April Epistle: The Curse Removed

“To Adam [God] said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.  By the sweat of your face ou shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Gen 3:17-19)

You’ll easily recognize this passage from the book of Genesis.  Adam and Eve have eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  They have disobeyed God’s command, have broken His Law, and have fallen from the state of righteousness.  They now bear the guilt of sin and the weight of its wages.  They have died spiritually, and they will die physically: “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

These are the words that we speak on Ash Wednesday, as we place a cross of ash on our foreheads to remind us of the guilt and wages of our sin.  The purpose of Lent is to observe a time of repentance for our sin and to look forward in hope to our Savior’s sacrifice on our behalf.  God had promised to Adam and Eve that one of their offspring would come to crush Satan, crush his power to accuse us, and in fact, crush the power of death itself.

I find it interesting and informative that God does not curse Adam and Eve for their sin.  He instead curses the ground that man will work.  “In pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you.”  Thorns and thistles certainly represent for us the pain and suffering of this fallen life!

In our Sunday morning Bible study we’ve been working our way through the book of Genesis.  Most recently, we finished the story of Abraham as he was called to sacrifice his son Isaac (the son of promise) to God.  It was twenty-five years that Abraham and Sarah had waited for the birth of the son promised to them by God.  When their son, Isaac, was around thirteen years old, God told Abraham to sacrifice the boy to Him.  

Skipping a lot of details that you can read about in Genesis chapter 22, Abraham on Mount Moriah has prepared Isaac to be a sacrifice to God.  Abraham raises his knife to slay his son on the altar he had built when God calls out to him not to harm the boy.  In place of Isaac, Abraham sacrifices a ram, caught by its horns in a “sebak”, or thicket.  This Hebrew word often has the meaning of a thornbush.  The ram is caught by his horns, entangled there, held there by the thorns for Abraham to use as a sacrifice in place of his son.

This near sacrifice of Isaac takes place on Mount Moriah, where Abraham was led by God.  On this mountain, Abraham is given a ram as a substitute for Isaac.  Amazingly, or maybe we should expect it, Mount Moriah is the same mountain on which Solomon’s temple will be built.  The Temple of Solomon was the place where countless sacrifices were offered to God to atone for the sins of the people.  Mount Moriah is also, then, the place where, just outside the city walls, God’s own Son, Jesus, is nailed to the cross and sacrificed for the atonement of the sin of Adam and Eve and all of their offspring.  As the ram was sacrificed in place of Isaac, just so, Jesus took our place and died in our stead.  By His wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).

The ram was caught in the thornbush so that Abraham could offer a substitutionary sacrifice in place of his son.  This thornbush might remind us of the crown of thorns that encircled Jesus’ brow on that Good Friday, as He becomes the substitutionary sacrifice that pays for our sins.  As the ram is caught by his horns, so Jesus is caught, bound, held to His mission and purpose – namely, to redeem mankind from sin, death and the devil.  The thorns that come as a result of Adam’s sin represent the resulting pain and suffering of man under sin’s curse.

Jesus has come to undo that curse, by taking the “thorns” on himself, taking the wrath of God, the suffering and pain away from us, and bearing it Himself.  The crown of thorns encircling Jesus’ head represents the transfer of sin’s curse from us to Jesus.  The ram was caught in the thornbush.  Jesus willingly allows the thorns to be placed on himself.  He will bear our punishment, in order that we might again be restored to righteousness.

The prophet Isaiah writes, 

“Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;

he has put him to grief;

when his soul makes an offering for guilt,

he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see

and be satisfied;

by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,

make many to be accounted righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.”  (Isaiah 53:10-11)

“Dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”  This mortal body will die.  But the Good News of Good Friday and Easter morning is that the payment to God for our sins has been paid by the Son of promise, God’s only begotten Son.  He is the One who has come to crush Satan under his feet.  He did that by taking our sin upon Himself and then taking God’s punishment in our place.  The thorns of sin’s curse have been taken from us and placed on Jesus.  He has won for us the victory, so that we can be accounted righteous in God’s sight.

God bless you as you relive the events of Holy Week, and as you celebrate Jesus’ victory over sin, death and the devil this Easter.

God’s peace be yours in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Pastor

March Epistle: March Madness

You likely are familiar with the term, “March Madness.” It’s a description of the NCAA Division I college basketball tournament that takes place in March each year. I have never followed college basketball (oh, how much you miss, you say!). I’ve known that March Madness is a big tournament and a big deal, but that’s all.

As I’m looking into it, I’m finding that the tournament is aptly named! It is, truly, “madness,” as 68 teams from across the na=on are bracketed and compete in the space of about 18 days for the coveted title of National Champion. Sixty-eight teams! I had no idea!

Teams are seeded in the tournament in four separate brackets. Their placement is based on their prior performance, as better teams earn better seeds. And then the competition begins. Lose and you’re out; win and you move on. It’s as simple as that. Hard work pays off. Skill and heart work in your favor. If you’re going to take home the championship trophy, you’ve got to have a perfect record – five wins.

Last year Purdue’s big man, Zach Edey, was interviewed aYer his team’s victory over Tennessee, which put the Boilermakers in the Final Four for the first time in over forty years. As the cheering and celebrating went on around him, the 7-foot-4 Edey said, “They thought they knew what we had in our hearts. I promise you, they didn’t. We’re .winners. This is what we do.”

March madness is a tournament about heart and courage and leaving everything out there on the floor. The winners get fame and glory; the losers console themselves that they did their best, and they work to correct their mistakes and bePer their play.

