Encouragement for Fathers and Mothers to Teach their Children in an Alien and Neo-Pagan Culture

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.” St. Matthew 18: 10

Introduction:  The following quote is from Luther’s House Postil  (“House Sermon”: he preached daily in his home) on St. Matthew 18: 1-10.    He is preaching on the Word in which the Lord says that children have guardian angels. He takes up the topic that the Lord highly values children, even to send His “ministering spirits” (Hebrews 1: 14) to guard them. After reading this sermon, the take away can be “things don’t change”.  In negative, sadly yes but it is the Godly response to the besetting evils about us:  The Lord commands and helps us to raise our children, something no government, nor school can finally do.  Government and school are to protect and defend families, not replace them. (And government and culture replacing families is another article.)

“Whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.” In other words, Whoever is responsible for a child, physically and spiritually, trains him properly so that he learns to know God, learns not to curse, swear, or steal; to him I say that he is receiving me personally, is loving me as if he were carrying me, Mary’s child, in his arms and taking care of me just as my mother Mary has taken care of me. That is preaching ever so sweetly and tugging at us ever so winsomely.

 But why does the Lord do it? Solely for the reason that he understands very well how eager young people are to listen to obscene things and how easily they are misled. Moreover, evil mouths are only too happy to lend assistance here and—may plaintive cries rise to God in heaven!—we now find boys and girls, ten and twelve years old, who can curse and swear a blue streak about hurts, physical disorders, pustules, and the like, and are otherwise devoid of shame and are vulgar in speech. From whom do they learn this? From no one else but from those who should be restraining them, from father and, mother, and from shameful, wicked servants (see footnote below). Young people come to know such things more quickly and pay more heed to them than to the Lord’s Prayer. This has its roots in that old, evil firebrand, our sinful nature, that sticks within us. That is why Christ preaches here so compellingly and admonishes so tenderly to take care of young people, saying, When you train one of these little ones, when they are brought up in the fear and knowledge of God, in godliness and modesty, you then have done me the greatest service. I have assigned my noble servants, the beloved angels, to serve and attend them. Remember this and do likewise, do not offend them, let them hear no evil, and minister to them willingly.

Footnote:  Most of us do not have servants in our homes, but we do have electronic servants:  television, radio, CDs, DVDs and especially the internet.  They are our servants not our masters, yet young people in their naivete and immaturity can be mastered by them with a false, heretical and devilish view of the world (And so can adults, especially us baby boomers as we are the first TV generation!). Young people can know a wicked song lyric quicker than the Lord’s Prayer.  These servants can be wicked and want to master.  Fathers and Mothers, and Grandparents must be, with the angels, on guard for such, restricting at times the abuse the devil heaps on us and teaching the Way of holiness in the Lord through His tender mercies for us sinners.

On Friendship: St. John 15: 9-17

When Facebook was just beginning to possess America and us Americans, a comedian doing a bit on this new internet sensation incredulously said, So, these are your friends with a click of an icon?  Really…but will your new friend help you move into your new apartment on Saturday?  This Proverbs passage speaks to Facebook, etc.:  A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24  I think Shakespeare got it right: “Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, Grapple them unto thy soul with hoops of steel…” Exactly right, yet there is more from Shakespeare: “But do not dull thy palm with entertainment Of each new-hatched, unfledged comrade.” Facebook ‘friends’ are new hatched, unfledged comrades and one can have thousands. I think Facebook has devalued the truth of friendship.

            Maybe God uses Facebook… ‘Let’s see, oh, oh, Sally doesn’t like House Bill #3952 that would limit investments in solar panel start-ups and she’s into crystals.  Unfriend!  ‘Oh, Fred posted such a  nice photo of his family trip to Cancun, and the steak he had the other night looks divine…and he just posted he loves Me.  Friend!’  So how does one get so many companions?  Being just delightful and the façade of friendship is daily posted in social media….as shallow as a screen. Now when you’re not so delightful, do you still need a friend?   And money sure helps for many companions:  “Wealth brings many new friends, but a poor man is deserted by his friend.” Proverbs 19: 4. Yes, one can have many companions, be a major draw in social media, and come to ruin in life: Where are all my friends, when I need one right now…Was I ever a friend? May be a question that is hardly asked but the depth of the bond of friendship is in the Bible, God’s Word.

            Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy. Proverbs 27:6  And again, A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Proverbs 17:17  Kisses of an enemy…maybe an enemy pretending to be your friend, as he wants something from you: ‘Oh, you’re the best, You’re just brilliant’ We even have expressions: kissing up to someone and another one, and, kissing someone where the sun don’t shine. Of course, Jesus never did that but by the open proclamation and teaching of the truth frees us from our sin.  So who is  friend? Faithful are the wounds of a friend: One who took one for you…who stood by your side when others had fled, wounded by your plight…a friend who loved at all times, in riches and in ruin, in sorrow and in happiness, in laughter and tears…and when the times got tough, a brother was born.  The wounded friend who loves at all times, born for adversity, THE brother  is Jesus.  A friend who sticks closer than a brother. Wounds, friend and brother…and Lord all one in Jesus. And He called His disciples friend. As shallow is Facebook, Jesus is as deep as the nails into His Body…for His friends, for His enemies, for you.

Faithful Quote of the Day

“Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.” St. Augustine

Faithful Quote of the Day

Lessons from Getting a Cup of Joe

This afternoon I went a local coffee bistro for coffee and a bite to eat and two young women took the table next to me…with their two laptops and of course their smart phones: between the two women, there were four screens. They did not talk much and kept at it on their screens…or Screens. Maybe they were doing a project or playing together a game…I hope so. Yet this scene is emblematic of our time. In the coffee bistro I was the only one reading a book…hard copy. I was re-reading a chapter from Walker Percy’s Lost in the Cosmos: the Last-Self Help Book which I recommend and seems so apropos to the women next to me… and mankind lost in the cosmos gripped by the sensuality of two dimensional moving images in high res, with sound. It seems that looking at a screen is a whole lot easier these days than looking at each other and talking/conversing. I dubbed this photo, The Fellowship of the Screens…like The Fellowship of the Ring. The latter has a demonic basis: the Ring of all power to possess all humankind. Yet the the ring was not the basis of their fellowship but the odyssey to destroy the ring. In that sense, we need a Fellowship of the Screens…as this too can be a conduit of evil and sin. The word “iconoclast” means image destroyer and it’s first definition was: One who destroys sacred religious images. A breaker or destroyer of images or idols; a determined enemy of idol worship. We are worshipping our own images…screens. Given the time spent on the screens, the average American spent 4.1 hours a day on mobile devices in 2021 and watched 3.1 hours of TV, and that adds up to almost an 8 hour work day…needless to say some of that time is actually for work…but a lot of it is not. We need a fellowship of iconoclasts…because these two dimensional images on our screens are false gods…and they seldom if ever speak God’s Word, Jesus. The Church is a fellowship of iconoclasts but first and foremost, The fellowship of lovers of the true image God has created…you and I: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27. And that image is so broken and so God sent His Son and, He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. Colossians 1:15 to restore us, and so: ⁹ Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator. Look to the Lord and look out for each other. Life has more dimensions than a screen. I don’t think anyone on their death bed has said, let me post one more time.

Bright Week! Bright Wednesday!

COLLECT of the DAY

Almighty God, by the glorious resurrection of Your Son, Jesus Christ,  You destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light. Grant that we who have been raised with Him may abide in His presence and rejoice in the hope of eternal glory; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

READINGS: Acts 3:13-15, 17-19   Psalm 61    Colossians 3:1-7 or 1 Corinthians 11:23-26    St. John 21:1-14

When the risen Lord visits the disciples at the Sea of Galilee, just as He said He would, Simon Peter and four fellow disciples are fishing, doing what they knew how to do.  When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord from the beloved disciple, he put on his outer garment, for he was “stripped for work”, and out of the boat, he threw himself into the sea.

The Greek word for “stripped” is “gymnos”. Gymnos means naked. In ancient times, one competed in athletics naked. Peter was undressed, because he was working hard.  He was probably hot and sweaty. Once again, Jesus caused a miraculous catch of fish and because Peter is naked, he puts on “his outer garment”,  jumps into “the sea” to go to the Lord. He must have been quite soggy. 

