breeds contempt. It is a contempt that is often born of jealously. Christ performed no miracles in Nazareth because of their lack of faith. They had place for the human Jesus, but not for the divine.
Dear friends, an age-old dogma is quickly regaining ascendancy in our society: The supremacy of self. We have little room for God. It’s not really new, but only the same old ego re-asserting and re-inventing itself. Natural law no longer underpins the full scope of shared values of our culture. Convictions held for generations about the limit of personal liberties and parameters of human relationships are quickly being eroded. Christians should expect this trend to continue. It’s human nature to push the boundaries of self-indulgence. Previous taboos and former restraints are quickly vanishing. The self-control St. Paul mentions as a fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 is rarely held up as a virtue.
We should be clear in understanding that human nature never fundamentally changes. Sin motivates the heart and governs the will until God intervenes. Every human from the time of conception is turned away from the will of the Almighty. We are bent on going our own way. The townspeople took offence at Jesus. They couldn’t bear the upshot of His teaching. No one can until the Holy Spirit softens the heart. People will show no faithfulness to Christ as a Bridegroom until they believe that they need rescue from the power of sin and death and that He is the only one who can do it. The pureness and tenderness of His love means little to the person satiated with the affection of other things. The pretense of love is the deception of idolatry. It is the powerful draw of egocentricity. It is alluring, but hollow. It has serious consequences.
We rightly lament how many marriages today fail. But the conundrum is more broad-based. The pressure is on all relationships; parent with child, child with parent, sibling with sibling, friend with friend, co-worker with co-worker. At the core is a crisis of identity; a complex contradiction about how any individual relates properly to another, and most importantly, to God. Only Christ can resolve this deeply pervasive chaos of the heart. Only the forgiveness that He bestows- a forgiveness forged in the fire of the cross- can bear up under any assault humans can muster.
Forgiveness that is only a formality, a fine-sounding, but hollow religious concept will have little or no effect on relationships in desperate need of healing and fortification. The forgiveness of Christ; the One who suffered willingly; the One who bled publically; the One who surrendered openly is no imaginary reality. It’s not an abstract concept intended a grist for the mill of human ideas. It’s a divine benevolence that has the power to transform.
You are absolved when He says the word. Your slate is wiped clean. You are freed by the same power with which you were baptized. You are forgiven when you take His body and blood upon your lips in faith. His pardon is a present reality. It’s not an IOU. It’s not a pledge that becomes activated at some future date. It’s not dependent on any conditions still to be met. Faith receives the pure and complete mercy of Christ. He died and rose for you and that gives you the greatest certainty.
Certainty is one of the great blessings that flow from adherence to Christ’s truth. The conscience can only truly be at ease when it rests on the clear promises of God. And so believers are free to engage in the discussions of secular society; in fact, they are encouraged to do so as salt, light, and leaven in the world. But we do so speaking the truth in love. We do so with the conviction and courage that the battle is not ours, but Christ’s.
Think how many battles throughout history were surrendered prematurely because courage was lost! Think how many sporting contests were yielded, not because the opponent had greater skill, but because courage failed! Countless are the examples where even well-intentioned people lost hope because the obstacles appeared too great. The spies sent to survey the land of Cana returned saying, “All the people we saw there were of great size…We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”2
But the Lord of heaven and earth says, “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”3 And He says even more emphatically, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”4 He says of His people, “I give then eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand.”5
Dear friends, God has always faced rejection and Christ knew how to meet it; by marching headlong to the cross. When Adam and Eve fell afoul of God’s favour they tried to hide from Him. They attempted to cover their shame. But God provided proper clothing, more practical, yes; but imminently more significant. He clothed them with His armor, spiritual garments that foreshadowed the sacrifice of Jesus Himself. As we reflect on the wedding of Graham and Lori today, we pray that God would protect every husband and wife with His spiritual armor and that every member of the Bride of Christ, every believer, would be clothed with the same purity and power.
Christ is the faultless Bridegroom. He is beyond reproach. In His devotion to His Bride, the church, He utterly exhausted the full capacity of His love. It took from Him His last breath. Adam gave up a rib. Perhaps his was a restless sleep. But his union with Eve completed the divine ordering of creation. Christ, however, gave up an impeccable life. His rest in the tomb was a spiritual eclipse, deep and black. But His resurrection prepared the way for a reunion with His Bride; an event of such cosmic proportions that it is nothing short of the divine ordering of eternity. Christ is faithful, now and forever! Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Sixth Sunday After Pentecost
5 July, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Ephesians 5:31-32
2 Number 13:32-33
3 John 16:33
4 Matthew 10:28
5 John 10:28
Sixth Sunday After Pentecost (B) 2015 -Bookpurnong, Myrla
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Mark 6:1-6
Theme: Authoritative Teacher, Rejected Prophet
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
“There is nothing new under the sun.”1 So reflected Solomon in the wisdom of his maturity! “Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.”2 That does change the fact that the human psyche craves the appearance and the experience of something new. It is the way of humans. Our era of intense media marketing has just taken it to a new level. How many false representations have been made claiming to offer something new under the sun! The creative mind of God is the only true source of anything new.
One thing that is not new is the rejection that Christ faced today. Jesus got a cold reception from the hometown folks. The citizens of Jesus’ own hometown simply couldn’t come to terms with Him being the Messiah. Does that mean that no one from Nazareth was saved? Certainly not! We hear of the steadfastness of His family members later in the story. The same mindset is prevalent today: The expert usually comes from somewhere else. Familiarity breeds contempt. It is a contempt that is also born of jealously. He performed no miracles in Nazareth because of their lack of faith. They had place for the human Jesus, but not for the divine.
Dear friends, an age-old dogma is quickly regaining ascendancy in our society: The supremacy of self. We have little room for God. It’s nothing really new, but only the same old ego re-asserting and re-inventing itself. Natural law no longer underpins the full scope of shared values of our culture. Convictions held for generations about the limit of personal liberties and parameters of human relationships are quickly being eroded. Christians should expect this trend to continue. It’s human nature to push the boundaries of self-indulgence. Previous taboos and former restraints are quickly vanishing. The self-control St. Paul mentions as a fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 is hardly held up as a virtue.
We should be clear in understanding that human nature never fundamentally changes. Sin motivates the heart and governs the will until God intervenes. Every human from the time of conception is turned away from the will of the Almighty. We are bent on going our own way. The townspeople took offence at Jesus. They couldn’t bear the upshot of His teaching. No one can until the Holy Spirit softens the heart. People will show no faithfulness to Christ until they believe that they need rescue from the power of sin and death and He is the only one who can do it. The pureness and tenderness of His love means little to the person satiated with the affection of other things. The pretense of love is the deception of idolatry. It is the powerful draw of egocentricity. It is alluring, but hollow. It has serious consequences.
We rightly lament how many marriages today fail, the prevalence of domestic violence, situations of fear, intimidation, and hopelessness which characterize the lives of too many. The pressure is on all relationships; parent with child, child with parent, sibling with sibling, friend with friend, co-worker with co-worker. The Lord calls on us to love our enemies, yet we can sometimes barely love those who should be most dear to us. At the core is a crisis of identity; a complex contradiction about how any individual relates properly to another, and to God. Only Christ can resolve this deeply pervasive chaos of the heart. Only the forgiveness that He bestows- a forgiveness forged in the fire of the cross- can bear up under any assault humans can muster.
