March Newsletter Article

Lent? What’s that?

Well, quite literally, the word “lent” was originally a Teutonic (the Teutons were an early Germanic tribe, before there was even really an area referred to as Germany.) word that meant nothing more than the spring season. Lent has been used for centuries by Christians to describe the 40-day period of time that leads up to the Resurrection of Our Lord. But why do we recognize these 40 days and how do we do it?

We use the season of Lent, beginning on Ash Wednesday, as an opportunity to again especially consider the suffering and death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As part of this pondering and consideration, we realize that it was our sin that put Jesus on the cross. The suffering that he suffered should be our suffering. The death he died should be our death. It’s a sobering reality, no doubt.

That’s why, although we talk about sin an awful lot throughout the year, we really emphasize it during Lent. Lent is a season of repentance that culminates in Christ’s death—the payment for those very same sins we’ve been pondering for the last 40 days.

So how do we commemorate it? Well, as a group, we do it solemnly. When we consider that Christ suffered and died in our place, there is nothing else we can do. So our praises are muted. We abstain from saying or singing “Alleluia” which means “Praise Ye the Lord.” The frequency of our worship increases as we have services each Wednesday to further ponder Christ’s suffering and death.

As individuals, we use it as a period of time to re-focus ourselves on Christ and the cross. This may mean that we try to create or re-create good spiritual disciplines like prayer, devotion, or study of God’s Word and Luther’s Small Catechism. It may mean that we make weekly attendance at the Divine Service more of a priority in our lives. It may mean that we examine our giving practices and determine if are indeed giving cheerfully as a response to the gifts God has given us. It may mean that we fast.

OK, that one might have caught you off-guard. Fasting is something we just don’t talk about much, but it historically has been one of the identifiable marks of Lent. Luther mentioned it in the section in the Small Catechism on the Sacrament of the Altar. In response to the question “Who receives this sacrament worthily?” Luther writes that “Fasting and bodily preparation are certainly fine outward training.” Jesus gave his disciples instructions not for if they fast, but for when they fast.

At times in the history of the Christian Church, it has been abused. Prior to the Reformation (and, to a lesser extant, even after the Reformation in some church bodies), fasting was a requirement. Fasting ought never to be a law that must be observed by all. Fasting also at times has been erroneously viewed as some sort of payment for sins as if Christ, repayment weren’t sufficient. We are people of the Gospel who have been freed completely by Christ. We must never see such a thing as a requirement or a repayment for sins.

Rather, if you choose to fast, use it as a tool. It is a tool, just like any discipline used during Lent, to help you ponder anew Christ’s sacrifice. When you fast, you are kind of telling your stomach that it doesn’t rule your life. If you fast, hunger pains may call to mind the suffering that Christ endured (even though it was obviously much greater). If you fast the time you once used for eating might now be replaced with prayer and devotion.

May God richly bless you and your family during this Lenten season no matter how you choose to observe it!

President Harrison responds to contraceptive “accommodation”

The new healthcare policies enacted by President Obama mandate that health plans must cover all forms of birth control. The problem is that the mandate includes forms of birth control that kill unborn babies (such as “morning after” pills). Obama made an “accommodation” to the mandate on Friday, but as you’ll read below, it really doesn’t fix the problem at all. Here is Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod President Matthew Harrison’s response:

In response to President Obama’s announcement Friday concerning an “accommodation” to a previous mandate that health plans must cover all forms of birth control (even those that can kill the unborn), The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) remains deeply concerned. We strongly object to the use of drugs and procedures that are used to take the lives of unborn children, who are persons in the sight of God from the time of conception. Drugs such as “Plan B” and “Ella,” which are still included in the mandate, can work post-conception to cause the death of the developing child, so don’t be fooled by statements to the contrary.

We see President Obama’s action Friday as significant, in that it appears to have been prompted by the many voices united in concern over an infringement of our religious liberties. But the “accommodation” did not expand the exemption for religious employers, nor did it restrict the mandate in any way. It simply described a temporary enforcement delay and a possible future change—a change that, unfortunately, would not adequately protect religious freedom or unborn lives.

