"Thou wilt love the gentle Lamb of God."

"And if thou canst believe that this voice of John is a harbinger of truth, and follow the direction of his finger, and behold the Lamb of God bearing thy sin, thou hast won the victory, thou art become a Christian, a master over sin, and death, and hell, and all things. Thereby thy conscience is gladdened, and thou wilt love the gentle Lamb of God." - Martin Luther, Sermon for the fourth Sunday in Advent, 1522

Luther on the Importance of Literature

“I am persuaded that without knowledge of literature, pure theology cannot at all endure, just as heretofore, when letters have declined and lain prostrate, theology, too, has wretchedly fallen and lain prostrate; nay, I see that there has never been a great revelation of the Word of God unless he has first prepared the way by the rise and prosperity of languages and letters, as though they were John the Baptists. There is, indeed, nothing that I have less wish to see done against our young people than that they should omit to study poetry and rhetoric. Certainly it is my desire that there shall be as many poets and rhetoricians as possible, because I see that by these studies, as by no other means, people are wonderfully fitted for the grasping of sacred truth and for handling it skillfully and happily. To be sure, 'Wisdom maketh the tongues of those who cannot speak eloquent,' but the gift of tongues is not to be despised. Therefore I beg of you that at my request (if that has any weight) you will urge your young people to be diligent in the study of poetry and rhetoric. As Christ lives, I am often angry with myself that my age and my manner of life do not leave me any time to busy myself with the poets and orators. I had bought me a Homer that I might become a Greek. But I have worried you enough with these little things. Think as well of Luther as you can of your Captiva, and farewell, strong in Christ." 

Luther's Correspondence and Other Contemporary Letters, Vol. 2, pp. 176-77, Letter to Eoban Hess, March 29, 1523

Luther and the Two Aunties

Today in Evan's history book we read about Martin Luther. It was overall a very good treatment. To teach Luther's understanding of Law and Gospel the author contrasts two aunts. Aunt #1 is described as having a perfect, orderly home. When you visit that aunt's home, she first checks you all over to make sure you're clean enough to enter. Then she invites you in and offers you hot chocolate, but it is hard to enjoy her company because you are so worried about spilling the hot chocolate on her white velvet sofa. Aunt #2, on the other hand, also has a beautiful home, but she makes it clear that her love for you goes far beyond her interest in having a clean house. In spite of the fact that you are covered in mud and she is wearing a white apron, she hugs you big and hard. When you spill your hot chocolate on her table, she wipes it up. The passage concludes by asking, "Which aunt would you rather visit?"

Of course Evan answered, "Aunt #2." But before we moved on from the story of the two aunts, a little editorializing was in order. I asked him, since Aunt #2 is so loving and forgiving, whether it would be okay to go tramping around her house in muddy feet, being sloppy with the hot chocolate, and generally not caring about trying to keep her house clean. He said no, and we talked about how Aunt #2's generosity and forbearance would result in our wanting to behave well in her house due to our love for and sincere desire to please her. He agreed, then replied, "Yeah, but if I went to Aunt #1's house I would like to throw a big ball of mud at her!"

I think he gets it.

Installation Sermon

Phillip's installation at Immanuel-Broken Arrow was on August 18. Here is a link to Pastor Wilke's excellent installation sermon. It was, of course, particularly meaningful to us on that day, but I commend it to all my Lutheran readers, particularly those with a special interest in music, liturgy, and the song of the Church.

http://www.immanuelba.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/sermonaug1813installationservice.mp3

Now My Heart Rests on Roses

A little over two months ago we said goodbye to our former congregation. At that time we also said goodbye to our former choir. At our farewell reception, one of the choir members presented us with a gift that literally took our breath away. As soon as I saw it the tears came.

 

 

Our dear friend Judy made this for us. It is, of course, Luther's Seal. She picked the colors without even knowing that I painted our dining room blue last year. Isn't it gorgeous?

