A Footstool for His Feet, Psalm 110:1-7 INTRODUCTION Forty days after Jesus rose from the dead, He ascended into heaven to take His place at the right hand of the Father (Acts 1:3). This past Thursday marked the fortieth day after Easter, and on this Sunday the church has commemorated this event. THE TEXT ?The Lord said to my Lord, ?Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.?E The Lord shall send the rod of your... Read more
?May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine.?ESo says the Bride at the beginning of the Song of Songs. And the chorus agrees: ?We will rejoice in you and be glad; we will extol your love more than wine.?E Later the bridegroom responds in kind: ?How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine?Eand ?I have come into my garden, my sister, my... Read more
Deut 16:13-17 This morning we considered some issues in child-rearing, showing that we are to raise children to serve, to rule, to have wisdom they can communicate with others. Many aspects of raising children are fairly intangible. We not only teach and exercise discipline, but we work to create a certain atmosphere in the home, an atmosphere of affection, joy, and discipline. We do this through singing, telling stories at the dinner table, conversation, jokes and laughter. But none of... Read more
Today?s sermon is about raising priests and kings, and a few of the things I say in the sermon today refer to touch. I?m going to encourage you all to hold and caress and cuddle with your infants, and I?m going to encourage you to hug and kiss your older children as well. Since this doesn?t come naturally to many of us ?Eespecially those of us who were raised as Midwestern Lutherans ?EI wanted to go into more depth in... Read more
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Kaspar Olevianus Schwandt is named for one of the founders of the Reformed Church of Germany, and one of the principal architects of the Heidelberg Catechism. One of the highlights of that beautiful catechism is the answer to the first question, ?What is thy only comfort in life and death??E The answer, ?That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ, who, with... Read more
Thomas Schreiner offers an intriguing reading of the end of Rom 5:12, “death spread to all men EPH HO all sinned.” The Greek phrase has long been a crux: Most recent commentators take the phrase as causal – death spread because all sinned; Augustine interpreted it as equivalent to “in him,” concluding that all men sinned in Adam; John Murray used this as a basis for the doctrine of the imputation of Adam’s sin; others have suggested that the antecedent... Read more
A student of mine suggests that frequent communion creates pressures toward paedocommunion. So long as Eucharist is celebrated quarterly or less, it seems to be a special occasion for adults, like fancy dinner parties. Kids know that they are not included, and don’t care to be. As soon as the Supper starts happening every week, it becomes a regular part of life, like dinner and like watching movies. And it’s a regular part of life in which children are not... Read more
Since I subscribe to a variety of magazines and journals, I get a wildly diverse range of junk mail. Some assume I’m Catholic, others than I’m Jewish, some that I’m a Democrat, others that I’m a Republican or Libertarian or have signed on with the Constitution Party. One of the strangest ever came today: an invitation to join insightoutbooks, which, as it turns out, is a gay book club, featuring such classics as “Farm Boys” and “Queer Street,” “Frat Sex”... Read more
Raising Priests and Kings, Deuteronomy 6:1-25 INTRODUCTION We have been applying the sequence of priest, king, and prophet to Israel?s history and to our own biographies. God raises us to maturity by leading us through a period of service and a period of rule into an eldership where we guide others out of our experience and wisdom. Today, we will apply this same paradigm to the life of a child. THE TEXT ?Now this is the commandment, and these are... Read more
Here is an address I gave at NSA graduation, May 12, 2004. Graduating Seniors, Parents, Friends of the College, Colleagues: It is a great privilege to address you all this evening, especially the graduating seniors. I am more grateful than I can express that I have had the privilege of teaching you, most of you for two full years. You have been a model class, and have set the bar very high for future students. We will sorely miss your... Read more
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