This letter, in many ways, is the apostle’s way of encouraging the family of faith that cared so much for Paul. As their faith brought him joy, now he hopes to cheer them on in the challenges that they face. This isn’t the first time that Paul used the analogy of the footrace in relation to our life of faith (see 1 Corinthians 9:24-27). There are many strong parallels to be made for us. A few years ago now, I remember watching in the Asian Games the event where one speed skater was apparently on the verge of victory. But he lifted his arms up instead of stretching them out in front leading to his second-place finish. Of course, the person that pushed their leg forward at the very last second considered it a miracle that he had won the gold medal by just one 1/100^th of a second! In a way, Paul’s letter is reminding us to keep our eyes on the prize! Just as Paul was at that moment pressing on, forgetting what was in his past, we too should make it our goal to use all our effort to move forward in faith.

The only danger with these types of analogies, though, is that they can end up focusing on our effort instead of what ultimately is our only hope of winning – Jesus’ victory over all our sin and death. In fact, this is the point of Paul’s renunciation of the past. He counts all his previous accomplishments as worthless because in the end these “victories” tend to focus on self and our own accomplishments. What is more important is the good news that God has taken hold of us in Jesus! The “upward call” is the good news that we are struggling and straining in Him to hang on to Him. Our victory is dependent on Jesus’ arms stretched wide on the cross to gather us all to His side, not on our last-ditch effort to “do our part.” So this is the good news. We do have someone to hold on to – the One who holds on to us.

This is evident today as we remember that we are baptized into Jesus. By doing this we celebrate how the Lord has taken hold of us in Grace. He has clothed us in His righteousness and pours into us with joy a different way of living and even a desire for doing His will. Like Paul, we now press on knowing that in Jesus our victory is already made certain in His death and resurrection. This changes not only how we view our past, but how we engage the present, as well as how we look to the future. No longer do we need to keep track of all the positives and negatives. We can confess our sin as well as let go of our own accomplishments. We can even forgive as we have been forgiven. We can reach out and be present in the here and now as we share God’s good gifts with our neighbor. We also look ahead, not in fear and foreboding of the end of all things, but that in Jesus everything is being and will be restored, renewed, and made fresh again. His Joy does take hold of us and moves us forward in faith!

Pastor Carl

Have you ever been to a concert or participated in an orchestra? What about conduct one? It is incredibly hard work which requires hours of both individual practice as well as group practice to get people (young or old) to work or “play” in harmony with one another. But without that hard work of communicating and sharing and learning more about each other, working together is impossible – let alone “making music” together that would communicate to others what God has done for us in Christ who has made us to be of “one mind and one accord.”

And this is the key part. If we only focus on our effort at making our work together harmonious, we miss the truth of what God has done for us in Jesus. We will easily feel hurt or out of sorts when we still see how easily we get out of “rhythm” or hit a note “off key.” Ultimately harmony, concord, being of “one mind” is not something we produce at all but what God produces in us through His own Son, Jesus. He did this not by giving us more accurate instructions or by shouting louder, but by laying down His life for you and me and all people.

This is why Paul has confidence to write to the church in Philippi and exhort them to fulfill his joy even as his joy comes in the midst of his imprisonment. From this unique vantage point, God gave Paul a special glimpse into what brings true and life changing harmony in both his own life and ministry and the life of the church. Jesus is this concord, and He is the one that in humility completes our joy. Jesus did not tap on the podium or simply wave His orchestral baton, but instead got down into the “pit” and played the whole piece from beginning to end. And in the end He received the harshest “review” we could ever imagine – death on a cross – a public humiliation meant to silence not only Him but any and all who would ever “listen” to His sound. Yet, to the amazement of all, even you and me, He was not silenced but raised to the place above all places that we would have confidence that our sins and sinning was paid for. No more endless attempts of self-improvement, only the joy of being free in Him to live to His glory.

In many ways, Paul’s experience brought him to a point where he could see how God was at work in and through the humble, and humbling circumstances to bring him and the whole church to appreciate what God had already accomplished for us and all people in the sending of His Son – Jesus Christ. In and through the humble and humbling circumstances of our lives, we are learning and sharing this joy, filling it up in the lives of those we love so that Jesus is praised.

As you celebrate this extra-long weekend and the harvest thanksgiving festival of Chuseok with friends, family and neighbors, God bless and fill you with His joy.

