Pious Lutheran

Christ Crucified , 1632, Diego Velazquez Christ’s suffering as payment and sacrifice for sin A debt owed A debt repaid There’s a lot of talk about debt forgiveness today under the topic of student loan forgiveness. Regardless of what you think about that particular political issue, it has at least brought the subject of debt and forgiveness into the national conversation. The controversy of student loan forgiveness boils down to a simple economic principle. When a debt is forgiven, it’s not as though the debt simply disappears, because someone has to pay for that debt. For example, if I hire a plumber to come and fix something at my house, and he sends me a bill for $1,000, I owe him that much money because of the product and service he performed. If I don’t pay him and he forgives my debt, then that means he had to pay for the parts himself and he didn’t get paid for his labor. He had to sacrifice in order to absorb my debt. A similar thing is going on in our relationship with God. Ou...

Christ and the Woman from Canaan, Pieter Lastman, 1617 Prayer is based upon faith in God’s Goodness What is prayer? How do we pray? This season of the church year that we are in, known as Lent, is a penitential season. Meaning, that this is a time for increased meditation on our need for Jesus as our Savior. As such, the church has historically observed Lent with increased almsgiving, increased fasting, and increased praying. Among those three, the only one that really gets much traction among us today is increased prayer. Formally we offer things such as Lenten devotionals so that we might spend more time in Bible study and prayer, and we have midweek services so that again we might spend more time in God’s word and prayer. In order to perhaps further help us pray more regularly, I’d like to spend this sermon speaking quite directly about prayer. Explaining what prayer is and the driving force behind prayer, and also very practically talking about prayer so that we all might have a be...

  The Scourging of Jesus , Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1537 The Obedience of Christ for our Righteousness Jesus is obedient to the Father He is obedient out of love for the Father and for us Freedom and independence has been viewed as a basic human right here in the West for thousands of years. For example, a hallmark of western civilization is a liberal education. Liberal, not meaning the political ideology of the left, but liberal having to do with liberty, freedom. A Liberal education is a broad education meant to help a person live according to his or her freedom. Here in the modern US independence is still considered very important to many people; people want to be free to do what they want, go anywhere, and not be told what to do.  It’s perhaps a bit surprising therefore to hear that Jesus, the Son of God, is obedient! Jesus said: “ I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of Him who sent Me. ” Indeed, Jesus is obedient: “ Being found in human form, ...

Christ Tempted by the Devil,  John Ritto Penniman, 1818 The Battle against Satan Temptation is the weapon of assault God’s Word is the weapon of victory Adam and Eve fell, and we needed to be rescued Jesus is the Victor and our foe is vanquished Christianity in America is often quite tame. It’s seen as gentle and nice, homey, and perhaps a bit kitschy. Going to church is kind of like going to grandma’s house, it’s warm, comfortable, and cozy. Those are good qualities for grandma’s house, but Christianity isn’t soft and gentle. Christianity is warfare; Christianity is the battle against Satan. Don’t be fooled, the devil and his demons are real. There is a real battle against the devil that we are truly fighting. Sometimes we speak as if demons were just metaphorical beings and not actual literal beings. So this needs to be emphasized that demons are real creatures, albeit spiritual and not physical, but real nonetheless. Certain behaviors therefore make people prone to demonic assau...

Ash Wednesday , Charles de Groux, 1866 God Acts God is real and is in control of the world Because God’s in control, we should turn to the Lord and repent Because God is gracious and merciful I watched Tucker Carlson’s interview with Vladimir Putin. It was interesting. He answered questions like a history professor, where he says he will give a brief background first in order to answer the question, and then proceeds to talk for half an hour about history going back a thousand years. But at one point he was asked if he sees God at work in the world. He thought for a moment and said “No, to be honest. I don’t think so.” He’s wrong, but he was honest. I would guess that the majority of Americans would answer the same question and say yes, they do believe God is at work in the world. The problem is that while most Americans might say that they think God is active in the world, they don’t act like it. Case in point: The majority of Americans don’t go to church regularly.  But the reali...

Dear Lori, family and friends of Joyce, may God’s peace be yours in Christ Jesus our Lord who was raised from the dead to life everlasting. “ Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. ” Indeed, Joyce made the good confession of faith in Jesus, and now already her soul is with the Lord. Joyce has the victory over death and the grave! Lori, I must say it was really a neat privilege getting to look through your mom’s Bible the other day. She had bookmarks all over the place in it and some notes and prayers she had written down on pieces of paper. Her notes there gave us our readings for today, actually. On one of the notes she had written her confirmation verse: “ Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. ” We read some of the preceding verses to give us greater context so that we might figure out how the heart has life. Namely: “ be attentive to my words…keep them within your heart… for they are life to those who find them, ...

Jesus Healing Blind Bartimaeus,  Johann Heinrich Stover, 1861 Jesus is our Savior In times of need, where do we look for help? Jesus is our merciful Savior. We follow Jesus where He leads. “If there’s something strange in your neighborhood who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!” Or more seriously, if there’s actually a real life emergency, the first thing we’re taught to do is call 911. If you’re having a health problem you call your doctor. If your water heater breaks you call your plumber. If you’re depressed you call your psychologist. If your house is damaged in a storm you call your insurance agent. That’s all fine and it makes sense, but where does God fit in in your times of need? Where does your help come from? “ Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me! For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me. ” Our help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. The blind beggar knew to call out to Jesus for help. When he was t...