What Does This Mean?

The Farmer Who Is Not Stingy with His Seed

Encore Post: God’s ways are not our ways. That could be said to be a theme of these Sundays. Having been able to jump into a couple of tractors during planting season, I thought it absolutely amazing how much information the farmer had concerning his fields. The guy had harvest data from the last 5 years downloaded to his screen. The planter was able to adjust the amount of seed that was dropping into the ground based upon the data. If in previous years a particular area had a poor yield, the planter was not going to drop as many seeds. But in area where there was a bumper crop, well certainly the seeds were dropping. You don’t waste seed on poor soil. You get what you get but you bet the farm on the good soil. That’s why every farm tests his soil, and nurtures it with the various chemicals and lye. He wants to make the land more fertile than before. It would be a horrible idea to expect to have a bumper crop from the seeds that fell on the hardened earth of the tractor path for instance. You expect the crop from the fertile well cultivated land.

And God is not so stingy with his seed, which is His Word. You and I have fallen victim to believing that some people are beyond the word of God. That we have judged someone to be hard ground, that we don’t throw the seed which we all have been called to sow while we live in this world. Pastors of course are important sowers of the Word, the pastor is the one who is publicly called to proclaim the word of God in church He has been called. But too often people think it is only the pastor’s job to speak the Word of God, that congregation members don’t have that responsibly also placed upon them. That it’s not part of their calling as the Lord’s Christians. Thus, we by our own thinking, have hardened our own hearts to the word of God. We play the hard ground. Because we despise the command to speak this word to our children. We fail to take His call seriously. Repent.

Yet, the Lord is not so stingy with His seed. He does not go only one time and cast His seed. But more often than not, His Word is thrown out again, sown by one his messengers, by one of his Christians. The Word being heard and held on to for dear life. And by God’s grace alone, faith sprouts in the heart of this hearer and good fruit ripens along the way. Solely by God’s grace. And it could have been someone whom you and I both thought was too far gone, was not deserving of hearing the Word of God, perhaps because of their original rejection of His Word.

We would try to calculate. We want to have the data, we want the program to follow. We want great results. So we put our seed out to those who we think are ‘ready.’ Yet, we don’t know who is ready and who is not. Only God knows, for He is the one who prepares hearts.

But, we go into an evangelism program, trying to attract new people maybe by being relevant. We try to reinvent ourselves because that is what everyone is saying to do in order to grow. We, too worried by the things of this world, are called to repent. Yes, repent of your worrisome attitudes. God will grow His church the way He always has, by the pure preaching of His saving Word and the right and proper administration of His sacraments. His Word will do what He promised.

For the Lord will bear the harvest, even in places that you and I might not think they would come from. And in those people that we expect faith, unfortunately, it usally is wanting. And those who we would be apprehensive to share our faith with? We are humbled and watch God create faith in a person we would call the path. Why? I do not know. This is the doctrine of grace alone. It is a mystery. Our ways are not God’s way. Yet, we should rejoice in the gift of God’s Word because He does take it away. It His great grace and mercy that He has not taken away His Word, as much as we deserve to be in a famine of His Word for constant sins against it, particularly the sin of unbelief and rebellion. Yet, He continues to send His messengers, to proclaim His Word. And by such proclamation, faith is created. For with His Word also goes His Spirit. By His Word, the Holy Spirit works and creates faith. This is how you are called to faith. The Holy Spirit calls you by the very Gospel. Conversion and creation of faith is a work of God alone, don’t think otherwise.

Consider the grace of God further. God sent His messengers to sinful Israel knowing full well many of them would die for the word they proclaimed. Yet He did not stop sending his prophets. And even after these men were killed, He did not stop, but in fact sent His own Son, the very Word of God made flesh into the world. He also died, but as He promised, He rose from the dead. His Word is different than the cries of Abel the first to die for his faith. Abel cried out for justice and revenge. Christ’s Word rings out, “Forgive them Father for they know not what they do.” Forgiveness is the word. You are saved, by grace. And this grace is received. It is given to you.