 

There's more to the story. Embroidered at the bottom of the tapestry are the words, "Now my heart rests on roses." These words are included in the text of a choral piece my husband composed about nine years ago. It is entitled "I Will Speak" and was published in 2004 by Concordia Publishing House. The words, by Phillip, are paraphrased from Psalms 119 and 145:

 

I will speak of your statutes before kings, O Lord,

And will not be put to shame.

I will sing and proclaim your truths, my God,

For you have anointed me with grace.

Blessed is he whose help is in God,

Whose help is the God of Jacob.

Blessed is the man who trusts in you!

Your strong word I confess;

I believe and am saved.

Princely powers I fear not,

For your truth is my faith.

Now my heart rests on roses.

 

"I Will Speak" was a staple of our former choir's repertoire. How fitting that the name of the choir is "Proclaim"! They sang it many times while we were with them but unfortunately I never got a recording. I was always playing the piano and my older children were always singing. If you are interested, though, you can hear the piece here. I like the way Proclaim sang it better.

 

Here's a detail of the bottom of the tapestry. We love you and miss you, Proclaim. Our hearts rest on roses when we think of you.

 

 



Walther and Luther on Quarrels Among Christians

A blog I read has lately been the scene of a rather intense theological discussion that has at times been enlightening but has at other times been discouraging due to the behavior of some of the participants. A wise commenter posted this passage from C. F. W. Walther's Essays for the Church, Vol. 2 (Concordia Publishing House, 1992). It resonated with me for a whole host of reasons, and I thought I would share it here.

Alas, dear brethren, how often do we not get into arguments and quarrels! Therefore, when I notice that if I carry the fight out to its bitter end our whole communion will suffer as a result, then—unless God’s honor and the salvation of souls are at stake—I should say, “Let’s drop this subject. It is clear that we can’t reach any agreement. Let us not destroy our precious fraternal harmony.” Everyone must keep this in mind: When people get worked up at conferences or conventions, you must immediately ask yourself, “Where will this end?” Then the officials have to say, “This will never do; there will be no further discussion of this subject, because it is not only a matter of someone’s feelings getting hurt, but the devil is trying to rob Synod of its precious possession.”

When someone has gone too far but says, “Dear brother, I didn’t intend to be so mean,” I should immediately forgive him. But if I would respond, “Do you realize the full enormity of your conduct? Do you really repent of what you’ve done?” then I am being too legalistic (da wird die Goldwage genommen). That is wrong. We should not do that unless the offender has clearly demonstrated that he is a hardened and unrepentant sinner. In that case we must firmly inform him, “If you do not repent of your sin, you are lost.” That is the proper procedure.

Luther therefore says, commenting on the words [in John 15:9], “Abide in My love”:

“You cannot avoid offending another person at times, just as little as you can keep one foot or toe from touching the other or [as little as you can avoid] hurting yourself [occasionally]. You cannot avoid such bumps and bruises to another’s ego, especially in view of the fact that here on earth we live in the kingdom of Satan, who is constantly tempting us, and on top of that, because our flesh is still weak and full of sin. No doubt that is why the most saintly and dearest of friends will occasionally disagree and prick up their ears at one another, why the devil occasionally fills our hearts with suspicion and bitterness because of one statement or one glance, so that these former friends are filled with antagonism toward each other. He is a master at that trick, works hard at perfecting it, and often succeeds with it before we are even aware of what he is up to. That is what happened between Paul and Barnabas. Acts 15:39 tells us that ‘they had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company.’

“Another example of this is the case of Jerome and Rufinus, who were the best of friends, as close as brothers. Yet they disagreed so bitterly about a preface that they never became friends again. No doubt the same thing would have happened between St. Augustine and Jerome if Augustine had not been wise enough [to avoid it]. Thus any little thing can create such quarreling and enmity that it does great harm to a whole group. Blood soon begins to boil, and the devil shoots his poisoned arrows into our hearts through evil tongues, so that neither one can say or think anything good about the other one. The devil fans that fire and tries to arouse people against one another in an attempt to create heartache and murder. . . .

