New Year's Sermon 2023

 "Invoking God's Name" is the phrase that connects the Old with the New on this New Years' Day of 2023: The picture on the left recalls when God gave Moses instructions to Aaron and his sons (cf. Numbers 6:22-27) on how they are to bless the congregation by putting God's Name on the children of Israel; and, the other picture denotes how the Christian pastor, making the sign of Christ's cross, blessing his congregation while speaking the Aaronic benediction revealing the One true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

This brings me to my morning address:

January 1st 2023 “The Circumcision and Holy Name of Jesus"

Sermon Texts – Luke 2:21 “And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.” (NKJV); and, Psalm 8:9 “O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Thy name in all the earth!” (KJV}

My friends in Christ: In the late nineteenth century a European diplomat serving in Egypt stumbled upon a rare find—a half-dozen ancient books. The style of the manuscripts in ancient Greek handwriting suggested they had been written sometime between 100 and 400 A.D. Their great age and excellent condition made these books valuable, but when scholars turned their attention to the content of the writings, they realized the find was one of a kind and quite weird. The books contained paragraph after paragraph of nonsense words made up entirely of vowel sounds, strange sketches and occult diagrams, and most significantly these manuscripts contained page after page of names. These were the names of gods and goddesses, angels and demons, all pagan names.

The books contained dozens of magical spells. These were the handbooks of ancient Greek magicians, teaching sorcerers how to harness the power of the supernatural for their paying clients. There were spells for good health, fair weather, and of course spells for success in love or for your favorite greyhound at the racetrack. There were curses upon personal enemies, business rivals, and former lovers. And the keys to unlock all this supernatural power, the magicians believed, were in the names of all these gods and demons. This is the reason why the Black Lives Matter movement demanded that white people say the names, out loud, of the people that were shot and killed by “racist” cops.

In the ancient Mediterranean world of Greece and Rome, magic was everywhere. It was believed that the power, the very essence of a being resided in its name. And knowledge of a supernatural name gave power. Magicians and common people alike assumed that if they could only learn the name of a god or a demon, they had a chance of manipulating the deity to serve their own purposes. Hence, the spells of ancient magicians often included hundreds of these supernatural names. It was the hope that at least one of these names would hit its target and force a supernatural being to bring about the goal of the spell.

The Old Testament contains what we call the Aaronic benediction, which we use as the final blessing, in the Benediction, to end our public worship services. And just what is the subject of this blessing? The name LORD appears three times, calling on God’s identity as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The full revelation of the name would come in the New Testament. This is the identity of the Lord as one God in three persons. This is what is present in this benediction. And what about the verbs? Do not they all indicate blessings that God places upon Israel? The verbs say that God shall Bless thee, Keep thee, Shine upon thee, Be gracious unto thee, and Lift up His countenance upon thee, and Give thee peace. So, where God’s name is called on, there He is present to bless you. His name is His presence, for where His name is invoked, there He is to bless.

The name of God was invoked in the first reference to worship in Genesis 4:25-27, “Then men began to call upon the name of the Lord.” And who are the objects of this blessing?... the people of Israel. Just after this blessing, the Lord said that the priest shall put His name upon the people of Israel, and that He will bless them. So, when we hear this blessing at the beginning of our worship services, in the pastor’s Invocation: we know that God is present, lifting us out of the depths of our sin, and giving us life in His name.

Now to the other significance of this first day of January in conjunction with the Holy Name of Jesus, Luther gives us some insight into the times of his day. Dr. Luther preached in a sermon on New Year’s Day, saying, “On this day it is customary to distribute new year’s gifts from the pulpit, as if one did not have enough useful and beneficial matters to preach about, and it were necessary to hand out such useless tales instead of the word of God and to turn this serious office into a game and a joke. The Gospel demands that our sermon be about the circumcision and the name Jesus, and we are going to observe this.”

    “Let us, first, ask that smart woman, Madam Jezebel, natural reason: Is it not foolish, ridiculous, futile that God demands circumcision? Could he find no other part of the body except this one? If Abraham had followed reason in this matter, he would not have believed that it was God who demanded such a thing from him; to our mind it is always a most foolish thing—there could hardly be a more foolish one. In addition, the Israelites suffered a great deal of humiliation and shame because of it. They were despised by all the world because of it and were almost considered to be an abomination. Moreover, there is absolutely no good in it; what purpose is served by injuring the body? It does not make a person any better, since everything depends upon the soul."

The name of the Lord is fulfilled in Jesus’ circumcision and the naming ceremony in today’s Gospel lesson. Following the instructions given in the Old Covenant, Mary and Joseph went to the local synagogue at Bethlehem on the eighth day of Jesus’ life. Why the eighth day? Some have claimed that it was primarily to make sure the boy was strong enough to handle the bloodshed of circumcision. However, consider this: The eighth day indicates a new creation.

Recall the original seven days of creation, recorded in the first two chapters of Genesis, when God made all that exists out of nothing and by the power of His Word. Later, God again made His creation through the flood, where eight souls were saved by water. And then recall how it is was St. Peter who connects the faithful eight in the ark with holy baptism: “Eight persons were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you” (1 Peter 3:20, 21). So the eighth day is the day that God makes all things new, reclaims His people as His own, and once again brings light out of darkness.

