Christmas Foretaste

One this day when we celebrate the first advent of Jesus the Christ, families gather to celebrate around Christmas trees and dinner tables. We have our own feast planned for this evening: steaks from Perry's (the best in Friendswood), buttered and steamed asparagus (that's right Mom, I'm eating asparagus!), washed down with a fine Pinot Noir. All of which made me think of this prophecy from Isaiah:

On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
And he will swallow up on this mountain
the covering that is cast over all peoples,
the veil that is spread over all nations.
He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces,
and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the LORD has spoken.
It will be said on that day,
“Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
This is the LORD; we have waited for him;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

This text is actually for Easter. But I think it fits today. Tonight we, and I hope you, will be celebrating with a fine feast celebrating the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior. Think of tonight's feast as a foretaste, not with the same benefits of the Sacrament, but still, a foretaste of the celebration to come - when you will be gathered by our Lord as death is wiped away forever in His Second Advent. On that day, you will be gathered with your family, the family of God, all your brothers and sisters in Christ. On that day we will praise our God with the words Isaiah foresaw: "Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation!" And feast in the feast of our Lord which has no end. May that day come quickly.
A blessed Christmas to each of you.

Defying Definition

Last weekend, our family had pictures taken for Christmas. It's something we always do. And Sheri wisely scheduled said photo session very early this year. She also insists that I wear my clerical collar for said pictures. Which makes things interesting. Whenever I am out in the community with Sheri or with the girls or with all of them, people look and I can tell the gears are just grinding in the head trying to figure it all out. According to common definition, guys who wear clerical collars are supposed to be Roman Catholic priests - which means they are supposed to be celibate. So they see me walk into Portrait Innovations with Sheri and the girls and I can just imagine: "Wait, he's a priest (and a young one at that) but is that his wife? Or is that a mistress? And they have kids!! Priests are pedophiles! Does he have a wedding ring? Yes, he has a wedding ring! So this is a priest, who's young and not old, is married, and has kids!" Sometimes they ask me if I'm a priest, and then I explain to them I'm a Lutheran pastor. "What's a Lutheran."
It's fun and a good thing not being defined by anyone's common assertions and preconceived notions. I will not be defined by popular viewpoints or pollster and marketing categories. And I am certainly not self-defined. The definitions I have been given are given by God - child of God, husband, father, U.S. citizen, and yes, a Lutheran Pastor.
And it's just hilarious when Sheri and I exhibit a public display of affection.

Saints Marching In

Yesterday we celebrated All Saints' Day at Hope. Hope tends to do this service big - only Easter and Christmas are bigger. Just before the 8 o'clock service, I was standing in the Narthex at the entrance to the nave greeting people as they came in. At one point, there was a "rush" of some of our members who are closer to sainthood than most - slowly pushing their walkers or being pushed in a wheelchair. With choir rehearsing in the background I was suddenly struck with this insight: this is the Pastoral office - greeting the saints God has appointed since before time - welcoming them into the kingdom of God with the words of Jesus such as what we heard that day, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God." My task is to proclaim to them that they are saints because of their savior Jesus who welcomes them into the kingdom by his Word.
As I watched those who have many physical tribulations right now, the words from Revelation came to me as well: "These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." One great day, these and all the saints of God, a great multitude, from every nation and tribe and people and language will be standing before the throne and before the Lamb without their walkers and their wheelchairs, clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands worshiping the God who has created them, redeemed them from their sin, and made them his holy people.
For now, greeting them with a smile in the narthex will do.

The Gospel For Those Broken By the Church

This is an excellent proclamation of the Gospel for those hurt, turned off, or broken by a church somewhere. Gene Veith over at Cranach posted this free resourse from Prof. Rod Rosenbladt. A great way to celebrate the Reformation: the proclamation of the Gospel!

"The 'Best' Church For Us"

You will never find the perfect congregation for you or your family. All of them are full of sinners. All of them are led by sinful human beings. All congregations are full of sinners, but sinners redeemed in the blood of Lamb and for which there is now no condemnation in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8) The perfect church for you would be a church of one - just you - which isn't a church at all.
We must wait until Christ returns to raise all the dead and judge all, and usher in the new heavens and the new earth in "the life of the world to come." And even then, it won't be the perfect church you seek. It won't meet your expectations. It will be something you can't possibly imagine. That's why it's called "the wonderful surprise."
But as we wait for that glorious day, find a congregation that gathers around God's Word purely preached and His Sacraments properly administered.

