Preachrblog

  Holy Trinity Sunday One of the nifty little neo-logisms we hear these days is “man-splaining”.  When someone, especially a man, explains something in a condescending way, especially to a woman.  A related term is “over-explaining”.  In our impatient world of fast-moving information, we don’t have time to sit through a long explanation of something we already know, so we skip to the end, or speed up the video, or ask for the “too long, didn’t read” version. And while we probably all could be well-served by more patience, especially when it comes to the important teachings of the faith….  It is also true that Christian preachers may run into the danger of “over-explaining” certain doctrines, especially the one on center stage today – the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Through many years of experience and great controversies, the church has learned a hard lesson about the doctrine of the Trinity.  It is a truth of scripture to be confessed, but not over...

  Can these bones live? What a question!   Surely not. It would be different if whatever battle had happened here was just finished.   Then you could go through and look for survivors.   You’d maybe hear a faint groaning here or there, and be able to give someone aid, nurse them back to health.   Maybe find some wounded and help them get on their feet, and off to the hospital. Maybe it would be like that line from the Princess Bride, “He’s only mostly dead!” But not here.   Not in this valley of dry bones.   It’s been a while.   The bodies have decayed.   There’s not even any flesh left, just dry, dry bones, bleached in the sun.   The life is long gone.   It’s more like the line from the Wizard of Oz, “Not only merely dead, but really, most sincerely dead.” Can these bones live?   Surely not. For one thing, they were dead.   And the thing about death is that it’s permanent.   Even a child knows that once a c...

  John 17:12–19 “Sanctified in the Truth” Today is a sort of an in-between Sunday as we finalize the Easter Season.   We have observed, this past Thursday, Christ’s Ascension, 40 days after Easter.   And next Sunday, Pentecost, will be 50 days from Easter.   So it’s a transitional time.   Christ has ascended, reigns as our heavenly king, and soon we will celebrate the outpouring of the Spirit on the church, and the spread of the Gospel from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. So what does the lectionary do with this sort of odd Sunday?   It focuses us on Christ’s great “High Priestly Prayer”.   Really all of John 17 records this prayer for us that Jesus would have prayed on Maundy Thursday.   It’s 26 verses in all, but today’s 8 verses are the heart of this prayer. Now, of course, Jesus was genuinely praying to his Father with these words, but he was also praying them so the disciples, and now we, the church, could hear them and learn from...

Luke 24:44-53 Up, Up, and Not Away Today we observe the Ascension of Our Lord.   40 days after his resurrection, and after many appearances to his people, our Lord Jesus Christ ascends into heaven and claims his rightful throne on high.   Liturgically speaking, this day falls, of course, 40 days after Easter Sunday, always on a Thursday. Even though we mention it every time we confess one of the Creeds, it seems the Ascension has been neglected or ignored by many churches these days.   Some observe it on the nearest Sunday, and others seem to ignore it entirely.   But here, tonight, let us consider the meaning and significance of Christ’s ascension.   For like everything that Jesus says and does, he ascends into heaven for you. For starters, let us address the paradox of the Ascension.   Jesus disappears from the sight of his disciples, and with few exceptions, he will not be seen again until he comes again in glory.   And yet on the other hand, ...

  Water, Blood, Spirit The Child of God, that is to say the Christian, must believe and confess that Jesus is the Christ.   The Child of God must also believe and confess that Jesus is the Son of God.   These two basic truths form a sort of backbone for our faith. And yet, throughout history, and even today, there are those who have denied either or both of these truths. Now, to say that Jesus is the Christ is actually saying quite a lot.   Implicit in this is the confession that we need a Christ, a Savior.   And implicit in that is the notion that we are, in fact, sinful, as the Bible teaches.   Those, especially today, who deny the Christ also tend to deny their own sin and need.   Oh sure, they’ll admit that no one is perfect.   Oh, sure, they’ll confess sin in a very harmless sort of way.   But they don’t stand before God and plead guilty of temporal and eternal punishment.   They don’t confess original sin, the entire corrupti...