On Wednesday, March 25, at 7:00 PM, the choir from Michigan Lutheran Seminary of Saginaw will present a sacred concert at Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church. A free will offering will be taken to defray expenses accrued by the choir. All are welcome to attend this sacred concert.
Greetings!
REGULAR SCHEDULE
Divine Service is Sundays at 10:00 AM.
Sunday School is Sundays at 9:00 AM.
Adult Bible Class is Sundays at 9:00 AM.
Lenten Vespers -- Wednesdays at 7:00 PM. (A supper is served at 6:00 PM.)
Bible Matters will resume on Wednesday, April 8 at 6:30 PM.
CALENDAR: For a calendar of events and meetings, click here.
LENTEN VESPERS
Our mid-week Lenten services ponder the sufferings and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. The schedule is here for Lenten Vespers.CHURCH COUNCIL HIGHLIGHTS (February)
> We will be ordering postcards to invite people to our Easter Festival Service on April 5. These postcards will blanket the area around church. We will also be ordering additional postcards for our members to use to invite their friends and family.
> Our efforts to get the windows replaced above the altar and the organ pipes were thwarted when the glass company who provided estimates closed their business. Ken DeSantis has contacted two other glass companies to get estimates. There were also some questions about the need to retain the design in the window above the altar. A window with fewer panes would reduce the cost of replacement. This will be a topic of discussion at our Open Forum.
> In an effort to engage more members with more opportunities to serve, we are summoning more men to serve as ushers. We also intend to be more organized so that we don’t grab people at the last minute to fill in for absent people. We will be recruiting people who will count and deposit the offerings. We will also be recruiting more women who can serve in handling the sacred vessels for holy communion. Training for all of these areas of service will be scheduled in the months to come.
> Every four years or so, the pastor conducts visits at the homes of all the members. It is intended to stay connected with everyone and to allow people to address any issues that may bother them or confuse them. Every Member Visits will begin in February. A sign-up sheet will be posted at church by February 15 to allow people to schedule their visit. As the year goes on, phone calls will be made to those who have not yet signed up (ominous music inserted here).
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We desire as many as possible to rejoice in the Gospel which we proclaim and confess. Share the information from our weekly email blast, links to our web page, and even to the pastor's blog to let others know that we have a space in our congregation for them!
In Christ,
Pastor Schroeder
==================
REGULAR SCHEDULE
GOOD SHEPHERD’S WEBSITE
www.GoodShepherdNovi.org
PASTOR SCHROEDER’S BLOG
THE SECOND ADAM
RESCUES THE SONS OF ADAM.
GENESIS 3:1-15
In the name + of Jesus.
When God finished creating the world, “God
saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). The man and the woman were very good, made in
the image of God. They were in perfect
harmony with God’s will. They knew what
God’s will was, they wanted to do God’s will, and they could do God’s
will. To serve and obey God was their
joy and their purpose.
The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
was also very good. Some think the tree
was bad, as if God had put it there to entrap Adam and Eve. But the tree was very good. It presented Adam and Eve with daily
opportunities to serve and honor God by obeying the one commandment God had
given them: Do not eat from this tree.
You and I have been given Ten Commandments
to keep. They are very good. They present unlimited opportunities for us
to willingly and gladly honor and obey God.
Even when you are tempted to sin against them, God summons you to call
upon him for strength so that you continue in godliness. This honors God, and it is good.
When the first perfect man and woman were
in the world, Satan came on the attack.
He sought to lead the first Adam into sin, resulting in endless shame
and eternal death. Of course, the devil
was sly. He spoke to Eve, but Adam was
right there. Satan first challenged
God’s word. “Has God really said…”
(Genesis 3:1)? Satan always wants us
to question God’s word. Perhaps you
misunderstood. Perhaps those words are
outdated. Perhaps they aren’t even God’s
words. Then Satan challenged God’s
love. He claimed, “You certainly will
not die. In fact, God knows that the day
you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing
good and evil” (Genesis 3:4-5).
