The Annoying vs the Annoyed

In a recent conversation with a very dear friend, he shared as he has several previous times, that he enjoys cold weather.

I responded, jokingly saying, “People like you are annoying.”

Later I reflected upon this realizing that I had spoken thoughtlessly and unlovingly.  As I continued reflecting upon this as I worked in the cold yesterday, I thought that he would have been entirely justified in saying, “Perhaps, but maybe you are just annoyed.”

And that is the absolute truth.  He was not annoying.  I was just annoyed.

Why should I be annoyed by another person’s statement of enjoying something that God gives in His gracious and loving providence?  Why should I be annoyed by another person’s healthy outlook concerning the weather?  What kind of a friend would act thus?

Thankfully, my friend is a true friend who does not easily become offended.  He responds with loving laughter to my thoughtless remark.  It is extremely unlikely that he even thought of it as thoughtless on my part.  In fact, he very likely examined himself in his own heart concerning whether he may have been careless himself.

Thanks be to God that He has redeemed us with His own salvific sacrifice so that He freely remits all of our sinfulness.  Thanks be to God that this forgiveness that freely flows from His heart of love also fills His children with the same so that we eagerly forgive one another. Thanks be to God for His baptismal gift of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who tirelessly works in the hearts of God’s baptismally adopted children to confront these many faults and to bring us to metanoia, often translated as repentance, but is much, much more.  Metanoia is a change or overturn or reversal of the mind.  Such a change turns selfishness to thoughtfulness and consideration of others.

In this instance, the Holy Spirit has turned my heart and mind to realize that when my friend expresses appreciation, thankfulness, and joy concerning God’s gift of cold weather, that my heart should surely join him in this.  After all, God surely does work some very good things through the cold weather.

For example, after Jack Frost first appears, how many mosquitoes and flies remain to bite us?  The frost also kills many of the insects that attack our garden and lawn plants.  The cold air tends to be crisp and clear and invigorating.  Many such examples can be quoted regarding blessings that the Lord provides along with and through the cold.

The ones who truly are annoying are those who like me tend to focus upon the perceived negative affects of the cold so that we mumble and complain against the Lord, not accounting His goodness that is displayed in all things.  By complaining against the Lord, I am the annoying one, who tempts others to ignore His plainly displayed goodness and mercy.

A person can very easily fall into the trap of imagining that such complaining is not serious.  Especially when presented in a joking manner, it is easy to ignore the deleterious nature of such comments.

I realized this regarding another dear friend from my teenage and early manhood years.  Having grown up in a family where teasing was a form of showing affection, I did not realize how powerfully damaging such teasing can be.  This is the sad fact even among those who accept teasing as a showing of affection.

One of my friends had very low self-confidence.  He had many life experiences in his childhood that left him unable to see himself clearly as the wonderful person God had made him to be.  Because of his low view of himself, he often acted without good sense.  He often viewed himself only from the weakness of his sinful and incompetent nature, not truly counting himself as the forgiven and richly blessed child that God had declared him to be.  And so he had many accidents.  He made many foolish mistakes and blunders.  We, his friends, sometimes teased him about these.  He would laugh and even tease himself.

One day I realized that I was hurting my friend with my teasing.  He never said so, but I realized that my teasing was enforcing his low view of himself and was actually robbing him of the hope of doing better and of enjoying himself for the person that God had made him to be.  When I realized this, I apologized to him and asked his forgiveness.  He did not really perceive that I had done anything wrong but gladly forgave me.  In my heart I knew and I wanted the friend whom I loved to know that I would no longer show such thoughtlessness toward him.  I also confessed this to our other friends and urged them to seek to build one another up rather than tearing one another down through teasing.

This is what our loving God does for us.  He moves us to see beyond what we imagine to be harmless and innocent so that we are turned from these things in our hearts and minds to what truly is innocent and even loving and merciful and good.  The more that we behold God’s goodness in all things, the more that we are moved to demonstrate His goodness in our own actions.

This, of course, is made possible through the ultimate display of His goodness, mercy, and love in the voluntary and loving sacrifice of Jesus, who from His eternal love for us gave Himself as our redemption price.  Moreover, He continues to give Himself to us and for us through the means of grace.  When we receive these in accord with the faith that He generates in us, we truly do begin to see ourselves as totally regenerated through water and Spirit to abide as true communicants of His Holy Communion.

What better response is there besides, “Hosanna in the Highest.  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.  Kyrie eleison.  Hallelujah!  Amen!”

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Hosanna = save now
Kyrie eleison = Lord have mercy
Hallelujah = Praise Yahweh (the Lord)

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Police State & Totalitarianism

It would seem that most people still believe that America is the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Is there reason for anyone to reconsider this belief?  Is there any evidence that the Constitution of the United States no longer is the law of the land and that other laws have superceded the Constitution so that police and military now rule with absolute control?

In October of 2001 Congress passed and George W. Bush signed into law the "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT) Act of 2001," also known as the USA Patriot Act.  It is available at many places but here is an official site: USA PATRIOT Act.

Along side of this the so-called government also established other so-called responses for the need to “protect” us from terrorism, such as the Homeland Security and TSA.

Last year the global elite of Congress passed The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2012.  It was signed into law on December 31, 2011, by President Barack Obama.

In March Obama issued and signed Executive Order 13603 -- National Defense Resources Preparedness, in which he calls upon and extends what this Act previously declared.

Are the people of America and the world paying attention to what these say and effect?

Perhaps more terrifying than even what these things say and establish and do is the fact that most people are willing to accept them without even questioning their validity, necessity, and constitutionality.

I myself have not flown since 2006 when my father was dying.  But at that time I was not allowed to pass the security checkpoint because I had these:




I was told that I would have to surrender them to my so-called protectors to be stolen from me.  I refused and was made to return to the airline desk and have my luggage retrieved so as to place the items in my luggage, which I had to leave unsecured (unlocked).  This, even though they x-ray scan all of the luggage and clearly see all that is inside.  Protection?  From whom?

Those who regularly fly are aware that things have become much worse.  How can any reasonable person with functional mental capacity allow this to be called proper?  How can anyone actually believe that this is honoring our constitutionally guaranteed liberty?

This past week I was required to go to the city hall to pay a bill because the bureaucrats have complicated this process to such a point that they cannot keep the procedure straight amongst themselves and we, the citizens, have to pick up their messes and correct them.  In years past this was a fairly simple matter.  But today one must subject oneself to the same fraudulent security molestations as at the airport.  Even after their procedures that included taking off my belt, then I was told that I would have to sign over my keys and sign for them again when I would leave.

Why was this required?  Because I had this on my keychain:



Half a dozen armed police officers were present in the entrance lobby alone and this is counted as a threatening weapon?  What real threat would such a tiny tool pose?

After obtaining my paperwork and receipt, and after signing to have my vicious weapon returned to me, I asked the very sweet Barbie doll with a gun why she thinks that treating honest citizens this way is OK.  I don’t call her this disrespectfully, but to demonstrate the ludicrous nature of this matter.  I am a working man of almost 220 lbs.  She is a lovely young lady of possibly 120 but more likely 110 lbs.  I have sufficient strength that I regularly tear tree limbs apart the size of her arms.  When I hug wife of the same size as this woman, I must be mindful to be careful so that I don’t break her ribs.  What on earth would I do to a person with a little key tool barely sharp enough to cut string?  How can she or anyone else imagine that this is in anyway related to protecting us?

Like most people, I have never hurt anyone in my life.  I have never been arrested.  I have never caused trouble.  Yet I am treated by the police and others who have sworn to protect the Constitution and those it represents as though I were a terrorist threat.

