Last week I attended Higher Things' Coram Deo conference. This was my third conference and the first at which I presented a sectional. A week has gone by since the opening Divine Service in Bloomington (and another conference is underway in Atlanta). I've had some time to reflect on the conference and I offer up these thoughts.
I have three goals in bringing youth to these conferences: 1) Exposure to traditional Lutheran liturgy in all its richness and fullness; 2) More thorough catechesis that builds on the foundation of my confirmation classes; 3) The chance to meet and mingle with other Lutheran youth. I think all three goals were met and exceeded last week.
This year's schedule was the best yet. It kept the day full and active, but I didn't feel rushed to make it to everything. There was ample free time, and college campus facilities provide a variety of things to do.
Speaking of free time, I realized this trip that it's not so much how awesome the free time activities are. The youth have a good time when they have friends to do it with. Whether they're friends from our church or friends met at the conference, sitting on a bench laughing and talking is loads more entertainment than if they scheduled skydiving or some other thrilling event.
Worship was, as always, outstanding. I knew when the first hymn we sang was O God, O Lord of Heaven and Earth that we were in for a treat the whole week.
The youth were a little surprised at the higher ceremony (bowing, crossing, processions). But they didn't really need to be taught how to do them. They followed along with the rest of the youth. There was no need to say, "Let us stand;" when it was time to stand, everyone stood.
Finally, I also recognized that the behavior of these youth was noticeably better than at other youth events I've been to. That's not to say that kids won't still do stupid things. Kids are kids. But overall, there was a greater sense of politeness, generosity, kindness. My parents were there for the first time with their youth and they noticed it. My colleague at Emmanuel came down to visit and someone at the store remarked to him how pleasant the youth seemed to her.
I don't think that this is unrelated to the fact that there is worship 4 times a day. The conference began and ended with the Lord's body and blood. There was preaching at two services a day. We sang Psalms. Lots of them. If we truly believe that sanctification is worked in us through the means of grace (AC IV, V, VI), then this should come as no surprise.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
A small-town problem?
When I grew up in the North County of St. Louis, I had a lot of civic pride (North County Proud!-where else can you see the things that you see in the circle?). I loved Florissant--still do--but my community was not really defined by my geography. I regularly spent time in Bellefontaine Neighbors, Ferguson, Hazelwood, Clayton, St. Louis City, etc., etc.
My community was defined primarily by my church. Part of the reason was because I attended parochial school at my church, but even in high school and beyond my activities were usually connected with the church or with people from the church. My family was not the only one; in fact I know of at least a half-dozen families who were (and are) just like mine in spending a lot of time at church.
Now I live in a small town. There are many great things about a small town--John Mellancamp can tell you all about them. But when it comes to the church, there seems to be a bit of a difference. I could be way wrong, but it occurred to me this morning as I was walking the streets of Dwight, that many people would consider their community primarily defined by the town, and by the church only secondarily. First a resident of Dwight, second a member of Emmanuel. Because I had a community defined by my church growing up, church was where I went to be with my friends, with my extended family, whether in worship or other things.
I don't know if this is something that's more particular to a small town as opposed to a large city or suburb (the high school behind my house where I grew up had more students than my current town has residents). Perhaps it's a problem we've created for ourselves at Emmanuel by failing to foster a community around the Word of God and the Sacrament. I don't know.
My community was defined primarily by my church. Part of the reason was because I attended parochial school at my church, but even in high school and beyond my activities were usually connected with the church or with people from the church. My family was not the only one; in fact I know of at least a half-dozen families who were (and are) just like mine in spending a lot of time at church.
Now I live in a small town. There are many great things about a small town--John Mellancamp can tell you all about them. But when it comes to the church, there seems to be a bit of a difference. I could be way wrong, but it occurred to me this morning as I was walking the streets of Dwight, that many people would consider their community primarily defined by the town, and by the church only secondarily. First a resident of Dwight, second a member of Emmanuel. Because I had a community defined by my church growing up, church was where I went to be with my friends, with my extended family, whether in worship or other things.
