Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Church, Worship on November 28, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Dr. P
aul Kretzmann’s Commentary on Luke 21: 38:
V. 38. And all the people came early in the morning to Him in the Temple for to hear Him.
Note: Many a Christian of our days might learn a lesson from these people that got up unusually early and thronged to the Temple to hear the Lord, whereas many in our days act as though they were conferring a favor upon the Lord by appearing at His house some half hour after service has begun.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Adoration of the Lamb, All Saints, communion of the saints, Holy Communion, Jesus Christ, saints, Scripture, Sermon, The Beatitudes, Worship on November 2, 2015| Leave a Comment »
9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” Revelation 7
There was a famous TV preacher who wrote a book about the Beatitudes entitled, “The Be Happy Attitudes”. What a crock! Full disclosure: I have not read said book. I guess that the way to be ‘Be Happy Attitudes’ is by us thinking positive, happy thoughts and doing positive happy things. In it’s place, that’s okay but in terms of the Lord’s so great a salvation, it’s all on me but the clear sense of the Beatitudes, our blessing, our salvation, does not rest on me or you but upon the One who blesses that is the Lord. The problem is not unhappiness primarily but sin crucially. The false, ‘be happy attitudes’ are aspiration, our going up to God. The Lord’s Beatitudes are inspiration. Inspiration is literally “in spirited”, hallowed, made holy by the Holy Spirit witnessing to the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ, filling the lungs of our souls with the Spirit of His grace, mercy and peace. All the saints in Christ have known this in Christ.
The Lord who calls the least, the last and the lost into His reign seems to enjoy creating out of nothing, as He did the heavens and the earth. On each day of creation, after creating out of nothing, by His Word, He said, “It is good”. The Lord likewise redeemed the saints out of the nothingness of sin, death and the power of the devil, by His blood shed for us all. The saints are the roll call of the least, the last and the lost. His redemption is good. His blood is for our good. His blood made us His, justified by grace through faith, as He became sin.
During an interview with a comedian, the topic was atheism and faith. The comedian was asked are you believer? After all, aren’t you a Roman Catholic?” “Yeah, I believe and I’m a Roman Catholic but with what’s been happening recently, I believe the book but not the cast.” I guess the “cast” being the priests, bishops etc. and I took the book to be the Bible, the Word of God. Not a bad answer. I believe the book, the Word of God and more than that: because of His Word toward us in Jesus Christ, the lodestar of the Bible is why I believe His book, His Word. What is His Word toward us and all humankind? It’s not a principle, a program, a holy political platform, an ideal that the Lord presents and proclaims to us but he comes to us in a very concrete person: Jesus Christ.
The comedian went amiss though with his jibe at the “cast”. The Bible is quite a cast of characters!
Dietrich Bonhoeffer:
God loves the world. It is not an ideal man that He loves, but man as he is; not an ideal world, but the real world. What we find abominable in man’s opposition to God, what we shrink back from with pain and hostility, the real man, the real world, this is for God the ground for unfathomable love, and it is with this that He unites Himself utterly. God becomes man, real man.
God became a real man so we can be real men and women. This cast I trust because they were (and are!) so very real and loved and called by the real Lord to be his real people, really knowing they are sinners at the same time made right, justified in Christ alone and His work, as worked out in our lives by the Holy Spirit.
Beatitudes are the blessing of Jesus Christ toward real men and real women. If the Lord wanted to bless ideal men and women, he would have said, Blessed are the rich in spirit, Blessed are those who are positive Blessed are the warriors, Blessed are the powerful…If the Lord had wanted only ideal men to come to Him, He would still be sitting on that mount waiting to open His mouth till this day. But open His mouth He did: Blessed are the poor in spirit, mourning, etc…not exactly a recruiting poster for denominational Christianity purpose driven, positive thinking, your best life now as the purveyors of the national religion with their feet planted firmly in their time teach it. but real men and real women, the least the last the lost. “The Few, the Proud, the Marines” is a good recruiting ad but in the One who calls us its, the many, the lowly, poor in spirit, mourning at the way the world is to be His saints. But there is a similarity between the marines and the saints in one way: both are in formation. The saints are not being conformed to the pattern of this present world but being transformed by Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and the Lord’s tools are in arsenal of His Word: faith, peace, prayer, salvation. The saints are a work in progress, to be saints, but His work always. Unlike the other Marine slogan, “Never given, always earned”, here it is Always given, never earned. And also: Always given, ever learned.