We remain opposed to this mandate because it runs counter to the biblical truth of the sanctity of human life. We are committed to working to ensure that we remain free to practice the teachings of our faith, that our religious rights are not violated, and that our rights of conscience are retained. Freedom of religion extends beyond the practice of our faith in houses of worship. We must be free to put our faith into action in the public square, and, in response to Christ’s call, demonstrate His mercy through our love and compassion for all people according to the clear mandate of Holy Scripture.

The government has overstepped its bounds. This controversy is not merely about “birth control” and the Catholic Church’s views about it. It’s about mandating that we provide medications which kill life in the womb. And moreover, and perhaps even more ominous, it is about an overzealous government forcing coercive provisions that violate the consciences and rights of its citizens. We can no longer expect a favored position for Christianity in this country. But we can, as citizens of this great nation, fight for constitutional sanity against secularizing forces. As we have vividly experienced in discriminatory state legislation with respect to homosexual adoption, we, and our institutions (and those of other religious citizens of good will), are being robbed of the right to the free exercise of religion absent government
intrusion or threat. The next assault will come upon church-related retirement facilities. How much longer will it be legal in this country to believe and act according to the dictates of biblical and creedal Christianity?

Jesus bids us, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17). We will pray for and support our government where we can, but our consciences and lives belong to God.

Amen.

February, 2012 Newsletter Article

In Sunday morning Bible Class, we’ve being going through a study on vocation. In my Wednesday morning Bible Class, we’ve been reading The Calling, which is a book about vocation. Why vocation? What’s the big deal? What does that even mean?

Vocation is more than just the job we have that puts food on the table. In fact, each one of us likely has several of them. For example, mine include pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church (which could be broken down even further), wife of Laura, father of Allyssa, David, and Kaytlin, son of James and Ardith, brother of Sarah and Rachel, brother-in-law of Ricky, Roper, Michael, and Cristy, son-in-law of John and Gail, uncle of Micah, Nathan, Michal, Camden, Tayten, Kyle, Nathan, and J.W., friend of my friends, member of the Sealy Lions Club, citizen of the city of Sealy, county of Austin, state of Texas, country of the United States, etc. I could probably come up with more if I sat and thought about it for longer. Each one of you could do the same thing. We are all called to various vocations in life and God works through each one of them to love and serve our neighbor.

Sadly, we often get into the habit of valuing one vocation over another, or looking at another’s vocation and either proclaiming our vocation inferior or superior to theirs.

You might recall that one of the issues of the Lutheran Reformation was that of monasticism. Monasteries, while they achieved a lot of good things, were created for the wrong reasons. Essentially, monasteries were created to give monks (those who entered monasteries) the opportunity to earn and extra measure of God’s grace as a result of the good works they accomplished. This, of course, goes completely against the the very definition of the word grace. Once you’ve made it something to be earned, it is no longer grace at all.

Unfortunately, when we start to pit one person’s vocation against another and say that it somehow more pleasing to God, we create a new form of monasticism.

For example, we may look at a person who goes out of their way to witness to non-believers in a more positive light than the person who simply stays at home and provides food for their children and teaches them the Small Catechism. To be sure, telling others about Jesus is a good thing, but too often we look at that and say that it is somehow better than anything else we could do. I could use any number of examples to illustrate this point.

Luther called the various vocations that exist in life “masks of God.” When we see people in our lives, we see their ordinary face, whether it’s a parent, doctor, pastor, a friend, or something else, but behind that face, God is ministering to us through them. I gave some examples above of how each one of us has different vocations in life. In each of these vocations, God works through us to minister to others.

Now, that ministry to others can take on just about any form. The point is that not one of these vocations, or callings, is higher than another. Through our labor, no matter how humble or grand it may seem, God is at work.

