The Four-fold Service of the Christ-Mass

A very merry Christmas to you, dear reader, on this Eve of the Nativity of Our Lord, this Christmas Eve.

It is the Eve of Christmas, the Eve, the Eve of the Christ-Mass. A high feast in the Church's Calendar and of great significance for our Christian faith. Lost amid all the fights about when Christmas starts (today) and the increasing secular celebrations surrounding it is the fact that Christmas is an incredibly rich feast. It is so rich in significance for our faith that over time the church has evolved three distinct masses (at three distinct times of the day) to contain it all. 

Although these three masses are often contracted into two, these are three celebrations. Here in our LC–MS, there is even a fourth celebration added, for earlier in the day on Christmas Eve (p.s. some might argue there are still just three celebrations, with the so-called "first" taking place early on Christmas Eve, before the sundown start of the feast... but let's not quibble. I'm calling it four). The services, which together comprise a distinct whole, are as follows:

The First Mass of the Christ-Mass, Christmas Eve
  The Announcement to Joseph of the Birth of Christ

Introit: Psalm 24:1, 3-5; antiphon: Psalm 2:6-7

Verse: Alleluia. The Lord said to me, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you." Alleluia.

Collect: O God, You make us glad with the yearly remembrance of the birth of Your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Grant that as we joyfully receive Him as our Redeemer, we may with sure confidence behold Him when He comes to be our Judge.

Old Testament: Isaiah 7:10-14.

Epistle: 1 John 4:7-16.

Holy Gospel: Matthew 1:18-25.

The Second Mass of the Christ-Mass, at midnight
  The Historical Birth in Bethlehem

Introit Psalm 2:1-2, 4-6; antiphon: Liturgical Text.

Verse: Alleluia. Oh come, let us sing to the Lord. Let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! Alleluia.

Collect: O God, You make this most holy night to shine with the brightness of the true Light. Grant that as we have known the mysteries of that Light on earth we may also come to the fullness of His joys in heaven.

Old Testament: Isaiah 9:2-7.

Epistle: Titus 2:11-15.

Gospel: Luke 2:1-14.

The Third Mass of the Christ-Mass, at dawn
  The Spiritual Birth in the Believer

Introit: Psalm 93:102,5; antiphon Isaiah 9:2a, 6a, 6c.

Verse: Alleluia. The Lord reigns; he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed; he has put on strength as his belt. Alleluia.

Collect: Most merciful God, You gave Your eternal Word to become incarnate of the pure Virgin. Grant Your people grace to put away fleshly lusts, that they may be ready for Your visitation.

Old Testament: Micah 5:2-5a.

Epistle: Titus 3:4-7.

Gospel: Luke 2:15-20.

The Fourth Mass o the Christ-Mass, during the day
  The Eternal Generation in the Trinity

Introit: Psalm 98:1-4; antiphon: Isaiah 9:6.

Alleluia. A holy day has dawned upon us. Come, all you nations, and worship the Lord. Alleluia.

Collect: Almighty god, grant that the birth of Your only-begotten Son in the flesh may set us free from the bondage of sin.

Old Testament: Exodus 40:17-21, 34-38.

Epistle: Titus 3:4-7.

Gospel: John 1:1-14.

Weekly Bible Readings

My daily Bible readings for this week, Sunday, December 5th through Saturday the 12th. The pericopes for Sunday morning were: Malachi 4:1-6, Romans 15:4-13, and Luke 21:25-36.


+ Pax +

HT: Let's Hold Back the Christmas Cheer:

From Losana Boyd on the First Things (Roman Catholic) Blog:

Advent is the great season of preparation for the greatest of all gifts: Christ Himself. But as our culture makes all too obvious, this is also a season of high commercialism. As Fr. George Rutler from Our Saviour Parish in New York City reminds us:

The season of Advent is lyrically beautiful if one is willing to engage the realities it teaches: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell. The alternative is to create a parallel universe partying in a faux Christmas confection of jingle bells, dancing elves, and self-conscious bonhomie, avoiding the Incarnation of God.

Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell—the themes of the four Sundays in Advent don’t exactly seemed filled with Christmas cheer. Instead, they are sobering, encouraging a state of wakefulness from the distractions of frivolity. Advent has become something truly countercultural–at a time when holiday parties and merry making are at a fever pitch, Advent calls us to remember the passing nature of this world and the eternity that awaits.

Be sure to read the rest of Fr. Rutler’s column here.

Weekly Bible Readings

So with the coming of the new Church Year on Sunday, I'm changing up my morning Bible devotions. I'm making it simple and switching to reading one Old Testament chapter, one New Testament chapter, and one Psalm each morning. This is a lot less than I was reading, but the smaller amounts will enable me to spend more focused time on the Scripture that I'm reading. I will continue to do this every morning except on the Lord's Day and on major feasts and festivals (when I spend time on the assigned pericopes instead). In case you're interested, I'll throw up the week's readings as a graphic once a week. The pericopes for Sunday morning were: Jeremiah 23:5-8, Romans 13:8-14, and Matthew 21:1-9.