Receive this grace into your hearts. Trust His Word. Cling to it for your life. And produce the fruits that come from a faith in Christ. That begins here. Faithfully hear His word preached in your ear. Receive His Supper faithfully. That via both the preached Word and the tangible Word of Christ that is the Sacraments, the Word would go into your heart, and the Spirit accompanying it may root out all the stones that are in your still cold and rocky heart of yours, and strengthen you in this faith. And thus produce even more fruit. For you need Christ’s love and grace put within you if you truly desire to love your brother, sister, mother. If you have not love, how can you say you are of God, because God is love?

The more you hear the Word of God, the more you immerse yourself in it, the more time you take to actually read it and put His Word on your lips, the more likely it will actually change the way you look at life, the way you act, and ultimately the way you look at Christ Himself. His grace knows no bounds. He does stop throwing the seed, nor does His Spirit stop working either. So being His children, neither should, nor should we judge who deserves this Word or not. It is not up for us to decide. If Jesus spoke to and made his biggest human enemy Saul of Tarsus into his most avid confessors, then anyone in this world can be brought to faith and should not be counted out. As long as it is today, it is the day of salvation.

I have said this before, the Lord is a farmer at heart. He desires the greatest harvest. So, the Lord Jesus still sends His Sowers into His field. Even though the harvest is great, there is more sowing to be done. And its not just the called and ordained pastor’s job to do that. You have the responsibility and obligation to teach the Word of God to your children. And you have opportunities to toss the seed toward your neighbors. It may not feel like much at all when you have the opportunity. You may feel like you have blown it, but the Lord’s Word never returns to Him void. It will ultimately do what He purposed it do. And the times you think you are throwing seed straight to the birds, maybe you are, but only truly God knows. Because He is not stingy with His Word, neither should we be stingy with it. For all need to hear the Word of Christ be to saved. For faith comes by hearing.

As the seasons change, and the harvest seems imminent let us not lose our focus. Let not us not lose hope, waiting for Him to reap His harvest. But rather trust all the more in the one who has done everything He has promised He would do: come, die, and rise. Surely, He who has done all this for our salvation will do what He has promised. So, keep receiving His grace this day, hear His Word, gladly learn it. That by His wondrous grace, you will be kept ready for the day He bears the harvest home.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO

Presentation of our Lord

Encore Post: Childbirth was an exciting and frightening event at the time of Jesus. Many children and their mothers died soon after a birth. When both mother and child survived the ordeal, God’s law required male children to be circumcised on the eighth day following their birth. After forty days — when the greatest danger to the life of the mother and the child had passed, they were to present themselves at the temple to make a sacrifice. For the woman, this sacrifice made her clean again and able to return to worship God.

During the time of Jesus, Rabbis gathered in the temple in the court of the women, the closest to the Holy of Holies a woman was allowed to go. They would take each child in their arms and bless them. So it was that the Holy Spirit directed Simeon to Joseph, Mary and Jesus. The Spirit revealed to Simeon that Jesus was the coming Messiah. By the prophecy given to Him, Simeon pointed to Jesus’ mission to save both Jews and Gentiles and to the cross. Simeon’s song of joy is still sung by the church in worship.

Anna was a prophetess, like Miriam and Deborah, one of very few women God used to speak to His people. She likely served in the temple to help with a variety of tasks. In her devotion to God, she also saw Jesus and had the privilege of telling everyone that the Messiah had come.

On February 2, the Church celebrates the presentation of Jesus in the temple and the singing of Simeon’s song, known as the Nunc Dimittis. We also sing this song every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper.

Charity, Charitability, Government, and the Needy

There will always be beggars among us in the church and throughout the world. The charitable work of the church is not on the decline. It is as vibrant as ever and even better organized than it has even been. But, our common understanding of it on the decline.

There are a few factors contributing to our own weaker view of the mercy work of the church. In some cases, community or ecumenical efforts have eclipsed congregational or synodical activities. Mostly, the bottomless pockets of government benefit programs are steadily pushing out private charity in our minds.

