Abortion is a Blessing?

This has to be a really, really bad April fools joke, right? I mean, seriously, the Episcopalians couldn't go this far, could they!? Here's a portion of a sermon from the new dean of the Episcopal Divinity School, the "Rev." Katherine Hancock Ragsdale. Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

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- Finally, the last sign I want to identify relates to my fellow clergy. Too often even those who support us can be heard talking about abortion as a tragedy. Let’s be very clear about this:

When a woman finds herself pregnant due to violence and chooses an abortion, it is the violence that is the tragedy; the abortion is a blessing.

When a woman finds that the fetus she is carrying has anomalies incompatible with life, that it will not live and that she requires an abortion – often a late-term abortion – to protect her life, her health, or her fertility, it is the shattering of her hopes and dreams for that pregnancy that is the tragedy; the abortion is a blessing.

When a woman wants a child but can’t afford one because she hasn’t the education necessary for a sustainable job, or access to health care, or day care, or adequate food, it is the abysmal priorities of our nation, the lack of social supports, the absence of justice that are the tragedies; the abortion is a blessing.

And when a woman becomes pregnant within a loving, supportive, respectful relationship; has every option open to her; decides she does not wish to bear a child; and has access to a safe, affordable abortion – there is not a tragedy in sight -- only blessing. The ability to enjoy God’s good gift of sexuality without compromising one’s education, life’s work, or ability to put to use God’s gifts and call is simply blessing.

These are the two things I want you, please, to remember – abortion is a blessing and our work is not done. Let me hear you say it: abortion is a blessing and our work is not done. Abortion is a blessing and our work is not done. Abortion is a blessing and our work is not done.

And here's a bit on doctors and their consciences:

But let’s be clear, there’s a world of difference between those who engage in such civil disobedience, and pay the price, and doctors and pharmacists who insist that the rest of the world reorder itself to protect their consciences – that others pay the price for their principles.

This isn’t particularly complicated. If your conscience forbids you to carry arms, don’t join the military or become a police officer. If you have qualms about animal experimentation, think hard before choosing to go into medical research. And, if you’re not prepared to provide the full range of reproductive health care (or prescriptions) to any woman who needs it then don’t go into obstetrics and gynecology, or internal or emergency medicine, or pharmacology. Choose another field! We’ll respect your consciences when you begin to take responsibility for them.

Happy April 1st!

Britons Seek 'de-baptism'

In a sign of how upside down the thinking of the unbelieving world can be, this article reports that baptism is now considered by some to be a form of child abuse! I can't help but think that these "certificates of de-baptism" are just another way for someone to make a few bucks. It's certainly sad to see the sincerity and passion with which these people cling to their foolishness (Psalm 14:1). Unfortunately, the United States seems to be following the same trend lines as western Europe. The response of the Church in this article isn't all that encouraging, either.

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More than 100,000 Britons have recently downloaded "certificates of de-baptism" from the Internet to renounce their Christian faith.

The initiative launched by a group called the National Secular Society (NSS) follows atheist campaigns here and elsewhere, including a London bus poster which triggered protests by proclaiming "There's probably no God."

"We now produce a certificate on parchment and we have sold 1,500 units at three pounds (4.35 dollars, 3.20 euros) a pop," said NSS president Terry Sanderson, 58.

John Hunt, a 58-year-old from London and one of the first to try to be "de-baptised," held that he was too young to make any decision when he was christened at five months old.

The male nurse said he approached the Church of England to ask it to remove his name. "They said they had sought legal advice and that I should place an announcement in the London Gazette," said Hunt, referring to one of the official journals of record of the British government.

So that's what he did -- his notice of renouncement was published in the Gazette in May 2008 and other Britons have followed suit.

Michael Evans, 66, branded baptising children as "a form of child abuse" -- and said that when he complained to the church where he was christened he was told to contact the European Court of Human Rights.

The Church of England said its official position was not to amend its records. "Renouncing baptism is a matter between the individual and God," a Church spokesman told AFP.

"We are not a 'membership' church, and do not keep a running total of the number of baptised people in the Church of England, and such totals do not feature in the statistics that we regularly publish," he added.

. . .

LCMS Seeking to Sell KFUO

Here's a St. Louis today article on the prospective sale of the LCMS-owned station KFUO. And here's a helpful clarification of some important matters by Todd Wilken.

Thoughts and Prayers

There was a tragic event in the area yesterday in which three people were killed in an accident on the way to their church. The company whose truck caused the accident put out a statement which included the phrase, “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family.” That phrase seems to have become the common cliche whenever some tragedy occurs. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the grieving.”

I don’t know if I’m just being nitpicky, but that phrase bugs me. First of all, I’m not sure what it even means that our thoughts go out to someone–just that we’re thinking of them? And much more importantly, our prayers go out to God, not to any person. Are we too uncomfortable to actually speak God’s name? Is prayer mentioned just as a way of sounding generically spiritual or religious?

Putting the best construction on this, what people probably mean to say, of course, is that those who lost loved ones are in their thoughts and in their prayers. How that got contorted into such bad English and bad theology, I don’t know. Why can’t we just say what we mean? “Our hearts ache for the family in their loss. We are thinking of them in this difficult time and are praying to God for them.” May the peace of Christ the crucified be granted to all the grieving.

Rescinding the Conscience Clause

From Lutherans for Life:

Many people are aware that President Obama is in the process of rescinding a regulation from late in the Bush administration allowing health-care workers to refuse to provide services based on moral objections.

What many do not realize is that the required public comment phase began March 10 and ends April 9.

It is also very difficult to find the link to provide such comment. Click here for the link―and please pass along.

Jim Lamb

Lutherans For Life

And Now for Something Completely Different

A little comic relief for the weekend--here's an oldie but a goody from Tim Hawkins. No offense intended to Carrie Underwood fans.



And if you enjoy this, here's some more on parenting and marriage.

Tragic Coincidence

This is certainly strange if it is true:

"Some of you may have seen the major news story of the private plane that crashed into a Montana cemetery, killing 7 children and 7 adults.

"But what the news sources fail to mention is that the Catholic Holy Cross Cemetery owned by Resurrection Cemetery Association in Butte - contains a memorial for local residents to pray the rosary, at the 'Tomb of the Unborn'. This memorial, located a short distance west of the church, was erected as a dedication to all babies who have died because of abortion.

". . . The family who died in the crash near the location of the abortion victim's memorial, is the family of Irving 'Bud' Feldkamp, owner of the largest for-profit abortion chain in the nation."

I don't necessarily like the tone of the rest of the linked article--it seems to verge on gloating just a bit. Luke 13:1-5 needs to be kept clearly in mind. But still, what a strange and tragic coincidence.

"Do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:4-5). God have mercy on us all for the sake of Christ.

Mocked

Here's this evening's sermon on the Passion reading, Matthew 27:1-31, especially the concluding verses.

The Greater Moses, the Greater Manna

Today's sermon with audio is here. And yes, I do believe that John 6 is sacramental.

Special Olympics

After our President's recent gaffe comparing his bowling to being "like Special Olympics," here's a nice reminder of someone actually speaking in a classy way on the subject.

Youth Ministry

I hate to post a link to a link, but the video here is very entertaining if you've got an offbeat sense of humor and have had any exposure at all to fundy/evangelical style youth ministry. Pastor Cwirla's comments about all this are good, too.

