The First Sunday in Lent, February 18, 2024

We certainly shall live from the words that come from the mouth of God.  Those words are specifically Jesus Christ, who is the Word of God Incarnate.  As the Word of God, Jesus is our life… your life and my life.  While in the wilderness, Jesus faced the devil openly.  During the rest of his days, Jesus faced the devil, the tempter, less openly and through proxies such as the demons and unclean spirits.  As Jesus has the victory over the devil in these three temptations so too does Jesus have victory over the tempter—Satan and his lies.  

The great temptation facing Jesus was that of power.  God revealed to the Apostle Paul that God’s power was made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).  Satan tempted Jesus to use his power to come down from the cross, smite his foes, and save himself.  Jesus, however, endured the cross and its shame… becoming, not only a human weakling but also the weakest of gods.  In that weakness, God’s power was perfected and the victory over Satan won.

So now, you.  The strength of your willpower does not determine your success at resisting temptation… at resisting the lies of the devil… at refusing Satan’s blandishments.  Instead, your success is had in the victory of Jesus, his victory over sin, death, and the power of the devil.  You do not go out into the wilderness to do battle against the tempter’s power.  No!  You receive the victory of Jesus Christ handed over to you from the font, the pulpit, and the altar.  You take that victory out into your own personal wilderness, whatever circumstances the world has delivered you into.  The whole armor of God (Eph 6:10-20) girds you to stand fast… to stand fast in the victory Christ has already won!  Christ, and Christ alone, is the Word of God by which you live.  Just so, your preacher delivers you into the victory of Jesus Christ.  In that victory you already have righteousness and truth… indeed, all the armor.  Standfast and live!

Table Talk:  Explore the distinction between doing battle and enjoying Christ’s victory.
Pray:  Heavenly Father hold me fast in the victory of Jesus Christ that I might have life from the Word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.  Amen

Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread. 4 But he answered, It is written,

Man shall not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

He will command his angels concerning you,

and

On their hands they will bear you up,

lest you strike your foot against a stone.

7 Jesus said to him, Again it is written, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test. 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me. 10 Then Jesus said to him, Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

You shall worship the Lord your God

and him only shall you serve.

11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him

Quinquagesima Sunday, February 11, 2024

Jesus announces that God will have his way with his Son.  This God… this Father… this God who hides himself takes hold of Satan and wears him as a mask.  This God, using Satan as his tool… using the hands of sinful men… using the crowd as it believes Satan’s lies… this God has his way with Jesus.  Jesus is flogged.  Jesus is crucified.  Jesus is raised from the dead.  This is Jesus’ passion:  he suffers the will of God to be done unto him.  The twelve stand there listening uncomprehendingly to his words.  They did not get it.  You, too, suffer the will of God to be done unto you.  God will have his way with you.  It will be the passion of your Christian life.  You, like Jesus, will have a flogging, being whipped from one thing to another.  You, like Jesus, will have a cross to bear, not one of your own choosing but one that is inflicted upon you.  You, like Jesus, will suffer your own peculiar crucifixion, your death, and go down to the dust like him.  You, like Jesus, will be raised from the dead, called forth from the dust.  This is the passion of your Christian life.  Like those twelve standing before Jesus looking at him with the blank stares of incomprehension, you, too, stare.  To use one of Luther’s favorite idioms, “You stare like a cow looking at a new gate.”  Pray that the Holy Spirit drives you through it.

Prayers from those who need the Holy Spirit’s driving lest they merely stand and stare…

Father in heaven, have your way with me that I would suffer your will to be done upon me.  Drive me, Holy Spirit, through the gate into eternal life.

Father in heaven, have your way with me that I would be conformed to the image of your Son in both life and in death.  Drive me, Holy Spirit, through the gate into eternal life.

Father in heaven, have your way with me that, like my Lord Jesus, I would be humble beneath your work upon me.  Drive me, Holy Spirit, through the gate into eternal life.

Father in heaven, have your way with me so that I would be useful to my neighbors and forgive their sin that you might have your way with them as well.  Drive me, Holy Spirit, through the gate into eternal life.

