2014 Resolutions

Happy New Year!  Happy 2014!

It seems funny that flipping a page on a calendar should be counted as a holiday.  I suppose that when people don’t recognize the holy, they have to find something mundane to celebrate.  So we have New Years Day.

Certainly the observance of God’s grace to us in preserving us and carrying us through the past year into a new year is a cause for thanksgiving and rejoicing and celebrating.  Certainly the changing of the calendar gives cause to pause in retrospect.

Thus people also commonly make New Years Resolutions.  They examine their activities of the passing year and determine or resolve to do some things differently.  They make resolutions and promises concerning their actions in the coming year.  Some of these they actually mean.  Some of these they actually strive to keep, at least for a week or two or three.

Soon, however, when we make resolutions to amend our lives we find ourselves unable to keep our promises.  We find that we are unable to effect true change.  We fall back into the same old errors again.  Sometimes we manage to demonstrate these failings in different ways.  Yet we still fall short of our good intentions.

Christians may fall into this trap even more so than others.  I find it somewhat odd that in teaching people concerning Confession and Absolution that people are asked to promise this impossible task.  In the Order of the Confessional Service on TLH pg. 46 ff., two formats are given, both of which call the person seeking absolution to state the intention or purpose of amending one’s sinful life by the assistance of the Holy Ghost.  Surely this is the format of a resolution.  The newer hymnals have similar statements.

Admittedly, seeing beyond this is difficult.  Certainly the preaching against sin is necessary.  Certainly the Law of God or Commandments are given to direct souls away from sin to the holiness of the Lord.

Yet in searching the Gospel accounts concerning the times that the Lord Jesus granted absolution to sinners, do we ever find Him calling for a resolution from the broken and contrite sinner?  I cannot recall a single instance of the Lord Jesus calling for a person to resolve to do better before granting the blessed words of peace and comfort, “Your sins are forgiven you.”  He does give the warning afterward that they are to go onward without adding to their sins.  But He never evokes a resolution from anyone to whom He grants remission of their sins.

We do have an example, however, where He denies this making of resolutions as justifying.  When He tells of the publican and the Pharisee, He says that the publican made no such resolution, but merely confessed his sinfulness and need for God’s mercy.  This one, Jesus says, went home justified.  The other man, the Pharisee, stated all of the ways that he had resolved to try to please God.  The Pharisee listed his resolutions quite sincerely.  Yet this one, Jesus says, did not go home justified.

What does this mean?  What is the Lord Jesus teaching us with this example?  He is teaching us that we should never look to our own works for our justification.  He is teaching us that our resolutions, no matter how noble and no matter how sincere, will always fall short.  In fact, our resolutions only lead us into more sins that we need to have remitted.  If we make resolutions that we fail to keep, then not only have we sinned, but we also have failed to keep our word.

This is why the Lord has established for us His Church on earth.  Within His Church He has ordained specific means through which He works to restore us to His Holy Communion.  It is to these means of grace and remission and salvation and reconciliation and healing that He directs us to be turned.  This is the repentance to which He calls us.  He calls us to be turned from all of our own efforts, from all of our best intentions, from all of our resolutions, to receive the means through which His Word works all things for us.  His Word and Sacraments are the means through which He does for us what we cannot do for ourselves.  He works regeneration unto true faith through Baptism, as He washes us with His Word with the water.  In this washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit He applies the blood of the Word/Lamb to us by which we are cleansed.  In this connection we are joined into His everlasting Communion, wherein we partake of His body and blood given and shed for us, to renew us in His Communion as our sins are remitted and taken away.  As we hear His call to be gathered into His name to receive these things, we bow the knee and confess our need for His mercy, which He graciously bestows to us as the words of absolution are spoken over us.  Then we rise up to eat and drink at His Table of renewal and forgiveness, going forth in the confidence of the good conscience into which we have been restored.

God does not call us to resolve to be obedient or to amend our lives.  He calls us to walk in the Life that is in Him in His Holy Communion.  The obedience of faith is not a choice.  It is the fullness of living in communion with God in His kingdom.  Obedience flows from the faith that the Lord works in us.  Obedience flows from the trust that is generated within us concerning all that the Lord declares.  When we receive His absolution and partake of His Communion, we recognize His will as that which is desirable and good.  We recognize the fullness of the good life to which we have been restored so that we begin to walk in this newness of life or renewed life.

This is the difference of living by faith and living by works.  Living by faith is the life that flows from the ordained means of grace.  Living by works is the struggle to resolve to do better than we can hope to do for ourselves.  Through His Word and Sacraments, His means of grace to us, we receive God’s goodness into our very being so that we are sanctified to live in the grace that flows to us freely by His decree.

Surely this is better than making resolutions that we know that we cannot hope to keep.  Surely the way of grace, mercy, and peace is far better and desirable.

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Squishy Unity

I wandered to a site that I rarely visit anymore and observed a video presentation entitled My Squishy Unity Jesus.  In this presentation the Reverend Pastor Fisk in his usual less than reverent style speaks to the issue of the Twentieth Century Ecumenical Movement as it has progressed to the present day.  He addresses the issue that the concept of unity has been redefined to mean the exact opposite of what the Scriptures teach that the unity of the Church is.

He makes valid points concerning the invalidity of this altered definition.  He makes valid points concerning what unity really is and why it is necessary.  He attempts to call those who profess to be Christian to embrace the unity that the Holy Spirit creates through the means of grace.

It continues to perplex me that men such as the Reverend Pastor Fisk make such a big deal out of something that they themselves do not truly believe.  After all, if they truly believed the marks of the Church to be the administration of the pure means of grace and if they truly believed that unity in the doctrine and practice of these to be necessary for the existence of the true Church and for the salvific power of the Gospel to be effected, would they not actually practice in accord with this unity?

Yet they remain in a church body that teaches that true unity in doctrine and practice and mission do not exist within that church body.  Even more amazingly, they pride themselves for embracing the notion that striving to achieve 85% unity is a noble goal that is achievable.

If unity in doctrine and practice concerning the pure Gospel and Sacraments is the definition of the true Church, as Fisk claims to believe, then what is he and his brethren really saying of their own church body?

Fisk continually says on his site that he believes and unconditionally subscribes with a quia subscription to the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church as found in the Book of Concord.  Of these Confessions or statements of belief and practice the Augsburg Confession is especially set forward.  And this Confession states the definition of the Church in Article VII, saying of what the “Lutherans” teach:

    1] Also they teach that one holy Church is to continue forever. The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered.

    2] And to the true unity of the Church it is enough to agree concerning the doctrine of the Gospel and 3] the administration of the Sacraments. Nor is it necessary that human traditions, that is, rites or ceremonies, instituted by men, should be everywhere alike. 4] As Paul says: One faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all, etc. Eph. 4, 5, 6.

It would be cause for rejoicing if this were truly what Christians believed, taught, confessed, AND practiced.

How many Churches does AC VII teach?  ONE.

There are not many Churches but One Church.

This Church is holy, which means sacred or set apart by the Lord unto Himself to be perfect even as He is perfect.  This perfection of the Church is not found as perfection of the individuals but in the perfection of the Lord.  He gives His perfection through His means of grace.  The perfect holiness of the Church is its unity of doctrine and practice, that is, in its unity as “the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered.”

