Blessed (All Saints 2009)

ToddPeperkornNo Comments

Todd A. Peperkorn, STM

Messiah Lutheran Church

Kenosha, Wisconsin

All Saints’ Day 2009

Matthew 5:1-12

For an audio mp3 of this file, click here: AllSaints-2009

TITLE: “Blessed”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for All Saints Day is from St. Matthew the fifth chapter. We focus on the word, blessed.
What I think is so hard about a day like All Saints Day (or Sunday as we celebrate it) is that it is such a day of faith and not of works. Faith trusts what is not seen. Faith is hidden. Faith looks with the ears, and hears what God’s Word proclaims to be true. Now we can understand this when we’re talking about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and rising again from the dead for our justification. That is received by faith. I can’t reason my way into that. It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t follow from how the world works or what I think I know about God. But it is true nonetheless. And because it is true, God’s Word teaches and gives it to poor sinners like you and I to trust and cling to no matter what our hearts may tell us or our eyes may try to show us.

So here we come to a day like All Saints Day. It is easy in some respects to think about concepts like forgiveness and justification and even eternal life, as long as they are sort of academic terms or ideas. As long as these things are just words it is easy to marginalize them or consider them unimportant to your life here on earth. We all do this, don’t we? I’ve got the Gospel. I’ve got Jesus in my heart, and so I don’t really have to reflect or seek to receive it anymore.

But what happens when you’re looking at your father or mother’s grave? What happens when you bury your own child, or when someone else you love dies suddenly? Now, dear friends, now the Christian faith kind of faces a great trial. You see, Satan wants you to believe a lie. He wants you to believe that all of this God and forgiveness talk is just so many words. Death, though, death is real. Death is concrete. Death is where you see things as they really are. Satan wants you to believe that there is nothing more certain that your own death. That is the end. That is reality. This is why funerals are so painful, even for the Christian. We fight and struggle with our own unbelief in the face of such trials. You look at death, and it reminds you of your own weaknesses and sorrows and trials. Is all of this faith-talk really true? What if God really doesn’t love them? What if God really doesn’t love me?

This is where the Gospel shines mostly brightly, dear friends in Christ. This is where God’s Word holds up a reality that goes beyond the grave, and a life that never ends, because of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh who took on our flesh for us. Jesus in our text this day recounts the blessedness of being in Him. Our text, commonly called the beatitudes, shows us a picture and a life that makes no sense, if we are left to what our eyes show us and our hearts tell us. Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the peacemakers, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Blessed, blessed, blessed. How can this be? Who is Jesus talking about?

Jesus is talking in three ways here when he describes the blessedness of a life in God. First of all, He is talking about Himself. Who else hungers and thirsts for our righteousness? Who else is truly the peacemaker? Who else sorrows and grieves for our sin? Who else is persecuted for us? Who else but Jesus Christ, the righteous one? When Jesus speaks these words, He first is talking about Himself.

But then He is also talking about you. In your Baptism everything that Christ won for you on the cross and in the tomb became yours. You are blessed, because you are in Christ. That is all that finally matters. When you are in Christ, you have received all things. You are holy and righteous, beloved by God. You are blessed. Of course, this reality is hidden. It is not so easy to see. But just because something is hidden, does not mean it is not there. This is true, and we will talk about how we know this to be true in a moment.

Now if this text is talking about Jesus, then you, it is also talking about all of God’s children adopted into His family by Word and water and the Spirit. This text is talking about all of the saints who have gone, who rest from their labors in Christ, and how now sit with Him in the heavenly places. This text is describing the Church in heaven that reigns in glory, just as it describes the Church on earth, hidden under the cross and suffering. When you read these words, remember all of your loved ones who have gone before us and are with Christ. Remember them, and rejoice! Because they are in Christ, they are bound to you in a way that transcends time and space, suffering and hurt. You are connected to them in the blood of Jesus Christ, which cleanses us from all sin.

But how do you know this is true? It is true because Jesus Word and promise are true. Take, eat, this is my body, take, drink, this is my blood. St. Paul put it this way: The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? (I Cor. 10:16) Then a little later St. Paul writes, Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually (I Cor. 12:27).

You, dear friends, are the body of Christ. You have been bought with his blood, sealed in the waters of your Baptism, you have been anointed with the Holy Spirit. You are the body of Christ. But not only you, all of those who have lived and died in the faith are the body of Christ. So when you receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ from this Altar, you do so praising God with angels, archangels, and all the company of heaven. This is the God’s Word and promise, given and shed for you.

What this means, in a profound and wonderful way, is that when you commune here, you commune with the whole body of Christ. The whole body of Christ is here, at this altar, every time we receive the Lord’s Supper. What a profound mystery! What a wonderful Sacrament! God delivers Himself to you, and in delivering Himself, he delivers the whole company of heaven into our midst.

