Not OK, for You, Man

Yesterday produced various reports of a domestic incident in Darien, CT.  According to police, a family fight ensued between CBS news personalities Robert and Ashley Morrison.  Ashley’s mother called the police to report the incident.  The police found red marks on Ashley’s neck and arrested her husband for felony strangulation.

Here is Robert’s mug shot:



While the various reports all mention that upon arrival the police found Robert’s face bloodied, not a single word is mentioned in any of the news reports concerning how this occurred.

How did Robert receive these injuries?

In the elevated family fracas, who first acted with violence against the other?

How can it be that with two people suffering injuries that only one is charged with violence?

In the film, Joe Somebody, Joe and his girlfriend, Meg, have an argument where she gives him an ultimatum regarding his plan to do something very stupid and wrong.  He has planned and prepared for a fight with a bully who previously assaulted him and humiliated him.  She presents the ultimatum of a choice between keeping the appointment for the fight or keeping her.  He sadly says that he cannot make that choice and walks away.

After facing the bully and declining to fight him, Joe comes to Meg to share the news of his choice.  She does not listen, but reacts angrily and violently.  She first gives a two-fisted and forceful thrust to Joe’s chest.  Then she punches toward his face, which he blocks.  He explains how important she is to him and she calms down and all is wonderful.



How many times is this sort of scene portrayed in the movies?  How many times is this encountered in real life?

How many people will be inclined to call the police upon seeing a woman striking a man?  If a man calls the police saying that his wife is pushing him around and hitting him, will they even respond to the call?  If they do, will they arrest the woman or will they bring a straightjacket for the man and take him for a psych evaluation?

How many wives hit their husbands and when confronted act as though they did nothing wrong?

Admittedly, in many cases it is like a flea attacking a dog.  Yet even the tiniest flea can drive a dog crazy.

I have witnessed women acting violently toward men on many occasions, even as they walked down the street or in a shopping mall or parking lot.  I have never seen the police called unless the man responded in similar manner.  In fact, I’ve never seen people intervene in any way unless the man became forceful.  This is especially true in less affluent areas.

How is it that a woman can be abusive to a man without a strong likelihood of being held accountable, but if a person acts abusively to a horse the person is very likely to be charged with a crime?

What actually transpired in the Morrison household is not known publicly.  Yet the reporting certainly reflects this inequitable perception in society.  Moreover, the reported assumptions of the police also seem to reflect this injustice.  The police responded to a reported incident.  Upon their arrival at the home they find two people with injuries.  The man is arrested and charged with multiple crimes.  The woman is presumed to be an innocent victim.

Maybe the police were correct.

Certainly Robert’s love for his wife should have restrained him from acting as he did, whether or not he was provoked by his wife or even if she bloodied his face.  Certainly he should have found a non-violent way to address whatever issues existed between them, even if this meant leaving the issue alone until they both could confront one another calmly and rationally.

And from a Christian perspective, the responsibility does fall upon the husband to act as the head of his family. This means that he will be the one to bear the injustice and unfairness of the situation.  He will be the one to step back and wait patiently for his wife and family to become calm again.  The Lord has placed this upon the man.  He is to be the stronger one who bears all things in love, dealing with the issues from the strength that the Lord gives.

It is amazing how often extremely heated arguments if viewed in retrospect are perceived as arising from very insignificant issues.  Pride and an unwillingness to bear what is perceived to be unfair are usually the main problems.

     And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
(1 Peter 4:8)

Agape kalupsei plethos hamartion. (1 Peter 4:8)

Agape
veils
fullness
of lacking of share in/missed marks

Husband and wife, sharing together in Agape, see not the missed marks of the other, perceive not the short comings of the other, count not any lacking of sharing in the union with the other, for all that they perceive is the Agape.  It is as though the bridal veil is again covering the bride’s face so that she sees her husband through the veil and he sees her through the veil.  Both are viewed with the perfection of the love that binds them together.

When this veil is removed and cast aside or stored away someplace, then they see each other very differently.  Then every fault, every failure, ever shortcoming is viewed and accounted.

In Joe Somebody, when Joe stops Meg from hitting him and pressed beyond her anger to express his love for her, he tells her: “You're what I want.  I don't think there's anything about you that I don't like.”  She responds: “My ears aren't perfectly even.”  Joe responds: “I like that.”

Joe seems not even to have noticed that she tried to hurt him.  He counts no insult from her ridiculous minimization of her faults with the vain remark about her ears.  He sees only the beautiful perfection of his love for her.

This is the way with Agape.  It is a one-sided love.  Agape is of God.  Thus it covers all to whom He gives it so that they begin to see through God’s love for us, which covers all imperfection with God’s perfect love.  This is more than an emotional attachment or infatuation. For those to whom God’s love is poured out in their baptism, God’s love covers them and fills them completely so that their view of the world is changed.  This is because they themselves are changed.

The beginnings of this are experienced even now for those who are baptized into Christ.  In the resurrection they shall experience this in its fullness everlastingly.

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All Things Are Permissible

     In the post below, Tattoos, another statement is made in the referenced article that should be examined more carefully:

But at the end of the day, having a tattoo does not impact one’s salvation. As always, salvation is a matter of Christ’s work on our behalf. The verse that comes to mind for the question of Tattoos is one that comes to mind for a lot of similar issues, “All things are permissible, but not all things are beneficial. All things are permissible, but not all things build up.” (1 Cor 10:23)

     Is the pastor’s point correct?

     When St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10 that all things are permissible or lawful, is he saying that these things Do Not Impact a person’s salvation?

     In the verses that immediately precede this verse St. Paul says:

     Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he? (1 Corinthians 10:18-22)

     While the pastor rightly says that salvation is a matter of Christ’s work on our behalf, does this mean that the choices that we make in our lives Do Not Impact a person’s salvation? Does this match what St. Paul says of the Holy Communion?

     In this pastor’s admonition to the inquirer concerning tattoos, he applies 1 Corinthians 10:23 as though it applies only to the issue of how we act regarding the weak in matters of adiaphora, things of indifference.

     But what made the thing that St. Paul specifically addresses in this passage a thing of indifference? St. Paul addressed the purchasing of meat in the marketplace that came from pagan sacrifices. This meat came from animals that the pagans had slaughtered as sacrifices to their false gods, and the leftovers were sold in the marketplace. To those who purchased it without thought to the false gods, it was just another piece of meat.

     However, for some of the newborn Christians, this would be perceived as partaking of the sacrifice to the false gods. Since many of these new converts had previously worshiped these false gods, this would be a terrible stumbling block for them. Those who were not recent converts would not be troubled by this for themselves and could purchase and eat this meat without a troubled conscience. But for those who were weak so that their consciences were troubled, such an action would be sinful to them for they would be acting not from faith but with doubting. This would indeed Impact their salvation. On this St. Paul writes to the Roman saints:

     Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin. (Romans 14:22-23)

     If a person does something that the person fears may be wrong, the person is acting contrary to faith. By this, even if the action is not actually in itself sinful, acting in this way the person acts in opposition to faith.

     Does the merit of Christ cover or remit such sin? Yes, most certainly it does. However, is a person who acts in opposition to faith relying upon this remission or turning away from it to something else?

     Thus we need to be very careful in all matters. We need to be continually partaking of the pure means of grace so that we rest in the assurance of receiving the merit of Christ and resting securely in the remission of sins that He purchased for us. If this is where our hearts are secured, we won’t even trouble ourselves with questions over whether or not to cover ourselves with questionable tattoos and the like. Rather, we will be rejoicing in our baptismal grace and identity and doing the things that naturally flow from them. In such a mindset there is no question of what is good and salutary.

