Two Things Most People Don't Believe, But They Should:

1.  I can die at any moment.  Life is much more fragile than I perceive it to be.

2.  Jesus Christ is who says he was and therefore the only way to eternal life in Heaven.  Believing that Jesus was just a "wonderfully wise man" and/or "there are many other ways to heaven (buddhism, hinduism, being a nice person, etc.)" will NOT grant me eternal salvation and the only alternative to eternal salvation in heaven is eternal damnation in hell.  

That is really all the Bible is about, folks.  Please don't waste your time or mine positing any other path in life OR death.

Finally, believe it or not, this IS a loving statement.  No?  Well, I could have left it unsaid.  Don't you.  If you believe.  If you don't believe, do.  For you own sake.

Are We Fools to Be Christians? St. Paul Said So....

Pastor Lassman's Easter (Resurrection) sermon held forth on what of my favorite scriptural passages (1 Corinthians 15:19).

Please listen to or read Pastor's sermon

My comments on the text...

In his first letter to the  Greek church at Corinth, Greece, St. Paul invoked a theme that seems particularly timely in our increasingly "Greek" culture in contemporary America.  Greek culture has resonated through the ages and, along with Christianity, presents a parallel but opposing influence on western civilization.  The Greek way of thought emphasizes multiple Gods, created by humans, who are accessed by human earthly achievement in the arts, intellect and sensual pursuits.  "Achieve great things on earth, eat, drink and be merry", pretty much sums up the Hellenistic way of looking at life.  It is one of many pagan religions that have flourished in the absence of God's Word.

Don't your agnostic, atheist friends of which we seem to have more and more these days seem think to themselves or even say out loud, "how foolish you Christians are to waste a lifetime of Sundays going to church!"

Paul must have heard similar admonitions from these Greeks in 30ish AD Greece and he responded in sarcastic agreement, "If only in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are [indeed] of all people most to be pitied".

Boil down the Gospel to it's essence (John 3:16) and Christianity addresses only one big issue in life.  You can be an outwardly good person without Christ.  You can get along fine in this life without Christ.  In fact it is probably much easier to be popular among most people you are likely to encounter in contemporary US coastal urban life.  Be an outspoken Christian?  Naaah.  Go along to get along.  Easy peasy.

So why suffer the consequences of being a Christian?  Because "in fact Christ has been raised from the dead", continues St. Paul.  If Christ was not resurrected from the dead then we will not also be raised as he promised.  To study Christ as a philosopher or a "wise man" is utter folly.  As C.S. Lewis points out in Mere Christianity, Christ was either who he said he was or he was raving lunatic.

But Christ was raised from the dead.  The dual ruling classes (Romans and Jewish Hierarchs) had every motive and all means to produce the dead body of Our Lord and Savior after His Resurrection, but could not.  Many people saw Jesus in his resurrected and Holy state in many different places and testified as such.  Paul himself was confronted by Christ Himself on the road to Damascus decades after Christ's resurrection.

And it was the Resurrected Christ who intoned the Apostles (and us) to "go and make disciples of all nations, teaching. preaching and baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:16-20).  We can't very well do that in silence.  Christ is no less clear, forthright and violently demanding of us as Christians on any other topic than our duty to spread His word.  (Luke 19:11-27)

Such is our faith.  Such is our eternal salvation.  We believe in Christ because He has destroyed the elephant in the room for us all... Death!!  We are "grateful alive" forever in Him!!

Yes, "the message of the cross is folly to those who perish" (1Cor 1:18). Paul said that too in this same letter to the Greek church at Corinth so long ago.  It's hard to be a Christian.  Hard.  But is it not more foolish to perish?  Amen.

"Lost Boys" from Sudan or Are We the Lost Ones?...

In truth these are missionaries of Christ witness to an increasingly arrogant and faithless American culture.  Just sayin'...

http://vimeo.com/26288723

 

Farewell to Alleluia/Song of Gladness (and Mourning)...

