Twenty-one Years

Today my wife and I celebrate our survival of twenty-one years together as husband and wife.

Yesterday she was astonished to realize that she had forgotten our wedding anniversary until yesterday.  She shared this with me and I was startled to realize that while I thought of it all last month and even most of last week, that it had disappeared from my thoughts that day as well.

Ouch!  What a powerful reminder of our dysfunctional ways on account of our frailty as sinful humans!

On the other hand, it also serves as a powerful reminder of who has joined us as one and who it is that preserves us as one.

How I wish that I lived in full acknowledgment of the man and husband that the Lord has made me to be by His gracious decree.  My life surely does not serve as a witness to His gracious gifts and promises.  My faithfulness to my wife is sadly lacking.  Thankfully, it is not my faithfulness that matters.  Thankfully, she knows this, too.

As a concluding portion of our wedding worship service, I shared this promise and confession:

My dear bride, Stephanie,

     Today I have made to you a very bold promise, to be to you a true and faithful husband.  This promise I do not make in my own name, for I know that on the basis of my own name I am but a bum.  But I also bear another Name, the Name of my Lord Christ, and in His Name I am a prince.  And so, in the Name of my Lord Christ I will be to you your prince.

I have been true to my word.  By my own name and efforts I have been a bum.  I cannot even number the ways in which I have failed my bride as her husband.  I certainly have not been faithful in forsaking all others besides the Lord.  How many times have I put myself and my desires and my emotions above her?  How many times have I selfishly enumerated her shortcomings?  How many times have I counted as shortcomings her personal needs of body, heart, mind, and spirit?

Thanks be to God that she remembers the latter part of my promise.  Thanks be to God that she counts me as a good and loving and faithful husband not because of what I say and do, but because of the Lord’s gracious decree.

And this is what she continually reminds me as what she counts as the reason for me being a blessing in her life.  She reminds me that as her husband and also as her pastor I direct her the Lord and his grace, mercy, and peace.  She does count me as a prince for His sake.

What a wonderfully refreshing reminder this serves us regarding Christ and His Church.  What we observe Him doing for us is what He does for His beloved bride.  In fact, what He does for us flows directly from what He does for His dear bride.  This is what St. Paul blessedly proclaims in Ephesians 5:21-33.

The Lord’s goodness is displayed in everything, and especially in the one-flesh union of His Church that is reflected in our one-flesh union that we celebrate this day.  Truly it is a happy and blessed anniversary!

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Is this Cool, or What?

My wife sent me this link with the video that shows below: iPhone 5 with “Rubberband” Electronics Turns into iPad mini [Concept Video].




Wow!

Is there any other immediate response that one would expect upon first viewing this?

Of course, no such device actually exists.  But the animation is fantastic.

Do people think beyond the “Wow” moment after viewing this video?  Do people consider how short the durability of such a gadget will be?

Do people consider at all how this sort of video is programming their thinking?

The music chosen is powerful.  It creates the immediate sense of something heroic being accomplished.  It leaves a person feeling as though the creation of this gadget is going to accomplish liberation and empowerment of the people who own them.

If one really considers what these gadgets are designed to accomplish, the exact opposite purpose will be perceived.  They are designed to make people more dependent upon the already failing cellular networks.  They are designed to bind people to these tracking devices.

Notice what is being taught about genuine customer service where a person can expect to have actual contact with another person and obtain real help when things go awry.  We are being taught even in this video that such personal interaction will no longer be available and that a computer will tell us what we can and will do.  Don’t bother calling.  All that you will receive is an extended litany of harassing, preprogrammed automation.

All of our personal information will be (and is) stored in a massive data base which will be immediately accessible to those who have the right connections.

In the meantime, the smaller independent businesses are being eliminated and real jobs are evaporating.  Freedom to operate and function independently is being eliminated.  Thinking that stretches beyond what is promoted by those who have predetermined the new societal programming is diminishing.

Thus the title for this post is: “Is this cool, or what?” with the emphasis on the “or what.”

Do most people even ask “or what” anymore?

I find it alarming to realize that if I drive away from the house without my cell phone that my first thought is that I should drive back to get it, even if I am only going to the store to purchase a gallon of milk.  This has actually happened on a couple of occasions recently.  I was aghast when I heard myself think, “Oh, what will I do?  What if I need to call Stephanie with a question?”  For crying out loud!  I was only to be away for 15 minutes or perhaps half of an hour!

Yikes!  I’ve been programmed!

And this is only a tiny example of the social programming that is prevalent in society today.

Perhaps it is time for people to stand back a bit to gain a broader perspective and to begin asking the “or what” and not merely allowing the reflex response of “Wow!  How cool!”


The Lord Jesus gave a very powerful warning:

     No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.  (Matthew 6:24)

Mammon is treasure, things, possessions.

What happens when mammon becomes one’s god?  What happens when a person becomes dependent upon and puts one’s trust in mammon?  Does one not subject oneself and willingly make oneself the slave of the things that one loves?

Furthermore, who in this world controls these things, these gadgets and the networks through which they are connected?

Are these not questions that people would do well to ask themselves?

I myself find it amazing that so many people are afraid of being enslaved to God and religion but eagerly enslave themselves to welfare and other government assistance, to gadgetry and those who sell and control the gadgetry, to social media, to health care providers, to insurance companies, to Social Security payments, and to employers who provide benefit packages.  All of these demand subjugation and servitude.  They all offer very low levels of security.  And, they all ultimately fail those who give them their trust.