I am a preacher of the Gospel.  I invest myself in comforting people and helping people.  I serve my neighbors.  I help the homeless when I can.  I feed hungry people.  I give people a ride to the doctor and hospital.  I work hard to earn a living and to serve others.

This is the way of the vast majority of the citizenry.  Why should ordinary and law abiding and peaceful citizens be subjected to such disgraceful and wicked treatment?

Why are the people not demanding that this stop?

Why are the people imposing this upon us reelected?

When I took the paperwork to the inspection site for my truck, my receipt was taken from me until I would return with the trailer that also needed to be “inspected.”  I asked that my receipt be returned to me so that I would have proof of my payment.  They curtly refused.  I demanded my receipt before leaving and was told that then I would not be leaving.  The police told me that they were just people on the front line doing what they were told.  I asked whether this would include shooting me if they were told to do so.  The police puffed up their chests and told me to move along.  When I asked what violation I would be charged with they told me that I had better do as I was told.  The fact is that they helped the others steal my property, yet I was threatened with being arrested.

Was my question ridiculous?

Consider one incident in Saginaw, Michigan.

The report and video are at Man killed by cops, shot 30+ times.

The report begins, saying, “Three days before Independence Day, Milton Hall died in a fusillade of police gunfire outside a strip mall.”

The actual number of shots was 46.

If you watch the video, be aware that it shows the full scene.  The man is gunned down in full view.

The man was known to have emotional issues.  He was upset and belligerent.  He says that he actually called the police because he wanted to voice his frustration.  He had a knife.

The police were six in number.  They had an attack dog, guns, and presumably batons and tasers.

When Mr. Hall began moving his knife was not raised.

The dog was not released.  Batons were not drawn.  Tasers were not drawn.  Guns were drawn and fired.  The man stops in his tracks.  The guns continued to fire.  The man fell down.  The guns continued to fire.  The man lay motionless on the ground and at least 8 more shots were fired.

This is a very extreme example but it is not an isolated incident.

Do the people have cause for concern?

Mr. Hall had a knife.  He had a previous altercation with a store owner where apparently no violence occurred and Mr. Hall left.  During his agitated conversation with the police no apparent attempt was made by the police to ask why he had called them.  They only threatened him.  He stood in the middle of a parking lot far from anyone whom he could harm.  The attack dog could easily have been used to subdue him at least long enough to taser him or tackle him.

At the time of his killing, this man was not a threat to anyone.

What action prompted this barrage of gunfire?

He said “NO!” to the police.  He had a history of saying “no” to the police.  He had a history of being a nuisance.

They shot him 46 times without attempting any other measure.

Was the man who made this video in danger from Mr. Hall?  Were the people driving by in danger from Mr. Hall?  Were other passers-by in danger from Mr. Hall?  Was the store owner in danger from Mr. Hall?  Were the police in genuine danger from Mr. Hall?  Were the little birdies nearby in danger from Mr. Hall?

Yet Mr. Hall was shot 46 times to protect us.

Should not people with a conscience be troubled by this to the point of calling for a change other than what Bush and Obama have brought upon us? Should we not be outraged that such a man as Mr. Hall can be gunned down as he was?

This man needed help.  Instead he was shot.  He was shot 46 times!

What does this say about the attitude of the police?

He was not shot in the leg or shoulder to stop him.  After he was immobilized they continued shooting and shooting.

Over the Trayvon Martin shooting, where he actually attacked a man and was shot and killed in the altercation, Obama joined in.  Did he say anything about this man who was shot 46 times?  Where is the outrage by those who caused so much turmoil regarding Trayvon’s killing?

It apparently is acceptable for the police and the military and the CIA and Homeland Security and the TSA to abuse and molest and even to kill.

Meanwhile, the big bankers are getting rich, foreclosing on homes of people who have lost their jobs that the big bankers have moved to China.  More and more people are being forced to become homeless and destitute.  Our water is being poisoned with fluoride.  Our food is being poisoned with glutamates, aspartic acid, fluoride, and pesticides.  Our air is being sprayed with toxins.  Drugs are being pushed as the answer to every problem.  Health care is being confiscated by the government.  And working people who carry a pocket knife and mothers who carry a finger nail clipper are treated as terrorist threats to society.

Yet people are not concerned.  When asked, Mitt Romney says that he approves of the NDAA, TSA, HS, Patriot Act, invading other countries in the name of a war against terrorism, of the TARP bailouts and the stimulus money.  Yet some people imagine that voting for such a man is voting for change.

Ultimately, this is to be expected.  People have not changed.  Adam listened to his wife who listened to the serpent.  Then, when confronted by the Lord they began the blaming game.  Cain killed his brother.  Wars have raged ever since.  Nations rise up against each other.  Neighbors envy one another’s possessions and spouses and then act according to their lusts.  It has been this way since sin came into the world.  Freedom from fear cannot be found.

It can only be received.  Perfect love casts out all fear.  Perfect love is from above.  It is given freely, but it is received through means.  The Lord has established those means to be utilized and administered within His Church.

He has forewarned that as the last days approach that things would become more intense and worsen.  He said that we should remember that He has told us of these things beforehand so that when we see them and suffer them that we take comfort in His promises.  He says that these are all signs that the end of this evil age is approaching.  He says that these are signs that the evil one is raging on account of knowing the limits of his time.  He says that we should look up and see that our redemption draws nigh.  Our trust, our hope, is not in princes and rulers, presidents and congresses, judges and courts, doctors and hospitals, police and military.  Those will all surely fail us and even abuse us.  But the Lord deals with us in grace offering us His merciful goodness and love.

For whom do I write this?  I suppose that first and foremost I write for myself and my wife.  I also write for all others, but I myself need to hear and believe God’s promises in Christ.  I need that comfort and assurance.  I need to be renewed in the knowledge that this world is not all that there is and that the evils of this world and of the worldly shall not prevail.  The many abuses can be endured.  The many hurts can be suffered without being overcome.  For the just shall live by His faith, and through Him we are saved and kept safe forevermore.

Not everyone will hear this and believe it.  But for me and my house, I repeat it again and again and again until we finally behold the fulfillment of all of God’s promises.  And for anyone who sees the peace of God that rules our hearts in the face of all that is happening in the world, I share the source of that peace so that they may enjoy it for themselves as well.

Luther sums this up very powerfully in the last stanza of his marvelous hymn:

1.     A mighty Fortress is our God,
     A trusty Shield and Weapon;
     He helps us free from every need
     That hath us now o'ertaken.
     The old evil Foe
     Now means deadly woe;
     Deep guile and great might
     Are his dread arms in fight;
     On Earth is not his equal.



2.     With might of ours can naught be done,
     Soon were our loss effected;
     But for us fights the Valiant One,
     Whom God Himself elected.
     Ask ye, Who is this?
     Jesus Christ it is.
     Of Sabaoth Lord,
     And there's none other God;
     He holds the field forever.



3.     Though devils all the world should fill,
     All eager to devour us.
     We tremble not, we fear no ill,
     They shall not overpower us.
     This world's prince may still
     Scowl fierce as he will,
     He can harm us none,
     He's judged; the deed is done;
     One little word can fell him.



4.     The Word they still shall let remain
     Nor any thanks have for it;
     He's by our side upon the plain
     With His good gifts and Spirit.
     And take they our life,
     Goods, fame, child and wife,
     Let these all be gone,
     They yet have nothing won;
     The Kingdom ours remaineth.

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In My Father’s House

This week my wife and I were discussing the comfort of the promise that the Lord has a mansion awaiting us. As this age grows darker and more insecure, this blessed promise is very much on our hearts and minds.