May God richly bless each one of you as you serve your neighbor through the vocations that God has given you!

More on the Synod

A brother of mine in the ministry commented on my post from yesterday (on Facebook) regarding the value of being part of a synod by pointing me to Article III of the LCMS Constitution. Here it is as quoted from the 2010 Handbook:

Article III Objectives
The Synod, under Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions, shall—

1. Conserve and promote the unity of the true faith (Eph. 4:3–6; 1 Cor.1:10), work through its official structure toward fellowship with other Christian church bodies, and provide a united defense against schism, sectarianism (Rom. 16:17), and heresy;
2. Strengthen congregations and their members in giving bold witness by word and deed to the love and work of God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and extend that Gospel witness into all the world;
3. Recruit and train pastors, teachers, and other professional church workers and provide opportunity for their continuing growth;
4. Provide opportunities through which its members may express their Christian concern, love, and compassion in meeting human needs;
5. Aid congregations to develop processes of thorough Christian education and nurture and to establish agencies of Christian education such as elementary and secondary schools and to support synodical colleges, universities, and seminaries;
6. Aid congregations by providing a variety of resources and opportunities for recognizing, promoting, expressing, conserving, and defending their confessional unity in the true faith;
7. Encourage congregations to strive for uniformity in church practice, but also to develop an appreciation of a variety of responsible practices and customs which are in harmony with our common profession of faith;
8. Provide evangelical supervision, counsel, and care for pastors, teachers, and other professional church workers of the Synod in the performance of their official duties;
9. Provide protection for congregations, pastors, teachers, and other church workers in the performance of their official duties and the maintenance of their rights;
10. Aid in providing for the welfare of pastors, teachers, and other church workers, and their families in the event of illness, disability, retirement, special need, or death.

Some Bible Class Follow-Up

Is it good to be part of a church body?

A comment was made in Bible Class yesterday that I don’t feel that I answered in the best way possible. As we were doing a very crude treatment of the last 50 or so years of history in American Lutheranism and the various mergers, divisions, and controversies that erupted over that time period among the various Lutheran bodies in America, the statement was made that, looking at what could be considered a “mess” by some, being a non-denominational church sure looked attractive.

On the surface, perhaps. It should first be noted that “non-denominational” is really a misused term anyway. Non-denominational churches, while they may not by officially linked with any one group, are usually some form of Baptist or Pentecostal or a mixture of the two. (Folks who think that non-denominational churches are great because they allow you to hold whatever interpretation of scripture you feel is right should try taking their infant child in for baptism. See how that goes over, then get back to me.)

We are part of a “synod.” Synod is a word that literally means “walking together.” I, for one, would much rather walk together than walk alone. One of the great advantages of being part of the LCMS is the mutual love and support that congregations are able to give to each other and that brother pastors are able to give to each other. Because these pastors and congregations share a confession of faith, there is a much stronger bond than simple agreement on basic Christian principles.

Being part of the LCMS also gives us a pipeline of church workers through our colleges and seminaries. We can have confidence that the church workers prepared by the institutions of our church will share in what we believe, teach, and confess. We have an amazing publishing house (cph.org) that provides us with doctrinally sound materials that have been run through a review process to ensure that the doctrine contained in their materials is pure. Without a structured church body, you lose these types of benefits.

The issues that came about during the 60s and 70s in our church body were, no doubt, were very emotional for many people. However, I shudder to think of where our church body would be right now if it were not for the efforts of faithful Lutherans standing up for what we as the LCMS believe, teach and confess. I even speculated yesterday that the LCMS may have ended up a part of the ELCA (and no, I don’t think that would be a good thing at all) if some of what happened between 1969 and 1974 didn’t happen. That’s a rather extreme bit of speculation, but I do think it might have happened.

The point is, we work together as a synod to make things right. We work together as a synod to correct those who err. Without the synod, we’d kind of be left on our island to figure it all out on our own. I’ll take walking together over walking alone any day.

