Christ the Victor

The Rev. Dr. Norman E. Nagel was one of my professors at the seminary. He continues to be one of my mentors to this very day. I share something he preached on Matthew 6,28 in 1954: 

„Sin brought the world into such a cursed mess that only the Son of God could rescue it. This He did by becoming part of our sin-cursed world, making Himself our brother and subject to the curse. Jesus stake Himself with us. If He is crushed by the curse, there is no hope. If He overcomes the curse, then death cannot have its way with us. The fate of Christ and the fate of me are one. I can only be destroyed by death if Christ can be destroyed by death. Christ did die, but He rose again. His resurrection means my resurrection…. When I come to die, I can now die … quietly and without complaint“ (Select Sermons of Norman Nagel 216). 

In this paragraph, Dr. Nagel is, in part, referring to the Apostle Paul, who wrote: »Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His« (Romans 6,3.5). 

Christianity is a religion (and a theology) grounded in historical facts: Jesus was born, lived and died. His tomb was empty three days later. These are verifiable facts attested to in the Bible, the historians of the time and even those opposed to Jesus (like the scribes and Pharisees). The point of contention is: what happened to Jesus’ body? 

Without the resurrection of Jesus, Christianity loses its unique claim and joins the rank and file of every other religion out there. Without the resurrection, Christianity has its teacher and a set of virtues by which a person may order his or her life, and that is about it. 

The apostles, however, contend and preach that Christianity is something far and above all the other religions and philosophies that clamor for our attention. The heart and soul of Christianity is the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. The apostles proclaim that Jesus is the Lamb of God sacrificed on the cross as payment for our sin, and His resurrection is the evidence that His sacrifice is accepted by God the Father and that Jesus has triumphed over death, hell and the devil. 

Our fate is, therefore, linked to Christ’s. His victory is our victory. His death is our death. His resurrection is our resurrection. His life in heaven is our life in heaven. Sin, death, hell and the devil cannot have their way with us or over us, for Christ has conquered them. 

For those who mourn the loss of loved ones on September 11, 2001, we commend them to the mercy of the Triune God. For those in Christ who died that day, they are in His blessed presence, free from the trials and sufferings of this world. On the last day, they and all who die in Christ will be reunited in heavenly glory with a resurrected body.  Amen. 

Long-awaited internet search strikes gold!

For several years, I have been searching the internet for sermons preached by Wilhelm Loehe. This morning I found a book that Google Books scanned into their online library of Loehe's Gospel sermons. I took a brief look at it, and was happy to have found it. Even more difficult to find on the internet are English translations of Loehe's sermons.

The only challenge with Google's scan is that the book used the old German typescript, which, if you aren't familiar with it takes some work figuring out some of the letters. I haven't read German texts using the old typescript for some time, but after a few minutes it became more familiar.

I'm interested in reading Loehe's sermons. One website dedicated to him describes him as a preacher in the style of Martin Luther. Loehe was known to preach without notes, only writing his sermon down after he had preached it. This is much different from Norman Nagel's style of reading his sermon verbatim from the pulpit. Nevertheless, Nagel is a great preacher.

Gospel words from The Rev. Dr. Norman Nagel

“The generation that was delivered out of Egypt all died in the wilderness, though the Lord gave them bread from heaven. Repeatedly in John, Jesus fulfills and bursts what is told us in the Old Testament. Jesus is bread from heaven of which a man may eat and not die. Here death is ultimate death and its counterpart is ultimate life. Jesus said, “I am the living Bread” (John 6.51), What could be a more “I am” statement of life? But there is more. There is life through and beyond the furthest reach of death. Death can reach no further than Calvary. That there was death in Calvary is shown by the fact that flesh and blood are spoken of separately. But they are Jesus’ flesh and blood, so there is life with them beyond the furthest reacth of death—life indestructible, life forever.” (Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel 56).

Evangelical Preaching?

I take great pride in preaching each Sunday. I spend a lot of time in preparation and study, including translating the text.

So, as I drove to my parents on Christmas Eve, I heard two Christmas sermons on the radio. I hesitate to call them ,,Christmas" or ,,sermons". The name of Jesus was used, but the content of the sermons (I seemed to think they were really pep talks) did not focus on: the gospel or the meaning of Jesus being born as our Savior. What has happened to the state of Christian preaching in America?

It used to be that Evangelical churches prided themselves in preaching about the pure gospel of Christ crucified. There are still some that take this preaching seriously. I heard a Baptist friend preach over the summer, and he did an good job of preaching the gospel. The Baptist church also seemed very committed to remaining faithful in really preaching the gospel. In this respect they were very evangelical and Lutheran.

However, what passes as Evangelical preaching in the 21st century leaves a lot to be desired. I perceive that part of this dilemma is based on the whole church growth methodology that is focused on mere statistics and numbers rather than faithful preaching of the gospel. Too many churches are obsessed with being a business and pursuing commerical avenues of success. It reminds me of the 16th century Catholic Church. In many ways the modern Evangelical Church is similar to 16th century Catholicism.

Evangelical preaching, true evangelical preaching that is concerned about Christ crucified and risen for us sinners is always going to be small potatoes compared to what we are shown on TV with a slick presentation and polished delivery. If the message isn't focused on Christ crucified, then it isn't evangelical. If the message isn't focused on the gospel, then it isn't preaching.

Preaching isn't easy. It takes a good deal of preparation. But the underlying foundation is not rocket science: it's proclaiming Christ crucified and what that means for us. There are so many ways to proclaim this. Lutherans are fond of the forensic method, namely, that justification is described in legal terms of guilt and forgiveness. Jack Preus III wrote a book several years back that looked at other ways to preach evangelically that did not rely solely on a forensic approach.

I view preaching as an art. True masters are rare, but I have read and heard many who are quite good. Unfortunately, modern Evangelical preachers rarely fall into those categories. Much of what I read and hear from them can best be described as children finger painting.

Honestly, we don't need all sorts of gimmicks, jokes, object lessons, etc. What we need to be doing is preaching the pure gospel. If you are consistent with this, over time you will become rather good at preaching Christ crucified.

Our market-engineered society wants fancy presentations. But one of the best preachers I have been blessed to hear and read is Dr. Norman Nagel. He read from his manuscript (this is very much contrary to what we were taught in preaching classes!), but His preaching dripped with the gospel. That's the kind of passion we need: gospel overflowing. Another wonderful preacher is Dr. Rossow. He is very polished, and is a master at using language and imagery to soak you with the gospel. Walter Keller is another great preacher who is a master of Pauline preaching. There are countless other examples.

Evangelical preachers need to get back to really preaching the pure gospel. Americans need to really, really hear the proclamation that Christ died for their sins.