How wonderful it would be if Pastor Fisk and his fellow pastors and the leaders of his church body actually believed this so as to abide by it.  How wonderful it would be if they actually believed this so that they rejected the notion of 85% and actually embraced the unity in which the Holy Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the true believers in Christ.

Sadly, this is not their way.  It is heart-breaking to observe what they hold high in place of this unity.  It is gut wrenching to observe the thing that matters most, as this video yet again displays at the very end:

This sentiment truly is the issue at hand.  St. Paul addresses this concerning his former idolatry from which the Lord converted and saved him.

   

     Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.  (Philippians 3:1-7)

And again:

   

     But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood.  (Galatians 1:11-16)

While loyalty to Grandpa remains the defining nature of membership and participation in a church body, to whom are such devotees ultimately devoted?  Whose word and way ultimately defines that church and the life and way of its members?

This is a very dangerous matter.  It leads away from the true unity of the one true faith and the life that flows from that faith.  It leads to the inevitable dysfunction that sin produces.  If the church is Grandpa’s church, then it bears Grandpa’s image and suffers Grandpa’s imperfection and corruption.

This is not the Church confessed in the Augsburg Confession.  AC VII confesses one holy Church that is united not by the traditions of men/grandpas, but united in the agreement concerning the doctrine of the Gospel and the right administration the Sacraments.

Grandpa is rotting in the grave awaiting the day of the resurrection and the judgment of mankind.  That is where he should be left until the great day of the return of the Lord Jesus in His glory.  Leave sinful Grandpa and draw near to the Lord of glory who comes to His Church wherever the means of grace are rightly administered.  Wherever this is the way, the Church is truly united in the Lord’s holiness.  No disunity remains in this Church.  No dysfunction surfaces.  For the unity of doctrine and practice rule this Church, as the Lord has promised.

Oh that this would be what is proclaimed in place of Grandpa and us and our church.  Then all of our squishy ways would be replaced by the Rock solid foundation of the means through which God Himself solidifies His Church.  His gifts are 100% pure and where they are administered in this purity the congregation is gathered into the absolute unity that belongs to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  The ultimate earthly expression and confession of this is the Supper of His Holy Communion.

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Wonderful Hymn: “God's Own Child, I Gladly Say It”

     Last evening while studying and surfing the net, I was directed to this tender video:

     Casper and Disney are two boys who learned of the blessings of Baptism and wanted to be included in the kingdom of these benefits. Disney volunteers, saying:

And I was about five, too. At the beginning of kindergarten, I was crying a lot because I didn’t have a baptism and everyone else did.

     He was cut off before he could finish explaining. When asked why Baptism was so important to him he says: “Baptism was so important to me because I, because we become a child of God. That’s why it’s important to me.”

     This is why these boys wanted to be baptized. Their parents had not given this to them. They wanted what the other children had received. They wanted to be generated from above into the kingdom of God. They wanted to be adopted as God’s children. Disney automatically paused when he began to say “I” and corrected himself saying “we become a child of God.” This is a display of an amazingly deep theological understanding. This was not taught by his teachers but rose from his own realization of what Baptism is. While Baptism is applied to each individual, it is the way for all who are truly generated into God’s family. While it is unlikely that young Disney made this connection to the statements of Jesus in John 3, he received the Holy Spirit in his baptism and the Holy Spirit imparted to him the true faith and continues to instruct him in the understanding of this faith that has been generated in him.

     I find the mater-of-fact manner of responses from children to be delightful. This is the way that children speak when they are certain of their responses. These two boys have been catechized. They have been taught what the Holy Spirit declares. But their responses are more than what is heard as the result of programmed indoctrination. They are speaking from their hearts of what they have been moved by the Holy Spirit to believe. This is more than merely repeating what they have heard many times from parents and teachers. They speak from their hearts of what they themselves know. Disney’s response is especially delightful when he says:

Yeah, we get to be God’s child, like I just said.

     He says this after he was asked, “And what do you get in Baptism?”

     His response is: “The forgiveness of sins.”

     His questioner seems to be fishing for more, very likely what St. Peter declares in Acts 2:38, where he speaks of the gift of the Holy Spirit as well as the forgiveness of sins, but young Disney responds with what the forgiveness of sins means to the regenerated child of God, “Yeah, we get to be God’s child, like I just said.”

     When Peter preached to those who were gathered at Pentecost, he explained the how of the new life that accompanies the reception of the remission of sins through Baptism. The Holy Spirit is the one who works this miracle of faith through which the remission of sins is worked. The Holy Spirit is the one poured out in Baptism to preserve this faith within the newborn child of God so that this faith is nurtured and strengthened, so that it grows to maturity and in deeper understanding. But for young Disney, the unity of the Holy Trinity is so clear that he responds to the foremost issue, that the remission of sins means that one is received back into God’s family forevermore. Just as the Holy Spirit does not direct attention to Himself, neither does the child of God reflect upon this but rejoices first in the remission of sins through which he gets to be a God’s child. This is what Baptism foremost means to sinners who realize that their sin cuts them off from God. It is only when people begin to rely upon their own understanding and begin to focus upon their own displays of sanctification that they begin to focus strongly upon the gift of the Holy Spirit. When sinners truly realize their sinfulness, they count the remission of sins as the most important of their needs, and they rejoice in the reconciliation with God that remission of sins establishes.

     For this reason, it makes me very sad to realize that these dear boys are part of a church body that robs them of the fullness of being regenerated into God’s Holy Communion. I regretfully confess my own sin as a pastor in this regard, having taught the false doctrine and practice of Confirmation as a necessity for partaking of the Holy Supper through which the continual remission of sins is promised to the children of God. It saddens me that sweet children of God are baptized into His Holy Communion and then are taught that they must achieve an elevated status of understanding before they are allowed to be counted as true partakers of God’s kingdom. The very food by which God promises to sustain His children is denied to those for whom He promises it. Just as these two boys were denied Baptism until they cried for it, so they are being denied the family meal so that they still are looking on for what belongs to all of God’s family but they are not being counted as true communicant members.

     I rejoice that these dear boys have been baptized and that they rejoice in the promises of their baptism. Yet I grieve that the primary proclamation of the Lord’s death till He comes (1 Corinthians 11:26) is denied to them. Even though they are rightly instructed that their sins are remitted and that the true faith is generated in them and that the Holy Spirit is poured out to them to keep them with Jesus Christ in the one true faith, yet they are denied the Sacrament of the Lord’s Holy Communion for which their baptism generates them. The Supper of Life is denied to them. They are instructed that they are not yet worthy, even though the true faith in the merits and promises of Christ is the only cause of worthiness.

     Is it any wonder that more than half of those who are baptized in these church bodies become confused and disheartened and fall away? Is it any wonder that of those who do progress to the rite of Confirmation, more than half then lose their desire for the Sacrament? Is it any wonder that in these church bodies that their own statistics show that in nearly every congregation that less than half and usually even less than a third of the so-called communicant members partake of the body and blood of their Lord on a given Sunday?

     Should this be surprising when for the most important years of their lives they have been taught that they do not need the Sacrament? For the years of their greatest development bodily, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, they have been taught that all that they really need is their baptism and that the Family Supper is not necessary. Then, after Confirmation, these dear saints who have been thus falsely taught are suddenly to cast away all of these years of instruction in the lack of need for the Sacrament and now to begin to crave the Sacrament as a great necessity.

     Does this make any sense at all?

