'He descended to hell.'

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. (1 Peter 3:18-22 ESV)

Lutherans are credal Christians. Every Sunday during worship we recite either the Apostles' Creed (to confess our common Christian faith) or the Nicene Creed (how we understand the relationship between the Three Persons of God, typically on a Communion Sunday), and once a year on Trinity Sunday (in May) we hear about (rather than recite because of length) the Athanasian Creed. 

But how much of our credal confession in church is rote? How many Lutherans (or other Christians) are really aware of all that's being confessed? 

Take, for example, the part of the Apostles' Creed that states And 
in
 Jesus
 Christ,
 His
 only 
Son, 
our 
Lord,
 who
 was 
conceived
 by 
the
 Holy
 Spirit,
 born
 of
 the
 virgin
 Mary,
 suffered
 under
 Pontius Pilate,
 was crucified,
 died
 and
 was
 buried.
 He
 descended 
into 
hell.
 What do those last four words mean, "He descended into hell."?

This is the topic of today's very nice devotion on the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) website: A Most Important Victory Parade

1 Peter 3:18-22 provides an explanation, but the analogy of a "victory lap" seems easier to grasp...

After all, we are Lutheran. Our standard definition of hell is separation from God, so if Jesus is God, how could He be separated from Himself? It's complicated, but it doesn't have to be. The Athanasian Creed reminds us: The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible. And that works for me. Where my human reason fails...

...my faith takes over.  :)

P.S. I found the image above and the following words on a non-denominational church website: When Satan spoke over your life and said "Go to hell" Jesus said, "Over my dead body!" Because of Saturday, nobody has to go to hell.

30 years ago today...

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. (John 9:1-3 ESV)

I remember where I was on January 28, 1986, at least during the morning hours. I was geographically separated from my wife of little more than two months by some 5,000 miles, standing in line at a credit union in Monterey, California, watching the launch of the space shuttle Challenger on a tv monitor behind the teller counter. You could have heard a pin drop in there when the shuttle exploded less than two minutes after lift-off.

Such loss of life, whether natural or man-made, makes us scratch our heads and turn to God for answers. John 9:1-3 tells us that out of tragedy, handicap, or what appears to us as abject unfairness may have a deeper purpose in God's plan. Sometimes we see it, most times we do not until well after the fact.

A good post to thefederalist.com is a reminder of that day and President Reagan's comments to the nation.

And, speaking of presidents-- or at least presidential hopefuls-- another post on thefederalist.com expresses my sentiments regarding Donald Trump as a candidate for this nation's highest office. I know we are not looking for a pastor-in-chief, but c'mon...

Lucifer the, um, superhero?

His power shall be great—but not by his own power; and he shall cause fearful destruction and shall succeed in what he does, and destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints. By his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind he shall become great. Without warning he shall destroy many. And he shall even rise up against the Prince of princes, and he shall be broken—but by no human hand. (Daniel 8:24-25 ESV)

The Fox promos for the new series Lucifer caught my eye so I watched the pilot episode on Tuesday night. I was anticipating some sort of Good vs. Evil plot line, but what I watched was a low-grade Fox-style drama about a woman-chasing, snarky, egocentric Devil incarnate, who (according to the opening scene) is taking a vacation from Hell. And, apparently, when Lucifer Morningstar (he has a last name, too!) is away, the whole system of eternal damnation breaks down and Hell becomes, well, a living hell (much to the chagrin of some dark and ominous angel named Amenadiel-- Amen for short?-- who appeared a couple of times to express his growing impatience with L.M.).

It turns out that this show is the incarnation, so to speak, of the DC Comics character in The Sandman series. According to Wikipedia, Lucifer possesses nigh-omnipotent supernatural power; he can shape the matter of Creation into anything he can imagine, including matter, energy, and more abstract concepts such as time. However, he does have certain limitations as he is still a creation of God. He cannot create something out of nothing, unlike his Creator... Despite his theological title as the "Lord of Lies", refusal to lie is central to the moral position of the character - he sees himself as a neutral or amoral facilitator of forces within individuals, and Lucifer actively and effectively combats what he regards as corrupting moral codes. While he avoids lying, his morality seldom extends to compassion, and Lucifer regards the sacrifice of millions of souls as unimportant collateral damage; there are few, if any, beings he respects and even fewer for whom he cares.

I was hoping for more than this devil-may-care rendition of Satan, who plies his trade from a piano bar in Los Angeles and who in this first episode flashed the evil-eye(s) at a middle school girl to scare her into a confession. This Lucifer pales greatly by comparison to Al Pacino's portrayal of Satan in the film The Advocate.

The real fallen angel with a holy grudge against God is probably too boring for a decent tv series because he no doubt moves about as just a slob like one of us (therein lies the real danger), loose(d) in a world where he feels very much at home. And no media depiction can do him justice-- if I were him, I surely would not use levitation, green puke, or a spinning head (a la The Exorcist) to frighten people; I would kill them with kindness. Pride, ego, and vanity are kindling enough to set a soul ablaze...

So. To watch the next episode or not to watch, that is the question...

I think I probably will. I'm curious about the single-mom cop that seems to be immune to Lucifer's hoo-doo. (I want to know why they are getting along so well.)

Besides, I'm sure the real Lucifer is tuning in himself, smiling at our folly...

A Mid-winter Day's Dream (and Nightmare)

For God speaks in one way,
and in two, though man does not perceive it.
In a dream, in a vision of the night,
when deep sleep falls on men,
while they slumber on their beds, (Job 33:14-15 ESV)

I had a dream during a nap today. I was in the upstairs of my house (my actual house is a one-story), at one end for some reason I can't recall now. I can recall very clearly standing in a well-lit area, near a window, with a cup of coffee. I was looking at the open area I was in, where the main hallway ended, and it occurred to me that this part of the house was a place I had spent little to no time in the years I'd been living there. Behind me was a table and a couple of chairs near a window with light colored curtains, sort of a kitchen nook setting. To my left was the hallway back into the other areas of the house. To the right was a wall, mostly obscured by an olive green-tinted oven/stove and sink, like something in a kitchenette; to the left of it was a sort of chaise lounge chair under a window covered with a brightly colored floral pattern on an evergreen background. Directly ahead and to the left of the chaise was an empty wall that was part of a kind of alcove partially hidden behind and sharing the hallway wall. I stepped forward and could see a bed (with a covering that matched the chaise) and some small furniture. I remember noticing that everything on this end of the upstairs was so clean, no dust or cobwebs, everything so nice and neat, as though someone must have been there, if for no other reason than to maintain it (or, at the very least, its appearance).