Father in heaven, have your way with me so that I would be content with my duties in family, congregation, community, and nation.  Drive me, Holy Spirit, through the gate into eternal life.

Father in heaven, have your way with me that I would look to the Institute of Lutheran Theology for the provision of a preacher who is duty bound to forgive my sin in the name of Christ.  Drive me, Holy Spirit, through the gate into eternal life.

Father in heaven, have your way with me so that I would steadfast, held in the victory of Jesus Christ, until that day when he comes in glory.  Drive me, Holy Spirit, through the gate into eternal life.

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Quinquagesima Sunday, February 11, 2024

Jesus’ friends and Jesus’ foes acknowledged that he had acquired a status far beyond that which could be ascribed to the circumstances of his birth.  Anytime you read of Jesus’ foes being afraid of arresting him because of the crowd, you are reading their acknowledgment of Jesus’ great honor, which was ascribed to him by the populace, earned by his conversational successes in confronting the religious leaders, and witnessed to by the seemingly miraculous deeds Jesus accomplished.  In these verses set before us, Jesus describes what must happen to him.  These events will happen, not only to fulfill scripture, but because his enemies must strip him of his honor, destroy his popularity, and shame him beyond redemption.  If this social degradation is not accomplished, Jesus’ enemies will have made a martyr of him, a slain hero of the people.

The twelve did not understand this.  Swept up in the heady adulation of Jesus and caught up in his immense popularity, they basked in his reflected glory and enjoyed the glow of being associated with him.  Jesus was so popular that it seemed as if the whole world had gone after him (Jn. 12:19).  Consequently, when Jesus presents them with the reality of what must take place in Jerusalem, they could not understand what he said (vs. 34).  What we now know as the cross and resurrection remained incomprehensible to them, hidden from their understanding.

The Apostle Paul preaches that those who are called according to God’s purpose are predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus (Ro. 8:29).  Jesus himself cautions that to come after him is to bear a cross—that is, to receive our own social degradation ritual.  Yet, you can take heart (Jn. 16:33).  Jesus has had the victory over this sin, death, and the power of the devil because on the third day he was raised.  You, too, being joined to Jesus in a death like his, have also been joined to Jesus in a resurrection like his.

Table Talk:  Discuss social degradation rituals present today.
Pray:  Heavenly Father, conform me to Jesus in both death and life.  Amen

Luke 18:31-34

31 And taking the twelve, he said to them, See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. 32 For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. 33 And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise. 34 But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

Sexagesima Sunday, February 4, 2024

We have often sung a hymn, “Lord, Let My Heart be Good Soil” (WOV 713). The hymn presents the positive things good soil possesses, things like openness to the seed of the Word… like a place for love to grow… like a place where peace is understood. But the hymn doesn’t stop there. It names the qualities of the heart that need to be changed, qualities like hardness, coldness, and lostness. Just so, the hymn prays for the Lord to break a stoney heart, warm a cold heart, and lead a lost heart. All of these are wonderful! Except… except you and I don’t know our hearts. Knowledge of the human is reserved to God (cf. 1 Ki. 8:9; Act. 15:8; Lk. 16:15 among many) for only he can plumb its depths and divine its inclinations. Whatever examination you and I might do upon our own hearts only leads us into pride or despair—pride over the supposedly good quality of its soil or despair over the observed poor quality of its soil. Since we—you and I—cannot know what the inclinations of our heart might be, we have to be told. Just so, you must have a preacher… you must have one who will address both the prideful and the despairing with God’s Word of Law and Gospel. Thereby inflicting upon them God’s merciful coup de gras—his stroke of grace—which mercifully puts miserable sinners to death and then graciously raises them up as saints to walk in newness of life which is nothing less than to have Jesus Christ as the life of their mortal flesh.

Prayers from those who must first die in their sin so that they can be raised to newness of life…

Heavenly Father, so use your grace upon me that I would die to sin and be raised to walk in newness of life. O Lord, hear us.