     Saint Paul is often quoted in this regard. This would be wonderful if his instruction were taken as he gives it rather than applying private interpretation to his words. Here is what the dear apostle says:

     Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse.

     For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.

     When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper. For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.

     For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

     For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. (1 Corinthians 11:17-33)

     Sadly, verses 27-29 are usually quoted apart from and even contrary to the context in which St. Paul is speaking. These verses are usually used as a proof text. A proof text is a text used to make a predetermined point, rather than quoting the text in accord with the point for which it stands written.

     Thus these particular verses are quoted as proof that individuals must examine themselves concerning what they understand before counting themselves properly prepared [worthy] of partaking of the Lord’s Communion.

     However, even with only the immediately preceding verse as a reference for the context, these verses instantly are perceived very differently than they are generally interpreted. What is the context for the necessity of a man examining himself? If we review the second paragraph above the perception is greatly enhanced.

     For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.

     What is the point of St. Paul’s chastisement? He is chastising for the divisions that exist within the congregation. In the third paragraph he declares that because of the aforementioned heresies that the congregation’s suppers are not even the Lord’s Supper. He is declaring that merely following the outward form and labeling it as the Lord’s Supper does not make it the Lord’s Supper. He is warning that this form of practice is actually the opposite of proclaiming the Lord’s death till He comes. Instead, it is actually a mockery of the Lord’s death and thereby brings judgement upon the communicants of these false suppers.

     So the real issue that a man is to examine is whether or not his household is gathering with a true congregation that is truly offering the Sacrament as a “shewing of the Lord’s death till He comes” in accord with the pure teaching of the Gospel.

     In this particular setting, the Corinthian congregation was so far from the right shewing of the Lord’s death till He comes that they were not even considering the purpose and meaning of the Supper. Their treatment of the Supper was so bad that they did not even care who partook of the Supper. They treated it as an individualistic participation rather than the Lord’s family meal of forgiveness and nurturing in His Communion. They were not rightly discerning the Lord’s body and therefore they were ignoring others so that they were left out, just like the doctrine and practice of Confirmation does to those who have not been “properly instructed and confirmed.”

     Young Casper and Disney have it right. “Baptism was so important to me because I, because we become a child of God. That’s why it’s important to me.”

     These boys have been taught a marvelous hymn, a hymn which they prize and sing from their hearts. It is a shame that the doctrine of this hymn is ignored by their teachers and pastors regarding their true place in God’s family.

     The words of this hymn are available at God's Own Child, I Gladly Say It and at Witness, Mercy, Life Together: God's Own Child, I Gladly Say It. From these I quote the 2nd and 3rd stanzas:

Stanza 2

Sin, disturb my soul no longer:
I am baptized into Christ!
I have comfort even stronger:
Jesus' cleansing sacrifice.
Should a guilty conscience seize me
Since my Baptism did release me
In a dear forgiving flood,
Sprinkling me with Jesus' blood!

Stanza 3

Satan, hear this proclamation:
I am baptized into Christ!
Drop your ugly accusation,
I am not so soon enticed.
Now that to the font I've traveled,
All your might has come unraveled,
And, against your tyranny,
God, my Lord, unites with me!

     What is the purpose of Baptism? What is the purpose of the Lord’s Supper? Young Disney says it wonderfully.

     Isn’t it time that the pastors, teachers, and parents learn it, too? Isn’t it time that they stop eating and drinking judgment upon themselves by refusing the Lord’s command to suffer the little children to come to Him? Is this not the invitation of the Supper as well as of Baptism?

     At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:25-30)

     The wise and the prudent imagine that admission to the Supper is dependent upon being able to express one’s understanding, forgetting that:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. (Proverbs 9:10)

     Is this not what this wonderful hymn that is taught to the children teaches? Is this not their understanding that the Holy Spirit imparts to them and continually instructs them in connection with the one true faith given to them in their baptism?

     Here is the full hymn presented by Gillian and Paul Norris as a YouTube video:

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Weak = Strong

When things seem to be going well and we imagine ourselves to be standing on our own two feet then we are inclined to feel strong.  However, when things seem to be going poorly and we have been knocked down, then we feel weak.



Bodily infirmities can be ignored sometimes.  Other times a person can rise above the limitations or pain, perhaps even putting them out of mind, coping with whatever the person faces.  A person can feel as though anything can be overcome.  A person feels as though one can stand against anything.

This can apply to other areas of life, too.  A person can often overcome serious adversities.  Overcoming life’s difficulties can lead a person to begin to count oneself as strong and able to stand against whatever may come.

But this only lasts for as long as the person’s own strength does not fail.  Eventually one cannot ignore one’s own limitations and frailty.  This is true physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

St. Paul wrote warning against trusting in one’s own strength, especially in spiritual matters. “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”  (1 Corinthians 10:12)

St. Paul was one who knew.  He had been a Pharisee, named Saul.  He had studied the Scriptures intensely.  He had devoted himself to the most stringent adherence to the Law of God as given through Moses.  He counted himself to be exemplary among the people of God.  He was influential to the point of being intrusted with letters to pursue and take prisoner those who were following in the way, the faith of Jesus.

On the way to carry out this mission, the Lord Jesus stopped Saul in his tracks and confronted him.

And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.

  (Acts 9:1-8)


    The rest of this account tells how weak Saul suddenly realized himself to be.  Not only was he now unable to see, but he had just learned that his entire life had been in vain.  All of his efforts were worthless, even worse than worthless.  All of his efforts to serve God were actually damned!  All of his pride was shown to be idolatry.  All of his devotion was shown to be false worship.  He had actually been an enemy of God rather than God’s friend!

    After this Saul (asked for or desired) began to be known as Paul (little or small).  With his conversion and baptism and ordination as the apostle of Jesus to the Gentiles, Paul was now very small in his own eyes and his own efforts and devotion were counted as skubalon (crap).  Thus he writes:

Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say.

  (1 Corinthians 10:12-15)

First is the warning against relying upon one’s own reason and strength.  Then is the promise that God is faithful and will limit one’s encounters with temptations to the strength that He Himself gives to the beloved believer.

In the verses that follow, he explains this further, pointing to the means through which this strength is given to the believer.

The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.

  (1 Corinthians 10:16-17)

This is the means through which God strengthens His saints for all that they encounter in their daily lives.  This begins with being baptized into the body of Christ.  It extends into the life of worship that flows from this regeneration into God’s kingdom.  As a living member of Christ’s body, this holy supper is the means through which God renews His saints in the faith in which they stand and live.

This is why we dare not compromise it through any form of idolatry.  For this meal is the Communion with God that Christ restored for us and to which we are regenerated and reconciled through Baptism.

This is why it is so sad, even heart breaking, to observe the many ways that those professing to be Christians continue to turn back to ways of seeking to be strong through their own reason and strength.  Even the Holy Supper itself they turn into a work of their own rather than the means through which the merits of Christ are given to us by God.  Worship and devotion and prayer are turned into the idolatry of imagining that these are somehow worthy of merit in themselves.  And so these become means of making oneself better and stronger through one’s own efforts rather than being God’s gifts through which He Himself regenerates us and renews us and strengthens us and keeps us in the one true faith of Jesus.

This faulty and idolatrous mindset is demonstrated in the way that Philippians 4:13 is usually translated.  The KJV is representative of this: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

What St. Paul actually writes directs us to a very different mindset: “For all things I am strong in the one empowering me, Christ.”