The Lord Jesus gave this wonderful promise of assurance on the night of His betrayal, as He was preparing His disciples for the horrible things that they would soon witness, the things that would make this promise effective.

     In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:2-3)

My wife asked me whether we will really have a mansion. “I don’t really want a mansion,” she said, “just a place to stay.”

In verse 2 the Lord Jesus actually employs three different words for what is reserved for us. His actual words as John records them are:

     In the house (oikia) of the Father of Me abodes (monai) many are. But if not, I would have told you. I journey to prepare a place (topon) for you-all.”

The Father’s house or household is established. God knows His own. He knows from eternity. In His household He has residences for all of His beloved children. No one has been forgotten. Jesus assures His disciples of this as He journeys onward to the public condemnation and rejection of mankind and to the torturous scourging and death of the cross and finally to the grave. This is the means by which they and all who look to Him in faith receive the guarantee of a place together with Him in the Father’s household. He resolutely looked to this throughout His life. He continually proclaimed this to His disciples. Now, they would see the fulfillment of all of the promises and prophecies of the Scriptures, but would not understand until after the resurrection. What they were about to witness would crush their spirits and drive all hope from their hearts, except for these words of promise. Apart from this assurance, they would not understand the words of Jesus on the cross as He would cry out in our place with the blindness of our sin, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

These words are our false perception that we have inherited from Adam on account of sin. Just as Adam falsely imagined that the Lord had forsaken him on account of his guilty and filthy conscience, so we stand imagining that God has forsaken us. But even in that moment of being made to be sin for us, even in that moment when evil moved in so powerfully and fully that the very sun was darkened, even in that moment as the Son of Man cried out with our accursedness, still the Father looked on in merciful love and comforted His Son and through Him comforted all of mankind with the assurance that He has not abandoned us. It is only our refusal to trust Him that separates us from Him.

This is why the author to the Hebrews writes:

     So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec. (Hebrews 5:5-10)

Christ Jesus was saved from death. Though He took our place and was crucified as a condemned sinner in our stead, though He was rejected by mankind and tortured and killed, though our sin stood between Him and the Father, nevertheless the Father remained with Him even as they are truly one from eternity. Though Christ died for us according to the flesh, He was nevertheless preserved from death by His union with the Father. And so, on the third day He raised Himself bodily from the dead so as to ascend bodily to the Father and take our flesh to the very throne of God to rule on our behalf as both God and Man forevermore.

This is why St. Paul writes to the Colossians:

     If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4)

Yes, by His suffering, death, and burial Christ has secured for us our place together with Him in His everlasting kingdom, the household of the Father, in which there exists an abundance of residences for all of His children. By His resurrection and ascension Christ has given us the assurance of our place with Him even as through our baptism we have been joined with Him as everlasting communicants of His Holy Communion.

As I explained to my wife, a baby is perfectly content to sleep in a dresser drawer, if that baby abides in the parents’ love. A little child is perfectly happy to share a room and even a bed with multiple siblings, if that child knows that the household is one in which abides the assurance of love. This is the promise given to us by our Lord Jesus. We are loved and we shall forevermore dwell in the security of that love. Our place has been prepared and awaits us after all that must transpire in the current age has come to pass. For now we live in that blessed hope, reminded of the Lord’s merciful patience that moves Him to wait until the Gospel has been heard and received by every last person for whom a place has been reserved.

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Are You a Coward?

I’ve often wondered that about myself.

I’ve faced persecution. I’ve faced betrayal. I’ve faced slander. I’ve faced physical threats. I’ve faced financial hard times. I’ve faced loss of home. I’ve faced loss of income. I have faced physical injury and sickness and even surgery. I have faced the likelihood of death. I have sometimes stood in defense of others at possible peril to myself in various ways including all of the above.

Yet I have never faced the kinds of horrible persecution and imprisonment and torture that Christians in some other times and lands have faced, some even in the USA. I’ve seen movies. I’ve read historical accounts. I’ve read the Biblical accounts. And I’ve read and viewed recent accounts.

Frankly, these things make me afraid. I have often wondered whether I would be strong in such times.

I have concluded that I most certainly would not. I have concluded that I would shrink back in fear and cowardly shame, like Peter did in the courtyard as he was challenged concerning his association with Jesus. I am convinced that I, too, would deny my Lord, even with cursing. I am convinced that I, too, would take up the sword to defend myself.

However, I also know that my strength for such times will not come from within me. My strength shall not come from looking to help from the government or from a church body or from a congregation or from family or from friends.

My strength shall come from the one who is far above all of these things, who sits at the right hand of God. My strength shall come from His Holy Spirit, poured out from heaven to me in my baptism. My strength shall come from years of affirmation from hearing His Gospel and from partaking of His blessed Supper. My strength shall be the pure and unadulterated Word of God, who made Himself to be flesh for me and gave Himself for me even unto torture and execution. He boldly, courageously, lovingly, and even joyously bore all these things on my behalf and has promised to carry me through whatever trials that I shall face in my own walk through life.

And so, though I know that I would surely be a coward, I shall nevertheless stand unmoved and without fear, because I stand upon the sure foundation of His promises and have my life in Him.

Still, though, I consider myself and I fall to my knees trembling, needing to hear again and again His gracious promises. And so I pray and I eagerly look for the next offering of His Sacrament. There my life and hope and confidence are restored and again I am strong to go forth in His name.

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The Insane Lust for War and Fighting

Today I received notice of a statement made by the man who has been touted as the “crown prince” of the Tea Party movement. That title in itself causes me to recoil. But his statement is horrifying to me. He said:

“. . . the idea of a nuclear Iran is so catastrophic that there’s virtually no price too high to pay to avoid it.”

This is quoted from Rubio: No Price Too High to Avoid Nuclear Iran.

At CPAC kicks off with Marco Rubio the following is reported:

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), widely considered to be a contender for the vice presidential nomination, drew loud applause when he spoke of “the American example” and the need to spread American values globally.

“What happens if we diminish? What happens if we retreat? … That space will be filled by someone else [and] the only nations capable of filling that void are totalitarian nations like Russia and China. … the greatest thing we can do for the world is be America,” said Rubio, to thunderous applause.

This is what people are applauding? Have people completely lost their sense of what is right?

Like most of these people, Rubio purports to be a Christian. Have these people never read:

Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. (Romans 12:17-18)

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; (Hebrews 12:14-15)

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? (Matthew 5:43-46)

Love your enemies. Pray for them. Where are the prayers begging God for peace so that advancement of war would be unnecessary?

St. Paul admonishes: “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.”

Does this “crown prince” sound as though he has even the slightest desire to avoid war? When he says “. . . there’s virtually no price too high to pay . . .” is there no one who realizes what this means?

How many lives will be sacrificed? And without even trying to prevent it?

And these people imagine themselves to be listening to the Holy Spirit? These people imagine themselves to be followers of the same Lord who says, “Pray for them”?

Does no one even ask why such warmongering is being pushed by the establishment? Iran does not even have any nuclear weapons. All that has been reported is that they may be developing the capability of making such weapons.

And what is the result here in America from this frenzy of hatred? Our future prosperity is being obliterated. Our protection from abuses of our own government is being obliterated by the Patriot Act, the TSA, Homeland Security, the National Defense Authorization Act, and countless others. On and on the list grows as the people look elsewhere with hateful eyes, blinded to the destruction of our own nation and society.

Hatred and vengeance and war are powerfully destructive. They carry very high costs.

The saddest part is that those who seem to be the most hateful and vengeful and lustful for blood and war are those who make the most noise about being lovers of peace and liberty and forgiveness.

The Lord Jesus said over and over that the false ones would be known by their fruits.

