Showing posts with label reformation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reformation. Show all posts
Thursday, November 01, 2012
Reformation Day —
God’s True Purpose for His Church
When I was a teenager, our family needed to clear some acreage of the briars and palmettos and undergrowth and to level the ground for seeding. We had a small tractor with various implements. My father entrusted much of the work to me as the eldest son.
The work included pulling out various palmettos and stumps, plowing and then discing. One day I was discing through some very tricky areas between the pine trees. Often the passages were very narrow between the trees.
On one pass through a particularly narrow gap, a large stinging insect attacked and stung or bit me on the back of my shoulder. It felt as though someone stuck me with a red hot fire iron.
I jerked in response to the pain, thereby turning the wheel slightly, and running the front right wheel of the tractor into one of the pines. I broke the axle.
I was in pain. I needed to tend to my shoulder. But I also was hurting because I broke the tractor. I had broken my father’s trust. I broke his tractor. I felt guilty, ashamed, and afraid.
When Dad came home I told him how I had let him down.
He responded, “Let’s see.” Upon examining it he said, “Well, we’ll have to fix it.”
After we fixed it, which did cost for the repairs, again he entrusted me to do the work at hand, reminding me to be careful.
This is much like the Lord’s way of dealing with His children, only God’s is even better. Not only does He deal with us with compassion, love, and forgiveness, not only does He fix what we have broken, not only does He take away our guilt and shame and fear, not only does He entrust to us again the work of His kingdom, but He also empowers us through the gift of the indwelling of His Holy Spirit and through the continual nurturing of His Holy Communion.
Sadly, those to whom the most precious work of preaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments has been entrusted keep forgetting this as His true purpose for His Church. And so, as has happened time and time again in previous times, the focus becomes shifted to what we must do rather than what our Heavenly Father does for us. The preaching becomes “How to” sermons. The precious Gospel is reduced to commandments that we must keep, such as “You must believe” and “You must repent” and “You must commit your lives to Jesus” and “You must make Jesus the center of your life.”
But the Gospel is the proclamation of what God does for us through His Church and His means of grace. Through the pure preaching of the Gospel Jesus comes to us and with Him the Holy Spirit, and we are regenerated as the water of Baptism is poured over us in connection with this preaching of Jesus through which the Holy Spirit works and enters into us and makes us to be His tabernacles on earth. God Himself works the repentance or changing of heart and mind that we need so that we know Him for who He really is. God committed His life to us, through the gift of His Son, Jesus, so that we would not have to rely upon our weak and faltering personal faith and commitment to Him. He makes His commitment to us the cause of our salvation and redemption and justification and sanctification. God makes us the center of His life in His body, the Church. He makes us the very reason for the Church’s existence, that in His Church He may come to us and commune with us as His precious saints. He proclaims us to be saints and comes to us to reclaim us again and again and again through the holy absolution and through the Holy Supper. He makes Himself to be the very foundation of our life so that we don’t have to commit ourselves to Him or try to make Him our focus. He does this for us through the continual activity of the Holy Spirit in our lives, who is poured out to us and into us in our baptism.
Then the work that He entrusts to us is not a burden that we must strive to fulfill. Rather, our very lives are made to be the fulfillment of the work entrusted to us as we live as His beloved children, turning again and again to His forgiveness and renewal, rejoicing in His goodness, mercy, and love. Through this the world sees God’s work done in us and for us and occasionally someone actually asks us to give the reason for the hope in which we live. Then we joyously may share with them the good news that they, too, are God’s children whom He wishes to have rejoined to Him in His everlasting kingdom of righteousness and blessedness. Then they too may received the free gift of the new life that is in Christ Jesus in His body, the Church, the household of God.
This is the joyous focus of Reformation Day. When this is how the Reformation is understood, every day is Reformation Day and the rejoicing truly never ceases.
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Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Reformation Day
Today is known by many as Reformation Day. This is on account of an event that occurred 495 years ago on October 31, 1517. On that day, a relatively obscure monk and doctor of theology posted 95 theses concerning abuses within the Church of God, or at least what people had been taught to believe was the Church of God. The truth is that the Church had been taken captive by a larger body that was really not the Church at all. Yet within this larger body, God had preserved a few who miraculously still clung to the promises of God in Christ, though they were terribly persecuted whenever they dared to speak openly concerning these things.
Dr. Luther wrote his concerns in the form of the famous, or infamous in some circles, 95 theses and he posted them on the community theological bulletin board, that is, the door of the Wittenberg Church. His intention was to begin discussions regarding what the Holy Scriptures declare for the Church, especially in contrast to the posted abuses. From this grew a mighty firestorm as the validity of these challenges became apparent to more and more theologians and people. This reaction to Luther and his challenges, which grew to become a movement throughout the world, became known as the Protestant Reformation, and that which remained closer to the doctrine exposed by Dr. Luther and his fellow theologians was more narrowly labeled the Lutheran Reformation.
Having shared this background information, it is fitting to ask a larger question: “What is Reformation Day really about?”
If a house is handed down within a family from generation to generation, there could be a number of occasions for celebration regarding this house. One occasion for celebration could be the day of the purchase of the land. Another could be the day of first breaking ground for the laying of the foundation. Another could be the day of completion of the building. Another could be the day the family actually began to reside in the house. If a loan or mortgage was involved, the day of the payoff could be another occasion. The birth of the first child could be another. On and on the occasions for celebration multiply.