The mindset that St. Paul teaches is one of what the Lord works for us rather than what we work for ourselves and for God.  St. Paul teaches us to know God as the one doing the work in us rather than looking to find a way to use God like a helpful tool.  St. Paul very specifically avoids this idea that God gets us started and we must continue to work to complete what God begins by saying that we are strong IN the one empowering us.  He very carefully and deliberately avoided using the word THROUGH.  We are IN Christ through His means of grace, through which He works these blessings for us and in us.  We are made to be IN Christ through Baptism.  We are renewed IN Christ through His body and blood administered to us IN the Holy Communion.

When we understand this and believe it even as the Lord and His apostles declare unto us, then we begin to see that indeed God does provide the strength and the means of escape from all temptations.  Then we begin to see that we truly do not need to be strong on our own and that we do not need to stand by our own strength.  Then we begin to enjoy our life in Christ rather than striving to make it real for ourselves.  Then our times of weakness become times of true strength.

It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities. For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me. And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

  (2 Corinthians 12:1-10)

The Lord Jesus declares in response to our prayers and all of our efforts: “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”  How did He triumph over the powers of the devil, sin, and death?  Not through visions or miracles or even prayers answered as He willed for Himself.  He triumphed through the weakness of subjecting Himself to the Father’s will which carried Him to the cross where He suffered an ignominious death after many hours of injustice, torture, and ridicule.

He continues to work His blessings and to display His victory in the same way.  Not through visions or grandiose miracles or answering our prayers as we present them, but through the means of grace He gives us the victory that He won for us.  Thus St. Paul directs us to rejoice in our weakness, for then we do not try to win the battle for ourselves nor even to glorify God through our own efforts.  Then instead we look to Christ and rely upon His grace in all things.  Then we receive the strength that knows no limits, even as Christ lives and reigns to all eternity.

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Christmas Day Is Almost Here, Isn’t It?

Many sources can be found on line for countdown clocks until Christmas Day, such as this one found at Countdown Widget.

A couple of other such clocks can be viewed at Christmas Countdown 2012 and Countdown to Christmas.

Throughout most communities, especially in America, Christmas lights are a very common sight.  Christmas music is played on the radio and in almost every place of retail business.  Most advertizing includes references to the Day of Christmas and the number of days remaining to purchase Christmas gifts.

Amazingly, no one seems to object to this until the connection of the birth of the Christ is considered.  Then, suddenly, debate ensues both over whether it is proper to have this holiday celebrated and whether this date is actually the date of the birth of Jesus.  Many have set forth laboriously to “prove” that this date was actually borrowed from pagan celebrations.

Why?  What do such self-acclaimed scholars have to gain from this?  What is the objective?

There have been some very well written articles sharing information on this, especially from the perspective of the selection of the date for celebrating Christmas Day being entirely of churchly origin.

Redeeming Holy Days from Pagan Lies — Christmas

Why Christmas is on December 25

How December 25 Became Christmas

Christmas is NOT based on the feast of Sol Invictus

The date of Christ’s “genesis”

After all is said and done however, the question remains: “Does it really matter?”

For those who do not believe in Jesus, the Christ, and the salvation that He brings to the world and is received by all who through faith trust in this great miracle, why do they care?  Most of these objectors don’t object to Santa Claus and the reindeer nonsense.  Most of these objectors do not complain about the marketing exploitation of this seasonal celebration.  Most of these objectors do not complain about the date of Christmas for any of the reasons that people observe it apart from the birth of Jesus, the heralded Savior of mankind.  But from this perspective they do object and argue and debate, often vehemently and even voraciously.  Do they even know why they react this way?

As for those who profess to be Christians, there is some cause for searching for the truth on this matter.  Knowing the why behind the selection of this date has at least some value, especially concerning what is revealed in this matter.

Those whom the Holy Spirit inspired and moved to write the Scriptures did not give detailed explanation of the date of Christ’s birth, except, to say that it was fully in accord with God’s promises and in complete fulfillment of His plan of salvation.

The actual day and hour really was not all that important for anyone to know.  The only ones to whom this day was truly important were Mary, the theotokos, and Joseph, her husband and legal father to Jesus.  Both were chosen and appointed by God for these very special vocations.  They were called and set apart for this special day and the following days and years of the nurturing and growth and maturation of this special child.

It was a very special day.  All the hosts of heaven rejoiced to see it.  They had eagerly awaited the celebration of this day.  These events are recorded for us in the Gospel accounts.  But the specific calendrical accounting is not recorded.  This is because the birth of Jesus is meaningless apart from the fulfillment of the great work that He was born to accomplish.  Thus the exact dates of His institution of the New Testament, His betrayal and hypocritical trial, His torture and crucifixion, His death and burial, His resurrection, and His ascension are recorded with great accuracy and precision.  These are the dates that most matter to those who celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Yet in terms of when any of these are celebrated, this is not really an important issue.  These celebrations are set in a calendrical order simply to assist in proclaiming the fullness of the Gospel within the gathering of the saints to the means of grace.  These dates and even these specific celebratory designated observances serve the greater continual observances that the historic liturgy includes in every divine service.  For the order of service that is used every Lord’s day carries those gathered through the entire Church year each and every service.

For example, the Creed alone carries us through each of these important seasons of the salvific plan that the Lord Jesus was born to fulfill for us.  Every time that the Creed is recited, including all three of the Ecumenical Creeds, Christmas is confessed.

However, the true celebration of Christmas is the pinnacle of the divine service, the administration of the Holy Communion in Christ’s body and blood.  This is, after all the very meaning of Christ-mas, that is, the Christ Mass, the order of service in which the Holy Supper is distributed and received.

Yet December 25 remains a significant part of the Church Year, counting backward from Good Friday nine months to the day of celebrating His birth into the world for this great day of the redemption of sinful mankind.  For the true Christian, the ChristMass Day is a day for great celebration and Eucharisting (Thanksgiving).

It is sad to realize that most of the world is willing to settle for something that has no real value beyond sentiment and tradition and giving and receiving of material things.  Even among most who call themselves Christians, the true Christ of Christ-mass is not even confessed, let alone received and adored.  But for all who do, the comfort and joy is immeasurable.

May such a Christmas Day be yours!

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Christmas Lights

It has been years since we have bothered with a Christmas tree or lights.

When I was young, I enjoyed the Christmas tree and lights very much.  It was a chore, but an enjoyable chore, to set up the tree and lights and ornaments.  It was relaxing and pleasing to watch the lights.

Taking them down and storing them again was not much fun, but it seemed worth the effort.

However, as I have grown older and as the world has usurped the control of Christmas and has moved the season ever farther forward, even beyond Advent, even beyond Thanksgiving, and now beyond Reformation Day and the demonic Halloween, so as to extend time to promote the so-called Christmas spirit, the trees and lights and ornaments have lost their appeal for me, for us.  We just don’t have any desire for such things anymore.

For us it is like having someone steal our candy cane, roll it around on the ground, and then hand it back to us.

There are some truly marvelous displays of Christmas lights around town.  One is set up as a drive-through display available to the public every night.  It is very nicely done.  Much effort was expended in setting up the various parts of the display.  It takes 15 to 20 minutes to drive it and see it.  It is a very lovely display.

Yet when we saw it, it left us cold.  Yes, we found it to be bright and colorful.  Yes, we considered it to be very lovely.  Yet even with the cheery colors and lights it did not move us, neither did it cheer us.

