Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost

Video of Service

Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 28C)

November 16, 2025

Text: Luke 21:5-36

            “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Luke 21:33; ESV). 

            Do you see all the things passing away in our Gospel?  The Temple, the House of God in all its majesty.  The nations.  Creation itself.  Those who bear the Name of Christ, martyred for their confession.  The Holy City, Jerusalem.  The earth overcome by the sea.  The heavens shaken.  These are the signs.  The Day is coming.  The Day of Judgment, and Christ’s appearing.  St. Peter writes, “the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed” (2 Peter 3:10).  He then asks the pertinent question: “Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be” (v. 11)?

            Well, what do you think?  What about you, specifically?  What sort of person ought you to be?  What ought to be your essence?  Not only your core, but the very substance of who you are?  How ought you to order your priorities, your resources, your time?  What is important to you?  What do you live for?  How much of your energy, your income, your anxiety, are you investing in the things that are passing away?  What are the things that last?  What will not pass away?  And what impact does that have on your day-to-day life?

            The Day is coming.  When we believe this, and hold that Day before our eyes, it has this way of setting our days, and our lives, and all that is ours… in fact, our very thoughts and emotions, our very being… in order.  Heaven and earth will pass away, Jesus says.  That means all that is now available to your five fallen senses.  So what sense does it make to live for those things?  Whatever they are… money, pleasure, power, relaxation, recreation… all good, but all are passing away, and if you live for them, you will die in them.  Safey, security, comfort, health… same thing.  The things you are worried about, the grudges you hold, your bitterness toward any person, or any thing… these are passing away, too.  So, why not let go of all that? 

            Because there is one thing that will not pass away: The Word of Jesus Christ.  “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”  The Word of the Lord endures forever, Peter writes (1 Peter 1:25).  So what sort of people ought you to be?  Those who know that man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4).  As you wait for the Lord’s appearing, listen for, and hang upon, His every Word.  His Word gives you life.  His Word gives you the Spirit.  His Word gives you faith in Jesus Christ, and sustains you in that faith.  His Word gives you Jesus Himself, who is the Word made flesh.  And so, His Word gives you redemption, the forgiveness of sins, and justification, righteousness before God, and so, eternal salvation. 

            So that, of course, means always availing yourself of the Word at every opportunity.  Coming to Church.  (You’ll have plenty of opportunity for that in the coming Advent Season.)  Reading the Scriptures at home.  Praying the Scriptures.  Talking about the Scriptures with your family.  Teaching the Scriptures to your children.  It means Bible Study.  Be there, beloved.  Sunday School for the kids.  It means devotions.  And it also means living by the visible, tangible Word of God as He gives that Word in His Sacraments: Baptism, Absolution, the Lord’s Supper. 

            And then, let that Word captivate you.  Meditate upon it.  We get meditation wrong in Twenty-first Century America.  We’ve been duped by the Eastern religions, to think that meditation is an emptying of the mind.  The mind cannot be emptied, beloved.  An empty mind is a vacuum.  Guess who will fill it if you empty it of the good stuff.  Satan and the demons.  Remember, Jesus teaches us about demons finding houses empty, swept, and in good order.  They love to take up occupancy.  So don’t do that.  Instead, fill your mind (and  your heart and soul) with God’s Word.  Memorize the Word.  Ponder the Word, and treasure it in your heart, like Mary, the Mother of our Lord, who pondered all these things and treasured them in her heart.  Turn it over in your mind.  Like a cow chewing the cud, ruminate upon it. 

            And then live by it.  Put it into action.  Believe what it says, and do what it says.  Order your whole life and being according to it.  Not just most of your life.  All of your life.  Because whatever is not ordered according to the Word of the Lord will pass away.  It leads to death.  But whatever is ordered according to the Word of the Lord, is ordered rightly, and serves for your life, and for your blessing.  Because that Word applies the blood and death of Christ to your life, and all the things in your life, to redeem your life, and all the things in your life.  And that Word breathes the resurrection life of the risen Lord into you, and upon you, and upon all the things in your life, so that you live His life.   

            So, Peter answers his own question (what sort of people ought you to be?) without even taking a breath.  “(W)hat sort of people ought you to be,” he says, “in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!  But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth,” a resurrection heavens and earth, “in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:11-13).  What sort of people ought you to be?  Those who live lives of holiness and godliness, waiting eagerly and patiently for that great Day.

            St. Paul answers the question, too, right here in our Epistle.  What sort of people ought you to be?  How about this?  Those whose hearts are directed to the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ.  Loved and loving.  Recipients of Christ’s faithfulness, therefore faithful to Christ.  And how about this?  Imitators of the Apostles, and so of Christ.  Working quietly, so as not to be a burden, but eager to help, eager to serve, eager to take up the burdens of others.  Not walking in idleness, and not busybodies, but busy with the business of God’s love.  Not growing weary in doing good.  That’s what sort of people you ought to be.

