Harvest Festival (11.27.2013)
St Luke 12:13-21/2 Corinthians 9:6-15/Deuteronomy 26:1-11
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.

Thanksgiving is the exhaling of the Body of Christ in joyful praise for all that the Father has done for us in and through Jesus Christ, His Son our Lord.  The words and exchange of the Divine Liturgy come trumpeting forth:

Pastor: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is meet and right so to do.
Pastor: It is truly meet, right, and salutary, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to You, holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Thus do we confess that thanksgiving to God is not to be the activity of only one day a year, but it is to fill every day and every moment of our lives, everywhere.  There is never a time, never a place, where thanksgiving is inappropriate or out of order.  Rather it is always inappropriate and our of order not to be thanking God.  This is the emphasis of St Peter, who says, As you come to Him, a living Stone rejected by men in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Pt 2:4-5).  

This is the purpose of the Divine Liturgy of the Holy Church.  Christ, your Cornerstone, is here to serve you.  He is bringing you into a good land.  For He came to find you and met you in a foreign land, on the outskirts, separated from Him and from others.  Sinful and unclean, you have been subject to death and to every sickness and sorrow of heart and mind, body and soul.  You could not cleanse or heal yourself, nor can you feed and clothe and shelter yourself.  It is the Lord your God who gives you all that you need to support this body and life.  

He defends you against all danger, guards and protects you from all evil.  All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in you.  For all this it is your duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.  

He has come to provide you with all good things, and above all, to raise you up and bring you in and with Himself into the good land He has promised, a place of perfect peace and rest; the home where righteousness abides; to the heavenly and holy city, New Jerusalem, and into the Temple made without hands, eternal in the heavens; into the very holy of holies, the inner sanctum of the Blessed Holy Trinity.  

Here His meal of thanksgiving, the in-gathering of His harvest, which is the Sacrament of the Altar, His Holy Eucharist, is given for your healing in soul and body.  He satisfies your mouth with good things - not only with the bread of the earth, but with the Living Bread from heaven.  For Christ is the Seed who was buried in the tomb of a certain rich man.  He was cast into the earth, dead and buried, producing a limitless harvest of the finest wheat - the Bread of Life of which one may eat and live forever.  From and through Christ your cup of blessing overflows; you are forgiven twice over.  For it is written, You have received from the Lord’s hand double for all your sins.  

Thus you are not autonomous, existing only unto yourself.  He who showers His grace down upon you wills that His mercy received in heart and mind be extended to your neighbor in hand and help.  His Eucharist flows downward and outward from His Cross and Passion, through His Paten and Chalice to you.  It does not stop there, but continues in charity to those in your midst. To covet and horde His blessings, in both body and soul, is miserly and petty.  

Hence He warns you in compassion to be on your guard against all kinds of covetousness.  Your life does not consist in the abundance of your possessions.  You know not the night your soul is demanded of you.  Rather you are to fear, love, and trust in Him who is for you a Living Sacrifice, an offering of Atonement, by which you are reconciled to the One who made you in His image and breathed the breath of life into you.  

He is greater than Moses and Jacob, more than Joshua and Aaron.  He is more than you could ever have asked or imagined.  He gives and you receive.  You live by faith in His Word and walk according to His commandments.  

Thus St Paul: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.  This is your liturgy, your divine service to your neighbor in love.  This is your priestly service offered to one another for the sake of Him who gave Himself for you.  Beloved this is your vocation as baptized priests unto God our Father in Jesus Christ our Lord.  Here you render the sacrifice of thanksgiving in the confession of His holy Name, as the Israelite spoke before the altar of the Lord.  Here you speak and act as a beggar, living from the generosity and love of your Benefactor.  

But your service does not end at the benediction.  It begins.  Out there you behave as a kings and princes, giving lavishly, in Christian charity and love to any who are in need, especially your Christian family.  This is what St Paul refers to as the ministry of this service in his letter to the Corinthians.  Literally, the diakonia of this liturgy.  The merciful liturgy of you, His saints, in service to one another, overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.  

Our greatest treasure, then for which we give thanks not only tonight, tomorrow, but each day, is not a full barn or a full bank account or a full house for the holiday, but Christ Himself.  He is your inheritance, your goal, your life.  By His poverty you are made rich.  He is David’s Son and David’s Lord, but He is not Solomon.  He is not a Arbitrator of Judge, a minister of fairness, but a Servant of Mercy, through whom you have received mercy and life and salvation.  

“Open our eyes to see Your love’s intent,  To know with minds and hearts its depth and height.  May thankfulness be days in service spent, reflection of Christ’s life and love and light.” (LSB 788:6) 

In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

St Matthew 25:1-13/Isaiah 65:17-25/1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.

As Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the close of the age?” (Mt 24:3).  And our Lord proceeded to instruct them, telling them parable upon parable.  He is speaking to His disciples, not the crowds; that is, He is catechizing His Church.  This parable is not for the masses.  This parable, and its warning, are for you, His Church.    

As it was in the days of Noah.  As it was at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.  As a thief in the night, or labor pains upon a pregnant woman.  So it shall be at the close of the age.  Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the Bridegroom.  Outwardly there is no difference between these maidens.  All are invited.  All appear to be ready.  All are adorned with festive garments and accessories.  All carry lamps.  

So too in the communion of the one, holy, Christian Church.  Outwardly there appear to be no differences.  All profess faith in Christ Jesus.  All await the coming of the Bridegroom to take His Bride to the wedding feast.  All behave as Christians, imagining themselves to be ready for the Bridegroom and fit to enter the marriage hall.  All even fall asleep.  And all arise at the cry.  All will be waiting.  All appear to be Christians.  All have lamps and dress the same, that is, all are baptized and profess themselves Christians.  

But there is a difference among these ten that becomes apparent only later.  Five were wise and five were foolish.  The wisdom of the wise is seen in their preparedness.  They bring along oil.  The foolish do not carry oil with them.  The wise considered the possibility that the Bridegroom would be delayed.  The foolish did not.  The wise took seriously their obligation to wait and greet the Coming One.  The foolish behaved frivolously and so were left unprepared.  

Again, all became drowsy and slept.  But the cry came at midnight.  The wise rose and trimmed their wicks.  The lamps of the foolish, however, had run dry.  They attempted to glean from their companions.  It would not work.  Neither could they any longer acquire for themselves.  And when the Bridegroom came the wise virgins went into the marriage feast.  The foolish were left out, the door having been shut.  Harsher words are not spoken in the Gospels than our Lord to these foolish maidens, Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.  This is rejection at its worst.  This is eternal damnation.  

Now a parable is an analogy.  Pushed too far, all analogies break down.  It is easy to chase after threads and themes and soon put the emPHAsis on the wrong syLABble.  What are the lamps?  What is the oil?  How can we have filled flasks?  What is “sleep”?  Why wouldn’t the wise share?  What are the dealers?    

There are many intriguing foot trails to take and on which we’d soon loose our path.  Christ guides our way with the solemn warning: Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.  Our Lord would have His disciples be on the alert.  To watch and pray.  Be ready for the coming of the Bridegroom.  He describes these maidens as ‘wise’ or ‘foolish’ from the outset.  

Our Lord does not mince words.  To be called a ‘fool’ is to be an unbeliever.  The foolish man built his house on the sand.  The fool says in his heart there is no God.  Are you so foolish, writes St Paul, that having begun by the Spirit, you are now being perfected by the flesh (Gal 3:3)?  Or, Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is (Eph 5:17).  Some were fools, writes the Psalmist, through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities suffered affliction (Ps 107:17).

Outwardly the foolish virgins appeared to be Christians, but in their foolishness they were not prepared; they did not carry oil with them.  They are hypocrites.  These are they who first heard the Word with joy, but when faced with carrying the cross, when faced with pleasing God rather than men, when faced with the trials of this life, the allurements of the world, and the temptations of the flesh, they fell away.  They relied on past actions, past piety, and false security of dead faith.  

Thus did they neglected the provision of their lamps.  They did not wish to burden themselves with the cumbersome flasks.  The foolish virgins did not consider that the Bridegroom may be delayed.  They expected his arrival imminently.  

Of such sins repentance is needed.  For the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  Heed the call, “Wake, awake, for night is flying!”  For you are not in darkness, dear Christians.  For you are all children of light, children of the day.  Since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.  For Christ has made you wise unto salvation through faith in Him.  His Word is a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path.  

The wisdom of God is indeed the folly of the Cross and the preaching of Christ crucified.    For God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.  Thus you are not given to boast of your membership, or your church attendance, or even your faith.  Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.  

For you have already died in Him who died for you.  You are clothed with the wedding garment of Holy Baptism.  You have the invitation of His Word.  In these do you watch and pray.  By them are you alert and ready.  Even so, you have already died with Christ.  Thus your death is but a sleep.  

And in what do you hope when you awake?  Surely not your works or labors, nor those of others.  Neither can you live off the faith of others.  No one can believe for you.  At the last it shall be too late.  

Therefore get you to the dealers while it is still day before night comes.  For the dealers of the oil of Christ are His ministers, His pastors, who freely give His grace and peace, His mercy and forgiveness, His Body and Blood for your life and salvation; lest the door be shut and you be left out on the coming of the heavenly Bridegroom.  

