Beholding Your God and Father in His Son

Behind the challenging and difficult Words of our Lord throughout His Sermon on the Mount — which expose your sin, your selfishness and lack of love, your impatience and hardness of heart — behind those Words, there is the fact that your Father in heaven loves you and deals with you in the way that He calls you and commands you to love and deal with your neighbors in the world.

Which is to say that holiness and perfection are not means to some other end or purpose; they are the character and content of the divine Life.  For the one true God is Holy and Perfect in Himself, in the eternal Love of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit.  He is Holiness and Perfection, for He exists and lives in Himself, not in selfishness or isolation, but in a relationship of mutual love.

The perfection and holiness of this one true God proceeds — from within His inner Triune Being of Love — in His free outward action of love toward those whom He has created by His grace for the sake of giving them life with Himself.  Thus, the perfect holiness of God is manifested in His Self-giving, to the extent of His Self-sacrifice upon the Cross for the salvation of sinners; in His tender mercy and compassion upon you; in His forgiveness of all your sins and His free gift of life; and in His providential care of all creatures, including even those who are at enmity with Him.

He has not only called you to be His child — something that you could not choose or accomplish for yourself — but He has granted you the new birth of Holy Baptism and made of you a new creation in Christ Jesus.  He has named you with His Name and anointed you with His Spirit.  He has graciously adopted you to be His own dear child, and He has become your own dear Father.

So it is that you are a son of God in Christ Jesus, by His grace, through faith in His Gospel.  You are a member of His Body and His Bride; the Lord Jesus Christ is your Husband and your Head.  You are a Temple of God, and His Holy Spirit dwells in you and with you, resting upon you and abiding within you, as He is in and with Christ Jesus, the incarnate Son and the Lord’s Anointed.

Therefore, you are holy, and you shall be perfect, as your Father in heaven is holy and perfect, merciful and just.  Not in lonely isolation, nor self-contained within yourself, but in a relationship of faith and love with the Holy Triune God in Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son, and so also in the Holy Communion of His Church; in love for all His brothers and sisters, who are the many sons of daughters of your own God and Father; and, again, in love for all your neighbors in the world.

This life and love are your holiness and perfection, which you share with God through faith in Christ.  Not of yourself, yet truly yours by His grace.  It is derivative and always being received from the Lord your God.  It is the life and love for which He created you.  It is what He freely does for you, according to His own divine holiness: In His mercy and compassion upon you.  In His daily forgiveness of all your great and many sins.  And in the gifts of Himself and His Life, which He bestows upon you in body and soul, in Christ Jesus, in His Word and Spirit, flesh and blood.

He who gives Himself to you — whom the Father gives to you from heaven, and the Holy Spirit lays upon your heart and mind, body and soul, through the Gospel — He is your holiness and righteousness, your innocence and blessedness.  All of this perfected for you in Him, in His own Body of flesh and blood, in His Cross and Passion, in His Resurrection from the dead, and in His Ascension to the right hand of the Father in heaven.  And all of this has become yours through Holy Baptism, which is not a private affair but your incorporation into Christ and His Church.

Your holiness and righteousness as a Christian are found and perfected within the fellowship of the Church, within the fellowship of the means of grace, and proceeding from it.  They are found both in the receiving of faith through the Ministry of the Gospel of Christ, and in the living of love with one another in real time, boots on the ground, with your words and tangible actions of charity.

Your holiness and righteousness daily flow from and with the forgiveness of sins, and in this life on earth they are always returning to the forgiveness of sins.  With such forgiveness there is mercy and compassion, and the giving and receiving of life through the feeding and care of the body.

That life of love, which is received and shared and lived within the Body of Christ, is then also extended to the world outside of the Church in patience and kindness, in mercy and compassion, in the forgiving of sins, and in self-sacrificing service.  So does God’s Kingdom come through you, not by way of compromise, but by way of repentance and faith, forgiveness and reconciliation.

To be a child of your God and Father in heaven — to be like Him — is to be holy with His Spirit in His compassion for you and for all people; to be perfect in His mercy and forgiveness, through Jesus Christ, His Son, our Lord; and to be gracious in His steadfast loving-kindness toward you.

What it looks like, therefore, to be and to live as a child of God in Christ, a member of His Body, the Church, in whom the Holy Spirit abides in peace — what it looks like to be holy and perfect, is that you are slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.  You do not lose your temper; you do not retaliate or seek revenge against those who hurt you or speak ill of you; nor do you harbor bitterness or resentment in your heart and mind against anyone else.  You do not hide or withhold your possessions from those in need, but you gladly do good, even to those who sin against you.

You show no partiality, but you are kind and good and merciful and generous with each and all of your neighbors, although the particulars obviously differ according to each unique situation.

It all comes down to loving your neighbor, doing no harm but all manner of good.  In faith before God, from whom you have all good things by grace, you love your neighbor as Christ loves you.

You serve and care for your neighbor, as you yourself desire and need to be cared for and served.  Not tit for tat, “scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours,” but for Jesus’ sake, in the holiness of God.  You simply do whatever good you can without counting the cost or keeping score, knowing that your real reward is your life in Christ Jesus, which is safely hidden with your Father in heaven.

With what sort of materials, then, are you building on this one Foundation of the Lord’s Church, the house and home of His family?  With gold and silver, with precious stones and fine jewels?  Or with sticks and stubble, straw and hay, which are easily blown away and burned up?

Are you building up the Body of Christ in faith and love?  Or do you tear down and destroy the Temple of God with harsh and hurtful thoughts, words, and deeds?

That which abides and remains forever is Christ Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, and the preaching of His Gospel.  For He Himself is divine and holy Love, and He Himself is the Righteousness of God, Personal and in the Flesh.  So does His love become personal and specific in your faithful loving service to others, within your own station in life, according to the Ten Commandments.

Therefore, live in love and manifest the mercies of God in concrete and specific ways, wherever the Lord has positioned you in life.  Do not horde for yourself what God has graciously given into your possession and stewardship, but share it freely with your poor and needy neighbor.  Do not be aloof and distant from those around you, but be a very present help in trouble.  Be generous, and do not worry or fear that you will end up with nothing, or that you will be deprived of your own needs; for Christ is yours, and you are His, and all good things are yours in Him forever.

And even now, beloved of the Lord, where you have not been holy and righteous; where you have rather been short-tempered and impatient, rude and quarrelsome; where you have caused hurt and harm, and have withheld the help you could have given to others; where you have taken instead of giving; where you have been negligent or indifferent toward your neighbors; and where you have not loved but hated your enemies and have failed to pray and intercede for them — Repent, and live now as a Christian, as a child of God, as a member of Christ’s holy Bride, the Church.

For the Lord your God — who gives life to all people, who causes the sun to shine and the rain to fall on both the evil and the good, and who gives daily bread, even without your prayer, also to all the wicked — He is holy and righteous; He is perfect in mercy and compassion; and He is indeed your God and Father in Christ Jesus.  He daily and richly forgives you all your sins by His grace.  He raises you up from death to life, day by day, and His mercy upon you is new every morning.  He has cleansed you in the waters of Holy Baptism, and in all your going out and coming in, henceforth unto the life everlasting, He washes your dirty feet with His Word of Holy Absolution.

He leaves behind a grain offering and a drink offering — the pure wheat of His Field, the good grapes of His Vineyard — that you might have Bread to eat, and so live; and that you might have Wine to drink, and so celebrate with great joy and gladness.

With these good gifts, much greater still, your Father in heaven gives you the Spiritual Food and Drink of Christ’s own holy Body and His precious Blood:  To nourish and sustain you.  To clothe and cover and consecrate you.  To guard and protect you from all harm and danger, from sin and death and every evil of body and soul.  And to save you from your enemy, the old wicked foe.

You thus belong to the Body of Christ, because Christ feeds you with His Body.  You abide in Him, because He abides in and with you in this Holy Sacrament.  So it is that you are a living stone in the Temple of the living God — and you are holy, as your God and Father in heaven is holy — because the very Son of God, Christ Jesus, dwells in you with His life-giving Holy Spirit.

Take to heart how He loves you, so perfectly and so completely, with His own Body and Life.

Though you have been a stranger to Him and at odds with Him, listen to the way that He welcomes you and greets you as your beloved Brother and your dear Friend, with grace, mercy, and peace.

Consider that He has given Himself for you: His eye for your eye, His teeth for your teeth; His right cheek and His left, His hands and feet and side; His Body of flesh and blood; His soul and Spirit on the Cross, even unto death.

He has not gone one mile or two, but the whole distance for you.

Have no fear, therefore, but rest yourself here in His perfect Peace and in His holy hospitality.

Does He not give you the shirt off His back?  Does He not cover your nakedness and shame with Himself, His honor, and His majesty?  And does He not clothe you with His own righteousness?

He does not destroy you, but He builds you up in His Love, adorning you with that which is far more precious, more lasting, and more lovely than silver, gold, or jewels, even anointing you with the Holy Spirit and beautifying you from head to foot, inside and out, with His own holy Blood.

