Don't you just feel this way sometimes????
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
In The Valley Of Ellah
We watched a video that claims to be inspired by a true story. What this means, one never really knows. How much is actually inspired from the true events and how much is inspired by the motivations of the movie maker?
This movie includes a telling of the account of David and Goliath, and like the movie itself, the telling of the account has some changes from the truly inspired account. The account recorded in 1 Samuel 17 is told in the movie from a different perspective. In the movie the story is told to inspire a little boy to find courage from within himself, courage to face imaginary monsters and whatever else may be encountered in the boy’s life.
But Samuel, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, directs the reader and hearer of this account to a different kind of courage. David truly does act with incredible courage. No one else demonstrated such courage when Goliath challenged the people of Israel, the Lord’s chosen people of faith and salvation. All the men of Israel’s army and even King Saul shrank back in fear at this giant who mocked both the Lord’s people as well as the Lord Himself.
David, however, upon hearing the blasphemous and arrogant challenges of this uncircumcised and unbelieving Philistine, volunteered to slay the enemy of God’s people. Truly this was courageous beyond imagination. Goliath stood six cubits and a span tall, approximately nine feet and nine inches tall. His coat of mail alone likely weighed more than David, weighing about 160 pounds. The head of his spear weighed about 19 pounds.
Yes, for David to face Goliath required extraordinary courage. But what was the source of David’s courage?
David’s courage was based in his confidence in the faithfulness of the Lord his God, the God of Israel. David knew the Scriptures and all the promises of God. David knew the mighty acts of salvation that the Lord had worked throughout the ages, even as he had learned from the Holy Scriptures.
But David’s faith was more than an internal belief in the Lord. David knew the Lord his God. His faith was more than his own belief. His faith was produced in him from beyond his own reason and strength. For David, faith was the assurance of things not seen, the absolute confidence that comes from living in the relationship that God establishes with those who are His own. David knew the faithfulness of God, and thus while all the other men shrank back, David stepped forward.
David also had another matter driving him forward. In chapter 16 we read that the Lord had proclaimed David to be His anointed one. By the Lord’s command, Samuel had anointed David to be Saul’s successor as the one to lead the people in the name of the Lord. David trusted that the Lord is true to His promise. The Lord anointed David to lead the people, and so, even though he was not yet king, when Saul faltered in his unbelief, David stepped forward in the name of the Lord.
In the early days of his service to the Word of God Saul had demonstrated great faith, too. He began his time of leadership as a true servant of the Word. But in time, Saul began to rely upon his own reason and strength. He began to do what seemed right in his own eyes and made certain changes in what God had ordained. When this happened, his faith became compromised, and his relationship of true faith in the Lord and His Word died. His faith had become his own work of believing, and no one has this power in himself. Therefore, Saul could no longer lead the people of God in the victorious walk of true faith, as his fear of Goliath demonstrated. Saul now feared Goliath more than he feared God. Saul had more confidence in the strength that Goliath demonstrated than in the strength of the Lord his God.
Since David truly feared the Lord, he had no fear of Goliath. He did not have to fight back his fears, for his only fear was of the Lord his God, and David knew the Lord as his faithful God of never ending mercy and love. He knew that this was not his own personal battle, but the Lord’s battle, and that the Lord cannot fail.
Sadly this is not the kind of courage that most people recognize in this amazing account of the Gospel. Most people look at David as a man who found courage in his own faith. And so, like the father in this Hollywood inspired story, they teach their children how they need to gather up their strength and to stand in the confidence of their faith. “You must believe in yourself,” they say. Sometimes they even go the next step and say, “You must trust God.”
David, however, shows us the meaning of true trust in God. For David did not stand in the confidence of his own faith. Rather, David proclaimed the saving works of the Lord. When Goliath mocked David and cursed David in the name of the Philistine gods, David replied,
What a contrast! This is an amazing contrast even from what most Christians imagine to be the way of true faith. Most Christians imagine that they must muster up courage by praying diligently and by believing more firmly. But dear David simply lived by the faith that he received from the Lord. His confidence was not in his prayers or in his faith. His confidence was the Lord. Fearing the Lord David knew no other fear. And even as David boldly declared, the Lord was true to His Word and saved not only David, but all of Israel, and ultimately all the world.
Truly on Good Friday, the Lord made His final declaration of victory, crushing the head of the enemy just as surly as He did with the stone from David’s sling against Goliath. Only our Lord Jesus faced a much greater giant than Goliath. Our Lord Jesus crushed the serpent’s head, Satan, and delivered us from the fear of death and damnation forever. He cried out mightily saying, “It is finished!” so that now we join David in walking in the fear of God and none other. Such courage never fails.
This movie includes a telling of the account of David and Goliath, and like the movie itself, the telling of the account has some changes from the truly inspired account. The account recorded in 1 Samuel 17 is told in the movie from a different perspective. In the movie the story is told to inspire a little boy to find courage from within himself, courage to face imaginary monsters and whatever else may be encountered in the boy’s life.
But Samuel, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, directs the reader and hearer of this account to a different kind of courage. David truly does act with incredible courage. No one else demonstrated such courage when Goliath challenged the people of Israel, the Lord’s chosen people of faith and salvation. All the men of Israel’s army and even King Saul shrank back in fear at this giant who mocked both the Lord’s people as well as the Lord Himself.
David, however, upon hearing the blasphemous and arrogant challenges of this uncircumcised and unbelieving Philistine, volunteered to slay the enemy of God’s people. Truly this was courageous beyond imagination. Goliath stood six cubits and a span tall, approximately nine feet and nine inches tall. His coat of mail alone likely weighed more than David, weighing about 160 pounds. The head of his spear weighed about 19 pounds.
Yes, for David to face Goliath required extraordinary courage. But what was the source of David’s courage?
David’s courage was based in his confidence in the faithfulness of the Lord his God, the God of Israel. David knew the Scriptures and all the promises of God. David knew the mighty acts of salvation that the Lord had worked throughout the ages, even as he had learned from the Holy Scriptures.
But David’s faith was more than an internal belief in the Lord. David knew the Lord his God. His faith was more than his own belief. His faith was produced in him from beyond his own reason and strength. For David, faith was the assurance of things not seen, the absolute confidence that comes from living in the relationship that God establishes with those who are His own. David knew the faithfulness of God, and thus while all the other men shrank back, David stepped forward.
David also had another matter driving him forward. In chapter 16 we read that the Lord had proclaimed David to be His anointed one. By the Lord’s command, Samuel had anointed David to be Saul’s successor as the one to lead the people in the name of the Lord. David trusted that the Lord is true to His promise. The Lord anointed David to lead the people, and so, even though he was not yet king, when Saul faltered in his unbelief, David stepped forward in the name of the Lord.
In the early days of his service to the Word of God Saul had demonstrated great faith, too. He began his time of leadership as a true servant of the Word. But in time, Saul began to rely upon his own reason and strength. He began to do what seemed right in his own eyes and made certain changes in what God had ordained. When this happened, his faith became compromised, and his relationship of true faith in the Lord and His Word died. His faith had become his own work of believing, and no one has this power in himself. Therefore, Saul could no longer lead the people of God in the victorious walk of true faith, as his fear of Goliath demonstrated. Saul now feared Goliath more than he feared God. Saul had more confidence in the strength that Goliath demonstrated than in the strength of the Lord his God.
Since David truly feared the Lord, he had no fear of Goliath. He did not have to fight back his fears, for his only fear was of the Lord his God, and David knew the Lord as his faithful God of never ending mercy and love. He knew that this was not his own personal battle, but the Lord’s battle, and that the Lord cannot fail.
Sadly this is not the kind of courage that most people recognize in this amazing account of the Gospel. Most people look at David as a man who found courage in his own faith. And so, like the father in this Hollywood inspired story, they teach their children how they need to gather up their strength and to stand in the confidence of their faith. “You must believe in yourself,” they say. Sometimes they even go the next step and say, “You must trust God.”
David, however, shows us the meaning of true trust in God. For David did not stand in the confidence of his own faith. Rather, David proclaimed the saving works of the Lord. When Goliath mocked David and cursed David in the name of the Philistine gods, David replied,
Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands.
What a contrast! This is an amazing contrast even from what most Christians imagine to be the way of true faith. Most Christians imagine that they must muster up courage by praying diligently and by believing more firmly. But dear David simply lived by the faith that he received from the Lord. His confidence was not in his prayers or in his faith. His confidence was the Lord. Fearing the Lord David knew no other fear. And even as David boldly declared, the Lord was true to His Word and saved not only David, but all of Israel, and ultimately all the world.
