The Humanists are advertising now...ho hum...

One of two things are true.  Either the economy is so robust right now that a group of humanists has spare cash on hand to spend on humanist advertisements, or humanists believe so strongly in their cause that they will sacrificially give toward its promotion even when things aren't going so well.

I speak facetiously, but you can check it out for yourself: Humanists launch huge godless ad campaign

What to make of it?  Is it going to convince anyone?  Unlikely, but it is revealing that when humanism attacks Christianity (it also attacks Judaism and Islam in this case, but they can speak for themselves), it usually makes some kind of moral argument.  The message in this case is loud and clear: picking and choosing passages from the Bible that depict God acting and/or speaking immorally and contrasting those passages with quotations from 'humanists' that show a higher morality gives credence to the idea that belief in God is not the morally superior option.

There are plenty of responses available to Christians.  Some would be tempted to respond to the accusations directly, perhaps trying to justify God's words or actions based on the specifics of the situation or the bigger picture of God's unquestionable justice.  That's a lot of work, and even if it's true, it doesn't address the major issues we should have with the image of Christianity that these advertisements address.  Others might posit that the humanists employ a flawed hermeneutical formula (interpretive lens) when it comes to Scripture.  Still others could ask probing questions about the presuppositional bias of the humanists themselves.  What is the basis for the employed standard of morality?  How is it possible to approve the conduct or attitude of one over another in the absence of an absolute and unchanging moral standard?  Is an unchanging, absolute moral standard even possible apart from a supreme authority who gives and upholds it?  Even still, though, it all avoids bringing the discussion to the proper place.

The point of Christianity is not that we live moral lives.  It is not that we work to improve our moral conduct throughout our life.  It is not even to have the perfect moral code nor is it to attain moral perfection. 

We have an enormous problem called sin.  We cannot conquer our sinfulness nor can we perfectly keep it from expressing itself in sinful deeds.  We all fail in light of God's moral code (which is, incidentally, perfect - because it is from God).  We are all the hypocrites we are accused of being in that we hold up one moral standard and our actions fall short. 

The point of Christianity is for you to live with God forever.  How is this possible?  Not by having a perfect moral code nor by living perfectly morally, but by faith.  The Father, in the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus of Nazareth, forgives the moral failings of the world.  They are ascribed to Jesus and on account of them Jesus suffered and died.  The Son of God did not stay dead, however; death has no dominion over him.  Jesus rose from the dead to the glory of God the Father to demonstrate to all his power over sin, death, and the devil.  By the power of the Holy Spirit we are called, gathered, enlightened, and sanctified in the one, holy, Christian and apostolic Church.  God mercifully forgives our sins and graciously gives us everlasting life.

So do the Humanists have a point?  Do they really show people the fallacy of faith in Christ with their advertising and self-promotion?  Of course not.  What they uphold is utterly pathetic in light of what true Christianity proclaims and teaches.  The point of Christianity is everlasting life, and God grants this by forgiving immoral humanity on account of his perfect Son. 

What humanistic teaching can compare with this?  When a humanist fails (and they most surely do), they become just as hypocritical as the failed Christian.  Then what?  Is he or she excommunicated from humanism?  Are they no longer permitted to be humanists?  Of course not - humanism will usually rewrite its moral code to encompass this now 'enlightened' conduct and justify it to the world.  It gets old and tiring.  With God, the moral code does not change even when everyone fails to uphold it.  We all want to uphold it, and we even hope to improve our conduct throughout our lives, but at the same time we acknowledge our human limitations.  The problem is not with the Law, but with the failing people.  Thankfully with God, the remedy to cure failing humanity also never changes - forgiveness from the Father is ours through the death and resurrection of Christ, which is delivered to us through the Means of Grace by the Holy Spirit!

Last Sunday of the Church Year Sermon 2010

With thanks to the Rev. Rick Stuckwisch for helping with the end!

Do Not Weep for Me

Luke 23:27-43

26th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 29 C, 2010)

Zion Lutheran Church

Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Pastor Jonathon Bakker

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. The Holy Scripture for our consideration this day is the Gospel reading from St. Luke which you just heard read.

And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him. But Jesus, turning to them, said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!' Then they will begin ‘to say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!”’ For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?" There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots. And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.” The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.” And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

‘Do not weep for me, daughters of Jerusalem, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed.’ Is this that day, dear brothers and sisters in Christ? Do we cry out for the mountains to fall on us, or for the hills to cover us?

Today is the last Sunday of the church year – the Sunday of the Fulfillment. Often on this Sunday we have heard the parable of the wise and foolish virgins – they are the basis for the sermon hymn. Today’s text is quite different. When Jesus taught the parables of the fig tree, of the wise and foolish virgins, and of the sheep and the goats, he was already in Jerusalem, but there was much more to take place before his betrayal, arrest, trial, and crucifixion. When our Lord speaks today, he is trudging along the path toward Golgotha; Simon of Cyrene is already carrying his cross. He is bleeding, wounded, and dying. The scourging torture he suffered at the hands of Herod’s men had sapped him of the strength to carry his own cross. He did not have much time to tell a dramatic parable.

His chosen 12 had all but abandoned him. John alone is said to have been with Jesus at the cross. At this point of our Lord’s life he was speaking to crowds of followers, but not the apostles. It is unlikely that they would have heard many of his teachings or parables before. Not only was his time short, but the hearers were unfamiliar. There were women among the multitudes lamenting him and mourning for him.

‘Do not weep for me, daughters of Jerusalem.’ It sounds comforting, but our Lord is not trying to comfort them – far from it. This is a warning, a dire warning, to a people oblivious to the signs around them. ‘Weep for yourselves and for your children.’ On the surface, things are well. The condemnation of Jesus actually made friends of King Herod and Pontius Pilate, and even the temple was being rebuilt. Things were not well, however. That which drove the Son of Man to Golgotha was also at work in every man, woman and child; as surely as Jesus would meet his death later that day upon the cross, the same end was in store for all of the people. It could not be avoided.

‘Behold,’ Jesus said, ‘the days are coming when they will say, “Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!” Then they will begin to say to the mountains, “Fall on us,” and to the hills, “Cover us.” For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?’ These are chilling words from Christ, and they are not spoken in fear or spite; he is simply foretelling what humanity can expect.

Have we reached those days? Do we cry out to the mountains and hills to smother us? Do we wish, for fear of what is to come for our children and grandchildren, that they had never been born?

Maybe not. Life is good. How many of us actually want for food or shelter? Maybe we wish we ate better and lived in homes that are bigger or nicer, but we are not starving or freezing to death. For the most part, our health is certainly acceptable too. Again, many of us would probably like to shed some pounds, or overcome this or that physical ailment, but we are not dying where we sit, either? Or are we?

That is an uncomfortable question, is it not? We like to believe that we have some measure of control over our lifestyle and life expectancy, but as Christians we must acknowledge that this is not, ultimately, in our hands. God alone numbers our days. We live as long he gives us, and no more.

It is a sobering thought, indeed, but the warning our Lord gave was about more than death. His own experience would be an icon of what could be expected for his followers. ‘If they do these things while the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?’

