Pentecost's Three P's

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. My sermon is entitled The 3 Ps of Pentecost: Pneumatology, Passage, Practical Application. My focus is Acts 2. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”  Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

This is my sixth Pentecost at Mt. Olive (my first at St. John’s), and so, it is appropriate that for Pentecost, I focus on three points: pneumatology, passage and a practical application.

First, pneumatology. Pneumatology refers to a particular discipline within Christian theology that focuses on the study of the Holy Spirit. We derive the term from the Greek word pneuma meaning breath or spirit that symbolically describes a non-material being or influence; and logos meaning teaching about. Pneumatology includes the study of the person and works of the Holy Spirit. Works of the Holy Spirit includes teachings on new birth, spiritual gifts, sanctification, the inspiration of prophets, and the indwelling of the Holy Trinity.

The early Church engaged in debates over the divinity of Jesus which led to similar arguments about the Holy Spirit. Later, during the Medieval period, a debate ensued regarding the relationship between Christ and the Holy Spirit. The Eastern Church situated in Constantinople asserted that the Holy Spirit ‘proceeds’ from the Father alone, as stated in the original Nicene Creed, while the Western Church added to the Creed the clause filioque meaning that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.

During the Reformation and Counter-reformation the relationship between the Spirit and the Scriptures was re-examined. Martin Luther and John Calvin held that the Spirit has a certain ‘interpretive authority’ to ‘illuminate’ scripture, while Counter-reformation theologians responded that the Spirit authorized the Church to serve as authoritative interpreter of Scripture.

Contemporary pneumatology, marked by the Pentecostal movement in various denominations, understands a distinctive relationship between the Spirit and the Church community. Various contemporary theologians see the Spirit as the authority that governs the church, liberates oppressed communities and creates experiences associated with faith.

Now, before I move to my second point, your word for the day is pneumatology. Start a conversation about pneumatology at Sunday dinner, while watching the Pirates or in the break room at work. Discuss pneumatology with conviction and certainty – like you are filled with the Holy Spirit. And so, we move from pneumatology to passage.

In Acts 2, Luke focuses our attention on Pentecost. Pentecost was an agricultural feast where Jews celebrated not only the harvest but also the giving of the Torah. It was known as the Shav – u’– oth or the Feast of Weeks. This festival was celebrated 7 weeks or 50 days after Passover. It brought farmers from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Asia, Egypt, Libya and Rome to Jerusalem to celebrate Shavuot. They came to thank God for the harvest and for the Law.

The original agricultural feast later became a commemoration of God giving the Covenant and Law on Mt Sinai. For Christians, the celebration of the gift of the Law embraced the giving of the new law in the spirit, the writing of the law on the heart.[1] We read in Jeremiah, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah … I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”[2]

Paul echoed the Second Letter to the Corinthians, “You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”[3]

The coming of the Holy Spirit fulfilled this meaning of Pentecost. The opening verses introduce the festival of Pentecost. Acts declares a salvation event of highest importance, the actual turning point when Israel begins to separate itself from unbelievers to become the Church.[4] To illustrate this Luke assembled a vast representation of all Israel to hear the apostles.

The signs that manifested the Spirit, the loud noise like a strong wind and the tongues of fire, evoked divine appearances on Mount Sinai to Moses and Elijah.[5] Yet, the sign that Luke most emphasized that the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit was their speaking in different tongues or languages.[6]

The fact that many Jews from different nations heard the apostles speaking in their own tongues of the mighty acts of God signified that the ancient tragedy of Babel was reversed.[7] And the apostles’ “drunken state” symbolized joy and abundant blessings. Yet, the onlookers’ reaction was astonishment and bewilderment. At Pentecost it was clear that the new wine of the Holy Spirit, the gift of God’s love, was poured into human hearts, as Paul reminded Christians in Rome.[8]

Again, we move from passage to practical applications. In many churches today, pastors confirm young people. I confirmed seven teenage girls four years ago, and Julia last year. Lutheran confirmation is a public profession of faith prepared for by long and careful instruction. This mature and public profession of faith marks the completion of the congregation's program of confirmation ministry.