Government is the enemy of charity and charitability. It anonymizes the recipient, stealing the blessing of shame. That shame is a twofold gift. It can serve to motivate our neighbor to better themselves, escaping their situation. That shame can also fuel Christian gratitude toward the benefactor.

Government further compels benefactors to participate by the irresistible force of violence or incarceration. Instead of choosing charitable vehicles, the tax-paying benefactor sees their money go where political winds blow it. This compulsion breeds resentment. The resentment is a result of the immoral or evil purposes, graft and waste overshadowing the good. Further, the irresistible force can create a mentality akin to, “I already gave at the door.”

As Christians, we have a duty to provide for the good of the needy, “the widow and the orphan.” The first Christians saw this and the fairness of it as a critical need in the work of the church. To free-up the disciples in their ministry, St. Stephen and the others were set-up in works of mercy, serving their neighbor (Acts 6:1-7).

Now, the widow and the orphan are not exclusive terms and ought to be understood well among us. In ancient near eastern culture, widows and orphans were the most helpless of society. Women could not own property. Without a husband, father, or grown son, a woman’s only option outside of starvation would be prostitution. This harsh reality is the genesis of the St. Nicholas legends, providing dowries for destitute girls to be married instead.

Orphans were similarly hopeless in their plight. Without an inheritance or ability to find work, shelter, or food, voluntary slavery was one of the few options outside of begging. And, beggars on the streets were easy prey for all sorts of brigands and ne’er-do-wells.

These examples are particularly useful for us in our society. Widows and orphans are in less dire circumstances among us. But, the helplessness of the 1^st century folks gives us good guidance nonetheless. Those most in need are always here. For us, the disabled, the injured, and those impoverished by inescapable circumstance are like the widow and the orphan.

It can be easy for us to slip into a lazy charitability in different directions. Vehicular charity, government as charity, and indiscriminate charity are paths that can lead to giving that doesn’t benefit our neighbor.

First, we might insulate ourselves with vehicular charity through organizations, concealing the face and plight of the beggar. A bigger organization is often better in this way. Of course, we love to hear personalized stories of recipients, without knowing or seeing them in the flesh. It’s tidy and sanitary. We get a tax benefit and an emotional boost.

This isn’t evil. Giving via large organizations that are faithful in their service brings economics of scale into play. Those organizations can provide benefits to the needy that individuals and small organizations couldn’t muster. We can make it evil by hiding all of our charity here, excusing ourselves from other needs around us.

In a similar vein with the vehicular, we may fall into a notion that government programs cover the needs. “I pay my taxes, providing for the needy. Ergo, I need not give more or differently. ” The giving patterns of politicians are a strong example of this mindset. Many even give far less than the limits of tax benefits available, demonstrating a great lack of charitability.

When this mindset is true, it is evil.

The last, indiscriminate charity can be directly harmful to the beggar. I once ran across a woman who reported an example as normative in her giving. “This man, an obvious alcoholic, had a really detailed story. His story was so good, that I gave him $20. I know he was gonna buy booze. But, it was a great story. I’ll always give to a good storyteller.”

That kind of giving is harmful charity. The beggar is absolutely causing themselves harm by the gift. Your gift in this case is no different than a bat across the face. When we give, knowing the gift is likely to cause, increase, or encourage self-harming behaviors, the gift is evil.

In the church, we have a particular responsibility towards each other. Our charity toward each other in the congregation is some of the most personal and faithful giving we do. Charity toward the lazy is more obvious in our midst. St. Paul warns us against this. “Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us… For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.” (2 Thessalonians 3:6,10-12)

Here our neighbor is dwelling outside the 7^th commandment. They are compelling the congregation to give to them without genuine need. This is easy enough to discern. A person who can work, but won’t, deserves no charity. They are not just stealing from their benefactors. They are also stealing from those among us and outside our gathering in genuine need. We should not disregard the “widow and the orphan,” those without means or ability to provide for themselves in favor of the lazy.