Forgiveness that is only a formality, a fine-sounding, but hollow religious concept will have little or no effect on relationships in desperate need of healing and fortification. The forgiveness of Christ, the One who suffered willingly, the One who bled publically, the One who surrendered openly is no imaginary reality. It’s not an abstract concept intended a grist for the mill of human ideas. It’s a divine benevolence that has the power to transform.
You are absolved when He says the word. Your slate is wiped clean. You are freed by the same power with which you were baptized. You are forgiven when you take His body and blood upon your lips in faith. His pardon is a present reality. It’s not an IOU. It’s not a pledge that becomes activated at some future date. It’s not dependent on any conditions still to be met. Faith receives the pure and complete mercy of Christ. He died and rose for you and that gives you the greatest certainty.
Certainty is one of the great blessings that flow from adherence to Christ’s truth. The conscience can only truly be at ease when it rests on the clear promises of God. Believers are free to engage in the discussions of secular society; in fact, they are encouraged to do so as salt, light, and leaven in the world. But we do so speaking the truth in love. We do so with the conviction and courage that the battle is not ours, but Christ’s
Think how many battles throughout history were surrendered prematurely because courage was lost! Think how many sporting contests were yielded, not because the opponent had greater skill, but because courage failed! Countless are the examples where even well-intentioned people lost hope because the obstacles appeared too great. The spies sent to survey the land of Cana returned saying, “All the people we saw there were of great size…We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”3
But the Lord of heaven and earth says, “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”4And He says even more emphatically, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”5 He says of His people, “I give then eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand.”6
Christ is the Good Shepherd. He is the faultless Bridegroom. He is beyond reproach. In His devotion to His Bride, the church, He utterly exhausted the full capacity of His love. It took from Him His last breath. Adam gave up a rib. Perhaps his was a restless sleep. His union with Eve completed the divine ordering of creation. Christ gave up an impeccable life. His rest in the tomb was a spiritual eclipse, deep and black. But His resurrection prepared the way for a reunion with His Bride, an event of such cosmic proportions that it is nothing short of the divine ordering of eternity.
Dear friends, God has always faced rejection and Christ knew exactly how to meet it; by marching headlong to the cross. God is unalterable and unchanging, and yet His love to us is continually new. “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning.”7 He continually renews us in His love. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Sixth Sunday After Pentecost
5 July, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Ecclesiastes 1:9
2 Ecclesiastes 3:15
3 Number 13:32-33
4 John 16:33
5 Matthew 10:28
6 John 10:28
7 Lamentations 3:22-23
Text: Mark 6:1-6
Theme: Authoritative Teacher, Rejected Prophet
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
“There is nothing new under the sun.”1 So reflected Solomon in the wisdom of his maturity! “Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.”2 That does change the fact that the human psyche craves the appearance and the experience of something new. It is the way of humans. Our era of intense media marketing has just taken it to a new level. How many false representations have been made claiming to offer something new under the sun! The creative mind of God is the only true source of anything new.
One thing that is not new is the rejection that Christ faced today. Jesus got a cold reception from the hometown folks. The citizens of Jesus’ own hometown simply couldn’t come to terms with Him being the Messiah. Does that mean that no one from Nazareth was saved? Certainly not! We hear of the steadfastness of His family members later in the story. The same mindset is prevalent today: The expert usually comes from somewhere else. Familiarity breeds contempt. It is a contempt that is also born of jealously. He performed no miracles in Nazareth because of their lack of faith. They had place for the human Jesus, but not for the divine.
Dear friends, an age-old dogma is quickly regaining ascendancy in our society: The supremacy of self. We have little room for God. It’s nothing really new, but only the same old ego re-asserting and re-inventing itself. Natural law no longer underpins the full scope of shared values of our culture. Convictions held for generations about the limit of personal liberties and parameters of human relationships are quickly being eroded. Christians should expect this trend to continue. It’s human nature to push the boundaries of self-indulgence. Previous taboos and former restraints are quickly vanishing. The self-control St. Paul mentions as a fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 is hardly held up as a virtue.
We should be clear in understanding that human nature never fundamentally changes. Sin motivates the heart and governs the will until God intervenes. Every human from the time of conception is turned away from the will of the Almighty. We are bent on going our own way. The townspeople took offence at Jesus. They couldn’t bear the upshot of His teaching. No one can until the Holy Spirit softens the heart. People will show no faithfulness to Christ until they believe that they need rescue from the power of sin and death and He is the only one who can do it. The pureness and tenderness of His love means little to the person satiated with the affection of other things. The pretense of love is the deception of idolatry. It is the powerful draw of egocentricity. It is alluring, but hollow. It has serious consequences.
We rightly lament how many marriages today fail, the prevalence of domestic violence, situations of fear, intimidation, and hopelessness which characterize the lives of too many. The pressure is on all relationships; parent with child, child with parent, sibling with sibling, friend with friend, co-worker with co-worker. The Lord calls on us to love our enemies, yet we can sometimes barely love those who should be most dear to us. At the core is a crisis of identity; a complex contradiction about how any individual relates properly to another, and to God. Only Christ can resolve this deeply pervasive chaos of the heart. Only the forgiveness that He bestows- a forgiveness forged in the fire of the cross- can bear up under any assault humans can muster.
Forgiveness that is only a formality, a fine-sounding, but hollow religious concept will have little or no effect on relationships in desperate need of healing and fortification. The forgiveness of Christ, the One who suffered willingly, the One who bled publically, the One who surrendered openly is no imaginary reality. It’s not an abstract concept intended a grist for the mill of human ideas. It’s a divine benevolence that has the power to transform.
You are absolved when He says the word. Your slate is wiped clean. You are freed by the same power with which you were baptized. You are forgiven when you take His body and blood upon your lips in faith. His pardon is a present reality. It’s not an IOU. It’s not a pledge that becomes activated at some future date. It’s not dependent on any conditions still to be met. Faith receives the pure and complete mercy of Christ. He died and rose for you and that gives you the greatest certainty.
Certainty is one of the great blessings that flow from adherence to Christ’s truth. The conscience can only truly be at ease when it rests on the clear promises of God. Believers are free to engage in the discussions of secular society; in fact, they are encouraged to do so as salt, light, and leaven in the world. But we do so speaking the truth in love. We do so with the conviction and courage that the battle is not ours, but Christ’s
Think how many battles throughout history were surrendered prematurely because courage was lost! Think how many sporting contests were yielded, not because the opponent had greater skill, but because courage failed! Countless are the examples where even well-intentioned people lost hope because the obstacles appeared too great. The spies sent to survey the land of Cana returned saying, “All the people we saw there were of great size…We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”3
But the Lord of heaven and earth says, “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”4And He says even more emphatically, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”5 He says of His people, “I give then eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand.”6
Christ is the Good Shepherd. He is the faultless Bridegroom. He is beyond reproach. In His devotion to His Bride, the church, He utterly exhausted the full capacity of His love. It took from Him His last breath. Adam gave up a rib. Perhaps his was a restless sleep. His union with Eve completed the divine ordering of creation. Christ gave up an impeccable life. His rest in the tomb was a spiritual eclipse, deep and black. But His resurrection prepared the way for a reunion with His Bride, an event of such cosmic proportions that it is nothing short of the divine ordering of eternity.