Perhaps the house caught fire and burned in the seventh generation and had to be rebuilt. This would become yet another occasion, one that may even encompass many of the previous occasions and combine them all into one great celebraton.
Reformation Day is much like this.
However, if such an occasion were to be celebrated in perpetuity, would those who enjoyed the benefits of the house make one of the tools the focus of the celebration? Would they make the focus the pick axe that was used to break the ground? Would they choose the saw that made the first cut in the new timber for rebuilding the burned house? Moreover, would they name the house after the pick axe or rename the rebuilt house after the saw?
Does this sound ridiculous?
What is the Reformation really about? Is it about the tool, Luther, whom God used to call out His children from a burned out and crumbling house? Or is it about the house of God to which He called out His children and the joyous and blessed life within this house that He provides for all who hear His calling and gather to the means of this blessed life?
Moreover, what is the house of God, anyway? Is it the building upon which people place their signs after they erect their stones or bricks or lumber? Is it the corporation that they charter and define with a constitution and bylaws?
Did Luther and his brethren who stood with him in the face of threats against their lives and persecution of many kinds have anything to say on this? Did they give a clear definition of what they believed the house of God, the Church, to be?
Indeed they did. They spoke of this in the confession of faith that they were required to present to the Emperor in 1530 at the Diet of Augsburg. This has come to be called the Augsburg Confession. Within this confession many of the articles of the faith are addressed, stating what these churches and teachers who stood together in concord believed, taught, and confessed from the Word of God.
Article VII: Of the Church.
1] Also they teach that one holy Church is to continue forever. The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered.
2] And to the true unity of the Church it is enough to agree concerning the doctrine of the Gospel and 3] the administration of the Sacraments. Nor is it necessary that human traditions, that is, rites or ceremonies, instituted by men, should be everywhere alike. 4] As Paul says: One faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all, etc. Eph. 4, 5. 6.
Article VIII: What the Church Is.
1] Although the Church properly is the congregation of saints and true believers, nevertheless, since in this life many hypocrites and evil persons are mingled therewith, it is lawful to use Sacraments administered by evil men, according to the saying of Christ: The Scribes and 2] the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat, etc. Matt. 23, 2. Both the Sacraments and Word are effectual by reason of the institution and commandment of Christ, notwithstanding they be administered by evil men. 3] They condemn the Donatists, and such like, who denied it to be lawful to use the ministry of evil men in the Church, and who thought the ministry of evil men to be unprofitable and of none effect.
Do those who celebrate the Reformation today share with these confessors of the Faith the same understanding? Do they celebrate what the “Reformers” celebrated?
What really is the cause for celebration this day?
Is it not that God worked through various men throughout the many generations to proclaim His saving Gospel and to administer His Sacraments for our salvation and preservation as His children within His holy household of faith? When we celebrate Reformation Day, is not the true cause for celebration the gifts of the Gospel and the Baptism by which God regenerates us as His true children and the Holy Supper by which He nourishes us with His forgiveness and renewal in the one true faith in His Holy Communion?
How many times does the Lord Jesus emphasize the fact that the Gospel is the call of the King to all of His scattered children to be gathered to the wedding banquet?
Is this not the true focus of Reformation Day?
Is this gracious activity of the Lord our God not true cause for celebration?
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Friday, November 18, 2011
Pastors & Laity
In a blog post entitled How Should We Celebrate Reformation Sunday? the following paragraph stirred up some thoughts for me:
As I read this paragraph, I was moved to consider the three men mentioned and especially the fact that two were pastors and one was not. There was a considerable difference between the “lay theologian” and the two pastors regarding the Gospel and the absolute necessity of it being administered purely without adulteration or compromise. This moved me to ponder the pastoral office and those who are called and ordained to administer the means of grace as contrasted to those who gather to receive the benefits of the sacrifices of their pastors.
In Ephesians 4 St. Paul speaks of the purpose of the pastoral office and how Christ gives to His Church pastors/teachers that this purpose may be effected.
When a man is called and ordained into the teaching office, does God bring forth in that man something different than what is found in the rest of the body of Christ?
This question is not comprehensive, actually. It seems that more definition is required in order to understand the real issue. Do those who extend a call to a man to serve as their pastor really understand this calling? Do they grasp that this ordination is not a mere ritual by which they hire someone to fulfill certain tasks? Does the one being called and ordained truly appreciate the office to which he is being called?
In the comments section of the article quoted above the following is presented:
While Luke Sampson is busy trying to defend the use of a liturgical color, he does ask a worthy question, but from a less than full understanding of what ordination really is. Patrick Sarsfield responds with a total lack of understanding and demonstrates that hatred is his primary motivation.
Ordination is about a specific man, as Luke Sampson states. However, it is not really about the man on whom it is conferred, but about the man who has ordained it, the one who has descended from heaven and ascended again to the same place. Ordination is about Christ. The office is His office. He has ordained it. He is the one who brings to effect that holy motivation by which His servants of the Word go forth in His name and perform the ministry that He has ordained for the sake of His Church on earth.
Sadly, most pastors have no real understanding of this important matter. Most of the lay members of the Church likewise are clueless. Melanchthon, a “lay theologian,” was very willing to compromise in order to accomplish peace among the factions of those professing to be Church. Luther and Bugenhagen were much less willing.
The reason that this difference existed seems to be the difference in understanding the pastoral office and the purpose of that office. Melanchthon was not ordained to this office. He never had the burden placed upon his shoulders that the liturgical stole represents. Perhaps this explains in part the lack of understanding that he manifested. Perhaps this is why he later departed from the clear statements of the Augsburg Confession, those wonderfully accurate statements drafted by his own hand.
