Lutheran Logomaniac: Recent Episodes
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Kramer Chapel
Concordia Theological Seminary
Feast Day of St. Timothy (2025-01-24)
1 Timothy 6:11-16
Dr. Todd A. Peperkorn
TITLE: “Fight…with Gentleness”Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text today is from 1 Timothy chapter 6:1-12.
One of the most enjoyable things, at least for me, about being on the faculty here is this wintertime tradition. Not Symposium—although that’s great, obviously. No, this is the wintertime tradition known as theological interviews. This is a unique tradition in our circles, at least in the Missouri Synod, where two professors gather with all of the fourth-year students, one at a time, and discuss theology with them for about an hour. I don’t know if my colleagues enjoy this as much as I do. I think it’s great. I’ll tell you about my TI some other time. I don’t think the students enjoy it quite as much as we do. Sometimes I firmly believe that we have a lot more confidence in their good confession than they do when they are going through this little exercise.
But these students don’t know something that we know—that the entire life of the pastor is one constant theological interview. The whole thing. Your words, your conduct, how you carry yourself, how people see you—all of it is the lens of the church looking upon this man. Now, if that doesn’t make you nervous, I don’t know what’s wrong with you. This is why, in Paul’s words to Timothy here—this young pastor, this new pastor in Ephesus, his son in the faith, his colleague on his travels—his encouragement and his words are remarkably strong. Paul uses words like “flee,” “pursue,” “fight,” “take hold,” “charge,” and “keep.” This language is not the language of softness. This is not the language that says, “Well, you’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it.” This is the language of an elder pastor speaking to his young son in the faith, who knows what’s at stake. The very souls of God’s people are at stake. And these words—this life, this good confession, as St. Paul calls it—they matter.
Paul says a little bit earlier on in Timothy, “Do not be hasty with the laying on of hands.” So, the process of preparing, training, and forming pastors is not something that just happens with a snap. You don’t just get a warm feeling in your heart that God wants you to be a pastor, and then turn around and start preaching. It involves much fear and trepidation. Paul, too, uses this strong language, and I dare say almost battle language, warrior language, really, quite often. Think of Paul’s words to the church in Ephesus: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood . . . Put on the whole armor of God.”
Yet, when it comes down to the virtues that Timothy is to embody as a pastor, we see a slightly different picture. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith . . . with gentleness. I don’t get it. These words do not gel. They do not naturally jive or make sense to us today. In our world, these two things are contrary. You either fight or you’re gentle. You’re either strong or you are weak. It’s one or the other. You can’t have both. Tell Jesus. For in our Lord, we find strength in weakness, confidence in the good confession before Pilate, even in the face of hardship. We find St. Paul encouraging young Timothy not to allow his youth to deter him from his good confession. We find Paul speaking over and over and over again to boast in Christ and not in yourself.
The church at Ephesus clearly was in the midst of no little controversy. We don’t know exactly what the context was for Timothy’s good confession that Paul encourages him in and reminds him of. I’m enough of a Fort Wayne guy to think it was probably Timothy’s ordination, but we don’t know that for certain. These two things that make the good confession of Timothy, Paul finally brings home in our Lord Jesus Christ, who made the good confession before Pontius Pilate, who, when He suffered, opened not His mouth. This confession—this speaking this same word together—is who our Lord is: the Word made flesh. And for that, He was crucified, died, and rose again for our justification.
There is no contradiction between the good fight of faith and for this to be done with gentleness. Any father should know this: that to be strong for your children, for your wife, for your family, sometimes means to be gentle. Maybe always. It’s worth thinking about. And if this is so for my own family, how much more so is this the case for the family of God? That when we care for, preach, make the good confession, and fight the good fight of faith, we do so not because our people are our enemies. For, as Paul said, we wrestle not against flesh and blood. It is Satan who is the enemy. And we make this good confession for the sake of those who are entrusted to our care.
So what about you, O man of God, who wrestles not against flesh and blood? Paul says again to Timothy, “Keep a close watch on yourself and on your teaching.” This calls us to recognize our own sins and bring us to repentance and faith. It calls us to continually go to the font, which is the Scriptures, to learn from Him and to give out the life-giving word of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As we hear earlier in Timothy, “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” That is what Paul charged Timothy to do and to be. That is what our Lord calls you to this day and every day.
It is a great and mighty thing that our Lord has entrusted to us. It is not something we can do of our own strength and power. But God is relentless in His mercy toward us, His children. His love knows no end. He will form you into the image of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Believe it, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
For a PDF version of this sermon, go here:
Sermon for 2025-01-24 St TimothyDownload
A Grief ObservedTwenty years ago today, we buried my mother, Susan Peperkorn, née Troy. She died on January 10, 2005. It was simultaneously sudden (likely brain aneurism) and expected (melanoma cancer). She was fifty-seven at the time and had been fighting cancer in various ways for at least ten years.
