http://al.lunneberg.com Sermons and Rumenations Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:14:04 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 2005-2008 alunneberg@comcast.net (Allen Lunneberg) alunneberg@comcast.net (Allen Lunneberg) 1440 http://al.lunneberg.com/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/powered_by_podpress.jpg http://al.lunneberg.com 144 144 Sermons and more from my site. Allen Lunneberg Allen Lunneberg alunneberg@comcast.net no no http://al.lunneberg.com/2011/11/06/rest/ http://al.lunneberg.com/2011/11/06/rest/#comments Sun, 06 Nov 2011 17:46:03 +0000 alunneberg http://al.lunneberg.com/?p=877 http://al.lunneberg.com/2011/11/06/rest/feed/ 0 0:00:01 Text: Matthew 5:1-12 Date: All Saints’ Day (Observed) + 11/6/11 All Saints’ Day originally came to be when the calendar began to be too full of names of those Christians who have died and gone before us through death and the grave into the everlasti[...] Text: Matthew 5:1-12 Date: All Saints’ Day (Observed) + 11/6/11 All Saints’ Day originally came to be when the calendar began to be too full of names of those Christians who have died and gone before us through death and the grave into the everlasting arms of our Savior. We continue to remember the most famous of our forebears, the prophets and apostles and martyrs and teachers of the Church from Biblical times even to our own more local saints as we observed last Sunday on the 200th birthday of Pastor C. F. W. Walther. Then we remember the even more local saints as we may speak of a sainted pastor or teacher, mother or father, wife or husband, sister or brother, or (God have mercy) son, daughter or grandchild. It is only natural, good and right that we remember those who have gone before us with the sign of faith on the anniversary of their death (their “heavenly birthday”) and more often. Because in the early centuries the numbers increased into multitudes, All Saints’ Day became the day dedicated to the remembrance of, you guessed it, all who have gone before us. In German Lutheran or Evangelical tradition the day has become known as Totenfest, “toten” meaning death. The scripture readings for this day have been rather universal across denominational lines. So the reading from Revelation gives us the vision of the Last Day, the Eternal Day of resurrection with “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands” (Rev 7:9). And we find ourselves searching that crowd in our mind’s eye to see some familiar faces there. Then, on this day, the Holy Church hears not our Lord’s last and final words of His earthly ministry, but His very first words, the Beatitudes from the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter 5. We even sang those words this morning. And they’re worth singing and memorizing! But they are worth singing and memorizing, reading and hearing not as the gut reaction of our fallen nature and sinful flesh would hear them—as qualifications and rules to be met by us if we want join in that number when the saints go marching in—but singing and memorizing and reading and hearing them as proclaiming, first, the gospel, how our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ fulfilled all righteousness for us and now what He makes us to be by baptism and faith in Him, His holy ones, saints beginning already now and forever. “Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up on the mountain” not necessarily a Mount Everest but at least a significant hill, “and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.” Teachers of that time indicated that they were going to begin teaching a lesson not by standing at a podium or in a pulpit, but by sitting! The disciples understood and so they came to stand or sit around Him ready to listen. This teaching was primarily for His disciples. That “the crowds” also gathered around probably goes without saying. But did all who were gathered hear Him? And did all who heard Him understand what He was saying? I’m…not…sure. And so, what did He say? Matthew doesn’t simply write, “Jesus said,” but increased the drama and expectation and importance by saying, “And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying.” What they were about to hear, and what we hear today, is to be understood as something of greatest importance. That some make the parallel with God giving Moses the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai are not completely wrong. But what do we hear in the Beatitudes? Laws like the Ten Commandments? Or something beyond the Law? “Blessed.” “Makarioi.” The Greek word does not just refer to generic happiness but in its oldest meaning it is to speak of the happy state of the gods or redeemed men above earthly sufferings or labors. In this sense the hymn gets it right when it says, Oh, how blest are they whose toils are ended, Who through death have unto God ascended! T[...] alunneberg@comcast.net no no http://al.lunneberg.com/2011/10/30/truth/ http://al.lunneberg.com/2011/10/30/truth/#comments Sun, 30 Oct 2011 16:34:38 +0000 alunneberg http://al.lunneberg.com/?p=874 http://al.lunneberg.com/2011/10/30/truth/feed/ 0 0:00:01 Text: Jude 3 Date: Written on Walther’s 200th Birthday, 10/25/11 + Reformation Day (Observed) + 10/30/11 In this 494th celebration of the 16th century Conservative Reformation of the Church by Martin Luther, we do so this year with special attention[...] Text: Jude 3 Date: Written on Walther’s 200th Birthday, 10/25/11 + Reformation Day (Observed) + 10/30/11 In this 494th celebration of the 16th century Conservative Reformation of the Church by Martin Luther, we do so this year with special attention given to him who is the founding father in the 19th century of our confessional fellowship, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, on the 200th birthday of Pastor Carl Ferdinand Wilhelm Walther. He was not originally designated to be a leader by those who emigrated from Saxony in Germany to this country as was “Bishop” Martin Stephan. But he was blessed by God through his study of Scripture, Luther’s writings and the