Most pastors seem to lack this sense of burden as well. While many will speak of having a “burden for the lost,” few express true knowledge of the burden for the Church, for the true unity of the communion of saints, the holy catholic Church. Many who confess the importance of pure doctrine and practice do not believe in the absolute necessity of this purity in the life of the Church. Most imagine that the Church can exist in communion with impurity. Most outright deny the clear doctrine taught by St. Paul as it is quoted above. They deny that the unity which St. Paul declares can exist in this world. They say it can only exist in heaven or after the Day of Judgment. Thus they deny the purpose of the pastoral office to which they are called and ordained. They deny the power of the Word to accomplish what it promises. They deny what St. Paul declares to be the very outcome of the preaching and teaching entrusted to the called and ordained servants of the Word and so they allow to continue the propagation of “children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.”
The problem is that they do not believe the office of the keys to be a real office with real authority in heaven. They imagine that it is only an earthly office to which they have been hired. They perceive the pastoral office to be a function of worldly tactics and orchestrations. Thus they imagine that the “perfecting of the saints” or the “complete furnishing of the saints” is to be accomplished through teaching “how to” sermons and through various programs. The emphasis becomes what the Church does rather than what the Church receives. The preaching becomes instructions for doing and for giving and for sacrificing and for becoming more Christlike and for committing oneself to Christ and for making Christ the center of one’s life. And thus the true center of the life of the congregation becomes the attempts at being better and more devoted followers of Jesus.
Through this the true work of the ministry is lost. The true “work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” is reduced to attempts at obedience and faithfulness rather than the powerful work of the Word in connection with the means of grace. The work of the ministry is reduced to the miserable attempts of sinners to accomplish what only God can do. Compromise becomes the only option, for who but God can accomplish perfect unity?
The pastoral office is founded upon the belief in accomplishing the impossible. It is grounded upon the perfecting of the saints. It is established upon the absolute perfection that the Holy Spirit works through the means of grace. It is the preaching that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report.” (Hebrews 11:1-2) It is the preaching that through water God saved Noah in the days of old and that today He likewise saves us through the water in which His Word works to purify us so that we stand before God with the answer of a good conscience by the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 3:21) It is the preaching of the unity of the communion of the body and blood of Christ. (1 Corinthians 10:16-17)
This is real unity. It is not just the preaching of what will be at some future time. It is created here and now, where it is actually preached and practiced as Christ has ordained it for His Church on earth.
And this unity is not just a glorious vision or hope. It is not merely something for which to strive. It is what must exist in order for salvation to be administered. For these means are the very means of salvation. They stand uncorrupted or else they do not exist as that which is from God for our salvation. Christ’s means of grace do not exist in forms other than those which He has ordained. To change them is to make them something that is not of God and has no power to do what God promises to work through His ordained means.
When a pastor understands this as the ordination with which he is ordained, it does indeed effect a change in his being and in his perception of what is required of him. He does indeed carry a burden, a burden that is far beyond what he can carry by his own strength. And so he relies upon the one from whom this ordination has its authority and power and proclaims Him and His ministry through the pure and unadulterated means that He has ordained for this purpose. And so the pastor kneels to receive that which he administers, acknowledging first his own great need, and then also administering the same to those entrusted to his pastoral care.
Since this is by the working of the Holy Spirit and by the redemption price of the blood of Christ, certainly red is a fitting color for this divine ordination of gifts for Christ’s Church on earth, the ordination placed upon every man who stands in Christ’s stead to offer freely the gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation to all whom the Holy Spirit gathers for this purpose in every age and place.
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Though Luther was, at times, threatened, he did not die a martyr’s death. Neither did Fr. Johannes Bugenhagen, who was given charge of Luther’s wife and children following his death. And neither did the famous lay theologian of the Lutheran Reformation, Philip Melanchthon.
As I read this paragraph, I was moved to consider the three men mentioned and especially the fact that two were pastors and one was not. There was a considerable difference between the “lay theologian” and the two pastors regarding the Gospel and the absolute necessity of it being administered purely without adulteration or compromise. This moved me to ponder the pastoral office and those who are called and ordained to administer the means of grace as contrasted to those who gather to receive the benefits of the sacrifices of their pastors.
In Ephesians 4 St. Paul speaks of the purpose of the pastoral office and how Christ gives to His Church pastors/teachers that this purpose may be effected.
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. (Ephesians 4:11-16)
When a man is called and ordained into the teaching office, does God bring forth in that man something different than what is found in the rest of the body of Christ?
This question is not comprehensive, actually. It seems that more definition is required in order to understand the real issue. Do those who extend a call to a man to serve as their pastor really understand this calling? Do they grasp that this ordination is not a mere ritual by which they hire someone to fulfill certain tasks? Does the one being called and ordained truly appreciate the office to which he is being called?
In the comments section of the article quoted above the following is presented:
Luke Sampson says:
Pr Genig: You mentioned three uses for red: Pentecost, Martyrdom, and Ordination. Once you knocked down Martyrdom you immediately state the "only other" signification would be Pentecost. What happened to the third option, Ordination? In this case it would be a celebration of the Holy Spirit's equipping of a specific man, Luther, for a specific task, the restoration of the Gospel message.
patricksarsfield says:
Luke Sampson writes:
"What happened to the third option, Ordination? In this case it would be a celebration of the Holy Spirit's equipping of a specific man, Luther, for a specific task, the restoration of the Gospel message. "
So much for Sola Scriptura. Where in the Bible does it record that Luther was ordained by the Holy Spirit to restore the Gospel message? Nowhere, of course. Protestants made up the unbiblical rule of Sola Scriptura to justify their rejection of the long-standing Tradition of the only Church Jesus ever founded, but they feel no compunction to judge the foul-mouthed, vow-breaking founder of their own religion by hjis own test of Sola Scriptura.