If eating this fruit would make them so
much wiser, better, and even God-like, why would God forbid it? You can almost imagine Satan saying, “God
wants you to be happy, doesn’t he? The
benefit of eating this fruit will make you happy, won’t it? Why doesn’t God want you to be happy?” And that’s all it took. Eve ate the fruit. Adam, who had been with her, did nothing to
stop it. He did not preach God’s
word. He did not protect his wife. He abandoned his role as head and ate the
fruit with her. And Satan claimed the
whole world for himself. The first holy
man was holy no more. The image of God
was shattered by sin. “Sin entered
the world through one man and death through sin, so also death spread to all
people because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).
You and I are all sons and daughters of
Adam. We have inherited his image. We are sinners, and we are no better or
smarter. Satan still sells us the same
arguments. “Has God really said…”
he questions. “Maybe those words were
for a different era. 21st
century Americas are more sophisticated than that, aren’t they?” Then, of course, the argument that always
works: “God just wants you to be happy.”
Well, that’s wonderful! Because I
want to be happy! But that also suggests
that what makes me happy is good.
Adam ate the fruit because he wanted to be
happy. David had an adulterous affair
with Bathsheba because that made him happy.
King Ahab had Naboth killed because taking Naboth’s vineyard made him
happy. Caiaphas orchestrated the
crucifixion of Jesus because that made him happy. And why are you drawn to the sins you commit? Because you believe they will make you
happy. If the goal in life is just to be
happy, doesn’t that justify anything that will make you happy? And if the goal is “just to be happy,” prepare
for a miserable life. There will never
be enough prosperity, enough pampering, enough pleasure. And what if you are standing in the way of
someone else’s happiness? You took their
parking spot. You grabbed the last piece
of pizza. You hogged the covers. Would you forfeit your happiness to make someone
else happy? If we are honest enough to
acknowledge our own self-worship, we would confess, “Only my happiness matters.” Repent.
What’s worse is that once the devil has
convinced you to seize what God forbids to make yourself happy, the devil turns
around and makes you miserable. He mocks
you. He accuses and convicts you for the
very thing he coaxed you into doing. The
serpent is crafty and cruel. He is no
friend. He struck like a viper. The venom courses through us, and we cannot
recover. Eventually, it will kill us. We are sinners, and we cannot fix it. We are terrified to look God in the face, and
for good reason. Like the first Adam,
the sons and daughters of Adam stand before God completely exposed in our
wretched state.
The first Adam did not have to wade slowly
into his sinful state to get used to it.
He plunged all the way into the deep end. Adam and Eve tried to evade accountability. They made excuses. They did not confess their sin nor ask for
mercy. Nevertheless, God had mercy upon
them. The first Adam needed to be
rescued from the curse of sin. The sons
of Adam need to be rescued from sin. So,
God promised one who would rescue them.
The second Adam would rescue the sons of Adam.
The promise was made as God addressed the
devil, still in the form of a serpent.
He said, “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between
your seed and her seed. He will crush
your head, and you will crush his heel” (Genesis 3:15). We are not told when he would come or where
he would come from. We are not even told
his name. But we are told what he would
do: He would crush the head of the serpent.
He would render the serpent powerless.
He would remedy the chaos, the cruelty, and the curse that results from
sin. The second Adam would rescue all
the sons and daughters of Adam.
As you know, the second Adam has
come. “We believe in one Lord, Jesus
Christ, the only Son of God … who for us men…, he became man” (Nicene
Creed). This man was conceived by
the Holy Spirit, so he did not inherit the image of Adam as we have. He entered the world without sin. At age 30, Jesus was baptized, anointed by
the Holy Spirit, and was publicly revealed as the Christ. God the Father declared, “This is my Son,
whom I love. I am well pleased with him”
(Matthew 3:17). The Father was declared
him to be very good.
The second Adam was sent to rescue the
sons of Adam. Not since the Garden of
Eden had another holy man walked the face of the earth. And just as the devil had overcome the first
Adam and led him into sin, so the devil hoped to overcome the second Adam. This attack did not take place in a lush
garden with food in abundance and variety; it took place in the wilderness,
devoid of fruits, vegetables, and foliage.
As he had with the first Adam, so the
devil began his temptation on the second Adam.
