Reformation Day —God’s True Purpose for His Church

When I was a teenager, our family needed to clear some acreage of the briars and palmettos and undergrowth and to level the ground for seeding.  We had a small tractor with various implements.  My father entrusted much of the work to me as the eldest son.

The work included pulling out various palmettos and stumps, plowing and then discing.  One day I was discing through some very tricky areas between the pine trees.  Often the passages were very narrow between the trees.

On one pass through a particularly narrow gap, a large stinging insect attacked and stung or bit me on the back of my shoulder.  It felt as though someone stuck me with a red hot fire iron.

I jerked in response to the pain, thereby turning the wheel slightly, and running the front right wheel of the tractor into one of the pines.  I broke the axle.

I was in pain.  I needed to tend to my shoulder.  But I also was hurting because I broke the tractor.  I had broken my father’s trust.  I broke his tractor.  I felt guilty, ashamed, and afraid.

When Dad came home I told him how I had let him down.

He responded, “Let’s see.”  Upon examining it he said, “Well, we’ll have to fix it.”

After we fixed it, which did cost for the repairs, again he entrusted me to do the work at hand, reminding me to be careful.

This is much like the Lord’s way of dealing with His children, only God’s is even better.  Not only does He deal with us with compassion, love, and forgiveness, not only does He fix what we have broken, not only does He take away our guilt and shame and fear, not only does He entrust to us again the work of His kingdom, but He also empowers us through the gift of the indwelling of His Holy Spirit and through the continual nurturing of His Holy Communion.

Sadly, those to whom the most precious work of preaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments has been entrusted keep forgetting this as His true purpose for His Church.  And so, as has happened time and time again in previous times, the focus becomes shifted to what we must do rather than what our Heavenly Father does for us.  The preaching becomes “How to” sermons.  The precious Gospel is reduced to commandments that we must keep, such as “You must believe” and “You must repent” and “You must commit your lives to Jesus” and “You must make Jesus the center of your life.”

But the Gospel is the proclamation of what God does for us through His Church and His means of grace.  Through the pure preaching of the Gospel Jesus comes to us and with Him the Holy Spirit, and we are regenerated as the water of Baptism is poured over us in connection with this preaching of Jesus through which the Holy Spirit works and enters into us and makes us to be His tabernacles on earth.  God Himself works the repentance or changing of heart and mind that we need so that we know Him for who He really is.  God committed His life to us, through the gift of His Son, Jesus, so that we would not have to rely upon our weak and faltering personal faith and commitment to Him.  He makes His commitment to us the cause of our salvation and redemption and justification and sanctification.  God makes us the center of His life in His body, the Church.  He makes us the very reason for the Church’s existence, that in His Church He may come to us and commune with us as His precious saints.  He proclaims us to be saints and comes to us to reclaim us again and again and again through the holy absolution and through the Holy Supper.  He makes Himself to be the very foundation of our life so that we don’t have to commit ourselves to Him or try to make Him our focus.  He does this for us through the continual activity of the Holy Spirit in our lives, who is poured out to us and into us in our baptism.

Then the work that He entrusts to us is not a burden that we must strive to fulfill.  Rather, our very lives are made to be the fulfillment of the work entrusted to us as we live as His beloved children, turning again and again to His forgiveness and renewal, rejoicing in His goodness, mercy, and love.  Through this the world sees God’s work done in us and for us and occasionally someone actually asks us to give the reason for the hope in which we live.  Then we joyously may share with them the good news that they, too, are God’s children whom He wishes to have rejoined to Him in His everlasting kingdom of righteousness and blessedness.  Then they too may received the free gift of the new life that is in Christ Jesus in His body, the Church, the household of God.

This is the joyous focus of Reformation Day.  When this is how the Reformation is understood, every day is Reformation Day and the rejoicing truly never ceases.

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Quinquagesima

The Old Testament Reading appointed for Quinquagesima, the Last Sunday after the Epiphany, is Isaiah 35:3-7.

     Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

Especially enlightening is a literal translation of verse 4:

     Say to the hasty of heart, “Be strong! Fear Not! Behold your God! Vengeance will come, recompense of God! He will come and save you!”

Here is what Dr. Luther wrote in his commentary on this passage of Holy Scripture:

     3. Strengthen the weak hands. This is wonderful comfort that is to be understood not in a physical but in an internal sense, because it shines under the appearance of the cross. For this church of Christ is extremely poor and wretched in appearance, since its poor, distressed, naked, imprisoned, and dishonored are the refuse of all and loathsome to all men for the sake of Christ’s name. And the members of the church are exposed to all, to Satan and to the craftiness and power of the world and the flesh. They are like “the offscouring of the world” (1 Cor. 4:13). It is as if people were saying: “They are to be regarded as a misfortune and a monster. If we could only be rid of these scoundrels.” With all their might they exert themselves to expel and exterminate this utterly loathsome Christian people. So we see today that all the most criminal people are less disturbed than the members of this church. Therefore the inward joy of the spirit fights with the grief of the body exposed to the cross. Therefore the prophet comforts them with exceedingly great consolations. Strengthen. This is a command. As long as Satan is awake he will not stop attacking us. It is for us to stand in the battle line against his stratagems.
     Weak hands, hands that are so weary. Give medicine to those hands so that you become strong again. For Satan has two ways of fighting. He would gladly cast the faithful down suddenly from their joy and faith and into fear and despair. Secondly, he cunningly strives by long lasting torments and by the unremitting pressure of the torments to tire them out. It is as Cyprian confesses: “Satan did not want the captive brothers to be killed in this life, but he preserved them in a long life and distressed them with unremitting aggravation to the point of exhaustion.” These are extremely powerful attacks. Against Satan’s continuous attack we must set our continuous divine help. The devil is a spirit at leisure and thinks of nothing but to take us by storm. We ought not have slack and idle hands over against his deceptions. Have we not experienced in these ten years how he tried by various forces to frighten us away from faith in the Gospel? First through the terrors of the papists, then through the world’s disgrace, then through murdering tyrants, through the fanatics, the schismatics, and fatherly flatteries. The church must diligently oppose his stratagems.
     4. Say to those who are of a fearful heart. ln Hebrew: “To those who are hasty and speedy in heart,” who are not steady and firm but want to run away and give Satan the victory.
     Be strong. We ought to strengthen ourselves with these words and say, “Though all devils were rolled into one, my God is still greater.” The afflicted must be comforted with such spiritual consolations of the Word, not with any fleshly comfort which does nothing for troubled consciences but with spiritual comfort and with the living Word of God they must be ruled and strengthened. Why? Because
     Behold, our God, etc. By those words he indicates that our God is absent but will come very quickly to avenge and save us. These are words of promise for the future, for God first permits people to condemn and persecute His church, as though He were absent, and then He will come very quickly, visit vengeance upon the adversaries and tumult upon the world, and save His church. This is truly hard for the flesh.
     With the recompense of God. He will come and save you. Do not avenge yourselves. He is the God of vengeance, He will fittingly requite them and save you. Thus we see that vengeance always comes before they carry out their plan. So Jerusalem, opposing the Word, was stormed by the Romans; then Rome perished, and so will our papists. Thus the Spirit comforts us, as if to say, “Remain godly and constant and be lifted up. The Lord will come in time of trial, and He will avenge and save you.” So he comforts the church that is exceedingly hateful to the world and Satan and besides does not shine with outward splendor. On the contrary, it is pressed down by a very heavy cross; it is also beset and harassed by a variety of internal evils, such as weakness of faith and falling into sin. Beyond all these, Satan, the tempter, fights against it.
     5. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened. In that time when the church will flourish in the midst of drought and will be cultivated in the desert, the blind will see plainly, etc. This is taken literally with reference to the miracles of Christ and the church, as we read in the last chapter of Mark (Mark 16:17, 18), signs that were necessary to confirm the new Word, signs that were added to the glory of the church, signs that are not done physically in the last time of the church, now that Christ is no longer weak. They were necessary then as a witness to the Jews, who ought to have recognized the church of God. Allegorically, in the time of the Gospel there were opened (1) the eyes of the blind, or ignorant, as we see happening today; (2) the ears of the deaf, who now accept the Gospel; (3) the lame walking in their own superstitions, as Isaiah calls all idolators lame, people who walk around in some sect of their own. They limp on one leg. They do not walk in an upright faith. Then, however, when they accept the Word by faith, they walk upright and leap for spiritual joy in Christ.
     (4) And the tongue of the dumb sing for joy, namely, it will glory in a strong confession, and the mercy of the Lord shown to us is proclaimed and boasted; and they will say: “See how God has rescued us from the darkness!”
     For waters shall break forth, that is, they are parted and distributed. As a spring flows forth in moistening streams, so this church, which was desert, should gush out in streams of the teachings of the Gospel, always one stream leaping from another into one city and then another, although in the eyes of the world it might seem forever desert.
     7. The burning sand shall become a pool, that is, where formerly there was total dryness, there will now be not only streams but also pools and springs. Thus the church will grow in such a way that elsewhere and in other places our streams will become springs. The Word of God will come in abundance.
     In the haunt, that is, where formerly the serpent was and the dragon reclined.
     The grass shall become reeds and rushes. Dragons and serpents like above all to be in dry places, as we see from experience today. As this was formerly a desert, most dreadful in dryness, but now because of the exceeding abundance of moisture has become a place where reeds and rushes grow, so there was nothing but heat, dryness, and ungodliness as long as the Word was absent, but now with the preaching of the Word it is moist and joyful. The serpents and dragons are those who teach ungodly things and with their most pestilential teachings take possession of men’s souls and consciences, like Erasmus, Zwingli, and Oecolampadius, whom also Christ calls a brood of vipers (Matt. 23:33). Our lazy bishops and clerics are not worthy of this name, yes, they are scarcely dung and vomit. In the haunts there will be the highest fruitfulness of the Gospel and of fertile hearts, which, having come to faith, are made fruitful by the Word, teach others with their gifts and help others participate. This is the fruitfulness and abundance of the Spirit.


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Quoted from:
     Luther, M. (1999, c1969). Vol. 16: Luther's works, vol. 16 : Lectures on Isaiah: Chapters 1-39 (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann, Ed.). Luther's Works (16:300). Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.

You Stinking Hypocrite!

Hypocrites, hypocrites everywhere!




This includes my own mirror.

That is, of course, the first place that we each need to acknowledge the reflection of hypocrisy. After turning to the Lord to remove the log from our own eyes, then we see the specks in the eyes of others more clearly. Suddenly what we previously perceived as such an enormous cause for judging others shrinks in our perception.

Certainly there are some monstrous things being perpetrated in the world. But how many of these are actually my responsibility? In a nation where I have a role in the election of those who govern, I do have the obligation to do what I can to be informed. I have an obligation to cry out on behalf of those who are wronged and to cry out for that which is right. But even then, how far does this responsibility extend?

The Lord instructs that my first concern should be regarding my own thoughts, words, and deeds. Then I also am to see to my own family. In this connection I am to judge or discern the Lord’s body so as to be certain that where my household congregates is truly the Lord’s body where His true Communion is. (1 Cor. 11; Matt. 18)

These certainly are sufficient to keep my heart and mind occupied.

But I am not to be like Cain. I am to realize that I am also my brother’s keeper. I am to look beyond myself and my own family and the congregation to which the Holy Spirit gathers us, looking next to those whom I can identify as my brethren in the Lord, and then also to my neighbor. This begins with my prayers to the Lord on their behalf, both generally as in the Our Father, and specifically as I become aware of my neighbor’s personal needs. These prayers for my neighbor will also move me to do what I am able for my neighbor directly. This even extends to issues regarding the city council and eventually even to the vote that I cast for the President of the country.

But when I do these things in honest acknowledgment of all that I observe, I am always back in front of the mirror, being confronted with my own failures, my own sin, and my own hypocrisy, from which I need for the Lord to turn me, directing me again to His grace in Christ. Then, having received his forgiveness I also am empowered to forgive myself. Then I am set free to do the same for everyone else whom I encounter, first forgiving them from my own heart, and then, in that freedom, proclaiming to them God’s forgiveness in Christ.

Imagine what the world would observe if indeed all who professed to believe in Christ actually lived as He has declared. Imagine if this is what the world observed as the way of Christians. Imagine how differently from the current perception even Christians would perceive the Church.

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The Way of Big Government and Big Party & Church Politics

Today I viewed a couple of videos that were very educational and enlightening. For all of my adult life, meaning from 18 years old forward, I have been bewildered concerning the fact that what the groups with whom I have been affiliated always did was the opposite of what they claimed to be. These two videos caused me to think more deeply and to acknowledge things to which I previously seem to have been wearing blinders. It is not that I did not see any of the conflicting information. But I nevertheless seem to have been running like a horse with blinders, or at least blinders with worn spots.

Here are links to the two videos if you’d like to see them.

Republican Party Origins

U.S. Government & CFR Complicity in Foreign Conflicts

Until a few years ago I have been registered as a Republican. My first experience with active participation in the GOP was as a teenager. The Reagan election was my first time voting. But the local GOP meetings disgusted me. I could not believe what frauds these people were. But I thought it was a localized problem and not the actual way of the party. I thought that the officially publicized platform actually meant something. It did to me, but the party only used it as a diversionary tool. It took me many years to realize this. Even then, my sense of loyalty accompanied by inability to find a suitable party to which I could flee, made it a struggle to leave. After all, in order to vote, one must register as something. Moreover, to leave a party that seemed to say the right things in its platform seemed as though I would be denouncing those things and not just the hypocrisy of the party. I did finally leave and registered with another party.