     For those who have tattoos, they should not be judged by others on account of them. Rather, they should be embraced according to their identity in Christ that they received in their baptism. But for those who are contemplating tattoos, pastors should direct them to the means of grace where the saints hear themselves proclaimed God’s holy and beloved children, recreated into the image of God. With this as their mindset, who will even entertain marking themselves with anything else?

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Luther on Ecclesiastes 7:16-18

     During my preparations and studies for Sunday’s sermon and service, I searched Luther’s Works for what Luther observed from the appointed Gospel reading of Matthew 25:14-30. In so doing I found this wonderful commentary:

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Ecclesiastes 7:16-18 (KJV)

¹⁶ Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy^g thyself? ¹⁷ Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time? ¹⁸ It is good that thou shouldest take hold of this; yea, also from this withdraw not thine hand: for he that feareth God shall come forth of them all.

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16. Be not righteous overmuch, and do not make yourself overwise; why should you destroy yourself?

17. Be not wicked overmuch, neither be a fool; why should you die before your time?

     That is, forget about the highest law; measure yourself by your own foot and sing, “Know thyself.”²⁸ Then you will find in your own breast a lengthy catalog of vices, and you will say: “Look, I myself am still unrighteous, and yet I am tolerated by God and am not banished by people. Then why am I so carried away with fury that I harshly require of others what I do not achieve myself?” This is what it means to be “righteous overmuch.” The things of this world cannot bear it. Therefore observe the laws by teaching and preaching, and give thanks to God when your household or your audience acknowledge that the laws and teachings are holy and just, even though they do not observe everything as it is prescribed. In this way you will be truly holy and wise. You will be “overwise” and “righteous overmuch” if in your administration either of public or of private affairs you have good laws but insist on them and want them to be observed in such a way that there is not one iota of transgression. For this is what it means that “the highest law brings the deepest injustice.” A prudent public official or head of a household ought to make a distinction between the goodness of the law and the obedience of his subordinates. It is better to bear with and to endure a moderate amount of rebellion than to let the entire state perish. This is what usually happens to the rigid enforcers of laws. Therefore laws should be enforced and insisted upon as far as the situation allows, but no further. This is also what physicians do. They do not diagnose and cure diseases only on the basis of books or of what is prescribed but are often obliged to make adjustments in keeping with the state of the body. Thus also the minds of men are influenced in the most diverse possible ways, so that it is often necessary to modify the laws themselves. This calls for extremely wise men, of whom there are few in the world. Therefore all those chosen as heads of households or as public officials should be men like David, Abraham, Solomon, and Joshua, if they were available, men who could administer the laws properly. For this is how important it is to administer the state well.

Be not wicked overmuch.

     This is the second part of the conclusion. See to it that just as you are not righteous overmuch, you are not wicked overmuch either. That is, do not despise and neglect all the duties of government committed to your charge, and do not permit everything to fall apart. It is good to overlook some things, but not to neglect all things. If wisdom does not succeed, that is no reason to go crazy with anger and revenge. Finally, do not give in to idleness, so that you do not want to care about anything. Do not behave like that wicked servant who buried his talent and did not want to trade with it at all (Matt. 25:24–30). Well then, be just and let others be just with you; demand uprightness; persevere, regardless of the outcome. Why? “Why should you destroy yourself, or die before your time?” There is reason to fear that He may come suddenly and call you to judgment, as He took away the soul of the rich man at night when the rich man was not thinking about it (Luke 12:20). If this life were heavenly and angelic, nothing would happen unjustly; but our sinful nature cannot do anything but sin and be foolish. Anyone who does not know this has not yet learned about the world. We should think that here we are as though we were in a shipwreck or a fire, where one must labor to snatch at least some brand from the fire when one cannot control or extinguish the whole fire. Therefore if you are in a household, be content to snatch even one person from the public fire of wicked people. If you are a teacher of children, labor to educate at least one of them and to bring him up properly. If you are a preacher of the Gospel, do not preach as though you could gain all men for Christ, for not all heed the Gospel (cf. Rom. 10:16); but if you convert three or four souls and lead them to Christ, like the tips of burning brands (cf. Amos 4:11), give thanks. For one should not quit simply because so few are changed for the better to hear the preaching of the Gospel. But do what Christ did: He rescued the elect and left the rest behind. This is what the apostles did also. It will not be better for you. You are foolish if you either presume that you alone can accomplish everything or despair of everything when it does not go your way.

18. It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand; for he who fears God shall come forth from them all.

     Christ makes a similar statement in Matt. 23:23 when He says: “These you ought to have done without neglecting the others.” Thus here, too, he demands both: justice and yet not the highest justice, so that you are neither too remiss nor too exacting. Sometimes you must overlook the laws and judge as though you were wicked, and sometimes you must take hold of the laws and become just once more. But remember, as has also been said earlier, that he is here speaking not of personal righteousness but of communal or political justice, not of righteousness before God but of justice in governing others and before the world. For in personal righteousness there cannot be too much righteousness.

He who fears God shall come forth from them all.

     That is, the fear of the Lord will easily judge both. If I fear the Lord, my heart says: “I have often lived this way, and I still live shamefully. Therefore I will have compassion on those delinquents. If I can restrain them by moderating my discipline, I will do so. If not, I will let them continue until they collide with the law of the sword. If they escape all of this, they still will not escape the judgment of God.” Thus he who fears God proceeds correctly in these matters; when he sees that he cannot prevail, he calls upon the Lord. Therefore do your duty, warn, exhort, and never stop. He who does not hear you will bring on his own punishment, even though not through your punishing him; for there is One who will punish. This is what happened recently to our peasants. When they did not accept our rebuke, they were thoroughly punished by others.^{29 30}

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     ^gdestroy...: Heb. be desolate?

     ²⁸ This injunction, quoted here in Greek, was attributed to Thales of Miletus.

     ²⁹ Once again, as on p. 90 above, a reference to the Peasants’ War of 1525

     ³⁰ Luther, M. (1999, c1972). Vol. 15: Luther's works, vol. 15 : Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Last Words of David, 2 Samuel 23:1-7 (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann, Ed.). Luther's Works (15:122). Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.

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My Matryoshka Doll

If my gaze out of the window is well timed, I can see my wife returning from her morning walk.  In the winter she bundles herself with layers of clothing so that she looks like a matryoshka trudging through the streets.  When she returns to the house she removes layer after layer until finally my sweet and tiny little wife lady appears.



Wikipedia has an article entitled Matryoshka doll, with an explanation and various varieties of the matryoshkas displayed.

In times past I always had heard these called Babushka dolls.  Their correct name, however, is said to be matryoshka.

I suppose that we could say that in a way we all are matryoshkas.  We all have layers that we build up around ourselves so that the person deep within cannot be seen without peeling away the layers.  This can actually be understood from two perspectives.

From the one perspective we tend to cover up the person that we don’t want to face.  That person is the Old Adam of the sinful nature.  We try to cover that person with attempts at good works and pretense.  We try to cover our failures at being good with layers of prayers and devotions and offerings and tithes and other forms of worship.  Some people try to escape their awareness of self through drugs and alcohol or through food or sexual activities or pornography.  Some become workaholics, trying to stay too busy to take notice of the person underneath, striving for the sense of success that evades them no matter how much they achieve or acquire.  Some turn to psychology and psychiatry for help.  And some turn directly to the influences of the devil and the world and just let the monster loose.