Lutheran Confessions and his own experience in the Germany in which he grew up, after Stephan’s demise to emerge as the one needed to gather the members of their community around the Word of God to settle the questions concerning their standing before God as faithful members of Christ’s Church on earth. He became pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Louis, Missouri, first president of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, and first (and third!) president of (as we were originally called) The German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio and Other States (Deutsche Evangelisch-Lutherische Synode von Missouri, Ohio und Andern Staaten). More than merely a lesson of history, however, we today are reminded that we are in the same struggle as that of Martin Luther and C.F.W. Walther, namely, the struggle for the truth of God’s Word, the Bible. It is a constant struggle because there have been and always will be forces aimed at misinterpreting or even ignoring God’s Word. I am taking as my inspiration the sermon preached by Walther on Reformation Day 135 years ago in 1876 with the typically complete-sentence-title “Why Dare and Can We Never Give Up the Church’s Struggle for the Pure Doctrine?” It is based on the scripture passage in Jude verse 3, “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (ESV). It will be obvious how this is also an exposition of our Lord’s word in today’s Gospel, “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). Walther saw a three part outline in the sentence from Jude 3, first, that the Pure Doctrine of the Church is not our possession as much as it is a treasure only entrusted to us for our faithful administration; second, the threat of the loss of this treasure would be more terrible than any strife or discord among us; and third, because this contending or conflict is commanded by God and is therefore also blessed by God “in time and in eternity.” Walther began his sermon that day with a brief review of the history of Martin Luther: the posting of his 95 Theses in 1517; his refusal to recant his teaching first before Cardinal Cajetan in 1518; his disputation with Dr. Eck in 1519; then his faithful confession before Pope and Emperor in Worms in 1521; his conflict with the radical reformer Ulrich Zwingli on the Lord’s Supper in 1529; and again his faithful confession in Augsburg in 1530. Then Walther said, “My dear brethren, has the victory of the Reformation of the Church finally brought peace? Alas no! The Church is to triumph above; here it must fight until the peal of the last trumpet. That God’s Word testifies to us on all pages, and so also the apostle Jude, who has the surname Thaddeus, writes in our text: ‘Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints’” (emphasis mine). In my lifetime it has been my observation that those of the Missouri Synod have been generally judged by others as being strict and seemingly constantly at war with any and all false teaching. Even our modern internet “Wikipedia”[...] alunneberg@comcast.net no no http://al.lunneberg.com/2010/12/26/stephen-full-of-grace-and-power/ http://al.lunneberg.com/2010/12/26/stephen-full-of-grace-and-power/#comments Sun, 26 Dec 2010 17:11:11 +0000 alunneberg http://al.lunneberg.com/?p=687 http://al.lunneberg.com/2010/12/26/stephen-full-of-grace-and-power/feed/ 0 0:00:01 Text: Acts 6-7 Date: St. Stephen, Martyr + Christmas I X 12/26/10 Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI It may seem strange, even odd, that on only the second day of our joyful celebration of Christmas the liturgical calendar se[...] Text: Acts 6-7 Date: St. Stephen, Martyr + Christmas I X 12/26/10 Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI It may seem strange, even odd, that on only the second day of our joyful celebration of Christmas the liturgical calendar seems to want to dampen our spirits with three days marking the histories of the deaths, today the martyrdom of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr both in will and in deed, then tomorrow St. John, Apostle and Evangelist, a martyr only in will and not in deed as it is said he died a natural death in Ephesus ages 98 years, and finally The Holy Innocents, those baby boys in the region of Bethlehem who were murdered by Herod’s forces as he tried to wipe out the threatened rival called the newborn King of the Jews, martyrs all in deed though not will. However, as with the Church’s commemoration of all the saints, these days are said to be the actual day of their deaths, or, better, their “heavenly birthdays,” all of which, of course, preceded the Church’s choice of the twenty-fifth December for the celebration of the incarnation and birth of Christ. Yet whether by happenstance or some other plan this fact does call us to remember that the true celebration of Christmas, much less of any part or doctrine of the Christian Gospel, must be done in faith. Such faith needs to be confessed before one another and the world. And the record of the New Testament and the saints and martyrs teach us that such confession of faith will always be an offense and challenge to the world of people who do not accept salvation as a gift of God but prefer to attempt to be saved, if at all, by the accumulation of their own good works. This was at the heart of St. Stephen’s witness. As Stephen faithfully and powerfully preached the salvation of God by faith in Jesus, he made it very clear that Jesus had (1) fulfilled all of God’s Law for the world, on our behalf, because no one can be justified by our imperfect keeping of the Law. In addition he mentioned (2) the ending of the house or temple God had commanded to be built in Jerusalem as His promised place of locating Himself for His people. For the temple and its sacrifices only pointed forward to their fulfillment in Jesus. Now God would no longer locate Himself in a building but in the body of Jesus and, by faith, in His people. There would no longer be any need or use of temple animal sacrifices because the one sacrifice of Jesus’ body and