Anniversaries and Milestones

It was one year ago (yesterday) when I first started blogging — on my Monica's eleventh birthday. Now she is twelve, and I've been reflecting on all that has happened in the past year. It has been rather an eventful one, all things considered. So much so, that, whereas I am usually inclined to comment on how quickly the time has gone by, in this case I am amazed that so much has happened in the span of only twelve months; surely it must have been longer than that.

It was that same weekend, a year ago, that my young friends Ann & Andrew were married up in Minnesota, and I have certainly spent some time this past week recalling the fond memories of their wedding. That was a highlight of 2007, no doubt. Then again, it was also that weekend when another dear friend, Mrs. Beth Schlamann, departed in the peace of Christ after a vigorous battle with cancer. I've been pleased to see her husband, the Reverend Mark Schlamann, on a number of occasions since then, and my heart still goes out to him with sympathy for his loss. These are the chronicles of life and death and everything between, as Charlotte and Ariksander are fond of reminding me.

Since then, let's see, what has transpired? My eldest son moved away from home to work in Nebraska for the summer, then began his first year of college in Texas. Both he and his older sister got engaged to be married in this Year of Our Lord 2008: DoRena said yes to Sam on the 4th of July, and Bekah said yes to Zach on New Year's Day. As for Beanie's year, she had an interesting summer all the way around, then finished her time at I.U. in Bloomington, and moved to Fort Wayne in December to finish her college career while planning her nuptials. Meanwhile, Zach's second semester coincided with a hard blow to the head, followed by a series of scans and medical tests, which appear to have ruled out any serious or permanent damage.

One can readily see that simply keeping up with my two oldest children would already have made for a full year since May of 2007. But wait, there's more. In fact, I've worn myself out just mentally retracing my steps. I attended the LCMS Convention in Houston in July (which was exhausting in its own right); then I spoke on hymnody in Indianapolis in September; on Paul Gerhardt in New York in October; on Worship and Faith in Texas in January; on Confession and Absolution in Ohio in March; and I taught a seminary course on the early church fathers in Siberia in April. Of course, in the midst of the excitement last summer, the final Harry Potter book was released, and I spoke on that, too, most notably on Issues, Etc., which has since been removed from the airwaves. The travesty of that cancellation was one of the low points of the past year.

My wife and I celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary (on the 15th of June), and half a year later we purchased our first home. Aside from the disasterous mess in which the house was left to us (and it still boggles my mind that we should ever have been treated in that way), buying a home of our own has been positively amazing. Even the necessary upkeep is satisyfing in its own way, because it is undertaken for the longterm benefit of our family and our future. Besdies that, we were really overwhelmed by the generosity of many, many friends, who helped us clean the new place out and turn it into a comfortable home.

There have been a number of bittersweet events along the way since I began blogging one year ago. My Dad underwent surgery (thankfully successful) to remove his bladder on account of cancer, and I have since observed the way that time and tide and tribulation have aged him. I am grateful to have him still with us. But two of my elder colleagues and friends have, in this past year, departed from this vale of tears to the Lord in glory, and there are occasions when their absence is particularly poignant. Another longtime friend, I recently discovered, has departed not from this life but from the comon confession and fellowship of the faith that we previously shared. Such things cut me to the quick. But nothing has touched me more deeply than the death of my unborn son, Job, the first miscarriage that LaRena and I have suffered.

In the face of such things beyond my ability to control or comprehend, I am regularly reminded of my fragility and finitude, such as I have contemplated here in the past. And, in turn, by the grace of God, I am called to repentance and faith in the One who is always the same, yesterday, today and forever. As Beth and Ray and Ed and Job are now with Him in glory, I pray that I too shall abide in Him by steadfast faith, along with Monica, Ann & Andrew, Mark, Don, Sam & DoRena, Zach & Rebekah, LaRena and all our children, until each of us, and one and all, shall be called to abide in His nearer presence eternally.

27 Dresses

I finally got to see it on the plane coming home from Siberia. I'd been wanting to see it all along, but — not only did I not have the time or opportunity to do so when it was playing at a movie theater near me — it is unquestionably a "chick flick," and there is one's pride and male ego to protect. Of course, now here I am blogging about it, so whatever dignity I may have managed to preserve is out the window at this point. Oh, well.

It was, specifically, on the plane from Frankfurt to Chicago that I saw this chick flick in question. A Lufthansa flight. Kudos to that airline for providing individual movie screens in economy class, with a selection of movies available for viewing. In addition to "27 Dresses," I also watched "The Golden Compass," which was neither all that offensive nor all that impressive in my opinion.

As for "27 Dresses," I enjoyed it well enough. It wasn't profound, but it was pleasantly cute and entertaining, as expected. All in all, it was also relatively wholesome in a PG-13 sort of way. I guess it was largely pro-marriage, which is particularly refreshing in this day and age. Besides, with my own daughter getting married in a matter of weeks, I'm feeling suitably emotional about such things right now, and I expect that helps when it comes to watching chick flicks properly.