And so, it was on the eighth day that Jesus was circumcised. In the Old Testament, circumcision was the special mark given to God’s people, His “baptism” by which He claimed His people. On the Law side, the foreskin symbolized rebellion against God. Although Sampson and King David were circumcised, the foreskin was still a reminder that from it evil lusts arose. Sampson failed to recall His circumcision and fell to the seductress Delilah; David forgot His covenant and took another woman to his bed. And even we ourselves may have committed adultery in the heart and desired illicit sex.

The foreskin is a reminder that humans and their sexuality have fallen into sin and need to be spiritually circumcised, with a circumcision not made of hands, and to live in the daily circumcision of repentance in the New Covenant. But you still ask, Why was Jesus, as the sinless Son of God, circumcised? I answer: It was to keep the law for us. Recall that Jesus was born not to abolish the law but to fulfill the law. We have broken God’s law by our fault, by our own fault.

Today, the beginning of the new year, 2023, should remind you that the fulfillment of the law began with the baby Jesus shedding His blood in circumcision. Along with His circumcision, the Christ Child was officially given the name Jesus, meaning Savior. This was according to the instruction given to Joseph through the angel that Mary will bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for he will save His people from their sins.

The name of Jesus is symbolic of the very Gospel. It is the New Covenant form of the Old Testament name “Joshua,” meaning the Lord saves. This was the name of the man chosen to lead the conquest of the Promised Land. And so, Jesus, now leads His people out of the wilderness of sin, through the Jordan of Holy Baptism, and into the Promised Land of Heaven.

Left to ourselves, we only rebel against God. On our own, we have gone our own way, been our own gods, and worshiped the various golden calves, and called upon various names to help us. We deserve every punishment the impenitent Israelites received in the wilderness, but the Holy Name of Jesus proclaims that, through this eight-day old child, there is indeed help and salvation, by His perfect obedience in the passive obedience of His circumcision; His baptism in the Jordan; His temptation in the wilderness; by His suffering, crucifixion and burial; by His glorious resurrection and bodily ascension into heaven, there is no other name whereby we must be saved. Acts 4:8-12, has the rulers and elders and scribes set before Peter and asked him: “By what power and by what name have you done this (miracle)? And in verse 12, Peter says: “Neither is there salvation in any other, for the is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.”

That same Holy Name is given to you in your baptism. Today’s Epistle reminds us that “As many of you as were baptized into Christ Jesus have put on Christ.” Baptism is your own Eighth Day. That was the day that God saved you in the Ark of Christendom, which is many baptismal fonts made in the shape of an octagon, having eight sides. Baptism is the perfect replacement of circumcision, that special means by which you are born from above (or born again) by water and the Spirit.

God has claimed you as His very own since you possess the Holy Name of Jesus by virtue of your baptism into His name. And of special interest you should know that baptism is the bestowal of God’s full name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And where His name is spoken, there He is to bless and keep us as His own children. It’s just like the Aaronic blessing and the circumcision of Jesus! God is the subject, the One who comes to you because you cannot come to Him. You are the objects, the recipients, the ones who become sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Hence, the one holy name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is inscribed upon your hearts in holy baptism.

And you are here again today to hear the Word of forgiveness in Jesus’ name. And yet there is always some tension in celebrating New Year’s Day. Some may call it a New Year’s Day worship service and others may call it The Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus. However, these two occasions go hand in glove. As the church, we rejoice that the Holy Name is preached for the salvation of souls throughout the earth; as citizens of heaven, we rejoice that “Our God our help in ages past” will be “our Guard while troubles last and our eternal home” (TLH 123). And the common theme is this: God’s Divine name permeates the entire Christian life, from baptism to the Christian’s death and eternal life. As Mary herself said, “His mercy is on them that fear Him from generation to generation.”

Unlike the empty and powerless names invoked by those pagan magicians so long ago on the banks of the Nile, the Holy Name of Jesus is truly a name of divine power. The demons of Hell quake at the mention of the name of Jesus. The darkness can hide nowhere from the Light that entered the world that day at Bethlehem. When confronted by the power of the Incarnation, God’s saving power was made known in the name He was given, the Name above all names! And the day is coming, my Christian friends, when our Lord will make Death our final enemy, His footstool, and all creatures will join every other being in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, bending knee in submission to the One whose name is above all names – the Holy name of Jesus.

“O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth!” Amen.

Bad Dog-matician; Good Dog-matician

THE Difference between a GOOD DOG-matician and a BAD DOG-matician

Let's take, for example, the doctrine of Justification. This doctrine is the chief teaching of the Christian Church. The Good Dog(matician) will gather and define terms that the Bible addresses; on the other hand, the Bad Dog(matician) has a tendency not to define his terms but rather jumbles them all together treating them as synonymous.

There are several theological doctrines that are related to Justification. The Good Dog(matician) will observe their use in Holy Writ (giving him that halo look about him); while the Bad Dog(matician) starts with a preconceived notion much like Rev. C.F.W. Walther did in his Easter sermons of an Easter absolution of all sinners. And, we know that to absolve a person is to release that person from sin (forgiveness),

The confessors in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article IV on Justification, sec. 76-78 begins with defining Justification thus: "First, forgiveness of sins is the same as justification according to Psalm 32:1...We obtain the forgiveness of sins by faith in Christ...Therefore we are justified by faith alone, justification being understood as making an unrighteous man righteous or effecting his regeneration." So there, in just a few sentences, we have the terms "forgiveness" being the same as "justification", "righteousness", and "faith" (without there is NO justification).

