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“Perfectly Natural: Growing in Wisdom and Favor” (Luke 2:40-52)Our Gospel reading today is framed by two verses that are as amazing as anything you will ever read. The first verse of our text says: “And the child [Jesus] grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.” And the concluding verse reads: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” Now this is amazing. Really. But you say: “What’s so amazing? The child Jesus grew and developed, physically, mentally, spiritually, and socially. It sounds perfectly natural.” But...

“The Firstborn Son Is Presented in the Temple” (Luke 2:22-40)There’s Christmas, and then there are the days after Christmas. What happened to baby Jesus in the days and weeks after his birth? Our text today is one the few places where we have an account of what happened during that time. It’s the story of the Presentation of Our Lord, forty days after his birth, the day when “The Firstborn Son Is Presented in the Temple.” Actually, the first event after Christmas we read about from Jesus’ life is found in the one verse in between the Christmas Gospel and...

“Our Response to Christmas: Proclaiming, Pondering, and Praising” (Luke 2:15-20)Last night, on Christmas Eve, we heard about “The Baby and the Birth Announcement,” the great work God did in sending us both the Savior and the angel to tell us about it. The miracle of Christmas is twofold: 1) the birth of the baby itself, and 2) the birth announcement, telling us who this child is, that he is none other than the Savior, Christ the Lord. We need both and we have both, the baby and the birth announcement. These are God’s Christmas presents to us. Now this morning,...

“The Baby and the Birth Announcement” (Luke 2:1-14)The birth of a baby is a joyous event, but only if you know about it. With the birth of the baby, you need a birth announcement, in order to know what kind of child it is, when it came, and so on. Only then can you rejoice, when you know what has happened. If that is true with ordinary births of ordinary babies, how much more is it true of the birth of a certain child in Bethlehem so long ago, the most extraordinary birth of the most extraordinary baby ever born....

“Two Annas, One Redeemer” (Luke 2:22-38)Today I want to talk to you about an eighty-four-year-old woman named Anna, who loved to go to church and who found her Redeemer in the baby born at Christmas, Jesus Christ. Actually, today I want to talk to you about two eighty-four-year-old women named Anna, both of whom loved to go to church and both of whom found their Redeemer in the baby born at Christmas, Jesus Christ. One of these women is the Anna we meet in our text. The other is the woman we miss so dearly today, our beloved sister, friend,...

“Luke’s Lead-up to Christmas: The Visitation and the Song of Mary, the Magnificat” (Luke 1:39-56)This Advent, during our three midweek services and now on this, the Fourth Sunday in Advent, we’re working our way through Luke chapter one, on our way to the Christmas Gospel in Luke chapter two. We’re calling this series “Luke’s Lead-up to Christmas,” and so far we’re looked at: “The Annunciation of St. John the Baptist” to Zechariah; “The Annunciation of Our Lord” to Mary; and “The Nativity of St. John the Baptist and the Song of Zechariah, the Benedictus.” Now today we take up the...

“Luke’s Lead-up to Christmas: The Nativity of St. John the Baptist and the Song of Zechariah, the Benedictus” (Luke 1:57-80)When last we left Zechariah, he was doing his best Marcel Marceau impression. In other words, he couldn’t speak! He was making signs and gestures to try to communicate. In other words, there were no words! Zechariah had been struck mute, unable to speak, because he had not believed the words the angel Gabriel had spoken to him, telling him that he and his wife Elizabeth were going to have a child, even though they were both old and had been...

“When Your Life Is Not Magically Golden” (Luke 7:18-28)I don’t know about you, but I try to keep an eye on what’s happening in our culture and society, including what’s happening politically. What are people thinking and saying? So the other day I was reading a political forum, one that comes from a very left-leaning perspective, and there was a discussion going on in which people were quite upset with the way things are going in our country. Some were even calling for a revolution! “A revolution! Yes, that’s what we need! A revolution to fix all the problems and...