While Luke Sampson is busy trying to defend the use of a liturgical color, he does ask a worthy question, but from a less than full understanding of what ordination really is. Patrick Sarsfield responds with a total lack of understanding and demonstrates that hatred is his primary motivation.
Ordination is about a specific man, as Luke Sampson states. However, it is not really about the man on whom it is conferred, but about the man who has ordained it, the one who has descended from heaven and ascended again to the same place. Ordination is about Christ. The office is His office. He has ordained it. He is the one who brings to effect that holy motivation by which His servants of the Word go forth in His name and perform the ministry that He has ordained for the sake of His Church on earth.
Sadly, most pastors have no real understanding of this important matter. Most of the lay members of the Church likewise are clueless. Melanchthon, a “lay theologian,” was very willing to compromise in order to accomplish peace among the factions of those professing to be Church. Luther and Bugenhagen were much less willing.
The reason that this difference existed seems to be the difference in understanding the pastoral office and the purpose of that office. Melanchthon was not ordained to this office. He never had the burden placed upon his shoulders that the liturgical stole represents. Perhaps this explains in part the lack of understanding that he manifested. Perhaps this is why he later departed from the clear statements of the Augsburg Confession, those wonderfully accurate statements drafted by his own hand.
Most pastors seem to lack this sense of burden as well. While many will speak of having a “burden for the lost,” few express true knowledge of the burden for the Church, for the true unity of the communion of saints, the holy catholic Church. Many who confess the importance of pure doctrine and practice do not believe in the absolute necessity of this purity in the life of the Church. Most imagine that the Church can exist in communion with impurity. Most outright deny the clear doctrine taught by St. Paul as it is quoted above. They deny that the unity which St. Paul declares can exist in this world. They say it can only exist in heaven or after the Day of Judgment. Thus they deny the purpose of the pastoral office to which they are called and ordained. They deny the power of the Word to accomplish what it promises. They deny what St. Paul declares to be the very outcome of the preaching and teaching entrusted to the called and ordained servants of the Word and so they allow to continue the propagation of “children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.”
The problem is that they do not believe the office of the keys to be a real office with real authority in heaven. They imagine that it is only an earthly office to which they have been hired. They perceive the pastoral office to be a function of worldly tactics and orchestrations. Thus they imagine that the “perfecting of the saints” or the “complete furnishing of the saints” is to be accomplished through teaching “how to” sermons and through various programs. The emphasis becomes what the Church does rather than what the Church receives. The preaching becomes instructions for doing and for giving and for sacrificing and for becoming more Christlike and for committing oneself to Christ and for making Christ the center of one’s life. And thus the true center of the life of the congregation becomes the attempts at being better and more devoted followers of Jesus.
Through this the true work of the ministry is lost. The true “work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” is reduced to attempts at obedience and faithfulness rather than the powerful work of the Word in connection with the means of grace. The work of the ministry is reduced to the miserable attempts of sinners to accomplish what only God can do. Compromise becomes the only option, for who but God can accomplish perfect unity?
The pastoral office is founded upon the belief in accomplishing the impossible. It is grounded upon the perfecting of the saints. It is established upon the absolute perfection that the Holy Spirit works through the means of grace. It is the preaching that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report.” (Hebrews 11:1-2) It is the preaching that through water God saved Noah in the days of old and that today He likewise saves us through the water in which His Word works to purify us so that we stand before God with the answer of a good conscience by the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 3:21) It is the preaching of the unity of the communion of the body and blood of Christ. (1 Corinthians 10:16-17)
This is real unity. It is not just the preaching of what will be at some future time. It is created here and now, where it is actually preached and practiced as Christ has ordained it for His Church on earth.
And this unity is not just a glorious vision or hope. It is not merely something for which to strive. It is what must exist in order for salvation to be administered. For these means are the very means of salvation. They stand uncorrupted or else they do not exist as that which is from God for our salvation. Christ’s means of grace do not exist in forms other than those which He has ordained. To change them is to make them something that is not of God and has no power to do what God promises to work through His ordained means.
When a pastor understands this as the ordination with which he is ordained, it does indeed effect a change in his being and in his perception of what is required of him. He does indeed carry a burden, a burden that is far beyond what he can carry by his own strength. And so he relies upon the one from whom this ordination has its authority and power and proclaims Him and His ministry through the pure and unadulterated means that He has ordained for this purpose. And so the pastor kneels to receive that which he administers, acknowledging first his own great need, and then also administering the same to those entrusted to his pastoral care.
Since this is by the working of the Holy Spirit and by the redemption price of the blood of Christ, certainly red is a fitting color for this divine ordination of gifts for Christ’s Church on earth, the ordination placed upon every man who stands in Christ’s stead to offer freely the gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation to all whom the Holy Spirit gathers for this purpose in every age and place.