Have we just been following the teachings of one man (Martin Luther) for the last 500 years?

No, we haven’t. First of all, Luther said lots of stuff that we don’t necessarily agree with. If we said that we believe in what one guy says no matter what, we’d find ourselves in a lot of trouble no matter what. The Lutheran Confessions (contained in the Book of Concord) were not just penned by Luther anyway. The Confessions are not simply something that we throw out there as being on par with scripture (like the Book of Mormon, for example.) The Confessions simply say what scripture already says. Holy Scripture is the only source of doctrine. Now, we make confessions of faith all the time. “I believe in Jesus” is a confession of faith. The Lutheran Confessions are, in essence, a really long confession of faith. I said that yesterday, too, but I wanted to reiterate it once more.

Worldview Everlasting, a blog (that I highly commend to you) run by a group of LCMS pastors (See, I can benefit from being part of a synod by sharing the efforts of my brothers in the ministry who I trust because they believe, teach, and confess the same stuff that I do!), answers many questions of this nature. Here is a link to a question and answer posted about the Confessions: http://www.worldvieweverlasting.com/2011/11/13/more-than-me-and-my-jesus/.

What’s that poncho-like thing you’ve been wearing on communion Sundays?

I was so excited to hear this question! It was one that I was planning on answering even if I was never asked, in fact. You might have noticed that the last two Sundays (Christmas Day and The Circumcision and Name of Jesus (New Year’s Day)) I have disappeared during the offering only to return with an additional article of clothing (we call them “vestments” when we’re referring to what pastors wear when serving). It looks more or less like a white poncho with a design on it. This thing is called a chasuble. It goes over the top of my alb, stoles, and everything else I’ve got on. It’s actually probably quite amusing to watch me put it on. I pretty much toss it in the air and aim my head through the hole.

Why just on certain Sundays? Where did it come from?

Well, my mom made it for me. My mom offered to make me a chasuble. I said that I would indeed like to have one. So she made it. She asked me which color I wanted. Chasubles, like the clothes that hang from the altar and the stole that I wear, come in various colors that correspond with the seasons of the church year. I told her that I would like a white one because the two highest festivals of the church year (Easter and Christmas) use white as the liturgical color. (Since I don’t have one for the other Sundays of the Church Year (yet), you’ll only see it on Sundays where the liturgical color is white.) Mom also let me pick the design I wanted on the front (I chose what is called a Jerusalem Cross (you can read more about that here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_cross). A short time later, I had myself a beautiful chasuble! I like it so much that I wouldn’t mind having a matching set (hint, hint, Mom).

But what, you might ask, is a chasuble?

A chasuble is the outermost liturgical vestment worn by clergy in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Not all pastors wear them. They are certainly not required. I would guess that the majority of pastors in the LCMS don’t wear them. I use it because it highlights that something special, in fact, down-right miraculous is going on at this point in the Divine Service! Jesus is here feeding you His body and blood to eat and to drink for the forgiveness of sins!

As with any vestment (or clergy shirt, for that matter), the point is to draw attention away from me and my personality and keep it on the office that I bear and to Christ who delivers Word and Sacrament through the Office of the Ministry.

I truly am glad when questions like this are asked!

January 2012 Newsletter Article

Members of Trinity who read my blog are getting a special early Christmas gift: my newsletter article for January. Here it is:

New for 2012

In my article for this month, I’m taking the opportunity to tell you about a few new things happening at Trinity for 2012.

Ministry of the Month

Each month at Trinity we will be highlighting a different ministry, mission, or service organization of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. This will include a newsletter article each month giving background information about what the organization does and what we can do to support them in their work. Also, one of the Sundays each month after the worship service, we will take a door offering to support the Ministry of the Month. The purposes of having a Ministry of the Month are to raise awareness of ministries that exist in our church body and to give us an opportunity to put our faith into action by making an impact in the lives of others.