The greater point of this is what I have realized about my more important affiliations in life. Family and church affiliations are the more important ones in a persons’ life. Of these I have been forced to acknowledge that very similar fraud has been a part of these affiliations. One cannot do much about family. Those ties are essentially impossible to sever entirely. They can be stretched to the ends of the earth, but they never seem to break entirely. Besides, the Lord has established this bond and does not want us to sever it entirely. Only from the dysfunction and delusions are we to be severed entirely. Love and honor of parents and family must continue even in the face of total brokenness and dysfunction. Church affiliation is nearly as unbreakable, but not quite. But the pain of such action is nearly unbearable.

This is the issue that I actually wish to address primarily in this post. My own past church affiliation was the Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod. For most of my life I struggled regarding the discontinuity between what this synod professed to believe and what was actually embraced and practiced. In my very early years I was not truly aware of this conflict, as it was not evident in what was taught in the parochial school and my primary example of Christian life and faith was from my parents, Luther’s Small Catechism, and the Bible. With Luther’s Small Catechism as a guide, what the Bible truly teaches of Christ and His Church is easily discernable.

During one of my theological interviews at the seminary one of the professors asked me, “Considering where you are from, how did you get to be so conservative?” At first I mentioned my pastors. But even without his quizzical look I immediately realized this was not so. Then I mentioned my grandfather and parents, but realized this was not so either. Then I realized and said, “Because this is what the Scriptures teach.” It was not until years later that I realized how helpful Luther’s Small Catechism had been, but then, it is nothing more than quotes from the Scriptures with further exposing quotes from the Scriptures.

So then, what of the professor’s question? Why did he even ask such a question? He asked it because of the fallacious facade of conservatism presented by the synod and her leaders. He knew that I did not come to be a devoted believer in the true doctrine of the Scriptures through the influences of my affiliation with this church body. It simply was not possible. Making a public profession of belief and practice and requiring a “quia subscription” to this does not in itself actually produce such belief and practice.

This is another topic in itself requiring at least another discussion. However, at this juncture I will point to what it does produce. The following graphic says more than pages of explanation:

I experience considerable angst when I visit blogs and web sites of pastors and congregations and of Confessional Lutherans who proudly display this graphic. I visit these blogs hoping to find that these people have become aware of the real problem in their church body. On some occasions I am amazed at the impressive scholarship and explanation of true doctrine, that leaves me ready to rejoice, only to have the concluding statements undermine all that was previously said, leading right back to the same compromised doctrine and practice. On some of these sites this graphic is displayed.

When I see this I sometimes actually cry out: “Can’t you see what you are saying?”

Consider what is declared in this graphic: “Still Attending Grandpa’s Church.”

Herein is clearly stated the real problem. Does it jump out of the graphic at you? Do you see what the problem is declared to be?

Whose church do you say that you are attending? To whom do you say that you look for the faith and for your life of worship? To whom do you ascribe ownership of the Church?

Did you really say: Grandpa’s Church?

Do I really need to draw attention to this further? Well, just in case. . .

Whose Church do the Scriptures declare the true Church to be?

To this people often respond that one is only arguing about semantics. Yep! Semantics are indeed the issue.

From Dictionary.com’s semantics.

se·man·tics     [si-man-tiks]

noun ( used with a singular verb )

1. Linguistics .
   
   1. the study of meaning.
      
   2. the study of linguistic development by classifying and examining changes in meaning and form.
      
2. Also called significs. the branch of semiotics dealing with the relations between signs and what they denote.
   
3. the meaning, or an interpretation of the meaning, of a word, sign, sentence, etc.: Let's not argue about semantics.
   
4. general semantics.
   

The commonly misapplied statement of “Let's not argue about semantics.” is used as an example in this definition of semantics.

How is this misapplied? When people use “Let's not argue about semantics.” as a means of bypassing the necessity of agreement concerning the actual accepted meaning of words, then this is a misapplication of the statement. In fact, this misapplication is actually using the term in the exact opposite way that it is meant to be used. “Let's not argue about semantics.” is supposed to mean that the actual accepted meaning of words should be what is used in the conversation rather than using self-devised meanings that lead to confusion of what is really being discussed.

But when people are preaching tolerance as an alternative to acceptance and unity, they prefer to veil their real meaning.

Back to the profession made in the graphic.

The real problem within the big church bodies is that they are indeed preaching faith in the church body and the traditions of the fathers and the sense of familial loyalty, rather than the uncompromised and unadulterated faith in Christ that is taught in the Scriptures.

As long as this is the way, those who are unwilling to sever the ties will continue to say all of the right things only to denounce them in their concluding remarks. This is why the church bodies, which always demand loyalty to themselves, are never reformed. Never reformed.

The Lutheran “reformers” learned this. Though they began with seeking to reform the Roman Catholic Church, they found that it was impossible to do so from within the church body. Reformation is made by an external force, not an internal one.

By way of example, consider a child forming an object with Playdough. If the object loses its correct form, or as is usually the case, it did not turn out properly at all, how does the object become reformed? By reducing it to its original form and forming it all over again. The object is reduced to a ball of dough again, not by the object, but by the creator.

Is this not the very semantic used in Holy Scripture? Is not the Church declared to be the Lord’s Church and even a loaf of dough from which He removes all of the old leaven and forms it all over again as a pure loaf with nothing but pure ingredients?

Here again is the graphic:

In whose image is this church said to be created? Who is actually proclaimed as the creator of this church?

If people continue to insist upon attending the Church of Grandpa, whose word will ultimately be that which is preached and followed? Whose precepts will be embraced?

If it is Grandpa’s Church, then what position of authority is given to the Word of God, Jesus? Can the Rock of the true confession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God, truly be the foundation of a Church that is built upon Grandpa and his works and words?

Consider the history of the many church bodies that have made their emphasis following in the way of their grandpas. They always, always, always follow the same pattern of resembling Grandpa more and more and resembling the one true body of Christ less and less.

Pointing out such observations is sadly like pouring water on a slanted pane of glass.

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Cause and Effect - Forgiveness and Repentance

At Worldview Everlasting in their “WE Got Answers” section for Feb. 2, the question was asked:

Our pastor preaches that, “If you don’t think something is sinful and you don’t repent of it then you’re not going to be forgiven.” Is this really true? If yes, how can we ever be sure of our salvation? Can you please explain?

The responding pastor rightly begins by saying: “First off, I would highly recommend speaking to your pastor about what he said and asking for some clarification.”

This question, as it is presented, leaves too much unsaid for anyone to be able to answer without knowing the greater context of this person’s pastor’s preaching. The responding pastor gives some good general thoughts to the pondering of the question. Please see his response for further pondering.

However, this rather vague question presents a wonderful opportunity to investigate this matter further. In particular, the cause and effect relationship of forgiveness and repentance is worthy of deeper investigation and explanation.

Did you catch the reversal that I here presented from what is commonly falsely presumed? Even in the response at Worldview Everlasting, the backwards presumption seems to prevail in the explanation. The parishioner’s question begins with this backwards understanding and the pastoral response did not really set it right.