With Angels and Archangels and the Cleaning Staff

Clarence and Mildred are an amazing, and faithful, couple. Clarence had a stroke umpteen years ago and is in a nursing home. At the same time, his wife, Mildred lives at home, but can't drive. I have the opportunity and privilege of bringing God's Word and Sacrament to them on a regular basis. I usually pick up Mildred and we drive to meet Clarence at the nursing home.
You never know what's going to happen or under what circumstances you will be at the nursing home. Sometimes we worship together in a private dining room, or even in a staff-members office. This past visit, I asked the activities director what was available. He told me, "The main dining room is free. No one should be in there right now." So that's where we went. We found a table and talked awhile. Then I began our worship service using a brief order found in my LSB Pastoral Care Companion. As I began to prepare for the celebration of the Sacrament, in walks a couple of cleaning staff people. They were going to clean the light fixtures. So here I am, saying the Proper Preface as one of the crew plops down a ladder about four feet away and climbs to the fixture right above us. You never know what's going to happen in the Nursing Home! So I just keep going through the order. So there we are celebrating Holy Communion while the light fixtures are cleaned.
This isn't at all like celebrating the Sacrament in our Sanctuary where there are hundreds of people singing hymns with the organ and we use beautifully-crafted communion ware to distribute our Lord's Body and Blood. This is three people, with a little, unassuming Communion kit, no organ, no singing, sitting around a small table, with cleaning people just doing there job around us. But it's no different. It's no different than any other beautiful celebration of Holy Communion. Jesus Christ, the Son of God was born in a stable in a little, unassuming town in the backwater of the Roman Empire. But there, angels and archangels and all the company of heaven celebrated and praised God for what he has done. Same here, in the nursing home, with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven - Christ came to Clarence, Mildred, and myself in, with, and under the bread and wine of his holy meal; forgiving us, nourishing and strengthening us, and sending us.
Even with cleaning people around.

Just Humming Along

How often do you find yourself still singing those hymns from Sunday morning in your head? How often are you humming those tunes in quiet moments at home or work? What we sing on Sunday is important. The decisions made about hymnody for any given Sunday have lasting implications. The hymns sung on Sunday continue to resonate the rest of the week. Important question: Are those hymns/songs faithful confessions of who Jesus is and what he has done for us? That question is important because, in way, the hymns become your confession of the Faith the rest of the week and a probably remembered better than the words of the sermon.

Crumbs from the Table

This past Sunday's Gospel lesson was Matthew 15:21-28 - the story of Jesus and the Canaanite Woman.

And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon." But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, "Send her away, for she is crying out after us." He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me." And he answered, "It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs." She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table." Then Jesus answered her, "O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire." And her daughter was healed instantly. (ESV)

So this text was on my mind the entire service. However, the text became a physical reality for me as a knelt at the Lord's Table to receive Christ's Body and Blood in the Sacrament. As I took the bread, a quarter of the broken consecration host, I immediately thought "crumbs from the Master's table." Here in my hands and then in my mouth was crumbs from my Master's table given to me - a gentile dog begging and waiting at the foot of my Master's table. That's the grace and mercy and love of our God who offers his Son as crumbs falling from his table. The power of crumbs from God's table! - forgiveness, reconciliation, peace, salvation, eternal life - all offered through the Son of God, broken and bleeding on the cross in order that those crumbs - himself - might be given to so many.

Back to School at a Birthday Party

Over the weekend I attended a birthday party with my daughters. One of their neighborhood friends was celebrating her 7th birthday. It's always uncomfortable going to a party like this as an adult, not knowing anyone else but the host. But I did strike up an interesting conversation with someone I discovered also lived in the neighborhood. His name is Hal. And the commonality we shared is the seminary experience.
Hal has just completed his first year in seminary via distance learning. I completed my seminary training over 5 years ago. Hal is of the Methodist tradition. And what we discussed at length was not so much our differences in theology, but our differences in polity. What I mean by polity is how your Church body organizes and governs itself. We compared and contrasted each others. he had not learned much about Lutheranism in general and certainly almost nothing about how the LCMS governs itself. So I think the afternoon was certainly fruitful for him. And while I studied Methodists before, talking with someone intimately involved within that denomination put flesh and blood on the facts and words on a page.
Lesson learned: get to know more people from other Christian traditions.

Blood on My Hands

I once heard a Roman Catholic priest say, “Sacraments are messy.” This spoken within the context of a video documenting the Roman Catholic RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) just after he finished baptizing a number of folks. It was, in fact, messy. Those baptized got very wet. He may also have been speaking with regard to their understanding of the Lord’s Supper as a “re-sacrificing” of Christ’s body and blood – not Scriptural at all (Hebrews 9).

