http://al.lunneberg.com Sermons and Rumenations Sun, 25 Jul 2010 16:51:43 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 2005-2008 alunneberg@comcast.net (Allen Lunneberg) alunneberg@comcast.net (Allen Lunneberg) posts 1440 Sermons and more from my site. Allen Lunneberg Allen Lunneberg alunneberg@comcast.net No no http://al.lunneberg.com/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/powered_by_podpress.jpg http://al.lunneberg.com 144 144 http://al.lunneberg.com/2009/10/30/superman/ http://al.lunneberg.com/2009/10/30/superman/#comments Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:54:15 +0000 alunneberg http://al.lunneberg.com/?p=428 http://al.lunneberg.com/2009/10/30/superman/feed/ 0 00:01:01 Text: Matthew 5:1-12 Date: All Saints Day + 11/1/09 Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI In Memoriam: Ronald Archie Smith, August 12, 1939mdash;June 11, 2009; ... Text: Matthew 5:1-12 Date: All Saints Day + 11/1/09 Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI In Memoriam: Ronald Archie Smith, August 12, 1939mdash;June 11, 2009; Paul O. Manz, May 10, 1919mdash;October 28, 2009. ldquo;Peace be to you, and grace, from Him who freed us from our sins.rdquo; In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. ldquo;Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound. lsquo;Look! Up in the sky! Itrsquo;s a bird!rsquo; lsquo;Itrsquo;s a plane!rsquo; lsquo;Itrsquo;s SUPERMAN!rsquo; ldquo;Yes, itrsquo;s Supermanmdash;strange visitor from another planet who came to earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Supermanmdash;who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steal in his bare hands, and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way.rdquo; As I read those words, could you (who are old enough) see it in your mindrsquo;s eye? The black-and-white television picture of the pistol, the steam locomotive, the building, the crowd looking and pointing up into the sky, the badly edited sound of the flight of the caped crusader himself? Did you find yourself thinking, ldquo;We could use a Superman like that right about nowrdquo;? Of course things have changed since then. For one thing, thanks to the proliferation of cell phones Superman would be hard pressed these days to find a telephone booth to use, as was his habit, to change his wardrobe, and if he instead availed himself of a public restroom he could be in danger of being arrested just for taking off his Clark Kent clothes there. And as far as the never-ending battle for truth, justice and the American way I can imagine these days a never-ending battle for deciding just what each of those words and concepts actually mean. Ah, superheroes! ldquo;Fictional characters of lsquo;extraordinary or superhuman powersrsquo; dedicated to protecting the public.rdquo; Every generation has had their superheroes, from Superman to our children and grand-childrenrsquo;s Spiderman and X-Men, even back to the ancientrsquo;s pantheon of mythological figures, Apollo, Artemis, Poseidon and the like. So how many people today think of Jesus as no more than a superhuman, fictional hero? Or that ldquo;All Saintsrdquo; whom we celebrate today are but the Christian pantheon of superheroes upon whom we are to rely for safe travel, deliverance from various diseases and other protections. Itrsquo;s no wonder that All Saints Day became, over the centuries, primarily devoted to promote the false doctrine of salvation by works; and that it was, therefore, the Eve of this day that Martin Luther chose to post his Ninety-Five Theses questioning that false doctrine. For the Lutheran Church yoursquo;d think that it would be easier just to get rid of every vestige of salvation by works to eliminate All Saints Day altogether. But ours is called ldquo;the conservative reformation.rdquo; The original, historic development of remembering the saints who have gone before us has a better meaning and significance. For it is primarily to hold before us the example of those who walked by faith in order that we may imitate their faith and life. The Gospel reading for All Saints Day every year is from Jesusrsquo; Sermon on the Mount in Matthewrsquo;s Gospel, the very first section, the Beatitudes. The question is, who is Jesus speaking about in these wordsmdash;the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, and so on? For these words sound to many to be a description of Super Christians or at least a program for making them so. For on the one hand the qualities listed seem beyond human ability to attain. On