“Luke’s Lead-up to Christmas: The Annunciation of Our Lord” (Luke 1:26-38)Our midweek series this year is called “Luke’s Lead-up to Christmas.” During Advent we’re looking at the events in Luke chapter one, which will prepare us for hearing the events of Luke chapter two at Christmas. Last week we began with the opening portion of Luke 1, “The Annunciation of St. John the Baptist” to Zechariah. Today then we continue with “The Annunciation of Our Lord,” our Lord Jesus Christ, to Mary. That’s the way Luke structures these first couple of chapters, on a kind of two-track model, switching from...

“Repentance Road Repair” (Luke 3:1-14)Tomorrow the road repair will be finished, and the highway will reopen, better than ever. I’m talking about Interstate 64 in St. Louis, or, as many of the locals still call it, “Highway 40.” The road is all straight and smooth now, all the way from Spoede to Kingshighway. The rough spots have been filled in, the crooked stretches have been straightened out, the perennial bottlenecks and traffic jams all have been accounted for and remedied. A lot of thought and effort, a lot of time and expense, went into making these improvements. The I-64 project...

“Luke’s Lead-up to Christmas: The Annunciation of St. John the Baptist” (Luke 1:1-25)In a few weeks we’ll be hearing one of the most familiar and well-loved passages in the Bible once again, and that is the Christmas Gospel, from Luke chapter two. But the fact that there’s a chapter two must means that there’s a chapter one before it. There is. And Luke chapter one is Luke’s lead-up to Christmas, his account of the events leading up to the birth of Christ. That’s going to be our theme for this series of midweek services, as well as for the last...

“Starting Out on a Journey to Jerusalem” (Luke 19:28-40)Today is the First Sunday in Advent, and that makes it the first Sunday in a brand-new church year. And as the start of a new church year, that means it’s also the first Sunday for our main Gospel-writer for the year, which this year is St. Luke. Now on this day--the First Sunday in Advent, the first Sunday of the church year, the first Sunday in the year of St. Luke--our Gospel reading is the story of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. And you might ask: “Why is that?...

“Thanksgiving: America’s Forgotten Holiday”Ah, Thanksgiving! Turkey, football, and the start of the holiday shopping season. No, wait, that started back around Labor Day. But seriously, is that what Thanksgiving has come to? An opportunity to eat 2,000 calories in one sitting, then fall asleep on the couch watching the Detroit Lions, so you can get up the next morning at 5:00 a.m. to buy presents for people you don’t like, with money you don’t have, for stuff they don’t need? Thanksgiving has become the Eve of Black Friday. And it’s a big day at the movie theatres, too. Got to...

“Of Mayans and Millerites: 2012, 1844, and 2009” (Mark 13:24-37)There’s a new movie out called “2012,” maybe you’ve heard of it. It’s about an enormous, earth-shaking event that will take place in the year 2012. No, it’s not a fantasy about my Chicago Cubs finally winning the World Series. No, nothing as far-fetched as that. Rather, “2012” is a big-budget disaster movie about the end of the world. I haven’t seen it, and I’m not planning on seeing it, but from what I can tell, it’s your standard end-of-the-world movie: Big cataclysmic disaster coming, worldwide destruction, some time to get...

“The Day Is Drawing Near, So Let Us Draw Near” (Hebrews 10:11-25)“The day is surely drawing near,” as we just sang in the hymn of the same name. And the hymn is merely echoing the thoughts of our readings for today, especially the Epistle reading from Hebrews, which closes with the words, “as you see the Day drawing near.” “The Day”? What day? Sounds important. Not just “a” day, but “the” Day. So let’s find out what “day” this is talking about. And let’s also consider what the implications are for us--we who know and see that that day is...

“The Widow’s Might” (Mark 12:38-44) Our text today is the story usually known as “The Widow’s Mite.” It’s the story of a poor widow who goes to the temple and puts into the offering box two “small copper coins,” as our translation has it. But the King James Version had as the equivalent for “small copper coins” the old English word “mites”--she put in two mites. Thus the familiar phrase, “The Widow’s Mite,” m-i-t-e. But today I want to talk to you also about “The Widow’s Might,” m-i-g-h-t. For this story tells us as much about the widow’s might, her...