Your boast, your hope, your oil for this Day is this selfsame grace and mercy of Christ.  For the mercy that drove Christ to the cross is the same mercy that keeps you in the one, true faith unto life everlasting.  Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.  Or elsewhere it is written, Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.  

In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.   

St Matthew 25:31-46/Daniel 7:9-14/2 Peter 3:3-14

In the Name + of JESUS.  Amen.

Your salvation hinges upon two things: the Cross and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and your fellowship with Him by faith.  He has atoned for your sin, and the sin of the whole world.  He has attained for you by His death on the Cross your victory over death and the grave.  He has brought life and immortality to light.  So whether you stand or fall in the judgment depends entirely on whether you stand in Christ or not.  

Are you on His right or on His left?  Are you a sheep or a goat?  Will you live under Him in His kingdom in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness?  Or will you be forever cursed and die eternally with the devil and his wicked angels?  

The scene from the Gospel is not the judgment.  The judgment has already been determined at the Cross and the verdict has been openly declared in His Resurrection: for you and for all people, for the world and for all nations.  In Christ, crucified and risen, there is no more condemnation or punishment.  So too apart from Him there is no salvation.  Jesus said, “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.  And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”  He said this to show by what kind of death He was going to die (Jn 12:31-33).  The judgment rests entirely upon Him.  It is by His authority that you are judged: either you are righteous and alive by His righteousness, or else wicked and dead without Him.  

This is what is means for Jesus, the Christ, to be the Son of Man, to whom all authority has been given in heaven and on earth; He will come to judge the living and the dead.  

He has already come on the clouds of heaven.  It was His crucifixion.  There He rendered the verdict against His enemies.  Upon the Cross He was delivered up for the propitiation, as the Atonement, for all of your sins and the sins of the whole world.  The Ancient of Days, that is, God the Father, rendered His just verdict of condemnation against sin in His only begotten Son.  

And His resurrection is His vindication.  It is the declaration of His righteousness.  His resurrection is, as St Paul says, for your justification.  To Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.  Baptized into His death for your sin and His resurrection for your life, you are His kingdom and priests unto God our Father in Jesus Christ His Son our Lord.  

Because He is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance, He sends out His messengers; that is, His brothers.  First His holy apostles who preach repentance and the forgiveness of sins in His Name.  Then His undershepherds, that is, the pastors of His Church in every time and place.  Whoever receives them receives Him.  And whoever rejects His messengers and their teaching, rejects Him and His Word.  In other words, how one receives and treats his pastor is how he receives and treats Christ Himself!  If you treat your pastor like dirt its not because you love Jesus.  If you treat your pastor like dirt its because you hate God.  Take to heart what is spoken by these men; it is of eternal importance.  For they are His messengers, sent in His stead and by His command to make disciples from all the nations by the means of Holy Baptism and the ongoing teaching of His Word.  By these He gathers the lost and wandering sheep to Himself.  

For the preaching of His Word - of repentance and forgiveness of sins in His Name - is the sure and certain verdict of the Lord your God now and forever.  By it you are crucified and put to death with Him.  So also are you raised up, in and with Him, to new life.  In Christ the old has passed away, you are a new creation.  Thus do you await the consummation of all things at the close of the age.  

Scoffers will come.  Those who are oblivious to the works of creation and deny the truth of His Word.  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.  Since this is to occur, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness?  

Repent of your sins, of your lack of faithfulness and love, of all that is not Christ.  Fear and love Him as your Lord and God.  But also trust in Him as your great Good Shepherd.  He is your merciful High Priest, your Savior and Redeemer.  Hear His voice in the preaching of His Word and the gift of His Table.  Follow Him through the cross and death into His kingdom; the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For His righteousness is yours. 

Love Him, therefore, because of who He is, and because He loves you faithfully forever.  Love Him, by loving and serving His Christians; love them in His Name and for His sake.  These are His brothers.  Such love is the evidence and fruit of your faith and life in Christ.  For Christ Himself works in you, both to will and to do, according His His good pleasure.  By the tree of His Cross He bears fruit in your life.  To reject such fruit of faith is to squelch and reject faith in Christ.  To deny mercy is to deny Christ!   

Therefore live in love toward your neighbor - not to merit or maintain your salvation, for that is a free gift, an inheritance of your Father who is in heaven - but because this is the life of Christ.  He daily and richly provides you with food and drink for your hunger and thirst; with safe shelter and sanctuary from the cold, from darkness and death; with clothing for your nakedness; with comfort and care in all adversity; with good health in place of all your illness, and with release from your prison.  