This cast both then and now have a script, the Scripture, our lines, His inerrant Word to learn, pray, speak and live. The problem is when we are always adlibbing our own lines, thinking we know what the playwright really wanted to say and it’s look at me I’m pretty good. “Oh, I want my part to really be moving” and we act out of character. We should know our lines, and the Lord’s lines are good. Man does not like the Playwright’s Script and rewrites it, but once that is done, it is no longer the real play and the Script-ure is nothing to play around with. When man starts rewriting the Bible, like Joseph Smith, Mohammed and liberal/progressive Christianity, the result will always be a water downed version with lines that might be tough but will always be showing how holy we are. It’s called being a Pharisee, a hypocrite. The Lord, blessed be His Name has given us His real lines for real people that eventually by faith through His grace we cherish in our hearts and souls and minds to live them in real living. When an actor auditions and does well he will receive a call back. Now we receive callbacks from time to time, not when we have done well, but we are called back when we have done not done well at all: flubbed our lines, tried to hog the stage, talked about others in the cast. The Lord calls us back in true repentance, by His Law, the script that is totally demanding, to confess our bad acting and be forgiven by His grace alone.
This past Friday, Pr. David Ongwaye messaged me on Facebook about how I was doing and I told him I was making Scripture cards to go along with the candy we passed out on Halloween at the Mission. He wrote, Trick or treating? I don’t know what you’re talking about! I explained Trick or Treating to our Kenyan brother. He wrote back:
“It must be enjoyable and such (a) show of kindness should always be the fruit of our spirit as Christians. That is why we are unique people!” I responded: “That’s a good thought! I never thought of trick or treating that way!” Pr. Ongwaye: “What else can we say! How can we be known to be Christ’s disciples if we can’t show our love to our neighbours!”.
His Church is cast of millions upon millions, that John could not count from every tribe, nation, tongue. The saints love in word and deed. Saints believe and saints live the faith always in Christ in the communion of saints. We remember those who have exited the stage who’s part in our lives sustained us and other saints granted by the Lord for major roles who of course weren’t acting at all. They knew who they were because they knew Who’s they were: Jesus’ own. Jesus has promised there will be a cast reunion in the resurrection into the Kingdom come. This cast, His Church, His communion of saints, is not perfect, by any stretch and yet it is not an excuse to do bad but to love as we have been so loved. This communion of saints is not an ideal or utopian community but a real one, a real cast of characters. In a stage rehearsals, the manager is there with the script feeding lines to the actors as they learn the script, so is the Holy Spirit. The saints are not us vs. them but in Christ Jesus for us all. A cast that does not lift high themselves, but lifts high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim till all the world adore His sacred Name. We bear on our brows the sign of Him who died and rose for us all. Lift high His Cross so others may know the Way, the Truth and the life, Jesus Christ.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged clergy, Evangelization, Pastor Appreciation Month, pastors, preaching, Worship on October 7, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Bio: Moving from the Old World to the New, Muhlenberg established the shape of Lutheran parishes for America during a 45-year ministry in Pennsylvania. Born at Einbeck, Germany, in 1711, he came to the American colonies in 1742. A tireless traveler, Muhlenberg helped to found many Lutheran congregations and was the guiding force behind the first American Lutheran synod, the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, founded in 1748. He valued the role of music in Lutheran worship (often serving as his own organist) and was also the guiding force in preparing the first American Lutheran liturgy (also in 1748). Muhlenberg is remembered as a church leader, a journalist, a liturgist, and—above all—a pastorto the congregation in his charge. He died in 1787, leaving behind a large extended family and a lasting heritage: American Lutheranism.
During the American War of Independence, Muhlenberg’s home in Trappe was full of fugitives; he wrote in his journal: ‘The name of Muhlenberg is greatly disliked and abused by the British and Hessian officers in Philadelphia, and they threaten prison, tortures, and death, so soon as they can lay hands upon me.’