“Who Are These, Clothed in White Robes?” (Revelation 7:9-17)Today is All Saints’ Day, November 1, and, as happens every few years, this year it falls on a Sunday. We always observe All Saints’ on the first Sunday in November, and this year that Sunday happens to be the day itself. On All Saints’ Day, we rejoice that we are part of that great communion of saints that is the church of Christ, both the church on earth and the church in heaven. All the saints, all those made holy by the blood of Christ. Saints, holy ones, set apart to...

“Following in the Train of the Confessors” (Psalm 119:46)Confessors, princes, duty bound, To Augsburg bold they came. Before the king they stood their ground And were not put to shame. Their good confession made that day Proved not to be in vain. Gird Augsburg’s sons, Lord, that we may Still follow in their train!On June 25, 1530, in Augsburg, Germany, a small group of Lutheran princes appeared before the most powerful man in the world, Emperor Charles V, head of the Holy Roman Empire, and, at great risk to themselves and their territories, these men boldly confessed their faith. The...

“The Wealth You Leave and the Wealth You Receive” (Mark 10:23-31)Today I want to talk to you about wealth. Two kinds: “The Wealth You Leave and the Wealth You Receive.” Our text is the Holy Gospel for today, and in it Jesus speaks of the wealth you need to leave in order to enter the kingdom of God, and he speaks of the wealth you then receive once you have entered. Wealth is a subject that all of us seem to be interested in. Wealth is something the rich have but want more of. The poor don’t have it but...

“A Twofold Idolatry and the One Thing Lacking” (Mark 10:17-22)In today’s Gospel we meet a man who ran up to Jesus with great eagerness. At the end, though, he went away with great sadness. What happened? My friends, our text today is the story of “A Twofold Idolatry and the One Thing Lacking.” The man in this story had a twofold idolatry. It was a false god he worshiped, and it shows up in this story in two forms. And the one thing he lacked likewise was twofold, two sides of the same coin. Now let’s find out what this...

ELCA Bishops Told of Possible Changes in Domestic, Global Relationships 09-223-JB CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Since the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the church's global mission personnel have been reaching out to partner Lutheran churches worldwide. While some churches have expressed disagreement with a significant decision of the assembly, only one church to date has said it will change its relationship with the 4.6-million member ELCA. In August the churchwide assembly adopted proposals to change ELCA ministry policies to make it possible for Lutherans in publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous same-gender relationships to serve as ELCA associates...

“To Such Belongs the Kingdom of God” (Mark 10:13-16)“And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.’ And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.” This is our text. And little Kyleigh today is our...

"It would be a blessing to our ongoing cooperative relationships" if decisions of the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly allowing non-celibate homosexuals to serve as rostered leaders in that church body "were not implemented," Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod President Gerald B. Kieschnick wrote in an Oct. 1 letter to ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson and the ELCA Conference of Bishops. Kieschnick's letter came on the heels of a Sept. 28-29 meeting of the Committee on Lutheran Cooperation in Baltimore.  Most of the discussion at that meeting of LCMS and ELCA leaders was devoted to the future of shared ministries of the...

“Oh, That We Had Meat to Eat!” (Numbers 11:4-6, 10-15)“Oh, That We Had Meat to Eat!” Well, we certainly did have meat to eat yesterday, didn’t we? We had pork steak and bratwurst and hot dogs--all kinds of delicious meat to eat at our Men’s Club barbecue. But as you might guess, that is not what I am referring to when I say, “Oh that we had meat to eat!” No, rather, this line comes from our Old Testament text for today, from Numbers 11. And instead of being a positive recollection of a nice thing like our barbecue, this...