Since young people study Luther’s Small Catechism, a bit of catechesis for the rest of you. As Lutherans, we do not treat confirmation as a sacrament of the Gospel in the way we do Baptism and the Eucharist. Yet, we lack a universally accepted definition of confirmation and a consistent approach to it.[9] It is the Lutheran way.

Luther approved the 1540 Brandenburg Church Order and subscribed to the 1545 Wittenberg Reformation. His emphasis on instruction, especially in preparation for the Lord's Supper, proved to be a major contribution to a new type of confirmation associated not only with Baptism but also with the Lord's Supper.

Where confirmation is associated with Baptism and the Lord's Supper, as is usually the case, the three essential elements of confirmation are: (1) a course of instruction preceding the rite; (2) profession of faith, usually made through an examination and summarized in formal questions in the rite; (3) and intercessory prayers by the congregation, normally with imposition of hands. Baptism, not confirmation, normally marks the beginning of one's membership in the church.

All this talk about confirmation now behooves me to ask you how the Holy Spirit is active in your life today. It is a question I ask all of you. Applying the passage, how is the Holy Spirit active in your life today?

Preparing for this sermon, I sent the passage from Acts to some friends along with this question: How is the Holy Spirit active in my life today? My friend, David, responded with this: When I think “living in the Spirit” or walking with God, I focus on three priorities that your love and resulting time should have: God first, family second, and all others third. When I read the scripture in Acts that you forwarded, I am taken to every conference or function where Christians from all over get together that I have attended. The lack of personal or other agendas is gone. Focus is on God first, and what he is doing, or not, in your life. It gives me insight into what heaven will be like. One of the first times I felt this, and I have felt it many times since, was when I attended the [a conference with] Christians from all over the world, and we were of one mind, and one focus. It was a great experience.

A friend from Pittsburgh wrote this: Since I have never had an original thought in my life, when reading Scripture, and particularly when preparing to preach I seek the guidance of the Spirit. On a day-to-day basis I pray to the Spirit to make me aware of and alert to opportunities to bring God's presence into everyday circumstances. Over the last 35 years, I have repeatedly trusted in and acted upon the Holy Spirit’s urgings. That's how I wound up being ordained as a deacon and living in Tennessee and now Mississippi.

My cousin in San Diego said this: My religious education is slim, having gone to public school, the only thing we got was an hour a week at Sunday School. I'm not sure I can directly say how the Holy Spirit influences my life, but I know there are times when things mysteriously work out and I say it's a “God Thing.” So, since the Holy Spirit is part of God, I suppose I’m getting guidance and comfort from him at those times too.”

Finally, a college friend replied with these words: The Holy Spirit is dwelling among us. The Spirit may not present itself in the same manner as it did to the Apostles on that original Pentecost, but in some manner or form, the Spirit is present among us.

So, how is the Holy Spirit active in your life today? Is the Holy Spirit alive or asleep? The Holy Spirit did not cease being active in the Church with the last page of the New Testament. Rather, throughout the centuries Scripture and the Holy Spirit have infused the lives of countless men and women that they themselves became living gospels.[10] You are the living gospels because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Do you call upon the Holy Spirit before you read Scripture? Do you ask the Holy Spirit to guide you before you send a text or email or post on social? Is the Holy Spirit present when you confront your spouse, child or other church member? Do you pray that the Holy Spirit give guidance to your pastor before he responds to your word or deed? Do you pray for the sick and send them a card telling them that you are praying for them? Have you been praying for Joel Lissy and your congregation?

Folks, you should know that every act that appears to be good is not from the Holy Spirit. Even the devil can speak kind words. How else do you think he can seduce people? People who act nice can be motivated by an evil spirit, a selfish motive, greed or deep-seated anger. It is because, as Col Nathan Jessep said, people “can’t handle the truth.” That is why Martin Luther taught both Law and Gospel. The Law of God convicts us, but the Gospel redeems the unrighteous sinner. Luther urged people to cling to Christ crucified. That is why in many church sacristies, we find Luther’s Sacristy Prayer. He wrote it for pastors, but it is applicable to anyone who serves the congregation in any capacity. Take to heart these words, especially the last sentence because when you act without the aid of the Holy Spirit, you do much harm.