Funniest Fake Political Headline of the Day

From Fark: "Newest Obama appointee's office raided by FBI. Left finally comes to terms that Obama is not Jesus. Jesus could actually build a cabinet."

Forsaken

Tonight's homily on Matthew 26:31-56.

A Couple of Good Articles

From Pastor Greg Alms, on rituals, darkness, death, sleep, resurrection. . . : Bedtime Prayers

And from Mollie Ziegler Hemingway on the Gay Rights movement and Proposition 8: California's Temper Tantrum

Wrestling with God

Today's sermon, with text and audio, is here.

Justification

I don't know much about Hans Joachim Iwand, but I do like this quote of his (passed along from the Rev. John Frahm):

"An evangelical church which looks upon the doctrine of justification by faith as a self-evident banality one no longer needs to dwell upon because other problems are more pressing has robbed itself of the possibility of arriving at solutions to such problems. It will only tear itself further apart. If the article of justification is removed from the center we will very soon no longer know why we are and must remain evangelical Christians. Then we will strive for the unity of the church and sacrifice the purity of the gospel; we will expect more from church order and government, from the reform of ecclesiastical office and church discipline, than these can deliver. One will flatter piety and despise doctrine; one will run the risk of becoming tolerant where one should be radical and radical where one should be tolerant - in short, the standards will be skewed and therewith also what is necessary and right in all reforms for which we struggle today will no longer be comprehensible."

Betrayal

A homily on last night's Gospel, Matthew 26:1-30.

What makes the pastor happy

Amen to this. All it really takes to make a pastor happy is for his people faithfully to receive his preaching and his ministry, that is, to receive the preaching of Christ and the giving out of His gifts.

Trying Out Audio Player

I've been wanting to post audio here from time to time, especially sermons. And so I'm testing out an audio player for that purpose. (Thanks to Jon Kohlmeier for getting the player and html code!) Since I don't have a sermon I want to put up at the moment, I offer the following pieces of music performed by my daughter Hannah at Lutheran Summer Music camp back in the summer of '07. (Hopefully my pride in her doesn't conflict too much with an appropriate sense of Lenten humility.) She's been on my mind today, anyway, since she's on a trip out of state this week with the high school choir. The first and last recordings are trio/concerto pieces by Dvorak; the second one is a solo piano piece by Debussy. All of them really come into their own around the 1:00 minute mark. Hopefully this will work. Enjoy!








Update: I see that LSM is being spotlighted in Lutheran Witness this month--for whatever that's worth.

Recessional

(Leaving the realm of theology for a moment and delving into a bit of politics:)
Victor Davis Hanson is an excellent thinker and writer, and this article is a good example of that. It's worth reading all the way through. (Of course, the above comes with the disclaimer that this is purely my own view and not necessarily that of Mt. Zion Lutheran Church.)

Resistance is Futile

After many months of resisting getting a Facebook account, I've finally relented. Several old friends at my gradeschool, Trinity Lutheran School in Delray Beach, Florida, got in touch over the weekend and are trying to get a reunion scheduled, and Facebook is a good way for us to reaquaint ourselves in the process. How strange to see the old pictures of us on a class trip or at the 6th grade dance! Lots of memories come flooding back. Most of my classmates have aged better than me, but I can live with that.

The Second Adam

In the Garden of Eden man exalts himself to be a god in place of God. He succumbs to the temptation of the devil, and eating of the forbidden fruit he receives death. But in the sin-cursed wilderness God humbles Himself to become man in place of man. Jesus does not eat but fasts and bears the onslaughts of the devil for us that we may be restored to life. In the Garden man tries to win independence from God, to be his own master, to be in charge of his own life, and in the end man cuts himself off from all that is good. But in the wilderness, Jesus depends and relies on His heavenly Father, submitting to His will and looking to Him for all that He needs, in order that He might restore us to faith and to a right relationship with God. In the Garden, the tame and gentle animals that God had created fell under the curse of man's rebellion, turning against one another and against man himself. But in the wilderness, Jesus lived among the wild beasts (Mark 1:13), that He might experience the full effects of the fall and restore His creatures and renew all of creation.

It is for this reason that the Scriptures refer to Jesus as the second Adam. He came to undo and overcome the work of the first Adam. You and I are one with the first Adam. His blood flows through each of us. His rebellion dwells within us. We have participated in his sin. We are of the same nature. In Adam, we die. However, in Christ, we live. For we have also been made one with Christ through our baptism into His body. Jesus bore the sin of our old Adam and put it to death that we might be raised to a new life with Him. Now Christ's blood flows through each of us who have been made to be His members, particularly as we receive His blood and body in the Sacrament. God's love and faithfulness dwell within us by His Word and Spirit. St. Peter says that we have actually been made to be partakers of the divine nature through the flesh of Christ (2 Peter 1:4).

(The rest of this 2007 sermon is here.)

Update on Issues, Etc.

Here are a couple of links on the legal matters regarding Issues, Etc., the Synod's Board of Directors, and President Kieschnick.

Timeline of trademark and other issues

About President Kieschnick's memo

The Crucifix is in Place

Before:


After:


The icon of Jesus that was on the altar is now over the doorway entering the church from the narthex. In its place is the tabernacle with an icon of the Last Supper.

And one more:


We had to add the white edging so that the beams of the cross didn't get lost in the dark background. That's why the installation of the crucifix was delayed until today--just in time for Ash Wednesday services!

O-Bingo

This certainly makes listening to the President's speeches more fun. From Americans for tax reform.

The Body of Christ

A nice post from Mt. Zion member and seminarian Nathan Fischer.

No Actors

I saw portions of the Academy Awards last evening. I enjoyed the opening number by Hugh Jackman and a couple other bits along the way. But the overall self-importance of the evening brought to mind some things I preached in an Ash Wednesday sermon a couple of years ago. Here's a portion of that sermon (which is hopefully better than what Sean Penn preached last night).

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This coming weekend is the Academy Awards. With much fanfare and media attention, the movie industry will congratulate itself and hand out Oscars to those they believe have excelled in the craft of acting. Now I enjoy movies and watch them fairly regularly, but I do think it is a sign of the decline of our culture that actors are considered to be among the most important people in society. We pay all sorts of attention to people who are really good at faking like they're somebody they're not. Our most popular form of entertainment is to watch accomplished pretenders, those who can give the illusion of reality, which then evaporates and is gone when the cameras are turned off.

I bring this up not to bash Hollywood–-that's like shooting fish in barrel. Rather, I mention this because in today's Gospel Jesus warns us not to be like the hypocrites. And the word for "hypocrite" literally means "actor" or "someone who impersonates another." What Jesus is saying is, "Don't be an actor or an impersonator when it comes to the faith. You may be able to fool others with a show of piety, but God sees the way things truly are. And He's the One you should be paying attention to."

In ancient theater, actors would wear masks over their faces. These masks would hide the actor's true identity from the audience, and the attention would then be drawn to the character he was playing. To this day many theaters will display two masks, one smiling, the other frowning as emblems of this past practice. In our day to day life, we also often put on a mask, a pretend face that conceals the truth of who we are or what we're thinking and feeling. Some are covering the pain of a failing relationship. Others are masking some self-destructive addiction. Still others hide the scars left by loved ones or by complete strangers. All of us try to camouflage our sins and failings and imperfections.