+ Pax +

The 95 Theses of Martin Luther - for Debate on the the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences

October 31, 1517 – Out of love and zeal for truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following theses will be publicly discussed at Wittenberg under the chairmanship of the reverend father Martin Lutther, Master of Arts and Sacred Theology and regularly appointed Lecturer on these subjects at that place. He requests that those who cannot be present to debate orally with us will do so by letter.

In the Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

1. When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, "Repent" [Matt. 4:17], he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.

2. This word cannot be understood as referring to the sacrament of penance, that is, confession and satisfaction, as administered by the clergy.

3. Yet it does not mean solely inner repentance; such inner repentance is worthless unless it produces various outward mortifications of the flesh.

4. The penalty of sin remains as long as the hatred of self, that is, true inner repentance, until our entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

5. The pope neither desires nor is able to remit any penalties except those imposed by his own authority or that of the canons.

6. The pope cannot remit any guilt, except by declaring and showing that it has been remitted by God; or, to be sure, by remitting guilt in cases reserved to his judgment. If his right to grant remission in these cases were disregarded, the guilt would certainly remain unforgiven.

7. God remits guilt to no one unless at the same time he humbles him in all things and makes him submissive to his vicar, the priest.

8. The penitential canons are imposed only on the living, and, according to the canons themselves, nothing should be imposed on the dying.

9. Therefore the Holy Spirit through the pope is kind to us insofar as the pope in his decrees always makes exception of the article of death and of necessity.

10. Those priests act ignorantly and wickedly who, in the case of the dying, reserve canonical penalties for purgatory.

11. Those tares of changing the canonical penalty to the penalty of purgatory were evidently sown while the bishops slept [Matt. 13:25].

12. In former times canonical penalties were imposed, not after, but before absolution, as tests of true contrition.

13. The dying are freed by death from all penalties, are already dead as far as the canon laws are concerned, and have a right to be released from them.

14. Imperfect piety or love on the part of the dying person necessarily brings with it great fear; and the smaller the love, the greater the fear.

15. This fear or horror is sufficient in itself, to say nothing of other things, to constitute the penalty of purgatory, since it is very near the horror of despair.

16. Hell, purgatory, and heaven seem to differ the same as despair, fear, and assurance of salvation.

17. It seems as though for the souls in purgatory fear should necessarily decrease and love increase.

18. Furthermore, it does not seem proved, either by reason or Scripture, that souls in purgatory are outside the state of merit, that is, unable to grow in love.

19. Nor does it seem proved that souls in purgatory, at least not all of them, are certain and assured of their own salvation, even if we ourselves may be entirely certain of it.

20. Therefore the pope, when he uses the words "plenary remission of all penalties," does not actually mean "all penalties," but only those imposed by himself.

21. Thus those indulgence preachers are in error who say that a man is absolved from every penalty and saved by papal indulgences.

22. As a matter of fact, the pope remits to souls in purgatory no penalty which, according to canon law, they should have paid in this life.

23. If remission of all penalties whatsoever could be granted to anyone at all, certainly it would be granted only to the most perfect, that is, to very few.

24. For this reason most people are necessarily deceived by that indiscriminate and high-sounding promise of release from penalty.

25. That power which the pope has in general over purgatory corresponds to the power which any bishop or curate has in a particular way in his own diocese or parish.

26. The pope does very well when he grants remission to souls in purgatory, not by the power of the keys, which he does not have,7 but by way of intercession for them.

27. They preach only human doctrines who say that as soon as the money clinks into the money chest, the soul flies out of purgatory.

28. It is certain that when money clinks in the money chest, greed and avarice can be increased; but when the church intercedes, the result is in the hands of God alone.

29. Who knows whether all souls in purgatory wish to be redeemed, since we have exceptions in St. Severinus and St. Paschal,as related in a legend.

30. No one is sure of the integrity of his own contrition, much less of having received plenary remission.

31. The man who actually buys indulgences is as rare as he who is really penitent; indeed, he is exceedingly rare.

32. Those who believe that they can be certain of their salvation because they have indulgence letters will be eternally damned, together with their teachers.

33. Men must especially be on their guard against those who say that the pope's pardons are that inestimable gift of God by which man is reconciled to him.

34. For the graces of indulgences are concerned only with the penalties of sacramental satisfaction established by man.

35. They who teach that contrition is not necessary on the part of those who intend to buy souls out of purgatory or to buy confessional privileges preach unchristian doctrine.

36. Any truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without indulgence letters.

37. Any true Christian, whether living or dead, participates in all the blessings of Christ and the church; and this is granted him by God, even without indulgence letters.

38. Nevertheless, papal remission and blessing are by no means to be disregarded, for they are, as I have said [Thesis 6], the proclamation of the divine remission.

39. It is very difficult, even for the most learned theologians, at one and the same time to commend to the people the bounty of indulgences and the need of true contrition.