We can resonate with what goes on in March Madness. It’s fitting and right that the teams that play the best, that put more points on the board, should rise to the top and be recognized, be honored. It’s what we like to see in life, too.

It’s reasonable that those who work hard and do well in their field of expertise should get the promo=on and raise in salary. Students who work hard and learn their lessons graduate, some with honors. This is not madness. It’s just how life works.

The “Madness” in March Madness refers to the process of going through the craziness of the tournament, the method of quickly weeding out the weaker teams and moving the stronger teams along to vie for the top prize. It does not refer to the honor given to the winning team. That’s not madness. They earned it!

What is madness is the unearned honor given to the baptized children of God. What is madness is that, even though we have not played by God’s rules, on the Day of Judgment we’ll find ourselves celebra=ng and wearing a crown! In 2 Timothy 4:8, Paul says, “Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” God knows what is in our hearts, in our hearts of flesh. He knows the sin that lurks there, the selfish desires of our Old Adam that are contrary to his rules, his Law. God says that to get into His kingdom, we must have a perfect record, no mistakes – “The soul who sins shall die,” and “The wages of sin is death” (Ezekiel 18:20/Romans 6:23). God’s Law is clear; the rules of this life are clear: Sin and you’re out – remain holy, without blemish, and you’ll make it to heaven.

So, guess what? We’re all out. None of us made it past the first round. In fact, we entered the “tournament” of life with a handicap. We were born sinful. In the words of Zach Edey, “This is what we do.” It doesn’t maPer how hard we try to work at being righteous or whether or not our heart is in it. Our sin disqualifies us for life with God in His kingdom.

It’s madness, then, is that God, who demands perfection and holiness from us, has made us holy and perfect by faith in His Son. It’s madness that Jesus, “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:6-11).

It’s madness that God in His mercy sent his Son to take the loss for us, the sinless Son of God dying for sinners like you and me. And this is what we focus our gaze on in this season of Lent; it’s a time to recognize the gift that God has bestowed on us, the love He has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God (1 John 3:1). The season of Lent that we begin in March is a celebration of “madness.” It’s a season of repentance which culminates in the darkness and gloom of Good Friday, followed three days later by the light and glory of the Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. In baptism, we have been crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20). And, “if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Romans 6:5). This is “madness!”

Thank God that we don’t have to earn our way to the top in some tournament of life. Our sin disqualifies us from life with God, but God loved us so much that He removed our sin from us. He did so by sending His only Son, that whoever believes in Him might receive the crown of life (John 3:16). That’s madness! That’s mercy! As it says in Psalm 118:23, “This is the LORD's doing; [and] it is marvelous in our eyes!”

God’s peace be yours in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Pastor

Trust in the Lord

 At the writing of this article, the  presidency has changed hands from Democrat to Republican.  Executive orders are flying off the  desk, making sweeping changes  that affect many Americans. President Trump’s nominees for cabinet level positions are undergoing  scrutiny by the Senate. Many government employees are being offered the choice of returning to  work in person or taking a buyout  and resigning. Criminals who are  in the country without permission  are being detained and deported.  The country is bracing for a political shift as a new administration  takes over. 

 This is our political system, a  representative democracy, where  we elect our leaders to make deci sions for us. It’s a system that em braces change. But that change  can be difficult for us. We often  do not agree with the decisions that  are being made. We might be anx ious and worry about the future for  ourselves, our loved ones, and our  country.  

 On the other hand, if we like  what our leaders are doing, we  might relax and feel that our fu ture, at least in the short term, is  secure. Things are good. Every thing’s going to be okay. 

 Psalm 146 says,  

“Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man,  

in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs,  

he returns to the earth; 

on that very day his plans perish. 

Blessed is he whose help  is the God of Jacob, 

whose hope is in  the Lord his God, 

who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever;” 

(Psalm 146:3-6) 

 The Psalm points us to a reality  that we often forget. God is in  control. He orders and directs.  Great and powerful leaders, super-powers and countries that might be  called “bad actors,” none of these can work against the will of the  God who made heaven and earth.  In 1523, Martin Luther pub lished his Treatise on Temporal  Authority. In it, Luther argues that  rulers and governments are or dained by God to keep the peace  and maintain order in society.  They do this by enforcing laws,  pursuing justice, and keeping or der in society. This secular king dom wields the sword (power) in  order to curb evil and maintain  peace. It exists for the welfare of  people. 

 Temporal authority, however, is  different than spiritual authority.  The spiritual realm governs mat ters of faith and salvation. It is  concerned with preaching the Gospel, administering the sacra ments, and guiding Christians in  their spiritual lives. Luther empha sized that the Church’s role is not  to rule over civil matters, but ra ther to offer spiritual care and salvation through God’s Word.  Luther also makes the point that  Christians are obligated to obey  secular rulers, just as Paul writes in  Romans 13:1, “Let everyone be  subject to the governing authori ties, for there is no authority ex cept that which God has estab lished.” However, he highlights  that rulers are not above God and  should rule justly, in keeping with  divine principles. If the demands  of the governing authorities con tradicts God’s Word, then, as Peter  and the apostles confess in Acts  5:59, “We must obey God, rather  than men.” 

 From this treatise comes what  we know today as Luther’s Two  Kingdoms Doctrine. Luther devel oped this doctrine as part of his Reformation theology.  Realizing that we exist and live  in both kingdoms can be very help ful, especially during the tumult of  political change. We are not to  militate for the Church to control  secular society. Nor are we to al low the governing authorities to  dictate what we believe and how  we worship. Keeping the two  kingdoms in their place can also  bring us heavenly peace in the midst of temporal turmoil.   Whatever happens in this tem poral life, we know that the God  who made heaven and earth is in  control. As good citizens, our faith  can help us elect good and capable  leaders. But we also know not to  “trust in princes,” but to put our  trust and hope in God our heavenly  Father. Secular kingdoms and rul ers will come and go. Their breath  will depart and they will return to  the earth. However, both our God  and his love for us in Christ are  eternal, and his promises are a bed rock foundation on which to place  our hope. 