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Tuesday, November 01, 2011
Halloween-Reformation-All Saints
The transition from October to November carries a mixture of observances, Halloween, Reformation, and All Saints Vigil and Day. Halloween is the observance that most people know and practice. I was amazed to see how far some people go in decorating for Halloween. Some houses were decorated as much as they were for Christmas. My drive-by photo did not turn out well, but here is one house from last night:
In times past I objected quite strongly to Halloween because of the ungodly associations of the observance. And I still do not desire to accentuate it or participate in it. Nevertheless, we do buy candy to give to the eager little faces that come to the door.
I do enjoy the children. Stephanie likes to watch me with the children, preferring to watch me over greeting the children herself.
I suppose that this is why people enjoy Halloween. “It’s for the children!”
Nearly everyone enjoys the variety of costumes from which often somewhat trepid yet expectant little faces peer. Last night I especially enjoyed the one tiny little fellow, barely knee-high, who indicated after I gave him a bag of M&Ms, “I want that one.” So I gave him that one, too. “What’s the difference?” I queried. He didn’t know. The two bags were exactly the same.
Earlier in the week, my next door neighbor, 91 years old, decided to replace the light in his carport so that it would stay on when the children would come. After attempting the feat and experiencing instability on the stepladder, he called me to do it.
He was looking forward to the children coming to the door.
I, myself, do not look forward to Halloween. Yet when the children come to the door, I enjoy the encounter.
I was especially amazed at the politeness of the children this year. None of them acted greedily. In past years some children would try to grab handfuls, sometimes multiple handfuls. But this year that did not occur. Not even once.
As much as I enjoy the children, I still experience angst. So many of the costumes are of vampires and other such ghoulish nature. Yet even most of these are “cute.” Still, it leaves me hurting to know how the devil and the world use the cuteness of the children to weaken our senses regarding the appalling nature of these things. I am always wanting to speak the Gospel to the little visitors, and their lurking parents in the shadows.
But the Gospel is not to be pressed upon anyone. This is not the way of our gracious God and Father. While the Gospel is powerful beyond anything else known to us, it is nevertheless, a gift. It is offered in a way not unlike the manner of the Halloween treats.
Oh that the churches would learn this. Just as the children do not need to be coerced or tricked into receiving candy and treats with eager and joyful hearts, so also the Gospel is to be offered. If the Gospel were truly offered in its purity, with all of the sweetness of God’s inestimable grace, mercy, and peace, in the complete unity of the Una Sancta, people would have a very different perception of “Church.”
Interestingly, the children and parents needed no special invitation to come to our door last night. Generally only one thing really mattered. They needed to see the light shining both at the door and from within. Then, of their own desire, they came to the door and knocked, using the liturgical chant of the festival.
It seems funny, that in such circumstances, no one objects to the lack of spontaneity or to the lack of personal opinion. Every person who came to our door used the same historical liturgical chant. It is one that they did not invent or choose, but simply learned as the chant to be used on this occasion. Moreover, each and every person came with the exact same expectation, to be served by the lord of the house or the appointed server. They all expected to receive a treat without offering anything whatsoever for it, simply by the gracious disposition of the one ordained as the serving one.
Sadly, the Halloween liturgy is a sick one. No one even gives any thought to what is being said. “Trick or Treat!” is the chant. It means, “Give us a treat or we will play a dirty trick.” No pays any attention to this anymore, even though it once had a very serious part in the ritual. If people treated these words seriously, how many guns or clubs would be brought to the door instead of treats?
Yet, is this not reflective of how many people approach other matters? Is this not the way that many people make demands regarding government programs? Is this not the way that many approach what they consider to be the Church? Do people not very often come to “worship” with a demanding attitude, demanding that things be done their way?
And in the churches that still use the historic liturgy or something that resembles it, how seriously do people consider the words and what they declare? Do they really even understand what the householder is giving? Do they really understand what they are coming to receive and the means by which the gifts are given? Do they really even come with the same expectation of what is to be received?
This is what the Festival of the Reformation is. It is a festival of thanksgiving for the reclamation of the true identity of the Church as the House of God to which the Holy Spirit calls by means of the Gospel, enlightens with His gifts, and sanctifies those gathered so as to keep them in the one true faith of Jesus through which forgiveness of sins is imparted and everlasting life in God’s Holy Communion is restored. The Festival of the Reformation is the celebration of the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit to accomplish this in every time and place. The devil, the world, and our sinful flesh continually turn the holy things of God into mere symbolism and worse, turn these blessed means of grace into requirements by which the souls of men become enslaved. Rather than being set free by the absolute and unadulterated Truth, people become enslaved to their own corrupt attempts at goodness and righteousness. But the Reformation is God’s continual call to the repentance that the Holy Spirit works. God continually works through the few who preach the Gospel purely to restore His gifts to the Saints.
All Saints Day very appropriately teaches us the effect of the Lord’s Reformation. All Saints Day teaches us the unity of the Church through unity of the doctrine of the Scriptures, by which the Church stands unmoved from the foundation of the preaching of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. All who have ever trusted in this preaching, all who now hear it in the faith worked by the Holy Spirit, and all who ever will hear and abide in the faith it declares, are united in the one body of Christ. They confess the same faith and gather to receive the same gifts. They are truly one in Christ.
Halloween, Reformation, and All Saints Day, really stand as representatives of what occurs daily in the world. Halloween happens each and every day as the human race looks to things that are not of God and of the Life that is known only in His Holy Communion. The Human Race stands apart from the Truth of God and seeks gifts through other ways. But each and every day the Lord continually calls out with His Gospel through His saints who daily walk in spirit, confessing the true faith, gathering into the name of Jesus to receive the Sacraments of forgiveness and life. Each and every day is All Saints Day, as those whom the Holy Spirit has called, gathered, enlightened, and sanctified are kept in the one true faith, united and kept whole with Jesus Christ until the day that He comes to take His saints out of this world of deception and terror and turmoil to live in the blessedness of the resurrection.