Jesus reminds us that in His church, there are to be no masks. There is to be no faking like everything's going just perfectly, no pretending like you have no struggles with sin in your life. Here, especially as Lent begins, the disguise comes off. We can be honest in the presence of a merciful God, and before one another as His children. Somehow people get the impression that going to church is about showing that you've got it all together spiritually. The last thing you'd want to do is reveal your sins to your pastor. Why, he might actually think you're a sinner who needs forgiveness (as if that would be shocking news). Martin Luther once commented, "May God in His mercy save me from a Christian Church where there are only saints. I want to be with that little company and in that Church where there are faint-hearted and weak people, the sick, and those who are aware of their sin, misery, and wretchedness and who feel it, who cry to God without ceasing and sigh unto Him for comfort and help." (Day by Day We Magnify Thee, p. 226)

(The whole sermon is here.)

Since the Ad Mentions Jesus . . .

Why is it Good for the Body of Christ to be Portrayed on the Cross?

(The following appeared in the Mt. Zion newsletter and formed the basis of some of our discussion leading up to the decision to purchase a crucifix to go over our altar. The crucifix is a memorial gift given in honor of Lorraine Hintze.)

The cross has been a symbol of the Christian faith ever since the days of the apostles. Sometimes, the cross is portrayed by itself; other times it is portrayed with the body of Christ on it. Of course, both of these types of crosses–the plain cross and the crucifix–are good and perfectly acceptable ways of symbolizing the Christian faith.

However, there are several reasons why Lutherans might prefer the crucifix, the cross with the body of Christ on it. First of all, the Scriptures clearly state, “We preach Christ crucified” (1 Corinthians 1:23). “I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). While Jesus, of course, is now risen from the dead, the fact remains that the center and focus of our preaching is the sacrifice that Christ made for our sins on the cross. And what better portrays for our eyes the Gospel we hear with our ears but the crucifix? There we see visibly a representation of what our Lord did to redeem us from the burden of our sin. There we see Him on His throne, with His crown of thorns, exercising His royal self-giving love for us. The crucifix portrays very clearly the Scriptural Gospel of Christ the crucified.

Some prefer the empty cross because, they say, it portrays the resurrection. However, that is not really true. The fact of the matter is that all the crosses of all the thousands of criminals who were crucified by the Romans were eventually empty. The bodies were taken down and buried or left for dogs and ravens to eat. All an empty cross means is that the dead body was removed from it. Again, there is certainly nothing wrong with using a plain cross–I have several myself. But we shouldn’t think that it proclaims the resurrection any more than an empty electric chair or hangman’s noose proclaims the resurrection.

Some prefer the plain cross because they think of it as Lutheran and the crucifix as Roman Catholic. But that is simply not the case. Many if not most of the crosses in the churches of the Reformation in the days of Martin Luther would have been crucifixes. Luther never spoke against having the body of Christ portrayed on a cross. It was only things that obscured the Gospel that Luther sought to reform. It is true that many of the non-Lutheran Protestant churches had only plain crosses, since their misguided theology caused them to forbid the use of any statues or sculptures in connection with their worship. But that has never been the theology of Lutheran Churches.

Our theology has always been to emphasize the physical, concrete realities of our salvation in Christ–that He took on our flesh and blood in the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary, that He died in the flesh for our sins, and that He now gives us His true body and blood in the Sacrament of the Altar for our forgiveness. Portraying the body of Christ on the cross fits perfectly with our Scriptural belief that we now receive that same body in Holy Communion. And in fact St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 11:26, “As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.”

Using a crucifix can sometimes seem offensive to our sensibilities; we prefer something more pleasant to look at. But the truth is that the Gospel itself is offensive. St. Paul writes that it is a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. But to us who are being saved, the message of the cross is the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:18,23). Though Christ the crucified was despised and rejected by men and “we hid our faces from Him” (Isaiah 53:3), we now look to the cross in faith and find our life there. In a very real sense it is beautiful for us to behold. We are not ashamed of the Gospel of the crucified One, for it is the power of God to save us (Romans 1:16).

-Pastor Koch-

Sneak Peak

I went down to Stempers today to see the crucifix that we had ordered to replace our current plain cross. I was very pleased. It is pictured above in the store. It was made by the Demetz art studio in Italy. Right now the plan is to have it installed on Monday so that our first service with it in place is Ash Wednesday. Dedication of the cross will take place on the First Sunday in Lent.

Nothing New Under the Sun

In case you didn't think Roman Catholics still did indulgences, here's an article which demonstrates that they're alive and well. You can't buy indulgences outright any more, as in Luther's day. But the underlying problem of human merit contributing toward one's ultimate salvation, taking time off of purgatory, etc. hasn't changed or diminished one bit.

I especially like this quote: "(This year's offer of indulgences) appeared prominently on the Web site of the Diocese of Brooklyn, which announced that any Catholic could receive an indulgence at any of six churches on any day, or at dozens more on specific days, by fulfilling the basic requirements: going to confession, receiving holy communion, saying a prayer for the pope and achieving 'complete detachment from any inclination to sin.'”

Hmm. I think I could handle the first three requirements. But achieving complete detachment from any inclination to sin? That sort of makes the indulgence impossible, doesn't it? The only way to achieve complete detachment from any inclination to sin is to die. But then again, that's Jesus prescription for us in baptism isn't it?

Romans 6:3-5--"Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection."
Colossians 3:3--"For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." (See the full context of Colossians 3)

Living the baptismal life most certainly means putting down the sinful flesh and engaging in deeds of love. But that is our life precisely because we are in Christ the crucified, already fully redeemed by Him and accepted by the Father. It's all done and delivered by Jesus in His death and resurrection. No indulgences necessary.

First Communion/Confirmation

(Here's the lead item in the March Mt. Zion newsletter:)

Dear members of Mt. Zion,

Throughout my years of instructing the young people of this congregation in the Christian faith, I have been pulled by two important desires. The first is that our children should not be made to wait an unnecessarily long time to receive the Sacrament of the Altar. God’s Word gives us no age requirements regarding when someone may receive Holy Communion, only that a person recognize and receive the body and blood of Christ with penitent faith in Him. It is for that reason that we have started Confirmation instruction at a younger age, so that children don’t have to wait until they’re graduating from 8th grade to receive this precious gift of Christ.

On the other hand, we want the children to be thoroughly instructed in the Scriptural faith as it is rightly confessed in the Small Catechism. We want them to be well grounded in the truths of God’s Word and have a deep understanding of the Bible that will stick with them the rest of their lives. That would seem to argue for having Confirmation take place when the children are a little bit older and can grasp things intellectually at a little deeper level. (Of course, our growth in the knowledge of Christ and His Word never ends but is to continue throughout our lives.)