I don't know if this is something that's more particular to a small town as opposed to a large city or suburb (the high school behind my house where I grew up had more students than my current town has residents). Perhaps it's a problem we've created for ourselves at Emmanuel by failing to foster a community around the Word of God and the Sacrament. I don't know.
Sermon for Easter 7
Seventh Sunday of Easter
Ezekiel 36:22-28
5 June, 2011
Emmanuel Lutheran Church—Dwight, IL
In the name of the Father, and of the T Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Between our Lord’s ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, we’re told that the disciples “with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers” (Acts 2:14). As they followed Jesus’ command to wait for the promise of the Father and the baptism of the Holy Spirit, they spent their time in prayer and meditation upon God’s Word.
When the Jews prayed, often their prayer was shaped by the Psalms—the prayer book and hymn book of the Bible. In ten days time, it is reasonably certain that they prayed David’s great Psalm of repentance, Psalm 51, in which is found the words, “Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit” (Ps 51:10-12).
This Psalm shows that
The Gift of the Holy Spirit Is the Gift of a New Heart
I.
Consistently, one of the top killers each year is heart disease. Many of you have probably been warned about it already. Bad diet, lack of exercise, unhealthy habits all cause your blood vessels to harden, your heart to work harder, your arteries to clog with cholesterol. Your heart beats within your breast until it cannot take the strain any longer and it fails. Scripture says that “the life of every creature is its blood” (Lv 17:14a), and when your heart stops pumping blood, your life will soon be lost.
I recently read about another form of heart disease—this one more deadly than arthrosclerosis. It’s more deadly because it’s harder to detect. An angiogram will overlook it, and the symptoms are mostly unnoticeable until it’s too late. It also affects those who lead an active and fit life just as often as it does those who are sedentary. This particular form of heart disease is a congenital defect—if you have it, you’ve had it since birth.
Our Lord warns us against this heart disease in His prophecy through the mouth of Ezekiel. “I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (v 26b).
What does the Lord God mean by a heart of stone? Clearly it’s not that the tissue inside your chest is petrifying. To have a heart of stone means two things: first, it is a heart that resists God’s Word; second it’s a heart that chases after idols.
When Pharaoh witnessed God’s miraculous signs in Egypt, again and again we’re told that he hardened his heart. God spoke His Word to him through His prophet Moses, but he would not listen—he would not let the people go. Even when it seemed as though he would relent, he again hardened his heart and resisted God’s good grace.
The gracious words of our Lord deliver His good gifts to you—but a gift can always be rejected. Hard hearts don’t like to receive from God, but would rather earn on their own merits.
The result of the hardening of hearts is the pursuit of idols. God works graciously through His Word and His holy Sacraments, but for most people that is exceptionally offensive. That God would descend from heaven to atone for their sin must necessarily mean that they can contribute nothing to their standing before God. And so they reject God because they reject His Word. But it is not possible to live without a god. Something will inevitably fill the void.
The Large Catechism says that a god is anything on which you rely for all good. The most common god is money. Why do you think that we have nearly 600 members in this congregation, but less than a hundred worshipping here today? Because God asks you to give Him money. But God’s ten percent can be spent on so many other things on Sunday morning.
We often make the mistake of limiting idolatry to the Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, and atheists. But notice to whom Ezekiel prophecies. He’s not speaking to the nations about their idolatry, but to Israel—God’s chosen people. They are the ones who have profaned God’s name; they are the ones who have worshipped the idols.
This prophecy still speaks to Israel today—not the nation, but the new Israel in the Church. You also were born with spiritual heart disease that turns your heart rock-hard. You bear God’s name by virtue of your baptism, but your sin profanes God’s name—you drag it in the mud with you whenever you disobey. Your heart of stone seeks after idols to replace the true God even as you sit here and worship Him.
Repent. Know that your heart is hard and pray to God to give you a new one.