blood on the cross is the all-sufficient payment for the sin of the whole world. Now all of that sounds good, true and right to our Christian and Lutheran ears. We welcome that preaching of Jesus Christ and the clear distinction of Law and Gospel as pure and true doctrine. The people to whom Stephen was preaching, however, found what he was saying as pure blasphemy, false, even offensive to their ears. They accused him, saying, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God…. This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” A serious word of warning, by the way, for all newly called and ordained pastors: be very, very careful and do not presume to “change the customs” the people are used to until you have been their long enough to have earned the right to do so! If we stop a moment and think about it, you can begin to understand if not agree with the rage and anger Stephen encountered. Concerning the temple, they certainly had to agree objectively with Stephen’s words “the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands.” For Solomon said the same thing, saying, “Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you [God]; how much less this house that I have built!” (1 Kings 8:27). The apostle Paul said the same to the Greeks of the Areopagus, “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not liv[...] alunneberg@comcast.net no no http://al.lunneberg.com/2010/11/07/sheltered-by-gods-presence/ http://al.lunneberg.com/2010/11/07/sheltered-by-gods-presence/#comments Sun, 07 Nov 2010 17:53:00 +0000 alunneberg http://al.lunneberg.com/?p=664 http://al.lunneberg.com/2010/11/07/sheltered-by-gods-presence/feed/ 0 0:00:01 Text: Revelation 7:15 Date: All Saints’ Day (Observed) + 11/7/10 Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI I need to apologize, right off the bat. As I approached preparation for All Saints’ Day this year I checked my calendar and m[...] Text: Revelation 7:15 Date: All Saints’ Day (Observed) + 11/7/10 Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI I need to apologize, right off the bat. As I approached preparation for All Saints’ Day this year I checked my calendar and my sermon from last year and realized that at that time, Sunday, November 1, 2009, I hadn’t yet even given one thought to the possibility that I would be losing Alice in little more than a month. So this is the first All Saints’ Day following the reality that my dear wife is now among those safely sheltered in the presence of Christ. We heard Revelation 7:15 say of those who have gone before us, “they are before the throne of God…and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.” What is this “sheltering” with His presence? The age-old question always is, from our perspective, “Where are the Dead?” Until now I’ve been satisfied to teach people, first, that the scriptures are quite silent on that question and, secondly, I’d warn, saying, “Be careful of asking ‘space and time’ questions of eternal matters,” then I’d just move on. But you know, for all the funerals I have conducted over the years, for all the precious saints I have been privileged to usher to heaven’s gates…you know…it’s just “different” when it happens to you. So I found myself this week reviewing the question “Where are the dead?” not satisfied with the seeming “silence” of the scriptures and the philosophical or theological hesitancy to press the issue. This is different. This is personal. So what have I found? I outlined for you (on the handout) the Biblical doctrine on temporal death and the state of souls between death and resurrection from Francis Pieper’s Christian Dogmatics. But then I found one more thing that it seems to me that Dr. Pieper missed. So I added some commentary from Louis Brighton’s Concordia Commentary on Revelation, specifically, a key verse from Revelation 6. So let’s review. Where are the dead? First of all the Bible is clear in defining death not as annihilation of body or soul but that physical death is the separation of the soul from the body. The cause is sin. Separation is the essence of the effect of sin. Sin separates us from God, from His creation, from one another, even the closest or most intimate relationships. That separation can be demonstrated with anything from anger to murder or just completely and permanently ignoring someone. The ultimate separation, however, is the separation of the soul from the body in physical death; something God never intended to be. Human beings were not created by God only to live 70, 80 or 100 years and then cease living. He created human beings to live forever! Now if sin is the cause of death, then the removal of sin means deathless life. Yet if Christians have that forgiveness of sins, why must they still die? It is because of the sin still dwelling in them as Romans 8 describes the Christian, saying, “if Christ is in you…the body is dead because of sin” (Rom. 8:10). Yet the difference is that the physical death of the Christian no longer has the sense of wrath or punishment as St. Paul says, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:56-57). And so the death of the Christian is called but a sleep, and we sing comforting hymns like, Oh, how blest are they whose toils are ended, Who through death have unto God ascended! They have arisen From the cares which keep us still in prison. Or here are the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, of whom I haven’t found any evidence of Christian faith, and yet which words seem strangely comforting: How they so softly rest, All they the holy ones, Unto whose dwelling place Now doth my soul draw near! How they so softly rest, All in their silent graves, Deep to corruption Slowly down sinking!        And they no longer weep,             Here, where complaint is still!       