It does frustrate me that the movie included some implicit fornication. Nothing explicit, but without any doubts as to the implications. As a pastor, this is one of the foremost challenges I have encountered in dealing with couples, and with young people in general. Many Christians do not even seem to realize that sex outside of marriage is not only unwise but sinful. I've had at least one case in which the ostensibly Christian parents of a couple I was counseling had urged them to live together prior to their marriage (even though the couple felt uneasy about such an arrangement). I told them to continue honoring their parents, but to disregard such unfaithful and ungodly advice. Thankfully, in that case, the couple then chose to move apart until after the wedding. But the point is that, what used to be clear to everyone, even to non-Christians, is no longer so clear to most people. Thus, in the movie "27 Dresses," a night of reckless passion is presented as evidence of compatability. All the more disappointing, in addition to the immorality of it, because the movie had otherwise done a very nice job of demonstrating a compatability of shared values and interests and personality, which served the story line better than illicit sex.

Anyway, despite that disappointment — sadly far too common in movies anymore (for which reason I have generally retreated to the relative safety of animated family films) — "27 Dresses" did attempt to portray the marriage estate as a positively good thing, and as one that ought to be entered into seriously, with honesty and integrity. That point was welcome and appreciated, even if it was not terribly sophisticated or thought-provoking in its presentation and development.

There was one particular point, however, which struck me as rather significant. And, even if quite by accident, I daresay that it offered a theologically profound insight. Yes, yes, I realize that sounds like more than a bit of a stretch, but I think it's true.

Both the leading lady, Jane, and her eventual groom, Kevin, in the course of the movie identify the thing they look for and love the most about weddings. It isn't the gorgeous bride as she makes her grand entrance, but at that point they each prefer to look to the other end of the aisle, to observe the look upon the groom's face as he beholds and awaits his lovely beloved. There they find such love and happiness displayed, it is the real highlight of the entire event.

That's a pretty cool observation, even as far as pop psychology goes. But it did also occur to me, afterwards, that it points us to the One who is the heavenly Bridegroom of us all. Marriage always has been about Jesus, from the very beginning, and it should point us to Him above all. Brides are rightly decked out, in so far as propriety may permit, but precisely as a confession of that which is bestowed upon the Church by the charity of Christ. As C.S. Lewis observes in his wonderful little book, The Four Loves, the Lord does not find His Bride lovely, but He makes her so with His love for her. She is resplendent in the radiated glory of the One who gives Himself for her. Thus, even the beauty of the blushing bride direct our gaze to the gracious Groom.

So it is that I find myself in complete agreement with Jane and Kevin: Look at the Groom! If the bride is so gorgeous, it is because the Groom is so gracious. And that is finally true for all of us who are cleansed by the washing of water with His Word and Holy Spirit.

I'll be torn, I realize, when it comes to my Beanie's wedding. I suspect that, as I walk her down the aisle, I'm going to be in one of those surrealistic states of mind that can hardly take anything in very clearly. If I have my Beanie-Belle on my arm, I guess I won't really be able to look at her, anway, without steering her into the pews. But more important: The Father looks to the Man who will receive the Woman . . . so that's where I'll be headed, too. A human father's heart can probably never bring itself to admire anyone so much as his own daughter, but, truth be told, it'll be in Sam's face that I get to see the love that makes my Beanie a bride. Just as we behold the Light of the revelation of the Glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus, our Savior, to whom we are presented in the unblemished radiance of His perfect righteousness. That's far and away the best dress of all, which finally takes the cake.

Restless Hearts Rest in Peace in the Ascension of Our Lord

It is the Eve of the Ascension of Our Lord here in Siberia, which means, liturgically speaking, that the day of the feast has already begun. That shall not be the case for another ten or twelve hours back home in the United States, which strikes me as rather intriguing at the moment. No one knows the day or the hour when the Son of Man will return upon the clouds with power and great glory, but it will be a different day, or at least a different hour, in each part of the world. How very odd, and yet, how very appropriate, since the name of the Lord is greatly to be praised from the rising to the setting of the sun; not only round the world but round the clock. As there will be that one final moment when He comes to judge the living and the dead around the world all at once, there is no moment when He is not now coming to His Church in grace, mercy and peace, by the Ministry of His Gospel to the end of the age.

We are always making plans for the future. In itself, such planning ahead is not sinful, yet our plans are always tainted and hindered by our sinfulness and sin. The fact is that we do not know what tomorrow holds; it is entirely contingent upon the grace of God. Still, what do we do? We do not simply plan, but we worry about tomorrow. And all the while, we continue to fret about the past. Though today has sufficent obligations and troubles of its own, we spend far too much of our time living in the past with regrets, and wishing away our present moments in pointless anxiety for the future, which may or may not even come to pass. Only as God so wills, shall we do this or that. Or perhaps, this very night, He shall call us from this temporal world to Himself.

We all make plans for the future, both for the near and distant future, as best we can on the basis of what we know. As Christians we do so in faith, in accordance with the Word of God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of true wisdom, which does not judge by what the eye sees in the world, but by the hearing of the Word of Christ. As such, it is often the case that our wisdom appears foolish in the eyes of the world, though it is really only our sin that is foolish and false. The goal of our life, the aim of our decisions, is simply that of faithfulness and love.

Because the Holy Triune God, who is Love, is faithful above all others — and because He is the Creator and Preserver of all things — our life on earth (even under the Cross) is actually more stable and predictable than not, most of the time; certainly, it is more so than our sins deserve. Thus, being the sinners that we are, we can be lulled into a false sense of complacency and pride, as though we were the masters of our own destiny, calling the shots and running the show. It is not so, no matter how much we may think it or act as though it were.