Dear friends, God has always faced rejection and Christ knew exactly how to meet it; by marching headlong to the cross. God is unalterable and unchanging, and yet His love to us is continually new. “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning.”7 He continually renews us in His love. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Sixth Sunday After Pentecost
5 July, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Ecclesiastes 1:9
2 Ecclesiastes 3:15
3 Number 13:32-33
4 John 16:33
5 Matthew 10:28
6 John 10:28
7 Lamentations 3:22-23
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Fifth Sunday After Pentecost (B) 2015
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Mark 5:21-43
Theme: Powerful, but not Showy
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Jesus was never showy. He was not gaudy. It’s a reality we shouldn’t lose sight of. He never summoned a crowd or emotionally manipulated one. He had many opportunities to do it. More than once He arranged for privacy before performing a miracle. Part of the reason may be practical. Without crowd control things can quickly get out of hand. Primarily though, He was motivated by humility which is the truest expression of His nature. You cannot be both authentically humble and ostentatious at the same time. “The son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”1
In today’s gospel Jesus had two opportunities to make a spectacle. Instead He showed grace and propriety. Two desperate people sought Him. One was a distressed member of society’s elite whose daughter was dying, the other a woman whom the physicians had no power to cure. Jesus was a magnet for the misplaced, displaced, the downtrodden and the desperate. Many sought Him in curiosity. But those who hungered for healing and thirsted for relief sought Him in faith. Jesus was gentle with the frail, corrective of the wayward, firm with the arrogant, patient with hapless; but He was dismissive of no one. He desired no one to remain in the darkness of unbelief.
Both Jairus and the woman with bleeding disregarded cultural expectations and made themselves vulnerable to Christ’s mercy. Neither was disappointed. At twelve years of age the daughter of Jairus was on the cusp of marriageable age for her culture. Christ’s resuscitation of her restored her not only to her family, but to society. The unnamed woman who was subject continual bleeding for 12 years was only made poor and worse by the doctors. Christ restored to the worshipping community and to society. She was no longer unclean. She was no longer a burden to society.
Dear friends, as we meditate on the on the compassion Christ displayed today the last thing we should do is think, “Thank goodness I’m not in need like those people were!” If you fancy yourself to be a pretty naturally pious person you’d better pause for a reality check. Every sickness, every anxiety, every doubt is a complication of sin. And none of us are immune. God’s holy law doesn’t permit a single transgression. One wayward thought, one false motive, one misstep and we are liable under the whole law. The corrupted nature we have from the moment of conception makes it impossible. The salty well doesn’t produce fresh water. The salt must be removed. We’re gathered here as sinners. If that were not the case the main purpose of being here would already be obsolete.
Desperation often drives decisive action. When caution is thrown foolishly to the wind the results can be disastrous. It’s wise to check for your parachute before jumping out of an airplane at 30,000 feet! Satan tried to convince Christ to throw Himself off the pinnacle of the temple relying on the angels to break His fall. Jesus responded, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”2 But the reckless testing of God is not the same as a leap of faith. The leap of faith, properly understood, involves relinquishing the tight control we like to have over our own affairs and leaving ourselves to the providence of God. God will not abandon us. He will not ignore us. He is not too impotent to help us.
We’re gathered here as sinners, but we are forgiven sinners; redeemed. The Bible has another word for it and the word is saints. A saint is a ‘holy one’. We are made holy through the Lamb’s blood. So we are also gathered here as saints. Paul addresses the Christians in Philippi as saints.”3He is not speaking to the deceased, nor is he talking to some class of superior-Christians. He is addressing the baptized (and through them, those who would be baptized). Yes, saints are full of fears, faults, and foibles. They often feel helpless, hapless, and hopeless. Saints are not morally blameless or superior; they rely solely on grace. They cherish the cross and rejoice in the empty tomb. Do we pity the woman who desperately sought Jesus, or do we identify with her? Does the anxious Jairus resonate with us?
In the body of Christ it’s not a matter of us and them. We all need and participate in the same blessings of God. Every time we walk by that font we should remember that God has redeemed us through that font (or one similar) and brought us into His family. In baptism God drowns our natural piety (which is nothing more than selfishness in disguise) along with the flagrant sins which open us to guilt and God’s condemnation, and He breathes new life into us through the Spirit. He seizes us from the darkness of Satan’s grasp. Every time we kneel at the communion rail we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes4. We confess by our reception of His body and blood that forgiveness and life are found in His sacrifice.
Through these gifts God makes us-spiritually poor souls- rich in His grace. It’s a generosity we have the privilege to mirror, as St. Paul speaks of today. It would be difficult to make a convincing argument that in the West the standard of living in regards to material things was higher 25 years ago, 50 years ago, or 100 years ago than it is today. People have more stuff than ever before and always seem to be looking for more. It doesn’t mean life is safer, more stable, or more meaningful; often less so. But it’s a measure of the things we value. Support for the proclamation of the gospel locally or for missionary activity overseas continues to decline in parallel with the decline of faith. Yet, in other parts of the world Christianity is flourishing and people are crying out for resources to teach them the faith. The generosity of God’s people cannot be driven by guilt or brow-beating. Such measures are not only short-lived, but counter-productive in the long run. “We love because He first loved us.”5
The raising of Jairus’ daughter points to Jesus’ own resurrection from the dead. Lazarus too, is yet to be raised. Christ is not a limited worker of signs and wonders pointing to someone or something greater. He is the Lord of life and death. In the person of Christ someone greater than Solomon had arrived. In the person of Christ something greater than the temple was present. The same Jesus lives and intercedes for you and me. The same Redeemer will come again in glory. Meanwhile, His presence is mostly made known through very ordinary-seeming acts of love. Of course, there’s nothing ordinary about the cross.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Fifth Sunday After Pentecost
28 June, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Mark 10:45
2 Matthew 4:7
3 See Philippians 1:1
4 See 1 Corinthians 11:26
5 1 John 4:19
Text: Mark 5:21-43
Theme: Powerful, but not Showy
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Jesus was never showy. He was not gaudy. It’s a reality we shouldn’t lose sight of. He never summoned a crowd or emotionally manipulated one. He had many opportunities to do it. More than once He arranged for privacy before performing a miracle. Part of the reason may be practical. Without crowd control things can quickly get out of hand. Primarily though, He was motivated by humility which is the truest expression of His nature. You cannot be both authentically humble and ostentatious at the same time. “The son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”1
In today’s gospel Jesus had two opportunities to make a spectacle. Instead He showed grace and propriety. Two desperate people sought Him. One was a distressed member of society’s elite whose daughter was dying, the other a woman whom the physicians had no power to cure. Jesus was a magnet for the misplaced, displaced, the downtrodden and the desperate. Many sought Him in curiosity. But those who hungered for healing and thirsted for relief sought Him in faith. Jesus was gentle with the frail, corrective of the wayward, firm with the arrogant, patient with hapless; but He was dismissive of no one. He desired no one to remain in the darkness of unbelief.
Both Jairus and the woman with bleeding disregarded cultural expectations and made themselves vulnerable to Christ’s mercy. Neither was disappointed. At twelve years of age the daughter of Jairus was on the cusp of marriageable age for her culture. Christ’s resuscitation of her restored her not only to her family, but to society. The unnamed woman who was subject continual bleeding for 12 years was only made poor and worse by the doctors. Christ restored to the worshipping community and to society. She was no longer unclean. She was no longer a burden to society.
