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Fort Wayne...

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ChiRho

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Fort Wayne is a boring, dumpy city. Warning! Heavy Midwestern Hillbilly Inflection Approaching: 'Dis here triple-river-city just dont seem ta hav'da right genes to be anythang udder'dan downright virulent. The city's (county's) road infrastructure is of the worst quality (design and condition), which I believe, is the second greatest man-made problem currently infecting the area (first being, of course, the local citizen terrorists- I mean- gubmint). But, even with a proper government and careful planning, we still must factor in geographical location, climate, and corn. Yeah, we were destined to fail from the beginning. For fun, one's options, consist of either eating yourself into a temporary diabetic coma, or drinkin' yourself into a stooper. But, unfortunately, food eventually digests, and hang-overs eventually recede. In the end, Fort Wayne's blighted existance (and my residence here) remains. "So," the reader may ask, "is there anything good in that horribly plain, unfun, cornhole-city of yours?"

*ChiRho begins to grin. But it is no ordinary grin, it is the type of grin that one would see on the face of an eight year-old boy. And no ordinary eight year-old boy, but the type of boy who has just returned from a glorious Narnian adventure, and now must try to convince the perplexed skeptic, of the secret that lay beyond the tattered, moth-filled, and very plain wardrobe.*

Within these city walls, we have the greatest thing any town could dream of (if a city could collectively dream, which it cannot, and since "dreaming" is a human characteristic, it also, would probably dream as humans do, which is generally about the wrong thing...like a casino or something like that; anyway...) To put it in a more succinct manner...we have Church. Imagine hearing this on Sunday morning:

2005-07-31
Trinity 10

Luke 19:41-48

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

America's prisons are full of delusions and the vain insistence of innocence. But more than that, they are full of regret. All prisoners wish things were different. They all daydream about of how things might have been. “If only the attorney had been better, the judge more fair. If only I'd kept my mouth shut or not run away or not answered the phone. If only I could live my life over again, how much different it would be.’

But “only if’ is not only the domain of those locked in cages and separated from their family and friends. There are plenty of prisons without bars. Who doesn't regret past sins and indiscretion? Who doesn't wish he could get back the money that he wasted? Or take back the words he said in pride or drunkenness? Who doesn't wonder how different things would have been, how much better they would have been, only if . . . ?

My poor children! You make such bad decisions. Your flesh is weak. You follow your stomach or your groin. If only you knew what made for peace! If only you'd allow the Father to mother you, the Son to gather you in like a hen gathers her chicks, the Spirit to comfort you. If you look back at your life and think, “What an idiot I was’ how much more obvious has it been to God all along. He has watched it unfold, stupidity upon stupidity, destructive behavior and bad decisions fueled by selfishness, greed, and lust. Repent.

Do not think that He can't see you in the dark. Do not think that if you push Him out of your mind He does not notice, or is not there. Jesus has wept over you and your ineptitude. He has wept for you, sweated and bled for you. In the economy of man God's love always seems reckless and wasteful, like throwing good money after bad, like vineyard owners paying laborers for work they have not done, or farmers sowing seeds on trodden paths and weedy, rocky patches. Repent. But do not despair. For Jesus Christ has not abandoned nor forgotten you. He still wants you.

Jerusalem, the city of peace, was bent on war. But the Prince of Peace did not flinch. For even while they, and we, did not not know, would not know, willfully refused the things that make for peace, He knew. He knew we would reject Him for a murderer, that we would fall asleep and pretend to forget the vows we made. He knew we would betray Him for the pleasures of the flesh and strut around in false righteousness. He knew the evil glee, the mocking and ridicule, the scourging and torture, the pain and sorrow that He would face at our hands. But He went anyway. For even if we did not know what made for peace, He knew.

And your peace was worth it to Him. You needed His Blood to be free. That was the cost of guilt, the demand of Justice: the Life of God. And so He gave it. So He gives it. He sweated it out in the garden. He bled it on the pavement and on the place of the skull. He drained the cup of wrath that could not be removed so that Jerusalem, so that you, would have peace. And surely this is the Son of God, a righteous, selfless Man! Surely, He has atoned for your sins and loved you despite yourself. Surely He has known and won the peace that passes all understanding for you and bestows it upon you without cost or price. Surely there are no bars, no prisons left that can hold you. Hell is empty. The grave's victory is but an illusion. Death has no sting.

Cast your burden on the Lord. He will sustain you. Let go of your regrets. Jesus is Lord. He loves you. He bears no grudge, no ill will, no regrets. He was glad to pay the price to make you His. You are worth it to Him, worth every last lash, every drop of blood, every moment of agony. And still He wants you. Still He desires you. He would gather you this day in that same Blood, given and shed for you, and feed you this life-giving elixir from His side. For He is alive, out of death, the Victor over Hell and all its spawn. He declares you righteous and free, free of guilt, shame, and regret, free of past. He lays open the future before you and it is full of joy and peace. Thus He gives to you the faith of the fathers, the hope of consolation and the resurrection to come. For He is risen and He is love.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.

Rev'd David H. Petersen
Redeemer Lutheran Church
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Pastor David Petersen


Yeah, I got it made.

*ChiRho begins to grin again, as he puts his feet up on the broken lawn chair, outside of the trailer he lives in. He smiles even bigger, when the familiar stench of sewage hits his olfactory nerves and he thinks to himself, "what a perfect place to live!"*

Added bonus (My apologies, dial-uppers!): Peterson Audio

Second Helping!
 

