Pious Lutheran

If there’s one thing that this current pandemonium makes clear, it’s that death scares people. Covid, in the scheme of things and the scope of human history, relative to previous pandemics and pestilence, Covid is minor. Worst case scenario with this virus is that about 3% of the population dies. That’s pretty bad, it’s a lot of people! However, compared to previous plagues where 50% or more died, people are relatively safe still today. Nevertheless, this virus has forced many people to come to terms with the possibility of dying. In a secular culture like ours, in a culture which foregoes the spiritual and religious and focuses entirely on this life, it makes sense that people would absolutely panic in the face of death. When this life means everything to you, and death means the end of this life, that means that death is the end of everything in your mind. The secularist when faced with death can only panic and react with fear and hysterics, because the secularist has no framewo

Stanzas 1, 2, 2.2: When in the hour of deepest need We know not where to look for aid; When days and nights of anxious thought No help or counsel yet have brought, Then is our comfort this alone That we may meet before Your throne; To You, O faithful God, we cry For rescue in our misery. To You we raise our hearts and eyes, Repenting sore with bitter sighs, And seek Your pardon for our sin And respite from our griefs within. Homily 1: Early in Paul Eber’s life (the author of our hymn this evening), while away at an academic high school, he became seriously ill and had to return home. On his way home he was thrown from his horse, but still tied to it, and so he was dragged behind it for more than a mile, leaving him permanently disabled.  Eber wrote many hymns and sermons, and this particular hymn was written in his latter years. Appended to this hymn on the original broadsheet is this sentence: “Paul Eber wrote this hymn in the year 1566, when the Tu

The Christian prays with the psalmist: “ The eyes of all look to you, O Lord, and You give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. ” We see quite clearly in our readings today that God feeds His people. In the Old Testament, when the people were in the wilderness, after being brought out of Egypt, God spoke to Moses saying: “ I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.’”   Likewise in the New Testament, when the people were gathered around Jesus in the wilderness without food: “ Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. ” Christ nourishes His people with food both for the body and the soul. Our Lord wants us to realize this in our day as well. God not only fed Hi

Stanzas 1, 2, 3: Jesus sinners doth receive;     Oh, may all this saying ponder Who in sin’s delusions live     And from God and heaven wander! Here is hope for all who grieve: Jesus sinners doth receive. We deserve but grief and shame,     Yet His words, rich grace revealing, Pardon, peace, and life proclaim;     Here our ills have perfect healing. Firmly in these words believe: Jesus sinners doth receive. Sheep that from the fold did stray     No true shepherd e’er forsaketh; Weary souls that lost their way     Christ, the Shepherd, gently taketh In His arms that they may live: Jesus sinners doth receive. Homily 1: “ The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. ” We are sinners. We are those sheep that from the fold did stray. We deserve but grief and shame.  This pestilence that’s raging around us? We deserve it and more. I’m no exception, c

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, with many cowering in fear of pestilence and death, let us remember the words of Christ: "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell." Take heart, beloved in the Lord, Jesus has overcome the world! Don't spend your days in fear and dread, but call upon the name of the Lord, for He hears you. He hearkens unto your pleas for mercy, and speaks peace to the brokenhearted. In the face of pestilence and death, we're reminded that we deserve death and punishment, we deserve but wrath and condemnation. My friends, we have sinned against the almighty God and surely deserve this plague. For too long we have shunned God's Word and quarantined ourselves against the Son of God. We have made excuses not to hear the word, "we're too busy working, playing, and sleeping", we've said. We've ignored the greater pestilence of false doctrine i

“ When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. ” Christ is the stronger Man who casts out the demons from our midst. In order to help illustrate this, I’d like to look to the example of St. Patrick. This coming Tuesday is St. Patrick’s Day, although for many Americans it’s not Patrick  or what he did that we celebrate, but it’s Ireland. Or rather, it’s a caricature of Ireland, in which we drink green beer, wear kilts, sing Irish music, eat corned beef and cabbage, and go to a parade.  But Ireland, at least the Ireland which existed in the days of Patrick, wasn’t something worth celebrating. In the 4th Century Ireland was a fierce barbarian nation made very wealthy because of their formidable warriors. These warriors would go out as Irish pirates up and down the coastlands, raiding and pillaging villages, taking back the tre

Stanza 1 606 I Lay My Sins on Jesus I lay my sins on Jesus,     The spotless Lamb of God; He bears them all and frees us     From the accursèd load. I bring my guilt to Jesus     To wash my crimson stains Clean in His blood most precious     Till not a spot remains. Homily 1 “I Lay my sins on Jesus” was the first of nearly 600 hymns to be written by Scottish pastor Horatius Bonar. He once commented on this hymn, saying: “it might be good Gospel, but it’s not good poetry.” He was right, the rhyme is a bit forced, but this hymn is just dripping with the Gospel. Pastor Bonar actually wrote this hymn as a song for children, and he titled it: “The Substitute.” He wrote this hymn in order to teach the vicarious atonement of Christ, that Jesus takes our place as our substitute, and suffers on our behalf so that we might be forgiven. He also appended to the hymn Isaiah 53:5, in order to ground us in the firm faith that Christ is our substitute: “ He was wounded for our