Dear friends, as we meditate on the on the compassion Christ displayed today the last thing we should do is think, “Thank goodness I’m not in need like those people were!” If you fancy yourself to be a pretty naturally pious person you’d better pause for a reality check. Every sickness, every anxiety, every doubt is a complication of sin. And none of us are immune. God’s holy law doesn’t permit a single transgression. One wayward thought, one false motive, one misstep and we are liable under the whole law. The corrupted nature we have from the moment of conception makes it impossible. The salty well doesn’t produce fresh water. The salt must be removed. We’re gathered here as sinners. If that were not the case the main purpose of being here would already be obsolete.
Desperation often drives decisive action. When caution is thrown foolishly to the wind the results can be disastrous. It’s wise to check for your parachute before jumping out of an airplane at 30,000 feet! Satan tried to convince Christ to throw Himself off the pinnacle of the temple relying on the angels to break His fall. Jesus responded, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”2 But the reckless testing of God is not the same as a leap of faith. The leap of faith, properly understood, involves relinquishing the tight control we like to have over our own affairs and leaving ourselves to the providence of God. God will not abandon us. He will not ignore us. He is not too impotent to help us.
We’re gathered here as sinners, but we are forgiven sinners; redeemed. The Bible has another word for it and the word is saints. A saint is a ‘holy one’. We are made holy through the Lamb’s blood. So we are also gathered here as saints. Paul addresses the Christians in Philippi as saints.”3He is not speaking to the deceased, nor is he talking to some class of superior-Christians. He is addressing the baptized (and through them, those who would be baptized). Yes, saints are full of fears, faults, and foibles. They often feel helpless, hapless, and hopeless. Saints are not morally blameless or superior; they rely solely on grace. They cherish the cross and rejoice in the empty tomb. Do we pity the woman who desperately sought Jesus, or do we identify with her? Does the anxious Jairus resonate with us?
In the body of Christ it’s not a matter of us and them. We all need and participate in the same blessings of God. Every time we walk by that font we should remember that God has redeemed us through that font (or one similar) and brought us into His family. In baptism God drowns our natural piety (which is nothing more than selfishness in disguise) along with the flagrant sins which open us to guilt and God’s condemnation, and He breathes new life into us through the Spirit. He seizes us from the darkness of Satan’s grasp. Every time we kneel at the communion rail we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes4. We confess by our reception of His body and blood that forgiveness and life are found in His sacrifice.
Through these gifts God makes us-spiritually poor souls- rich in His grace. It’s a generosity we have the privilege to mirror, as St. Paul speaks of today. It would be difficult to make a convincing argument that in the West the standard of living in regards to material things was higher 25 years ago, 50 years ago, or 100 years ago than it is today. People have more stuff than ever before and always seem to be looking for more. It doesn’t mean life is safer, more stable, or more meaningful; often less so. But it’s a measure of the things we value. Support for the proclamation of the gospel locally or for missionary activity overseas continues to decline in parallel with the decline of faith. Yet, in other parts of the world Christianity is flourishing and people are crying out for resources to teach them the faith. The generosity of God’s people cannot be driven by guilt or brow-beating. Such measures are not only short-lived, but counter-productive in the long run. “We love because He first loved us.”5
The raising of Jairus’ daughter points to Jesus’ own resurrection from the dead. Lazarus too, is yet to be raised. Christ is not a limited worker of signs and wonders pointing to someone or something greater. He is the Lord of life and death. In the person of Christ someone greater than Solomon had arrived. In the person of Christ something greater than the temple was present. The same Jesus lives and intercedes for you and me. The same Redeemer will come again in glory. Meanwhile, His presence is mostly made known through very ordinary-seeming acts of love. Of course, there’s nothing ordinary about the cross.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Fifth Sunday After Pentecost
28 June, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Mark 10:45
2 Matthew 4:7
3 See Philippians 1:1
4 See 1 Corinthians 11:26
5 1 John 4:19
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Fourth Sunday After Pentecost (B) 2015
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Mark 4:41
Theme: “Who Is This?”
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Jesus was sleeping. The common connection most immediately made with a slumbering Jesus recalls the charm of His infancy… “The little Lord Jesus, asleep on the hay.”1 But this Jesus was a grown man. Aside from relaying to us the plain details of the account, the fact that Jesus was sleeping reminds us of His humanity. Jesus Christ did not have the appearance of a man only. He experienced fatigue. He became hungry. He thirsted. He was tempted. He endured afflictions common to humanity. Your Saviour is not the Son of God in human façade. He is the Child of the Virgin and the new Adam.
Jesus had had a long day teaching the crowds. The disciples were sea-faring men. This was an opportunity for Jesus to rest. But soon trouble arose. The Sea of Galilee is infamous for sudden squalls that put sailors, crew, and passengers at risk. Few things are more terrifying than being at the mercy of a perilous sea. The boat was soon taking on water and was becoming swamped. The panicked disciples quickly woke Jesus, questioning His apparent indifference at the hazard which had engulfed them. Their faith was anemic and forgetful. They would soon be admonished.
Oh, dear friends, how closely- if we are honest- can we relate to the disciples on the turbulent sea! Our faith too, is so easily afflicted with amnesia. Long before a single hair on our head has been singed worry overcomes us. We forget that the ever-present and always watchful Lord attends us. We seek to rouse Him from His slumber. We raise accusations of apathy. We claim a reversal of the order of Gethsemane where the disciples could not keep their eyelids open to watch with Jesus for a single hour. How close we are to the unbelievers the Psalmist speaks of who said, “The Lord does not see; the God of Jacob pays no heed.”2 In such moments of doubt we learn something about ourselves as sinners.
Before the disciples are chastised the architect of the universe speaks. He rebukes the wind and the waves and the Scripture says there was a great calm. The contrast with the storm was astonishing. Chaos was quenched. His command over the forces of nature evokes stunned fear from the disciples. Mere words cannot relate what that ragged band of fishermen experienced. But the Holy Spirit uses such words to further the cause of faith. The great question seized them: “Who is this Man?” Is it safe to be to near to Him? Is it wise to be too far from Him? They were stricken with awe.
Turbulent water usually has biblical associations with demonic and uncontrollable power. Moving water is an immense and unmanageable force. But today the disciples witness the Master of the elements. Miracles are evidence of Jesus’ divinity. A God who is incapable of miracles is a God who is not omnipotent and is really no God at all. God is not a projection of collective human consciousness. He is not a fabricated image of knowledge and holiness. He is not the motionless backdrop for the stage on which human history is played out. He cannot be domesticated. He is living, dynamic, and powerful. He intervenes. He initiates, orchestrates, administrates, and terminates. He is the giver of life and punisher in death. The miraculous involves transgressing the laws of nature. But these are the laws which He created.
Jesus’ opportunity to rest was cut short. As soon as He stepped off the boat on the other side of the lake He was greeted by a man oppressed by evil spirits. So numerous was the cadre of demons they were called Legion. When Jesus sent them into a heard of pigs that ran off a steep bank and were drown in the lake, it caused a great commotion among the people of the town. When they came to investigate they found the formerly possessed man sitting calmly; in his right mind. The One who had calmed the wind and the waves also silenced the demons. Their reaction to this great stillness was these same as that of the disciples; fear.