“From Selfish Ambition to Humble Service” (Mark 9:30-37; James 3:13 – 4:10)In this long green season of the church year, the so-called non-festival half of the year, the Epistle reading is not chosen to fit the theme of the Holy Gospel, as it is in the festival half of the year. Instead, it’s just a straight reading-through of a particular epistle, and any correlation between the Epistle and Gospel is merely a coincidence. Well, we have such a coincidence today. The Epistle reading from James and the Gospel reading from Mark do have a common theme. It’s the theme of...

“He Has Done All Things Well” (Mark 7:31-37)How do you speak to a deaf man? With sign language, of course. You make the appropriate gestures and actions to communicate the message you want to convey. And so that is what Jesus does to communicate with a deaf man who is brought to him. He uses sign language, if you will, to get his message across to the man before he heals him. But in so doing, and then in actually healing the man, Jesus is also sending a message to us. The question is, Can we read the sign? Our...

“Prepare for Battle!” (Ephesians 6:10-20)Today I get to speak to the troops in the midst of a battle. And guess what? You are the troops, and the battle is on! The battle is raging, and there are no deferments, there is no going AWOL, if you are a Christian. No, you are in the battle, automatically, and it is a fight to the finish, a life-or-death conflict. So the wise thing now is to heed the cry, “Prepare for Battle!” Today as we wrap up our eight-part series on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians, our text is the famous...

Statement of the president of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in response to certain actions of the 2009 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America August 24, 2009 The two largest Lutheran church bodies in the United States are the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) with 4.8 million members and The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod (LCMS) with 2.4 million members. On Friday, Aug. 21, the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted to open the ministry of the ELCA to gay and lesbian pastors and other professional workers living in "committed relationships." In an earlier action,...

“God’s Good Order of--and in--Marriage” (Ephesians 5:22-33)You know, it’s really kind of stupid when we think we know better than our Creator. I mean, think about it: Doesn’t it make sense that the God who created us would know what is best for us? Yet somehow we think we’re smarter than he is. Pretty stupid, really. That’s the case with a lot of things in life, but especially do we direct our attention today to the matter of marriage. In the face of a world that has lost its mind and thrown marriage to the winds, and has even spread...

It will also negatively affect the relationships between our two church bodies.

“God Will Bless the Road Ahead” (Isaiah 43:19)Dear friends and family of David and Shawna, dear friends in Christ. Today, David and Shawna, you asked to have played a song that is very special to you, “Bless the Broken Road.” The refrain of that song says, “God blessed the broken road that led me straight to you.” Today I want to talk about not only how God did indeed bless that broken road, I also want you to see, as you two embark on a new journey together, how “God Will Bless the Road Ahead.” “God blessed the broken road.”...

The afternoon session began with a presentation on the Lutheran Malaria Initiative. This ambitious partnership between ELCA, LCMS, LWR and the UN Foundation aims to “disarm malaria’s grip” on the Third World. The ELCA aims to commit $25 to this initiative, though the ELCA wants to be clear that this isn’t just any old disease, but one inextricably bound up with poverty. Furthermore, this initiative within the ELCA will be “coordinated . . . with the ELCA’s longstanding commitment to walk with those affected by HIV and AIDS.” The specific recommendation coming to CWA is (among other things) “to develop...

“Walk as Children of Light” (Ephesians 5:6-21)Now that we are Christians, how shall we live? That, in summary, is the question St. Paul addresses in the second half of his Letter to the Ephesians. What difference does being a Christian make in the way we live our lives? In our text last week, Paul put it in terms of putting off your old self--what not to wear--and putting on the new self, the new you, created in Christ Jesus. In today’s text, Paul continues this general theme, but he changes the imagery. Instead of using the image of taking off...

“What Not to Wear” (Ephesians 4:17 - 5:2)One of my daughter’s favorite TV shows is a program called “What Not to Wear.” On this show the hosts take a woman whose clothes do not flatter her looks (let’s put it that way), and they get her to radically reevaluate her wardrobe. They tell her, “What you’ve been wearing--this is what not to wear!” Sometimes it takes a little convincing to get her to see that. When they finally do, though, the woman usually goes along with them in throwing out pretty much all of her wardrobe. Then the hosts guide...