This grace of God in Jesus Christ — His free and full forgiveness of all your sins, and His free gift of life and salvation — this is His holiness, with which you are now sanctified; His righteousness, in which you are perfected before God, and shall be perfected in the resurrection of your body at the last; and this is His Glory, by which you are glorified in body and soul, both now and forever.

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

The Good Shepherd Has Gathered Phoebe into His House Forever

In my mind’s eye, I vividly remember and still picture Don & Phoebe as a vibrant, active couple.  They were already in their late 60s when I first met them, but they were so youthful, even then, and well into their retirement years.  I have a particularly strong memory of Phoebe being an active golfer in those days.  She was such a classy and elegant lady, always so gracious and so kind.

Her later years, however, were not so kind and gentle to Phoebe.  In my perception, there was a turning point when she injured herself, some five years ago.  Although her body slowly healed, her mind and memory were never quite the same afterwards.  Things became increasingly difficult for her over the past couple years, in particular.  Frailties and weaknesses.  Confusion and simplicity.  Her body was aging and gradually deteriorating, while her mind was becoming more childlike.

The last several times I visited Phoebe, over at Morning View, she was cradling a baby doll and caring for it, like she was a little girl again, or engaged in other children’s activities and puzzles.

With Don we were given such a beautiful example of a husband caring for his wife, of a Christian loving and serving his neighbor in patience and in peace, even at great personal cost and sacrifice.  But we have also had a good example in Phoebe, as well, and perhaps a more humbling one.

To live by faith, like that of a little child, is to rely on the providence of the Lord, to receive His good gifts, and to be cared for by His mercy and His charity.  It is to live entirely by grace, which is what it means to be a Christian.  And sometimes it is precisely our place and purpose in life to be utterly dependent on others to care for us; to watch and wait upon the Lord in quiet patience.

That can also be the toughest and most challenging task.  It is so hard to be patient, and you really want to know what’s going on, what you should be doing, what’s going to happen, and when.  You want the Lord Jesus to speak plainly.  But, instead, He confronts you with His Cross, which not only crucifies Him, first of all, but it crucifies you, as well, and puts to death all of your plans.

This “theology of the Cross,” as we call it, is the hidden and mysterious revelation of the one true God in the hurt and humility of His Christ, the Crucified One.  It is both painful and comforting.

It is hard to bear and hard to understand.  But as the One who bears all your sins and griefs and sorrows, your frailty, mortality, and death, in His own Body on the Cross, the Lord Himself is the Good Shepherd, the Champion, Protector, and Savior of the weak, the small, and the helpless.

As a Mom, Phoebe took care of her children when they were young, not unlike a shepherd caring for his sheep.  But for awhile now, and especially since this past summer, her children were really at the forefront of those who were taking care of her, and seeing to it that all her needs were met.

Perhaps you’ve seen those billboards and commercials about the reversal of roles between parents and children as they age through the stages of life.  And you know that’s how it goes.

But there never is a role reversal between you and your Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ.  He is ever and always the One who is caring for you, providing for you, protecting you, and feeding you.

Even when you’re at those points in life when you might be able to kid yourself (for a little while) that you’ve got things in hand and under control, and you suppose that, as an “independent adult,” you’re taking care of yourself, taking care of business, and managing life — even then, it is the Lord who is caring for you in every way, whether you know it and acknowledge it or not.  Truth be told, without Him, without His grace and mercy and forgiveness, you would be utterly lost.

Sometimes His care, protection, and providence require that He seek you out and bring you home from wherever you have wandered and gotten yourself lost and in danger.  Then He calls you to repentance, and He disciplines you in love, that you would return to Him and remain close to Him.

And when you are weak, He is strong for you.  In fact, in the Kingdom of God, in the pastures of the Good Shepherd, ironically, true greatness is found, not in your own strength, but in relying on the strength of Christ by faith, recognizing your frailty, your weakness, and your need for Him.

Thus, again, the excellent example that Phoebe has been to all of us, especially in her final years, and in these past six months, as she has lived by faith alone.  Not by her own works, but solely by the grace of God in Christ Jesus.  Like a little child again.  As a sheep of the Good Shepherd.

Jan and Jim and Tom and Allison and I heard the Word and promises of this Good Shepherd — for Phoebe, and for all of us — when we prayed with her and for her this past Tuesday evening, the night before she fell asleep in the same Lord Jesus and departed from this mortal life on earth.

True to His Word, He cared for her and provided for her, in body and soul, throughout her life on earth, even to the end; and so also has He carried her through the valley of the shadow of death.

He cared for her through Don for all those many years.  He cared for her through her children in these final years of life.  And He cared for her recently through the good folks at Morning View.

What is more, over the years He also provided her with various pastors here at Emmaus, who were her shepherds on earth, who cared for her in Jesus’ Name; who baptized her, forgave her sins, and fed her from the Table of the Lord and from His overflowing Chalice of Salvation.  For she was Jesus’ little lamb, really at every step along the way, at every stage in life, even unto death.

Dr. Luther once commented that even a seven-year-old child knows and understands that the Church is the gathering of the sheep by their Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ; and as their Shepherd, as their Pastor and Bishop of body, soul, and spirit, He leads them and guides them, He guards and protects them from predators, and He feeds and nurtures them in safety and in peace.

So, indeed, did the Savior, Christ Jesus, do for Phoebe.  Not only in her prime and in her heyday, in the spring and summer of her life, but also and especially in these hard last days, weeks, months, and years, in the fall and winter of her journey.

And because He, the Good Shepherd, laid down His life for her and all His sheep, and took it up again by the Spirit of His God and Father, so shall He raise Phoebe, His dear little lamb, from death and the grave, from the dust and ashes; and He shall glorify her with abundant life forever.

The Sacrifice of Christ upon the Cross has atoned for all of His sheep (and all the world), in order to rescue them from the wrath of God, from sin, death, the devil, and hell: to save them, indeed, from all the enemies that would otherwise devour them, not only here in time, but for eternity.

And in His Resurrection from the dead, His own Body has become the true, divine, eternal Temple of God: in heaven and on earth, both now and forever.  His crucified and risen Body is the House of the Lord, in which you live and abide, even now by faith, and in the Resurrection forevermore.  For He is the true Solomon, the true King of Peace, great David’s greater Son; and His Body, the Church, is the Portico by which you enter from this mortal life into the Kingdom of God.

Phoebe’s life in her younger years was active and involved, not only in the world, but in the Lord’s House, His Church on earth.  So was He preparing her for the later years and leading her to them.  As He promised and encouraged in her Confirmation verse from Pastor Kleinhans (Psalm 37:4), she delighted herself in the Lord; she delighted in His Word and the preaching of it.  She and Don were always faithful in their church attendance, and in their support of the Church and Ministry.

And the Lord has given to Phoebe and to Don the desires of their faithful hearts.  He has fed them with His Gospel in Word and Sacrament here at Emmaus.  He has freely and fully forgiven all of their sins.  And He has gathered them to Himself, to dwell with Him in His House forever and ever.

By the Blood of the Lamb — in her Holy Baptism, and in the Chalice of the Holy Communion — Phoebe was cleansed and refreshed within and without, in body and soul; and with the forgiveness of her sins, she was given life and salvation with God in Christ Jesus.  She was clothed in the white garments of His Righteousness, adorned and beautiful as a bride made ready for her husband.

It is true that we look forward to a joyful reunion in the Resurrection with all our loved ones who have departed from this life in the faith and confession of Christ; and certainly it is true that Phoebe and Don are together with God in Christ.  But even more to the point, and more decisively, they and all the baptized are fellow members of the Body and Bride of Christ Jesus, and He is our heavenly Bridegroom, who dresses and adorns His beloved Bride in the Beauty of His Holiness.

So it is that He, in love, has called Phoebe to Himself, justified by His grace, and sanctified by His Holy Spirit.  He has gathered her into His House, where she lacks for nothing and suffers no pain or sadness; for God has wiped away every tear from her eyes, and the Lamb on His Throne is her Shepherd forever.

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

The Life that You Live Before God by Faith in Christ

It is a matter of life and death, whether you worship the Lord your God or turn away from Him to pursue your own way and to worship the work of your own hands.

To fear, love, and trust in the Holy Triune God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength — to worship the Father in the Spirit and through the Son — that is Life.  That is the true Spiritual life, which is lived before God in the righteousness and purity of faith in Christ; not apart from your body, but in your body by the Holy Spirit through faith in the Word of the Lord.

Apart from such faith, apart from the Word and Spirit of God in Christ, your life in the body is no life at all, but a living death, even now.  And that will not end well.  It will go from bad to worse, unto eternal death in hell.  For that is finally all that remains apart from God.

So the true Spiritual life begins with faith in the heart before God, and then it is lived in love for God and man in both soul and body.  For it is the very nature of faith in the God who is Love, to live in love for both God and the neighbors He has positioned alongside of you.