There are, however, those times in life when we are made much more aware of the uncertainties and vacillations of our finite, mortal life in this fallen world. There are such times of sickness and death, for example, when we are forced to admit that we can neither heal nor sustain life by any power of our own. Changes in the weather, in world politics or the economy, are likewise out of our control. Natural disasters, wars and rumors of war, and so forth, shake our false sense of security to its very core (and so serve as special signs of the end). Less dramatically, but closer to our own heart and home, life can become very confusing, downright stressful, and even quite daunting, when we are faced with making plans for college and career, marriage and family.

There is a restlessness within us, St. Augustine famously confesses, which does not rest until it rests in God. It is exacerbated by our sinfulness, because we look for peace and rest, for love and hope, in all the wrong places, in things and people instead of the one true God. But even apart from our sin, we were not created to be self-sufficient, independent creatures, as though we could make our own way and find our place in the world apart from God. Attempting to do that very thing is the original sin! By contrast, we are granted peace and rest for both body and soul when we live by faith in the Lord our God, who created us for such life in and with Himself.

The promises of God throughout the Old Testament centered especially in that peace and rest which He would grant to His people. He bequeated the good land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants. He promised, then, to bring the sons of Israel out of Egyptian slavery into that very land again. And in that promised land, He would cause His name and His glory to dwell; He would live and abide among His people, and they would live and abide with Him in His presence. Then they would have peace and rest.

It was Joshua the son of Nun (the Old Testament Jesus) who lead the Israelites into Canaan. It is the new and better Jesus of Nazareth who leads us into the promised land of heaven. There He is our God, and we are His people. His own Body is the Temple and Glory of God, whereby He abides with us, and we in Him forever. By the Atonement of His sacrifice for us upon the Cross, He has reconciled us to God the Father in Himself, and He has become our perfect Peace. Thus, Christ Jesus Himself is our eternal Sabbath Rest, which remains for the people of God.

What does this mean for us? The Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ establishes the place that God the Father has prepared for each of us, His people, in the Person of His beloved Son. Where He is, there shall you be also. Indeed, you have already died with Him in your Baptism, and your life is now safely hidden with Christ in God. It doesn't get any safer than that! By His Cross, in His Resurrection and Ascension, He has prepared a place for you — He has become your true Home! — and He shall bring you there in peace, to be and abide with Him forever where He is.

That accomplished fact and established reality does not render meaningless or futile the life that you now live in the flesh. Rather, it is the very thing that frees you to live, even here and now, because it bestows real meaning and genuine significance upon your life in the body. For this very body in which you now live on earth, even subject as it is to sickness and death, shall be resurrected to life everlasting, renewed, perfected and glorified, immortal and imperishable, like unto the glorious body of your risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ. Consequently, what you do in and with that body of yours here on earth really matters.

It matters alright, but not in the sense that you must somehow obtain a righteousness of your own by the works of the Law. You are not able to do that, but neither is it necessary. It is not as though you must hit upon just the right combination of choices and decisions in order to find your own way to heaven. You would never know the way to go; except that Christ Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life, who has come to bring you to the Father in and with Himself.

So, then, your life in the body matters, because the life that you live, already here and now on earth, you live no longer for yourself but for Him, who for your sake died and was raised and has ascended to the right hand of the Father. Your life right now is not only a case of anticipation. It is true that you do wait upon the Lord, and you hope for that which is not yet seen, and you long for the final revelation of the sons of God; you groan with all of creation for the consummation of all things, for the resurrection of all flesh, when Christ Jesus shall be all in all. But all of this for which you wait has already been fulfilled and established in the Person of Christ, in His Cross and Resurrection. And again, because you are united with Him by your Baptism into His death, so do you also share His Resurrection, His Ascension, and His Life. For that reason, even while yet in this vale of tears, you are already living before God in righteousness, innocence and blessedness; you're already living with Christ in His Kingdom, as you live by grace through faith in His Gospel, within His one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, on earth as it is in heaven.

This life in Christ is your perfect peace and rest (through the forgiveness of all your sins). It is still by faith, not yet by sight. But it is no less real, sure and certain than Christ Himself is True.

Of course, that doesn't give you all the answers to the questions in your heart and on your mind. There is no one "right answer" as to whether or where you must go to college, or what you must be and do when you grow up, or whom you should marry, or when. You live by faith in the Gospel, not by the works of the Law. To be sure, your faith is guided by the Law of God, which is His good and acceptable will. So are you guided by your parents and other authorities, who love you and serve you by God's grace. But in all of this, His Law does not guide you in the way of self-righteousness, nor in selfish self-achievement, but in the way of faith toward God and love for your neighbor. In this way of faith and love, there is great freedom.

A young person who knows the stability of his earthly home and family, who has the certainty and confidence of parents who love him, has a tremendous advantage in growing up and finding his way in the world. His foundations give him a solid footing, even when he's far from home. I have much the same experience, even on the opposite side of the world, knowing that my wife and children, our home and family, are established and safe and waiting for me in South Bend. My identity as a husband and father gives me a sense of myself and helps me keep my bearings in the world, no matter where in the world I may be, whether on my own or in a crowd.