And they no [...] alunneberg@comcast.net no no http://al.lunneberg.com/2010/10/31/dare-to-be-lutheran/ http://al.lunneberg.com/2010/10/31/dare-to-be-lutheran/#comments Sun, 31 Oct 2010 16:38:52 +0000 alunneberg http://al.lunneberg.com/?p=661 http://al.lunneberg.com/2010/10/31/dare-to-be-lutheran/feed/ 0 0:00:01 Text: John 8:32 Date: Reformation Day + 10/31/10 Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI On Reformation Day every year we celebrate the 16th century awakening to the Gospel of Jesus Christ which had become grown over like a neglec[...] Text: John 8:32 Date: Reformation Day + 10/31/10 Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI On Reformation Day every year we celebrate the 16th century awakening to the Gospel of Jesus Christ which had become grown over like a neglected lawn, grown over, defaced, covered up, even rejected by the confusion of Law and Gospel. Christianity was identified not by the freedom of the forgiveness of sins by God’s grace through faith in Christ alone but by the myriad of laws and rules one must follow and then never being sure that all of your sin has been atoned for. It took the angel of Revelation 14, a messenger of the eternal gospel in the person of the otherwise obscure Augustinian monk named Martin Luther to rediscover, publish and teach the true, pure Gospel. Contrary to uninformed opinion, Luther never intended to “start a new church,” but only to correct abuses, mow and trim the lawn so to speak, uncover and recover the Gospel. Admittedly, that meant eliminating things that were contrary to the pure Gospel. It meant some surgery deeper than many including the Pope were willing to undergo. Finally, Luther and his followers were left to believe and preach and teach officially rejected by the church. The so-called “Lutherans” continued to consider themselves good Catholics, even better Catholics. That’s when the old Catholic Church became the Roman Catholic Church. As long as any identified with the Pope in Rome, they remained apostate to the truth of the pure Gospel. Now, every year when we celebrate the Reformation we have done so in ways that attempt to emphasize our claim to be the pure expression of the western catholic faith and not just a “sect” or as Rome likes to call us, “separated brethren.” This year, however, we wish to be so bold as to do a little boasting, not of ourselves, of course, but of Jesus Christ and the pure Gospel that has been handed down and delivered to us. Growing from the confessional movement of these days has come an alternate youth organization called Higher Things, which has only recently become a Recognized Service Organization in the LCMS. Their motto has been “Dare to be Lutheran.” And that’s our consideration today as Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” To “dare” to be Lutheran means, first of all, to be convinced that the Evangelical Lutheran Church presents and represents the purest and most complete expression of the historic Christian faith, and, secondly, that we are dedicated to confess and maintain that pure Gospel especially in the face of everything that speaks against it. We will just take a few examples. The very first doctrine we need to mention is the doctrine of the Word of God. Jesus said, “If you continue in my word.” God revealed Himself and His will, at first, directly and verbally to Adam and Eve. Through the oral Word God built His Church until the days of Moses. After God had chosen to transmit His Word in writing, the Church of every age is strictly bound to the written Word of God—beginning with the five books of Moses, then the prophets and the psalms, and finally the apostolic New Testament. We all know (or should know) the proof passages, 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is breathed out by God,” and 2 Peter 1:21, “no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” Our knowledge and understanding of God is bound to the Holy Scriptures only, and not to our natural reason, nor decrees, councils or synods of the Church, nor so-called private, immediate or new revelations, nor scripture forced or interpreted through historical or philosophical presumptions. The Bible does not only “contain” the Word of God. We must confess that the Bible “is” the Word of God. It must be interpreted according to its own rules, the “darker” or more difficult passages being interpreted in concert with the clear pa[...] alunneberg@comcast.net no no 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 0:00:01 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, 1939—June 11, 2009; Paul O. Manz, May 10, 1919—October 28, 2009. “Peace be to you, and grace,[...] 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, 1939—June 11, 2009; Paul O. Manz, May 10, 1919—October 28, 2009. “Peace be to you, and grace, from Him who freed us from our sins.” In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. “Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound. ‘Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird!’ ‘It’s a plane!’ ‘It’s SUPERMAN!’ “Yes, it’s Superman—strange visitor from another planet who came to earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Superman—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.” As I read those words, could you (who are old enough) see it in your mind’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, “We could use a Superman like that right about now”? 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! “Fictional characters of ‘extraordinary or superhuman powers’ dedicated to protecting the public.” Every generation has had their superheroes, from Superman to our children and grand-children’s Spiderman and X-Men, even back to the ancient’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 “All Saints” 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. It’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 you’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 “the conservative reformation.” 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 Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel, the very first section, the Beatitudes. The question is, who is Jesus speaking about in these words—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 enough to pass heaven’s entrance exam. But sinful man has “cause and effect” completely reversed. It is not our sanctity or lack of it that determines our eternal destiny. Eternal life or death is determined upon f[...] 