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Tuesday Dec 22, 2020
Tuesday Dec 22, 2020
In my experience, preaching for the high feasts (Christmas, Holy Week, and Easter) are the most difficult. There is always that pull to bring out the best, to preach so that people will come back the next Sunday, to wow the crowd with your deep theological insights, high-sounding poetic words and rhetorical flourishes. In short, there's a pull to be cute and edgy. But when you read our forefathers' sermons for these days, they don't fall into this pit. They take seemingly simple biblical truths and open them up for the hearer to bask in their simple but profound glory. Dave Petersen (pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, IN, and Departmental Editor of Gottesdienst: the Journal of Lutheran Liturgy with his column "Commentary on the War") shows us how C.F.W. Walther preached one Christmas day. We look at this sermon (in this book of a collection of his sermons) and see the beauty in simplicity and the glory of God's truth in the well-known Gospel message.
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Monday Dec 21, 2020
Monday Dec 21, 2020
Fear Gives Way to Peace at the Voice of the Lord
by Rick Stuckwisch
The Lord your God has given you a Savior, Christ Jesus, who has redeemed you from sin and death, delivered you from all your enemies, and set you free to live without fear.
That is what the nativity, the circumcision, and the name of St. John the Baptist mean, because everything about this boy points to the Christ, to the Redeemer of Israel, the Holy One who comes after St. John. The greatness of the Forerunner derives entirely from the Greater One who follows, to whom he points and whose way he prepares, the Horn of Salvation whom God has raised up for us from the house of His servant David.
It may seem unnecessarily complicated that the Lord should bother with St. John the Baptist, instead of simply sending Jesus in the flesh, the Son of Mary, and starting the story there. What is the point in sending St. John, when his role and service are so relatively brief, and then he must decrease and make way for the Christ, the Coming One? The Lord could certainly have given Zacharias and Elizabeth a son, in any case — and several decades sooner, as far as that goes, instead of leaving them childless for so many years — and then let well enough alone in the giving of His own beloved Son.
After all, it’s not as though Jesus needed any help in accomplishing redemption for His people. And what is there for St. John to do, anyway, who is not worthy to untie the sandals of the Lord’s feet? St. John is not the Redeemer. He is not the Christ.
What then? He is but a Voice who cries out in being born from his mother’s womb and in being circumcised on the eighty day, and who will cry out the Word of the Lord in the wilderness. He is a prophet, and more than a prophet, who preaches what the Lord has given him to preach, and with his preaching he points to the Lord Jesus Christ and prepares His way.
It is by such a voice of preaching, by His Word spoken and proclaimed, that the Lord visits His people and gives them life and grants them peace. He does so in this way and by this means, not arbitrarily, nor simply as an accommodation of human weakness, but by His good and gracious will, by His own choice and design, according to His own divine nature. As the Son is begotten of the Father from all eternity, and as the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, so does the Father create and give life and accomplish all things by His speaking of His Son, by whom He breathes and bestows His Spirit upon His good creation and upon His people.
It is, therefore, not so much that God works through preaching because we “happen to be” verbal creatures, but He has created us to be verbal creatures after His own Image, because He is a Verbal God — and there is no other God than the Word by whom and for whom all things are made.
Thus, for the purpose of giving His Son, the divine eternal Word who would become Flesh when the time had fully come, God spoke to His people of old by the Prophets — and precisely as He spoke, so has He fulfilled. There is consistency and perfect continuity in the Lord’s speaking, even as that Word of God becomes true Man in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. And now, in anticipation of and preparation for that gift of her Son, there is the conception and birth of the last and greatest prophet, St. John, who goes before His face as a messenger.
The message and the messenger are all-but-inseparable, especially in this case of St. John the Baptist. Again, everything about him points to the coming of Christ Jesus, though He who is the Lord in the flesh will be that much greater in every way. St. John’s miraculous conception of old and barren Elizabeth anticipates the greater miracle of the Lord’s own conception and birth from the young Virgin Mary. St. John’s divinely-given name, which means grace, anticipates but yields before the gracious name of Jesus, which testifies that He is Yahweh, our Savior. The rejoicing of St. Elizabeth’s family, friends, and neighbors anticipates the rejoicing of heaven and earth at the Nativity of our Lord Jesus. And the canticle of Zacharias at the circumcision and naming of his son, John, already begins to find its fulfillment in the presentation of our Lord Jesus at the Temple, in the canticle of Simeon, who departs in peace in accordance with the Word of the Lord to him.