Pastor Carl

Here at International Lutheran Church over the course of the next few weeks we will be reading through Paul’s letter to the Christian congregation in Philippi (see Acts 16:1-40). Known as the Epistle of Joy, the Book of Philippians was most likely authored by the Apostle Paul (Philippians 1:1) during his Roman imprisonment as recorded in Acts 28:14-31. Luke records for us how Paul was able to minister to many guests as well as the guard that was at the other end of the chain Paul was shackled to in his own rented home. The one feature that exudes from each page is this amazing joy that Paul experiences.

Let’s be honest. Most of us don’t usually meet challenges and difficulties with a smile. At least for me, the first sign of trouble or hardship usually sends me into complaint mode. Like the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16) in Jesus’ parable of the Kingdom of Heaven, I can easily feel like I am being treated unfairly. All I seem to be able to focus on is the “heat of the day” rather than the generosity of the Master. Thanks be to God that He is a God of grace and mercy. While He certainly does not take pleasure in our “elder brother” attitude, still He comes to you and me and invites us to enter His joy and experience His generosity as our joy.

This joy of Jesus is what ultimately changes Paul, and ultimately changes you and me. The writer to the Hebrews notes that “for the joy set before Him (that is Jesus), He endured the cross, despising its shame.” (Hebrews 12:2) This is the same joy that ultimately fills Paul even as he is chained to a guard. This is the same joy that fills you and me as we experience how God works in and through the difficulties, challenges, detours, and obstacles in our lives. Paul could even see how his chains that restrained his physical movement, actually released others to share the Gospel more freely and more boldly. Yes, God does use the cross in your life and mine to display His cross to others.

As the Spirit molds and shapes us this week, even inviting us to see how He uses the challenges in our day to bring others into His joy, we too are filled with joy. And we with Paul pray, as he did for the sisters and brothers of Philippi, that our “love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that we may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.” (Philippians 1:9-10)

Pastor Carl

Here at International Lutheran Church, we finally come to the end of our journey On the Roman Road. Like all good endings there is an opportunity to look back to see where were have gone and to marvel again about what it all means. This evaluation can sometimes sound a bit threatening. What change might be needed? What adjustments are coming? This is why we don’t often like to look too closely into the final outcomes.

But this is just the beginning. We can’t move forward without considering where we have been. But that can seem scary. It certainly was for Joseph’s brothers. At the death of Jacob, their father, the brothers got worried that Joseph might take this as an opportunity to repay them for all the evil they had done him (Genesis 50:15-21). After all, they had thrown him in a pit and sold him into slavery. Because of their jealousy, Joseph rotted in an Egyptian jail, forgotten and alone for years. Would the tables now turn against them? We can certainly understand their plan to come up with yet another “command from their father” from the grave - “Forgive them all the evil!”

What we don’t expect, and what doesn’t make much sense, is Joseph’s and ultimately Jesus’ response to the question about forgiveness. Where does it come from after all? In the end, who pays and makes things right? Joseph says, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.” Jesus tells Peter a parable about how God has in His mercy not only released us from His wrath but has even forgiven the entire debt (Matthew 18: 21-35). How can we live a forgiving life? Jesus, the true and rightful Joseph, would suffer and die to pay all our debt. We forgive because He forgave us. We are not our own, and neither is our sister or brother. We are all His. His death and His resurrection make this fact clear. All belong to Him. Every knee will bow, and every mouth will confess. We don’t have to worry about setting things right, because He has already made all things right. In His body on the tree, He took our evil, our actions, our jealousy, our spite, and our rage and turned it into God’s grace and mercy.

This is the tapestry of faith and action. Even what we eat and drink can bring glory to God. Every day can be holy to the Lord. We are not only freed from judging our brother and sister but now we are woven together in love and care for one another, in the same way that Joseph now looked at his life in a completely new way. Yes, Jesus’ death and resurrection is the heart and soul of our life of faith lived out in light of God’s mercy as we are reoriented in our minds and behavior to show His forgiveness and love to all. God grant us His willing Spirit to live with faith and action in such a way that would lead others to Him.

Pastor Carl

Peter’s words this morning come at just the right moment! “Cast all your anxiety on Him, for He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7 ESV) These words lift our spirits and remind us that we are not alone. God is with us in the midst of each and every challenging situation, fiery trial and moment of suffering. These words are Peter’s final encouragement to you and me, “the Christian,” to find our strength in Jesus whose reign is forever and ever.