Green wood is newer wood, freshly cut. As it ages it dries. The older it gets, usually the drier it becomes. Green wood does not burn well, and if you try to build something with it, there is a good chance that the project will warp. Green branches and twigs are malleable; they flex when you bend them and spring back into shape. Dry branches are stiff and brittle; they will snap in two when you bend them. The one clear advantage green wood has over dry wood is that it is less likely to split when you drive a nail through it.

When Jesus is still preaching and teaching, the wood is green. The lessons and miracles are fresh. Many who witnessed his earthly ministry were still alive, and could testify to the magnificent healings, feedings, and actions he had done before them. It was one thing for him to claim to be God’s Son, but it was another to make that claim and then perform all those miracles.

If the wood was green before Jesus’ death, it quickly dried after. What could his followers expect? Better lives? Peaceful coexistence with the surrounding peoples? Three weeks ago, as we celebrated the festival of the Reformation, 58 Christians were slaughtered in Bagdad, Iraq by gunmen who called them infidels. Among the victims were men, women – some pregnant, and children. 70 others were injured. It would be an outrage were it to happen in this country, but it is the sad reality of life under the cross for our brothers and sisters in Christ in many places around the world. We live in relative peace here, where some of the worst things that will happen are vandals attacking our facilities, or the media making light of our beliefs, but we are living in a fantasy world if we believe that we have a privileged status in this land or anywhere in the world.

As long as sinful humanity populates the earth, the Gospel and its adherents will always be under attack. Not all attacks are physical; some are intellectual, or social. All attacks are spiritual, though, and the world, the devil, and our own sinful flesh will never give us a break. If they do these things while the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?

It gives new meaning to Jesus’ words. Do not weep for him; weep for yourselves. The days are coming when they will say, ‘blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ We pray that we would be delivered from such evil, but the answer to that prayer is only completed when Jesus returns in glory. We do see a glimpse of it, however, later on in this reading. Our Lord’s crucifixion is ordinarily accounted to us during Lent, but it is relevant every day of our lives.

In the reading we heard first about the weepers and the mourners. These people Jesus warned with the words I have repeated for you several times already. Next came the scoffers, the rulers, and one of the thieves crucified beside him. They ridiculed him, challenged him to take himself off the cross, and cast lots to divide his garments. He responded to them, too, praying on their behalf. ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ The last person we hear about is the other thief. He rebuked the first thief, ‘Do you not fear God, sin you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.’ And then he said to Jesus, ‘Remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ Jesus’ final response answers the thief’s prayer, and it provides the answer to our prayers as well. ‘Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.’

Jesus died shortly thereafter to fulfill that promise. Three days later he would rise from the dead to show that he was truly the Son of God as he had claimed all along. It is doubtful that many would have been weeping or mourning for the thief like they did for Jesus, but that does not matter; Jesus did not need the weeping or mourning either. He warned them because he knew what would follow his death. He came to establish a kingdom of forgiveness, and the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins is a scandal to the world. Your ancestry is not important in this kingdom, and your wealth is immaterial. Only the faith given by the Holy Spirit brings you into that kingdom and receives the gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation that are freely given by Christ. Not because you are faithful, but He is.

As he did for the thief, Jesus also remembers you as he comes to you in and with his kingdom. He remembers you with his word of peace, his gospel of forgiveness. He remembers you with his Body and Blood, given and poured out for you to eat and drink.

Truly, he is with you, and today you are with him in Paradise. That is his word and promise to the poor miserable sinner who was crucified and died with him; and that is his word and promise to you, who have been crucified and died with him in Holy Baptism. So surely are you also raised with him in his resurrection.

To Christ alone be all the glory, forever and ever, amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, our Lord, amen.

All Saints' Sermon 2010

For All the Saints

Matthew 5:1-12

All Saints’ Sunday, 2010

Zion Lutheran Church

Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Pastor Jonathon Bakker

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord, Jesus Christ, amen. The Holy Scripture for our consideration this All Saints’ Sunday is the Gospel reading from St. Matthew.

And seeing the multitudes, he went up on a mountain, and when he was seated his disciples came to him. Then he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, if we were to make a list of the most important days of the year, what would they be? The top three for Christians would most likely be Christmas, Easter, and Good Friday, but putting them in any kind of order of highest importance would prove difficult; each upholds and depends on the others. Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus; the triumph of the Son of God over sin, death, and the devil. There would be no resurrection from the dead, however, without his death, which came on Good Friday. On Good Friday, God the Father gave up his only-begotten Son to die on the cross for us and pay the price for our sins and sinfulness. Still, before Jesus Christ could die, the Word first had to take on flesh in the incarnation and be born of the Virgin Mary on the very first Christmas. And the real significance behind Christmas was the purpose for which the baby in Bethlehem was born – to die for our forgiveness on Good Friday and to rise from the dead for us on Easter Sunday. Each of those days is as important as the next.
While it is not the most important holiday of the year by any means – it doesn’t even come close to those three obvious ones – my favorite day of the church year is the one we are celebrating today; All Saints’ Day.
It was not always this way, and it is not a day without its complications, but it has become the Sunday I look forward to more than any other every year. Today, everything about the faith we have in God and the life we live in this world all comes together, and gives me great comfort. It’s not a joyous day like Easter or Christmas, and it’s not as somber a day as Good Friday; but it is the one Sunday when the worst things about living in this world are held up against the greatest promise of all – everlasting life in the midst of the whole company of heaven.

All Saints’ is the day we commemorate those, who, by their lives and deaths, confess the faith to which we hold and, even now, live forever in paradise. The longer we live, though, the more complex today becomes. Death is mostly abstract until it begins to take away those you love and those who love you, and days like today tend to bring them to mind. It is easy, and the temptation is there when those memories rise up, to forget the comfort and peace our Lord gives us in the Means of Grace.

That’s why it is so important that we remember this when we confess in the creed that we believe in the resurrection of the dead and the life everlasting. We are speaking of the communion of Saints. When we say that we believe in the communion of Saints, we are saying two equally important things at the same time. First, we confess that there is a community of the faithful on earth and in heaven that consists of all who believe in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection for the forgiveness of their sin. Second, we say that this body of the faithful, both the living and the dead, is eternally bound together by this communion they share in Christ.

When we partake of the Body and Blood of Christ here on earth, it is nothing less than a foretaste of the heavenly feast where the Saints are forever in the joyful presence of God and served by him. In the Offertory we will sing today, we sing the following words, which speak of the same thing. They are found in Psalm 116. “What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits toward me? I will take up the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all his people.” When we speak of the ‘presence of all God’s people,’ it could be understood as all his Saints or it could simply mean the congregation gathered together at that particular service. I believe that it is the former, and it is because of the remaining words of this Psalm that I believe that. The Psalmist goes on to say, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. O Lord, truly I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant; you have loosed my bonds. I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst of you, O Jerusalem.”

Those last words tell us that something significant is happening when we take up the cup of salvation in the Lord’s house and call on the name of the Lord in the presence of all his people. In the midst of you, O Jerusalem. This makes no sense if we think that the Psalmist is talking about a city in Israel, halfway around the world. But it does make sense when we understand that he is speaking about the company of the saints, whose death is precious in the Lord’s sight, in whose fellowship we live as Christians, and whose communion we share in the cup of salvation. We do not see the Saints triumphant with our eyes, but we are among them by faith. They are with us, if you will, on the other side of this communion rail, sharing with us in the same glorious feast where God serves all of us and binds us all together.