To the last point, a Good Dog(matician) named Martin Chemnitz, in his Enchiridion, says this: "For justification cannot take place without righteousness (of Christ)" Romans 3:22, 24. Not only that, but Chemnitz (the second "Martin" of the Reformation) asks this question (#149) "Are all men justified because of this righteousness of the Son of God?" Then, instead of giving a resounding "NO!" he gives this answer that blackens the eye of the Bad Dog(matician): "The way is broad that leads to damnation, and there are many that walk in it. M 7:13."

But that doesn't stop the Bad Dog(matician) from publishing falsehoods, oh no-no-no! Here is what the 2005 LCMS Small Catechism states about the forgiveness of sins: Question 180, Why do you say, "I believe in the forgiveness of sins"? Answer: I believe in the forgiveness of sins because through Christ God has DECLARED (emphasis mine) pardon and forgiveness to ALL SINFUL HUMANITY. (emphasis mine).

Compare that confession with a Good Dog(matician) by the name of Heinrich Christian Schwan in his 1905 Small Catechism (also see the LCMS 1941 Small Catechism): Question #195: Why do you say, "I believe in the forgiveness of sins"? Answer: Because by the Scriptures I am assured that God by grace, for Christ's sake, through the Gospel, daily and richly forgives all sins to me and ALL BELIEVERS. (emphasis mine).

The process can go on and on, the sophists on the one hand trying to disgrace and actually condemn the theologians that actually take the Scriptures in context to reveal the true Word of God.

Do you remember the Good Dog(matician) that stated that justification cannot take place without righteousness and used Romans 3:22, and 24? But those Bad Dog(maticians) also used Romans 3:23-24 to "prove" that God has already declared all forgiven and righteous in Christ Jesus, even all the sinners in the world. Now let's look at those verses in context: Romans 3:22-25 (NKJV) states clearly: "22 even the righteousness of God, THROUGH FAITH in ("of" in the TR) Jesus Christ, to all and on all WHO BELIEVE. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His GRACE through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a PROPITIATION by His blood, THROUGH FAITH, to demonstrate His RIGHTEOUSNESS, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,"

I will let this much sink in for those who (maybe) need to give my statements another look. But I would like to define just one more word as it is used by the people who say that anyone who doesn't believe that all have already been declared forgiven and righteous in Christ is to be damned. That word is "declare", which in the Cambridge dictionary is defined thus: "To announce something clearly, formally, publicly, or officially." Think! If God has already DECLARED everyone forgiven and righteous in Christ, why would anyone want to hear Law and Gospel preached? why would anyone ever desire to be born-again (literally born from above)? Why are people still in their sins according to John 3:18 and John 3:36? Why would anyone ever say "God declares" and then find out that what He declared isn't at all finished but needs a "second part" in the process of Justification.

The UOJ people indeed confuse the term atonement where Jesus, on the Cross of Calvary, accomplished everything for man's salvation, BUT make it synonymous with justification.

THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER 2021

 "Sojourner and pilgrim cognizance" is the phrase best descriptive of our little gallery: Pic #1 shows the Nov.1620 Landing at Plymouth Rock by Pilgrims seeking a homeland where they could have economic freedom as well as religious liberty from the Church of England; Pic #2 with all its crass and obscene gestures shows that not all people that migrate to a new land have good intentions; Pic #3 is just as crass but shows that there are no sojourners because they intend to stay with no intention of moving on neither to another earthly land nor a heavenly (spiritual) land. Pic #4 makes you cognizant of what you first viewed, in the gallery, and emphasizes that you have no intention to abide in your earthly home but keep travelling on the King's Highway until you reach your heavenly abode.

Photos #2 and #3 are part of the narrative of the gallery but are of lesser value since they are obscene.

This brings me to my address for this morning:

“Honor Your True Fatherland”

1 Peter 2:11-17 NKJV - Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, 12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. 13 Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme, 14 or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men — 16 as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. 17 Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

My Christian friends: The Greek word for “honor” means also “agreeable” or “virtuous.” It is also a synonym for another Greek word that implies “placing a value upon.”

If you are to be in the will of God, as a Christian, adhere to what St. Peter says, namely, that you conduct yourself as honorable among the unbelievers. Your conduct as a Christian should be seen as honorable among those who are not Christian. Peter calls you a sojourner, which is one who is just passing through and not intending to abide in one place; he also says you are a pilgrim, which is one who is travelling to his heavenly home, the true Fatherland. So as a sojourner, Peter begs you to “abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul” spiritually stopping your pilgrimage.

A great many people do not agree with good Christian conduct but they should not find any inconsistency or fault in what you do and what you confess as a Christian. If perchance the unbeliever should see anything dishonorable or impenitent within the Christian’s conduct, the Christian might bring disgrace on his true Fatherland which he desires not only for himself but for those who presently know nothing of the joy and peace that comprises the spiritual, heavenly kingdom of God.

If you are to be virtuous as a Christian, you should not settle into the ways of this world. Too many dishonorable people already can be found in the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of our Federal government. Instead of honoring God by trusting in His providential care, our government wants us to believe that a socialistic, Marxist government can bring about stability and comfort to our God-given freedoms as U.S. citizens. But this simply is not so. Our government borrows billions upon billions of dollars and prints just as much currency to spend on social programs just to give us a feeling of being comfortable, and a false sense of morality, as we are led gradually into a one-world government, and a one-world godless, civil religion.

