Homily - LifeChain 2026 - Genesis 9:1-7

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The Virgin of the Lilies,  1899, William-Adolphe Bouguereau Human life is valuable because it is made in God’s image, therefore: Fertility is a blessing, not a curse There is a reckoning for those who hate life A business of death. Planned Parenthood, along with the other abortion mills in Minnesota and throughout our nation are in the business of death. At this abortuary they do chemical abortions using the abortion pill every Wednesday. Based upon my research they charge between five and seven hundred dollars for that. At other abortion mills where they do later term surgical abortions the price goes up to a couple thousand dollars. In years past we learned that Planned Parenthood, and other abortionists, sell baby body parts and perform experimentation on them, and have even received funding from our government, using our taxes, to do all of these nightmarish things with the bodies of babies. This business of death places a price tag on these lives, and gives them a value of a f...
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Emmetsburg Newspaper Article: The Transcendence of Christianity

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If you’ve ever been to a traditional Christian church service you may have wondered: “What’s with the chanting and strange clothes?” It all seems out of place today; archaic in a very modern world. We live in an age of electronic gadgets with screens everywhere. Our smart watches tell us our heart rate, we order pizza from our phones, and go to work from behind a computer. Even our tractors practically drive themselves these days! Everything is fast, casual, and modern; why not the church?!

God says of His Christians in the Bible: “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people.” Christians aren’t meant to be like the world around them. Christians are to be otherworldly because God is otherworldly, and so Christian churches are like nothing else in this world; they’re transcendent. When you step into the sanctuary, you’re entering a foreign embassy, belonging not to this world but to the Kingdom of God.

The church isn’t lined with changing screens. Here we use unchanging hymnals, like God who doesn’t change. Things here aren’t fast and automatic. We take our time to ruminate upon God’s mercy. We don’t just speak everything, but we slow down and chant because these words are God’s words and worthy of ornamentation. The church isn’t living a perpetual casual Friday. The transcendent divine Creator of the universe is present, now is not the time to be casual. This isn’t an hour of entertainment with a laugh a minute. We’re not here to be entertained, rather God is present to forgive our grievous sins, strengthen our weary souls, and nourish our bodies with the medicine of immortality. 

So yes, the christian church is out of place today, and it always has been. If you’re looking for something fast, casual, and modern, you won’t find that here. But if you’re looking for that which transcends this modern temporal life, if you’re looking for the Divine and the eternal, if you’re looking for something better than this life, then here is where you’ll find it.

In the name of Jesus,

Rev. Koopman

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