Heavenly Father, so use your grace upon me that I would deplore the sin I find in my heart and trust you in making my heart good soil. O Lord, hear us.

Heavenly Father, so use your grace upon me that during these days of my baptism Christ is the life of my mortal flesh. O Lord, hear us.

Heavenly Father, so use your grace upon me that as Christ is my life in faith, I would have my neighbors back in love. O Lord, hear us.

Heavenly Father, so use your grace upon me that as I have my neighbors in love, they would love me as well and both my neighbors and I would live in the life of Christ. O Lord, hear us.

Heavenly Father, so use your grace upon me that I would have eyes to see the Institute of Lutheran Theology and hear its proclamation of Jesus Christ, him crucified, and him alone. O Lord, hear us.

Heavenly Father, so use your grace upon me that I would wait for your son to come in glory so that my glory would then be revealed. O Lord, hear us.

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Sexagesima Sunday, February 4, 2024

“The seed is the Word of God” (vs. 11). Jesus presents to us the vulnerability of God’s Word:  it is trampled, devoured, withered, and choked out (vs. 5). Jesus, himself the Word of God, possessed this vulnerability: he was persecuted, convicted, condemned, scourged, and crucified. All these impositions upon the vulnerable Word of God come from its hearers who are listening also to a different word. Another voice is speaking into their ears. Satan, his minions, and his lies have claimed those hearers and bound them into thinking they do have a choice. They can hear God’s Word with obedience flowing spontaneously out of that hearing, or they can hear God’s Word and consider whether they will obey it. In the first instance, God’s Word is the active agent. In the second instance, the human will is the active agent.

For those who hear the Word of God and forth with are set free from their bondage to sin, death, and the power of the devil… these hearers are the good soil. These hearers are vulnerable to that Word of God. The Word of God is the active agent of their lives, not their own human will. They now have the heart of Jesus Christ; it is an honest and good heart (vs. 15). They can wait patiently for that Word—the Lord Jesus—to bear fruit. Good soil does not know that it is good soil. Good soil simply hears the Word and holds it fast. In other words, good soil “lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Dt. 8:3).

You… you who hear the Word of God need Satan, his minions, and his lies silenced. This silencing takes place when your preacher declares to you, “In the name of Jesus Christ, by his authority, and in his stead, I forgive you all your sin.” This absolution enthrones Jesus as Lord of your conscience and silences Satan and his ilk.

Table Talk: Discuss what it means to say that “Good soil does not know that it is good soil.

Pray: Heavenly Father, keep sending me a preacher with absolution on her lips that my bondage to sin would be broken. Amen

Luke 8:4-15

4 And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: 5 A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. 8 And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold. As he said these things, he called out, He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

9 And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, 10 he said, To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. 11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. 14 And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. 15 As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.

Septuagesima Sunday, January 28, 2024

These workers presumed much, didn’t they?  They presumed, based on the wages paid to the last workers hired, that they would receive some multiple of what the last hired received.  Their presumption grew.  This inference instilled coveting.  By that coveting, they estimated that those increased wages were already their possession.  So, when the owner of the vineyard paid them a mere denarius, they felt robbed.  The vineyard owner had stolen from them what their covetous hearts had already considered as theirs.  No wonder they grumbled!

The savvy vineyard owner confronts their disgruntled and grumbling state.  Those grumblers have voiced the complaint, “These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat” (vs. 12).  Their suffering… their unequal burden… their labor and discipline far exceeded the last hired.  Surely, they should receive more.  That master of the household… the vineyard owner… punctures their inflated balloon of self-centered coveting, saying to them, “Take what belongs to you and go.”  Those workers had agreed to work the day for one denarius.  That is what they received regardless of how much more they had coveted.

How about you?   Has your labor in the Lord’s vineyard… perhaps over the course of years… perhaps over decades of devoted stewardship… perhaps with countless acts of self-denial… have these works given you a presumption of increased reward?  …of coveting more than mere salvation?  …of some reward greater than that of the newly baptized reprobate?  We of the church… you and I who have supported it… sweated over it… sacrificed for it… don’t you and I often react with selfishness when it comes to sharing or permitting the use of church facilities to those who have been outside the church for years and years?  Thanks be to God that he does not begrudge his generosity!