He challenged God’s word. The
Lord had just declared at Jesus’ baptism, “You are my Son” (Matthew
3:17). The devil began his
temptations, “If you are the Son of God…” (Matthew 4:3,6). He not only challenged Jesus’ identity, he
challenged him to prove it. “If you
are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread” (Matthew 4:3). You can imagine the devil continuing the
seduction. “Jesus, you haven’t eaten
for forty days. If you are the Son of
God, you have the power to turn this stone to bread. You can satisfy your hunger right now. Doesn’t your Father want you to be happy and
healthy? Wouldn’t a loaf of bread do
that? It would be easy enough, right? If you are the Son of God…”
But God’s call for us is not to be
happy. It is to be faithful. It is to be holy. Of course, God wants that to make us happy. But sometimes being faithful means that we do
what is right even if it doesn’t make us happy.
Sometimes being faithful is hard.
Sometimes it is costly. Sometimes
it is painful. But it is always good and
right.
Jesus did not buy the argument that his
purpose was to make himself happy. His
purpose was to rescue the sons and daughters of Adam. Therefore, he did not abuse his divine power,
and he did not seek shortcuts to our salvation.
Jesus made himself a sin offering, being slain for sins he did not
commit. He suffered a punishment he did
not deserve. Going to the cross, being
roasted in the fires of God’s wrath, enduring the punishment of hell on behalf
of all sinners is not something Jesus did to make himself happy. Leading up to that torment, Jesus told his
disciples, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to the point of death” (Matthew
26:38). Nevertheless, Jesus went
because that is what the Father had given him to do. The second Adam came to rescue the sons of
Adam.
The second Adam was faithful to his
Father, even though faithfulness was hard and costly, and painful. Jesus let the serpent strike his heel. He took into himself all the venom of sin and
subjected himself to the curse and the death that comes with it. The crucifixion was not about Jesus’
happiness. Being faithful to his Father
is where Jesus found his joy. The Bible
says, “In view of the joy set before him, he endured the cross, disregarding
its shame” (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus
would not let the shame or the pain of his death deter him from his
faithfulness. Jesus found his joy in
rescuing you from your guilt and from the fiery judgment it deserves.
By his death and resurrection, Jesus has
crushed the serpent’s head. He has
destroyed the work of the devil. He has
rescued you from the devil’s claims.
Now, it is God who claims you as his very own. St. Paul wrote, “You are all sons of God
through faith in Christ Jesus. Indeed,
as many of you as were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ”
(Galatians 3:26-27). You don’t need
to craft anything flimsy to hide your sin as the first Adam did. You have been clothed with the holiness of the
second Adam. His righteousness covers
you.
And the Son of God has now made you sons
of God. As sons of God, you are now
heirs with the Son of God to the kingdom of glory. As sons of God, you will follow the Son of
God through death into the resurrection to life everlasting. For God tells us: “The first man is of the
earth, made of dust. The second man is
the Lord from heaven. As was the
man made of dust, so are the people who are made of dust, and as is the heavenly
man, so the heavenly people will be. And
just as we have borne the image of the man made of dust, let us also bear
the image of the heavenly man” (1 Corinthians 15:47-49).
The second Adam rescues the son of Adam. He restores in you the image of God. He brings life. He reverses the curse. He delivers you from the chaos of a corrupt world to a new creation of peace and glory. He will bring you to eternal pleasures and unending happiness in God’s presence. And it will be very good.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
Greetings!
REGULAR SCHEDULE
Divine Service is Sundays at 10:00 AM.
Sunday School is Sundays at 9:00 AM.
Adult Bible Class is Sundays at 9:00 AM.
CALENDAR: For a calendar of events and meetings, click here.
LENTEN VESPERS
As is our custom, we will add a mid-week opportunity to ponder the sufferings and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Sundays will focus more on Jesus’ actively serving to overcome our enemies. The Wednesday evening services will focus more on Jesus passively enduring his sufferings as the payment for our sins. Pastor Schroeder will be involved in a pulpit rotation with Pastor James Frey of St. Paul’s, Belleville and Pastor Paul Schaefer of St. Peter’s, Plymouth. The schedule is here.EASTER FOR KIDS PREP MEETING
On Sunday, February 22, we will have an organizational meeting to prepare for our Easter for Kids event. We will need people to attend each of the five stations for our visitors, as well as others who can assist with crafts as needed and to interact with our guests. To find out how you can serve, join us this Sunday after church.
