Of Fathers and Sons

It occurs to me this evening that we sinners are more inclined to look for life vicariously in the works of our sons than receptively from the gifts of our fathers. But the Son of God lives entirely from His Father, and this He does also for us, who are the sons of God in Christ by His grace.

If Thou But Trust in God to Guide Thee

It's not the Hymn of the Day for the Feast of St. Joseph, but what a perfectly appropriate hymn for this festival day. It artfully confesses the quiet faith and humble obedience of that faithful son of David, the mercifully righteous husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Without a word of question or complaint, he rises to do according to the Word of the Lord. It was surely not the life that he had anticipated, looked forward to, planned and prepared for; yet, he was not dissuaded from his calling to serve his bride and her Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. What a marvelous example for us, as the Lord's saints are set before us to be. And, again, how nicely this hymn, "If Thou But Trust in God to Guide Thee" (LSB 750), articulates the example we find in St. Joseph:

If thou but trust in God to guide thee
And hope in Him through all thy ways,
He'll give thee strength, whate'er betide thee,
And bear thee through the evil days.
Who trusts in God's unchanging love
Builds on the rock that naught can move.

What can these anxious cares avail thee,
These neverceasing moans and sighs?
What can it help if thou bewail thee
O'er each dark moment as it flies?
Our cross and trials do but press
The heavier for our bitterness.

Be patient and await His leisure
In cheerful hope, with heart content
To take whate'er thy Father's pleasure
And His discerning love hath sent,
Nor doubt our inmost wants are known
To Him who chose us for His own.

God knows full well when times of gladness
Shall be the needful thing for thee.
When He has tried thy soul with sadness
And from all guile has found thee free,
He comes to thee all unaware
And makes thee own His loving care.

Nor think amid the fiery trial
That God hath cast thee off onheard,
That he whose hopes meet no denial
Must surely be of God preferred.
Time passes and much change doth bring
And sets a bound to ev'rything.

All are alike before the Highest;
'Tis easy for our God, we know,
To raise thee up, though low thou liest,
To make the rich man poor and low.
True wonders still by Him are wrought
Who setteth up and brings to naught.

Sing, pray, and keep His ways unswerving,
Perform thy duties faithfully,
And trust His Word; though undeserving,
Thou yet shalt find it true for thee.
God never yet forsook in need
The soul that trusted Him indeed.

Thanks be to God for His steafast, faithful servant, St. Joseph. According to his human office and vocation as a husband and father, he guarded and guided our Lord Jesus Christ in the frailities of His childhood. Not David the king, but his son, Joseph the carpenter, thus built a house for God, that we too might become children and heirs of the Most High; through Christ, our Lord.

What This World Needs

is less celibacy and more chastity.

Delaying marriage, as a general rule, especially in the case of young women, until . . . [insert goal or aspiration here] . . . has resulted in rampant fornication and a lot of lonely people.

Whereas the Holy Scriptures set forth holy matrimony as both a blessed gift of God and a remedy for lust and perversion, the world increasingly praises and supports illicit sex as good and marriage as bad. Better to marry than burn with passion, St. Paul writes; yet, many parents would prefer to have their children fornicate than get married "too early." The temptations of the flesh are taken lightly, so that parents naively suppose that their children will sail through college and the work-a-day world with nary a scratch to their body and soul. Would that it were so in far more cases than it is!

Kudos to those fathers and mothers who have assured their daughters and sons of their support, financial and otherwise, irrespective of whether they remain single or get married.

It is not necessary that every person marry or be given in marriage. But the blessed cross of celibacy is neither a common gift nor an easy vocation to bear. Those who are not married should possess their own vessel in purity and honor, and dedicate themselves to the service of Christ and His Church and their neighbors in the world. Those who are not yet "ready" to get married are even less "ready" to fornicate; there is never a good time for sin, whether in the teens or twenties, the thirties or forties, the fifties, sixties or seventies.