The other perspective is one that a person cannot find for oneself.  It is a gift.  It is poured out from heaven through the waters of Baptism.  St. Paul calls this the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.  He also refers to it as the adoption of sons into God’s kingdom as those who have been crucified with Christ to sin and raised with Christ as a new creation in the new life in God’s Holy Communion.  St. Peter calls it the answer of a good conscience through the power of the resurrection. 

In this wondrous heavenly activity enacted on earth through His Church, God drowns out the old sinful nature and brings forth a new and beautiful person who is regenerated with the faith of Jesus so that the person is restored in the image of God that sin corrupted and caused to be lost.  From this perspective the person comes to God with a very different approach.  Now the person peels off the layers of pretense.  This is done through honest confrontation and confession of one’s sins.  The power to face these honestly is this “good conscience” that St. Peter says is generated in us through the power of the resurrection applied to us in our baptism.  Having heard the sweet words of the Gospel we know that in Christ our sins are forgiven us.  This knowledge empowers us to come to God honestly confessing the sins that weigh upon our hearts so that we may hear Him assure us that for Christ’s sake our sins are forgiven us.  In Baptism God makes this declaration and imputation to us once and for all.  But since we need to hear it again and again on account of the sinful nature that still inheres in us, God commands us to come to Him continually with our confession so that we may hear His absolution.  Furthermore, He has given us His called servants within the public office of the ministry.  He has authorized them to speak for Him concerning His Gospel within this holy public office.  This way we can hear from a man standing before us that God does indeed forgive even the sins over which we still struggle in our hearts and minds and spirits.

In the divine service a corporate liturgical confession of sins precedes all else that follows the invocation.  In this way we confess our sinfulness and hear God’s blessed absolution and are empowered to come all the way to His Table of His Holy Communion without fear or doubt.  There He gives us the very body of Christ into which we are made to be one with Him and with one another.  There He also gives us the very blood that is shed even from eternity for the remission of our sins.  He gives us His blood over and over so that we are renewed in this life of forgiveness and renewal into His Communion to live freely by grace through faith.

When this is the way in which we walk and live, then we see through all of the layers of our pretense, all of the layers of guilt and iniquity, so that we then see the beautiful child of God that exists purely by God’s gracious decree in our baptism.  Then we live in the freedom that God declares for us, the freedom of our declared righteousness or justification by grace through faith.  Since this is ours purely by God’s work for us and in us through His own ordained means of grace, all cause for doubting is eliminated.  Then we live in the freedom of God’s grace through faith.

For this reason especially I find the little matryoshkas to be joyous little figures.  I also have this special reminder each time that I see my sweet matryoshka wife return home and peel away her layers of winter protection.



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Simul Iustus Et Peccator - Saint/Sinner Juxtaposition

Simul Iustus Et Peccator means simultaneously saint and sinner.

Throughout my own daily struggles as well as observing the struggles of others who profess to be Christians, I am realizing to a greater and greater degree how hard the struggle over simul iustus et peccator really is. The Saint/Sinner conflict is very much real. Rightly understanding this juxtaposition is very important to understanding the tension of life as a Christian in a fallen world.

This conflict makes it hard to hear so as to be moved to a better understanding of God’s grace to us in Christ Jesus. It hinders us from hearing the clarity of both the Law and the Gospel applied to us so as to move us into the life of the freedom of God’s grace.

This is a universal problem. This is the struggle that all of us Saint/Sinners encounter continually. St. Paul describes this from his own experience as a war within himself. It is a battle that only God can win for us. In fact, He already has, but His victory has to be applied to us in such a way as to make His victory what we realize in our hearts, spirits, and minds, in our total soul/being.

Acknowledgment of the Saint/Sinner juxtaposition is not an excuse for sin, but rather is an explanation for the ongoing struggle that the saints experience in their lives.

We are sinners from our conception because of the separation that Adam chose for us all. There is no escaping this. As long as humans are born into the world this will continue. But God has intervened by being born as the God/Man, Christ Jesus. He took our sin-death and rose from it so that through Baptism we would be regenerated as members of His holiness, made to be communicants of His very body.

The Gospel is the power through which He accomplishes this for us. When the Gospel enters us and enlivens our heart and soul through faith in His mercy and grace in Christ, we are declared to be saints, God’s holies. We are converted from sinner to saint.

But the Old Adam remains in our flesh. The spirit has been freed, but our sinful nature that has been flushed from our spirit still inheres in our flesh. It will remain until our bodies die, or until they are transformed at Christ’s return. Until then, our sinful nature is still at work in our members (our bodily existence).

The Law stands before us and reminds us of this. The Old Adam loves the Law, so long as he is the one wielding it. Then he can use it as he chooses. He loves to tell others that they need to change their abusive ways. But he does not like it when it comes back to himself.

The saint has no use for the Law, except to see God’s holiness and glory. The saint hears the Law and turns away to Christ, confessing sinfulness and the need for forgiveness and healing.

But the sinful nature does not want forgiveness. The sinful nature wants to pretend that it only needs help rectifying one’s wrongs, as if doing better was the goal.

The devil loves this. Then Satan comes forward and shows the saint his sinful nature and continual failing to live in perfect accord with the Law and says: “Ha. You see! You’re not really a saint after all! You’re really just a God damned sinner!”

And according to one’s own actions, one can only despair. For even one’s own conscience makes the same undeniable accusation. This is why the divine service begins with us confessing this very thing.

Seeking to obey the Law cannot make us righteous and cannot lift the burden from us. When we seek to live by the Law, we place ourselves back under the Law.

But when we walk in spirit, our spirit, having been regenerated by the Holy Spirit in our baptism, turns entirely from the Law to Christ and sees His righteousness poured out through His body in the preaching and through His blood in the Holy Supper. In the Supper we actually partake of His body so that we know that we are united with Him in His body and that in His blood His righteousness is given to us as our sins are forgiven us so that we rise up as saints, purely by His grace.

St. Peter explains that through Baptism we are given the good conscience before God so that we may live in His Holy Communion. This is our answer to the Old Adam and to the accusations of the devil and our flesh.

We cannot find peace through attempts at obeying the Law. Such attempts always bind us again to the requirements of the Law. But walking in spirit our spirit hears the continual calling and urging of the Holy Spirit who speaks to our spirit and even calls out on our behalf, Abba! Pater! (Both Hebrew and Greek words for Father).

In this way the Lord gives us the freedom to live in His love. And yes, we see how the Lord has loved us and continues to love us and we then love one another as He has loved us. But we don’t approach this as a goal. We don’t seek this as something to obey. Rather, this is now our identity. We love as the outflow of God’s love at work in us.

But our sinful nature rebels. Our spirit truly desires to love, but the Old Adam rises up in hatred and vengeance. The Old Adam does not forgive his abusers. He wants them to pay. So he drags out the commandments to show that they are guilty. Then he tries to show himself as one who tries to obey. But the Law never loses its capacity to show sin and so the person is again under the Law.

But the Holy Spirit is faithful. He searches the saint’s heart and speaks to the spirit and turns the person again and again to the Gospel, the promise that in Christ we are declared righteous and free. And so the saint eagerly looks to the next offering of the Lord’s body and blood and receives the renewal in God’s grace with a thankful heart. Then love again prevails and the peace of God guards the heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

This is why understanding the Saint/Sinner juxtaposition is the answer to living in love. For when we preach the Law, we realize that we need to hear it first for ourselves, so that we are eager to hear the Gospel. Then, when we preach the Law to others, the Gospel will be our motive with them, too.

Christ is our obedience. He is our righteousness. He is our Life. He is our Love. In Him we are justified and sanctified and converted.