So then, as for you: feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, clothe the poor, visit the sick and imprisoned.  Do it for Jesus’ sake.  Do it in His Name as He does so for you.  Do it all, as unto Him.  Learn to see Christ in your neighbor’s frailties and weakness and needs.  Not only in the occasional act of kindness and charity, but especially in the daily duties and commands of your vocation.  Children, honor and obey your parents and those in authority over you.  Parents be patient with your children, bringing them up in the care and tenderness of the Lord.  Husbands and wives love and respect each other.  Workers of all kinds obey your employers and serve them in honesty.  To all, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another.  

Do not ignore and neglect the Church, for she is the Body and the Bride of Christ.  For how you react to the preaching of His Word, to the severity of His warnings and the promise of His grace, is of deathly importance.  Therefore hold fast His Word, gladly listening and do what He commands.  As St Peter writes, Be diligent to be found by Him without spot or blemish, that is living by faith toward God, and at peace, that is, living in love and charity and service toward one another.  

For this is the significance of the Church on earth, and of this congregation: Here the eternal judgments are declared and delivered.  Here the Son of Man exercises His authority to forgive sins, and with that forgiveness of sins He gives you life and salvation.  Here works of mercy accompany the preaching His Word.  Love grows forth from faith.  Here the Christian who is served by Christ goes forth and serves her neighbor in Christ.  Here He gathers you to Himself, to feed and clothe you, to heal you, to set you free; even as you wait and hasten the coming of the day of God.  Come, then, you blessed by the Father, enter into His peace and rest.  

In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.  

St Matthew 24:15-28/Job 14:1-6/1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.

Man who is born of woman is few of days and full of trouble.  Job was not only describing himself, but us.  Our days are numbered.  Yet in our folly we do not count them correctly.  Your days are determined; the number of your months is with God.  He has appointed limits for you that you cannot pass.  And so the fear of death that every man experiences is not a fear of pain in dying, but a pain in life escaping, slipping away.  Man comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not.  Like the autumn leaves in full color that give way to decay.  Winter is approaching.  The smell of the apocalypse is in the air.  We are nearer now to the end, to that great last day, closer than last week, closer than ever before.  

Thus is the warning of our Lord to His disciples a warning for us.  Hold fast to His Word.  Beware of false christs and false prophets, who seek to lead astray, if possible, even you, His elect.  For the prayer of the Church is as you just sang, “Preserve Your Word, O Savior, to us this latter day, and let Your kingdom flourish; enlarge Your Church, we pray.  O keep our faith from failing; keeps hope’s bright star aglow.  Let nothing from truth turn us while living here below.”  

For you are indeed a storm-tossed little flock, assailed from without and within.  Satan never lets you have a moment’s peace, but seeks night and day to lead you into false belief and despair.  Resist him.  Though at times it seems as if God Himself is against you, as He afflicted Job.  You live in the great tribulation as did each generation of Christians before you.  You know and experience the trouble of our days on account of the sins you commit and on account of the sins committed against you.  And sometimes we suffer for reasons unknown, unexplained.  But nothing has befallen you that is not common to man.  

As the dire words of Christ echoed in the ears of the disciples their minds went reeling to the desolating sacrilege of Antiochus Epiphanes, 200 years earlier.  In 167 BC the tyrant king of Syria sacked Jerusalem.  He slaughtered swine on the altar.  He put to death women who circumcised their sons, hanging their murdered children around their necks.  He set up a statue of Zeus in the Temple.  

A savior arose in Judah Maccabee.  His revolutionary army eventually reclaimed the Temple.  He  purified the sacred space in a celebratory rite which became known as the annual remembrance of Hanukkah.  He was hailed as a national hero; an Israeli William Wallace.  But peace would not last.  The Romans came.  They saw.  They conquered.  Israel was enslaved once more.  

The fury of her masters would be kindled and in AD 70 the Temple was desecrated once more.  It was destroyed, never to be rebuilt.  Jerusalem was besieged.  Hunger and starvation plagued the city.  Mothers smothered their infants to keep them from wailing in hunger.  Bodies piled up in the streets.  It was an apocalyptic catastrophe the likes of which no Hollywood movie could duplicate.  And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved.  But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.  See, I have told you beforehand.  The hearers of Matthew’s Gospel would have known all too well of the events Jesus’ prophecy.  

What of you?  History is an excellent teacher.  Yet we are not given to watch the signs of the times and the seasons, but to keep vigil concerning the Sign, the desolating sacrilege, even Jesus Christ!  For as much as Christ warns concerning the last days, He preaches concerning His death!  He is not a tabloid journalist or a doomsday prophet.  He is the Holy One, the new Temple made without hands, who became a sacrilege unto God.  It is written, For our sake He made Him to be Sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21).   