CHURCH COUNCIL HIGHLIGHTS (February)
> We will be ordering postcards to invite people to our Easter Festival Service on April 5. These postcards will blanket the area around church. We will also be ordering additional postcards for our members to use to invite their friends and family.
> Our efforts to get the windows replaced above the altar and the organ pipes were thwarted when the glass company who provided estimates closed their business. Ken DeSantis has contacted two other glass companies to get estimates. There were also some questions about the need to retain the design in the window above the altar. A window with fewer panes would reduce the cost of replacement. This will be a topic of discussion at our Open Forum.
> In an effort to engage more members with more opportunities to serve, we are summoning more men to serve as ushers. We also intend to be more organized so that we don’t grab people at the last minute to fill in for absent people. We will be recruiting people who will count and deposit the offerings. We will also be recruiting more women who can serve in handling the sacred vessels for holy communion. Training for all of these areas of service will be scheduled in the months to come.
> Every four years or so, the pastor conducts visits at the homes of all the members. It is intended to stay connected with everyone and to allow people to address any issues that may bother them or confuse them. Every Member Visits will begin in February. A sign-up sheet will be posted at church by February 15 to allow people to schedule their visit. As the year goes on, phone calls will be made to those who have not yet signed up (ominous music inserted here).
SHARE THIS POST!
We desire as many as possible to rejoice in the Gospel which we proclaim and confess. Share the information from our weekly email blast, links to our web page, and even to the pastor's blog to let others know that we have a space in our congregation for them!
In Christ,
Pastor Schroeder
==================
REGULAR SCHEDULE
GOOD SHEPHERD’S WEBSITE
www.GoodShepherdNovi.org
PASTOR SCHROEDER’S BLOG
ZECHARIAH 1:1-6
In the name + of Jesus.
Throughout the Wednesdays in Lent, we will
be hearing from the prophet Zechariah.
Zechariah’s message is a reflection of Israel’s past, to the present population
of Jerusalem, with an eye on the future Messiah.
Israel’s past was not pretty, and
Zechariah acknowledges that. “Our
forefathers did not listen, nor did they pay attention to me, declares
the LORD. Your
forefathers—where are they now? And
those prophets—did they go on living indefinitely? But my words and my statutes, which I
commanded to my servants the prophets, caught up with our forefathers, didn’t
they” (Zechariah 1:4-6)?
The
people of Israel wandered away from the Lord and his word. They were negligent in their worship and
self-serving in their lives. Some ignored
the word of the Lord. Others lived in open
rebellion against it—worshiping idols, engaging in licentious behavior, and
oppressing the poor. The Lord was not
content to let the people of Israel forsake the covenant, so he sent prophets
to them again and again. Those prophets
were mocked, threatened, and killed.
After years and years of stubborn rebellion against God and his
prophets, the Lord acted in judgment.
As he had threatened through Moses, the
Lord raised up an enemy nation which destroyed their nation, killed many, and
carried others into exile. That captivity
lasted for decades. Finally, God raised
up a new nation which granted the release of the captives. The Persian King Cyrus issued a decree that
enabled the people to return and to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. But those who came back were lax in rebuilding
the temple and restoring proper worship.
Later, King Darius renewed the decree.
Nevertheless, the people were still negligent. They were committed to building up their own
homes while the house of God remained in ruins.
It is to these people that Zechariah was
raised up to proclaim the word of the Lord.
“The LORD was very angry with your forefathers. Therefore, now you are to tell this people
that this is what the LORD of Armies says to them. Return to me, declares the LORD of
Armies, and I will return to you, says the LORD of
Armies. Do not be like your forefathers,
to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed, ‘This is what the LORD of
Armies says. Return, return from your
evil ways and from your evil deeds’” (Zechariah 1:2-4).