First, what is the false presumption? The false presumption is that the cause and effect relationship is from repentance to forgiveness. We sinners cannot grasp God’s gracious decree of forgiveness apart from the regeneration that the Holy Spirit works through the means of grace, that is, the Gospel and Sacraments. So we tend to think from the perspective of the damned rather than from the perspective of the regenerated. Our default reasoning is from that of unbelief and the misconceptions of our sinful nature. Thus we imagine that God’s grace works the same way as our sinful mindset. We generally think that a person must apologize and ask forgiveness and change one's actions and attitudes toward us before we expect to forgive. But this is not God’s way, not at all. For this way does not truly work even among us.

The fact is that forgiveness produces repentance, not the other way around.

To understand this, we first need to understand what repentance really is. The New Testament Greek word is metanoia. Repent is not a very good translation of this word. Sadly, it has been with us for so long that it is hard to escape. Invert or convert is really closer to what is meant by metanoia. Metanoia is a change in mind. The mind is altered so that it functions differently, with an entirely new basis for reasoning.

That which effects this change of mindset is the Gospel of God’s forgiveness in Christ. When a person hears God’s declaration that in Christ the person’s sins are all forgiven, this turns the person’s mind upside down and inside out. Now the person has been turned from the previous direction and manner of thinking toward the way of Christ. Now the person looks for even one’s identity in the very person and work of Christ.

The Gospel accounts give us some marvelous examples of this.

Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:1-12)

Notice what is here portrayed for our observation and learning. The Lord Jesus began the day in communing with the Father. Then He goes into the temple and indoctrinated (taught) all the people who came to Him. This is an important factor that is easily overlooked. They came to Him to receive His doctrine, His words of instruction. Moreover, this was in the temple, where the focus was upon the forgiveness of sins through the preaching and sacraments. The reason for coming to the temple was to receive God’s declaration of forgiveness and to be reunited into the Holy Communion of God’s Church on earth.

For what purpose did the scribes and Pharisees come into the temple and to Jesus? They came to oppose Jesus and His doctrine. They came to bring a woman to the temple for the exact opposite purpose for which the temple was ordained. They came to seek a pronouncement of condemnation and death.

So the Lord Jesus granted them their request. Upon their arrogant insistence, Jesus, who had been sitting and teaching, raised himself up before them and said to them: “He who is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”

They demanded a pronouncement of condemnation, so He gave them one, the one that came from their own mindset. They all pronounced themselves to be condemned and without God’s forgiveness. They walked away in shame.

But to the condemned woman he inquired which of her accusers now condemned her. When she responded that none of them did, He pronounced God’s forgiveness and the power of that forgiveness to live as one who is no longer under the condemnation. He tells her to go and no longer sin.

But the Lord Jesus does not leave the people to imagine that this power to live no longer sinning is a decision or choice that they must perform. He explains that He is that power by which people walk no longer in darkness. He is the light that shines in their heart and mind and turns them from stumbling to walking in safety.

Here is another marvelous example:

And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house. And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19:1-10)

First, Jesus came to Jericho, where Zacchaeus lived. Again people gathered to Jesus to hear His teaching. As Jesus and the crowd moved through the town, Zacchaeus felt drawn to see Jesus and calculated the path and ran ahead and climbed up a tree where he would be able to see Jesus. That was it. He wanted to see Jesus. He did not call out to Jesus. He did not decide to follow Him. He did nothing more than to hang in the branches above where Jesus would come.

It was Jesus who spoke to Zacchaeus. Jesus invited Himself into the life and house of this little man of ill repute. He pressed His way into the mind and heart of this man through the gentle invitation of His holy presence. Without actually stating it in the usual manner, Jesus absolved this man of his lifetime of sin and unbelief.

Zacchaeus understood fully what Jesus had done for him. His heart was changed by these words of Jesus to him. He climbed down out of the tree with haste and eagerly received his Savior into his home. He understood fully what this meant and responded to it in the same manner as the adulterous woman, only he openly pronounced the change of heart and mind that Jesus had worked in him, saying: “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.”

Jesus confirms what had transpired, saying: This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

Oh! This day is salvation come to this house . . . for the Son of man is come (to this house, of Abraham) to seek and save that which was lost.

The Son of Man (Salvation) comes and then the heart and mind are changed, metanoia/repentance. Sin no more = walk no more in darkness but in the light. Jesus is the light.

Repentance is God’s work, not ours. The change is that worked through regeneration.

This is why He can say that a person should go or sojourn and no longer sin, for He has exchanged His perfect and sinless life for ours. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He empties us of sin and fills us with His faith, producing in us life and holiness. How then can the regenerate person ever see things the same as before being baptized into Christ Jesus? Such a person does not say: “I must repent,” but lives no longer in sin, for repentance already has been and is continually worked by God within. Thus Jesus has proclaimed, “Has been fulfilled the time and has drawn near the kingdom of God. Be converted you-all and believe in the Gospel.”. (Mark 1:15)

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Who is in charge of your account?

Have you seen this incident?



Online banking with Bank of America has been changed, also. About a year ago BoA changed its access requirements for online banking. One day I tried to log on, and after entering my username and password, it would not allow me to access my account online, not even to see the account information. Now one must grant them permission to use electronic notification at their discretion. If one allows this, then BoA can make changes to one’s account and notify by e-mail only, if they so choose. This gives them absolute control over the account.

Can e-mail notification be trusted? The banks recently allowed hackers to steal information through the processing company that they use. Moreover, have you ever had an e-mail fail to reach its destination, being lost somewhere along the way? Furthermore, what is to keep BoA or any other company from claiming to send notification that was never sent? What individual account holder could prove it?

This incident with this gentleman shows the objective. Who controls the accounts?

The sheep are being led to the slaughter.

What if this gentleman truly needed his money on that particular day?

But then, is this even the real question? Whose money is it? Whose account is it?

What does it mean when a bank can call for a SWAT team or any other law enforcement team to keep people from accessing their accounts? What does it mean when a bank can block people from accessing their accounts online unless they give “permission” for the bank to change its notification policies against the account holder’s wishes?

I have mentioned this change to a number of tellers at BoA. Each one I informed of this said that the person was unaware of this. How many customers of BoA simply grant the permission for the sake of “convenience”? How many have said, “No. You will not take control of my account!”?

But then, as this video demonstrates, they already have taken control of the accounts. The government at every level enforces it.

Why do I bother posting this? Why should this concern me?

This concerns me because of what I see happening to my neighbors as well as to me. Our liberties are being nullified. Our possessions are being absorbed by banksters and corporations. I care about my neighbors.

Why?

What? What sort of question is that? I am a child of God, generated from above through Baptism. God is my Father, both as my Creator, and again as my Redeemer. He loves my neighbors, even as He loves me. He provides for us all everything that we need for this body and life. How can I not also love and care for my neighbors and their well-being? How can I not protest what I see done to this man in St. Louis? How can I not call attention to this? How can I not be filled with desire that my fellow countrymen be informed of this outrage? How can I not desire that my fellow countrymen be informed so that they can speak out as well?

Is it possible for one who knows the love of God to ignore the wrongs that he sees done to his neighbors? Is it possible for one who lives in God’s grace in Christ to be vacuous of concern for the encroaching tyranny that he observes?

