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/2011/04/22/who-dieth-thus-dies-well/ http://al.lunneberg.com/2011/04/22/who-dieth-thus-dies-well/#comments Sat, 23 Apr 2011 01:35:16 +0000 alunneberg http://al.lunneberg.com/?p=769 http://al.lunneberg.com/2011/04/22/who-dieth-thus-dies-well/feed/ 0 0:00:01 Text: St. John Passion; LSB 450:7 Date: Good Friday + 4/22/11 Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI Once again to presume to say something more important, more powerful, more persuasive than God’s own inspired scriptural Word is[...] Text: St. John Passion; LSB 450:7 Date: Good Friday + 4/22/11 Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI Once again to presume to say something more important, more powerful, more persuasive than God’s own inspired scriptural Word is unbelief. Throughout my years I have, therefore, simply not preached, not included a sermon on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday. Was such a practice a lazy cheapening and waste of parishioners’ patience and time, or did it demonstrate a bold faith in the Word of God? To quote our hymn, “What language shall I borrow”? For it seems even human language fails to understand, to describe, to believe, to give thanks for our Lord’s sacrificial offering—the grief and shame, the scorn, the thorns, despised and gory; pale, with sore abuse and scorn, grim death. Yet this One, this Lamb of God, the Son of God carries our sin, my sin and pays the ultimate, the atoning price for my forgiveness. Remember this. Remember this always and especially when it is your turn…your turn to die. He is your consolation and shield. His passion gives redemption when your last hour draws nigh. In such a vision of His cross and faith it can be said, “Who dieth thus dies well.” alunneberg@comcast.net no no http://al.lunneberg.com/2011/04/21/holy-maundy-thursday/ http://al.lunneberg.com/2011/04/21/holy-maundy-thursday/#comments Fri, 22 Apr 2011 01:06:45 +0000 alunneberg http://al.lunneberg.com/?p=766 http://al.lunneberg.com/2011/04/21/holy-maundy-thursday/feed/ 0 0:00:01 Text: Matthew 26:16-29 Date: Maundy Thursday + 4/21/11 Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI In the “Confessional Address” almost everything that needs to be said was said. For it spoke about our acknowledgment and confession of[...] Text: Matthew 26:16-29 Date: Maundy Thursday + 4/21/11 Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI In the “Confessional Address” almost everything that needs to be said was said. For it spoke about our acknowledgment and confession of our sins. It then drew us to the Sacrament of the Altar as the focus of the forgiveness of our sins. That is because, as we heard in the reading from Hebrews, “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Heb 9:22). In His words of institution Jesus said nothing about the significance of giving His body for us Christians to eat. But of His blood he said it is “my blood of the covenant” and was poured out “for the forgiveness of sins” (Mt 26:26, 28). Therefore it is especially here where we receive His body and blood according to His covenant and promise that our conscience is calmed, our sins stand forgiven, and we are filled with new, eternal life. We truly receive it and are truly comforted not in so far as we believe this but because Jesus said it. There have always been those, call them rationalists, philosophers or deniers of God’s Word, that have rejected the Church’s doctrine of the real presence of our Lord’s body and blood under the forms of bread and wine set apart for this use. It is significant that the Lutheran confession never meets these deniers only on the level of philosophy or rationalization but we always return simply to the Words of Institution themselves, these divine Words before us this evening, as saying everything that needs to be said, nothing more and nothing less. Jesus says of the bread, “This is my body.” And He says of the wine, “This is my blood.” True God-given faith responds by saying “Amen. This is most certainly true,” and then moves us to eat and to drink as He commands. The body and blood of Christ on the altar at Holy Communion is the same, true and substantial body and blood that hung on the cross. That ought to go without saying. Yet the temptation is to spiritualize Jesus’ words, to interpret them symbolically as if he really meant that the bread and wine only symbolize his body and blood. You will hear it said among the others that the important thing is that the “whole Christ,” the “entire Christ,” “soul and divinity” is present. But that’s not what Jesus said. He said “my body,” “my blood.” You cannot get around those words. You cannot say “is” means “represents.” They are two different words. So we pin our faith and hope on the words of Christ. The mystery of the real presence of Jesus’ body and blood is just that, a mystery. I cannot understand or explain how it is. I can…and must…only believe it. alunneberg@comcast.net no no http://al.lunneberg.com/2010/04/03/good-friday-triduum-2/ http://al.lunneberg.com/2010/04/03/good-friday-triduum-2/#comments Sat, 03 Apr 2010 12:10:54 +0000 alunneberg http://al.lunneberg.com/?p=526 http://al.lunneberg.com/2010/04/03/good-friday-triduum-2/feed/ 0 http://al.lunneberg.com/2010/04/02/confessional-address/ http://al.lunneberg.com/2010/04/02/confessional-address/#comments Fri, 02 Apr 2010 11:33:20 +0000 alunneberg http://al.lunneberg.com/?p=524 http://al.lunneberg.com/2010/04/02/confessional-address/feed/ 0 http://al.lunneberg.com/2010/03/28/swept-into-the-story/ http://al.lunneberg.com/2010/03/28/swept-into-the-story/#comments Sun, 28 Mar 2010 17:48:18 +0000 alunneberg http://al.lunneberg.com/?p=521 http://al.lunneberg.com/2010/03/28/swept-into-the-story/feed/ 0 0:00:01 Text: Luke 22:1—23:56 Date: Passion/Palm Sunday + 3/28/10 Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI On this Sunday, the beginning