Sermon for the Feast of Christ the King

A sermon preached at Trinity-Mount Rainier on the Feast of Christ the King, the Last Sunday of the Church Year (LSB Proper 29C), November 24, 2019.

The King Enthroned
Luke 23:27-43
(Other Readings Appointed: Malachi 3:13-18; Colossians 1:13-20)

Today as we come to the conclusion of another Church Year, we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. This day’s celebration summarizes the entirety of the year as we look back to how our Lord Jesus came to us and what He accomplished for us and for our salvation and as we look forward to where our Savior is leading us as we reflect on the eternity which awaits us whom He has saved. We keep this day to remember and celebrate the rule of Jesus in our midst as the Church and in our lives as individual believers as we acclaim Him as our Lord and Savior, the One who is enthroned as King forever.

These titles of Jesus—Lord and King—are given to Him because of the fact that they are His by right. And yet, as we recall that these titles belong to Jesus, we are also struck by the fact that these titles are paradoxical. In today’s readings, we are indeed pointed to see Jesus Christ as the King and Lord of all. And yet, we must ask ourselves, “What kind of King is Jesus Christ?” As we look to the Scriptures, we will not find a King who rules and governs in any earthly sense of the conception of what a king should be. Rather, as we look to Jesus our King we will find and discover the One who is the King of Love.

Read Full Post »

Sermon for Pentecost 23

A sermon preached at Trinity-Mount Rainier on the Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost (LSB Proper 28C), November 17, 2019.

The Day Is Coming
Readings Appointed
(Malachi 4:1-6; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13; Luke 21:5-28)

As I mentioned last week in my sermon, these last Sundays of the Christian Church Year turn our thoughts to what is known in theology as “the last things”. And as strange as some of these things might sound to “modern ears”, for the people of God, these are not just matters that are the things of myth and legend. These are matters which are terribly serious which we by faith take as the truth because the Lord has revealed these things to us in His Holy Word.

Last Sunday, we looked at the truth of the faith we confess when we say in the words of the Creed, “I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.” Today, we look at the truth behind our confession of faith when we profess: “I believe in Jesus Christ…[who] ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.” In these words, we state our belief that we trust the angels’ word to the apostles at Jesus’ ascension: This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go up into heaven. (Acts 1:11b)

Read Full Post »

Sermon for Pentecost 22

A sermon preached at Trinity-Mount Rainier on the Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost (LSB Proper 27C), November 10, 2019.

The Living God of Life
Exodus 3:1-15 and Luke 20:27-40
(Other Reading Appointed: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8, 13-17)

Thanks to the internet and the memes created on it, a picture that has sometimes popped up on my news feed is one of a statue of Jesus with His face in his hand, perhaps because He was weeping for some reason. Usually this picture has been connected with someone having done something or said something which seems, well, incredibly stupid. This picture has often been named the “Jesus Facepalm”, and in one particular meme it states, “He forgives you…but still…”, the thinking behind it being the following question, “How could you be so stupid?”

My Geometry teacher in high school had a slogan posted across the top of the classroom blackboard which said, “The only stupid question is an unasked question”. Today’s encounter between Jesus and the Sadducees in today’s Gospel almost comes across as a moment which may have left Jesus shaking His head at the question which had been put to Him. Yet, even though this could have been a “Jesus Facepalm” moment, Jesus does take the time to answer the Sadducees’ question, not to give them the answer that they were looking for, but to reveal to them, to the others who were around to hear Jesus’ words that day, and to us more about who the God we worship, follow, and serve is.

Read Full Post »

Sermon for the Feast of All Saints

A sermon preached at Trinity-Mount Rainier on the Feast of All Saints (Observed), November 3, 2019.

If You’re Happy, You’re In Christ
Matthew 5:1-12
(Other Readings Appointed: Revelation 7:9-17; 1 John 3:1-3)

In the minds of some, it may seem strange for a church who arose out of the Reformation to be celebrating a feast day in honor and memory of All Saints. After all, was not one of the issues that the Reformers had with the Roman Church the abuses which surrounded the “invocation of the saints”, that is calling on the saints to hear one’s prayers rather than making one’s prayer directly to God? Another issue revolved around who exactly decides who is a saint. Was it to be only those whom the Pope decrees, according to the Roman Church’s determination, as being in heaven and worthy of remembrance and intercession; or is the number of the saints much larger and broader, perhaps really only known to God?

The Lutheran understanding concerning the saints was stated clearly from the beginning in the Augsburg Confession. There it was said that the saints are to be remembered “in order that we imitate their faith and good works, according to our calling”, but that “Scripture does not teach calling on the saints or pleading for help from them. For it sets before us Christ alone as Mediator, atoning Sacrifice, High Priest, and Intercessor. He is to be called upon, and He has promised that our prayers will be heard” (AC XXI, Latin). In the spirit of this confession, we keep this day to remember those who have gone on before us in the faith of Christ, who now rest from their labors awaiting the Day of Resurrection, and with whom we too look forward in sharing in the never-ending peace and bliss of eternal life in the presence of God in that new heaven and new earth which will be revealed.

Read Full Post »