the other hand this fits exactly the spiritually blind religious logic that thinks salvation is only for those who become saintly or good e... Festival,Sermons alunneberg@comcast.net no No http://al.lunneberg.com/2009/10/25/this-we-believe/ http://al.lunneberg.com/2009/10/25/this-we-believe/#comments Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:49:39 +0000 alunneberg http://al.lunneberg.com/?p=398 http://al.lunneberg.com/2009/10/25/this-we-believe/feed/ 0 00:01:01 Text: Romans 3:28 Date: Pentecost XXI + Reformation Sunday + 10/25/09 Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI When the Apostle Paul wrote, ldquo;For we hold ... Text: Romans 3:28 Date: Pentecost XXI + Reformation Sunday + 10/25/09 Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI When the Apostle Paul wrote, ldquo;For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the lawrdquo; (Rom. 3:28), he was speaking, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for the whole Church of Jesus Christ. Now, on Reformation Day itrsquo;s too easy especially for Lutherans to attempt to confiscate or kid-nap these apostolic words to serve as a protest against other Christian denominations as if the Apostle were saying, ldquo;For we LUTHERANS hold this-and-thatrdquo; over-against the Papacy on the far right or the Reformed on the far left. As true as that may be, there were no Lutherans or so-called ldquo;denominationsrdquo; when Paul wrote those words. There were those already, however, who were allowing the innate legalism of our common, fallen, sinful nature and spiritual blindness to get in the way of the Gospel. The ldquo;werdquo; in ldquo;we hold that one is justified by faithrdquo; are all those who hold to the pure, central Biblical doctrine of the Gospel of salvation, the justification of the sinner by Godrsquo;s grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, apart from works of the law. This is no new teaching of the 16th century but the apostolic Gospel from the beginning. Itrsquo;s hard to imagine the huge task Martin Luther faced in basically having to contradict and undo the entrenched system of salvation by works that had grown over the Gospel like so much wild undergrowth of choking Satanic weeds and forestation, and not only undoing that but then replacing it with the task of teaching the pure, beautiful Gospel of forgiveness and eternal life as Godrsquo;s free gift of grace. He used every means at his disposal all the while maintaining that he and his followers were not starting anything new; that they were still good, faithful catholic Christians, only with the freedom of the Gospel restored in their worship, preaching, confession and teaching. Besides the preaching and teaching and use of sermon and catechism, Luther also revised the Mass or Divine Service ever so slightly beyond totally removing the sacrificial and works-righteous language from the Holy Communion liturgy. So we say in our Lutheran Confessions: "We do not abolish the Mass, but religiously keep and defend it. Masses are celebrated among us every Lordrsquo;s Day and on the other festivals. The Sacrament is offered to those who wish to use it, after they have been examined and absolved. And the usual public ceremonies are observed, the series of lessons, of prayers, vestments, and other such thingshellip;. However, ceremonies should be celebrated to teach people Scripture, that those admonished by the Word may conceive faith and godly fear, and may also pray. (This is the intent of ceremonies). So, we keep the Latin language to aid those who are learning and understand Latin. We mix with it German hymns so that the people also may have something to learn, and by which faith and godly fear may be produced." (Apol. XXIV:1, 3-4) Now for nearly half a millennium our churches have provided the historic liturgy in the vernacular or language of the people in whatever country the Lutheran Church has settled. What Luther did, initially, however, before the liturgy was simply translated into German or the vernacular, was to provide not only hymns as we have hymns but also hymnic paraphrases of the Ordinary of the Mass in order to teach the people. This is what we are doing in todayrsquo;s celebration, beginning with a hymn paraphrase of the Kyrie or ldquo;Lord, have mercy.rdquo; Then Nicolaus Deciusrsquo; paraphrase of the song of the angels, ldquo;Gloria in Excelsis Deo.rdquo; ldquo;Glory to God in the highest, and peace to His people on earth.rdquo; That is the familiar song of the angels at Christmas. The remainder