It may not seem like a big deal, but it means a lot to say that you believe in the communion of Saints, especially as we commemorate All Saints’ Day. It means that our hope in the face of the challenges we face in this life rests on God and not upon ourselves. No matter how much we would like to be prepared for everything that will ever happen to us, major or minor, this is how God teaches us to trust in him and to hope in him. The creation will continue to groan under the weight of sin and death, but God has forgiven all of our sins through the Holy Spirit he has delivered to us everlasting life. Believing in the communion of Saints means that we live with a hope that conquers all sadness and grief, and that looks forward, above all else, to the life everlasting with Christ that he promises us.

So it is not that today is more important than Christmas, Easter, or Good Friday. It is not that I have a fascination with death or dying. On All Saints’ Day, God speaks so plainly to the one thing – death as the final wages of sin – that has caused me the most sadness and fear in my life, and at the same time has given us a glimpse of the everlasting comfort and rest that awaits all who live and die in the faith. It is as our Lord spoke in the words of the Gospel, ‘Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.’ He is speaking of our greatest accusers – the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh. These things want us to fear without hope; they want us to turn from God on account of their reviling and persecuting and lies. But Jesus tells us to, ‘Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.’ The greatest of those prophets was Jesus himself; our prophet, priest, and King, whose resurrection seals for us the real and lasting hope we have in eternal life.

To Christ alone be all the glory, forever and ever, amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, our Lord, amen.

December 2010 Newsletter Article

‘Christ Jesus brought this gift to me,

My faithful Savior,

Whom You have made my eyes to see

By Your favor,

Now I know He is my life,

My friend when I am dying.’

In Peace and Joy I Now Depart - Luther

Lutheran Service Book Hymn 938

Brothers and sisters in Christ, without beating around the bush, I want you to take a moment and consider death. More specifically, I want you to consider your death. Admittedly, it is not a comfortable subject, but after attending the Good Shepherd Institute at the seminary in Fort Wayne last week with one of our organists I am convinced more than ever that we make the most powerful confession of our faith in how we face death.

The conference topic – The Theology of the Christian’s Death in Rite and Song – was obviously a big draw; more people attended this year’s conference than any other in ten years. It should come as no surprise. I do not raise this issue to bring specific instances to mind, but if you have attended many funerals for friends or family outside of our congregation, you have surely experienced a wide spectrum of practices. Have you been to a funeral lately? What was spoken about Christ in the service? Was the service in the funeral home or in the church? What did you see? What was said? What was sung?

Christian funerals are celebrations of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the forgiveness, life, and salvation he gives to us by grace, through faith. It looks forward with great anticipation to the resurrection of the dead promised by Christ at his return and at the same time it is a stark reminder to everyone in attendance of their own mortality. Much of the world has a paralyzing fear of death, however, and strives with all its might to guard against it, mask it, euphemize it, and cover it up. One of the most common things seen at funerals somewhere is the poem, ‘Do not stand at my grave and weep; I am not there, I do not sleep,’ and goes on to end, ‘Do not stand at my grave and cry; I am not there, I did not die.’ It was written to comfort the bereaved, but it fails because it attempts by turn of phrase to deny what is plainly visible – that a beloved person has died.

A Christian funeral is uncomfortable for the world because it is honest about life and death. Death is the wages of sin. It is last attack of the Old Adam against us and it is inevitable for all of us. There is only one cure for death, and that is resurrection from the dead, and that cure is not complete until Christ returns. This is what we, by the grace of God, believe in life, and this is what we confess in the face of death. Consider the poetry of the hymn, ‘Lord, Thee I Love with All My Heart.’ (LSB 708) The third stanza reads,

‘And in its narrow chamber keep
My body safe in peaceful sleep
Until Thy reappearing.
And then from death awaken me,
That these mine eyes with joy may see,
O Son of God, Thy glorious face,
My Savior and my fount of grace.’

Instead of avoiding death, this hymn confronts it. Instead of telling the grieving how to feel, it tells them of the hope of resurrection from the dead in Christ. The hymnal is one of our greatest treasures when it comes to comfort in the face of death; in many ways it is a teacher for all of us about how to die. Death is the wrong end to our lives; it was not God’s plan. Death is horrible, and when we face it in others and ourselves, Jesus alone is our cry!

For the sake of brevity, please consider the following: you are encouraged by the world to prearrange with a funeral home before you die. If that is an important way of taking care of your loved ones at a stressful time, how much more helpful would it be to speak to your pastors about your funeral before you die? As Luther writes in the hymn above, Christ alone is our friend when we are dying. Consider planning ahead so that He is confessed to your loved ones as He has been confessed to you!

To Christ alone be all the glory, forever and ever, amen.

October 2010 Newsletter Article

For I have not spoken on my own authority; but the Father who sent me gave me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that his is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told me, so I speak.

John 12:49-50

Brothers and sisters in Christ, when we think of commands from God, we usually think of the Ten Commandments. You shall not steal, you shall not misuse the name of the Lord, honor your father and mother, do not commit adultery, do not give false testimony against your neighbor, etc. When God gives commands, he definitely knows what he is doing. When Jesus tells us that his Father has given him a command, we might expect something along the same lines. Strangely, though, the command the Father has given to Jesus is much different – his command is everlasting life.

Everlasting life. To us, that is our highest and truest aspiration – we all hope to cheat death. It is a universal desire, to be sure – even non-Christians who believe that there is nothing after death will at least hope for their own death to be a painless experience.

Everlasting life. It is a wonderful thing, but how can it be a command? That is like telling the computer to turn itself on, instructing the leaves to stay on the trees, or directing water in a river to stay where it is. A computer only does what you tell it, leaves cannot be kept on their trees, and water in a river flows from higher to lower ground – if it stayed in place it would be a lake or pond, not a river. Likewise to us, life is not something over which we have sovereign authority. If someone were to tell you that their command for you is to have three arms, you might laugh at them, you might stare blankly at them, or you might try to explain to them that what they are asking you to do is outside of your control. The last thing you would expect is for your shoulder to sprout another arm. Telling us to live forever is going to do as much good as telling the sky to fall.

Still, our Lord does not balk or laugh when his command is everlasting life. Instead, he goes about speaking and saying it to the world. To him, it is as if nothing could be more proper. The other commandments, the ones written on our heart that we still need to hear all the time, are not mentioned. Jesus, the one who keeps every commandment, doesn’t receive them as commands from the Father – the author already knows what he wrote. Instead, he receives the command of everlasting life, the command that would have been given to us as well had our first parents not fallen in the Garden of Eden. He receives that command and he keeps it, even to the point of laying down his life and rising from the dead!

Jesus lives forever, and he does it not out of obedience, but out of love for us. Those who are in Christ by virtue of their baptism share all things with Jesus – suffering on account of sin, temptation to sin, and ultimately the wages of sin; death. He takes all these things upon himself and keeps the Father’s command to him of everlasting life, granting it likewise to all who live and believe in the Son. The command of everlasting life is the Father’s instruction to the Son, but to us it is the gift of salvation that is ours through the forgiveness of sins!