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In times past I objected quite strongly to Halloween because of the ungodly associations of the observance. And I still do not desire to accentuate it or participate in it. Nevertheless, we do buy candy to give to the eager little faces that come to the door.
I do enjoy the children. Stephanie likes to watch me with the children, preferring to watch me over greeting the children herself.
I suppose that this is why people enjoy Halloween. “It’s for the children!”
Nearly everyone enjoys the variety of costumes from which often somewhat trepid yet expectant little faces peer. Last night I especially enjoyed the one tiny little fellow, barely knee-high, who indicated after I gave him a bag of M&Ms, “I want that one.” So I gave him that one, too. “What’s the difference?” I queried. He didn’t know. The two bags were exactly the same.
Earlier in the week, my next door neighbor, 91 years old, decided to replace the light in his carport so that it would stay on when the children would come. After attempting the feat and experiencing instability on the stepladder, he called me to do it.
He was looking forward to the children coming to the door.
I, myself, do not look forward to Halloween. Yet when the children come to the door, I enjoy the encounter.
I was especially amazed at the politeness of the children this year. None of them acted greedily. In past years some children would try to grab handfuls, sometimes multiple handfuls. But this year that did not occur. Not even once.
As much as I enjoy the children, I still experience angst. So many of the costumes are of vampires and other such ghoulish nature. Yet even most of these are “cute.” Still, it leaves me hurting to know how the devil and the world use the cuteness of the children to weaken our senses regarding the appalling nature of these things. I am always wanting to speak the Gospel to the little visitors, and their lurking parents in the shadows.
But the Gospel is not to be pressed upon anyone. This is not the way of our gracious God and Father. While the Gospel is powerful beyond anything else known to us, it is nevertheless, a gift. It is offered in a way not unlike the manner of the Halloween treats.
Oh that the churches would learn this. Just as the children do not need to be coerced or tricked into receiving candy and treats with eager and joyful hearts, so also the Gospel is to be offered. If the Gospel were truly offered in its purity, with all of the sweetness of God’s inestimable grace, mercy, and peace, in the complete unity of the Una Sancta, people would have a very different perception of “Church.”
Interestingly, the children and parents needed no special invitation to come to our door last night. Generally only one thing really mattered. They needed to see the light shining both at the door and from within. Then, of their own desire, they came to the door and knocked, using the liturgical chant of the festival.
It seems funny, that in such circumstances, no one objects to the lack of spontaneity or to the lack of personal opinion. Every person who came to our door used the same historical liturgical chant. It is one that they did not invent or choose, but simply learned as the chant to be used on this occasion. Moreover, each and every person came with the exact same expectation, to be served by the lord of the house or the appointed server. They all expected to receive a treat without offering anything whatsoever for it, simply by the gracious disposition of the one ordained as the serving one.
Sadly, the Halloween liturgy is a sick one. No one even gives any thought to what is being said. “Trick or Treat!” is the chant. It means, “Give us a treat or we will play a dirty trick.” No pays any attention to this anymore, even though it once had a very serious part in the ritual. If people treated these words seriously, how many guns or clubs would be brought to the door instead of treats?
Yet, is this not reflective of how many people approach other matters? Is this not the way that many people make demands regarding government programs? Is this not the way that many approach what they consider to be the Church? Do people not very often come to “worship” with a demanding attitude, demanding that things be done their way?
And in the churches that still use the historic liturgy or something that resembles it, how seriously do people consider the words and what they declare? Do they really even understand what the householder is giving? Do they really understand what they are coming to receive and the means by which the gifts are given? Do they really even come with the same expectation of what is to be received?
This is what the Festival of the Reformation is. It is a festival of thanksgiving for the reclamation of the true identity of the Church as the House of God to which the Holy Spirit calls by means of the Gospel, enlightens with His gifts, and sanctifies those gathered so as to keep them in the one true faith of Jesus through which forgiveness of sins is imparted and everlasting life in God’s Holy Communion is restored. The Festival of the Reformation is the celebration of the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit to accomplish this in every time and place. The devil, the world, and our sinful flesh continually turn the holy things of God into mere symbolism and worse, turn these blessed means of grace into requirements by which the souls of men become enslaved. Rather than being set free by the absolute and unadulterated Truth, people become enslaved to their own corrupt attempts at goodness and righteousness. But the Reformation is God’s continual call to the repentance that the Holy Spirit works. God continually works through the few who preach the Gospel purely to restore His gifts to the Saints.
All Saints Day very appropriately teaches us the effect of the Lord’s Reformation. All Saints Day teaches us the unity of the Church through unity of the doctrine of the Scriptures, by which the Church stands unmoved from the foundation of the preaching of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. All who have ever trusted in this preaching, all who now hear it in the faith worked by the Holy Spirit, and all who ever will hear and abide in the faith it declares, are united in the one body of Christ. They confess the same faith and gather to receive the same gifts. They are truly one in Christ.