of the Gloria was added by the early Church as a prayer to the triune Go... Festival,Sermons alunneberg@comcast.net no No http://al.lunneberg.com/2008/11/02/forever-blest/ http://al.lunneberg.com/2008/11/02/forever-blest/#comments Sun, 02 Nov 2008 17:47:51 +0000 alunneberg http://al.lunneberg.com/?p=160 http://al.lunneberg.com/2008/11/02/forever-blest/feed/ 0 00:01:01 Text: Matthew 5:1-12 Date: All Saintsrsquo; Day (Observed) + 11/2/08 Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI Living in the northern hemisphere as we ... Text: Matthew 5:1-12 Date: All Saintsrsquo; Day (Observed) + 11/2/08 Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI Living in the northern hemisphere as we do, this time of year even meteorology and the changing weather help to turn our thinking and our mood to the subject of the end timesmdash;the end times of our lives, of our world and the only thing in Godrsquo;s plan of salvation left to happen short of further conversions, as we confess of our Lord in the creed, ldquo;He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead.rdquo; Maybe it is in part to encourage us to hang in there, to persevere and endure that, once a year, we pause to remember all those who have gone on before us with the sign of faith, all the saints who from their labors rest while we continue to feebly struggle. Some of the saints are well known and famous, many more are not. And as we imagine in our minds eye St. Johnrsquo;s vision of ldquo;a great multitude that no one could numberhellip;standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,rdquo; maybe we see some familiar faces among them, a departed mother or father, a departed child, brother, sister, uncle or aunt. Irsquo;m tempted to imagine also the faces of those who nobody but their angels have ever seen, those countless millions (!) never given the chance to live outside their own motherrsquo;s womb. As with the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem, unwitting martyrs for Christ, who more than they are the ldquo;poor in spirit,rdquo; the ldquo;meek,rdquo; or those ldquo;persecuted for righteousnessrsquo; sakerdquo; who now are the possessors of the kingdom of heaven, the heirs of the new heavens and earth? The saints are all those forever blest with the gift of eternal life and salvation. The eternal blessing of salvation is only for those who by faith before the world confess Christ as Lord and Savior. They are forever blest because the name of Jesus is forever blestmdash;forever blest as the only ldquo;name under heaven given among men by which we must be savedrdquo; (Acts 4:12). Jesus is the key to understanding the blessedness of all saints and the blessed text from the Sermon on the Mount commonly called the Beatitudes, the Blessings. ldquo;Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.rdquo; These and all nine of the Beatitudes used to be included as another chief part or major teaching in ancient catechisms to be memorized, sung, learned by heart together with the Ten Commandments, the Creed and the Lordrsquo;s Prayer. And indeed St. Matthew places these words near the beginning of his Gospel as such a perfect summary of the faith that saves and the Savior that saves. In fact it is as a summary description of the Savior that the value and meaning of these words are discovered and properly understood. For apart from Christ these words end up being only an impossible moral demand of the Law. ldquo;Blessed are the poor in spirit,rdquo; so you have to be poor in spirit to be blessed. ldquo;Blessed are the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers,rdquo; so only those who achieve these qualities are blessed. These otherwise beautiful words become quite ugly quickly if their blessedness is understood to be nothing other than qualities that you must somehow find within yourself and manufacture in order to obtain the blessing. Only when you discover that Christ is here first describing Himself and how the Law of God finds its perfect and only fulfillment in Him do these words truly become the most beautiful and comforting words of Gospel. To be ldquo;poor in spiritrdquo; means someone who makes no claims on God for themselves, who simply knows their need of God. And what sort of claims can any of us make on God before whom, after all, we stand as destitute ... Festival,Sermons alunneberg@comcast.net no No http://al.lunneberg.com/2008/10/26/that-highly-illumined-angelic-man/ http://al.lunneberg.com/2008/10/26/that-highly-illumined-angelic-man/#comments Sun, 26 