Peter understood encouragement. Jesus encouraged Peter that very night when Peter would turn away in fear and deny his Lord before the next morning. Jesus’ words were meant to give him the courage to encourage others once Peter had returned to the Overseer of his faith – Jesus. But how can God’s word encourage us when we know that we too are so apt to fall and fail?

Peter’s answer is not found in his faith, but rather the object of his faith – Jesus. For under the mighty hand of God, Jesus suffered the punishment of murderers, thieves, evildoers, and meddlers upon the cross, yet now is exalted above all thrones. Jesus, who was denied by both His own followers as well as the Father whom He loved, is now confessed as worthy to receive all honor praise and glory. Jesus lives! This, Peter says, is what gives us strength to face each other and every day knowing that He cares for us. Though the devil growl like a prowling lion, we are called to stand firm in our faith established in the living One.

Just a few days ago (Thursday, May 14^th), the church around the world remembered our Risen Lord’s Ascension to the right hand of God the Father. Next Sunday, May 24^th, is Pentecost when we remember the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter who leads us into all truth. For a little while, we are again in this in-between time devoted to watching and praying. We have ten days to contemplate the reality of the “now and not yet” of our faith. As Christians we live in hope. But this hope is not wishful thinking. Our hope is the assurance of things unseen, and a life trusting in the God of all grace.

As we gather this day to hear God’s Word and receive the gift of His Body and Blood for the forgiveness of our sins and the encouragement of our faith, we are reminded that He is our strength for this very hour so that we too would encourage one another.

Pastor Carl

We have been reading through the Apostle Peter’s first letter to the church in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). We have seen that Our Living Hope is a central theme to this letter. Peter makes it clear that this hope is based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Today we see how this living hope prepares us for daily living as it attracts an audience from those who see our lives lived in a sure confidence of God’s presence and activity in our everyday lives.

Chapter 3 of 1 Peter begins with “apostolic” instructions for daily life. Specifically, our living hope guides us in how we live in gentleness together in a family as husbands and wives. This gentleness then extends into our relationships with others outside the home. Peter is aware of how life is not always easy and that suffering, even for doing what is right, can be a real experience that we may face. This suffering is connected directly to our faith and the hope it creates. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.” (1 Peter 3:18 ESV) Here is the foundation of our hope. This is not wishful thinking but the rock-solid fact of Jesus’ death and resurrection for us. Each and every experience that we have is an opportunity for us to draw upon this living hope and “honor Christ in our hearts.” While it is true that some suffering can bring about a positive result (such as rigorous exercise or even a medical procedure), the kind of result that Peter is talking about, namely life from death, honor from humiliation, righteousness from unrighteousness, etc., is only possible in Christ. His death in the flesh brings about an eternal result for you and me. As Jesus says in John 14:19, “Because I live, so also shall you live.” This is the hope that Paul shared on Mars Hill to the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers of his day (Acts 17:16-31).

Peter goes on to remind us of this as he explains how in Baptism we are connected to this good news - “the righteous for the unrighteous.” Just as Noah and the seven other people – his family – were rescued from the flood as they rested in the Ark, so “baptism now saves you.” (1 Peter 3:21) This is not a mere superficial removal of dirt, but rather the flood of forgiveness of all of our sins and the clearing of our conscience. Our salvation and victory in Christ does not come from our superior behavior but rather brings a change of heart, a gentle spirit and a sure confidence that God is with us and working in the events that we face today. We are not orphans! Jesus is risen from the dead! Our sins are gone! In the gentleness of a Lord who bears our sin in His body on the tree, God won us and saves us so that we would be prepared to speak into the lives of others with this same gentleness and respect.

God has prepared us for this very moment to share with any and all who ask for the reason we have hope. He has even prepared these moments when our hope in Him can be a gentle reminder and invitation to all of His love for them. As we give thanks to God for the way He works in our lives through the women in our lives, especially our mothers, we ask that God would make them a blessing to many. God grant us His Holy Spirit, His gentle Spirit as we rest in this hope today and every day!