Table Talk:  Discuss the inequality of the reward of eternal life.
Pray:  Heavenly Father, keep me satisfied with what I have and content to receive what you give me.  Amen

Matthew 20:1-16

For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and to them he said, You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you. 5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, Why do you stand here idle all day? 7 They said to him, Because no one has hired us. He said to them, You go into the vineyard too. 8 And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first. 9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12 saying, These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat. 13 But he replied to one of them, Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity? 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.

Septuagesima Sunday, January 28, 2024

The vineyard owner… the master of this house… he is a stand-in for God the Father.  Taking this parable as a salvation parable which drives home to us the equality of salvation, we are caught in the inequality of salvation as it’s delivered to those who have labored long and to those who have labored briefly.  Both receive the same salvation.  The Father does indeed choose to do what he wants with what belongs to him and he chooses to give you salvation afresh with each new day.  His mercies are new every morning (Lam. 3:23).  Each Sunday, God chooses to deliver his election to you, choosing you for the salvation had in Jesus Christ.  Each time you receive the forgiveness of your sins, you are returned to the promises of your baptism.  It is your only progress:  to begin again.  According to earthly standards, some Christians will be long in the faith and others will be newly minted.  That both receive the same salvation is a great inequality under those standards.  The Father, though, chooses… the Father elects… the Father delivers salvation and, with each event of choosing, electing, and delivering, every Christian is newly minted.

Prayers from those who long to be newly minted once again . . .

Heavenly Father, do what you choose with what belongs to you but deliver to me the salvation you have prepared for me in Christ before the foundation of the world.  In the name of Jesus.  Amen

Heavenly Father, do what you choose with what belongs to you but return me to the promises of my baptism that I might enjoy my total and complete justification and sanctification.  In the name of Jesus.  Amen

Heavenly Father, do what you choose with what belongs to you but provide me with a preacher who will speak the gospel of Jesus Christ to me, forgive my sins, and deliver your election of me to me.  In the name of Jesus.  Amen

Heavenly Father, do what you choose with what belongs to you but see to it that I forgive my neighbors for their failure to deliver daily bread to me and that they forgive me when I fail to deliver daily bread to them.  In the name of Jesus.  Amen

Heavenly Father, do what you choose with what belongs to you but provide me with good government and trustworthy communities that my life would be fruitful and useful.  In the name of Jesus.  Amen

Heavenly Father, do what you choose with what belongs to you but provide for the Institute of Lutheran Theology that it would be fruitful in its mission.  In the name of Christ.  Amen

Heavenly Father, do what you choose with what belongs to you but during these days of my baptism, hold me in the faith of Christ as I await his coming glory.  In the name of Christ.  Amen

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Dr. Jacobson Publishes New Book


The book Pain in the Belly: The Haugean Witness in American Lutheranism written by Assistant Professor Dr. Thomas Jacobson, is a history of Haugean movement in Norwegian Lutheranism, especially in North America. It is a slightly revised version of his dissertation from 2018.

The book description says:

Contemporary American Lutheranism is an amalgamation of various influences and ethnic traditions, yet the contributions and enduring identity of the Haugeans, a Norwegian sub-tradition known for their variety of pietistic expression, have received little attention from historians in the process of American Lutheran merger of the previous decades.

This book takes a closer look at the Haugean tradition within American Lutheranism and its distinct emphases. Most importantly, it demonstrates how this group of Lutherans carried forward their tradition within larger organizations. Seeking to serve as positive spiritual leaven within the larger batch of dough of the Lutheran tradition, the leaven of Haugeanism was not universally appreciated, causing for some “pain in the belly” upon consumption of this dough.

Copies can be ordered from Amazon or directly from Dr. Jacobson at a reduced cost. Contact him at his email by clicking the button below.

