Pious Lutheran

Triumph of Faith - Christian Martyrs in the Time of Nero , Eugene Thirion, 19th Century Faithfulness in our own day Reformation Day isn’t about the past, but about our own unique battles The spirit of the age is like children calling out for this or that We are called to faithfulness, against the spirit of the age, by being faithful to the Word of God God promises to preserve His church through His Word, against the world’s violence Why are we celebrating Reformation Day today? Is today just about a historical lesson? Or maybe today is all about Lutheran pride, that we beat the pope and we’re not Roman Catholics, is that it? Or perhaps today is about celebrating that God has preserved the truth of the Gospel, that we are saved by grace alone through faith in Christ alone, as revealed in the scriptures alone? Well, that is part of it. This is why our hymn of the day is Salvation Unto us Has Come , and we’re singing some of the stanzas before the sermon and some after. Indeed, it’s worth...

Parable of the Invitation to the Wedding,  Bernardo Strozzi, 1636 Who will be saved and how will they be saved? God calls all to be saved However, only those who are worthy are saved Worthiness isn’t just a matter of external appearances, but of faith in the heart With more war breaking out, and talk of this escalating to World War III, tensions rise. So remember these words from Proverbs: “ The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord will be safe. ” Those words are a comfort not only in wartime, but throughout our entire pilgrimage on earth. This world isn’t safe. In peacetime we are lulled into a false sense of security about life. Paying no attention to God’s invitation, we go about our worldly business as if everything were ok. But in times of crisis we are awakened from our stupor and we see the seriousness of our eternal situation. We begin to ask the important questions, who will be saved and how will they be saved? To answer these questions, let’s begin b...

The Healing of the Paralytic,  Le Tintoret, 1559 Jesus’ forgiveness is healing. Forgiveness of sins is greater than physical healing Confession and Absolution is a notable miracle Yet, what’s good for the soul is good for the body Because the body and soul are more united than we often think This past summer I cut my finger such that I had to go to the ER to get stitches. But imagine if upon my arrival to the Emergency Room, the doctor simply said: “ Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven .” Then, he just stood there as if his job were finished, while my finger continued bleeding profusely. That’s kind of the picture we get in today’s miracle. Four men bring their paralyzed friend to Jesus in order that He might make him better, and what happened? “ When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic: ‘Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.’ ” For a moment it doesn’t even sound like He was going to heal the man’s paralysis. Only later does Jesus say to the paralytic: “ Ri...

Dear children, grandchildren, family, and friends of Mary, God’s peace be with you, especially in these days when we mourn the death of a woman very dear to us. Although we may mourn, we do not grieve without hope, since our Lord Jesus promises to raise from the dead those who have faith in Him. Mary is God’s dear child, adopted into His family through baptism, bought back from sin and death with the blood of Jesus Christ. We who also have faith in Jesus will see Mary again on the last day when Jesus returns. I will remember Mary with great fondness, as I’m sure all of you will too. She was a loving mother and grandmother, a wonderful friend, a talented musician, and a lover of all things beautiful. Whether you participated with her in plays, sang with her in choir, or loved her as a mother or friend, you all undoubtedly have such heartwarming memories when you think of Mary. As her pastor I will miss Mary’s smile and her comments on the sermon after church. In cards that I received fr...

Moses and Aaron with the Tablets of the Law, 1692 The Summary of the Law is Love. There’s much confusion about the purpose of the law. The law is all about love Love of God Love of Other Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of the Law, because of His great love for the Father and for mankind. “ Love is the fulfillment of the law. ” Unfortunately, few people understand this important detail. There’s much confusion about the purpose of the law. For some people laws are simply rules which must be maintained for the sake of keeping rules. Doesn’t matter if the law is good or not, it’s just about being a good person by following the rules. For other people the laws are meant to be broken. There’s too many laws and they don’t understand them, so they don’t bother trying to keep any of them. For both kinds of people the problem is the same: they don’t understand that the purpose of the law is to love God and others. So both kinds of people think the law is ultimately arbitrary, but some manifest...

Christ Healeth the Dropsical Man , Emile Rouargue, 1795-1865 The sabbath is a day of healing The Sabbath in ancient Israel was a day of healing when they:  rested from work and  assembled to hear God’s Word. The Sabbath is fulfilled in Christ, but its fruits of rest and assembly continue today. When you are ill or injured one of the most important parts of healing is rest. We understand this instinctually since it’s part of our daily rhythm of life: waking and sleeping. God created this daily rhythm by creating night and day. God also created a weekly day of rest every 7th day, called the Sabbath day. Rest is so important that God even gave the ground rest every 7th year, when He instructed the Israelites to let the land lie fallow. From what I understand this was an agricultural practice up until the last few hundred years since it was considered good for the soil.  The point of all of this is that God created the Sabbath day of rest to be a day of healing. Jesus’ questi...