With your words and actions you love and serve the people around you in the way that Christ Jesus loves and serves you with His Word and Spirit and with His flesh and blood.  As you pray, praise, and give thanks to the Lord your God, so do you also speak with grace, mercy, and forgiveness to your neighbors.  And as you are clothed by the Lord with His Righteousness in Holy Baptism, and fed by the Lord in the Holy Communion, so do you feed and clothe your neighbor in peace.

It is with fear, love, and trust in God that you live before Him in love for others.  You fear the Lord your God, first of all, because He is God and you are not.  And you fear His wrath because you are justly punished for your sins, since He has the authority to command and forbid you, as He does, and yet you have disregarded His Word and disobeyed Him in thought, word, and deed.

Even so, you are to love and trust in Him, also because He is God and you are not, and on account of His gracious Word and promises of the Gospel.  Thus, your fear does not drive you to despair, but rather it drives you to God in Christ, to worship Him in the Spirit and the Truth.

Thus do you fear and love the Lord your God, so that you do not despise the preaching of His Word but gladly hear and learn it.  You rest yourself in the Word that God the Father speaks to you by His Son, and you call upon His Name.  Everything else proceeds from this faith and worship.

You are to fear and love God so that you do not despise your parents, whom God has given you, but honor them, serve and obey them, love and cherish them.

You are to fear and love God so that you do not hurt or harm your neighbor in his body, but that you help, defend, and protect your neighbor in his body and life.

You are to fear and love God so that you are not unfaithful to your spouse, but that you cherish the spouse whom God has given you.  The husband whom your heavenly Bridegroom has given as your head.  The bride whom He has given you to love as He loves His own Body, the Church.

You are to fear and love God so that you do not take but give, and you help your neighbor to keep what he has.  You are to fear and love God so that you speak with the mercies and charity of God as you speak to and about your neighbor, just as you depend upon the mercy and charity of God.

This is your Life, and this is how you are to live.  Not in order to become righteous, as though by your works to justify yourself.  But this is the life that you live because you are righteous before God, by His grace, through faith in Christ your Savior.  Whereas to live apart from God, without such faith and love in Christ, is death and damnation, no matter how busy you may be.

God’s chief concern is not that you be well behaved, although your good behavior is pleasing to Him and is good for you and for your neighbor.  His first concern is that you would have life with Him.  It is for such life that He has created you.  He does not want you to die.  So He calls you to repentance as a parent calls his child away from the cliff, the speeding car, or the deadly poison.

Where you have been angry without cause against your neighbor, and where you have not dealt with your anger righteously but have hardened your heart against your neighbor; and where you have withheld your love from your neighbor because you are angry — Repent, and do better.

Where you have spoken harshly, not with words of grace, but rather with hostility and hatred, with wrath, and with ill intent — Repent, and do better.

Where you have been covetous; where you have been lustful; where you have been greedy and selfish; and where you have nurtured such idolatry by worshiping your flesh — Repent.

Where you have caused harm to holy marriage and to family, whether your own or your neighbor’s — Repent, and do better.  Honor your father and mother.  Love and cherish your spouse.  Care for your children in the grace of God.  And support your neighbor in his calling to care for his family.

Where you have presumed to worship God with your lips and with your body, while turning your heart and mind to other things — Repent.  Do not withdraw your lips and your body, but humble your heart and mind before God.  Bowing your body, bow your heart also.  Confessing with your lips, confess also with your mind.  Praise God and glorify His Name, not only by attending to His Word and Sacrament here within His House, but also by serving your neighbor in the world.

Such repentance is a matter of being and living as a child of God, instead of living as though you were not baptized in His Name; as though you were nothing but a child of that old man, Adam.

Be sure of this: Repentance is not by your own wisdom, reason, strength, or effort.  You cannot fix your heart and mind by applying your heart and mind to the problem, because you are the problem!  You cannot make yourself brand new or give yourself new life, for you are not God but His creature, created to live by faith in Him, and otherwise dead in your trespasses and sins.

It is by the Cross of Christ, and by His Resurrection from the dead, that you are rescued and repent.  It is by the Word of His Cross, and by the Spirit who is poured out from the Cross, that you are put to death and raised to new life.  It is by His Cross that you are born again to a new and living hope.

You cannot repent or manage to make anything better of yourself.  But the Word of God is living and active and powerful.  When you come to church and avail yourself of that preaching, God works in you.  So give attention to His Word and the preaching of it.  And humble yourself under that Word. It really is the height of self-righteousness to suppose that you have already mastered the Word or have no need of it, as though you could make do and rely on your own intellect, knowledge, and savvy experience.  Faith begins and continues with the hearing of the Word of Christ.  It remains only so long as you rely on His Word: Hearing it, confessing it, and praying it.

Lay hold of Christ in His means of grace: In His preaching of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, in the ongoing significance of your Baptism, in Confession and Absolution, and in the Holy Communion of His Body and Blood, given and poured out for you and for the many to eat and to drink here at His Altar.  Discipline yourself to live by such faith in His Ministry of the Gospel.

When I speak of discipline, I do not speak of works righteousness.  I do not mean that you can set things right with God.  You cannot.  But God has set things right with you.  Therefore, live in that righteousness of God in Christ, which is already yours by His grace, by His Word and Spirit, by faith in His Gospel.  Discipline yourself by and with His Cross, and live according to His Word.

This is where your life as both a child of God and a sinful child of Adam can be so confusing and so difficult.  On the one hand, you are tempted to hypocrisy, to say and do the right things while your heart remains hard and distant.  But on the other hand, you are tempted not to speak or do anything until you have your heart and mind just right; and, because you cannot make that happen, you never do or say anything.  Do not fall into that trap.  But, rejoicing in the freedom of the Gospel, know that you are free to speak, and free to act, despite the fact that you are still a sinner.

You can do what is good and right.  You can do your duty.  It is not a pretense.  It is not hypocrisy.  It is to spite the devil, the world, and your own mortal flesh, and to live according to the Word of God in spite of all the odds against you.  It is not works righteousness, but a training of your heart and mind, your body, soul, and spirit, in the way of faith and love and righteousness in Christ.

Because the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus are the fulfillment of God’s Law, the perfection of faith and love, and the reconciliation of the world to God — so it is that, when you are crucified, dead, and buried with Christ, by His Word and Holy Spirit, you are also raised with Christ in His Resurrection to live before God in righteousness and purity.

It is accomplished in you by and through and with His forgiveness of your sins.  In this poor life of labor, nothing good happens apart from His forgiveness.  But His forgiveness is plentiful, and it is for you.  His forgiveness is there in the waters of your Baptism, daily washing away all of your sins and your unrighteousness.  And His forgiveness is here for you on the lips of your pastor.

The Lord your God has not divorced you.  He has allowed divorce on earth because of the hardness of man’s heart.  But His heart is not hardened toward you.  He has not sent you away.  Nor has He murdered you.  He has not robbed you of life.  Even when He puts you to death by His preaching of repentance, by His Word of the Cross, it is for the sake of giving you life.

He has not given you a certificate of divorce, but He has given you His sure and certain promises in the Ministry and preaching of His Cross and Resurrection.

Cling to that sure and certain Word of the Gospel, which does not depend on you, but you depend on it.  To cling to His Gospel is to live before God in faith.  And living before God in faith, you live in love for your neighbor, because the Gospel sets you free to love.

Where there is no freedom, there can be no real love.  And where there is fear and punishment, there can be no real love.  But Christ has taken away your punishment, and Christ has dealt with your fears by meeting them head-on and overcoming them.  He thus bestows upon you the glorious freedom of the sons of God, because He raises you up with Himself.  Your sins cannot destroy you in Christ.  The Law cannot accuse you any longer.  You are set free.  You are loved by God in Christ, and you are free to love your neighbor.  You are free to forgive, as you are forgiven.

In loving your neighbor, your life itself becomes a glorious song of praise.  You call on the Name of the Lord and sing to Him with both your mouth and your life.  You worship Him and serve Him rightly by faith.  You offer yourself to Him as a fragrant aroma, as sweet-smelling incense.

This is your life, in both body and soul, in Christ Jesus.  For here in the midst of His Church — His true Jerusalem, the City of the great King — He reigns in love from His Cross, He befriends you through His Gospel, and He judges you righteous with His Holy Absolution.  He feeds you and clothes you and cares for you.  He helps you, and He heals you.  And He gives you life.

By the preaching of His Word, the Holy Spirit lays Christ Himself upon your heart and mind, upon your body and your soul.  And that is how you are made brand new.  For Christ Himself is laid upon you as your righteousness and holiness, your innocence and blessedness, unto faith, and unto life with God in Him.  He who is the Word of God is spoken into your ears, and into your mind, and into your heart.  And so has He become your Prayer, your Confession, and your Song.