Yet God, the Lord, who makes Himself known through the Scriptures and through His means of grace, gives freely even to those who refuse to trust Him.  He makes His sun to shine and His rain to fall for both the just and the unjust.  He gave His Son for the sake of the entire world, even those who would reject and hate Him and work against all of the good that He desires to provide for all.  He promises a life of hope and peace and contentment and joy to all who trust Him and receive His grace as He gives it. What is His demand?  He demands that we receive His gifts and His mercy and His love through the means that He has established, means that guarantee that the true giver is acknowledged so that His beloved do not cut themselves off from Him and the life that He gives.

Oh my.  What a meanie!  “Trust Me and receive My gifts and life as I give them so that you remain in the safety of my Communion.”  Oh what a tyrant!

Yet those who do trust Him and abide in His Word, acknowledging the goodness of His commands and precepts, do indeed enjoy what He promises to work through them.  Even those who do not truly know Him and do not truly live in His Communion, when they embrace what is taught in the Commandments and other declarations of what is good, they do indeed experience the goodness therein proclaimed.  Such is the way of this God and His decrees.  What He says is.  What He promises actually is observed.  And this efficacious way is everlasting.

Test this with a cell phone or other gadgetry.  Test this with your own feelings.  Test this with your own bodily strength.  Test this with your own mental prowess.  Test this with the health care industry.  Test this with your government and leaders.  Test this with your family and friends.  Test this with your whatever.

As for myself, I know that the Lord is faithful.  He never fails.  Even when I imagine that He fails, I eventually see that His promise in Romans 8 is true:

     And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to   his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate   to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God   be for us, who   can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?  (Romans 8:28-32)

I may not always perceive the good that the Lord is working, especially through the hardships and suffering that I face.  For sometimes the good is being worked for someone else, someone who observes from a distance the faithfulness of the Lord in preserving me through the fiery trials that I face.  Sometimes the lessons that I learn I do not realize that I have learned.  Yet the good has been worked for me, most especially the good of not losing hope and not despairing completely and the good of not becoming the monster that I would otherwise become.  Looking to the Lord and waiting upon Him in faith is truly a great and even immeasurable good.

For me, this is the “or what” that is truly exciting!  This is the gift that truly stretches to cover all of my needs through faith.  It especially stretches to cover my most essential need, the need for forgiveness and the new life of holiness that exists only in true communion with Christ.  In Him my guilt and my shame and my fears are drowned and washed away and replaced with confidence and freedom to live with hope and joy.

Why would I ever trade this for the temporal mammon that fails?



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Homelessness

     I have a number of acquaintances who are or have been homeless.  I also have a couple of friends who have been homeless for a time in their lives.  They have shared their experiences, or at least some of their experiences.

     The concept of being homeless is very disconcerting to me.  But my friends have shared that it can be survived.  One of my two friends actually chose to be homeless.  He wanted to be free to roam wherever he chose without the bonds of a home to tie him to a certain locale.  He wanted to be free to wander and to explore the country.  He had no property tax to pay.  He had no mortgage looming over his head.  He had no lawn to demand being mowed and no shrubs or trees to demand being pruned and trimmed and watered and weeded.  Sometimes he even had no automobile.

     My other friend was forced into homelessness.  Various circumstances came upon him that left him destitute.  He lived in the streets, seeking food and shelter where he could find it.  And this way of living has cost him terribly.  It has robbed him of his physical health.  Harsh winters and poor nutrition and inadequate attention to health concerns have injured him considerably.  These conditions were inflicted upon him by others.  His church body betrayed him.  Others to whom he was devoted betrayed and abandoned him and did injury to him.  His closest family all died.  The government also worked against him, especially when he was homeless.  The police issued a multitude of citations against him for paying his fare to ride the subway, and then staying onboard all night to keep from freezing.  Apparently, homeless people are not allowed to use the subway for survival, as their presence makes others uncomfortable.

     One friend chose homelessness as a lifestyle during various times of his life.  Another friend endured being pressed into a homeless condition and suffered for it and continues to suffer the effects.  But neither friend ever discounted the value of having a home.  Even though one sought a temporary freedom, and sometimes still does, through cutting the ties to a particular location to call home, the longing for what home really is remains strong.

     I have noticed that this is especially true for those who are homeless from a spiritual perspective.  Many people choose to seek an imagined freedom through cutting all ties to a religious and spiritual heritage or home.  Others find themselves pressed out and unable to find a place to call home.  In both cases the people suffer consequences of their homelessness.

     Sadly, very, very few people really ever discover the true home that God has provided for His children.  Most people have no true perception of what this home is.  They hear about it.  They read about it in the Scriptures.  They observe others who claim to belong to it.  Even among those claiming to belong to this spiritual home, very few are truly members of God’s household.  Rather, most fabricate their own versions of what they think God’s house should be and label it as His.  But the safety and security and blessings of His house are not present because it is only a facsimile of His house.  Often the facsimile is not even very close to resembling His house.  Other times it is more convincing with many of the features of His house closely mimicked, but nevertheless still not the real place of the dwelling of His name.

     The Lord Jesus explained this to the Pharisee who came to Him as John records in chapter three.