It sounds like a contradiction, does it not?  That there would be song that is both a one of mourning and gladness.  But the Christian understands ...

Each year on the last Sunday before Lent (and this seems to have come quite quickly, already!), we sing "Farewell to Alleluia" at the close of the service.  This hymn marks the prelude to the five weeks of Lent before Easter week when meditate on our sinful state for which Christ died... five weeks or forty days of solemnity before we can celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord, our resurrection in Him and thus return to celebratory alleluias.

As the moving lyrics of this hymn intone...

Alleluia cannot always be sung while here below;

Alleluia our transgressions;

Make us for awhile forego;

For the solemn time is coming;

When our tears for sin must flow;

In other words, in order understand and acknowledge that depth of sacrifice given TO us and FOR us by God in the death of his beloved and perfect Son we must feel, in our admittedly small and human way, a portion of mourning.  

But the hymn also intones the joy that ultimately will be ours through salvation to eternal joy made possible only by this  Holy sacrifice in the death of Our Lord on the cross.

I pray that you were able to attend a divine service this day and felt the depth of this uniquely bittersweet blessing, as expressed in the hymn, Alleluia, Song of Gladness.

I also pray that you will attend services, pray and meditate throughout the Lenten season on yours and all of our human shortcomings and do so with the sure knowledge of and in the Name of Our Savior Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Yours in Christ,

-=COL

P.S. It is interesting to note that retiring the alleluia, while not a uniquely Lutheran liturgical feature, is practiced by orthodox Lutheran congregations as well "in Traditional Catholic and Anglican" congregations.
Here is an audio of the 10th century chant in Latin with text in English.

Other material ...

https://historictrinity.org/alleluia.html  (Amazing LCMS Church in downtown Detroit)

http://www.historiclectionary.com/2009/02/farewell-to-alleluia/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WRztdx3pgo

The Holy Spirit at Work Again at the Blessing of Jesus at the Temple...

In today's sermon delivered on December 30 by Pastor Mankin, we are present at the blessing of Jesus outside the Temple.  Simeon, an old, righteous, devout man who has been told by the Holy Spirit that he would not pass from this life until he had seen the Messiah, "the consolation of Israel" in the flesh.

The text for today's sermon is Luke 2:22-40

This scripture provides many reflections about the nature of Christ, not the least of which is yet another prophecy, this time by Simeon, that this Christ, delivered to us at this time, is THE Christ, the promised Messiah of the Old Testament, the Savior, as opposed to some other Messiah that is still yet to come alluded to by modern day Judaism.

The thrust of Pastor Mankin's sermon this day, entitled "Nothing More to See Here" follows this theme and focuses on the event's essential theme of completion.  Simeon's famous utterance (also included in our weekly worship liturgy),  "Lord now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples; a light for the revelation to the Gentiles, and for the glory to your people, Israel."

For now that the consolation of Israel has been seen, as promised to Simeon by the Holy Spirit, he may depart in peace, peace with God from this mortal existence unto everlasting peace in eternity with God.

Again, the inspiration for Simeon's prophecy, as all divine inspiration given to us in Grace, pointing us to saving faith in Jesus Christ comes to us from the Holy Spirit.  As stated in the reading, "...and the Holy Spirit was upon him (Simeon).  And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ."  Luke seems determined that we understand the role of the Holy Spirit in inspiring faith in us all.  Luke seems to be admonishing the importance of a Trinitarian understanding of the Holy  Spirit.

Christ is brought to the temple, in faith already, because of the faith of his parents.  For God had carefully chosen Mary and Joseph as faithful servants, steeped in the Holy Spirit.   "What if", Pastor Mankin intones, "God had chosen just any parents"...parents of a pedestrian spiritual persuasion, as common in Jerusalem of Christ's day as in America now, believing, "Oh, we will just let little Jesus be exposed to a nice variety of spiritual persuasions and he can choose for himself which suits him best."   Our active faith is more often primarily a function of parental rather than societal context.