            The point is, live your life, fully and faithfully, here and now, in light of the Lord’s coming.  Read the signs.  They are all around you.  Destruction and decay.  False messiahs, false christs, those who claim they can save you if you only vote for them, or devote yourself to them.  Nation against nation.  Kingdom against kingdom.  Earthquakes, famines, and pestilences.  Persecutions.  They happen.  They are happening, and continue to happen, and they are always signs that Christ is on the move.  He is coming.  We will see Him soon. 

            There are always signs in the heaven, too.  In sun and moon and starts.  Frankly, some of them are pretty cool, like the Northern Lights with which God has favored us in recent nights.  Or eclipses, or comets, or meteor showers.  These, I suppose, are more or less routine.  We take them for granted.  We shouldn’t.  But get a load of what Josephus (a first century Jewish historian) says happened, just before the sack of Jerusalem in AD 70 (when, by the way, every stone of the Temple was thrown down, in fulfillment Jesus’ Word): He says an ominous star resembling a sword appeared over the city, along with a comet that lasted a whole year.[1]  That was a sign of the Lord’s Judgment over Jerusalem.  And we shouldn’t be surprised by this.  A star greeted our Lord’s birth.  Perhaps a star will indicate our Lord’s coming again in glory.  Maybe.  Maybe not.  (Don’t get weird on me, and make prophecies!)  But the point is, signs in the heavens, you bet.  Then Josephus records some other weird signs prior to the Temple’s demise.  A great light shone from the altar for half an hour, he says, making the night as bright as the day.  A sacrificial heifer gave birth to a lamb on her way to sacrifice.  The great eastern gate of the Temple’s inner court, difficult for twenty men to open and close, apparently opened of its own accord (well, we know it was God, or the holy angels).  A few days later, he says, chariots and troops of soldiers appeared in the clouds (just prior to the arrival of the Roman troops on the ground).  Then, on the Day of Pentecost, the priests heard a great noise, like a multitude, saying, “Let us remove from hence.”  It’s like the scene in Ezekiel, when the Glory of God departs from the Temple (Ez. 10).  Whose voice sounds like a multitude?  God’s does.  Our Triune God was leaving the place.  Now, Josephus is not a Christian.  So, when he talks about these signs, he’s not trying to vindicate the Lord.  He believes he’s just reporting what happened.  But here our Lord’s Words prove true.  As they always do.  Heaven and earth are passing away.  But the Word of Jesus never passes away.

            So, when these things begin to take place, Jesus says, what?  Cower in fear?  Despair?  (Some will be despairing, when Jesus comes, but let it never be us, beloved in the Lord.  Believers in Christ have no reason, ever, to despair.)  What does He say?  “(S)traighten up and raise your heads” (Luke 21:28).  Why?  “(B)ecause your redemption is drawing near.”

            What matters, ultimately, in this life?  Being in Christ.  And so, being in His Word.  That’s it.  What is distracting you from that?  What cares of this life are weighing you down?  Put it all away.  Get rid of it.  It is leading you to death.  All of it is passing away, anyway.  You see the signs, as things wear out, and everything decays, and disappears.  In the midst of all that, keep your eyes on Jesus.  You know this.  And then, order everything accordingly.  Love your neighbor.  Work hard, as working for the Lord.  Live faithfully in your vocations.  And wait for, and hasten, the Day of the Lord’s coming.  Beloved, Jesus is coming soon.  We live for that Day.  Stay awake.  Keep watch.  And join the Church as she ever prays: “Amen.  Come, Lord Jesus.  Come quickly.”  He will.  He is.  Jesus is coming soon.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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[1] The Works of Josephus, William Whiston, Trans. (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1987) p. 742.

Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost

Video of Service

Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost

November 9, 2025

Text: Luke 20:27-40

            Every pastor knows that, when someone asks him a question, there is often another question behind the surface question.  Not always, but often.  Sometimes the person doesn’t quite know what his question is, so he starts with what he knows.  That is fine and good.  Sometimes he’s afraid to ask the pastor the question on his heart and mind, so he starts with something easier, trying to work up to it.  To be honest, it would be a whole lot easier, if you’d just tell me you have a question you’re afraid to ask, and then… well, I promise, I’ve been in your shoes, so I’ll do my best to patiently and lovingly help you get to that question. 

            But then there are the Sadducees in our text.  For them, the surface question is entirely disingenuous.  They're not really asking about marriage in the Resurrection.  They are trying to trap Jesus.  They think they can outsmart Him by quoting the Bible (reminds me of the tactic somebody else tried to use with Jesus, in the wilderness, a couple years before).  They think they can show Him for a fool, and thus dismiss the rest of whatever they don’t like in His teaching.  Every pastor knows about this kind of question, too.  It happens.  But the Sadducees are not to be emulated in this.  Don’t ask questions with malevolent agendas, beloved.  Don’t do it.  If the thought even enters your mind, or your subconscious (and you become aware of it), repent of it, and confront your issues openly, honestly, and humbly.