     There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

     Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

     Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

     Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?  (John 3:1-12)

     The Lord Jesus explains that unless one has been born into this household through the spiritual rebirth by which one is made to be a member of this household, one cannot even recognize it, let alone enter into it.  He first explains that this rebirth is from above.  It is not something that one does for oneself or even chooses for oneself, but it is worked from above, by the Father which is in heaven.

     Yet He furthermore explains that this miracle from heaven is worked on earth through the combination of the earthly life giving and cleansing substance of water along with the heavenly life giving and cleansing Spirit.  When the water is applied by one who is a member of this household, according to the manner ordained by the Lord, that is, in connection with His name of life and forgiveness and blessing in His eternal Communion, then it has the power to effect that which He promises.  It opens the eyes and ears and hearts of those born spiritually blind and deaf and lifeless to His kingdom.  Those who were dead are raised to the new life of His grace, mercy, and peace.  These children born of the Spirit now recognize the Kingdom of God on earth and rejoice in having been made to be members of it with all of that belongs to the coheirs of Jesus.

     The truly sad state of matters in which the world exists is that there are so many facsimiles of God’s house that hardly anyone ever encounters the real house of God so as to be able to receive the rebirth from above that God works through His true household of faith.  Thus instead there exists a multitude of diverse churches and church bodies, some of which bear about as much resemblance to the household of God as a mud ball resembles a precious jewel, and others bear a closer resemblance so that people imagine that they partake of God’s promises when all that they really receive are corrupted fragments.

     Yet still God shows Himself faithful.  He does nevertheless preserve His little Church on earth.  He does still work the miraculous rebirth from death to life through Baptism and He does still nourish and protect and nurture His beloved children through the Holy Supper.  Those who belong to Him know the true freedom of being closely bound to Him and to the brothers and sisters of the Lord Jesus.  They know the freedom of being able to say

     “Yes!  I have a true home.  I am a member of God’s holy family both now and forevermore.  I share in the inheritance that Jesus purchased for all who through faith receive God’s saving and restoring grace.  I know who my Father is and I rejoice in His never-ending and limitless love.  I have a home and I sit at the Table and eat the bread of heaven and drink of the life of the blood.”

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Do People Still Pray This Way?

Yesterday was the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity. Below are the Collect of the Day and the first of the two prayers for praying after the distribution of the Holy Communion.

The Collect of the Day -- pg. 19 (TLH)

Almighty and merciful God, of whose only gift it comes that Thy faithful people do unto Thee true and laudable service, grant, we beseech Thee, that we may so faithfully serve Thee in this life that we fail not finally to attain Thy heavenly promises; through Jesus Thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.

The Prayer Following the Distribution:

We give thanks to Thee, Almighty God, that Thou hast refreshed us through this salutary gift; and we beseech Thee that of Thy mercy Thou wouldst strengthen us through the same in faith toward Thee and in fervent love toward one another; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

How many congregations even use these prayers anymore? Of those who do, how many worshipers actually ponder the words that they are praying? Do people today realize the depth of these prayers? Do people understand the fullness of what is being taught by God through these prayers? Do people realize what is being confessed and embraced as true and holy and good?

In the Collect we prayed in acknowledgment that true and laudable service to God is a gift that He alone works in us. We confess that true worship is not something that we produce by our own wills or reason. We confess that the only reason that we dare even to pray and the only reason that we dare to believe that God hears us graciously and the only reason that we have hope of everlasting life and salvation is because of the promises that God Himself makes in connection with the merits of Jesus, His Son, our Lord.

In the post distribution prayer, one of two marvelous prayers that are provided, we prayed in acknowledgment of the fact that the Holy Communion is the reason for the divine service and that through this salutary (healthful) gift of God we have been refreshed in the blessings of God’s Holy Communion. Moreover, we prayed that this gift would continue to work in us what God promises, namely, that in His mercy He would strengthen us in faith toward Him and in fervent love toward one another.

This is truly an amazing prayer. Do people pay any attention to these magnificent words? As I reflect upon the years of my growing up, I remember this prayer being prayed many times. Yet I cannot remember a single time that the pastors actually taught this in the sermons. Not once! Their sermons taught the exact opposite. Their sermons taught how we must strive to be more faithful and how we must learn to be more loving to one another. But this magnificent prayer teaches us that this is what God works for us through this blessed Sacrament!

Is this not cause for true thanksgiving? Does this not cause us to understand why this is called the Holy Eucharist, that is, the Holy Thanksgiving?

God promises that we do not have to strive to be faithful, because He works this strengthening of faith for us in this blessed gift from heaven. God promises that we do not have to work to become more loving toward one another because this is what He works for us in this meal of unity and true faith. As He pours out to us His forgiveness through the blood of Jesus, we are united in the faith that He works in us and renews in us. As we hear Him calling us to eat that which makes us one with Him and therefore with one another and to drink that which is given for the remission of our sins, we are refreshed and renewed and strengthened in the faith by which salvation and everlasting life are bestowed to us and we are united in the love that is poured out to us with the Holy Spirit in Baptism and in the gracious giving of this heavenly banquet.

The following distribution hymn, the last two stanzas being translated from Luther, teach and confess this yet again:

“O Lord, We Praise Thee”

1. O Lord, we praise Thee, bless Thee, and adore Thee,
In thanksgiving bow before Thee.
Thou with Thy body and Thy blood didst nourish
Our weak souls that they may flouish:
O Lord, have mercy!
May Thy body, Lord, born of Mary,
That our sins and sorrows did carry,
And Thy blood for us plead
In all trial, fear, and need:
O Lord, have mercy!