Godly fear is a component of faith that leads to repentance. It consists of reverence, respect, and awe. Carnal fear involves the terror of unbelief and avoids contact with the Almighty. Of course, we know that God can only be avoided at the risk of great peril. Departure from the will of God eventually has very tangible consequences. The Ten Commandments were carved in stone. Christ re-iterated the moral code of love, confirming its permanence. True love has boundaries. These boundaries serve the well-being of others. God’s laws protect people and property from exploitation and abuse. Sexual relationships that deviate from God’s design are, by definition, harmful to individuals and society. In our current social climate Christians need the confidence of knowing God’s truth does not change and our consciences can be at peace as we remain faithful to Him.
Dear friends, every relationship a Christian is involved in is governed by the unconditional love of Christ. Human relationships do not determine our relationship with God. God defines the relationships we have with others. Your baptism is of more importance than your image in society. Your place in Christ’s holy church is of greater value than the assessment of your peers. Your concern for peoples’ souls is driven by your own identity in Christ. Who is the Commander of the wind and sea? He is Light, Love, and Life.
Evil never sleeps until Christ puts it to rest. He silences the loudest shouts of Satan. Christ silences the stinging accusations of guilt that agitate our consciences. He calms the tempestuous heart being tossed to and fro on the sea of human opinion. He puts to rest all anxiety that is faced in this mortal life. He promises calm to His people who dwell in a restless and chaotic world. He provides peace for those wearied by the daily battle with sin.
The God who controls the wind and waves is the same Redeemer who endured cross and shame. The greatest display of His power is revealed in His immeasurable mercy. He sacrificed His very life that we might live. The cross became the Creators throne; the cold, dark tomb His royal bed. His sleep of death was short but revolutionary. The resurrection validated His victory. The biblical witness assures you that your darkest fears and deepest desires are not beyond His capacity to understand or resolve. In Christ there is always hope. The scripture says, “Hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.”3 “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”4 The storms of life cannot pull loose the anchor of God’s love.
Jesus no longer sleeps. His exalted humanity shares so completely the divine nature He possesses the ceaseless vibrancy of life. He intercedes tirelessly for our good. He prepares a place for us; a refuge eternally secure from any tempest. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Fourth Sunday After Pentecost
21 June, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Lutheran Hymnal, #634
2 Psalm 94:7
3 Romans 5:5
4 Hebrews 6:19
Text: Mark 4:41
Theme: “Who Is This?”
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Jesus was sleeping. The common connection most immediately made with a slumbering Jesus recalls the charm of His infancy… “The little Lord Jesus, asleep on the hay.”1 But this Jesus was a grown man. Aside from relaying to us the plain details of the account, the fact that Jesus was sleeping reminds us of His humanity. Jesus Christ did not have the appearance of a man only. He experienced fatigue. He became hungry. He thirsted. He was tempted. He endured afflictions common to humanity. Your Saviour is not the Son of God in human façade. He is the Child of the Virgin and the new Adam.
Jesus had had a long day teaching the crowds. The disciples were sea-faring men. This was an opportunity for Jesus to rest. But soon trouble arose. The Sea of Galilee is infamous for sudden squalls that put sailors, crew, and passengers at risk. Few things are more terrifying than being at the mercy of a perilous sea. The boat was soon taking on water and was becoming swamped. The panicked disciples quickly woke Jesus, questioning His apparent indifference at the hazard which had engulfed them. Their faith was anemic and forgetful. They would soon be admonished.
Oh, dear friends, how closely- if we are honest- can we relate to the disciples on the turbulent sea! Our faith too, is so easily afflicted with amnesia. Long before a single hair on our head has been singed worry overcomes us. We forget that the ever-present and always watchful Lord attends us. We seek to rouse Him from His slumber. We raise accusations of apathy. We claim a reversal of the order of Gethsemane where the disciples could not keep their eyelids open to watch with Jesus for a single hour. How close we are to the unbelievers the Psalmist speaks of who said, “The Lord does not see; the God of Jacob pays no heed.”2 In such moments of doubt we learn something about ourselves as sinners.
Before the disciples are chastised the architect of the universe speaks. He rebukes the wind and the waves and the Scripture says there was a great calm. The contrast with the storm was astonishing. Chaos was quenched. His command over the forces of nature evokes stunned fear from the disciples. Mere words cannot relate what that ragged band of fishermen experienced. But the Holy Spirit uses such words to further the cause of faith. The great question seized them: “Who is this Man?” Is it safe to be to near to Him? Is it wise to be too far from Him? They were stricken with awe.
Turbulent water usually has biblical associations with demonic and uncontrollable power. Moving water is an immense and unmanageable force. But today the disciples witness the Master of the elements. Miracles are evidence of Jesus’ divinity. A God who is incapable of miracles is a God who is not omnipotent and is really no God at all. God is not a projection of collective human consciousness. He is not a fabricated image of knowledge and holiness. He is not the motionless backdrop for the stage on which human history is played out. He cannot be domesticated. He is living, dynamic, and powerful. He intervenes. He initiates, orchestrates, administrates, and terminates. He is the giver of life and punisher in death. The miraculous involves transgressing the laws of nature. But these are the laws which He created.
Jesus’ opportunity to rest was cut short. As soon as He stepped off the boat on the other side of the lake He was greeted by a man oppressed by evil spirits. So numerous was the cadre of demons they were called Legion. When Jesus sent them into a heard of pigs that ran off a steep bank and were drown in the lake, it caused a great commotion among the people of the town. When they came to investigate they found the formerly possessed man sitting calmly; in his right mind. The One who had calmed the wind and the waves also silenced the demons. Their reaction to this great stillness was these same as that of the disciples; fear.
Godly fear is a component of faith that leads to repentance. It consists of reverence, respect, and awe. Carnal fear involves the terror of unbelief and avoids contact with the Almighty. Of course, we know that God can only be avoided at the risk of great peril. Departure from the will of God eventually has very tangible consequences. The Ten Commandments were carved in stone. Christ re-iterated the moral code of love, confirming its permanence. True love has boundaries. These boundaries serve the well-being of others. God’s laws protect people and property from exploitation and abuse. Sexual relationships that deviate from God’s design are, by definition, harmful to individuals and society. In our current social climate Christians need the confidence of knowing God’s truth does not change and our consciences can be at peace as we remain faithful to Him.
Dear friends, every relationship a Christian is involved in is governed by the unconditional love of Christ. Human relationships do not determine our relationship with God. God defines the relationships we have with others. Your baptism is of more importance than your image in society. Your place in Christ’s holy church is of greater value than the assessment of your peers. Your concern for peoples’ souls is driven by your own identity in Christ. Who is the Commander of the wind and sea? He is Light, Love, and Life.
Evil never sleeps until Christ puts it to rest. He silences the loudest shouts of Satan. Christ silences the stinging accusations of guilt that agitate our consciences. He calms the tempestuous heart being tossed to and fro on the sea of human opinion. He puts to rest all anxiety that is faced in this mortal life. He promises calm to His people who dwell in a restless and chaotic world. He provides peace for those wearied by the daily battle with sin.