So much more is that the case for us, who belong to the Lord our God, the Maker of the heavens and the earth. For we are children of the heavenly Father; and we are members of the Bride of Christ. That is our security, our identity, our place, our permanent home. And it is from within that certainty that we are free to make our choices and decisions about the future without fear. Our restless hearts have found their peace and rest in Christ.

The Sacramental Significance of the Christian Faith and Life

Pastor Grobien likes to kid me a bit, that my favorite Bible story is whatever Holy Gospel I happen to be preaching on that week. That's just about right, actually. At the same time, there are certain passages of Holy Scripture that remain consistently at the forefront of my theological understanding; key passages that decisively define my own Christian faith and life, as well as my preaching to others. I suppose those texts would have to be identified as my "favorites," if it's not inappropriate to pick and choose such a "canon within the canon."

There is no doubt or question that St. Mark 10 (yes, the entire chapter) is near the top of my list of all-time favorites. That chapter is an incredibly profound and pivotal point in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. It includes His Word concerning marriage and divorce (which is ultimately a Word concerning the forgiveness and reconciliation of His adulterous bride, and His steadfast faithfulness toward her); His encounter with the rich young man; the clear forthtelling of His Cross and Passion; His response to the bold request of James and John; His preaching of His sacrificial servanthood as the ransom for us all; and His healing of blind Bartimaeus at Jericho, as He, this new and greater Joshua, prepares to bring His Israel into Canaan.

In particular, I find it most significant that our Lord describes His forthcoming Cross and Passion, the culmination of His earthly life, in terms of the Sacraments: the Baptism with which He is baptized, and the Chalice that He drinks. What is more, He then also defines the faith and life of His disciples as being baptized with His Baptism and as drinking His Chalice. It is by the sharing of these Sacraments of His Cross and Passion that His disciples will live with Him in His Kingdom. Except that, what is death for Him, and judgment and the wrath of God, is forgiveness and life and salvation for us. It all comes to a head, for Him and for us, in Holy Baptism and the Holy Communion. St. Paul demonstrates much the same emphases in his discussion of Holy Baptism in Romans 6, and in his discussion of the Holy Communion in 1 Corinthians 10 and 11.

Such sacramental emphases have served as an important key to my reading and preaching of the Gospel. Indeed, it has seemed patently obvious to me that the Church's faith and life are founded on the Sacrament of Holy Baptism and centered in the Sacrament of the Altar. For these are the very things that define our Lord's own life and ministry, even unto His death upon the Cross. Of course, the Sacraments would be nothing apart from His Cross and Resurrection, but, the fact is, they could not be more intimately united than they are with that great Victory of Christ, our Paschal Lamb who sets us free. We are baptized into His death, and we eat the Feast of His sacrifice — His body given, His blood poured out — proclaiming His death until He comes.

If this has seemed quite obvious to me, it has not appeared to be so for many others; and so I have wondered sometimes whether my understanding were my own idiosyncrasy. If so, I would not regard that as a good thing; for theology should not be overly clever, unique or peculiar, but consistent with the teaching and confession of the Church catholic. There is always the danger that what seems very clear to one or another of us, may have more to do with our own imperfect perceptions than with the sure and certain Word of Christ. Thus, we do not stand alone in our reading and preaching of the Scriptures, but we abide within the House that our wise Lord Jesus Christ has built upon the Rock. Attempting to stand upon the Rock outside of that House will only get us swept away by the storms of life that rage against us.

With that in mind, I have been encouraged, as well as edified, by my reading and teaching of the early church fathers these past few weeks. Not that I went looking to find anything or to prove anything; I didn't. I simply studied, along with my students, some of the most important works of a dozen fathers, eastern and western, from the first century to the fifth. In doing so, I was gratified to find a beautifully consistent sacramental emphasis, over and over again, in one father after another, from the "Apostolic Fathers" to the great champions of the first three ecumenical councils (Nicaea, Constantinople, and Ephesus). I'm not talking about systematic treatises on the doctrine of the Sacraments, but a decisively and distinctively sacramental view of faith and life. That is to say, Holy Baptism and the Holy Communion are not simply practiced as a given in the life of the Church; but, as such, they serve to shape and define the Christian's life in the world. Perhaps the following examples and broad summaries will illustrate what I mean.

For St. Ignatius of Antioch and St. Polycarp of Smyrna (early second century), participation in the Sacrament of the Altar is a real participation in the fruits of Christ's Passion; which means the theology of the Cross. Eating and drinking the crucified body and shed blood of Christ, the Lord, conforms one's own body to bear the cross and to suffer for the sake of holy love. The culmination of the Christian life and discipleship, therefore, is expressed and experienced especially in martyrdom, as Ignatius anticipates for himself in writing his seven letters, and as Polycarp demonstrates in his own heroic martyrdom. And for those who are not put to death in this way, even so, their bodies are offered as a living sacrifice of love within their own proper vocations. Either way, the Christian who lives and dies by faith in Christ becomes a kind of holy wheat, ground into eucharistic bread, and fills up the chalice of suffering.