When we seek to make ourselves or others better through the preaching of obedience to the Law, we turn away from the Gospel. But when we preach the Law to ourselves and others as that which shows us God’s holiness which can be ours only through the Gospel, this changes how we perceive and deal with both ourselves and others. It sets us free to live in God’s love and to love by His love.

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Cause and Effect - Forgiveness and Repentance

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Gospel accounts give us some marvelous examples of this.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here is another marvelous example:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Where’s the Law?

Today I received a surprise from an old friend. He made a statement regarding my sermons that was surprising to hear, especially from him.

Thanks for the sermons. But where is the Law? I know that you may seem surprised to hear me say that but I didn't see much about us being poor, miserable sinners and stand in need of God's forgiveness. The soul that sinneth shall die.

My friend has long teased me by calling me the “Sherriff” and “John Law.” This began in our seminary days together as I was known for asking the question of certain professors: “But where’s the Law?”

In some of our classes, especially those that were counted as the “practical” areas of study, some of the professors rarely if ever spoke of the application of the Law. They usually only spoke of the application of the Gospel, and that application was a weakened and general application that was quite non-specific, rarely if ever actually speaking of the cross and the reason for it. As a student, I sensed what was wrong and cried out. My own understanding of clear and effective preaching of the Law and Gospel together had a long way to go, but I recognized the false preaching of those professors who had forgotten the interconnectedness of the two.

As I have become more experienced I have learned more and more the importance that both be preached, but that the Gospel predominate in the sermons. While we sinners most assuredly need to hear our lost condition so that we despair of our own efforts at worthiness and trust the Gospel as the power by which we are brought back into God’s communion of everlasting life and blessedness, this hearing and receiving of this blessed Gospel is the object of the preaching. As I have grown as a preacher, I have learned that I need to preach so as to send people from the divine service with the glorious good news of restoration and reconciliation through God’s means of grace as what fills their hearts and minds.

This is a continual concern in my preparations. I remain continually mindful of the necessity of the prevalence of the Gospel over the Law in my preaching.

I take the concern of my friend very seriously. I take any criticism of my preaching very seriously. In the past I have had very dear friends who had turned to a different gospel blast me very harshly over the Law that they heard in my sermons. The Gospel did prevail in those sermons, but because of the altered perspective of my friends, the Law was all that they heard. This was on account of the fact that their understanding of what the Gospel really is had changed and so the entire message was received from their perspective as condemnation. They began to attack until finally denouncing me as a friend. But I was not the one who had changed, except that my preaching of the Law and Gospel message became more clearly defined.

This repeated experience from friends who migrated from the confession in which we previously stood together has been painful for me. So today, it was really quite surprising to hear from this friend that he did not perceive the Law slapping him in face. I have examined a couple of the sermons and found that of the two, the Christmas Day sermon was much less in-your-face with the Law than the Advent sermon, but that it was indeed proclaimed.

My conclusion on the matter is that first of all, I need to be ever mindful of the necessity that both the Law and the Gospel be proclaimed, and that it be proclaimed so that the person can hear both as applicable in that person’s life. Secondly, I conclude that my dear friend is indeed a dear friend for sharing this with me. Thirdly, since my dear friend seems to have heard the Gospel applied to himself, that indeed both the Law and Gospel were heard, but at least from his perspective that the Gospel came through so clearly that in the end the Law was hardly even remembered as hitting him.

I could be wrong about this last part, but if so, I am sure that he will tell me so. Moreover, he has done me a great favor by reminding me of the absolute necessity that the Gospel not be preached apart from the awareness of the pronouncement of the Law.

One final note: In my own daily walk my own brokenness and extreme need for the healing and comfort of the Gospel is felt so keenly, so sharply and powerfully, and my wife’s expression of her awareness of this in her life, most assuredly must impact my preaching. As Luther wrote to Melanchthon, before one can become a great preacher, he must first become a great sinner.

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God Bless You for Your Goodness

Saturday evening, I went to retrieve my T-post puller from the chipper truck so as to be able to replace the broken top bar/lever and as I put it into the cab of my pickup I tore a hole in the headliner. Boo hoo.

Then I went to Blockbuster to pick up a couple of free videos. From there I went to Braums to buy the gallon of milk that Stephanie requested.

As I drove into the parking lot I observed a frail looking man hobbling toward the sidewalk beside the store building. He very cautiously toppled over onto the raised sidewalk. I parked the truck and walked over toward him asking as I walked whether he was alright. He was half lying and half sitting, bracing himself with his arm. He informed me that he was not hurt. Then he looked up and said that he was staying in a motel about two blocks away. Furthermore he informed me that he had no money but could use a sandwich and milk.

I knew when I walked to him that I was setting myself up, but I had to check. I did not want to buy this man’s supper. I told him, I don’t have any spare money either . . . I cannot afford these things for myself . . . but I’ll get you something to eat.

I asked him, “Can you manage to walk into the store to pick out a sandwich.” He replied, “Yes, I can do that.”

He truly had difficulty walking. He told me that his legs cramp badly. I asked him what caused his legs to cramp. I could not tell whether he said “AIDS” or “Age.” I asked again. I still could not understand. Then he added that he was 68 years old. The cause of his cramps did not really matter, but I cared about his condition, and wondered whether anything could help him.

His hands were as thin as the rest of his body and were covered with callouses, but not the kind that my hands have from hard and abusive work. His callouses were the kind that people have from sleeping and living in harsh weather.

According to my flesh, I did not want to help this man. I have been taken advantage of many, many, many times. Now I was going to spend more on him than I spend on myself in a week. I did not really want to help him, but I had no choice. My heart, or more accurately, the one who lives in my heart, overruled my selfishness and fearfulness.

The fact is that if I did as I really want, I would do nothing else than go around helping people. But I have little resources left to utilize. I have spent myself and my resources, and also my wife’s. And so, I tend to think that I need to protect myself and my wife from what the Spirit moves me to desire. I find myself relying not upon the Lord but upon my own false presumptions.

But the Lord’s love lives in me and is greater than my lack of love, and so this man and I walked slowly to the entrance to the store/restaurant. I cannot remember whether or not I asked the man his name.

As we walked, he said, “God will bless you for your goodness.”

I responded with a bit of a smile, “God has blessed me. He blesses me even though I do not do well.”

He said, “Yes. Yes, of course.”

As we entered, the little eating booths were near and he approached the closest one and sat down. I asked what kind of sandwich he would like. He shrugged his shoulders. I asked whether he wanted a warm sandwich or a cold one, and he said that a cold one would be fine. I said that I did not know where those were kept, and again he shrugged. I inquired regarding the kind of milk that he would like me to purchase for him. We buy the skim milk, that has not been corrupted through homogenization, so I asked first whether he would like skim milk. He preferred the homogenized, and requested a half gallon. I did not find the cold sandwiches and thought, “He really does not need a cold sandwich. A hot sandwich would be much better.” And again I also shrank back at the thought that it would cost more money, too.

I went back and told him that I could not find the cold sandwiches, but perhaps he would enjoy a nice burger instead. His eyes lit up a bit and he said that would be nice. So I went and ordered him a third pound deluxe cheese burger, and then went to select the milk. By the time I paid for the milk the sweet counter clerk had given him his burger and it was half consumed. I went to him and gave him his milk.

He turned and thanked me repeatedly with statements of “God bless you” and the like. He reached out to hug me saying, “I love you,” and more blessings. As I bent over and hugged him I told him, “I love you, too.” As we hugged, I saw a dried and crumpled leaf fall to the floor, a leaf that he likely picked up from lying on the ground.