Faith trusts what it does not see. Faith clings to promises that God gives, even if we cannot fully understand them. But mark this well, dear Christians. Christ has won salvation and eternal life for you. You are free in Him. You are one of God’s saints, along with the whole company of heaven. You are a part of His body, a part of His family. And in Christ, there is always hope for the future.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith, unto life everlasting. Amen.

Why do we make the sign of the cross?

ToddPeperkorn4 Comments

From time to time I am asked the question, “why do we make the sign of the cross? Isn’t that Catholic?” It’s a good and reasonable question, and I’m always happy to answer it. Here’s how I answer it.

Making the sign of the cross is catholic, but not simply in the Roman Catholic sense. It has been practiced by Christians almost since the time of our Lord’s resurrection from the dead. It has probably been around as a Christian practice as long as folding one’s hands to pray or saying before meal prayers. So in terms of its historic practice, Christians have been making the sign of the cross as long as there have been crosses.

The purpose and symbolism behind it is pretty simple and beautiful. When you are baptized, the pastor says these words over you “Receive the sign of the + holy cross both upon your forehead and upon your heart, to mark you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified” (Rite of Holy Baptism, Lutheran Service Book, p. 268). That was a part of the Baptism rite in Lutheran Worship (1982), as well as the “old” hymnal, The Lutheran Hymnal (1941). So the pastor literally makes the sign of the cross over the newly baptized, because in baptism we put on Christ, are buried with Him in His death, and we now bear His holy name.

When we make the sign of the cross, what we are doing is A) remembering our Baptism; B) Remembering Jesus’ death for our sins; C) Confessing to the world that I am not ashamed to be known as a disciple of Jesus; and D) Holding up the cross of Christ as the central core of my identity.

Martin Luther thought this practice so important that he included it in the Small Catechism. Making the sign of the cross is included as a part of both the morning and evening prayers.

So how do you make the sign of the cross? You put your thumb, index and middle finger on your right hand together (the Holy Trinity) and begin at your forehead. You then make a line with your hand from your forehead to the middle of your chest. You then raise your hand parallel with your sternum, and make the “cross” part from going from the left breast to the right.

Must the Christian make the sign of the cross? Certainly not. This is a matter of personal freedom and piety. Christians for centuries have found it beneficial to make a physical sign of the cross, but if that is not helpful do you, don’t do it and don’t feel bad about it. At the same time, I would ask that you not judge those who do make the sign of the cross. It is a matter of freedom, both ways.

God’s richest blessings to you in Christ, as we live under His cross.

+Pastor Peperkorn+

From the November 2009 Newsletter

Abide in the Word of God (Reformation 2009)

ToddPeperkornNo Comments

luther-seal-150x150.jpg

Todd A. Peperkorn, STM

Messiah Lutheran Church

Kenosha, Wisconsin

Reformation (October 25, 2009)

John 8:31-36

For an audio mp3 of this sermon, Click on this: Reformation-2009

TITLE: “Abide in His Word”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for the Festival of the Reformation is from John 8:31-36, with focus on the words of the Gospel, If you remain in my Word, you are my disciples.

To be a disciple means to be a follower, but you can only follow Jesus if you can hear Him in His Word. Maybe this seems obvious, but it is far from obvious in our day and age. There is more accessibility to God’s Word today than ever before in the history of the world. Nearly every family in the United States has a copy of the Scriptures in the house. You can read the bible on your computer. You can listen to it in your car. You can read it on your phone, for goodness’ sake! If you wanted to, you could collect over a hundred translations just in English. I’ve got a stack of just a few of them up here right now, and these are only the “Lutheran” bibles, including our most recent contribution, The Lutheran Study Bible.

The tradition of study bibles is actually a Lutheran one. In Luther’s day, they didn’t have bibles in their own language. If they were lucky, maybe there was a copy of the Latin bible, and while a lot more people knew Latin then than they do today, it still wasn’t the same as hearing God’s Word in your own language. Probably one of Luther’s greatest contributions to Christianity was His translation of the bible into colloquial German. Nearly every translation since then has followed in His tradition of care, attention to the original languages, and his desire to allow God’s Word to speak for itself. On top of that, he provided introductions to all the books of the bible that were simple, held up Jesus Christ and the Gospel, and drew the reader into God’s gifts of forgiveness, life and salvation. This new study bible stands in a long tradition of such bibles.

Tragically, the accessibility to God’s Word which we enjoy, however, has not really contributed to more disciples. People in general do not know the story of Jesus’ life today as well as they did a generation ago. While at one time, reading God’s Word together and meditating on it in prayer was fairly common in American households, we lead such frantic, busy lives that we see such things as more a luxury than a necessity or a part of our daily lives together. We are more concerned about sports and television than we are about that actual connection with our Lord in preaching and His Word. Holding God’s Word sacred doesn’t mean keeping the book in great condition: it means wearing it out from such constant use. Today if you spend time in meditation on God’s Word, it’s likely you’ll be accused of being some kind of religious kook. We want our religion to be nice and safe, well contained and not something that is going to interfere overmuch with the more important things of our lives.