40. A Christian who is truly contrite seeks and loves to pay penalties for his sins; the bounty of indulgences, however, relaxes penalties and causes men to hate them—at least it furnishes occasion for hating them.

41. Papal indulgences must be preached with caution, lest people erroneously think that they are preferable to other good works of love.

42. Christians are to be taught that the pope does not intend that the buying of indulgences should in any way be compared with works of mercy.

43. Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better deed than he who buys indulgences.

44. Because love grows by works of love, man thereby becomes better. Man does not, however, become better by means of indulgences but is merely freed from penalties.

45. Christians are to be taught that he who sees a needy man and passes him by, yet gives his money for indulgences, does not buy papal indulgences but God's wrath.

46. Christians are to be taught that, unless they have more than they need, they must reserve enough for their family needs and by no means squander it on indulgences.

47. Christians are to be taught that the buying of indulgences is a matter of free choice, not commanded.

48. Christians are to be taught that the pope, in granting indulgences, needs and thus desires their devout prayer more than their money.

49. Christians are to be taught that papal indulgences are useful only if they do not put their trust in them, but very harmful if they lose their fear of God because of them.

50. Christians are to be taught that if the pope knew the exactions of the indulgence preachers, he would rather that the basilica of St. Peter were burned to ashes than built up with the skin, flesh, and bones of his sheep.

51. Christians are to be taught that the pope would and should wish to give of his own money, even though he had to sell the basilica of St. Peter, to many of those from whom certain hawkers of indulgences cajole money.

52. It is vain to trust in salvation by indulgence letters, even though the indulgence commissary, or even the pope, were to offer his soul as security.

53. They are enemies of Christ and the pope who forbid altogether the preaching of the Word of God in some churches in order that indulgences may be preached in others.

54. Injury is done the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or larger amount of time is devoted to indulgences than to the Word.

55. It is certainly the pope's sentiment that if indulgences, which are a very insignificant thing, are celebrated with one bell, one procession, and one ceremony, then the gospel, which is the very greatest thing, should be preached with a hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies.

56. The treasures of the church, out of which the pope distributes indulgences, are not sufficiently discussed or known among the people of Christ.

57. That indulgences are not temporal treasures is certainly clear, for many [indulgence] preachers do not distribute them freely but only gather them.

58. Nor are they the merits of Christ and the saints, for, even without the pope, the latter always work grace for the inner man, and the cross, death, and hell for the outer man.

59. St. Laurence said that the poor of the church were the treasures of the church, but he spoke according to the usage of the word in his own time.

60. Without want of consideration we say that the keys of the church, given by the merits of Christ, are that treasure;

61. For it is clear that the pope s power is of itself sufficient for the remission of penalities and cases reserved by himself.

62. The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God.

63. But this treasure is naturally most odious, for it makes the first to be last [Matt. 20:16].

64. On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is naturally most acceptable, for it makes the last to be first.

65. Therefore the treasures of the gospel are nets with which one formerly fished for men of wealth.

66. The treasures of indulgences are nets with which one now fishes for the wealth of men.

67. The indulgences which the demagogues acclaim as the greatest graces are actually understood to be such only insofar as they promote gain.

68. They are nevertheless in truth the most insignificant graces when compared with the grace of God and the piety of the cross.

69. Bishops and curates are bound to admit the commissaries of papal indulgences with all reverence.

70. But they are much more bound to strain their eyes and ears lest these men preach their own dreams instead of what the pope has commissioned.

71. Let him who speaks against the truth concerning papal indulgences be anathema and accursed;

72. But let him who guards against the lust and license of the indulgence preachers be blessed;

73. Just as the pope justly thunders against those who by any means whatsoever contrive harm to the sale of indulgences.

74. But much more does he intend to thunder against those who use indulgences as a pretext to contrive harm to holy love and truth.

75. To consider papal indulgences so great that they could absolve a man even if he had done the impossible and had violated the mother of God is madness.

76. We say on the contrary that papal indulgences cannot remove the very least of venial sins as far as guilt is concerned.

77. To say that even St. Peter, if he were now pope, could not grant greater graces is blasphemy against St. Peter and the pope.

78. We say on the contrary that even the present pope, or any pope whatsoever, has greater graces at his disposal, that is, the gospel, spiritual powers, gifts of healing, etc., as it is written in I Cor. 12[:28].

79. To say that the cross emblazoned with the papal coat of arms, and set up by the indulgence preachers, is equal in worth to the cross of Christ is blasphemy.

80. The bishops, curates, and theologians who permit such talk to be spread among the people will have to answer for this.

81. This unbridled preaching of indulgences makes it difficult even for learned men to rescue the reverence which is due the pope from slander or from the shrewd questions of the laity,

82. Such as: "Why does not the pope empty purgatory for the sake of holy love and the dire need of the souls that are there if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a church? The former reasons would be most just; the latter is most trivial."