He again told me that he was staying two blocks away, from which I did not know quite what to understand. As he was not done eating, I only thought of his need for time to finish and did not even think that he may have been telling me more. Besides, I feared what more he could be implying. I “kindly” reminded him to be careful crossing the street.

At the time, it was a genuine comment of care, and I think that it was even spoken innocently. But what was he really telling me?

Afterwards I thought of much more. Here was a man who was barely able to walk into the store. Why did I not offer to wait and take him to his motel?

Moreover, whom did this man have? He apparently is all alone in the world. Was he asking for someone to be with him for a little while?

This man thanked me for what I did. But I did not even tell him about the love of God in Christ. I did not even tell him about the life that Christ purchased for him. With Christmas only week away, I did not even speak of the good news of the birth of God in the flesh to save us. Instead, I left him with thoughts of what a kind and loving man he perceived me to be.

What a load of crap!

I cried when I came home and realized more fully how selfishly I acted. Here was a hurting and lonely man who may not have lived another day. I had the bread of life and the Lord’s righteousness to give to him and I gave him the filth of my “righteousness.” I gave him a burger and some milk and hug and a mere snippet of the Gospel.

Two days later my eyes still fill with tears and I choke as I ponder this.

Over my lifetime I have helped many people. I have paid for motel bills for weeks on end. I have paid medical bills. I have taken people to the hospital and to doctors and sometimes paid their bills. I have shared the Gospel, the pure Gospel with many such people, only to have most of them become angry and some even to curse me, when I said that I had no more money to give.

And so I have become sometimes jaded and hard of heart, or at least not as eager and willing to be used and abused.

Yet I know that I cannot be the helper of the entire world. I can only give what I have received. I have God given responsibilities to my wife, to be home at a reasonable hour, to attempt to provide for our financial needs, to be available to her, etc.

In the end, a person has to say with Luther:

     If you are a preacher of grace, then preach a true and not a fictitious grace; if grace is true, you must bear a true and not a fictitious sin. God does not save people who are only fictitious sinners. Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly, for he is victorious over sin, death, and the world. As long as we are here [in this world] we have to sin. This life is not the dwelling place of righteousness, but, as Peter says, we look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. It is enough that by the riches of God’s glory we have come to know the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world. No sin will separate us from the Lamb, even though we commit fornication and murder a thousand times a day. Do you think that the purchase price that was paid for the redemption of our sins by so great a Lamb is too small? Pray boldly—you too are a mighty sinner.

People love to quote this from Luther apart from the greater context. But for those who are struggling with the reality that “all of our righteousness are as filthy rags,” this is blessed comfort. It certainly is not an excuse to choose to sin. It is, however, redemption, as we all learn that even our best intentions and best efforts are still corrupt and fall short of the glory of God. The merits of Christ are what make our deeds to be counted as righteousness.

And so we may go forth in true faith and “sin boldly” with our Spirit led consciences, doing good in as much as we are able, trusting not in these for any merit, but looking only to the merits of Christ which are accounted as ours through the faith that the Holy Spirit gives us in Baptism.

Since this is so easily misunderstood and often misapplied, a brief additional word of explanation. For example, a Christian may offer gentle and holy counsel to a hurting person of the opposite sex. That person, moved by the love that is demonstrated can begin to feel attraction to the lover. That attraction can begin to move toward sexual desire, which then tempts both persons to fornication in their hearts. And so the good and loving efforts become sinful thoughts.

Moreover, since we are by nature sinners, everything that we think, say, and do is corrupt.

Our only hope is Jesus and His merits that are accounted to us for His sake within the sanctity of His Holy Communion. To this we flee from our “good works” as well as what is more easily recognized as sin. And so we do our corrupt “good works” boldly, even though even the best of them are still impure and damning according to their own worth, trusting in Christ and His redemption alone.

And in this, while we continue to learn to trust Christ more and more fully for our redemption, we also learn to trust Him again and again as we grow fearful and jaded and thereby hindered from even those things that we would be moved by God’s love to do. We then in faith go forward, not looking back to our past failings, nor fearing our present and future failings, but trusting in God’s grace in Christ we “sin boldly,” giving thanks to God for His merciful goodness. How wonderful it is to realize that we have this doctrine declared in the Athanasian Creed, teaching us that the catholic faith is this very doctrine that at the last day our failures will be counted as good works in accord with this faith given by the Holy Spirit, even though all stand as condemned according to their own works apart from this faith in what Christ has earned for us.

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An additional realization:

This man said, likely unaware of the greater meaning, “God will bless you for your goodness.”

Actually, he was entirely correct, since Christ is my goodness. Indeed, with Christ as my goodness, God does bless me for His sake.

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Sad Sign

My next door neighbor, who was ninety-one years old, died. The memorial service was conducted. The family came for the precious memories attached to some of his possessions. Tuesday the auctioneer came to tote away the rest. All that remains is this sign:

Everyday this sign reminds me that my old friend is no longer to be found next door. Everyday I walk out to prepare for the day’s work and look to his back yard where he sat and called to me to visit, but his chair is no longer there. Every night I come home and see the same.

Death is not kind. It is a thief. But it is not the master thief, Satan is, who used God’s own words with just the tiniest change to trick our first parents so that they exchanged God’s gift of life for the delusion of free will, and with it, the choice of separation from God, that is, Sin. And the wages of Sin is death. Death is what so-called free will accomplishes. It is not free at all, but people imagine that it is.

Upon listening to the serpent, Adam immediately discovered the trap that the devil had set with the delusion of free will. Previously mankind lived in perfect freedom, the freedom of the communion of God’s holy and perfect will. All things were possible. All things were free. All things were good! But with the choice to “be like God” freedom was cast away for the bondage of “the knowledge of good and evil.” Now everything was corrupted and Adam had no freedom, no ability, to restore what he had destroyed. Now all of his offspring would be in bondage to this delusion, to this hopeless corruption of understanding and knowledge and will. Never again would mankind have the freedom of knowing only good.

This is why we dare not allow the Gospel to be compromised in even the tiniest degree. Any change, any compromise, has the same result as the tiny change that the serpent presented to the woman and through her to Adam. The Gospel is pure. The pure Gospel is life. A corrupted or compromised or adulterated Gospel is death.

Truly, the “For Sale” sign that has been placed over the churches and their preaching and practices is a very sad sign. But the true Church shall stand by the Lord’s promise and decree, and even the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Wherever the Holy Spirit gathers the few to the Pure Gospel and Sacraments, there the Church still stands, offering the pure water of Life and freedom to all who gladly receive it.

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Learning to say “No” Again

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Either way I am wrong. Either way I sin.

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

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

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

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Are You a Big Enough Sinner?

Are you a big enough sinner to be saved?

Little sinners with little sins do not need to be saved. They just need a little help to get them started in the right direction. Little sinners, those whose sins are not so monstrously wicked so as to require the judgment of condemnation, do not look to a genuine savior. Little sinners look to a cooperative agent to give them assistance in overcoming their sins.

Only BIG sinners look to a true Savior to rescue them from everything. Only those who have terrible sins, sins which cannot be excused or explained away, only those with monstrous sins despair of their own attempts at redemption so as to rely entirely upon a Savior from themselves. Only a sinner who believes that everlasting suffering in hell is the only wage that one’s actions have earned truly looks to a Redeemer.

