Sermon -- Festival of St. Luke, Evangelist (October 18, 2026)

ST. LUKE WROTE THE HISTORY SO YOU CAN HAVE CERTAINTY.

LUKE 1:1-4

In the name + of Jesus.

     More and more these days, I am becoming a skeptic.  I wish I did not have to be, but I know that people often tell their stories with an agenda.  Different news outlets can report on the same story, but you would never guess they are covering the same thing.  They report the version of the story that favors their audience.  That is on purpose.  CNN and FOX both know what their audiences are looking for.  To keep their audience, they cater to their political leanings.  Sadly, it is to the point where I will listen to a report and say, “Well, that’s good (or bad)—if it’s true.”

     If you have become more skeptical over time, that is no surprise.  No one wants to be played for a fool.  No one likes being lied to.  So, every story is treated with suspicion.  We learn to be careful.  News is reported, and then we investigate to see if it is accurate or if it is biased.  Sometimes, we have no way of knowing, and that is frustrating.  It is also a terrible way to live, never really trusting anyone. 

     When St. Luke wrote his Gospel, it was written to someone named “Theophilus.”  Theophilus means “Friend of God.”  His Gospel may have been written to Christians in general; for each of us is a “Friend of God.”  But even if St. Luke wrote to a specific individual named Theophilus, his Gospel was intended for Christians everywhere.  I don’t know if Theophilus was a skeptic or not, but St. Luke wrote to remove any doubts about Jesus Christ.  He wrote, “It seemed good to me … to write an orderly account to you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you were taught” (Luke 1:3-4).  St. Luke wrote the history so that you can have certainty.

     The Bible calls Luke a doctor, which he was.  But he was also an incredible historian.  Luke places Jesus firmly in a historical time and place.  This is no “Once upon a time in a land far, far away.”  This is “while Quirinius was governing Syria” (Luke 2:2).  This is “in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene—during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas” (Luke 3:1-2).  This is in places like Nazareth, Bethlehem, Capernaum, and Jerusalem.  If this were a mythical tale, Luke would not have named people and places that could be verified.  But Luke presented details.  He logged specific dates.  He labeled specific places.  He named specific people.  St. Luke wrote the history so that you can have certainty.

     Many writers have attempted to teach virtues, morals, and even spiritual insights.  Aesop wrote fables, almost all of which include talking animals.  Aesop’s Fables may help teach morals, but they are fictional.  Mohammed’s writings have no historical placement at all.  They are statements which cannot be verified by any historian.  Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormons, claimed to receive his revelation from golden tablets that no one has seen, written in a language that no one had ever heard of.  By contrast, the writers of the Bible included historical and geographical information.  They practically beg you to verify what they are writing.  Historians and archaeologists have vindicated the Biblical record over and over again.  There is no need for skepticism.  The Bible records the history so that you can have certainty.

     Even if people do not believe it, the Bible records some certainties that all people acknowledge.  For example: No one is perfect.  That’s why we have erasures on pencils and delete buttons on our computers.  These can correct our mistakes.  Of course, no one goes to hell for mispronouncing a word or being bad at algebra.  But our imperfections go far beyond grammar, spelling, or math.  The Bible asks, “Who can say, ‘I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin’” (Proverbs 20:9)?  In case you get stuck on that question, the Bible gives you the answer: “There is surely not a righteous man on earth who does good and does not sin” (Ecclesiastes 20:7).  With every spiteful, petty act, with every obscene word, with every unkind or envious thought we sin against our fellow man and against our God.  No one is perfect.  No heart is clean.  No mouth is pure.

     Our sinfulness leads to another certainty: All people die.  The Bible states why: “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).  Death is the curse we must suffer because we are sinners.  But there is a greater reason that death fills us with dread.  The Bible reminds us, “It is appointed for people to die only once and after this comes the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).  God gave our lives to us, and he holds us accountable for what we think, say, and do.  Since the world he created and the people he put in it were perfect, that is what he still demands of us.  And that is why people are terrified of death.  For, no one is perfect.  No heart is clean.  No mouth is pure.  Death is certain.  Judgment is certain.  And we certainly have earned a sentence of condemnation.