Truly on Good Friday, the Lord made His final declaration of victory, crushing the head of the enemy just as surly as He did with the stone from David’s sling against Goliath. Only our Lord Jesus faced a much greater giant than Goliath. Our Lord Jesus crushed the serpent’s head, Satan, and delivered us from the fear of death and damnation forever. He cried out mightily saying, “It is finished!” so that now we join David in walking in the fear of God and none other. Such courage never fails.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Forgiveness
Forgiveness, there is nothing more wonderful, more beautiful!
Yet forgiveness is impossible for us to believe. We look at our lives and see actions that deny God’s forgiveness. We look at our own thoughts, words, and deeds and we see actions of rebellion and overthrow of God’s lordship in our lives.
Forgiveness is divorce from sin. When God declares us to be forgiven He divorces us from our sin. He separates us from our sin. He puts our sin away from us.
The actual time and place of this was at Golgotha, the place of the skull, also called Calvary. The day was Friday. On this day the Lord took our sin, all of our sin, our collective sin, the sin of the world, and declared it to belong to the only Man who lived His life entirely free of sin. He had no sin of His own, but received our sin into His own body on the tree. He who knew no sin was made to be sin for us. He received the condemnation of both God and men. He was crucified, dead and buried. God declared, “It is finished.”
This is something truly too good to be true, at least according to what be can observed by our own reason and strength. We do not see “It is finished.” We still see the effects of sin in the world. We still see the effects of sin in our own bodies. We still see the effects of sin in our own thoughts, words, and deeds.
We simply cannot believe what we do not see.
This is why God gives us His signs by which the divorce is made believable. This is why He gives us His means of grace by which we know that this divorce is by His doing and not by ours.
In the Old Testament He gave the sacrifices so that the people could see that the divorce was accomplished by someone other than the sinner who needed to be set free. By the blood of animals God showed that His decree is real. Through the blood of animals God showed that the payment for sin was not required of those whom He pronounced to be freed from sin. Through the blood of the animals, through the separation of the lifeblood from the animal, God made His promise to be real in the sight of all. But since animals could not serve as a true substitute, these divorces had to be repeated over and over until the true substitute should be separated from His lifeblood. Then the sacrifices would be finished. Then the divorce could be declared finalized.
Now, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are given as the signs by which God unites us with His bloodbath. Now we receive upon and into our own bodies the proof that God’s declaration is real. The divorce has been enacted, even though we cannot perceive it according to our own reason and strength. But God joins us to Himself in the holy divorce from sin through Baptism and keeps the new marriage alive through the Holy Communion.
Through these God gives and sustains the faith that we cannot believe by our own reason and strength. By our own reason and strength we cannot even believe that we believe! Therefore, God has supplied us with the means by which this faith is not our work but His. Since He works this faith in us through means that are entirely not our doing, we do believe. Through these means we see what cannot be seen and we hear what cannot be heard and we believe what cannot be believed.
In Christ we are forgiven. We are set free from our sin to live in the purity of God’s sons forevermore. In Baptism, the death and resurrection of Jesus is given and sin is forgiven. In the Supper the very blood of forgiveness is given as oft as we drink of it. The proof is in the means by which it is given.
Forgiveness is ours. The pure life is restored. We are free to live again! What more wonderful and beautiful good news could ever be told?
Yet forgiveness is impossible for us to believe. We look at our lives and see actions that deny God’s forgiveness. We look at our own thoughts, words, and deeds and we see actions of rebellion and overthrow of God’s lordship in our lives.
Forgiveness is divorce from sin. When God declares us to be forgiven He divorces us from our sin. He separates us from our sin. He puts our sin away from us.
The actual time and place of this was at Golgotha, the place of the skull, also called Calvary. The day was Friday. On this day the Lord took our sin, all of our sin, our collective sin, the sin of the world, and declared it to belong to the only Man who lived His life entirely free of sin. He had no sin of His own, but received our sin into His own body on the tree. He who knew no sin was made to be sin for us. He received the condemnation of both God and men. He was crucified, dead and buried. God declared, “It is finished.”
This is something truly too good to be true, at least according to what be can observed by our own reason and strength. We do not see “It is finished.” We still see the effects of sin in the world. We still see the effects of sin in our own bodies. We still see the effects of sin in our own thoughts, words, and deeds.
We simply cannot believe what we do not see.
This is why God gives us His signs by which the divorce is made believable. This is why He gives us His means of grace by which we know that this divorce is by His doing and not by ours.
In the Old Testament He gave the sacrifices so that the people could see that the divorce was accomplished by someone other than the sinner who needed to be set free. By the blood of animals God showed that His decree is real. Through the blood of animals God showed that the payment for sin was not required of those whom He pronounced to be freed from sin. Through the blood of the animals, through the separation of the lifeblood from the animal, God made His promise to be real in the sight of all. But since animals could not serve as a true substitute, these divorces had to be repeated over and over until the true substitute should be separated from His lifeblood. Then the sacrifices would be finished. Then the divorce could be declared finalized.
Now, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are given as the signs by which God unites us with His bloodbath. Now we receive upon and into our own bodies the proof that God’s declaration is real. The divorce has been enacted, even though we cannot perceive it according to our own reason and strength. But God joins us to Himself in the holy divorce from sin through Baptism and keeps the new marriage alive through the Holy Communion.
Through these God gives and sustains the faith that we cannot believe by our own reason and strength. By our own reason and strength we cannot even believe that we believe! Therefore, God has supplied us with the means by which this faith is not our work but His. Since He works this faith in us through means that are entirely not our doing, we do believe. Through these means we see what cannot be seen and we hear what cannot be heard and we believe what cannot be believed.
In Christ we are forgiven. We are set free from our sin to live in the purity of God’s sons forevermore. In Baptism, the death and resurrection of Jesus is given and sin is forgiven. In the Supper the very blood of forgiveness is given as oft as we drink of it. The proof is in the means by which it is given.
Forgiveness is ours. The pure life is restored. We are free to live again! What more wonderful and beautiful good news could ever be told?
Monday, February 25, 2008
Don’t Talk to Strangers
Parents emphasize to their children, especially their younger children, “Don’t talk to strangers!”
Parents know that their children have not developed the capacity to differentiate between those who are friends and those who are friendly. Acting friendly is not always the mark of a trustworthy person. Often, in fact, the more friendly that a person acts, the more markedly untrustworthy the person is. Many people act very friendly in order to hide their real intentions.
Children need to be protected. The less informed that the child is, the more that the parents need to protect the child. Loving parents recognize the need to keep their children separate from those who appear to be friendly, but are really quite the opposite. Even the schools teach this warning.
Parents know that the world is evil and full of evil people. Some very innocent looking people are in reality a terrible threat to helpless children. So the parents close their home securely against those who are not first carefully investigated and judged to be friends of the family.
Oddly, those entrusted with the oversight of God’s beloved children often treat this matter in a very different way. Pastors and church leaders often act as though people who act friendly towards God’s Church do not need to be carefully investigated before giving them free access to the household.
Yet through the Scriptures the Lord speaks the strongest possible warnings against those who have not come in through the narrow door. The Lord warns that there are many who make themselves appear as sheep, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Sometimes these wolves are even those who pretend to be the shepherds.
Near the end of his epistle to the church in Rome the Apostle Paul says:
Does this not sound very much like the admonition that dear parents give to their dearly beloved children?
Parents know that their children have not developed the capacity to differentiate between those who are friends and those who are friendly. Acting friendly is not always the mark of a trustworthy person. Often, in fact, the more friendly that a person acts, the more markedly untrustworthy the person is. Many people act very friendly in order to hide their real intentions.
Children need to be protected. The less informed that the child is, the more that the parents need to protect the child. Loving parents recognize the need to keep their children separate from those who appear to be friendly, but are really quite the opposite. Even the schools teach this warning.
Parents know that the world is evil and full of evil people. Some very innocent looking people are in reality a terrible threat to helpless children. So the parents close their home securely against those who are not first carefully investigated and judged to be friends of the family.
Oddly, those entrusted with the oversight of God’s beloved children often treat this matter in a very different way. Pastors and church leaders often act as though people who act friendly towards God’s Church do not need to be carefully investigated before giving them free access to the household.
Yet through the Scriptures the Lord speaks the strongest possible warnings against those who have not come in through the narrow door. The Lord warns that there are many who make themselves appear as sheep, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Sometimes these wolves are even those who pretend to be the shepherds.
Near the end of his epistle to the church in Rome the Apostle Paul says:
Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you. Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.(Rom 16:16-18)
Does this not sound very much like the admonition that dear parents give to their dearly beloved children?
CSL or CTSFW
For a very long time, many years in fact, I have heard people ask questions about the differences between Concordia Seminary in Saint Louis and Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne. The questions were usually from pastors more than from lay people in former years, but more recently many concerned lay people have been asking the same questions.
The primary form of the question is: “Is the St. Louis Seminary more liberal than the Fort Wayne seminary?”