            The Sadducees were those who deny the Resurrection, and, by their question, they were trying to prove the absurdity of that doctrine (held by Jesus, AND by their religious and political rivals, the Pharisees).  Incidentally, the Sadducees also denied the existence of angels, and most of the Hebrew Bible.  They only accepted the five books of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy).  And, of course, they interpreted those books in such a way as to deny the clear teaching in them on angels and the Resurrection.  This is to say, the Sadducees were the theological liberals of their day.  Much like American mainline Protestants.  Take what you want from the Scriptures, reject what you don’t like.  Big on liturgy, the Temple rituals.  The Chief Priests were Sadducees.  Affluent.  Elite.  Happy to look down their noses at the rest of us.  Matthew gives us Jesus’ own evaluation of the Sadducees in his telling of this encounter: “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God” (Matt. 22:29; ESV).  That is the summary of Sadducee-ism and liberal mainline Christianity in one fell swoop.

            Jesus does answer their surface question, though, and in this, we learn precious truth about marriage from the lips of its Inventor.  And He also answers the question behind the question, and in that, we learn about the nature of eternal life and the New Creation.  The Sadducees come up with this outlandish scenario where a woman marries seven brothers in succession, each one dying without conceiving a child.  “In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be?” (Luke 20:33).  They are referring to the practice of levirate marriage.  You can read about this in Deuteronomy 25.  This is the one scenario where God commands a man to marry more than one wife.  In every other case of bigamy, or polygamy, in the Scriptures, God tolerated it, but never commanded it.  That is an important distinction, because God’s design for marriage is one man and one woman, as we know from His institution of marriage in the Garden of Eden.  But in levirate marriage, the concern is twofold: First, to provide for the widow, who otherwise would be reduced to begging.  And second, to propagate the line of the man who has died, thus preserving his name and his inheritance in Israel.  Remember, the Promised Land is not just a vast area for the Israelites to occupy as a nation.  Every man gets his portion, his plot, his property.  And that property is passed down from generation to generation.  You keep it in the family, because it is bound up with the man’s name.  So, as a good and God-fearing Israelite, if your brother dies and leaves no son, you marry his wife and give her a son in your brother’s name.  And that first son is considered his, not yours.  That son carries on your brother’s name and line.  And this is serious business.  If you don’t want to do this for your brother’s widow, she takes you before the elders of the people, pulls off your sandal, spits in your face, and says, “So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house” (Deut. 25:9).  And, henceforth, the name of your house shall be, “The house of him who had his sandal pulled off” (v. 10).  Now, it’s funny to us.  I know I’ve been called a lot worse.  Except, in this context, this title seals your reputation as both heartless toward the widow of your brother, and worse yet, one who denies to her, and to your brother, the very Promise of God.  The one who has his sandal pulled off is a denier of God’s Promise! 

            By the way, notice what God holds up as precious and holy in this system: The Land (property), Inheritance, Marriage, and Procreation.  So, while you are not an ancient Israelite, living under the Mosaic civil law, you, nonetheless, should regard these things as precious and holy.  You should promote them, and defend them.  But also understand, they all point toward something even greater, and this is what the Sadducees in our Holy Gospel miss. 

            All four of those precious and holy gifts (Property, Inheritance, Marriage, and Procreation) are gifts for this earthly life.  That doesn’t detract from their value in any way.  Actually, it confirms for us Christians that we are not to live with our head in the clouds, but fully and faithfully, here and now, in this earthly life, receiving and stewarding the earthly gifts God gives us.  But always looking forward, toward the Resurrection to come.  So, maybe you own some property now.  Great.  Enjoy it.  Give thanks for it.  Care for it.  You are a steward of it.  It really belongs to God.  Let it lift your eyes, though, to the New Creation to come, where there is a place for you… a portion, a plot… in the new heavens and earth, in the Resurrection.  Maybe you’re anticipating, or have received, an inheritance.  (You have inherited much from your parents and ancestors, regardless of money or property.  God open your eyes to that, and give you to be grateful for it.)  Wonderful!  Again, enjoy it, give thanks for it, and steward it as something God has entrusted to you.  But let it lift your eyes to the extraordinary inheritance you receive as a son or daughter of God in Christ (that is what God makes you in Holy Baptism).  Of which Paul says that inheritance is all things… “all things are yours… and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s” (1 Cor. 3:21-22).  That’s pretty good.  Maybe you are married.  Maybe God has given you a spouse.  Praise God.  You are enjoying the first thing God instituted for man in this creation, and He instituted it even before the fall into sin.  Realize just how precious this is.  Not everyone in this building has been given this gift.  If you have, you are blessed.  But whether you, personally, have received it or not, let it lift your eyes to something unimaginably greater: The marriage of the Lamb, Christ Jesus, to His Bride, the Holy Church.  We get a foretaste of the nuptial Feast right here in the Supper.  Same with children.  Maybe God has given you children.  What a joy.  What a responsibility.  Raise them in the Kingdom.  Bring them to Church.  Bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.  They are God’s children, with you, and He’s entrusted them to your care.  But whether you, personally, have received the gift of children or not, let the little ones lift your eyes to the unimaginably greater reality that God is your Father, who loves you, because, in Christ, you are His dear, blood-bought child. 