     St. Luke recorded the history of Jesus so that you can be certain of a better future.  St. Luke began his gospel describing how our Lord entered history for the benefit of mankind.  Luke was not merely telling his version of how it may have happened.  Luke testified, “I followed everything closely from the beginning” (Luke 1:3).  The verb suggests that Luke investigated everything.  It seems likely that he interviewed those who were eyewitnesses.  Twice Luke commented that Mary pondered all these things in her heart (Luke 2:19,51).  That suggests that Luke interviewed Mary about all she had seen and heard.  Luke recorded the history so that you can have certainty.

     In fact, Luke had to record these things because the way our Lord entered the world was miraculous.  Mary did not understand it either.  Having heard that she would conceive and give birth to a son, Mary replied, “‘How will this be, since I am a virgin?’  The angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.  So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God’” (Luke 1:34-35).  The Lord revealed the mystery to Mary so that she could be certain about her inexplicable pregnancy.  St. Luke recorded this so that you can be certain too.  He recorded the mystery not so that you could understand it, but so that you would know it.  Luke recorded the history so that you can have certainty.

     For many, the incarnation of our Lord is offensive and worthy of mockery.  Many also dismiss the accounts of Jesus’ miracles and his teachings.  Unbelief despises everything about Jesus, even things that can be verified.  Some deny that Jesus ever existed.  But ancient historians who have no allegiance to Jesus of Nazareth, such as Josephus and Tacitus, acknowledge that he was a real man and that he was crucified.  St. Luke and all the apostles testify that Jesus’ crucifixion pays for the sins of all, but all who reject Jesus also reject the benefit of Jesus’ saving work and his deliverance from damnation. 

     The skeptic may have questions about Jesus, his teachings, and the entire Bible.  Such questions are not inherently evil; and chances are, you have some of those questions yourself.  Some of Jesus’ teachings are hard.  They may be hard to understand, or they may be hard to put into practice.  If you have questions about such things, you are not alone.  Anyone who is a skeptic craves certainty.  And even the faithful long for greater certainty.

     Beware.  The devil uses that skepticism to seduce you into unbelief.  He speaks through people who challenge you: “You know, if you can’t find a reasonable solution to the mysteries of God, they are not worth your time.  You are too smart to believe such nonsense.”  “You know, the people who challenge God’s word are asking really good questions.  The fact that you do not know how to answer those questions proves that there are no good answers to those questions.  You are a fool to keep on believing the Bible.”  Some of these challenges sound very compelling.  We expect that God’s will and God’s ways should match our own.  We think that everything about God should make sense to us.  We think that God should be like we are. 

     Repent.  It is a lie.  The Bible proves that God is not like us.  And God be praised for that!  We are not as powerful, wise, or merciful as our Lord us.  If we were, we would use our power and wisdom to exalt ourselves.  The Lord uses his power and wisdom for the benefit of sinners.  St. Luke records how God’s mercy is not merely a theory.  God’s mercy is real—displayed in a historical time in a historical place by a historical man, Jesus Christ.  Luke recorded the history so that you can have certainty.

     Before Jesus ascended into heaven, he told his apostles, “Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms. … This is what is written and so it must be: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations” (Luke 24:44,46-47).  St. Luke recorded how Jesus fulfilled the promises of old.  He recorded how Jesus suffered and died to be the atoning sacrifice for sinners—for the penitent, the skeptic, and even the atheist.  Jesus has paid the price for all sinners and has taken away all sins.  He rose from the dead and “presented himself alive to the apostles with many convincing proofs” (Acts 1:3).  Those who were witnesses of all these things suffered torture, persecution, and death rather than deny it.  Jesus sent them into the world to preach about the death that pays for sins and the resurrection that opens heaven to all who believe.  And so that you would have this testimony made known to you, it was written down for your benefit.

     St. Luke recorded the history so that you can have certainty.  He testified about a real Jesus who suffered real torment and died a real cursed death for sinners.  He overcame a real death with a real body to bestow real mercy and give real hope to sinners.  This is good.  For our Lord does not come to save theoretical sinners.  He comes for real sinners.  He grants a full pardon for all your sin.  He speaks tenderly to you when your heart is full of doubts.  He reveals his wisdom in the Scriptures to answer your questions about life and death, good and evil, wisdom and foolishness.  Not being able to trust anyone is a terrible way to live.  God be praised!  You don’t have to, not with God and his word.  St. Luke recorded the history so that you can have certainty of the facts, comfort for your spirit, and confidence on the Last Day.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Traveling with the Schroeders -- Iowa Trip in the Fall

Friday, October 16 happened to be a day on which the calendar was open.  When it was discovered that there was a Laura Ingalls Wilder museum in Burr Oak, Iowa and that their last tours for the season were this weekend, the Schroeders headed south to Iowa.