While our current practice of having Confirmation instruction take place during the middle grade levels has worked well, with first communion following Confirmation, I think we would do even better by separating First Communion from the completion of Confirmation instruction. Here are my reasons:

Young children most certainly can receive Holy Communion properly and to their benefit. Martin Luther once said against the followers of the Pope who claimed that they alone were the true church, "God be praised, a seven-year-old child knows what the church is: holy believers and ‘the little sheep who hear the voice of their shepherd.’" (Smalcald Articles, Kolb/Wengert, p. 324) Luther knew that even a seven year old could grasp the things of the church. His practice demonstrated this. The Lutheran churches in Reformation times received to the Lord’s table children as young as around seven years old. These children were brought by their parents and examined by the pastor as to their faith. Acknowledging their sin, confessing faith in Jesus as their Savior who died for their sin, believing that the body and blood of Christ are truly present under the bread and wine for their forgiveness, they were given the Sacrament.

Some may question whether young children can understand such things as the real presence of Christ’s body and blood in Holy Communion. But then which of us adults can understand this great mystery? It is something only faith can grasp.

In the materials that accompany our hymnal Lutheran Service Book, there is an order called "First Communion prior to Confirmation," which acknowledges the importance of this as an option for congregations to practice. These materials from our Synod state,

"This rite is intended to be used to admit to the Lord’s Supper baptized children who have not yet been confirmed. Candidates for admission to the Lord’s Supper have learned the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer. They have received careful instruction in the Gospel and the Sacraments. Confessing their sin and trusting in their Savior, they desire to receive the Lord’s Supper for the forgiveness of sins and the strengthening of their faith in Christ and their love toward others.

"Concerning the worthy reception of the Lord’s Supper, the Small Catechism teaches: ‘That person is truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words: "Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins." But anyone who does not believe these words or doubts them is unworthy and unprepared, for the words "for you" require all hearts to believe.’" (Lutheran Service Book Agenda, p. 25)

A period of instruction for several weeks would take place prior to these children being received to the Lord’s table (in addition to the months and years of Sunday School these children have already attended). Parents would be a part of the teaching process. In this way the children will be properly prepared to reverently receive the gifts Christ has for them in the Sacrament.

Allowing First Communion before Confirmation would have two additional benefits. It would do away with any notion that we are accepted to the Lord’s table because we’ve earned the right by "passing" Confirmation. Holy Communion is not a reward for something we do, but a free gift of God’s grace. Also, allowing an earlier First Communion would enable the in-depth Confirmation instruction to start at a little bit later stage where a deeper look at the Christian faith and life would be more of a possibility.

Parents who bring their children for First Communion would be required to commit themselves to bringing their children to Confirmation instruction later on. We don’t want to diminish the importance of that ongoing catechesis that takes place in Confirmation class. While Confirmation itself is nowhere commanded in the Bible, our ongoing growth in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ is of the utmost importance, and this change has the goal of enhancing and improving that in our congregation.

Doing this would definitely be a change from what most of us are familiar with. It’s certainly different from my own experience growing up. But if we truly believe that the Holy Sacrament is the true body and blood of Christ given for us to eat and drink for our forgiveness, then our practice should reflect that belief and not withhold the benefits of this eating and drinking from our younger members who are properly prepared to receive it.

This topic will be brought up for discussion at our next Voters Meeting on March 15th. I encourage you prayerfully to think this through so that we can have a healthy discussion about this matter and hopefully come to a consensus about how to handle the practice of First Communion and Confirmation in our congregation.

-Pastor Koch-

Still More on Issues, Etc.

Again from Pastor Asburry's blog: Just Let It Go!

What I Love About You . . .

Flipping through the radio stations recently in the car, I heard the words of the 70's song, “Loving you is easy ‘cause you’re beautiful . . .” Which got me to thinking again how we really don’t use the word “love” in its truest sense very often. I might say, “I love my wife’s beautiful hands, or her silly sense of humor.” But love, in the sense of self-giving and self-sacrifice, really isn’t involved in that statement. It’s easy for me to like those characteristics because they’re attractive to me. There’s nothing really self-giving about it, other than perhaps building her up by telling her so.

The truth is that what we really have to love most about our spouses or other family members or friends is their worst characteristics. To truly love them is to give yourself to them in spite of their flaws. That’s where the real self-sacrifice takes place. “Love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). In that sense, what a wife has to love most about her husband is his laziness and impatience, and a husband his wife’s coldness or crankiness, and a friend the other’s disorganization or tendency to gossip, and so on. What parents really have to love most about their children is not their good study habits and their athletic ability, but their disobedience and disrespect. That’s where the patience is tried and the struggle and the real self-giving love of parenting enters in.

Now I’m not suggesting that wives give their husbands a Valentine’s card reading, “What I love about you is how opinionated you are and that you’ve put on a little extra weight.” But it’s worth remembering that to say “I love you” (in any context) is to say “I’m willing to give myself to you and for you no matter what. I am yours, and my highest desire is for your good and your happiness.”

And there is only one who loves like that perfectly and completely. Only our Lord loved us even when we were sinners and His enemies (Romans 5:8-10). What our Lord most had to love about us was our sin. That is what He sacrificed and gave Himself for on the cross. His love covers the multitude of our sins. There was nothing in us that attracted Him to come to our aid. His own love is what made us lovable and lovely in His eyes. Jesus is the literal embodiment of the love passage in 1 Corinthians 13. Our Lord is patient and kind. He keeps no record of wrongs, for His mercy has covered them and taken them away. We are without flaw and without blemish. His love has made it so.

Petersen Brief Review of Book on Marital Infidelity

I hate to promote a post that promotes a link to Oprah's web site (Lord, have mercy!). But Pastor Petersen has a review of a book focusing particularly on why husbands cheat on their wives. I think most married couples will find both the review and the book itself interesting and helpful.

Issues, Etc. stuff

From Pastor Asburry, here's some new stuff you might want to know about what's going on with Issues, Etc.

Update: Here's the open mic segment about the above.

Mary, the Mother of God

Pastor Alms just posted a link regarding a new movie about Mary, the mother of our Lord. Looks interesting, though I never get my hopes up too much about secularly produced movies dealing with Scriptural content.

Pastor Alms is right in noting that the movie's title is Nestorian: Mary, the Mother of Christ. The phrase ascribed to Mary by the church is theotokos, "the bearer of God," or "the mother of God." For she didn't only carry the human nature of Jesus in her womb; she carried and gave birth to the very Son of God, whose natures as God and man are inseparably joined in one person.

Botched

Would this story really be any better or different if the abortion hadn't been "botched?" Why is this horrific only when it's in plain view?

Abortion Better than Giving Birth?

On the way to a shut-in visit this morning, I heard Charlie Sykes talking about some alarming comments by Barack Obama's choice for Deputy Attorney General, David Ogden. Here's what the Family Research Council found about Ogden:

In a brief for the American Psychological Association in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, he wrote: "Abortion rarely causes or exacerbates psychological or emotional problems. When women do experience regret, depression, or guilt, such feelings are mild and diminish rapidly without adversely affecting general functioning. The few women who do experience negative psychological responses after abortion appear to be those with preexisting emotional problems ...."

Ogden also wrote: "In sum, it is grossly misleading to tell a woman that abortion imposes possible detrimental psychological effects when the risks are negligible in most cases, when the evidence shows that she is more likely to experience feelings of relief and happiness, and when child-birth and child-rearing or adoption may pose concomitant (if not greater) risks or adverse psychological effects ...."

So many lies are necessary to support the ongoing practice of killing the unborn. Here's a site that gives details about the facts of Post-Abortion Syndrome and it's rather significant impact on women. That abortion is given a more favorable assessment than child-birth borders on obscene.