            See, these gifts all give way to something greater in the Resurrection.  In the Resurrection, Jesus says, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage… If this idea bothers you, that you won’t be married to your spouse, at least in terms of relating in the same way… well, you’re not alone.  It bothers me, too.  But that is because our fallen minds are so bound to this world.  It is true, your marriage, as precious as it is, is for this life.  This is why, when a spouse dies, the widow or widower is free to marry another spouse.  But there is something you need to understand about heaven and the Resurrection: In eternal life, you are never robbed of any good you’ve enjoyed in this life.  Whatever is good this side of the veil, is still present in some way on the other, but it’s unimaginably greater.  So, will you know your spouse in heaven, and in the Resurrection?  Of course you will!  Why wouldn’t you?  (Speaking of the Resurrection, I plan to have some words on that day, with some pastors who have taught some unhelpful things, like we won’t know each other in heaven.  Come on!)  And, will you remember your life together here, and all the wonderful things you shared?  Of course.  Of course.  But see, your relationship with every single person you know and love here, including and especially your spouse, will be even deeper and more profoundly good than anything you’ve ever experienced in your earthly life. 

            And then, here is the real gift: Those considered worthy to attain to that age, and to the Resurrection of the dead, are considered worthy on account of Christ Jesus, because all their sins are forgiven… all your sins are forgiven… on account of His death for you on the cross.  And all His righteousness is given to you as a gift, received by faith, apart from any works of your own.  And so, you live with Him, in His life.  Now, by faith, doing works of love for your neighbor.  Then, as one bodily risen from the dead… just as Christ is risen.  And then, you will be equal to the angels (take that, Sadducees… there are angels, and they are glorious beings, reflecting the very glory of God, who serve God and man, and join us in our worship).  We should note, here, you don’t become an angel when you die… All the angels were created in the beginning.  But you are made like the angels.  And what does that mean?  Given access to God’s heavenly throne.  Made into exalted and glorious beings, like them.  In fact, you’ll be raised above them.  Because Jesus says you are sons of God, sons of the Resurrection.  Sons.  Even if you are daughters.  Because you get the inheritance.  With Jesus, God’s only-begotten Son.  The Kingdom.  Heaven.  New Creation.  And, Resurrection.  Life.  How could it be otherwise?  For God is not the God of the dead.  That would be absurd.  He is the God of the living.

            The Sadducees asked a good question in spite of themselves.  Sometimes the Lutherans do, too!  I am always glad for your questions.  Don’t be afraid to ask them.  God grant me always to give you Jesus and His Word as the answer.  In any case, let us always trust God’s Promise, and never deny it.  Keep your sandals on, beloved.  Christ is coming.  He will raise you from the dead, bodily.  And with Abrham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the blessed (who live, even now!), you have a place and a portion.  God is your God.  You are His child.  His Kingdom is your inheritance, your home.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.   

All Saints' Day (Observed)

Video of Service

All Saints’ Day (Observed)

November 2, 2025

Text: Rev. 7:9-17; 1 John 3:1-3

            I have always been captivated by this line in the hymn, “For All the Saints” (LSB 677:5): “Steals on the ear the distant triumph song.”  Stop and think about that a minute.  First of all, that means there is real singing, by real people, in a real place called heaven, that can really be heard.  It is a vivid assertion of concrete reality in the face of our all-too-often dreamlike, fairytale-ish conception of what happens to believers when they die. 

            And who are the real people who are singing?  Not just nameless, faceless masses of Christians.  But those very people we just commemorated.  Ellie.  Lib.  Don.  Even little Chazaya, who was not even born when she joined the heavenly choir.  They are singing.  Full throated.  Full of joy and peace and consolation for all their tears.  And they are hearing.  Sublime music beyond our imagination.  With St. Peter.  St. Paul.  Martin Luther.  His beloved Katie.  Mary and Joseph.  King David.  Adam and Eve.  And all our fathers and mothers in the faith.  And then, yes, a great multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne of God, and of the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.

            And what are they singing?  The triumph song of the Lamb, the very Son of God, slain on the cross for the sins of the world, but standing, risen, living, victorious over sin, death, and the devil, in whom, and by whom we live.  It is the New Song the Psalms so often bid us sing (Ps. 96, 98, 149).  They are singing some version of “This is the Feast!”  Read about that, not only in our First Reading (Rev. 7:9-17), but also in Revelation 5 and 19.  “This is the feast of victory for our God.  Alleluia” (LSB 155).    

            But then, I think this is what really captures my imagination.  We can almost hear it.  We can’t, yet.  It’s so distant.  But we can.  We even join in, in some sense, albeit hidden under great weakness, haltingly, not always on time, often out of tune.  We don’t hear it by the bodily eardrum.  (Not yet, anyway.  That is still awaiting resurrection.)  But we hear it by faith.  And if you listen really hard, and imagine… not something imaginary, but something you know to be quite real and true, because God has revealed it in His Word… there are times when the people of God here on earth are really letting it rip on some glorious hymn, and you think, "Just maybe... almost... is it?...  Could it be?... Is that the angels, and the archangels, and the whole heavenly host, lauding and magnifying the Lord with us?"