Halloween, Reformation, and All Saints Day, really stand as representatives of what occurs daily in the world. Halloween happens each and every day as the human race looks to things that are not of God and of the Life that is known only in His Holy Communion. The Human Race stands apart from the Truth of God and seeks gifts through other ways. But each and every day the Lord continually calls out with His Gospel through His saints who daily walk in spirit, confessing the true faith, gathering into the name of Jesus to receive the Sacraments of forgiveness and life. Each and every day is All Saints Day, as those whom the Holy Spirit has called, gathered, enlightened, and sanctified are kept in the one true faith, united and kept whole with Jesus Christ until the day that He comes to take His saints out of this world of deception and terror and turmoil to live in the blessedness of the resurrection.
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Monday, November 01, 2010
Sermons Posted
After almost a year of not posting sermons to the web site, I have begun posting again. Due to financial struggles and the need to adjust the format of the web site to compensate for changes to the various web browsers and their “improvements,” I did not post sermons for a time. I was not even sure, for a time, whether or not I would be able to afford to maintain the web site.
Learning new HTML and CSS and other language needed for web site administration takes time. I am hopeful that I have the site working more in accord with the newer standards. I have not yet corrected the entire site, but the newer pages have been adjusted.
This Sunday’s sermon for the Festival of the Reformation has been uploaded and can be viewed and downloaded here.
I hope to begin uploading past sermons up to the time that I stopped last year and to make changes to the pages previously posted.. But at least the site should be functional again for the newer pages across the various browsers.
Learning new HTML and CSS and other language needed for web site administration takes time. I am hopeful that I have the site working more in accord with the newer standards. I have not yet corrected the entire site, but the newer pages have been adjusted.
This Sunday’s sermon for the Festival of the Reformation has been uploaded and can be viewed and downloaded here.
I hope to begin uploading past sermons up to the time that I stopped last year and to make changes to the pages previously posted.. But at least the site should be functional again for the newer pages across the various browsers.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
More than Reformation Day?
Huh!
Last evening, as I drove to cut my mother-in-law’s grass, I saw someone dressed as a witch or some such thing. I was puzzled at first.
My mind had been focused on things of the nation and more importantly and absorbingly, upon the Festival of the Reformation and the blessings associated with the restoration of the preaching of the pure Gospel to the Church.
Then I saw this person celebrating Halloween.
Oh. I had forgotten.
Halloween has no place in my life, except that I do hand out candy to those who come to my door on that night.
Once upon a time this bothered me. I resisted this. But I have concluded that being kind to the little hobgoblins is far better than to turn them away from my door. The only message that this would give is one of rejection without explanation.
However, even though we purchased the candy in preparation for these costumed little beggars, it was so far from my mind on the day of the Festival of the Reformation that I had completely forgotten it.
When I arrived home I turned on the light, and in a few moments, the little costumed beggars were at the door. They continued in a modest but regular flow until about 9:00 p.m.
It is notable that the light was what signaled to them that they could come to the door. We have no Halloween decorations of any kind. Yet with the light turned on, the children came to our door.
I would love for this to be the way every day, and especially on the Lord’s Day. I would love for these little ones and their parents and guardians to know that the Light of the world dwells in our home and be drawn as beggars to partake of the safety and blessings of the Light continually. We beggars need to be gathered unto the Light together. Of course no masks or costumes are needed, even though we sinners do try to mask and disguise our sin and our beggarly appearance. Nevertheless, those who gather in the name of Jesus, have their masks and disguises stripped away as the Law drives us to our knees to cry out to the Lord to fill us with His heavenly blessings in place of our many tricks.
Last evening, as I drove to cut my mother-in-law’s grass, I saw someone dressed as a witch or some such thing. I was puzzled at first.
My mind had been focused on things of the nation and more importantly and absorbingly, upon the Festival of the Reformation and the blessings associated with the restoration of the preaching of the pure Gospel to the Church.
Then I saw this person celebrating Halloween.
Oh. I had forgotten.
Halloween has no place in my life, except that I do hand out candy to those who come to my door on that night.
Once upon a time this bothered me. I resisted this. But I have concluded that being kind to the little hobgoblins is far better than to turn them away from my door. The only message that this would give is one of rejection without explanation.
However, even though we purchased the candy in preparation for these costumed little beggars, it was so far from my mind on the day of the Festival of the Reformation that I had completely forgotten it.
When I arrived home I turned on the light, and in a few moments, the little costumed beggars were at the door. They continued in a modest but regular flow until about 9:00 p.m.
It is notable that the light was what signaled to them that they could come to the door. We have no Halloween decorations of any kind. Yet with the light turned on, the children came to our door.
I would love for this to be the way every day, and especially on the Lord’s Day. I would love for these little ones and their parents and guardians to know that the Light of the world dwells in our home and be drawn as beggars to partake of the safety and blessings of the Light continually. We beggars need to be gathered unto the Light together. Of course no masks or costumes are needed, even though we sinners do try to mask and disguise our sin and our beggarly appearance. Nevertheless, those who gather in the name of Jesus, have their masks and disguises stripped away as the Law drives us to our knees to cry out to the Lord to fill us with His heavenly blessings in place of our many tricks.
Friday, November 02, 2007
Reformation
October 31, 1517 is counted throughout the world as Reformation Day. It stands in stark contrast to the worldly celebration of Halloween. On this day, Dr. Martin Luther stood against the world and against the world’s religions and called for all the world and especially those who count themselves as Christians to repent. He challenged the ways of mankind and urged that the Word of God is the basis for true faith rather than ceremony or tradition or human attempts at righteousness. He especially urged people to abandon the false worship that focused in various ways upon buying God’s favor with money, devotion, penance, or other works. He urged all people to be reformed in their hearts and souls so that they trusted in God’s mercy and grace in Christ Jesus. The reformation that he sought was a simple return to the God of grace, mercy, and peace.