He is the Sacrifice of Atonement.  And He is the sacrificial Meal of Fellowship that is given to you, that you might eat and drink with God in peace.  He is also the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving, the Eucharistic Sacrifice of Praise, in whom you worship the Lord your God, your own dear Father in Christ Jesus.  You do so in the Beauty of His Holiness.  Therefore, do not be afraid.  Approach His Altar in the confidence of faith and with great joy and gladness.  And offering yourself unto Him, receive His Life, His grace, and every blessing of body and soul, of heart, mind, and spirit.

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

The 2016 Grampies

It's a bit later in the New Year (2017) already than I had intended or would have preferred, but I'm still ahead of the Grammys in publishing my list of the 2016 Grampies.  Here follows the compilation of my favorite albums of this past year across a variety of genres.  In fact, I've further diversified my classifications, as compared to previous years, dividing the vast span of country music into two different categories (the first comprising tradition and modern, mainstream and retro country, and the second covering ground from folk to Americana), and creating a niche for music spanning progressive rock and symphonic metal.

Noting that "country" (even with a second category) still covers a broad span of music, I've provided a long list of albums under the main "Country" heading, almost twice as many as in the others.  But the reality is that "Pop," "Rock," "Metal," and "Alternative" have a fair amount of overlap between them, and any number of albums could conceivably be categorized in a variety of these ways.  I've had to make decisions, some of which are inevitably arbitrary and subjective.  But it is my list, after all, and making those hard choices is part of the challenge and part of the fun of doing this each year.

As in the past, my thanks to Spotify and Amazon, to my local public library, to Fireworks and Powerplay rock and metal magazines, to Rolling Stone Country, to the Rate Your Music (rym) and the Album Of The Year (aoty) sites, and to my buddy, Rev. Erich Fickel, with whom I got to see Sturgill Simpson in concert this past year, and whose thoughts on music are encouraging.

To my ears, 2016 was a great year for music of all kinds, and I enjoy the chance to share my favorite discoveries with others.   So, then, without any further ado, here are the 2016 Grampies:


D. Rick’s Album Top 50

1. Theocracy - Ghost Ship (Metal)

2. Sister Hazel - Lighter in the Dark (Pop)

3. Green River Ordinance - Fifteen (Country)

4. The Avett Brothers - True Sadness (Folk/Americana)

5. Andy Black - The Shadow Side (Alternative)

6. Volbeat - Seal the Deal & Let's Boogie (Metal)

7. The Roosevelts - The Greatest Thing You'll Ever Learn (Rock)

8. Parker Millsap - The Very Last Day (Folk/Americana)

9. Lori McKenna - The Bird & the Rifle (Folk/Americana)

10. Rachel Platten - Wildfire (Pop)

11. Brian Fallon - Painkillers (Rock)

12. Dori Freeman - Dori Freeman (Folk/Americana)

13. The Roomsounds - Elm St. (Rock)

14. Sturgill Simpson - A Sailor's Guide to Earth (Alternative)

15. Brandy Clark - Big Day in a Small Town (Country)

16. Simple Plan - Taking One for the Team (Alternative)

17. Alter Bridge - The Last Hero (Metal)

18. Dream Theater - The Astonishing (Progressive)

19. Nordic Union - Nordic Union (Rock)

20. Brothers Osborne - Pawn Shop (Country)

21. Tremonti - Dust (Guitarist)

22. Miranda Lambert - The Weight of These Wings (Country)

23. Bon Jovi - This House Is Not for Sale (Rock)

24. Panic! at the Disco - Death of a Bachelor (Alternative)

25. Maren Morris - Hero (Country)

26. Rick Springfield - Rocket Science (Pop)

27. Poets of the Fall - Clearview (Alternative)

28. Joe Bonamassa - Blues of Desperation (Guitarist)

29. Treat - Ghost of Graceland (Rock)

30. Wigelius - Tabula Rasa (Rock)

31. Jorn - Heavy Rock Radio (Rock)

32. Margo Price - Midwest Farmer's Daughter (Country)

33. Elton John - Wonderful Crazy Night (Pop)

34. Twin Atlantic - GLA (Alternative)

35. Holy Grail - Times of Pride and Peril (Metal)

36. Serenity - Codex Atlanticus (Progressive)

37. Black Stone Cherry - Kentucky (Rock)

38. Austin Allsup - This Weary Land (Country)

39. The Head and the Heart - Signs of Light (Alternative)

40. Aubrie Sellers - New City Blues (Country)

41. Lindsey Stirling - Brave Enough (Alternative)

42. BJ Barham - Rockingham (Folk/Americana)

43. Keith Urban - Ripcord (Guitarist)

44. Ryan Beaver - Rx (Country)

45. Eliza and The Bear - Eliza and The Bear (Alternative)

46. Metallica - Hardwired...to Self-Destruct (Metal)

47. Dommin - Beautiful Crutch (Alternative)

48. Dare - Sacred Ground (Rock)

49. Sabaton - The Last Stand (Metal)

50. Megadeth - Dystopia (Metal)


Country  (Traditional and Modern, Mainstream and Retro)

1. Green River Ordinance - Fifteen

2. Brandy Clark - Big Day in a Small Town

3. Brothers Osborne - Pawn Shop

4. Miranda Lambert - The Weight of These Wings

5. Maren Morris - Hero

6. Margo Price - Midwest Farmer's Daughter

7. Austin Allsup - This Weary Land

8. Aubrie Sellers - New City Blues

9. Ryan Beaver - Rx

10. Loretta Lynn - Full Circle

11. Dianna Corcoran - In America

12. The Honeycutters - On the Ropes

13. Florida Georgia Line - Dig Your Roots

14. Ward Thomas - Cartwheels

15. Casey Donahew - All Night Party

16. The Warhorses - The Warhorses

17. Thorne Hill - No More Holding Back

18. Jared Deck - Jared Deck

19. Paul Cauthen - My Gospel

20. Frankie Ballard - El Río

21. Cody Johnson - Gotta Be Me

22. Seth James & Jessica Murray - A Million Miles of Love

23. Drake White - Spark

24. Reckless Kelly - Sunset Motel

25. Garth Brooks - Gunslinger

26. Derek Hoke - Southern Moon

27. Randy Rogers Band - Nothing Shines Like Neon

28. Wynonna & The Big Noise - Wynonna & The Big Noise

29. Jamestown Revival - The Education of a Wandering Man

30. Kenny Chesney - Cosmic Hallelujah

31. Cody Jinks - I'm Not the Devil

32. Zane Williams - Bringin' Country Back

33. Levi Parham - These American Blues

34. Phil Vassar - American Soul

35. Whiskey Myers - Mud

36. High Valley - Dear Life

37. Kane Brown - Kane Brown

38. Martina McBride - Reckless

39. Jamie Kent - All American Mutt

40. The Cactus Blossoms - You're Dreaming

41. Shane Owens - Where I'm Comin' From

42. Shannon Labrie - War & Peace

43. The Cadillac Three - Bury Me in My Boots

44. Willie Nelson - For the Good Times: A Tribute to Ray Price

45. The Shires - My Universe

46. Ronnie Dunn - Tattooed Heart

47. Jon Pardi - California Sunrise

48. Mark Chesnutt - Tradition Lives

49. William Michael Morgan - Vinyl

50. Karen Jonas - Country Songs


Country Folk ~ Rustic Americana

1. The Avett Brothers - True Sadness

2. Parker Millsap - The Very Last Day

3. Lori McKenna - The Bird & the Rifle

4. Dori Freeman - Dori Freeman

5. BJ Barham - Rockingham

6. Flatland Cavalry - Humble Folks

7. The Stray Birds - Magic Fire

8. Brent Cobb - Shine on Rainy Day

9. Hayes Carll - Lovers and Leavers

10. Shovels & Rope - Little Seeds

11. Sarah Jarosz - Undercurrent

12. Sara Watkins - Young in All the Wrong Ways

13. Mary Chapin Carpenter - The Things That We Are Made Of

14. Courtney Marie Andrews - Honest Life

15. Aoife O'Donovan - In the Magic Hour

16. John Prine - For Better, or Worse

17. Dylan LeBlanc - Cautionary Tale

18. Darrell Scott - Couchville Sessions

19. Amanda Shires - My Piece of Land

20. Kate Rusby - Life in a Paper Boat

21. Lee DeWyze - Oil & Water

22. case / lang / veirs - case / lang / veirs

23. Jason Eady & Courtney Patton - Something Together

24. Kelsey Waldon - I've Got a Way

25. The Time Jumpers - Kid Sister

26. Robbie Fulks - Upland Stories

27. Mandolin Orange - Blindfaller

28. The Lumineers - Cleopatra

29. Dwight Yoakam - Swimmin' Pools, Movie Stars...

30. Amos Lee - Spirit

31. Seth Lakeman - Ballads of the Broken Few

32. Paper Bird - Paper Bird

33. John Paul White - Beulah


Pop

1. Sister Hazel - Lighter in the Dark

2. Rachel Platten - Wildfire

3. Rick Springfield - Rocket Science

4. Elton John - Wonderful Crazy Night

5. American Authors - What We Live For

6. Anthony D'Amato - Cold Snap

7. Parachute - Wide Awake

8. Jace Pawlak - Promise

9. Britt Nicole - Britt Nicole

10. Colbie Caillat - The Malibu Sessions

11. Regina Spektor - Remember Us to Life

12. Passenger - Young as the Morning Old as the Sea

13. Jacob Whitesides - Why?

14. Lewis & Leigh - Ghost

15. OneRepublic - Oh My My

16. Sia - This Is Acting

17. Muddy Magnolias - Broken People

18. Dawes - We're All Gonna Die

19. Gavin DeGraw - Something Worth Saving

20. Jimmy Barnes - Soul Searchin'

21. Andrew Leahey & The Homestead - Skyline in Central Time

22. Lake Street Dive - Side Pony

23. Meghan Trainor - Thank You

24. Josh Kelley - New Lane Road

25. KT Tunstall - KIN

26. Lights - Midnight Machines

27. Roxette - Good Karma

28. Tegan and Sara - Love You to Death

29. Sabrina Carpenter - EVOLution

30. Britta Phillips - Luck or Magic

31. The Candles - Matter + Spirit

32. Audrey Spillman - Thornbird

33. BROODS - Conscious


Rock  (Rock ‘n’ Roll, Classic Rock, Retro Radio Rock, Modern Rock)