Let our charity always help our neighbor, and never harm!

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Sole Pastor
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX
and
Mission planting pastoral team:
Epiphany Lutheran Church
Bastrop, TX

Eulogies Aren’t Just Bad

Many of us have been to that funeral. The one where the deceased is the center of the show. Maybe it was called a “celebration of life.” Or, the thing was intended to be the happy event because everybody’s always so sad at funerals. In the service, we heard a eulogizing message that made little or no mention of Jesus. It certainly didn’t speak of what wondrous things Jesus has done and is doing for Aunt Gertrude. There was no talk of Uncle Jurgen’s rest in Christ, or the promised resurrection on the last day.

To be clear, I’m not talking about reminiscing together. I’m not talking about a glowing obituary, or even a public reading of it. I’m talking about those quasi-hagiographies that elevate the deceased above the character of a sinner, saved for Jesus’s sake, by no merit of their own. These are on the doorstep of idolatry.

In talking about the funeral, you might hear something like, “The resurrection of all flesh?” What use is that to say? This is a celebration of life! We’re taking comfort in who Gertrude was.” Or, “How will people know who Jurgen was? Someone has to talk about him, so the people get to know him. They need to know what he was like.”

That is grief talking. In the resurrection, we will be with all the faithful, including Gertrude and Jurgen. They are at rest. They’re not gone forever. They are awaiting the resurrection, having been delivered from this tribulation. “I said to him, ‘Sir, you know.’ And he said to me, ‘These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.’” (Revelation 7:14)

Eulogies can be bad, when they’re false. It’s one thing to dwell on the highlights of a person’s life in their obituary. It’s entirely another to glorify their character beyond reality. “Gertrude was the kindest person anyone ever met.” “Jurgen was so selfless, no one ever had a cross word to say about him.” We’re talking about a sinner like us, with warts and weaknesses aplenty. Today, unlike us, they are free from sin today. Yesterday, they were not.

Eulogies can be worse, when they distract from the person and work of Jesus. The hagiographic problem rears its head in its dominance over our dead loved one’s savior, Jesus. The Gospel should always have predominance. This means that the kind words and remembrances of Gertrude or Jurgen ought not be greater in number, longer in presentation, or bolder in proclamation than the work of their Lord, Jesus Christ.

Eulogies can be wicked, when they deny the current state of blissful rest. This falls into the land of in-a-better-place-ism. “Jesus called her home, because He needed another angel.” “He has gone to a better place.” Neither of these are true, as we’ve discussed before. The dead in Christ are at rest in Him. “Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.” (Revelation 6:11)

Eulogies are evil, when they deny the fleshly resurrection. We’ll hear about how Jurgen is freed from suffering. He’s done with his body now. The first statement is true and good. The latter is false and anti-Christian. The promise, given to us in baptism with the faith to trust in that promise, is salvation and resurrection. This isn’t an innovative teaching. Christianity has confessed the resurrection throughout the ages. Modern Christians are the ones returning to ancient heresies, like denying the resurrection. See also: Acts 6:6-8, 1 Corinthians 15:12-20, Job 19:23-27, and John 11:23-25.

Concerning the right use of Eulogies, “A eulogy is not the best Christian tradition. An obituary may be read that focuses on the gospel promise of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ our Lord and not on the good deeds of the deceased. It might be appropriate for family and friends to say a few words about the beloved in a more casual setting, such as a reception or family gathering after the service.” (Final Victory, p. 47, Bryan Wolfmueller, CPH, 2009).

Praise be to Jesus, the Firstborn of the Dead!

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Sole Pastor
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX
and
Mission planting pastoral team:
Epiphany Lutheran Church
Bastrop, TX

Before Childbirth—Preparing the Parents

Am I ready to be a father? How can I possibly be a mother? Shortly after a man and a woman find out that they are pregnant, it is quite natural to be shocked and surprised, to be afraid and to feel unprepared. Certainly there are many things to do to prepare for the birth of a child, to figure out a name, to tell the grandparents and family, to buy supplies, to schedule appointments, and the list goes on. But the first thing we should do is read God’s Word and pray together. We should prepare our homes as Christian homes and the husband should pray for the wife, and the wife pray for her husband, and together they should pray for their unborn child. In an effort to prepare the parents before childbirth, let us consider God’s Word found in Psalm 139.

