Letters On The Page

Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer Wednesday after the Epiphany   1 Corinthians 1:10-18       Matthew 4:12-25 O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.  When we step into the church to fellowship and worship with our brothers and sisters in Christ, it is very difficult to turn off the ways of the world. Out in the world, we continue to see and hear about a divided America and a polarized people. Republicans and Democrats; For or against President Trump and his policies. For or against the conduct of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Convictions run deep. Feelings run high. Loyalties are declared. There is a lot of talking past one another. Disagreements become fixed positions, divisions are hardened.  As we enter into the observance of our 250 th  anniversary as a nation, we will have ample opportunity to reflect on the difficul...

Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer Third Sunday after the Epiphany   Isaiah 9:1-4       1 Corinthians 1:10-18           Matthew 4:12-23 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 Light of Christ Shines in the Dark Matthew tells us that Jesus moves from his childhood home of Nazareth to Capernaum by the sea. His reason for moving is unlike our usual reasons for moving. For example, we move because of employment opportunities; to be closer to family; to inhabit a larger or smaller home because we entered a new phase in our lives; move to a different house and community in order to enjoy retirement and conclude our baptismal journey.    Jesus moves for none of these reasons. Jesus moves in order to fulfill Scripture. His move is a fulfillment of Isaiah 9.  This is the fifth of ten Old Testament citati...

Video of Divine Service Second Sunday after the Epiphany  Isaiah 49:1-7   1 Corinthians 1:1-9  John 1:29-42a The Lord Provides 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.   It is not unusual for people to make comments about people that they serendipitously encounter.  “There’s the mayor.” “There’s the chief of police.” One might choose to share an opinion with those you are with, quietly or to be overheard, about decisions made, appearance, or the scandal that you recently heard about. I imagine celebrities get this all the time. What is it like to be in NY city or LA and to regularly see or walk by Alec Baldwin, Jennifer Larence, or other actors? Folks always have an opinion, positive or negative, and are often not reticent about sharing it. But I doubt there has ever been a repeat of what happened to Jesus as ...

The quote below is from Martin Luther's explanation of the fourth commandment, "Honor your father and your mother," found in the Large Catechism. Here, he explains the importance of education for children.  In line 170, Luther explains that Christian parents ought to an avoid looking upon their children as if they are laborers or servants.    "Here again the sad plight arises that no one sees or hears this truth. All live was though God gave us children for our pleasure or amusement and servants so that we could use them like a cow or an ass, only for work. Or they look as though we were only to gratify our lewd behavior with our subjects, ignoring them, as though we have no concern for what they learn or how they live. "  Instead, parents should do the following:   172   For if we wish to have excellent and apt persons both for civil and ecclesiastical government, we must spare no diligence, time, or cost in teaching and educating our children, that t...

  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...