I realized (in the dream) that I had never once spent any time in that alcove area, lain in the chaise, or used the sink or stove. I kept wondering how I could have lived in that house for so long (in the dream) and not have ever made use of that part of it.

So I decided to. I switched on the light over the stove, turned on the oven, turned on the water in the sink, and... Well, then I woke up wondering what that dream was all about.

I'm no Daniel, but I think I have a viable interpretation. That "end of my house" quite possible represents my spiritual life, an area of my world that perhaps for many years has been kept not just presentable, but "ready"...a place "with a view" that is only accessible by passing through the other "rooms" of my past and present experiences. That it exists literally and metaphorically above most of the other areas of the world I move through daily is not at all lost on me, either.

Could this dream be a manifestation of the Caretaker's beckoning to spend a lot more time in that part of my house?  Hmmm...

Now from a dream to a nightmare in the making.

I read in the paper this morning that noted conservative Baptist megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress surfaced in Iowa to introduce Donald Trump at a rally, coming more than a little close to an actual (or perceived) endorsement of a presidential candidate. Pastors-- clergy in general-- have a vocational obligation to distance themselves publicly from political candidates. This includes fund-raising events, rallies, or any other place outside the church doors where a third-party sighting or mention on social media could be misconstrued (or, worse, construed) as an unofficial endorsement for a candidate's platform and foment a following by association. In other words, Pastor Jeffress' association with (and positive comments regarding) Mr. Trump may lead his flock to the polls for the wrong reason. When election time rolls around, pastors (clergy) have the obligation (again, vocational) to encourage all Christians to do their civic duty (see Matthew 22, Romans 13) by making an informed decision at the polls.

Personally, I find an outspoken evangelical Christian pastor and wealthy blowhard (who lives his life like a reality show) strange bedfellows. The faith life of a candidate, ESPECIALLY for president, matters greatly to me... I know very little, honestly, in the comparison of one candidate's religious leanings to another's; however, I have heard enough (beyond the multiple marriages, the boasting of his billions, and the "Two Corinthians" faux pas) to scratch Mr. Trump from my list, to wit:

At a Family Leadership Summit last summer in Iowa, Trump was questioned about his faith and God:

[from CNN]“I am not sure I have. I just go on and try to do a better job from there. I don’t think so,” he said. “If I do something wrong, I think, I just try and make it right. I don’t bring God into that picture. I don’t.”

Trump said he participates in Holy Communion.

“When I drink my little wine — which is about the only wine I drink — and have my little cracker, I guess that is a form of asking for forgiveness, and I do that as often as possible because I feel cleansed,” he said, according to CNN. “I think in terms of ‘let’s go on and let’s make it right.’”

sigh

I have seen Pastor Jeffress on tv numerous times and I like his bedside manner; I wish I could say the same about Mr. Trump. On the other hand and to be fair, I know neither of these men personally, and I am still an unpaid amateur on the church side of the church-state Mason-Dixon line (I still work on the state side in public education).

A nightmare is unfolding on the campaign trail (well, more than one-- I saw a picture on Twitter today of Rick Perry following Ted Cruz around like a puppy dog)... I-- and all my brothers and sisters keeping the faith in the world today-- have a duty to pray for wisdom and discernment in choosing a candidate to back. And then in November to cast an informed vote.

'God never gives us more than we can handle.'

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV)

I have heard practically my entire adult life that “God never gives us more than we can handle.” Some would point out that this phrase has become as cliché as saying “I’m sorry” to someone who has lost a loved one. But as cliché as it may sound, I believe it to be true—and powered by faith.

In a 2013 article in Relevant magazine, entitled Yes, God Will Give You More Than You Can Handle, non-denominational pastor Michael Hidalgo writes "The truth is, God never said He wouldn’t give you more than you can handle. There will be times in life when you will feel like you are drowning and there is no one to help you." Agreed... But the Lord did declare through the prophet Jeremiah "For I know the plans I have for you, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11 ESV)

Faith gives us the strength to not only endure, but to accomplish things that we never thought we were capable of. One of my favorite examples from the New Testament bears this out:

Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:22-33 ESV)

What a great faith lesson to be learned from Peter, that a) faith assures us of Christ's presence, b) faith gives us endurance, c) faith moves us to communicate with God in prayer when we (or others) are suffering, and d) faith makes it possible for us to believe that it IS true, that "God never gives us more than we can handle."

My faith gives me the courage to say and believe...to constantly remind myself when the going gets rough or future plans seem unsure that truly "I can do all things through him who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13 ESV)

'Should I go to church or stay home?'

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22 ESV)

Dear Abby: I was raised in the Christian faith by my pastor parents. As I reached my early teens, I realized that those beliefs didn’t really fit, and I gradually stopped attending church. I stayed away all through college. My time away only solidified that, in terms of belief, Christianity wasn’t for me.

After I graduated this year, I realized I missed the community and ritual of the faith and the church. There are a number of churches in my area, but I feel guilty attending one when I don’t believe in the same things as the other members. My family always taught me to be considerate of the beliefs of the people around me, and it seems dishonest to go to a service and listen to prayers my heart doesn’t embrace.

I’d still like to attend church. Have you any suggestions for what might be a good course of action? Should I go to church or stay home?

A sign, er, tweet of the times... sigh sigh sigh

I read the above in this morning's newspaper. I don't know that "Dear Abby" would be the most logical institution from which to seek advice on whether to "go to church or stay home?" But that's not the point and faith questions are seldom logical.

I see this person's unresolved spiritual tension as a foot in the door, a need to fill an emptiness. And I'm curious about the ill-fitting "brand" of Christianity that seems to be behind this publicized search for answers... This, brothers and sisters, is why (well, not entirely) I want to be a pastor! I would love to sit down with the writer of this letter and chat over a cup of coffee; we both need to know the rest of each other's story...

Unfortunately for the seeker, there are too many choices-- the Christian Church with Christ Jesus as its cornerstone can be difficult to identify with the naked eye, these days. From the time of the Great Schism in the 11th century (separating the Roman Catholics from the Eastern Orthodox), Man has continued to construct a veritable Tower of Babel of "true" churches (we've made a real mess of things, haven't we?). How does the outsider looking in know who's right and who's wrong? We can't all be right, can we? (That last question is meant to be rhetorical...)

And within this hodgepodge of Christian churches one would expect to find, um...Christians. But what does a Christian look like? Act like? Why does one identify with Pentecostals, the other Presbyterians? Or Catholics? Or (drum roll)...Lutherans (see previous post on this one)?