We toured the hotel in where the Ingalls family lived and at which they worked for about a year.  Since it was not that long of a tour, we journeyed toward the Mississippi River and went hiking at Effigy Mounds National Monument.  After that, we continued a little south to Pikes Peak State Park to enjoy the overlook there.  The walk to the overlook was much easier than the uphill bluff hike at Effigy Mounds.  Both had great views of the river valley though.

Once we left Pikes Peak State Park, we decided to walk through McGregor, Iowa.  Unfortunately, it seems most shops were not going to be open until Saturday.  After that, we returned to Marquette (home of the pink elephant wearing a top hat--see below) and crossed the river into Prairie du Chein, Wisconsin.  

After a late lunch/early supper, we drove the Wisconsin side of the river to La Crosse, came back to Minnesota, and then back up highway 61 to Lake City.  

Some photos.

Worship Notes: Stepping on Holy Ground

Some ceremonies in church are obvious.  We kneel at the altar to receive the body and blood of our Lord.  We may cross ourselves at various places in the service.  We stand to confess our faith according to the Creed for the day.

Some ceremonies are less obvious.  Worse, they may be misunderstood or cause confusion.

You may have noticed that the pastor does not begin the service at the altar, but rather near the communion railing.  If you've wondered why, the answer follows.

The ceremony of not approaching the altar has as its roots the practice of Israel's high priest on the Day of Atonement.  On that day, and only on that day, the high priest entered into Holy of Holies--the very presence of God.  The high priest was not allowed to enter the Holy of Holies without blood.  First, he filled the room with clouds of incense.  So, even when he entered God's presence, it was hidden to an extent by a cloud.  Then the high priest brought in the blood of a goat which was slain for his sin.  Once the high priest's sin was atoned for, he could stand in God's presence and make atonement for that nation with more blood.  Even though God had granted him access to his presence, the high priest could not stand on holy ground without his own sins being covered.

This is reflected in our Divine Service as the pastor begins away from the altar.  Along with the congregation, the pastor confesses his sin and sings the Kyrie (Lord, have mercy).  Then, in the stead and by the command of Jesus Christ, the pastor proclaims the absolution to the congregation.  Once sins have been absolved, the pastor makes his way to the holy ground at the altar as we join in the Christmas song of the angels, "Glory be to God on high!"  

It is a rather small ceremony, but one that accentuates the need for sinners to be forgiven to stand on holy ground.

Pastors' Conference -- Christ Our Rock Lutheran Church, Rochester, Minnesota

On Monday, October 12 and Tuesday, October 13, the pastors of the Red Wing Conference of the Minnesota District of the WELS met at Christ Our Rock Lutheran Church of Rochester, Minnesota.  Here are some photos of the church.

Minor Festival -- St. Luke, Evangelist (October 18, 2026)

Festival of St. Luke, Evangelist

               Lutheran worship is liturgical.  While that often refers to an order of worship, it can also refer to the calendar of the Church Year.  The Church Year includes major festivals, such as Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Pentecost, etc...  On Sunday, October 18 we will recognize a minor festival, the Festival of St. Luke, Evangelist.

               St. Luke was a close companion of St. Paul.  St. Paul refers to Luke a number of times, particularly that Luke was with Paul in the final days of Paul’s life (2 Timothy 4:11).  Luke wrote the gospel that bears his name and the book of Acts (which also demonstrates his association with Paul in the portions that talk about what “we” did).  Not only was Luke a physician (Colossians 4:14), he was obviously a historian which is seen throughout Luke’s Gospel and the book of Acts where Luke is careful to date events and cite people and places.  We are especially grateful that, under the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, Luke “carefully investigated everything ... so that (we) may know the certainty of the things (we) have been taught.” (Luke 1:3,4)

YouTube -- 20th Sunday after Pentecost (October 11, 2026)

Here is the Divine Service from Sunday, October 11, 2026.