1. The Roosevelts - The Greatest Thing You'll Ever Learn

2. Brian Fallon - Painkillers

3. The Roomsounds - Elm St.

4. Nordic Union - Nordic Union

5. Bon Jovi - This House Is Not for Sale

6. Treat - Ghost of Graceland

7. Wigelius - Tabula Rasa

8. Jorn - Heavy Rock Radio

9. Black Stone Cherry - Kentucky

10. Dare - Sacred Ground

11. Epic - Like a Phoenix

12. 3 Doors Down - Us and the Night

13. Wolfmother - Victorious

14. Blackfoot - Southern Native

15. Rival Sons - Hollow Bones

16. Letters From the Fire - Worth the Pain

17. The Record Company - Give It Back to You

18. Blackberry Smoke - Like an Arrow

19. The Answer - Solas

20. Kings of Leon - Walls

21. The Black Moods - Medicine

22. Inglorious - Inglorious

23. Tim Montana and The Shrednecks - Tim Montana and the Shrednecks

24. Grand Slam - A New Dawn

25. Rob Moratti - Transcendent

26. Angels or Kings - Go Ask the Moon

27. Glenn Hughes - Resonate

28. Handful of Rain - Three Days to Come Back

29. Mudcrutch - 2

30. Nemesea - Uprise

31. Overland - Contagious

32. First Signal - One Step Over the Line

33. The Radio Sun - Outside Looking In


Progressive Rock ~ Symphonic Metal

1. Dream Theater - The Astonishing

2. Serenity - Codex Atlanticus

3. Avantasia - Ghostlights

4. Epica - The Holographic Principle

5. Avenged Sevenfold - The Stage

6. Delain - Moonbathers

7. Sonata Arctica - The Ninth Hour

8. DGM - The Passage

9. Rhapsody of Fire - Into the Legend

10. Sirenia - Dim Days of Dolor

11. Redemption - The Art of Loss

12. Insomnium - Winter's Gate

13. Opeth - Sorceress

14. Of Mice & Men - Cold World

15. Lacuna Coil - Delirium


Hard Rock & Heavy Metal

1. Theocracy - Ghost Ship

2. Volbeat - Seal the Deal & Let's Boogie

3. Alter Bridge - The Last Hero

4. Holy Grail - Times of Pride and Peril

5. Metallica - Hardwired...to Self-Destruct

6. Sabaton - The Last Stand

7. Megadeth - Dystopia

8. Eden's Curse - Cardinal

9. Amaranthe - Maximalism

10. Amon Amarth - Jomsviking

11. Rage of Angels - The Devils New Tricks

12. Pretty Maids - Kingmaker

13. Trapt - DNA

14. Freedom Call - Master of Light

15. Michael Sweet - One Sided War

16. Evergrey - The Storm Within

17. Stitched Up Heart - Never Alone

18. Striker - Stand in the Fire

19. Tyketto - Reach

20. Gemini Syndrome - Memento Mori

21. Myrath - Legacy

22. Innerwish - InnerWish

23. Last in Line - Heavy Crown

24. Primal Fear - Rulebreaker

25. Serious Black - Mirrorworld

26. HammerFall - Built to Last

27. Sixx:A.M. - Prayers for the Blessed Vol. 2

28. Resurrection Kings - Resurrection Kings

29. In Flames - Battles

30. Shakra - High Noon

31. Obscura - Akróasis

32. Wovenwar - Honor Is Dead

33. Killswitch Engage - Incarnate


Ambiguous Alternatives

1. Andy Black - The Shadow Side

2. Sturgill Simpson - A Sailor's Guide to Earth

3. Simple Plan - Taking One for the Team

4. Panic! at the Disco - Death of a Bachelor

5. Poets of the Fall - Clearview

6. Twin Atlantic - GLA

7. The Head and the Heart - Signs of Light

8. Lindsey Stirling - Brave Enough

9. Eliza and The Bear - Eliza and The Bear

10. Dommin - Beautiful Crutch

11. The Wild Feathers - Lonely Is a Lifetime

12. James McCartney - The Blackberry Train

13. As Vultures Circle - Human Conditions

14. Skillet - Unleashed

15. Drive-By Truckers - American Band

16. Needtobreathe - Hard Love

17. Switchfoot - Where the Light Shines Through

18. Good Charlotte - Youth Authority

19. Thrice - To Be Everywhere Is to Be Nowhere

20. Nothing But Thieves - Nothing But Thieves

21. Yellowcard - Yellowcard

22. Jimmy Eat World - Integrity Blues

23. The Jayhawks - Paging Mr. Proust

24. Fitz & the Tantrums - Fitz & the Tantrums

25. Weezer - Weezer [White Album]

26. Lacey Sturm - Life Screams

27. Phish - Big Boat

28. Goo Goo Dolls - Boxes

29. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - PersonA

30. Savages - Adore Life

31. Deftones - Gore

32. Taking Back Sunday - Tidal Wave

33. Young Guns - Echoes


Guitarists

1. Tremonti - Dust

2. Joe Bonamassa - Blues of Desperation

3. Keith Urban - Ripcord

4. Wolf Hoffmann - Headbangers Symphony

5. Scotty Bratcher - That Album

6. Zakk Wylde - Book of Shadows II

7. Vince Gill - Down to My Last Bad Habit

8. Tedeschi Trucks Band - Let Me Get By

9. Gary Hoey - Dust & Bones

10. Jeff Beck - Loud Hailer

11. Steffen Schackinger - Fire Dance

12. Rik Emmett & RESolution9 - RES 9

13. Punky Meadows - Fallen Angel

14. Ace Frehley - Origins Vol. 1

15. Bonnie Raitt - Dig in Deep

16. Ana Popovic - Trilogy

17. Steve Wariner - All Over the Map

18. Monte Pittman - Inverted Grasp of Balance

19. Animals as Leaders - The Madness of Many

20. Stefan Berggren - Stranger in a Strangeland

21. Joanne Shaw Taylor - Wild

22. Andy Timmons - Theme From a Perfect World

23. Polyphia - Renaissance

24. Peter Frampton - Acoustic Classics

25. Kee Marcello - Scaling Up

26. Eric Clapton - I Still Do

27. Oz Noy - Who Gives a Funk

28. Eric Johnson - EJ

29. Paul Gilbert - I Can Destroy

30. Yngwie Malmsteen - World on Fire

31. Santana - Santana IV

32. Jack White - Acoustic Recordings 1998-2016

33. Neil Young - Peace Trail

The Epiphany of Righteousness in Christ

So, what would you say is the least of the Commandments?  Whoever annuls one of the least of these Commandments and teaches others to do the same, he shall be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.  Indeed, he shall not enter the Kingdom of heaven at all.  So, which is the least of these?

Probably not the Commandments against murder,  adultery, or theft.  Even the world knows that such things are grievous wrongs.  And I expect you know that the First Commandment is not the least but the greatest of all the Commandments: You shall have no others gods before the Lord.

But perhaps you would say the Eighth Commandment is one of the least: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.  After all, sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you.  Except you know that’s ridiculous.  Words can hurt deeply and leave real scars.

If you are caught bearing false witness, that is, testifying falsely under oath, then you are held in contempt of court, and that is no small thing.  In the Old Testament, if you bore false witness, then you would be liable to the same punishment as the person you falsely accused would have been.

And don’t suppose that idle and malicious gossip is any less sinful, no matter how common it may be.  To harm your neighbor’s good name and reputation is to despise the Word of the Lord, which teaches you to defend and protect your neighbor by speaking up on his behalf against detractors.