83. Again, "Why are funeral and anniversary masses for the dead continued and why does he not return or permit the withdrawal of the endowments founded for them, since it is wrong to pray for the redeemed?"

84. Again, "What is this new piety of God and the pope that for a consideration of money they permit a man who is impious and their enemy to buy out of purgatory the pious soul of a friend of God and do not rather, because of the need of that pious and beloved soul, free it for pure love's sake?"

85. Again, "Why are the penitential canons, long since abrogated and dead in actual fact and through disuse, now satisfied by the granting of indulgences as though they were still alive and in force?"

86. Again, "Why does not the pope, whose wealth is today greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build this one basilica of St. Peter with his own money rather than with the money of poor believers?"

87. Again, "What does the pope remit or grant to those who by perfect contrition already have a right to full remission and blessings?"

88. Again, "What greater blessing could come to the church than if the pope were to bestow these remissions and blessings on every believer a hundred times a day, as he now does but once?"

89. "Since the pope seeks the salvation of souls rather than money by his indulgences, why does he suspend the indulgences and pardons previously granted when they have equal efficacy?"

90. To repress these very sharp arguments of the laity by force alone, and not to resolve them by giving reasons, is to expose the church and the pope to the ridicule of their enemies and to make Christians unhappy.

91. If, therefore, indulgences were preached according to the spirit and intention of the pope, all these doubts would be readily resolved. Indeed, they would not exist.

92. Away then with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Peace, peace," and there is no peace! [Jer. 6:14].

93. Blessed be all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Cross, cross," and there is no cross!

94. Christians should be exhorted to be diligent in following Christ, their head, through penalties, death, and hell;

95. And thus be confident of entering into heaven through many tribulations rather than through the false security of peace [Acts 14:22].

     Source: Luthers Works, volume 31

Blogging Through Joy, chapter 1

"For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands." - Isaiah 55:12  


So I've decided to re-read "A Little Book on Joy," an amazing little book by LCMS President Rev. Matthew Harrison which is subtitled: "The Secret of Living a Good news Life in a Bad News World." I was inspired to reread this because of some comments made by one of my brother pastors (and good friend) here in the Green Bay Area, Rev. Peter Speckhard. He was speaking on the fruit of the Spirit (which is "love" in all its many facets).

The first chapter of Harrison's book is really more of an introduction to the book than anything else. The brief chapter focuses on the unexpectedness of seeing Mount Kilimanjaro from the air:

As the plane listed, I was surprised then immediately mesmerized by joy at one of the most spectacular sites I've ever beheld. It was like a white ice mountain in a sea of billowing cotton. There, some 20,000 feet below, was the enormous snow covered crater of Mount Kilimanjaro. It was miles wide, glistening and piercing majestically and proudly through a thick blanket of East African cloud cover.

Later, after describing a similarly unexpected viewing of the mountain, this time from the ground, Harrison writes about the one time he purposely tried to go view the mountain, only to be thwarted by rain and weather. It's a perfect metaphor for the quest to find joy. We can't just up and decide that today I'm going to be joyful. Today I'm going to rejoice. It can't come just from inside us... and if we seek it, chances are we won't find it. Again, Harrison writes:

So it is with joy, at least joy as a gift of the Spirit. There's no forcing it, no coercing it, no measuring it, no cooking it up. Whenever that happens, joy quickly is faked and feigned and, in fact, extinguished.... Nevertheless, where there is Jesus, there is joy.

We can't just decide one day to be filled with joy... but we can look to Christ. Jesus Christ, the One to whom the Holy Spirit has called us to have faith in, to believe in. When we look to our Savior, we find joy, and we find ourselves on the path to constant joy... joy even in the midst of this Bad News World we live in.

In fact, there is a kind of joy so profound, so enduring, that it can only be known and felt in one way. Its weaker shadows must be completely dashed and lost. Here's the secret: if we seek joy for its own sake, we will not find it. If we seek Jesus, we shall be engulfed and inundated by joy, and quite by surprise.

Source: "A Little Book on Joy," by Matthew C. Harrison, Lutheran Legacy, 2009, pp. 6-10.

A prayer for the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels

From Johann Friedrich Starck's Prayer Book

O gracious God, grant Your Holy Spirit that I may not grieve these creatures of Yours by my sins, nor drive them from me by reckless living, forcing them to stand far off and to forsake me because of my wickedness.  Grant that even in this life I may become like the angels by serving, praising, obeying, and glorifying You, so that at last I may be like the angels also in the joys and bliss of the life that never ends.  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven - let this prayer resound in my ears and in my heart from now and forevermore.  My God, let Your holy angels remain with me in death that they may carry my soul to Abraham's bosom and accompany me to glory.  There let me forever be in their fellowship and company, rejoice with them over Your glory and majesty, and chant with them:  Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts!  And so I will praise You for this and for all Your blessings forever and ever.  (CPH revised edition, p. 115)

HT: Weedon

"Is" means "Is" - it's the What and not the How

Scott Diekmann writes at Stand Firm that he "love[s] the note for Article X of the Augsburg Confession in A Reader's Edition of the Book of Concord. it pretty much says it all:"