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 0:00:01 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, “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Rom. 3:28), he wa[...] 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, “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Rom. 3:28), he was speaking, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for the whole Church of Jesus Christ. Now, on Reformation Day it’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, “For we LUTHERANS hold this-and-that” 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 “denominations” 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 “we” in “we hold that one is justified by faith” are all those who hold to the pure, central Biblical doctrine of the Gospel of salvation, the justification of the sinner by God’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. It’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 God’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 Lord’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 things…. 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 today’s celebration, beginning with a hymn paraphrase of the Kyrie or “Lord, have mercy.” Then Nicolaus Decius’ paraphrase of the song of the angels, “Gloria in Excelsis Deo.” “Glory to God in the highest, and peace to His people on earth.” 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 God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Creed is sung in a paraphrase written by Luther himself. Then the Ordinary of the Liturgy[...] 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 0:00:01 Text: Matthew 5:1-12 Date: All Saints’ 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 th[...] Text: Matthew 5:1-12 Date: All Saints’ 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 times—the end times of our lives, of our world and the only thing in God’s plan of salvation left to happen short of further conversions, as we confess of our Lord in the creed, “He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead.” 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. John’s vision of “a great multitude that no one could number…standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,” maybe we see some familiar faces among them, a departed mother or father, a departed child, brother, sister, uncle or aunt. I’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 mother’s womb. As with the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem, unwitting martyrs for Christ, who more than they are the “poor in spirit,” the “meek,” or those “persecuted for righteousness’ sake” 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 blest—forever blest as the only “name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (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. “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.” 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 Lord’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. “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” so you have to be poor in spirit to be blessed. “Blessed are the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers,” 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 “poor in spirit” 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 beggars? So this word describes, first and foremost, Jesus in His earthly ministry, His state of humiliation, in regard to God His Father, to whose will he subm[...] 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 0:00:01 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 call attention to themselves. We do not brag, we are to alwa[...] 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, “For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake” (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 today’s celebration of Reformation. You will notice that I am careful in the service folder to distinguish between “the worship of the Holy Church throughout the world on the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost,” 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 “militant,” 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 “reformed” 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 “gospel oriented.” We even hesitate from being lumped in with those “protestant” traditions that didn’t think Luther went far enough. Those of us who are “Lutherans” 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 “Lutherans.” In a strange way, and maybe as an “in-your-face” confession of the truth, we took up and accepted the epithet in a similar way that followers of Christ are called “Christians.” 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 years ago in 1517, we annually celebrate the Reformation and preach on its central, most important doctrine, just[...] 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 0:00:01 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 the faith of Christ. Every Lord’s Day in the Prayer of the Church we commend to the everlasting peace of G[...] 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 Lord’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’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—a “sleep,” 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 “one thing needful,” 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 Lord—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 “heavenly birthday,” 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, “one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” 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, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 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, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (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, “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” It was faith that perceived and kept her Son’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, “do whatever He tells you,” even when she herself did not know exactly what He would say. It was faith alone, pressed through the agony of her Son’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…and her Son and Lord to be wi[...] 