As an alumnus of the St. Louis seminary, I am very much aware that differences exist. As many people have observed over the years, the alumni of the two seminaries tend toward different actions in the parish setting. The biggest difference seems to be in manner or style, or perhaps attitude. At least this is what people generally observe.
But what is the real basis for the differences? Is it really a matter of one seminary being more or less liberal than the other? It is interesting to note that the question is usually phrased in this way rather than which one is more conservative (although in years past this was often the way it was phrased).
Sometimes the question is phrased as which seminary is more faithful to the Scriptures and Lutheran Confessions.
In reality, none of these questions really fit what is observed. Both seminaries as well as their staff and their graduates profess a quia subscription to the Lutheran Confessions. Both profess to adhere to the Holy Scriptures of God. Both profess to seek to prepare pastors for faithful service to the Word and to the Church in preaching the Gospel. Both profess to be urgently concerned for the salvation of lost souls. Both profess to embrace the historic Christian faith and the historic definition of the Church.
So then, why the perceived difference?
From my years of observing the difference I have concluded that it is a matter of how each seminary defines quia subscription to the Lutheran Confessions and how each defines faithfulness. What I will state below is a set of generalizations. Obviously exceptions exist.
Concordia Seminary — St. Louis, tends to subscribe to the Lutheran Confessions as true expositions of the Gospel because the LC-MS subscribes to them as such. Faithfulness tends to be understood as loyalty to the understanding of being LC-MS Lutheran Christians.
Concordia Theological Seminary — Ft. Wayne, tends to subscribe to the Lutheran Confessions as true expositions of the Gospel because the professors of the Ft. Wayne seminary (and certain professors in particular) subscribe to them as such. Faithfulness tends to be understood as loyalty to the understanding of being Concordia Theological Seminary LC-MS Lutheran Christians.
Both of these generalizations are over-simplified, but nevertheless they do fit as simple generalizations of what is observed. As these demonstrate, the two seminaries are not all that much different in that they both are absolutely dedicated to the preservation of the LC-MS and the promotion of Lutheranism as the best form of Christianity. Both seminaries claim to teach faithfully the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions. Both seminaries claim to embrace the historic liturgy as important to the Church. Both seminaries ultimately define both true Lutheranism and true Christianity according to what is decided in LC-MS conventions. Both openly profess to be in true fellowship with each other and with all who are members of the LC-MS.
So why is this even a question? It is because people are concerned about what they see happening in the churches. They hear different things being stressed by different pastors and congregations. They see different practices among those who profess to be one in the faith. They even hear different applications of the Word from congregation to congregation. People are concerned because the Scriptures declare that the Church is one in doctrine and practice, and this is not what is observed in the churches. They read in the Lutheran Confessions a clear reiteration of the Scriptural declarations and promises that the true Church is the gathering of the believers to the pure Word and Sacraments, and then they hear their pastors and churches declare that this cannot exist. They see their pastors and churches practicing disunity in doctrine and especially in the practice of that doctrine while simultaneously pretending to be one in the faith.
People tend to find this to be very disturbing because it does not agree with what is declared by the Scriptures. Somehow it is hard to understand how practicing disunity is the same as being truly one in the Lord.
The fact is that those who claim that this is possible are absolutely correct in saying that purity of doctrine and practice will never happen, at least not among those who embrace disunity and unity as coexisting reality.
The Scriptures declare a better way, a true way, and its dependency is not upon one’s seminary nor even upon one’s church body loyalties.
The primary form of the question is: “Is the St. Louis Seminary more liberal than the Fort Wayne seminary?”
As an alumnus of the St. Louis seminary, I am very much aware that differences exist. As many people have observed over the years, the alumni of the two seminaries tend toward different actions in the parish setting. The biggest difference seems to be in manner or style, or perhaps attitude. At least this is what people generally observe.
But what is the real basis for the differences? Is it really a matter of one seminary being more or less liberal than the other? It is interesting to note that the question is usually phrased in this way rather than which one is more conservative (although in years past this was often the way it was phrased).
Sometimes the question is phrased as which seminary is more faithful to the Scriptures and Lutheran Confessions.
In reality, none of these questions really fit what is observed. Both seminaries as well as their staff and their graduates profess a quia subscription to the Lutheran Confessions. Both profess to adhere to the Holy Scriptures of God. Both profess to seek to prepare pastors for faithful service to the Word and to the Church in preaching the Gospel. Both profess to be urgently concerned for the salvation of lost souls. Both profess to embrace the historic Christian faith and the historic definition of the Church.
So then, why the perceived difference?
From my years of observing the difference I have concluded that it is a matter of how each seminary defines quia subscription to the Lutheran Confessions and how each defines faithfulness. What I will state below is a set of generalizations. Obviously exceptions exist.
Concordia Seminary — St. Louis, tends to subscribe to the Lutheran Confessions as true expositions of the Gospel because the LC-MS subscribes to them as such. Faithfulness tends to be understood as loyalty to the understanding of being LC-MS Lutheran Christians.
Concordia Theological Seminary — Ft. Wayne, tends to subscribe to the Lutheran Confessions as true expositions of the Gospel because the professors of the Ft. Wayne seminary (and certain professors in particular) subscribe to them as such. Faithfulness tends to be understood as loyalty to the understanding of being Concordia Theological Seminary LC-MS Lutheran Christians.
Both of these generalizations are over-simplified, but nevertheless they do fit as simple generalizations of what is observed. As these demonstrate, the two seminaries are not all that much different in that they both are absolutely dedicated to the preservation of the LC-MS and the promotion of Lutheranism as the best form of Christianity. Both seminaries claim to teach faithfully the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions. Both seminaries claim to embrace the historic liturgy as important to the Church. Both seminaries ultimately define both true Lutheranism and true Christianity according to what is decided in LC-MS conventions. Both openly profess to be in true fellowship with each other and with all who are members of the LC-MS.
So why is this even a question? It is because people are concerned about what they see happening in the churches. They hear different things being stressed by different pastors and congregations. They see different practices among those who profess to be one in the faith. They even hear different applications of the Word from congregation to congregation. People are concerned because the Scriptures declare that the Church is one in doctrine and practice, and this is not what is observed in the churches. They read in the Lutheran Confessions a clear reiteration of the Scriptural declarations and promises that the true Church is the gathering of the believers to the pure Word and Sacraments, and then they hear their pastors and churches declare that this cannot exist. They see their pastors and churches practicing disunity in doctrine and especially in the practice of that doctrine while simultaneously pretending to be one in the faith.
People tend to find this to be very disturbing because it does not agree with what is declared by the Scriptures. Somehow it is hard to understand how practicing disunity is the same as being truly one in the Lord.
The fact is that those who claim that this is possible are absolutely correct in saying that purity of doctrine and practice will never happen, at least not among those who embrace disunity and unity as coexisting reality.
The Scriptures declare a better way, a true way, and its dependency is not upon one’s seminary nor even upon one’s church body loyalties.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Pulchritude
This is a new word for my vocabulary: pulchritude. For some time the mainstream media has applied the meaning of this word to a certain candidate of their preferred political party. But this candidate’s popularity seems to have faded and with this the mainstream media’s view of this candidate seems to have lost its pulchritude.
How much better when our perception of pulchritude has an everlasting basis that cannot fade away. For instance:
How much better when our perception of pulchritude has an everlasting basis that cannot fade away. For instance:
How pulchritudinous upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! (Isaiah 52:7)
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
More thoughts on the Constitution Party
Some comments worthy of consideration are made regarding the Constitution Party and its platform at Thoughts on the Constitution Party and Biblical Principles at the Ballot Box.
The second link especially shares information, which if accurate, causes me to be discomforted regarding the party.
Nevertheless, the platform is worthy of examination and consideration. It certainly says some things that are truly worthy of acknowledgment.
Yet at the same time, caution is in order, as terminology, especially Biblical and Christian terms, are used quite loosely, as is common among so-called Christians today as well as throughout history.
The second link especially shares information, which if accurate, causes me to be discomforted regarding the party.
Nevertheless, the platform is worthy of examination and consideration. It certainly says some things that are truly worthy of acknowledgment.
Yet at the same time, caution is in order, as terminology, especially Biblical and Christian terms, are used quite loosely, as is common among so-called Christians today as well as throughout history.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Castro’s Resignation
I suppose that Castro’s resignation may be cause for rejoicing. Many have prayed for this day for many years. Some have even prayed for this man’s demise in the hope that his tyrannical dictatorship would come to an end. But how does one know that the one who follows him will be any better and not perhaps even worse?
But these perceptions are purely pragmatic. They certainly are not the thoughts of the pure in spirit who reflect the love of their God and Savior.
What does our God declare as His way?
What a strange God we Christians follow! How strange His ways are to the ways of the sinful human heart.