“Therefore we Christians must constantly be on our guard against the devil’s skill and trickery. We must so conduct ourselves that we do not allow such poison to grow up in our hearts. Even though we are tempted to become bitter and hateful, we must suppress such feelings and remind ourselves not to let our mutual love die, but firmly cling to it. And even if resentment or disunity does arise, we must re-establish and strengthen our mutual love. For, to begin to love is not very difficult, but as Christ says in this passage, abiding in love is truly an art and a virtue. Even though, when they are first married, many couples are so madly in love that they virtually eat each other up, later on they become mortal enemies. Now, the same thing also happens among Christian brethren. Some trivial incident destroys their mutual love, and those who should cling to one another in love with all their might allow themselves to be torn apart and become the most bitter enemies. That is what happened in Christendom after the time of the apostles, when the devil raised up his troublemakers (Rottengeister) and heretics, so that bishops and pastors burned with hatred against one another and consequently the people, too, were divided into all kinds of sects and parties. As a result of that, Christianity suffered mortal harm, for where there is no love, there doctrine cannot remain pure."

Where are all the wise men?

"Oh, what a ridiculous thing, that the one true God, the high Majesty, should be made man; that here they should be joined, man and his Maker, in one Person. Reason opposes this with all its might.

Here, then, those wise thoughts with which our reason soars up towards heaven to seek our God in His own Majesty, and to probe out how He reigns there on high, are taken from us. The goal is fixed elsewhere, so that I should run from all the corners of the world to Bethlehem, to that stable and that manger where the babe lies, or to the Virgin's lap. Yes, that subdues the reason.

Do not search what is too high for thee. But here it comes down before my eyes, so that I can see the babe there in His mother's lap. There lies a human being who was born like any other child, and lives like any other child, and shows no other nature, manner, and work than any other human being, so that no heart could guess that the creature is the Creator. Where, then, are all the wise men? Who would ever have conceived this or thought it out? Reason must bow, and must confess her blindness in that she wants to climb to heaven to fathom the Divine, while she cannot see what lies before her eyes."

Martin Luther, sermons from the year 1533
Source: Day by Day We Magnify Thee

It's Coming!

And it doesn't get much better than this. Watch the video below to find out more about Reformation Week on Issues, Etc. Don't say you didn't know. I just told you! :-)



Also, if you would like inserts for your church bulletin, those can be found here. Note that there are four inserts for each time zone.

Life Under the Cross

One of the things I love most about the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, in which I was confirmed as a young married twenty-something in the late 1980's (having been Roman Catholic in my teenage years), is its perfect understanding of salvation and the individual's role in obtaining it. As human beings we naturally (and sinfully) desire ultimate power over our own lives and credit for our accomplishments. No wonder, then, that we struggle so with realizing that when it comes to justification--being made righteous in the sight of God--we have no role to play. Martin Luther described the human condition as that of a beggar standing before God. There is nothing we can do to remove the stain of sin, nothing we can offer to earn God's forgiveness. We are utterly dependent upon God's mercy, and because God is God and He demands perfection, our only hope is to plant ourselves firmly behind the cross of Christ, trusting the Father's promise to impute the righteousness of the Son to those who live under that cross. As the pastor who confirmed me described it, God looks at the sinner through the lens of the cross and, seeing only the perfection of Jesus, likewise pronouces the sinner to be "poi-fect."

To realize that there is nothing I can do to gain salvation--indeed, nothing I need to do, since Jesus has done it for me--brings a feeling of peace, rest and freedom that goes beyond human words because it is not of this world. And yet, the sinful nature still fights against it, wanting to reclaim that power and control. I am the master of my destiny, after all. Aren't I? Aren't I helping just a little by what a good person I'm being and how hard I'm working? "No," says the Father, smiling gently. "No. You are a poor, miserable sinner. But you are my child whom I love, so much that I sent my own dear Son to live the perfect life you couldn't and to pay for the sins you couldn't pay for. Rest in His triumph over sin, death, and the grave. It is finished. There's nothing more to be done!"

Oh. Yeah. I forgot for a moment there. And on it goes--the daily forgetting and reminding that is the essence of the life of a Christian.