Psalm 139:1-6

O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
²You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    you discern my thoughts from afar.
³You search out my path and my lying down
    and are acquainted with all my ways.
⁴Even before a word is on my tongue,
    behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
⁵You hem me in, behind and before,
    and lay your hand upon me.
⁶Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
    it is high; I cannot attain it.

Psalm 139 reminds us first of who God is. God knows everything about us. He knows about our relationship with our spouse, and he knows about our unborn child. He knows the hairs on our head and He knows each of His sheep by name. If you are feeling uncertain or fearful about a child born into your family, the Lord knows this and He knows what you need before you ask Him. Ask Him, pray to the Lord! Prepare your home for this child and start the preparations with prayer.

Psalm 139:7-12

⁷Where shall I go from your Spirit?
    Or where shall I flee from your presence?
⁸If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
    If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
⁹If I take the wings of the morning
    and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
¹⁰even there your hand shall lead me,
    and your right hand shall hold me.
¹¹If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
    and the light about me be night,”
¹²even the darkness is not dark to you;
    the night is bright as the day,
    for darkness is as light with you.

Perhaps one of the first reactions for the husband is the thought to run away. Responsibility is knocking at the door, to take care of wife and child, to make sacrifices for others. The first reaction for the wife? I can’t do this! I am not ready for this! This wasn’t part of my plan. But this child was part of God’s plan. And this child depends on you both, not just one of you, to take care of him and raise him.

We ought not to play hide-and-seek with our Savior. For wherever we go and whatever we do, He is there. He can find us. He has searched for us after all! But this is not to say that God is scary, but rather that God is merciful. Whatever your thoughts and whatever your worries, the Lord is with you. The Lord will be with you through it all. North and South and East and West, the Lord will never leave you nor forsake you.

Psalm 139:13-16

¹³For you formed my inward parts;
    you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.^[a]
Wonderful are your works;
    my soul knows it very well.
¹⁵My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
    the days that were formed for me,
    when as yet there was none of them.

¹⁷How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.

In this passage, we recognize that we were all born by God’s hand, both husband and wife, and the unborn child. God is our Creator, and when He brings life into the world through the union of a man and a woman, He will surely protect that life, He will surely strengthen you to care for this child, He will certainly provide for you now, like He did when you were being born. Parents, remember this, your child is fearfully and wonderfully made by God the Creator. And so are you!

As you prepare for this child, continue in the Word of God and prayer. Continue going to church. Continue making sacrifices of time, talents, and treasures for your spouse, and never forget that the Lord will never leave you nor forsake you. He will strengthen you and preserve you both, and the life of the unborn child in the womb.

Rev. James Peterson
St. John Lutheran Church
Curtis, Nebraska

The Advent of our King

The advent of our King
Our prayers must now employ,
And we must hymns of welcome sing
In strains of holy joy.

“Advent” means “to come toward.” When we use the word Advent, we speak about Jesus’ First coming toward earth and His Second Coming on the Last Day. In this verse and during this season, we recall when Jesus first came to earth as a baby in Bethlehem.

The everlasting Son
Incarnate deigns to be,
Himself a servant’s form puts on
To set His servants free.

Jesus is the Son of God. This verse reminds us that Jesus is “everlasting,” both before the creation of the world and after He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. The Son became flesh as a servant, the opposite of King, to set His servants, all of us, free from sin, death, and the devil.

O Zion’s daughter, rise
To meet your lowly King,
Nor let your faithless heart despise
The peace He comes to bring.

“Zion’s daughter” is an Old Testament phrase for the Church. And here there are two meanings for the word “rise.” The obvious meaning is to stand up while we sing for “the King is coming.” But here also, the hymn means for us to consider the resurrection, that the Church shall rise from the graves on the Last Day and see the King, our Lord Most High.