Nevertheless, the Christian is to be submissive to every ordinance of man, not for his own sake but “for the Lord’s sake.” But if man’s ordinance runs contrary to the will of God, then you should do as Peter and the apostles responded in Acts 5:29, “But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: ‘We ought to obey God rather than men.’”

Just being in the world will have its disadvantages in that you might also sometimes fall short of virtue in expressing your Christian faith and the teachings of Jesus Christ; however, you must not be seen as the Nicolaitans who had one foot in the world and the other foot in the Church, trying to have the best of both worlds, having faithful deeds on the one hand and having unfaithful deeds on the other hand; confessing Christ on the one hand, and denying Christ on the other hand.

As Jesus revealed to John in Revelation 2:12 15 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, ‘These things says He who has the sharp two edged sword: I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast to My name and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus, you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.’”

And yet the essence of Christianity is not mere morality but faith! Good morals should be had by all, especially by Christians, who should not be seen as adulterers or sexually perverse; who should not murder the unborn; who should not take the Lord’s name in vain; who should not be gluttonous or power hungry as the worldly are. In these matters Christians should be seen as strangers in this world. Morality, or good conduct, should also be a matter for legislation by the State and not just seen as a “Christian thing” that is being pushed upon other people. Saying that the State cannot legislate morality is simply not true since it has taken the Ten Commandments and incorporated what is said such as do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, etc., into the laws within the United States. And it also used to be that adultery was legislated as a crime against society but that is now seen as archaic and is now, by law, permissible.

St. Peter speaks of the Christian’s morality. And yet, when morality is just seen as a Christian thing, earthly Governments fall apart because of the lack of morality; after all, the earthly governments are instituted by God, as Paul testifies to in Romans 13:1.

When morality breaks down in society it tells you two things: There is no more a fear of God by the people; and, where there is no fear of God there is no wisdom, as the Scriptures say in Psalm 111:10, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endures forever.” Also, St. Paul tells us, “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (2 Cor.7:1).”

Does your residence in the present world make you long for your heavenly home? Do you value your eternal home above or do you place more value on the earthly one here?

Dr. Luther remarked about Peter’s epistle, saying in his sermon for this Sunday: “Thus, mark you, should every Christian conduct himself here on earth, according to Peter. In the first place, he should know where his real home is; his true Fatherland. We learn this through faith in Christ, whereby we become citizens of heaven. Accordingly, we sing: ‘Now we pray Thee, Holy Spirit, for true faith,’ etc., when we depart home from this wretchedness…Peter calls us ‘sojourners and pilgrims’ – wayfarers in earthly wretchedness, desiring home and casting our thoughts beyond the gates of this sojourning-place. Second, though we must suffer this wretched condition in a foreign land, we are under obligation to render every honor to the host and to respect the inn, making the best of whatever may befall us.”

George Washington commented on morality and the government, “It is substantially true that virtue or morality is the necessary spring of popular government.” It is this government we have now that has gone so far away from the “spring of popular government” in order to pursue its own agenda. And this agenda is, more often than not, an ungodly agenda.

The Christian, however, will not be moral in so far as the government tells him to be so since the morality of any earthly kingdom is, at the least, fickle, and ever changing. The Christian will be constant in his morality because he lives his life by faith – faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who died to set the Christian free from a depraved life; to set the Christian free to live a life of righteousness through faith, now and until the Christian is taken to his true homeland. This is what makes the world see the Christian as a misfit in society. But if there is one thing the world cannot or should not be able to say about the Christian it would be this, that the Christian is dishonorable.

Here is the main problem for the person of faith, namely, that the person of faith is a Christian and should always be true to Christ’s teachings in the Bible. For the teachings of the world’s religious Christian leaders are such that they deny that Jesus is the only Savior of the world; the only means by which a person can reach the true Fatherland. But what is explicitly set forth by the Second Vatican Council is an ecumenical spirit that embraces all the religions of the world as equally valid alongside the Christian faith. Mother Theresa did many great civil works of charity with the poorest of the poor and yet she may have never converted a single soul to Christ. Instead, Mother Theresa stated that she wanted them to be comfortable with their own beliefs, no matter what they may be.

In the archives of the library of EWTN (The Eternal Word Television Network), a Catholic broadcasting program, quotes Mother Theresa as saying: “There is only one God and He is God to all; therefore it is important that everyone is seen as equal before God. I’ve always said that we should help a Hindu become a better Hindu, a Muslim become a better Muslim, a Catholic become a better Catholic.”

My question is this: Shouldn’t Mother Theresa have concerned herself, not only with feeding and clothing the poor, but foremost with leading them to their true Fatherland through Jesus Christ as their only hope? You would have thought that eternal salvation would have been a priority as she ministered to the poorest of the poor, whose earthly lives were so fragile. However, for Mother Theresa, the concern was to help Muslims become better Muslims, etc. Believe me, what the world doesn’t need is better Muslims who follow the teachings of the prophet Mohammed. It is Jesus and only Jesus who is the God of your salvation, for as Scripture said, He has chosen you; you have not chosen him. That is Good News – that God is on your, the sinners, side and saved you, not by the works of the law that you have done, but solely by His good disposition based on the merits of Christ alone and the works that Jesus has done for you and in you.

Faith alone in Christ is what should be seen as honorable among the Christians who take this message to the world of lost sinners. If you start talking about how good you are, and about your rewards given you in this earthly realm, then you don’t understand what it is to live this life by faith. You don’t really understand where your true Fatherland is when you are too comfortable abiding in this world and in this earthly country.