Pastor Carl

Last week we explored Peter’s theme of Jesus as our Risen Shepherd and Overseer of our souls that came at the end of 1 Peter 2. Today we return to the beginning of chapter 2 and plumb our new identity and the new calling we have as followers of Jesus – the Stone that the builders had rejected.  In fact, Peter builds on the salvation themes of the Old Testament as he creates an image for us of our new identity in Jesus as living stones. Just as the pastoral images of green pastures and still waters in the 23^rd Psalm give way in the end to the Shepherd-King motif of dwelling in the House of the Lord forever, so the Old Testament Garden gives way to a more urban setting, or perhaps we should say “capital structures” found at the center of the City of God - the very Temple of the Most High. The identity of God’s people as “a chosen race, a royal priesthood and a holy nation” is built on the establishment of the Temple in Jerusalem. This structure is critical to the very blueprints of how God shows His mercy and dwells in the midst of His people.

The radical announcement that Jesus – the “Stone the builders had rejected” – has now become the capstone or cornerstone of God’s construction is revolutionary.  Jesus – the Temple which is destroyed by sinful man but raised by God in three days – is what makes us now living stones! But what does Peter mean by living stones? Peter gives us a hint and Stephen in Acts 6:51-60 gives us an example. We are now “a chosen race, a royal priesthood and a holy nation… that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light!” (1 Peter 2:9) We are the stones made alive and incorporated into the descendants of Abraham through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Our lives now share the story of God’s grace and mercy in us. We are the very temple in which His Spirit dwells. Stephen, the first Christian martyr or witness, is filled with this Spirit and proclaimed that amazing vision and truth of our Ascended Lord and Savior standing at the right hand of God even as he was stoned. Even as his life slipped from him, he prayed for those standing there that God would not hold them to account but forgive and renew them. Jesus did answer that prayer in and through one young man named Saul, named after the famous Benjamite and first king of Israel. Later he was often called by his Roman name - Paul.

In Jesus, you and I are also a result of Stephen’s prayer as we have been made alive and are being built together to make known His mercy in our world today. Today we are witnesses of this in the life of Jinny and JT as she is baptized into Christ and together they make the good confession of their faith in their Redeemer, Jesus through their Confirmation. Each day is also an opportunity for us to be a living witness of His mercy in our lives. Sometimes this witness is evident in what we say, but much of the time it is shown in the very simple ways we care for one another. This is the beautiful part of being His living stones. Our witness is of His grace to us. God give us strength to make known through our lives the excellencies of His Name! He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

Pastor Carl

The Fourth Sunday in Easter is Good Shepherd Sunday. Every year at this time we read or sing the 23^rd Psalm – some of the most beloved words of Scripture repeated at almost every Christian funeral. We also hear in John 10 the words of Jesus that He is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep. In the Epistle reading from 1 Peter chapter 2, Peter concludes with this important reminder for us to return and follow the “Shepherd and Overseer of our souls.” The example that Peter reflects on, though, is maybe not what we would expect – namely how Jesus suffered in silence.

These words come after a very important section on our new identity in Jesus through Baptism into His Name. We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, called to love not only the brothers, but even those in authority over us. Peter tells us that in our following our Savior and living in the new identity we have in Him we should not be discouraged by suffering, especially the suffering that comes as part of our service to God and neighbor. Peter simply reminds us that Jesus gave us this example – a literal “over-writing” or a “stencil” to serve as a pattern for our lives – namely that just as He suffered for doing what was right, so we will also suffer. We are aliens, exiles, and sojourners in this place. Our words and actions may even be seen as evil, just as Jesus’ words and actions were twisted and seen as evil. This does not mean that we should look for ways to provoke those in authority, but rather when we suffer, we do not need to turn away, but rather return to Him who suffered for us.

Consider the source of this pastoral admonition – this gentle guidance. In a moment of daring devotion and with nerves of steel, Peter entered the very courtyard where his Lord was being tried. While his Savior was silent in the face of false testimony, Peter’s mouth repeated again, again, and again for all to hear, “I don’t know the man!” Peter failed and fell just as Jesus had warned Peter how he would deny his Lord not once or twice but three times. How is it that one can return? How is it that we, the unjust, can be justified? How is it that we, the unrighteous, can be made right again? How is it that shifting sand can become solid ground? Peter knew. Peter saw. Peter heard His Lord ask him three time by the post-Easter shore, “Peter, do you love me more than these?” (John 21:15-19) In Jesus, Peter too became a living example, a stencil of God’s grace and love. Jesus suffered to bring us back, all His sheep, to Himself. His gracious act not only changed Peter, but even you and me. “He himself bore our sins upon the tree... by His wounds, you were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24) Just as Peter was forgiven, so too, God forgives you and me.