The Lord our God declares that He is the one and the only one to whom vengeance belongs, for He alone is just and holy. Yet from whom does He exact this vengeance? He stoops to become a man and takes the sin of the world into His own person and says, “I will repay!”
Such is the way of the Lord our God. His way is not our end but our beginning. His way is the way of reconciliation through peace that He has purchased by His own sacrifice.
And thus, having been reconciled to God in Christ, we are free to do unto others as He has first done unto us. We are free to turn the other cheek when we are struck in slander and mockery. We are free to forgive our enemies and even to pray for their health so that they may live to hear the beautiful message of the Gospel and receive from God the same full pardon that we have received.
We often cry out against those who do evil in this world. But how often do we look upon them with the new hearts that God has created within us so that we pray for them? How often do we pray for the abortionist and the liberal politician who empowers these pretend doctors? How often do we pray for those who are working to bring our nation to ruin?
Thanks be to God that He has established our prayer in which we do pray for all, opening with the words: “Our Father . . .” and continuing with “Thy kingdom come . . .” and then, “. . . as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Then also in the General prayer of the Church we are led by God through His beautiful liturgy to pray for all men and all rulers and even our enemies.
How truly good God is to give us such prayers whereby He leads us to pray what we would not pray of our own accord! How good God is to count these prayers as our own good will even though we often do not think of the words that we pray! How good God is to hear our prayers and to reply, “Well done, my blessed and beloved children!”
But these perceptions are purely pragmatic. They certainly are not the thoughts of the pure in spirit who reflect the love of their God and Savior.
What does our God declare as His way?
I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.(1 Timothy 2:1-4)
I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.(1 Timothy 2:8)
Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.(Matthew 5:43-45)
What a strange God we Christians follow! How strange His ways are to the ways of the sinful human heart.
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.(Romans 12:19)
The Lord our God declares that He is the one and the only one to whom vengeance belongs, for He alone is just and holy. Yet from whom does He exact this vengeance? He stoops to become a man and takes the sin of the world into His own person and says, “I will repay!”
Such is the way of the Lord our God. His way is not our end but our beginning. His way is the way of reconciliation through peace that He has purchased by His own sacrifice.
And thus, having been reconciled to God in Christ, we are free to do unto others as He has first done unto us. We are free to turn the other cheek when we are struck in slander and mockery. We are free to forgive our enemies and even to pray for their health so that they may live to hear the beautiful message of the Gospel and receive from God the same full pardon that we have received.
We often cry out against those who do evil in this world. But how often do we look upon them with the new hearts that God has created within us so that we pray for them? How often do we pray for the abortionist and the liberal politician who empowers these pretend doctors? How often do we pray for those who are working to bring our nation to ruin?
Thanks be to God that He has established our prayer in which we do pray for all, opening with the words: “Our Father . . .” and continuing with “Thy kingdom come . . .” and then, “. . . as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Then also in the General prayer of the Church we are led by God through His beautiful liturgy to pray for all men and all rulers and even our enemies.
How truly good God is to give us such prayers whereby He leads us to pray what we would not pray of our own accord! How good God is to count these prayers as our own good will even though we often do not think of the words that we pray! How good God is to hear our prayers and to reply, “Well done, my blessed and beloved children!”
Monday, February 18, 2008
Striving for Goodness
Have you ever noticed how hard it is to try to be good? Have you noticed how hard it is to try to be faithful? Have you noticed how hard it is to try to believe?
There is a reason that striving for these things is so hard.
Luther’s explanation to the Introduction to the “Our Father” is truly a delightful help in this matter.
Our Father who art in heaven.
God would by these words tenderly invite us to believe that He is our true Father, and that we are His true children, so that we may with all boldness and confidence ask Him as dear children ask their dear father.
This explanation is truly in keeping with what our Lord Jesus wants us to learn as we pray this prayer. This explanation brings true delight to the person who hears what the Spirit says in this prayer.
God wants us to know ourselves as He knows us. He wants us to know ourselves as His dear children.
If this is how we know ourselves, what will we expect from our dear Father? What will our lives demonstrate in this relationship that our Father has brought into being for us?
When Daddy gives instructions to His dear little children, does He give them instructions that are difficult to understand and difficult to perform?
Even with our earthly fathers we do not experience this. Certainly some of us have had unloving and tyrannical fathers. Yet even such a father does not ask a little toddler to climb up a ladder to repair the roof on the house.
Particularly where the father is a loving and caring father, the children know themselves as beloved children. They look to Daddy for their every need in life, especially in times of trouble. For example, if a little child is being chased by a stray dog, the child does not have to strive to know what to do. The child simply takes off running towards Daddy, screaming for help. No child in such a situation would first wonder what must be done to win Daddy’s favor. Such a reaction is only the response held toward a stranger.
The Lord our God is perfect in every way and He loves us with the perfect love of our Father who art in heaven. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and ever present. There is nothing that He cannot do for us, nothing that we need that He does not know, and noplace where He is not present for us. His mercy and goodness toward us are without limit.
Even our unwillingness to trust Him is something that He has taken care of for us. Trusting Him is not something that we must strive to do. Such striving is the opposite of faith. Faith is trusting Him, and this He brings to life in us by the power of the Gospel.
When He says “I love you,” He makes this what we know by washing us with water that is filled with His Word and completely wraps us in the person of Jesus. With the white robe of Jesus covering us, we know that God looks upon us with favor. For Jesus is His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. When He says that He is with us always, He calls us home to be gathered with Him in His family, to hear His gracious promises and to share in His Holy Communion and to eat and drink at His Supper of forgiveness and life, where He is truly present for us in His body and blood.
Yet even hearing and receiving all this, still we imagine that we must strive to be good and to find a way to be the children that He has already declared us to be. Of course, this is the way of the older children, who think too much about their own abilities. The little ones do not worry about such things, but simply hear the voice of their loving God and take comfort in knowing that His voice is the voice of Love itself.
This is why Jesus tells us that if we want to enter the kingdom of heaven that we must do so as little children, converted again, turned from our own thoughts and efforts, to the blessed Word through which God comes to us and makes Himself truly known to us.
The sum of faith is in realizing that faith is not about us and what we do as God’s children. Faith is about God and what He does for us as His children. When this is what we hear from God, the obedience of faith is the easiest thing in the world. When this is what we hear from God, what can possibly prevent the faith that causes us to trust Him and to follow Him?
There is a reason that striving for these things is so hard.
Luther’s explanation to the Introduction to the “Our Father” is truly a delightful help in this matter.
Our Father who art in heaven.
What does this mean?
God would by these words tenderly invite us to believe that He is our true Father, and that we are His true children, so that we may with all boldness and confidence ask Him as dear children ask their dear father.
This explanation is truly in keeping with what our Lord Jesus wants us to learn as we pray this prayer. This explanation brings true delight to the person who hears what the Spirit says in this prayer.
God wants us to know ourselves as He knows us. He wants us to know ourselves as His dear children.
If this is how we know ourselves, what will we expect from our dear Father? What will our lives demonstrate in this relationship that our Father has brought into being for us?
When Daddy gives instructions to His dear little children, does He give them instructions that are difficult to understand and difficult to perform?
Even with our earthly fathers we do not experience this. Certainly some of us have had unloving and tyrannical fathers. Yet even such a father does not ask a little toddler to climb up a ladder to repair the roof on the house.
Particularly where the father is a loving and caring father, the children know themselves as beloved children. They look to Daddy for their every need in life, especially in times of trouble. For example, if a little child is being chased by a stray dog, the child does not have to strive to know what to do. The child simply takes off running towards Daddy, screaming for help. No child in such a situation would first wonder what must be done to win Daddy’s favor. Such a reaction is only the response held toward a stranger.
The Lord our God is perfect in every way and He loves us with the perfect love of our Father who art in heaven. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and ever present. There is nothing that He cannot do for us, nothing that we need that He does not know, and noplace where He is not present for us. His mercy and goodness toward us are without limit.
Even our unwillingness to trust Him is something that He has taken care of for us. Trusting Him is not something that we must strive to do. Such striving is the opposite of faith. Faith is trusting Him, and this He brings to life in us by the power of the Gospel.
When He says “I love you,” He makes this what we know by washing us with water that is filled with His Word and completely wraps us in the person of Jesus. With the white robe of Jesus covering us, we know that God looks upon us with favor. For Jesus is His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. When He says that He is with us always, He calls us home to be gathered with Him in His family, to hear His gracious promises and to share in His Holy Communion and to eat and drink at His Supper of forgiveness and life, where He is truly present for us in His body and blood.
Yet even hearing and receiving all this, still we imagine that we must strive to be good and to find a way to be the children that He has already declared us to be. Of course, this is the way of the older children, who think too much about their own abilities. The little ones do not worry about such things, but simply hear the voice of their loving God and take comfort in knowing that His voice is the voice of Love itself.