And here's the portion of the show that I was listening to. What especially struck me was the women who called obviously still in emotional pain over their abortions (the part I heard was about 3/4 of the way in, though there's good discussion starting about 1/4 of the way in). The reality of hearing this just shatters the deception that surrounds this issue. And it's a stark reminder of the need to apply the shed blood of Christ, the only thing which heals and cleanses us of all sin (1 John 1:7).

Witness

I went with my daughter today to see a play called Witness put on by First Stage Children's Theater of Milwaukee. It was a fairly standard politically correct production about the Ku Klux clan's effect on a Vermont town in 1924. It's message against hatred was good; it rightly identified prejudice as often being a mask for fear. But I just didn't enjoy the show. Perhaps it was because it wasn't particularly well written, or that the preacher and his congregation were stereotyped (ironically enough) as being hateful and/or ignorant. I guess I'm just tired of being beaten over the head with the constant, wearisome preaching of tolerance as if it were the highest virtue. The winning student essays in the lobby promoting the acceptance of homosexuality were proof that isn't true.

What really got me, though, was when they invited the playwright himself up on stage for the talkback afterwards. One of the adults asked him if he thought America was the same today as it was back then. Amazingly, the guy stated without hesitation or qualification that our country is still exactly the same. Good grief. While there's obviously still pockets of racism around, it's so thoroughly repudiated and looked down upon and our sensitivity to it is so high that even things that aren't racist are condemned for just appearing to be so. (Remember the story about the guy who felt compelled to resign for using the word "niggardly?")

The playwright also stated that he believed such things as those portrayed in the play could happen again. With that I agree. I just wonder if the playwright has stopped to consider that the roots of such intolerance and prejudice thrive in the liberal and artistic institutions he would extol, which mock and impugn the church and those who hold to traditional standards of morality. If tyrannical intolerance reasserts itself to a Klan-like extent again in this country, I believe it's going to be people of his worldview who will come to be the perpetrators, enforcing penalties on those who don't conform to their liberal orthodoxy.

Good Movie Quote

From last night's DVD Bella: "If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans."

The End of the Story in the Middle

There are some scholars and textual critics of the Bible who suggest that the account of the Transfiguration is, in fact, a misplaced resurrection narrative, an Easter story. For whatever reason, the end of the story, Jesus in His glory, got placed in the middle. I don’t agree with this, of course. But there is a sense in which it is helpful for us to think of the Transfiguration in this way. Before we get to the end of the story, Jesus gives us a glimpse of how it all culminates.

We often need this in our own lives. We need to know how the story ends for us, especially in the middle of suffering or difficulty. Jesus shows us this on the mountain. After speaking of the necessity of His suffering and death, after saying that whoever wants to be a disciple of His must take up the cross and follow Him, He then reveals the glory that belongs to all those who are baptized into His body, shining brighter than the sun. The fact that Jesus is speaking of His death with Moses and Elijah on the mountain (Luke 9:31) shows that the only true way to glory is through the cross. “Whoever loses his life for My sake will save it” (Luke 9:24).

In the middle of your story Jesus comes to you and shows the glorious climax of it all. He speaks to you the words of eternal life; He gives His own risen body and blood into your frail flesh and blood. He gives away the end of story; but that doesn’t spoil it but gives meaning to it and strengthens you to bear the cross and endure to the end. He says to you, “It’s only a little while longer; keep on going, trusting in Me and loving your neighbor. For the sufferings of this present time are not even worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in you” (Romans 8:18). The Apostle John encourages us, “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). (See also Hebrews 12:2)

Incarnation

This morning I was reading a little bit of church history with 8th grade Mary, our youngest and last being home-schooled. We were covering a section on Irenaeus and were reminded of an important (and I think correct) point he made: Even if the fall into sin had not occurred, the Son of God still would have become man. The incarnation was the intended goal all along. It wasn’t something God was somehow forced to do in order to save us. Rather this intimate union and communion of God and man in Christ was the plan from the beginning. Clearly the incarnation is a key aspect of our redemption; the Son of God took on our flesh and blood in order to die in the flesh and shed his blood as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. But it’s not as if, had the fall never occurred, God would have remained separate from us and not joined our nature to His own. After all, Adam and Eve were created in the image of God, and the image of the invisible God is Christ (Colossians 1:15). The God who is love created us that He might give Himself to us completely. Sharing fully in our human life, His desire is that we share ever more and more fully in His divine life. That will continue to be the case in the new creation, too, long after we leave this old sin-cursed world behind.

Petersen on John 4

An insightful post on John 4 from Pastor David Petersen: Desperate Wives No More. Be sure and read to the end.

Stimulus

Here's a unique and interesting take on the stimulus subject from fellow Lutheran pastor, Larry Beane, better known as Father Hollywood: "O Death, Where is Your Stimulus?"

If Global Warming Gets Any Worse, We're All Going to Freeze to Death

Perhaps it's because I'm currently reading Michael Crichton's book State of Fear (or rather, listening to it on audiobook). Perhaps it's because yesterday's utility bill came stating that last month was 10 degrees colder on average than the same period the year before. Or maybe it's the way goddess Earth ignores her worshipful adherents. But I find headlines like this one on Drudge strangely satisfying: "Gore hearing on warming may be put on ice." It's not just a liberal vs. conservative thing. It's more a truth vs. propaganda thing for me. And it seems to be more and more the case that the actual scientific data is less and less certain about man-made global warming, all the while the environmentalistic/socialistic propaganda gets ratcheted up in the political sphere and indoctrinated into our elementary school children. Graphs like the following just don't fit the paradigm, or are manipulated (click on this link to get more detail and links on the science), and so they are ignored.


Anyway, here's the text of the Drudge story:

---------------------
Al Gore is scheduled before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday morning to once again testify on the 'urgent need' to combat global warming.

But Mother Nature seems ready to freeze the proceedings.

A 'Winter Storm Watch' has been posted for the nation's capitol and there is a potential for significant snow... sleet... or ice accumulations.

"I can't imagine the Democrats would want to showcase Mr. Gore and his new findings on global warming as a winter storm rages outside," a Republican lawmaker emailed the DRUDGE REPORT. "And if the ice really piles up, it will not be safe to travel."

A spokesman for Sen. John Kerry, who chairs the committee, was not immediately available to comment on contingency plans.

Global warming advocates have suggested this year's wild winter spells are proof of climate change.
----------------------

I especially like that last line. If it's warmer than usual, it's because of global warming. If it's colder than usual (like this year), it's because global warming is affecting global weather patterns. If it's just average weather, it's because global warming occurs slowly and sometimes imperceptibly. But the overall effects will soon be catastrophic; so we must take action! How do you use logic against airtight arguments like those?

In the end, while everyone wants to work for cleaner air and water and the like, the problem with environmentalism/global warming orthodoxy is its worldview which places creation over the Creator, Mother Nature over Father God. In the end it rejects the One "through whom all things were made and in whom all things hold together," Christ Himself. (See Colossians 1:16-17)

And here's a sermon related to the subject.

Scapegoat?

I think this may be carrying the scapegoat thing a bit too far:

"One of Nigeria's biggest daily newspapers reported that police implicated a goat in an attempted automobile theft. In a front-page article on Friday, the Vanguard newspaper said that two men tried to steal a Mazda car two days earlier in Kwara State, with one suspect transforming himself into a goat as vigilantes cornered him.

