Allen Lunneberg

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Text: Matthew 21:23-27
Date: Pentecost XV + Proper 21 + 9/25/11

Lawyers know that in court you never ask a question unless you know the answer ahead of time. Politicians, on the other hand, are expert in “spin.” I’ve always said I could never be a politician because I’m not a good liar.

It is the last week of Jesus’ life, after His triumphant entry into Jerusalem (Mt 21:1-11). The first thing He does is drive out the merchants and moneychangers from the temple, saying, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers” (Mt. 21:12-13). It is then that the chief priests and elders of the people confront Him, asking, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Less like good lawyers knowing the answer before they asked Him, they sounded more like politicians. Agreeing to Jesus’ offer that He would answer their question if they would first answer one of His, He asked them about John the Baptist. Did his baptizing ministry come from heaven or from man? Their answer is almost comical. They calculated a negative result one way or the other so they simply answered, “We don’t know.” Deal done. “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” End of story. But not quite. Jesus did proceed to answer their question by means of a couple of parables. (more…)

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Text: Luke 10:23-37
Date: Trinity XIII + One Year Lectionary + 9/18/11
Occasion: Barry Blomquist 40^th Anniversary
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Grand Rapids, MI

I don’t know if you’ve noticed Mr. Blomquist’s eye glasses. They are rather heavy…thick. I’m amazed that they continue to issue him a driver’s license! (You do have a driver’s license?) I remember when I got my first glasses. I knew I needed something for reading small print. However, when I got them what I didn’t know until then is how much I needed them even for distances. My eyes were opened, literally, wider and clearer. I remember the doctor asking me how old I was. “Forty,” I said. “Yep,” she responded, “right on schedule.” There’s a schedule? I didn’t know there was a schedule! Well, this weekend we celebrate another “Forty,” and another kind of vision: the forty years in the teaching ministry of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod of our dear teacher, principal, friend and brother Barry Blomquist. As a fellow classmate of the class of 1971 of Concordia College, St. Paul, Minnesota, I stand with you in some awe and wonder that it’s been forty years since graduation. (more…)

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Text: Matthew 18:21-35
Date: Pentecost XIII + Proper 19 + 9/11/11

What a terrible choice of scripture to be read on this day, don’t you agree? this day on which we commemorate the tenth anniversary of the evil attacks of our enemies on the United States on September 11, 2001? A terrible choice! Forgiveness? Wouldn’t it have been better if we had heard of Moses mightily leading the children of Israel through the divided waters of the Red Sea and those seas then closing in and drowning Pharaoh and his army?

Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying, “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.” (Ex 15:1-10)

Or, how about Joshua and the fall of Jericho? There’s a song for that one too!

Joshua fit de battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho
Joshua fit de battle of Jericho,
And the walls came a tumblin’ down. (more…)

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Text: Matthew 18:1-20
Date: Pentecost XII + Proper 18 + 9/4/11

First, I suppose I ought to explain the sermon title. For it sounds quite boastful, don’t you think? Who among us would even consider much less talk about our own greatness? Yet that’s what Jesus’ disciples do in our text today. The last two chapters of Matthew’s Gospel have been treated with the sermon titles, “When Faith is Great,” then “When Confession is Great,” followed last Sunday by “When Faith and Confession are Not So Great,” which brings us to today’s topic, “When I Am Great.” It is great, after all, to be told by Jesus, “Blessed are you” for your God-given, Spirit-charged miracle of faith and confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Add to that the experience of the three insiders of the Transfiguration in chapter 17 and you can almost hear the Mac Davis song in the background:

Oh Lord it’s hard to be humble
when you’re perfect in every way. (more…)

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Text: Matthew 16:21-28
Date: Pentecost XI + Proper 17 + 8/28/11

Before entering into the third and most crucial part of his Gospel account St. Matthew gives us a seminar on the topic of faith. It began with Peter walking to Jesus on the water and, when he almost drowned, Jesus addressed him as “you of little faith” (14:31). Then we witnessed Jesus addressing a Canaanite woman, whom we would assume is as far away from the family of faith as you could get, saying, “O woman, great is your faith!” (15:28). Whether “little” or “great” we are to discover that faith is far more than mere human positive thinking and, in fact, is not something anyone can even conjure up or produce by their own “reason or strength.” At Jesus’ question, “Who do you say I am?” Peter gives the mighty confession of faith that can only be revealed by God working through His Word (16:16), namely, accurately identifying who Jesus is. Last Sunday we all hoped that we are as bold and inspired as St. Peter. Today, however, we are reminded that if you are going to take Simon Peter as your example you must take all of him. And we are to know that, like Peter, as long as we walk by faith we are in a constant struggle. Today Jesus announces for the first time the necessity of His sacrificial death on a cross. Peter doesn’t like that talk. He rejects it with what he thinks is loud and proud loyalty. But Jesus rebukes Peter. His once great faith and confession of who Jesus is has suddenly failed him when it comes to what Jesus came to do. Today we learn that as Jesus’ mission must include the cross, so a great faith and confession must go the same way and include the denial of self, taking up your cross and continual following of Jesus wherever He leads. (more…)

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Text: Matthew 16:13-20
Occasion: 50^th Anniversary of Trinity Lutheran School
Date: Pentecost X + Proper 16 + 8/21/11
Trinity Lutheran Church, Jackson, Michigan

“Who do you say that I am?” asked Jesus of His disciples. Peter answered, “The Christ, the Son of the living God.” “Good for you, Pete!” “Blessed are you” responded Jesus. “For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”

This is the heart, the hidden part, the real wisdom behind a Lutheran school and of our Trinity Lutheran School for the past fifty years. Only things that are somehow hidden in the first place need to be revealed, revealed to us by someone else. Whether that means pulling away or removing those things that are covering up that “something” or just opening our eyes to see what should be, after all, plainly visible is the task of those sent to bring that “something” to change people’s perspective, worldview, vision and life. Thus it was that God sent His only Son into this world not to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through Him (John 3:17). In Jesus alone a person can clearly see God, the God of grace and glory. So also in Jesus’ sending of His apostolic ministers to preach and teach people God’s truth. Such has been the heart of our Lutheran schools ever since Lutherans first set foot in our land. Of course certain things of life in this world can be taught and learned by (almost) anyone, “reading, writing, arithmetic.” But the things of God, the eternal things must be revealed, revealed by God working through His Word the gift of faith in the heart. And this, above all, is what we are celebrating this year as we mark fifty years of God’s blessing of our beloved Trinity Lutheran School of Jackson, Michigan. (more…)