28 February 2010

See How He Gathers You to Himself in Love

Self-preservation makes sense. It is reasonable and understandable. It’s even legal.
 
But it is not the way of Christ the Crucified. He is not masochistic or suicidal, but He does go knowingly and willingly to His death. He not only puts Himself in harm’s way, as a risk, but He offers Himself in voluntary sacrifice for sinners.
 
The Lord Jesus does not defend Himself. He neither fights nor flees. When He is reviled, He does not revile in return, but continues to entrust Himself to God the Father. He turns the other cheek to those who strike Him, to the point of handing Himself over to the Cross. Even then, He forgives those who sin against Him.
 
It is for this that He pours out His innocent blood — for you, and for all; for this city and all its inhabitants: To atone for the sins of the world, and to reconcile the world to God.
 
This way of the Cross is the pattern and example of Christ and His Gospel, of His Ministers and His disciples, that is to say, His Christians. It is the way that you are called to live.
 
You receive and bear the Cross, which kills you, and you follow in the way of the Cross, because it is the way of life in Christ. Not self-preservation, but self-sacrifice. Not selfishness, but selfless loving service. You lose yourself in love for others, friend and foe, because your life is found in Christ the Crucified. If you perish, you perish; so be it, but no matter. For as Christ has died, and Christ is risen, so shall you. Though you die, yet shall you live.
 
You live, because you are forgiven all your sin by the atoning death and sacrificial blood of Christ. Your neighbor also is forgiven by Christ’s bloody death.
 
Therefore, this also is the Cross you bear: To forgive your neighbor his trespasses against you. To bear his burdens gladly and patiently, in love. To suffer his insults and persecutions without becoming defensive, and without striking back. To love him who hurts you, to pray for him, and even to lay down your life for him.
 
What have you lost, even if you die in the process of loving?
 
Your citizenship, your house and home and city, are in heaven, where your life is hidden with Christ in God. You live here on earth as a sojourner, as a pilgrim. You journey today and tomorrow, and maybe another (maybe not), but you are perfected by your Baptism into the Cross and Resurrection of Christ Jesus. By your death with Him, you live with Him.
 
It is by His Cross that He has not only atoned for your sin, and redeemed you from death forever, and reconciled you to His God and Father, but He has also accomplished the Exodus for you, so that the death of His Cross is the way through death into life. It is the way of repentance, of faith and new life in Christ.
 
If you would live, therefore, take up the Cross of Christ and follow Him to Jerusalem in faith and love. Serve your neighbor, even to the point of perishing, in the vocation to which the Lord has called you in your life on earth.
 
There are those who do not follow this pattern and example, but who walk as enemies of the Cross. And be warned, that is your sinful inclination, too: To fight or flee, to preserve yourself.
 
There are those, of course, who sneer at Christ Jesus, who despise and ridicule His Church and religion; who mock and blaspheme His Cross and His Gospel and all the signs and symbols of Christianity; who laugh and make fun of the rites and ceremonies of the Word and Sacraments.
 
But the worst enemies of the Cross of Christ are those driven by selfish self-preservation; who preserve their own lives in this world at the expense of others; who shed innocent blood for their own benefit; who hold bitter grudges and seek revenge, refusing to forgive; who commit murder in countless ways against the neighbor for whom the Son of God has given Himself; and who use even the means of grace, the Church and Ministry, the Temple and Priesthood, as means of self-preservation, self-promotion, and self-righteousness.
 
Brothers and sisters in Christ, I warn you in the name and stead of that same Lord, Jesus Christ, that you not walk according to such selfishness. It is the very opposite of faith and love. It is not only sinful, but self-destructive.
 
That is the great irony and paradox: The one who seeks to save his life, loses it. The one who sets himself against the Cross, in order to protect and preserve his own skin, perishes not only here in time, but hereafter in eternity.
 
To make a god out of this world, is to perish, finally and forever, with your god. To be driven about, to and fro, by your belly and its rumbling appetite, is to perish like the very food you eat. That is reason enough to consider fasting, which is a fine outward discipline. To glory in this earthly life and earthly things, is finally to be put to shame.
 
Remember Shiloh, where Eli and his sons once abused their priestly office and the Lord’s House. They stole the sacrificial meat for their own gluttony. And they attempted to use the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh Sabaoth as a weapon of war. But they were put to shame and death, and their family was removed from office.
 
Remember Jerusalem, the city of the great King, where the Lord caused His Name and His Glory to dwell; yet the people hid behind the sacrifices and in the Temple like a den of thieves, daring God to discipline them, even stoning His Prophets and killing those He sent to them.
 