This is what the prophet Daniel, and all the prophets, proclaimed.  Christ was made a curse for you.  In His death He was not one sinner among others, but in God’s eyes, He is the only Sinner, a sacrilege to God.  And the holy place in which He stands is Golgotha.  Jerusalem and the Temple will be destroyed.  Jesus’ death and Jerusalem’s destruction constitute one act of divine judgment.  

Do not be deceived dear Christians, we are living in the last days.  They are not the future, but they are the past and the present.  Nothing as been the same since the crucifixion and resurrection of the Son of God.  Everything hinges on the Cross.  Life, history, the Church, your life.  Everything.  Governments rise and fall.  Nations rage against nations.  The Body of Christ ever lives in the great tribulation.  The Church has been praying for the end since her birth, saying, “Come, Lord Jesus.”  

And so you live in the midst of false prophets and false christs who perform great signs and wonders, seeking to lead you astray.  The packing of an arena to hear false doctrine, this is indeed a sign and wonder.  If they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms,‘ meaning, you can find Jesus within your own heart and spiritual meditation, Do not believe it.  If they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the wilderness‘ meaning you can hear and receive the Gospel in nature or culture or humanity’s love for one another, Do not believe it.  

For there is but one place to locate God: the Cross and the preaching of Christ and Him crucified.  There the sinner can find God.  For there the Father reveals His wrath against sin in Sin Incarnate, in His only Son, our Lord.  This is the hill to which you shall flee; even Mount Calvary.  For as Lot and his family escaped the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by fleeing to the hills, so to shall you only escape the coming judgment by ascending to the holy place, the new Temple mount, that is, Mount Zion, the Church of God in Christ Jesus.  

As it is written, Wherever the corpse is, there the eagles will gather, which means, wherever the carcass, the Body of Jesus is, there the faithful will still gather together, receiving His life-giving Body and cleansing Blood.  This is the folly and scandal of the Cross.  It is, in reality, wisdom and power and righteousness from God.  

In this you live, even when you fall asleep.  For you are in Christ.  And you go to the Sacrament of the Altar as if going to your death, so that when you meet your death, you may go as if going to the Lord’s Supper.  You needn‘t fear, dear ones, for the fury of God has been satisfied in the blood of the Son.  His verdict is spoken to you already: forgiven.  For the absolution is the verdict of the Last Day spoken to you now.  

Encourage one another with these words.  Do not depart from them to the right or to the left.  Hold fast the eternal Word in this decaying world.  He shall deliver you from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation, and finally, when your last hour comes, give you a blessed end.  Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!  

In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen. 

St Matthew 5:1-12/Revelation 7:2-17/1 John 3:1-3

In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.

He comes in the way of Moses.  He ascends the mountain and gathers His Israel before Him.  He opened His mouth and gave them doctrine.  Christ is the Prophet of the Lord, raised up from among His brothers, as was foretold.  In His mouth is the Word of the Lord.  Indeed He is the Word made flesh, by whom all things we made in the beginning.  As His creative Word spoke all things into existence, Let there be . . .and it was so, so too now, He speaks concerning His Church, His new Israel, Blessed are . . .and it is so.  

The sermon that Christ delivers on the mount, the Beatitudes, His blesseds, is the same sermon that St John heard in heaven.  He saw an angel ascending from the rising of the sun, a messenger coming in the way of the resurrection, bearing with him the seal of the living God.  By his word, which is not his, but God’s, this angel halts the destructive forces upon creation.  God’s Word stops the destructive forces against His good creation; it halts and reverses the effects of sin and death.  And it is the Word that seals the servants of God.  With His Word God marks you as His own, inscribes upon you His very name, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

St John heard the number of the sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel.  He makes a point to say so.  He heard.  Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing of the Word of Christ.  The twelve tribes of Israel represent the wholeness, the completeness of the Church.  It is not a minuscule fraction of humanity which is sealed with the promise of the Lord, but a symbolic representation of all the elect of the Father in Christ.  The sons of Israel are not listed chronologically, but theologically.  They, this symbolic 144,000 are the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, the hungry, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers.  They are the blessed of the Lord.  They are the Church.  

Beloved, you are among their faithful numbers.  Not according to the flesh, nor by blood, nor the will of man.  But by the will of God.  For you are sealed with the seal of the living God, washed up in the blood of the Lamb, children of your Father in heaven who loves you.  

What St John is given to see - a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands - you do not yet see.  For you are yet this side of glory.  You walk by faith, not by sight.  Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Heb 11:1).  