Oct 2008 16:44:53 +0000 alunneberg http://al.lunneberg.com/?p=154 http://al.lunneberg.com/2008/10/26/that-highly-illumined-angelic-man/feed/ 0 00:01:01 Text: Revelation 14:6-7 Date: Reformation Day (Observed) + 10/26/08 Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI Christians, at least traditionally or historically, do not ... Text: Revelation 14:6-7 Date: Reformation Day (Observed) + 10/26/08 Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI Christians, at least traditionally or historically, do not call attention to themselves. We do not brag, we are to always take the humbler part. As St. Paul said it, ldquo;For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sakerdquo; (2 Cor. 4:5). For instance, for this reason in church we rarely applaud the choir or the musicians (or the pastor, for that matter) for their part in the Divine Service (at least not right at that moment), because their part is not intended to be as much a performance for us as it is an extension of us in our worship and thanksgiving to God. Nevertheless the tradition has been that we quite freely call attention to and brag about other people especially for their part or role in our common witness to and praise of Jesus Christ. For example, each of the Apostles is remembered on their special day, as is Mary, the mother of our Lord. And, because we simply cannot remember each saint that has gone before us we remember All Saints together at least once a year, on November 1. (You are, by the way, invited to the special All Saints Day service as I was asked to preside next Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. at Zion Lutheran Church in Detroit.) We even have festivals when we commemorate not a particular Christian or person but a doctrine such as the Holy Trinity or todayrsquo;s celebration of Reformation. You will notice that I am careful in the service folder to distinguish between ldquo;the worship of the Holy Church throughout the world on the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost,rdquo; and the fact that not all Christian churches celebrate the Reformation! Of course, they should! if for no other reason than to confess that the Christian Church ldquo;militant,rdquo; the Church in this world, on this side of heaven, still struggles with sin and is constantly in battle against the Satanic forces of darkness that are always trying to silence the voice of the Gospel of Christ. So the Church is always in need of being ldquo;reformedrdquo; to its original design, character and purpose. Today we call again on all Christian churches and pastors to walk together with us in unity of the doctrine and practice of the Gospel of Christ. We belong to one of the few Christian church bodies, denominations or confessions that are named for their human founders. Almost all denominations are known by names that reflect the reach or peculiarity of their theology, geographic location, ethnic background or form of governing polity. In fact the few that do incorporate names of individual persons are generally the smaller, more radical sects. Martin Luther never intended to start a new church and, with his followers, never wanted to be called anything but Christian, catholic and evangelical meaning ldquo;gospel oriented.rdquo; We even hesitate from being lumped in with those ldquo;protestantrdquo; traditions that didnrsquo;t think Luther went far enough. Those of us who are ldquo;Lutheransrdquo; not only by birth or tradition but by conviction, choice and confession, while we do not deny that there can be and are Christians even in other denominations with which we are not in fellowship, really do believe that we belong to the truest form and expression of the one, holy, Christian, catholic and apostolic church in the world. It was as an hostile epithet that those who opposed Luther and his teachings began to call his followers ldquo;Lutherans.rdquo; In a strange way, and maybe as an ldquo;in-your-facerdquo; confession of the truth, we took up and accepted the epithet in a similar way that followers of Christ are called ldquo;Christians.rdquo; So on this day that commemorates the historic event of Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany on the Eve of All Saints Day, 491 y... Festival,Sermons alunneberg@comcast.net no No http://al.lunneberg.com/2008/08/15/the-dormition-of-mary/ http://al.lunneberg.com/2008/08/15/the-dormition-of-mary/#comments Fri, 15 Aug 2008 20:23:56 +0000 alunneberg http://al.lunneberg.com/?p=121 http://al.lunneberg.com/2008/08/15/the-dormition-of-mary/feed/ 