To Christ alone be all the glory, forever and ever, amen.

Welcome Back Sunday Sermon - Proper 16C (3yr), 2010

Asking the Right Question

Luke 13:22-30

Pentectost Proper 16 - C (3yr) 2010

CMU Welcome Back Sunday

Christ The King Lutheran Chapel

Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Pastor Jonathon Bakker

    Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, when someone approaches Jesus and asks him a question in today’s Gospel, that person is looking for an answer that will allow him to ask another question. Think about it. If we ask Jesus whether there are many who will be saved, are we really all that interested in the multitude who will be saved? Don’t misunderstand me – we are all interested in the expansion of God’s heavenly kingdom and we certainly hope that all people would receive eternal life from God – but no matter Jesus’ answer to the question; whether it be ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ would we be satisfied?
    Imagine an eleventh grader living in a small mid-western city. His high school is home to an outstanding baseball team – every year they are in the running for the state-championship. He wants to be a pitcher on that varsity team this year, so he puts in a lot of hours, working hard all winter to prepare for the tryouts in the spring. At those tryouts, he sees that he is just as capable of playing on the team as all the other hopeful pitchers, but only half of them can make the team. On the night before the final day of tryouts, this young man finds himself standing in a slow-moving line at a grocery store right in front of the baseball coach. Now, he might start a conversation with the coach by asking whether there were many good pitchers who would be making the team, but we all know that no answer to that question is going to tell him what he is truly burning to learn. Certainly he hopes that the team will have many good pitchers, and he most definitely hopes that they will be the best pitchers so that they will have the best chance of winning a state championship, but what he really wants to know is if he is among those best pitchers who will be throwing for the team when the season begins. The question the young man asked would merely be the first among other, much more specific questions.
    It is the same for the person asking Jesus whether few would be saved today in the Gospel reading, and it would be the same for any of us if we were in the same situation. Whether Jesus answered ‘yes’ or ‘no’, we would still have more to ask him. What we would really want to know is how likely it is that we would be among those who will be saved.
    Today’s Gospel, however, never gets to those answers because Jesus knows this already, and answers accordingly. Instead of falling for the line of questioning that will end up with the person asking whether or not they are going to heaven, Jesus responds that they are to ‘strive to enter through the narrow gate.’ It’s important to note that Jesus does not say whether or not this person is to be counted among those who will be saved, even though he knows that that is what they really want to hear. Again, think about it. Jesus knows the answer, but he also knows better than simply giving a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer.
    If the coach were to tell that eleventh-grade pitcher that he did not have to worry about making the team before the tryouts were finished, the boy would no longer value or treasure what it cost for him to make the team. He might not even bother to show up for the last tryout, since it would only be a formality anyway. Perhaps worse, what if the coach were to tell him that he didn’t have any chance of making the team before the last tryout? Would he even consider showing up, even though he knew it was for nothing? Would it have been any different for the person in the Gospel? Would it be any different for us?
    The problem here, dear friends, is not that Jesus knows that we will inherit eternal life in heaven on account of his death and resurrection for our sins; nor is it a problem that he knows that we believe in him on account of the faith which he has given to us by the power of the Holy Spirit. The problem is the question. The devil, the world, and our sinful flesh love this question. Will we be saved? A ‘no’ response leaves a person in despair and without hope; it means that sins are not forgiven and that eternal death is all that stands ahead. A ‘yes’ response is even worse because it gives a person false comfort; it means that temptations will never test faith, and soon faith itself becomes obsolete. Our sinful flesh loves this question because ‘yes’ or ‘no’ means we can do whatever we want; the end has already been decided for us. Our fatalistic world loves this question because it means that our existence might as well conform to the image of the world, rather than transforming the world in the image of God. The devil loves this question because it undermines everything that Jesus ever did, and still does for us; this question turns our focus away from God who created all things from nothing, away from God who became flesh in Jesus Christ and lived and died and rose for us, away from God who comes to us in his Word, his Baptism, his absolution, and his Supper to call, gather, enlighten, and sanctify us in the one true faith. The devil, the world, and our sinful flesh love this question because, yes or no, it drives a wedge between the Lord and us.
    So what does Jesus do when faced with this question? He knows the danger of the question, but more importantly he knows what we need to hear. ‘Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.’ Jesus’ words wander from the scope of the question. The person wanted to learn if few would be saved, and more importantly if they would be saved. Instead, Jesus explained to him the way in which he might be saved. Cyril of Alexandria tells us that, “Jesus is purposely silent to the useless question, and proceeds to speak of what is essential.” ‘Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.’
    In the rest of the today’s Gospel, Jesus makes the point to the people in the cities and villages on the way to Jerusalem that they cannot expect to be included in the kingdom simply because Jesus came to their town, or because they are they children of Abraham, or because they shared food and drink with him. Even more startling, there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth for them when they saw themselves thrust out of the kingdom while others from the four corners of the world – gentiles – would come and sit down in the kingdom of God. Being born and raised in Israel was no guarantee of passing through the narrow gate. Listening to Jesus while he taught in the streets was likewise no guarantee of passing through the gate. Even sitting down to eat and drink with Jesus when he came through their cities and villages carried no guarantee. Similar warnings could be said to us today. Being born and raised in a Christian home is no guarantee of going through the narrow gate. Coming to church and going through the motions, listening to sermons and singing along with the hymns are not guarantees of eternal life. Not even being hospitable to others and doing good things for them can guarantee safe passage through the gate.
    There is nothing, dear friends; not one thing; that we can carry with us through that narrow gate. There is no room for our heritage, no room for mere politeness toward God and his church, and there is most certainly no room between those gates for our good works. The narrow gate is entered only through faith, and that faith is ours only by God’s grace in his Son through the Holy Spirit. We cannot walk ourselves with all of our baggage through that narrow gate, and that is why it is something we strive for – it is difficult to throw off the baggage that we sinful people accumulate throughout our lives. Our enemies, the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh, all want to load us up with as much as they can to keep us out of the gate. Only Christ our Savior defeats these enemies, and takes our baggage of sin and death away from us and replaces them with faith and eternal life. Jesus is the only way through that narrow gate. It is he who tells us, ‘Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke easy, and my burden is light.’
    The Gospel today began with a question, but it certainly does not end that way. For many of us, a new school year is starting [tomorrow] [in these coming weeks]. Parents, teachers, professors, students, confirmands and pastors are all preparing for a year filled with questions and answers. When it comes to eternal life and salvation, however, asking the right question is not about whether many will be saved or whether you’re to be included in that number; those are questions that the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh put in our heads to take our focus away from our Lord and his sacrifice on the cross for our sins. Strive, dear friends, to enter through the narrow gate. Our Father in heaven sent his only Son to live and die for us and to rescue us by the Holy Spirit to eternal life.
    To Christ alone be all the glory, forever and ever, amen. The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, our Lord, amen.

Sermon for the 10th Sunday after Pentecost (3yr)

Whose Are You?

Luke 12:13-21

Pentecost Proper 13C, 2010

Zion Lutheran Church

Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Pastor Jonathon Bakker

            Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ amen.  The Holy Scripture for our consideration this day is the Gospel reading from St. Luke which you just heard.