Pastor Muhlenberg’s sons were leaders in American public life. His son John Peter Gabriel left his pastorate in Woodstock, Virginia and became a general under Washington and later in life served as congressman and senator from Pennsylvania. He announced his intention to serve in the Continental Army and the cause of political freedom from the pulpit when he took off his preaching robe to reveal his uniform saying there is a time to pray and a time to fight. One of Pennsylvania’s statues in Statuary Hall in the U. S. Capitol depicts this moment . It might be legend but it illustrates that we are called to serve as citizens in the two kingdoms, the temporal, that is, our nation and the eternal, the reign of God in Jesus Christ. John’s brother, Frederick Augustus Conrad, also a Lutheran pastor became a member of the Continental Congress and became the first speaker of the House of Representatives in the new nation under the new Constitution.
(Sources: Festivals and Commemorations by Rev. Philip Pfatteicher, Diary Review: Henry Melchior Muhlenberg and The Treasury of Daily Prayer)
Pastor Muhlenberg wrote an extensive journal which is a record of his pastoral ministry but also the times and his heart. His journals are in three volumes. In this selection, we see his ministry, times and his heart:
1748. November 5.I am worn out from much reading; I am incapacitated for study; I cannot even manage my own household because I must be away most of the time. The Reverend Fathers called me for only three years on trial, but the dear God has doubled the three years and upheld me all this time with forbearance. I write this not out of any discontent of slothfulness, but out of the feeling of spiritual and physical incapacity and a yearning desire to achieve a little more quietude where I could gather my thoughts better, spend more time with my wife and children, and bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
When the Lord called Saul of Tarsus (St. Paul), He told him that He would show him how much he must suffer for Christ’s Name (Acts 9: 16). Pr. Muhlenberg knew the role of the pastor. It is not about “your best life” now, but the Lord’s eternal life now and to the kingdom come in the preaching and teaching of the Word of Christ. Someone decided that October is pastor appreciation month. It is appropriate with today’s commemoration and the Feast of the Reformation, October 31 when a pastor said before King and Church: Here I stand, I can do no other, my conscience is captive to the Word of God. Pr. Muhlenberg was a captive to no man but to the Word of God, so are also all true and faithful pastors. Give thanks to the Lord for your pastor and thank him!
In Martin Luther’s sermon of the conversion of St. Paul (25 January) preached on the role of the pastor. It was Ananias who baptized Paul. The Lord revealed Himself to Saul on the road to Damascus but it was in Baptism Paul was converted (see Romans 6: 1 etc). The Lord had a called pastor in Damascus to so preach and baptize. Read Luther’s keen understanding of the role of all pastors as you think on your pastor:
Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. (vs. 6)
Although he speaks with Paul directly from heaven above, God does not intend to put away the pastoral office or establish something extraordinary for him. Indeed, he might have spoken to him directly and revealed what he wanted him to do, but instead he directs him to go to the parish pastor in the city where he would hear and learn what he was supposed to do. Our Lord God does not purpose some special thing for each individual person, but gives to the whole world—one person like the next—his baptism and gospel. Through these means we are to learn how to be saved, and have no need to wait for God to reveal some new thing from heaven, or send angel. For it is his will that we go to hear the Gospel preached by the pastor; there we will find him, and in no other way…
Our Lord God did not mandate anything extraordinary for Paul to do, for he, after all, had heard the physical voice of Christ, the Lord, and he was to become a foremost preacher. Instead he is told to go into the city and to hear Ananias. So, get up and go! he says. Nothing special beyond this is done, no further instruction there along the road, no baptism, just the directive to go where his Word and baptism are to be had. And Paul willingly complies with the Lord’s directive, although he does not yet know where and by whom this will all happen…
Ananias to Saul: “Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus that appeared unto thee in the way as thou tamest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. (“vs. 17)
That is something we must really note well, so that we esteem the preaching office as we ought. Paul receives his sight, his insight and the Holy Spirit, through the ministry of Ananias, so that he knows who Christ is, understands the power of baptism, and forthwith emerges as a changed man.“
Lord Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd of Your people, we give You thanks for Your servant Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, who was faithful in the care and nurture of the flock entrusted to his care. So they may follow his example and the teaching of his holy life, give strength to pastors today who shepherd Your flock so that, by Your grace,Your people may grow into the fullness of life intended for them in paradise; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Posted in Bible, Church, Church year, tagged forgiveness, Gospel, justification, Sabbath, Sermon, Sunday, Word of God, Worship on September 18, 2015| Leave a Comment »
I recently received an e-mail from our TV provider with this subject line: “Don’t let your Sundays go to waste! Every game, every Sunday. GET NFL SUNDAY TICKET”
If we don’t receive every game, every Sunday then the Lord’s day goes to waste? I don’t think so. I like football but football is not the main attraction on a Sunday. When Bill Clinton was president, The New York Times had an ad for their rag showing Bill Clinton holding up a copy of the Times’ Sunday edition with the caption: “Sunday was made for The New York Times”. I don’t think so. We go to waste without His forgiveness, His Body and Blood, His every Word in preaching and praise: go to waste as in starving to death. No wonder our nation is going to waste. There are no tickets to buy in the Church, Christ’s own Body but His Cross the sign of our admission, His price, in repentance and His peace. Indeed, don’t let the Lord’s Sunday go waste!