The God who controls the wind and waves is the same Redeemer who endured cross and shame. The greatest display of His power is revealed in His immeasurable mercy. He sacrificed His very life that we might live. The cross became the Creators throne; the cold, dark tomb His royal bed. His sleep of death was short but revolutionary. The resurrection validated His victory. The biblical witness assures you that your darkest fears and deepest desires are not beyond His capacity to understand or resolve. In Christ there is always hope. The scripture says, “Hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.”3 “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”4 The storms of life cannot pull loose the anchor of God’s love.
Jesus no longer sleeps. His exalted humanity shares so completely the divine nature He possesses the ceaseless vibrancy of life. He intercedes tirelessly for our good. He prepares a place for us; a refuge eternally secure from any tempest. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Fourth Sunday After Pentecost
21 June, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Lutheran Hymnal, #634
2 Psalm 94:7
3 Romans 5:5
4 Hebrews 6:19
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Third Sunday After Pentecost (B) 2015
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Mark 4:26-34
Theme: Unreasonable Love
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
God never merely says things; He does things. Human words are often vain, weak, false, and ineffectual. God’s word is always purposeful, powerful, truthful and effective. The Lord says, “So is My word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”1 But this power and activity is often not observable to the human eye. The eye blinded by sin cannot discern the activity of God. Nevertheless, in the person of Christ, through the cross and empty tomb, God brings the chaotic and rebellious world under His control. This cannot be empirically proven to you. It is an article of faith. Faith clings firmly to that which is not only unobservable, but often unreasonable.
What could be more unreasonable than this claim of Scripture about Jesus? “Having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”2 What evidence can we find of this? Yet this is the heart of the gospel message of redemption. Here all is secured, or all is lost. Christ has disarmed all the powers of sin. That reality; understood now by faith- and in heaven in its fullness- affects each and every facet of your life. You can live life with purpose. You can confess your sins with humility. You can help others with patience. You can endure illness with confidence. You can even face death without fear. Unbelievers cannot relate to this “peace that passes all understanding.”3 It is hidden from their eyes.
Dear friends, there are grand and glorious things going on on a universal scale which are way beyond our control, but also of which God has made us part. The work of Christ is so paradoxical we cannot but receive it by faith. In today’s gospel, Jesus employs parables about agriculture. They depict the work of God on a grand scale. We are part of it, but we do not have the bird’s eye view. You cannot see the expanse of the forest when you are in amongst the trees. Parables address such conundrums. Jesus’ spoke many parables and a general word about them is worth mentioning.
Parables are not quaint, pithy tales intended to capture the imagination to the end that the hearer may merely ponder them from a comfortable, detached perspective. Parables, like the word of God in general, always have the purpose and power of transforming those who hear. They are never about trivial things, but always about divine truths of great magnitude. Parables are about Christ and sinners, heaven and hell, justice and mercy, truth and falsehood, life and death. They are about the mystery of the incarnate Christ and His redemption of a fallen world. Any claim that parables are simple stories for the simple-minded or unlearned, widely misses Jesus’ own description, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to the others I speak in parables, so that ‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’”4 The person and work of Christ are so contrary to human reason and sensibility, they are in and of themselves mysteries. But God is not aloof from us. Parables describe the paradox of such mysteries.
So what about today’s parables? Jesus’ describes the sowing and growing of the seed. Where do you fit in? You are one whose faith has germinated from God’s word. You are redeemed by Christ’s blood, saved by His grace, baptized into His name, sealed for His inheritance. You have His Spirit. You are living and growing in the field, the world, in which Satan also is cultivating His evil ones. The weeds will grow with the wheat, but at the harvest everything is sorted out.
No one will escape the harvesters. St. Paul teaches the same thing today in plain language. He says, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”5 How can sinners face the judgment? Good intentions will not save us. Ignorance is no defence. Negotiation will be fruitless. Denial will get us nowhere. When Franklin Roosevelt said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,”6 he was not denying the righteous judgment of Almighty God against sin. Many today, though, act as if facing their mortality was inconsequential.
It is exactly this end-time harvest, which drives the mission of the church. This mission is the church’s very life. We believe that we are only pilgrims here. We have concern for peoples’ souls. The faithful are sustained by His word and Spirit and body and blood until the final gathering into His barn. The harvest is increased by the same word and Spirit working mysteriously, but powerfully and reliably until the end of the age. The entire world is a field. We may be in just one small corner. We may feel like our part is insignificant. Yet we are called to faithfulness. We have great privileges. We can love because He first loved us.
Parables remind us that the thinking of God is often counter-intuitive to human thinking. This cannot be more supremely illustrated than in the central teaching of Christianity. God, out of sheer grace, has looked upon detestable sinners and granted them forgiveness, pardon, and peace. It is completely incomprehensible from a human standpoint why someone would sacrifice everything, even their own life, in order to benefit sworn enemies. Yet, that is exactly what Christ has done for us. The Scripture says, “When we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son.”7
The grace of God in Christ is the greatest of all paradoxes; the holy Son of God is convicted so that sinful human beings may be acquitted. Divine love involves the willingness and ability to give up absolutely everything and expect nothing else in return. Again, the Scriptures, “Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing….He humbled Himself and became obedient to death- even death on a cross.”8 He was laid in the grave but death could not hold Him. It won’t be able to hold you either. We are born of imperishable seed and have His incorruptible life. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Third Sunday After Pentecost
14 June, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Isaiah 55:11
2 Colossians 2:15
3 See Philippians 4:7
4 Luke 8:10
52 Corinthians 5:10
6Presidential Inaugural Address, 1932
7Romans 5:10
8Philippians 2:6-8
Text: Mark 4:26-34
Theme: Unreasonable Love
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
God never merely says things; He does things. Human words are often vain, weak, false, and ineffectual. God’s word is always purposeful, powerful, truthful and effective. The Lord says, “So is My word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”1 But this power and activity is often not observable to the human eye. The eye blinded by sin cannot discern the activity of God. Nevertheless, in the person of Christ, through the cross and empty tomb, God brings the chaotic and rebellious world under His control. This cannot be empirically proven to you. It is an article of faith. Faith clings firmly to that which is not only unobservable, but often unreasonable.
What could be more unreasonable than this claim of Scripture about Jesus? “Having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”2 What evidence can we find of this? Yet this is the heart of the gospel message of redemption. Here all is secured, or all is lost. Christ has disarmed all the powers of sin. That reality; understood now by faith- and in heaven in its fullness- affects each and every facet of your life. You can live life with purpose. You can confess your sins with humility. You can help others with patience. You can endure illness with confidence. You can even face death without fear. Unbelievers cannot relate to this “peace that passes all understanding.”3 It is hidden from their eyes.
Dear friends, there are grand and glorious things going on on a universal scale which are way beyond our control, but also of which God has made us part. The work of Christ is so paradoxical we cannot but receive it by faith. In today’s gospel, Jesus employs parables about agriculture. They depict the work of God on a grand scale. We are part of it, but we do not have the bird’s eye view. You cannot see the expanse of the forest when you are in amongst the trees. Parables address such conundrums. Jesus’ spoke many parables and a general word about them is worth mentioning.