"The paper quoted police spokesman Tunde Mohammed as saying that while one suspect escaped, the other transformed into a goat as he was about to be apprehended.

"The newspaper reported that police paraded the goat before journalists, and published a picture of the animal.

"Police in the state couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

"Belief in black magic is widespread in Nigeria, particularly in far-flung rural areas."

A Political Quote Worth Remembering

"The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money." Margaret Thatcher

Slight Chuckle

During chapel today at the Fort Wayne Seminary Symposia, we sang the hymn, "We Are Called to Stand Together" (not one of my favorite hymns, but that's another post). And how did we sing this hymn "We Are Called to Stand Together"? Seated, of course! Isn't it great to be Lutheran?

The Third Day

One more thing about today’s Gospel reading from John 2, the wedding at Cana: The fact that Jesus performs the miracle of turning water to wine “on the third day” not only points forward to the resurrection, but also points back to the beginning, the third day of creation, when God brought forth the fruit-bearing plants from the earth. That this miracle brings forth 3rd-day fruit of the vine certainly adds to the new creation theme of Jesus' first sign.

If John’s Gospel starts with Day 1, (“In the beginning was the Word . . . The light shines in the darkness”), and today’s Gospel reading is akin to Day 3 of creation, would it be wrong to see Day 2 in Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan, (the waters below and the waters above), when John the Baptist sees the Spirit descending from heaven and remaining upon Jesus (John 1:32)? I’m sure other theologians and commentators have pursued the parallels John the Evangelist makes to the days of creation and fleshed this out better. If anyone is aware of where such writings can be found, please feel free to comment below or email me.

Don't They See the Irony?

I don't think life will ever be created in a laboratory. Transforming dead elements into a living organism is far too complex a thing. But even if scientists were able to do that at some point in the future, that wouldn't strike a blow for evolutionists against those who believe in the Biblical creation account. After all, life would have had to have been created by an intelligence guiding and directing the process. A "higher power" (in this case, the scientist) is necessary to cause these things to happen, even if it's in the laboratory.

In this article, "Life as We Know It Nearly Created in the Lab," the argument is clearly being made for evolution, that we're supposedly closer to understanding how some of the early processes might have worked. Isn't it ironic, though, that they have to use words like "created" to describe their work? And the self-replicating enzymes that are being spoken of in the article were synthesized by the researchers, programmed and oriented by them to behave a certain way--all of which, to me at least, seems to support a creationist point of view more than an evolutionary one. How these incredibly complex self-replicating enzymes could ever come into existence on their own by chance random processes is never even addressed. And even if you take everything the scientists are saying at face value, you're still light-years away from anything approaching "life as we know it." For those who only want to deal with objective fact, they sure exhibit a lot of faith in their theories!

In the end these scientists are taking stuff God already made and tinkering with it to try to show God's non-existence, or at least his irrelevance. A little reminiscent of Psalm 14:1 it seems to me.

(Thanks to Nathan Fischer for forwarding this article to me.)

Give Geese a Chance

For those with an offbeat sense of humor who don't mind making a little fun of the liberal mindset, here's an article that takes a unique look at the amazing story of the US Airways water landing in the Hudson River, trying to understand the geese and why they would have attempted this suicide attack.

No Christian Prayer from Bishop

Here's a post from Gene Veith about gay "bishop" Eugene Robinson's promise not to give a specifically Christian prayer at an event for the inauguration of Barack Obama.

And here's a post from Mollie Ziegler with further commentary on this subject as it relates to being Lutheran in the civil realm. A couple quotes: "Patriotism may be a virtue but it shouldn’t trump a clear confession of Christ and him crucified." "The deities of civil religion force away distinctives and turn all belief into cliches and platitudes."

You know things are really messed up when Rick Warren is the guy you can most identify with in the story.

Coming Up Short

This Sunday’s Gospel is John 2:1-11, the wedding feast miracle at Cana. It has always seemed a little strange to me that, when Jesus is told by His mother that the wine has run out, He replies by saying “My hour has not yet come.” Jesus’ "hour" in John is a reference to His impending crucifixion. Why does Jesus make that connection? What would running out of wine have to do with the cross?

Part of the connection, I believe, is revealed in the word used to describe the problem in John 2:3, husterasantos, meaning “lacking”: “When wine was lacking,” or “when they ran out of wine.” It’s the same word used in Romans 3:23, “All have sinned and fall short (husterountai) of the glory of God.” The reason that the things of this creation fail us and run short is because we ourselves have failed and come up short. This has not only brought the judgment of death on us; it has brought a curse on all creation. The blessings of God's good creation are passing and temporary. The Scriptures say that the world in its present form is in bondage to decay and is passing away (Cf. Romans 8:21).

So, when the wine ran out, that drew attention to the hour of Christ’s suffering and dying in order to redeem His sapped and fallen creation. Jesus reminds His mother that if she is going to appeal to him for a miracle, she must also deal with the cross, where He will break the curse of decay and death forever. Already here, then, Jesus was beginning to bring about the redemption of creation, which would come to fulfillment on Good Friday and Easter. For He was reversing the draining force of sin so that there was bounty and joy once again.

This miracle, like the greater miracle of Jesus' resurrection, occurs “on the third day” (John 2:1). In Him and through Him creation is renewed and revitalized. The prophet Amos (9:13) said of the Messiah’s kingdom, “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when . . . sweet wine will drip from the mountains and flow from the hills.” No lack here! And Isaiah (25:6) foretold a day when the Lord would swallow up death forever. Of that day he said this, “The Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine–the best of meats and the finest of wines.” In this miracle, then, we begin to see the very kingdom of God and the new creation breaking in, which will be revealed in all its glory on the Last Day.

The Gospel concludes by saying that through this miracle Jesus “manifested His glory.” We have fallen short of the glory of God, but Christ is the glory of God revealed and freely given to us in the cleansing water of baptism and the rich wine of His precious blood.

Womanhood and Bearing Children

I ran across a couple of posts yesterday that offer an interesting and telling contrast of worldviews regarding what it means to be a woman and have children. Notice the difference in the "iconography," not to mention the comments sections. Notice also that the first author is male. Here are the articles for your consideration. Any conclusions I might draw I think are self-evident.

Say No To . . .

and

The Soft Sexism of Low Expectations

God's Own Child

At lunch today, our youngest and last still being home-schooled, 14-year old Mary says out of the blue to my wife and me, "For my funeral--you're probably not going to be there--but I'd like to have that hymn that we sang yesterday at church, 'God's Own Child, I Gladly Say it.'" I certainly hope she's right about my not being there for her funeral. And I'm so thankful that the grace of God covers all the ways I screw up as a parent and still produces such beautiful-to-hear statements of faith. Here are the words of the hymn (LSB, 594):

God's own child, I gladly say it:
I am baptized into Christ!
He, because I could not pay it,
Gave my full redemption price.
Do I need earth's treasures many?
I have one worth more than any
That brought me salvation free
Lasting to eternity!

Sin, disturb my soul no longer:
I am baptized into Christ!
I have comfort even stronger:
Jesus' cleansing sacrifice.
Should a guilty conscience seize me
Since my Baptism did release me
In a dear forgiving flood,
Sprinkling me with Jesus' blood?