Catechism and Hymn Memory Work

I know, I know, memory work is, well, work. I wish I had a better title for it. Each month in your newsletter there will be a half sheet of paper with a section of Luther’s Small Catechism and a verse of a hymn from Lutheran Service Book printed on it. This is designed to be a tool for family devotions. In his Small Catechism, Luther led off each of the Six Chief Parts with the words “As the head of the family should teach it in a simple way to his household.” In this case, the entire congregation can learn sections of the Catechism together. Sometimes it will be quite short (like this month). Other months it may be a little longer (the meanings to the Articles of the Creed, for example). The hymn verse will always be taken from one of the hymns that we sing during one or more of the services each month.

Private Confession and Absolution

This is actually nothing new. If you come to Bible Class (If you don’t come to Bible Class, you should!), you’ve heard me speak of the great comfort that comes through hearing a pastor directly forgive you for sins committed. Luther speaks very highly of it. In fact, we’ve always had private confession and absolution available, but I’ve never set aside a specific time period that I would be available each week. It will be different in 2012. Each Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning from 8am to 9am, I will be in my office and available for private confession. The north entrance to the narthex will be unlocked during this time, and you can come to the back door of my office through the sanctuary. If 8-9am on those days doesn’t work for you, I am always available by appointment (979-256-7197).

It is my hope that these new additions to what we do at Trinity will be blessing to you and your family as you learn of new ways to serve your neighbor, grow in your faith as individuals and as a family, and receive the forgiveness won for you on the cross by Jesus Christ.

The Variata

Yesterday in Bible Class we talked about Lutheranism as we continue our study of Christian denominations in the United States. You can’t really talk about Lutheranism without talking about the Lutheran Confessions. When we were talking about the Augsburg Confession I noted that Philipp Melanchthon, author of the Augsburg Confession, later made revisions to the Augsburg Confession (referred to as the Variata) that included some changes that made the document more palatable to a wider audience. I also mentioned that it is quite common, especially in the case of older Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod buildings to include the initials “UAC” on the cornerstone. This marking distinguishes that the congregation that uses that building rejects the changes made to the Augsburg Confession by Melanchthon.

I attempted to find the cornerstone of our church building here at Trinity to see if it bore the initials “UAC” or not. But I couldn’t find it. Either the building has never had one, I can’t find it, or it was covered over when the Fellowship Building was added in the 90s. So I included a picture below of a church cornerstone that illustrates what I was talking about. It’s from Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Detroit (there is no reason for my selecting this particular cornerstone, it was just a good picture).

Anyway, I promised yesterday that I would put some more information on the Variata, the altered form of the Augsburg Confession written by Melanchthon and rejected by the Lutherans once and for all in the Formula of Concord. Melanchthon, for all the good that he did in the original Augsburg Confession, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, and the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope, trended toward concession later in life. He clearly wanted to form a greater amount of unity with other protestants in Europe.  The Variata illustrated these tendancies.

I clearly showed some of the sharp distinctions that can be made between Lutheranism and Calvinism in the weeks and months passed in our Bible Class. The Variata blurred these lines so completely that John Calvin himself was able to subscribe to the Variata.

Take, for example, Article X of the Augsburg Confesison:

Concerning the Lord’s Supper it is taught that the true body and blood of Christ are truly present under the form of bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper and are distributed and received there. Rejected, therefore, is also the contrary teaching.

Contrast that with the same article from the Variata:

Concerning the Lord’s Supper, they teach that ‘with’ bread and wine are truly exhibited the body and blood of Christ to those that eat in the Lord’s Supper.

The second version allows for whole lot of wiggle room and ambiguity. No longer does the article insist on the true presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper. This is one of the key differences in the teachings of Lutherans over and against Calvinism. Calvinism teaches that Christ cannot be bodily present here on earth at Christian altars and at His Father’s right hand in heaven at the same time. Lutherans rightly teach that Christ’s resurrected body is fully capable of such a feat. (That’s also kind of what it means when Jesus says “this is my body” and “this is my blood” in His institution of the Lord’s Supper.)