Well, then, what about coveting?  Granted, it may not be as harmful to your neighbor as murder, adultery, or theft.  However, the envy and jealousy, lust and resentment in your heart do harm your relationships.  And even more than that, St. Paul the Apostle deals a death blow to your coveting when he identifies it with idolatry.  To break the Ninth or Tenth Commandments is to break the First Commandment.  It is to make a false god out of things that are not God.

Okay, what about the Third Commandment?  Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy.  Dr. Luther even says that this Commandment doesn’t apply to Christians anymore.  The Sabbath Day was a law given to the Jews, and Christians have no such command to rest from all their labors on the seventh day of the week.  It is in the freedom of the Gospel that we go to church on Sunday to hear the preaching of Christ Jesus and to receive His Body and Blood in the Holy Communion.

Even so, the meaning and significance of the Sabbath remain in Christ Jesus.  Indeed, the Third Commandment is the most gracious of all the Commandments, in which God simply tells you to rest from your labors, to rest in Him, to hear His life-giving Word, to receive His glorious and gracious gifts.  It is your sinful heart that perverts this blessed Word of the Lord into a heavy yoke.  You act as though it were a burden and a chore to go to church, and you make light and easy excuses for avoiding it, though it is fundamental to the Christian faith and life, since you cannot live without God’s Word and the preaching of it.  You despise the very thing that saves you.

Then there is the Fourth Commandment: Honor your Father and your Mother.  No commandment is more routinely broken than this one, and not only by the little people.  You are to honor your parents, not only when you are little, but also when they are old and need your help, as they helped you when you were small.  And you are to honor, respect, obey, and serve the other authorities that God has placed over you, because they are His representative and servants.

According to St. Paul, the Fourth Commandment is not the least; it is the first one with a promise, that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.  To honor your father and your mother is to your own advantage in this body and life.

And by the same token, the penalty for dishonoring father and mother in the Old Testament was death by stoning.  So that is how seriously God takes this Commandment, which is not abolished in the least but is fulfilled and affirmed in Christ Jesus.

Well then, we’re left with the Second Commandment: You shall not misuse the Name of the Lord your God.  Or, as many of you learned it: You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain.  That pertains not only to your speaking, but also to your living.  For you bear His Name as a dear child of God, baptized into Christ Jesus; and you are to keep His Name holy by hearing and confessing His Word, and by leading a godly life according to it.  The Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His Name in vain.  But whoever calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved.

Whoever annuls even the least of these Commandments shall not enter God’s Kingdom.  But the truth is, there is no “least” Commandment.  They all flow from the first and return to it.  And all of them together require perfect faith and perfect love in all of your thoughts, words, and deeds.

That is the Righteousness of God’s holy Law, which is good and right, and wise and true.  Keeping your nose clean is not good enough.  Dotting your “i’s,” crossing your “t’s,” and minding all your “p’s” and “q’s” doesn’t do it, either.  But it requires fear, love, and trust in God, and love for your neighbor as yourself, in heart and mind, in body, soul, and spirit.

God has called you to be His child, to bear His Name, and to live by faith in His Word.  You are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, an epiphany of the Lord Himself in the flesh.

Yet, even as a Christian, you are still too much of the world, and too much like your fallen father Adam instead of your Father in heaven.  You do not fear the Lord your God; you do not love and trust in Him as you ought; and you do not love and serve your neighbor.

How, then, shall you become salty again?  How shall you live as a child of God after the Image of God in Christ Jesus?  With what light will you brighten the world around you?

Certainly not by removing or rejecting the Law.  You shall not climb up higher by lowering or getting rid of the standards.  They’re not your standards to monkey with, anyway!  It is rather by the perfect fulfillment of the Law that you are justified and saved — by Christ, the Son of God.  For His fulfillment of the Law is your Righteousness in Him.  It is the Gospel of your Salvation.

On the one hand, He fulfills the Law by suffering its judgment and punishment of your sins, of your idolatry and unbelief and lack of love.  For all of this, He is trampled under foot in His death upon the Cross.  He is thrown out of the Garden with Adam, cast into the ground, and buried.  But in His bodily Resurrection from the dead, not only does He remain salty in Himself, but the whole earth and all of creation are seasoned in and with Him, and are preserved unto life everlasting.

As you are baptized into Christ, you are baptized into His Cross and Resurrection.  Thus are you seasoned with Jesus.  You taste and smell like Hm.  You are seasoned with His Righteousness.  You are seasoned with His Holiness.  For not only has He suffered your punishment under the Law, but He has in fact kept the Law perfectly, as only He ever could do.  He has fulfilled and accomplished it completely, in perfect faith and perfect love.  He truly is both Salt and Light.

He is the Salt of the earth.  He is the Light of the world.  As the Son of God by nature from all eternity, but so also in His human flesh and blood.  He is the perfect Man.  He is Man as man ought to be.  Thus, He fulfills and establishes the Righteousness of God as your Brother in the Flesh, so that you also might belong to His Father and His Family by faith in Him.

So it is that His Gospel now shines His Light upon you.  This it the true Light of God in the flesh and blood of Jesus.  It is the Word of His Gospel.  It does not demand, but it forgives.  It does not take, but it gives away freely.  It does not kill, but it gives life.  And it shines upon you from His Holy Cross.  That is the Lampstand in the midst of His Church, which fills His House with Light.

Ironically, this Light of the Cross is hidden in the deepest humility, in the greatest weakness and poverty and shame.  It appears so weak and foolish, so powerless and helpless, because it is the opposite of the world’s wisdom, the world’s power, the world’s strength, and the world’s glory.

It is self-sacrifice instead of self-righteousness.  It is selfless love, instead of selfish greed.  It is giving freely, instead of grabbing and taking.  It is forgiving and saving those who trespass against you, instead of exacting revenge.  It is speaking kindly and graciously, instead of gossiping.

The world has never seen or heard of such love, never before.  But in the Gospel it is heard.  And in the Cross of Christ it is seen.  For in such love Christ has kept all of the Commandments.  Not only in your stead, so that His keeping of the Law is credited to you.  But more than that, He has kept and fulfilled all of the Commandments in love for you, in caring for you as His neighbor.

Not only has He not murdered you, but He has guarded you and kept you in safety in your body and life.  And when you are sick, He heals you.  And when you die, He raises you up.

He has not robbed you, but He has given you the treasures of heaven.  And He has not committed adultery against you, but in faithfulness He has forgiven your adultery of every kind.  And He is constantly wooing you back to Himself.  Unfaithful bride that you have been, He still loves you.

He does not covet.  He does not bear false witness.  He gives generously from a heart of love.  And He bears witness that, for His sake, you are not guilty, because He has given Himself for you.

He honors His Father, even unto death.  And sinless though He was, He submitted to His human parents, to Mary and Joseph, who were mortal sinners like yourself; who were not always right; who did not always understand.  He submitted to them, because He trusted His Father in heaven.  And trusting His God and Father, He called upon His Name.  He cried out to Him in the hope and confidence of faith, even as He went to the Cross, knowing that His Father would raise Him up.

It is in this way that Christ has become your Sabbath Rest.  He has become your Peace, your Hope, your Life, and your Salvation.  For He divides His Bread with the hungry.  He divides His Body with you in His Church.  In Holy Baptism He has brought you out of the cold into the House of God.  He has made His House your home, His Castle your castle, so that you live with Him in the Kingdom of His God and Father.  He has covered your nakedness by clothing you with Himself.

As He has suffered and died in your place upon the Cross, so does His Light break forth and dawn upon you in His Resurrection from the dead, in which His Righteousness goes before Him in the Ministry of the Gospel, in the preaching of forgiveness, in the glory of His Body and His Blood.  By such ways and means of His grace, He glorifies you with His divine Glory.  That is how it is that you are now an epiphany of Christ within your own vocation and stations in life.

As often as you falter, as often as you fail, as often as you fall down flat on your face, He raises you up to stand straight and tall in His own crucified and risen Body.  It is His Righteousness that avails for you before His God and Father in heaven.  And it is likewise in His Righteousness that you prevail and persevere in love for your neighbor, even in spite of yourself.  You are seasoned by the Lord Jesus Christ, and you are preserved by His strength, by His Word and Spirit of the Cross, and by His Resurrection from the dead.  Thus, in Him, you also season and preserve your neighbor by your confession of the Gospel in the way that you speak and the way that you live.

Even in great weakness, the Lord Jesus is at work in you to will and to do according to the good and gracious will of God.  Not because you are so faithful, but He is.  Not because you are sincere and trying so hard, but because He does all things well, and He has accomplished everything for you.  Day by day and week by week, He freely gives you all good things by His grace, by His Gospel, within His Holy Church.  That’s why He wants you to be here.  That He might give you His good gifts and justify you with His Righteousness in body and soul, for now and forever.

Thus are you given the mind of Christ.  Thus do you receive the Spirit of God.  Thus do you know what is good and right and true.  You know both faith and love, because He is faithful, and He is Love.  He catechizes you with His Word and gives Himself to you in peace.  So do you know His grace toward you.  You know the Will of God in His Gospel.  For God raised this Jesus from the dead, who loves you and gave Himself for you.  He is your Righteousness, in whom you enter the Kingdom of heaven and live with the Lord your God forever and ever.