Psalm 146 

Praise the Lord, my soul.

 I will praise the Lord all my life;
    I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
 Do not put your trust in princes,
    in human beings, who cannot save.
 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
    on that very day their plans come to nothing.
 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
    whose hope is in the Lord their God.

 He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
    the sea, and everything in them—
    he remains faithful forever.
He upholds the cause of the oppressed
    and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
   the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
    the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the foreigner
    and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
    but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

The Lord reigns forever,
    your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Praise the Lord.

God’s peace be yours in the name  of our crucified and risen Lord Jesus. 

Pastor 

Just the Beginning

 “Therefore the Lord himself  will give you a sign. Behold, the  virgin shall conceive and bear a  son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Is. 7:14). These words  were spoken by the prophet Isaiah  around 700 years before Jesus was  born. The One to come would be  Immanuel, which means God with  us. In the incarnation of God in the  flesh, Isaiah’s prophecy is ful filled. Jesus is true God and true  man. As he walked among us, He  was, literally, God with us here on  earth; God with us here in the  flesh. 

 We love the scene on that  Christmas Eve night, with Mary  and Joseph and baby Jesus laid in  the manger hay, animals looking  on, wondering shepherds gazing at  the Savior born for all.  Our Advent season prepares us  for His coming, leads us, also, to  the stable, to kneel and worship  this newborn King. 

 It’s quite a wonder that the  prophet Isaiah foretells the incar nation in Christ. And, he has more  to say about the baby Jesus: “For  to us a child is born, to us a son is  given; and the government shall be  upon his shoulder, and his name  shall be called Wonderful Counse lor, Mighty God, Everlasting Fa ther, Prince of Peace” (Is. 9:6). 

 We hear Isaiah’s words read of ten in the Advent and Christmas  seasons. But the story of the Babe  of Bethlehem doesn’t begin with  Isaiah. Around 1400 BC, 700  years before Isaiah, Moses proph ecies and writes, “The Lord your  God will raise up for you a prophet  like me from among you, from  your fellow Israelites. You must  listen to him” (Deut. 18:15). And  700 years before Moses, around  2100 BC, God tells Abraham  (Abram) that all nations of the  earth would be blessed through  him – blessed, we know, by the birth of the Savior through Abra ham’s line. 

 But the story of Jesus begins  even before Abraham, before the  flood, back in the Garden of Eden,  as God promises to send a Savior  who would crush the head of the  serpent. As soon as Adam and Eve  sin, God promises to send the Redeemer who would pay the price to restore humanity to holiness and a  right relationship with God.  But those words, “Savior” and  “Redeemer,” they reveal that the  story does not end at the manger,  as beautiful and peaceful as that  picture is. The incarnation of Je sus, God taking on human form  and human flesh, is done for a rea son. We say that Jesus is the “rea son for the season” to turn our at tention away from the glitz and  glamour of the commercialized  Christmas and focus on the Christ  child in the manger. But that  Christ child, God incarnate, is born  for a reason. He is born to be our “Savior” and our “Redeemer.” He  is born under the Law to live the  perfect and sinless life that we  could not live. He is born to bear  our sin and shed his blood on the  cross and rise from the dead on the  third day. 

 The story does not end in the  stable, under the Christmas star.  Christmas is not what Advent is all  about, not what the prophets and  history have been about. The  promise to Adam and Eve, to  Abraham and to us is not fulfilled  with the incarnation and birth of  Jesus. The incarnation and birth  are just the beginning of the won derful action of God, stepping into  our world and our flesh to restore  us to Himself. Baby Jesus is just  the beginning, and the story ends  not at the cross, not with the empty  tomb, not even with Jesus’ ascension into heaven. It doesn’t even  end with Pentecost and the out pouring of the Spirit on the  Church.  

 Christmas is not the end, it is  just the beginning. It is the begin ning of the action of God for our  salvation, and that action ends with  Judgment Day and the marriage  feast of the Lamb in heaven. 

 Our salvation is complete. Im manuel has come. Christ has died  for us and risen from the dead. We  are citizens of heaven and children  of our heavenly Father. But the  story of our salvation is yet to be  completed. 

 Our celebration of the birth of  our Savior is always a high point  in our church year. But His birth  is just the beginning. We look forward with great anticipation to  Holy Week and Easter, and even  beyond to that final day when our  Immanuel returns to judge the  earth and welcome His bride, the  Church, into the wedding hall in  heaven. 

 As we begin a new year, let us  do so in the name of Jesus, giving  God thanks for the work of salva tion that He has accomplished for  us through that baby lying in the  manger. And let us look forward  in joyful anticipation of His sec ond advent, when he will come in  great power and glory at the end of  the age. Then, our bodies raised  immortal, we will enter the halls of  heaven to the great wedding feast  of the Lamb. That will be a great  day! That will be a wonderful end  to the salvation story. 

 God be with you and bless you,  in 2025 and always! 