It is true that when Christ appears you shall see Him as He is, for you shall be like Him.  And though you are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses now, the prophets and apostles, martyrs and saints, and all the faithful departed who have gone before us in Christ Jesus you do not see them.

What you see is not yet the Resurrection; the glorious bliss of heaven.  What you see is the Cross, all the suffering and sin and death, the trials and temptations of the great tribulation in which we presently live.  You see it in your neighbor.  And you see and experience it in yourself, in your mortal flesh and blood, in this poor life of labor.  Most of all you behold it in those whom you have loved in this life on earth, who have died, who are now but dust and ashes, hidden away in boxes.  Their bodies and their life in Christ Jesus are ought of sight, hidden from your senses.  

What you perceive and feel is emptiness, loss and sorrow, the pain of separation, doubt and fear and uncertainty.  This scares you all the more because your faith is threatened and you are tempted to despair; or else tempted to become cold and hard.  Cynicism creeps in where  faith ought to hold sway, and you are tossed about within and without.  

Beloved, do not despair.  And do not loose heart.  See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.  It is not only a qualitative love, a love that surpasses all human understanding, a love that guards your heart and mind in Christ.  It is a quantitative love.  For in this way God loved us: He gave His only-begotten Son, in order that whoever believes in Him would have eternal life.  

The Father does not love you because you are so lovable.  He loved you in Christ from before the foundation of the world precisely because it is in His nature to do so.  God is love.  And in this is His love to the loveless shown: while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  To be “miserable” as you confess, is not the same as to be pitiable.  To be miserable is to be in need of mercy.  Thus do you beseech Him and receive from the Father of all mercies, the God of all comfort.  As it is written, He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too (2 Cor 1:4-5).   

You presently share in the sufferings of Christ because you are in Him.  In this way the Beatitudes firstly describe Christ Jesus and then, by virtue of your fellowship in His suffering, death, and resurrection, they describe you.  You are blessed in Christ.  You are the beloved in the Lord.  The reason you suffer is because He suffered.  The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.  

Yet He was and is known by His Father in heaven who is also your Father in heaven.  For the Lamb in the midst of the saints in glory is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  Salvation belongs to Him.  The Lamb is their Good Shepherd, who laid down His life for the sheep.  He was poor in spirit, relying on His Father for all things, giving up Himself even unto death.  The Father has received His sacrifice and vindicated Him by raising Him from the dead.  His is the kingdom of heaven.  

Beloved you are known by your Father in heaven.  You are God’s children now.  You are His Church.  Militant or triumphant, there is only one, holy, Christian, and apostolic Church.  She is united in Christ her head.  You are one with the host arrayed in white, for you share in the blood of the Lamb.  You are one flesh with those who have preceded you in Christ, for you partake of the flesh and blood of Him who overcame death and the grave for you, and brought life and immortality to light.  

This reality is yet hidden from your eyes, though it is heard in Word and song in the holy liturgy.  Here you join with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, falling on your faces before the throne and worship God.  This place becomes for you heaven on earth in His Divine Service!  

Here Jesus stands, the mount of His pulpit, opening His mouth and giving you His Word.  There Jesus stands, the womb of the baptismal font, where you are born from above by Word and Spirit, a child of God.  Behold, the throne of His altar, from whence He comes not to rule in terror and might, but to give you of Himself.  The King bends low to serve you, His blessed ones.  The Lamb in your Shepherd.    

Come then, be joined to Christ Jesus and to one another.  Come, hunger and thirst no more, for you shall be fed and nourished with His Body and Blood for the forgiveness of yours sins.  

In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.  

Genesis 2:7, 18-24/Ephesians 5:1-2, 22-33/St Mark 10:1-9

In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.

Nicole and Gary, Donna and Phil, Aletta and Clarence, Kelsey and Jeff, family and friends, members of St Peter’s, beloved in the Lord, grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.  

It’s considered taboo, bad form, politically incorrect, to mention IT at a wedding.  This is meant to be a joyous occasion.  A happy day.  A blessed union between this man and this woman.  No one likes to say the word or think about it on a wedding day, but after all, Jesus was asked. Divorce.  There, I said it.  No harm done.  Jesus said it first.  And no one has ever accused me of being tactful.

I will admit, it is a dirty word.  Divorce.  It was not meant to be.  It is by-product of the Fall.  A result of sin.  For what does Jesus say: From the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ The woman was made for the man.  She was taken from His very side, presented to him in splendor, a helper fit for him.  It is more than simple compatibility.  It is a matter of parts, physiology, biology, but it is more than that.  The Hebrew is more descriptive: ‘Ezer; like unto one’s own opposite.  She is ishshah, for she was taken out of ish.  