There were some notable exceptions, but most of the people of Jerusalem failed to recognize the Lord’s visitation in Christ Jesus. Whatever good they thought of Him, they did not receive Him as God, their Lord and Savior. And while some of them plotted to trap Him, to destroy Him, and at the last to crucify Him, none of them understood His Cross. No, not even His disciples, until afterwards. No, not even you, except by His grace, by the catechesis of His Word and Spirit.
 
He comes to you with but one purpose, one goal, one holy desire: that is, to love you, to save you, to gather you to Himself. He would make you His own dear child. He would nestle you close to Himself, to His heart, under His wings of mercy. He would shelter you, protect you, feed and comfort you.
 
He comes to do all this by the way of the Cross; and you would not have it.
 
But He comes to you anyway, for the sake of His love. He bears your reproach — not only that which you suffer, but that which you inflict (even against Him). He bears your reviling in peace. He bears your sin and death, and thus removes them from you forever.
 
And by loving you, forgiving you, saving you, and coming to you in His selfless loving service, He reveals Himself to you by the Cross:
 
Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!
 
He is the true Passover Lamb, whose blood now marks the door of His House. You look at this House, cornerstoned upon the Cross of Christ, and it is desolate, a desert wasteland. But it has been left for you in mercy, and in this House you live; not by self-preservation, but by grace.
 
Here is where, at last, you see Him as He is: In the Gospel of His Cross, which forgives you. In His self-sacrificing love for you, even unto death. In His holy body given for you, and in His holy, precious blood poured out for you.
 
Behold the Lamb of God, who has taken upon Himself the sins of the world, and who takes away all of your sins.
 
See His strong arms stretched out in love, to gather you to Himself and to shelter you in peace.
 
Fix your eyes on Jesus, here at His Altar, by hearing and heeding the voice of the Lord:
 
"Take, eat; Drink of it, all of you."
 
This is where you, little bird, little raven or sparrow, find your nesting place, under the Lord’s wings. For this is the pattern of Christ, the Image of God. This is the way of His Cross, which is the way of life. This is your Savior from heaven, who is given for you here on earth, that you might share His Glory.
 
This is the House of the Lord in the City of God, and here, by His grace, shall you abide forever.
 
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

08 February 2010

Hymns for Lent Series C

Ash Wednesday
Joel 2:12–19
2 Corinthians 5:20b—6:10
Matthew 6:1–6, 16–21
 
Hymn of Invocation / Catechetical Hymn of the Week
Lord, to You I make confession (LSB 608)
 
Hymn of the Day
From depths of woe I cry to Thee (LSB 607)
 
Hymns for the Distribution of the Holy Communion
A Lamb goes uncomplaining forth (LSB 438)
When in the hour of deepest need (LSB 615)
Jesus, grant that balm and healing (LSB 421)
Lord, keep us steadfast in Your Word (LSB 655)
 
Hymn of Departure
Lord of our life and God of our salvation (LSB 659)
 
Alternative Hymns
All mankind fell in Adam’s fall (LSB 562)
"As surely as I live," God said (LSB 614)
Baptismal waters cover me (LSB 616)
Before the throne of God above (LSB 574)
Christ, mighty Savior, Light of all creation (LSB 881)
"Forgive our sins as we forgive" (LSB 843)
Hear us, Father, when we pray (LSB 773)
I will sing my Maker’s praises (TLH 25; LW 439; LSB 977e)
In the shattered bliss of Eden (LSB 572)
Jesus Christ, our blessed Savior (LSB 627)
Jesus sinners doth receive (LSB 609)
Lord Jesus, think on me (LSB 610)
My soul, now praise your maker (LSB 820)
Now rest beneath night’s shadow (LSB 880)
O Christ, who art the Light and Day (LSB 882)
O Lord, throughout these forty days (LSB 418)
Our Father, who from heav’n above (LSB 766)
Savior, when in dust to Thee (LSB 419)
Soul, adorn yourself with gladness (LSB 636)
To Thee, omniscient Lord of all (LSB 613)
Today Your mercy calls us (LSB 915)
 
 
First Sunday in Lent
Deuteronomy 26:1–11
Romans 10:8b–13
Luke 4:1–13
 
Hymn of Invocation
Triune God, be Thou our stay (LSB 505)
 
Hymn of the Day
A mighty fortress is our God (LSB 656)
 
Hymns for the Distribution of the Holy Communion
I walk in danger all the way (LSB 716)
O Lord, throughout these forty days (LSB 418)
Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle (LSB 454)
O love, how deep, how broad, how high (LSB 544)
 