Ultimately, however, is this even the truly great tyranny?

Is not the greater tyranny the stealing of the Gospel from the churches? Is not the greater tyranny the theft of God’s grace, forgiveness, peace, and everlasting life from the repository that God has established for all of mankind through the pure means of grace? When God, our loving Father, has paid all of our everlasting debt with the sacrifice of His only-begotten Son on our behalf and has placed the fullness of this payment on reserve for us to be administered to us through the pure means of grace, is it not a crime against humanity when this free access is changed by those who claim to have the authority to control it?

Oh that the people would awaken from their stupor! Oh that the people would hear what the Spirit says to the churches! Oh that they would hear and be gathered truly into the name of Jesus to be fed and nurtured and renewed through God’s true Church!

How can they recognize this true Church? All that they need to do is look at how their account is being treated. Are the gifts of God being administered in accord with what He has ordained? Are the bank administrators changing the requirements for access to the accounts? Or are these administrators (pastors/teachers) administering the gifts in accord with the pure Word? Are they preaching this Word without changing it? Are they using the Sacraments as genuine means of grace? Are they guarding against adulteration of the doctrine of the Scriptures? Are they guarding against mockery of the Holy Communion by which people eat and drink judgment on account of not discerning the body?

Recognizing the Truth really is not difficult. The Truth is consistent. The Truth does not vary. The Truth does not contradict itself.

     Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. (John 5:39-40)

     And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
     And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
     Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
     But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
     But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:1-16)

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Collect for the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity

     Lord, we beseech Thee, let Thy continual pity cleanse and defend Thy Church; and because it cannot continue in safety without Thy help, preserve it evermore by Thy help and goodness; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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This week’s sermon: Galatians 5:25- 6:10 — “If We Live in Spirit in Spirit also We Should March”.

Audio/MP3 Sermon.


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Sharp enough to do the job

Earlier this week, a locust thorn penetrated my finger and lodged within, causing considerable discomfort. I tried serveral times to remove it with my pocket knife, but the point of the knife was not sharp enough to get the job done without unnecessary injury to the finger. Even after sharpening the knife, the point still was not sharp enough.

Some people use a needle to extract thorns and splinters, but this method leaves the puncture wound, which is more likely to become infected than a wound that has been laid open. Puncture wounds are difficult to cleanse thoroughly. Serious infection and even blood poisoning can result from puncture wounds.

Since my pocket knife was not accomplishing the job, later that evening I utilized one of the kitchen knives that had a sharper point. I was able to open the wound sufficiently without excessive cutting. The thorn popped out. The finger has already healed of its wound.

This scenario is not unlike the more serious penetration of our being by sin. Sin is even more serious as it is so deeply lodged within our body and mind and spirit that it corrupts our very soul. It is beyond what we can reach and remove by anything at our disposal. For this reason God Himself has provided the means by which this can be accomplished.

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

As this passage instructs us, the Word of God is sharp. It is sharper than any sword or knife or scalpel. It is sharp to the point of being able to separate the spirit from the soul. It is sharp enough to lay bare all that is within, all of the corruption of our sinful nature, so that it may be washed away with heavenly cleansing.

This living and powerful Word is connected to the preaching of the Gospel, and to water, and bread and wine. God Himself has ordained this and established this for our cleansing and salvation. Through these means He cuts through to remove even the deepest portions of our sinfulness, even the things so deep within that we are unaware of them.

This is because God is the Word. As the Word is poured over us through these ordained means, it enters into us, and with the Word is the fullness of God. Thus the Holy Spirit as well as Jesus come to us to pierce deeply into our hearts and souls and work the miracle of conversion. In Baptism the Holy Spirit is given to dwell within the newly generated believer. And where the Holy Spirit is, so also is the Father and the Son, for they truly are one. But this is most powerfully manifested in the Holy Supper of God’s Communion, where the Holy Trinity draws us to partake of the fullness of His Communion, not only in our hearts and souls, but also in His body, the Church, the communion of saints. And so God not only removes our thorny sin and all of the filthy corruption of our sinful nature, but He heals us and restores us and continually renews us and nourishes us in His Holy Communion.

However, we are inclined to turn to less invasive means. We tend to want to remove the sharpness of the Word. We are inclined to attempt to restrict the cutting that the Word would do so that the pain of exposing the deeper cancer is avoided. We even are inclined to try to explain away the disease of sin as something less damning. The judgment that cuts so deeply that even the tiniest fragment of our sinful nature is exposed and purged hurts. We cringe from this and try to avoid it. But in so doing we hinder the wonderful work that our heavenly physician would do for us. In fact, when we interfere in these ways, we not only hinder Him and His miraculous means of grace, but we actually reject Him and His works. By so doing we cut ourselves off from the means through which He works these miracles for us. We cut ourselves off from His salvation and His kingdom of pure grace.

God’s way only works when it is truly His way. When we interfere and interject our words and ways with His words and ways, they are no longer His words and ways. His Word is pure. His Word is perfect. His Word is powerful. His Word is life. His Word made Himself to be flesh and blood so as to cut through to the entire corruption of humanity and carry it to the cross and grave. If we reduce this with our corrupt words and ways, we join ourselves again to the very corruption from which He is working to save us.

We need the cutting power of the pure Word. God gives this to us in ways that remove us and our corruption from them entirely. This is why God works through the ordained means of grace. For in these, if we do not interject our own ways into them, God is the only one at work. If the preaching is truly the preaching of the pure Gospel and if the Sacraments are truly administered as God has given them, then we are merely vessels that receive them and not actually the doers of them. When He is the doer of the works, the works can be trusted fully. It is, after all, His kingdom and His Word and His Church and His salvation.


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Sermons, Why Bother?

Why should we still bother with sermons? Why not simply bypass them or do as many churches do and simply turn them into Bible Studies?

Is there a difference between a Bible Study and a Sermon? Many people think not. Yet I cannot imagine a single person counting standing in a grocery store checkout line as being the same as being called to the supper table. What is the difference? In the first instance the food items are gathered together and bagged and carried home. In the second instance the food items are prepared as a succulent meal and served to those hungrily awaiting to gobble it down.

A sermon is not merely gathering together facts to present to people in an organized manner. A sermon is not merely a lecture. A sermon is a prepared feast that is fed to those who have been called together to gobble it down. This feast is not mere facts and information. This feast is the very Word of God, the Lord Jesus Himself, fed aurally to those who have come to receive Him into their hearts yet again. The sermon is also preparation, like an appetizer, for the greater feast of the body and blood of the Lord in His Holy Supper of everlasting Communion.

Sermons are without a doubt a lot of work to prepare. The initial stages are sheer agony. But the pastor receives more than he exerts, and what he receives he delivers to those whom the Lord has entrusted to his pastoral care. They in turn receive what their loving pastor feeds to them and they carry it with them wherever they go throughout the week, sharing morsels with others whom they encounter in their daily journey.

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What are you eating?

What are you eating? How are you affected by your diet?