“Unity and Growth, through Unified Doctrine and Practice” (Ephesians 4:1-16)Today in our series on Ephesians we move into the second half of the epistle. In the first half of this letter, St. Paul has laid down the foundation of our life in Christ, that God has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing, according to the riches of his grace. Now in the second half of the letter, Paul moves into the practical implications of this for our life together as church and our life as individual Christians. Our text today emphasizes the churchly dimension of our life together,...

“Paul’s Prayer: The Reason, the Request, and the Results” (Ephesians 3:14-21)Today we continue with the third in a series of eight straight sermons on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians. We began in chapter 1 with “The Big Picture,” God’s grand plan and purpose for the ages, and that within that plan we are “Chosen by God, Redeemed in Christ, and Sealed with the Spirit.” Then last week, in chapter 2, we saw St. Paul paint a vivid contrast before our eyes, the contrast between “The Way We Were,” our sad state before Christ, and “The Way We Are,” our...

“The Way We Were and the Way We Are” (Ephesians 2:11-22)Last week we began a series of eight straight Sundays in which the Epistle reading comes from Ephesians. Last week it was Ephesians 1; today it is Ephesians 2. But notice, our reading today is the second half of that chapter, verses 11-22. What happened to verses 1-10? After all, Ephesians 2:1-10 is probably the most familiar section of the whole epistle. It’s the part that repeats the famous phrase, “by grace you have been saved,” and so on. That whole section sets up a tremendous contrast between the way...

“The Big Picture: Chosen by God, Redeemed in Christ, Sealed with the Spirit” (Ephesians 1:3-14)Our Epistle reading today is from St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. In fact, this is the first of eight straight Sundays when the Epistle comes from Ephesians, and these readings will be the basis for a sermon series. Also, we’ll be studying Ephesians for our Bible class during this time. I look forward to this opportunity to “dive in” to this epistle and really explore it in depth, and I hope you do too. I encourage you to read through Ephesians, perhaps even in one...

“Daughters Delivered from Death and Disease” (Mark 5:21-43)Last month was Mothers’ Day. Last week was Fathers’ Day. Today, then, must be Daughters’ Day, because today we will see not one but two “Daughters Delivered from Death and Disease.” One of the two is known as Jairus’s daughter, and she is the one delivered from death. The other one is not called a daughter--oh, wait, she is, actually (more on that later)--and she is the one delivered from disease. Two daughters: one, a woman suffering from disease for twelve years; the other, the girl raised from death, is twelve years of...

A LCMS Pastor's Appeal to the ELCA by John Hannah — June 15, 2009 I am sometimes asked as a member of the LCMS about the sexuality proposals that will come before the ELCA Church Wide Assembly this summer. I make no claim to speak officially for the LCMS, although I am certain that I speak for many other LCMS pastors and members. I will further disclose that I was one of those 55% who voted for fellowship with the ALC in 1969. I am one of many who was deeply disappointed when the LCMS (by a close vote) discontinued...

“How Does Your Garden Grow?” (Mark 4:26-34)It’s June, and everything is green. We’re into the growing season, and so everywhere you look, you see the signs of green, green growth. Oh, you thought I was talking about outside! No, I’m talking about in here, in the church! It’s growing season now, and things are turning green. Notice, we’ve changed to green paraments, on the altar, and on the lectern and pulpit. Green is the color of growth, and that is why it’s the liturgical color for this season after Pentecost and Holy Trinity, the non-festival half of the church year....

Last Sunday, late-term abortion doctor George Tiller was gunned down in the foyer of his Lutheran church, where he served as an usher. As anyone with even a cursory understanding of Lutheranism in America could surmise, that church was a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. Of the various Lutheran church bodies in America, the ELCA is the most mainline and has the most supportive position on legalized abortion.As soon as the terrible news about Tiller’s murder hit the wire, many bloggers and liberal pundits noted that Tiller’s active church membership was at odds with the stereotype...