Lord God, You have appointed me as a Bishop and Pastor in Your Church, but you see how unsuited I am to meet so great and difficult a task. If I had lacked Your help, I could have ruined everything long ago. Therefore, I call upon You: I wish to devote my mouth and my heart to you; I shall teach the people. I myself will learn and ponder diligently upon Your Word. Use me as Your instrument — but do not forsake me, for if ever I should be on my own, I would easily wreck it all.[11]

Friends, we are all sinners, but Christ has always transformed sinners into saints. As you depart from here, reflect on how the Holy Spirit makes you a living gospel and share that good news with others, and when you do may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen. Alleluia.

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[1] William S. Kurz, Acts of the Apostles. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, (2013), p. 44.

[2] Jeremiah 31:31, 33.

[3] 2 Corinthians 3:2-3.

[4] Jerome Biblical Commentary, p. 730

[5] See Exodus 19:16-19; 1 Kings 19: 11-13.

[6] Kurz, p. 45.

[7] Kurz, p. 45. See Genesis 11:1-9.

[8] Romans 5:5.

[9] See Confirmation at http://cyclopedia.lcms.org.

[10] Christopher A. Hall, Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, (1998), p. 35.

[11] A Sacristy Prayer by Martin Luther Translated From: Dr. Martin Luthers Werke (Weimar: Hermann Boehlaus Nachfolger, 1909), Band 43, pp. 513. Translated by James Kellerman.

WHEN YOU PRAY

 

When you pray, do you ask God for anything? If you do, what is it? When I was your age, I asked God for friends and to be funny. I asked God to help me in baseball and school. When I got to high school, I asked God to help me be popular, and later to be successful. So, nothing I asked for was really important.

Do you know what I ask God to give me today? I ask God to make me indifferent. That means that I want to be okay with whatever God gives me. As I have gotten older, I have learned that it’s better for me to accept God’s plan for me than for me to give God my plans.

Here is what I mean. I prayed for good health, but I got sick and got well many times. I have fallen more times than I can remember and was in a car wreck. I had teeth replaced and surgery on my shoulder. In the future, I will have to have my knee replaced.

Maybe your parents have gone through the same thing. They pray to be successful so that they can take care of you, but they may not make as much money as they want.

I say this because in our Gospel today (Jn 17), Jesus prays not for all the things we often pray for. He prays for his disciples. And do you know what? Jesus prays for you too. Jesus prays for you to be protected from sin, Satan and for you to be holy. So, the next time you pray, ask Jesus what He wants for you.

With that, let us pray. Heavenly Father, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named: Bless these and all children, and give their parents the spirit of wisdom and love, so that the homes in which they grow up may be to them an image of Your Kingdom, and the care of their parents a likeness of Your love. We pray in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Best and Worst Days of LIfe

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. … My sermon is entitled Best and Worst Days of My Life and is based on Revelation (22). Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

The best day of my life. If you search for the phrase “best day of my life,” you will find a forgettable movie, book and country western song. Primarily, you will hear a catchy tune by American Authors which received a lot of airplay in 2013, and which was later used in commercials by Lowe’s, Hyundai and Best Western Hotels. It was played for the Little League World Series, the Stanley Cup playoffs and by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

If you ask people what the best day of their life was, some will say their wedding day, the day their child or children were born, the day they got hired for their dream job, and so on. When I was serving at a church in Swissvale, I went to a funeral home to pray with a church member who lost her husband. I don’t remember many details other than his name was Domenic; he was retired, and for many years, was an usher at Forbes Field. The best day of his life was October 13, 1960, according to his widow. As he lay in the open casket, I noticed a large button with a picture of Dom running behind Bill Mazeroski before he crossed home plate. After Dom’s widow told me that that was the best day of his life, I wondered why it wasn’t his wedding day or the birth of his children or grandchildren. I also wondered about all those other answers other people offer.

We capture moments on the best days of our lives through pictures or videos. If those recording means were not available, we may have jotted a few words in a journal or diary. In our reading from Revelation today, John offers readers not only the best day, but the best moment. And it’s one that will never end. There will be no need for cameras or diaries to remember a good time that we once had.