Parables are not quaint, pithy tales intended to capture the imagination to the end that the hearer may merely ponder them from a comfortable, detached perspective. Parables, like the word of God in general, always have the purpose and power of transforming those who hear. They are never about trivial things, but always about divine truths of great magnitude. Parables are about Christ and sinners, heaven and hell, justice and mercy, truth and falsehood, life and death. They are about the mystery of the incarnate Christ and His redemption of a fallen world. Any claim that parables are simple stories for the simple-minded or unlearned, widely misses Jesus’ own description, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to the others I speak in parables, so that ‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’”4 The person and work of Christ are so contrary to human reason and sensibility, they are in and of themselves mysteries. But God is not aloof from us. Parables describe the paradox of such mysteries.
So what about today’s parables? Jesus’ describes the sowing and growing of the seed. Where do you fit in? You are one whose faith has germinated from God’s word. You are redeemed by Christ’s blood, saved by His grace, baptized into His name, sealed for His inheritance. You have His Spirit. You are living and growing in the field, the world, in which Satan also is cultivating His evil ones. The weeds will grow with the wheat, but at the harvest everything is sorted out.
No one will escape the harvesters. St. Paul teaches the same thing today in plain language. He says, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”5 How can sinners face the judgment? Good intentions will not save us. Ignorance is no defence. Negotiation will be fruitless. Denial will get us nowhere. When Franklin Roosevelt said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,”6 he was not denying the righteous judgment of Almighty God against sin. Many today, though, act as if facing their mortality was inconsequential.
It is exactly this end-time harvest, which drives the mission of the church. This mission is the church’s very life. We believe that we are only pilgrims here. We have concern for peoples’ souls. The faithful are sustained by His word and Spirit and body and blood until the final gathering into His barn. The harvest is increased by the same word and Spirit working mysteriously, but powerfully and reliably until the end of the age. The entire world is a field. We may be in just one small corner. We may feel like our part is insignificant. Yet we are called to faithfulness. We have great privileges. We can love because He first loved us.
Parables remind us that the thinking of God is often counter-intuitive to human thinking. This cannot be more supremely illustrated than in the central teaching of Christianity. God, out of sheer grace, has looked upon detestable sinners and granted them forgiveness, pardon, and peace. It is completely incomprehensible from a human standpoint why someone would sacrifice everything, even their own life, in order to benefit sworn enemies. Yet, that is exactly what Christ has done for us. The Scripture says, “When we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son.”7
The grace of God in Christ is the greatest of all paradoxes; the holy Son of God is convicted so that sinful human beings may be acquitted. Divine love involves the willingness and ability to give up absolutely everything and expect nothing else in return. Again, the Scriptures, “Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing….He humbled Himself and became obedient to death- even death on a cross.”8 He was laid in the grave but death could not hold Him. It won’t be able to hold you either. We are born of imperishable seed and have His incorruptible life. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Third Sunday After Pentecost
14 June, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Isaiah 55:11
2 Colossians 2:15
3 See Philippians 4:7
4 Luke 8:10
52 Corinthians 5:10
6Presidential Inaugural Address, 1932
7Romans 5:10
8Philippians 2:6-8
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Second Sunday After Pentecost (B) 2015
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Mark 3:27
Theme: Master of Satan
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Christ, our Lord, tells us that the gates of hell will not prevail against His kingdom1. The assumptions that lie behind His words are not to be taken lightly. Christ offers this reassurance in the face of the formidable power of evil. Satan is a serious foe. Sin and death are brutal enemies. They don’t entertain the idea of negotiation and they take no prisoners. Christ has come to us as the resurrection and the life2 and victor over sin, death, and Satan. What are we to make, then, of today’s accusation that Jesus was in league with Satan?
To ears that have been thoroughly accustomed to hearing reverent things spoken about the name of Christ, these demonizing claims may seem audacious. Beelzebul refers to Baal-zebul3, meaning ‘Baal is prince.’ Baal was the name of one of the most prominent idols in ancient Canaanite religion. Baal was called upon for a wide range of fortune-telling and occult activities and was regularly sacrificed to. The history of Baal worship was long and is well-documented. The Jews are here accusing Jesus of being possessed by the spirit of idolatry and working in alliance with Satan Himself.
But if Jesus is casting out demons and freeing people from bondage to his ways how can He be in allegiance with Satan? The devil would then be undermining his own efforts. Such a suggestion does not follow sound logic. In reality, Christ is in the process of dismantling Satan’s scheme of domination. Jesus describes Himself as the stronger man who has now breached the devil’s security and is plundering his house. He then proceeds to label this claim as blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Christ works by the Spirit of God and to demonize Him is to equate the spiritual works and goals of Satan with those of the Messiah. This is a grievous sin. Jesus calls it an eternal sin which is not forgiven.4
It’s been said that if you are worried about committing the unforgivable sin, then you haven’t actually committed it; because if you had you would have no interest in the question. The deceitful nature of the human heart should cause us to pause before attempting to simplify the matter too much. We always like a guise for our desire to go on sinning. These words of Christ are forthright and the context shows no evidence of exaggeration. When the Holy Spirit and His means are continually, steadfastly, and willfully rejected the opportunity for the forgiveness of sins is obstructed. We have absolutely no assurance that the Holy Spirit will circumvent His appointed means. If baptism is rejected, Holy Communion is despised, and the hearing of God’s word abandoned, faith has no avenues to be sustained and the soul is in grave danger.
Undoubtedly that’s why Jesus singles it out as being so ominous. It’s notable that at this point in Jesus’ life His own family thought He was out of His mind.5 They came to take Him home, presumably to protect Him and their own reputations. Jesus essentially ignores them emphasizing the doing of God’s will. The world will always have an agenda. Its agenda will always be driven by the desire for self-promotion and self-indulgence. It entails the quest for power, money, popularity, prosperity and security.
Pursuit of the agenda involves practices of dishonesty and inequality. The agenda is based on human measures of value. The principles which allow this agenda to be pursued may in some measure agree with God’s will. A certain order and stability is needed in society to allow safe pursuit of goals. Both God and the secular government want a level of peace and order in society. But the unbelieving world will only promote the acquisition of things that are self-serving. The church always maintains a critique of the world’s agenda in some measure. Otherwise, we would be in denial that we live in a sinful world.
When the church capitulates fully to the agenda of the society at large, then it ceases not only to offer constructive criticism, but fails to transform people by catechizing them in the truth of Holy Scripture. Eternal salvation is ultimately at stake. The church must be steadfast in its proclamation of God’s revelation in Jesus Christ regardless of its popularity or results. The Word of God transforms without the aid of human embellishment or the deterrent of human corruption. The church’s call is to integrity and diligence. Because the world’s agenda is relentless and continues to push until checked by God’s judgment, we can, as Christians, have no misgivings about our task. Those segments of Christianity which condone or promote unbiblical agendas such as those of evolution, homosexuality, abortion and other things contrary to the word of God, have forsaken their mission to be salt and light in the world. They cannot in the same breath claim to serve the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In human terms, we may be very lonely, yes, even harassed and mocked when taking our stand on the truth. We may feel increasingly isolated from the ideals and pursuits of society. It’s a reality we had better get used to. Trends are pointing to an intensifying intolerance of the convictions of the Christian faith. The perception that Christianity- despite particular convictions distasteful to the post-modern mind- is generally a positive influence on society is no longer widely held.