0 00:01:01 Text: Luke 10:42 Date: The Dormition of the B.V.M. + 8/15/08 Zion Lutheran Church, Detroit, MI It is good to remember those who have died in ... Text: Luke 10:42 Date: The Dormition of the B.V.M. + 8/15/08 Zion Lutheran Church, Detroit, MI It is good to remember those who have died in the faith of Christ. Every Lordrsquo;s Day in the Prayer of the Church we commend to the everlasting peace of God those who have departed with the sign of faith and now rest in the sleep of peace. Because of our Lordrsquo;s saving work and His resurrection, and because in Holy Baptism we have already died and been buried with Christ, physical death, while it is still the enemy, has been overcome and transformed to be no more threatening than sleepmdash;a ldquo;sleep,rdquo; however, that is fully aware of the joys of being with the Lord. We remember especially those closest to us, a Christian father or mother or other relative; a Christian pastor or teacher from whom we heard and learned the ldquo;one thing needful,rdquo; the blessed Word and Gospel of Christ. Beyond that Holy Church remembers especially those of the household of faith who were given special grace in the service of the Lordmdash;the holy Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles and Martyrs, as examples for us of steadfast faith and holy living. We commemorate especially the apostles of the Lord usually on the anniversary of their death or martyrdom, their ldquo;heavenly birthday,rdquo; the date handed down to us through the long tradition of the Church. How much more so, then, should we remember the most blessed woman that ever lived, the Blessed and ever-virgin Mary, the Mother of Our Lord, who has always been and is an icon, a picture of the Church and the calm faith of every Christian? Though it was said by our Lord of a different Mary, the same can be said of the Blessed Mother and of all Christians, ldquo;one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.rdquo; Like us the mother of our Lord chose the one good and necessary thing because the Lord God first chose her. The angel Gabriel, sent by God, came to Mary and said, ldquo;Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!rdquo; Troubled at first her fears were put to rest by the great joy that she had been chosen to bear in her body the Son of God. In humble and obedient faith she responded to the angel of the Lord, saying, ldquo;Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your wordrdquo; (Luke 1:28-31, 38). That is the prayer, the motto of all true faith that is born of the Word of God, that thrives and grows and hopes in the truth and promises of God. It was by faith in the Word of God that the young Virgin Mary received and bore the only Son of the Father giving Him to take on our human flesh and blood. It was faith given, as she was filled with the Holy Spirit, that sang, ldquo;My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.rdquo; It was faith that perceived and kept her Sonrsquo;s words and works, pondering them in her heart. Sometimes faith can weaken or be greatly challenged by the fears and concerns of life in this fallen world. We read and tell the story too quickly not fully imagining the fear and grief of searching for the 12-year-old for three whole days only to find Him in the Jerusalem temple. So it was maybe a growing, more mature faith in which Mary told the attendants at the wedding in Cana, ldquo;do whatever He tells you,rdquo; even when she herself did not know exactly what He would say. It was faith alone, pressed through the agony of her Sonrsquo;s crucifixion and death that enabled her to remain steadfast also to see her risen Lord. This same gift of faith, then, transforms also her death and ours, turning the grave to be but the gate to our resurrection and the eternal life of the world to come. The most ancient, holy tradition suggests not that Mary never died. For she was neither immaculately conceived nor spared from the suffering of the sin that is but common to all the sons and daughters of Adam. Yet this same holy tradition claims that, not... Festival,Sermons alunneberg@comcast.net no No http://al.lunneberg.com/2008/06/29/because-god-made-me/ http://al.lunneberg.com/2008/06/29/because-god-made-me/#comments Sun, 29 Jun 2008 16:33:03 +0000 alunneberg http://al.lunneberg.com/?p=113 http://al.lunneberg.com/2008/06/29/because-god-made-me/feed/ 0 00:01:01 Text: Galatians 2:7-9 Date: Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles + 6/29/08 Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI I like Mel Brooks movies. You ... Festival,Sermons alunneberg@comcast.net no No http://al.lunneberg.com/2007/08/14/one-thing-is-necessary/ http://al.lunneberg.com/2007/08/14/one-thing-is-necessary/#comments Tue, 14 Aug 2007 12:13:27 +0000 alunneberg http://al.lunneberg.com/?p=85 http://al.lunneberg.com/2007/08/14/one-thing-is-necessary/feed/ 0 00:01:01 Text: Luke 10:42 Date: The Dormition of the B.V.M. + 8/15/07 #8220;One thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away ... Text: Luke 10:42 Date: The Dormition of the B.V.M. + 8/15/07 #8220;One thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.