As Christians, we need to constantly remind ourselves that there is no honor in us but that our honor (that is the value that God the Father places on us) is from Christ who helps us to keep the will of God for our lives: “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation...For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men — as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bond-servants of God.”

The love of the brotherhood, which is the Church, is undoubtedly also a special thing within the will of God. This love needs to be based solely on Christ’s words and Christ’s teachings. And yet how many Christians, for the sake of living peacefully in this world, pervert our Lord’s teaching as expressed in the New Testament and yet still wish to have the name Christian?

Therefore, suffice it to say that when you abide by Christ’s teachings, you will be seen as strangers here on this earth, just passing through as pilgrims to your heavenly home; that is what a sojourner does. In the hymn, based on Hebrews 4:9, T.R. Taylor pens: “I’m but a stranger here, Heaven is my home; Earth is a desert drear, Heaven is my home. Danger and sorrow stand, Round me on every hand; Heaven is my Fatherland, Heaven is my home.”

Finally, Hebrews11:12-16 was also written for your edification: “Therefore from one man (Abraham), and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude — innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country.”

You, Christian, are but a sojourner and a pilgrim on this earth, and the sorrows you now have will indeed be turned into joy, even joy everlasting, when you at last reach your true Fatherland! Amen.

SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER 2021

 The little gallery below for this second Sunday of Easter has but three pictures: Pic #1 is a common American painting showing an idyllic scene of Jesus as the Good Shepherd; Pic #2 is the 1872 German painting "Der gute Hirte" by Josef Kehren, descriptive of how Jesus laid His life down for His sheep (note the crown of thorns and the wounds in His hands); and, Pic #3 shows a lively Peep (ohne Zucker) with a luscious lawn and flowers to express Psalm 23:6.

Der gute Hirte - Josef Kehren 1872

 

 This brings me to my address for Good Shepherd Sunday:

“Jesus Is the Christian’s Good Shepherd” Text – The 23rd Psalm KJV

23:1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

My Christian friends: If you were so privileged to be brought up by a Christian parent, most likely the very first scriptures you memorized by rote were those precious verses of Psalm 23. And, if you are now as old as I am, you most assuredly learned it, by much repetition, in the King James Version before any other Scriptures in the Bible.

As one of their duties, Lutheran servants of the Word are honored to take the Holy Sacrament to the sick and dying. The Lutheran Agenda, first published by Concordia Publishing House, January 1, 1940, has The Order for The Communion of the Sick, whereupon, after the sick had confessed his sins and received absolution, and confessed his faith, the precious Body and Blood is distributed from the minister’s hand after which both pastor and communicant(s) would recite together the Twenty-third Psalm followed by this edifying prayer:

“O Lord Jesus, my Savior and only Refuge, I give Thee hearty thanks that Thou hast so graciously refreshed me with Thy sacred body and blood. Uphold me with Thy grace and strengthen me by Thy power. Into Thy hands I commit my body and soul, whether for life or for death. Grant that, when my last hour shall come, I may fall asleep in firm faith in Thee and Thy sacred blood. O Thou, who livest and reignest, world without end. Amen.”

Unfortunately, times have changed for the worst in that some Christians no longer see the need to confess their sins and, even if they do confess them, they still may not take to heart the absolution the pastor speaks to them in Christ’s name.

Therefore, let us review where in ancient times the prophet Samuel had written: “Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and spoke, saying, Indeed we are your bone and your flesh. Also, in times past, when Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them in; and the Lord said to you, ‘You shall shepherd My people Israel, and be ruler over Israel’” (2 Samuel 5:1-3). King David wrote the 23rd Psalm, and this same David himself was a shepherd in his youth before he was made King to be the shepherd over Israel.

This 23rd Psalm seems to run contrary to the kinds of experiences that David had...for David himself was like a sheep without a shepherd who, at times, wandered from the fold and found extreme troubles, two of which are common even today – adultery and murder. Yet David boldly says, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” He knew that he would be lost forever if the Lord would not discipline and guide him as his Good Shepherd. Our Lord testifies to this in our Gospel for today when he says, “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd gives His life for His sheep,” and that He knows His own and is known by them.

Jesus is the Christian’s Good Shepherd; He is your Shepherd, who firstly feeds, leads, and protects you; and secondly, Jesus is the Good Shepherd who is able to keep you with Him now and into eternity.

In the very first verse, David says, “I shall not want.” How could the Christian be in want of anything as long as he has Jesus as his Shepherd? When you have those infamous pity-parties and make statement like “Nobody understands me” or “Nobody loves me” or “Why doesn’t someone help me?” etc., it is understandable according to the flesh; however, according to the spirit, statements like these are tantamount to calling Jesus a liar.

Diminishing faith always results when one trusts in anything or anyone other than God.

Luther explains the will of God simply in his explanation of the simple petition the Lord Jesus Christ taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” saying that it is “God (who) gives daily bread indeed without our prayer, also to the wicked; but we pray in this petition that He would lead us to know it, and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.”

And just what is this daily bread? Luther explains it this way: “To put it briefly, this petition includes everything that belongs to our entire life in this world; only for its sake do we need daily bread. Now our life requires not only food and clothing and other necessities for our body, but also peace and concord in daily business and in associations of every description with the people among whom we live and move...everything that pertains to the regulation of our domestic and our civil or political affairs...Although we have received from God all good things in abundance, we cannot retain any of them or enjoy them in security and happiness unless he provides us a stable, peaceful government.”