The people of Israel may have returned to
Jerusalem, but their hearts had not returned to the Lord. They were embracing the very same attitudes
which resulted in the exile of their forefathers. Their return to Jerusalem began with noble
intentions. But once they returned and
had to rebuild Jerusalem from scratch, they focused on their homes and
businesses. While those were important,
the people lost sight of what they had returned to Jerusalem for. The Lord was an afterthought. Life got in the way of faith. Homes got priority over church. Commerce trumped over the sacrifices. The stomach became more important than their
hearts. So, the Lord sent Zechariah to
proclaim, “Return to me … and I will return to you” (Zechariah 1:3)!
How is it possible that the people of
Israel did not learn the lesson from their fathers? Their captivity had lasted seventy years! If their fathers had not died in Jerusalem
due to starvation, disease, or the sword, they died in captivity. Even though a new generation returned to Jerusalem,
it was no easy endeavor. Just the
journey was dangerous and expensive.
When they returned, Jerusalem was a ruin. There were no homes and no walls for
protection. Fields needed to be
cultivated again, and vines and trees needed to be tended. This journey required a commitment to the
Lord and to restoring right worship. How
could they forget so quickly?
There is nothing new under the sun. Every year, we return to the Lenten season,
and every year we hear the word of the Lord again declaring, “Return to
me! Repent of your ways.” The call is not because you are criminals who
need to be scared straight. It is
because, like those Israelites of old, we become absorbed in daily living. We are too busy to pray or to contemplate God’s
word. To be fair, we are usually busy. Few people spend their days with nothing to
do. So, life gets in the way of
faith. Homes get priority over church. Commerce trumps over prayer. We hunger for entertainment rather than meditation. So, Zechariah still proclaims the word of the
Lord, “Return to me” (Zechariah 1:3)!
One of the disciplines of Lent which is often
avoided by Lutherans is the practice of fasting. In the Roman Catholic Church, people were
taught that a failure to fast was a sin against God. There were even specific foods that were
forbidden on certain days. We are all
familiar with the fish fries which are the alternative to eating meat. But there were also butter days and cheese
days and so forth. Since consciences
were burdened by failing to keep commands that God has not made, the Lutherans
exposed the practice as wicked. We are
not to treat traditions—even laudable traditions—as the commandments of God. No one is going to hell because he eats a
bacon double cheeseburger in Lent.
But the pendulum has swung the other way. Many Lutherans have been taught to avoid
fasting altogether—either because we don’t have to do it or because it is Roman
Catholic. Today’s Gospel lesson,
however, shows us that fasting, prayer, and repentance all go together. When Jesus instructed his disciples, he said,
“Whenever you pray” (Matthew 6:5).
It is not an “if” but a “when.” God’s
people will pray. Likewise, Jesus said, “Whenever
you fast” (Matthew 6:16). He assumes
God’s people will fast. Repentance is
not optional, and fasting, repentance, and prayer all go together. It is not a commandment; rather, it is discipline
for our sinful flesh.
St. Paul referred to this when he wrote to
Timothy. “Train yourself for
godliness. For bodily training is
beneficial to an extent, but godliness is beneficial in all things, because it
holds promise both for life now and for the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:7-8). Fasting is bodily training. We learn to control our desires instead of
letting our desires control us. Fasting usually
regards food, reducing the number of meals from three to 1 ½ or 2 meals. Fasting disciplines us so that our stomachs
do not control us. But perhaps you would
do better to withhold something else from yourself—social media, entertainment,
caffeine—whatever you crave. Of course,
wicked desires should always be put to death.
“Bodily training is beneficial to an extent”
(1 Timothy 4:8). We need not despise
it. If you find that it is hard, you discover
that your cravings have more control than they ought. If you fail, you need not quit. Return to your fast. You are not sinning against God if you sip
coffee, eat chocolate ice cream, or check who posted what on Facebook, but you
are learning that such discipline is work and that the flesh is weak.
When Zechariah called the people of Israel
to return to the Lord, he was not calling them away from criminal activities. They were not committing atrocities. And while they could argue, “We are not doing
what is evil,” the Lord would retort, “But you are failing to do what is good.” Farming and family, commerce and industry all
have their place. But they become idolatry
when they are placed above the Lord. It
is evil when the First Commandment gets demoted. That is why Zechariah called out, “This is
what the LORD of Armies says. Return, return from your evil ways and from
your evil deeds” (Zechariah 1:4). Even activities that are noble and pious will
not save you. While it is good to be a diligent
worker, a dutiful child, and a decent citizen, that does not save you. While it is laudable to cross yourself or to
be marked with a cross of ashes, that does not take away your sins. While it is right to pray, to fast, and to
give alms to the poor, these do not atone for sin.