Revelation depicts what heaven will be like. Today’s reading paints a figurative picture. It describes the river of life-giving water, the tree of life, the throne of God, and the heavenly multitude who worship God day and night. The most important part to me is verse four, “They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.”

Since the fall, no human being had ever seen God face to face, for to do so meant death. We read in Exodus how God responded to Moses’ request to see his glory. God told him that no man could see his face and live.[1] However, God promised that his righteous people would one day see His face and be satisfied.[2] We hear that promise at the end of each Divine Service, The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; The Lord look upon you with favor and give you peace.[3] It is what all of Jesus’ disciples want through the words of Philip, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”[4] Jesus promised in the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”[5] St. Paul was confident of this when he wrote to the Corinthians, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.”[6] That promise is fulfilled in this passage from Revelation.

When we see God’s face, his name will be upon our foreheads. This was promised earlier in chapter three when Jesus said he would write on the conquering faithful disciple “the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God.”[7] It was repeated twice after that.[8]

When we were baptized, the pastor said, “Receive the sign of the holy cross upon your forehead and upon your heart to mark you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified.” That and the donning of the white robe or baptismal garment marked us as belonging to Christ. In that way, Christ took away sin and marked us with his perfect righteousness.[9] So, one day you, now redeemed and marked by Christ, will see God face to face. Guaranteed, that will be the best day of your life, for we Christians do not fear death and hold Christ’s promise of everlasting life.

One of the reasons that John offers such hope to Christians persecuted for living their faith is because in contrast to the Gospels which describe the life of Jesus on earth through his ascension, Revelation begins with that moment. It presents Christ as Lord of lords and King of kings, from the time of his ascension until he returns to judge earth and usher in a new creation.[10]

Christology, the study of Christ, is usually seen as low or high. Low Christology refers to the human side of Jesus, the state of humility. High Christology is the study of the exalted Christ. Revelation’s high Christology sees Jesus in several roles. As Son of Man, he will bring all things to an end when he comes in judgment. All creation will bow before him. As Lamb of God, all God’s people will be redeemed and made into a kingdom for our heavenly Father. Because the Lamb won the victory for God’s people over death, hell and Satan, Christ is honored. As the spokesman and the Word of God, he is mediator and witness of the message of Revelation.

Revelation’s high Christology is summarized in verse 13, where the three divine titles describing the eternal magnitude of our infinite God are applied to Jesus. Primarily, Jesus Christ is the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End of all creation, and the new creation. Secondly, he is the Alpha and Omega of all eternity. Finally, with the Father, Jesus of Nazareth, born of a woman, is glorified and honored as God incarnate. Through Him alone God creates and redeems the human race, judges us and has mercy upon us. For us, Revelation ends as the best moment for all of us because of Jesus Christ.

As I pondered that this past week, a second question came to me: What is the worst day of my life? I remember some of the worst days of my life. I saw the Cadillac hurtling towards me in an inevitable T-bone. I remember missing the last step of the staircase while touring a castle in Europe and tearing my rotator cuff as I attempted to break my fall. I recall the feelings when I walked into a meeting prepared to present an update on a golf outing and my boss telling me that my job was eliminated. I know exactly where I was when I heard that my father, mother and brother died.

Apart from the personal worst days of my life, I remember arriving home from school on November 22, 1963, wondering why my mother was crying while watching TV. I remember standing in the kitchen of the rectory at St. Irenaeus Church watching the news as the second plane hit the World Trade Center.

What do we do when we experience the worst day of our lives? I can tell you that on the afternoon of September 11, 2001, a member of the congregation called and asked if I would open the church so that people could come to pray together. I remember a crowded church on September 16, 2001, a less crowded church the following Sunday, and by October, we were back to our normal attendance.

I mention this because to me it seems that on the worst days of our lives, we turn to God. After experiencing one of the worst moments life deals us, we seek divine intervention. As helpless creatures, we submit ourselves to our Almighty God, King of kings and Lord of lords, begging for help. Like King David, some of us make promises, deals and commitments to God if He comes through for us.