Hymn of Departure / Catechetical Hymn of the Week
Abide, O dearest Jesus (LSB 919)
 
Alternative Hymns
A Lamb goes uncomplaining forth (LSB 438)
All mankind fell in Adam’s fall (LSB 562)
Christ sits at God’s right hand (LSB 564)
Christ, the Lord of hosts, unshaken (LSB 521)
God loved the world so that He gave (LSB 571)
God’s own child, I gladly say it (LSB 594)
Grant peace, we pray, in mercy, Lord (LSB 777)
Hear us, Father, when we pray (LSB 773)
If God Himself be for me (LSB 724)
In the shattered bliss of Eden (LSB 572)
Jesus, lead Thou on (LSB 718)
Lord, keep us steadfast in Your Word (LSB 655)
Lord of our life and God of our salvation (LSB 659)
Once He came in blessing (LSB 333)
Preserve Your Word, O Savior (LSB 658)
Since our great High Priest, Christ Jesus (LSB 529)
The tree of life with ev’ry good (LSB 561)
To God the Holy Spirit let us pray (LSB 768)
What is the world to me (LSB 730)
Who trusts in God a strong abode (LSB 714)
 
 
Second Sunday in Lent
Jeremiah 26:8–15
Philippians 3:17—4:1
Luke 13:31–35
 
Hymn of Invocation
When in the hour of deepest need (LSB 615)
 
Hymn of the Day / Catechetical Hymn of the Week
Lord, Thee I love with all my heart (LSB 708)
 
Hymns for the Distribution of the Holy Communion
In the shattered bliss of Eden (LSB 572)
Baptismal waters cover me (LSB 616)
Salvation unto us has come (LSB 555)
Upon the cross extended (LSB 453)
 
Hymn of Departure
Lord Jesus Christ, the Church’s head (LSB 647)
 
Alternative Hymns
Children of the heav’nly Father (LSB 725)
Father, we praise Thee (LSB 875)
From God can nothing move me (LSB 713)
Grant peace, we pray, in mercy, Lord (LSB 777)
I will sing my Maker’s praises (TLH 25; LW 439; LSB 977e)
In God, my faithful God (LSB 745)
Jerusalem, my happy home (LSB 673)
Jerusalem, O city fair and high (LSB 674)
My soul, now praise your maker (LSB 820)
No temple now, no gift of price (LSB 530)
O little flock, fear not the foe (LSB 666)
On my heart imprint Your image (LSB 422)
Rise, shine, you people (LSB 825)
Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle (LSB 454)
The day is surely drawing near (LSB 508)
The Law of God is good and wise (LSB 579)
The will of God is always best (LSB 758)
What is the world to me (LSB 730)
Who trusts in God a strong abode (LSB 714)
Wide open stand the gates (LSB 639)
 
 
Third Sunday in Lent
Ezekiel 33:7–20
1 Corinthians 10:1–13
Luke 13:1–9
 
Hymn of Invocation / Catechetical Hymn of the Week
"As surely as I live," God said (LSB 614)
 
Hymn of the Day
May God bestow on us His grace (LSB 823)
 
Hymns for the Distribution of the Holy Communion
In the very midst of life (LSB 755)
The tree of life with ev’ry good (LSB 561)
Lord of our life and God of our salvation (LSB 659)
Water, blood, and Spirit crying (LSB 597)
 
Hymn of Departure
All who believe and are baptized (LSB 601)
 
Alternative Hymns
Christ be my leader by night as by day (LSB 861)
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father (LSB 809)
Guide me, O Thou great Redeemer (LSB 918)
I walk in danger all the way (LSB 716)
In God, my faithful God (LSB 745)
Jesus Christ, our blessed Savior (LSB 627)
Jesus, grant that balm and healing (LSB 421)
Jesus, lead Thou on (LSB 718)
Jesus sinners doth receive (LSB 609)
Lord, to You I make confession (LSB 608)
O dearest Jesus, what law hast Thou broken (LSB 439)
O God, my faithful God (LSB 696)
Preach you the Word, and plant it home (LSB 586)
Rise, my soul, to watch and pray (LSB 663)
Rock of ages, cleft for me (LSB 761)
The Law of God is good and wise (LSB 579)
The will of God is always best (LSB 758)
There is a time for ev’rything (LSB 762)
What God ordains is always good (LSB 760)
When aimless violence takes those we love (LSB 764)
 
 
Fourth Sunday in Lent
Isaiah 12:1–6
2 Corinthians 5:16–21
Luke 15:1–3, 11–32
 
Hymn of Invocation / Catechetical Hymn of the Week
All mankind fell in Adam’s fall (LSB 562)
 