2. Thy holy body into death was given,
Life to win for us in heaven.
No greater love than this to Thee could bind us;
May this feast thereof remind us!
O Lord, have mercy!
Lord, Thy kindness did so constrain Thee
That Thy blood should bless and sustain me.
All our debt Thou hast paid;
Peace with God once more is made:
O Lord, have mercy.

3. May God bestow on us His grace and favor
To please Him with our behavior
And live as brethren here in love and union
Nor repent this blest Communion!
O Lord, have mercy!
Let not Thy good Spirit forsake us;
Grant that heavenly-minded He make us;
Give Thy Church, Lord, to see
Days of peace and unity:
O Lord, have mercy!

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Translations or Interpretations?

My frustration over the inaccuracies in our many translations is experienced frequently. Over the period of my life I have used many different translations or “versions” of the Bible. I learned Luther’s Small Catechism in at least three versions, each using another version of the Bible. Three different versions of the Hymnal also were foisted upon me. This is a confusing practice. It makes remembrance of the specific passages of Scripture difficult, especially when seeking to use a concordance.

But this is not the main cause of my frustration. My greater frustration arises from the continual bombardment that I experience of interpretation being forced upon the texts of the Holy Scriptures and being presented as what the Scriptures actually declare and teach. I do not know of any English version/translation that does not do this.

I have returned to using the King James as my primary source. It is the most widely known and accepted. It is better than many so-called translations. And, it is in the Public Domain and can be quoted freely without limit.

Nevertheless I encounter many false things in even this old stand by translation.

In the Gospel reading appointed for the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, the reading for this week’s sermon, the first sentence is translated the worst in the ESV and RSV, which are virtually the same translation of this verse. The text is Matthew 13:24.

Here are a few of the translations of this verse:

KJV:
Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

NKJV:
Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field;

NIV:
Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.

RSV:
Another parable he before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field;

ESV:
He put another parable before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared unto a man who sowed good seed in his field,

Of these the KJV is the closest to what Matthew writes. The RSV and The ESV are the worst. These actually change the meaning of the verse entirely. Matthew records Jesus as saying: “Was made like/was likened the kingdom of the heavens unto a man sowing/who sowed good seed in the field of him.”

The RSV and the ESV change this to “the kingdom of heaven may be compared to . . .” This is horrible. May be . . .? Jesus says that it was likened unto and they translate that it may be compared to.

This completely changes the point of the parable. It completely changes how preachers preach this text and how people perceive the Word of God, even the kingdom of God.

IF you are interested, my exposition of this text is available here. PDF and Audio are available here.

My former church body has chosen the ESV for its official use. Before that they chose the NIV. Both are very bad choices. I used the NIV for years and regret it now. But even the NIV does a better job with this text than the ESV.

I find it frustrating that with the resources that a church body the size of the LC-MS has, with the number of experts in the original languages that they employ in their seminaries, that a really faithful translation has never been produced. But I suppose that would require an entirely other focus for the church body. Then, also, who among their “experts” would even understand the issue while they continue in a communion that does not care? It is a sad thing to observe, especially since so many people continue to trust such leaders because it is easier than standing on and in the Word alone.

We Care About Mission Money

Whenever I receive an envelope in the mail with this return address and insignia, I know that I am being hit up for money. I know that this group has one and only one interest concerning me and my family, like the Federal Reserve’s Internal Revenue Service, they want my money.

The material enclosed always includes a letter that begins like this one:

The intent of the letter is to inform me how much the LC-MS cares about mission work and the spread of the Gospel so as to move my heart to give them money. Isn’t that lovely? The LC-MS wants me to know how much they care about the Gospel and about mission work and about missionaries and about the sharing of the Gospel on the home front and in the military. Perhaps I will refrain from the sarcastic reminders of the many ways in which the LC-MS has withdrawn support for this work and misused the people’s monies for other-than-Gospel purposes. Perhaps I’ll let those who are in the know reflect upon and react to those issues.

This month’s money request has this very carefully chosen and attractive cover on the envelope:

“GOING where God leads us...” is what it declares. The emphasis is on going. Let’s get going. All CAPS are used for going. “where God leads us...” is given a lesser emphasis. This is what concerns me to a much greater degree than the fact that I continue to receive assaults upon my conscience in attempts to obtain my money.

This seemingly insignificant variation in emphasis has very significant impact upon the practice of those who hold it. Thus the pursuit of my money. With the primary emphasis being on GOING, the practice that follows this emphasis is on works of men. Perhaps it is actually the other way around. The preponderance of the focus on the works of men drives the emphasis on GOING.

This is very likely the biggest false doctrine attached to missiology and evangelism. The mission is not comprised of the works of men. The Gospel is God’s work, work in which He includes men. This false doctrine, which reverses the works of God and men, changes everything. Thus the LC-MS World Mission organization is not even concerned about me and my spiritual well-being. They are not in the least concerned about whether or not my wife and I have survived the horrendous evils that the LC-MS has perpetrated against us, nor concerning the hundreds of other pastors who have been abused. Their only concern is to attempt to persuade me to give them money to GO.