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Baptism, Bible, Elijah, Elisha, forgiveness, mighty deeds, saints, Word of God, Worship on June 14, 2015| Leave a Comment »
About Elisha: Elisha, son of Shaphat of the tribe of Issachar, was the prophet of God to the Northern Kingdom of Israel around 849-786 BC. Upon seeing his 
Elisha was the Lord’s prophet who by His Word many great deeds (miracles) were accomplished in Israel in the midst of it’s apostasies, Israel still heard the Word. I think the greatest “miracle” was the healing of Naaman the Syria
n: 2 Kings 5. Naaman was a VIP and significantly, a Gentile and a leper. Being a Gentile and a leper meant Naaman was unclean twice. (And it be must be noted at this time in the news: a Syrian).
Naaman the Syrian went afar to find relief and he received even more. Naaman was the commander of the Syrian army, like a 4 star general. It just so happens he has a young Israelite girl that he had taken captive as a servant. He hears from her that there is a “man of God” who might heal him in her country: Elisha. General Naaman goes to Israel with his entourage and eventually comes to Elisha’s home: it would be like a limousine pulling up to a bungalow. “If you will, you can make me clean.” (Mark 1: 40) Elisha tells Naaman to Go wash 7 times in the Jordan and you will be clean; but Naaman responds to the prophet, “Can’t you just wave your hand and make me clean? Are not the rivers Pharpar and Abana in Syria better than the Jordan?” (fwiw: I have seen the Jordan River and the Syrian rivers are probably better!) Then we are told:
Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” (NIV; this verse is not in all translations)
If the prophet had told you to do the 40 days of the purpose-driven life, wouldn’t you have done? If the prophet had told you to join a monastery and fast and pray, would you not have done it? If the prophet told you to witness to a 100 Syrians about the God of Israel, would you not have done it? But just washing in a river? Everyone does that! Naaman finally does so as the Word of God spoken by Elisha told him. Naaman made his decision for God? Hardly, he was at his wit’s end. The General did as he was told without even faith in the Lord. And he was cleansed…but this great deed is the more remarkable for what followed:
15 And he returned to the man of God, he and all his aides, and came and stood before him; and he said, “Indeed, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel; now therefore, please take a gift from your servant.”
16 But he said, “As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive nothing.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused.
17 So Naaman said, “Then, if not, please let your servant be given two mule-loads of earth; for your servant will no longer offer either burnt offering or sacrifice to other gods, but to the LORD. 18 Yet in this thing may the LORD pardon your servant: when my master goes into the temple of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow down in the temple of Rimmon—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the LORD please pardon your servant in this thing.”
19 Then he said to him, “Go in peace.” So he departed from him a short distance.
Naaman confesses to Elisha his faith: I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel. Naaman wants to respond in the only way he probably knew how: monetarily. He wants to pay for his baptism. Naaman urged Elisha to accept the gift. No, says Elisha. Why? The greatest miracle for Naaman was faith. But the story continues with Elisha’s servant Gehazi shaking down Naaman for money. And Elisha’s response, the judgement of God, drives home the point: you can not buy God’s grace and favor. It is free. Gehazi becomes a leper.