            Because they are, you know.  We say that in every Divine Service, just before the Sanctus (“Holy, Holy, Holy”), the song of the Seraphim (Is. 6).  When we gather around the altar of Jesus Christ, where He is bodily present, giving Himself to us, for our forgiveness, life, and salvation, we are in the throne room with them.  Heaven has come down.  We are with the angels.  And all the saints.  That includes our loved ones who have died in Christ, but live.  That is why we sing the song of heaven.  We’re in it!  In some hidden way, we’ve stepped out of the confines of time and space.  Eternity has overtaken us.  Listen closely, beloved.  You can almost hear it.  You can almost see it.  You can almost taste it.

            Almost.  Not quite.  This is the “now/not yet,” the “already, but still waiting” paradox of our life in Christ.  “Beloved, we are God’s children now,” John writes, “and what we will be has not yet appeared” (1 John 3:2; ESV; emphasis added).  We are God’s children now, and we have eternal life now, because we are baptized into Christ.  That is a present reality.  But that life, and that status as God’s children, is hidden this side of the veil.  Paul says, “your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3).  That is why you look around you, and you see the mess we’ve made of this world, and you look within you, and it’s worse still.  You see your sin.  You know your guilt.  You feel your death.  And you think, “How can I possibly be God’s beloved child?  How can I possibly believe I already have eternal life?” 

            The key words… the words to which faith must cling… are “hidden with Christ in God.”  Hidden.  So of course you can see or feel this eternal life of yours.  But hidden does, necessarily, mean present.  And then, with Christ.  Think about all that was hidden from our eyes as Christ was dying on the cross, and buried in a tomb.  No mere mortal could simply see that as His glorious victory over sin, death, and hell.  No mere mortal, in that moment, anticipated the resurrection!  That Christ Jesus would emerge from the grave, alive forevermore!  And bestowing life on all of us.  So, your eternal life is that kind of life: hidden under the cross and death, but soon to emerge in your own bodily resurrection from the dead.  And finally, in God.  Safe.  Certain.  Eternally decreed.  The Day of life’s unveiling is known only to God, but it is coming.  Soon.  Then, it won’t be hidden anymore.  Death will go to hell.  God will wipe away your tears.  And you will stand face to face with all those people already on the other side.  And your eardrums will hear the song.  And you’ll join in once again, only now with rhythm and pitch, because it won’t be distant anymore.  Because, not only will you see your loved ones who have died in Christ, face to face.  You’ll see Jesus, as He is, John says in our Epistle (1 John 3:2).  And seeing Him as He is, you’ll be like Him.  Or, as Paul puts it another place, “transformed into the same image…” the Image of God, fully restored in you!... “from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor. 3:18).  In fact, Paul says that transformation is going on in you already now.  You just can’t see it yet.

            So, in the meantime, the song.  In some way, you sense it.  Like Radar O’Reilly, who senses the choppers are coming before his ears can hear them.  Like beleaguered troops under fire who feel the rumble of reinforcements before they arrive.  Listen.  Listen.  He is coming.  And all His hosts attend Him.  Now, it appears you are cornered by death.  The fight is fierce, the warfare long.  But strain your ears.  What is that din afar off, but coming closer all the time, just over the horizon?  You know it.  It is not yet distinct.  But already, you recognize it as music emblazoned on your own unconscious memory.  The Spirit has placed it there.  It steals on the ear.  It steals on the heart.

            And what is the result?  “(H)earts are brave again, and arms are strong.”  You turn back to the battle, knowing your salvation is near.  So near, that in reality, it is already here.  Accomplished fact.  Soon you’ll see it.  And everyone will know it.  So, as the writer to the Hebrews exhorts us: “since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses”… all the saints who have gone before us… “let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:1-2).

            Heaven is here, now, because Jesus is here, now.  Who else is in heaven, for whom you long, to see them again, and be with them again?  They are here, too.  They are with you, now.  And you are with them.  In Jesus, the Lamb, enthroned on the altar, hidden under bread and wine.  I don’t know why we take this for granted.  It’s because we aren’t listening, I suppose.  And then we lose heart.  But here He comes, anyway.  And here they come.  And we are swallowed up in the great host of heaven.  We’re carried along by those who have gone before.  They worship.  They sing.  They point us to the Lamb.  And there is nothing left for us, but to fall on our knees before Him, and join our voices to the song.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.         

