Shepherd Notes September 2026
In the Presence of God, Now and Eternally
I’m pretty sure that when you have visited other Lutheran churches, you probably have witnessed the same thing as far as seating arrangements (besides the “you’re sitting in my seat” look you might get) – the front pews are generally empty or very sparsely filled, while the back ones are fairly packed. We often kid about such things, (quicker exit, relief from the hot air of the pastor…). I have noticed during my visits to other churches and denominations over the years that it is the churches that believe in the Real Presence of God that have their members generally sitting toward the back. They realize Whose Presence they encounter that morning and what that means. When we have the Invocation, we know that we are entering again into the Real Presence of God. Because of the Holiness of God, we are immediately stricken with a sense of awe as well as our sinful lowliness. So, we of course are led to follow that Invocation with a Confession of our sins, and then joyfully receive the sweet comfort of His forgiveness of our sins in Christ. Our Lord exchanging His Holiness for our sinfulness.
In our current society, where itching ears do not want to hear of the Holiness and Righteousness of God, who do not want to be exposed as sinners but want to excuse any and all manner of evil in the name of a “loving God”; God is viewed as some kind of doting, kind-hearted grandfatherly type who smiles permissively upon His impetuous children… That is not the God of the scriptures, the One who is Holy above all Holies, the One who has commanded that we are to be perfect as He is perfect. Lost it seems is the understanding of just how detestable sin is in God’s eyes. What sin has done to His perfect creation. How some of the Holy Angels rebelled against God, abandoning their place to become the most loathsome of demonic creatures, perverted and twisted so that their sole thought and being is to destroy God’s creation, especially the pinnacle of His creation, mankind. Their every thought is to harming us physically, emotionally and spiritually, and ultimately hopefully to drag us into the fires of hell that awaits them.
And there is what sin has done to those most loved by God, those alone created in His image – man. Oh how we have been twisted and perverted from how we were made. Our rebellion has left us to despise the will and Word of God – creatures that have become lovers of self and haters of others. God has not changed, we have. He is Holy, we are sin-filled and depraved. That is the truth that the Law of God exposes in us, the truth our sinful natures dearly love to avoid or reject. How can He love such as these?
But once again, we are reminded in His Word of how His Love fulfilled His Justice by the substitutionary work of God the Son for us. God is Holy, loving us enough to pay the highest of costs to save us from guilt and cost of our sin, to begin the restoration and returning to being made in God’s image.
No matter where we like to sit in the sanctuary, as Lutherans we understand that in the Divine Service, we have entered into the Real Presence of God and truly experience Divine service – the Holy and Loving Triune God Who comes to us veiled in His Means of Grace and serves us with His love and grace – it is literally a taste of Heaven on earth, a foretaste of our eternal life in the New Creation. What an awesome and humbling thought, front pew to back pew!
Your Servant in Christ Pastor Brian