I saw a tweet today from the TheologyMix Twitter feed that addresses this very topic. John I. Snyder, "international pastor, author, and conference speaker," wrote a post to a blog on TheologyMix entitled What Is A Christian? — The Bible Study. An excerpt to what's labelled as an introduction (will this be a series of posts? I hope so!):

The Christian Church in North America is the most highly organized, high-tech sinking ship on the sea. In so many ways and in so many places it has lost its way, lost its identity, and has ruptured badly—not by external forces, but by internal strife and disagreement on the basics of faith. We may well wonder how much longer it will stay afloat.

Entire denominations that have been around for generations are abandoning their historic confessions and tossing overboard the theological and moral guidance systems that have kept them going forward since their founding.

All the fundamental questions are now up for grabs:

What is a Christian?
What makes Christians and the church different from the world?
What should we believe and how should we behave in a pluralistic and mixed up society?
Are there rights and wrongs anymore?

And other questions follow naturally:

Why does Jesus’ church have so little impact on the culture?
And why are we Christians more followers than leaders of social and political movements?

Good questions. (Maybe he ought to send them with an SASE to Dear Abby? Ha ha!)

Oh, yeah. Dear Abby's advice cured my hiccups:

Dear Unorthodox: You don’t have to stay home. Instead, explore a denomination that has no dogma or creed. One in particular, Unitarian Universalism, has been mentioned before in this column.

Unitarian Universalists believe in the dignity and worth of every human being, and encourage and support others in following their personal spiritual paths. If you would like more information, visit www.uua.org.

Oh, dear. Abby. Did you even look at the Who We Are section? The question at hand is "Should I go to church or stay home?" Now the answer is WAY simpler than the question itself.

Dear Dear Abby...

An Apology, not Symbolatry

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." (John 3:16-18 ESV)

I have often wondered about the other “Lutherans” (not “other Lutherans,” though I wonder about them, too) in the world today, in particular and lately about the many members of my own medium- to large-sized congregation that worships 500-600 per week. Aside from the obvious and eponymous Dr. Martin Luther, I wonder if the modern-day Lutheran has ever considered the label he or she received at baptism or (perhaps unwittingly) through membership… I am a high school Russian teacher and recently a church discussion ensued during one lesson on Prince Vladimir’s acceptance of the Christian (Orthodox) Church in the 10^th century, during which I confessed (!) to my students that I am a practicing Lutheran.  One kid pondered aloud “What is the difference between Lutherans and Christians?”

Christians and Lutherans are one in the same, reading from left to right; however, many today mistakenly perceive a change in direction when reading from right to left, particularly in doctrine (Catholic lite, legalistically creedal, etc.) and practice (infant baptism, cannibalistic sacrament, etc.). So why do we—Lutherans—bother anymore?  Why not just free ourselves from the titles, labels, categories, and simply go forth, Bible in hand, to do God’s Gospel bidding as we interpret it?

Lutherans are confessional—not the prie-dieu or Rosary kind, the subscribing kind… We subscribe to (that is, accept) the ten documents or Symbols known together as the Book of Concord, our Confession of the doctrines of Scripture (we believe and teach that Holy Scripture alone is to be regarded as the sole rule and norm by which absolutely all doctrines and teachers are to be judged). Our Symbols don’t make us Christian, our faith in Christ Jesus does; however, our Symbols—our Confessions—definitely retain the flavor of the Protestant Reformation and they alone are what makes us Lutheran.

Dr. Robert Preuss said it best in his piece Confessional Subscription: “Confessional subscription is an act motivated and determined by the Gospel. A Lutheran’s attitude toward the confessions will indicate his attitude toward the Gospel itself.”  Our Confessions—our Symbols—are not doctrine (even the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod website states: “Since the Christian Church cannot make doctrines…”), but an exposition of the Church’s doctrine, the Word of God. Confessional subscription is not engaging in symbolatry, a word I have read more than once; nor does confessional subscription have “the aroma of an empty bottle,” a phrase meant to connote the persistence of creedal/confessional churches in this day and age. 

Dr. C.F.W. Walther stated in 1858 in his essay Why Should Our Pastors, Teachers and Professors Subscribe Unconditionally to the Symbolic Writings of Our Church that a solemn declaration of acceptance of the doctrinal content (not “doctrine”) of the Confessions as the divine truth to be preached “without adulteration.” It is that without adulteration part that keeps our Confessions relevant in a world of watered-down, feel-good, or downright perverted truths, both in and out of church.  Like our church fathers, we rely on our Book of Concord and those Confessions within to judge that the Truth (as delivered by God’s Word) is preached and taught correctly, that our understanding of Scripture is not unorthodox or adulterated, and that those who are Lutheran Christian (left to right) make a claim on these labels unconditionally. 

I look at the dissent within the ELCA, the advent of the so-named Lutheran CORE (“a community of Lutheran Christians seeking to mobilize confessing Lutherans for evangelical renewal”), the mainstream Protestants caving on the question of same-sex clergy and marriage, and the sheer number of non-denominational churches professing a grass-roots orthodoxy that meets the needs of befuddled church-goers in a world in which “tolerance” is the magic word and, yes, what I see makes me wonder…

Our Confessions are not outdated. As the assigned readings bear out, we need them just as much today as the Augsburg Confession was needed in 1530.

Without a doubt, today’s Lutheran is still in need of an apology.

Lutheran Exceptionalism?

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17 ESV)

This Sunday I will be teaching an adult Sunday school on the topic of the "Means of Grace," as we Lutherans fondly refer to God's Word and our Sacraments (forms of the "visible Word"-- Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and Confession/Absolution)... Most confirmed Lutherans take much of what goes on in church life for granted; so much can seem to be rote, yet, if asked about what is meant by means of grace, I suspect the answers might vary. The phrase means of grace is not found in Scripture, but came out of the Protestant Reformation and remains wonderfully Lutheran in our understanding of how God comes to us (rather than the other way around). 

I came across a very interesting blog post by Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller from November 2014, blatantly entitled “Lutheran Exceptionalism,” that addresses this very issue of the External Word. At the risk of being accused of poaching another brother’s work, I offer up this excerpt (simple because I like it—and I really like the rhetorical, perhaps, question at the end): 

Here is a simple question: What do Lutherans believe and confess that no one else does? Lutherans have a unique history, unique texts, unique songs, but what is theologically unique about Lutheran teaching?

