Letters On The Page

Video of Divine Service in Rensselaer, IN Palm Sunday/Sunday of the Passion John 12:12-19; Isaiah 50:4-9a, Philippians 2:5-11; Matthew 27:11-66 O Lord, let the words of my lips and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen. As we begin Holy Week, we enter the mystery of just how deeply God cares for us. For our sake, God has humiliated himself. I don’t mean humiliation as in embarrassment. I mean humiliation in the sense that he has become a creature like us in order to save us. The Epistle describes the incarnation in humiliating terms: “though he was in the form of God, … he made himself nothing, being born in the likeness of men.”  Hymn 815 All Praise to Thee renders Philippians 2:5-11into poetic verse. We won’t sing it today because it has an alleluia as the refrain. We will hold off on our Alleluias until Easter. But the first line captures the essence of what the Son of God did for us.  All praise to Thee, for Thou, O King divine, Did...

  Homily for Vespers on Wednesday of the fifth Sunday in Lent – Exodus 16:1-18, 35 O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.  Are you better off? This is a question that a person seeking elected office might ask of constituents if he or she is challenging the incumbent. Are you better off now than you were before my adversary took office? If you do not have an answer, the person asking the question will suggest some answers for you that puts the one currently holding office in the worst possible light. Such is the brutal way of contemporary American politics.  I can hear a similar question being asked by the former slaves. Are we better off since Moses led us into the desert? Their immediate answer is no. A few weeks have passed. They have experienced some discomfort. Their memory is playing tricks on them. They remember eating meat and bread, but do not remember the harsh work, the endless days, ...

Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer   Fifth Sunday in Lent  Ezekiel 37:1-14   Romans 8:1-11   John 11:1-45 O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. As Lutheran Christians we understand that God speaks to us through His holy Word. He speaks to us words of Law that accuse us of our sin. How do we know that what we are thinking, doing, planning to do is not only wrong, but trespasses against God? God’s Word tells us. God’s Word shows us our trespass. It accuses us. God’s Word shapes our morality and ethics. It’s not only about behavior but about thinking too. We can and do sin with our thoughts. The purpose of showing our trespass is to make us uncomfortable enough to be contrite and to repent and to seek the Lord’s forgiveness. In God’s Holy Word, we receive the Gospel. Jesus says to us,  28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take m...

 

  Sermon for the Wednesday Vespers after the fourth Sunday in Lent    Exodus 14:5-31 O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. In order to breakdown the resistance of Pharaoh, his leadership team, and the people, that benefited from the work of the Israelite slaves, God wrought Ten Plagues upon the Egyptians through the Lord’s spokesman, Moses. These plagues induced thirst, hunger, great discomfort and sickness, loss of livestock and crops which meant loss of food and income, and finally, loss of human life in the taking of the first born of every family. These plagues demonstrated that Israel’s God is more powerful than the Egyptian idols. Pharaoh was slow to recognize that the Lord God has power over nature. Finally, when he lost his own son in the tenth plague, Pharaoh was moved to release the slaves.  Pharaoh issued the release amid intense grief. But, that decision did not last long. He ...

Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer Fourth Sunday in Lent  Isaiah 42:14-21   Ephesians 5:8-14   John 9:1-41 The Works of God Displayed O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. We want to know why things are the way they are. There is always a reason. We are sure of it. It is just a matter of asking the right questions and developing the right tools and technology to figure things out. The disciples of Jesus want to know why the blind man was born this way. They offer two choices. Somebody sinned. Was it the parents or the man himself? If this happened now, we would add two more questions. Is there blindness in the family? In other words, did genetics cause this? An additional question:  was there some kind of agent or exposure during gestation that led to being born blind; such as radiation, toxin, bacteria, virus, or irresponsible use of drugs or alcohol?  Regardless of...