ChiRho

Confessional Lutheran Catholic
Mar 5, 2004
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For those still not convinced:

2005-07-17
Trinity 8

Matthew 7:15-23

Evil always wears a mask in public. Never does it leave its cave for the street without donning some disguise, lest you see it for what it really is. But these get-ups are not the ski mask of the armed robber or the painted face of a warrior, but the smiling countenance of a “sincere citizen’ who´ll tell you he´s interested only in the public good. Thus darkness wraps itself in a cloak of light; rags of lies in robes of truth; and Mr. Hyde lurks inside every Dr. Jeckel. Beware, O Christian, beware.

There are plenty of Rumpelstiltskins out there who´ll merrily weave the straw of evil into the seeming gold of concern, love, or even truth. And this is no fairy tale. For murdering babies in the womb they spin into “protecting the choice of the mother.’ Homosexual perversions are celebrated as “gay rights.’ Heresy masquerades as “freedom of religious expression.’ Spin, Rumpelstiltskin, spin. Beware, O Christian, beware.

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep´s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 20/20 vision though you have, it is not your friend; for you cannot trust your eyes to spot the wolf. You who rely on sight are like one who, seeing a “Beware of Dog’ sign on the front gate, peeks inside the yard expecting to see a teeth-baring pit bull. Instead, you spy a tail-wagging mutt giving you one of those I´ll-lick-you-to-death type looks. Beware of that dog? you think. So you step in, squat down, call him over. The dog happily trots up, sniffs your hand, then—without any warning—lunges for your throat! Beware of Dog, indeed. Beware also of trusting your eyes to spot false teachers.

For these wolves, they come to you in sheep´s clothing, but they hear not the voice of the Shepherd. And so they speak not the words of the Shepherd, but only mimic them, twisting them this way and that, to make them say “yes’ when God says “no’ and “no’ when God says “yes.’ You see, sometimes hell can sound an awful lot like heaven; so you must have ears to hear the difference. These wolves, they speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. They preach the deceit of their own hearts. For they bid you find comfort not in Jesus and His wounds but in a purpose-driven life—a cross-free, success-filled existence. In their sermonizing they are adept at making excuses for God, softening His unreasonable demands, widening His narrow paths, and mixing with His fire and brimstone a bit of sugar and spice and everything nice. Tolerance and open-mindedness replace the law; the human will and religious experiences supplant the Gospel. Men are left with the impression that if they do the best they can, avoid becoming as horrid as Hitler or Hussein, and think of God once in a blue moon, then one fine day Heaven will welcome them with a parade down its golden streets. Such wolves preach a God without name, who brings men without sin, into a church without truth, through the ministry of a Christ without a cross. Beware, O Christian, beware.

Beware most of all of yourself, for these wolves have a member of the pack inside you. The Old Adam is a wild dog himself, who can howl with the best of them at the full moon of falsehood. For what do you like best but to be flattered, to have your ego stroked by a so-called “Gospel’ that´s all about you? Is it not much more acceptable to be called a good-ole-boy who´s done the best he can than a poor, miserable sinner who´s done the best he can...to merit hell? Do you not like to be the master of your destiny, God´s equal partner in planning for eternity? Such are the sermons of the wolves, at which the predator in you barks its Yea and Amen.

Repent, O Christian, repent. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the wolf inside you, you will live. For not everyone who says to Christ, “Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of Our Father in heaven. And what is that will? That God break and hinder every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature; and that He keep us firm in His Word and faith until we die. This is His good and gracious will, a will He works in those hearts which He has created anew, in hearts such as yours.

So rejoice, O Christian, rejoice, for His will has been and will be done in you! Every evil plan of the wolf of hell has been thwarted by the God who wants nothing greater than to save you. No Shepherd hath greater love than this, that He lay down His life for His sheep. And so He has for you, His dear lambs. Moses, that shepherd of Israel, beseeched the Lord to blot him out of the book of life rather than the whole nation of Israel (Exod 32); but for you and your salvation, Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, suffered His life to be taken that life might be yours in abundance, your name written with His crimson ink in the Lamb´s Book of Life. When David, that regal shepherd of Israel, angered the Lord by his unlawful census, bringing a bloody plague upon the nation, he begged the Lord, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father´s house,’ (2 Sam 24:17). But the Son of David, the true Shepherd of Israel, who knew no sin, became sin, let the divine hand of wrath smite Him, that you, His beloved sheep, might be included in the gracious census of God in the holy land above.

Fear not, O Christian, for the merciful ears of the Lord are open to the prayers of His servants. Fear sin no more—it is washed away in the blood of the Lamb that mingles with the water of the Font. Fear death no more—it has been chewed to bits and swallowed up in victory that you might swallow life in the body of the Shepherd. Fear that hellish wolf no more—for He has been defanged by the Savior who was willingly torn by His teeth. Fear not, for you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by which we cry out, “Abba, Father.’ That Spirit preaches that you are the children of God, the sheep of His flock, never to be snatched out of His hand. That Spirit proclaims that you are joint heirs with Christ, chosen in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before Him in love. That Spirit is the Spirit of Truth who says nothing truer than this: You, dear lamb, are Mine, Mine forever, grace without end.

Professor Chad Bird
 
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