If Christians spent as much time contemplating their own sinfulness and need for God’s forgiveness, grace, mercy, peace, restoration, and reconciliation as they say others have need of correction and salvation, how much time would be left for blood lust and hatred?

Sadly, when these Christians have brought judgment back upon us all so that unimaginable hard times strike the land, I know whom they will blame and upon whom they will lash out in vengeful wrath. It has been that way since Cain slew Abel. It will continue until the Lord comes again to bring such things finally to an end.

In the meantime, the Gospel is still available for all who desire to hear it and receive it. God’s means of grace still flow freely wherever even two or three have been gathered into Christ’s name. God’s love is still in the world and will be until the very end of this age. For this I only know to say, “Thanks be to God!”

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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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I Believe In . . .

The Christian Creeds, particularly the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds, clearly state “I Believe in . . .” These are credos, statements of faith.

Many people today, and in times past but even more so today, reduce these to “I believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.” They insist that this is all that really matters and that it does not matter what form this confession of faith assumes. Very often, if a person is asked to explain what the person believes and why, the simplistic “I believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, and that is what matters,” will be what is given.

Occasionally an additional “Jesus is my personal Lord and Savior,” and “My Lord lives in my heart,” will be stated rather vehemently.

OK. How does Jesus come to be a person’s personal Lord and Savior? How does He get into one’s heart?

To step back and ponder this question from another perspective may be helpful.

If a person has a dreadful infection and that person adamantly declares, “I believe in antibiotics!” does this save the person from the infection? How do the antibiotics get inside the person to do the saving from the attacking bacteria? If a physician tells the person, “You need to be injected with this antibiotic or you must take it orally in order for it to have effect,” will saying, “I believe in antibiotics and that is what matters” accomplish the same thing? Will the infectious invading organism be driven out by saying repeatedly with sincerity “I believe in antibiotics and that is what matters”?

Regarding sin and salvation from sin, the Scriptures very plainly teach that Jesus is the answer. But do the Scriptures leave it at this? Do they not give specific answers regarding how Jesus gets in to accomplish this salvation?

How is it that when St. Peter plainly says in Acts 2 that Baptism is for the forgiveness of sins and for imparting the gift of the Holy Spirit, and then says again in 1 Peter 3 that water saved Noah and his family and today we have the antitype of Baptism which now saves us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, how is it that people think that this can be ignored, or worse, rejected? When St. Paul in Titus 3 calls it the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, how is it that people think that this is not a “basic doctrine” of salvation? How is it that when Jesus explains to Nicodemus in John 3 that no one is able to enter into the kingdom of God except through water and spirit, that people insist that Baptism is not necessary and can even be rejected as a means of salvation?

The same is said regarding the Holy Supper. St. Paul warns the Corinthians that misuse of the Supper is equal to falling asleep or death. He equates the eating and drinking of the Supper with forgiveness and with communion in the body and blood of Christ. How can this be treated as anything but the very life of the Church? The Lord Jesus says:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. (John 6:53-58)

How can anyone imagine having a personal relationship with Jesus apart from the communion of His body and blood?

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are two of the ways in which the Scriptures say that Jesus comes to us and enters into our hearts and lives. The other is the preaching of the Gospel, which of course, is included in these two Sacraments.

So why do so many people imagine that these can be reduced to only hearing and believing? Is this what the Scriptures teach? Is this what Jesus says?

Many people struggle with the Scriptural decrees that say a person is saved through faith apart from works and on account of these cannot hear what the Scriptures say about this being worked through Baptism and the Lord’s Supper by the Lord Himself. Instead of hearing God declare that these are His works many people insist that these are their works.

Why is this? If the physician orders the nurse to give an antibiotic by hyper dermic injection when the patient is at the office, and then prescribes an oral form of the antibiotic to be continued throughout the course of the treatment, does the patient then say that the injection was not one’s own work of healing but that swallowing the pill or liquid is? And if in the hospital an attendant washes an infected wound and applies antiseptic to the wound, does the patient insist that by allowing this that a work has been done on the patient’s part?

Yet this is what people who reject Baptism and the Holy Supper say of them. But by saying these things, what do they say of the Holy Spirit who inspired the apostles and evangelists to record what Baptism and the Supper do?

Is it a small thing to call the Holy Spirit a liar and a fraud? Is it possible to deny the inspired doctrine that has been recorded and to have true faith in the God whose name is invoked in Baptism? Is it possible to have a personal relationship with Jesus that depends upon true faith while saying that He does not do what He promises in the Holy Supper?

How much of what Jesus and His apostles and Scriptures say does a person believe in? How much of what is recorded in black and white can be minimized and reduced and interpreted without losing it altogether? If a person has a personal relationship with Jesus as one’s personal Lord and Savior, how much of what Jesus has commanded for the discipling into His kingdom (Matthew 28) will a person ignore or reject?

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Learning to say “No” Again

A few posts below is yesterday’s post entitled Learning to say “No”. Today I will address the other side of the coin, so to speak. While it most certainly is true that the Lord is able to supply whatever is needed so that one is enabled to help one’s neighbor when the Lord leads one so to do, is there ever a time when the Lord would have a person to say “No”? Another way of asking this is: Is it ever wrong to help one’s neighbor?

While this question may sound peculiar or even absurd, the answer is actually a very powerful YES. There are times when helping one’s neighbor can be contrary to God’s will.

For example, if one’s neighbor is robbing a convenience store. It would be wrong to help the neighbor to commit this crime, even if the neighbor is homeless and without food and shelter and is unable to obtain employment and has been turned away from every shelter and food pantry.

Another example, an example that may not seem quite so obvious, is when helping one’s neighbor causes one to steal from one’s spouse the devotion and commitment that the Lord commands. If I, for example, allow my helping of my neighbor to keep me from doing what my business requires for staying in business and paying the bills, I have robbed my wife, just as much as if I helped my neighbor rob the convenience store of money or goods would be stealing. Moreover, my customers are looking to me to help them, and they have a prior commitment from me. If I help my neighbor to such a degree that I do not fulfill my commitment to help my customers in a timely manner, I have robbed them.

So what do I do? My neighbor needs help. My customers need for me to fulfill my commitments. My wife needs for me to be a devoted husband and faithful provider.

How can I not fail? How can I keep from sinning through omission? How can I keep from neglecting someone?

The sad fact is that I cannot. My wife is very forgiving, as are my very kind customers, but that does not change the fact that I let them down with choices to elevate the needs of a needy neighbor above their needs. And, if I move the other direction and refuse to help a needy neighbor in order to fulfill my previous commitments, I still fail in helping my neighbor.

Either way I am wrong. Either way I sin.

This is the broken condition of the world ever since sin interrupted the Lord’s plan and design for us. This is why we cannot begin to be righteous by our own efforts and works. Moreover and even more importantly, all of our efforts and works are corrupted by our sinfulness. Even when we do good, it still is lacking in proper motive and love. Our sinfulness permeates our entire being as well as all of our thoughts, words, and deeds. This is why our only hope is Jesus. Jesus alone can save us for He alone is perfect. Our works can never make things right. Only His works make things right. Only His works merit salvation.

This is why Luther became so agitated regarding indulgences and other false doctrine regarding mingling one’s own works with the works of Christ in the desire to obtain merit before God, so that he challenged his fellow theologians with his Ninety-five Theses. On October 31, 1517 he nailed his theses to the church door, not realizing what fireworks would ensue. This little action was used by God to bring about a mighty change. Much of what Luther wrote was still terribly lacking, but his questions did open people’s eyes and hearts to realize that the Gospel by which we are saved is not about our works, but the works of God in Christ.