For St. Irenaeus of Lyons (late second century), the Sacrament of the Altar demonstrates and testifies to the goodness of God's Creation, since He gives to us the very Body and Blood of His incarnate Son by way of the created gifts of bread and wine. As such, participation in the Holy Communion is a sharing in the bodily reality of the Incarnation. This Sacrament transforms the Christian's mortal flesh and blood into the image and likeness of Christ, in preparation for and anticipation of the Resurrection of the body to the life everlasting. In the meantime, along with giving thanks (eucharistia) for God's good gifts of Creation, the Christian already lives by faith and love precisely in and with his body, within his vocations in the world, serving his neighbors according to their own bodily needs. This charity of the body is one of the key things that sets the orthodox Christians apart from the various gnostic sects.

Likewise, for St. Justin Martyr (mid-second century) and Tertullian of Carthage (early third century), the remarkable love of the Christians for one another and for their neighbors — the community and charity of the Church — is rooted in and inseparable from the gathering of the Christians for the Divine Service of the Word and Sacrament. It is in that liturgical context that alms are gathered; and as the deacons distribute the body and blood of Christ to the faithful in the congregation, so do they distribute the Church's charity to the poor and needy in the world.

Tertullian eloquently emphasizes that the soul is neither cleansed nor redeemed apart from the body. For the body is washed in the waters of Holy Baptism, and it is fed with the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus in the Sacrament of the Altar. Thus, the life of the Christian in the body is significant; it is in and with the body that faith and love are exercised.

For both Tertullian and Origen of Alexandria (also third century), the sacramental oath of Baptism defines the Christian life in contrast to the idolatry of the world and its temptations. For the renunciation of the devil, all his works and all his ways, and the confession of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, completely redefine the Christian's relationship to the entire world in which he lives. These rites and ceremonies of Holy Baptism testify to a clear distinction between faith and unbelief, between life and death. There simply is no middle ground between darkness and light, no place for any compromise on the part of a Christian. His participation in the Baptism and Cup of Christ necessarily rule out a participation in the demonic rites and ceremonies of the pagans.

By the same token, St. Cyprian of Carthage (mid-third century) warns that, for those who have renounced the faith by sacrificing to idols and participating in the altars of demons, it is not only wrong but dangerous and deadly to participate in the Holy Communion apart from repentance. There is a very tangible and practical seriousness about all of this, and therefore an equally serious practice of pastoral care for those who have fallen, that they may be healed and restored. And restoration to the Church means, specifically, restoration to the Holy Communion.

Cyprian understands that a common sharing in the Body and Blood of Christ constitutes the unity of His Church. It is, indeed, the Holy Communion of all His saints in His one Body, by their participation in these holy things of His Body and His Blood. Even the elements of the Sacrament signify this: As the bread is made from many grains of wheat, and the wine produced from many grapes, and these are gathered from hither and yon into one Meal of Christ, so are His disciples called and gathered from all nations into His one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.

For St. Athanasius of Alexandria, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, the Cappadocian Fathers, and St. Cyril of Alexandria (in the fourth and fifth centuries), the Incarnation of the Son of God by the Word and Spirit of God — and especially His conception in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary — is foundational for the parallel mystery of His Holy Communion. Therein bread and wine, again by the Word and Spirit of God, become the selfsame body and blood of Christ that were conceived and born of St. Mary, in which He also suffered and died under Pontious Pilate. Likewise, the reception of this Body and Blood of the incarnate Lord Jesus Christ, crucified and risen for us men and our salvation, tranforms our mortal flesh and blood through communion with Him, and so also vivifies our bodies for life with Him, both here and time and hereafter in the Resurrection.

One of the Cappadocian Fathers, St. Basil the Great (mid-fourth century), beautifully explains that the Church's theology is confessed and practiced and manifested in her doxology. That very point is particularly obvious in Basil's eucharistic rite, which celebrates by way of thanksgiving his confession of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Specifically, the saving work of the Holy Trinity continuously culminates for us Christians in the Sacrament of the Altar, wherein the Holy Spirit reveals the incarnate Son of the Father to us, and whereby we are brought to the Father through Christ in the Spirit. Thus, where others theorize and speculate, Basil prays and praises and gives thanks, and he receives the Holy Communion.

It is not only implicit in Basil's eucharistic rite, but explicit in his great treatise On the Holy Spirit. There he persistently maintains that the foundation for all Christian prayer and doxology is the form and confession of Holy Baptism, as taught and given to us by Christ. That is to say, we are to pray in accordance with that great confession of the faith into which we have been baptized: in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Having brought us through the water by His Name, the Lord is our strength and our song, for He has become our salvation.

How to Contend for the Faith without Killing Your Brother

One of my young friends has asked me how to "defend the truth without brutally maiming one's erring brothers." That's a good and worthwhile question. Sadly, answering is easier than doing. It is only by the Spirit of Christ that we are enabled to accomplish it. Here is how I would answer the question, therefore, in accordance with His Word, which is the very means by which His Spirit works.

Your brother is not your enemy, no matter what either one of you may think of the other. If he is your brother, than he belongs to you in Christ Jesus (and if he is not your brother, the Lord would call him to become your brother in Christ). You have one enemy, that is the devil, who is a liar and a murderer. If your brother has fallen into the snare of the devil, then you and your brother have a common enemy, and now you are given to aid your brother. Defend the truth, therefore, in order to thwart the power of the devil's lies over your brother. Contend for the faith, in order that your brother may have life in Christ instead of death.