Return to the Lord your God. Devote yourself to his word and
sacraments. For, these deliver to you the
salvation that Jesus Christ has won for you.
“Return to me, declares the LORD of
Armies, and I will return to you, says the LORD of
Armies” (Zechariah 1:3). The Lord does not delight in the death of the
wicked—to the point where he offered up his own Son as a sin offering. Jesus’ pure motives have atoned for our
impure desires. Jesus’ faithfulness has
atoned for our failings. Jesus’ steadfast
devotion to his Father has atoned for our misplaced devotion and
priorities. Jesus substituted his
innocent life on behalf of all the guilty.
To cleanse you of all unrighteousness, Jesus poured out his innocent
blood. To paraphrase Zechariah, “Because
of our ways and our deeds, the LORD of Armies has done to [Jesus]
just as he planned to do to us” (Zechariah 1:6). Jesus
has appeased the wrath of God. He spares
you from the terrible judgment. Jesus,
and Jesus alone, has secured God’s blessing upon you.
Once
again, we being a Lenten journey to the cross.
We have made this journey before.
There are few, if any, surprises.
We offer our prayers. We hear of
Jesus’ sufferings and death. We look forward
to the joyous resurrection. For now, we
heed God’s call, “Return to me.” For we
have not overcome our sins. We continue
to fight against our cravings. We still
become distracted so that prayer and meditation become a chore to cram into our
schedules instead of a joyful part of our day that we spend with our Lord. It is to be a time of peace when God speaks
to us in his word, and when we carry to him all our concerns, worries, and fears.
“Return to me, declares the LORD of Armies, and I will return to you” (Zechariah 1:3). He will return to you with blessing and grace and comfort and peace. The blood he shed for your forgiveness is given to you once again. The body which bore took your punishment is given to you again. Here, the Lord strengthens you to engage in the discipline. Here, the Lord summons you to pray because the flesh is weak. Here, the Lord pardons all your faults and failings. Again, to paraphrase Zechariah, “Because of [Jesus’] ways and [Jesus’] deeds, the LORD of Armies [will do] to us just as he planned to do to us” (Zechariah 1:6). His plan is to raise you up from the dead. Dust and ashes will give way to immortality. And the feast will go on without end.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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YOU DO WELL TO PAY ATTENTION
TO WHAT HE SAYS.
2 PETER 1:16-21
In
the name + of Jesus.
When I was in high school, we had a presentation about rock music. We had one simple task: Listen to the lyrics. When you listen to music, it is the tune that catches your attention. That’s what makes your toes tap. One song which was popular (and I suppose still is) is, “Don’t Fear the Reaper” by Blue Oyster Cult. If you know this song at all, it is from the guitar riff which, I think, is one of the most catchy guitar riffs in rock music. You might also know it as the “Cow Bell” song on Saturday Night Live. Anyway, as we were all tapping our toes, we were drawn back to the assignment: Listen to the lyrics. It was only then that we discovered the song praises and encourages suicide. Suddenly, that song was not as great as we thought it was. It pays to listen to what they say.
The same can be said for the hymns we
sing. Everyone has their favorites. Many become favorites because they are linked
to a special event. Maybe it was sung at
your daughter’s wedding. Maybe it was at
your grandfather’s funeral. Or maybe you
learned it at Sunday School. Often the favorites
are the ones that stir up our emotions. You
have to sing Silent Night on Christmas Eve because it makes you cry. Of course, music has its part in any
hymn. But if the music or the emotion is
all you remember, then the hymn did not teach you anything. St. Paul spoke of the purpose of hymns when
he wrote, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as you teach and
admonish one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual
songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16). If hymns are to teach, then we need to pay
attention to what they say. And the best
ones proclaim the redeeming work of our Lord.