Eventually, however, most people – even steadfast Christians – return to their normal state. We don’t see the need to honor the promises, deals and commitments we made. We don’t see the need to return to church and God each Sunday for whatever reason we render: work, family activities, travel, foul weather and so forth. Folks, if we find that we need God on the worst days of our lives, do we see that we need God on the best days of our lives and all those days in between?

In six weeks, Pastor Lissy will be leading you in worship. Lots of people will attend his ordination on July 13, and on his first Sunday of worship on July 20. But what will happen when football season arrives or when Sunday is a nice day to play a round of golf? What will happen when our time for Worship is not to my liking? What excuse will I offer to God who has commanded me to Worship Him in the Ten Commandments? God is infinite, but His sense of humor is not.

So, why should I be here each Sunday? Ask yourself: Is there anything happening here that does not happen on my recliner, sofa or bed where I can relax peacefully? Is something going on here that does not occur on the ball field or golf course, at the lake or the cabin? Can I learn something more important from Sunday morning TV programs, books, blogs or newspapers than I can from God’s Word?

Friends, I understand how nice it is to sleep late on Sundays. I enjoy a cup of coffee while reading the paper on the back deck. I know the importance of showing up for work on Sunday morning. But given that our reading from Revelation describes what God has done, is doing, and will do for us, I can reflect deeper on my need to be in church on Sunday mornings.

To answer my questions about being here, I’ll say this. I need a Divine Authority in my life and that authority is Jesus Christ, God Himself, who has built His Church for us because we need it. What happens when people gather in their Church for Divine Worship does not occur anywhere else. In this Church we confess our sins to God with fellow sinful believers and receive God’s mercy as His people. In this church, I can hear God’s Word in the same manner as it was announced to His Church 2,000 years ago. Like the Twelve at the Last Supper, from this altar we receive the true Body and Blood of the Risen Christ as members of this body of believers. What happens here on Sunday morning happens nowhere else, and I am blessed to be here on my worst day and on my best.

This is the last Sunday of Easter (given that next Sunday is Pentecost). If you have fully understood how much our Exalted Lord Jesus Christ means to you on the best and worst days of your life, then maybe, maybe you are ready for your eternal life. If not, I encourage you to return each Sunday until you do. This week, I ask you to contemplate what it means for you to see God’s face. As you do, may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus the Risen Lord. Amen. Alleluia!

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[1] Exodus 33:18ff.

[2] Psalm 17:15.

[3] Numbers 6:25-26.

[4] John 14:8.

[5] Matthew 5:8.

[6] 1^st Corinthians 13:12.

[7] Revelation 3:12.

[8] See also Revelation 7:3; 13:16.

[9] Rite of Holy Baptism.

[10] Louis A. Brighton, Revelation. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House (1999), p. 659.

I Saw Warsaw

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. … My sermon is based on Revelation (21:9-14, 21-27). Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

Atlanta, Berlin, Beirut, Chicago, Warsaw, San Francisco, Lisbon, Nagasaki. What is one thing these cities all have in common? They were all destroyed and rebuilt. If you have visited them, you may be aware of their common history. They have been destroyed by earthquakes, fires or bombings. Warsaw is the most interesting city that was rebuilt because after 85% of it was destroyed by the dark, black and red world of the Nazi occupation, Warsaw’s residents reconstructed their city from cityscape paintings by Venetian painter Bernardo Bellotto.

Bellotto was the court painter to the King of Poland beginning in 1768 and created beautiful and accurate paintings of Warsaw’s buildings and squares. Almost 200 years later, those paintings were used to help transform the historic city center from wreckage and rubble into a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[1]

Reconstruction began in 1950, and much of the Old Town was finished by 1955. The rest continued through the 1980’s. When I visited Warsaw in 1983, you would not know that the city was leveled over a span of six years beginning in 1939.

Residents working on the reconstruction were asphyxiated by clouds of dust. Someone calculated that they inhaled the equivalent of four bricks each year. “One must love one’s city in order to rebuild it at the cost of one’s own breathing. It is for this reason that, from the battlefield of rubble and ruins, Warsaw became once more the old Warsaw, eternal Warsaw.”[2]

I mention this because our reading from Revelation today continues to describe the holy city of Jerusalem. As you recall from last Sunday’s reading, John “saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.”[3] In today’s passage, John returns to what the angel showed him: “the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.”[4] As beautiful as those reconstructed cities I mentioned earlier are, this renewed and transformed city is even more beautiful.