II.
Ezekiel’s prophecy, though harsh, isn’t ultimately a prophecy of judgment, but a prophecy of grace. Even though he speaks God’s Law in all its fury and wrath, he does not do so to condemn, but to save.
“I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (vv 24-26).
This is the best news that can be given to someone with spiritual heart disease. God does not offer to treat only the symptoms of this disease—to make you feel good about yourself, to hide your suffering under false emotionalism—but He promises a complete heart transplant. He will remove your heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh.
How does this spiritual surgery work? It begins with the sprinkling of water. God washes you clean from all of your idolatry by combining His Word with water. Even though you drag His name through the muck of your sin, His name remains vindicated through the obedience of His Son. For you bear not only the name of the Father, but also of the Son, who came down into the muck with you, yet kept God’s name holy.
God keeps His name holy in you with the continual word of forgiveness that He speaks to you in the Holy Absolution. He returns you to your baptism to wash you clean once again. Once you have been cleaned of your idolatry, God goes to work on the root of the problem.
What makes heart disease so dangerous? The heart is responsible for pumping blood throughout your body to deliver all sorts of nutrients to you members. But the most important duty of the heart is to deliver oxygen. The air that you breathe goes into your blood and is sent throughout your body by your heart. When the heart stops, the oxygen stops.
In Hebrew the word for air is also the word for spirit. I don’t think that it’s a coincidence that God goes about replacing your heart in the way that He does. “And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my just decrees” (v 27).
God promises the Holy Spirit to cure your heart from the inside. The spiritual surgery is done every time the Word is spoken, which is sharper than any two edged sword. It cuts to the heart and removes the malignant disease that finds its way to your core.
Many of you know that a major surgery isn’t something that you get taken care of in a short visit to the doctor. Surgery lasts hours and recovery takes a long time with follow-up visits. The Lord’s surgery is a life-long procedure, and it will only really be finished on the day of resurrection when your old flesh, which will be laid to rest in the grave, will be raised to new life.
Jesus ascends to His Father, but not without first promising to send the Holy Spirit. He is a precious gift; He is the gift of a new heart.
In T Jesus’ name. Amen.
JWE
VDTMA
Monday, May 30, 2011
Ehrhard-Legoute Wedding
Legoute-Ehrhard Wedding
Ephesians 5:22-33
28 May, 2011
Blessed Savior Lutheran Church—Florissant, MO
In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Father first speaks these words at creation, when no suitable helper can be found for Adam. So from his side, God creates woman—bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. She is man’s complement, filling in the spaces where he cannot help himself. God sanctifies marriage with these words; a holy estate instituted in the holiness of Eden. And it is by this holy estate and the union of man and woman that God continues His creative work, the unique aspects of two individuals becoming one flesh in their children. “Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward” (Ps 127:3).
The Son of God repeats the Father’s words in order to defend marriage against sinful abuses. The Pharisees came to Jesus looking for some justification for getting divorced from their wives—after all, even Moses allowed it. But Jesus says to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so” (Mt 19:8).
Rachel and Lionel, unlike the first marriage where God joined together a righteous man and woman, today God is joining together two people with hard hearts. That’s the reality of sin. Not all days will be like your wedding day. Your heats will harden in sin against each other. You’ll bicker, you’ll fight, you’ll think that it was foolish to get married in the first place.
But the problem will not lie with your marriage—God has joined you together, let not man separate you—but the problem will lie in your own heart. Therefore, the solution will always and only be to have a change of heart. Jesus calls that repentance.
The third time the institution of marriage is invoked is by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Ephesians. But the words you heard read in the epistle were not St. Paul’s own opinions or advice about marriage—they were the preaching of the Holy Spirit. Here the Third Person of the Holy Trinity not only instructs Christians how to treat marriage, but also reveals to us why marriage is so important that God would repeat it three times in Holy Scripture.