Nevertheless, this morning, the celebration of the Sacrament did get a bit messy – literally – for me this morning. Some of the wine spilled onto my hands. And a wave of theology came over me. Christ’s blood, present in, with, and under the Sacrament of the Altar was physically on my hands. My hand was sticky, just like real blood gets sticky before it dries. His blood on my hands. How true. “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus, whom you crucified.” (Acts 2:36) My sin nailed him to the cross. I am guilty. And look at the price paid. His blood on my hands. What shall we do?

“Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” His blood is on my hands, but he does not hold it against me. For I am baptized. I have died with Christ and have risen with Christ. That same blood of his on my hands is also my forgiveness.

The Sacraments are messy – physically in their administration, but also messy because of Christ’s messy, bloody, ugly death on the cross that paid the price of the gracious gifts of forgiveness of sins and eternal life freely offered through them.

Thoughts on the Death of Osama bin Laden

I must admit, I missed all the news Sunday night. I had stopped watching TV not long after dinner and went to bed around 9:30. So I woke up to the news Monday morning. While the world is still digesting what has happened, I thought I might jot down a few thoughts.

My first thoughts were probably similar to most Americans - a sense of relief, that a great evil had been removed from our world. But I also began to think about how this was all accomplished: from within the proper authority in this matter – government. It's the government’s job to defend and protect its citizenry and it properly wields its power when it accomplishes just that. President Obama has the authority to protect the nation and did exactly what he is supposed to do as Commander in Chief. The soldiers who carried out the mission had the authority to do exactly as they did by killing Osama bin Laden – an enemy of the state. They all operated within their vocations and performed their jobs very well in service to others.

God has eliminated a great evil from the earth (Romans 12:19). But he didn’t strike down bin Laden with a lightning strike from the heavens . While that is not beyond his power, the vast majority of the time, God uses means to accomplish his intent. Our God is both the Lord of the Church and of all the nations. He uses the Church to reveal himself and his love for the world in Jesus Christ – the head of the Church through means – Word and Sacrament. And God uses government and its means – the power of the sword, to keep the peace and bring about justice. Paul writes about this in Romans 13:1-7.

Yesterday was a victory for our nation. Yet, I would say, a muted victory because the war on terror will still go on. But maybe, God willing, we have witnessed the beginning of the end.

Through Death to Life

In the movie “Wall Street” the character Bud Fox says a famous line just before he goes into Gordon Gekko’s office for the first time. He says, “Life all comes down to a few moments, this is one of them.” The crossing of the Red Sea is one of those few moments for the children of Israel. Pharaoh had finally relented after the death of all the first born of the Egyptians and let the Israelites go. But now they were between a proverbial rock and a hard place: the Red Sea was in front of them and Pharaoh’s army was racing toward them from the rear. They were facing certain death – either by drowning in the sea, or by the sword. In the middle of that panic, here is what Moses says to them:
Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.

“Don’t be afraid.”? “Stand firm.”? What is Moses thinking? (Or not thinking). But the same God who had demonstrated his power over the Egyptians with the Ten Plagues demonstrates his power once again. And the rest of this story is pretty familiar. God parts the sea, and the Israelites cross the sea without even getting their feet wet. And once they are all on the other side, the sea collapses on the Egyptian Army – destroying all of them. Israel didn’t have to save itself from the Egyptian Army. God saves them. This is God’s moment and their moment – the moment God demonstrates his power and his love for his people. When Israel crosses the sea and the waters return again behind them, they leave behind who they were: slaves – and a future death in Egypt. They come through the water and now have a new identity as one’s who are no longer slaves. Their old way of life – slavery – is dead. Instead, they are God’s people – a free people – a people alive with a future life with their God – a great moment in Israel’s history.
So you might be thinking to yourself. What in heaven’s name does the Crossing of the Red Sea have to do with Easter? It has everything to do with Easter - because this incredible moment in history pre-figures your salvation in Christ. Like the Israelites in Egypt, we were slaves – not bound to a taskmaster, but bound to sin. And just like the Israelites, we too were stuck between a proverbial rock and a hard place. Just as Israel could not save themselves we cannot by our own reason or strength save ourselves from our slavery to sin. And just as Israel did not have to save themselves, we do not have to save ourselves. God saves us.
Just as Israel went through water under God’s care and coming out the other side a free people - you too have gone through the water under God’s care. You entered the water of your baptism a people in slavery, but came through that water under God’s care – the care of his Word – his very name. You have come out of the water of baptism with a new identity, no longer a slave, but free. No longer a future of death, but a future of life with your God. All of this is made possible through the risen one, Jesus Christ. The resurrection of Jesus is God’s pivotal moment in all of history – when in a very real way he demonstrates his power over death by raising his son – a dead corpse in the tomb – back to life. This is God’s moment and your moment.
While we have been declared saved through the death and resurrection of Jesus, we still sin. And the consequences of our sin is still death. We have times when we are between a rock and hard place – nowhere to go and no way out of our predicament. When sickness, or injury or death or pain or loss happens in our life, we can relate to those Israelites – no way out. But because Christ is risen, the way to the Father has been opened through him. The words of Moses are words of encouragement even for you today. “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today.”
On Easter we rehearse once more that moment of salvation: Christ’s resurrection from the dead. This rehearsal is also a rehearsal for our own resurrection. The moment when Christ will save you from death in the grave and bring you back to life for eternal freedom and an eternal future with your God.
Like the Israelites, you have come through death to life. It’s what Jesus has done for you and to you. Just as Jesus dies and rises, we too have died to sin and risen again to life – now in baptism, and in its fulfillment on the Last Day. Christ is risen, he is risen indeed.