Note: By the time the Augsburg Confession was written, deep divisions had arisen among the various reformers concerning the Lord’s Supper. The Lutherans were very careful to distance themselves from those who reject that the body and blood of Christ are in fact truly present in His Supper and distributed to all those who eat and drink. Transubstantiation, consubstantiation, or any other human speculation asks the wrong question: how is Christ present? Lutheranism has no theory or philosophical explanation of how Christ is present. Rather, Lutherans insist on answering the what of the Lord’s Supper. We believe, teach, and confess that of the bread, Christ said, “This is My body,” and of the wine, “This is My blood.” These are given and shed “for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:26–28). We reject any teaching that is contrary to our Lord’s Word.

Source: Concordia:The Lutheran Confessions. 2005 (Edited by Paul Timothy McCain) (35). St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.

Hmmm...

What He said.

In honor of Holy Cross Day

Sing, my tongue,
the Savior’s glory;
tell His triumph far and wide;
tell aloud the famous story
of His body crucified;
how upon the cross a victim,
vanquishing in death, He died.

Eating of the tree forbidden,
man had sunk in Satan’s snare,
when our pitying Creator did
this second tree prepare;
destined, many ages later,
that first evil to repair.

Such the order God appointed
when for sin He would atone;
to the serpent thus opposing
schemes yet deeper than his own;
thence the remedy procuring,
whence the fatal wound had come.

So when now at length the fullness
of the sacred time drew nigh,
then the Son, the world’s Creator,
left his Father’s throne on high;
from a virgin’s womb appearing,
clothed in our mortality.

All within a lowly manger,
lo, a tender babe He lies!
see his gentle Virgin Mother
lull to sleep his infant cries!
while the limbs of God incarnate
round with swathing bands she ties.

THUS did Christ to perfect manhood
in our mortal flesh attain:
then of His free choice He goeth
to a death of bitter pain;
and as a lamb, upon the altar of the cross,
for us is slain.

Lo, with gall His thirst He quenches!
see the thorns upon His brow!
nails His tender flesh are rending!
see His side is opened now!
whence, to cleanse the whole creation,
streams of blood and water flow.

FAITHFUL Cross!
above all other,
one and only noble Tree!
None in foliage, none in blossom,
none in fruit thy peers may be;
sweetest wood and sweetest iron!
Sweetest Weight is hung on thee!

Lofty tree, bend down thy branches,
to embrace thy sacred load;
oh, relax the native tension
of that all too rigid wood;
gently, gently bear the members
of thy dying King and God.

Tree, which solely wast found worthy
the world’s Victim to sustain.
harbor from the raging tempest!
ark, that saved the world again!
Tree, with sacred blood anointed
of the Lamb for sinners slain.

Blessing, honor, everlasting,
to the immortal Trinity;
to the Father, Son, and Spirit,
equal praises ever be;
glory through the earth and heaven
to Trinity in Unity. Amen.

A Dream... a Prayer to the Almighty Trinity

From the good Rev. William Weedon, whose dreams for the future of our beloved Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod echo my own. He writes: "here are some of my dreams ... for my beloved Synod:

A more merciful Church - greater involvement in alleviating human suffering and bringing the love of Christ to bear in tangible ways in our local communities and throughout the world.

A more evangelical Church - no, not in THAT sense; in the true sense.  A Church where the Gospel rings out with its unquenchable joy and shapes all we say and do, and where the Gospel (not the Law!) moves our mission work.

A more liturgical Church - learning to live responsibly within our liturgical heritage in the way Krauth:  "possessing liturgical life without liturgical bondage."  A Church where the full and rich heritage of Lutheran hymnody rings out full-throated from our congregations.

A more prayerful Church - where the Daily Office, the Litany and such come into their own and shape our parishes as places of prayer.  If "my Father's house shall be called a house of prayer for all people" let us return our parishes from being fund-raising organizations to being prayer-raising communities.

A more giving Church - where we recover a lively sense of sacrifice, of sharing earthly goods from the charity that the Gospel has planted in our hearts.

A more gentle Church - where the 8th commandment is truly honored in our practice, above all in learning to explain our neighbor's actions in the kindest way and where we remember the wise words of the Apology that harmony in the Church cannot last unless pastors and churches mutually overlook many things.

A more peaceful Church - where the hope of the future that will surely be ours at our Lord's Appearing removes all hastiness and fear and gives us a calm and measured ability to evaluate the challenges before us.

A more educated Church - where a deep and abiding love for the Word of God leads to full Bible classes and devout reading of the Word in our homes.

"Ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is..."

Quoting from God's word in Jeremiah, Pastor Peters of Pastoral Meanderings writes:

"Thus says the Lord: 'Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it and find rest for your souls..." (Jeremiah 6:16a)  Wow! If that is not a word for today -- especially for Lutherans -- I do not know what is...  Amid the doom and gloom of impending judgment and just in the face of the destruction to come, God speaks this simple sentence which offers direction, hope, forgiveness, and redemption all in one...