As judge, on clouds of light,
He soon will come again
And His true members all unite
With Him in heaven to reign.

Suddenly the hymn shifts from the First Coming to the Second Coming of our Lord. Now the Lord Jesus the Judge of the living and the dead comes on the clouds as the Scriptures testify. This verse puts the hymn in our own context, for we await the Last Day with patience and joy in the midst of suffering.

Before the dawning day
Let sin’s dark deeds be gone,
The sinful self be put away,
The new self now put on.

What can we do while we wait for the Last Day? We put the new self on. While we worship we ask for God’s forgiveness of our sins, and He forgives them. This He has promised to us. Then we hear the Word of God, which works faith in us. Finally, we receive the Sacrament, the foretaste of the feast to come.

All glory to the Son,
Who comes to set us free,
With Father, Spirit, ever one
Through all eternity.

This final verse is a doxology. “Dox” means “glory.” These final verses of some hymns give glory to God. In this particular hymn, the doxology serves as a profound conclusion, that our lives in heaven on the Last Day will be endless refrains of giving glory to God forever and ever.

Rev. James Peterson
First Lutheran Church
Phillipsburg, Kansas

Sunday School: Tabitha

In Jewish custom, when someone dies, they are washed and laid out for mourning only a short time. They had to be buried as soon as possible, no longer than three days after death. Peter came to the room while they were grieving Tabitha.

Peter had been with Jesus all three times he raised people from the dead. Just as Jesus and the prophet Elijah did, he took the mourners out of the room and then prayed. This is very different than the healers of that day — and now — who make the event into a big show and who take all the credit. Very simply, he told her to get up, and she did. Peter then brought the woman to her friends, who spread the word throughout Joppa.

As with the miracles of Jesus, there are two messages for us in this story. One is that God cares about His people and grieves with them. Tabitha would once again die – and will rise again on the last day. Here God turned grief into joy for those He loves.

The more important message, however, is that the Gospel which Peter preached is true and from God. It creates faith in the hearts of those who become believers. The focus is on what God is doing and not what we do.

This story also calls are attention to a faithful servant of God — Tabitha. She has been an example for the church throughout the ages of those who give their lives to care for others. This we have in common with her. Our calling is to care for others
and honor those who care.

Blog Post Series

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Sunday School: Paul Shipwrecked

As a Roman citizen, Paul had the right to be tried by the emperor himself. Since the High Priests had decided to kill him, Paul exercised that right. Traveling by ship was still the quickest way to get to Rome, although it was risky, especially in the fall, when Paul’s ship set sail. Having arrived at a small port in Crete, the group had to decide if they would want to try for a larger port to their west. Paul had a vision of danger, and warned the party without success.

When a ship in this circumstance runs too close to shore, sailors would throw all unnecessary cargo overboard. St. Paul’s crew did this and put down the anchors as well. Since this left the boat at the mercy of the winds, sailors would always look for other options. Normally it is not wise to attempt to land in an unfamiliar place without aid. St. Paul’s crew had no better option and ran the ship into a sandbar attempting it.

Throughout this ordeal, God kept Paul and his companions safe as He promised He would. Paul’s calm in peril impressed all the pagans who traveled with him. These events are remembered to this day in Malta, where they were stranded over the winter.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, Indiana

For All the Saints, Who From Their Labors Rest

Sermon on Revelation 7:13-17
All Saint’s Sunday
October 30, 2022
Saint Paul Lutheran Church
And Trinity Lutheran Church
McGregor and Guttenberg, Iowa

Text: “Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Prayer: For all the saints who from their labors rest, Who Thee by faith before the world confessed, Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest. Amen.

Christ is Risen!

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who by his death has destroy death and by his rising again opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.