The answer is simple, but with profound implications. Lutherans are the only ones who teach that the Holy Spirit works exclusively through the external Word of God and sacraments to create and sustain faith and give salvation. Lutherans believe this. No one else does. This Lutheran uniqueness has deep significance…

We've made the claim that only the Lutheran Church teaches that the Holy Spirit works through the external Word and sacraments. Is that true? A simple survey of Christian theology will establish the fact.

Most Protestants (including American Evangelicals, Baptists, etc.) have abandoned the sacraments and replaced them with symbolic ordinances. The Scriptures (in revivalistic fashion) are simply information that needs to be acted upon by our free will.

The Reformed (our closest theological relative) has inherited from Calvin the distinction between the external word and the internal call. They understand the sacraments as “spiritual,” whatever that means.

The Roman church places the authority of the church over (or at least on par with, which means over) the Scriptures. The sacraments are not the means of pardon or forgiveness, but means through which the church dispenses God's meritorious-good-work-empowering grace.

And that basically covers them all. There is not a single church out there that understands the work of the Holy Spirit through the means of grace.

Could a Lutheran, then, go and ask his Baptist friend for advice on church?

Luther understood from Scripture about the external Word that no one receives the Holy Spirit or Grace except through it (an excerpt from the Smalcald Articles, Article III, Part 8):

In these matters, which concern the spoken, external Word, it must be firmly maintained that God gives no one his Spirit or grace apart from the external Word which goes before. We say this to protect ourselves from the enthusiasts, that is, the "spirits," who boast that they have the Spirit apart from and before contact with the Word. On this basis, they judge, interpret, and twist the Scripture or oral Word according to their pleasure.

We teach and believe that faith is created by the external Word, that is, those Means of Grace that are the Word of the Gospel in every form in which it is brought to man (written/spoken, Baptism, Lord’s Supper, and Confession).  We must experience God externally (to receive the gracious gift of faith in Christ’s work alone through which we are justified by Him) before He can work through us internally (sanctification with the help of the Holy Spirit within). 

Some might try to make the case that our teaching that the Holy Spirit works exclusively through the external Word of God and Sacraments to create and sustain faith and give salvation makes Lutheran Christianity a "religion of externals" and denies the experience of God in the life of the Christian. To this I would offer an apology (pun, perhaps, intended)... First, I would point to Paul’s lashing out in chapter 3 of his Epistle to the Galatian Church, propped up by Romans 10:17 (“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”); then, the cherry atop the sundae would be Luther’s last two sentences in the closing paragraph of Part 8 in Article III of the Smalcald Articles that refer to 2 Peter 1:21: “However, without the external Word, [Moses, Elijah, Elisha, et al] were not holy—much less would the Holy Spirit have moved them to speak while they were still unholy. Peter says they were holy because the Holy Spirit speaks through them.”

I would argue back (nicely, of course) that, yes, the world around us seems to keep God at bay for those cannot recognize Him in their lives (and He most assuredly is there,). The Gospel of Christ Crucified (the “external Word” in all forms) is the means (of Grace!) by which God becomes (through faith) incredibly visible in the life of a Christian and things begin to change… 

Looking forward to Sunday!

Serenity now!

Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:5-7 ESV)

The 1990s sitcom Seinfeld added a number of catchphrases to our language, among them the purportedly cathartic cry of "Serenity now! Serenity now!" during stressful moments...

I got to thinking last night during league bowling about how the game of bowling could be used (loosely) as an analogy for life... Nothing stresses me out more, so it seems, than bowling poorly-- particularly when the team is counting on me.

In the first frame of the last game (of three) I went "through the nose" (leaving two pins on the left and three pins on the right, a spare shot not considered a "split" because the headpin remained) on the first ball, then put the second ball into the gutter for a total pincount of 5. Such stupidity on my part in the past would have caused my blood pressure to spike; however, one frame is but a small part of the bigger picture, which spans three games (or 30 frames).

I am a high school bowling coach (really? who'd have thought?!) and I often remind my bowlers (who are less than perfect on the lanes) that they must live in the frame they are bowling-- that is, they cannot change what has happened, they cannot control their opponent(s)...they can only use the gifts they have been given and the knowledge they have acquired about the game to do the very best they can. And, while I see flashes of success from time to time, many too often fall short of their own (and my) expectations. Sound familiar?

I remember years ago, after arriving in Japan for duty during my second year in the Navy, that my mother included a copy of Reinhold Niebuhr's AA-adopted Serenity Prayer in a letter. I folded it up and carried it in my wallet for years (I think it's in a box in a trunk still). It's a relatively succinct petition that appeals to God for the wisdom to know the difference between what can be changed in life and what cannot (again, much like in bowling). The Serenity Prayer is far from being a Tao, but it has plenty of Scripture behind it: Philippians 4:11 (serenity), 2 Timothy 1:7 (self-control), James 1:5 (wisdom), Matthew 6:34 (living in the "now"), Philippians 4:7 (God's will be done), Romans 5:1 (faith in God).

This prayer reminds us that we are like my high school bowlers who can only use the gifts they have been given and the knowledge they have acquired about the game to do the very best they can on the lanes... God has gifted each one of us uniquely and placed us in life situations meant to temper us in faith, in order that we may gain knowledge and experience, that "wisdom to know the difference." Yet no matter how proficient of a "bowler" we become in this life, we will never be perfect and will continue to fall short before God (and those around us)...

God knows this, which is why He sent us a Savior. To help us forget our mistakes and move on through faith. To give us peace of mind and heart in a troubled world through faith. To make us perfect in His eyes through faith. To help us see the bigger picture and, perhaps, the greater plan.

No need for a mantra (like "Serenity now!"), we have Christ. Serenity now.

By the way, after scoring only 5 pins in one frame, I ended up with an okay 632 series last night, an average of just over 210 per game. (And my team won them all...) Serenity now?

Turn it around, turn it around...

Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say,

“The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear;
what can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:1-6 ESV)

A tune on a tv commercial (can't recall the product) caught my ear the other day-- I searched the lyrics and found it on iTunes. The song is Turn It Around by a band named Lucius (odd name, odd band, bizarre video, catchy chorus...). It got me thinking this morning on the way into work that "turn it around" is a great tagline for getting a grip, refocusing, and starting anew!

There are so many broken souls in this world. I look around and I see people succumbing to lure of the seemingly infinite number of little gods, doing their bidding to fill the emptiness, blind to the consequences of living solely (soul-ly?) to be validated through social media or status symbols, oblivious to the cure in Christ that has been there all along...