And this is how we are empowered to face each and every day. Knowing full well that none of our works are meritorious in any degree, we rise each morning and look to the Lord as our gracious God and Savior, trusting that He will work good for us and in us and through us despite our sinfulness. And we go forth boldly, knowing that even our best efforts are still corrupt and sinful, and yet reckoned by God as holy for Christ’s sake. And so, moved by God’s own love we help our neighbor knowing that we will sin against wife and customer. And sometimes, we refuse to help our neighbor, because we have obligations that simply must be fulfilled, and so we turn away our needy neighbor, at least for the time being. In every case, we trust God’s forgiveness and seek the leading of the Holy Spirit to direct us in our conscience and make the best decision that we are able and go forth and “sin boldly.” This does not mean that we willfully sin. It means that knowing that our actions cannot be without sin inhering to even our best efforts, we go forth in God’s grace, loving wife and customer and neighbor and trusting that for Christ’s sake our shortcomings are counted as full and holy and good. And so in the evening we again confess our sinfulness and beseech God’s merciful forgiveness for Christ’s sake and go to sleep in the assurance of the peace that only God can give.

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Learning to say “No”

In terms of putting my own needs first, looking out for my business first, I am a terrible businessman. To be successful in business, the model is that one counts the needs of his business as most important and people are secondary.

Yesterday, instead of going to do the job that I had planned to do, I responded to a former neighbor. He came and knocked on the door, as he is accustomed to doing, and told me his latest situation. He works as a janitor at the local university, working from 3pm to 11pm. He is hurting financially. His previous vehicle quit running and was repossessed, and after many months, he was able to purchase another used vehicle.

That vehicle served well until he came out to drive home and turning the ignition produced absolutely no results. Just a soft click. He tried calling his children and used up all of his minutes of air time leaving voice messages. Then he sat all night in the parking lot. In the morning he walked about seven and a half miles to my door and asked me to tow him home. I invested most of the day trying to help him.

The smart thing would be simply to say, “No, I can’t help you.”

But how can I say that. It would not be true. I actually carry a tow strap so that I can help people. How can I then say that I cannot help? I could say, “I don’t have the time.” But God gives me 24 hours in each day to utilize. I could say that my neighbor, or even former neighbor, is not my responsibility. I could say that people like this are just using me. But of course they are, that is the very meaning of asking for help.

Honestly, I do not want to learn to say “No” to those who are hurting and in need. That would be to deny the person God has regenerated me to be.

Yet a person does need to be respectful of his limitations. Moreover, one needs to be aware of financial limits. Yet, how can one who trusts in the Lord forget the record of what transpired in the wilderness?

And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month. Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them? And the Lord said unto Moses, Is the Lord's hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not. (Numbers 11:21-23)

When one in whom the fear of the Lord has been regenerated so that the person trusts the Lord and walks in His ways doing as the Spirit of God moves him, is it possible that the Lord will forget to provide the means to do as He has led the person to do? The God who brought all things into existence through the Logos, merely calling the universe into existence by His own Word and Will, can He not also provide the daily bread that we need?

No, I believe that I will continue to seek God’s merciful help in saying “No” to my own doubts and fears and selfishness and lack of compassion. Even better, I will continue to look to Jesus Christ in whom all of God’s promises are Yes and Amen.

But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea. For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. (2 Corinthians 1:18-22)

Surely I have limitations. But God does not and His mercy and goodness have no limitations either. Can one who believes this then turn away from a neighbor without showing the mercy and goodness that he himself has received of the Lord?

To this I very willingly say, “No.” Such is not possible. God’s mercy and love and goodness are greater than this.

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As a clarification, indeed there are times for saying "No" to the expectations, requests, or demands of others. But when the Lord moves one in one's heart to feel and show compassion, when a person responds to what appears to be a genuine need of another, this is right and good.

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As Thyself

This past Sunday’s Gospel reading is surely familiar to all who call themselves Christian. The reading is Matthew 22:31-46.

But how many people understand what this text teaches? Sandwiched into the middle of this text is the question: “Which is the great commandment of the law?” The Lord Jesus answers more than the lawyer realized that he was asking. For the lawyer, even with all of his study of the law, knew nothing of its true meaning. The Lord Jesus answers, quoting Moses:

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40)

I’d like to examine this beginning in reverse, since this is where we usually begin in our daily lives. “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” The reason for beginning in reverse is because this is how we generally function. We struggle to do for ourselves what is really the outflow of what needs to be done for us and in us. We struggle with our actions toward neighbor.

Why do we struggle in this way? Why do we find it difficult truly to love our neighbor? Is it not because of selfishness? And what really is selfishness? Why do we act selfishly? Is it not because we do not feel complete in ourselves and so we seek after and grasp after things as though they could somehow fulfill us? What is the result? Do we find ourselves feeling fulfilled? Do we find ourselves feeling satisfied? Or do we find ourselves struggling more and more to gain that which is beyond us? Don’t we find ourselves feeling empty and full of nothing but failure?

How often do we end up saying something like: “I hate myself!” and “I wish I were dead!”

But this is the exact opposite of what the Lord our God desires for us and commands as what should be for us.

Do you hear, first of all, how differently this is stated than how we often interpret it? God’s commandment is concerning what should be for us, not what we should do for ourselves. This will become more clear shortly.

The second great command is like the first. Both are concerning love. The second great command says “You will love your neighbor as yourself.” This is not an imperative but a future indicative. It indicates what will be, not what one must do. It begins saying how a child of God will live in connection with neighbor: “You will love your neighbor.” This is further defined by what absolutely must precede it: “You will love your neighbor in the same manner as you love yourself.”

Before we can love our neighbor, we must love ourselves. Thus self does come before neighbor. Because we do not rightly understand this, we end up acting selfishly. Because we do not understand the true meaning of loving self, we become selfish and unable to see beyond what we cannot make happen on our own. This is because love for self is not something that we do of our own accord but as that which naturally follows the first great command of God.

The first great command is: “You will love the Lord your God in all of your heart and in all of your soul and in all of your mind.”

Again this is future tense indicating what will be. God speaks His command in this way because He is the one who will make it happen in us. And this little word “in” carries a very big meaning, a very different meaning than the way our translations interpret this. For our translations choose to change this to “with” rather than what stands written as “in”.

This is why we struggle so terribly with love. We hear that we must love with all of our heart and soul and mind when the Lord promises that He will change us so that we love in all of our heart and soul and mind. Love is of God and God is Love. (1 John 4) When God fills our heart and soul and mind then His love fills our heart and soul and mind and drives out the emptiness that drives us to selfishness. Selfishness is not the result of loving oneself but of desperately desiring love for oneself. Since we cannot supply this love for ourselves we seek to steal it for ourselves.

But Love is of God for God is Love. Love for self comes from knowing God fully as He comes to us through His means of grace and fills us through and through with His gracious and loving presence. When the Lord has filled us in our heart and soul and mind, we love as He loves. We first know His love to us personally, and knowing His love moves us to respond in love toward Him. As we love ourselves with this love that fills us it overflows in our lives so that we love our neighbor as we love ourselves. This is not what we do as much as what we have been regenerated to be.

This is what we must learn regarding true love. Love is not a choice. Love is who we have been regenerated to be. In Baptism God gives to us the Holy Spirit who takes up residence in us and fills our heart and soul and mind. Through this holy union God sanctifies us and sets us apart, recreating us in His image again. Notice that God does not say that He created us with His image but in His image. (Genesis 1:26-27) This image of God is Christ. (Colossians 1:12-18)

Those who have been regenerated into Christ have been regenerated into the image of God and as they begin to understand this more and more their lives begin to reflect their newborn identity more and more fully. Since God is love, this is what begins to show more and more. For as we grow in understanding what God has done for us, we respond to His love in love. As we begin to love ourselves as God loves us, it is only natural that we will love our neighbors as ourselves.