This is why Jesus tells us that if we want to enter the kingdom of heaven that we must do so as little children, converted again, turned from our own thoughts and efforts, to the blessed Word through which God comes to us and makes Himself truly known to us.
The sum of faith is in realizing that faith is not about us and what we do as God’s children. Faith is about God and what He does for us as His children. When this is what we hear from God, the obedience of faith is the easiest thing in the world. When this is what we hear from God, what can possibly prevent the faith that causes us to trust Him and to follow Him?
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Trying to Make Sense of Life
I seem to remember a time when my earthly life made more sense to me. It seems that I remember having more determined focus for my earthly activities.
As I grow to realize the reality that my life is hidden with Christ in God, hidden from earthly observation because my life is Christ who is seated at the right hand of God, things of this world make less and less sense to me and my part in the things of this world seems to become more and more foreign to me. (Colossians 3 & Philippians 3)
In Ecclesiastes Solomon put the life of a Christian into perspective, saying that all is concluded in hearing “God fear and the commandments guard, for this the whole man.” Fearing God is the sum of faith and not letting go of His commandments is the life of faith in His grace. For His commandments all direct us to the cross of Christ where He has fulfilled all things for us and we learn that through His means of grace our lives are made whole again.
This really is all for the Man. Whereas according to what can be observed in this world, even as Solomon taught, Vanity, Vanity is all that can be found. But in Christ, life makes sense again.
As I grow to realize the reality that my life is hidden with Christ in God, hidden from earthly observation because my life is Christ who is seated at the right hand of God, things of this world make less and less sense to me and my part in the things of this world seems to become more and more foreign to me. (Colossians 3 & Philippians 3)
In Ecclesiastes Solomon put the life of a Christian into perspective, saying that all is concluded in hearing “God fear and the commandments guard, for this the whole man.” Fearing God is the sum of faith and not letting go of His commandments is the life of faith in His grace. For His commandments all direct us to the cross of Christ where He has fulfilled all things for us and we learn that through His means of grace our lives are made whole again.
This really is all for the Man. Whereas according to what can be observed in this world, even as Solomon taught, Vanity, Vanity is all that can be found. But in Christ, life makes sense again.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Valentine’s Day
While the accounts of St. Valentine are varied, they all teach us of love and affection that far exceed any mere emotion or infatuation.
Such is the love that is incorporated into those who are enjoined in marriage. Of course the supreme demonstration of this love is in the marriage of Christ and His bride, for whom He has given Himself, for whom He paid the supreme price.
I wish that my love could be compared to His. Nevertheless, the Lord has fulfilled my manhood through the gift of a bride who holds me with esteem as though I deserved it. While I could hope that she would willingly tolerate me and endure me, rather, she holds me with a love that reflects the love that God has given to her. While I could hope that she would find some small blessing in our marriage, she gives thanks to God that He has brought us together and bound us in the faith that we share. Moreover, as she subjects herself to me as her earthly head, the blessings are multiplied as I proclaim the immeasurable treasures of the Gospel and she responds by declaring this proclamation as what she is most thankful for in life.
How can I ever give sufficient thanks to God for such a wife? How can I ever love her sufficiently to honor rightly this amazing treasure? Thanks be to God that He declares me to be holy and worthy of love on the basis of the merits of Jesus, and my wife says to His gracious declaration, ❤ ❤ ❤ “Amen!” ❤ ❤ ❤
Such is the love that is incorporated into those who are enjoined in marriage. Of course the supreme demonstration of this love is in the marriage of Christ and His bride, for whom He has given Himself, for whom He paid the supreme price.
I wish that my love could be compared to His. Nevertheless, the Lord has fulfilled my manhood through the gift of a bride who holds me with esteem as though I deserved it. While I could hope that she would willingly tolerate me and endure me, rather, she holds me with a love that reflects the love that God has given to her. While I could hope that she would find some small blessing in our marriage, she gives thanks to God that He has brought us together and bound us in the faith that we share. Moreover, as she subjects herself to me as her earthly head, the blessings are multiplied as I proclaim the immeasurable treasures of the Gospel and she responds by declaring this proclamation as what she is most thankful for in life.
How can I ever give sufficient thanks to God for such a wife? How can I ever love her sufficiently to honor rightly this amazing treasure? Thanks be to God that He declares me to be holy and worthy of love on the basis of the merits of Jesus, and my wife says to His gracious declaration, ❤ ❤ ❤ “Amen!” ❤ ❤ ❤
Monday, February 11, 2008
Life Stinks
Life Stinks! There have been times when I have heard these words come from my lips. There are many other ways that people say this as well, but the sentiment expressed is the same.
Yet this is a terrible lie! Life does not stink. Jesus is Life. He certainly does not stink.
So what am I really saying when I say “Life stinks!”? What am I really smelling when I say “Life stinks!”?
What I am smelling is my own corruption, my own rottenness. What stinks is my own Sin-Death decay. What stinks is my attitude. What stinks is my own inability to see the wonders of God at work in my life.
My sin is the cause of this blindness. My sin and the sin of the world is what fills the nostrils of my mind’s olfactory imagination with the stench of death and rottenness.
Realizing this causes me to repent of my statement. Realizing this causes me to turn from my stink to the sweet aroma of the sacrifice of Jesus by which my stench is taken from me and buried through Baptism. Realizing the falseness of my attitude leads me to confess my sin so that I may hear again and again the promise of God so that the sweet aroma of His holy absolution fills my heart, mind, and soul.
When God works this miracle within me, I stop and remember the sweet taste of the Supper of God’s Holy Communion, where my life is filled up with the life that is in Jesus, who is fed to me bodily to fill my very being with His goodness and life.
Ah! Now I say, “Life is Good! Amen!”
Yet this is a terrible lie! Life does not stink. Jesus is Life. He certainly does not stink.
So what am I really saying when I say “Life stinks!”? What am I really smelling when I say “Life stinks!”?
What I am smelling is my own corruption, my own rottenness. What stinks is my own Sin-Death decay. What stinks is my attitude. What stinks is my own inability to see the wonders of God at work in my life.
My sin is the cause of this blindness. My sin and the sin of the world is what fills the nostrils of my mind’s olfactory imagination with the stench of death and rottenness.
Realizing this causes me to repent of my statement. Realizing this causes me to turn from my stink to the sweet aroma of the sacrifice of Jesus by which my stench is taken from me and buried through Baptism. Realizing the falseness of my attitude leads me to confess my sin so that I may hear again and again the promise of God so that the sweet aroma of His holy absolution fills my heart, mind, and soul.
When God works this miracle within me, I stop and remember the sweet taste of the Supper of God’s Holy Communion, where my life is filled up with the life that is in Jesus, who is fed to me bodily to fill my very being with His goodness and life.
Ah! Now I say, “Life is Good! Amen!”
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Martin Luther King, Jr Day and Civil Rights
Today as I bounced between a few blogs I was reminded that today is the Thirty-fifth anniversary of the Roe verus Wade decision that took away ALL civil rights for children of all races in the United States of America, beginning with the primary right to Life and extending to the rights of Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness of which the founding document of this nation declares.
It struck me as quite peculiar that this year the anniversary happens to follow on the day after Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. One day after the honoring of one of the recognized leaders of the African-American Civil rights movement follows the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that declared that babies have no rights prior to full parturition.
Is this merely a coincidence? Good question!
This question applies primarily to the issue that with the increase on focus of the claim to rights of individuals of certain categories that society began focusing upon the cries of certain groups and responding to those cries. Those that were able to march and to cry out loudly, especially if they were able to cry out with a connection to any type of presumed injustice to their group, these groups were able to demand action. The key to their success was that they were able to make their voices heard.
But what of those who have no voices, or at least none that can be heard in an organized protest? What happens to such as these? What happens to those who are truly powerless to cry out in such a way as to make themselves to be heard?
Such is the plight of the gestational children of our country. Often they have their lives literally ripped from them, but they are incapable of crying out as a group. Sometimes their cries are silenced by amniotic fluid still in their lungs. Yes, the very fluid that the mother’s body provides to surround the child with protection, silences the screams of the little one who is being destroyed. Other times the cries are not silenced, as the little ones are actually still alive and screaming out, abandoned in a trash container to face the harsh elements of the world until their strength is used up.
Yet our society that prides itself on being so noble as to have a day set aside to honor the civil rights movement, also prides itself for granting women their say over their so-called reproductive rights. How strange that in the name of civil rights such incivility to millions of babies is condoned.
How can this be explained?
There is an explanation, though few ever seem to recognize it. That explanation is that society, a.k.a., people, presume to be judges of what is right and what is good. When society imagines that the majority is supreme in judging what is good, when society presumes to be supreme in determining justice for all, that society becomes prejudiced in its judgments. Such a society will always determine its judgements according to its own prejudices. The most powerful of these prejudices is the presumption of inherent goodness and self-determination.