Hymn of the Day
God loved the world so that He gave (LSB 571)
 
Hymns for the Distribution of the Holy Communion
The Gospel shows the Father’s grace (LSB 580)
Dear Christians, one and all, rejoice (LSB 556)
Jesus, priceless treasure (LSB 743)
Rejoice, my heart, be glad and sing (LSB 737)
 
Hymn of Departure
Why should cross and trial grieve me (LSB 756)
 
Alternative Hymns
As rebels, Lord, who foolishly have wandered (LSB 612)
Chief of sinners though I be (LSB 611)
Children of the heav’nly Father (LSB 725)
Come, Thou Fount of ev’ry blessing (LSB 686)
Entrust your days and burdens (LSB 754)
Father most holy, merciful and tender (LSB 504)
God’s own child, I gladly say it (LSB 594)
I will sing my Maker’s praises (TLH 25; LW 439; LSB 977e)
In Adam we have all been one (LSB 569)
In God, my faithful God (LSB 745)
Jesus, grant that balm and healing (LSB 421)
Jesus sinners doth receive (LSB 609)
Just as I am, without one plea (LSB 570)
Lord, to You I make confession (LSB 608)
My soul, now praise your maker (LSB 820)
Oh, how great is Your compassion (LSB 559)
Open now thy gates of beauty (LSB 901)
Soul, adorn yourself with gladness (LSB 636)
Today Your mercy calls us (LSB 915)
Upon the cross extended (LSB 453)
 
 
Fifth Sunday in Lent
Isaiah 43:16–21
Philippians 3:(4b–7) 8–14
Luke 20:9–20
 
Hymn of Invocation
Jesus, grant that balm and healing (LSB 421)
 
Hymn of the Day / Catechetical Hymn of the Week
My song is love unknown (LSB 430)
 
Hymns for the Distribution of the Holy Communion
Stricken, smitten, and afflicted (LSB 451)
Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle (LSB 454)
O sacred head, now wounded (LSB 450)
Christ, the Life of all the living (LSB 420)
 
Hymn of Departure
Let us ever walk with Jesus (LSB 685)
 
Alternative Hymns
A Lamb goes uncomplaining forth (LSB 438)
Behold a host, arrayed in white (LSB 676)
Christ is made the sure foundation (LSB 909)
Christ is our cornerstone (LSB 912)
Christ sits at God’s right hand (LSB 564)
Glory be to Jesus (LSB 433)
God loved the world so that He gave (LSB 571)
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father (LSB 809)
Guide me, O Thou great Redeemer (LSB 918)
In the cross of Christ I glory (LSB 427)
In the shattered bliss of Eden (LSB 572)
Jesus Christ, my sure defense (LSB 741)
Lord Jesus Christ, the Church’s head (LSB 647)
My hope is built on nothing less (LSB 575)
No temple now, no gift of price (LSB 530)
Seek where you may to find a way (LSB 557)
The Church’s one foundation (LSB 644)
The royal banners forward go (LSB 455)
Thy works, not mine, O Christ (LSB 565)
When I survey the wondrous cross (LSB 425)

06 February 2010

Two Dozen of My Favorite Guitarists

Not necessarily the greatest guitarists ever (though many of these guys surely are), but here are two dozen of the guitarists (or guitarist pairs) that I most enjoy listening to. I've tweaked the list since I first posted it, removing a couple, adding a couple, and shifting the order a bit. As it is, these two dozen are listed more or less in order of preference, but the lines blur often enough, depending on my mood and a host of other factors.

Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin)

Randy Rhoads (Ozzy Osbourne)

Joe Satriani

Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi)

Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath)

Paul Gilbert

Slash (Guns 'n' Roses, Velvet Revolver)

Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society)

Eddie Van Halen (Van Halen)

Joe Walsh (The Eagles)

Malcom & Angus Young (AC/DC)

Steve Clark & Phil Collen (Def Leppard)

Glenn Tipton & K.K. Downing (Judas Priest)

Vivian Campbell (Dio, Whitesnake, Def Leppard)

Chris Robertson & Ben Wells (Black Stone Cherry)

Rudolf & Michael Schenker (The Scorpions)

The Brothers Van Zant (Lynyrd Skynyrd, .38-Special, Van Zant)

Steve Vai

George Harrison (The Beatles)

Eric Clapton

Keith Richards (The Rolling Stones)

Mark Tremonti (Alter Bridge, Creed)

Kirk Hammett & James Hetfield (Metallica)

George Lynch (Dokken)