Lutherans are at the crossroads.  The ELCA dissidents against the actions of the CWA are meeting now in Columbus to chart the course for the remnant there.  Missouri has elected a President more grounded in our Lutheran identity and with a more catholic vision of Lutheran faith and practice than ever before -- perhaps one of our last opportunities to bring this denomination together before the fragmentation leaves us hopelessly divided.  And all across America Lutheran congregations struggle with the great temptation to become something other than Lutheran in order to survive (whether that be like a mainline but dying Protestant denomination, a church body without a doctrinal foundation like the UCC, a generic evangelical Christianity that does what works, or a fundamentalist faith with a liturgy). 

And there it is... the direction back from the abyss of sectarianism and from a cultural infatuation that renders us strangers to God...  Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is...  This does not mean attempting to return to a golden age in Christian or Lutheran or Missourian history.  This does not mean complete disdain for the opportunity and possibility rendered us by technology and an awareness of what is going on in the world around us.  This does not mean becoming like Missouri of 1847 or 1947 or trying to reinvent the ancient Church or recreating what we read about in the infant Church of the Book of the Acts of the Apostles.  This means following the ancient paths and building them as a highway through the present age and toward the future.  It means keeping faith with the faithful along the way and not beginning with a blank page for structure, doctrine, faith, mission, or worship.  It means keeping and adding what does not conflict with the past but extends its truth and is recognizable as the offspring of those who have gone before.

Read the whole thing here.

God's Word is a Lamp to my Feet

Since my last post concerned that treasure which is the Book of Concord, I thought it most highly appropriate that this post be focused on the Word of God (the Bible) which is handed down to us children to lead us to and deliver us to Jesus Christ crucified, risen, and ascended for our salvation.


The concern of some, always, whenever I discuss studying the Book of Concord is "doesn't that mean you're resting your faith 'in the wisdom of men' and not 'in the power of God'?" (see 1 Cor. 2:1-5). But take note! The  Book of Concord faithfully confesses not its own words, but that Word of God which we call the Holy Scriptures. Much like the creeds (Apostles', Nicene, Athanasian), the Lutheran Confessions are a faithful summary of Scripture, not a replacement.


And the Word of God, as it is delivered to us in the Holy Scriptures, is just that— GOD'S own words. Since it is entirely inspired by the Holy Spirit, that means that God Himself is the author of every Word of Scripture— a Scripture which is given to us in order to bear witness to Jesus Christ the Son of God and make us wise unto salvation (see 2 Timothy 3:14-17).


In other words, it's God's Word and nothing but God's Word (so help me God!) The Confessions themselves freely and openly acknowledge this when they state  that we also believe, teach, and confess that "the true rule is this: God's Word shall establish articles of faith, and no one else, not even an angel can do so (Galatians 1:8)" (SA,II,ii,15). The prophetic and apostolic writings of the Old and New Testament alone," in fact, are "the only rule and norm according to which all doctrines, together with all teachers, should be evaluated and judged" (FC, Ep, Rule and Norm, 1).

The Word of God, in other words, that inexhaustible treasure, that living spring, can never be replaced, added to, minimized, or modified. Our translations of God's Word may change (hopefully always for the better), but God's Word itself is constant. We can write confessions that state what we believe the Bible teachers, but we can never replace Scripture— only struggle daily to take it in, to understand it (i.e. read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest it), and so come to know the Christ to which Scripture witnesses. By faith, we affirm that Scripture is powerful and efficacious, and that it alone is the source of all we believe and confess.


Take a moment, if you will, to read this excerpt from the writings of Ephraim the Syrian, a fourth-century deacon (A+D ca. 306-373) who wrote an extensive body of poetry and hymns. It is a paean of praise to God's Word:

Lord, who can comprehend even one of your words? We lose more of it than we grasp, like those who drink from a living spring. For God’s word offers different facets according to the capacity of the listener, and the Lord has portrayed His message in many colors, so that whoever gazes upon it can see in it what suits Him. Within it He has buried manifold treasures, so that each of us might grow rich in seeking them out.

The word of God is a tree of life that offers us blessed fruit from each of its branches. It is like that rock which was struck open in the wilderness, from which all were offered spiritual drink. As the Apostle says: They ate spiritual food and they drank spiritual drink.

And so whenever anyone discovers some part of the treasure, he should not think that he has exhausted God’s word. Instead he should feel that this is all that he was able to find of the wealth contained in it. Nor should he say that the word is weak and sterile or look down on it simply because this portion was all that he happened to find. But precisely because he could not capture it all he should give thanks for its riches.

Be glad then that you are overwhelmed, and do not be saddened because he has overcome you. A thirsty man is happy when he is drinking, and he is not depressed because he cannot exhaust the spring. So let this spring quench your thirst, and not your thirst the spring. For if you can satisfy your thirst without exhausting the spring, then when you thirst again you can drink from it once more; but if when your thirst is sated the spring is also dried up, then your victory would turn to harm.