This morning Stephanie commented on how her cravings have changed since we have become more careful about our diet. (Notice that we are discussing diet and not ration. Diet is the substance of what is consumed while ration is the amount. What most people mislabel as diet is really ration.) Stephanie commented that since we have cleaned up our diet and are eating more and more fruits and vegetables, and that we have begun spending the money for organic fruits and vegetables, that she now craves these. In the past I had to fight her to convince her to eat any fruits, but now she says that she actually craves them.

We have eliminated most of the processed foods from our diet, too. Processed food has many unnatural and unhealthy ingredients added to it. Some of the most harmful of these are the neurotoxins or excitotoxins MSG (processed glutamates) and aspartame (aspartic acid). What our bodies crave has changed as over time we have been cleansed of these toxins. We also have less headaches and other aches.

It is amazing to us to observe how powerfully we have been affected by using caution in our diet. As our diet has changed, so also has our desire for pure food increased. We drink reverse osmosis filtered water, and so we can hardly even force ourselves to drink Wichita’s city water from a water fountain or from the tap. We even make our own ice cream, after depriving ourselves for several years because of the toxins added to store bought ice cream. Things like these we make from pure ingredients, purchasing milk produced by herds free from the hormones that are added and from antibiotics and from other things added to milk and milk products. The more that we have done this sort of thing, the more that we crave pure and unadulterated foods. We have actually been changed by what we eat.

The same is true of spiritual food. How many “Christians” truly even consider the purity of what they are being fed in their churches? How many people even know how to identify the pure and unadulterated Word and Sacraments?

This is why St. Paul says:

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. (Philippians 2:12)

When the apostle admonishes that we should work out our own salvation he means that we should very carefully and continually examine the doctrine and practice of our churches to be certain that what we are being fed is not poisoning us. He says to do this with fear and trembling. Why? The reason is that a little leaven leavens the entire loaf. Just a little spiritual MSG not only poisons one sermon or one worship service, but it works its way through the entire congregation and through the very essence of the faith of every worshiper. Moreover, like with MSG in processed foods, spiritual impurity causes the hearer to crave more of the same deadly corruption. For this reason St. Peter also gives a strong admonition, saying:

Having put aside, then, all evil, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envyings, and all evil speakings, as new-born babes the word's pure milk desire ye, that in it ye may grow, if so be ye did taste that the Lord is gracious, to whom coming—a living stone—by men, indeed, having been disapproved of, but with God choice, precious, and ye yourselves, as living stones, are built up, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:1-5 YLT)

Most Christians acknowledge that the Word of God is what is needed in the life of the believer and of the Church. Most “Bible believing” Christians speak of the necessity of the Word. Many even acknowledge the importance of the pure Word. But do they really even know what pure means? Have they truly worked this out for themselves so that they crave the Word’s pure milk? Or have they eaten tainted spiritual food for so long that they actually crave the impurities and additives of their church bodies and of their preachers and of their own sinful hearts?

Since the Scriptures teach that only the pure doctrine saves, should we not stand with St. Paul and St. Peter rather than with those who preach tolerance of impurity?

In my own daily walk I find it amazing how powerfully I am affected in this regard. If I allow any impurity into my thinking or into my spirit or into my activity, this impurity immediately takes over me so that this is what I think, say, and do, and even desire. One stupid song can be so pervasive that it requires a deliberate and determined retreat into the pure Word to rescue me. I often find that the only way to escape the recurring tune and lyrics is to begin singing one of the powerful hymns that I know. The same is true of movies that we rent and watch. The same is true of any of the moronic frauds who claim to be radio evangelists. Even a billboard advertisement on the side of the highway can fill my thoughts with something impure. One jackass driver can likewise fill me with unholy and unhealthy poisons.

But the word’s pure milk empowers my spirit. Returning to God’s grace in my baptism purifies my soul. Setting my mind on the things above where Christ is completely changes my thought pattern. Singing or humming or whistling one of the powerfully rich hymns drives out the impurity and teaches me the true faith again. Then this is again what my soul craves.

But this does not happen if I allow one of the shallow so-called Christian songs from the radio to be my source of strength. These only direct me to my own emotions and my own reason and strength. Such are not the Word’s pure milk, but are full of impurities. These only substitute one spiritual poison for others. In actuality, these don’t really even replace the other toxins but only pile on top of them.

So then, what do you eat? What do you crave? Is this a genuine concern in your daily life?


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Translations or Versions

I often am deeply perturbed by the inaccuracies that I find in the various translations of the Bible. In the post below I share a deliberate mistranslation in the NRSV. The statement of Revelation 13:8 directs the reader to understand that apart from knowing the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world one cannot know of the book of Life that belongs to Him. The words of the text stand as a stark contrast and warning against those who worship the beast and are therefore cut off from the Lamb and His book of Life.

If a translation does not convey this as it stands written, what hope do those who read it have of hearing and learning the truth? Those translations that change what is written are not translations at all and the message that is conveyed in those is really not the intended message but a version of the message. The so-called translators have changed the message to make it their own version of the message.

I find myself inclined to cry out strongly against such things. What else can one do when concerned for the everlasting well being of fellow humans, knowing that the unadulterated good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is absolutely necessary for everlasting salvation, peace, hope, joy, forgiveness, and life?

Yet I also fear that crying out too loudly can leave people in doubt regarding whether or not it is truly possible even to know the truth. Thus I wish also to point to the standby translations that were translated without the intent of changing the message. This is one of the reasons that I have returned to using the King James translation. It is widely circulated throughout the world. It is overall a good translation. While it has some weaknesses, it does convey the message reliably. People can read it with confidence when they are regularly hearing preaching from a pastor who uses the original languages for his preparations and study. And it is in the public domain and can be quoted, printed, and distributed freely.

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From the Foundation of the Cosmos

In a recent conversation I referred to the wondrous message of Revelation 13:8. The other person pulled out a Bible and read it to me. I was aghast. I responded, “That is terrible! What translation is this?”

It was the New Revised Standard Version. The verse in the NRSV reads:

and all the inhabitants of the earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slaughtered.

The full NRSV can be found at Revelation 13:8 (NRSV).

The King James reads much more closely to the Greek:

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

It seems that many of the newer so-called translations likewise ignore the Greek and deliberately change what this verse from Holy Scripture teaches. The ESV likewise follows this anti-Christian translation, saying

and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.

For a sampling of a few translations see Revelation 13:8 (multiple translaitons).

Why would translators deliberately change what this text says? It seems clear that they simply do not believe in the Lamb who is slain from the foundation of the cosmos. They do not believe in the Lamb who gave His body and blood to His disciples on the night of His betrayal, before His crucifixion. They do not believe in the Lamb to whom Nicodemus came, of whom John records:

Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. (John 3:10-13)

John was writing at a time when it was necessary to silence those who rejected the perfect union of the two natures of Christ. Some denied that Jesus the man was truly the Son of God. They refused to accept that Jesus was the Son of MAN who came from heaven. Notice that in this chastisement of Nicodemus that Jesus did not refer to Himself as the Son of God who came down from heaven, even though a few verses later He does refer to Himself as the Son whom God gave to the world. But here He calls the one who came down from heaven the Son of MAN. It seems that hardly anyone pays any attention to the fact that He not only refers to this Son of Man as having come down from heaven, but simultaneously still being IN heaven!