Order from Dr. Jacobson

Order from Amazon

Transfiguration Sunday, January 21, 2024

Those terrified disciples assumed a posture of worship—that is, they “fell on their faces” (vs. 6). The brightness of the cloud that enveloped them… the disembodied voice speaking out of the cloud as if it, too, enveloped them… the divine recognition of Jesus—their rabbi—as the beloved Son of God… the divine imperative, “Listen to him…!” all combined to instill an overwhelming fear in the hearts of Peter, James, and John… a fear that drove them to commit an act of worship—that is, they “fell on their faces.”

Jesus changes all of that. The very first words he speaks after his Father in heaven has commanded, “Listen to him,” radically change the direction of worship. Because of Jesus, his coming in the flesh, and his coming down to be with us, we no longer prostrate ourselves in fear before an incomprehensible and terrifying divinity. Rather, the divinity has come to us in the person of his Son, Jesus… a son who speaks kindly and gently to his people, “Rise, and have no fear.” When Jesus fills our eyes, as the eyes of Peter, James, and John were filled (cf. vs. 8), then there is nothing that will separate us from the love of God which is ours in Christ Jesus (Ro. 8:39).

Perhaps we, as Christians, have lived with this so long that it ceases to be remarkable to us. The religions of the world (even Christianity is numbered among them) worship their god(s) out of fear and trembling or manipulation and greed. Without faith to see in Jesus Christ the radical reorientation of worship, Christian worship remains rooted in fear. But, when faith grasps hold of Christ’s command, “Have no fear,” then worship becomes that mighty arena in which our good God—the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ—hands out the gifts of Christ—the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation—through Word and Sacrament.

Table Talk: Discuss the radical reorientation of worship in Jesus Christ.
Pray: Heavenly Father, lift up my fearful face which I hide from your sight and let my eyes see Jesus and Jesus only. Amen

Matthew 17:1-9

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 And Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah. 5 He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him. 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, Rise, and have no fear. 8 And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

9 And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.

Transfiguration Sunday

That voice of God speaking from the brilliance of the cloud commended those three disciples to “Listen!” to the beloved Son—that is, listen to Jesus. That command echoes through centuries until it comes to us, and we hear it with our own ears.  “Listen to him!”  “Hear him!”  “Obey him!”  Yes, obey him. A feature of Scripture is the word that most often calls forth obedience from us is the word that commends us to listen… to hear… and, to obey. Obedience is the spontaneous result of hearing properly. To hear properly is hearing God’s Word as the living and active Word which accomplishes the purpose for which God speaks it (Is. 55:11). God’s Word is God’s work… God’s work upon whomever hears it. Hearing God’s Word properly brings into spontaneous existence the result intended in God’s purpose. Hearing God’s Word of Law brings into spontaneous existence the obedience that Word commands. When the old sinful being in us tries to insert an act of will… an act of submission… or an act of choice between the hearing and the doing… the spontaneity is destroyed. Religious obedience results. Hearing God’s Word of Gospel brings into spontaneous existence the faith that Word promises. This is a faith that possesses you. When the old sinful being in us tries to exhibit some virtue called faith, the spontaneity of faith is destroyed. It becomes a work of ourselves rather than the work of the Holy Spirit.

Prayers from those who are hard of hearing…

Father in heaven, open my ears… let me listen to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen

Father in heaven, open my ears… grant your Word to work upon me and give me faith in your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen

Father in heaven, open my ears and give me such hearing of your Word that I am held in the faith of Jesus Christ. Amen

Father in heaven, open my ears… let me listen to my neighbors that their needs would be known to me, and I would work to fulfill them in the name of Jesus. Amen

Father in heaven, open my ears… grant your Word to work upon me so that, for the love of my Lord Jesus Christ, I serve those needy neighbors of mine. Amen

Father in heaven, open my ears and let me hear the needs of my particular neighbor, the Institute of Lutheran Theology, that I would be instrumental in fulfilling ILT’s needs for Jesus’ sake. Amen

Father in heaven, open my ears, that I would be sustained throughout the days of my baptism by the hearing of your Word which delivers me into the faith of Jesus Christ. Amen

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