This is why even the best intentions of the civil rights movement have always created more tension rather than less tension between the various groups of people in society.
True justice, true righteousness, true fairness is not something that can be promoted by civic movements. Civic movements are always reactionary. Justice, righteousness and fairness are not reactionary. They are foundational.
True justice, righteousness, and fairness are founded upon Love. And Love is of God, for God is Love. God’s justice is manifested not in His declaration of the Law, but in His self-sacrifice on the cross. His Law declares what should be. His Love established it forever. His law condemns wickedness. His Gospel reconciles the unloving. When society knows the Lord as the author of all that is good, love moves the hearts of the people to act justly and mercifully, even as they know God’s mercy for themselves.
This is why the demand for rights always fails. Even when pro-life advocates picket and cry out for the rights of children, only temporary victories are achieved by means of evoking guilt. But as the Scriptures declare, love does no wrong to its neighbor. People will never learn to act justly while seeking to be just in their own eyes. Justice does not flow from the knowledge of good and evil, but from knowing the One who is good. When a people’s God is the God of Love, then what will fill their hearts and lives? When a heart is filled with the knowledge of God’s forgiveness and love, what else would be that heart’s view toward others? In the days following Pentecost the world beheld such a vision, and when the pure Gospel is heard and received today, forgiveness and love still rule the day. Pursuing and defending and claiming one’s rights makes one a slave to those rights. But in the God who holds love even above the demand for what is right, one finds the life of love and peace by which the very definition is given to being free.
It struck me as quite peculiar that this year the anniversary happens to follow on the day after Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. One day after the honoring of one of the recognized leaders of the African-American Civil rights movement follows the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that declared that babies have no rights prior to full parturition.
Is this merely a coincidence? Good question!
This question applies primarily to the issue that with the increase on focus of the claim to rights of individuals of certain categories that society began focusing upon the cries of certain groups and responding to those cries. Those that were able to march and to cry out loudly, especially if they were able to cry out with a connection to any type of presumed injustice to their group, these groups were able to demand action. The key to their success was that they were able to make their voices heard.
But what of those who have no voices, or at least none that can be heard in an organized protest? What happens to such as these? What happens to those who are truly powerless to cry out in such a way as to make themselves to be heard?
Such is the plight of the gestational children of our country. Often they have their lives literally ripped from them, but they are incapable of crying out as a group. Sometimes their cries are silenced by amniotic fluid still in their lungs. Yes, the very fluid that the mother’s body provides to surround the child with protection, silences the screams of the little one who is being destroyed. Other times the cries are not silenced, as the little ones are actually still alive and screaming out, abandoned in a trash container to face the harsh elements of the world until their strength is used up.
Yet our society that prides itself on being so noble as to have a day set aside to honor the civil rights movement, also prides itself for granting women their say over their so-called reproductive rights. How strange that in the name of civil rights such incivility to millions of babies is condoned.
How can this be explained?
There is an explanation, though few ever seem to recognize it. That explanation is that society, a.k.a., people, presume to be judges of what is right and what is good. When society imagines that the majority is supreme in judging what is good, when society presumes to be supreme in determining justice for all, that society becomes prejudiced in its judgments. Such a society will always determine its judgements according to its own prejudices. The most powerful of these prejudices is the presumption of inherent goodness and self-determination.
This is why even the best intentions of the civil rights movement have always created more tension rather than less tension between the various groups of people in society.
True justice, true righteousness, true fairness is not something that can be promoted by civic movements. Civic movements are always reactionary. Justice, righteousness and fairness are not reactionary. They are foundational.
True justice, righteousness, and fairness are founded upon Love. And Love is of God, for God is Love. God’s justice is manifested not in His declaration of the Law, but in His self-sacrifice on the cross. His Law declares what should be. His Love established it forever. His law condemns wickedness. His Gospel reconciles the unloving. When society knows the Lord as the author of all that is good, love moves the hearts of the people to act justly and mercifully, even as they know God’s mercy for themselves.
This is why the demand for rights always fails. Even when pro-life advocates picket and cry out for the rights of children, only temporary victories are achieved by means of evoking guilt. But as the Scriptures declare, love does no wrong to its neighbor. People will never learn to act justly while seeking to be just in their own eyes. Justice does not flow from the knowledge of good and evil, but from knowing the One who is good. When a people’s God is the God of Love, then what will fill their hearts and lives? When a heart is filled with the knowledge of God’s forgiveness and love, what else would be that heart’s view toward others? In the days following Pentecost the world beheld such a vision, and when the pure Gospel is heard and received today, forgiveness and love still rule the day. Pursuing and defending and claiming one’s rights makes one a slave to those rights. But in the God who holds love even above the demand for what is right, one finds the life of love and peace by which the very definition is given to being free.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
New Year’s Resolutions & Reflections
Happy New Year!
Once upon a time, in a land not far away, and in a time that some still remember, there were people who sought always to do their very best at everything that they undertook to do. This was especially true regarding their vocations. They took great pride in doing well, not only for the sake of doing things right, but more importantly, they counted their efforts as service to others. A name was applied to these people, especially those who built and crafted and repaired things — they were called craftsmen. They were looked upon as people to admire and to emulate.
Eventually, however, a new wisdom was instituted as the highest of all wisdom. Within this new expanse of wisdom the altered form of psychology was ordained by society to rule the new understanding. With this change came a change in understanding of all of the most important aspects of life. Now, among other changes, came a very drastic alteration of how craftsmen should be perceived. This change was not immediate, but gradually became the prevailing perception, so that today, new nomenclature has been applied to these servants of others — perfectionists and workaholics. These people who once were admired are now derided. Those once emulated are now eschewed and spurned.
Of course, ever since that fateful day in the garden of Eden, there have always been those who seek to be perfect according to their own abilities and to accomplish great things by relying solely upon their own works. Such people have indeed been enslaved. But a slavery has been imposed from the opposite perspective today. This slavery is really identical to the previously identified perfectionism. For in striving not to be perfectionists, once again people are trapped by the notion that they must make of themselves what they are not, and seek by their best efforts not to be what they should not be. What is this except perfectionism redefined?
What is worse, is that under the slavery of this delusion, people imagine that they are avoiding that to which they are actually devoting themselves in even greater degree. Ultimately, the slavery can be summed up in another word: selfishness. The focus is entirely upon self and what self must be and what self must do. The person is seeking only what is best for self. This becomes self-evident especially in the way the service to others and compassion and love become understood. Rather than love and compassion and service being about the other person, they are approached as about self.
There is a way by which true freedom is known. It is the exact opposite of what people expect and presume.
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. (Jeremiah 31:33)
St. Paul says it like this:
For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. (Romans 14:7-8)
And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men. (Colossians 3:23)
Even this is often received in the opposite manner of the way of freedom. Even this is often turned upside down and inside out so that it again is a thing to be pursued and sought after.
Yet the Lord presents this as His promise. This is a work that He sets forth to do. He says that He will put His Law in our inward parts and write it in our hearts so that we depend upon Him as our God and live as His people.
We seek a declaration of independence and become slaves to our efforts to live by our own strength. The Lord comes to us with His Testament that is sealed with His own sacrifice so that we are free to live in dependence upon His goodness, His righteousness, His love, and His providence. He sets us free from the worries and concerns that we bring upon ourselves. He takes all things upon Himself so that we have all our burdens lifted from us. This is the power of the preaching of Christ crucified. This is the freedom into which we are sealed by Baptism. This is the cause of Thanksgiving into which we are renewed through the Holy Communion.
This is the freedom that does not require anything from us, but is received purely as a gift from God. When we realize this, then we are free to live, truly live. Love then is a joyous part of our being rather than something that we must conjure up within ourselves or produce toward others. Compassion then flows from our knowledge of having been baptized into God’s kingdom, made one with Him and with all who are in true communion with Him. Then what we do on behalf of others, even our enemies, is no longer an effort, but an extension of who we are. Then our works of righteousness are not even taken into account in our hearts, minds, and souls, because we simply are not concerned about trying to be righteous, rather, we believe the declaration of God in Christ by which we know that in Him we ARE righteous. We confess our own works as sinful and totally corrupt, joyously receiving God’s absolution by which we receive His righteousness as our own. Then we are truly free to live.
Truly this is the resolution that we should seek for the new year. For this is the resolution or clarity of vision by which we see the image of God restored to us in Christ in even the most minute detail. Then we see that the details of the Law of God are not in what things we must do, but in what God has done for us in Christ. Then we are free simply to live and do as the Lord has inscribed in our inward parts and in our hearts.
Technorati Tags: +Happy New Year, 2008, freedom, resolutions
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
A Christ Mass Hymn
“Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful”
Oh, come, all ye faithful, triumphantly sing;
Come, see in the manger our Savior and King
To Bethlehem hasten with joyful accord;
Oh, come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!