Finally, Simeon's famous words of celebration in a life complete in faith and a peaceful departure from the turmoil and violence of life on earth is a lesson in faith for all of us.  A life lived in faith IS a complete life, whether or not we achieve the less important material or status goals laid before us or chosen by us in life.  Our mission in Christ has been fulfilled if we have acted in faith... not necessarily a perfect faith, but a faith repentance in love of Christ as inspired in us by the Holy Spirit.

Hallelujah!!  Rejoice that your faith will deliver you to a death in peace with God!!

Of course there is even more divine inspiration in Pastor Mankin's sermon.  Please read and listen if the Spirit so moves you.

Understanding the Trinity... the Unique Importance of the Holy Spirit...

Mary Goes to Elizabeth...

This story comes up during Advent and illustrates most vividly how the Holy Spirit works in us and why it is important for Christians to understand the unique character of this aspect of God, the Holy Spirit.  A proper understanding of the Holy Spirit is vital to understanding how faith works in us and how we are saved.

The reading for this Sunday's sermon is based on Luke 1:39-45.  In these passages, Mary, having been told by the angel Gabriel that she, a virgin, is to become miraculously pregnant with the Savior of the World, Jesus Christ, is incredulous, distraught and confused at such an overwhelming and pressure-packed turn of events that she makes a two week walking journey to seek the council of the only living person who might understand her great fear and trepidation, her cousin Elizabeth who herself, even though too old and barren to do so, is pregnant to give birth to John the Baptist, Christ's usher, announcer and predecessor.

"One comes after me whose sandals I am not fit to carry".  "Behold, THE Lamb of God".-- John the Baptist

In it's climactic moment, this passage states, as Mary enters the house of Elizabeth, "and when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb.  And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, 'Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!' "

The meeting between the women is really a meeting between John (then in Elizabeth's womb and God, in The Holy Spirit, speaking through Elizabeth, who is "filled with the Holy Spirit".  For in coming to Elizabeth for council, Mary actually receives the very council of God in the Holy Spirit, Who is God along with Christ and Holy Spirit.

The conversation goes on when Elizabeth asks, "and why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  For behold when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.  And blessed is she (Mary) who believed there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord."  The last sentence uttered by Elizabeth is a proclamation by the Holy Spirit.

The dialog between the women (distinct from that of the Holy Spirit)  is passive in its form.  Elizabeth receives Mary and has the Holy Spirit speak through her.  John leaps from within the womb. Mary believes that the Lord will be born unto her even as she doubts that she believes it, as pronounced by the Holy Spirit through Elizabeth.  These women did not volunteer or decide that they would be mothers of John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ, or that they would even be mothers at all.  God made that choice for them.

A minor point of this scripture, other than describing how Christ and John were to come into the world by miraculous births, is a deeper point about choice and the role choice plays in our Christian faith and in the plan God has for each of us in this life.  None!  Christianity (and this is an anathema to the American spirit of free choice) is not a religion of choice.  Our faith is granted to us all, all of us, by God himself through the Holy Spirit, the third person of our Triune God.

"Decision" based theology, which is popular in America today and prevalent in many "community churches" and Mormonism, denies, at least in part, the Holy Spirit and the vitally important theological precept that our faith is a pure gift from God delivered to us by the Holy Spirit of the Triune God.

Some of our closest brothers and sisters in Christ insist that this understanding of faith by grace alone is a "fine point" of theology and as worthy of discussion as is wondering "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin".  And I will allow that one can be saved without having a proper understanding of faith by God's grace alone.

But lacking the understanding of faith by grace alone endangers that very faith.  Many a poor soul's faith has been lost due to this misconstruction.  We see these lost souls all around us every day.  How often do hear the cliche that Christians are hypocrites because they do not live perfectly in accordance with Christian law?  How often does one worry that his or her faith is not perfect therefore he or she cannot be saved, that if one doubts his own faith that person may well perish in hell rather than live in eternal heavenly bliss?  And, by the way, why should I bother because if God existed and He is good, he would not put His people through such insurmountable hoops to achieve salvation so God must just be an idealistic creation of man and, therefore I reject religion and will just try to be a good person.