We confess a God who is incarnate—enfleshed—by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary. The same Son of God who defended marriage against the abuses of the Pharisees is Himself the product of the fleshly union of God and man. The unique aspects of God and the unique aspects of man come together in the person of Jesus.
Earlier in his epistle to the Ephesians, St. Paul writes that it was the eternal intention of God that He would wed Himself to His creation through the incarnation of Jesus—and He did so with the precise purpose to redeem us. “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish”
Rachel and Lionel, Christ has wed Himself to you—hard hearts and all—in order to sanctify you with water and the Word of God, and to redeem you and all the sins within your marriage. Rachel, you are redeemed to gladly submit to Lionel in your marriage, just as you and he together gladly submit to the Lord. Lionel, you are redeemed in your marriage to give yourself up for Rachel in love and to treat her as you would your own body.
In the same way that you will give each other rings in a few moments “as a pledge and token of wedded love and faithfulness,” so also has Christ given you a pledge and token of His love and faithfulness in the Holy Sacrament of His body and blood. When you go to the Sacrament, be reminded that your God is a God of flesh, who redeemed your flesh, and He is pleased with your union in one flesh.
St. Paul writes that marriage is a mystery.
In + Jesus’ name. Amen.
JWE
VD+MA
Ephesians 5:22-33
28 May, 2011
Blessed Savior Lutheran Church—Florissant, MO
In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
3.
Three times in Holy Scripture it is said, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Gen 2:24; Mt 19:5 & Mk 10:7-8; Eph 5:31). Whenever Scripture speaks once, Luther says, “there the Holy Ghost, faith, and other gifts of the Spirit must necessarily be.” Where Scripture speaks three times, we ought to give double attention to what it is that our Lord intends to sanctify by His Word.The Father first speaks these words at creation, when no suitable helper can be found for Adam. So from his side, God creates woman—bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. She is man’s complement, filling in the spaces where he cannot help himself. God sanctifies marriage with these words; a holy estate instituted in the holiness of Eden. And it is by this holy estate and the union of man and woman that God continues His creative work, the unique aspects of two individuals becoming one flesh in their children. “Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward” (Ps 127:3).
The Son of God repeats the Father’s words in order to defend marriage against sinful abuses. The Pharisees came to Jesus looking for some justification for getting divorced from their wives—after all, even Moses allowed it. But Jesus says to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so” (Mt 19:8).
Rachel and Lionel, unlike the first marriage where God joined together a righteous man and woman, today God is joining together two people with hard hearts. That’s the reality of sin. Not all days will be like your wedding day. Your heats will harden in sin against each other. You’ll bicker, you’ll fight, you’ll think that it was foolish to get married in the first place.
But the problem will not lie with your marriage—God has joined you together, let not man separate you—but the problem will lie in your own heart. Therefore, the solution will always and only be to have a change of heart. Jesus calls that repentance.
The third time the institution of marriage is invoked is by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Ephesians. But the words you heard read in the epistle were not St. Paul’s own opinions or advice about marriage—they were the preaching of the Holy Spirit. Here the Third Person of the Holy Trinity not only instructs Christians how to treat marriage, but also reveals to us why marriage is so important that God would repeat it three times in Holy Scripture.
2.
St. Paul writes, “’Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This mystery in profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church” (v 32). Today, your union in one flesh as man and wife is pleasing to God because it is a picture of Christ’s union with us in the flesh.We confess a God who is incarnate—enfleshed—by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary. The same Son of God who defended marriage against the abuses of the Pharisees is Himself the product of the fleshly union of God and man. The unique aspects of God and the unique aspects of man come together in the person of Jesus.
Earlier in his epistle to the Ephesians, St. Paul writes that it was the eternal intention of God that He would wed Himself to His creation through the incarnation of Jesus—and He did so with the precise purpose to redeem us. “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish”
Rachel and Lionel, Christ has wed Himself to you—hard hearts and all—in order to sanctify you with water and the Word of God, and to redeem you and all the sins within your marriage. Rachel, you are redeemed to gladly submit to Lionel in your marriage, just as you and he together gladly submit to the Lord. Lionel, you are redeemed in your marriage to give yourself up for Rachel in love and to treat her as you would your own body.