With all that, fear is giving way to Peace as the Glory of God is “seen” in His Word of the Gospel, and as divine comfort is granted in the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of sins.
This is how the Lord God works, and He does so in love. So much so that the almighty and eternal Son of God is revealed to be the Voice, the Speaking, the Word of God the Father. So, too, it is by the preaching of that Word that God the Holy Spirit is given, and by which the Spirit lays Christ Jesus upon your heart and mind, upon your body and soul, for divine Life and Salvation.
Which is also why those who are filled with the Holy Spirit do one thing in particular: They speak as the oracles of God. They pray and sing His Word. They confess. They prophecy, proclaim, and preach, each according to his own vocation. As they believe with the heart, so do they speak.
Apart from the Holy Spirit man is unable to speak. Not that fallen man will actually keep silent — for he fills the world with his endless chatter, noise, and confusion — but he cannot speak truth, or beauty, or wisdom, or anything of any lasting value and importance. He cannot speak life and love, because he cannot speak Christ Jesus until the Holy Spirit enters in by the divine Word.
So does the Holy Spirit enter in and make ready the way of the Christ by the preaching of St. John the Baptist. And the same preaching continues to this day, in order to open the way of the Lord Jesus Christ unto you. That is the preaching of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
That is the preaching that levels mountains and fills up valleys. It shatters both pride and despair. It straightens what is crooked and bent, and it makes flat and smooth what is rough and uneven. It is the preaching that wounds in order to heal, the preaching that kills in order to make alive.
Whatever it is in you that would oppose or prevent the coming of the Christ, the preaching of the Forerunner removes. Where you are arrogant and exalt yourself, he humbles you. Where you are doubtful and afraid, he silences your unbelief and quiets your fears, that he might speak the tender mercies of God to your troubled heart. For the Lord is at hand to visit and redeem His people, and this Word of salvation comes to all who fear God — not in terror, but in the reverence of faith.
In the preaching of St. John the Baptist there is the culmination and crescendo of all the Law and the Prophets before him. He comes in the spirit and power of Elijah, to be sure, but his preaching is also that of Moses and Samuel, of Isaiah and Jeremiah. Here the rolling thunder of the Law with all of its demands, with all its promises and threats, with all its holy perfection and fiery judgment, becomes a deafening roar that warns of a terrible storm. All hell is about to break loose in the righteous wrath of God against idolatry, unbelief, and the lawlessness of sin; and even now the axe is poised at the root of every fruitless tree, to cut it down and throw it into the fire.
As this preaching is the Word of God, it certainly does what it proclaims. It is a fire and a hammer which crushes and destroys the sinner. But where is the comfort of the Gospel in this? Where is the peace of forgiveness and salvation? And how does such dire preaching point to Christ Jesus and prepare the way for His coming? It is actually the key to understanding the point and purpose for which St. John the Baptist was born, and for which he was sent — in ways that even St. John did not fully comprehend or understand at first.
He was sent to preach, not only repentance, but a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And in that baptism was all that he preached, all the Law and the Prophets, all the promises and threats, the blessing and the curse — the wound and the healing, the falling and the rising, the death of sin and the Life everlasting in the way of the Christ.
Thus, the Lord Jesus comes on the heals of the Forerunner, and He submits Himself to St. John’s baptism of repentance. Though St. John tries at first to prevent Him — knowing that Jesus is the Greater One, and that He should be the Baptizer — it is necessary for St. John to baptize Jesus in order to fulfill all righteousness. For in this way the Lord Jesus submits Himself to the Law, and He takes His stand with sinners in order to become their Savior and Redeemer — and yours.
St. John was not the M.C., called upon to introduce the Guest of Honor. Nor was this some kind of “bad cop, good cop” routine, in which St. John comes preaching fire and brimstone, and then Jesus comes in all soft and sweet. But something else altogether is at work and going on here.