Then one from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”  But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you?”  And he said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”  Then he spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.  And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’  So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.  And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’  But God said to him, ‘Fool!  This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’  “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

            Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, whose are you?  To whom do you belong?  Where does your heart find its rest when you are troubled?  These questions are at the heart of the parable Jesus tells this morning.  It is a reminder to us that God alone is our refuge and strength; our one and only help at all times.

            3 years ago I preached from this pulpit on this very text on what was to be a very significant day for our congregation – that same day we broke ground on River Rd. for the first phase of our congregational building project.  You can imagine, then, that I could hardly help but chuckle yesterday as I was preparing the sermon on this text, when I opened a piece of mail from Zion informing me that our New Sanctuary Campaign is beginning and I am invited to take part.  In other words, the very same week when we set the wheels in motion raise the funds for the completion of the building project, we have a parable from our Lord warning us of the dangers of laying up treasures for ourselves.  I suppose you could call it a coincidence, but I think that the words God gave me then are just as important for us today.

            We may be tempted to hear the words of Jesus and think that we are not the ones of whom he is speaking.  After all, we have given generously of our time, of our talents, and especially of our treasures, and are preparing to do the same once again.  However I warn you - do not be like the rich fool.  It is one of the devil’s favorite ploys to make Christians believe that they are not storing up treasures for themselves when they are building God’s church with their own sweat, ingenuity, and gifts.  It is the forgiveness of sins and the preaching of salvation; the sacraments of holy baptism and the Lord’s Supper; the very presence of God among his people – all of those together – make a building a church.  The devil, the world, and our sinful flesh would have us believe that our building is our treasure.  It is not.  Our treasure is God and the forgiveness, life, and salvation he gives to us wherever two or three are gathered together in his name.

            That was essentially the same thing I said to you three years ago.  God and his Word are indeed timeless.  He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  Yet things are different after three years.  The world has changed, and even our congregation has changed.  Some of you were not among us three years ago.  There have been new faces, new babies, new baptisms, new families, and new weddings.  Also, some of us who have been here for a very long time are no longer among us.  There have been students away at college, some have moved away, and some have died and there have been funerals.  All of this is the regular pattern for a Christian congregation.  It has been like this for Zion since it was established as a congregation in 1889; it will continue as we undertake to finish building the sanctuary in these coming years; and it will remain, Lord-willing, long after all of us are gone and even after the buildings we are working on now are replaced.

            Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is our true treasure.  Jesus Christ is the meaning of life.  This is the heart of the Gospel reading today.  A man calls out to Jesus, complaining about his brother taking the inheritance.  It is a common point of conflict within a family.  Jacob schemed to get Esau’s birthright.  The prodigal son squandered the inheritance his father gave him.  Maybe you have seen or even been involved in a bitter dispute over who deserves what from their parents’ estate.

            Inheritances are important things.  Jesus knows this better than any of us.  He is his Father’s one and only Son.  Yet few of us consider our inheritances the same way.  When we are young, unless we are royalty, we do not give much thought to such things.  Our parents have always been with us and will always be with us.  There is no distinction between what belongs to our parents and what belongs to us – it’s our house, it’s our car, it’s our family.  Things change when we get older, though, and see that there is a distinction in property – we have debts that we wish we could pay; we have a desire to live in nicer homes and drive nicer vehicles; we have children of our own and begin to think of what we will hope to be able to do for them in due time.  Where will they live and what will they drive?  Where will they go to college?  What will they have for their children?

            It goes on and on and on.  Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.  How many of us take comfort and find security in the inheritances we anticipate receiving from our parents and grandparents?  Not that we are hoping to receive them quickly or anything morbid like that; but we have faith that eventually things will be easier for us because of what they will leave behind.  Repent.  As our Lord tells us, ‘Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.’

            A good summary of Jesus’ parable in the Gospel today would be, ‘you can’t take it with you.’  That is most certainly true.  What is also true is that you can barely leave it behind when you go.  Think about it.  What material possessions do you have today that you received from your parents?  What do you have that they received from their parents, or from their parents’ parents, or their parents’ parents?  Certainly, there are heirlooms, and even sizeable treasures can be made to last for a very long time, but the things we have in this world will not last forever for us or our children.  Eventually, usually sooner than later, the things we have now will all pass away.

            Consider the rich man in the parable who became a rich fool.  He was a wealthy landowner, and his farms produced very well.  When this happens to us, we consider it to be a blessing from God.  We respond with thanksgiving.  We are right to react, like that rich man, by making a plan to accommodate such blessings.  When the harvest is plentiful, we build bigger grain bins; when our families expand, we buy larger homes; and when our income expands, we save and invest for our future.  None of this is condemned – it is the proper management of the things God has entrusted to our care in this life.  Neither is the rich man a fool for tearing down his barns and building new ones.

            What makes the rich man a fool is the faith he stores up with his harvest in those great barns.  Finally, after all that hard work, after a life of concern about whether his choices would help or hinder him and his family, he has no need to worry anymore about anything to come in this world.  He has more food than he will ever need.  If he needs money, he has more grain to sell than he will ever need.  If he becomes sick, he has grain to spare that he can sell to bring in the best physicians.  He says to his soul, ‘Soul, take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.’

            Like I said before, how many times have we found ourselves longing for what the rich man achieved?  Maybe our hope is not for the barns of grain, but how many times have we dreamed and longed for the security that an overflowing checking and savings account would give us?  How many times have we looked forward to the day when our debts will be paid, when our cupboards will be full, and the rigors of full-time work will be behind us?  When we put our trust for such peace and comfort in earthly things, we are just as foolish as the rich fool in Jesus’ parable.  It is the same for all who lay up treasure for themselves, and are not rich toward God.

            Only God, and him alone, can give us such comfort, and only God, and him alone, can take it away.  And he will, indeed, take it away.  Jesus calls the rich man a fool because that very night his soul would be required of him.  It may not happen tonight for any of us, but just as God has numbered the hairs on our heads, he also has numbered the days and hours we have in this life.  Nothing we do in this world can give us one more second than the Lord gives.

            Worldly inheritances all pass away.  Few last longer than a few generations.  There is another inheritance, however, of which Jesus knows – the inheritance which comes from his Father in heaven and is unlike any other.  Certainly it is divided among many children, like most others; and certainly death precedes the disbursement, like most others, but the similarities end there.  Unlike every other inheritance, even though this one is divided among many children, every descendent receives the full birthright.  Stranger still, it is the descendents themselves who die before they receive the fullness of this inheritance.

            Friends, you know this inheritance.  This is the inheritance that is stored up not by you but by the Lord.  This inheritance is the eternal life won for you by your Lord, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for your sins and rose from the dead to the right hand of the Father.  This inheritance is the forgiveness of sins which is given to you by the power of the Holy Spirit who calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies you in the one true faith.  This inheritance is what it means to be rich toward God.

            Today you are not called to be careless with the earthly things our Lord gives you, but you are warned that laying up treasures for yourselves leaves no room for God.  Richness towards God, instead, means that you look to God for every help in every time of need.  Richness towards God means that you put yourselves and your own comforts last because Jesus Christ is the true treasure, and the only one for you.  God provides you that richness through the Holy Spirit and fulfills that inheritance for each of you.