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 0:00:01 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 know, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Spaceballs, History of the World Part One. Me[...] 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 know, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Spaceballs, History of the World Part One. Mel doesn’t hesitate going for even the cheapest, most obvious joke. Every once in a while, however, his humor will stumble upon a profound truth. One such was in his movie, “Frisco Kid,” a story of a young, not-so-talented or experienced Polish rabbi, who was sent from Poland to an outback synagogue in San Francisco in the 1800s. On his way across America on a train, then on horseback, he was robbed, caught in a blizzard, captured by Indians and ran into all sorts of difficulties. Once when he was being cared for by an Amish family he was noticing the huge farms in the area and mentioned his own family’s farm back in Poland. The young man giving him a ride to the nearest town asked why or how he had become a rabbi instead of a farmer. It was almost as if he had never considered the question before. So he said, simply, “Because God made me a rabbi,” and then explaining to the young man, “I guess God had enough farmers.” I give the same simple reason when someone asks why I became a Lutheran pastor. There can be lots of reasons why a man may think he’s called into the ministry and pursue it through attendance at one of our seminaries. But the bottom line is always, “Because God made me a pastor.” For unless it is God’s call and drawing and initiative and blessing, one can and will always wonder whether he has deceived himself. And we believe, teach and confess that God works through His Word rightly handled through His Church which trains, certifies and calls her servants. It is the certification and ordination by the Church that testifies to the reality and validity and divinity of the pastor’s call. Today is Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles Day and my 29th anniversary of ordination as a pastor. Of all the twelve apostles only Peter and Paul have two dates each of commemoration on the Church calendar—the Confession of St. Peter on January 18, The Conversion of St. Paul on January 25, and today together on June 29. It was the confession of faith uttered by Peter that Jesus said would be the fundamental building block of the Church. And it was the rather spectacular conversion of St. Paul that served as his divine certification as a bone fide apostle. Then it is because these two apostles are head-and-shoulders more important than the rest that they are remembered together today. Peter is the leader and head of the twelve for his apostolic ministry to the Jews, author of two letters in the New Testament and it is his preaching that is believed to be the main voice behind St. Mark’s Gospel. Paul is the amazingly gifted and inspired apostle to the Gentiles and author of at least 13 of the 27 writings of the New Testament. Together they represent the most important development of the early Church, namely, the breaking out of the Gospel not only to the house of Israel but through the Jews to all nations of the world, just as it was foretold ever since the covenant with Abraham when the Lord said, “In your seed will all the nations be blessed,” and fulfilled and echoed in the Great Commission of the Lord Jesus, “Go and make disciples of all nations.” Now, neither Simon Peter the fisherman nor Saul of Tarsus “applied” for the job as apostles! In fact, Peter fought against it and felt totally unqualified for it, and Saul was in the business of trying to wipe out this new Christian sect! It was only at the Lord’s call and command that either one felt compelled to follow, to believe, to serve and obey His call from the Lord. Most of us can identify with Peter, of course, as the impetuous, vacillating champion of his Lord with all his ups-and-downs of faith. We all know what it’s like to be silent when we should have spoken up, and what it’s like to speak without first engaging the brai[...] 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 0:00:01 Text: Luke 10:42 Date: The Dormition of the B.V.M. + 8/15/07 “One thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her." It is good to remember those who have died in the faith of Christ. Every Lord[...] Text: Luke 10:42 Date: The Dormition of the B.V.M. + 8/15/07 “One thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her." It is good to remember those who have died in the faith of Christ. Every Lord’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’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—a “sleep,” 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 “one thing needful,” the blessed Word and Gospel of Christ. This year we’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—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 “heavenly birthday,” 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, “one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” 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, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (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, “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” It was faith that perceived and kept her Son’s words and works, pondering them in her heart. It was by faith that Mary told the attendants at the wedding in Cana, “do whatever He tells you,” even when she herself did not know exactly what He would say. It was faith alone, pressed through the agony of her Son’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…and her Son and Lord to be with the Lord in both soul and body. In her, as in the Church, [...] alunneberg@comcast.net no no