Satan, hear this proclamation:
I am baptized into Christ!
Drop your ugly accusation,
I am not so soon enticed.
Now that to the font I've traveled,
All your might has come unraveled,
And, against your tyranny,
God, my Lord, unites with me!

Death, you cannot end my gladness:
I am baptized into Christ!
When I die, I leave all sadness
To inherit paradise!
Though I lie in dust and ashes
Faith's assurance brightly flashes:
Baptism has the strength divine
To make life immortal mine.

There is nothing worth comparing
To this lifelong comfort sure!
Open-eyed my grave is staring:
Even there I'll sleep secure.
Though my flesh awaits its raising,
Still my soul continues praising:
I am baptized into Christ;
I'm a child of paradise!

The Word is in the Water

We confess that, in Baptism, the key thing is not simply the water, but what has been added to it. Even with ordinary uses of water, it is common for us to think this way. For instance, it's not the water but the flavoring and fizz added to it that make soda what it is, or the barley, hops, and fermenting yeast that make beer what it is. In a much greater way, it is the Name and Word of God connected to the water that make baptism what it is. In fact in the baptism of our Lord, we see that the Word made flesh is in the water Himself. Thus, baptism is the Gospel. It is Jesus. It delivers Him and all His gifts to us in and with the water poured over us. To reject baptism or its saving power is to reject the Word contained in it. Luther comments this way in the Large Catechism:

"From this now learn a proper understanding of the subject, and how to answer the question what Baptism is, namely thus, that it is not mere ordinary water, but water comprehended in God's Word and command, and sanctified thereby, so that it is nothing else than a divine water; not that the water in itself is nobler than other water, but that God's Word and command are added.

"Therefore it is pure wickedness and blasphemy of the devil that now our new spirits, to mock at Baptism, omit from it God's Word and institution, and look upon it in no other way than as water which is taken from the well, and then blather and say: How is a handful of water to help the soul? Aye, my friend, who does not know that water is water if tearing things asunder is what we are after? But how dare you thus interfere with God's order, and tear away the most precious treasure with which God has connected and enclosed it, and which He will not have separated? For the kernel in the water is God's Word or command and the name of God, which is a treasure greater and nobler than heaven and earth.

"Comprehend the difference, then, that Baptism is quite another thing than all other water; not on account of the natural quality but because something more noble is here added; for God Himself stakes His honor, His power and might on it. Therefore it is not only natural water, but a divine, heavenly, holy, and blessed water, and in whatever other terms we can praise it, all on account of the Word, which is a heavenly, holy Word, that no one can sufficiently extol, for it has, and is able to do, all that God is and can do [since it has all the virtue and power of God comprised in it]. Hence also it derives its essence as a Sacrament, as St. Augustine also taught: Accedat verbum ad elementum et fit sacramentum. That is, when the Word is joined to the element or natural substance, it becomes a Sacrament, that is, a holy and divine matter and sign.

"Therefore we always teach that the Sacraments and all external things which God ordains and institutes should not be regarded according to the coarse, external mask, as we regard the shell of a nut, but as the Word of God is included therein. . .

"Thus, and much more even, you must honor Baptism and esteem it glorious on account of the Word, since He Himself has honored it both by words and deeds; moreover, confirmed it with miracles from heaven. For do you think it was a jest that, when Christ was baptized, the heavens were opened and the Holy Ghost descended visibly, and everything was divine glory and majesty?

"Therefore I exhort again that these two, the water and the Word, by no means be separated from one another and parted. For if the Word is separated from it, the water is the same as that with which the servant cooks' and may indeed be called a bath-keeper's baptism. But when it is added, as God has ordained, it is a Sacrament, and is called Christ-baptism."

(Large Catechism, Holy Baptism, 14-19,21-22)

You Can't Take It With You

The wicked may prosper, but never for long. (See Psalm 73)

And here's another take on the whole event.

Gran Torino

(Cautiously taking off my pastor hat for something a little less theological:)

Last evening, all the ladies of the house were gathered in the living room having a Jane Austen fest, watching the long version of Pride and Prejudice (as in 5 hours long). Thus, the self-respecting males in the house had to go out and watch the new Clint Eastwood movie, Gran Torino. We were not disappointed.

While I hesitate to recommend an R-rated movie–and this movie is rather raw at some points and filled with bad language throughout–I found it to be an entertaining and compelling story. The Clint Eastwood character, despite his gruff, seemingly racist exterior, is a very likable character–a "real man" in the old school sense. And his relationship with his family, as contrasted with his neighbors in a changing neighborhood, is developed fairly well. If I was hearing correctly, Clint Eastwood himself even does a little singing during the closing credits.

In terms of the religious aspects of the movie, there is a shaman who is very briefly portrayed in a positive light, and there are a few not unexpected problems in the way the Catholic priest is portrayed (though he, too, is developed as a positive character). But in a deeper way, the climax of the movie in particular is quite Christological–a slightly surprising and satisfying resolution of the story (though the imagery perhaps gets carried a little too far). Lutherans even get a brief reference in connection with Hmong refugees coming to America.

Some of the actors portraying the Hmong characters in this movie were a little stiff and clearly newer to the acting craft. And again, there is a heavy dose of foul language (thought it mostly comes off as realistic rather than gratuitous). But if that coarseness doesn't put you off, I believe you'll thoroughly enjoy this movie.

Here's a review of the movie from the local Milwaukee paper.

Milwaukee, the new San Francisco

I didn't realize we were on the liberal (or libertine) cutting edge here in the Milwaukee area, but evidently we are. Here is the web site of our gay-friendly Milwaukee Public School, which reportedly is going to be the first of its kind in the country to extend the grade levels it serves from high school down to middle school. Yes, middle school. The slogan for this school is "Where you can be who you are." But seriously, how many middle schoolers have a firm grip on who they are? They also say in their vision statement that they want to create "a safe environment where students will be treated fairly regardless of sexuality, ability, appearance, or beliefs." I wonder how fairly someone would be treated who expressed their Scriptural belief that homosexuality is sinful? (See Romans 1:24-28 or 1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

This, of course, is just another sign of how far our schools have fallen, from promoting academic knowledge and learning to promoting a social agenda. But even more so, it's a sign of how the church needs to clearly proclaim both repentance and the forgiveness of sins, not only the sinful corruption of our humanity that homosexuality is, but also how Christ is the Lamb of God who bears and carries away the sin of the world. As we observe the Baptism of our Lord in the coming days, we are reminded of how the sinless Jesus became the homosexual and the adulterer Himself in the water of the Jordan, how He absorbed all of our sin into Himself and became Sin for us, so that in Him we would become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). Only as those baptized into Christ do we really find who we are, holy and beloved and forgiven children of God.

The funny thing is, this hasn't really been a news item here in the local Milwaukee media that I've noticed. I don't think anyone wants to be labeled as hateful or bigoted by questioning the motives or the wisdom of this move. However, U.S. News and World Report picked up on the story. Here's a snippet of the article:

The Milwaukee Public School System will expand the services provided by its gay-friendly high school and apparently become the nation's first school system to create a gay-friendly middle school.