Pastor 

December Epistle: Quiet Coming

If I ask the question, “Who shot  J.R.?” I’m sure that many of you  would know what I’m referring to.  In 1980, the soap opera, Dallas,  ended its third season with an as sassination attempt on the arch vil lain, J.R. Ewing. It wasn’t until  eight months later, during the  fourth episode of the next season, that the viewing public learned  who the assassin was. Eighty three million people tuned in for  that broadcast, ranking it one of  the most highly viewed episodes  of a television series. Of course,  the M.A.S.H. “Goodbye” episode  eclipsed it at 106 million viewers,  and the last Superbowl between  the Chiefs and the 49ers dwarfed  them both at 124 million. I’m sure  the advertising costs were  astronomical for any of these  broadcasts. But it is estimated that  around 600 million people tuned in  worldwide in 1969 to listen to  Walter Cronkite and watch Neil  Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk  on the moon. 

 Some things are done in very  public ways, with everyone watch ing. Some things are done as great  spectacles with much fanfare, like  the coronation of a king, or the  swearing in of a new president.  Some things are done quietly, and  behind the scenes, not drawing a  lot of attention, even though they  carry great weight, like the birth of  God as a man in a feed trough to a  young virgin in a back-water village in a little country in the mid dle of the night. This most pro found event took place, and only a  handful of people knew about it:  

Joseph, Mary, a few poor shep herds, some star-gazers from the  east. No television coverage. No  Walter Cronkite. No trumpets  blaring or leaflets dropping or re verse 911 call to the neighborhood.  And when is there any recogni tion or confirmation of this history  changing, earth shattering event?  Thirty years later, when His  cousin, John the Baptist, says to  those with him at the river, “Be hold, the Lamb of God who takes  away the sin of the world!”  Few knew at the time that the  baby in Mary’s arms would grow  up to be anyone special. And yet,  today, He is the most famous per son who ever lived. It is estimated  that over two billion people in the  world today claim to be Christian.  Why is that? It’s because the tomb  was empty! Jesus was made to be sin for us, took our sins on Himself  and bore that burden to the cross.  There the Son of God suffered our  punishment, shed His atoning  blood, and gave up His life for us.  He was placed in a tomb that was  sealed and guarded by a squad of  soldiers, and yet, three days later,  the tomb was empty! Jesus had  risen from the dead! He showed  His crucified and risen body to his  disciples and to many believers  over the period of forty days be fore He ascended into heaven. The  proof of His resurrection was absolute and undeniable. So much  so, in fact, that the witnesses of His  resurrection were willing to go to  their deaths proclaiming that He  had, indeed, risen from the dead! 

 The good news of the Gospel is  being preached throughout the  world. Today there are many who  call Jesus their Lord and Savior.  Many Christians in the world cannot openly profess their faith. The  crosses in their homes cannot be  displayed publicly.  

 We are blessed to live in a country where we are free to worship  Jesus. In our homes, we openly  display crosses and perhaps even  artists’ renderings of Jesus as a  shepherd, or His kind face, or of  

Jesus blessing the children.   Throughout the Christian era,  followers of Jesus have created  images of Christ. Often, these im ages have been displayed promi nently in churches. One common  themed multiple image that is  found in antiquity is called a  “Deesis”. This is a painting, carv ing or mosaic depicting Christ the  King on His throne holding a  book, with Mary and (often) John  the Baptist standing on either side  of Him.  

 Here is a Deesis carved in ivory  that was created in the 10th century. It now resides in the Louvre  in Paris. 

  An intricate mosaic of a “Deesis”  was created on a wall in the Hagia  Sophia, a church built in 537AD in  Istanbul, Turkey. The Hagia Sophia was an architectural master piece and the largest Christian ca thedral for a thousand years. To day it remains one of the largest  tourist attractions in Turkey. Over  the centuries the Hagia Sophia fell  into disrepair and the Deesis mo saic was created in 1261 during major renovation.

The size of the Deesis mosaic is  deceiving. The figures are actually  two-and-a-half times larger than  life! 

 After the fall of Constantinople  in 1453 and until 1935 the site  served as a mosque. It is likely  that the lower part of the mosaic  was destroyed during these years.  In 1935 the Hagia Sophia became a museum, but in 2020 the site  once again became a mosque.  

 Perhaps if you look closely, the  Jesus figure in the mosaic will look  familiar to you. We actually have  a print of it hanging in the entry way of our church! 

Christ’s first coming was quiet  and unassuming. His second com ing will not be. Paul writes in 1  Thess. 4:16-17, “The Lord himself  will descend from heaven with a  cry of command, with the voice of  an archangel, and with the sound  of the trumpet of God. And the  dead in Christ will rise first. Then  we who are alive, who are left, will  be caught up together with them in  the clouds to meet the Lord in the  air, and so we will always be with  the Lord.” 

 Christ will return to judge the  living and the dead. Because of his  atoning work on the cross, all who  believe in Him will not perish, but  will have eternal life (John 3:16).  John 5:24 says, “Whoever hears  my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does  not come into judgment, but has  passed from death to life.”  We who follow Christ do not  fear His coming to sit on His  throne and judge the world. Ra ther, we long to see that day. Our  names are written in the book, and  we live our lives in confident hope  of His return to take us to Himself.  I pray that this Advent season  will be a time of reflection and  preparation for you as you prepare  your hearts for the return of Christ,  even as you prepare to remember  and to celebrate his quiet coming  to Mary and Joseph and the world  so long ago. 

God bless your Advent and Christmas seasons! 

Pastor 

Opening Worship and Ordination

“I was glad when they said to me,

‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’ ”  Psalm 122

On October 6th, the family of University Hills Lutheran Church joyfully entered their new sanctuary and gave praise to their heavenly Father for their new worship space.  

The dedication service began outside the front door.  The congregation then followed the processional cross into the building, where the organ, bells, lectern podium, pulpit, crosses, altar and communion ware were rededicated to the service of the Lord.