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Collect for the Tenth Sunday after Trinity

One of the things that continues to leave me in awe about the historic liturgy is the use of the Collect of the Day. Each Sunday these wonderful snippets direct our hearts to important aspects of the daily pericopal readings.

Here is the Collect from this Sunday:

O God, who declarest Thine almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity, mercifully grant unto us such a measure of Thy grace that we, running the way of Thy commandments, may obtain Thy gracious promises and be made partakers of Thy heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.

This collect marvelously directs our hearts to acknowledge what the Lord declares to us concerning Himself. The Lord God to whom we pray is the one who declares His almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity. His primary means of making His almighty power known to us is not through signs and wonders in the heavens and in the earth and in the seas, but in showing mercy and pity.

Is this not absolutely wonderful? Is this not magnificent? Is this not worthy of our full devotion and attention? This is what the divine service is given to teach us and deliver to us. This is what the Holy Spirit calls us to congregate to hear and to receive. Throughout the entire service this is what God works and gives to us.

Notice that the collect directs us to remember that it is through the declaration of God’s mercy and pity to us that we are enabled to run the way of the commandments and obtain God’s gracious promises and we are made to be partakers of His heavenly treasures. Notice that the true faith teaches us that we do not obtain God’s gracious promises through our own obedience, but through His mercy and pity declared unto us. We are made partakers of His heavenly treasure not through our obedience, but through the declaration of His mercy and pity to us. The power is in His declaration. Even the power to honor the commandments and to value them as part of the way through which God blesses us, is through the declaration of His mercy and pity.

God does bless us through His commandments, because He produces the obedience in us through the faith that He gives. For example, He commands that we administer the Sacrament and partake of it together for the forgiveness of our sins and renewed faith in His mercy and grace. Because He works faith in us to believe His good and gracious will and to believe His promise of forgiveness and renewal in the Sacrament, we administer it in the congregation according to His commandment and we come forward and receive His blessings through this blessed means of His grace. This obedience is not something that we choose to do, but rather, it is produced in us through the faith that He generates in us concerning His mercy and gracious will toward us and concerning His promise to grant us forgiveness and renewal through the body and blood of Jesus. At the Last Day, even as He does today, He will count these works that He produces in us as our own works and say “Well done!”

Who but the Lord would even imagine such to be possible, let alone actually to make it so? Truly this requires almighty power, which He declares to us chiefly in showing mercy and pity.


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Blessed with Favor

For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield. (Psalm 5:12)

In the Scriptures certain ones of the Lord are said to have been given favor before men by the Lord. Joseph was given favor before Potipher and Pharaoh. Samuel grew in favor before the Lord and men. This is especially said of Jesus. In Acts it is said of the disciples who gathered to the doctrine and communion preached by the apostles.

Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. (Acts 2:41-47)

I was reminded of this yesterday as I was attempting to exit the driveway in my pickup truck to head out to tend to some errands. A man in a van slowly approached and stopped in front of the driveway in front of me, got out and walked toward me. “Do you still grind stumps?” he asked. He then explained that he had a stump that he wanted me to grind for him. I asked whether he needed for me to give him a bid or if he just wanted me to schedule the work. He said that I should just schedule the work and do it because he knew that I would do right by him.

Another of my customers insists on being present when I do work for him. He says that he wants to be sure to be home to see what I do. He says that he wants to make certain that I actually charge him for everything that I do for him. He says that if he does not watch me I will do extra things and not charge him.

Sometimes I would like to take credit for such kindly responses from my customers. But it is the Lord who gives a person favor in the eyes of others. While it is true that I do extra things for people and that I am thorough in my work and that I try to do my best always for my customers, it is the Lord who causes them to look upon me favorably.

In a discussion recently with a couple of neighbors of one of my customers, one of whom asked me to do some minor emergency pruning for him, these people also spoke very kindly to me and of me to one another. The lady also said, “I can see that God is at work in you.”

This sort of statement does not come on account of what I do, for there is far too much wrong in me and what I do for anyone to respond so favorably on that account. To find fault with me and my life and my actions would be very easy for anyone who observes me. Yet this is not the primary response of people. The Lord moves people to see not what I do, but what He is doing in me and for me and through me. Thus people generally say kind things about me and my work. They see what the Lord is doing and His goodness is so complete and powerful that they really don’t see anything else.

I am truly amazed when I observe this. I complain about the many injustices that I see in the world, injustices that I experience personally and that I see others suffer, too. Complain, complain, complain seems to be my way. I talk about the evils of the globalism and one world government movement. I warn about the things that are coming upon the world on account of sin. I point to the many betrayals of governmental leaders at every level. I complain about the destructive and oppressive ways of the central banking system. Yet even with all of this grumbling and complaining and crying out, the Gospel is so powerful that it is what people perceive as ruling my heart and mind and life.

Truly as the psalmist writes: The Lord is good and His mercy endures forever!


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Tree Work

The recent storms in the area have caused a flood of emergency calls over the last few weeks. One of the emergency tree jobs is the removal of an enormous willow that was damaged. One of the broken boughs had a bee hive inside. The bees were not happy, especially as I banged around their hive removing the large broken boughs, including the upper half of their hive. The weather has been very hot as well.

None of the local beekeepers wanted the hive. So, after roping it to the ground I dragged it by means of a rope into the wooded area where they would be of no harm to the people in the area. Amazingly I was not stung even once. I was very careful, but that does not explain that with a cloud of bees swarming about that I was not stung, not even once. Only one explanation fits. Thank you, Lord!

To access the tree I am entering the property through the fence, removing the one panel each day. An alley from the street to the fence measures approximately 90 yards. Thus, I am dragging branches and hauling logs about 100 yards each trip. I’ve been traversing that distance 20 or more times each day, meaning that I am dragging and hauling the debris and equipment and my body over a mile.

Yesterday I needed to climb to a crotch about 60 feet above the ground to rope and fell the double top pieces of about 20 feet. It was a hard climb, since I was not able to position my climbing line sufficiently high to accommodate the last three or four feet. That last three to four feet of bare trunk is amazingly hard without the benefit of the climbing line. Atop this narrowing stick, I roped and cut the top boughs. The second bough caused the top to sway about three feet, then allowing the top to snap back very hard, hitting my forearm with great force. About 15 minutes later, when I was back on the ground, I was able to apply a chunk of the ice from my water jug to help reduce the swelling.

Such is the routine of an arborist.

This, too, is a reminder of how God cares for us continually. The Lord kept me from more serious harm. The area of the top where it snapped back and struck me was sharp and jagged. It easily could have cut me. It could have broken my arm. But it did not. It merely bruised me deeply, leaving me hurting this morning.

How many times in a day is a person protected from harm? Is it even possible to know? Do we even attempt to account for the many ways that the Lord cares for us each day? Even the fact that the cells in our bodies continue to function properly is a miracle. The number of times that the Lord protects us from deleterious cellular mutations and invading organisms is incalculable.

Luther’s evening prayer serves as a wonderful summary and thanksgiving in this regard:

I thank Thee, my Heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Thy dear Son, that Thou hast graciously kept me this day, and I pray Thee to forgive me all my sins, where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into Thy hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Thy holy angel be with me, that the Wicked Foe may have no power over me. Amen.

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Feed Me! Feed ME!

Here are some photos of some baby grackles that were in a nest in a tree that I pruned and cleaned earlier this year.