This is what is rejected by those who deny the efficacious nature of the Sacrament of the Altar and those who deliberately reinterpret Revelation 13:8 rather than translating it for how it stands written. They do not believe in the Jesus who is slain from the foundation of the cosmos, in whom Abraham trusted, and in whom Abraham lives.

When we understand what is taught in Revelation 13:8, our eyes and ears are opened to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Then we understand St. Paul’s insistence in 1 Corinthians 2 that he judged to know nothing in his preaching and teaching save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. When we follow the dear apostle in expecting this to be the sole message of the Scriptures, the Scriptures begin to open to us, or perhaps we begin to open to the message of the Scriptures, as never before. Then we understand why Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

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More on Definition of an Expert

Someone hearing the title of this post rather than reading it could hear:

Moron: definition of an expert.

In my tree business, people will often respond to my question regarding their preferences: “Well, you are the expert. What do you say?”

I always share as much as I know and give the best advice that I am able regarding the condition and health of the tree or shrub, the structural integrity, the extent of damage or disease, the best pruning approach, safety, and such matters. I even give advice regarding the effects that actions can have regarding heating and cooling needs of the house, irrigation needs, and the aesthetic values.

Yet I always remember that my knowledge is limited. I share what I can state with certainty. Regarding what a person would prefer, I leave to the person to judge according to the best information that I can supply.

However, even after expressing that the decision belongs to the customers, they often will ask, “What would you do if it were your tree?”

In the Church, for the sake of the Church, Christ has given some to be “pastors and teachers.” He has given some to serve in the capacity of full-time study of the Word and teaching of the Word.

Prior to the Lord’s suffering, death, resurrection, ascension, and sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the apostles tended to think of themselves as experts. This changed after they perceived the truth, after the Holy Spirit opened their hearts to what really is. St. Paul, the last of the apostles, likewise thought of himself as an expert before his conversion.

Afterwards, however, they perceived themselves and presented themselves entirely differently. Afterwards they were merely men appointed to speak and teach and preach what they had heard and seen. They were promised to be directed by the Holy Spirit and they thereafter spoke what the Holy Spirit directed them to say. When they spoke with absoluteness, they did so only regarding what they had received. They simply reiterated to others what had been told to them.

No one should hold a pastor or teacher more highly than this. The Jews in Berea (Acts 17:10-12) are commended for their caution in trusting Paul and Silas until they searched the Scriptures and found that Paul and Silas were indeed teaching in accord with the Scriptures. In this regard, there were many things that sounded to them as though they were brand new doctrines. But as they searched the Scriptures, they saw that these were not new at all, but were in exact accord with what had been previously written. Baptism fulfilled and superceded Circumcision. The Lord’s Supper fulfilled and superceded the Passover. The Old Testament was fulfilled and superceded by the New Testament, and so on.

Today there are a multitude of doctrines claiming to be in accord with the Scriptures. As St. Paul admonishes, “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Philippians 2:12)

Truly we need daily to examine what we hold to be true so as to be absolutely certain that we are not setting ourselves up as self-proclaimed experts, but rather, are hearing what the Spirit says to the churches.

Enslaved by Lust

Wow! I saw this advertisement today.

I often glance past advertisements but this one seemed to burn into my brain. Lust is not limited to sexual desire. We lust for sweets and for junk food and for entertainment and for basically everything that exists.

These lusts enslave us if we allow them to do so. More accurately, they enslave us and we need to be set free from their powers. Our lusts burn from within us. They smoulder within our sinful nature until various factors fan them into roaring flames.

So how can we be free? Do we muster up strength from within to resist them? Do we go to a hypnotist and allow our emotions and our subconscious to be tricked into submission to the hypnotic “suggestions”?

There is a better way. There is a way of true freedom from lust. That way is the way of conversion. That way is the way of true faith. The Holy Spirit is poured out to us in our baptism to live within us. He works continually through the Word and through the Word filled Sacrament. Jesus is in the Sacrament of the Altar. Our God comes to us and gives Himself to us. He empowers us with the true faith with the gift of the Holy Spirit in Baptism. He nurtures us in this true faith through the Holy Supper.

By these means and through the continual preaching of the Gospel, He fills us with His will. His thoughts and holy desires begin to fill us so that our own lusts are pressed out of us. The two ways oppose one another. But God’s will is greater. His will is omnipotent. When His will fills us, our wills are converted to be one with His will. The more that we partake of His means of grace, the more that we rely upon the means that He has provided for us, the more fully our wills become subjected to His.

This is not the same as making a choice. Rather it is a way. God comes to us through His Word. His Word confronts us in our ways and shows us the destruction, the everlasting destruction of the ways that we choose for ourselves. He shows us the everlasting blessing of His way. His Word penetrates our very soul, converting our spirit and our mind and our heart and our will so that His will fills us and drives out the old will. Then He continually calls to us through the Word that has taken root in us and is growing within us by the activity of the Holy Spirit. His Word takes hold within us and even though the old nature tries to come forward and tries to grow again to press out the Word, the Word prevails. The Word is greater than our sinful nature. The Word is greater than our sinful desires. The Word is greater than even our sins.

The question is not whether or not we will choose to listen and heed the Word. The question is whether or not we will choose to stop listening and heeding the Word. Once the Holy Spirit has been poured into our hearts, there remains no choice except for the original choice that Adam made that brought death to the world.

According to our sinful nature we resist the notion of bondage to God’s will being freedom. I like to use the example of my tree climbing to illustrate why bondage to the right way is indeed freedom.

In my tree climbing I bind myself to certain rules. One of these rules binds me further to my climbing rope or ropes. Before I enter into a tall tree I always position my climbing line into a suitable crotch of a limb of sufficient strength to support my weight. Then I tie the appropriate climbing friction knot and attach my climbing saddle, which I have secured to my body. This binds me to the secure crotch in the tree. While it restricts my movement in certain ways, it also sets me free to climb without fear of falling. There are numerous other rules involved in my climbing, to which I bind myself. These restrict me from certain things but set me free to do such things as to walk out onto a branch that otherwise would not support my weight. These set me free to do some rather amazing feats in the tree.

There is a difference, however, between this and the bondage of the true faith. In the example above I do the binding. In the matter of the faith, God does not leave this to me to do for myself. He does the binding. Not only does He teach the need for this binding, but He actually makes it happen. He converts my will so that I become bound to Him and His will. He binds me with the gift of His Holy Spirit. He binds me and maintains the tie, the communion. He does it all for me and I merely follow along in His way. On my own I would wander, but because He has bound me to Himself, I am gently led along the right way, even pulled onward in His way.

God works the same for all who are truly united with Him through the means that He has ordained. This is the way of freedom that little babies know. God makes us to be His beloved and protected children once again.