Shortly before Jesus traveled to Jerusalem
to suffer and die for our sins, he took Peter, James, and John with him up a
mountain. There, they saw Jesus’ divine
glory. St. Matthew described it: “(Jesus)
was transfigured in front of them. His
face was shining like the sun. His
clothing became as white as the light. Just
then, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Jesus” (Matthew 17:2-3).
Peter wanted to keep this vision of glory
for as long as possible. I suppose we
can’t blame him for that. The disciples
had confessed that Jesus is the Son of God.
Here, he finally looked the part!
Their confession was no longer by faith, but now it was by sight. Peter concluded that others should see it,
too. Jesus, Moses, and Elijah could each
have their own tabernacle. Then anyone
could climb the mountain and see it. God
the Father, however, redirected the attention of the disciples. He declared, “This is my Son, whom I love;
with him I am well pleased. Listen to
him” (Matthew 17:5).
Eventually, Simon Peter did learn the
lesson. He wrote in his second epistle, “We
also have the completely reliable prophetic word. You do well to pay attention to it, as to a
lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the Morning Star rises in
your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19). We can
be dazzled by what we see or swayed by emotional experiences. But if we want confidence about what God is
like, what God desires, and what God does for people, then we must listen to
him. You do well to pay attention to
what he says.
God’s blessings upon his creation are
often tangible. We can see a brilliant
sunrise, a waterfall, or the vibrant feathers of songbirds. We can feel a cool breeze in summer, the
warmth of a hug, or the soft fur of a cat.
We can smell a flower, a campfire, or bacon. All of these show that our Lord is kind in
blessing us with so much variety and beauty.
While the creation reveals God’s kindness, it does not reveal what God
does about people who do not listen to his word.
Our problem is not that we don’t know what
God says. Why else would we create
arguments that defend our actions? Why
else would we rationalize that what is bad when others do it is okay when we do
it? The driver who cut you off in
traffic is a jerk, but others should understand that when you cut your way
through traffic, you have important business to get to. No one needs to work that hard to explain why
they did something good. But to defend
our sins, our reason bends like a contortionist, the kind you look at and say,
“The body is not supposed to bend like that.”
Our excuses for our sins are not supposed to contort like that either,
but they do. God’s commands, however,
are unmistakable. Our problem is not
ignorance, as if we ask, “Who can say what is right or wrong?” Our problem is that we do not pay attention
to what he says.
That problem goes back to the Garden of
Eden. God gave Adam and Eve one
commandment to follow. It was very
clear: “You may freely eat from every tree in the garden, but you shall not
eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil” (Genesis 2:16-17). And the consequence of failing to listen was
clear: “On the day that you eat from it, you will certainly die” (Genesis
2:17). Sadly, they did not pay
attention to what he said. Sin and death
entered the world and have claimed everyone who enters it.
Even Simon Peter did not pay attention to
the word of the Lord. On the night Jesus
was betrayed, he warned his disciples, “This night you will all fall away on
account of me” (Matthew 26:31). “Peter
answered him, ‘Even if all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Amen I tell you: Tonight
before the rooster crows you will deny me three times.’ Peter said to him, ‘Even if I have to die
with you, I will never deny you’” (Matthew 26:33-35). Jesus had issued the warning, but Peter did
not pay attention to it. Within hours,
he swore before God that he did not have any association with Jesus.
If we pay attention to what God says, we
spare ourselves many griefs. We don’t
destroy reputations or relationships with juicy gossip. We don’t jeopardize a marriage by streaming
raunchy websites. We don’t risk arrest
from shoplifting. We don’t suffer the
consequences from our rage against someone we disagree with. You do well to pay attention to what he has
to say. If you do not pay attention to what
he has to say, you fall under his condemnation.
And, sadly, if you do not pay attention to what he has to say, you won’t
know how the Lord delivers you from that condemnation.
That’s why St. Peter wrote, “We also
have the completely reliable prophetic word.
You do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark
place, until the day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts” (2 Peter
1:19). Only God can enlighten us to
know how he takes care of our guilt. You
and I might try to ignore it or distract ourselves from it. God does not.
He deals with it. Our Savior takes
away our guilt by taking it upon himself.