At least the Christian should acknowledge the advice St. Paul gave to the young Bishop of Ephesus in First Timothy 6:7, 8, namely, “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.” Nevertheless, the Lord Christ does much more for His sheep that are expressed here within the promises of God to His people.

But, in my opinion, the main reason Christians say and confess one thing and then lament “Woe is me!” in the same breath is because the soul does not feel free and at peace. Luther explains the need for faith to achieve such peace in his treatise On Christian Liberty: “This, then, is how through faith alone without works the soul is justified by the Word of God, sanctified, made true, PEACEFUL, and FREE, filled with every blessing and truly made a child of God, as John 1:12 says: ‘But to all who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God.”

Understand then that faith is also a promised gift of God that brings contentment, peace and freedom, knowing that the Word of God is true and will supply your needs. Therefore, David writes, “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.” These pastures aren’t just the color green but they are fat, lush pastures. These feeding grounds are intended for Christian sheep and will always satisfy because the Lord always gives His own His best. The Christian is satisfied with the Lord, His Good Shepherd, who reminds him to “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

Our Lord doesn’t tell you to seek earthly things first if you want to become truly rich, and yet how many Christian pastors, who are called to shepherd their own flocks, insist that the sheep have the power to get all these things right now without ever having to sacrifice anything for the Kingdom’s sake? Oh, these false shepherds are indeed only hirelings who claim that you have to give this or that amount of money to them as a “seed offering” if you expect to get back from the Lord – that God doesn’t open up His hand to abundantly bless you with all kinds of wealth if you first don’t open up your hand. This is heresy and blasphemy! But Luther says, as he explains the Apostles Creed: Our heavenly Father… “Out of His divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me” gives these things. If God had to wait to act on your behalf until you gave something to Him, then you make God the debtor and make Him obligated to you!

Now it is that the Shepherd also leads you. And just where does He lead you according to David? He leads you “beside still waters” and “in the paths of righteousness.”

What an idyllic picture David paints for you here. You all know what troubled waters look like. Many have seen personally the devastation of flood waters, the pollution and deadly diseases left behind. Troubled waters are a reminder of our own sinful condition. Troubled waters would certainly kill you if you weren’t led to the quiet, still waters of holiness and righteousness.

The “still waters” that David mentions are not just any waters but the waters that “restore the soul.” As the hymn says, “Be still my soul; the waves and winds still know His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.” My goodness, friends, with all these promises of the Gospel how could any Christian that is led by the Good Shepherd beside these still waters struggle as if he were drowning in the present turbulent waters of this present age?

Now here’s the question: Why would the Lord lead you to such still waters and lead you in the paths of righteousness? Well, David gives you the answer. The hint is this, namely that the Lord leads you to still waters and restores your soul not because He saw something in you worthy of being restored or saving. No, this will not do. The Lord leads you in the paths of righteousness “for His name’s sake.”

You are the children of God through adoption into Christ death and resurrection, dying and rising with Him to a newness of life, in the still waters of your baptism. You are restored and saved because of the holiness and righteousness of Jesus Christ, your Elder Brother, and His name’s sake. Therefore, if you belong to His flock you too are holy and righteous. You are His sheep and the Good Shepherd continually leads and feeds you. And just as you can do no good without the Lord, you could also never find your own paths of righteousness. Remember, like David, that it is your paths that lead not to your heavenly home but to death and destruction.

David also professes, “Yea, though I walk through the shadow of the valley of death, I will fear no evil.” In your walk in this life there are many temptations and dangers that threaten you and yet the Lord has promised to bring you back again and to preserve you by His Holy Spirit.

We know that our Shepherd is equipped to protect us by what David says next: “Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.” It is to this point, many years ago, that I became disturbed during a pastors’ conference when a pastor introduced the strange doctrine that the shepherd would sometimes beat his sheep with the rod in order to stop the sheep from wandering away into the jaws of the wolf – that the shepherd would at times even beat the sheep to the point of breaking its legs in order to protect them from possible destruction! But the Gospel never breaks but heals and comforts! Such confusion of Law and Gospel was permitted to stand as the paper was approved by the gathering of the pastors over my protests.

The rod of the shepherd could not be a comfort to the sheep if the rod was used ON the sheep. That would be simple idiocy. The rod was used to fight off predators of the sheep, to beat and to kill the predator, not the sheep! We should rather give thanks to our Shepherd and say, “Yes, Lord, you have promised to strike and kill those who would destroy me, so that I should fear no evil.” Yes, even that old predator named Death we do not have to fear.

The Lord even prepares a table for you in the presence of your enemies. You can even eat and not worry. What confidence is that! Also, check Psalm 91 for the Psalm is the Word, par excellence, for trusting in the Lord’s uttermost protection.

It is also written, “Thou anointeth my head with oil.” And that is nothing other than the oil of gladness given you in the Holy Spirit. Prophecy is given in Psalm 45:6-7 in which the Psalmist looks by faith toward the Redeemer of Israel as the Son of God, and states: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.” This anointing is repeated by the New Testament writer of the Book of Hebrews: (Hebrews 1:8-9) “But to the Son He says: ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.’”

You, friends, are chosen of God with that oil of gladness knowing that He, the Good Shepherd, continually leads, feeds, comforts and protects you even to the super abundance of your joy. It is for this abundant joy that you should feel as David did that caused him also to pen: “My cup runneth over.”