of the Great and Holy Week of the Christian calendar, Holy Church proclaims the entire account of our [...] Text: Luke 22:1—23:56 Date: Passion/Palm Sunday + 3/28/10 Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI On this Sunday, the beginning of the Great and Holy Week of the Christian calendar, Holy Church proclaims the entire account of our Lord’s Passion and death from the Last Supper, the temptations of Jesus and the disciples, the four trials of Jesus and the final hours of cross and tomb. The long, extended Gospel reading commands the attention of both hearer and preacher. It is hoped that the inspired Word heard directly, on its own, without comment or commentary will move heart and mind ultimately to true repentance and saving faith. For this is the goal, the culmination and purpose of the coming of Jesus into this world, namely, His vicarious, sacrificial, atoning death—“vicarious” meaning He died the death that should be ours; “sacrificial” meaning only His perfect holiness qualified Him to be acceptable to God; “atoning” meaning His death alone is the only adequate payment for the sin of the world, your sin and mine. It is called the Passion of our Lord since this is what it means when the Bible says, “God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son” (Jn. 3:16). He gave His son to be incarnate by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He gave His son to preach and teach and heal all manner of sickness and malady. He gave His only son to suffer all, even death, in order to free all men from the curse and slavery of sin and death. The Gospel is no minor cosmetic fix-up for life’s little frustrations, no extra enhancement of life given as optional equipment, and no mere religious fantasy that can safely be ignored. That Jesus came and died and rose again is the only answer to the question of all suffering, sin and death. Since all suffer, all sin and all die, therefore, the Gospel of Jesus is for all. To say that Jesus died for your sin is to say that it is your sin that nailed Him to the cross. All are personally involved in this story, personally liable, personally invited, personally loved. That’s why we come here, not only to hear the story but to be told personally, “your sins are forgiven,” to receive forgiveness, life and salvation on the basis of God’s clear, objective word of promise—“upon this, your confession, I by virtue of my office as a called and ordained servant of the word…forgive you all your sins.” We need this forgiveness every day of our lives as sin still tries to drag us down. But sin is already the defeated enemy by Christ’s mighty death and resurrection. Now all who belong to Him by baptism into His death, by faith in His Word, are raised to new life even as we bear in our bodies the marks of death. We live by faith in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Therefore let us walk through these sacred days of this Great and Holy Week, through the Upper Room, the Mount of Olives, before Church and State to the final hours of the cross and tomb. Let us walk in true repentance and faith that we may also walk with lilting step of joy in the bright light of the resurrection and Easter joy. alunneberg@comcast.net no no http://al.lunneberg.com/2009/04/05/devotional-commentary/ http://al.lunneberg.com/2009/04/05/devotional-commentary/#comments Sun, 05 Apr 2009 16:50:52 +0000 alunneberg http://al.lunneberg.com/?p=268 http://al.lunneberg.com/2009/04/05/devotional-commentary/feed/ 0 0:00:01 Text: Mark 15:33-39 Date: Palm/Passion Sunday + 4/5/09 Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI That’s it? That’s all? He dies and they lay Him in a tomb? Though you and I know that there is more to the story than that, indeed, [...] Text: Mark 15:33-39 Date: Palm/Passion Sunday + 4/5/09 Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI That’s it? That’s all? He dies and they lay Him in a tomb? Though you and I know that there is more to the story than that, indeed, that without the resurrection only half of the story has been told, especially in our age of instant gratification, the Sunday of the Passion pulls us up short, makes us slow down, and Holy Week tries to teach us how to ponder and meditate on why it is that the Savior had to die as the Suffering Servant. In fact, knowing the rest of the story as we do, it is nearly impossible for us to grasp the horrific sorrow and devastating grief of the first disciples, a sorrow and grief that we, nevertheless, need to apprehend. For the less we see our need for a Savior, the less will be our joy over his deliverance. Good Friday alone will not save, but without it there would be no Easter. The liturgy for this day is designed to thrust us, ready or not and right off the bat, from the highest praise of the triumphal entry to the darkest despair of the crucifixion and to focus our attention on the shock and awe of our Lord’s most violent death. Those interested only in a so-called “gospel” of happiness, joy, power, progress and success cannot bear this liturgy. Indeed, no one can as is demonstrated by the fleeing of all His disciples into the night, leaving Jesus alone, captured, arrested, put on trial and delivered to the Gentiles to carry out the gruesome penalty for claiming to be King of the Jews and King of Israel. At times like this, times that exceed our comprehension, it seems only the creation can testify to the cosmic significance. “When the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour” (Mark 15:33). The prophet Amos gave the Divine Word, “And on that day,” declares the Lord God, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight…. I will make it like the mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day. (Amos 8:9-10) As the plague of darkness preceded the first Passover, darkness proclaims the curse of God. The curse is upon all sin. But now all sin is focused on and concentrated on