Sermon -- 20th Sunday after Pentecost (October 11, 2026)

LET US PRESS ON TOWARD THE GOAL.

PHILIPPIANS 3:12-21

In the name + of Jesus.

     If you ever get to take a trip to northern Michigan, I highly recommend you visit Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.  The dunes rise about 400 feet above Lake Michigan, and the views are spectacular.  The recommendation, however, also comes with a warning.  You will find a large parking lot in front of a dune simply called The Climb.  As the name suggests, you are encouraged to climb up.  The highlight of The Climb is running down it.  But to run down, you have to climb up.  Climbing up a sand dune is exhausting work.  Because the sand gives way went you press into it, your progress is very slow.  The top of the dune seems almost unreachable as your calves are burning from the climb.  Many stop along the way to rest.  But resting doesn’t get you to the top.  You have to strive and labor to reach the goal. 

     The Christian faith has a goal, as well.  As St. Paul noted, “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20).  The everlasting glories, peace, joy, and rest of heaven is our goal.  Your greatest comfort is that Jesus has secured this goal for you.  He has taken away every splotch of sin in you which would have kept you out.  He has clothed you in garments of salvation through holy baptism.  These cover you in the righteousness you need to enter its pearly gates.  He has overcome the grave and holds the keys to death and Hades.  Therefore, Jesus assures your release from death to eternal life.  When he comes again to judge the living and the dead, “he will transform our humble bodies to be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:21).  All these things Jesus secures for you.  So, if you keep your minds and hearts set on Jesus Christ, you have every confidence that you will reach the heavenly goal.

     But we are not there yet.  As St. Paul wrote, “Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus also took hold of me.  Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it yet, but there is one thing I do: Forgetting the things that are behind and straining toward the things that are ahead, I press on toward the goal, for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14).  Let us press on toward the goal.

     The Apostle Paul reminds us that we are still in the Church Militant.  We continue to struggle, battle, and strive toward that goal.  One of the enemies that we must battle is the world.  Worldly attitudes are constantly around us.  Worldly people live by them.  St. Paul noted, “Many walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.  I told you about them often, and now I am saying it while weeping.  Their end is destruction, their god is their appetite, and their glory is in their shame.  They are thinking only about earthly things” (Philippians 3:18-19).  That sounds wicked, and it is.  Surprisingly, it does not appear wicked when we encounter it.  And we are enticed to join in so that we feel like we belong.

     When St. Paul says that their god is their appetite, he is saying that people will pursue whatever pleasures satisfy them.  They not only dedicate themselves to them, they are celebrated for them.  How many people are congratulated for their promiscuity?  How many people boast about how drunk they got?  How many seek approval for ripping people off?  And how many Christians have accepted this same kind of attitude or behavior because their friends have embraced it?  If your glory is in your shame, then your goal is completely different.  St. Paul warns about the end goal for such worldly thinking: “Their end is destruction” (Philippians 3:18). 

     Do not be deceived into thinking that Jesus’ promise and his enduring mercy gives you license for wickedness.  Do not be fooled into thinking, “If salvation is so sure, then it does not matter what I do or think.”  This is not doing battle with the sinful nature; it is conceding the battle to it.  And it is surely not striving toward the heavenly goal; it is clinging to the world.  The world is marked for destruction.  Those who cling to it will be destroyed with it.  That is why St. Paul urges you: “Only let us … walk in line with what we already have attained” (Philippians 3:16).

     Let us press on toward the goal.  The Lord Jesus Christ has delivered you from the curse of sin and from the fear of death.  He has set you apart for godliness and leads you on the path of righteousness.  Since he has put you on this path, keep your focus on Jesus and his words to guide you on the way.  Flee to this altar for the sustenance that strengthens you for the journey and for the battle.  This is how we “walk in line with what we already have attained” (Philippians 3:16).

     Let us press on toward the goal.  We are not there yet.  Even the likes of the Apostle Paul recognized that his place in God’s kingdom was not yet his place in the heavenly kingdom.  He was still in the Church Militant.  He still had to struggle and battle against the devil, the world, and the sinful flesh.  So do we.  But St. Paul also encouraged us to keep our focus on the goal.  He wrote, “There is one thing I do: Forgetting the things that are behind and straining toward the things that are ahead, I press on toward the goal” (Philippians 3:13-14). 

