Vader Harmonica

This scene from Star Wars: Episode VI -- Return of the Jedi -- gives an alternate glimpse to Anakin Skywalker's final moments.

I laughed until I had tears running down my face!!!

Lifted Up: A Homily on Mark 1:29-39

There she lay. Helpless. Hopeless. In a day and age before aspirin or Tylenol, such a fever robbed people of their strength—and sometimes of their lives! We hear this mention of a fever and think, “Big deal!.” But it was a big deal! In the first century, a fever could mean the illness was grave, and would end in the grave.

The woman was very sick. Simon Peter’s mother-in-law couldn’t have gotten up to serve Jesus if she wanted to. The effects of sin in her life and in this world had a grip on her, and there she lay, too ill to have attended the synagogue from which Jesus and the disciples had just come.

Saint Peter places his urgent request before Jesus. “Please, Lord, heal her.” And he does just that. Yet our Lord gives us a picture to remember as He records this story for all time. Saint Mark likely heard this true story many times throughout his days aiding Saint Peter. And Simon Peter used a word with deep meaning as he recounted this miracle. He does not merely say, “Jesus healed her,” or leave it at, “the fever left her,” but he adds: “Jesus… took her by the hand and lifted her up” “Lifted up!” The very same word used by Saint Mark in chapter 16 to say that Jesus is raised! The angel’s words can be translated: “He has been lifted up; He is not here!” [Rev. Erik Rottmann’s translation.]

With this miraculous healing, our dear Savior gives a picture of raising us from the dead! The mother-in-law was as good as dead, lying there, weak, limp and helpless. But our Great Physician enters the home, speaks His Word, and raises her up to a new life in Him.

There you are. Helpless. Hopeless. In a day and age of modern medicine, there are still enemies of your health that rob you of your strength, and sometimes even your lives! Sometimes these enemies are not even physical. Emotional and spiritual enemies lie in wait, attempting to drive a wedge between you and Jesus; wanting that fever to increase until you are boiling in complete and hopeless unbelief.

Dear friends in Christ, the fever still wants to consume you. For some, the fever increases as you point fingers and blame others, claiming that you’d be healthier if only you were able to have this item or that desire. Perhaps your fever rises as you slip back into your shell, not wanting to be friendly even to the people you see in church on Sunday. For some, the fever burns away as you talk about others behind their backs, or even entertain harsh thoughts about those around you. For others, the fever burns as you ignore or ridicule organizations like scouts, 4 H, or various service clubs. The devil, the world, and your own sinful self keep feeding that fever, until you can be delirious with illness, unable to get up and serve the Lord.

The fever started from the moment that you were a single cell in the safety of your mother’s body. It continued as you were lifted up out of your mother’s womb, but remained in the grasp of sin, death, and the devil. Indeed, you were unable to serve the Lord, conceived and born in sin! And then it happened!

No one may even have realized just how sick you were. They might not have fully understood

the gravity of your situation. But your limp, sin-filled, feverish body was carried to the Holy Font, where our dear Lord Jesus took you by the hand, washed you with water and His Word, and lifted you up!

In this miracle, our Savior worked forgiveness of sins, rescued you from death and the devil, and gave eternal salvation to you. He raised you up! He lifted you up and gives you the sure and certain hope of the resurrection! Saint Peter’s mother-in-law was given a new lease on life when Jesus lifted her up. You were given not only a new lease on this life, but the joy of starting your new life, as a new creature – eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord!

And we look forward to this new life’s fulfillment – its completion. As your body lies in its grave, appearing to the world as if you are helpless and hopeless, you know better. Just as Christ Jesus was lifted up on the cross, and then lifted up out of death, so He will lift you up. Because He has lifted you up in Holy Baptism, He looks forward to lifting you up from the dust of the earth, that you may live with Him, body and soul, eternally!

But what about now? What does this mean for our day to day lives? Jesus has broken the fever and lifted you up. But the devil doesn’t give up without a fight. You daily face struggles, temptations, sin, and illnesses that make life rough. So did Peter’s mother-in-law. She didn’t suddenly have a perfect body that never got sick again. She eventually died. You too. Our Savior doesn’t promise a life free from sickness and pain, no matter what any TV preacher might tell you. Quite the contrary; Jesus says there will be suffering. But He is there, bearing that burden for you!

Our Lord Jesus Christ has suffered and died for you. He is risen, for you! And now He bears all your burdens, including this nasty fever, for you.

Daily, like every man, woman, and child on earth, you have times that you don’t want Him there to bear those burdens. You’d just as soon have an absent Jesus, to go along with the vacant pews. But the same Savior who came and washed you in that font, and lifted you up to new life, keeps on coming for you. He takes you by the hand, and raises you to be with Him. And He is thrilled to have you join Him forever.

Just as He is thrilled to have Keith join Him forever. He lifted Keith up in Holy Baptism. He lifted Keith up as He took him to Himself this week. And He joyfully looks forward to lifting Him up forever, body and soul in heaven.

Be comforted, dear friends in Christ! Our Epiphany Lord keeps on revealing Himself as our God Incarnate. He shows Himself as our only hope; our only Physician; our only Savior. He uses you to lift up many others. And He delights in lifting you up!

[Thanks to the Rev. Erik Rottmann for his translation of “lifted up,” and for some intriguing thoughts that worked into this sermon.]