My family was in a very different place at that time. I was thirty-four, and we had two young girls while we lived in Kenosha, Wisconsin. None of my siblings were married yet, and my youngest sister was still in high school. It seems like a thousand years ago. But also just yesterday.
At this point, all of my siblings are married, and there are eleven grandchildren spread over four states. Our family continues to grow and be blessed.
This day twenty years ago was a turning point, though. It was a point when death became real in a way that hadn’t happened before. Grief became more visceral, more a part of me, and less what other people dealt with. I’ve never been an overly “emotive” person, but I am certainly much more so now than I was before.
Just as death became real, so, too, did resurrection and holy baptism. Through a series of events I won’t recount now, I ended up preaching for Mom’s funeral. The text was the Baptism of our Lord from St. Matthew, chapter three. In the center of that, too, is Paul’s wonderful words from Romans six:
“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
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. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”Romans 6:3-11 ESV
My teacher and now colleague, Cameron MacKenzie, had a wonderful sermon baptism today in chapel. He reminded us that God and His gifts are for all nations, and that means everyone.
Baptism ties us to Jesus’ death AND resurrection. There is no resurrection without dying. My mother died in her baptism many years before. Her death and loss on this earth is not the death that matters. What matters is that she died in Christ, and because of that, she will rise again at the Last Day. That is where our hope lies.
Much love, Mom. We’ll see you soon.
The following is the sermon I preached for my daughter, Renata Peperkorn’s installation as Kantor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. I am deeply thankful and honored to be able to preach for this wonderful, joyous event. What a gift! Below you will find a link to the YouTube of the service, including the sermon. You will also find a link to a short post that Renata made on Facebook about the music she played in the service. -TAP
Link to Renata’s Post on the Music
Audio of Sermon
TITLE: “Sing with the Spirit”
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. —Ephesians 5:15-21 ESV
St. Paul was no stranger to the suffering and hardship we live under here on earth. He recognized the futile, empty ways that the world would have us live in, ways that would choke the very life out of us. We are surrounded by it on every side. God gives us the fulness of life in His Son, and we cast it aside for fleeting pleasures and empty promises that would have us give up our very souls for one more hit, one more distraction, one more stumble on the road to perdition.
It does not matter if your vice is social media or gossip, alcohol or sports drinks, lust or gluttony. Whatever the temptation might be for you, know that Satan seeks to draw you away from the Living Bread who gives His life for the world. We are, in so many ways, fools who have surrounded ourselves with the very things that would destroy us, thinking that we are stronger than all the Christians who have gone before. St. Paul is right. Truly, the days are evil.
So look carefully how you walk, St. Paul says, not as unwise but as wise. Be filled with the Holy Spirit, “…addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.” St. Paul knows something that the world has forgotten. St. Paul knows that what drives away the devil, what gives life and joy, what makes sense in a world gone mad, what does all these things is music that carries the Word of God.
- When Moses parted the Red Sea and brought the people of Israel through on dry land, they sang.
- When Deborah and Barak defeated the forces of Canaan, they sang.
- When David calmed the troubled heart of Saul, he sang.
- When David repented of his great sin and shame, he sang.
- When Hezekiah restored the true worship of Yahweh in the Temple, they sang.
- When Job was about to perish, he sang.
In times of joy and sorrow, war and peace, plenty and famine, the people of God sang.
- When they were rounded up like cattle and carried off to Babylon, they sang.
- When they returned to Zion, and the Lord restored them, they sang.
And who can forget the great songs of our wondrous Messiah?
- When the angel announced the coming of John the Baptist, Zechariah sang.
- When John the Baptist leapt in his mother Elizabeth’s womb, Mary sang.
- When the Savior of the world was born, the angels of heaven sang.
- When Jesus was presented in the Temple, Simeon sang.
- When the children of Zion saw the Lord was in their midst, they sang.
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! But such singing is not only joy. It is also sorrow, comfort, and more than our hearts can ever express.
- When Hannah learned she was no longer barren, she sang.
- When the Exiles wept at the loss of their homeland, they sang.
- When the disciples went to the Mount of Olives with Jesus, they sang.
- When Jesus Himself was on the cross and dying, he sang.
At the very culmination of the ages, when the world ends and the new creation begins, heaven and earth will sing together, Worthy is the Lamb Who Was Slain.
For this reason, Martin Luther once said, “Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in this world.” Or, as hymnwriter Martin Franzmann put it, “Theology must sing!” Music sanctifies our lives so that even when we suffer, we know that we never do so alone, for Christ and His holy Church are with us all the way.