Good Friday

Death rubs us the wrong way. We don’t like it. It’s like it shouldn’t happen. When someone dies unexpectedly, it just seems wrong. When a loved one dies it definitely seems wrong. And when we think about our own mortality – the fact that we are going to die – we can’t even begin to fathom the idea. Death just seems wrong. By and large, Humanity has come to think that death is just a natural process – that “death is just a part of life” because we see it happening throughout nature. But when God created all things he didn’t design death into his created order. He didn’t design into the fabric of creation that death would be a natural part of life. Death only happens because of our sinful nature and the curse of our sin upon the natural order itself.
On Ash Wednesday, we began the season of Lent. We heard that there’s nothing we can do about our sin and consequently, there is nothing we can do to stop death – “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.” But we also heard the good news: “Our death caused by our sin does not have the final word - Jesus does.” On Good Friday we see that word in action as our savior slowly dies on the cross. And we hear his final word from the cross, “It is finished.”

On Good Friday, we once again rehearse the events of that day. We listen once again to the written testimony of those who witnessed first-hand what Jesus did – who saw for themselves the expensive price paid for those simple words of absolution we hear after confession of sin. We see someone else pay the “wages of our sin.” We see someone else pay the debt we owe by dying the death we deserve. We see something we don’t want to see. We see something that isn’t very pretty. We see that the “someone else” is God himself - a dead corpse on a cross. And this death seems very wrong. He was innocent. Yet he went willingly. The events that we will hear were all unfolding completely under his control. And it seems very wrong to us. “Why does he have to die?” “It just seems wrong!” And you would be right. It is wrong. God does something for us that he doesn’t have to do. But he thinks it’s worth doing, for you. He puts himself under the demands of the law that you cannot keep. And he has done this on your behalf. That’s the Gospel. And that’s the expensive cost of the Gospel.
The Gospel is that the power of sin that leads to your death – dies in the Christ who dies on the cross. Your sin dies with him and is gone forever. And you and I participate in that death through baptism. The font is a tomb into which you have died through water and Word. And there, through water and Word, God does his work. And just as Christ rises from that grave on that Sunday morning, you too rise. In baptism, you have now already died and risen just as Christ has died and risen. The power of sin is no more. It is finished. Jesus has the last word in his death and in yours.
We call Good Friday "good." It’s good because of the great good Jesus has accomplished by his death for you. Good Friday is a rehearsal, not only of Christ’s death, but our own death as well. Listen again to the story, and by his word, his last word, you have life.

The Moment

Today, I was thinking about what the first moment of the Resurrection of all flesh when Christ returns will be like(which is trying to imagine the unimaginable). This is what I thought of today:

The moment might be like the first breath of Adam as he breathed in the sweet, fresh air of a brand-new world and universe created just for him. And then, the next moment will be like that breathless but incredibly satisfying moment just after the orchestra has triumphantly played the final chord and that deeply satisfying, wonderful chord is still resonating through the concert hall and remains with you in your mind - that moment will be the moment when you see your Savior Jesus for the first time with your own eyes and just begin to experience the fact that the joy promised throughout the Scriptures and believed by you in faith has now become a new, physical reality. This will be a moment that, in that forgotten time before, would have brought tears of joy to anyone, but now produces that huge smile you get as you begin to laugh.

...So we pray today, "Come Lord Jesus."

Who Knew?

I found this video of an interview with Alice Cooper - the rock star who was recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.


Who would have thought that Alice Cooper was a Christian.  Listen carefully to the interview.  He has a great understanding about how the Faith is lived - the Doctrine of Vocation.  And, at least according to him, he actually lives it.

Thanks to a classmate of mine, Ryan Oakes, for posting it on Facebook.

