Pious Lutheran

The Christian church must always fight for the pure truth of God’s Word. Why? Because the world will never accept it, but instead force us to give up our truth and trust in lies. Jesus said, “ But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ ” This world is never content with the truth of God’s pure word. Jesus compares this world to whiney little children, sitting in a public place, calling out for one thing but demanding another thing, never content with what is the truth.  This was made manifest in the world’s rejection of both John and Jesus. When John the Baptist came, he was an Essene and lived a particular ascetic lifestyle. This meant that he didn’t eat or drink regular luxurious foods, he didn’t wear fine clothes, and so the people saw him and said, “ He has a demon! ” When Jesus came, He wasn’t an Esse...

In this crazy messed up world, what’s going to save it? Is it love? Afterall, Christ taught that the greatest commandment is:“ You shall love the Lord your God… You shall love your neighbor… ” Love! We all love the word love don’t we! Love is the word of our day! “Love wins!” “Love finds a way!” Love, love, love! We love throwing that word around, but we never really bother to define it too carefully.  Love is used in a variety of contexts. For a young man and woman who’ve been dating, they’re terrified of using the “L Word” too soon in a relationship, even though they’re just fine swapping spit and sharing a bed. Parents love their children, and assure them of their love throughout the day. When you particularly enjoy a certain flavor of ice cream, you make sure to share your love for it with everyone you know. Culturally we talk about loving people just as they are and we say loving them means not asking them to change. We aren’t supposed to be mean, we’re supposed to be lov...

The Pharisees were proud people. “ One Sabbath, when Jesus went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. ” This Sabbath dinner wasn’t your typical meal, it was a feast! The pharisees would gather together on the Sabbath in order to gorge themselves at this rather pretentious dinner.  Jesus noticed that the pride of the pharisees was rather notable, “ when He noticed how they chose the places of honor. ” A great deal of thought went into where you sat because it was a symbol of how important you were. So you certainly didn’t want to sit with the losers and be numbered among them, but neither did you want to sit higher than you deserve, since you could get knocked down and told to sit lower, which would be embarrassing. So you needed to evaluate yourself in order to determine how great you are and which place of honor you deserve. These pharisees were so distracted by their pride and seating arrangement, they were so distracted by watch...

St. Paul says, “ This is how one should regard us, as stewards of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. ” Thus, when we have visitors in church, it’s my job as the pastor, as the steward of the mysteries, to at least briefly examine them before admitting them to the Lord’s Supper, just as it’s my job to examine you as well. So I ask a handful of questions, a couple of them being: “What God do you worship?” and “Why?” So permit me to ask all of you this morning, what God do you worship, and why? Why are you here in church this morning? Why are you a Christian? What are you doing here? Why is this important? Or is this even important? Do you know? Do you care?  Some are in church because they think that’s how they merit salvation. Some are Christians because they want to be virtuous people. Some are Christians out of habit or tradition. But why are you here? You’re not going to merit salvation by going to church, although you should go to church. There are many ways to be...

“ Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? ” The answer to that question is really quite obvious and even the simplest person knows that the greatest in heaven is God. But that’s not the question, is it. The question is “Who after God is the greatest in heaven?” Or, more accurately yet, “Am I the greatest in heaven?” This is what the mother of James and John was inferring when she asked Jesus to set her boys at His right hand. She wanted them to be the greatest in heaven. This is why the other disciples were upset with James and John, because they wished they had asked Jesus first so they could be the greatest in Heaven. This is what all the disciples want in today’s lesson, they want to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven!  But Jesus turns the whole thing on its head, and probably utterly confounds and shocks the disciples and the crowd listening. Jesus makes the least to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. In order to be greatest you really do need to be the le...

For a moment this morning, I’d like us to consider what the life of one of the ten lepers from our Gospel lesson might have been like. Just to make it a little more relatable, let’s give one of them a name, maybe a good Hebrew name like Jacob. Jacob was a regular down to earth loveable guy. He was born and raised in the village. He had a good job, working alongside his brothers and cousins, and lived in the same neighborhood as the rest of his siblings. After some time he found a wife and was married, he loved her very much. They had children who were just beginning to get to that age where they were having lots of fun as a family.  Jacob had a good life. A few bumps and bruises along the way, but overall it was a life filled with joy. He had a good job, with a great boss. Jacob was never gonna be rich, but he found that didn’t matter considering the wife and children he had, he felt like the richest man on earth. He had a good life. But one day his upper arm started to itch a...