How big are your sins? How big of a sinner are you? Do you really believe that you need to be saved, or do you just need to make a few improvements in your lifestyle and behavior? Do you count all of your righteousnesses, that is, all of your attempts at goodness and holiness and love and kindness and gentleness and faithfulness, to be filthy bloody rags that reek of death and decay, as Isaiah says:

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6)

Or do you believe that your works have value because you try hard, or at least harder than most, or at least harder than some, or at least harder than someone? Do you really even believe that your sins are truly sins that need to be redeemed and forgiven? Are your sins really bad enough to need that?

Are you a BIG enough sinner to be saved?


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Gentle Dove

Saturday as I was preparing to take a load of willow logs to the landfill, I noticed a mourning dove sitting in the street about a foot from the curb. It simply sat and did not move. I approached and it still did not move. Was it alive? Yes, but very weak.

I thought: “You’ll be killed if you stay there.” So I gently picked it up and moved it to the grass in our yard. But it barely had strength to stand erect. So I thought, “Maybe you need some water.”

I gently picked it up to carry to the makeshift birdbath that I keep in our backyard. It is a tin flat dog water bowl that I use to provide water to the birds and squirrels and other critters that frequent our back yard. It did become very frightened this time but quickly gave up fighting and fluttering.

The poor thing was too weak even to hold its head high enough for this source of water, so I filled a flower pot base with water and propped the dove beside it.

When I returned later in the day, it had regained enough strength to move part way around the trunk of the tree. It opened its eyes more frequently and looked more alert. It did not respond as though it feared me, but simply looked up at me.

Later I needed to cut the grass. So I placed the dove in an open cardboard box and moved it temporarily to our deck. The mower did frighten it and it moved out onto the deck, but was safe from my activities. Later I moved it back into the box and to the tree.

I kept hoping that it could survive till the next morning and possibly have recovered from its sickness enough to fly to safety. If only the other creatures would permit this.

At 11:00 pm the little dove was still there and again I hoped that it would be safe.



Sunday morning I checked again.

I still feel very sad.

Such is the way in this old world corrupted by the sin of Adam, inherited by myself and all of humanity. All of creation moans and groans under the burden to the curse that God placed on the soil for our sake. Little instances like this one are painful reminders that sin truly does equal death. The wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23a) There is no escaping this fact. Nothing that we can do can change this. Nothing.

However, the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23b)

What a powerful contrast! What a wonderful declaration! The wages, that which we earn by our actions, is death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord! What we earn and deserve is not what God gives. Rather, He has earned and purchased for us an everlasting gift, Life! He bestows this wondrous gift freely, without charge, without requirement. He pours it out to us with the gift of His Holy Spirit in the waters of Baptism. He renews this gift as He comes to us in the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Absolutely nothing is required of us. Even the faith that causes us to believe is His gift through the preaching of the Gospel in connection with Baptism.

So I could not save the little dove. Yet the Holy Spirit, who has manifested Himself as a dove, has saved me. He comes as gently as that little mourning dove, except not in weakness but with great power. Though He works gently, He presses His way into my heart and into my thoughts and breaks the barrier of my hardened heart and crushes the resistance of my will so that His peace triumphs and rules my heart. This He does for all true believers. First He makes believers of them and then He continually calls them to repent of their own thoughts, words, and deeds, things that earn the wages of death, and gives to them instead the merits of Christ, which restore life everlasting.


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Why Good Friday?

Why did God send Jesus to suffer and die? Why was this necessary?

It was necessary to save God damned sinners from their everlasting damnation.

So then why does God damn sinners?

He damns them so that they may be saved. Apart from God’s damnation, sinners would ignore their state of condemnation. Apart from God’s damnation, all of His children would be lost forever. God manifests His wrath in order that sinners may be shaken from their complacency with their sin, which cuts them off from God, apart from the life that is of God alone.

Why is God so angry about sin? Sin tears His children away from Him. Sin breaks the holy communion that God established between Himself and His children. Sin creates a barrier between sinners and God. Satan, filled with hatred for God, introduced sin to mankind, thereby destroying God’s holy communion with Man. Sin prevents God’s good, gracious, and loving will from being enacted in Man.

Sin cannot be tolerated. It cannot exist in the presence of holiness. It corrupts and destroys all that is good. It must be punished and driven out. But God’s love moved Him to take this upon Himself, taking into Himself our flesh and our nature so that He could suffer the consequences of sin for us. Thus Jesus suffered and died in our place. He took our sin. He is the forgiveness of sin.

† † †

Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

Does anyone really take the Lord Jesus’ answer to this question seriously? Why do the disciples even ask this question? Do the people who confess to believe the words recorded in the Bible really believe what the Lord Jesus teaches here?

At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh! (Matthew 18:1-7)

We, especially pastors, need to hear what the Lord Jesus sets before us in this example. Why pastors especially? Because pastors are specifically those whom Christ calls to do the receiving of the little ones.

Matthew records that the Lord Jesus answered this question for His disciples. Why? They are the ones whom He was preparing to do the work of receiving into His kingdom those whom He purchased with His lifeblood.

When we consider the question, to whom do our thoughts turn? Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Of whom do you begin thinking? It really is ridiculous that we should have to think at all! The King is the greatest in the kingdom! The point is not for us to consider who among us is the greatest. The point is to realize that it is none of us. That is why the Lord Jesus says that whosoever shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Who did this? He did! He alone humbled himself. This is why He says of all of the rest of us, “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” We all have to be converted, regenerated through water and Spirit to be brought into the kingdom of heaven. We have to be made to be humbled, to be made into the image of God again, the God who humbled Himself to be born as the little baby whom the world counted as nothing. But the Magi, who had been humbled by the Spirit to believe the Word, followed the star and bowed down to this little beggarly baby in the feed trough. The humble shepherds, also, humbled still further by the words of the angels, came and worshiped the baby Jesus.

“But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”

The word for offend is skandalise. It means to ensnare or trap or cause to stumble. The Lord Jesus warns very strongly against doing this. Moreover, He does not distinguish between doing so intentionally or unintentionally. Good intentions do not matter. Clever rationalizations and justifications do not excuse. Such only perpetuate the scandal. Such only propagate further hypocrisy and stumbling.

How is this demonstrated in the life of those professing to be the Church? In the next chapter Matthew records:

Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence. (Matthew 19:13-15)

This text is oft used as a proof text for those who teach that the Lord commands that the babies be baptized, too. They are absolutely correct. Baptism is the means that the Lord Jesus has given by which all sinners are to be regenerated into the kingdom of God, into the body of Christ. To such as these belongs the kingdom of heaven.

Now if the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these, and this text teaches that they must not be denied Baptism as the means that Christ has given for their entrance into the kingdom, how then is it not also understood and taught that these little ones are to be recipients of the blessings given within that kingdom? How is it that partaking of the unity of the Lord’s body and partaking of the life of His blood is denied them? How is it that they are counted as unworthy of partaking of the Supper of the life of Christ’s Church?

Suffer the little children to come unto me. How do they come to Jesus so that He may commune with them? On the day that Jesus rebuked His disciples, they were being carried into His presence to have Him touch them and pray for them. How does He promise to do this after His resurrection and ascension? For what did St. Paul rebuke the Corinthians in regard to the Supper, saying that they were not even eating the Lord’s Supper? They were treating some of the members of Christ’s body differently than others. They were going forward and eating without including the rest of the members of the congregation. They did this because they did not treat seriously the purpose of the Supper. They did not rightly discern the body of Christ.

So what does this say of pastors and congregations who allow the children to be baptized into the household of God and then refuse to allow them to partake of that which Christ has commanded for the nourishment of the children of the kingdom? What does this say of those who forbid the little children from obeying Christ’s command to eat and drink? What does this say of the many children who are trained up to disobey Christ’s command to be one and to rely upon the Sacrament for their life in Him?