We are thankful for our brothers and sisters in the faith at Christ Lutheran Church who opened their doors and their hearts to us and gave us a place to worship for 5 1/2 years.  As a token of our thanks, and as a memorial to our years together, the saints of University Hills gave the saints of Christ a plaque inscribed with the three “Sola’s” of the Reformation.  An identical plaque hangs in the entryway at University Hills.

The week following our opening worship we were privileged to host the ordination service for Benjamin Vanderhyde, who has accepted a Call to pastor the saints of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Wray, Colorado.  Pastors in attendance were (right to left) Revs. Paul Aarsvold, John Larson, David Vanderhyde (presiding), Benjamin Vanderhyde, Joshua Vanderhyde, Craig Patterson.  

Around eighty members and friends attended the service.  It was a beautiful fall day.  Following the service, we shared a meal and  fellowship on the front lawn. 

October/November Epistle: Anchor Within the Veil

   Our family doesn’t own a boat, only a little canoe.  Some of you, I know, have owned or do own boats larger than that, with an outboard or inboard motor, and you’re familiar with the joys of boating on a lake, or maybe even on the open seas.  And, if you’ve had much experience, you’re likely familiar with the dangers involved in boating when the weather turns ugly.

    Now, I’m not a sailor, but I worked at a marina one summer renting, cleaning and driving small aluminum fishing boats.  There were several times when I was out on the lake in one of these and needed to get it back to the marina.  In the late afternoon the winds would sometimes pick up, and the surface of the lake could get pretty rough (for a small craft).  I remember one time in particular when I was fighting high winds and something like one-and-a-half foot waves, and I was very aware that the elements could swamp the small boat if it weren’t kept pointed into the wind and perpendicular to those waves.

    Each of our little boats was supplied with an anchor, which in reality was simply a hunk of concrete secured to a ten-foot line.  It was only designed to hold the boat in place with a mild breeze and in a shallow area for fishing purposes.  It certainly would have been useless in my situation.    

   Have you ever heard of a sea anchor?  I’m not talking about the great big steel anchors that you see hanging from larger ocean-going vessels.  A sea anchor is an anchor that, in essence, is a small parachute.  It’s not designed to reach the bottom (think out on the ocean), but is thrown into the sea as a drag.  When a small ship encounters a storm where the winds are dangerous and the waves are massive (towering over the vessel), the captain must keep the boat headed into the wind, and riding up and down the waves, so as not to be bowled over and swamped.  A powerful motor and deft use of the rudder can accomplish this in most cases.

    But what happens if the boat has engine trouble, or if the steering becomes disabled?  In that case, a sea anchor can be used to save the ship.  The sea anchor is attached to the bow of the boat (in the front) and thrown out into the sea.  As the wind blows the ship, the sea anchor provides drag, keeping the bow pointed into the wind and facing the oncoming waves.

    There are different types of anchors.  The sea anchor is only one and serves a specific purpose.  There is an account in Acts where anchors are used to save a ship in a storm.  The apostle Paul had been in prison for over two years and, being a Roman citizen, had finally appealed to Caesar for the adjudication of his case.  He was in the process of being transported on a merchant ship to Rome for trial, but pretty late in the season for sailing, when a violent storm called a northeaster came up, and the ship was being driven along before the wind.  The crew took down the sails, and at last the “gear” or sea anchor was deployed.  

    Now, the sea anchor does not hold the ship in place, it only acts as a drag, pointing the ship into the wind and waves.  For many days, Paul, his captors and the crew were driven along by the wind.  As they neared an island during the night, taking soundings and finding that the water was becoming shallower, the crew threw out four anchors, hoping to keep the ship from being driven onto the rocks.  The anchors held.  In the morning light, they cut away the anchors, in an attempt to guide the ship onto a nearby beach.  The ship, however, ran aground on a hidden reef and the ship began to break up from the pounding of the waves.  In the end, everyone made it to shore safely.  Read Acts 27 for the exciting details, including the appearance to St. Paul of an angel who promised that no one would perish.

    Where is your anchor placed?  To what is it holding?  Is it just cast out into the milieu of this day and age?  Are you drifting slowly along in the tempest of this life, with Satan and the world buffeting you on all sides, trying destroy your faith and driving you away from hoping and trusting in God?  Is your future certain, or is it unknown?  To what is your ship anchored?

    Edward Mote (1797-1874) grew up without any religious training.  He became a Christian at age 15.  He was a cabinet maker, and loved to sing and write hymns.  Sometime around 1834, Mote wrote one of our beloved hymns.  The first verse goes like this:

My hope is built

on nothing less than

Jesus’ blood and righteousness;

No merit of my own I claim

but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand.

    The verse conveys the joyful Gospel news that our hope of being saved from the guilt of our sin, from the power of death and the devil, from the wrath of God and eternal suffering in hell, lies in the fact that His Son, Jesus, has come in our flesh to bear our sin and be our Savior, as we say in our liturgy.  Our hope lies in the blood of Christ, blood that washes away our sin, blood that cleanses us of our guilt and makes us white as snow – forgiven and righteous in God’s sight.

Verse 2:

When darkness veils

His lovely face,

I rest on His unchanging grace;

In every high and stormy gale

my anchor holds within the veil.

On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand.

    Here we see the anchor motif: “My anchor holds within the veil.”  Our ship may be tossed about in this life, tossed by circumstances, by doubts, temptations, fears and the by the voice of the devil accusing us and muddying, or downright contradicting, the Word of God.  But our anchor is not lodged in our good works.  Our anchor is not grasping at the strength of our faith but at what our faith is holding onto.  Our anchor holds solidly to the blood of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.