 

Reformation Day (Observed)

Video of Service

Reformation Day (Observed)

October 26, 2025

500^th Anniversary of The Bondage of the Will &

Luther’s Marriage to Katharina von Bora

Text: Rev. 14:6-7; Rom. 3:19-28; John 8:31-36

            “(T)here is nothing new under the sun,” writes the Preacher in Ecclesiastes (1:9; ESV).  In our day, it is nothing short of a revolutionary act to get married, and have children, and establish a Christian home for the upbringing of those children in the fear and admonition of the LORD (cf. Eph. 6:4).  In case you’ve been living under a rock, that option has fallen out of favor among our contemporaries.  But what may surprise us, is that it was just as revolutionary in Luther’s day, especially for a clergyman to do so… in fact, a monk and a runaway nun.  Yet five hundred years ago, on the evening of June 13, 1525, Martin Luther and Katharina von Bora were married.  Actually, they were just engaged that very morning!  A little fast, perhaps, if any of you decide to follow their example.  Although, why prolong the waiting period?  Too many in our day wait years, looking for the time and the conditions to be just right before they tie the knot.  I’m telling you right now, as with so many things in life, if you’re waiting for everything to be perfect, it’ll never happen. 

            What was so revolutionary about the Luther marriage?  As you know, by Luther’s time, priestly celibacy was a requirement, as was celibacy among the so-called “religious,” which is to say, monks and nuns.  It was thought that celibacy is a higher estate than matrimony.  Some even thought (and taught!) that celibacy is meritorious before God.  Now, it is true (listen up, you Lutherans, because here goes one of your sacred cows) that celibacy among those who have the gift is praised in the Scriptures.  Jesus tells us of some who have made themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom (Matt. 19:12), which is to say, they have remained celibate.  And St. Paul grants that it is good for a Christian to remain celibate, that they may be concerned with the things of the Lord, and free from care concerning the things of their spouse (1 Cor. 7:32-35).  But both Jesus and Paul maintain that such celibacy requires a divinely given gift.  “Let the one who is able to receive this receive it,” Jesus says (Matt. 19:12).  And Paul says that, for most of us, we should take a spouse, lest Satan tempt us with a lack of self-control (1 Cor. 7:1-5).  That is one of the purposes for which God has given us holy marriage (the other two purposes being companionship and the procreation of children).  And so, marriage is good.  God designed us for it.  We should foster it.  Those who desire it should pray for it.  Those who are not given a spouse should remain chaste, and rest in this praise for celibacy from the mouth of Jesus and the pen of St. Paul, even as they pray and patiently wait upon the Lord (and let’s, all of us, pray along with them… they have a good and godly desire).  And we should all rejoice in the matrimonial example of Dr. and Mrs. Luther (500 years married!  Now, that’s a milestone!).

            Theirs is not your typical love story.  For his part, Luther said he’d never get married.  After all, there was a bounty on his head.  But this group of nuns in Nimbschen got ahold of his writings about monasticism, and with some assistance, several escaped the convent in herring barrels.  Among them was Katharina.  When they arrived in Wittenberg, despite their intoxicating scent, Luther successfully married most of them off.  But there was one holdout.  She had been engaged to one young man, but the family objected, and the engagement was called off.  Luther tried to marry off to another friend, an old duffer to whom she was not at all attracted, so that didn’t work.  After two years, she insisted, “It’s you, Herr Doktor Luther, or nobody!”  Luther, for his part, once said, reflecting on his marriage: “Had I desired to marry fourteen years ago, I would have chosen Eva von Schoenfeld, now Basilius’ wife.  At that time I did not love my Catherine at all.  I always suspected her of pride.”[1]  Okay, men, don’t say things like that.  Luther is not infallible, obviously.  But after the happy day, he came around.  Well, mostly.  He once said in a Table Talk, “I would not trade my Kate for France and Venice for three reasons: (1) Because God has given her to me and me to her.  (2) I have seen, time and again, that other women have more faults than my Kate.  (3) She is a faithful marriage partner; she is loyal and has integrity.”[2]  And, again, he said, “To have grace and peace in marriage is a gift second only to the knowledge of the Gospel. . . . Kate, you have a god-fearing man who loves you.  You are an empress; realize it and thank God for it.”[3]  That last one isn’t bad. 

            There are at least three revolutionary consequences of the Luther marriage we should highlight here.  Although, perhaps “revolutionary” is the wrong word, because these things are really a return to the biblical teaching, which is what the whole Reformation is about.  First, Luther and Katie set the pattern for the Christian parsonage: The pastor’s home.  They establish it, appropriately, in an old monastery, the Black Cloister.  There, they raise a family.  Six children.  Katie, ever the Proverbs 31 woman, runs both household and a farm, makes the very best beer (according to Luther and everybody), and opens her home to a revolving door of students and other guests who show up unexpectedly (at Dr. Luther’s invitation… she had some words for him from time to time), some of whom simply moved in (don’t get any ideas!). 

            Which leads us to the second point: The Luther home upholds the model of the Christian home as place of refuge, and center of worship.  Ever a place of hospitality.  Shelter and provision for those in need.  And always, the sound of Scripture and sacred song.  Most of us can’t, and shouldn’t, open up the doors quite so wide… or with invitations so enduring… as Dr. Luther.  But our homes, too, should be marked by hospitality, generosity, and above all, God’s holy Word.