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

Life with God in the Blessed One

The Kingdom of heaven has drawn near to you in Christ, in His Word and in His Flesh and Blood.  And now, by His preaching, He draws you to Himself and brings you to His God and Father.

He has seen you from afar and beheld you with compassion, and so has He come down from heaven to lay hold of you in love.  And then, by His Cross and in His Resurrection from the dead, He has gone up the Mountain of God; He has risen and ascended to the right hand of the Father, so that He might gather you up in Himself and bear you in His Body into the Kingdom of heaven.

He has come down in order to raise you up.  So it is that His Baptism — in and out of the water, in and out of His death — has fulfilled all righteousness and established justice for you and for all the sons and daughters of man.  He has accomplished for you, in His own Body and Life, the right relationship of sons to God the Father in heaven.  Thus are you beloved and well-pleasing to God in Christ Jesus, and you live with Him in faith toward God and in love for God and your neighbor.

The Sacrifice of Christ is your Atonement and the forgiveness of your sins; so that, first of all, what was broken and out of sync between you and God has been repaired and rectified in Him.  As you are baptized into Him and live by faith in Him, His rising from the dead is now also your resurrection and your righteousness, and His Ascension into heaven means that you live with God in Christ in the heavenly places, even as you live by faith a holy and heavenly life on earth.  For you follow after Christ Jesus, through death into life, bearing His Cross and sharing the fruits of His Resurrection.  And within His Body, you live and abide with God the Father in the Holy Spirit.

It is for this great salvation, that you should live with God in body and soul, that the Lord Jesus comes to you and preaches repentance, forgiveness of sins, and the Kingdom of heaven into your ears, into your heart and mind, into your body and soul.  And the Holy Spirit calls you by this preaching of Christ Jesus into the gathering of His Body, the Church, into the Life of the Lord in the Liturgy of His Gospel, in order that you should be with Him where He is, both here and now and forever hereafter.  Indeed, you are with Him even now, because He is with you here in mercy.

He is here with you, and He calls you to bear His Cross and follow Him.  He calls you to live with God by grace within His Body.  He calls you to do as He does, within your own office and stations in life, and to suffer with Him in your own place, for His Name’s sake, in holy faith and holy love.

It is with the love and mercy of Christ Jesus that you are called to do justice for others.  Not as a social warrior, but by coming down from the heights of yourself in order to care for others, to raise them up in peace, and to bring them to God by the confession of Christ and His Gospel.  To bear the blessed Cross in love for your neighbor.  To forgive those who sin against you.  To defend and protect those who are under attack, especially those who are so weak and small and helpless.

The Lord would have you value kindness over power, and to be kind.  Not with mere sentiment or empty words, but to sacrifice yourself and your pride, your time and energy, your ambitions, desires, money, and possessions, in order to serve and support your neighbor in his or her need.  For His own Name’s sake, your Lord Jesus Christ calls you to give yourself in love and gladly to do good, not only to friends and family, but even to those who have failed you or let you down.  Not to condone or participate in sin, but to bear with your neighbors in mercy and with patience; gently but firmly to speak the truth in love, as necessary, and so also to instruct by your example.

As Christ Himself has done, walk quietly and patiently with God.  For though He was rich and powerful and had no sins of His own, He made Himself poor and weak and bore your sins in order to become your Savior in holy faith and perfect love.  Recognize your own poverty, weakness, and genuine need.  Acknowledge and confess your sins and your unworthiness.  And yet, in the peace and promise of the Gospel, rest yourself in the grace and forgiveness of Christ Jesus.  Hold His Word sacred, and so make every effort to hear and heed the preaching of it.  Find your life and salvation in His means of grace, in the significance of your Holy Baptism, in Holy Absolution, and in the Holy Communion.  In the humility of repentance and the confidence of faith, give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and glorify His Name by the prayer and confession of His Word, and by the way that you live with the people around you, including the most difficult.

Turn away from your sins and your pursuit of death, and return to the Lord your God, to your Creator and Redeemer, to the Author and Giver of Life.  Live according to the Word that He has spoken to you, and rely upon His Gospel even in the teeth of death and the grave.

That is the foolishness of God which is wiser than man: To rejoice and be glad in the Cross of Christ, and in the bearing of His Cross, in the sure and certain hope of His Resurrection.  It is to hunger and thirst for His righteousness, above and beyond the daily bread that your mortal body craves and requires; and to be satisfied in body and soul with the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus.

Does such a life seem challenging, idealistic, and naive?  Are you already making excuses as to why you can’t and haven’t lived as you should, and consoling yourself with rationalizations and the promise of grace, as though the gracious Word of God promoted sin and a carefree easy life?

In fact, the blessed life with God to which you are called is impossible to the fallen sons of Adam and their children, and it is utterly foolish to this fallen and perishing world.  But you are not only a child of Adam.  You are a new creation, a son of God in Christ Jesus, anointed by His Spirit, upheld by His living and life-giving Word, and a citizen of His Kingdom on earth as in heaven.

The life to which you are called is the Life that is given to you by the grace of God, and it is yours in Christ Jesus.  His Word does not condone your sin, nor does He overlook it, neither the wrong that you do nor the good that you fail to do, but His Word does forgive your sin and call you from your idolatry and unbelief to repentance, faith, and love.  That Way of Divine Life in human flesh and blood has been opened to you in the Body of Christ the Crucified, in the New Creation of His Resurrection from the dead, and in the ongoing Ministry of His Gospel within His Holy Church.

By the life of Christ, from His cradle to His Cross; by the faith and love of Jesus, even unto death; by the hope and promise of His Resurrection, know and believe that the wisdom and greatness of God are not found in worldly power and strength, in wealth or popularity, in luxury or leisure, but in dying to yourself, to your sins, and to the world, and relying absolutely on the Charity of God.

The Kingdom of heaven is thus at hand in the midst of sin and death and deep darkness.  And it is given to you by the grace of God in the Word and Spirit of the crucified and risen Lord Jesus.  He is the Light of the Revelation of the Glory of God, who has become flesh and tabernacles with you.  He feeds you with His own Body and Blood.  He forgives you all of your sins.  He guides you by His Word in the Way of life, which is the way of faith and love in His Cross and Resurrection.  He anoints you with His Spirit and preserves your relationship with His God and Father in heaven.

In Him, in His Body of flesh and blood, your eyes behold His great salvation; because, in this Lord Jesus Christ, crucified and risen from the dead, you are reconciled to God in true Peace and Joy.  No longer are you at enmity with God.  Nor are you a slave any longer, shackled and chained by the Law’s demands and Satan’s accusations.  You are called a blessed son of God in Christ; and so you are, born again by your Baptism into His Cross and Resurrection.  The world cannot rob you of that, because it is given to you by Christ.  He has opened His mouth and spoken.  It is so.

So it is that, by His Word and Holy Spirit, you now live and love like Christ in relation to God and man, on earth as it is in heaven.  You are comforted in the face of sin and death by His forgiveness and His righteousness.  And with the courage and strength of faith, hope, and trust in that Gospel, you are merciful to others, as He is merciful toward you.  You are gentle, kind, and pure of heart.  You are slow to anger, patient and long-suffering, abounding in love; quick to apologize where you have done wrong to your neighbor, and quick to forgive and let go of the wrong that others have done to you.  As the Lord your God has made peace with you and all the world by the Cross and Resurrection of Christ Jesus, so are you at peace with God and with all people, for His sake.

You live righteously; which is to say that you live by faith in Christ, the Son of God, in whom His God and Father is your true God and Father, and you are His true child.  Although your faith and love are not what they ought to be, and it is still the case and your experience that you daily sin much in your thoughts, words, and deeds, for which you deserve nothing but punishment, yet the faithfulness of Christ and the love of God in Christ remain and prevail for your life.  Even though you die, yet shall you live.  Though you are poor and miserable, yet the heavens and the earth are your inheritance.  The One who feeds you here and now with the Fruits of His Cross, will feed you forever with Himself in the Resurrection, and you shall be satisfied.  So shall you see God and live.

Blessed are you, indeed, who bear the Cross of Christ and the Name and Spirit of God by your Baptism into Him.  For in Him all things are yours forever, since He has gone up the Mountain for you, and has sat down at the Right Hand of the Father, and by His grace you follow after Him.

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

Called Out of Darkness into the Light of Christ

One could hardly over-emphasize the significance of St. Paul’s conversion for the history of the Church on earth, and really for the history of the world.  Indeed, U. S. News and World Report once identified the conversion of St. Paul as the single most significant event in western history — and that was not even considering his theological contributions, but simply his impact on the life and culture of western society.  More important, by the grace and mercies of God, by His Word and Holy Spirit, St. Paul built upon the rock foundation that his Savior, Christ Jesus, established.