Yet, amidst all the splendor of this holy city, something is missing from the new Jerusalem. There is no temple. Like Ezekiel, John’s source for this vision, Revelation portrays the new Jerusalem as a holy city. Yet, his understanding of God led him to a different vision. There is no temple because the city is holy. God is directly present to all throughout the city and not just in designated areas.[5]

Beneath the imagery of pillars, gates, walls and foundations is John’s conviction that God’s final dwelling place is in and with his people. The new Jerusalem is a community of believers, a body of believers such as we find in Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”[6]

The new city does not abolish human activities to build a decent earthly civilization but fulfills them. Remember in verse five that we do not read that God is making all new things but making all things new. This is not a return to Eden, but an affirmation of this world and its value that pictures eternal salvation as salvation of the world and of history itself.[7] Salvation does not offer escape from the tragedy of historical existence, but that all things that are human are taken up and transformed. The new holy city redeems and makes worthwhile every effort in our lives to have a decent city and just and fulfilling lives.

The new Jerusalem is no tiny village, but a vast city 1,500 miles long, wide and high. That’s the distance from here to Denver. The best comparison is that the holy city is the size of Australia. Now try to imagine Australia thousands of times larger because the city is also 1,500 miles high. The massive size of this new city indicates how holy it is. Not only is the city holy, but because God dwells there, it tells us how holy our God is.

Such holiness means that God demands of his people more than compliance with a list of pious acts. God demands a different, distinctive life oriented to his will for them, rather than “being conformed to this world.”[8] God demands his people to be holy. God commands you to be holy. In the end, the church is the community of holy people or saints, and the saints in this world always struggle with the profane. So, are you holy? On your own, no way. By God’s grace, definitely.

Last week I mentioned the reading stopped at verse seven. Today, it begins with verse nine. I do not know the reason verse eight is omitted by whoever edited the lectionary, but I can tell you why John included it.

First, we all know that residents or citizens live in a particular city, town, village or township. For simplicity, we will call it a city. Citizens must live within the rules and laws of the city. These rules and laws govern our property: government approves, and issues permits for buildings, driveways, home businesses and such. Government also establishes laws for behavior on my property: how many animals I can keep; how many cars on cement blocks can be in my front yard; how loud I can play music; how early or late I can mow my lawn.

Likewise, for the citizens of the holy city, there are rules and laws. It’s not anything goes. There have always been rules and laws for believers, for God’s people. We find commandments in the Old Testament and lists of vices in the New Testament.

John’s vice list (verse 8) is no different than those we find in Paul’s Letters or Peter’s First Letter.[9] For that matter, the things that defile a person are also found in Jesus’ teaching.[10] In Revelation, John is not merely handing on a traditional list. He appropriately nuances it to fit his situation. Beginning with cowards and ending with liars is not a general statement but has in mind the failures of Christians under the pressure of persecution. Cowards lacked courage before the Roman courts, and liars lacked truthfulness in making the declaration of their Christian faith regardless of consequences. To John, these and the other sins of verse eight, were associated with participation in the emperor cult and pressures of the pagan society.

John does not say that anyone who has been guilty of these failings is prohibited from participating in the Holy City, only that no one will bring these sinful practices with him or her into the Holy City. The list serves to characterize life in the city of God, not a limit on who will be there.[11] If you lie to anyone, you lie to God, and God knows it even if the people to whom you are lying have not yet figured it out or are going along with your scheme. That does not exclude you from God’s Kingdom, but you do need to make a thorough and honest confession of all your sins to God in front of the Church and receive absolution from one divinely called, that is, your pastor.

As Christians, our lives are grounded in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It’s not only a phrase which opens and closes our Divine Service, but also the way we live. Faith tells us that our lives must find fulfillment in the immediate and eternal intuition of God. To know God in your mind and in your heart means that we – as individuals and as a community – find our fulfillment in God’s presence, and that is reflected in our behavior, speech, attitude, and thoughts.