We have a God in Christ who understands suffering, temptation, and loneliness. We have a God in Christ who is, therefore, not only sympathetic, but empathetic. We have a God in Christ who can help us to "turn it around" when we are, as the song says, "looking through the wrong end of the telescope" at what seems so far away and out of reach-- a rebuilt relationship, an end to an addiction, forgiveness for past mistakes, hope for the future.

Faith, an amazing thing in and of itself, can create amazing things, as it has in my life. I am humbled at the power of prayer, I am grateful to a God I know has never abandoned me or my family (when the reverse has not been true), and I am certain that my life has meaning... I so badly want to help another to "turn it around, turn it around."

Today my father would have turned 78 (he passed in 2008) and 35 years have passed since he dropped me off at the Navy recruiter's office at oh-dark-thirty for my journey to boot camp (then, he told me later, went around to the back of the building and cried). I think about both parts of my life every year on this day, my father and the Navy (as well as the incredibly intricate and colorful tapestry God has weaved, so far, over these last 53 years).

The last words that I said to both my father and my uncle (who passed just over a week ago, in case you're just tuning in) before their time on Earth were "I love you," the same words God said to them before their time began, repeatedly during the ups and downs of their lives, and at the very moment they left this world.

I think of the power of God's love and I think of the many who suffer at the hands of a sinful world and I think of how much hearing (and feeling) an "I love you" from God could turn it around!

The Martin Luther in Martin Luther King, Jr

You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-48 ESV)

Did you know? From History.com: Civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., was born Michael King, Jr., on January 15, 1929. In 1934, however, his father, a pastor at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, traveled to Germany and became inspired by the Protestant Reformation leader Martin Luther. As a result, King Sr. changed his own name as well as that of his 5-year-old son.

Today I remember the life and contributions of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a man whose compulsion to stand up "for our constitutional and God given rights" cost him his life. His courage and faith were remarkable! He is truly one of my heroes, right up there with Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

If you have not read King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail, written in 1963 in response to eight clergymen in Alabama who published a public appeal to Dr. King to cease and desist in his efforts (the last line of which reads: "We appeal to both our white and Negro citizenry to observe the principles of law and order and common sense."), you need to!

Here's an excerpt:

But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.

Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.

While you're at it, check out Lutherans and the Southern Civil Rights Movement, published in 2006 in the Journal of Lutheran Ethics (ELCA). I think the opening paragraph (my boldfacing) will whet your appetite, so to speak, for finding out more...

One of the most important events in United States history is the southern Civil Rights Movement. Although the Civil Rights Movement involved religious leaders and communities of many denominations, this paper focuses on how Lutheranism interacted with the movement. Lutheran involvement in the movement is a milestone in Lutheran history that will possibly be forgotten, or at a minimum regulated to a few Lutherans who are curious enough to seek out this area of Lutheran political engagement. This paper demonstrates what caused two pastors to develop a Lutheran theology of resistance. Martin Luther did not encourage active political resistance on the part of the church. The traditional Lutheran view, which is shared with other religious denominations, is that there is a distinct separation between religion and politics. Only when laws or orders conflict with Church laws is active disobedience of laws and orders allowed for. Luther expresses this general position in a treatise called Temporal Authority, to What Extent It Should Be Obeyed, in which he presented a view of the sacred character of all temporal rule.

Lutherans have come through history with an aura of resilience that goes back to Martin Luther in the 1520s. He was obsessed by a theological concern based on an Augustinian view of passive resistance (to disobey but submit to whatever punishment might be assigned for disobedience). An interesting article about this was published by Cornell University Law School three decades ago, Luther and the Justifiability of Resistance to Legitimate Authority. A few excerpts:

History being in God's hands, He would take care of His own; and any display of self-help might be interpreted as a declaration of lack of faith in Providence. In other words, Luther was convinced that any Christian who believed in such measures as tyrannicide, deposition, and armed rebellion betrayed a fundamental lack of faith in God, who would Himself punish tyrants, alone, presumably by manipulating the diseases and natural disasters at his command, or through the use of human agents, such as foreign rulers. Even the tyrant's own subjects might serve as God's instruments, but Luther believed that they would be condemned for so doing. Thus no Christian concerned for his own soul would involve himself in resistance of any sort...

[By the 1540s] Luther came eventually to embrace a notion of resistance based on constitutional and positive law and finally even on natural law. He did tend to describe each of the contingencies in which he justified resistance as a strategic exception to an underlying belief in non-resistance, either as a violation of the unique structure of the German Empire or as applicable by definition only to a very special and extreme case. Luther's reluctance and great caution on this issue were evident; and he was always torn between a perfectionist ethic and the necessity of acting in a world in which the existence of his church was endangered by the intentions of the Emperor, the Pope, and Catholic princes. Lack of faith in the use of force intensified his caution...

At the very least, it is clear that Luther himself was not unalterably opposed to the notion that legitimate yet oppressive political authority might be resisted. Hence Lutherans do not share a heritage of submissiveness to the powers-that-be.

Only when laws or orders conflict with Church laws is active disobedience of laws and orders allowed for. Martin Luther King, Jr., was certainly a strong Christian, but I think he made have a little of his namesake in him... Knowing when the time is right to stand firm as a Christian in the civil realm is not always clear, nor is it always easy. The historical accounts of seemingly ordinary men and women with extraordinary faith are more than just lessons to be learned; more importantly, their acts can help us train our compasses as we navigate the complicated issues of our lives and the life of the Church still TODAY.

We must never forget.

My uncle's 'empty hand'...

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV)

[It's been two days since I've touched this blog-- well, I sat down in a hotel room to post on Friday, but all I had was my iPad, and it's just too taxing to type more than a text message on it...]

I like funerals. As a Christian, I much prefer them to weddings. No other life experience can so expeditiously bring family together and God to the forefront (as well as into question)...

My wife, sister, and I returned yesterday from my uncle’s in Albuquerque, trekking 1300 miles in two days by car. I mentioned my uncle’s passing in a post a week ago (The Christian Standing at an Open Grave), writing about death through the eyes of one who believes that Christ took fear of death to his death on the Cross. After returning from what was a very nice visit with family under sad circumstances, one observation in particular comes to mind as I reflect on the last couple of days.

People, generally speaking, religious or not, Christian or other, deal with death differently. As a clan, death unites siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles—it’s a chance to reconnect with those family members not only geographically distant, but estranged for whatever reason. And a death in the family inevitably brings up the topic of separation, as was the case during our reunion for my uncle’s funeral.