Be thankful then for what you have received, and do not be saddened at all that such an abundance still remains. What you have received and attained is your present share, while what is left will be your heritage. For what you could not take at one time because of your weakness, you will be able to grasp at another if you only persevere. So do not foolishly try to drain in one draught what cannot be consumed all at once, and do not cease out of faintheartedness from what you will be able to absorb as time goes on.

Indented quotation excerpted from Ephraim's commentary on Tatian's Diatessaron (a harmonization of the four Gospel accounts according to Sts. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). Book of Concord quotations from Concordia: the Lutheran Confessions, a Reader's Edition of the Book of Concord, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2005.

Life-long Lutheran Discovers Really Big Book (and loves it!)

I was raised Lutheran. Baptized into the faith through water and the Word when I was 20 days old. Brought to Sunday School as a youth and after attending Confirmation class, I was confirmed in the Evangelical Lutheran Church when I was 4,866 days old.

During High School, I decided that I didn't believe in Jesus or God His Father. I left the faith for a while, but by the grace of God, I was called back to saving faith by the Word in college. After again attending an LC–MS church for several years, I decided that I would attend seminary with the intention of serving God's church as an under-shepherd (pastor).

Imagine my surprise when I discovered the Really Big Book (otherwise known as the Book of Concord of 1580). My surprise, by the way, was not that there was a really big book published 400+ years ago; no, my surprise was that there was a book which contains the official confession of the Lutheran Church. My surprise was that, in order to become a pastor in the Missouri Synod, I would have to read and agree with (subscribe unconditionally to ) everything in that book "because" it faithfully teaches what the Bible reveals.

Hmmm... interesting. How come I've never even heard of this? 

And, wait a minute.

Everything? I have to agree with everything in that Really Big Book? You're going to ask me at my ordination if I believe that the entirety of the Book of Concord of 1580 (that self-same Really Big Book) is a "true exposition of Holy Scripture and a correct exhibition of the doctrine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church?" (LC-MS Agenda). Not only that, but the answer I will be required to give is: "Yes, I make these Confessions my own because they are in accord with the Word of God"?

Wow. Here I don't even know this book exists and now unconditional subscription to the content of that book is going to be a prerequisite to ordination? Not only that, but I need to be able to say openly, freely, and without reservation that what that book says is in fact my own confession— not the confession of those long-dead reforming saints, but MY OWN!

Truth be known, once I started to get over my shock, then I started to get angry. I was mad. "Don't we just need the bible?!?"

Thanks be to God that I didn't despair. I figured "it couldn't hurt to read the stupid thing" and see what it says. After all, if this Book of Concord is the official confession of the Evangelical Lutheran Church... if it is norm by which the Lutheran Church believes, teaches, and confesses what we believe the Bible says... I might as well give it a shot. Right?

So I started to read. And boy was I shocked! This Really Big Book was a treasure trove! It wasn't a bunch of debatable opinions by a bunch of really dead guys... it was a faithful teaching of what God reveals in Scripture. I began to realize just how silly my question of "Don't we just need the Bible?" was. The Book of Concord wasn't a replacement for the Bible. By no means! Rather, it was a faithful speaking of God's Word back again. And it was awesome! With the Book of Concord by my side, my Bible reading became the exciting adventure I never knew it could be. Before the Book of Concord, I was an intermittent Bible reader, after... I was a voracious reader, for the Bible had become for me that most delightful of feasts.

I still had some hard work to overcome a few things —like understanding the Bible's teaching on the doctrine of Election (which is HUGE!) and learning to value Baptism (which is also HUGE!)— but it's no exaggeration to say that my study of the Book of Concord transformed me. It opened my eyes to so much of what the Bible teaches. I went from being a life-long Lutheran who would have been comfortable joining your friendly Community Church down the street... to being a convicted Christian who would give his right hand before he'd let go of the theology confessed in the Lutheran confessions.

In the end, it's not about "being Lutheran." It's about "Christ and Him crucified" for you (1 Cor. 2:2). It's about God working through real Words and tangible Sacraments FOR YOU! It's about a radical grace that flies in the face of everything that world teaches. And I learned it all through the Book of Concord.

The Lord Jesus said, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but only one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:41–42). God bless you as you continue to sit at Jesus' feet!

SDG.

n.b. this post was partly inspired by a blog comment of Rev. Jonathan Fisk, whose journey in part mirrors my own. I even shamelessly stole some of his phrases! :) Thanks, Jonathan!

It is better to be tried than to be puffed up.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther (A+D 1483-1546):

What can be set forth to us that is more useful and more suitable for consolation than the example of Peter [walking on the water in Matthew 14:22-36]. He advances on the water to meet Christ. And when he stepped out of the boat, he first walked on the water to come to Jesus. As the evangelist says, he ran with great impetuosity, with heroic and special spirit, because he knew that Christ was there; and he had the Word and the promise of the Word for his petition: If it be Thou, bid me come to Thee on the water" (Matt. 14:28). But soon, when a little wind blows, he wavers and sinks. What now? Where is that great spirit? Why did you doubt?