only one Man, the man, Christ Jesus. St. Paul wrote to the Galatians, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’” (Gal. 3:13). “And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice” (Mark 15:34). His first word from the cross was “Father, forgive them.” His last word from the cross would be “Father, into your hands.” But here, in the darkness of God’s judgment, the wrath of God in this mystery of God withdrawing His presence from His Son, the Son says not “Father,” but, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Why? Because it was God’s will that all the wrath and judgment and punishment of sin might be borne by Him who alone had life in Himself. He is the Light no darkness can overcome. He even leads us through death, as was foretold by the prophet Isaiah, “By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?” (Is. 53:8). “But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed” (Is. 53:5). Crucifixions were often accompanied by screams of rage and pain, wild curses and shouts of despair, most calming down as death finally approaches. Quite the opposite with Jesus who maintains consciousness to His last breath and, in the moment of death, He “uttered a loud cry and breathed his last” (Mark 15:37). The Roman centurion who oversaw this crucifixion was struck, for Jesus did not die the normal death of other crucified men. When he “saw that in this way he breathed his[...] alunneberg@comcast.net no no http://al.lunneberg.com/2007/04/07/good-friday-triduum/ http://al.lunneberg.com/2007/04/07/good-friday-triduum/#comments Sat, 07 Apr 2007 11:55:48 +0000 alunneberg http://al.lunneberg.com/?p=53 http://al.lunneberg.com/2007/04/07/good-friday-triduum/feed/ 0 0:00:01 Text: John 19:17-30 Date: Good Friday Triduum II + 4/6/07      From a harmony of the four Gospels we have seven words or statements from the cross. Matthew and Mark report only the one, “My God, my God, why have you forsake[...] Text: John 19:17-30 Date: Good Friday Triduum II + 4/6/07      From a harmony of the four Gospels we have seven words or statements from the cross. Matthew and Mark report only the one, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” St. Luke has three more: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do;” “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise;” and “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!” Each Evangelist’s account has its own character and purpose. St. Luke’s is the most catechetical, proclaiming the faithful Son of God who came to release all mankind from the grip of the bondage of sin. Good Friday, however, is reserved, always, for Saint John. He reports the additional words from the cross, “Woman, behold, your son,” “I thirst,” and “It is finished.” In addition to those words, however, are two more important details: the soldiers gambling for his tunic, and the piercing of Jesus’ side with a spear and the flow of blood and water. Taken together, St. John’s account of the crucifixion therefore emphasizes, more than the others, the triumph and victory of the Son of God, the Word made flesh Who came to conquer death and give life to all who believe. In John the Passion is victorious. Jesus’ death is referred to as his glorification, and by his cross he is lifted up like the healing serpent lifted up by Moses in the wilderness. Even his final word is a cry of victory, “It is finished.” He is not overcome. He has overcome.      In John’s Gospel we are bidden away from ourselves, that is, to view the crucifixion not as much from our perspective—flinching at the tearing of his skin by the whip, the nails and the spear—but to view the crucifixion from God’s perspective. What is in the mind and heart of God through this bloody, violent scene? It is victory. “Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat,” “Christ is victor, king and ruler of the world.” Today we celebrate the victory of God not in spite of death but by and through a death transfigured to serve his ultimate purpose of love, restoring and giving life to His world. The Cross, from our perspective an instrument of death, becomes, from God’s perspective, the tree of life.      It becomes the tree of life for those who look upon it in faith. Look at the soldiers dividing his clothes. When it comes to his expensive tunic woven in one piece they gamble for it. Gambling relies on chance or “fate.” How many, like these soldiers, remain blind and ignorant to the Word of God and his plan preferring to pursue life as if it were no more than a throw of the dice? But here, in Jesus’ long journey to the cross, nothing is a result of chance or “fate;” all is part of God’s divine plan for the salvation and life of the world. And this plan of salvation and life is for all who look upon him and believe that he is the Christ, the Son of God.      When the soldiers come to put the three crucified men out of their misery by breaking their legs, as the Passover was about to begin, they discover that Jesus is already dead. It was for evidence that Jesus was really dead that the soldier pierced His side with a lance and discovered the non-circulating blood already separated into its components. Yet there is more here. For John blood and water allude to the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Here is your connection with the blessed benefits of his death: in holy baptism to be united with him in a death like his in order to be united with him in a resurrection like his (Romans 6); and in the holy Eucharist, strengthened and sustained in saving faith by his Body and Blood. As John would write later, “This is he who came by water and blood[...] alunneberg@comcast.net no no http://al.lunneberg.com/2007/04/07/maundy-thursday/ http://al.lunneberg.com/2007/04/07/maundy-thursday/#comments Sat, 07 Apr 2007 11:53:00 +0000 alunneberg http://al.lunneberg.com/?p=52 http://al.lunneberg.com/2007/04/07/maundy-thursday/feed/ 0