But the Christ Mass does move us and cheer us.  It rescues us and brings us back again into the Communion of the Lord, who renews us and lifts our hearts from the worldly mire around us.  The Christ Mass officially is Christmas Day, but every offering of the Mass is the Christ Mass.  Every time that Christ’s Church gathers by the urging of the Holy Spirit so that the saints draw near to the Lord’s Table and receive His body of unity and blood of forgiveness and life, it is the Christ Mass.

This is the light that God has set on a hill for all to see.  It shines in a dark world of loneliness, despair, struggle, and confusion.

     Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.  (Matthew 5:14-16)

     Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man. For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles. Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.  (Psalm 43:1-5)

Often people quote these, and especially the first text, forgetting who it is who sets the city upon the hill.  It is the Lord who sets the city upon the hill.  It is the Lord who gives us the light of His Word that shines first in us and then through us for all to see.  It is the Lord who works the miracle of conversion in our hearts and engenders the faith to take root in us and to grow so that we hear His voice and follow Him in our daily sojourning.  It is the Lord who transforms our wills so that we stop seeking to be choice makers and begin instead to enjoy the freedom of His blessed commandments.  Then we seek not to make our own way through the darkness, because we walk in the light.  Then we are free to traverse our daily paths without fear of stumbling.  And even when our distracted hearts do cause us to stumble, the Lord continually calls us again to the regular reunion of His body at the Table of His forgiveness and renewal in His Communion.

It is disheartening to hear the many self-proclaimed representatives of the Lord preach to people how they must struggle to draw near to God.  After all, the Gospel teaches us that God took the struggle for us.  He came to us in our wretchedness, made Himself to be born of the virgin, suffered our troubles and sorrows, proclaimed forgiveness, established Baptism and the New Testament in His blood, suffered and died in our place with our sins in His own body, rose again in victory against the powers of sin, death, the world, our corrupt fleshly natures, and the devil, and ascended to heaven from whence He shall come again in glory.  All this God Himself did for us.  He took the struggle and completed it for us so that we would be free to live by grace through faith.  To insure that we would receive this purely as a gift, He established the life of the Church as the continual Communion in His body and blood, where He alone takes action, feeding us the very means of our salvation and renewal in His kingdom.

There is no struggle for those who desire to draw near to God.  He has come to us as Immanuel, which means, With Us God.  This is the name that His holy angel declared so that we would know God for who He is.  He is the one who makes Himself With Us God.  He promises that this is so through His means of grace, means which we do not do for ourselves, nor even in obedience to Him.  These are His means, His gifts, His acts on our behalf.  No one can baptize himself.  Each person must be baptized.  The water and Word are applied for us by another appointed for that task, and through this God pours out His Holy Spirit to the person and thereby converts and regenerates and justifies and sanctifies the person.  The person is made all over again to be a perfect and holy child of God, regenerated to the new life of the true faith.  This person then has been made to be part of God’s kingdom, His Church on earth, where the ongoing Communion is the new life enjoyed by those whom the Holy Spirit congregates.  Through the Holy Supper, God continues to draw near to His saints, doing what they cannot do for themselves, not even through their most earnest efforts.

Once upon a time, Christmas trees and lights were used and enjoyed as symbols of this.  The evergreen, as a symbol of the everlasting life made possible through the birth of Jesus, the Savior, or as the Paradise tree.  A very interesting and informative article on this subject can be viewed at O Christmas Tree: The Origin and Meaning of the Christmas Tree.  Another account is The Chronological History of the Christmas Tree.  Interestingly, some legends, such as is shared at The History of the Christmas Tree, claim:

Martin Luther began the decorating of trees to celebrate Christmas. In the year 1500, one crisp Christmas Eve, Martin was walking through snow-covered woods and was struck by the beauty of a group of small evergreens. Their branches dusted with snow shimmered in the moonlight. When he returned home, he set up a little fir tree indoors so he could share the story with his children. He decorated it with candles, which he lighted to simulate the reflections of the starlit heaven – the heaven that looked down over Bethlehem on the first Christmas Eve.

How Luther could have done this in 1500 for his children is hard to understand, since he was not married until 1525.  Nevertheless, the fact that this legend exists shows that people did consider this to be the symbolism that they were embracing with their own use of their Christmas trees and lights.

This type of symbolism is vastly missing in the general use of Christmas trees and lights today.  Sometimes the marketers still like to include “Christmas carols” in their selection of Muzak to help promote the spirit of giving and buying, but this is usually a mere appeal to people’s sense of tradition and nostalgia.  In fact, nostalgia is the primary focus of the usurped Christmas season: nostalgic decorations, nostalgic foods, nostalgic parades, nostalgic church services, nostalgic family gatherings, nostalgic gift giving.

For this reason, we find that we no longer have any real sense of desire to do this in our home and life.  We don’t have any desire for the candy cane that has been rolled in the dirt.  Certainly those who do find salutary use for these decorations we do not blaspheme.  But for ourselves, we simply find that our hearts are led farther and farther from these things so that our desire is the simply proclaimed and administered means of God’s grace within His holy family gathering, a.k.a., the Church.

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Living Faith

Today I visited a blog that I occasionally read because reading the posts there often moves me to dig more deeply into what the Spirit has given us in His blessed doctrine in His Holy Scriptures.  The blogger very often says much that sounds right, because parts of the truth are presented.  Yet these things only sound right to those who do not listen for the truth as a whole.  The truth cannot be broken apart with only part of the truth being embraced and told.  If this is done, what is told is not the truth, but only part of the truth.  The statements made are true insofar as they reach, but without the rest of the truth these true statements are false.  The various articles of the truth cannot stand alone.

I share this not as an attack upon anyone, but so as to remind us all that this false premise that the truth can be in any way truncated is truly a false premise that causes us to cling to a faith that is powerless to save us.  This false premise manifests itself in the ways that we express ourselves concerning the faith and life as Christians.

In We are Christians not Faith-ians the blogger attempts to address a very serious faux pas or false step among those who profess to be Christians.  The issue that Pr. McCain attempts to address is truly a serious issue.  It is good that he and others recognize this and desire to correct the misstep.

However, if one is careful in reading this post, one observes that the true problem is not really addressed. McCain’s concern is the misunderstanding of what it is that makes one a Christian and gives absolute assurance of one’s salvation and security in that salvation.  This is a valid concern.  He makes some valid points regarding this concern.  He attempts to direct his readers to the true definition of the faith in which true believers have their hope.

He makes a very valid point when he says:

Do not confuse faith in faith, with trust in Christ. There is a key difference.

What he is expressing is that the individual’s personal faith is not the faith that regenerates the person into the kingdom of God.  A common way in which this faux pas is expressed by those who profess to be believers is to call this “personal faith in Christ as one’s personal Savior.”  If one pays attention, the problem with this becomes “self” evident.

In this regard, consider this question:

Does a person who believes tell oneself,
“I must believe”?

McCain writes: “Never look to your subjective feeling that there is faith in your heart.”  And again he says:

Salvation rests on objective realities that have absolutely nothing to do with feelings or emotions. Faith is merely and only the receiving hand God gives us and into which He pours His good gifts, it is not the cause of our salvation.

We are Christians, not Faith-ians.

His warning against the feeling that people mislabel as faith is certainly correct.  But does that really get to the issue?

He says that faith is not the cause of our salvation.