The Lord creates the faith by His Word which alone heals. There was greater healing that day in the Jordan: Naaman’s soul. Just think: From an arrogant General to a humble believer saying to a foreigner, “your servant“! From a non-believer to a worshiper of the true and only LORD in the midst of temple of Rimmon.
“If you will, you can make me clean.” (Mark 1: 40) What a simple, clean faith. You can make me whole, You alone. The leper (Mark 1) knew he could not make himself clean. Naaman did not make himself clean. Only cats clean themselves. We are not spiritual cats! We can not clean our souls by our actions or words. We must turn to water and soap, outside of us, to clean our bodies and so our souls. I speak of the Word of God. His Word is in the water, the water of Baptism as it was for that time-conditioned sacrament for Naaman. “If you will, you can make me clean” “I will; be clean” (Mark 1:40) This is the I will of His sovereign grace to sinners and His Word is His will: Baptism. This Baptism’s authority comes from the Name of God (Matthew 28:18 ) and the great and powerful deed, central to all human history and each and every individual’s history: His death and Resurrection (Romans 6: 1-11)
From Luther’s Small Catechism:
How can water do such great things?f
By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior, that, being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying.
“(Naaman) was made clean”
Gnd with the water, and faith, which trusts such word of God in the water. For without the word of God the water is simple water and no baptism. But with the word of God it is a baptism, that is, a gracious water of life and a washing of regeneration in the Holy Ghost, as St. Paul says, Titus, chapter three:
Lord God, heavenly Father, through the prophet Elisha, You continued the prophetic pattern of leaching Your people the true faith and demonstrating through miracles Your presence in creation to heal it of its brokenness. Grant that Your Church may see in Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the final end-times prophet whose teaching and miracles continue in Your Church through the healing medicine of the Gospel and the Sacraments; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged atonement, Gospel, Incarnation, Jerusalem, Jesus Christ, Law and Promise, Repentance, Temple, Worship on March 8, 2015| Leave a Comment »
When our Lord refers to himself as “this Temple”, note that it is not “this body”. The Temple is one in which the Lord dwells, so Jesus said, “this Temple”. Jesus is the Temple and in three days He raised it up.” 1 Cor. 5: 1: For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. that is, eternal, durable, forever (Mark 14: 58). When Jesus was on trial for His crucifixion, one of the accusations was quite alike to today’s Gospel, We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’” (Mark 14: 58). Again in the night of betrayal, when the disciples did not understand Jesus’ pronouncement He was leaving, Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. John 14:23 And again that same night in response to the same apostolic fear, the Lord said to them, and us: “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? John 14:2 . The Apostle Peter wrote to the congregations of the diaspora, “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”(1 Peter 2: 5). The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (1 Corinthians 12: 27. The apostle Paul wrote to the super spiritual Corinthians, who were committing the sin of heresy and the heresy of sin, they were so spiritual what they did in the body did not matter, such as hooking up with prostitutes: 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.” 1 Corinthians 3:17 No should be a temple, no would be a temple, no you got to be a temple, no you better be a better Christian so you are the Lord’s temple, not you should be the Church, it was the flat out indicative statement of God’s grace: you ARE THAT TEMPLE; you are the Body of Christ.
For the first centuries of the Church, the Church, the Temple of the Lord’s Body, was being built all over the Roman empire and without actual church buildings. The Altar was there, as was the Baptismal font and the pulpit without the physical objects, for the physicality of the Church was there: This is my body, this is my blood, as you are the body of Christ, you are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. The Temple was built without human hands but for human hands to receive His Sacraments, hands lifted or fold in prayer, hands to help the neighbor in need. On a Sunday we don’t go to Church, we go as His Church to His Word and Sacraments, to the Divine Service.
When Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem, the King and the people of Israel brought into the Holy of Holies the Ark of the Covenant for within the Ark was the covenant, the 10 Commandments. The boundaries of the Temple are love of God and love of neighbor as detailed in the 10 commandments. The cleansing of the Temple is confession and absolution, the sacrament of repentance for what we have done and left undone in thought, word and deed. The word Lent means “spring”, Lent is the springtime of the Church and homes used to have spring cleaning. The Jews wanted to know by what sign Jesus was cleansing the temple. “But was there a need for a sign before putting a stop to their evil practices and freeing the house of God from such dishonor? Was not the fact that he had such great zeal for the house of God the greatest sign of his virtue?” When we go the doctor we are patients, but when it comes to trespass and evil, we must be impatients. Zeal for His Father’s House consumed Jesus, it ate Him up. It would consume Him. On another occasion the Lord was asked by what sign He was speaking and working, An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” That is the sign of the Cross, as Jonah was in belly of the beast for 3 days and 3 nights for not preaching God’s Word, Jesus would die, descend into hell itself because He preached God’s Word, the Father’s House, the Temple. The Temple in Jerusalem was for the sacrifice of animals for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus cast out all the sacrificial animals, for behold, He is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. His Temple is His sacrificed once and for all for the Temple for us. He is the Temple not made by human hands who cleanses the Temple.
As for those Jews who believed in Him because of His signs, not for Himself, for what He was offering: Himself for the life of the world: His body, the fullness of the Godhead pleased to dwell in Christ Jesus. The Old Adam knows how to look out his own interests. Jesus knows what is in man. There are many in the Church who look after their own interests and not for the interests of Christ and the brothers and sisters. When Christians no longer love the Temple the Lord raised up from the dead, from our ashes and sin and sorrow, and the resurrection is grace, sheer gift, that is, the Lord Himself, then people are busy making new blueprints of the way they think His House should be: a mall, a bank, a club. Then the Lord’s House is reduced to a house of cards or a house of trade and that is plainly wrong.
The Lord has called and baptized His Temple, us, to look out for the interests of Jesus Christ and others (Philippians 2: 4 and 21). Jesus did not look to His own interests, but in perfect submission, in perfect islam, as only true Man and true God could perfectly submit, He saved us and will save us. The Law is perfect and only the One who is perfect perfectly submitted to the Law and fulfilled it. He alone revives us, cleanses us. This is our Father’s home…from which there are many a runaway son or daughter. The Lord cast out trade from the Temple, but He does not drive sinners in by a whip. False prophets, evangelists and christs do so drive by a whip of their own religious rules and accompanied by the magnetism of their legalistic personas. See Mohammed. It is spiritual terror. The Law of God can whip us into external shape; but the draw of His perfect sacrifice that alone draws all men to Himself. His Cross is our Passion, we preach Christ and Him crucified, no longer is the Law of God the center of the Temple, Christ is the holy of holies. We need to be eaten up by what is going on in the Church and that is why we left to form the mission. St. Augustine’s encouragement is for us today:
“Let the zeal for God’s house consume every Christian wherever he or she is a member…. In your house you busy yourself in trying to prevent things going wrong. In the house of God, where salvation is offered, ought you to be indifferent? … Do you have a friend? Admonish him gently; a wife or husband? Admonish them too…. Do what you are able, according to your station.”
His draw is His Cross, and His Cross is the sign, the three days, of the Passover of the Lamb of God, of His love and mercy for the life of the world, your life, and His passion is our passion. “..whoever wants to call upon God, regardless of where he may be in the world, must turn his face heavenward to Christ, not to Jerusalem or Mecca or a saint no matter how spiritual, and thus come to Christ, the real and true temple. For Christ is the proper mercy seat (Romans 3: 25), with whom sheer mercy, love and kindness is found.” (adapted from Luther’s sermon on today’s Gospel reading)
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged adoration, Evangelization, Gospel, Jesus Christ, Lamb of God, messengers, Word of God, Worship on September 29, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Artwork, such as this statue from St. Michael’s Church, Hamburg, Germany, portrays St. Michael casting out Lucifer, aka Satan, Father of lies, Devil etc., as recorded in Revelation 12: 7-12. Artists have added the Cross to the Scripture passage, though not recorded in Holy Writ in the Revelation passage. Yet, it is true: by Christ’s death and resurrection, the devil is put to flight in the Lord’s mercy toward us sinners.