            And when the Lord finally does call you home, whenever that will happen; and when he has poured the inheritance upon you, then he will say to your soul, ‘Soul, you have the good things which laid up for eternity; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.’

            To Christ alone be all the glory, forever and ever.

            The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus our Lord, amen.

Summer Newsletter Article

‘…everyone did what was right in his own eyes.’

Judges 21:25

            Brothers and sisters in Christ, surely you have heard it before.  ‘I am spiritual, but not religious.’  It has become the theological mantra of my generation – according to a LifeWay Christian Resources survey in 2009, 72% of people aged 19-30 say that they are ‘more spiritual than religious.’  Chances are, some of them are in our families, maybe some are in our pews on Sundays and Mondays, and without a doubt people walk by our chapel on the campus of Central Michigan University every day who call themselves spiritual, but not religious. 

            What does it mean to be spiritual, but not religious?  It seems harmless enough, doesn’t it?  And isn’t it better, after all, to be spiritual than unspiritual?  Aren’t we taught that God is a spirit?  Being spiritual but not religious has to do with a person being spiritually connected to a power greater than themselves, but without having to choose an organized religion to do so.  Now, that statement is by no means an attempt to define what it means to be spiritual but not religious for each person who applies the label to themselves, but it does get to the heart of the issue; connection with an almighty power without the rules, and traditions of a classical theological framework defining that connection.

            The quest for spiritual connection is universal and well documented.  In the book of Acts, Paul stood in the Areopagus and told the men of Athens, ‘I perceive that in all things you are very religious.’  Surrounded by temples to every imaginable deity – even an altar to ‘the unknown god’ – Paul preached of the man ordained by God who was raised from the dead; Jesus Christ.

            The quest for spiritual connection apart from religion, however, is not so common.  Apart from the major world religions like Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam, people have still organized themselves into sects and cults, gathering together with others who believe as they do to practice their beliefs.  Even atheists gather together to discuss that in which they do not believe.  While the self-chosen label of being spiritual but not religious would seem to preclude any religious tendencies among the people who call themselves spiritual but not religious, it is my contention that it actually is a religious movement. 

            To people my age and younger, it sounds very wise and non-judgmental to define yourself as ‘spiritual but not religious’ – after all, for the last decade or so, it has been a convenient label without much baggage or definition.  It is a label that can be self applied in most any social situation, and because it does not directly denounce or prefer one particular religion, friends and family would rarely raise a fuss.  Like so many things of humanity’s own creation, however, it has developed into a full blown movement, complete with its own dogma and traditions.  If you don’t believe me, Google (that is, use www.google.com to search the internet for) ‘SBNR’ (yes, there is already an acronym for this ‘non-religion’, along with a Facebook fan page, and, coming in July, a website: www.sbnr.org).

            The point of this article is not to analyze and debunk the beliefs of those who call themselves SBNR – that can come at another time.  Rather, the goal is to make you aware that, in spite of the actual words used by those who call themselves spiritual but not religious, it has become its own religion.  It is not a spiritually neutral statement, and considering the following it has among the young people we are trying to reach with the Gospel on CMU’s campus and in the community, it will bear us well to keep that in mind.

            Perhaps it will be a spiritual fad like so many others, but I urge you to be vigilant with your faith in your homes.  Speak with your children about your faith in Christ, the one who became flesh for us, and who died and rose in that flesh to everlasting life for the forgiveness of our sins.  Faith in the man who is also God, Jesus Christ, is the only true religion.

            To Christ alone be all the glory, forever and ever, amen.

Homily for Lent IV

The Prodigal Son

Luke 15:1-3, 11-35

4th Sunday in Lent, C 2010

Zion Lutheran Church

Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Pastor Jonathon Bakker

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord, Jesus Christ, amen. The Holy Scripture for our consideration this day is the Gospel reading from St. Luke.


Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them." So He spoke this parable to them, “A certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.' So he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants." ' And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' And they began to be merry. Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.' But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. So he answered and said to his father, 'Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.' And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.' "


Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, some people are never satisfied. It matters not whether they completely understand what upsets them – it is enough that they are angry. The Pharisees and scribes in the Gospel reading are upset that sinners and tax collectors were drawn to Jesus. The older brother in the parable Jesus told is angry because the younger brother receives such wonderful treatment from their father.

Surely, we have all felt this way at some time or another. Whether it is a parent, a teacher, or an employer; we all desire to please them. Nothing satisfies quite like earning their praise, especially in front of our peers. For the same reason, nothing frustrates us quite like watching that coveted attention going toward another. When my brother did a better job on the dishes than I did, I was upset. When my sister had better grades on her report card than I had, I was jealous. When a coworker was selected for a special task by the supervisor that I wanted, I secretly hoped they would fail.

Sometimes, my wishes would come true. My brother would drop a dish and break it. My sister would get a ‘B’. My coworker would make a mistake. Then the roles would be reversed – I would receive the praise they desired, at least until I made a mistake of my own.

I am not a parent, but I understand that there can be no favorites among your children. I will never forget the smug feeling I had when I asked my mother which of her three children she loved most. She said that she loved me most, which was only natural according to my thinking. My sister and brother learned the truth, however, when they each went to ask her the same question. I’m sure you can imagine my surprise and frustration to learn that my mother said the same thing to my sister and brother that she had said to me! How could she love them as much as she loved me?

Jealousy is definitely a main ingredient for dissatisfaction, but it is not the only thing that leaves people unhappy. Some people are never satisfied no matter what they have. Whether it is money, beauty, power, fame, or love, they can never find contentment. The young son in Jesus’ parable illustrates this well. His dissatisfaction with his life reached its limit, he thought, until he asked his father for what was to be his inheritance. Whether he meant to say it or not, the action revealed to his father that he loved himself above everything else. The father, who loved both his sons, was heartbroken, but did not say no, and so the young son, thinking his discontentment was over, soon left home for bigger and better things. What he did not realize was that money could not buy him happiness, and that his hunger for all of the things he thought would fulfill him soon swallowed up his inheritance.

Whatever the hunger is that makes someone dissatisfied; it is never satiated by feeding on the things it desires. Whether we crave praise, approval, and glory – like the older brother; or money, power, and fame – like the younger brother; receiving those things only serves to make us long for more. This is what happens when we think we know what is best for us – either we act like the grass is greener on the other side of the fence and go searching for it; or else we lead quiet lives of desperation and begrudge others we think are taking away what should rightfully be ours.

Contentment in the parable has nothing to do with taking care of what the sons thought they needed; true contentment was all about their relationship with their father. It is the same for us. Think about it – the younger son knew his father loved him very much, otherwise he would never have asked for his inheritance. He did not realize, however, how his father looked after him and gave him more than what he needed. He discovered the hard way, when he left home and lost everything, just how much his father did for him. When he returned home, full of shame and remorse, he also discovered how his father loved him. Running out to greet his son when he first saw him in the distance, the father spared nothing in celebrating the return of his younger son. The son finally realized that being content in his father’s house had nothing to do with the things he thought he needed, and everything to do with being home in his father’s house.