How then will one respond to those who object to this quoting the Lord Jesus saying: “Your faith has saved you”?  How will one respond to the many “by faith” passages in the New Testament Scriptures, especially in the epistles of St. Paul?  For example, how many times does St. Paul write that we are justified by faith?  Actually, he writes “out of faith.”  Does this not call to remembrance what the Lord Jesus teaches Nicodemus concerning Baptism in John 3 and what St. Peter declares in 1 Peter 3?

Can we really say that faith is not the cause of one’s salvation?

Is this really even the issue?  Could it be that the real issue is one of a false definition of faith being embraced?  Could it not be that the real issue is what is taught by the author to the Hebrews?
 

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.  (Hebrews 12:2)

Is not the real issue the one whom we count as the worker of faith for us?  Is it not true that the problem is not really that we count faith as the cause of our salvation, but really that we only give lip service to counting God and His means of grace as the cause of our faith?  Additionally, is the problem not also that we look to our personal faith rather than the faith of Jesus in which all true Christians have their being?

St. Paul writes: “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”  (Romans 1:17) This is a quote from Habakkuk 2:4,

Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.

The Septuagint translation gives an interesting insight as one observes how they translated this text:

If he should draw back, my soul has no pleasure in him: but the just shall live by my faith.

With Hebrews12:2 in mind, does this not bring clarification to the issue under consideration?

Does this not bring to the fore that the real issue is not whether we are Faith-ians, but rather, whose Faith in which are -ians?

When a person understands the life of being a Christian from this perspective, it changes the person’s entire understanding of life as a Christian.

It is notable that McCain does not even mention the means of grace in this article.  Some of those who commented mentioned them, but this seems not to be what McCain had in his mind as he wrote this.

Perhaps this is because the means of grace are not regularly thought of by people as the means of faith.  It is common, especially among those who call themselves Lutherans, to speak of faith as God’s gift and the work of the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Gospel and through the Sacraments, but then to look away from them as if what has been said is not what really matters.  A powerful example of this is the way that 1 Corinthians 11:28 is misapplied concerning the Sacrament of the body and blood of the Lord.  This misunderstanding and misapplication leads to people and entire churches counting one’s personal faith as the cause of worthiness for coming to the table of forgiveness and life in God’s kingdom.

But the apostle is teaching the opposite.  He is teaching that a man, as the head of his wife and household should examine himself, that is, his household, to be certain that they recognize their need for the body and blood of their Lord so as to be moved by the faith that He has worked in them to come to the table, and that this man also examine himself to be certain that the table to which he brings his family is truly the table of the Lord and not a table of adulteration of the Sacrament.

When people share in this understanding, what is taught is that each head of each household should be instructed and reminded to look back with his entire household daily to the promises made in their baptism, that is, God’s promises made in their baptism.  Looking back to one’s baptism causes one to realize that being a Christian is not the product of one’s faith, but rather one’s faith is the produce of being remade to be a Christian.  Perhaps this point should be repeated.

Looking back to one’s baptism causes one to realize that being a Christian is not the product of one’s faith, but rather one’s faith is the produce of being remade to be a Christian.

This realization then moves the person to rise up from the false reliance upon one’s own faith so as to approach the Table of the Lord’s Remembrance, where he remembers whom He has made us to be and with His body unites us with Him in His remembrance and renews us again in the forgiveness and life in His blood.

This is how God works His grace in us and for us, which we perceive through the faith that He engenders in us.  Then we simply say “Amen” to what He has done, as He continually gives and teaches it to us anew through His means of grace so that we do remember that He is the Father and we are the needy children.  Then we rejoice in the doctrine that St. Paul very carefully sets before us:

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

    For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:  it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.  (Ephesians 2:4-10)

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Do You Honestly Believe God?

Is your God a liar?

     If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.  (1 John 1:8-10)

Do you profess to be a Christian?  Do you confess to believe in Christ as your Savior?

Is your sin big enough to need a savior?  Or do you just need a little help?  Are you just needing a push in the right direction?

Those who truly look to Christ as their Savior do not have any little sins.

For example, the sin of praying is taken very seriously by one who truly trusts in Christ.

Do you understand what this means?  Do you understand why your praying is sinful?

According to this passage from John’s letter to those whom he identifies as his little children in the faith, if you imagine that your prayers are without sin, you deceive yourself and call God a liar.

Consider when you pray.  Let’s take the prayer that the Lord Jesus gave us to pray.  When you pray the Our Father, does your mind wander?

Do you pray this prayer perfectly with absolute and undivided attention to the Lord?

If you say that you do, then don’t even bother reading any farther.

But if you answer honestly, then this passage from the Scriptures will be received with great joy and thanksgiving in your heart, soul, and mind.

If you realize that even your best efforts at prayer and worship fall short and are of their own merit nothing but idolatry, then these words recorded by St. John will be wonderful words to you.  For these words are written for real sinners, of whom Isaiah and St. Paul declare that all of our righteousnesses are as bloody rags, corrupt and to be burned forever.  If your best deeds are such, then you will hear what the Holy Spirit is revealing in this text.

Here the grace of God is declared for us all to hear, that God, the faithful and just one, will forgive us our sins when we honestly acknowledge them so that we confess them.

It is a very sad matter that this text is usually proclaimed as though it were a cause and effect scenario, as though God forgives us because we confess our sins.  Most people hear this as though we must confess our sins in order for God to be willing to forgive us.  Most preachers proclaim this as though God forgives us because we humble ourselves and confess our sins.

The truth is far more wonderful!

The truth is that we confess our sins because God forgives us.  We confess our sins because God has declared us to be forgiven in Christ.  Thus, when we hear this wonderful good news and are converted by the Holy Spirit so that we believe it, we no longer are afraid to come to God.  Instead, we now acknowledge God’s forgiveness in Christ and come to God through Christ, confessing that we need to hear His holy absolution.  We hurt because of the knowledge of our sinfulness and we confess this to God who readily and lovingly declares to us yet again, “Yes, My Son has taken your sins so that they are no longer accounted to you.  Your sins have all been forgiven you even from eternity.  Go forth in the blessedness of this forgiveness.”

The Gospel teaches us that in Christ our sins are forgiven.  When we hear this, when we truly hear this, our hearts are changed.  We are regenerated from unbelievers to believers.  When we believe God, we cannot call Him a liar.  When we believe God and His gracious declaration in connection with Christ, we want to be baptized into Christ and to be made to be partakers of this Holy Communion of God in the body of Christ.  The Gospel works this in us.  Then we see that of our own thoughts, words, and deeds, we sin against God continually.  Knowing this, we come and confess our sins so that we can hear Him say again and again and again, “I forgive you.”

We need to hear this.  This is how God sets us free.  We come to Him with hearts burdened with sin and He divorces us of our sins.  He sends our sins away from us.

As we hear the truth concerning Jesus, we believe what He has accomplished for us.  Our natural response is to confess our need for His forgiveness.  His response is to declare it to us as often as we need to hear it.

God does not demand that if we want to be forgiven we must confess our sins.  Rather, He promises that when we confess our sins we will actually hear His forgiveness.

God promises that His forgiveness is purely by grace through faith.  If we insist that we must somehow make ourselves worthy first by believing or by inviting Him into our hearts or by confessing our sins, or by examining ourselves, or by anything else, we call Him a liar.  This is the opposite of believing Him.  This cuts us off from receiving His forgiveness.  This is not because He refuses to grant it, but because we refuse to receive it as it must be received, by grace, through faith, as an absolute gift, purchased and won for us by Christ and made available to us in Christ.