But we have the assurance with which Paul speaks of, “Am I trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”6 Only God’s opinion ultimately matters. And as Christian fathers and mothers, bosses and employees, grandchildren and retires, as trusted friends, we have a great accountability regarding the integrity of our faith. Our Christian faith is never a purely private affair. We may influence countless people by never uttering a word. The Bible says, “You are the salt of the earth.”7 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.”8
The Christian, who speaks and lives the truth, speaks with the greatest authority and has an incalculable influence. This is so because the Christian speaks and lives with the authority of Christ. We should always stand in awe of and never underestimate that power. Precisely because we understand that power is not our own, it gives rise not to arrogance but humility within us. Those who have been granted the greatest authority are in need of exercising the greatest humility. In proportion to one’s power and influence must be the diligence to avoid abusing that power. A leader is not a greater sinner than the common person when he or she falls- only likely to affect many more people. A Christian is a frail vessel carrying a great authority. We are the temples of the Holy Spirit.
We may sense a growing coldness from the world. But the apostle reminds us of the holy companionship we have. “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.”9 The world always has an alluring call. But we know the Master’s voice. “My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand.”10Jesus Christ has plundered Satan’s house. His death and resurrection have robbed the devil of His power. He has been bound by the cross. He has been put on notice. He knows his time is short. The same death and resurrection are the power by which you live. You are His baptized. You are His chosen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Second Sunday After Pentecost
7 June, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 See Matthew 16:18 2 See John 11:25
3 See 2 Kings 1:2 4 See Mark 3:29
5 See Mark 3:21 6 Galatians 1:10
7 Matthew 5:13 8Matthew 5:14
91 John 1:3 10John 10:27-28
Text: Mark 3:27
Theme: Master of Satan
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Christ, our Lord, tells us that the gates of hell will not prevail against His kingdom1. The assumptions that lie behind His words are not to be taken lightly. Christ offers this reassurance in the face of the formidable power of evil. Satan is a serious foe. Sin and death are brutal enemies. They don’t entertain the idea of negotiation and they take no prisoners. Christ has come to us as the resurrection and the life2 and victor over sin, death, and Satan. What are we to make, then, of today’s accusation that Jesus was in league with Satan?
To ears that have been thoroughly accustomed to hearing reverent things spoken about the name of Christ, these demonizing claims may seem audacious. Beelzebul refers to Baal-zebul3, meaning ‘Baal is prince.’ Baal was the name of one of the most prominent idols in ancient Canaanite religion. Baal was called upon for a wide range of fortune-telling and occult activities and was regularly sacrificed to. The history of Baal worship was long and is well-documented. The Jews are here accusing Jesus of being possessed by the spirit of idolatry and working in alliance with Satan Himself.
But if Jesus is casting out demons and freeing people from bondage to his ways how can He be in allegiance with Satan? The devil would then be undermining his own efforts. Such a suggestion does not follow sound logic. In reality, Christ is in the process of dismantling Satan’s scheme of domination. Jesus describes Himself as the stronger man who has now breached the devil’s security and is plundering his house. He then proceeds to label this claim as blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Christ works by the Spirit of God and to demonize Him is to equate the spiritual works and goals of Satan with those of the Messiah. This is a grievous sin. Jesus calls it an eternal sin which is not forgiven.4
It’s been said that if you are worried about committing the unforgivable sin, then you haven’t actually committed it; because if you had you would have no interest in the question. The deceitful nature of the human heart should cause us to pause before attempting to simplify the matter too much. We always like a guise for our desire to go on sinning. These words of Christ are forthright and the context shows no evidence of exaggeration. When the Holy Spirit and His means are continually, steadfastly, and willfully rejected the opportunity for the forgiveness of sins is obstructed. We have absolutely no assurance that the Holy Spirit will circumvent His appointed means. If baptism is rejected, Holy Communion is despised, and the hearing of God’s word abandoned, faith has no avenues to be sustained and the soul is in grave danger.
Undoubtedly that’s why Jesus singles it out as being so ominous. It’s notable that at this point in Jesus’ life His own family thought He was out of His mind.5 They came to take Him home, presumably to protect Him and their own reputations. Jesus essentially ignores them emphasizing the doing of God’s will. The world will always have an agenda. Its agenda will always be driven by the desire for self-promotion and self-indulgence. It entails the quest for power, money, popularity, prosperity and security.
Pursuit of the agenda involves practices of dishonesty and inequality. The agenda is based on human measures of value. The principles which allow this agenda to be pursued may in some measure agree with God’s will. A certain order and stability is needed in society to allow safe pursuit of goals. Both God and the secular government want a level of peace and order in society. But the unbelieving world will only promote the acquisition of things that are self-serving. The church always maintains a critique of the world’s agenda in some measure. Otherwise, we would be in denial that we live in a sinful world.
When the church capitulates fully to the agenda of the society at large, then it ceases not only to offer constructive criticism, but fails to transform people by catechizing them in the truth of Holy Scripture. Eternal salvation is ultimately at stake. The church must be steadfast in its proclamation of God’s revelation in Jesus Christ regardless of its popularity or results. The Word of God transforms without the aid of human embellishment or the deterrent of human corruption. The church’s call is to integrity and diligence. Because the world’s agenda is relentless and continues to push until checked by God’s judgment, we can, as Christians, have no misgivings about our task. Those segments of Christianity which condone or promote unbiblical agendas such as those of evolution, homosexuality, abortion and other things contrary to the word of God, have forsaken their mission to be salt and light in the world. They cannot in the same breath claim to serve the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In human terms, we may be very lonely, yes, even harassed and mocked when taking our stand on the truth. We may feel increasingly isolated from the ideals and pursuits of society. It’s a reality we had better get used to. Trends are pointing to an intensifying intolerance of the convictions of the Christian faith. The perception that Christianity- despite particular convictions distasteful to the post-modern mind- is generally a positive influence on society is no longer widely held.
But we have the assurance with which Paul speaks of, “Am I trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”6 Only God’s opinion ultimately matters. And as Christian fathers and mothers, bosses and employees, grandchildren and retires, as trusted friends, we have a great accountability regarding the integrity of our faith. Our Christian faith is never a purely private affair. We may influence countless people by never uttering a word. The Bible says, “You are the salt of the earth.”7 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.”8
The Christian, who speaks and lives the truth, speaks with the greatest authority and has an incalculable influence. This is so because the Christian speaks and lives with the authority of Christ. We should always stand in awe of and never underestimate that power. Precisely because we understand that power is not our own, it gives rise not to arrogance but humility within us. Those who have been granted the greatest authority are in need of exercising the greatest humility. In proportion to one’s power and influence must be the diligence to avoid abusing that power. A leader is not a greater sinner than the common person when he or she falls- only likely to affect many more people. A Christian is a frail vessel carrying a great authority. We are the temples of the Holy Spirit.
We may sense a growing coldness from the world. But the apostle reminds us of the holy companionship we have. “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.”9 The world always has an alluring call. But we know the Master’s voice. “My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand.”10Jesus Christ has plundered Satan’s house. His death and resurrection have robbed the devil of His power. He has been bound by the cross. He has been put on notice. He knows his time is short. The same death and resurrection are the power by which you live. You are His baptized. You are His chosen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Second Sunday After Pentecost
7 June, 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 See Matthew 16:18 2 See John 11:25
3 See 2 Kings 1:2 4 See Mark 3:29
5 See Mark 3:21 6 Galatians 1:10
7 Matthew 5:13 8Matthew 5:14
91 John 1:3 10John 10:27-28
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