The older brother was different – he did everything his father asked of him, and he believed that his hard work should earn him the place of honor between him and his brother. When he saw his brother’s audacity, however, and then saw his father give half of the family wealth to his brother, it only served to feed his jealousy that his father did not love him as much as he loved his brother. There was no way, he believed, that his father would have given him anything like what was given to his brother, and so he gave up hope, and did not bother to ask for anything. He did not learn of his father’s great love for him until his younger brother returned. He hoped that he would finally be vindicated, that his brother would be disowned, and that he would finally receive the recognition he desired. His father’s reaction to his younger brother’s return, however, crushed his hopes and caused his jealousy to boil over into anger. He refused to join in the celebration, and lashed out at his father when he sought him out to come to the feast. ‘All these years I have been serving you, and not once have I gone against your word. Yet, you never even gave me a young goat that my friends and I might eat it and have a party. However, as soon as this other son of yours came home, who has wasted his entire inheritance on prostitutes and fast living, you killed the fatted calf for a feast in his honor!’

The father responded, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.’ You wanted to kill a goat for a feast with your friends? You thought that all this time you were working for me? You are my son; whatever is mine is yours. We are celebrating as we should, because your brother who was dead is alive again. The older son thought he was more of a slave than a son, but his father rebuked him and reminded him of his own inheritance.

Both of the dissatisfied sons in this parable learned the hard way how much their father truly loves them. They also learned the hard way that their hope and contentment rest not in fulfilling their self-centered desires, but upon the relationship their father has established with them. It is no different for us.

How often have we wanted recognition from God for the good things we believe we are doing for him? How often have we wandered from the path God intended for us? How often have we felt totally justified in our self-centered beliefs and feelings toward God, others, and ourselves? Yet God does not hold these things against us. Far from it.

The parable hardly does justice to what God would accomplish in Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection from the dead, but it does give us a glimpse into the heart of God the Father. Not only is he good and gracious to us; through the incarnation and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our brother in the flesh, he has also become our Father in heaven. We are not his slaves; we are his children. We do not expect a wage from him; he is preparing our inheritance. All that he is and all that he has is ours.

There is great joy and celebration in heaven over one sinner who repents, but there is also great joy and celebration in Christ’s church on earth for all of God’s family –whether they have newly repented or been here all their life. Our Father rejoices that we are his children and he has sacrificed the greatest Lamb of all to save us from our sin and to give us the greatest feast in the world. In his body and blood we eat and drink his riches, his innocence, his power, and his love. Satisfaction has nothing to do with us but everything to do with Christ. We need not wonder whether there is something better somewhere else and we need not wonder whether our Lord loves or approves of us. No matter how far we run, he will run to meet us. No matter how stubborn we are, he will not let us forget that we are his children. From the beginning to the end, God loves us, God makes us his children, and God gives us the greatest inheritance of all; eternal life.

To Christ alone be all the glory, forever and ever, amen.
The Peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, our Lord, amen.

March Newsletter Article

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,

not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some,

but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

Hebrews 10:24-25

            Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, two months ago I shared with you in this space some observations I have been able to make as a campus pastor.  I spoke of things parents and grandparents ought to have in mind when it comes to the upbringing of their children within the church with a vision towards their children’s ongoing growth and maturation in the Christian faith.  This month I would like to follow up that article by broadening the perspective to what a congregation, as a whole, ought to have in mind when it comes to supporting and encouraging youth to take their faith seriously, continue in the Lutheran church if/when they move away from home, and grow as Christians.

            Recent surveys about the tendencies of young people to leave church (and, subsequently, the Christian faith) after high school or confirmation vary a bit over the actual percentages of those who will leave.  Just before coming to Zion and Christ The King I saw a survey that indicated 75% of confirmed youth will not be attending church by the time they are 22 years old.  A more recent survey result shared with us at a circuit pastors’ meeting a few months ago put the portion of population with no affiliation to any church by the age of 22 (average age of a college graduate) at close to 94%.  While they may not be startling figures when we consider the prevailing culture and its attitude toward the Christian faith in general, those numbers serve to remind us that we in the church are not immune to this problem.  They ought also to encourage us to seek how we can support our own youth who learn in, live in, and interact with this world every day.

            As a campus pastor, I have the privilege of meeting and working with the small portion of the student population that does not follow the trends I mentioned above; who consider their connection to Christ in His church to be the most important thing in their lives.  Why do they take their faith so seriously?  Why do they wake up on Sunday morning to come to church?  Why do they attend Bible studies, go on mission trips, and invite their friends to join them at church?  Why do they care about so much about being Lutheran, let alone Christian?  The single answer to all of these questions is that the Holy Spirit has worked in them through the Means of Grace to nurture their continued hunger to hear the Word of God and receive his gifts in the Sacraments.  This work of the Holy Spirit, however, has not taken place just anywhere – it happens in their home congregations!  What begins at baptism is nurtured through Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, Lutheran Pre-Schools, Lutheran Elementary and High Schools, Confirmation Instruction, and most importantly, regular exposure to the Means of Grace through preaching, Absolution, and the Lord’s Supper.  A strong Lutheran identity is, I believe, the most important factor in a young college student remaining Lutheran during and beyond their college years.

            So what is a congregation to do?  First, we can thank God for the gifts he has given us in our Lutheran Pre-School, our Sunday School, our Vacation Bible School, and our CCI program – these all serve to cultivate that distinctive gift of the pure Gospel we have in the Lutheran Church through the use of carefully selected Lutheran teachers, curriculums, and materials.  Second, we can thank God that parents in our congregation have made the Christian upbringing of their children the priority in their homes and avail themselves and their families of the spiritual and educational programs and services our congregation supports.  Third, we can thank God for the campus ministry.  The Lutheran students who attend the services and other activities at the chapel are living witnesses to the esteem in which they hold the Lutheran faith, they know firsthand what it is like to be a Christian at a secular university, they are happy to help out with our own youth group, and in many cases they are also members of our congregation, either through adult confirmation, or simply having grown up at Zion and gone to CMU.  Lastly, we can give thanks for one another – the members of our congregation support all of these programs with our time, talents, and treasure, but much more than that, we are living witnesses to one another and to our children of the common faith we share.

            We certainly have much for which to give thanks to God.  I cannot overemphasize the fact that bringing up the youth of the congregation in the faith is the work of the whole congregation, and how our efforts are undermined when the whole congregation is not working together for this purpose.  It makes a great statement when pastors and parents show and tell the youth of our congregation the importance of the Christian faith and being Lutheran.  Those statements are nothing, however, compared to the strength of the witness that is given when children see the same people in church with them, Sunday after Sunday after Sunday, living out what their pastors and parents are showing and telling them.  Perhaps the best way to think about it is to think back to when you were growing up in the church.  Whom did you see as a role model in your congregation?  What did it mean for you to see them there (likely sitting in the same pew!), week in and week out?  What would it have meant if they had only been there half the time?

            There is certainly no simple solution to the challenges that face the church when it comes to raising up the youth in the faith.  We can give thanks to God for the faithful witness of our parents and those who have come before us, and we can resolve to continue to take our faith seriously as we ourselves grow and mature as Christians throughout our lives.  God grant strength and courage in the faith to all of us!

            To Christ alone be all the glory, forever and ever, Amen.