As a pastor for many decades, I can attest to how the Word of God, carried along by the music of the Church, has shaped the piety and faith of generations. When the best and noblest of music is taught and fostered in the Church, faith grows where it is planted, sustains during times of drought and hardship, and bears us home to the bosom of Abraham (LSB 708:3).
I can remember singing Lord, Now Lettest Thou Thy Servant Depart in Peace at the bedside of more saints than I can count. And those words brought comfort and hope to those who grieved when no mere words could possibly break through. Music brights to light the heart’s need like nothing else can.
I can remember singing O God, O Lord of Heaven and Earth, at the very first Higher Things conference before your Kantor was even born. We were told that high schoolers can’t sing hard music. Bah. Watch them. Some of those same youth are now husbands and wives, pastors and teachers in our churches. I’ve talked to them.
I remember singing Behold a Host Arrayed in White with 98-year-old Linda Nergaard. She couldn’t have weighed 80 pounds sopping wet, and she would wander the hallways of her nursing home, so I had to always go hunt for her. I would start the hymn, and she would sing along in Norweigan. It may not have been the most beautiful harmony, and yet strangely, it was. We sang it at her funeral and many others.
I remember singing God’s Own Child, I Gladly Say It when a young boy in a wheelchair died. His pastor, well, one of YOUR pastors, preached that death cannot end our sadness, for we are baptized into Christ.
We could bring these to mind all day long. Every pastor could tell you stories like this. Get Pastor Berg started, and you’ll probably never get him to stop. But none of this is possible without churches like Trinity, Messiah, Holy Cross, Lamb of God, St. Paul’s, or whomever it may be. None of these would happen without those churches teaching the faith through the church’s song.
It takes work. It takes dedication. It takes patience. It takes starting with I am Jesus’ Little Lamb with the little ones and working your way up as they grow. It takes a congregation that is willing to let the little children come, for of such is the kingdom of God. If they do not learn it when they are young, they will not remember it when they can’t even remember their own name. It means teaching hymns they will grow into their whole life long, not just ditties they will grow out of.
Today Trinity installs a new Kantor. Kantor is just a $.53 word that means singer. A Kantor leads the church’s song. It doesn’t matter if it’s with a voice teaching the little ones or a mighty organ carrying our song of praise, it is still the song of the Lamb who died and rose again and now lives forevermore.
So welcome your new Kantor, the one who will lead you in song. I may be a little biased, but take care of her. You have a long line of musicians and kantors in this holy place, and she is honored to be in your midst. It is a testament to the work that God does here, nurturing and growing the faith of the people of God.
The world is evil, but you are wise. “…address(ing) one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.” For in this Lord lies your salvation.
In the Holy Name of Jesus. Amen.
Dr. Todd A. Peperkorn
Trinity Lutheran Church, Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Installation of Renata Peperkorn as Kantor
August 18, 2024 (Proper 15b)
Ephesians 5:15-21
[One of the practices at Concordia Theological Seminary is having a professor preach through one of the Passion accounts Monday through Wednesday of this week. This year it is my turn. Here is homily number one. I have included a link to the chapel service at the bottom of the post. -TAP] Dr. Todd A. […]
Today is the twenty-fifth anniversary of my ordination into the Office of the Holy Ministry. This trip began as odd as one would expect. My colleague, Scott Stiegemeyer, and I were serving as admission counselors at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne. It was just a few short months since Dean Wenthe was elected president. […]
So today’s research has led me to Effort-Reward Imbalance theory, which is a model for predicting the impact of high-effort and low-reward tasks have on people. It was originally designed with teachers in mind (sometimes called an ERI Questionnaire), it is a fascinating read of how as human beings if we have things that take […]
Last Friday marked the official beginning of Dr. Thomas Egger’s tenure as president of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. This serves as a milestone in the history of Concordia Seminary, as Dr. Egger is the eleventh president in its illustrious 183 year history. (As an aside, I’m a bit saddened that very few people got my […]
[This is a copy of the letter I sent to my congregation last night. -TAP] The Feast of St. Mary Magdalene July 22, 2021 Dear Friends in Christ, "Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been […]
Below you will find a link to the letter I wrote to my congregation yesterday, July 19. -TAP July 19, 2021 Friends, "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns."" […]
Many of you probably know that I am pursuing a doctorate in preaching from The Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis. I am now in the thesis project stage, where I am writing on developing a Lutheran sacramental imagination. One part of this project is surveying how preaching/homiletics has been taught in the LCMS […]
Anyone who knows me knows that I care deeply about mental health. I have suffered from clinical depression for a long time now, probably over fifteen years. It is something that I have written about, spoken on, and generally beaten the drum at any given opportunity. So it was a special treat to speak at […]
I am a husband and father of four here in Rocklin. One of our daughters just graduated from Rocklin High School, another is at RHS, and two more will be there in the next several years. In addition, I serve as the senior pastor at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Rocklin, where we have been for the past eight years. In our years of living in Rocklin, we have come to love the community, the people, and the commitment to the children of our neighborhoods.