1.
Three times in Holy Scripture it is said, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” I can only think of one other phrase in Scripture that is repeated as often: “Take, eat; this is My body…Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in My blood” (Mt 26:26-28; Mk 14:22-24; Lk 22:19-20; 1 Cor 11:23-25). In the same way that you will give each other rings in a few moments “as a pledge and token of wedded love and faithfulness,” so also has Christ given you a pledge and token of His love and faithfulness in the Holy Sacrament of His body and blood. When you go to the Sacrament, be reminded that your God is a God of flesh, who redeemed your flesh, and He is pleased with your union in one flesh.
St. Paul writes that marriage is a mystery.
THE GREAT MYSTERY OF YOUR MARRIAGE IS THAT IT REVEALS THE NATURE OF GOD’S LOVE AND FAITHFULNESS
In + Jesus’ name. Amen.
JWE
VD+MA
Saturday, May 21, 2011
The Words Really Do Matter
For several years of my life I was really into CCM. There were CD collections that came out every year called WOW, which compiled the year's top Christian contemporary hits (I suppose they're still making them, but I haven't looked at one since the 90s).
With all of the rapture talk going with Harold Camping's false prophecy, I'm reminded of one of my favorite songs off of the 1996 album. It's a DC Talk cover of Larry Norman. Here it is:
I listened to this song over and over and over. I tried to learn how to play it on guitar. But I don't think it was until the Left Behind series of books came out that actually realized what the words were saying. Here's verse two:
I realized then that the words really do matter. A song can't just talk about God to be pleasing to God, but it must also teach the right things about God. Now, most of the other songs on WOW 1996 didn't have such blatantly false teachings. The problem with most of CCM isn't so much in what they say, but with what they don't say. But I learned just how easily false and pernicious teachings can slip in through contemporary Christian music.
Larry Norman also has another song called Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music? Ironically, the devil also has his music, because I Wish We'd All Been Ready does not talk about Christianity, but the doctrine of demons.
With all of the rapture talk going with Harold Camping's false prophecy, I'm reminded of one of my favorite songs off of the 1996 album. It's a DC Talk cover of Larry Norman. Here it is:
I listened to this song over and over and over. I tried to learn how to play it on guitar. But I don't think it was until the Left Behind series of books came out that actually realized what the words were saying. Here's verse two:
A man and wife asleep in bedI probably couldn't pronounce premillennial dispensationalism at the time, but its poisonous teachings were going into my ears and I was singing it time after time thinking that I was offering praise to God.
She hears a noise and turns her head hes gone
I wish we'd all been ready
Two men walking up a hill
One disappears and ones left standing still
I wish we'd all been ready
There's no time to change your mind
The son has come and you've been left behind
I realized then that the words really do matter. A song can't just talk about God to be pleasing to God, but it must also teach the right things about God. Now, most of the other songs on WOW 1996 didn't have such blatantly false teachings. The problem with most of CCM isn't so much in what they say, but with what they don't say. But I learned just how easily false and pernicious teachings can slip in through contemporary Christian music.
Larry Norman also has another song called Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music? Ironically, the devil also has his music, because I Wish We'd All Been Ready does not talk about Christianity, but the doctrine of demons.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Starting up again
I'm going to try to do better at posting to this blog. I do a good job at keeping up with Facebook; perhaps that has to do with the fact that status updates are so short and I can whip off a thought that's on the top of my head. A blog post takes a little bit more time and concentration, at least for me it does.
So I promise to try harder to put up my sermons and newsletter articles, as well as other thoughts. This isn't so much a promise for any readers, but for myself. This is the third such time I've made a promise along these lines, and I haven't been very good at keeping them yet. We'll see how this one turns out.