True Son of the Father, He comes from the skies;
To be born of a virgin He doth not despise.
To Bethlehem hasten with joyful accord;
Oh, come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!
Hark, hark, to the angels all singing in heaven,
"To God in the highest all glory be given!"
To Bethlehem hasten with joyful accord;
Oh, come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!
To Thee, then, O Jesus, this day of Thy birth
Be glory and honor through heaven and earth,
True Godhead incarnate, omnipotent Word!
Oh, come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!
Sermons for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are available here.
Oh, come, all ye faithful, triumphantly sing;
Come, see in the manger our Savior and King
To Bethlehem hasten with joyful accord;
Oh, come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!
True Son of the Father, He comes from the skies;
To be born of a virgin He doth not despise.
To Bethlehem hasten with joyful accord;
Oh, come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!
Hark, hark, to the angels all singing in heaven,
"To God in the highest all glory be given!"
To Bethlehem hasten with joyful accord;
Oh, come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!
To Thee, then, O Jesus, this day of Thy birth
Be glory and honor through heaven and earth,
True Godhead incarnate, omnipotent Word!
Oh, come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!
Sermons for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are available here.
Monday, December 24, 2007
Winter Blues and Pains
With winter comes cold and with cold comes many other complications. Ice and snow often accompany the winter weather and some folk have to deal with it. Yet most folk today are not accustomed to the rigors of shoveling deep snow and such efforts often carry a big price. Even walking in cold weather can bring considerable discomfort.
The cold tends to make muscles tense up and then they often bunch up in tight knots. These can cause pain throughout the body. When the muscles tense up through the shoulders and neck, a person can have terrible headaches caused by this tension, headaches that feel like they start somewhere in the back, shoulders, or neck and migrate up the back of the skull and shoot out through the eyes.
Several things can be of help.
Moist heat can be of tremendous help. The best that we have found
is a rice pack that can be heated in the microwave. A simple hand towel can be folded in half, preferably lengthwise, so that the edges can be sewn. Then the resulting bag can be filled with rice to the desired fullness, and the remaining edge can be sewn. It is usually best not to over fill the towel, as the fuller the bag is filled the stiffer and harder it becomes. Some flexibility is preferred. The rice bag can then be heated and then applied to the stiff and aching muscles. Depending on the amount of rice filling the bag, heating on high for a period ranging from four to six minutes works well. (For filling your hot pack, use the rice straight out of the bag from the store. DRY. Do not add water or precook. Simply use the rice as purchased from the store. The moist heat is produced from the moisture in the air.)
Be careful not to overheat in the microwave, for the rice will scorch. Also, it is possible to burn oneself if the bag is too hot.
As an alternative a damp washcloth can be wrapped with a towel and then heated. This method is more tricky. One must be very careful not to burn one’s skin.
Of course, a hot bath or shower is another relaxing method. Also, soaking in Epson salts can help.
Massaging the muscles also can be of great benefit. Massaging the scalp and temple areas, even gentle massaging of the eyes can bring relief. Often knotted areas in the neck, shoulder, and back can be gently massaged away. Massaging is not a quick process. It usually takes ten to fifteen minutes or more. Sometimes gently massaging the more intense areas for a few minutes, resting a few minutes, and then massaging a few more minutes can give a relax time for the muscles. Also, the area where the pain is felt may not be the area where the muscles are most tense. Sometimes the areas with the most tension may be several inches away from the area where the strain seems to be.
Stretching exercises can help relieve the muscle tension as well.
A quarter teaspoon of Turmeric, the yellow spice in mustard, can help to relieve many headaches and helps with muscles sometimes, too.
Oil of oregano helps with inflamation.
Used in conjunction with Bromelain, an enzyme extracted from pineapple, relief from sinus and bronchial symptoms can often be obtained. If the persistent hacking of bronchial drainage is ever a problem, this combination can be a very effective remedy. Bromelain alone is also very effective.
A saline sinus rinse is also very helpful. The usual mix is one eighth teaspoon of salt with one eighth teaspoon of baking soda in eight ounces of water. The saline rinse can be placed in the palm or a tablespoon and snuffed through each nostril. Be sure to do this over the sink. Most drug stores and pharmacies also sell a nasal rinse kit with premixed packets and a nasal squirt bottle.
With the nervous tension and the tendency to eat too quickly or too much during the feasting season, keep the Turmeric available for headaches and for heartburn. In many cases, a quarter teaspoon of turmeric will bring quick relief for either a headache or for heartburn. It is inexpensive and has no negative side effects.
Oops! Almost forgot Ginger as a relief from upset stomach and nausea.
The cold tends to make muscles tense up and then they often bunch up in tight knots. These can cause pain throughout the body. When the muscles tense up through the shoulders and neck, a person can have terrible headaches caused by this tension, headaches that feel like they start somewhere in the back, shoulders, or neck and migrate up the back of the skull and shoot out through the eyes.
Several things can be of help.
† † †
Moist heat can be of tremendous help. The best that we have found
is a rice pack that can be heated in the microwave. A simple hand towel can be folded in half, preferably lengthwise, so that the edges can be sewn. Then the resulting bag can be filled with rice to the desired fullness, and the remaining edge can be sewn. It is usually best not to over fill the towel, as the fuller the bag is filled the stiffer and harder it becomes. Some flexibility is preferred. The rice bag can then be heated and then applied to the stiff and aching muscles. Depending on the amount of rice filling the bag, heating on high for a period ranging from four to six minutes works well. (For filling your hot pack, use the rice straight out of the bag from the store. DRY. Do not add water or precook. Simply use the rice as purchased from the store. The moist heat is produced from the moisture in the air.)
Be careful not to overheat in the microwave, for the rice will scorch. Also, it is possible to burn oneself if the bag is too hot.
As an alternative a damp washcloth can be wrapped with a towel and then heated. This method is more tricky. One must be very careful not to burn one’s skin.
Of course, a hot bath or shower is another relaxing method. Also, soaking in Epson salts can help.
† † †
Massaging the muscles also can be of great benefit. Massaging the scalp and temple areas, even gentle massaging of the eyes can bring relief. Often knotted areas in the neck, shoulder, and back can be gently massaged away. Massaging is not a quick process. It usually takes ten to fifteen minutes or more. Sometimes gently massaging the more intense areas for a few minutes, resting a few minutes, and then massaging a few more minutes can give a relax time for the muscles. Also, the area where the pain is felt may not be the area where the muscles are most tense. Sometimes the areas with the most tension may be several inches away from the area where the strain seems to be.
Stretching exercises can help relieve the muscle tension as well.
† † †
A quarter teaspoon of Turmeric, the yellow spice in mustard, can help to relieve many headaches and helps with muscles sometimes, too.
Oil of oregano helps with inflamation.
Used in conjunction with Bromelain, an enzyme extracted from pineapple, relief from sinus and bronchial symptoms can often be obtained. If the persistent hacking of bronchial drainage is ever a problem, this combination can be a very effective remedy. Bromelain alone is also very effective.
A saline sinus rinse is also very helpful. The usual mix is one eighth teaspoon of salt with one eighth teaspoon of baking soda in eight ounces of water. The saline rinse can be placed in the palm or a tablespoon and snuffed through each nostril. Be sure to do this over the sink. Most drug stores and pharmacies also sell a nasal rinse kit with premixed packets and a nasal squirt bottle.
† † †
With the nervous tension and the tendency to eat too quickly or too much during the feasting season, keep the Turmeric available for headaches and for heartburn. In many cases, a quarter teaspoon of turmeric will bring quick relief for either a headache or for heartburn. It is inexpensive and has no negative side effects.
Oops! Almost forgot Ginger as a relief from upset stomach and nausea.
† † †
A blessed Christmas to you.
Let It Snow
Earlier we had some freezing rain. Then about three inches of snow covered the icy mix. With this downfall the city had at least four trucks plow our street.
Saturday we had eight inches of snow fall, with drifts up to four feet deep. People were getting stuck in the streets and especially at intersections when they had to stop in the deep snow. Even four-wheel drive trucks were getting stuck. Yet we still have not seen even a single snow plow or salt truck and few were seen even on the major roadways.
Go figure.
Saturday we had eight inches of snow fall, with drifts up to four feet deep. People were getting stuck in the streets and especially at intersections when they had to stop in the deep snow. Even four-wheel drive trucks were getting stuck. Yet we still have not seen even a single snow plow or salt truck and few were seen even on the major roadways.
Go figure.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Regarding Online Sermons
I have noticed that many who offer online sermons, only offer audio. I find myself wondering what is actually preferred by those who download sermons. Is the preference for audio formats, for textual formats, or for both?
My offering for this Third Week in Advent is:
Matthew 11:2-10 — “Or Another Do We Look Toward.”