The one flesh relationship of man and woman, husband and wife, is an icon of the Blessed Holy Trinity, separate Persons existing in undivided unity.  This is why it was not good that the man should be alone.  In all of God’s good creation, it was not good that the man should be alone, because God is not alone.  He dwells in communion: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  God is love.  Humanity, male and female, are the object of His love.  His beloved.  We receive love from our Creator and love in return.  The Blessed Holy Trinity is eternal.  Marriage is for life.  

It was sin that destroyed God’s good creation.  Plunged it into darkness and chaos.  Tore us from proper communion with God.  It can be said, in a sense, that Adam and Eve committed adultery with Satan.  They forsook their true Husband and Father, chasing after the passions of the flesh, rather than submit to the will of God.  

It is sin that destroys God’s good gift of marriage as well.  Warped and twisted it in so many different ways.  The battle over marriage is the battle of our day.  The question of the Pharisees is just as pertinent for us.  Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?  Moses allowed for it.  Because something is allowed, does it mean it is lawful?  Because something is allowed, does it mean it is in accord with God’s will?  What does Jesus say?  Because of the hardness of your heart Moses allowed it.  In other words, on account of sin.  

Gary, Nicole, you are sinners.  I don’t think this comes as any surprise to you or to one another.  I don’t say it to be mean.  We are all sinners.  We have sinned against God in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone.  We have lived as if God did not matter and as if we mattered most.  We have not let His love have its way with us, and so our love for others has failed.  Our thoughts and and desires have been soiled with sin.  

In the mercy of almighty God, Jesus Christ was given to die for us and for His sake God forgives us all our sins.  As St Paul wrote, Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.  This is how He loved the Church, His Bride.  This is how He loved you.  He died for you.  

You’ve heard all the cliches before: Marriage is like building a house.  Marriage is like dancing.  Marriage is like a song.  Marriage is like a violin.  Marriage is like a good casserole.  How about this one: Marriage is like being crucified.  That’s how St Paul describes it.  Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her.  Marriage is crucifixion.  Dying to yourself, to your own desires, to your own needs and wants.  Giving up yourself for the one who is like unto your opposite.  

Gary, love Nicole as Christ loved the Church.  Nicole, submit to Gary as the Church submits to Christ.  These are now your vocations.  Husband.  Wife.  You are no longer two, but one flesh.

This is why divorce is so catastrophic.  Tragic.  It rips you apart.  Puts asunder the one flesh union created by God.  Gary, Nicole, divorce has ripped you apart.  Here, in this marriage, being joined to one another, God is mending you back up.  You each have wounds that may never heal.  Be sensitive to this; tender with each other.  Forgiving each other as God in Christ has forgiven you.


Be imitators of God, as beloved children.  Walk in love.  For this is your first vocation.  You are children of your heavenly Father.  You are washed up with water and the Word.  You are presented in splendor to the Lord, more lovely even than Nicole on her wedding day.  You, His beloved, His one flesh, His Bride, His Church, are holy and without blemish.  You were taken from His side as He fell into the sleep of death.  He left His Father.  He left His mother.  He has been joined fast to His Church.  The two have become one flesh.  God has joined you together.  

Gary, Nicole, and all beloved children, this is the mystery in which you live.  The profound union of Christ and His Church.  Here you submit in obedience to the headship of your Lord Jesus.  Here your heavenly Bridegroom does not make you His subject, but serves you.  He calls you by name.  You were taken out of Him.  You live in Him.  You live in His love.  Here He continues to breathe life into your dusty bodies. 

Gary, Nicole, this is where you marriage begins.  Centered on Christ Jesus, your heavenly Bridegroom.  This is where your marriage lives.  Return here again and again, in love.  Here He feeds you on His Body and Blood for the forgiveness of your sins.  You are at last bone of His bones and flesh of His flesh.  God has joined you to Himself.  God has joined you to one another.  And what God has joined together, no man can put asunder.  

In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen

Christianity in Cinema: Lutherans Go to the Movies

Hollywood deals in stories. They tell tales. Interesting characters, stunning cinematography, and cleverly composed dialogue all combine to produce 120+ minutes of entertaining film, for which you are willing to shell out $12 a seat to watch in ultra high-def. Of course, some movies are more worthwhile than others. Some you are willing to splurge and see in the theater. Others you’ll wait for the DVD. 
                 
Probably a good number of them don’t attract your interest at all. I suppose much of it depends on one’s taste and personality. In the end a movie is a commodity. It is mass marketed and engineered to garner the highest possible income from its target audience.