Like Adam, like all mankind, Peter clothed himself because of his nakedness before the living God.  Peter had denied Him three times. Baptism is the reverse of this:  water is poured, or the catechumen is immersed into the water three times to wash away our sin in God’s most precious Word:  His Name.  When immersed, in the first centuries of the Church,  one went naked into the Baptismal waters  and then  a white garment was “put on”, signifying emerging clothed in Christ.  Peter putting on his outer garment to come to the Lord can remind us of the  many places Scripture we are to put on our Baptism, the new self in Christ.  The Greek verb is the same for each translation of it as “put on” and “put on” is also translated as “clothe”: 

1. Romans 13:12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
2. Romans 13:14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
3. 1 Corinthians 15:53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
4. 2 Corinthians 5:2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling,
5. Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
6. Ephesians 4:24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
7. Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
8. Ephesians 6:14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
9. Colossians 3:10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
10. Colossians 3:12  Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
11. Colossians 3:14  And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

IN  the verses above we are variously told also to put on the armor of light, put on love, compassionate hearts, etc,  and in the Day of Resurrection we will be clothed in our “heavenly dwelling”.  I will go out on  limb here and say that the armor of light, the whole armor of God, putting on “love”, are all references to Baptism, and putting on Christ.  We are encouraged to put on what we have been given:  our Baptism into Christ. 

Peter and the disciples, sit on the sea shore and Jesus feeds them.  In the next scene, He charges Peter to feed His sheep.  The Lord feeds us Himself, His flesh and blood for the life of the world.  Baptism is followed by Holy Communion.  We can not go naked to the Lord and so He clothed us in Himself as He clothed Adam and Eve in the Garden. We are not dressed for success, but for faithfulness. 

The verb “revealed” is used in the first and last verse of this Gospel lesson. The disciples are awed that Jesus arrives in Galilee.  Revelation, or manifestation, epiphany is the mark of the end of world  that has come upon us.  When we put on our daily Baptism, the new self, we are dressed for and in the end of the world who is Christ, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.  Reread the texts above for a description of our Christening robe and how different it is from the styles of the world.   We do not go out naked into the world or showing enough to sexually entice someone else. The Lord clothes us the shame of the Adamic nakedness as the Lord once clothed Adam and Eve (Genesis 3: 21).  Adam and Eve’s garments were just for this life. Clothed in Christ is His life for the new heavens and earth. And in the meantime, the Church will be different from the world as she is clothed in Christ and His armor of  light and love.  

O Lord Jesus Christ, look upon me, a poor sinner, with Your eyes of mercy, the same eyes of mercy with which You looked upon Peter in the assembly-room, upon Mary Magdalene at the banquet, and upon the malefactor on the cross. Grant to me also, almighty God, that with Peter I bemoan my sin from the heart, with Mary Magdalene sincerely love You, and with the malefactor on the cross may live eternally with You in Your kingdom. Amen. (Johann Gerhard)

Bright Week! Bright Tuesday!

COLLECT OF THE DAY

Almighty God, through the resurrection of Your Son You have secured peace for our troubled consciences. Grant us this peace evermore that trusting in the merit of Your Son we may come at last to the perfect peace of heaven; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

READINGS: Daniel 3:8-28 Psalm 2 Acts 13:26-33 St. Luke 24:36-49

“O Holy Trinity, You Self-sufficient Love, ignite also in our heart this fire of Your Love!” ( Rev. Pastor and Professor Johann Gerhard, +1637)

From Today’s Gospel Reading in St. Luke 24: ⁴⁴Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, ⁴⁶and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, ⁴⁷and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 

Johann Gerhard:  

Whoever preaches forgiveness of sins without preaching repentance is not holding to Christ’s  command. For He sets both together: repentance and forgiveness of sins. Wherever there is a broken and shattered heart, there Christ wants to live, Isa. 57:15, and wants to impart His blessings which He won through His death and resurrection. He, indeed, calls sinners to Himself, but (He calls them) to repent, Matt. 9:13. True repentance is the pathway by which sinners come to grace.

We were widely separated from God by sin, Isa.5. Just as the Lord Christ promised His Apostles the Promise of the Father—that is, He wanted to send them the Holy Spirit and clothe them with Power from on high—so also He proffers to us the comforting promise that He does not want to leave us orphaned or comfortless; instead, He desires to send into our hearts the Holy Spirit, who makes us strong in the inner man and comforts us in every anxious doubt.