The goal is not to win the argument, but to win your brother. Your aim is to be reconciled to him; not by any compromise of the truth, but by harmonious agreement in the truth. If it is the faith and the truth for which you are concerned, then it is not about you, but about Christ Jesus. Not as though Jesus needed your help, but because your brother does.

Listen carefully and compassionately to what your brother has to say. Be patient and considerate. If he is in error, you will not be able to help him if you do not hear him accurately. He may not be far from the Kingdom of God, to begin with, but you may push him further away if you are too quick to speak before you have listened. Such impatience and such a rush and hurry to correct your brother, more likely stems from a defensiveness of your own sinful weakness and uncertainty than from the conviction of faith and the confidence of truth.

Bear in mind that your own faculties of intelligence, knowledge and wisdom, are fallen and imperfect. It is not only your body and your heart that are tainted by your sin, but also your mind. Allow that your own understanding may need to be corrected. Or, while it may be true that your faith is quite rightly informed, it may also be the case that your confession of the faith needs to be ordered with greater clarity.

Do not hesitate to acknowledge your own errors when they are brought to light by the Word of God. Do not fail to apologize where you have spoken poorly, and to confess your sin where you have spoken falsely. What is more, do not fail to apologize where you have spoken the truth in a manner unbecoming of a Christian. Do not apologize for the truth, of course, but own the error for whatever in your words and actions has denied that very truth which you confess.

In humility, consider others to be better than yourself. Think more highly, even of your erring brother, than you think of yourself. Be more zealous for your brother's needs than your own, especially if you have been given a greater knowledge and better understanding of the truth than he has received. If you have been granted wisdom, thank God for His grace and mercy toward you, and recognize the privilege and responsibility that He has given you to confess the faith according to His Word.

Just as the Lord does and accomplishes everything by His Word, which alone endures forever, defend the truth by speaking His Word. Say the same thing that God the Father speaks to you by His Son. In thus confessing His Word, it is God who speaks through you, and it is the Spirit who works in your brother. Speak that most powerful Word in humility, because it is the Word of God, whereas you are a sinful man or woman; but speak it with confidence, nevertheless, precisely because it is the Word of God, even when spoken by sinners. You do not empower it with your eloquence, nor do you render it impotent by your stammering tongue. If you would contend for the faith, do so by no other means than by the confession of God's Word.

In speaking the Word of God, you speak the Truth. His Word is Spirit and Truth. Ultimately, His Word is Christ, the incarnate Son, the anointed One, the Savior of all men. Thus, in speaking the Word of God, speak Christ above all. Speak the Law, because Christ is the fulfillment of the Law. Speak the Gospel, because Christ desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth. It is true that in speaking the Law, you do risk killing your brother; or, rather, it is the Lord who kills him, putting the old Adam to death. But in this you do no harm to your neighbor; for the Lord kills in order to make alive, He chastens and He heals. Speaking the Truth of His Word never does make things worse, although it may seem like it for the time being. Speaking the Truth of His Word is the only way to make anything better.

Speak the Truth of His Word — both painful and sweet, both deadly and life-giving, the Law and the Gospel — in season and out of season, but always in love. Speak to your brother in love, for love's sake, and not for your own vindication or pride or accomplishment or repuation. Speak the Word of Christ, who is Love incarnate. You are not really defending the truth, nor contending for the faith, if you speak for any other purpose than love. Certainly, the Word of Christ that you may yet confess shall accomplish the purpose for which He has spoken it, and your brother may thus benefit, in any case, by the grace of God. But as for what you are doing with your words and your contending, if you have not love, it is not of God that you are speaking. Yet, the love of Christ constrains you, and so, for the love of God, do speak.

Speak the Truth in love. Not only for love's sake, but let love itself be the very language that you speak. Not superficial or frivolous emotion, but the self-sacrificing love of God in Christ. That love alone melts hearts of stone and turns them from idolatry to serve the true and living God. This Love, incarnate in the Crucified One, speaks with gentleness, peace and forgiveness. That is how you are to speak, therefore, even to those who hate you and persecute you and say all manner of evil about you, for Jesus' sake.

Consider the example of our Lord, who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return. Instead, He entrusted Himself to the Father, who hands Him over to the Cross for our salvation. He does not destroy or cast aside His enemies, but by His Cross He draws all people to Himself. By His Cross — by His sacrifice of propitiation for your sins; and not only for your sins, but for the sins of the world — by His Cross, He has called you out of darkness into light, out of death into life, out of unbelief to faith, out of ignorance to the knowledge of the truth. It is by the Word of the Cross, therefore, that your brother is called from error to orthodoxy; not by violence or coercion, but by the powerful persuasion of compassionate forgiveness. Accompany your words with such compassion, and trust the Lord to vindicate you in the Resurrection of Christ from the dead.

Remember that the Lord has manifested His divine love for you, in that, while you were yet His enemy, Christ died for you. He has that very same love, also, for your brother: warts and all! Do you see your brother's sins and errors? Christ sees them, too, as well as He sees yours. And seeing them, He does not cast you away from His presence, but He moves to save you, both you and your brother. He does so by grace. That is the chief truth of the faith. Christ Jesus is the Savior of sinners. He has come not to call the righteous but sinners to Himself in repentance.