My offering for this Third Week in Advent is:
Matthew 11:2-10 — “Or Another Do We Look Toward.”
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Lutheran Carnival LXV
Since it is something of a tradition with the Lutheran Carnival to make mention of a little known Lutheran, I am including mention of the Reverend Fred W. Heumann. Even though he is my grandfather, my information is lacking.
Pastor Heumann was part of a farming family and at a very tender age was put onto a train and sent into the pre-seminary training and then to the seminary. I’m not certain of the date of his ordination, but I have sermons that he preached as early as 1908. He began as a circuit rider in Michigan and later became the pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Alpena. This congregation grew to over a thousand members and had eight grades of school, which he taught as well. In the early days of his ministry he rode the circuit by horseback on his not so reliable horse, Dick. Dick was often sick and required much veterinary attention. When Henry Ford began producing the Model T, Pastor Heumann took him up on his offer to be among the first owners. Mr. Ford offered to give a rebate if he sold a certain number of cars, which was reportedly a great help. The car was so reliable that Pastor Heumann reported that Henry Ford got him out of the debt that Dick incurred.
In those days some preachers, including Pastor Heumann, preached in German and in English. They also were markedly based in Lutheran rejoicing in the doctrine of Justification by Grace through Faith. The distinctions of Law and Gospel were clear, as were the distinctions between the true faith and the doctrines and practices of other groups.
Pastor Heumann served as a pastor in the Lutheran Church all of his life, celebrating the sixty-fifth anniversary of his ordination several years before his death. As a pastor, husband, and father, he faced many challenges and struggles. Perhaps those are best saved for some other time.
The first of the Carnival submissions is Lord's Supper Words of Institution Video by jWinters. This video is an extraordinary presentation of the Lord’s words of institution— a delight to watch for anyone who treasures and relies upon the Holy Communion. It has potential for use for generating discussion in Bible classes and other catechetical settings. It also makes a rather nice devotional as the saints move through the season of Advent in preparation for Christ Mass.
A third party submission, a bit less weighty but nevertheless enjoyable and theologically oriented toward the season of Advent, was made for the Presbytera at Pistol Packin' Presbytera, who has hung up her Jesse Tree for Advent and is featuring a new tree ornament for each day leading up to Christmas. Start at History of Our Jesse Tree and then check her blog for each new day's post.
Dan at Necessary Roughness points out in He’s In the Crèche, Isn’t He? the inconsistency of insisting on the use of blank (Christless) crosses while people insist on a baby Jesus present in nativity scenes.
Dan also submitted Pastor Charles Lehmann’s release of an open letter to those affected by the Colorado Springs church shootings. This letter, Letter to Youth with a Mission Denver, written by Pastor Lehmann and Pastor Patrick, bears a resemblance to Simeon’s words to Mary when she and Joseph brought the Lord Jesus to the temple for the sacrifice of consecration of the firstborn and the purification. It is a very compassionate and Gospel filled letter of the true hope and peace that the faith of Christmas gives, even in the face of deep hurt and loss.
Another very appropriate Advent theme is presented by St. James the Hoosier as he explains why “Everything I need to know about Life in Christ, I learned in the Divine Service .”
At Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength Weekend Fisher offers a look at Dietrich Bonhoeffer's comments on winning the culture war and applies them to the current discussion of the release of The Golden Compass. The post for this discussion is Bonhoeffer on the culture war.
In somewhat similar manner, Mike Baker at BOLL: The Lutheran AAR Center presents My Vocation, My Life, and My Death. This is a truly beautiful explanation of the contrast between a Christian’s and a worldling’s view of vocation, which also becomes manifest in the Christian’s life and death. If this is not a proper reflection upon the repentance that is the proper preaching of the season of Advent, what is?
Following in a similar train, Jim at The Third Moment offers some very timely insight with A Few Thoughts about Romney's College-Station Speech . It is a delight to see that someone has taken the time to give a true and accurate response to the self-chosen ignorance of the American media and political pundits on this very serious matter. It may not have the usual Advent focus, but it certainly is a matter of important concern for true Christians who are clinging for dear life to the pure Gospel in these latter days.
If you have never visited Fighting For the Faith, you may find this to be of interest regarding various issues of the day. The podcast on Rick Warren's Gospel of Works - November 29, 2007 is especially timely.
Of course, for additional Advent information, we can always rely upon Aardvark Alley for seasonal information about various saints days and other aspects of the Church Year.
For some reason there were some problems in the forwarding of Carnival submissions. If you sent a submission that somehow did not get included, please let me know and I’ll add yours to the Sixty-fifth edition of the Lutheran Carnival.
Pastor Heumann was part of a farming family and at a very tender age was put onto a train and sent into the pre-seminary training and then to the seminary. I’m not certain of the date of his ordination, but I have sermons that he preached as early as 1908. He began as a circuit rider in Michigan and later became the pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Alpena. This congregation grew to over a thousand members and had eight grades of school, which he taught as well. In the early days of his ministry he rode the circuit by horseback on his not so reliable horse, Dick. Dick was often sick and required much veterinary attention. When Henry Ford began producing the Model T, Pastor Heumann took him up on his offer to be among the first owners. Mr. Ford offered to give a rebate if he sold a certain number of cars, which was reportedly a great help. The car was so reliable that Pastor Heumann reported that Henry Ford got him out of the debt that Dick incurred.
In those days some preachers, including Pastor Heumann, preached in German and in English. They also were markedly based in Lutheran rejoicing in the doctrine of Justification by Grace through Faith. The distinctions of Law and Gospel were clear, as were the distinctions between the true faith and the doctrines and practices of other groups.
Pastor Heumann served as a pastor in the Lutheran Church all of his life, celebrating the sixty-fifth anniversary of his ordination several years before his death. As a pastor, husband, and father, he faced many challenges and struggles. Perhaps those are best saved for some other time.
† † †
The first of the Carnival submissions is Lord's Supper Words of Institution Video by jWinters. This video is an extraordinary presentation of the Lord’s words of institution— a delight to watch for anyone who treasures and relies upon the Holy Communion. It has potential for use for generating discussion in Bible classes and other catechetical settings. It also makes a rather nice devotional as the saints move through the season of Advent in preparation for Christ Mass.A third party submission, a bit less weighty but nevertheless enjoyable and theologically oriented toward the season of Advent, was made for the Presbytera at Pistol Packin' Presbytera, who has hung up her Jesse Tree for Advent and is featuring a new tree ornament for each day leading up to Christmas. Start at History of Our Jesse Tree and then check her blog for each new day's post.
Dan at Necessary Roughness points out in He’s In the Crèche, Isn’t He? the inconsistency of insisting on the use of blank (Christless) crosses while people insist on a baby Jesus present in nativity scenes.
Dan also submitted Pastor Charles Lehmann’s release of an open letter to those affected by the Colorado Springs church shootings. This letter, Letter to Youth with a Mission Denver, written by Pastor Lehmann and Pastor Patrick, bears a resemblance to Simeon’s words to Mary when she and Joseph brought the Lord Jesus to the temple for the sacrifice of consecration of the firstborn and the purification. It is a very compassionate and Gospel filled letter of the true hope and peace that the faith of Christmas gives, even in the face of deep hurt and loss.
Another very appropriate Advent theme is presented by St. James the Hoosier as he explains why “Everything I need to know about Life in Christ, I learned in the Divine Service .”
At Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength Weekend Fisher offers a look at Dietrich Bonhoeffer's comments on winning the culture war and applies them to the current discussion of the release of The Golden Compass. The post for this discussion is Bonhoeffer on the culture war.
In somewhat similar manner, Mike Baker at BOLL: The Lutheran AAR Center presents My Vocation, My Life, and My Death. This is a truly beautiful explanation of the contrast between a Christian’s and a worldling’s view of vocation, which also becomes manifest in the Christian’s life and death. If this is not a proper reflection upon the repentance that is the proper preaching of the season of Advent, what is?
Following in a similar train, Jim at The Third Moment offers some very timely insight with A Few Thoughts about Romney's College-Station Speech . It is a delight to see that someone has taken the time to give a true and accurate response to the self-chosen ignorance of the American media and political pundits on this very serious matter. It may not have the usual Advent focus, but it certainly is a matter of important concern for true Christians who are clinging for dear life to the pure Gospel in these latter days.
If you have never visited Fighting For the Faith, you may find this to be of interest regarding various issues of the day. The podcast on Rick Warren's Gospel of Works - November 29, 2007 is especially timely.
Of course, for additional Advent information, we can always rely upon Aardvark Alley for seasonal information about various saints days and other aspects of the Church Year.
For some reason there were some problems in the forwarding of Carnival submissions. If you sent a submission that somehow did not get included, please let me know and I’ll add yours to the Sixty-fifth edition of the Lutheran Carnival.
† † †
God’s peace to all in Christ Jesus.
† † †
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