The service was held in a Methodist Church and was led by the pastor of my aunt and uncle’s congregation. I thought the service itself was very nice; many nice things were said by family and the pastor offered us reassurance of Heaven, as described in Revelation 21, but there was no explicit mention of my uncle now resting in God’s hands. I found this curious... enough that I felt compelled to reassure my aunt and cousins that there is no doubt that her husband and their father is now in Heaven. How can I be so sure?

One of my cousins, a practicing Christian of a different denomination, with much determination and a heart of love tried to lead her father down the “Romans Road” to salvation, a journey that culminates with the recitation of a sinner’s prayer* (proof of one’s sincere desire to receive Jesus into one’s heart)—in a conversation with her on Friday night she seemed to acquiesce to my reassurance that her dad was in the presence of God. I think she still worries whether my uncle had enough faith—or the right kind of faith—to get to Heaven.
*I highly recommend this article, written by a non-denominational pastor and published in Christianity Today magazine in 2012: Should We Stop Asking Jesus Into Our Hearts?

I cannot speak of my uncle’s faith conversations with my aunt, cousins, or other family members; however, I can speak of plenty such conversations he and I had over the years. My uncle was a man who acknowledged a God that blessed him with a loving family, yet at the same time struggled to understand Him. He (my uncle) pondered once that if God (the Father) and Jesus were one, how, then, could He kill Himself? (I’m smiling here as I type this…) That comment was made over a beer and a cigar on the stoop of their row house in the Baltimore area a few years ago, and, as I recall, led to a change in his perspective, to be able to see God’s sacrifice of Jesus as the climax of the love story that is the Bible. My uncle asked me a lot of questions about church, God, and what I believed.

Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing the Gospel. Christ Himself works through the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-18, 16:7-14), who produces faith where and when He wills (Titus 3:5). Just as important, and maybe the bottom line in any discussion of how one gets to heaven, is Ephesians 2:8, the fulcrum of Martin Luther’s understanding of Christianity and Lutheran doctrine: For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God… (ESV)

I hope every person in attendance at my uncle’s funeral—particularly, my cousin—walked out of that Methodist church comforted by God’s Grace, the scope, depth, and breadth of which human reason cannot grasp. Faith is like an empty hand that receives the gift of God’s Grace. Maybe the pastor himself wasn't sure of my uncle's final destination (hopefully not); if so, had I been in his shoes, I would have emphasized that the Grace of God which is freely offered to all who believe in Him was also offered to my uncle, a man who attended church with his wife, attended Bible studies to learn more, and who I never heard deny His existence. 

I am absolutely certain in my heart that God filled my uncle’s “empty hand” and though he is gone from his family and this Earth, he is not really gone, like the flame of a snuffed out candle...

...in fact, Heaven just may be one light brighter now...  :)

And he said to him, 'Follow me.'

After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything, he rose and followed him. (Luke 5:27-28 ESV)

Three years ago, Relevant magazine (whose target audience is "twenty- and thirtysomething Christians") published an article by Baptist pastor David Platt (founder of Radical ministry resources, one of which is the very cool concept of something they call Secret Church) entitled What Does It Mean to REALLY Follow Jesus? I couldn't help but reflect on this particular part:

Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of the eager followers of Jesus in the first century. This is where we come face to face with a dangerous reality. We do have to give up everything we have to follow Jesus. We do have to love him in a way that makes our closest relationships in this world look like hate. And it is entirely possible that he will tell us to sell everything we have and give it to the poor.
   

But we don’t want to believe it. We are afraid of what it might mean for our lives. 
   

And this is where we need to pause. Because we are starting to redefine Christianity. We are giving in to the dangerous temptation to take the Jesus of the Bible and twist him into a version of Jesus we are more comfortable with.


A nice, middle-class, American Jesus. A Jesus who doesn’t mind materialism and who would never call us to give away everything we have. A Jesus who is fine with nominal devotion that does not infringe on our comforts, because, after all, He loves us just the way we are. A Jesus who wants us to be balanced, and who, for that matter, wants us to avoid danger altogether. A Jesus who brings us comfort and prosperity as we live out our Christian spin on the American dream. 


But do you and I realize what we are doing? We are molding Jesus into our image. He is beginning to look a lot like us because, that is whom we are most comfortable with. And the danger now is that when we gather in our church buildings to sing and lift up our hands in worship, we may not actually be worshiping the Jesus of the Bible. Instead we may be worshiping ourselves.

What DOES it mean to follow Jesus? Could anyone today truly be like the tax collector who responds to Jesus' exhortation to "Follow me." by dropping everything and doing just that? For so many of us with good intentions, the response in our hearts is not unlike that of the tax collector, but our resolve has the shelf-life of a New Year's resolution. Following Jesus, in the truest sense of the word, is much easier said than done.

This new year, my wife and have made a commitment to change the direction of our lives-- not a New Year's resolution, but a decision to follow our hearts and our faith.

Yesterday, I resigned my teaching position (effective the last day of school) and plan to finish a year of seminary, followed by a one-year internship assigned to a congregation somewhere, followed by-- if this is still God's plan-- ordination. As I was writing out my resignation letter, I kept thinking about where I was 15 years ago, when I thanked God for the job I was offered by my district (after months of searching desperately...having to borrow money from family to stay afloat). I have never resigned from a job before-- it was a bitter sweet experience.

On the heels of my decision (our decision) to resign, my wife learned that she would be receiving a healthy promotion at work, adding another item to the growing list of logistical things to consider before I (or we) show up at the seminary's doorstep, having left behind a comfortable way of life in the midst of family, friends, and good jobs.

Following Jesus is not easy. In a way, it's even a little scary, to commit ourselves in a way we have not done before. But we trust in God, that it is His doing, not ours, that He has provided for us all along and will continue to do so. We are making this transition knowing we are in His hands.

No following Jesus is not easy. But I've never been surer of anything in my life.

The Calibration Prayer

“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

"For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matthew 6:7-16 ESV)

Jesus tells us “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them..."

My father was an alcoholic and during my childhood I can remember hearing the Lord’s Prayer at the close of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings—in fact, that’s where I learned to recite it by heart as a little kid. AA members—in a very Christian vein, though obviously not in the soteriological sense—are reminded to admit daily that they cannot help themselves, but to “Let go and Let God.” In my entire life I cannot think of a time that I did not believe in a God who was responsible for everything in my world, but it was not until my adult life that I began to converse with him. My personal prayer time occurs every morning before my feet hit the floor, in the quiet of the new day.