Introduction: On this All Saints 2022, a flood of thoughts and emotions occupy my thoughts. Three years ago on Reformation Day, Evangeline Charissa Keller was baptized into the name of the Triune God by her father in the NICU in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Her entrance into the world was dramatic and the shadow in the back of my thoughts as we drove there was the remote possibility that she, her mother — my daughter Hanne — and her father could be at the Marriage Feast of the Lamb by that day. The Lord had mercy and blessed the work of doctors, nurses and many others to perform near perfect procedures. They all came through well and thrived as I preached for my son-in-law that year’s All Saints divine service. It was as if the Holy Spirit whispered “not yet, not yet.” In the years since, all is very well with them and a very bright three-year-old joined her six-year-old sister in delighting and challenging her mother and father.

Our text this morning opens the curtain of heaven for us to see the throne of God. There gathered before the Father and the Lamb of God are the children of God from every time – Adam and Noah, Joseph and Moses, David and Elijah, and all those trusting in the coming Messiah. There are also the Apostles and Evangelists, Christians from every time and place, language and nation, and people much more familiar to me.

I remember my own grandparents and grandparents-in-law, who lived and prospered through incredibly hard times, kept the faith in their own … unique … ways, who were often living examples of saints and sinners at the same time. I remember my grandmother Smith reading from the big, KJV family Bible to me as a child on her lap. I remember my grandmother Schneider and her aunt who gave me my first Greek New Testament as a confirmation gift. There are my parents and parents-in-law, troubled in troubled times, yet who still kept their faith. Also present is my father, that bruised reed the Lord did not break. And now in 2022, my beloved wife, Kris, has joined them. She loved me, her children and grandchildren through constant pain all of her life, produced endless beautiful and practical crafts that blessed many. Her straightforward, rock-hard faith was an inspiration to me and to many. All are at rest with their Savior, along with two grandchildren whom the Good Shepherd folded in his arms while still in the womb. Many others are there, too. My Fathers and brothers in the faith that taught me and many others and laid the same stole of ministry on me as I have now laid on my son-in-law and spiritual sons. I am thankful for them and for their confessions, praying to be as faithful to the Lord as they were.

So, how did they get there before the throne? Born sinners they struggled with the Old Adam and Old Eve until the day they died. Yet when they were baptized, Jesus united them with his death. When he rose from the dead, he opened the way for them – and us – to be with him forever. He, the Lamb of God took away the sins of the world – their sin, our sin. At their deaths, his angels came, gave them the white robes of his righteousness and the palms of victory they wave before the throne.

In life, he was their Rock, their Fortress, and their Might; he was their Captain in the well-fought fight. Now they rest from their labors and God has dried every tear from their eyes. Yet to me, and to you, the Holy Spirit still seems to whisper, “Not yet, Not yet!” We feebly struggle, they in glory shine!

Eight years ago, I struggled with a massive infection in my heel. Several times I told my pastor that I still believed what I taught and confessed these thirty-seven years as I went to surgery. Later I was told that I was on the threshold of attending the Marriage Feast. It was as if the Holy Spirit had said, “not yet, not yet.” In the years since, I have continued to preach, to teach, cared for my home congregation when our pastor was on the threshold himself, presided at the weddings of two of my children, seen all my grandchildren save one baptized with the same baptismal shell with which their parents and others were baptized, began to pass the baton on to four of my spiritual sons, welcomed a brand new pastor to our home congregation, and, with him, mentor vicars. God has blessed me more than I deserve.

And now I reflect that I was blessed to celebrate All Saints Day with my wife thirty-four times, thankful for each day we were together, praying to thank the Lord for those safely home. Now I pray after receiving the Lord’s Supper to thank God for my late wife, an ever-growing list of grandchildren, my children and their spouses. I will rejoice that this year I can still hold their hands, speak with them through the ether and see them all once in a while. Soon, all too soon, the angels will come for me or one of them, to join those at the Feast as the Holy Spirit no longer says, “not yet” but the Lord Jesus says to one of us, “welcome to the joy of your Father.”