Yet they have the audacity to claim as their motto: “GOING where God leads us...” The church body is divided to such a degree that some are hoping to regain 50-80 % unity in the future. Where is the evidence of the church body and its missiology being directed and led by God? Do the Scriptures ever give any indication whatsoever of the apostles considering seeking financial support from beyond those with whom they are in communion? Did the apostles ever indicate in any way that mission work could be effectively pursued apart from 100% unity in doctrine and practice?

When unity in doctrine and practice is the primary concern, what is the result? Is not unity the result? When unity exists, do the people not of their own accord give from their hearts for the work that the Holy Spirit urges?

Is this not the problem in the churches today? Borrowing from a very common cliche, the cart is being hitched in front of the horse. Under such conditions, the horse struggles even when whipped severely. Is it possible that the churches will someday remember that the mission begins with teaching, that is, Baptism, as the Lord of the Church declares in Matthew 28? The mission begins with proper catechization of the Baptized within the congregation. Proper catechization includes regular participation in the Eucharist, by which true unity is embraced and made real. How many churches today completely ignore this ultimate manifestation of unity and proclamation of the Lord’s death, that is, the pure Gospel? How many churches never even discern the body of Christ at this most rudimentary and essential and defining level? How then can they imagine themselves to be led by God in anything, when they openly defy what God has ordained for the life of His Church on earth?

Christ declares Himself to be the way, the truth, and the life. The way cannot be discerned or acknowledged apart from the truth. Morever, the life of the Church cannot in any way be divorced from or contrary to the way and the truth. Christ is the way, the truth, and the life.

When churches forget this as the foundation of the Church, when churches forget that only pure administration of the Gospel and Sacraments has the effect that God promises for the Church, how can they imagine that they have the ability to go forth by God’s leading? If they want to receive God’s leading, they really need to listen to what He says. Don’t they?

When they remember this, they won’t need to reach out for money and they won’t need to reach out with the Gospel. For the Gospel is a light and the true Church is the light that God sets up on the hill for all to see so that people will come to the light. Mission work begins with the local congregation. What sort of witness is it to send forth missionaries when even the local congregations do not show forth the light that is to be carried abroad?

Notice that St. Paul did not urge the Corinthians to support mission work. Why not? Because they were the mission that needed the Gospel. They were so divided that the apostle told them that their supper was not the Lord’s Supper. He warned them that they were partaking of the table of demons. Until the unity that the pure Gospel produces was manifest among them, they had no light to show to the world. Thus he called them to repent, to return to the complete unity in which they at first shared together. At the end of the admonishments he finally called upon them to unite with the Galatians, who were also plagued by disunity, in supporting the saints, that is, the Church that was distressed by persecution on account of faithfulness to the pure Gospel.

St. Paul spoke of mission work to congregations that were united in Christ. He even asked them for their financial support. Could it be that the one whom the Lord Jesus called as the apostle to the Gentiles actually knows the manner in which mission work should be pursued? Could it be that the Holy Spirit inspired men to record these things for us to hear so as to be led by God? Whom should be counted as correct, the Holy Spirit and those who were directly inspired by the Holy Spirit, or a bureaucratic organ of a church body created and directed by men? Which is truly the mission of the Church, collecting money for GOING, or standing fast in the unity of the true Faith?

Wrong Number

Yesterday a call came from a number that appeared on the caller ID several times previously. As with numbers of this type, automated calls, a disconnect occurred on the previous calls. This time, the caller asked for a person whose name was totally unfamiliar to anyone at this number. Surprise was the reaction of the caller when he learned that the number was given or received falsely/wrongly.

The caller sounded like a debt collection person, but did not identify himself, only stating that he would remove my phone number from the records.

This is the result of calling upon someone without being certain that the right means of calling upon that someone is being used. Apparently, as is often the case, this caller had the right name. Apparently he had been assured that the means of contacting this person was correct. The caller apparently used this information more than once, calling upon the name via incorrect means. Finally the person learned that all of his attempts were in vain.

There is a point of comparison to be made to those who call upon the name of the Lord via incorrect means. They call and call and call, using the correct name, but with the same results as the debt collector who called using the right name but the wrong phone number.

It is puzzling to me that among those calling themselves Christians that it is hard to find anyone who truly acknowledges that calling upon the Lord involves more than simply using the name of the Lord. It amazes me that people forget that the Second Commandment was given as a warning against the false notion that using the name of the Lord is without defined parameters. Through Moses the Lord declares,

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. (Exodus 20:7)

The Lord Jesus states this even more powerfully to His disciples in Matthew 7:21-23,

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Is this not the same as what the caller heard from me when he asked for someone by name but calling for that person at the wrong phone number? Is the Lord not warning that He will hold everyone accountable who calls upon His name not in accord with the way that He has ordained?

Will people calling themselves Christians not listen to this warning from the very lips of the one that they claim to be calling upon? Will they continue with eyes, ears, and hearts closed to His warning? Will they endlessly cry that all that matters is that one “believe in Jesus” even though Jesus Himself sternly warns that this belief must be according to the faith that the Holy Spirit works and not according to what individuals or even churches declare from their own hearts and minds?

