- my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, without whom I would be nothing, but through whom I have
eternal life;
- my Christian family at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in West Columbia, SC, without whom I may
never been able to attend ILC for as long as I have (or will);
- the faculty of ILC for allowing me to present these chapel addresses at ILC.
*Note: The chapels listed on this page are ones that I had the privelege of sharing with the students at Immanuel Lutheran College. Some of them are dated the day that I gave the chapel, but unfortunately not all of them were. All hymns are taken from The Lutheran Hymnal.
Let me never, Lord, forsake Thee,
E'en tho' bitter pain and strife
On my way shall overtake me;
But may I thro' all my life
Walk in fervent love to Thee,
In all woes for comfort flee
To Thy birth, Thy death, and Passion
Till I see Thy full salvation. Amen. TLH-401 v.2
Text: "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you." Philippians 1:21-24
We have all probably had a situation in our lives in which we were so distraught, so consumed with grief that we prayed that the Lord would take our life right then and there. However, we can learn from Paul, who suffered tremendous trials, when he says, "But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better." Paul had been through many physical trials including chains, beatings, and even stonings. He had also been deeply grieved over bretheren who had been lost to the stench of false doctrine. Paul too may have asked why this was all occurring, but he knew the answer. "Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you." Paul knew that the primary reason why the Lord had allowed him to remain alive after all this time was to proclaim the Gospel message. The situation is the same for us. As believers in Christ, we all now have citizenship in heaven. However, the Lord chooses to let us live here on this earth so that we may spread His word to those who are lost in darkness. Think about it. One of the main reasons why you and I are breathing here right now is because the Lord desires to use us as His mouthpieces to proclaim His Word to the world. We should keep this in mind as we live out our lives day by day.
"But then why does He still allow these 'bad' things to happen to us?" There is an old proverb:"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." But I say, "What doesn't kill you makes you a stronger Christian." Let us consider this for a moment. The Lord indeed sends trials to us in our lives in order to test our faith. However, He does not test us beyond what we are able. He knows we are weak, so He provides a way of escape, but because of our sin we are often blind to these. Testing our faith is not the only reason, however, for these trials. We read Philippians 1:12, "But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel." We can see here that Paul used his chains in order to free others from the shackles of sin. All of these so-called "bad" things in our lives, all of these trials and tribulations we can use to further the Gospel by comforting those who are going through the same "bad" things (2 Cor. 1:3,4). For example, if someone were to be physically or verbally abused for professing Christ he or she might view this as a "bad" thing. However, that person is now able to use this experience to comfort another who is being persecuted. He or she can say, "Hey, I've been exactly where you are right now. This is how the Lord helped me then, and this is how He will help you now. Trust in the Lord." The person comforting and the person being comforted will then both see that truly "all things work together for good to those that love God." And they will also both understand what Paul meant when he said, "For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake." Just as Paul had opportunity to reveal his faith during persecution and imprisonment to the whole palace guard, we too are able to confess Christ to the world by suffering persecution for His sake. Our Heavenly Father who was so gracious as to give us His holy Word so that we can know of the one true way to heaven, that is by faith in Christ, will also give us opportunity to spread that beautiful gospel message to others.
According to the world, we are here on this earth for only a short little while and therefore should live our lives to the fullest, taking up any form of hobby, recreation, or other action that makes us happy, whether it be sinful or not. We indeed can, and should, live our lives to the fullest, but it does not in any way involve sin. Fellow brethren, I am convinced that there is no other experience greater on this earth than that of comforting a lost soul with the message that Jesus Christ has died to take away those sins of which they feel so fearful of God's wrath. So in response to the world, "Yeah we should live our lives to the fullest, not to fulfill our earthly desires, but to strive, through the preaching of the Gospel, to further the expansion of the Lord's kingdom."
So what will you do the next time you are troubled and overcome by sorrow? Will you plead with God to take your life? I pray not. But, rather, look to your compassionate High Priest, Jesus Christ, for comfort and strength to contend for the faith. The writer of the Hebrews says, "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." This is the same High Priest who shed His blood for your sins and who is preparing your mansion in heaven right now even as I speak. You CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens you. Let us use our weaknesses, our sorrows, and our troubles as Paul did as an opportunity to preach Christ and Him crucified to the whole world. Amen.
Closing Hymn: "Jesus, Lead Thou On" TLH-410