Location, Location, Location

We live in a very mobile society. This is an era when many people go away to school and often end up moving to completely oppposite ends of the country. Many thousands of college students don't even bat an eye when their job offers take them to distant locales.

On the other hand are communities such as ours. Lanesville is a town in which many students decide not to leave for college, and look for employment close to home. And yet, you don't even have to be in a small town. I have friends and family members in Peoria that never ventured beyond their hometown for schooling or career opportunities.

Two uncles on my mom's side of the family moved an hour from home. One uncle on my dad's side now lives in Florida. Other than that, everyone else is still there. We are the second furthest from the family. (It took my sister years to forgive us for moving so far away.)

While there have been many joys over the years of being in Chicago and later in southern Indiana, there are also frustrations. Special occasions, holidays, and awards often are not shared because of the distance or other commitments.

In the end, I guess it can often be chalked up to a sacrifice of living in the ministry. Still, it doesn't make it easier when feeling isolated.

The Lutheran Study Bible Sneak Preview

Pastor Paul McCain has a very exciting post on his blog. It is a sneak preview of The Lutheran Study Bible, due to be available by Reformation Day 2009! He strongly advises to pre-order soon, as this will help CPH to know how much paper to order for this tremendous project.

I can't tell you how exciting this edition of the Scriptures is to me. Check his blog post, and join me in the excitement!

Practice What You Preach

Today, President Obama proclaimed:
"We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you."

We can only pray that he learns how all-encompassing this statement needs to be!

True Beauty Is Only Skin-Deep -- Or Is It?

"Are you hot?" asks a certain Facebook application. Magazine covers, TV commercials, and movie producers constantly flash images before our eyes of people who are beautiful by their standards. The unspoken message is that these should be our standards as well.

Throw Ashton Kutcher and Tyra Banks into the mix as producers, and True Beauty emerges. True Beauty is a television show (Monday nights on ABC) full of "beautiful people" - but with a twist! There is an underlying message: true beauty is not only about physical looks and bodily perfection. True beauty relies on inner beauty: compassion, honesty, trust, and more.

The contestants think that this is a contest about looks and bodily perfection. Yet one by one they are eliminated for failures of "inner beauty." Only when they are eliminated are they shown a video montage of how "ugly" they have been toward others.

At first, this seems like a good message. But think about it for a moment. Is there such a thing as "inner beauty?" After the Fall in the Garden, and the shattering of the image of God? The answer is, "No!"

Jesus says: "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person" (Matthew 15:19-20a ESV.) So much for inner beauty! Human "inner beauty" was dashed to pieces when our first parents rebelled against God. They knew perfect, wondrous, holy beauty, and lost it all.

The lesson is: true beauty actually is external. What?!!! Yes, true beauty is external. However, it is not our own.

As we recently celebrated, our dear Lord was baptized for us. Jesus' Great Reversal took all our sin, sickness, evil, and death and latched on to Him in those waters. Like a sponge in dirty water that miraculously soaked up all the dirt, Jesus took our corruption and placed it on Himself. He who is truly beautiful became ugly as sin for us!

Having paid for that sin in His death, and having published that victory through His resurrection, Jesus now continues the Great Reversal: He gives us His perfection and holiness. "For as many of us as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Galatians 3:27 ESV.) In Holy Baptism, our Savior covered you with Himself. You are clothed with Christ! He is the ultimate in perfect clothes and flawless make-up, covering every blemish and flaw. But He does not engage in a mere "cover-up." He removes that stain of sin. He transforms us as He covers us, so we are no longer ugly to God.

Yes, true beauty is external! But it is not our own. The true beauty of Christ covers us at Baptism! True beauty is experienced in teh Divine Service, as we receive His Holy Gifts. And true beauty will be fully revealed and understood as we dwell in the perfect beauty of His heavenly courts for eternity!

From the Virgin Soil of Eden

Chad Bird, a Ph.D. candidate and extremely gifted hymn-writer has crafted a new hymn on Holy Baptism. This piece weaves together great foreshadowings of this Sacrament into a marvelous tapestry.

One of the few negative comments that I have for LSB is that it did not include enough hymnody from Chad Bird!

You can find this originally posted on Chad's Facebook page.

“From the Virgin Soil of Eden”
A Hymn on Baptism



From the virgin soil of Eden,
In His image, God made man;
From the virgin womb of Mary,
In our flesh, was God made man;
From the virgin font of water,
I’m remade in that God-Man.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
In Your Name I am baptized;
Like my promised brother, Isaac,
My heart has been circumcised:
Sinful flesh cut off in water,
Abram's sonship realized.

As the waters flooded o'er me,
Angels flew me in the ark,
Through the fleshly door in Jesus,
Which the soldier's spear did mark.
I shall voyage in His Body,
Till in heav'n I disembark.

Hellish Pharaoh sore assailed me,
Whipped my soul unceasingly;
Egypt held me fast in bondage,
Steeped in vile depravity.
Baptized by a Greater Moses,
I passed through His crimson sea.

Born alive but dead in spirit
Leprous was my sinful soul.
Then with Naaman I found healing,
Where the Jordan's waters roll.
By His mighty Word, Elisha,
Healed my body, made me whole.

Cast forth from the fish's belly,
Jonah left the darkness dread,
Pointing to the resurrection,
Of the One from whom he'd fled.
From the belly of the Fountain,
Cast me forth to life from death.