The Lord's desire for your brother is that he would receive and hold fast the forgiveness of his sins, which has already been obtained for him by the holy and precious blood of Christ, by His innocent suffering and death upon the Cross. That forgiveness of your brother's sins is one and the same forgiveness of Christ that you also depend upon for life and salvation. Therefore, irrespective of your brother's attitude toward you, whether or not he is willing to recognize his fault and receive your forgiveness, forgive your brother his trespasses against you.

Pray for your brother. Not in the way of the old Irish proverb, that God would either turn his heart or turn his ankle, but pray sincerely that your brother would be brought to repentant faith and sustained in the knowledge of the truth. It is almost impossible to retain any anger or bitterness toward someone, irrespective of the hurt that he or she may have caused, when you pray that Christ would deal with that person in accordance with His good and gracious will. You know that He desires all men to be saved, including your brother, so you can pray with absolute confidence for that. In addition, Christ has admonished you to pray for those who persecute you (and no less so for those who may not be persecuting you at all, but who are simply in error).

Pray for yourself, too, that the Lord would enlighten your mind with His Word and Holy Spirit, and that He would humble you unto repentance. Do not presume to contend for the faith by your own piety, holiness and willpower. Pride comes before a fall, but the Lord exalts those who humble themselves. Pray for that humility, therefore, and for the power of Christ that is made perfect in weakness. Pray that you may bear the Cross in such quiet and steadfast faith, that the world may see Christ Crucified in you and glorify the Father in Him.

Conduct yourself in fear and reverence, as all your thoughts, words and actions are carried out in the presence of God. Repent of your sins and return to the daily death and resurrection of your Holy Baptism. Speak only as the Lord your God has spoken to you. But do speak, always being ready to give a defense for the hope that is in you. Speak with charity, not only with your words but in your demeanor and by your actions, as one who is redeemed by the grace of God in Christ.

Forgiveness and charity do not require nor permit the tolerance of false doctrine. You rightly do contend for the faith in love for your brother, in love for the truth and purity of the Gospel, and in love for all your other neighbors in the world. But if your brother refuses to listen to you, be content with having spoken the Word of the Lord as clearly and faithfully as He has permitted. Rest in the knowledge that His Word, not your powers of persuasion, accomplish His intentions. And rejoice if you are counted worthy to suffer persecution for the sake of Christ and His Gospel. If you suffer on account of your own faults and failings, for those things repent; but for His Gospel, dare to risk all treasures, all comforts, pleasures and accolades. Contend only for the honor and glory of Christ Jesus, that His Name alone be great to the ends of the earth.

Not to us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Thee alone be all praise.

How Many Does Your Church Worship on Any Given Sunday?

"When the Lord taught us the doctrine of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, He did not make arithmetic a part of this gift! He did not say, 'In the first, the second, and the third,' or 'In one, two, and three.' He blessed us with the knowledge given us by faith, by means of holy Names. We are saved through faith; numbers have been invented as symbols of quantity. These men bring ruin on themselves through every possible source; they have even turned man's ability to count against the faith!

"Numbers cannot change the nature of anything, yet these men honor arithmetic more than the divine nature, lest they give the Paraclete more honor than He is due! But the Unapproachable One is beyond numbers, wisest sirs; imitate the reverence shown by the Hebrews of old to the unutterable name of God. Count if you must, but do not malign the truth. Either honor Him Who cannot be described with your silence, or number holy things in accord with true religion.

"There is one God and Father, one Only-Begotten Son, and one Holy Spirit. We declare each Person to be unique, and if we must use numbers, we will not let a stupid airthmetic lead us astray to the idea of many gods.

"If we count, we do not add, increasing from one to many. We do not say, 'one, two, three,' or 'first, second, and third.' God says, 'I am the first and I am the last.' We have never to this present day heard of a second God. We worship God from God, confessing the uniqueness of the Persons, while maintaining the unity of the Monarchy. We do not divide divine knowledge and scatter the pieces to the winds; we behold one Form (so to speak) united by the invariableness of the Godhead, present in God the Father and God the Only-Begotten.

"The Son is in the Father and the Father in the Son; what the Father is, the Son is likewise and vice versa — such is the unity. As unique Persons, they are one and one; as sharing a common nature, both are one. How does one and one not equal two Gods? Because we speak of the emperor, and of the emperor's image — but not two emperors. The power is not divided, nor the glory separated. One is the dominion and authority over us; we do not send up glories to God, but glory; the honor given the image passes to the prototype. The image of the emperor is an image by imitation, but the Son is a natural image. . . .

"The Holy Spirit is one, and we speak of Him as unique, since through the one Son He is joined to the Father. He completes the all-praised and blessed Trinity. He is not ranked with the plurality of creation, but is described in the singular; this is sufficient evidence of His intimacy with the Father and the Son. He is not one of many but one only: just as there is one Father and one Son, there is one Holy Spirit." (St. Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit, chapter 18; translated by David Anderson, 1980)

Thank You, Pastor Gehlbach

A dear friend and colleague of mine, the Reverend Gary Gehlbach, has preached his final sermon as the pastor of a congregation that he has served faithfully and well for the past seventeen years. He has had to relinquish his pulpit and altar and office in that place, not for any unfaithfulness in teaching or practice, nor for any impiety or impropriety in his Christian faith and life, but for a lack of money. The Lord has instructed His Church not to muzzle the ox while it is treading the grain, but this faithful servant of the Word has now been muzzled twice over. He has not been granted to live by the Gospel that he preached; and now he is no longer granted to preach, leastwise not in that place where he was called by the Lord to serve.