I subscribe to Martin Luther’s notion that all Christians to some extent are theologians. In his 1539 Preface to the Wittenberg Edition, Luther writes “the way taught by King David (and doubtlessly by all the patriarchs and prophets) in the one-hundred-nineteenth Psalm. There you will find three rules, simply presented throughout the whole Psalm. They are Oratio, Meditatio, Tentatio.” (that is, prayer, meditation, and trial). In Psalm 119, David cries out to God for understanding of his Word (prayer); he himself tries to understand God’s Word (meditation); and he is faced with repeated difficulty (trial). Today’s Christian and the Christian of Luther’s day are really no different. God knows who we are and what we go through, which is why He provided us a simple and straightforward means of communication with Him through Christ in the Lord’s Prayer.

I have taught the Lord’s Prayer in Sunday school class and I am fond of referring to it as the “calibration” prayer—when not recited rotely, it truly can help the helpless (i.e. us sinners) not just dialogue with God, but refocus and re-center the relationship between us (God as Creator, Benefactor, and Protector—we as self-centered, disobedient, and undeserving of even a glance from God in our direction), as well as strengthen our resolve to endure life’s trials knowing that through faith in Christ God has our back.  

Luther's Small Catechism explanations of each of the seven petitions are a great place to start meditating on what the Lord’s Prayer is really all about.  I find the Fourth Petition to be the most helpful in reminding others that we own nothing; it all belongs to God. I particularly like paragraphs 76-78: Let this be a very brief explanation and sketch, showing how far this petition extends through all conditions on earth. Of this any one might indeed make a long prayer, and with many words enumerate all the things that are included therein, as that we pray God to give us food and drink, clothing, house, and home, and health of body; also that He cause the grain and fruits of the field to grow and mature well; furthermore, that He help us at home towards good housekeeping, that He give and preserve to us a godly wife, children, and servants, that He cause our work, trade, or whatever we are engaged in to prosper and succeed, favor us with faithful neighbors and good friends, etc…

The Lord’s Prayer as we recite it in the Lutheran Church (as in many other Protestant churches) has the added conclusion: “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.” This “doxology” appeared in the 17^th century King James version (once the “standard” Protestant Bible) and according to kjvtoday.com, has been falsely characterized as a late addition as it is not found in the two earliest Greek witnesses of Matthew 6:13 - Sinaiticus and Vaticanus both from the 4th century.  Yet it is found in the third earliest Greek witness of Matthew 6:13, Codex Washingtonensis from the 4th to 5th century.  Hence a manuscript testifying for the doxology is preceded by only two adverse manuscripts, and that by just one or a half century. This ending was possibly meant as a later liturgical addition, as many Jewish prayers ended with similar doxologies (i.e.  1 Chronicles 29:10-13).

Additionally, many folks don’t know how to pray, not to mention why to pray and for what. The Lord’s Prayer is a great place to start a conversation with God in repentance, gratitude, and exaltation!

The Grace Card

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. (Romans 3:23-25 ESV)

Lutherans believe that, while God's Grace is universal and embraces all people, the Bible tells us this Grace can be appropriated by sinful human beings only through faith. (Romans 3:23-25 ESV)

The central tenet of Lutheran theology is justification by Grace alone through Faith alone in Christ alone. We get our identity as God’s people not by whatever we may or may not have achieved in our lives, but by the unconditional promise which God has made in Christ-- the Gospel message of what God has done and is continuing to do in our lives in a broken world, one in which the Gospel message defies human reason and cultural wisdom.  One in which sin and temptation and evil replicate and spread like the infectious diseases that they are.  One in which even “the umbrella of God’s Grace” (as many Lutherans are fond of saying) can be loosened from the grip of the faith needed to keep it upright.

Lutherans, as confessing Christians, join all other professing Christians as transgressing Christians. In sin we are born, in sin we must endure this life, and in sin we depart this life. We are carriers, so to speak, and in need of regular inoculations to keep our condition at bay. The means by which God dispenses His Grace to us could be considered the “shots” we need to stave off the very real possibility of becoming terminal-- we are saved by Grace (faith itself being a gift of that very Grace); not a “Grace card” to be used like a get-out-of-jail-free card in a game of Monopoly that covers those pesky little sins of omission/commission (like lust, gossip, selfishness, etc.), but through those means of Grace (Word and Sacrament; in other words, the Gospel) by which faith is created and/or strengthened and grasps God’s promise of salvation. Besides, such a Grace card is really played to cover that which Christ Himself covered for us already.

The Augsburg Confession speaks to our condition and warns quite plainly that “Rejected here are those who teach that whoever has once become righteous cannot fall again.” (AC XII)  It is for this very reason that Lutherans-- Christians-- must be properly taught what God in Christ has instituted so that we may be inoculated against our proclivity to sin: repent and be baptized, repent and partake in the Body and Blood of Christ at the Lord’s Table, and repent and confess our sins. For most Lutherans, all three are realized only in a corporate worship context.

Many a sermon speaks on the “the fruits of the Spirit” that are our good works, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard a pastor mention the fruits of repentance. Article XII instructs us (my underlining and boldface):

Of Repentance they teach that for those who have fallen after Baptism there is remission of sins whenever they are converted and that the Church ought to impart absolution to those thus returning to repentance. Now, repentance consists properly of these two parts: One is contrition, that is, terrors smiting the conscience through the knowledge of sin; the other is faith, which is born of the Gospel, or of absolution, and believes that for Christ's sake, sins are forgiven, comforts the conscience, and delivers it from terrors. Then good works are bound to follow, which are the fruits of repentance.

I believe it is just as incumbent upon pastors today (probably more so!) in the exercising of their duties and responsibilities as the stewards of God’s Word and the spiritual life (souls) of their parishioners to regularly remind all that God’s Grace is received only through true contrition and unquestioning faith (made possible only by the Gospel)-- in other words, with an unburdened heart. It is also just as important to remember and to teach/preach that Confession and Absolution, like Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and hearing the Word, are never to be perceived as pharisaical (i.e. matters of the Law).  

Confession and Absolution are really acknowledgments, first by the sinner (confessor), and then by God (Absolver), of the relationship between both parties-- from the onset, the sinner has no chance without Christ and God pronounces “saved” those whose faith claims His gift of salvation at the Cross, where the True “Grace card” was pinned for all humanity.

The Christian Standing at an Open Grave

[This morning, during worship at church, I got the news that my uncle had died only hours before. This was the uncle who was like a father to me when my father could not be because of alcoholism. After the initial wave of sadness and grief passed, I remembered a devotional I wrote in March 2009. It seems appropriate to share it again.]