And yet there breaks a more glorious day. The saints triumphant will rise in bright array; The King of glory passes on His way. Sin and death will die. The world renewed, restored and be transformed, fit for eternity. God will pitch his tent with us and live with us forever. And he will dry every tear from our eyes.

Christ is Risen! Amen, come Lord Jesus, come!

Prayer:

Oh, may Thy soldiers, faithful, true, and bold, Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old And win with them the victor’s crown of gold! Amen.

Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, set watch over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus to life everlasting.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, Indiana

As the head of my household, can I commune my family?

No, you should not. And the why matters here. The notion of community enjoyed by Christians in fellowship together is governed by the Law of Christian love for my neighbor. Yes, love is a function of God’s Law. God’s love for you is purely the Gospel of undeserved forgiveness through the blood of Jesus. But, His command for you to love your neighbor and your compliance with it is purely a function of God’s Law.

Fourth commandment – “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” (Exodus 20:12 ESV) “Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” (Deuteronomy 5:16)

“What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise or anger our parents and other authorities, but honor them, serve and obey them, love and cherish them.” (Luther’s Small Catechism, section 1:4)

Luther’s expansion of the commandments in the small catechism is taken directly from Jesus’s teaching of the commandments in Matt 5. Jesus condemns lust just as adultery and hatred just as murder. We are right to understand all of the commandments in a similar way.

As the head of a household, you bring your family into a church. By joining fellowship with that church, you are submitting yourself to her authority. You may only resist or reject, if that church operates in a way that is contrary to God’s Word. If your conscience so compels you, you ought also to leave that church and find a faithful one.

However, under the authority of that church, you are bound to her governance. This is not different than children, who are bound to the governance of their parents. The voluntary nature of our submission is the only unique feature here. If we are Christians in a particular place, then we are bound by God’s law to that body unless or until we sever ourselves from it.

This is also true of a congregation’s relationship to District and Synod. We do not have the moral authority to disregard synodical doctrine and practice. In our voluntary association with a synod, we are bound by the 4th Commandment to submit ourselves to that governance. If we are to deviate from it, we are also bound to separate ourselves from that synod.

Now, getting back home, my household is a member of a local congregation. This congregation is a member congregation of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. We believe teach and confess that the institution of the Lord’s Supper belongs to the church as a whole and ought to be governed and conducted in good order.

Our teaching springs from Jesus’s institution of the Lord’s Supper among the twelve disciples (Matthew 26, Mark 16, Luke 22). It’s important to recognize that there were other groupings of followers throughout Jesus’s ministry. Jesus sent out seventy-two to proclaim the nearness of the Kingdom of God (Luke 10). St. Paul also reports that there were over 500 witnesses to the resurrection in the 40 days Jesus walked the earth before the Ascension (1 Corinthians 15).

Yet, none of these received the institution of the Lord’s Supper or the command to go and make disciples of all nations. That work, the governance of it, and passing of it to others was left for the disciples to manage. That’s the work of the church. We are to conduct ourselves in good order and submit ourselves to faithful governance within the church.

The particular articles governing us as members of member congregations of the LC–MS are these. “Our churches teach that the one holy Christian Church is to remain forever. The church is the congregation of Saints in which the Gospel is purely taught and the sacraments are correctly administered…” (Augsburg Confession, Article: VII). “Our churches teach that no one should publicly teach in the church, or administer the sacraments, without a rightly ordered call” (AC XIV).

In voluntary Fourth Commandment submission to the authority of our congregations and their synodical governance, we cannot practice the Lord’s Supper apart from the administration of those pastors, who are rightly called to do so. We are certainly free to leave the fellowship in search of a faithful one, if we are so driven by our conscience. But, we cannot pretend to submit to the church’s authority publicly, and privately rebel against her.

That would be unfaithful to God’s commands for us. God’s Word requires that we hear and obey. That includes submitting to those authorities He has given us. As we each confessed in our confirmations, I will suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from this faith.

As we confess, so let us do.

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Sole Pastor
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX
and
Mission planting pastoral team:
Epiphany Lutheran Church
Bastrop, TX