This knowledge of God’s honest proclamation of grace through faith is cause for everlasting thanksgiving or Eucharisting, which in essence is the very life of the Church.

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Faith Is . . . the Evidence of Things Not Seen

     In my ponderings and prayers this day, as I wrestled with God over matters of what He has declared and how these declarations are to be rightly understood, something quite wonderful became clear.

     The things over which I pondered and pressed the Lord for answers were not new for me.  I have wrestled with these matters many times, and perhaps even continually.  It is not as though the Lord has not spoken clearly concerning these matters, but in a fallen world where I continually am bombarded with the weaknesses of the flesh and the sinful nature, accepting what I know to be true is impossible without the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit.  And so, I ask.

     The answers are always given in the same way.  The Holy Spirit directs my spirit, heart, mind, and soul to various Scriptures that provide the answers.  My response when I hear is, “Oh.  Of course.”

     The ongoing thoughts and questions that were on my heart again today are with regard to the clear statements concerning the true Church being the saints who are gathered to the pure Word and Sacraments, while yet I daily encounter people not of the true Church according to this Scriptural definition who nevertheless seem to be displaying genuine desire to be near to God and to know Him, truly expressing evidences of faith in Him, or at least the evidences of faith being worked in them.

     My ceaseless desire and concern is that all people hear the Truth so that they may have the true Faith generated in them and receive the manifold blessings that God desires for them to receive and enjoy.  This most especially includes being made to be members of God’s Holy Communion and heirs of everlasting life through the forgiveness of sins and the generation of the new creation within.

     As I pondered God’s clearly expressed desire that all men be saved, the vastness of His grace was yet again in my mind.  I was reminded of the fact that people are saved by God’s grace and not by their believing.  I remembered that God’s grace is that which works salvation and that faith is the gift by which His grace is known and seen.  Suddenly the clarity shone forth as I said:

     Grace is what works the salvation and faith is the evidence of that grace at work.

     This was the “Ah ha!” moment.  This was when I thought: “Of course!”

     “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  (Hebrews 11:1)

     No one can see God’s grace.  We can only see what it works.  Faith is the evidence of the unseen grace of God.  Faith is the substance that grace produces.  While we cannot see God’s grace, we can see the effects of His grace.  Faith is the evidence of things not seen.  When a person is regenerated so that an unbeliever is reborn as a believer, we see that God’s grace has worked a mighty miracle.  God’s grace changes the heart so that faith is born in it and that person’s heart is made anew.  The entire person is changed.

     What the person does after this determines whether or not the person continues in God’s grace, or turns again to one’s own reason and strength. The Church is the gathering of the regenerated who continue in God’s grace, heeding the Holy Spirit’s tireless urgings to be gathered as one to the pure Word and Sacraments.  In this Church God’s grace is poured out continually through the means of grace and the saints are preserved in the one true faith forevermore.

     The Lord Jesus shared the parable of the Sower who broadcasts His Seed everywhere, letting it fall in every place.  Some Seed falls on good soil and grows and flourishes.  This is the true Church, the body of Christ, where those who receive the Word are nurtured and preserved.

     Everyplace else the Seed is trampled or gobbled up or choked out or dies.

     This is why Christ and His apostles preached so sternly regarding the necessity of pure doctrine and practice in the Church, even saying that those who oppose it must be informed that they have excluded themselves.  Those who would change the preaching of God’s pure grace back into the preaching of meriting grace through works of any kind, even the falsely imagined good work of believing, have rejected God’s grace, which is the one and only cause of salvation.

     This cannot be tolerated.  Love will not allow it.

     Faith is not something that a person does for oneself.  It is not a work of the believer.  Faith is the evidence of God’s grace worked by Him through His ordained means.

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Troubling News

This week has been one of dealing with troubling news.  In addition to the ongoing advancement of the march against our freedom as Americans, some very personal troubling news surfaced and became prominent for us.  My mother called on Friday morning a week ago to share the news that my sister-in-law had been found dead sometime in the latter part of the previous day.  At that time Mom had very little information beyond that my sister-in-law, Kimberly, had been found dead between 4 and 8 pm Thursday.

The news was relayed to Mom by my brother-in-law, who had received it from Kimberly’s live-in boyfriend.  As more information became available we learned that the boyfriend was the one who found her dead on the floor.

Such news comes hard and is deeply distressing and heart wrenching, even though it was not entirely unanticipated.  Kim’s death did not occur without warning.

Sadly there is a long period of serious dysfunction in our family.  While most of the family disagrees with me, this dysfunction is the direct result of the disintegration of the identity and integrity of the Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod and the family’s refusal to acknowledge and flee the pernicious changes in doctrine and practice.  Little by little, the family was changed by their communion in this ever-changing communion.  The unity and stability that was once enjoyed by all in the family was eroded until only chaos and dysfunction and animosity and confusion remained.

Personal dysfunction ensued.  Things became very, very troubled in the family.

This dysfunction extended to Kimberly so that she eventually left my brother, taking the children, filing for divorce, and many other hard actions.  Many painful court actions continued throughout this drawn out ordeal.  Much more destruction of family relations grew.

Within the first week of this action, Kimberly asked me to be her friend on Facebook.  Since this was my only means of contact I tried to express both support of her in her struggle, but also warned her of the destruction that she was bringing upon herself and her family.  I urged seeking answers together in the Lord.  Sadly, she immediately removed me as one her Facebook friends.  It would be almost three years before I would again have opportunity to have contact with her.

Kim began using and abusing drugs.  She was arrested several times for drugs and for stealing.  She failed to appear in court regarding those issues and regarding the divorce proceedings that she initiated and pursued and was found and arrested and held without bail.  Since her parents reportedly had lost hope for her, she was now very much alone.  She had abandoned some time earlier her children, whom the court had returned to my brother’s custody.

Having learned that Kim was now in jail, I called the facility to learn the proper address and mailing information and began writing to her to remind her that we still loved her and desired the peace of the Lord to be hers.  During this time I wrote several times and sent two sermons, but without any response from her.  I continually expressed our love for her and especially God’s love and forgiveness for whatever things were on her heart.  Having shared the mailing information with my mom, she also wrote to her with assurances of ongoing love.

After her death, her boyfriend called my mom and told her that Kim had received the letters but wondered whether we could be sincere in expressing love for her.

I have spent many hours over the past week in phone conversations with my mom and brother, and briefly with my nephew and niece.  It has been a very hard time for them all, and for Kim’s side of the family as well.  Much painful injury has occurred.

Sadly, this sort of story is not at all uncommon in our society today.  In fact, such unrest and dysfunction and disintegration of family is counted as quite common.

Growing up I never imagined such to be possible in my family.  We lived together in the clear and confident confession of the one true faith.  We found solace and reconciliation in the Lord’s forgiveness and Communion.  The grace, mercy, and peace of God in Christ was the foundation of our life together.  We knew and believed that all of our shortcomings and failures and wrongdoings were washed away in our baptisms and that in the Holy Communion the Lord restored His life of true unity to us.  While our sinfulness certainly was a daily issue for us, we nevertheless were safe in the Holy Communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and the communion of the saints created and maintained in communion with them.

We watched in dismay as other families, even portions of our extended family, tore themselves to pieces.  But we never imagined such to be what we would ever experience.