James writes in Chapter 5:

And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. (James 5:15-20)

How often do people quote this passage while ignoring the point of this admonition? The point is that we be converted from our errors of doctrine and errors in practice of that doctrine so that our prayers are truly prayers of righteousness, prayers that are moved by the Holy Spirit and thus are truly righteous and heard by God. Otherwise it is as though we are simply dialing the wrong number and calling out for one who is not at that number. Calling out more frequently and more loudly and more fervently does not make the wrong means effective anymore than if the debt collector keeps calling my number calling upon the name of a person who is in no way connected with that number.

Another One Bites the Dust

On the blog of a friend and classmate the following very sad news is posted:

A Matter Personal and Professional

Preface: This may surprise some readers of Ask the Pastor: I’ve been asked to resign my pastorate here in Emma, Missouri. I’ll provide a bit of background in this preface and then let you read the following letter, one that I delivered verbally and in print to the congregation following the service on 7 June 2009.

Such is the way in today’s churches. While I know this to be the way of the churches today, still it grieves me deeply and even catches me off guard. While I often wondered how Pastor Snyder continued as a pastor in the LC-MS without suffering what other pastors often have suffered for the sake of the Gospel, nevertheless, it still is abhorrent to observe.

I often read Pastor Snyder’s posts and asked myself how he could compromise on certain points. I knew that he was being overly gentle, seeking to avoid causing offense. While he presented very scholarly answers to many questions, I often sensed that he was holding back rather than being truly straightforward and as confrontational as the Scriptures speak.

I always figured that this was how he managed to be perceived as “acceptable” to so many readers and to the members of the congregation that he served.

But now it is demonstrated that even he is not acceptable.

How a “Lutheran” congregation could find his articles to be “embarrassing” is beyond reasonable explanation. To explain such a response requires ignoring the title of Lutheran in connection with the name of the congregation.

I have very much appreciated Pastor Snyder and his articles. He is very careful in his research. He presents valuable information that requires much effort and study. His very obvious desire is to present the truth as God has recorded it for us in His Holy Scriptures. His other very obvious desire is that people should hear the truth so as to receive God’s grace, salvation, and comfort through hearing it.

I grieve for the members of the congregation who are having their hearts shredded by what is being done to their pastor against their will. From my own experiences I know that many in the congregation are shocked and deeply injured by what they helplessly observe being perpetrated not only against their beloved pastor, but also against their Lord, whom their pastor serves.

I grieve for Pastor Snyder, knowing that he intensely feels the pain of these members and would do anything in his power to prevent their anguish. I know that he wishes that he could take their pain for them. I know that he is questioning his every action, trying to find an answer to what he may have done to cause this. I know that he hurts for his family. I know that he agonizes over the congregation.

Yet this is not about anything that Pastor Snyder has done wrong, nor about his personality. This is regarding the very strong warning given in James 4:4.

Pastor Snyder, as you will surely be examining yourself with great scrutiny, do not forget who you are in Christ Jesus. Hold fast. Remember the promises of God in your baptism. Let this be a time that drives you even more deeply into the Scriptures and into the confidence proclaimed therein. Let go of all else and cling to the Word who is proclaimed in and through these Holy Scriptures. He will not fail you. He has never failed anyone. He is the one whom you have proclaimed. Hear for yourself the blessed Word who is your God and Savior.

Know this, too, that He has a few on reserve who will continue to be your friends and brothers. There is and always has been and ever shall be a remnant, who value the Word more than all else, and who stand in unity with all who truly depend upon Him.

God be with you, Pastor Snyder, and with all who hurt as you do. This is more than a kindly wish from a fellow man, this is the sure promise of Almighty God.

Trinity Sunday & the Athanasian Creed

At Necessary Roughness is an interesting post on Trinity Sunday. His pearl illustration, in which he compares the writing of the Athanasian Creed to the formation of a pearl, generates some helpful thinking, but it is generated by thinking that is not quite accurate.

As he indicates, a pearl is the product of covering over of something that is foreign and harmful to the oyster. But the Creed is not like this. Rather than a covering over of a foreign and harmful substance in the body of Christ with an inanimate and innocuous material, the Creed is an exposition of the all-powerful Truth, which actually exposes and expels what is foreign and harmful.

It seems that the most common response to the Athanasian Creed is to call it a refutation of the various heresies. It certainly was written in response to these, but not with refutation as the foundation. The Creed is written as an exposition of the true and catholic faith, without which salvation cannot be given and received.

When a person reads or recites this creed, what is encountered is not a refutation of falsehood, but a confession of the Truth. The Creed is very much more than a refutation. The Truth always leaves falsehood refuted, simply by the light that is generated by the Truth. In the light, that which is false simply does not match that which is true.

The Creed is written as a confession of the catholic faith by which salvation is given and received. It is written for the purpose of edifying the body of Christ, for strengthening the weak and faltering. Those who refuse to receive this Creed are surely exposed by their rejection of the Truth as it is clearly stated, but that is a secondary function of the Creed.

It is a mistake to view the Ecumenical Creeds as means of keeping heresies and heretics out of the Church. Rather, they are declarations of what the Church really is, so that people may freely come to the source of the Truth and not have the true faith stolen from them by false prophets and by people’s own misunderstandings.

Conservative Lutheran church bodies have often presented the creeds and especially the Athanasian Creed as refutations of false doctrine. Because of this much legalistic thinking has prevailed amongst those holding such. Then the notion that the Bible is counted as the Word of God and that the Creeds and the Lutheran Confessions are counted as true expositions of the Word of God is counted as being equal to and truly holding and believing and living the true faith. This is what happened with the Pharisees and the scribes and Sadducees.