Warning

And Easter was declared by the White House as “Trans-Visibility Day” as if they weren’t visible enough in libraries, marches, laudatory articles…churches. What makes the photo above even scarier: it looks soooo nice…even pretty. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.” Matthew 23:27.

Article links to help in the good fight of faith:

As Christianity Declines, We Must Confront The Threat Of Pagan America

Biden’s Anti-Christian Easter Stunt Leaves No Doubt About Democrats’ Descent Into Paganism

A BRIEF HISTORY OF POWER (podcast)

Bright Week! Bright Monday

COLLECT OF THE DAY

O God, in the paschal feast You restore all creation. Continue to send Your heavenly gifts upon Your people that they may walk in perfect freedom and receive eternal life; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

READINGS: Exodus 15:1-18 or Daniel 12:1c-3; Psalm 100; Acts 10:34-43 or 1 Corinthians 5:6b-8; Luke 24:13-49

Introduction: The Eastern Orthodox Churches have a great custom by calling the first week of the Paschal (Easter) Season “Bright Week”.  A great way to begin the 50 Days of Pascha leading to Pentecost, as we look at what our risen Lord taught His Church for her life and mission into the world.   Easter, like Christmas, is not only a day each, but  a season each.

“Meanwhile the cross comes before the crown and tomorrow is a Monday morning. A cleft has opened in the pitiless walls of the world, and we are invited to follow our great Captain inside. The following Him is, of course, the essential point.”-C.S. Lewis, his sermon, The Weight of Glory

          

And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. St. Mark 16

The women went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to no one (the literal translation), for they were afraid. For trembling and astonishment had them in its grip…that tomb and that angel…it was like, like, the end of the world.  These good women were worked up…wouldn’t you?  Jesus Christ is the end of the world’s rule over us…in our souls and bodies, the whole megillah.  Jesus Christ is the end of the world and since the first Easter He in His Church has been proclaiming His Kingdom, His rule in the reigns of man:  His peace for the nations, you, and me to live in this crazed world of wrong, to be strong in Him, the Crucified One. In this world, we need the help of heaven and we do even when we can’t see straight, as He taught us, Our Father who art in heaven hallowed by Thy Name. We need to pray for ourselves and our neighbors especially today, Monday, and Tuesday, and oh yeah, Wednesday, etc.  Monday and it is back into the “pitiless walls of the world”…but following our great Captain.

Jesus suffered under both church and state as church and state were not doing as the Lord wants…and as the devil desires. He knows that way very well and He can lead us through for us to do as the angel bid the women:  Go and tell, He is risen JUST AS HE SAID.  We follow the risen Lord, yet He is still the crucified One. The angel told the women to tell of Him risen: Who was crucified…the Greek verb here is not simply past tense, it conveys He is crucified and continues in that state as the Crucified One. As foretold by Isaiah centuries before Easter: the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.  We have wounds, hurts and sorrows, and diagnoses and problems at home. Souls, heart and mind need healing. Look to His wounds. Only the risen Lord brings the healing of our lives. Point other to His Wounds and tell of the Savior’s love.  Why? He is risen! He is risen, indeed. Alleluia!

Good Friday Reflection by Athanasius of Alexandria

“But if any honest Christian wants to know why the Lord suffered death on the cross and not in some other way, we answer thus: in no other way was it expedient for us, indeed the Lord offered for our sakes the one death that was supremely good. He had come to bear the curse that lay on us; and how could He “become a curse” otherwise than by accepting the accursed death? And that death is the cross, for it is written “Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree.” Again, the death of the Lord is the ransom of all, and by it “the middle wall of partition” is broken down and the call of the Gentiles comes about. How could He have called us if He had not been crucified, for it is only on the cross that a man dies with arms outstretched? Here, again, we see the fitness of His death and of those outstretched arms: it was that He might draw His ancient people with the one and the Gentiles with the other, and join both together in Himself. Even so, He foretold the manner of His redeeming death, “I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Myself.”—Athanasius of Alexandria

Concordia Publishing House. Treasury of Daily Prayer (Kindle Locations 5295-5296). Concordia Publishing House. Kindle Edition.