Are there enough millstones today? Do we need more? How does this really apply?

Consider what Christ says:

“But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”

Where do Christ and His apostles teach that it is good for sinners to be drowned? Is Baptism not where this takes place? Should pastors and congregations not be returning to the waters of their baptism, confessing this great sin and receiving absolution so that they rise up in this repentance to sin no more?

Or should they continue making excuses, relying upon their sinful human reason rather than the clear words of Christ and His apostles? How long will they preach grace and deny the means by which Christ says that it is given? How long will they insist that God’s grace in the Sacrament is conditional? How long will they teach the children that salvation is by grace, but not once you are actually in the kingdom, that once you are in the kingdom you must make yourself worthy of the Sacrament of the kingdom? How long will they tell those to whom the kingdom belongs that they must sit in the corner until they are worthy to partake of the means by which they are to be nurtured and fed and made strong in the Lord? How long must the little ones to whom the kingdom belongs go hungry or be satisfied with only spiritual milk, if such compromised doctrine can even be called that? How long will pastors forbid the children from partaking of the Lord’s Table of forgiveness and grace and communion, and then wonder why when the children become adults that they rely upon their own prayers and other works rather than upon the means of grace? Who is teaching this to them? Who is causing them to stumble?

Free Will and Sin

One of the temptations over which we sinful humans frequently stumble is the temptation to argue that free will is the cause of sin. By this we are looking for an excuse for our sinfulness, while simultaneously seeking a way to put the blame for our sin upon God.

We like to argue that God must have in some way built into His creation the capacity for sin. We like to imagine that God did not really create all things truly good, but mostly good, with the potential for bad lying dormant within the substance of the creation. We like to imagine and argue that if God had created us as truly good and without any evil, that we, and our father, Adam, and the angels, including Satan, must have had some flaw deep within that God allowed to exist within us. We argue that sin could not have happened otherwise.

In line with this linear sense of logic is the notion that we have free will, and that this free will had the power to choose either good or evil. But this notion of free will is fallacious.

God did not create us with a free will according to this false notion of freedom. He created us with a will that was free. Adam was created with a will, but that will knew nothing of evil. His will was one with God’s will. Adam was created as a son of God. He was generated by God from the soil and made to be a living soul when God breathed into him the breath of life. Adam knew only the goodness of God. His will was not capable of choosing evil, for no evil existed in the world. No evil was known in the world. Adam was free to live the good life, free to live without choices. All that was good was already available. God had given all things to Adam and authorized Adam to enjoy all things.

Moreover, Adam was created in a relationship of trust. Adam knew nothing of doubting God and His goodness. Adam knew only good, and all good things are of God. Adam had been created with true faith, and faith does not question but simply says, “Amen.” Thus Adam was truly free. He had no worries. Why? He had no worries because he had no doubts. He simply heard what God said and walked in the confidence of God’s Word. Faith is not a choice, but a fact. Faith does not choose; it simply is. Faith, after all, is from God. Faith knows only to look to God and to believe Him.

This did not change until the serpent tempted the woman to doubt. She was tempted to doubt whether God was faithful. She was tempted to doubt that the Man whom God had placed over her had actually preached the Word faithfully. In this connection, she also was tempted to doubt the very Word of God. This temptation did not come from her, but from the devil.

So then, what about the devil? And what about the tree? First the tree. The tree was a good tree. It was lovely to behold. It provided opportunity to see the faithfulness of God. For not all things were to be eaten. This tree’s fruit was not for human consumption. There are many things in God’s creation that are not for human consumption, but are nevertheless very good. Likewise, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a good tree, but produced a fruit that was not for humans to eat.

What then, about the devil? If he was created good and perfect and holy and without sin, what happened? He looked for good beyond its source. He looked for good, but not from God. In doing so evil entered into the angel who had been named Lucifer, that is, Light-bringer or Light-bearer.

Evil, however, is terribly misunderstood. We tend to think of evil as a substance or an essence. But evil is actually the lack of something. It is like the darkness. Darkness is merely the absence of light. An angel is a messenger of God. An angel is one who brings the light of God’s Word. Thus, Lucifer was a light-bearer, a ministering spirit, full of good. But when Lucifer looked beyond God for good, his communion with God was broken, and he became emptied of the goodness of God. He became one who no longer saw and carried in him the light of God’s Word and love, but now was vacuous. As a vacuum is an emptiness that pulls away and damages that which is around it, so Lucifer became dark and void of goodness, grasping after and taking away from everything good. Yet no matter how much he steals from others, he can never be filled again because he will always look beyond God for his fulfillment. Since all good is from God, the devil will only grasp after brokenness; he will break and destroy and gather to himself only brokenness.

Yet we cannot answer why Lucifer looked beyond. We cannot answer why Lucifer stopped living the life of faith in which God had created him. Then we begin to look for ways again to put the blame on God.

God knows that this is beyond our ability to understand. Thus He simply tells us the truth that this is what happened. But since we are sinful rather than faithful, since we doubt rather than trust, God has stepped up on our behalf. He tells us that we don’t need to bother with trying to put the blame on Him, because He has already done it for us.

He says, “So, you do not want to carry the blame for your sin. Good! I don’t want you to carry it either! That is why I sent My Son to take it for you. You want to put the blame on Me. Don’t bother, for I have already done that. I have carried the blame for sin. I have taken the sin of the world into My own body and I suffered the guilt and the blame and the punishment and the death for you. Now you have absolutely no reason to concern yourself with the blame of sin and of evil. I have taken it all. Now you are free to receive the life of faith for which I created you. Now, through the Gospel and through the Sacraments of the Gospel I regenerate faith within you. This is My will for you. This is My will by which I set you free. Through these means I restore the freedom to live again in the communion of My goodness and love.”

Now there is no one left to blame. This is good news. This is really good news!

Do You Renounce

In the rite of Holy Baptism the person who is baptized is asked to confess the Christian faith, which includes the following statement and vow as the very first:

Do you renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways?

What are the works of the devil and all his ways? What does a person renounce with this vow?

Is compromise of doctrine a work or way of the devil?

Is compromise of practice a work or way of the devil?

Is acceptance of divisions in a congregation or church body, divisions that stem from divided understanding of doctrine and administration of the Sacraments, is this acceptance or tolerance a work or way of the devil?


Do you renounce?


Is this for real? Do people actually mean anything when they make this promise? Do people really mean that they reject the devil and his works and his ways and refuse to have anything to do with them?


Do you renounce?


How far does this question reach? After all, if this is treated seriously, it will completely change a person’s life. If this is treated seriously, it will affect every earthly relationship that the person has. If this is treated seriously, many former associations will also be renounced. If this is treated seriously, the person will be treading a very narrow path through life.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105)

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. (Matthew 7:13-15)

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:1-6)

Do you renounce?

Pentecost

The Festival of Pentecost is a glorious day of celebrating the gift of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church. With this marvelous gift the Lord Jesus guaranteed that His Church would be kept safe from the powers of sin, death, the devil, the world, and the sinful fleshly nature.

But the devil and the world and our sinful nature are still at war against the saints both as individuals and as the Communion of the Saints, the holy catholic Church on earth. Surely yesterday was a day of battle for the souls of mankind.