I have not had the privilege of hearing Pastor Gehblach preach to me from his pulpit. But he has preached the Gospel to me, nonetheless, in various things that he has written here and there, and in fraternal conversations over the years, for which I am profoundly grateful. His confession of the Word of God has, so far as I have ever seen or heard it, been clear and consistent and resoundingly evangelical. What is more, the witness and testimony of his life and demeanor have been a powerful example and encouragement to me in my own Christian vocations. For he is a gentleman in every sense of that word, a pious and faithful man, a kind and gracious man, a good husband to his wife, a good father to his family, and a good friend to his neighbors and colleagues. His patience in the midst of hardship, his integrity in the face of every challenge and difficulty, his perseverance under the Cross, have on more than one occasion humbled me and called me to repentance for my prideful impatience, my fearful despair, and my whining complaints.

I know Pastor Gehlbach's character and commitments. I know the orthodoxy of his doctrine, the clarity of his confession, the diligence of his labors in the Lord. I know his conscientiousness with respect to the Office of the Ministry, and his steadfastness in remaining at his post long after other men would have turned tail and run away. I know his loving care for his family, for I have witnessed it first hand, and his generosity toward others even in the midst of his own wants and needs. He has seemed to me an especially good example of St. Paul's contentment with that which the Lord has provided, even though it has been far less than the wealth and riches of most others. If I have ever heard him complain, it has been for the sake of his family, and for the needs of his congregation, that he should somehow be able to serve and provide for them more. Yet, I know that, notwithstanding his frailities and weaknesses as a sinful and mortal man, he has served them all faithfully and well with the gifts entrusted to his stewardship on their behalf. The faith and love and piety of his dear wife and children are further evidence of that very thing.

So here is a pointed example of the theology of the Cross, which pertains also to the life of the Church on earth and to the ministers of the Gospel. Here is a man who has preached and taught and catechized, who has visited and cared for his people, who has administered the means of grace in accordance with the Word of Christ, and who has diligently fulfilled his office. He has done what he was called and sent to do. And for all of that, what he and his family now see and feel and experience is nothing but empty pockets, a quiet ending and sad goodbyes. This breaks my heart, but I am ashamed even to say so; for how shall I associate my sadness with that of my dear friend and colleague, who has actually suffered and sacrificed in these ways that I have not.

The mysteries of the Cross are God's ways, and they are contrary to the way we think as men. It is not only for our sins that we suffer, but sometimes for our faithfulness and righteousness in Christ. That Cross appears foolish and futile, as the Lord's own Crucifixion appeared an utter shame, a crushing defeat, a sad ending to a promising but ultimately failed life. There is no sense that we can make of it. It remains the Lord's good work, not ours, even when He works the Cross in us and in our lives. The old Adam in us is crucified, dead and buried; and still the New Man who is raised in us does not yet live by sight — for we are lifted up by the Cross of Christ to see by faith His Glory hidden and His power made perfect in weakness.

We cannot measure faithfulness by what our eyes perceive to be the "end results." A pastor and a congregation may do everything exactly right, just as they are given to do, and yet the number of people and the amount of money may dwindle and disappear. Elsewhere, all caution may be thrown to the wind, another "gospel" may be preached and practiced than that of Christ and His Apostles, and so many people may flock to it that bigger barns must be built while careless souls are being put at ease (to their own final destruction). Or, all of this may be turned entirely around, for the Lord remains the true and only God of heaven and earth, who establishes the limits and the boundaries of the land and sea and sky and man. Faithfulness is measured in the midst of it all, not by the outward "results," but by the Gospel of the Cross, by the preaching of repentance for the forgiveness of sins in the Name of the Crucified Christ Jesus. However few or many seats may be filled, the souls that are won for the Kingdom of heaven are converted from death to life by that preaching of Christ Crucified, and by no other ways or means than Him.

Pastor Gehlbach, as your brother in Christ, as your colleague in the Office of the Holy Ministry, and as your friend, I thank you for your faithfulness. Thank you for staying the course and fulfilling your duties all these many years. Thank you for your good example, and, better yet, for your eloquent speaking of the Gospel to me on any number of occasions. You have not known all the good that you have done; or, rather, the good that Christ has done through you for others. You have simply done what you have been called and given to do; for that, above all, I thank you and commend you most sincerely. There is nothing more nor less to be said or done than that. For the One who has called you is faithful, and your labors in Him are never in vain. They have not been, nor shall they be, even now. In this, I do not presume to answer the questions of your heart and mind, nor by any means to dismiss your hurts and fears and sorrows, but I do proclaim to you the One who loves you dearly, who has given Himself for you, who has forgiven all your sins, and who even now delights in you as His very own. You are of more value to Him than many sparrows, more precious than the young ravens which do cry, and lovelier in His sight than all the lilies of the field. He has never yet forgotten you; neither will He ever leave you nor forsake you. This is most certainly true.