Of course, chastity belongs also to the married estate. Husbands and wives are to live, not as though their marriage were their god, but unto Christ in faith and love. We are neither more nor less righteous by the vocation of marriage, nor by the vocation of celibacy; but, wherever God has placed us by His grace, we are given to live according to His Word.

Thanks be to God for that one sacred and eternal marriage of Christ and His Bride, the Church, wherein He has given Himself for us, bedecked us in His righteousness, adorned us with His holiness, cleansed and healed us of every blemish, stain and wrinkle. He has not remained celibate, but He is chaste, and all that belongs to Him is ours, according to the tender mercies of our God. So do our bodies belong to Him, as members of His Body, and that is a good thing.

For Katharina's Baptism Day

Do you wish to be a Christian, a disciple of Christ Jesus? Would you follow Him, in order to be with Him where He is, both now and forever? Then you must be taught by Him and learn from Him.

Not only that, but your ongoing catechesis focuses your attention on who this Jesus is; and the big question is: What do you think of Him?

What do the people say? What is the public opinion of Jesus? He’s a preacher of the Word of God, a preacher of repentance; another prophet, and a baptizer. Yes, He is all of that; and He is more.

But still the question is put to you: Not only what you think, but who do you say that Jesus is? What do your words and actions confess concerning Him? What do you say about Jesus in your vocation as a Christian, and in your place in the world?

If your life says nothing at all about Jesus, then how shall your life be saved?

But what, then?

Who is this Jesus?

He is the Christ, the Lord’s Anointed. So you also have confessed, by the grace of God the Father, in the rite of Holy Baptism. So what does this mean for Him? And what does it mean for you?

Jesus, the Son of the living God, is anointed by the Spirit of His Father to be the Son of Man; wherefore He must suffer many things, and die, and rise again for you and your salvation. And if you are His disciple, taught by Him to carry the cross and follow Him, then you also suffer and die and rise again.

Jesus puts this to you plainly. Will you accept it, and bear it? Will He be your Lord and your God? Or will you buck and resist His Word, and would you presume to rebuke Him for His Cross?

Repent.

Get back in line behind Jesus, and follow Him. Deny yourself, take up the Cross, and follow Him. Do not set your heart and mind on your own interests, and do not walk according to the worldly wisdom of self-preservation. But give attention to the Word of God. Fear, love, and trust in Him.

This is the work of the Cross in your body and life here on earth. The Cross puts you to death, so that you may really live forever. That work of the Cross begins and remains rooted in your Baptism, and it continues all your days.

Because real life and the true God are found, not where you are prone to look (that is, within yourself), but in Christ, crucified and risen; in His Word of the Gospel, the forgiveness of all your sins; and in His holy flesh and blood. This promise is for you and for your children. Thus, not only must you be put to death to yourself, to your sin and to the world, but so also your children must be crucified, put to death and buried with Christ Jesus, if you would give them the salvation of their souls and the life everlasting.

Each of you is called to deny yourself, to take up the Cross, and to follow Jesus. But you parents, you fathers in particular, are called to catechize your children in this way of the Cross. That means teaching them the Word of Christ Jesus within your home and family, and within the household and family of the Church. It means, also, that you prioritize the Gospel of the Cross in the way you order and arrange your own life and theirs. Do not live for the acquisition of worldly goods, which perish, but let all else be bent toward the storing up of treasures in heaven, which are found only in Christ and His Gospel.

To live by faith in Him puts you and your children at odds with this adulterous and sinful generation; and it puts you at odds with yourself, within your own sinful heart.

To live according to His Word, by faith, under His Cross, is difficult and painful. It is beyond your strength, and seemingly impossible altogether. Like the promise of God to ancient Abraham and barren Sarah, and His covenant with them; which was finally fulfilled, for them and you, in the Cross of Christ.

The guarantee and certainty of this faith, by which you have peace, hope, love and joy in the midst of tribulation, suffering, setbacks and temporary disappointments, is that same Cross and Passion of Christ Himself, who is God in the flesh, and in His bodily Resurrection from death and the grave to eternal life. He has not failed, and your faith in Him shall not be disappointed.