These little baby birds stand as an example of all of creation since the fall of man into sin. Since Adam chose to invent the notion of free will, which is nothing more than rebellion against God’s declared will, this is the way of the world. Me! ME! ME!!

These little baby birdies exemplify the selfishness that rules over us and over all of creation since that day that Adam decided that he could rise up for himself rather than trusting the goodness of the Lord.

They care not for their siblings. “Feed me!” “Feed ME!” “Feed ME!!” They each care only for self, jumping at the slightest vibration, striving to rise up above one another to be the one to receive the food that the parents carry to the nest.

Until the Holy Spirit intervenes, coming to us in our baptism to regenerate us from above, we are just like these little birdies. “Me. Me! ME!!”

Entirely contrary to what so-called naturalists and environmentalists and scientists try to convince us, this way is not at all natural. This is not the way that the Lord ordained for His creation. This is what man caused through his imaginary free will. Tempted by the devil to imagine that choosing for himself was better than trusting the good that the Lord had established and declared, Adam brought death and all of the unnatural daily consequences of death to the world. All of creation moans and groans under this burden.

Yet the Lord reacted in a way that is very foreign to our ways. He overturned the destruction that Adam imposed upon us. While the Lord most assuredly is angry over the sin that Adam chose for us, the way of death and destruction that the devil tricked the first two humans to accept and choose for themselves and all future generations, wrath is not the Lord’s primary reaction. His wrath is actually His secondary response.

His first and primary response is to look upon us with love and mercy. His wrath is displayed so that we may be made aware of what our rebellion causes. Much like a loving parent will spank a young child so as to steer their beloved child away from things that are harmful, so God uses His displays of wrath to make us aware that we need to hear Him and be restored by Him to the way of everlasting safety. Love is the true attitude of God toward us, even in His displays of wrath.

At the Last Day, those who have refused to hear and be turned will be sent away from God’s presence. Their belligerent choice to be separated from the Lord will be enacted fully. Since all of God’s loving acts to call them into His repentance were ignored and defied, they shall finally receive the wrath that has been stored up for the devil and all who follow him. They shall be sent off to the place where they will be confined together forever. Then they will bring upon themselves the fullness of what the Lord lovingly and mercifully limited during the present age. All of the evil that they hold in their hearts will become fully manifest and the terror that God has prevented, they will unleash on one another forevermore.

Yet these little birdies also display something of value. While they do display selfishness, nevertheless they also remind us of our absolute dependence upon our heavenly Father for all good things. While we should not be like the birdies in striving to rise up above one another but should trust that the Lord knows our needs and will provide for us fully in the appropriate time, yet we can learn from the birdies that we should indeed look up and cry out to the Lord for our every need. Such trust will never leave us disappointed.

Here is another photo, a photo of a tiny little bunny that scooted in front of me where I park my work truck. (Click photo for larger view.)

This little bunny was almost 4 inches long. It had not yet learned to hop but simply scurried as quickly as its little bitty legs would carry it. This little one also reminds us of our dependence upon the Lord. We are just little babes who need His continual care. He treasures us and wants good things for us. When we look to Him in faith, we see this.

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The Countenance of the Lord

This calendar and picture hang in our dining room. As it caught my glance and then further attention last night, I commented to my wife regarding how truly amazing God’s mercy is. After all that Jesus endured for our sake, willingly putting Himself in our place to take our guilt, our sin, our shame, our condemnation, our burdens, our suffering, our death, yet even though we turn aside from Him and mock Him with our lives, sinning and doubting and hurting ourselves and one another, yet He continues to look upon us in mercy and love. He never says, “After all that I did for you . . .!”

Rather, He calls to us through His means of grace in His Church, calling us to receive the repentance that the Holy Spirit works, so that we may hear His gracious words of forgiveness and peace and to eat and drink the blessings of His Holy Communion.

I am reminded of this at the close of every divine service in the Benediction, hearing again the amazing words, “The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and grant you peace.”

The Lord lifts up His countenance upon those who receive this blessing. Instead of looking down in disgust, instead of glaring with wrathful condemnation, instead of turning His countenance away, He lifts up His countenance in compassionate and merciful love and bestows His peace.

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How hard is life?

A statement that one often overhears, from others, and often even from one’s own heart, mind, and spirit, is “Life is hard!” This statement can be heard in other forms as well.

“Life is hard!”

Is this a true statement? If one thinks that this is true, what is the cause? What makes life hard for a person?

Do you find yourself thinking that life is hard? If so, why?

What is a person’s focus when thinking that life is hard? What thoughts prevail in the heart, mind, and spirit of a person who believes that life is hard?

I continue to be amazed at the response of Adam to the Word of the Lord. In Genesis 3, after the Lord confronts Adam and his wife with their sin, condemns the serpent for its part in the devil’s plan to destroy the life that the Lord established for His children, pronouncing the mighty work that would be accomplished by the Seed of Woman, tells the woman the consequences that sin has brought upon her and then counters this with the promise that her husband shall still rule over her despite her rebellion and that her desire will still be for her husband and his God-appointed place as her head, tells Adam that the ground is cursed for his sake but that he nevertheless shall eat by the sweat of his brow, and then Adam turns to his wife, Woman, and names her Eve, that is, Life.

Before the Lord called them from their hiding, Adam and his wife thought only of the consequences of sin in their lives. They could no longer see Life, because they had died in their sin. Sin had cut them off from the one and only source of Life. And so, for them, Life was no longer possible. Only death was now before them. They felt it in their spirit. They felt it in their mind. They felt it in their body. They were no longer alive. They were no longer full of Life. Their anatomical parts still functioned, but they were no longer alive. Their life had become not only hard, but impossible. They could not make things right again.

But when the Lord came calling for them and brought them out from their hiding, He reversed this. It was not that Adam and his wife came to the Lord, it was not that they sought Him and found their way back to Him, but that He came to them through His Word. He came to them and hearing His voice, the darkness was gone. The Lord had come and filled the emptiness, and the darkness in their soul was gone.

He changed their focus by calling to them. His Word restored them to be able to see His goodness, but not only His goodness. More importantly, they saw His gracious attitude toward them. By calling to them He caused them to understand that the difficulty that they faced was the result of their own choice, not His. They turned from Him. He did not turn from them. The Life that He desired from them was not this life of struggle and doom that they had chosen for themselves. And so, by revealing to them the plan that He had from eternity, the plan that He prepared knowing the doom that they would choose for themselves, the gracious plan of coming to them in the flesh to redeem them and save them and restore them to His righteousness and holiness, by telling this to them He brought Light and Life to them once again.

Now, even though they fully knew that they would face the daily consequences of the sin that they brought to the world, nevertheless, they rejoiced in the Lord’s mercy, grace, and peace.

The reason that we think that life is hard is because we look to the wrong source for life. When we look to our struggles to provide for ourselves and to do good and to be honorable and to be successful, we see only death and failure and darkness and doom. But when the Word of the Lord breaks through to us so that our attention is turned to hear the voice of the Lord again so that we see all that He has done and promised, so that we see His gracious and continual activity in our lives, then Life is restored and our struggles are seen for what they really are, temporary. Then we see that the Lord is good and that His mercy endures forever. Then our sorrows turn to thanksgiving and rejoicing. Then we see that it is true that to those loving God, the called according to His purpose, all things synergize into good (Romans 8:28).