            But even above these two points, in a world and Church that had come to devalue, and even reject, marriage as God’s good gift, Dr. and Mrs. Luther reassert Holy Matrimony as a high estate, a praiseworthy and sacred vocation, as chaste as religious celibacy, and, in point of fact, more chaste than the impure celibacy practiced by so many in the priesthood and monasteries.  Allowing clergy to be married is the cure for so much scandal and harm.  Which, of course, is not to say scandalous things don’t happen among married clergy, but it is to say, marriage is the godly remedy for fleshly desire.  And… again, in a culture where marriage was viewed as a lesser good, or even a necessary evil, look how important it is that the Luthers simply serve as a model of how good, right, and holy (not to mention, joyful and fulfilling) marriage can be.  Christian husbands and wives, you have a mission here! 

            Even more, when you who are unmarried pray that God would grant you a believing spouse and children… or, when you take a spouse, and receive children, if God so grants them, and raise them in the holy faith of Jesus… and when you pray for those who are married, and promote biblical marriage between one man and one woman, united in love and faithfulness as long as they both shall live… or, when you look back on your life with a spouse who has now died, and is with the Lord, and you rejoice and give thanks for it, and pray that others may have what you were given… or, when you pray for those who desire marriage, but, for whatever reason, God has not given them a spouse… when you have a spouse, and you bear with them patiently in all their faults and weaknesses, and cover over their sins with the blood of Jesus, and forgive them;… or, when you sit at the kitchen table and struggle with your finances, or worry about the kids, even as you pray for them… when you change diapers, and do the laundry, and wash the dishes, and fill the car with gas… when you gather around the table and rejoice in the good things God has given you, hopefully even saying something like, “Come, Lord Jesus, be our Guest”…  etc., etc. … you are doing a high and holy work for God.  Higher and holier than all the works of monks or nuns in all the monasteries.  Because that is faith in action.  That is faith bearing fruit in vocation… in the estate God Himself has established, and given for your good, and for the good of society. 

            And the Christian husband and wife, like Dr. and Mrs. Luther, become a living, fleshy preaching of the Gospel… the very icon of Christ and His Bride, the Church, as Paul describes them in Ephesians 5: The Church submitting to Christ, receiving His redemption, His love, His gifts, His Headship, His protection and providence; Christ giving Himself unto death on the cross for His Bride, His Church, you… covering over all your sins with His blood, that you appear before Him, resplendent with His own righteousness and holiness, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; without blemish. 

            Marriage is a picture of Christ and the Church.  And it is, therefore, one of God’s highest gifts.  This Reformation Day, we rejoice with the Luthers on the occasion of their 500^th wedding anniversary.  And we thank God for the good that marriage is for the Church and for the world.

            There was one other momentous event that took place 500 years ago… I had meant to preach on the 1525 publication of one of Luther’s most important books: The Bondage of the Will.  Jesus gives us that teaching in our Holy Gospel this day, from John Chapter 8.  But we’ll have to do that another time.  For now, I’ll just paraphrase the way Luther often ended his sermons: I’ve gassed on long enough.  Amen.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.          

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[1] What Luther says (St. Louis: Concordia, 1959) p. 887.

[2] Quoted in Treasury of Daily Prayer (St. Louis: Concordia, 2008) p. 1035.

[3] Ibid.

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Video of Service

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 24C)

October 19, 2025

Text: Luke 18:1-8

            “And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1; ESV).

            Our Lord knows us so well, doesn’t He?  He knows exactly what we need.  He knows that we are prone to despair.  He knows that as we behold the fallenness of the world, the brokenness, the corruption of all things, including the things and people we love… and our very selves, our bodies, our hearts, our souls… even the disciple of Jesus Christ can lose heart. 

            It is worth noting that Jesus speaks this parable immediately after prophesying the distress that will come upon the earth, and particularly upon the Church, in the Last Days.  The days will be evil, He says, essentially.  That is, being a Christian, being faithful… Jesus promises it won’t be easy.  If anything, being a Christian will make life harder, because it places you in opposition to the whole world, the devil and the hordes of hell, and even your own sad sack of sinful flesh.  Fightings and fears within, without.  You know how it is.  Suffering.  It hurts.  And when you’re in it, it can seem like there is no end to it.  And when you do get a respite, you’re just waiting for the other shoe to drop.  So, yeah, it’s easy to lose heart.

            Jesus here gives us the key to bearing the precious and holy cross without losing heart.  Always pray.  Now, that advice has the potential to sound more than a little trite.  Here is what Jesus is not saying: “When the going gets tough, just say a little prayer, and everything will turn out okay!”  No.  That may be the theology of pop-American Christianity, but it isn’t the theology of Jesus.  Jesus knows things are not okay.  So this is not mindless optimism, this admonition always to pray and never to lose heart.  The theology of it is not well expressed by a t-shirt or a bumper sticker. 

