Author: Al

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. Continue reading “Stephen, Full of Grace and Power”

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.” Continue reading “Sheltered by God's Presence”

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 16^th 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. Continue reading “Dare to be Lutheran”