Most Christians, especially those who have lost a loved one, are familiar with the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.  The Apostle John relates a conversation between Martha, the sister of Lazarus, and Jesus, which begins with Martha in effect blaming Jesus for her brother’s death because he arrived too late to heal him.  Martha is just like the rest of us, really—we face-off with God when He “takes” someone from us (and without so much as an explanation).   Jesus knows that Martha is understandably upset, but also knows that there’s a Gospel moment in all of this.  Before he deals with Lazarus, Jesus says to Martha: "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26 ESV)

What could be a more comforting thought for the survivors of the deceased than knowing that Scripture assures us that upon death believers are in the hands of God and that they are with Christ. Better yet, what could be a more comforting thought for the living? 

On Thursday, November 6, 2008, I found my 70-year old father dead on the floor in his house where he lived alone.  It was just before 6 p.m. and all the lights were off in the house.  I discovered his body on the floor in a back bedroom.  It was a Stephen King moment—I say that, not because of the horror, but because King was fond of describing that phenomenon that takes place when your eyes see something that your brain is still trying to process.  I was more surprised than anything else, actually.  So much so that I stood in the hallway for some time trying to decide what to do or whom to call.

Once my sanity returned, I called 911 and waited.  And I was okay...sad for me, of course, because my father was gone…but okay.  I knew that I had found my father’s remains and not him.  My faith reassured me that in death, my father, who had been plagued with heart and addiction problems, had been set free!  I am so thankful to God for the gift of faith He has given me in Him through Christ that sustained me that night and in the weeks that followed…   

There is a Lutheran hymn (LSB #759) called “This Body in the Grave We Lay” which is played often at funeral services.  The 2^nd and 3^rd stanzas are beautiful and reflect our Christian sentiments about physical death, seen as an end forever by the unchurched, but as a transition by the believer through faith:

The soul forever lives with God,
Who freely hath His grace bestowed
And through His Son redeemed it here
From every sin, from every fear.

All trials and all griefs are past,
A blessed end has come at last.
Christ's yoke was borne with ready will;
Who dieth thus is living still.

Funerals and memorial services are for the living.  As was the case with Martha, the passing of a friend or a loved one still provides Jesus with a Gospel moment—if we can listen to His words "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” and then answer His question “Do you believe this?” with an unwavering “Yes!”, then we are not only witness of, but witnesses to the Gospel message of hope, the anticipation of bodily resurrection and a reunion with those we knew in this life, God’s promise of life everlasting in Christ.

It is with hope, not apprehension or fear, that we look upon the grave, secure in knowing that it is not the end.  An open grave for us as Christians is no longer really open; our faith has closed it forever. For as the hymn says…

“Who dieth thus is living still.”  Amen.

Ill-booten gotty?

...but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. (Mark 4:19 ESV)

It’s a chilly, gray Saturday morning here in my neck of the woods. Every possible media outlet, from the tv news to Twitter is lit up with the current Powerball jackpot ($800 million at last glance). Hopeful souls across the country are braving, in some cases, weather worse than mine to stand in line for a 1-in-292,201,338 chance at hitting the mother lode—we’ve all heard the rags to riches stories (father of four lost his wife and his job and his car and spent his last dollar on the lottery…now his children have new clothes, he’s got a new Maserati, and no doubt lots of new friends and a new wife) (okay that was way too cynical, I admit, but is that not what tempts us to rub the lamp and hope a genie pops out?).

Popular consensus speaks to God’s silence on gambling, in general; yet I would file this Powerball business neatly under the 10^th Commandment; popular contemporary Christian consensus snorts and mumbles something about how Old Testament that kind of thinking is… Christ fulfilled the Law, didn’t he? So what’s the problem? The problem is coveting, which, along with the other 9 thoushaltnots didn’t disappear or become obsolete in the shadow (better, the Light) of the New Testament. Jesus himself makes this very clear in Matthew 22:36-40.

So how does a Christian solve a problem like the lottery? To run with the herd or to get trampled in the stampede, that is the question. But what about playing the stock market (I have two retirement accounts tied up in mutual funds myself, and will likely add another when I start church work)? Both involve ROI, right? And both bring up the question of “properly placed faith” with arguments for and against… Consider the fantastical find of a buried treasure chest filled with some pirate’s ill-gotten booty; we would instantly invoke the finders-keepers rule and now one person’s ill-gotten booty becomes our ill-booten gotty (a Hawkeye-ism from a M*A*S*H episode), not stolen, really…more serendipitous than felonious. Beauty, riches, and coveting are all in the eyes of the beholder.

It’s a sticky wicket. But could God not use any investment apparatus (from a $2 Powerball ticket to a hedge fund in a retirement account) whether or not it pays out as the investor intended? Of course. So could—and does-- Satan. And there is the true power behind our coveting (and we all do it). I don’t have the answer, but Jesus tells his disciples in Mark (4:19 ESV): “...but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.” Will a purchase of a Powerball ticket choke the Word of God and prove unfruitful? That question surely gives the Christian in that long line something to think about while waiting…

I think God is the Great Philanthropist, too, when the mood suits Him or the time seems right. His Church has been gifted financially in many ways, many times (through benefactors know and unknown). Often God's hand is indiscernible in such a frenetic world like the one we live in today, and sometimes what appears to be God's hand may be something wholly and woefully different. Take this example I found in a Mental_Floss magazine article:

As she was nearing graduation from UCLA, Carol Burnett and several fellow drama students were invited to a departing professor’s house to perform at his bon voyage party. She performed a scene from the musical Annie Get Your Gun and later that evening, while she was standing in the buffet line, a man she’d never seen before approached her and complimented her performance. He then inquired what she planned to do with her life. She confessed that she dreamed of going to New York one day for a career on the stage, but seeing that she barely had enough gas money to drive back to Los Angeles that evening, it would be a very long time before she’d make it to Broadway. The man told her he’d be happy to lend her $1000 to get her started, with three conditions: that she repay him without interest in five years, that she was never to reveal his identity, and that once she was successful she must pass a similar kindness along to another person in need. (After pondering the offer over the weekend and consulting her mother and grandmother—who advised her to steer clear of the strange man who was probably involved in human trafficking or something worse—she took a chance and accepted his check.)

Think of similar acts of anonymous beneficence to be committed with nearly a billion dollars, no matter where it came from, as long as it’s not ill-gotten booty…but even then…well, let’s just call it ill-booten gotty, shall we?

In the meantime, Temptation holds a place in line for me...  ;)