Letters On The Page

  Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer   Second Wednesday after the Epiphany      Romans 12:1-5          Luke 2:41-52 O Lord, your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.  In Romans 6:3-11, the Apostle Paul describes the disruptive, life-giving effect of Holy Baptism. Through the combination water with the promise of God’s Word, we personally encounter the mercy of Christ Jesus. On account of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, through Holy Baptism we are snatched from the crushing jaws of sin and death and united with Christ. The Apostle declares, “ We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life .” And, just so we get the point, the Apostles states...

Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer First Sunday after the  Epiphany  The Baptism of Our Lord                         Isaiah 42:1-9              Romans 6:1-11           Matthew 3:13-17 The Exchange O Lord, Your Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer.  Eighteen years have passed since we last saw Jesus in the gospels. When Jesus was twelve years old, he remained in the Jerusalem Temple talking with the Rabbis, priests and other educators of the faith.  After that episode, all we have is a great silence. So, what was he doing all that time? We do not have any divine revelation on which to say for certain...

Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer Epiphany of our Lord   Ephesians 3:1-12  Matthew 2:1-12 The Necessity of Revelation O Lord, your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.  If we were in Bethlehem on the night that Jesus was born, would we have recognized Mary as the mother of God and her newborn son as the Savior of the world? Or would we have seen a poverty-stricken family who is relegated to the hard luck of staying in the manger?  If we got to know Joseph and Mary and the infant Jesus as they waited in Bethlehem for what comes next, would we discern something special, something unique about Mary or Jesus? The honest answer is probably not.  In order to appreciate the gift of God that is before us, we need revelation. We need God’s revelation to open our eyes and ears to see and hear what is happening before us. The ang...

Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer Second Sunday after Christmas  1 Kings 3:4-15  Ephesians 1:3-14  Luke 2:40-52 For Us! O Lord, your Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.  When I was in seminary, we were taught a few Latin phrases to help get into our heads what God is doing in our world and why. One of those phrases kept coming back to me as I reflected on today’s Gospel reading. The phrase is “pro nobis.” Pro nobis translates into English as “for us.”  Martin Luther, his peers in Wittenberg, and subsequent Lutheran theologians have used that phrase effectively to keep before us what God is doing in this world through Jesus Christ and why. The phrase “for us” also serves to remind us that our salvation is not our work. Our salvation is God’s work.  We do not save ourselves. God saves us. God saves us by act...

Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer First Sunday after Christmas  Isaiah 63:7-14  Galatians 4:4-7  Matthew 2:13-23 O Lord, your Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer.  Today’s Gospel comes as a bit of a shock after the joy of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  On Christmas Eve, we heard the joyous news of God coming down to dwell with us. Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus Christ:  For to us a child is born,   to us   a son is given;   his name shall be called   Wonderful   Counselor,   Mighty God, Everlasting   Father, Prince of   Peace.  For a brief musical moment, the veil that separates the seen from the unseen was removed and the angels announced the birth of the Christ child in Bethlehem. “ Glory to God in highest, and on earth peace upon those with whom he is pleased...

Christmas Day - John 1:1-18              O Lord, Your Word is lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen.   Many of the books I read have introductions written by the author or someone else.  In general, a good introduction lets the reader know what the theme is and what direction the book is going to go.  Sometimes, the reader may even surmise the conclusion.              The Gospel reading is a brief, poetic prose, introduction to the life of Jesus Christ.  Reading the prologue carefully lets us know what is coming. If we were hearing the Gospel for the very first time, we would discern that Jesus is the focus of the rest of the book and that He is unlike any man born. He is co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. ...