Don’t get me wrong, I like movies. Anyone who has ever attended a Bible study from me knows from my obscure references that I like movies. I am an audio-visual learner. Movies make an impression on me. Good movies make a good impression. And great ones become for me an object lesson to which I may continually refer when trying to emphasize a point; i.e. The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the new Hobbit series speak concerning Christianity in many and various ways and offer opportunities for Christians to engage in dialogue, even spurning conversation with non-Christians.

When Hollywood purposefully tells Christian stories, it is almost as if they are challenging Christians to engage in public discourse with one another, and especially, the culture. By “Christian stories,” I don’t mean Christian themed movies such as the Chronicles of Narnia series, the previously mentioned books-to-movies by J.R.R. Tolkien, or even movies with Christian motifs such as the Matrix trilogy or the various super-hero genres. No, I am speaking of Hollywood attempting to tell specific Christian stories, that is, Biblical accounts.

We have seen this attempted in several forms for the small screen. Last summer’s The Bible mini-series which aired on The History Channel is such an example. Billed as an epic television event with such big-name collaborators as Joel Osteen and Rich Warren, The Bible attempted to compress 6,000 years of history in 66 canonical books into ten hours of programming. Leaving aside actors’ performances and directorial choices, the highly touted mini-series proved to be less than engaging. It failed to capture the depth of the Scriptural narratives in its plaster-paper telling of Biblical accounts. It was theologically shallow, which, considering the panel of religious advisors to the series, I am not surprised. At times it was simply false. While it was not nearly as atrocious as the Jon Voigt/Noah’s Ark debacle, it certainly did not measure up to the acclaim of The Passion of the Christ or even the Charlton Heston classic The Ten Commandments.

The lack-luster mini-series will, in part, be turned into a big screen debut, however. Son of God is scheduled to be released in February. It reports to take scenes from The Bible mini-series, add some previously unseen material, and tell the story of Jesus, from birth through His crucifixion and resurrection. It is billed as “The story of Jesus for a whole new generation”1 Less than a month later, in March of 2014, Noah, starring Russell Crowe will premiere. “If you were expecting a Biblically faithful retelling of the story of the greatest mariner in history and a tale of redemption and obedience to God you’ll be sorely disappointed,”2 says Brian Godawa. Ridley Scott, who worked with Crowe on Gladiator, is working on a retelling of Moses. What some are calling a prequel to Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, is the December 2013 release of Mary Mother of Christ. The script was written by the same author. As if these were not enough, Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson is set to play Goliath, while Brad Pitt is in development to play Pontius Pilate.

How is a Christian to react to all this? Have the tides turned in favor of Christianity? Whereas once the movie industry seemed to have it if out for Christianity and the Christian worldview, is this new docket of films a portent of the future in cinema? Is Christianity coming en vogue? Is Hollywood converting? Hardly. They know a good story when they hear one. They know that movies based on the Bible have a built in audience. When talent fades, the industry is desperate for a surge, and literarily Scripture does make for good big-screen action.

Scripture intersects with everything we think, say, and do. This includes our movie and media consumption. Your Christian worldview affects how you view your life. Your life does not belong to you. You are not your own. Set your mind on this that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory (Col 3:2-4). How is a Christian to navigate these movies, let alone the culture as a whole? Be cautious. Exercise judgment. Use your sanctified Christian wisdom. Be discerning. There is a line between piety and entertainment.

It is unlikely I will see most of these in the theaters, but I will probably watch them eventually. It is helpful to do so, even if at times they prove to be nauseatingly poor. Even bad movies are talked about in the staff kitchen. But as with most literature-to-film productions, the book (i.e. The Holy Bible) is still better. I will be thoroughly impressed if the theology of any of these films is orthodox and catholic. Still further, if Jesus is painted in His true colors, as the pages of Sacred Writ give evidence. He claimed to be the Son of God. He substantiated His claim with a miracle the world has never seen yet refuses to accept: His resurrection from the dead!

This is a reality deeper than one that could ever be portrayed on the silver screen. Those images are only two dimensional (unless you go to the IMAX). The true story of Jesus Christ - the Son of God, who was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered and died and rose again from the dead for us sinners - that is better and more real than any scripted Hollywood tale, even if it is lifted from Christian Scripture. And in that we have a story better than any other. It sounds to good to be true. In a way it is. The Gospel is always good news. It is always unexpected; always exciting. And it doesn’t cost a $12 ticket!

Your unworthy servant, 
Pastor Mierow 

1 http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jesus-christ-movie-son-god-648539 
2 http://www.christianpost.com/news/noah-moses-and-mary-among-biblical-figures-headed-to-the-big- screen-89148/