But it pleased Christ that he should be tried in this way. For if he had not been tried, he would have been puffed up. But it is better to be tried than to be puffed up.  For in this way the promises are retained, and in this way we learn to understand those sobs of the saints, as in Ps. 6:1: "O Lord, rebuke me not in Thy anger." For David, too, was such a great man that God gave him the testimony: "I have found in David, the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will" (Acts 14:22; cf. 1 Sam. 13:14). Yet he prays in this way and struggles with the trials of unbelief and despair.

In this way we, too, have been called, and we have promises that are much clearer and more glorious than those the fathers had. Thus Peter praises this good fortune of ours when he says (2 Peter 1:19): "And we have the prophetic Word made more sure. You will do well to pay attention to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place." Grace and eternal life have been promised and offered to us in a much more glorious way than to them. For the Son has come, and all the promises have been fulfilled. We hear the Son Himself; we have the sacraments and absolution; and day and night the Gospel proclaims to us: "You are holy. You are holy. Your sins have been forgiven you. You are blessed, etc." But what do we do? We still tremble, and we cling to our weakness throughout our life. But why are we not aroused by the example of the [patriarchs, who believed to complete perfgection? I reply that they, too, wer weak, just as we are, although we have richer promises than they had. But it comes to pass as God's voice says to Paul: "My power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9). for 

God could not retain and fulfill His promises in us if He did not kill that stupid, proud, and smug flesh in us.

Source: Martin Luther's commentary on Genesis 28, pp. 255-56 in vol. 5 of Luther's Works, American Edition, edited by Jaroslav Pelikan, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1968.

Interview with LC-MS President-Elect Matthew Harrison

So by now most of you have probably heard that our beloved Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has elected a new Synodical President.

He was elected at the national convention last month and will be installed as the 13th president of the LC-MS in early September.

Rev. Matthew Harrison, however, who has been serving as the Executive Director of LC-MS World Relief and Human Care, is not necessarily a household name to the laypeople of our Synod. He recently gave an interview to the Reporter which, I believe, goes a long way toward revealing what kind of man, he is, what kind of a Christian and pastor he is, and what kind of a president he is going to be. I personally am very excited about the election of Rev. Harrison as our synodical president. I think he is a very learned man, very humble, extraordinarily confessional and grounded in the faith, and exactly the kind of president that Missouri needs in this tumultuous time.

The interview starts out this way:

Interviewer (James H. Heine): "What is your reaction to your election? You will now serve as the 13th president of the Synod."

Rev. Harrison: "It was a profound combination of joy and sorrow, of hope and also a great sense of my own unworthiness and sinfulness. To stand in front of that great body, a body that directs the future of The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod, which is, humanly speaking, the most significant force on the globe for confessional Lutheranism and for the proclamation of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments, was very, very humbling."

Read the whole thing here.

As Luther said, "Here I stand; I can do no other!"

Bold words from C.F.W. Walther, first president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod:

"When a theologian is asked to yield and make concessions in order that peace may at last be established in the Church, but refuses to do so even in a single point of doctrine, such an action looks to human reason like intolerable stubbornness, yea, like down-right malice. That is the reason why such theologians are loved and praised by few men during their lifetime. Most mean rather revile them as disturbers of the peace, yea, as destroyers of the kingdom of God. They are regarded as men worthy of contempt. But in the end it becomes manifest that this very determined, inexorable tenacity in clinging to the pure teaching of the divine Word by no means tears down the Church; on the contrary, it is just this which, in the midst of greatest dissension, builds up the Church and ultimately brings about genuine peace. Therefore, woe to the Church which has no men of this stripe, men who stand as watchmen on the walls of Zion, sound the alarm whenever a foe threatens to rush the walls, and rally to the banner of Jesus Christ for a holy war! ...

Let us, therefore, bless all the faithful champions who have fought for every point of Christian doctrine, unconcerned about the favor of men and disregarding their threatenings. Their ignominy, though it often was great, had not been born in vain. Men cursed them, but they continued bearing their testimony until death, and now they wear the crown of glory and enjoy the blissful communion of Christ and of all the angels and the elect. Their labor and their fierce battling has not been in vain; for even now, after 1500 years, or, in the last-named case, after several centuries, the Church is reaping what they have sowed.

Let us, then, my friends, likewise hold fast the treasure of pure doctrine. Do not consider it strange if on that account you must bear reproach the same as they did. Consider that the word of Sirach, chap. 4, 33: 'Even unto death fight for justice, and God will overthrow thy enemies for thee,' will come true in our case too. Let this be your slogan: Fight unto death in behalf of the truth, and the Lord will fight for you!"

Source: C.F.W. Walther, "The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel,"  translated by W.H.T. Dau, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1929 (1984 printing), pp. 28, 29-30.