The trouble with modernism and, to a greater degree, postmodernism, is that we have gotten away from the fundamental truths that once formed our lives as individuals and as society. As Christians today, it is as difficult to remain faithful to our beliefs and fit into this world as it was for Christians in Revelation’s seven churches. Like John’s early Christians, life would be easier if we just fit into a pagan society, a consumer society, a postmodern society, a woke society or whatever you want to call it.

If we fashion God in our image and likeness, there is no relationship with the true God. With no relationship to worry about, sin poses no threat. This kind of “god” is exactly what C.S. Lewis meant when he described pantheism. “The Pantheist’s God does nothing, demands nothing. He is there if you wish for Him, like a book on a shelf. He will not pursue you. There is no danger that at any time heaven and earth should flee away at His glance.”[12]

History bears out this example year after year, century after century. Societies as a whole need correction and warning: casting God aside only turns humanity in on itself. The farther the world gets from God, the worse its problems become. Just as humanity cannot figure itself out without God, it cannot solve its problems without Him, either. We need the fullness of prophecy to assist us.[13]

My friends, if we want not only an appreciation of John’s prophecy for Christians of the second century, but an appropriation of that prophecy for our lives today, we need something to assist us in accusing ourselves honestly. We need this kind of prophecy more than knowledge of the future.

As Lutherans we learned in our Small Catechism that there are three purposes of the Law. It helps us to control our outbursts of sin and maintains order in the world. It accuses us and shows us our sin. It teaches us what we should do and not do to lead a God-pleasing life. We refer to these uses as curb, mirror and guide. But the power to live according to the Law comes from the Gospel.[14]

Without repentance, the Christian life is impossible. If God becomes only a book on a shelf, repentance is a non-factor. We need to take to heart that in good times or in bad, in persecution or in flourishing, Christ is the answer. The only modern prophecies worth listening to are those that follow the pattern of the biblical prophets: return to the Lord, do not do what is evil, avoid false gods, and be faithful to the new covenant. The core of even the direst prophecy is a call to return to the divine life. And there is always hope precisely because God is the source of hope.

Any prophecy or prophet calling Christians to look to the world for answers – to embrace abortion, approve gay marriage, encourage transgenderism – speaks for the ‘god on the shelf.’  Christians should not look exactly like the world. If we do, something is wrong.

So much of getting on in life has to do with to whom we listen. Listen to Our Lord, the Scriptures, and speakers who are true disciples. Life will never be easy, and no true prophet would preach the effortless way. That is why we look to the saints in the Scriptures who chose not the easy way, but God’s way. That is why we look to the martyrs of the early and current Church, who continue to choose God’s way. That is why we come here each Sunday – to confess our sins to God before other sinners, to receive God’s love, God’s mercy, God’s grace poured forth into our hearts through Word, Sacrament and one another.

Do you listen to God’s Word daily? Do you spend 15 minutes a day reading and digesting the Scriptures? Do you apply to your life the Ten Commandments? The Creed? The Lord’s Prayer? Have you been praying for your new pastor and for the congregation or have you been selfishly and sinfully kicking against the goad to supplant God’s will with you own agenda?

My friends, I need you here as much as you need a pastor here. You need to witness how you are living as a Christian in the world so that I do the same. You help me help you. And with God’s grace and guidance in this world, we can be redeemed to live as saints in the new, holy city that our Triune God prepares for us. Ponder that for the week, and as you do, may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus the Risen Lord. Amen. Alleluia!

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[1] Daryl Mersom, How postwar Warsaw was rebuilt using 18th century paintings, The Guardian, April 22, 2016.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Revelation 21:2.

[4] Revelation 21:10-11.

[5] M. Eugene Boring, Revelation. Louisville: John Knox Press (1989), p. 218.

[6] 1 Corinthians 3:16-17.

[7] Boring, p. 220

[8] Boring, p. 222. See Romans 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 6:16-18.

[9] Boring p. 217.

[10] Mark 7:21-23; Matthew 15:18-20.

[11] Boring, pp. 271f.

[12] C.S. Lewis, Miracles, p. 149.

[13] John Kubasak, “The Need for Prophecy,” The Catholic Stand, May 8, 2022.

[14] Question 77.