It is for all these reasons that I attended the open forum hosted by Informed Parents of Rocklin this past week. You can find more information about them HERE, and a link to the slides from their presentation HERE.
There has been talk in the news over the past several years about changes to the sex education programs here in California. It is difficult sometimes to sift out the important from the unimportant in the news. But teaching our children about what it means to be male and female is something that is very important to me as a Christian, because it is so rooted in our creation in Godâ€s image. It is for that reason that I went to the forum.
I had several concerns going into it. One was misinformation. We received a communication from the superintendent of RUSD the day before the forum, indicating that there would be exaggerations, irrelevant materials, and in some cases outright false information. Informed Parents of Rocklin has answered these claims HERE. The original communication from RUSD may be found HERE.
Another concern I had was politicization. I have no problems with people speaking their mind and asking for votes. This is a part of our process here in the United States. But I was concerned that the whole thing could be basically a setup or bait-and-switch for a Republican Party rally.
With those concerns in mind, here is what I saw and experienced.
There were between 300–400 people in attendance. The vast majority of them were "parent" age, between thirty and fifty years old. There were also people who were in more of the grandparent category. They were polite and respectful, and it was clear that these were people who are concerned and want to know more about what is going on with their children. If there were school board members or RUSD teachers present, they didnâ€t identify themselves as such, at least not to me.
The event was moderated by a staff member from one of our state senators. The bulk of the presentation was done by three women who called themselves moms in RUSD and a couple neighboring school districts. Their presentations, each about twenty minutes long, were factual and straightforward, with very little editorializing about the content. Their goal was first of all to inform the attendees about what is happening in our school districts in three areas:
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Comprehensive Sexuality Education
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History/Social Science Curriculum Changes in 2019
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Health Education Framework
I am not going to rehearse the content of each of these areas. I would encourage you, especially if you are a Rocklin area parent, to go to their web site HERE and evaluate the material for yourself. Itâ€s all there. They have dozens and dozen of examples from current textbooks as well as from the health framework, which will be used as the template for the next generation of textbooks. I will warn you, though. This material is graphic. It will make you uncomfortable. It might even make you angry, thinking of the children that are exposed to this every day.
There is one section that I do want to pull out from the over 100 slides. It has to do with the topic of what was called "spiritual abuse." Here is the slide:
What is so dangerous about this concept of spiritual abuse is that it defines anything other than what the textbook holds as "normal" is now termed "abuse." So if I say that male and female are distinct roles, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, and that this is the way God created us, that is now "abuse." This is, for the record, what has been taught in the Judeo-Christian tradition for thousands of years. This is hardly radical or weird. But I seriously fear that my teaching, either as a parent or as a pastor, could be categorized as "spiritual abuse" in the not too distant future.
I have several takeaways from this event, in no particular order.
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What is being taught in our schools under the guise of sexual health and reproductive health education is in some cases inappropriate, in others politically motivated, and what I would call in some instances predatory.
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It is getting harder and harder to distinguish between what is a religious or moral claim from a political claim. If I say, for example, that according to Godâ€s Word marriage is the lifelong union between a man and a woman, is that a religious statement or a political statement?
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How can I easily determine what, out of all of this, is actually being taught in RUSD? I know some is and some is not, but I don’t have the time or resources to sift through it all. I don’t want to be unreasonable in expressing my concerns to the school district.
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What is the best way for me as a parent in the Rocklin school district to engage with my childrenâ€s teachers and administrators about what is going on? I can opt out of some areas, but there are others (e.g. social studies) where there is no mechanism for opting out. Does that mean pulling my children from school on that day is an act of civil disobedience?
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How do I as a Lutheran pastor in the Rocklin area teach my own families about what is good, right and true, and how do I teach them on what they should for their own children when it comes to talking about sex, gender, religion, and politics?
Iâ€m very thankful for the organizers of the event, and for William Jessup University and their willingness to host it. I have more questions than answers at this point. I am, honestly, angry that my own children live in a time when they may be exposed to these things in the classroom. I want what is best for them, and from what I observed, the way that California, and even RUSD, are approaching topic of sex education is both wrong and exceedingly dangerous. I want to help make things better. Who is with me?