Pious Lutheran

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Why has Jesus ascended to the Father and not simply remained here on earth? Jesus answered this question when He said: “ I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you. ” Jesus ascended to heaven so that He might send the Holy Spirit into our lives. Why is this such a huge deal? Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit to convict the world and to comfort us with the truth of His Word. Yes, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit into the world to be active in the world. Sometimes I think we too easily forget or dismiss the activities and the importance of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps because we can’t see the Holy Spirit and we can’t see His works in a tangible sense, we just don’t talk about Him. In a sense, this is how the Holy Spirit functions, He works behind the scenes and would rather be hidden so that our faith looks to Christ and His works ...

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! “ Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise! Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!” ” The Lord has done such awesome deeds upon the earth; the scriptures are filled with them! By the power of His Word He created all things. He divided the Red Sea and let Israel pass over on dry ground. He caused water to spring forth from a rock. He preserved the three men in the fiery furnace. He has marked us with the blood of the Lamb so that the angel of death passes us over. Great is our God and awesome are His deeds!  Those words of our introit that we read this morning sure start out joyful, don’t they! But Psalm 66, from which our introit is taken, continues: “ For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs; you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you ...

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! There is a cacophony of voices vying for your attention, seeking to gain your listenership and your approval. Desiring to influence your very thoughts and dictate each step you will take in life. Who do you listen to? Whose voice resonates in your ears? Jesus identifies three different voices in the Gospel lesson: the hired hand, the wolf, and the Good Shepherd. Of these three, Jesus instructs us to beware the hired hand who flees and the wolf who kills and scatters, but listen to the voice of your Good Shepherd who gathers you together and lays down His life for yours.  Now, out in the world it can be relatively simple to discern good from evil; to decide which voice you should listen to, and which voice you should ignore and shut your ears to. But here in the Gospel lesson from John 10, Jesus is speaking about the church on earth. He’s speaking about the baptized children of God who are found in Christ’s fold, the church...

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Why does Jesus’ resurrection matter? That’s a good question, huh! It’s obviously important in the church as Easter is the chief festival in the church year. It’s so important, that Easter isn’t just one day, but Easter spans seven weeks, and today is just the second Sunday of Easter out of those seven Sundays!  So why is Easter so important? Why does it matter that Christ rose from the dead? When He died on the cross, He already paid the debt of sin that we owe, so isn’t His resurrection just fluff on the cake? By no means! If Jesus’ death on the cross truly atoned for our sins and defeated death, then Jesus wouldn’t remain dead. If Jesus had remained dead, then that would mean that Jesus’ death didn’t atone for your sins and didn’t conquer your death. The apostle Paul writes, “ For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your...

Christ is risen! Alleluia! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!  “ And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. ” Behold, today I declare to you that Christ has rolled away the great stony edifice of death! The resurrection of Jesus has removed the exceedingly large stone of death from us so that the grave has lost its might! For from birth upon you a covering has been cast, a shroud has enfolded you, a veil has been stretched over all the nations of the earth. From the fall of Adam and Eve into sin, death has enveloped all the peoples of the earth. Death has covered you like a grim blanket, casting you into the grave of utter darkness, shutting you in like a great stone barrier.  We like to hide the shadowy fact of death and deny its cold existence. Instead of a funeral, we prefer to call it a celebration of life. Instead of admitting th...