Sadly, a very beautiful member of our family suffered greatly in her heart and mind and life until her body finally succumbed to the stresses that overpowered her.

Her obituary and picture can be seen here.

It really says nothing at all about her.  She really was a very lovely woman and a treasure to us all.  Now we are left mostly with questions and the need for healing.  Her children especially are left with many questions, questions that they will have to accept as unanswerable.  But they rejoice to be united again with their father in his loving care.

My main point in sharing this is that in Christ such sad and disheartening things are washed away so that true unity and joy and comfort and peace and stability are restored to us both as individuals and families, and yes, even as communities and societies.  The disintegration that we observe around us matches the disintegration of the churches.  When the churches stood as one in the one true faith, true concord and harmony were the observed way.  This is clearly demonstrated by the accounting given by Luke in the book of Acts.  As long as the preaching of the cross was embraced without adulteration and Baptism and the Holy Communion were administered without alteration from what the Lord instituted, God’s peace that surpasses all understanding was enjoyed by all.  But wherever human understanding was pursued in place of the faith worked through the ordained means of grace, the peace of God is lost through the ensuing disintegration of our own heresies (opinions and interpretations).

My family is facing a great loss, both through the death of our dear Kimberly, and through the death of our family.  Our family died quite some time before this death extended to Kimberly personally.  But Kimberly was baptized into the name of the Lord and His holiness and the Holy Spirit was poured out to her in accord with God’s promise concerning Baptism.  Thus we have hope that she was yet kept safe in God’s grace by His never ending mercy.

Moreover, there is yet hope for the family and for all of the families of the earth.  God’s Church on earth is still standing, even if found in the gathering of two or three to the pure means of grace.  God’s pure Word and Sacraments are the hope of the world, as He comes to us and gives Himself to us and with Himself, all of the blessings of heaven and everlasting life.  While the church bodies refuse to repent and be turned back again to the one true way, the Church continues to be gathered by the Holy Spirit and kept together with Jesus Christ in His one true faith.

This is truly good news or Gospel.  This is the true hope for the world.  This is where true peace and concord are found and enjoyed.  Through this families are restored, no matter how badly they have been shattered.  Through this communities are brought together to rejoice in God’s goodness.  No matter what else occurs around us, the Lord is faithful to His promises and He does work His miracles for us through His Church on earth and the means ordained for her use and administration to her children.  Through this, troubling news is transformed to truly good news of peace and hope and joy.

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TGIF - Weekends

Last night my wife sent me to Walmart to purchase some household ammonia. As I waited in the checkout line I conversed with the lady ahead of me about a couple of things. I talk with almost anyone who is willing to converse.

After paying for my purchase I told the cashier “Have a good evening.” She responded, “Have a good weekend.”

I was a bit surprised. I realized that I don’t really think in terms of weekends. The common expression of “Thank God it’s Friday!” really means nothing to me beyond the everlasting blessing of Good Friday.

I am self employed, so Saturday is just another day. Sunday I prepare and preach and conduct the divine service.

This is not a good way to live. Wives and mothers often live this way, too. For many wives and mothers a day of rest only comes when they become too sick to get out of bed.

This is why the Lord established the Third Commandment: “Thou shalt remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy.” While that commandment was given in accord with the Old Testament, what it instructs us certainly still applies in accord with the New Testament. We still need a day of rest in the holy communion of the Lord.

What the Lord declares in the Ten Commandments is given for our good. He knows how He has made us and what we need. Without a time of rest we do not function well. That is why He Himself set the example, as our loving Father, ending all His work of creation and resting on the Seventh Day.

He truly is our loving Father. His commandments are given not to restrict us but to set us free from the bondage that we choose for ourselves. All of His commandments are given to set our hearts and minds free by restoring our thoughts and desires in accord with His holiness and His good and gracious will. Truly the Lord is good and His mercy endures forever!

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Leaning on Emotions

This evening I heard on the radio a song/hymn and its authors being praised. The song is “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.” It has as a Scriptural basis: “The eternal God is your Refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Deuteronomy 33:27

The song turns my stomach. I’ve heard it in a couple of movies before. It causes me to realize why so many people think that Christians are emotional boobs.

This song, while promoted as Gospel and comfort is 100 percent Law, without a word of the Gospel even suggested. I won’t post it here, but if you want to examine it, click here. But be warned, the music plays and it is the kind of sickly tune that refuses to leave one’s head.

The Gospel is not empty emotionalism. The Gospel tells us where this eternal God is found and how He is available. The Gospel tells us of the means of grace, through which this merciful God fills the emptiness that we feel.

This song purportedly was written to give comfort to two men whose wives died and left them grieving. If the text from Deuteronomy had actually been applied as it stands written, it would have been comfort of the greatest kind, rather than teaching that people should lean emotionally on imaginary arms that do nothing and cannot be felt or seen except as fantasy.

The text of Deuteronomy 33:27 is one portion of the great blessing that Moses pronounced upon the people of God to carry them forward in faith as they entered into the land of promise, the land where they would live in the safety of the true worship established by the Lord until the promised Seed would be born of woman to save them and all the world from sin and all of the consequences of sin, most especially everlasting death. Such words of blessing provide real and substantial comfort.

The entire Thirty-third chapter should be read and pondered, but even the last four verses are marvelous:

     There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky. The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them. Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew. Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places. (Deuteronomy 33:26-29)

These arms do not require one to lean upon them. They actually go before and defeat the enemy who would destroy through deception and false worship. These arms prepare the way for God’s people to sojourn in safety. And these last verses, spoken specifically to the tribe of Asher, are given in connection with the entire communion of the people of God. Special words are spoken to each tribe regarding their portion in the promised inheritance that would keep them united until the Messiah would come. It is all based upon the Lord’s faithfulness as it was displayed in delivering the people from their bondage in Egypt and in the giving of the Torah or Law upon Mount Sinai.

The patriarchs died in the comfort of these promises. In remembrance of these promises the Lord brought the people out of their bondage and to this land of promise. He provided for them through their journey, even after they disobeyed. He brought them safely to the border of the new land and now Moses proclaimed to them these final words of blessing. After leading them for forty years, he now blessed them one final time to prepare them for the new life that awaited them.

The centuries of waiting have been fulfilled. The promised King and Savior has come. He has gone forth and has carried our troubles and infirmities in His own body. He has faced death for us and has risen victorious over sin and death and the devil. He has ascended to the throne of God and rules on our behalf. And He has given us not only words to comfort us, but He has given us the Sacrament of water and Spirit through which He lifts us up from our sin death and joins us into His everlasting kingdom. He has given us the Sacrament of His body and blood through which He actually comes to us and gives us Himself to strengthen us and keep us united in Him throughout all our days and even unto everlasting life. When we face the death of our loved ones who have been washed into His Holy Communion of blessedness and life, we need not imagine some fictitious arms on which to lean in our minds, for we know that our loved ones are safe with Him and that we remain in His protection in His body, the Church, until our time of blessed departure comes.

Don’t sing any hyped up emotional nonsense to me. Give me the solid Law and Gospel by which I will stand unmoved upon the Rock. Sing to me “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” and “The Church’s One Foundation” and “I Know that My Redeemer Lives”! Sing to me “The Kyrie Eleison” and “The Sanctus” and “The Agnus Dei” and “The Nunc Dimittis”! Then I shall be truly comforted and you will have shown yourself a true friend.

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