But Jesus calls you to a different life than that. He told the Jews in his day that if you sinned, you were a slave of sin. These things of our lives, work and family and sports and food and drink and everything else that makes you tick, these things are all blessings from God. They are gifts from God. But don’t allow the gift to obscure the Giver of the gift. If these gifts from God take on a life of their own and supplant God’s Word in your life, then they cease to be gifts and have instead become a curse. Satan loves to take good gifts from God and twist them to his own evil end.

In Jesus’ day, the Jews were offended that Jesus would suggest that they were enslaved to sin. Are you offended by the same thought? We Americans claim to hold our freedoms dear, yet so often we allow the things that we have to take the place of who we are in Christ Jesus. Jesus says to you that if the Son makes you free, you are free indeed. That is both command and promise on His part. He commands you to follow Him, to remain in His Word, both here in the Divine Service, but also every day of your life in meditation and prayer. That is what shapes you as a Christian.

Jesus Christ is the center and the point of God’s Word. St. John later put it this way, “…these [things] are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 19:31 ESV). Our sermon hymn for Reformation Sunday confesses this very well:

2. Christ Jesus is the content of this writing,

The banner of God’s love for all unfurled,

For through the Word the Father is inviting:

“O wayward one, forsake your rebel world;

No greater gift I have than what I gave you–

My only Son for sin–that you might know

The distance that My grace stretched out to save you

And make your scarlet sins as white as snow.”

That is the content and purpose of God’s Word. That, if you were to boil the Reformation down to its essence, is what being Lutheran is really all about. Confessing the Christian faith as Lutherans means trusting God’s Word, and specifically trusting that God frees us from our sins by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is the chief message of God’s Word, and it is a message that is worth hearing, reading, studying, meditating and singing every day of our lives.

So be free of the slavery that these sins hold you under! Repent of your sins and turn to Christ. That is the call that His Word sings to you this day and every day. Be free, rejoice in God’s gifts, especially the gift of His Word made flesh for you. Be free, sing the song of salvation, and follow Christ to death and the grave, for you will then come out on the other side, whole and undefiled. Redeemed, restored, forgiven, and alive forevermore in Him. Come and take the Word made flesh from this altar. It is God’s work for you. Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith, unto life everlasting. Amen.

My Light and My Salvation: A Review

ToddPeperkorn2 Comments

My Light and My Salvation My Light and My Salvation by Kurt E. Reinhardt

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This little volume by Pastor Kurt E. Reinhardt is a real treasure. Like nearly every volume of poetry I’ve ever read, the quality varies from page to page, but in this one, the quality is consistently quite good.

The book itself is beautiful, which a gorgeous color cover of our Lord, it makes the 68 page book worth it almost in it’s own right. The print is easy to read and well laid out.

The poetry is generally hymnic in format, with metered lines that could easily be adapted for singing. I found myself with several of the poems wishing that I could sing it in church on a given Sunday, because it was wed to the text so well. A perfect example of this would be “With Longing Heart the Father Waits,” which is based on the parable of the Prodigal Son from Luke 15:11-32. The meter for this poem is 8 7 8 8, and really sings of the grace that our heavenly Father longs to give to His wayward children. The final stanza is an example:

With longing heart our Father waits
For His lost children at His gates;
A ring, a cloak, and shoes lie near
While Love's own feast awaits them here.

The real strength of the volume, however, I think lies more in the poems which speak of the spiritual trials that the Christian faces. There are too many to quote to really give a full sense of it, but here is one example from “O Jesus, Master, Hear Me”:

O Jesus, Master, bear me,
For I am tired and weary,
All strength from me has fled;
At last I know true weakness,
And crave from You in meakness,
Your mighty arms to be my bed.

Another real treasure in here is some additional verses to well known hymns that the author has either translated or written himself. He includes several stanzas of newly translated verses of Beautiful Savior, and two communion related stanzas for Just as I am, .

This book is available from Redeemer Press , and is $15 plus shipping.

-Rev. Todd Peperkorn

View all my reviews >>

Making it All Work: A quick review

ToddPeperkornNo Comments

Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and Business of Life Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and Business of Life by David Allen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book, along with Getting Things Done The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, is one of the most influential books for me in terms of reducing stress, increasing productivity, and generally having a much more peaceful worldview.

As a pastor, I am constantly torn between the desire to be productive and to engage in pastoral care with my congregation. Allen has helped me to put all of these things into perspective, and has allowed me to balance the various parts of my life (home and family, work, play) in such a way so that I am able to gain both control and perspective on how I spend my time and energy.

I would recommend this book for anyone who is stressed, overworked, feels like their life is out of control, or who wants to gain a bigger view of how all the parts of their life fit together.

P

View all my reviews >>