In our household, as we made preparations for the service, my wife and I entered into a terrible argument over something absolutely stupid. The matter in dispute was not the cause of our argument, but rather our own obstinance and selfishness. The argument was so intense that it would have stolen away from us the very faith that the day is given to nurture in us. Sin and pride and selfishness are powerful enemies of our souls. Thanks be to God for the gift of the Holy Spirit, who tirelessly comes to us through the engrafted Word to call us to repentance. He never stops calling to us and working within us to work conversion anew so that repentance transpires within our hearts, minds, and souls and forgiveness is received.

As we struggled, we both cried on account of our sinfulness and we cried on account of our obstinate refusal to subject ourselves to the will of God and to one another in His love. We cried because we knew that we needed the gifts that are bestowed in the divine service through the holy liturgy and through the Word that would be proclaimed in the sermon. So we knelt in prayer and prayed that the Holy Spirit would give to us the forgiveness and love to submit to Him and receive His gifts, humbling us that we might be open to Him. Then we moved forward in His love, forgiving one another and rejoicing in the renewal that He works in the liturgy, the hymns, and the sermon.

This is the life of those who are called by God to be His saints. This is what Pentecost is about. Surely the devil was mightily at work to tempt us to destroy ourselves. But the Lord is not willing to permit this and He calls to our remembrance all that He has previously taught us and continues teaching us. He comforts us with the means of grace, so that we trust that we have yet again been reconciled to God and His peace fills us and renews us once again.

This great miracle, however, can be resisted to the point of losing the gift of the Holy Spirit and the regeneration that He works in Baptism and the renewal that He works in the Communion of Christ’s body and blood. It is possible to resist or ignore the Holy Spirit’s continual urging until we finally are left with only our own thoughts, and our traditions and rituals, and our own faith that ultimately is nothing more than pretense and excuses.

Yesterday afternoon, my mother-in-law called to tell us that she had heard that George Tiller had been shot in the head and killed while attending the Sunday services at Reformation Lutheran Church. Truly the devil and his legions are at work in the world.

Should such things as this murder surprise us? Outrage and shock have been expressed as this news fills the headlines and air waves and digital signals both locally and nationally. But is this really a surprising event?

The man who killed Tiller, is obviously not thinking rightly. He obviously is not one who abides in the everlasting love of God. On the day of Pentecost, instead of God’s love, murder filled his heart to such a degree that his murderous thoughts became murderous actions.

Why?

Perhaps we should stop and consider what he has been taught by our society. Last evening my wife and I went to look for a movie to rent and we had trouble finding anything that appealed to us. We observed the large number of horror movies newly released. Most of the other movies were about murderous revenge or destructive perversions of life in other forms. Revenge and self-gratification are taught and promoted continually and much money is made in the promotion thereof.

What about the response of our nation to the terrible events of 9-11. War! More War! War with Iraq. War with Afghanistan. Threats against Iran. Were any alternative avenues pursued first? Were there even any genuine additional threats against the USA and her citizens? Were the presumed causes for the war ever found in Iraq? Yet the nation is still at war and talking of more war. Justify it with the flag. Call it patriotism. Call it self defense. How many have been killed in the name of justice and freedom and patriotism. The numbers killed by the warmongering exceeds by many times the number killed in the events of 9-11. And, like with the movies, great sums of money have been raped from the people. Some have made billions of dollars from this.

What about the 36 year reign of the abortion industry? Our government has approved and sanctioned the mass murder of millions of helpless human beings. Our society has accepted these brutal murders, these acts that are so atrocious that people become angry that pictures of such things are made public. Pro-life people who try to expose the brutality that abortionists commit daily upon these dear children are decried as extremists and insensitive and uncaring and as opposing true caring for the women and their “rights.” Yet those who actually do the things exposed in the photographs and diagrams are held in honor as gentle and caring. Those who make millions and even billions of dollars enacting these atrocities at which society cringes when the photos are shown, those who kill more than a million babies every year, those are given prestige and government protection. The police arrest those who protest against these killers. The media vilifies those who seek peacefully to expose these atrocious crimes against humanity. And all this by the same society that sanctions chainsaw murder movies and vampire movies and movies about revenge and vigilante justice.

Last night a vigil was held in the Old Town area to remember and honor the man whom some have labeled Dr. George Killer. Contrary to the laws that Dr. Tiller violated in order to perform late term abortions, even when charges were brought against him in court, the Kansas governor and the news media defended him and attacked the Attorney General with false accusations. They worked tirelessly to discredit the Attorney General. Dr. Tiller spent many dollars supporting this and supporting an alternative Attorney General who subsequently won the election, only to be found to be a law breaker himself. But the job of removing the Attorney General who was properly carrying out the law was thoroughly accomplished.

The man who killed Tiller very likely imagined falsely that he was carrying out the justice that could not be carried out by any other means. He probably also imagined himself to be a son of righteousness, a son of God, a Christian.

But so did George Tiller and the pastor and members of Reformation Lutheran Church. Yet while Tiller killed babies by the hundreds and even thousands annually, his family and pastor and the members of the congregation counted him to be a Christian and a son of righteousness. They were gathered on the day of Pentecost, pretending to be gathered as a congregation of God’s grace, mercy, and peace, pretending to worship in the name of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit, while condoning a murderer in their midst. Did they call him to repent of his actions? No, they appointed him to usher them to their pews. They joyfully welcomed him as a fellow pretender. The Greek word is hypocrite. St. John warns that such is self deception and calling God a liar. Tiller was formerly a member of a congregation in the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LC-MS), but joined with Reformation Lutheran Church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) because of the ELCA’s acceptance of abortion. It is notable that Dennis Rader, aka, the BTK Strangler, was a long-time member of Christ Lutheran Church in Wichita, also of the ELCA which teaches that abortion is acceptable. Does this connection mean anything? It certainly stands to remind us that where sin is tolerated and even mislabeled as honorable, the Holy Spirit is not being heeded and true repentance is not being worked.

Now the point of this is not that Tiller or his killer or the pastor and congregation of Reformation Lutheran Church are worse people than any of the rest of us. No, for the Lord tells us that anyone who is unjustly angry with a brother is a murderer. On that basis how many murders have we each committed in our hearts?

No, the point is that true faith and the peace of God that the Holy Spirit gives by means of this true faith cannot exist apart from true repentance. The work of the Holy Spirit is to convict us regarding the Truth so that He works true repentance in our hearts. The work of the Holy Spirit is to call us unto Jesus to be baptized into Him and to eat the body and blood of His Holy Communion so as to be regenerated unto the Lord’s righteousness in His kingdom and to walk in His righteousness. He works continually to call us back again, for we are obstinate and turn away continually.

Regarding Tiller’s killer, many have condemned him. Regarding Tiller, many have condemned him. For Tiller, repentance is no longer possible. It is for his killer. It is for all of us killers. Like Tiller, like his killer, we all commit murder in our hearts and we even try to justify or excuse our murderous thoughts. Sometimes we even act upon these and kill with our words.

The Lord God calls to us through His means of grace to hear what the Spirit says. He calls to us to move us to true repentance so that we turn from all else to His mercy to receive from Him the forgiveness of sins and renewal into His Holy Communion. The devil, the world, and our own flesh, continually work against this. But God is greater. His forgiveness knows no limits. His love is everlasting. His healing is for our spirit, our heart, our mind, our body, and together our very being or soul. This is the ultimate lesson that we are to hear and to take with us from these tragic atrocities. Then the day of Pentecost is for us what God has already made it to be, a day of rejoicing in the gift of salvation that is in Christ Jesus, the crucified and risen Savior, who has established His Church for us and has poured out His Holy Spirit to us in His Church for our everlasting forgiveness, regeneration, renewal and comfort. Truly, no matter what else happens around us, this is cause for humble rejoicing!