Pious Lutheran

Reading the Bible , Jean-Baptiste Greuze, 1755 Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Hurry up and wait. It’s a pretty apt phrase for our modern society. We’re always in a hurry, but we also spend a lot of time waiting. We speed down the road to wait at a stoplight; we hurry to the restaurant to wait for our food; we hurry to the doctor’s office to sit in the waiting room. The church is also busy waiting. This Sunday has been referred to from ancient times as “waiting Sunday.” The Sunday between Ascension and Pentecost, the apostles waited in Jerusalem until they received the Holy Spirit. The church continues to wait for the return of our Lord Jesus, and He can’t come soon enough. During this time, in order to give us courage and patience, the waiting church makes use of the Spirit’s gifts by remembering Jesus’ words and speaking them. See, we’re not waiting for the Holy Spirit anymore, instead we’ve already received the Spirit and His gifts. Ezekiel prophesied: “ I w...

The High Priestly Prayer , Eugene Burnand, 1901 Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Often when Jesus speaks in the Bible He’s speaking to mixed groups of people: strong believers, and people just curious, and those who hate His guts. But our readings the last two weeks and this week are spoken exclusively to His inner circle, the apostles. What’s more, these words were spoken on Maundy Thursday, immediately afterwards Jesus said a prayer and was arrested and crucified. This was His farewell discourse, His final words spoken to faithful Christians who were going to have to live in this world after He ascended to heaven. These words are extraordinarily applicable to us faithful Christians gathered here.  Eburg: [These words are also very applicable to the four young people being confirmed in our parish today. You have spent some years learning from Jesus, and today you are prepared to make a public confession before the church that what you have learned is good, ...

One of the Family,  Frederick George Cotman, 1880 (Note: this is a more complete version of the article that was published in the Emmetsburg Newspaper.) Approximately 800,000+ abortions are performed yearly in the United States. About 3,500 abortions take place here in Iowa each year. Think about those numbers for a moment. About as many people as live in Emmetsburg are killed before birth in Iowa. More people than live in Des Moines are killed yearly in the United States. Those are some sobering numbers. Another sobering number is the Total Fertility Rate (number of children a woman has in her lifetime) here in the US. In 2008 we were right at replacement rate (2.1), but now, just about a decade later, we’re at 1.64, the lowest in recorded history. How exactly this will impact our nation as a whole is currently unknown, but it won’t be pretty. Just consider how many things have changed here in Kossuth county since 1940 when our population was 26,630, to today when our population ...

Christ Taking Leave of the Apostles, D uccio di Buoninsegna, 1308 Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Last week Jesus prepared us for His ascension into heaven and what that means for us. This week Jesus prepares us for what happens shortly after His ascension, namely Pentecost where Jesus sent His Holy Spirit upon His church. Our Lord Jesus 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. ” Today Jesus teaches us about the Holy Spirit.  Now, we Lutherans do occasionally get accused of ignoring the Holy Spirit or downplaying the Holy Spirit, since we Lutherans focus on objective truth over subjective feelings. But it’s a blatant lie that we Lutherans ignore the Holy Spirit, it’s quite the opposite really. The reason we get accused of ignoring the Holy Spirit is because American Christianity has by-and-large come under the delusion that faith is eq...

Ascension , Sebastiano Ricci, 1701 Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! The very best leaders lead by example. For instance, as a boy growing up I learned how to work hard in the garden by watching my father, or I learned how to cook in the kitchen by watching my mother. It used to be that kings went into battle with their soldiers, fighting alongside their men. When you start a new job, it’s easiest to learn how to do the work by watching the example of someone with experience. So it is with Jesus: Christ leads us to the grave, to the resurrection, and to heaven. Jesus prepared His apostles and us for His ascension to heaven when He said: “ A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me. ” 40 days after Jesus rose from the dead He ascended to heaven, and His disciples saw Him no longer. But again, in a little while, when Jesus returns on the last day, we will see Him again. On that day our hearts will rejoice and no one...

Here are a couple sobering numbers: Approximately 800,000+ abortions are performed yearly in the United States. About 3,500 abortions take place here in Iowa each year. About as many people as live in Emmetsburg are killed before birth in Iowa. More people than live in Des Moines are killed yearly in the United States.  The Total Fertility Rate (children a woman has in her lifetime) for the US was right at replacement rate (2.1) in 2008, but now we’re at 1.64. How exactly this will impact our nation is unknown, but it won’t be pretty. Just consider how many things have changed here in our county since 1940 when our population was 16,000, to today when our population is 9,000. These numbers reveal something about us and our nation: children are not our priority. But they are for Jesus: “ They were bringing even infants to Jesus that He might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to Him, saying, “Let the children come to Me, and do not h...

Maesta (detail of St Philip and St. James) , by Duccio di Buoninsegna, 1311 Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! A blessed festival of St. Philip and St. James to you dear friends in Christ. Many of the most significant historical figures have had numerous documentaries and films made of their lives. We often know more about these historical and contemporary celebrities than we do our own neighbors. Among some of the most significant figures in history, the twelve apostles likely are probably close to the top of the list, afterall Christ our Lord Himself specifically chose them to learn directly from Him. Yet, very little is known about the two apostles we remember today. There were multiple men named Philip and James in the Bible, and the two men we remember today were mentioned very seldom. From what we know of Philip He was enthusiastic to tell others about Jesus. After Philip was called to be an apostle, he “ found Nathanael and said to him ‘We have found Him of...