                        Pastor Bakker

New Orleans Day 2

Good morning!  It's already Day 3, but I'll update about that tonight when we're back from working.

The Lord blessed us this trip with safe travels and gracious hosts along the way - we arrived late last night and have settled in to Camp Restore.  Saturday night and Sunday morning we were the guests of Redeemer Lutheran Church, Nashville, TN.  Their hospitality was fantastic, and we couldn't have hoped for a more perfect place to stop on our travels.  Rev. Philip Young and the congregation he serves there were gracious hosts and we will definitely be through there again when next we head south for mission work!

I wish it were warmer here in NOLA, but it's like we have brought the record cold temps with us.  Thankfully record cold for NOLA is 'only' 28 or so degrees, but it's not quite as warm as we hoped.  Oh well, we came south for more than warm weather, we came to serve.  Pray for our group to have courage and willingness as we begin the work for which we came!

New Orleans Trip: Day One

Waking up at 4:45 has its advantages - no line for the shower!  :-)

I'm preparing to embark now on a trip with the students I serve to New Orleans for some service work to help rebuild in the wake of Katrina.  You can see details about the trip at our Chapel website.

It's going to be exciting and challenging.  We're bringing together a group of 24 people who, at best, only know about half of the group, and several who know less than a handful.  Your prayers for patience and courage in the coming week would be appreciated, along with safe travels!  I'll be updating throughout the trip as a way of keeping a journal of what happens and how we're doing.  If you don't hear from me tonight in Nashville, it will be because there was no Wi-Fi.  We'll catch up for sure again in New Orleans!

Blessings, Pastor Bakker

Sermon for the First Sunday after Christmas

Seeing Salvation

Luke 2:22-40

First Sunday after Christmas, 2009 C

Zion Lutheran Church

Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Pastor Jonathon Bakker

            Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.  The Holy Scripture for our consideration this day is the Gospel reading from St. Matthew.

And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.  And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.  So he came by the Spirit into the temple.  And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said: ‘Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.’ 

            Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, are you still celebrating?  Christmas is not yet over - today, according to the carol, your true love owes you three French hens!  The presentation of Jesus in the Temple did not take place on the second day of Christmas, that is, the second day of his life, but when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus there in accordance with the Law, they made the appropriate offering of two small pigeons, or a pair of turtledoves.  Christmas has only just begun, friends, and just like the joy of a new baby does not end on the day of its birth, our Christmas joy does not end with the Savior’s birth.

            In today’s Gospel we have a rare picture of the joy Jesus’ birth brought to the people of his time.  When we look at the Scriptures as a whole, they are the book of the life of Jesus Christ, our Lord.  They tell us who he is, why he came, from where he came, what he said, what he did, and what he still does.  The Scriptures are also a book about the life of Jesus’ Bride – his body, the holy Christian Church.  They tell of our origins, our fall, our need for the Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, and most importantly, they tell of our future.

             Like I said before, today’s Gospel is a rare account – like many events with Jesus, this was no ordinary trip to the Temple.  The text today certainly focuses on the Gospel, on what God is doing for his people in Christ, but in it Jesus performs no miracles and he heals no sick people.  In fact, Jesus does not say one word – it is the other people in the Temple who speak today for joy at his appearing.  Anna spoke of Jesus to those seeking redemption in Jerusalem, giving thanks to the Lord.  She was a widow who lived at the Temple, praying and fasting night and day, and she rejoiced to see her redemption, her salvation, in the flesh.

            The other speaker in the Gospel was named Simeon.  He was a faithful man who, by the Holy Spirit, believed the promise that God would send a redeemer.  It had been revealed to him, in fact, that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

            In recent weeks we have heard of the difficulties some of the key people in the New Testament had with doubts over Jesus’ identity and mission.  John the Baptist wondered whether Jesus was the Christ or if they were waiting for another.  Joseph, his mother’s husband, struggled over whether or not Mary was telling him the truth about this pregnancy. 

           Today in Simeon, we learn of a man who believed that Jesus was the Savior without question.  His words upon seeing the infant Savior for the first time are such a part of the life of our church that most of us probably have them memorized.  ‘Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy Word.  For mine eyes have seen the salvation which thou hast prepared before, the face of all people.  A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.’  Surely you recognized them when you heard them the as part of the Gospel reading – we sing them nearly every week when we gather for the Divine Service. 

            What we do not hear every week is the surrounding context of Luke’s Gospel.  Hearing who first spoke those words and the circumstances around his seeing and holding Christ in the flesh gives that canticle a significance we may not regularly consider when we join in Simeon’s song.  This is the ‘Nunc Dimittis’ we sing immediately after the Dismissal from communion.  We kneel at this altar and receive the true body and blood of Jesus, and then we return to our places and join together to sing the words of a man who was finally ready for death.

            Yes, you heard me say that correctly – when we sing those words after we receive the Lord’s Supper, we sing the words of a man asking for death.  ‘Lord, now let your servant depart in peace.’  We might think that someone who has been waiting his whole life to see his salvation would ask for something different.  Surely he must have misunderstood God’s intention for him.  Surely there had to be a better reason for his long life than to merely wait and see the Lord.

           Some Christians hear Simeon’s story and wonder when they will ‘depart in peace according to God’s Word.’  Life in this world can make one weary – for many, retiring from a career, losing a spouse, or watching your children move away can leave you tired of living and wondering what else is left.  The Gospel does not tell us whether Simeon died that very day or lived for many more years, which comes as little comfort for those who suffer from the hard-knocks of life.

            It is a provocative question, to be sure, but it is ultimately unhelpful because that is not what the account of Simeon teaches.  Such questions put the focus on Simeon and not Jesus; looking at what Simeon was to do instead of who Jesus was and what he would accomplish.  Simeon knew this and took comfort instead in God’s promise.  He understood that he was created by God to live forever, just like each one of us, and he knew that only God could give eternal life.

            Through Simeon’s marvelous proclamation at seeing and holding Christ, Simeon confessed his faith in Christ and his trust in God’s promises.  He was a man who had lived in anticipation of seeing salvation, and God blessed him greatly.  Not only did he see his Lord, he also took Jesus into his arms and blessed God as he spoke those words.

            It is this context of the most important day of Simeon’s life that makes his words so appropriate for us to sing when we receive the Lord’s Supper.  With those words we confess not only that our lives are in the hands of God who has forgiven our sins; with those words we proclaim not only that we long for the eternal life he has promised for us in Christ; with those words we declare that we, too, with our own eyes, have seen our salvation.  More than that, though, we have tasted salvation.  In the bread and wine of Holy Communion, we receive the very body and blood of our Lord.  It is the same body and blood that was born of the Virgin Mary; it is the same body and blood that suffered, died, and rose again for the forgiveness of our sins; and it is the same body and blood that Simeon held in his arms when he first spoke these words so long ago.

            As we continue to live in this world and suffer the earthly consequences of the fall into sin, do not forget why we sing what we sing when we receive the Lord’s Supper.  God has heard our prayers and will not leave us alone or in the darkness; God lightens us with the salvation that is ours in Christ, with the glory of his people.  He shows and feeds us salvation and we stand ready, in peace and joy, for his eternity!

            To Christ alone be all the glory, forever and ever, amen.

            The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, our Lord, amen.