When God the Father told the disciples, “This
is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him” (Matthew 17:5), he could
also have said, “You should have been listening to him.” St. Matthew records, “Moses and Elijah
appeared to them, talking with Jesus” (Matthew 17:3). St. Luke, however, records the content of
that conversation. “(Moses and
Elijah) appeared in glory and were talking about his departure, which he was
going to bring to fulfillment in Jerusalem” (Luke 9:31). If they had paid attention to what he was
saying, they would have been focused on Jesus’ mission rather than on his
dazzling appearance.
God the Father sent Jesus to take away the
guilt of all mankind. Jesus paid
attention to what he had commanded him, and he was committed to bringing it to
its fulfillment. Jesus took upon himself
the guilt of all who fail to pay attention to his word. He died for Adam’s and Eve’s paying attention
to the devil’s words instead of his. He
died for Simon Peter’s failure to heed the warning that he would deny Jesus. He has taken the punishment for you not paying
attention to what he has said. He has
even shed his blood for the times you had paid attention and did what
was forbidden anyway. For these and all
our sins, Jesus did what he was commanded to do. He paid attention to the word of God and paid
the price for all the iniquities of mankind.
Jesus’ sacrificial death assures that God’s word to you is a declaration
of pardon and peace.
You do well to pay attention to what the
Lord says. That is what God the Father
told Peter, James, and John when they saw Jesus radiant in glory. He did not ask them, “What do you think about
that?” or “How does that make you feel?”
Peter’s reaction to Jesus’ transfiguration expressed his thoughts and
feelings. Instead, God the Father kept the
disciples focused: “Listen to him” (Matthew 17:5).
No matter what you see or experience, you
will only draw comfort when you pay attention to what our Lord has to say. In other words, pay attention to what is
written in the Bible. St. Peter reminds
you, “No prophecy of Scripture comes about from someone’s own
interpretation. In fact, no prophecy
ever came by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were being
carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20-21). The Bible are not merely words about
God. They are God’s words. They guide you in godly living. They encourage you with divine promises which
endure through dark days, tear-filled moments, and painful trials. They assure you of God’s steadfast love and
abiding presence. Especially when it
feels like God has turned away from you, listen to him! You do well to pay attention to what he has
to say, because God speaks to you through the Scriptures for your comfort,
encouragement, peace. He keeps you
focused on the end goal. The end goal is
not just to get through rough times—although God will be with you through
those. The goal is to see the glory of
the Lord and to partake in the glory of the eternal kingdom.
St. Peter wrote, “To be sure, we were not following cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the powerful appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty” (2 Peter 1:16). The glory that Peter saw is but a glimpse of the glory that awaits you. It was not a fantasy when Peter saw it. It is not a fantasy that you dream about. It is a reality you simply wait for. God has promised it. God’s word points you to it. And you do well to pay attention to the only one who will get you there, which is Jesus Christ, our Lord.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The goal of a translation is to put the original Hebrew and Greek into the vernacular of the modern-day reader. Some people love the King James Version and demand its usage. While the King James Version is a faithful translation, most people don't speak the English that was common in 1611 anymore. In the past 50 years or so, there have been many translations marketed. One translation that you may have never heard of is the Gen Z Bible. The goal is to make the Bible speak like Gen Z people.
It reads like a parody. I wish it were; I fear it's not. Here is a small section from Genesis 3.
1. So, this snake, right, it was like super sneaky compared to all the other animals that God created in the field. And it goes up to the woman and says, 'Hey, did God really say you can't eat from any tree in the garden? Like, seriously?' 2. The woman was like, 'Yo, Mr. Snake, we can totally chow down on any of the fruit from these wicked cool trees in the garden! 🍎🌳'I suspect no Gen Z'er who seeks gainful employment speaks like that to his boss. If a place of employment demands proper speech, certainly the Holy Scriptures do, too. The Scriptures are sacred; they should be treated that way.
If this translation were adopted for use in a Divine Service, do you think anyone would take that church seriously? I bet it would be received with laughter because everyone would regard it as a parody. Or people would leave, convinced that it is mockery of God's word. I would be among those who would leave.
I can only laugh at this because I don't take it seriously as a translation of the Bible. If I were to take it seriously, it would only make me angry. Or, as my title for this post suggests, it would make me go ARRRRGGGGHHHH!