     In the Tabernacle and in Solomon’s Temple there was a heavy curtain or veil that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place where the Ark of the Covenant rested.  On top of the Ark was the Mercy Seat, overshadowed by the wings of the Cherubim.  Onto this Mercy Seat, once a year, the High Priest would sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement.  This sprinkling of blood foreshadowed Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, who carried His own precious blood into the Most Holy Place, into heaven.  His blood atones once for all.  Hebrews 9:12 says, “He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemp-tion.”  Our anchor holds there, as it were, within the veil, at the mercy seat where the blood of the sacrifice is sprinkled.  Our hope is built on the blood of Jesus, shed on the cross for you and for me, nothing less. 

    This Sunday we celebrate the Reformation that occurred 500 years ago.  It was a return to the sure and certain hope of salvation by the blood of Jesus – not on salvation dispensed at the will of Popes and Councils, not a salvation based on the decrees, thoughts and musings of men, but a salvation brought about by the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  Our anchor holds within the veil.

    Halloween is not far off.  It’s a day that precedes All Saints’ Day.  Some see it as a day for scary costumes, darkness, ghosts and fear.  But we are not afraid, even of death itself because our Savior, by his suffering and death, has brought us life and light.  We are united with the Saints of every time and place who have gone before us, all those whose anchors held within the veil.  

    And, as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, we have more to give thanks for than just food and drink, house and home, family, etc., the temporal things of this life.  We have something much greater for which we thank our heavenly Father: we are thankful that our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.  We are thankful and praise our God because in our baptism our anchor is set firmly there, within the veil, at the Mercy Seat of God, where Christ’s blood pleads for our justification, having paid the price and satisfied God’s wrath for sin.

    If you’ve attended a service in our new building, you’ve likely noticed the shadow on the wall behind the altar, a shadow formed by the placement of the spotlights above the cross.  Someone pointed out that the shadow reminded them of an anchor

I like that image, especially since it was there, on the cross, that the blood of Jesus was shed for us, and at the altar we receive into our mouths that very blood, on which the sure and certain hope of our salvation is built.

Verse 4:

When He shall come

with trumpet sound,

Oh, may I then in Him be found,

Clothed in

His righteousness alone,

redeemed to stand

before His throne!

On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand.

    Give thanks in this season for the blood of Christ that has purchased for us forgiveness and life.  Anchor your faith there.  There is no better harbor.

God be with you all,

Pastor

September Epistle: Superhuman Strength

The year 1896 saw the beginning of a rush of people to a very remote area of Alaska.  It would come to be known as the Klondike Gold Rush.  In only a few years, 100,000 people tried to get to the gold fields of Dawson in the Yukon Territory of Canada, with dreams of wealth and bliss.  Stories about the strike were enhanced until it was said that one could simply pick gold nuggets from bushes!  Unfortunately, the truth was much harsher.  Of the 100,000 people that attempted the journey, only 30,000 made it to the gold fields.  Of those, only a few hundred realized their dreams and struck it rich.  In just three short years, the bulk of the gold fields played out and Klondike gold fever was over.

    Most of the personal stories of those who came to the Yukon are stories of struggle and hardship.  One of the direct routes to Dawson lay through Skagway and the lesser-known town of Dyea.  While the latter name may be unfamiliar, one of its lasting images is more famous.  Gold seekers disembarked their ships at Dyea and began the 500-mile overland trek on foot to Dawson.  Deep snow blanketed the ground.  Most were not prepared for the dangerous winter conditions of the Yukon.  The Canadian Mounted Police decided that anyone heading to Dawson from Dyea would have to carry with them 2,000 pounds or a year’s worth of supplies.  At a point 16 miles outside of Dyea, the gold seekers were confronted with a steep climb up a wall of snow and ice.

    Up this wall of snow, each man had to carry his 2,000 pounds of supplies, making trip after trip up to the pass, bowed under their burdens.  Some turned back at this point.  Many did not, taking as much as a month to get their supplies to the top.  Those that made it now faced the rest of a difficult overland trail, taking as long as a year to finally reach their destination.  When they did, many found that there were no available claims.  Some found other work, many simply turned around and headed for home.

    The great burdens borne by these men and their superhuman struggle to get to the gold fields put me in mind of another struggle, one that affects each of us.  Some of our sin we’re aware of: the times that we speak out in anger, or when we act selfishly, ignoring the needs of those around us in order to satisfy our own wants and desires of the moment; times when we’re impatient or act in an unloving manner; when we embellish the truth or gossip about our neighbor, or desire what our neighbor has.  And much of our sin we’re not even aware of.  But all of it is a breach of God’s righteous Law.  All of it brings guilt and death.  And that guilt and death are like a great weight on our backs, bowing us down to the ground.  Some of the men hauling their ton of supplies, took the measure of the climb up Chilkoot pass and simply turned around.  They gladly dumped their burdens and headed for Dyea.  We sinners, however, are not able to rid ourselves of sin’s burden.  Those gold-seekers who went on were able, given time, to get that 2,000 lbs of supplies up that icy climb.  But there is no climb, no heavy lifting, no work we can perform, no way to make amends for our sin and get the guilt and death off our backs.  It would take a super-human act to pay the debt owed to God by each one of us.  And it did.  It did take a superhuman act.  One man, Jesus Christ, took our load, took that load of guilt and death from each of us and from the entire human race.  Jesus was able to do that because he was human, like us, flesh and blood – and, unlike us, he was also the divine Son of God.  How else could he have done it?