     We do well to forget the things that are behind.  It means that we do not rest on the achievements of the past.  Many here have observed the Rite of Confirmation.  In that rite, you were asked, “Do you intend to continue steadfast in this confession and Church and to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from it?”  You swore before Christ and his Church that you would.  Perhaps that day stands out in your mind as a significant moment in your Christian faith.  Even though you can present a confirmation certificate, that day is long in the past.  No matter how much you benefited from your catechism studies, it was a step on your way to the heavenly goal.  But it was not the end. 

     Perhaps a comparison can be made to your wedding day.  No doubt, it was a highlight of your life.  But your wedding day was just the first day of your marriage.  Then came the work—learning to live together, work together, communicate with each other, and demonstrate patience with each other.  The blessings of marriage continued only as you worked on it together.  Gazing at your wedding photos did not resolve current tensions.  The goal is not just the wedding day; the goal is a joyful marriage.  The struggle to preserve it is on-going.  In the same way, the goal is not just that you are in church today—although it benefits you for the struggle; the goal is the heavenly kingdom.  Therefore, we do not live in the past.  “Forgetting the things that are behind and straining toward the things that are ahead, [let us] press on toward the goal” (Philippians 3:13-14).  We give thanks to God for the blessings of the past.  We don’t dismiss them, but neither do we dwell on them. 

     Perhaps the things of your past which continue to resurface in your mind are not the blessings.  Perhaps you are plagued by your shame and your regrets.  We all have words and moments that we would like to have erased from our memories.  For good reason, King David taught us to pray, “Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways.  According to your mercy remember me, because of your goodness, O LORD” (Psalm 25:7).  Even if there are not life-long consequences to remind us, Satan gladly will. 

     How can one forget the sins of the past?  Perhaps you won’t.  Do you think St. Paul ever forgot that he had persecuted Christians?  Do you think David ever forgot that he had orchestrated the death of Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba?  Do you think Simon Peter ever forgot that he had denied Jesus while Jesus was being beaten and condemned in the court of Caiaphas?  If you are haunted by your past, you can be sure they were, too.

     If you can’t forget your past, God may use that to prevent you from repeating it.  But if you can’t forget your past, then remember what God has done for you in the past.  He sent his Son into the world for the sole purpose of gaining for you your place in his holy kingdom.  To bring you into his holy kingdom, he had to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.  And he has.  Do not dwell on your sins; rather dwell on these words: “The blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).  When the devil vexes you, shove those words in his face.  For, Jesus has wiped clean the record which stood against you.  You’ve been washed in the blood of Christ in your baptism.  You partake in the blood of Christ which was shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins.  The things that Jesus achieved for you in the past are delivered to you here and now. 

     Let us press on toward the goal.  We do not dwell on the past—whether it was filled with blessings or regrets.  Nor do we dedicate ourselves to what is temporary in this world.  For this world and everything in it—whether good or bad—is passing away.  But your goal does not.  As St. Paul wrote, “Our citizenship is in heaven.  We are eagerly waiting for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.  By the power that enables him to subject all things to himself, he will transform our humble bodies to be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:20-21). 

     If your goal is to be perpetually healthy and strong, then press on toward the goal.  For Jesus Christ will raise you up with a body that will be eternally glorious.  If your goal is to live without pain or sorrow, then press on toward the goal.  For Jesus is restoring all things to the perfect state in which the world was first created.  If your goal is to live free from shame, regret, anxiety, stress, or suffering, then press on toward the goal.  For Jesus is preparing for us a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness, which will be forever free from every effect of sin.  If your goal is to dwell in Paradise with the Lord, then continue to come to God’s house and to devote yourself to God’s word and sacraments.  For here, God comes to serve you.  Here, God delivers to you the blessings which will deliver you to that heavenly goal.

     Let us press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus also took hold of us.  Here, in this world, we are strangers; our goal is our citizenship in heaven.  Here, in the Church Militant, we struggle and battle and strive against the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh.  Our goal is the Church Triumphant where our Lord will give us rest from all our enemies.  Let us keep our focus on Jesus Christ and press on toward the goal.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.