I think it may be that constant need of the sinner to be reminded of his sinful condition that leads to something I sometimes encounter among my Lutheran friends.* Because they so deeply understand their sinful state and love the theology of the cross, I think there is sometimes a tendency to put their sins on display in a way that is not necessarily helpful to either themselves or those with whom they come into contact. And because it is so easy to fall into the "try to be good so God will love me" trap, they overcompensate by trumpeting as loudly as possible what wretches they are, turning their shortcomings, weaknesses, and sinful nature into almost a point of pride or badge of honor: "Look at me! Look at what a messed up, sinful excuse for a human being I am! Can you believe it? I'm even more screwed up than you!"

And indeed, they are wretches. We all are, and again, one of the things I love most about Lutheran theology is how effectively that message is communicated. But I think there's a balance to be had. There's a difference between quietly hanging our heads in shame as we acknowledge our sins and perhaps even share them in hopes of pointing another towards Christ, and standing before the world, playing a game of sinner's one-ups-man-ship as we tick off our transgressions with Technicolor detail and provide the equivalent of a Powerpoint presentation on our messed up selves.

I sometimes even see what strikes me as intentionally edgy behavior that has as its goal the avoidance of the dreaded "pietist" label: "See? I appreciate wordly music and pleasures. I can swear and drink and party and tell dirty jokes with the best of them. I'm no goody-two-shoes holier-than-thou Pollyanna. I'm a sinner!" The mind reels with the possibilities. "See Dick sin. Sin, Dick, sin!"

I think that sometimes our sins, like our prayers, might be best kept between us and God: “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." (Matthew 6: 5-6)

And you know, there's nothing wrong with trying to be good as long as we realize that, while it will certainly make our earthly life and that of those around us better, it's not going to get us any closer to heaven.

*I do it, too.

Golden Moments

You know what I'm talking about, don't you? They're those moments that are so precious you wish they could somehow be burned into your memory and then called to mind anytime you feel like it by simply pushing your brain's "play" button. James Taylor sang about them in his song by the same title:

"Now if all my golden moments could be rolled into one,
They would shine just like the sun for a summer day . . ."

Well, I had one of those moments today. And it wasn't even really mine. But I'll embrace it just the same. My husband (the Lutheran cantor) was having an end-of-the-year party for his children's choirs at church. As the party was winding down and children were enjoying free time in the gym, a group of about five pre-teen girls came gleefully running up to sing to my husband:

"He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. Titus 3:5-8."

Now, to see a group of little girls joyfully singing not the latest Britney Spears or Hannah Montana hit but rather the Third Part of the Sacrament of Holy Baptism from Martin Luther's Small Catechism is in itself worth noting, but when the music to which they are singing that catechism passage was composed by the very cantor standing before them (who happens to be my husband) . . . well, as my friend Rebellious Pastor's Wife says in describing one of her own golden moments, "There really are no words."

What's even better is that these girls had earlier sung the entire Sacrament of Holy Baptism with the rest of our Lutheran day school at morning chapel, and better still is the knowledge that these songs, originally written and released piecemeal in CPH's Growing in Christ Sunday School curriculum, are only a few months away from being made available on one compilation CD (as well as in a companion songbook) so that anyone who wants to can easily acquire and make use of this treasure. (If you've never heard them before, several audio samples of the catechism songs are available at the link above. The CD and songbook should be available from CPH this summer.)

To my husband: thank you. And I'm saying that from my heart as a Lutheran mother, not as your wife. Although I've had the privilege over the last three years of hearing these songs as they moved from conception to work-in-progress to completion, I still can't wait to get my very own catechism song CD. Which reminds me: since I am the composer's wife, do I get a complimentary copy?

I Needed a Quiz to Tell Me This?

Which theologian are you? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Martin Luther The daddy of the Reformation. You are opposed to any Catholic ideas of works-salvation and see the scriptures as being primarily authoritative. Martin Luther 87% Karl Barth 80% Anselm 80% John Calvin 73% Augustine 67% Jonathan Edwards 53% Paul Tillich 27% Friedrich Schleiermacher 20% Jürgen Moltmann 13% Charles Finney 13%