2 Cor. 5:21 says, 

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

And Isaiah 53:12 says,

“He bore the sins of many”

    Each of those seeking riches in the Yukon gold fields would have given dearly to have some super-human person take all 2,000 lbs of their supplies on their back and march it effortlessly up that mountain of ice.  What Christ did for us was infinitely more difficult, and infinitely more valuable.  Being a man born under God’s Law, Jesus became guilty of our sin.  And in his suffering and death, our punishment and death were owned by him.  

“He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Isaiah 53:5-6

    The gold-seekers out of Skagway and Dyea gave all they had to reach Dawson.  In the end, for most of them, it had no value at all – it was worthless effort.  Christ, in giving all, offers to us the treasures of heaven, opens the way to eternal joy, and freedom from the massive burdens of guilt and death.  In Christ, we are offered real and lasting peace, and a restored relationship with God our heavenly Father.

    Surprisingly, most of those who struck it rich in the gold fields of the Yukon died penniless.  Their wealth was unable to bring them the peace and happiness that they had longed for.  Jesus tells us not to put our hope in earthly treasure that fades and passes away:

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Matt. 6:19

    Two hymns are brought to mind as I ponder the desire for gold that drove these intrepid gold-seekers to risk all in their pursuit of riches (fleeting) while the riches of heaven (eternal) are offered to us freely.

[Away], all fear and sadness!

For the Lord of gladness,

Jesus, enters in.

Those who love the Father,

Though the storms may gather,

Still have peace within.

Yea, whate’er I here must bear,

Thou art still my Purest pleasure,

Jesus, priceless treasure!

(LSB 734:v 6)

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;

No merit of my own I claim

But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

On Christ the solid rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

(LSB #575:v1)

    As you struggle through this life with its burdens, remember that there is One who has borne for you the greatest burden: the burden of our guilt and its wages: death.  And this One, the Lord Jesus, invites you to lay those burdens on him in prayer, because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7).  He says,

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Matt. 11:28-30

    God’s peace be yours as you cast your cares on him.

    In his name,

Pastor

August Epistle: Gazing at Beauty

 It was the summer of 1893 that Katherine Lee Bates, Professor of Literature at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, came to Colorado Springs to teach summer courses at Colorado College.  

    One day, Katherine and several other teachers decided to go on a trip to the top of 14,000-foot Pike’s Peak.  They hired a “prairie wagon,” and then finished the last of the ascent on mules.  In her writings, she details how tired she was when they finally reached the top.  But when she saw the view, it took her  breath away!  She wrote,

“It was then and there, as I was looking out over the sea-like expanse of fertile country spreading away so far under those ample skies, that the opening lines of [a] hymn floated into my mind.”

    The poem/hymn Katherine Bates penned she originally sold for $5.  It was later set to music and became the beloved patriotic song we know as America the Beautiful.

Oh, beautiful for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America!

God shed his grace on thee,

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea.

    I’m sure we’re all familiar with the first verse.  Here is the lesser-known second verse:

Oh, beautiful for heroes proved

In liberating strife,

Who more than self their country loved,

And mercy more than life!

America! America!

May God thy gold refine,

Till all success be nobleness,

And ev’ry gain divine.

    Perhaps you learned this hymn in elementary school and still enjoy singing it on patriotic days.  America the Beautiful praises the beauty of our country and the pride we have in our nation.

    Another well-known hymn praises not the beauty of creation, not our pride, but humbly praises our beautiful Savior.  The hymn praises the beauty and majesty of Jesus Christ, comparing Him to the natural wonders of the world and emphasizing His divine qualities and role as Savior of the world.  Originally, the hymn was titled Fairest Lord Jesus.  It wasn’t until 1873 that the hymn was renamed Beautiful Savior.  Here are the words as we have them today:

Beautiful Savior, King of creation,

Son of God and Son of Man!

Truly I'd love Thee,

Truly I'd serve Thee,

Light of my soul, my joy, my crown.

Fair are the meadows,

Fair are the woodlands,

Robed in flow'rs of blooming spring;

Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer;

He makes our sorr'wing spirit sing.

Fair is the sunshine,

Fair is the moonlight,

Bright the sparkling stars on high;

Jesus shines brighter,

Jesus shines purer

Than all the angels in the sky.

    It was in 1848 that Richard Willis translated the hymn from German into English.  Two years later, in 1850, the hymn appeared in his book titled, Church Chorales and Choir Studies.  

    It’s great that we are patriotic and love our country.  There really is no other country on earth like it!  And, during this politically charged time, it’s easy to pin our hopes for our future on the success of one party or another, on one political leader or another.  But it’s also very important to remember that this world, with its politics and economies, its divisions and strife between peoples and nations, this world is passing away, it is fleeting.  The purple mountain majesties and amber waves of grain will be burned up by fire on the Last Day, and then will come judgment.

    In the end, the Word of God will remain, and the saving work of Jesus Christ: His incarnation, His sinless life, His atoning death and His death-defeating resurrection.  He is the light of our soul, our joy and crown.  He is, truly fairer and purer than the beautiful meadows and woodlands.  He does shine brighter and purer than the sun, the stars and the angels in the sky.

    Jesus is a beautiful Savior.  What He has done for us cannot be matched.  That the One who created and sustains this beautiful creation would give up his glory, take on our flesh and our sin, go willingly to take on the wrath of His Father as he suffered and died on the cross, then rise again to life all for us sinners truly takes our breath away.  The heroes of our past can’t hold a candle the work of our beautiful Savior, who loved us and laid down his life to liberate us not from tyrannical rule, but from sin, death and hell!