The reason is that God is good. God is not merely sovereign. He is sovereign with a purpose. His purpose is love. His love is merciful and forgiving. His mercy and forgiveness produce restoration and reconciliation. This He works for us through the ordained means of grace. When we look to these instead of looking to ourselves and what we try to do for ourselves, when we hear God’s call to be gathered together to His means of grace, life no longer appears to be hard. For the Life that God gives is Jesus and the works that He has accomplished for us. It is a done deal! When we realize this we understand that we do not have to become victorious for as St. Paul declares, “We are more than conquerors!” This can only be rightly understood when we hear it as it stands written, “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” (Romans 8:37)

“Through the one having loved us,” is past tense. It is not the way that we are inclined to hear this. It is not future tense. Neither is it conditional. The one having loved us is the cause of our being more than conquerors. He has already loved us, even from eternity. He has already given His Son to defeat the powers of sin, death, and the devil. It does not depend upon what we do. God has already done it for us. Our part is made to be like it was in the very beginning. Our part is simply to receive what God has already done and freely bestows upon us. Our part is simply to be brought by God into His kingdom through Baptism and to partake of the unity and life that Jesus purchased for us, to partake of the body and blood that He gives in the Holy Supper. The Lord has set the table by establishing His Church on earth. He calls us and gathers us through the preaching of the Gospel and Baptism. God does it all. We are His beloved children who receive what our loving Father gives to us.

Can life be any easier than this?

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My Thoughts

As I struggled with the post below, I was reminded of this text from the Holy Scriptures:

Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:7-9)

Who is the wicked man? I am.

I am the one who was tempted throughout my writing and contemplations, tempted to lash out in anger and to attack those who attacked my fellow citizen. I was tempted to do as they did. My thoughts kept being influenced by unrighteous anger. Righteous anger is motivated by love. It is ruled by love. Thus righteous anger does not go beyond expressing the wrong that has been done. It does not seek vengeance but leaves such to God. Righteous anger never seeks harm but only good, even of the one who has done wrong.

Surely the Lord’s thoughts are beyond mine, beyond ours. His thoughts are truly not what any of us will choose according to our own inclinations. Surely His ways are higher. Yet when His Spirit rules the heart, He makes His thoughts to be our thoughts and His ways to be our ways so that His love and righteousness prevail.

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Joy to the World

Joy to the world, the Lord is come! This first stanza of a very popular Christmas hymn certainly serves a person well to remember.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room
And heaven and nature sing.

This week here in Wichita we had several truly beautiful days preceding the return to winter weather that we are experiencing today. Christmas is observed during the winter. Yet, because of the gift of God’s Son to the world, truly it is a time of joy.

Yesterday the little birdies were singing with all their strength. It made me wonder whether perhaps they knew that it was the last day of that unseasonably warm and gentle and friendly weather. I repeated to my wife what I believed that they were telling us.

Oh, it is a beautiful day! It is a glorious day! Sing! Rejoice! Give thanks to God! It is a wonderful day. Come out with us and give thanks to God! Today is the last of these days for a while. Waste it not! Enjoy this wonderful gift from God. Rejoice in His goodness!

It made me think of the last portion of the stanza above. It also stood as a reminder that Christmas is not limited to the season of the Church year in which we specifically observe it. As the divine service blessedly reminds us in “The Gloria in Excelsis,” the announcement of the angels to the shepherds is a never ending message.

”Glory be to God on high: and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

The joy of the Christ Mass is ours every Lord’s Day, as we are fed the gift of the divinely ordained Supper of forgiveness and life and communion with God and His saints. This serves us as sustenance for every day living so that every day is a day for rejoicing in God’s goodness to us in Christ Jesus.

Earlier this week as I went to make a deposit at the credit union, one of the familiar tellers greeted me and asked how I was doing. I responded that I was surviving. “Only surviving?” she queried with puzzlement. ”Can one really be only surviving on such a beautiful day?” “The weather is not the only thing that people endure,” I gently replied. But she went on to tell me how she had the day off from school and spent time outside before coming to work and how that invigorated her. I smiled and responded, “It is an absolutely lovely day.”

That humble admission was quite powerful in its effect. For in being humbled to look beyond the things that were troubling me and robbing me of the joy of the day, my attitude was transformed. That simple admission turned me from my stubborn refusal to give thanks to God like the little birdies and to rejoice in the richness of His blessings. My spirit was revived and my heart did rejoice.

If the little birdies can see it, how much more am I able to see it, having been baptized into the Kingdom of God on earth so as to be carried to the Holy Supper where God pours out to me with the blood of Jesus the things by which true happiness and peace are mine forevermore. It is truly foolish of me to rob myself of such endless joy on account of stubbornness.

Two Curious Comments

Last week as I stood in line at the Post Office the lady behind me asked me to examine a document that she had received in the mail. She was planning to ask the Post Office clerk, but asked me. It was a winnings claim form. She was skeptical of its legitimacy, and rightly so. The language of the document was that which is common to scams. I pointed to various terms and especially to the fact that she was being asked to send a $10.00 money order in order to receive her winnings. After all, if she has won $10,000.00 or $20,000.00, why would the award require a payment? The demand for a money order rather than a check is also a red flag. We talked some more as we left the Post Office, and examining the envelope I commented that it was from the Netherlands, a foreign country where the Post Master General and the US Post Office would have no power to investigate or prosecute mail fraud.

As we exited the Post Office, the lady made a curious comment. She said something that I was not at all expecting. She said, “You probably never thought that a black lady would be asking you this today.” As our conversation continued I did not remark on her comment, but it did strike me as peculiar. In ordinary circumstances I don’t see a person’s color. Certain mannerisms can bring to my attention a person’s ethnicity. Hearing an unfamiliar name will activate my curiosity as to a person’s ethnicity. But under normal circumstances my relations with people are not influenced by their skin color.

This does seem to say something, however, about the history of peoples and especially about the history of America and other places where sharp distinctions have been made regarding peoples of differing skin color. Moreover, the kind of comment that this lady made I have always associated with those who were inclined to have a demeaning attitude toward someone of differing color. But then, perhaps this, too, is part of America’s history, where people of certain skin color have long been treated as though they were not only different but of a lesser importance. But then again, her comment could merely be reflective of the seemingly natural tendency toward homogeneity among peoples of differing backgrounds.

As we continued conversing as we walked to our vehicles in the parking lot this lady suddenly turned and asked, “Are you a preacher?” “Yes, I am,” I responded. “Oh, it’s a good thing I talked to you, today,” she replied.

This sometimes happens when I speak with people. I find it curious that this occurs in conversations where I have said nothing that I would consider as distinctive regarding me being one placed into the pastoral office. Even without speaking specifically of the Lord or of God or of the Bible or of religion, this lady suddenly responded with the realization that I was a preacher. Other times people have used terms and phrases like, man of God, a man who is close to God, and a man full of the Holy Spirit.

I do not find such comments to be curious when in the conversations I have spoken freely regarding matters of the faith, but when no such matters have been discussed, I find myself wondering what caused the person to think of me as a pastor or as a man of God. Since it would interrupt the flow of the conversation, I don’t ask people what moved them in this direction of their thinking. Morever, it really does not matter. Nevertheless I go my way wondering.

I suppose that such realization on the part of the individual does have an impact upon our conversation. Often a heightened level of trust seems to be displayed. In this instance, we continued to converse, only we moved into more personal matters regarding her sons and some of her troubles in their relationship. Perhaps the conversation would have moved in this direction simply because she sensed that I cared. I don’t know. Yet I do find it curious that people occasionally identify me as a pastor or preacher or man of God without anything being said that I would expect to give them this indication.

I do enjoy conversing with people. I do care about people deeply. I do welcome the opportunities that arise when people choose to talk about matters that are important in their lives. So, whatever the reason, whether people simply sense in my personality and words an indication of who I am in Christ, or whether the Holy Spirit moves them in such thinking, I am glad for the opportunities that are produced.