About St. Michael and All Angels: The name of the archangel St. Michael means “Who is like God?” Michael is mentioned in the Book of Daniel (12:1), as well as in Jude (v. 9) and Revelation (12:7). Daniel portrays Michael as the angelic helper of Israel who leads the battle against the forces of evil. In Revelation, Michael and his angels fight against and defeat Satan and the evil angels, driving them from heaven. Their victory is made possible by Christ’s own victory over Satan in His death and resurrection, a victory announced by the voice in heaven: “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come” (Revelation 12:10). Michael is often associated with Gabriel and Raphael, the other chief angels or archangels who surround the throne of God. Tradition names Michael as the patron and protector of the Church, especially as the protector of Christians t the hour of death. (The Treasury of Daily Prayer, Concordia Publishing House)
Lessons: Daniel 10: 10-14 Psalm 91 Revelation 12: 7-12 St. Matthew 18: 1-11 or St. Luke 10: 17-20
Reflection on Revelation 19: The angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” 10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
and
Hebrews 1: 14: Are they (angels) not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?
God’s Word is clear. When angels bring God’s Word to mortals, there is knee-knocking fear. This is why Gabriel first had to say to Mary, Fear not. Yet, the Scripture is equally clear: angels are humble. As it is written in Revelation 19, when John wants to worship the angel, the angel is clear, “You must not do that!” Angels and saints in heaven are not to be worshiped, that is, prayed to and invoked, as too many churches do to this day. I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God. Angels which are luminous servants and messengers of the Most High, are our fellow servants! Angels hold to the testimony of Jesus. Further, we read in Hebrews angels serve us mortals. Mortals, who by God’s grace in Jesus Christ, received through faith in the work of the Holy Spirit, are inheritors of salvation. I think when popular articles about UFOs and ETs, begin with, “we are not alone”, it is strange and sad science fiction comfort that is sought: we are not alone in the vast universe.
But the Lord has told us this for centuries, the millenia: we are not alone. His angels keep us safe and watch over us, serving us frail mortals. The angels know they did not die for sinners. The angels saw what happened when one of their own wanted to be worshiped as God, that is, Lucifer (literally, light bearer). The angels know that God’s own Son did not die and rise for them, but for the Sons of Adam and the Daughters of Eve, who fancy themselves as ‘stars’, wanting to be “like God”, following the angel hosts’ fallen brother’s lie (see Genesis 3). Again, the name Michael means, “Who is like God?” Answer: not Michael, but the Son of Joseph, the Son of God. The angels know they can not bring another Gospel (see Galatians 1:8), but they give witness to the Gospel of the Son’s Crucifixion and Resurrection, the “eternal Gospel”, for us all to see and come to faith, see Revelation 14:6.
We are not alone. This is comfort to the Lord’s redeemed people that God is One, yet the Lord is not alone. “Glorious is God with His angels and saints, O Come, let us worship Him” (invitatory for daily prayer). The Lord, the blessed and holy Trinity, wants His kingdom filled with the redeemed. I was reminded this morning of a Biblical insight in an eloquent article by Chad Bird, “How a Small Rural Congregation Became a Megachurch Overnight”. It is clear in Revelation that the angels with mortals worship the Lamb upon His throne. The Biblical insight is that when we tally how many were at worship on a given Sunday, we can not count, “angels and archangels and all the company heaven, lauding and magnifying Thy Holy Name, ever more praising Thee and saying, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, LORD GOD OF SABOATH , HEAVEN AND EARTH ARE FULL OF THY GLORY. HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST.” (part of the prefaces in the Divine Service). We are not alone, we are baptized into a holy communion.
A blessed Feast Day to all!
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged contemporary worship, Example, faith, forgiveness, liturgy, parenting, Worship on May 25, 2014| Leave a Comment »
I have an article at Brothers of John the Steadfast blog for your edification and encouragement: “When I was a child…” Check it out!Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Baptism, Bright Week, Easter Thursday, faith, forgiveness, Gospel, Holy Communion, Jesus Christ, prayer, Word of God, Worship on April 24, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Today’s Epistle reading is the Roll Call of the Heroes of Faith in Jesus Christ with the theme verse, the 11: 1
Easter Sunday at Concordia Lutheran Mission, of which I am the pastor, was not good in terms of attendance, eight in all. With my expectations of seeing guests and visitors, as in the past, I was very disappointed which led to a major depression on the Day of Resurrection. I asked myself the question: What did I do wrong? This is a question many a pastor asks again and again in a society that measures self-worth by success alone, certainly not by grace alone. Pastors can forget by “grace alone”. I let a couple of people know about my disappointment which was wrong of me to do because they had celebrated the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, even if I had tripped myself up.