I hear these things almost every time I speak to a non-Christian about my faith and even many who call themselves Christians.

The thinking above stems from doubting God's role in our lives and represents such a pervasive cliche that I would argue that it encapsulates the preeminent attitude toward God in America today. Again, this failure to passively accept but rather struggle with our faith stems from the fundamental failure to understand that faith in God is given to us by God through the Holy Spirit, which is God and through the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ, the second person of the triune God.

Liberal Protestants, secular agnostics, Universalist Unitarians, Ecumenicals on the liberal side and Calvinists, "Evangelicals", Mormons, Baptists and Seventh Day Adventists  on the conservative side, along with Roman Catholics and even many Lutherans all imperil their faith by this well meaning failure to understand what God in the Holy Spirit does for us.  If you retain that saving faith in your heart it is given to you as a free gift from God and nobody can take it away except yourself if wholly and consciously reject it.  And fretting over whether or not you are doing enough to retain your faith has caused more well meaning folks to lose faith in God than any other single factor.

19th century Mormon scholar, Oliver Cawdry argued that "salvation through grace alone is the cause of more sin"... than any other theological precept.  Yet, what good is the prevention of sin if the cost is loss of saving faith?

On the right... "you must make a decision to and be re-born" (yet we do not actively participate in our birth so this interpretation of re-birth in Christ is flawed, prima facie.)  And you must work to show God your faith in order to be admitted into heaven.  (Again, unsupported in canonical scripture, yes touted by Catholics, Mormons and Evangelicals).

On the left...  "Christianity is just one of many paths to God.  Just be a good person and if there is a god or something like a god, you will go to heaven, or not.  Who cares.  Just be a "good" person.  Not at all the message of Holy Spirit, sadly, and a happy, heathen damnation.

But the saving message of faith by God's grace alone, delivered by the Holy Spirit, makes no logical sense... that one cannot do anything to gain their own salvation but cannot actively lose it is wholly illogical.  And one who tries to reconcile this concept to logical will either end up in one of the heresies above or in utter despair that they are not worthy of the gift.

It was this very despair that caused Martin Luther to rebel against the contradictory "works righteous" teachings within the Roman Catholic church and finally come to grips with the idea that in faith, not works lies our salvation.

We are moved by God to faith.  The Holy Spirit moves us, via Word and Sacrament, toward Jesus Christ, whose death on the cross satisfied our debt to the Holy Father's for original sin to which we are born.  We are saved, passively, inevitably and completely by the workings of God through the Son and Holy Spirit.

Rejoice!

Once we understand this, we are liberated to enjoy our salvation and inspired to do good works in gratitude for this miraculous salvation which comes to us free of charge.  Enjoy, understand and be free in your faith with the full knowledge that, in your humanity, your faith will not always be perfect but that it will save you in the end.   Your faith may be seem tiny and insignificant at times, but it is powerful and real.  You are saved even by your tiny and imperfect faith.  .

As Jesus intones in Luke 17:6, "If you had faith like a tiny grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'be uprooted and planted in the sea and it would obey you."

Amen

Holiday or Business Travel? Don't Catch the Wrong Plane!

Pastor Lassman gave a rather clever sermon just before Advent, likening our earthly life to a wait in the airport.  Catch the correct flight and be blessed with eternal salvation and life in eternity with God.  Wander on the wrong plane and eternal damnation awaits.

This is the strong Christian message that even many who call themselves Christians do not want to accept... that there is a heaven and a hell, that our choices here on earth have eternal consequences for us.

The airport in this sermon is like life on earth in many ways, with people who want to help keep you secure, provide you with creature comforts and make sure that get on your correct flight.  But life is also full of scammers who want to misguide you, take advantage of you and distract you from your destiny with God.

Listen and read here.