What Blessings?

“Nothing’s working for me right now.” “It feels like the whole world is out to get me.” “Where is God when I need him most?”  Ever felt like that? And then we hear Jesus’ first words from his Sermon on the Mount and they are all about blessings. So if we try to be like those types of people he describes, mourners, peacemakers, pure in heart, etc, then he will bless us? Wrong answer. The “Beatitudes” as we call these verses, are not a prescription for blessings from Jesus. The blessings in our lives we usually think of are material ones: wealth, health, good results, etc. But the blessings Jesus is talking about are the ways that our Lord blesses us more often than we know – blessings that can’t be seen. And some are blessings yet to come.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Who are the “poor in spirit?” Those who are poor can’t support themselves, they need help. Their needs have to be provided for by someone else. Who are these poor in spirit people? That’s us! By our very nature as ones sinful and unclean, we are spiritually poor. With respect to our belief and trust in God, we bring absolutely nothing of value to the table. The beginning of this sermon is an open invitation to the poor in spirit – that’s everyone. Everyone is poor in spirit and need to hear the good news Jesus brings. “For theirs IS the kingdom of heaven.” The kingdom of heaven and all its blessings are ALREADY a present reality for the poor in spirit. But what are these blessings? Now, we do have material blessings in our lives – all things God has provided for us. But “blessed” here is not “blessed with stuff”, but rather “saved” or “redeemed.” Just some of the blessings followers of Jesus already enjoy are: forgiveness, baptism into Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives for faith and obedience, spiritual nourishment at our Lord’s Table, the fellowship of our brothers and sisters in Christ. The reign of heaven already belongs to the poor in spirit. Because of this fact, Jesus calls them – you - blessed.
The first blessing that Jesus proclaims is the gateway to all the others. The poor in spirit who are blessed because of their dependence upon Jesus WILL (future tense) experience these others as well. The next six blessings flow from the first. You and I have experienced mourning, humility, and hunger for righteousness and justice. But blessing WILL come in complete fulfillment when our Lord comes again. And yet, because of your union with Christ, these blessings to come are beginning to emerge now. In Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit, you followers of Jesus have already begun to be comforted, to be merciful, to be pure in heart, and to be peacemakers. The reign of heaven is breaking out into the world through the future blessings you have begun to receive through faith in Christ.
The last two blessings are about persecution. Not everyone will experience it. And everyone who does will experience it in different ways and to different degrees. But when it does happen, Jesus promises his blessing now – “theirs is the kingdom of God.” And they can look forward with joy to that which is to come:
“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Be assured by our Lord that if and when persecution happens to you, the reign of heaven already belongs to you. And those who are persecuted for Christ’s sake stand in line with God’s greatest servants.
These blessings are yours and will be yours. No matter what happens, no matter how bad it looks, the final victory will belong to God. The present reign of heaven and the blessings that flow from Christ’s relationship with you are hidden, but they're there for you - the poor in spirit to who it has been revealed.  You are the blessed ones.

Plastic Around the Neck

What's up with some pastors wearing a clerical shirt?

First, this is what it's not: The clerical shirt is not a symbol of power or a demand for respect or a mark of "one who is holier than you." It is a symbol of a servant - the same idea why other public servants such as police officers, military personnel, and the like wear a uniform. The pastor is a servant of Christ and of His Word - ordained to call and serve "in the stead and by the command of our Lord Jesus Christ" for the Church and for a specific congregation.

There are practical functions as well. The wearer is quickly identified in public as one who is a servant of the Church. However, in recent years the shirt has had negative images associated with it. Scandals in the Church, such as the many abuse cases in the Roman Catholic Church, have given the clerical shirt a bad public image. For some, when they see it, they think "child molester" instead of pastor.

But why black? Black is color symbolic of sin. The servant of Christ is also as sinner just like everyone else. The white of the collar itself is a reminder of what Christ has done for us. Through faith in Him, we are washed clean of sin the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7). He declares us sinners his holy ones - white as snow because Jesus graciously took our sin upon himself in his life, death, and resurrection.

The pastor is a sinner called and ordained to speak God's Word to God's people and to the world. The shirt is a symbol of that public office.

Defining Marriage

The same-sex marriage debate rages on. I found this article by R.R. Reno over at First Things. I would encourage you to read it...slowly. The language is not easy - it is loaded with legal terms. But Reno does a good job of framing the problem at the fundamental level - unwhittingly including the Doctrine of Vocation in which we are not all created equal, but we are each created with unique talents and gifts and are placed into institutions (spouse, child, parent, worker, citizen, etc) for service to our neighbor. And these individual gifts compliment one another.