“We All Believe in One True and Saving God” (Isaiah 6:1-8; Acts 2:14a, 22-36; John 3:1-17)“We all believe in one true God.” Well, good for us! Is that what this is all about? Is that what Holy Trinity Sunday is about? Being able to pat ourselves on the back because “we got it right”? On Trinity Sunday we haul out the Athanasian Creed and feel good about, or at least put up with, saying things like, “neither confusing the persons nor dividing the substance”--even if we are confusing the persons who say it! You know, we can kind of wrap...

President Kieschnick Responds to Tiller Killing ST. LOUIS, June 1, 2009 —In response to the shooting of George Tiller, Dr. Gerald B. Kieschnick, president of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, issues this statement: "The national news today carries the story of Dr. George Tiller, the abortion doctor in Wichita, Kan., who was killed yesterday at his church—Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. "This tragic incident obviously will have an impact on all Lutherans and all Christians, especially those of us who believe the teaching of Scripture that abortion is not a moral option...

“Tongues for Telling the Mighty Works of God” (Acts 2:1-21)It’s the Day of Pentecost. It’s nine o’clock in the morning. And the disciples are all together in one place. It was true back then, and it’s true today. Back on the Day of Pentecost that we read about in the Book of Acts, it was nine o’clock in the morning--or “the third hour of the day,” as our text says--and the group of disciples was together there in Jerusalem. And on this Day of Pentecost, also at nine in the morning, this group of disciples is gathered here in Bonne...

“God’s Testimony: Eternal Life in His Son” (1 John 5:9-13)Today we conclude our six-part series on First John. This has been a good series for the Easter season, because in this epistle St. John, who was an eyewitness of the risen Lord Jesus Christ--John bears witness concerning the life God has given us through the death and resurrection of his Son. John opened his letter by saying, “the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life.” Now as we come to the end of this epistle, John makes...

“The Ascension Bridges the Past, the Present, and the Future” (Ephesians 1:15-23)The Ascension of Our Lord, which we are celebrating today--“The Ascension Bridges the Past, the Present, and the Future.” It connects the past, present, and future work of our Lord Jesus Christ. And because it does, our Lord’s Ascension has tremendous implications for us, for our past, present, and future. Our text is the Epistle, St. Paul’s prayer for us Christians, in which he brings together the past, present, and future aspects of Christ’s work and how that affects our past, our present, and our future. Let me read...

“The Spirit and the Water and the Blood” (1 John 5:1-8)Today we come to the fifth in our six-part series on First John. And our text includes a brief passage that at first may seem a little puzzling, but when we take a closer look at it, we’ll see how it really does make sense, and indeed makes absolutely clear the beating heart of our faith and salvation. The passage in question is 1 John 5:6-8, as follows: “This is he who came by water and blood--Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood....

Resolution 1-02 To Address the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Debate on Homosexuality and the Ministry Whereas, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will meet in General Assembly in August, 2009 to debate the “Report and Recommendation on Ministry Policies” and Whereas, By the passage of the “Report and Recommendation on Ministry Policies” the ELCA would commit itself to find ways to “recognize, support and hold publicly accountable life-long, monogamous same gender relationships,” and would commit itself to find a way for “people in publicly accountable, life-long monogamous same gender relationships to serve as rostered leaders of this church”,...

“Pure Doctrine and Love for People” (1 John 4:1-11) Sometimes we who insist on pure doctrine are accused of not caring for people: “You black-shirt round-collar types, all you care about is getting things right! You don’t care about people.” Pure doctrine--pure doctrine is seen as an outmoded concern. Doctrine is assumed and taken for granted. We’re even told that insistence on pure doctrine is an impediment to being “missional”: “We’ve got to stop this incessant internal purification and get ablaze with mission! Mission is Job One!” All of this talk puts forward a false dichotomy between doctrine and mission,...