So I promise to try harder to put up my sermons and newsletter articles, as well as other thoughts. This isn't so much a promise for any readers, but for myself. This is the third such time I've made a promise along these lines, and I haven't been very good at keeping them yet. We'll see how this one turns out.
Funeral Sermon for + Phyllis Diemer +
Funeral for T Phyllis Diemer T
Revelation 21:1-7
20 May, 2011
Emmanuel Lutheran Church—Dwight, IL
In the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The thing that struck me when I first met Jake and Phyllis was how easy a conversation was with them. I remember sitting in a hospital room with the two of them as one of my first pastoral calls. I don’t exactly remember what we talked about, but I remember it to be very delightful conversation.
Somewhere during one of those conversations, I also learned another very striking fact—they were approaching 70 years of marriage! Nowadays, you’re lucky to hear of marriages lasting 7 years, much less 70.
Thirty-five years after making her marriage vow to Jake in 1940, Phyllis made another vow, this time in the Rite of Confirmation here at Emmanuel. After learning the Small Catechism, Phyllis confessed her faith with these words: “Finally, do you intend faithfully to conform all your life to the rule of the divine Word, to be diligent in the use of the means of grace, to walk as it becometh the Gospel of Christ, and in faith, word, and deed to remain true to the Truine God, even unto death? I do so intend by the grace of God” (The Lutheran Agenda).
Phyllis was confirmed on November 23, 1975, which also happened to be the last Sunday of the Church Year that year. The appointed verse for that day is taken from today’s reading from Revelation: “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (v 2).
These words from the holy writer remind us that Phyllis was a faithful bride in more than one way. Not only was she married to Jake for 70 years, but she was also by virtue of her Holy Baptism a part of the New Jerusalem in the Church, which is Christ’s bride.
Just as Phyllis had prepared herself those many years ago to be joined together with Jake, so also was she prepared by the washing of regeneration to be united with her Lord Jesus. St. Paul writes to the Ephesians, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Eph 5:25-27).
When Phyllis was joined together with Christ, the promise of our heavenly Father was fulfilled, “Behold, I am making all things new” (v 5). Phyllis had become a new creation in Jesus Christ when that baptismal water poured over her. The old, sinful self was drowned and a new person arose from the font to live before God in righteousness and purity forever. Everything about Phyllis was made new, except for her flesh.
Her old, sinful flesh still clung to her, which meant that even though there were few who were more pleasant, she still was inclined to all manner of sins. This was not something that would have surprised Phyllis. She knew it well, which is why she was so often to be found in the Divine Service. It was always my joy to see Jake wheeling Phyllis into church an hour early so that they could make sure that the appropriate pages were marked. And after Jake went to be with Jesus, Phyllis still made sure that there was someone who could bring her to church, at least for Sundays of Holy Communion, so that she could be again united with her Lord in the mystical union of the Sacrament.
The heavenly Father spent a lifetime making Phyllis new, week in and week out, through repentance and forgiveness. And today, St. Paul’s words are fulfilled, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor 5:17). The old, sinful flesh that clung to Phyllis has finally been laid to rest. She is no more burdened with a fallen and frail body. Yet, because she was joined in this life to the One who makes all things new, she is also now looking forward to a new body, a resurrected body. Because she is now still a part of the New Jerusalem, she awaits the day when our Lord’s promises will be fully realized. “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (vv 3-4).
I’ve been told that Phyllis and Jake would go out to eat in Streator every day. That’s about an hour, round-trip. On Monday, Phyllis joined Jake again for a meal, only this time it was at the wedding feast of the Lamb. “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Rev 19:9). Dear family and friends, this invitation is also for you. When you kneel at the altar to receive Christ’s body and blood, you join Phyllis, Jake, and all the company of heaven in this wedding feast of the Lamb who was slain.
Today we entrust Phyllis to the God and Father of our crucified and risen Lord, who says, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son” (vv 6-7).
In T Jesus’ name. Amen.
VDTMA
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