As I read on Facebook, Easter reports of great music, great cathedrals, looking at pictures of filled Sanctuaries, I only aggravated my disappointment. In an earlier post, on prayer and feelings, using one of C. S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters, I wrote on an important Biblical and Confessional topic: prayer is based on God’s Word not on our feelings and emotions, as is faith, as we can see rereading Hebrews 11. Easter Sunday was not for me about the risen Christ Jesus, but for me it was about me. I was looking the wrong way. I failed. I realized anew that I am a sinner.
In a home bound call at a congregation where I was new, I did what a pastor is suppose to do: preach and administer the Sacrament of the Altar. When I finished, the woman exclaimed, “This is just like Church!” No organ but the harmony of the Gospel. No vestments, but our Christening robe of Baptism. No Easter lilies, but the Easter message. No crowds, just 3 of us, 2 or more is enough of the faithful for the Lord (Matthew 18:19). Sometimes, I think all that other stuff is a crutch as I found out this past Sunday when it wasn’t there. Or it can be what it should be, a flowing forth from the Font of all blessings: He is risen!
In the Hall of Heroes of the Faith, note that all the saints therein were looking forward in hope, in the hope of Christ to come. They had no cathedrals, except the Temple not made with human hands: Jesus Christ (John 2:21; 1 Corinthians 3:17 ). We pray many will hear the Word and come to faith. But if faith is only for this world, or even for our congregation alone, then we are of all people the most to be pitied: but Christ is raised from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:18-20). It is clear from Hebrews 11: Faith not only clings to Christ for what He has done for us but what He will do: Thy Kingdom Come, based upon the Rock of our salvation,what He has done from womb to tomb to the Resurrection.
Posted in Devotional, Ten Commandments, Uncategorized, tagged faith, Gospel, prayer, Worship on October 2, 2013| 1 Comment »
by Fr. George Herbert (3 April 1593 – 1 March 1633)
The following is by Rev. Prof. Johann Gerhard (October 17, 1582 – August 17, 1637), orthodox Lutheran Church Father and the quote is from The Treasury of Daily Prayer (CPH):
If someone wants to describe adequately the usefulness of pious, earnest prayer, he will, in my opinion, surely find a beginning more easily than a conclusion. Pious prayer offered in faith is familiar conversation with God. It is a salutary remedy to all the difficulties of life. It is the key to heaven and the door to paradise. It shows us how much we depend on God, and it is a ladder of ascension to God. it is a shield for our defense and a faithful messenger of the ambassador. It is refreshment in the heat of misfortune; it is medicine during illness. It is a winch, drawing us to heaven, and a vessel that draws water from the font of divine kindness. It is a sword against the devil and a defense against misfortune. It is a wind that blows away evil and brings earthly benefits. It is a nurse that nurtures virtues and conquers faults. It is a great fortification for the soul and gives free access to God. It is a spiritual feast and a heavenly delicacy. It is a consolation for the dejected and a delight for the holy. It grants knowledge of the secret things of God and acquires His gifts. It upholds the world and rescues people. It is a joy for the heart and a jubilation for the mind. It follows God’s gift of grace, and it leads ahead into glory. It is a garden of happiness and a tree full of delights. It calms the conscience and increases our thankfulness. It sends demons running and draws angels close. It is a soothing remedy for the misfortunes of this life and the sweet smell of the sacrifice of thanksgiving. It is a foretaste of the life to come and sweetens the bitterness of death.
Whoever is truly a child of God through faith will, with childlike trust, address his or her heavenly Father every day in prayer. The one in whose heart the Holy Spirit has made His home will, as a spiritual priest, daily offer to God this incense of prayer. There are four immovable truths on which our confidence to pray rests. Because of these, we may be certain that our heavenly Father mercifully hears our prayers. The truths on which our certainty rests are:
(1) God’s omnipotent kindness;
(2) God’s unfailing truthfulness;
(3) Christ’s intercession as our mediator; and
(4) the Holy Spirit’s testimony.
—Johann Gerhard
See the page above, Read before You Hear, for the Lessons for this coming Sunday.
The DAY of PENTECOST, 28 May, Anno Domini 2,023
Concordia and Koinonia 