Documents like the Variata led to a great deal of confusion and disunity among Lutherans in the decades following. It was one of the driving forces behind Lutheran theologians developing the Formula of Concord  and eventually to the unification of all the Lutheran Confessions (including the Unaltered Augsburg Confession) in the Book of Concord in 1580.

It was a classic case of unionism and everything that’s wrong with it. Unity is a good thing when done properly, but this type of unity is not unity at all in reality. Instead of getting everybody “on the same page,” everybody is left on their own page. (They just lie about it and say they’re all on the same page . )

Philadelphia Lutheran Ministries

There is no doubt that often we associate the word “mission” with missionary work overseas. When we do consider mission opportunities here in our own country, we often tend to focus on suburban-type missions. I encourage you to read the article “Philadelphia Lutheran Ministries: Witness, Mercy and Life Together in the City” in the most recent issue of For the Life of the World (the magazine of Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana). Rev. Joshua Gale there shares his work as a missionary to the poor and homeless in Philadelphia. You’ll read there that he is literally walking the streets and ministering to the people on the streets of Philadelphia, providing for their physical and spiritual needs. Cool stuff.

Since I know that probably none of you have ever seen this publication before, here’s a link to read it online: http://ctsfw.edu/Page.aspx?pid=794

Are we having a Baptism today?

I wish. Seriously, is there anything cooler than Baptism?

Seriously, though, I get asked this question frequently on Sunday mornings. The reason? The baptismal font is sitting right there in the middle of the chancel area for the whole world to see. You see, the baptismal font at Trinity is totally movable. It’s not nailed to the floor. It’s not made of stone or concrete or anything like that. So in the past, when there was a baptism it was moved to where it sits right now: in plain sight for everyone to see. But when there wasn’t a baptism it was moved off to the side and out of the way.

There was no baptism at church yesterday. Why was the font sitting there? I’m going to take a somewhat scenic route to explain this. After all I could just say that I put it there because I wanted it there. That would be a true answer, but hardly a helpful one.

It goes back to what is central in the church: Word and Sacrament. These are the Means of Grace. They are the way that Holy Spirit delivers to us the good stuff that Jesus won for us through his death on the cross. Included under this heading are the preached Word of God, Holy Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. Take a look at the picture below that I took of our chancel area this afternoon. The three pieces of furniture that no doubt stand out are the baptismal font (where we are brought into the faith), the pulpit (where the preached Word of God is proclaimed), and the altar (from where Christ’s body and blood are distributed). These three pieces of furniture are visual reminders to us of the means by which God delivers his good gifts to us.

Often we tend to think of baptism that happened once in our lives. Once it’s done, it’s done. We can just shove that font back in the corner because it serves no use for us anymore. Now I’m not trying to say that putting the baptismal font aside is wrong or that it should be nailed to the floor where it currently sits. What I am trying to do is remind you of the incredible gifts that you received in your baptism. When you look at that font, I want you to remember that it was there that you were wrapped in the clothes of Christ’s righteousness. It was there that the old Adam in you was drowned. It was there that you were raised to a new life in Christ.

At the congregation that I was assigned to for my field education during my time at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis (Zion Lutheran Church in Pevely, MO), the baptismal font was actually attached to the floor centered in front of the altar. It was from there that my supervising pastor, Pastor Mart Thompson, encouraged us to speak the Declaration of Grace following the Confession of Sins when we led the liturgy. He encouraged us to even place our hand rather deliberately on the font so that the people would make the visual connection between baptism and forgiveness. It very may well have gone unnoticed yesterday as I spoke the words of Absolution (forgiveness of sins) that I was resting my left hand on the baptismal font.

That is precisely why the baptismal font sits where it does right now. Whether we are actually having a baptism on a given Sunday or not, I want you to know that it is in your baptism that God makes you his own. It is in your baptism that the benefits won by Christ on the cross for you were applied directly to you by water and the Word.