It is because of this Lord Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, that you are reconciled to God.

Live and walk in Him, therefore; in the surety of what He has done, and in the way that He has gone. There alone is where your life is, and there is no life anywhere else.

Now, you are in and with Christ Jesus, because He has first of all established Himself for you, and He has given Himself for you. So has He also given Himself to you, and established you in Himself. That is the gift and the good work that He has granted to you (and Katharina) in the waters of Holy Baptism. That is what He gives you with His body and His blood in the Holy Communion.

Thus, it is in Christ that you now stand before God, righteous and holy, at peace, and hopeful even in the face of death. So, too, your safety and security in Christ remain sure and certain, no matter how the world may hate you and hurt you, or despise and dismiss you, or ignore you as of no consequence. No matter how your own frail heart may waver or quail in fear; as even Abraham’s heart did at times.

God’s promises to Abraham have indeed been fully accomplished, also for you, in the holy Seed of father Abraham, that is, the incarnate Son of God, Christ Jesus, conceived and born of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He is fruitful, and He multiplies His family among all the nations of the earth.

You, and all who are born again by the washing of water with the Word and Spirit of Christ, are children of Abraham by grace, through faith in the One who is both Abraham’s Son and Abraham’s Lord. So you are an heir of God’s promises to Abraham. Yes, and much more than that, you are a son of God in Christ; for He is counted to you as righteousness.

So does God your Father in heaven give life to you and to your mortal flesh, for both body and soul, by the flesh and blood of Christ Jesus. Thus, by the power of His indestructible life, you also live under His Cross and in His Resurrection. Yes, even though you die, yet shall you live.

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

I'd Rather Be Taken Advantage Of

No one likes to be used or taken advantage of. That's true for pastors, too, but still, a pastor would much rather be taken advantage of than patronized.

Going to church is not a matter of doing the pastor a favor; at least it shouldn't be. Better to go for that reason than not at all, but that is hardly the point. I suppose it would be worse to presume that one is doing God a favor, but the pastor is speaking and acting in God's Name, so it really amounts to the same thing.

No one goes to a movie or out to eat as a favor to the manager of the establishment. No one goes to a mechanic or a doctor to do the professional a favor. We all make use of worldly goods and services, and we're even willing to pay for them, or barter for them, or whatever, because we desire to be cared for and served, or perhaps entertained, or to benefit in some way. How much more ought we to hunger for the Word and works of God, which He gives to us generously and without cost by His beloved Son.

As I said last night, it is one of the saddest ironies that man should make God's Sabbath into a burdensome and onerous task. The Lord desires to give His people joyful peace and blessed rest, but sinful man views this gift as a wearisome obligation. How quickly we count and calculate our effort and our sacrifice, while we forget our Lord's benefits.

Perhaps the pastor is personally boring or tedious. Nevertheless, the Word he preaches is the Lord's, and the works he administers are Christ's. These gracious gifts of God are not burdens upon His people, but the very fountain and source of life and salvation. Is this a chore?

To be patronized, as though people were doing the pastor a favor by coming to church, is one of the most discouraging responses to the Ministry of the Gospel. Not because it hurts the pastor's feelings (which would be missing the point in exactly the same way!), but because it reduces the Gospel to a legalistic work of man. Far better to be used and taken advantage of, that the goods and services of Christ and His Gospel might be received as the rich and pleasant benefits they are.

From Last Month (When I Had Time to Think)

Audio recordings of the little free conference that was held at Redeemer in Fort Wayne last month, on the cusp of the symposia, are now available from the Redeemer web site. Click here for links to those recordings.

Sarena Frances Wirgau

My first grandchild has been born: Sarena Frances Wirgau. Born to my daughter, DoRena, and her beloved husband, Sam, at 9:00 p.m. Weighing in at 6 lbs. 4 oz. Ostensibly "blonde" hair and blue eyes, like her Mommy. Please join us in raising a toast and offering prayers of thanksgiving.