Happenings: Sermon: Last Sunday of the Church Year (OT)

Ask the Pastor, a.k.a., Pastor Walter Snyder, has two new sermons posted.

Happenings: Sermon: Last Sunday of the Church Year (OT)
Happenings: Sermon: Last Sunday of the Church Year (Epistle)

I always wondered how Pr. Snyder was able to produce so much. Anyone can produce piles of material, but his was always very well researched and documented as well as extraordinarily accurate and orthodox (usually). It has been quite a while, however, since he has been active.

I have thought many times that I would offer something akin to ATP. However, such an effort would be overwhelming for me. I find researching and careful contemplation of people's questions take me many hours, sometimes days or even weeks. The proper care for accuracy and faithfulness to the Scriptures, with the additional concern for actually understanding the inquirer's actual question and concern so as to address it so that it may be comprehended, is an enormous task. Moreover, my answers are not cushioned with the allowance for alternative views, which people can perceive as arrogant and intolerant. I do not give answers in the form of “perhaps you should consider”. When I am speaking as Christ's representative I am bound to declare: “Thus saith the LORD!” and “Believe it or perish everlastingly.” Very few people desire to inquire with such as the anticipated answers.

That is not to say that I never receive correction from others. Being challenged drives me to reexamine my understanding. Thus I find that I benefit greatly from such challenges, especially from those who present them respectfully. On a few occasions I have learned some important new points or have learned that I had previously misunderstood. A few times I realized that I had obstinately held a wrong position, from which repentance, being turned by the Holy Spirit, was necessary. Thanks be to God that when He is the source who is sought, He does provide the needed correction, humbling, and turning.

I have often learned new things and have been reminded of old treasures from Pr. Snyder’s “Ask the Pastor” articles. These two new sermons of his are worthy of hearing as well. I am glad to see that he has made them available.

Sermons Posted

After almost a year of not posting sermons to the web site, I have begun posting again. Due to financial struggles and the need to adjust the format of the web site to compensate for changes to the various web browsers and their “improvements,” I did not post sermons for a time. I was not even sure, for a time, whether or not I would be able to afford to maintain the web site.

Learning new HTML and CSS and other language needed for web site administration takes time. I am hopeful that I have the site working more in accord with the newer standards. I have not yet corrected the entire site, but the newer pages have been adjusted.

This Sunday’s sermon for the Festival of the Reformation has been uploaded and can be viewed and downloaded here.

I hope to begin uploading past sermons up to the time that I stopped last year and to make changes to the pages previously posted.. But at least the site should be functional again for the newer pages across the various browsers.

Ash Wednesday & Divine Fasting

On this day of Ash Wednesday the appointed readings of holy Scripture are:

Psalm 6 (for Matins);
Psalm 51 (for Vespers);
Jonah 3:1-10;
Isaiah 59:12-21;
Joel 2:12-19;
and Matthew 6:16-21.

Repentance and fasting with and unto repentance is the theme of the day, as it is for the life of the Church.

People often choose only part of the definition of repentance for themselves. Often the chosen focus is merely the part that includes feelings of contrition and regret. But the New Testament word for repent is metanoia. It literally means a change of mind or thought. This is far more than the common feeling of sinful mankind of being sorry that we do not measure up to what we think that we ought to be and do. Metanoia is much more than this. It is an actual change of the mind in how it thinks. Metanoia is not only feeling sorry for our sinfulness and sinful actions, it is a change that is worked by God’s merciful love that overpowers us in our very being so that we are changed from idolaters to God fearing people. This is what changes one from being a disciple of choice to being a disciple of Christ, that is, a disciple of faith.

Faith is not a choice. Whatever godly and goodly choices that we make are produced by the faith that the Holy Spirit works in us, not the other way around. True contrition does not stop with being sorry and asking forgiveness. True contrition turns us around in our very thinking so that we no longer look to ourselves and our own thoughts and desires and actions, but to God and His thoughts and desires and actions.

The Old Testament word for this is shuv. It means to turn or be turned. God actually takes our minds and hearts and turns them back to Himself as the one from whom we receive all good things, so that we no longer look here and there or even to ourselves. When God works this change in who we are and in how we know ourselves, we are truly changed in our minds and in our being.

For this reason Philippians 2 seems especially appropriate for this day of repentance and fasting as well. Most especially the first twelve verses seem fitting:

If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Likeminded. Oh what a wonderful focus for this season of Lent! If only we would repent of our own thoughts and our own ways, submitting to the will of God for His Church. If only we would hear the call of the Holy Spirit that we might be enlightened with God’s grace so as to be changed in our hearts and minds in accord with the merits of Jesus, who gave Himself for us and for all the world. How differently the Church would appear! How differently our lives would be lived. How truly blessed we would be! How confidently we would live, as we worked out our salvation so as to be certain that our faith is truly reliance upon the suffering and death of Jesus, and not upon anything else. Then we truly would be changed in our thinking and in our actions, for then the peace of God would rule our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Jesus came to this world to be found in fashion as a man, though He Himself was the very form or morphe of God. He was and is the very morphe or nature of God. He is not merely godlike but is the very form of God. To see Jesus is to see the Father. To encounter Jesus is to encounter the Holy Spirit. Yet in Christ Jesus God made Himself to be a servant. In Christ God humbled Himself so as to serve as our Redeemer and Savior. When God works faith in us so that we are joined with Him in His holiness, this is the mind that is created in us in place of the minds that we choose. Jesus fasted concerning His equality with God, acting as a servant, placing our needs above His own glory and power. Today we fast of our weakness, in order that His power may not be hindered in us.

God’s Word

How can we know when we are truly hearing God’s Word?

What is God’s Word?

St. John writes:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

What is God’s Word? God’s Word is Jesus. When God wants us to know Him, He sends Jesus. When God wants us to receive His love and forgiveness and mercy, He sends Jesus.

When God created the world, He spoke it into existence and it was.

Jesus says:

And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. (Revelation 3:14)

Jesus is the one through whom all things exist. He is the beginning of the creation of God. He is father time. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last. He is.

Of this one the Father says, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.”

When the Spirit speaks to the churches, He directs us to Jesus to hear Him and His words.

Jesus is our God and Savior. He is our light and our life. He is the Gospel. He is our everything. End of story!

How Much Is Necessary?

Here is a question that could cause a few people to pause and wonder. How much of God’s Word is necessary for a Christian?

Think about it. How much of God’s Word, as it is revealed in the Scriptures, can be outright rejected by one who is a Christian? How much of God’s Word can be altered or changed by a Christian? How much of God’s Word can be ignored by a Christian? How much of God’s Word can be interpreted by a Christian apart from the interpretation provided by the Holy Spirit?

This question becomes even more important when one takes John 1:1 into account.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Then, if John 1:1-5 is considered the question looms even larger.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

If the Word is God, that is, if the Word is Jesus, in whom alone life and salvation are found, by whose name alone salvation and everlasting life are received, how much of the Word is necessary?