The true Church does not have as its business the refutation of falsehood. Rather, it is the living body of Christ, founded upon and gathered unto the Truth. Where the Truth is taught and guarded, all that is false is naturally perceived as false and foreign. Where the activity is continual confession and exposition of the Truth, falsehood has no foothold and those who prefer falsehood expose themselves. Such shall be acknowledged according to what their own works/confessions expose concerning them and they are thereby refuted and ultimately excommunicated. But this is actually a foreign work of the true Church and of the Creeds of the true Church.

It is notable that in the Gospel accounts the Lord Jesus is not reported as having given orders to the apostles or to the others who were sent out that they should refute falsehood. Rather He sends them forth to preach the Gospel to all who will receive their peace. He said that where that peace is rejected that they should simply depart and make clear in their leaving that they are not one with those who reject their peace, which is the peace of God in Christ.

In contrast, consider the immense amounts of energy wasted in the building and defense and reclaiming of people’s church bodies. Consider the amount of time and money and energy thrown away on evangelism programs and on trying to win souls for Christ. If only those professing to be the Church of the Creeds would live by them, not counting their confession of them as anything more than the Truth at work in them. Then they would be true gatherings unto the pure Word and Sacraments, rather than gatherings of mangled church bodies where fighting for the Truth is the order of the day.

The Athanasian Creed is not written to be used as a refutation of heresies, but as a confession of the true faith by which all men must be saved. Salvation, not refutation, is the foundation of the creeds. Since this salvation is unlike any other proclamation in the world, it stands in such stark contrast to everything else that the foreign notions, when exposed to the Truth’s light are by their very nature exposed as foreign and false. Anyone who truly knows the God of the Athanasian Creed naturally cringes at the hearing of anything else and will gather only to the proclamation of the catholic faith confessed in this creed.

This is the purpose and nature of the creeds.

Presidents’ Day

     Today is a national holiday, a day set aside for holy things, a holy day. Hmm. President’s Day, what is holy about this day?

     That very likely depends upon one’s perspective.

     But what do we celebrate on this day? What does the office of President set before us as a people?

     The prescribed Presidential Oath of Office is recorded in the last paragraph of Section I of Article II of the Constitution of the United States of America:

     Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:— “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

     The text for the oath can be also be seen at Presidential Oaths of Office and the text of the Constitution here.

     Our most recently elected and sworn in president stumbled at the misdirection of the administrator of the oath, Chief Justice Roberts. The oath was administered a second time, as is reported here. The chief justice administered the oath from memory, and when the President Elect did not follow completely, without the written words the chief justice’s lead became confused. Therefore, to be certain that no question would be raised later regarding the legitimacy of the ceremony, the oath was re-administered.

     The Constitution prescribes these words as THE oath that must be taken before a president elect can enter on the execution of his office. Even though it may seem a small matter to move the word faithfully to the end rather than the beginning of the phrase, it does actually change the emphasis of the oath and thereby changes the oath prescribed by the Constitution. Certainly it is right that the oath be administered again correctly.

     Is this really so important? Why did this become an issue at all?

     Why did the chief justice not bring a written copy of the oath that he was to administer to the president elect? Was it arrogance? Was it pride?

     In this age of public media in visual and audio format that is broadcast live to all the world, concern over perception of personality often supplants concern over faithfulness. If Faithfulness had been the concern of the chief justice and of the president elect, they both would have brought written copies and used them. At the very least, both men would have made certain that the chief justice used a written copy.

     This brings us back to the original question regarding Presidents’ Day. Faithfulness flows from a proper sense of what is holy. That which is holy has been set apart or sanctified. The office of President has indeed been set apart, both by men and by God. Men wrote the Constitution and established the specific offices prescribed for the governing of the United States. God established that such governance is necessary for good order and has given His blessing to this authority among men. It is absolutely necessary for good order that both those governed and those appointed to govern remain mindful of the holiness of the office. It should be held to the very highest expectations.

     Indeed, Presidents’ Day is a true holiday. Do we still hold to it faithfully? Do we even still know what this means?

Help!

And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. (Psalm 50:15)

O Lord! O Lord! O Lord!

To the child of God who truly knows the Lord and fears, loves, and trusts in Him above all things, this is a true prayer.

There have been times where I have found myself praying:

The Lord is my Shepherd.
The Lord is my Shepherd!
The Lord is my Shepherd!!

For me, one who has been baptized into Christ Jesus and into His death and resurrection, one who knows and communes in the Holy Communion of Christ’s body, one who knows what it truly means that the Lord is my Shepherd, this is a true and complete prayer.

I have prayed this way at various times when my heart was troubled and I could not attain peace. My spirit was overwhelmed by the many troubles popping up around me. My heart felt as though it was racing toward the point of exploding. My mind could not focus. I was in trouble.

With those five words, all of the Twenty-third Psalm was at my heart’s assistance. All of the doctrine of the Holy Scriptures was flowing through my heart, mind, and soul. The confidence of a good conscience was restored in connection with the name of the Lord, the name given to me, as God’s baptized child. All of the assurance and comfort of the Holy Communion surrounded me as these words reminded me of God’s promise that for Christ’s sake I am a true and worthy partaker of His body and blood and of all that these heavenly gifts convey.