The Lord Jesus comes, not to wave away the fire and brimstone, but to take it upon Himself. He is the Lamb of God, as St. John will proclaim, because He takes upon Himself the sins of the world in His Baptism by John, in order to remove iniquity by His own sacrifice and bloodshed. He cleanses the world of unrighteousness through the waters of Holy Baptism, by soaking up all the dirty bath water into His own flesh and then handing Himself over to His death upon the Cross.
Indeed, it is already the death of His Cross to which He submits Himself in St. John’s baptism of repentance. Thus He dies, in order to raise you up. He comes down from the lofty mountain in order to bring you up out of the deep dark valley of death and despair. He enters upon the way of the Cross for you and for all people, that your way might be cleared and opened up, so that you might enter through His death into His Resurrection and Ascension and His Life everlasting.
This is the mercy of the Lord that He reveals in the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, not only to Elizabeth and Zacharias, but also to you. The birth of this child, his naming and circumcision, proclaim that Christ Jesus is now at hand, that the Lord your God has come in the flesh to save you from your sins, and that He will indeed deliver you from every evil of body and soul.
The birth of St. John the Forerunner is the promise and the evidence that God the Father shall continue preaching to you, and that He shall do all that He has spoken by the mouth of His holy prophets, and that He shall henceforth speak to you by His own beloved Son in the flesh.
He remembers His holy Covenant in that flesh of Jesus Christ and in His holy precious blood, given and poured out for you. He remembers you in love; and remembering, He acts to save you, to give you life. He makes Himself known to you, gives Himself to you, and shines His Light upon you through the preaching of His Word — the preaching of His Christ — which is the Gospel, the forgiveness of all your sins. Truly, this Word does and gives exactly what He says.
This Word gives you peace because it fills you with the Holy Spirit, so that you now also speak as the oracles of God. You live before God in the righteousness and purity, the innocence and blessedness of Christ Jesus, and thus you are free to worship the Lord without fear. For here there is no condemnation or punishment, but only the tender mercy and compassion of your own dear God and Father in Christ Jesus. The One who promises is faithful, and He loves you. As He speaks, so He does, and so shall you live, both now and forever.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Saturday Dec 19, 2020
Saturday Dec 19, 2020
The Church Must Gather and Faithful Stewards Must Preach Against the World
by Anthony Dodgers
Some may think the Church doesn’t need to bother condemning sin and false teaching in the world. We should just focus on the sins we have right inside the Church. It’s true that judgment must BEGIN at the house of God (1 Peter 4:17), but that does not mean we turn a blind eye on the world or cease to warn our people to avoid the false teaching that surrounds them. An occasion presented itself for me to do so this past Sunday. Below is the sermon I preached for Gaudete, the Third Sunday in Advent, on the Epistle, 1 Corinthians 4:1–5.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
As you know, I don’t give my personal opinions from this pulpit. What I speak here, I speak in my office, as a called and ordained servant of the Word. And so I do not speak in my person as Anthony Dodgers, I don’t give my opinions on the news or political events. Yet today, I am driven to speak as the servant of Christ against at least one of this nation’s political officials. The Governor of Virginia recently told the citizens of his state: “You don’t need to be in church to worship God this Christmas. God is wherever you are. You don’t have to sit in a pew for God to hear your prayers.” He doesn’t want churches to hold services for one of the most important holidays in the Christian religion.
Okay, it’s true that you don’t have to be in a church in order to pray. In fact, you should be praying regularly at home and in other places of your life. And it’s true that God is everywhere—although that really has nothing to do with the real purpose of worship. There’s a lot that’s wrong in what the Virginia Governor was trying to say. First of all, he overstepped his bounds as a servant in the civil estate. He deserves honor and obedience according to his office as governor. But he is not called to be speaking for the Church or teaching in the Church. He has no business as Governor or private citizen telling Christians how they should worship. He does not have that authority or responsibility.
But there’s something even worse. If we understand what he’s really trying to say, then he is a false teacher. He wants to say that you can worship God wherever you are and you’ll receive the same blessings and gifts even if you are not gathered in the Church. He’s promoting a false teaching called “enthusiasm,” which literally means, “God is in you.” This teaching says that you don’t need sacraments like Baptism or the Lord’s Supper; you don’t need pastors to preach the Word or pronounce forgiveness; you don’t even need the Bible itself because you can just have a direct connection with God in your own thinking or feeling. This is false, and it is rejected by sacramental Christians.