#34; It is good to remember those who have died in the faith of Christ. Every Lord#8217;s Day in the Prayer of the Church we commend to the everlasting peace of God those who have departed with the sign of faith and now rest in the sleep of peace. Because of our Lord#8217;s saving work and His resurrection, and because in Holy Baptism we have already died and been buried with Christ, physical death, while it is still the enemy, has been overcome and transformed to be no more threatening than sleep#8212;a #8220;sleep,#8221; however, that is fully aware of the joys of being with the Lord. We remember especially those closest to us, a Christian father or mother or other relative; a Christian pastor or teacher from whom we heard and learned the #8220;one thing needful,#8221; the blessed Word and Gospel of Christ. This year we#8217;ve remembered especially former Zion Pastor Eugene Evans and, not too long thereafter, also his wife, who were taken to be with the Lord, and now only this week also young Pastor William Thompson of Our Savior congregation in Hartland whose Christian funeral will be there tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. Beyond that Holy Church remembers especially those of the household of faith who were given special grace in the service of the Lord#8212;the holy Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles and Martyrs, as examples for us of steadfast faith and holy living. We commemorate especially the apostles of the Lord usually on the anniversary of their death or martyrdom, their #8220;heavenly birthday,#8221; the date handed down to us through the long tradition of the Church. How much more so, then, should we remember the most blessed woman that ever lived, the Blessed and ever-virgin Mary, the Mother of Our Lord, who has always been and is an icon, a picture of the Church and the calm faith of every Christian? Though it was a different Mary, the same can be said of the Blessed Mother and of all Christians, #8220;one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.#8221; Like us the mother of our Lord chose the one good and necessary thing because the Lord God first chose her. Her humble and obedient faith responded to the angel of the Lord, saying, #8220;Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word#8221; (Luke 1:38). That is the prayer, the motto of all true faith that is born of the Word of God, that thrives and grows and hopes in the truth and promises of God. It was by faith in the Word that the young Virgin Mary received and bore the only Son of the Father giving Him to take on our human flesh and blood. It was faith given, as she was filled with the Holy Spirit, that sang, #8220;My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.#8221; It was faith that perceived and kept her Son#8217;s words and works, pondering them in her heart. It was by faith that Mary told the attendants at the wedding in Cana, #8220;do whatever He tells you,#8221; even when she herself did not know exactly what He would say. It was faith alone, pressed through the agony of her Son#8217;s crucifixion and death that enabled her to remain steadfast also to see her risen Lord. This same gift of faith, then, transforms also her death and ours, turning the grave to be but the gate to our resurrection and the eternal life of the world to come. The most ancient, holy tradition suggests not that Mary never died. For she was neither immaculately conceived nor spared from the suffering of the sin that is but common to all the sons and daughters of Adam. Yet this same holy tradition claims that, not long after her death, her body was raised to join with the likes of Moses and Elijah#8230;and her Son and Lord to be with the Lord in both soul and body. In her, as in the Church Festival,Sermons alunneberg@comcast.net no No http://al.lunneberg.com/2007/06/22/the-way-of-joy/ http://al.lunneberg.com/2007/06/22/the-way-of-joy/#comments Fri, 