Today there is much buzz about needing new reformation. I believe that Luther would object to this terminology. The need is not for a new reformation today any more than such a need for a new reformation existed in Luther’s day. Luther did not urge a new reformation, but urged a return to the true reformation, the reformation that the Lord God has been working even from eternity, and pronounced already in Genesis 3.
Throughout history there have been many reformations akin to the one that is attributed to Luther. The first is recorded in Genesis 3:20 when after hearing the Lord’s declaration of the Gospel Adam turns to his wife and gives her a new name, Eve, which means Life. Other little reformations include each time that the Lord raised up a new judge to turn Israel from their idolatry back to the unadulterated worship ordained through Moses. Several kings also enacted little reformations, such as Hezekiah and even Manasseh. Yet none of these were lasting reformations, neither were they complete.
The people from Adam to John the baptizer waited for the day of the reformation. Today we look back upon it and also forward to it. For in Christ God did reform mankind. The image of God was restored to mankind in the body of Jesus, born of Mary. Mankind was truly reformed.
This reformation is applied to us today as the Holy Spirit comes to us through the Word in the water of Baptism and rejoins us to Christ crucified. This reformation is renewed in us each and every time that we come to the Holy Table to receive the body and blood of our Lord. The fullness of this reformation will be realized when Christ returns in the fullness of His glory to take us once and for all from this world of confusion and unbelief, to abide with Him in the everlasting joy of the removal of all that is sinful and evil. Then the reformation shall be complete in time even as God has already declared it from eternity.
Until then, reformation is the continual life of the Church. Reformation is the work that God works among us as we gather to Him in His means of grace. Where these are administered purely, the blessed reformation continues. Where these are adulterated and where this adulteration is tolerated, God’s grace does not prevail, but rather, people focus upon many other things.
For those who are thinking that a new reformation is needed today, I would suggest that you are correct if you are speaking of the reformation that we each need to encounter anew each and every day. The reformation that is needed is the one that Adam experienced and that many years later Luther also experienced. That reformation is the repentance that the Holy Spirit works through the Gospel so that we are set free from our dependence upon all things that lead us into temptation. The Holy Spirit always leads us to the means of grace, where we receive Jesus, our God and Savior. In Him we are truly reformed again and again, and even forevermore.
A final and very important point to remember is that when we speak of the need for reformation we are not speaking of this need for other people, but for us. This is why the Lord Jesus reminds us of our need to remove the log from our own eyes first. We, ourselves, need to return to the pure Gospel and the pure Sacraments, where God washes us with holy water that cleanses to our very souls and covers us with the blood of purification and life from the inside out, removing our log so that we may see clearly the reformation that God alone can work for us, and does work for us and among us through the means through which He has promised.
Today there is much buzz about needing new reformation. I believe that Luther would object to this terminology. The need is not for a new reformation today any more than such a need for a new reformation existed in Luther’s day. Luther did not urge a new reformation, but urged a return to the true reformation, the reformation that the Lord God has been working even from eternity, and pronounced already in Genesis 3.
Throughout history there have been many reformations akin to the one that is attributed to Luther. The first is recorded in Genesis 3:20 when after hearing the Lord’s declaration of the Gospel Adam turns to his wife and gives her a new name, Eve, which means Life. Other little reformations include each time that the Lord raised up a new judge to turn Israel from their idolatry back to the unadulterated worship ordained through Moses. Several kings also enacted little reformations, such as Hezekiah and even Manasseh. Yet none of these were lasting reformations, neither were they complete.
The people from Adam to John the baptizer waited for the day of the reformation. Today we look back upon it and also forward to it. For in Christ God did reform mankind. The image of God was restored to mankind in the body of Jesus, born of Mary. Mankind was truly reformed.
This reformation is applied to us today as the Holy Spirit comes to us through the Word in the water of Baptism and rejoins us to Christ crucified. This reformation is renewed in us each and every time that we come to the Holy Table to receive the body and blood of our Lord. The fullness of this reformation will be realized when Christ returns in the fullness of His glory to take us once and for all from this world of confusion and unbelief, to abide with Him in the everlasting joy of the removal of all that is sinful and evil. Then the reformation shall be complete in time even as God has already declared it from eternity.
Until then, reformation is the continual life of the Church. Reformation is the work that God works among us as we gather to Him in His means of grace. Where these are administered purely, the blessed reformation continues. Where these are adulterated and where this adulteration is tolerated, God’s grace does not prevail, but rather, people focus upon many other things.
For those who are thinking that a new reformation is needed today, I would suggest that you are correct if you are speaking of the reformation that we each need to encounter anew each and every day. The reformation that is needed is the one that Adam experienced and that many years later Luther also experienced. That reformation is the repentance that the Holy Spirit works through the Gospel so that we are set free from our dependence upon all things that lead us into temptation. The Holy Spirit always leads us to the means of grace, where we receive Jesus, our God and Savior. In Him we are truly reformed again and again, and even forevermore.
A final and very important point to remember is that when we speak of the need for reformation we are not speaking of this need for other people, but for us. This is why the Lord Jesus reminds us of our need to remove the log from our own eyes first. We, ourselves, need to return to the pure Gospel and the pure Sacraments, where God washes us with holy water that cleanses to our very souls and covers us with the blood of purification and life from the inside out, removing our log so that we may see clearly the reformation that God alone can work for us, and does work for us and among us through the means through which He has promised.
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