    It was in 1873 that Joseph Seiss, a Lutheran pastor and theologian, renamed the hymn.  He did so on the occasion of discovering that there was a fourth verse: 

Beautiful Savior,

Lord of the nations,

Son of God and Son of Man!

Glory and honor,

Praise, adoration,

Now and forevermore be Thine!

    Glory and honor, praise and adoration be Thine, now and forevermore, our beautiful Savior and Lord!

In the name of Jesus,

Pastor

July Epistle: By the Dawn’s Early Light

     On July 4th we all remember our Founding Fathers and the Colonies’ declaration that they would be a nation free from rule in which they had no representation, and we give thanks for the freedoms that we enjoy.  But do we remember why we celebrate with fireworks? 

     On June 18, 1812, the United States declared war on England after repeated disputes over free trade and the rights of sailors.  In August of 1814, American forces were overrun at Bladensburg, and the British captured and burned Washington D.C.

     With the nation’s capital fallen, the British set their sights on the city of Baltimore. In September, 5,000 British soldiers landed nearby, and began their march toward the city.  They were held at bay by the Americans, who had hastily constructed earthworks as a line of defense.  The British navy was called in to support the soldiers in their attack.  However, as the ships entered Baltimore harbor, they met resistance from Fort McHenry and its 1,000 defenders. 

    On September 13, 1814, the most powerful navy in the world sent a force of bomb and rocket ships to dislodge the defenders from their fortifications. Anchoring out of range of the fort’s cannon, the British ships launched a withering attack.  For twenty-five straight hours bombs and rockets rained down on Fort McHenry.

     All that day and through the night, from a British ship in the harbor, a young American lawyer named Francis Scott Key witnessed the devastating bombardment of the fort.  On the morning of September 14th, the guns of the ships went silent.  When the smoke and fog had cleared, he saw the huge American flag still flying proudly over the fort.  Unable to rout the fort’s defenders, the British military was forced to withdraw, leaving the city of Baltimore in America’s hands.  Francis Scott Key was so inspired by the sight of the American flag that he wrote a poem called “The Defense of Fort McHenry,” which was later put to music and renamed “The Star-Spangled Banner.”  It later became our National Anthem.

     We recently stood on the earthworks at Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor.  As we looked out over the bay we imagined what it must have been like for the poor soldiers defending the fort as the British flotilla fired off rockets and lobbed exploding shells over their heads.  It must have been terrifying!

     Today, as I think about the Church throughout the ages, that image of Fort McHenry comes to mind.  Like Fort McHenry, the Church has undergone heavy bombardment from its enemies –  from Satan and from the world.

     The first major persecution of the Christian church followed the great fire that destroyed much of the city of Rome in 64 AD.  Emperor Nero blamed the fire on the Christians, and launched a campaign of terror that led to many of them being tortured and killed, some in unimaginably gruesome ways, being crucified or burned alive.

     Other persecutions under various Roman emperors followed, until finally, the Edict of Milan (313 AD) permitted all religions to be practiced in the empire, including Christianity. 

     However, although the Roman emperors were no longer sanctioning persecution, the Church established by Jesus Christ has continued to be under constant bombardment from Satan and his worldly kingdom.  Millions of Christians worldwide have been killed under communist regimes, where religion has been seen as an enemy of the state.

     The Church has also come under fire from the modern secular state as “Science” has purportedly replaced the “mythology of religion” in explaining the origins of the universe (i.e. evolution), and where the teachings of the Bible have become “intolerant views,” and therefore something to be jettisoned, even from our theology (i.e. marriage between a man and a woman, two genders – male and female, sexual purity, etc.).

     Satan has been attacking the Church since its beginning, since he tempted our first parents to rebel against their Creator.  And yet, as the flag still flew over Fort McHenry that next morning, so God’s Church has remained and will continue to exist and to grow until the final day when Christ returns in glory.  The Holy Spirit continues to create faith in the hearts of people through the hearing of God’s Word, which will never pass away.  The Church is growing 

as the Holy Spirit grants faith in the hearts of believers in our own country, and in many countries worldwide, most notably in Africa and Asia.  The Church will continue to exist into eternity.

Built on the Rock

The Church shall stand

Even when steeples

Are falling.

Crumbled have spires

In ever land;

Bells still are chiming

And calling,

Calling the young

And old to rest,

But above all

The souls distressed,

Longing for rest

Everlasting.

Built on the Rock

the Church Shall Stand

LSB #645

    This July 4th, if you have the opportunity to watch a fireworks display commemorating the Battle of Baltimore and the attack on Fort McHenry, remember with great thanksgiving that the Lord preserves and enlarges His Church on earth, even in the face of Satan’s attacks; that His Word endures forever, even as the world tries to supplant it with its own philosophy.

O little flock, fear not the foe

Who madly seeks your overthrow;

Dread not his rage and pow'r.

And though your courage

sometimes faints,

His seeming triumph o'er God's saints

Lasts but a little hour.

As true as God's own Word is true,

Not earth nor hell's satanic crew

Against us shall prevail.

Their might? A joke, a mere facade!

God is with us and we with God—

Our vict'ry cannot fail.

O Little Flock, Fear Not the Foe

LSB 666

     Not all freedom is good, though that may seem odd to us.  Freedom from the rule and reign of tyrants, freedom from persecution, yes.  But freedom from God’s rule and reign, no.  Thanks be to God that He has sent His Son to free us from the guilt of our sin and the kingdom of Satan, and has brought us back into God’s kingdom, where we find that we are truly free.

God’s peace be with you,

Pastor