Christ commanded Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and the preaching of the Word. There is no promise that His Spirit will come to us apart from God’s Word and the Means of Grace. So, it is actually essential for Christians to gather. The words “synagogue,” “congregation,” and even “church” all mean the same thing: “assembly, gathering.” Christian worship is not a private affair. It is corporate—meaning it is done as a body. It is necessary for the Church to gather and assemble so that as the Body of Christ we might receive the Means of Grace: confess our sins and hear the Absolution; listen to preaching that teaches us the Scriptures; eat and drink the Lord’s body and blood as members of His Holy Communion.
St. Paul has this in mind when he speaks about pastors in our Epistle reading: This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. The “us” here are the apostles and ministers of Christ. So, pastors are to be servants of Christ, which means they follow His orders and no one else’s. And they are to be stewards of the mysteries. Pastors are the caretakers and overseers of the gifts that Christ gives His Church. So as a pastor I’ve been ordained, that means I’ve been ordered by Christ to fulfill this ministry. And specifically I’ve been ordered to be a steward. It’s my job to distribute God’s gifts. It’s my job to preach the Word, forgive sins, baptize, and offer the Supper. And the only One I’m finally answerable to is the One who gave me my orders: Christ the Lord.
Paul says, But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. So, even if I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong in my ministry, that’s not my call. The Lord is my judge. I have to be faithful to the orders I’ve received from Him, no matter what.
I’m teaching you what’s expected of pastors, but thinking this through can also help us understand what is essential or foundational for the work of our church. What must we be about? Well, the most important thing we absolutely have to be doing is proclaiming God’s Word and administering His Sacraments. What does that look like? Well, at the bare minimum, it means I, as pastor, have to show up, and at least one other person. If no one shows up, meaning there’s no one there to hear the Word or receive the Supper, then I can say a few prayers by myself and go home. Notice, the service wasn’t canceled, it just didn’t happen because no one was there to receive it.
But cancelling a service is different. Cancelling means that automatically I’m not doing my job as a steward. In fact, it means I’m actually working against my job because I’m telling people the church is closed, they may not come receive God’s gifts. See how that changes things? People are always allowed to decide if they want to receive God’s Word and Sacrament. But it is wrong for me as a servant of Christ and steward of the mysteries to make that decision for people and tell them that they cannot come, that God’s Word and Sacrament are not available, that they’ve been cancelled. Instead, I do my job, the church does her job—we offer God’s Word and Sacrament for all who desire it, and we leave it up to you whether you come and make use of it.
If we get this foundational thing right, then we can build from there. So, it should work the same with teaching the faith to young and old: Sunday School, for example. All that’s required is someone to teach and someone to learn. If we have no teacher or no students, then we don’t have Sunday School that day. But if we cancel, then we are telling people they cannot come learn God’s Word. And we definitely don’t want to send that message.
Here’s how we should think about what we offer as a congregation: Are we proclaiming the Word and offering the Sacrament? Are we teaching the faith? As long as we’re doing those things, then we’re good. And we can keep building and adding on from there as we have opportunity.
That’s what’s required of pastors and required of Christ’s church. But besides the fact that we have these things as commands, we also have great benefits and blessings in regular worship. A recent Gallup poll shows that the only people who reported an improvement in their mental health over the past year are those who attended a religious service every week. Even in this difficult year, those who regularly came to God’s House were able to improve their mental or emotional well–being. That’s wonderful. It’s always good to see how the Church can have a positive impact on life, even just on a secular, human level.
But we who trust in God our Father and His Son our Savior Jesus Christ, we know there are far more important and precious blessings to be gained from attending service every week. Not just for your mental health; there are eternal blessings: forgiveness of sins, new life, union with Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit. These are things that cannot be measured by a poll or study, but we know they are things we really cannot do without.