Incredibly, there are no less than four complementary accounts of Paul’s conversion in the Holy Scriptures: three within the Acts of the Apostles (a surprising repetition in a carefully selective record of Church history), and the fourth from St. Paul’s own hand in his Epistle to the Galatians.

The significance of St. Paul’s conversion and call to Apostleship goes far beyond the fact that he preached to the Gentiles in his day.  As a thirteenth Apostle, he was in his office an indication of God’s good and gracious will to extend the Kingdom of His people and His Church beyond the twelve tribes of Israel.  As St. Peter and the others Apostles were the new Patriarchs of a new Israel, so was St. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, the divinely-ordained link between the new Jerusalem and the rest of the world within the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church of Christ.

So also, as the other Apostles were called to give up everything, to the point of losing their lives for the sake of Christ and His Gospel, so was St. Paul called to give up everything he knew, to suffer many things in the Name of Jesus, and finally to be martyred under Nero in Rome.

More to the point at hand, the same Lord Jesus calls you to forsake all that you have known and trusted — yourself and your life, your family, your home, and all of your possessions in this world.  That is to say, He calls you to repentance.  He calls you to be converted every day, as it were, from the darkness and death of your sin to forgiveness and life in the Light of His Gospel.

Now, you know what it’s like to come out of a dark room into the light — maybe first thing in the morning, or after a movie matinee.  The light hurts your eyes at first, and it takes a while to adjust.  That’s how it was for Saul of Tarsus, when he was suddenly surrounded by the blazing Light of God from heaven.  Except that Saul had thought he was already walking in the light of the Lord.

As the Lord Jesus had forewarned His Disciples, the day had come when men like Saul believed they were serving the Lord their God by persecuting the Church and Ministers of Christ.  So what a shock it was for Saul to be confronted by the true Light of God in Christ Jesus — far brighter than any he had known — and to learn that he was living and walking in the darkness as a chief of sinners.  The devastating impact of that realization brought Saul to his knees and brought him to nothing.  For he, Saul, a pharisee of pharisees, was the blind and ignorant one.  All of his efforts on behalf of the Law and the Temple were wrong and counterproductive.  He was running in vain.

To make note of all of this is fine and good.  And it might be easy enough to sit back and point fingers at poor Saul.  We don’t even have to feel too badly for him, since we already know how his story will continue, and how he will become a great Apostle and a Champion of Christ.  What is not so comfortable and easy, however, is that you, like Saul, are also kicking against the goads and persecuting Jesus by your sins.  Which means that you must also be confronted by the Lord and painfully converted, and not only once upon a time, but day after day throughout your life.

Apart from the Epiphany and Self-revelation of Christ, you are the one who is walking in darkness — no matter how zealous and pious you might be, and no matter if you serve as an officer of the congregation, or even as a pastor!  Your credentials and your zeal will surely never be greater than Saul’s.  If the Lord Jesus Christ does not surround you with His Light and speak His Voice to you, then you remain nothing but a poor, miserable sinner, breathing threats and murder against your neighbor, and running in vain on the road that is wide and smooth on its way to destruction.

And if Jesus does not send His Ananias to you — to lay his hand on you in Holy Absolution, to open your eyes and ears to the preaching of the Gospel, to return you to the life-giving waters of Holy Baptism, and to nourish you with the Food of Christ in the Holy Communion — then you remain in your blind ignorance, and you will starve to death in utter despair.

Thus, you cannot (you dare not) hear the story of St. Paul’s conversion as a casual listener with detached objectivity; because it must become your story, your conversion from darkness to Light.

In the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Eustace is turned into a dragon on account of his greed and selfishness.  He is converted back into a boy by the great lion, Aslan, only by the painful stripping away of layer-upon-layer of scales — right down to the core of his being — and by a “baptismal” cleansing in the waters of repentance.  C. S. Lewis thus provides a powerful, dramatic picture of Christian conversion, including your own.  For it is a painful removal of all that you have been, the drowning and death of your old Adam, before you are raised up to newness of life in Christ.

Yet, as brilliant as C. S. Lewis was, his poetic description of conversion does not surpass the poignancy of St. Paul’s conversion as described by St. Luke in the Acts of the Apostles.

In the story of St. Paul you are presented with the paradigm and pattern of Christian conversion.  And though, of course, the details and specifics of the experience and its outcome are different in each particular case, by the eyes and ears of faith you are able to recognize your own story, as well, in the calling and conversion of St. Paul.  For you have also been on your own road to Damascus, self-confident and self-righteous in your own ambitious choices, decisions, ideas, and ideals.

So it goes, until the Lord stops you dead in your tracks.  Maybe not with a brilliant light flashing all around you from heaven, but perhaps with the exposure of some secret sin, or with evidence that you actually don’t know it all, and you don’t understand even what you do know.  Perhaps it is not a voice from the heavens, but the voice of a parent laying down the law, or a doctor saying “cancer,” or a phone call in the middle of the night that someone you love has been killed.

Whatever it may be, whatever it takes, you find yourself blind and groping in the darkness of your sinful ignorance and unbelief.  You cannot help yourself; you have to be taken by hand and led around by others.  All your proud plans and grand ambitions have to be given up and set aside.  It is a time of repentance, of fasting and prayer, and of watching and waiting on the Lord.

Three days in the tomb, in the dust of the ground — in the dark with Saul of Tarsus, in the belly of the great fish with Jonah — before you are resurrected from the dead by the Word of the Gospel.  The Lord has not forgotten you.  But He must kill the sinner before He raises the saint.

And then the Lord who loves you sends His Ananias, a servant of His Word, to lay a tender hand upon your head; to speak the grace, mercy, and peace of His forgiveness; to baptize you in the Name of Jesus, or to return you to His Baptism; and to feed you with His Body and His Blood.

Thus, by the Ministry of His Gospel, the Lord opens up your eyes, in such a way that His Light is no longer blinding but a Lamp unto your feet and a Light upon your path.  No longer are you on the road to Damascus, but on the Road to Emmaus with the crucified and risen Lord Jesus.  And as you have died with Him by your Baptism into His death, so do you now live with Him, as well.

And just as St. Paul’s conversion from the darkness to the Light included God’s call to a particular office and station in life, so are you called to a particular place and purpose as a child of God and a Christian disciple of Christ Jesus.  But your place and purpose, your office and station in life are different than St. Paul’s, and different than your neighbor’s.  Your vocation, your relationships, and your responsibilities are uniquely yours.  But you need not go hunting and searching to find them or figure them out, because they are set before you plainly in your neighbors, beginning with your own parents, siblings, spouse, and children, if you have them; so, too, in your classmates, your colleagues, and coworkers; in your teachers or students; in your boss or your employees; in the orphans and widows the Lord has placed beside you; and in your brothers and sisters in Christ.

As a child, you are called to love, honor, serve, and obey your parents and other authorities.  As a parent, you are called to rear your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord; to bring them to the washing of the water with His Word in Holy Baptism, and then to continue bringing them to His Church; to care for them in body and soul; to catechize them in God’s Word and prayer; and to teach them by your words and by your example to live and walk in the Light of Christ.

As husband or wife, you are called to love and serve your spouse in the faith and love of Christ and His Bride, the Church.  As a Christian, you are called to drown and destroy the old Adam in you through daily contrition and repentance, to confess your sins and to receive the forgiveness and eternal life of Christ Himself in His Gospel and Sacrament.  That is your most important calling.

As a member of the congregation, you are called to serve and support the Church and Ministry of the Gospel in this place, for your own sake and for your neighbors, to the Glory of God in Christ.  Pray for me as your pastor, as I pray for you.  And within your community and neighborhood, and in your job if you have one, serve and support those around you in the confession of Christ Jesus.

Though none of us will be another St. Paul, and perhaps only a few of you might ever be called to the pastoral office, each and every one of you has been called out of the darkness of your sins into the marvelous Light of Christ.  You are called to be a child of the Father in heaven; called to live and walk in the Way of Christ and, whatever your particular place and station are, to be His Light in the midst of the deep darkness all around you.  You are called to receive the gracious gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation in Christ, and to learn from Him what it is to be truly alive.

At the heart of the story at hand — what St. Paul was called to do, according to the Word of Jesus — what was necessary, according to the Word and Will of God, in much the same way that the Cross and Resurrection of Christ were necessary — was that St. Paul would suffer many things for the Name of Christ Jesus.  He was called to bear the Cross in this life on earth, even unto death.  Not as those who suffer and die without hope, but in the hope and promise of the Resurrection.

And to this same life, death, and resurrection, you also are called.  For you received the Cross of Christ upon your forehead and your heart in Holy Baptism.  You are marked as one redeemed by this crucified God, who calls you to bear His Cross and follow Him, to confess His Name and suffer for it, to die and rise with Him to the praise and glory of His God and Father.  For as you are crucified, dead, and buried with the Lord Jesus Christ, so also do you live with Him, as well, in body and soul, both here in time and hereafter in eternity forever.

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