Our Living Shepherd brings to us a Living Hope. Our Loving Shepherd restores our souls. His Resurrection brings us back to Himself and makes us His living examples of hope today even as He works in you and me through suffering to the glory and praise of His Name. He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

Pastor Carl

While change can sometimes be welcome and refreshing, at other times it can be very stressful and disheartening especially when that change includes loss. The downcast-journey of Cleopas and his friend to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35) reflect this as they meet a visitor to Jerusalem seemingly oblivious to the events of Jesus’ crucifixion. “We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.” While their hope had seemingly become overinflated and burst with disillusionment, the Risen Jesus walked with them and explained from the scriptures just how the Messiah must first suffer before entering His glory. This truth of the cross and the empty tomb is what sets faith in Jesus apart from all our attempts to find permanence in this world or in ourselves.

For Peter the suffering and Resurrection of Jesus is what redemption is all about. This pattern of the cross and empty tomb sets us apart and makes us exiles or strangers in the world in which we live. We don’t belong here because we belong to Him who died and rose again. In the Small Catechism Luther uses Peter’s words to explain what it means for Jesus to be my Lord. “He has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with his holy, precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death. All this he did that I should be his own, and live under him in his kingdom...” (Luther’s Small Catechism, the explanation of the second article of the Apostles’ Creed)

Our redemption does not mean that we are here just waiting around to go to heaven. Rather we live here, even under the most difficult of situations, with the living hope that our permanence is in Him who made us and redeemed us. The cross declares that our lives as exiles and “withering grass” serve our neighbor. Like Peter, we are a living testimony to God’s grace and love to all as we grow in our appreciation of His love for us and all people. We share His love with one another. We use the gifts and talents He has given us to bless our neighbor. While the flower fades and decays, and our lives grow dim, His Word - His spoken message of grace and forgiveness - only grows brighter and brighter. From falling flowers to His Eternal Word, this is our Living Hope! He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

Pastor Carl

In general, we don’t usually like tests. Even when we know that they bring a positive result, we try to avoid them. Perhaps as kids and later as young adults we dreaded test day, mid-terms, or finals and the pressure we felt on us to perform. The idea of getting anything but top marks seemed to loom as a hidden expectation. Perhaps even as adults in the working world we stress over giving or receiving an annual evaluation. The negative feelings created even at the suggestion of areas for improvement during a review seem to be counterproductive. Yet, tests and trials are the only way something can be proven to be genuine, true, and beneficial.

In fact, the Apostle Peter begins his letter with a strong and bold embrace of the various tests and trials that our faith goes through. His ministry to “strengthen the brethren” after he had been “sifted as wheat” (cf. Luke 22:31-34), speaks to how trials can prove our faith to be genuine and true. But our ability to believe or our ability to maintain our faith is not the focus of these trials. Instead, the focus is the object of our faith – the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Jesus, Peter declares, God has “caused us to be born again … through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1 Peter 1:3) This is not because of us or our faith but all out of His great and abundant mercy. Peter unpacks for us the benefits of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead in a threefold outline with the simple word “to” or “for.”

First, on his list is the impact it makes on our current situation as we are brought into a “living hope.” (v.3) Jesus’ resurrection creates the faith that holds on to God in His mercy that He has forgiven our sins and restored us to a right relationship with Him. Peter had denied his Savior and yet God had forgiven him. This faith, this birth, this new start, that Peter is given emboldens him to confess his Savior even in the face of opposition and threat of punishment as we read in Acts 5:29-42.

The second benefit is the sure and certain treasure, the “inheritance” (v.4) that is now ours through Jesus’ resurrection. At His death, all that was His became ours as a gift. We are thus stored away in Him and preserved as His priceless treasure, guarded and kept until that last day.

The third benefit is then this very “salvation” (v.5) that is to be revealed and at the same time is being produced in our very lives and souls even now. While we don’t see, we still believe in Him. (cf. John 20: 19-31) While we are under many trials, we still love Him as He has loved us.

Each Lord’s Day we celebrate the living hope we have in Him as the benefits of His resurrection are made manifest in our very lives in and through the trails and tests we face. God strengthen you and remind you today that He is working in you to the glory and praise of His name. He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

Pastor Carl