At a meeting two weeks ago, a subcommittee of Milwaukee's Board of Education unanimously approved the Alliance School's proposal to serve sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. The proposal gained unanimous approval from the full board by default when the item was not pulled for further discussion or a vote at last night's meeting. Alliance School lead teacher Tina Owen said the public charter school will begin accepting new applicants eligible for middle school in the 2009-2010 school year immediately.

Milwaukee's response to gay-friendly schools has been much different from other cities'. In Chicago, community leaders' concerns about creating a gay-friendly high school stalled plans to bring such a proposal before the city's school board. In New York City, protesters greeted students of the gay-friendly Harvey Milk High School in Manhattan's East Village on its first day of classes five years ago. But in Milwaukee, the Alliance School's birth as a high school and expansion to serve middle school students passed with no real opposition. Calls from social service organizations and parents urging Owen to create the middle school more quickly are the only responses she has received from the community, Owen said.

(Hat tip to Charlie Sykes for this story)

LCMS Clergy Numbers

I don't follow LCMS statistics too closely. Perhaps that's why the numbers on p. 8 of the January 2009 Lutheran Witness were just a little bit surprising to me regarding clergy. According to the LCMS Church Information Center, there are 6,167 congregations in the synod with 9,164 clergy, or 1.49 clergymen per congregation. But then comes the next line: Of the 9,164 clergy in the synod, only 5,356 are serving a parish! Adding in chaplains (which I'm assuming are all ordained men) the number still only adds up to 5,837. That means more than 35% of our clergy, 3,327 men, are not serving in a parish or full-time work as a pastor! Now, of course, I recognize that a good chunk of that 35% includes retired pastors who often serve part-time, or ordained ministers teaching at our synodical schools, and the like. But 35%? Do we have that many bureaucrats in our synodical and district offices? What's up with these numbers? The number of missionaries is listed at 811. But in LCMS-speak, the vast majority of those are laity, right? Whatever the case, I don't want to hear any more about our need for "lay ministers." It seems we need more of our ordained men doing the first thing they were given to do in their ordination: serving in a pulpit and at an altar, preaching and teaching the Word of God and administering the sacraments.

A few more pictures

Here are a few of the professional pictures taken at Bekah and Gabe's wedding back on December 27th. (And yes, the photographer did graciously give us the digital rights to these.)

All my children (including Gabe):


The whole crew with Mom and Dad:


View from the balcony during the marriage rite:


The Rev. Dr. Joel Biermann preaching during Vespers:


The Rev. Dr. Karl Fabrizius playing a mean air guitar at the reception:


You can view many more pictures at my wife's blog.

How should I dress for church?

Here's one from the archives. I wrote it for the church newsletter the year the Packers last won the Super Bowl. (What a distant memory that seems compared to this year!) On the day of the NFC championship, everyone kneeling for communion at one point was wearing Packers garb of some sort, be it a jacket or sweatshirt or T-shirt. Now I was as rabid a fan as any of them, but that picture just didn't look quite right to me. Here's what I came up with to address the larger issue, which I think is still relevant:

I have noticed lately that more and more people are coming to church wearing clothing which has on it the names of sports teams or names of companies or slogans or various pictures and symbols from the secular or entertainment world. Is it appropriate for Christians to dress this way in the Lord's house? And if not, why not?

To begin with, we don't want to make up some sort of arbitrary and legalistic code about what a person can and cannot wear that goes beyond what the Scriptures teach. We do not wish to encourage our sinful human pride by setting up a system whereby people are judged by their clothing or are shown partiality by how they dress. The Scriptures speak of this in James 2: "If there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, ‘You sit here in a good place,' and say to the poor man, ‘You stand there,' or, ‘Sit here at my feet,' have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?"

But this does not mean that we can simply dress however we please, either. For the Scriptures make it abundantly clear that when we gather for the divine service of the Word and the Sacraments, we are coming into the very presence of Christ. "Where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20). The way we dress should reflect this reality that our Lord Jesus is truly present among us in worship. Just as we wear our best when we go out to a fine restaurant, so we are to wear clothing that is fit for feasting at the banquet table of the Lamb of God, partaking of His Holy Word and His precious body and blood. To do otherwise is to act as if Christ is not really present or that His presence isn't all that important or worth honoring. It would be like wearing sweats and an old T-shirt to your wedding.

This is not to say that we should be showy in our clothing, dressing in such a way as to draw attention to ourselves. Rather, modesty should be the rule. St. Paul speaks this way when he tells women how to dress in I Timothy 2: "I desire that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works."

Our real clothing as Christians is the righteousness and holiness of Christ which He has freely given to us. "As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ" (Galatians 3:27). It is this spiritual clothing that should be reflected in our earthly clothing.

Especially when we gather for the divine service, our dress should exhibit the fact that we are people who have been called out of the world in Christ; we are certainly in the world, but we are not of the world. Worldly clothing with worldly philosophies and agendas, then, should not find its way into the holy house of God. "Come out from among them (the people of the world) and be separate, says the Lord" (II Corinthians 6:17).

Here, then, are some simple guidelines for how to dress for Church:

+ Avoid wearing clothing with any words displayed on it, especially if it's promoting some person or team or company. This isn't the business of the church, and it can be distracting to others.

+ Avoid wearing clothing with any sort of pictures or symbols that represent the things of the secular or entertainment world. Again, the divine service is not the place for these to be featured.

+ Dress in such as way as is fitting in the presence of the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

+ Dress in such a way that you don't draw improper attention to yourself. Modesty is the key word.

+ "Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering. . . But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection" (Colossians 3:12-14).

No Goods or Services Provided

"No good or services were provided to you by the church in connection with any contribution"

Those are the words stamped on our congregation's financial forms which indicate how much was given in offerings over the past year. Evidently federal or state law requires that we include such a statement because of our non-profit status as a church.

That statement got me to thinking, though. Is it true? Don't you receive goods and services in connection with your offerings? What greater service could you be receiving than divine service? What greater goods are there than the saving Word of God and the body and blood of Christ given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins? Does that statement on your financial form lie?

The answer is, "no." For your offering is not given to pay for such heavenly goods and services. Your offerings are not "dues" that you pay so that you can stay in the church "club" and receive its benefits. For the divine service and the holy goods that God gives to you are entirely free and without any strings attached.

It is written in Romans 6, "The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." What you receive in church is a free gift! The forgiveness, life, and salvation bestowed upon you come with no strings attached. There is nothing for you to do but to receive what God gives you entirely by grace. No requirements are laid upon you.

So what are the offerings for then? Why do we give them? There are at least three answers. First of all, the giving of an offering shows forth your thanks to God for all that He has done for you in Christ and all that He has given you in both body and soul. It is a concrete expression of gratitude for His goodness toward you.

Secondly, an offering is an expression of faith. It shows that you believe that the Lord is indeed the Creator and Owner of all things and He alone is to be praised for the good things that you have. Returning back to Him a portion of what He has first given you honors Him as your Maker and Redeemer and shows a trust that He will continue to care for you in the future.

Thirdly, we give offerings because we desire to support the ministry of the Gospel of Christ. We want to be sure that the preaching of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments will continue to go on in our midst, both for our salvation and for the salvation of others. This Gospel is our very life and our greatest treasure, and we want the good news of Jesus to be proclaimed here and in all the world.