22 Jun 2007 13:32:25 +0000 alunneberg http://al.lunneberg.com/?p=74 http://al.lunneberg.com/2007/06/22/the-way-of-joy/feed/ 0 http://al.lunneberg.com/2007/02/01/the-lord-comes-to-his-temple/ http://al.lunneberg.com/2007/02/01/the-lord-comes-to-his-temple/#comments Thu, 01 Feb 2007 16:51:38 +0000 alunneberg http://al.lunneberg.com/?p=38 http://al.lunneberg.com/2007/02/01/the-lord-comes-to-his-temple/feed/ 0 00:01:01 Text: Luke 2:22-32 Date: Presentation/Purification + 2/2/07 #160;#160;#160;#160; This is one of those feasts when Holy Church imitates the actual span of time of New Testament events. ... Text: Luke 2:22-32 Date: Presentation/Purification + 2/2/07 #160;#160;#160;#160; This is one of those feasts when Holy Church imitates the actual span of time of New Testament events. Though we make no article of faith about it or even claim that December 25 was the date of the birth of our Lord, we do claim that He, indeed, was born of the Virgin Mary on a particular day in the history of our world, in a particular place in the geography of our world. It is no accident, then, that the conception of our Lord is celebrated on March 25, exactly nine months before Christmas. Similarly, we celebrate the circumcision of our Lord on the eighth day after Christmas, January 1. So today we mark the 40th day after his birth when Mary and Joseph faithfully fulfilled the Law of the Torah for the rite of her purification and the presentation of their first-born son in the temple at Jerusalem. As Jesus was most surely circumcised in the town of his birth, Bethlehem, so this is His first visit and appearance in the temple. #160;#160;#160;#160; St. Luke most certainly had in mind the prophecy of Malachi when he wrote his account of this day, #8220;And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple#8221; [Mal. 3:1]. And certainly the Lord Himself had this in mind from eternity. Throughout the Old Testament God locates Himself for the benefit and salvation of His people#8212;whether in a pillar of cloud by day or a pillar of fire by night in the Exodus, or over the ark in the tabernacle to guide Israel in her travels, or in the first Jerusalem temple. As the priests carried the ark of the covenant of God#8217;s Presence through the Judean hill country to its place in the temple, so now Mary, the mother of our Lord, was the ark that brought forth the Lord#8217;s presence, today presenting Him in His true home, the rebuilt second temple that has been waiting all these years for the King of Glory to come in. #160;#160;#160;#160; In Jesus, not only does the Lord come to His Temple, but Jesus Himself is the new temple as He would later refer to His death and resurrection in His own body. The Jerusalem temple would be forever destroyed in 70 a.d. as now God#8217;s presence is to be found in no one else than Jesus#8212;an echo of His glorious Transfiguration in which, after seeing Moses and Elijah and the bright cloud and hearing the Voice of the Majestic Glory, when the disciples lifted up their eyes they saw no one but Jesus only. #160;#160;#160;#160;#160; So where is Jesus today that we may find God#8217;s presence? I was remembering the second stanza of the old hymn, #8220;Built on the Rock the Church doth Stand,#8221; where it boldly proclaims: #160;#160;#160;#160;#160; Surely in temples made with hands, #160;#160;#160;#160;#160;#160;#160;#160;#160;#160;#160; God the Most High, is not dwelling; #160;#160;#160;#160;#160; High above earth His temple stands, #160;#160;#160;#160;#160;#160;#160;#160;#160;#160;#160; All earthly temples excelling. [TLH 467:2] And I#8217;ve always worried that these words would be thought of by those with Reformed or anti-sacramental tendencies as somehow denigrating church buildings and the means of grace. After all in the same stanza the hymn writer says, #8220;Yet He whom heav#8217;ns cannot contain Chose to abide on earth with men,#8221; and then identifies our bodies as His temple. Well, that#8217;s true, too. But the very same hymn, finally, does acknowledge the fact that, #8220;Still we our earthly temples rear,#8221; and speaks of the font, the altar, the pulpit and even the church bells as the place of God#8217;s presence today. That many so-called churches have abandoned altars and pulpits and bells seems to testify to a deteriorating sense of incarnational and sacramental theology and faith in the means of grace as truly God#8217;s own appointed means of His presence. #160;#160;#160;#160; It is only those whose eyes a Festival,Sermons alunneberg@comcast.net no No