Letters On The Page

Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer Third Sunday of Easter      Acts 2:14a, 36-41   1 Peter 1:17-25   Luke 24:13-35 Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed. Alleluia! O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen The walk away from Jerusalem to Emmaus is a different experience than the walk toward Jerusalem. On the way to Jerusalem, the disciples are excited, the people jubilant. On Palm Sunday, we heard that Jesus rode a borrowed donkey. The people lined the road. They threw their cloaks on the ground before Jesus. They held Palm branches and shouted, “Hosanna in the highest!  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”   The people perceive that Jesus is a prophet of God, a healer. He is the Messiah, the Christ, who fulfills Zechariah 9:9. The Messiah comes to Jerusalem on a donkey. Hopes are high for the in-breaking of God’s reign. Finally, t...

Video of Divine Service for Wednesday of Easter 2 Wednesday of the Second Sunday of Easter Ezekiel 37:1-14 John 20:19-31 Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. That is quite a question that Ezekiel is asked while standing before a valley filled with dry human bones. Ezekiel is a priest. He sacrificed animals at the temple in Jerusalem before being enslaved with the rest of the population in Jerusalem and Judah. Ezekiel knows the difference between life and death. He lives in an agrarian society. He is not insulated from the normal rhythm of birth, life, and death found in all species of life whether it is plants, animals, or humans.  When asked, “ Son of man, can these bones live? ” Ezekiel should have said, based on observation and experience, “No.” Instead, realizing who is asking the question, he displays a welcome expression of humility. ...

  Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer Second Sunday of Easter      Acts 5:29-42   1 Peter 1:3-9   John 20:19-31 Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia! O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. For a number of years, I followed the TV series NCIS. Some of you may be familiar with the show. I don’t know quite when it happened but the leader of the group, Jethro Gibbs, began to administer slaps to the back of the head to his team members when they said or did foolish things. In my recollection, the one team member who received the slap to the back of the head most often was Tony. Tony was indeed the one character in the show that consistently provided comedic relief in the midst of intense investigations and life or death situations.  As I talk about this, I should be clear that this is a fictitious television show and such behavior amongst ...

  Easter Vigil Proclamation of the Resurrection I had the special privilege of spending the final few days of Holy Week and the first few days of Easter with my own congregation, Emmaus in South Bend, preaching, presiding, and assisting with Services from Maundy Thursday through Easter Monday. It was a joy and a delight to share in those sacred days with so many people I have known and loved for so many years, including a number of my own children and grandchildren. One of the Services for which I had the opportunity to preach was the Easter Vigil, which has long been one of my favorite occasions of the Church Year. I was first introduced to the Vigil and fell in love with it while doing my field work with Pr. Peter Ledic at Immanuel, Decatur, in the early 1990s. And I was subsequently able to introduce the Vigil to Emmaus, South Bend, in the spring of 1998. So, it’s become a dear old friend over these past thirty-six years. As many other pastors have done, for the first couple yea...

Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer   The Resurrection of Our Lord    Acts 10:34-43    Colossians 3:1-4    Matthew 28:1-10 Alleluia. Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed. Alleluia! The Lord speaks to us through His Holy Word. In the Church, He speaks to us through the Sacraments of Baptism and Lord’s Supper. He speaks to us through the liturgy, hymns, prayers, and the fellowship of our church family. He also speaks to us through other means. He speaks to us through people. He uses family, friends, and sometimes complete strangers to communicate something to us. The Lord also speaks to us through His created world.  After Jesus was born, a star led the Magi to Bethlehem. The star served as a clarion call for those who knew how to read the stars that a new king was born. Then, perhaps it is fitting that during his crucifixion and resurrection, there were not one, but two earthquakes. Many different cultures recognized that the divine...

Video of Good Friday Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer   Good Friday Isaiah 52:13-53:12 Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9 John 19:17-30 In his 1519 A Meditation on Christ’s Passion, Martin Luther argues that in order for us to constructively reflect upon Christ’s suffering and death on the cross, Christians must not blame others for Christ’s death but blame ourselves.  Jesus dies for us. His death is a direct result of our sin. On this day we cannot redirect our own responsibility for Christ’s suffering and death upon others. We cannot hide behind Adam and Eve’s failure and sin. We cannot hide behind cultural norms. The Holy Spirit teaches us that we are left without excuse. Our sin, our human nature’s open rebellion against God’s care and love for us, is the reason that God becomes incarnate in Jesus Christ and the reason why Jesus dies on a cross for our sakes.  Luther says, “We must give ourselves wholly to this matter, for the main benefit of Christ’s passion that man sees i...