So it is that the Shepherd leads, feeds, and protects His sheep. Now King David confidently acclaims that “Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever!” And forever means forever, for as Christ now lives forever so will His sheep. Jesus, the Lamb of God and your Good Shepherd, has ransomed you with His own blood. Luther had this to say about Christ the Good Shepherd: “For if He is to be and remain a shepherd of His sheep, He must not remain in death, as He Himself afterward explains and interprets in plain words: ‘I have the power to lay My life down, and I have the power to take it up again.’”

The Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, who has redeemed you also promises to keep you. Whenever you think of yourself as the Lord’s sheep, never think that you are a burden to the Lord since the Lord your chief Shepherd and Bishop of your soul doesn’t think of you in that way.

So, as you daily walk with the Lord your Good Shepherd, acknowledge your sinfulness, but also declare His great mercy while the Day of Grace is still here. Pray as David prayed in Psalm 17:15, “As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness.” Amen.

EASTER DAY 2021

 Christ is arisen! Is the exclamatory sentence for all Christendom that evokes the response, "He is risen, indeed! Alleluia"" It also is thematic of our little gallery: Pic #1 is the Greek icon labeled at the top in Greek, "The Resurrection"; Pic #2 is a guarantee, by ancient Roman marble dealers, that the marble contains no wax, Sin Cera, from which the English word "sincere" comes; Pic #3 is "faith" which continually gives us access to God's grace and His truth about life and salvation; and, Pic #4 shows us the truth about life and salvation in Christ Jesus, which Christendom believes and celebrates this day in all sincerity.

This brings me to my address for this morning:

“In Sincerity and Truth, Celebrate the Passover of God”

1 Corinthians 5:6-8 “Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (NKJV)

My Christian Friends: “Your glorying is not good” says St. Paul. Glorying in what? The Corinthian church was here arrogantly permitting sexual immorality among them instead of warning and purging themselves of such conduct. But sexual misconduct is only one sin that constitutes “leaven” in the Scriptures.

Therefore, we will this morning speak about celebrating Easter with sincerity and truth, and what the conduct for a Christian will be throughout the seven-day festival. Christians will first of all come to an understanding of why St. Paul would use such terms as “leaven” and “Passover”

The word “Easter” is used only in the King James translation of the Aramaic word, Pascha, or “Passover”. Acts Chapter 12:1-4 reads: Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. 2) And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. 3) And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.) 4) And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.

Please don’t be disturbed by the old English term “Easter” just because it also has a pagan connotation for the goddess of fertility. Jesus is often referred to as the Sun as well as Son. Why? Eastre (Northumbrian Eostre) is from the Germanic austron “dawn,” which was also the name of the goddess of fertility and spring, originally of sunrise, whose feast was celebrated at the spring equinox, from aust “east” toward the sunrise, just as the brightness of day first appears in the East at the breaking of dawn. Bede, also known as the Venerable Bede, who died in 735 AD, had a lot to write about the term Easter. He was an English Benedictine monk at the monastery of St. Peter and its companion monastery of St. Paul in the Kingdom of Northumbria.

Listen, the Passover was celebrated by all the Hebrew families living in the Land of Goshen in Egypt when the Lord was to send His angel of death to strike down the first born in all Egypt. And there were many Passover lambs as were many families. Exodus 12:21-23 records: “Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, ‘Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families and kill the Passover lamb. And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you.’”

So it is that St. Paul, in our Epistle for this Easter Sunday, prefigures the real and true Passover Lamb who is to be the sacrifice once and for all for sinful man. This Passover Lamb who was slain for sinners, who became sin so that the sinful might become the righteousness of God, now reigns forever from His Father's throne in heaven. Therefore, this Passover, first given to Moses in Exodus 12, indeed becomes a feast celebrated forever. As it is written in Exodus 12:24, “And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever.”

It was on the ecclesiastical time of Maundy Thursday that Jesus Himself celebrated the Passover feast as it was given to Moses. It was the very next day, on Good Friday, that Jesus Himself became the real Passover Lamb! And later John saw Jesus as the Lamb that was once slain, alive on the throne with His Father, and all creatures, everywhere, blessed and praised the Lamb saying, “Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!” (Rev. 5:13) We are to be true Christians in character with the New Testament and the New Covenant which supplanted the Old Covenant found in the Law and Prophets and Writings in the Old Testament. That means that we are to be sincere, without hypocrisy, in our Christian religion.

The word “sincere” in the Greek is eilikrineia, sun-bright, or manifested pure. The English etymology of the word “sincere” comes from the Latin that means “without wax.” For in ancient Rome, many merchants dealing in marble would fill in the imperfections of the marble with wax in hopes of deceiving the buyer. So that the buyer of the marble might have the guarantee that their product is what it says it is, the merchant would give a bill of sales with the words, sin and cera, without wax or without pretense, pure and unaffected. Just so is to be our religion as we celebrate Easter, as it is written, “For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” Ephesians 6:24, also uses the word, “Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.”