            But, you know what it is?  It is an invitation to demand with the widow, “Give me justice against my adversary,” O God (v. 3).  To cry out with the psalmist, “How long, O LORD?  Will you hide yourself forever?” (Ps. 89:46).  To lament with Job, and beg for relief.  To weep with Jeremiah, wondering if God has deceived you, because it seems like everybody’s against you (Jer. 20:7).  To complain with the Prophet Habakkuk, “O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear?  Or cry to you, ‘Violence!’ and you will not save?” (1:2).  See, what this does, this kind of prayer… which is right here in the Bible… Sometimes we Christians think we shouldn’t say such things to God, but in these Scriptures, the Spirit places these words on our lips… what this does, is it takes the burden and responsibility for all that is wicked and wrong and broken in the world off of our shoulders, and places it on God, where it belongs.  So He can shoulder it all the way to Golgotha.

            This is pictured so well for us in our Old Testament reading (Gen. 32:22-30), isn’t it?  Jacob wrestles all night with this mysterious man.  We know it is it the LORD.  And the LORD lets Himself be vanquished by Jacob.  He gives Himself to Jacob in weakness, in humiliation.  And Jacob won’t let go.  “I will not let you go unless you bless me” (v. 26).  Well, that’s how the Christian prays.  Especially in times of distress.  When Jesus bids you always to pray and not lose heart, He is inviting you to wrestle with Him.  To cling to Him as he gives Himself in the weakness of our flesh, in suffering and cross, to be prevailed upon.  Hold Him fast, and do not let Him go until He blesses you. 

            You undoubtedly know this kind of prayer.  Who of us has not lain awake at night, wrestling with God over some problem, some person, some place where the brokenness and fallenness of things has brought us to the brink?  It’s taken me a while, but I’ve come to realize over the years that insomnia, whatever else may be its cause, is actually God’s gift to me, calling me to prayer.  To wrestle.  To cling.  Until He blesses.  And He does.  And He always will.

            Though, not without pulling the proverbial hip out of the socket, perhaps.  That is to say, in praying, as Jesus here invites you… in giving it all over to your Lord, and demanding His blessing in exchange… you will not be relieved of every pain.  That is not the Promise.  In fact, the Lord may touch you and lay additional suffering upon you.  Look, that just the reality of life this side of the veil.  He may relieve you of some particular sorrow in this life.  He often does that, and you can pray for that (in fact, you should).  Even Job was given temporal relief once his afflictions had run their course.  But then, you can bet there will be new crosses to bear right around the corner.  They will find you.  But the Lord will carry you through the suffering.  He will bless you in it.  He will turn it for your good, and for the good of others.  He will use it for your salvation.  And in the End… in the End… perhaps when you least expect it, He will deliver justice to you, and that, speedily (Luke 18:8).  Here, for you Tolkien fans, that is the eucatastrophe, which is true.  That is Jesus’ Promise in our text.

            When you are in it, of course, the deliverance doesn’t seem very speedy.  What is God doing by that?  Whatever else He is doing, He is driving you all the more into prayer… to surrender all things into His almighty and all-loving hands… to surrender yourself into His almighty and all-loving hands.  Like the persistent widow.  Don’t give Him a break.  Keep coming to Him.  Keep badgering Him.  Don’t let Him go until He blesses you.  Because that is faith.  God is exercising your faith. 

            And here is the point of comparison between God and the unrighteous judge (no, Jesus is not saying that His Father is an unrighteous Judge!):  If even an unrighteous human judge, who neither fears God above, nor man below, eventually gives justice to this no-account widow who keeps bothering him, lest she beat him down… literally, give him a black eye… destroy his reputation, his prestige… if even he gives justice, then you can bet that our righteous and holy God will give justice to those who cry to Him day and night, and that speedily.  It would be absurd to think otherwise!

            The way He gives it, though… that is the astounding mystery.  He gives it by piling all the injustice, all the fallenness and brokenness and corruption of this world, and our lives, our bodies, our hearts, our souls… all our sin… upon His Son.  Who bears it for us.  Who shoulders it up the hill, to the place of a skull.  To put it all to death.  In His body.  In Himself.  That is the price of justice.  He gives Himself to be vanquished.  He gives Himself in weakness, in humiliation.  That we may be blessed.  And so we are.  The answer to all our demands for justice, our cries, “How long,” our lament, our complaint… the answer is Christ on the cross.

            And then the justice… the justification delivered to us… is Christ risen from the dead.  You know, one Day soon, before you know it, the risen Christ will raise you from the dead.  That isn’t just a fantasy.  That is real.  As real as the flesh and bone now sitting in the pew.  And when He does, you’ll realize what He means when He promises to give you justice speedily.  “How long, O LORD?”  Soon.  Very soon.  The Lord is coming.  So keep clinging to Him, knowing He will bless.  Always pray, and do not lose heart.  Things are hard right now, God knows.  But the old order of things is passing away (2 Cor. 5:17).  In the blink of an eye, you will see, the Lord is making all things new (Rev. 21:5).  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.