All of these gifts, all of these blessings are absolutely essential to who we are as the Church because they are all part of Christ’s Advent among us now. His first Advent was when He was conceived in the womb of the virgin, born in Bethlehem, died on Calvary, and rose from the tomb. His final Advent is when He will come again in glory. But just as important as those Advents, is the Advent taking place in His Church as often as we gather—His coming to us in words, water, bread and wine. That first time He came, He accomplished our salvation with His birth, death, and resurrection. The final time He comes, He will bring our salvation to completion with our resurrection from the dead. But now is when He comes delivering salvation to us. Now is the time of His grace given to sinners. And as sinners, we do not want to be stingy with His grace or limit or cancel or postpone His gifts.
Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God. Do not make your own judgments about yourself and your church now. The Lord will reveal His judgment on that final Day. But what we need to be about right now is being faithful, welcoming and meeting our Lord as He comes to us. He does not come now in judgment, but in blessing. So we rejoice at the work of His servants and stewards, we rejoice at His coming in the Word and the Sacrament, all the while eagerly waiting for His glorious return.
Come quickly + Lord Jesus. Amen.
Here is the news report on the Gov. of Virginia, where Mollie Hemingway, reporter and LCMS member, makes the points I use at the beginning of this sermon.
Tuesday Dec 15, 2020
Tuesday Dec 15, 2020
The Bible is rich and deep in meaning. Every detail is important. And even the small details, the seemingly insignificant, one-off, in-passing details, provide insight into the deep truths of God. Larry Beane (pastor of Salem Lutheran Church, Gretna, LA, and Departmental Editor for Gottesdienst: the Journal of Lutheran Liturgy) walks us through the first book of the Bible tracing the steps of our fathers in the faith from well to well. What was the purpose of the well in the ancient world. How did they eventually begin to be seen? What in the New Testament church corresponds to these ancient wells?
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Tuesday Dec 08, 2020
Tuesday Dec 08, 2020
One of the duties of the priests in the Old Testament was to distinguish the holy from the common, or as we would call it, the sacred from the secular. And they were given the task of teaching this distinction to the people. They did this not only in what they said but in what they did. It was communicated in how the tabernacle and temple were constructed. Everything surrounding the worship and daily life of the people of Israel focused on making this distinction. Fritz Eckardt (pastor of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Kewanee, IL, and Editor-in-Chief of Gottesdienst: The Journal of Lutheran Liturgy) takes up a similar task in looking at the sacred and secular at Christmas time.
- You can subscribe to the Journal here: https://www.gottesdienst.org/subscribe/
- You can read the Gottesblog here: https://www.gottesdienst.org/gottesblog/
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Tuesday Dec 01, 2020
Tuesday Dec 01, 2020
Every Advent, in the Lutheran tradition, churches set aside Wednesday evenings for prayer and catechesis. These midweek Advent services tend to focus on a topic of the catechism or a particular doctrine. This year The Brothers of John the Steadfast have put together a midweek Advent series on the doctrine of the Last Things (Eschatology). Josh Scheer (pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church, Cheyenne, WY) joins us to discuss why this is an important topic for Christians to understand, and what each week will focus on: Now, At the Last, and Unto Eternity, which are three major aspects of the Last Things.
- You can subscribe to the Journal here: https://www.gottesdienst.org/subscribe/
- You can read the Gottesblog here: https://www.gottesdienst.org/gottesblog/
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Tuesday Nov 24, 2020
Tuesday Nov 24, 2020
Karl Fabrizius (pastor of Our Father Lutheran Church, Greenfield, WI, and departmental editor for Gottesdienst) joins us to discuss and elaborate on one of his recent columns for the print journal (Michaelmas 2020). Fabrizius notes a principle or tendency that runs through the accounts in the Bible that reveals our works righteousness: "We are so quick to think that the church stands or falls on the basis of our works rather than the word of Christ." Account after account, story after story, Fabrizius shows us this tendency in them and thus in ourselves, while at the same time showing us that their Savior is ours as well.
- You can subscribe to the Journal here: https://www.gottesdienst.org/subscribe/
- You can read the Gottesblog here: https://www.gottesdienst.org/gottesblog/
- You can support Gottesdienst here: https://www.gottesdienst.org/make-a-donation/
Please like, share, and review this podcast. It only takes a few minutes for you, but it means a lot to us.