Luther teaches on Malachi 4:2 “And the Sun of righteousness will rise for you who fear.” Luther speaks about the sincerity, which is manifested by the brightness of the sunlight regarding righteousness and justification: “In the Mosaic kingdom there is pure darkness. All things are hidden in mystery and are confused. Then the wicked will be separated from the righteous by something shining—obviously, by the open truth of God through the Gospel of Christ. Here you see the kingdom of Christ again described in such a way that it is the ministry of the Word. He is saying: ‘Indeed, a new Sun will shine, and it is not that sun which also animals see. It is the Sun of righteousness, who JUSTIFIES, who sends out the sort of rays that make men righteous and free from their sins, who drives out every harmful attitude of fleshly lust.’ Those rays are the Word of the Gospel, which penetrates hearts and is seen as that Sun only by the eyes of the heart, that is, BY FAITH. It is closer to the righteous than is that visible, physical sun. You see, it shines by the Holy Spirit. It shines day and night. Clouds do not hinder it. It is always rising. ‘It will rise for those of you who fear’—who fear the name of God, obviously; that is, the humble, those who are not presumptuous, those who do not trust in their own works but recognize that they are sinners.”

Just as the Hebrews the night that first day of unleavened bread, the Jews were to put out of their houses all the leaven they had and then not have any leaven for seven days within their houses. This leaven for the New Testament Christian must be spiritualized to represent any form of sin the Christian may hold within his body. It not only represents sexual immorality but also any form of false doctrine. St. Paul tells us to utterly purge ourselves of all leaven so we can celebrate the Passover (Easter), "with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Cor.5:8). It is to this point that Christians, who are called to celebrate the Passover, are exhorted to act in the right way toward Easter by spiritually purging out all the old leaven. For St. Paul reminds us in verse 6, “that a little leaven leavens the whole lump.”

As far as the Corinthian Church was concerned, a despicable sexual impurity surely was infecting the whole congregation, even those who thought themselves morally upright or refused to believe that such a thing was happening in their church. Even they were called to purge themselves of such leaven. But don’t take this matter the wrong way as some Christians do. Paul is telling the church to not to associate with anyone who calls himself a brother and is sexually immoral; not to disassociate oneself from doing business in the world with the sexual impure, drunkards, and so forth, for then you would have to go out of the world in order to do business...and we know how impracticable that would be. The little leaven that leavens the whole lump in the Galatian Church was, however, to be gotten rid of and purged.

This leaven dealt with impure doctrine where the Jews were saying that Gentiles had to be circumcised in order to become a follower of Christ. Here St. Paul says, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.” Then Paul reminds them how much the old leaven is dangerous: “You ran well” he tells the Galatians, “Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump.” (Galatians 5:6-9).

Luther gives a great common illustration of the infusion of false doctrine. He says: “Just as good wine or precious medicines are corrupted by a single drop of poison or other impurity, and the pure they are, the more readily defiled and poisoned; so, also God’s Word and His cause will bear absolutely no alloy. God’s truth must be perfectly pure and clear, or else, it is corrupt and unprofitable. And the worst feature of the matter is, the sway and intrenchment of evil is so strong that it cannot be removed; just as leaven, however small the quantity, added to the lump, while it is impossible to arrest its influence or once more to sweeten the dough.”

We simply don’t have all these things, neither do we covet them, because we no longer desire to associate with the papistic church with its works righteousness, or the many government approved liberal churches with their “Social Justice” and “Critical Race Theory” and any other teachings that come from Karl Marx who was for atheistic Communism what St. Paul is to Christianity. Just where are those church bodies now and what will be their end?

The list can go on and on but let it be known that if “studying” any of these impure issues means tolerating them within the Church, then the leaven of unrighteousness has already infected the whole lump and purging it is the only cure. Throw the impure leaven out!

For the feast we are to keep envelopes the entire life of the Christian and is not affected by changes in the world regarding morality or religious doctrine. As Christ Himself taught us, “No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away the garment, and the tear is made worse. Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” (Matt 9:16-17).

You cannot mix the Teutonic goddess of fertility, Eoster, with the risen Christ; neither can you mix your worship of the one true God while in the midst of the immoralities and teachings of this world, what the Bible calls the doctrines of the “Nicolaitans” (Revelation 2:6f, 15). Such churches are self-deceived much like Pontius Pilate who once said to Jesus, “What is truth?”

Truth, for insincere Christians, is relative. Truth, for insincere Christians doesn’t disturb the status quo but rather is most willing to change as society changes. Truth, however, for the children of God is sincere because they are personally related to the Truth, their elder Brother, Jesus Christ who is the Sun of Righteousness.

In the Easter hymn, by Thomas Kingo, is his beautiful poetry of verse 1: “Like the golden sun ascending Breaking through the gloom of night, On the earth his glory spending So the darkness takes to flight. Thus my Jesus from the grave And Death’s dismal, dreadful cave Rose triumphant Easter morning At the early purple dawning.”

If your Easter celebration is to be sincere you can no longer be in fellowship with darkness but confess Jesus Christ, as the very Sun of righteousness. Look now how Paul encourages, through the Gospel message, the proper conduct for a child of God, a Christian. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:11, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”

You must, just as sure as Christ was the true Passover Lamb, look at yourselves as being pure for His name’s sake and refrain from mixing what is unholy with that which is indeed holy, namely Christ Jesus.

Listen to what Jesus tells you in John 15:3, namely, “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.” And, again, isn’t it the very Easter message that Christ was put to death for your sins but that He was also raised again for your justification? In other words, you are holy now as Christ is holy. His purity and righteous He has imputed to you; Christ has covered your sins with His precious blood and has indeed risen from the dead that you may never taste the pains of the second death of eternal hell. Heaven has won the day for all who believe, and hell has been vanquished forever. Hallelujah! Amen.