This is why the true faith is of absolute necessity in the Church. This is why compromise of doctrine and practice are forbidden by Our God and Father, the Good Shepherd. We need to be free of doubt concerning our relationship to God, the relationship that exists purely by the reconciliation that is worked through the pure administration of the means of grace. When we know that we are truly members of Christ’s body, when we have rightly discerned the body of the Lord so that we commune in the confidence of His body and blood regularly, then in moments of weakness and fear our hearts know instinctively where to turn, just as a frightened child instinctively cries out, “Daddy. Daddy! Daddy!!”

Anyone can cry out. Anyone can cry out, “O Lord, help me!”

However, when the person has not feasted upon the steady and pure diet of the pure and unadulterated Gospel, the prayer is not a cry of true faith. It is a prayer mixed with doubt, which is a prayer that has no power, no effect. For such a prayer is not truly in the name and power of Jesus. Rather, it is in the confusion of the person’s jumbled beliefs. It is a prayer based upon the person’s own faith and feelings. The person’s own faith and feelings have already failed. That is why the desperate cry for help is needed in the first place. Turning back again to one’s own faith and feelings has no power to help.

But the prayer of faith, true faith, the faith that comes from hearing the pure Gospel, this prayer is powerful in its effect. Such a prayer is called the prayer of the righteous man, for it is in the name and by the faith of the one true Man of righteousness. Therefore this prayer cannot fail, even as Jesus cannot fail.

The true faith can be known with absolute certainty and this faith never fails, for it is not produced by one’s own reason and strength and is not worked by oneself, but it is the gift of God by His grace. This is why we can pray without doubting. This is why our prayers are effective. God’s faithfulness is the source of our confidence. God’s faithfulness is our hope.

This is why the Lord Jesus teaches us to pray with petitions that are statements of what God has declared rather than with petitions that flow from our own perspective and desires and thoughts. Recite the Our Father and try to find a question or a request. You won’t find one. What you will find is what God has already promised in Christ Jesus. This is why we are commanded to pray believing that we WILL receive what we ask in the name of Jesus. We are to pray according to what God has declared is His will. If we pray according to what He has already declared to be His will, where is there any room for doubt?

The Lord is my Shepherd.
I shall not want!

This is not wishful thinking. This is a statement of fact. If we truly understand all that this declares to us, it is all that we need in our times of trouble.

God’s peace to you all in Christ Jesus, the Lord!

The Faithful and True Witness

Evangelism programs abound! Training for being good witnesses is promulgated throughout the many that gather claiming to be of Christ. Many people exert great efforts to become good witnesses.

Yet the Scriptures direct us to a different understanding:

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

The angel of the church of the Laodiceans is the pastor. To this pastor the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning of the creation of God, the one who was in the beginning and through whom all of creation came to be, declares that He alone is the faithful and true witness.

St. Paul writes to the churches in Galatia:

For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. (Galatians 2:19-21)

What these Scriptures teach us is that going forth as witnesses unto the Lord and His grace is not so much a matter of a special activity of witnessing, but rather primarily a matter of vocation. Being good witnesses is not a specific activity, but an identity placed upon us by the faithful and true witness.

When parents bring their newborn children to be baptized, this is the life of witness to which they are called. When they furthermore make certain that the body and blood of the Lord is received by their entire family regularly in the one true body of Christ where they may eat and drink together truly as one, this is the life of witness to which they are called. In these ways, as St. Paul declares concerning the true gathering where the Sacrament of the Altar is administered and received rightly discerning the Lord’s body, we do proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

When people truly trust that Jesus comes to His Church with mercy and grace, pouring out forgiveness and life with which His little ones are nourished and preserved everlastingly, when this is their complete dependence, then they are changed people and this dependence shows in their lives. Truly is it no longer they that live but Christ living in them. When this is the life of the one professing to be a Christian, it shows.

This is the witness that the world cannot help but notice and stand in awe. This is what causes people to wonder what makes these people different. This is what moves outsiders to approach and ask for an answer to the hope that such Christians have. And when the Christian is living in true communion with and depending upon the means of grace for one’s life, that person is fully prepared to give answer for the reason of the hope that is counted as life itself. That person points to the preaching of Christ crucified and the gracious outpouring of everlasting blessings in the Sacrament.

Sadly this is not what is commonly taught in the churches of our day. Being a witness unto Christ is the easiest thing in the world, so easy in fact, that it really requires no effort at all. Being a witness unto the grace of God in Christ is as easy as hearing the words: “I baptize you into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” and responding by continuing in this pronouncement by evermore gathering to the Holy Communion of the Saints to receive the holy absolution and the body and blood of Jesus.

When this is the witness that Christians give, they truly are witnesses of the one who is the faithful and true witness, who declares, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)

Do you want to be an effective and powerful witness unto the Lord Jesus and the salvation that He has won for us all? If so, then examine your life so that you hunger and thirst for the body and blood of your Savior. Examine yourself to be certain that you and your family are gathering in a congregation where there is no adulteration of the things of Christ. This is your life. This is your witness. Is it a true witness or is it in some way mingled with things other than what Christ has commanded for His Church? When the communion in the bread and the cup is your life, then your witness will be the one who is faithful and true, and everyone will know it. If when you open your mouth concerning Jesus, it is opened first to receive Him, then He is what will be proclaimed when you open it to speak to others, too.