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![[Gottesblog] "When necessary, use words" by Larry Beane](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/332069/G_logo_1500_f5mj7a_300x300.jpg){kind=logo}
Tuesday Feb 16, 2021
Tuesday Feb 16, 2021
"When necessary, use words"
Few things send Lutherans into apoplexy more than the quote attributed to St. Francis of Assisi: “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary, use words.” Of course, the quote is apocryphal, and probably spurious. But it is still fun to watch Lutherans lose their you-know-what whenever this old canard is trotted out.
Obviously, the reaction is grounded in a good impulse: the idea that it is always necessary to preach the Gospel using words, Romans 10 and all that. For the Word - especially the preached Word - is efficacious unto forgiveness, life, and salvation. And so the casual dismissal of “words” as is suggested by this trite quote is to miss the point about preaching.
That said, there yet remains not only some truth to the bromide, but there is an aspect of it that is quite Lutheran.
Experts in human communication and project management tell us that 60% of human communication is nonverbal: based on facial expressions, gestures, and body language.
We advocates of liturgy understand this instinctively. Yes, it matters how you hold your hands while presiding. We “say the black and do the red,” understanding that the unspoken “red” is also important in conveying the Gospel. We insist on not only using the right words, but accompanying those words with reverence - lest we communicate one thing with our words and something else with our bodies. Ceremony is important. Ecclesiastical art is important. Church architecture is important. All of these unspoken things are important because they do convey a message - one that can either bolster or gainsay what we say, one that can either affirm or mock that which comes out of our mouths.
We believe in “taking pains” with not only what we say when we preach, but how we say it when we preach and when we preside at worship. We have all seen examples of pastors whose slovenliness or casualness in their celebration of the Mass belie the sublime Words of Institution and the confession that Jesus is present by virtue of His miraculous Word.
I remember many years ago when a high school senior - one of the very top students in the Lutheran high school in which I formerly taught - was shocked to learn that Lutherans believe in the Real Presence. She was under the impression that this was a Roman Catholic belief, and that Lutherans believe the elements are symbolic. This was a girl who otherwise knew her theology well, and was a lifelong Lutheran. Interestingly, her congregation met in a gymnasium and the altar was on wheels. The Divine Service was surrounded by volley balls, a large scoreboard, and bleachers. This was the imagery surrounding the liturgy. At that time, the pastor was not known for his emphasis on ceremony. No doubt he was teaching correctly in Confirmation class, Bible class, Sunday School, and Adult Instruction. I’m sure he said all the right words. But clearly something gave this bright student reason to hear and to believe something entirely contradictory.
How we say something - including our nonverbal cues - are important.
There is an element of pedagogy in the ceremonies of worship, as we confess in the Augsburg Confession:
“For ceremonies are needed to this end alone that the unlearned be taught [what they need to know of Christ].”— AC 24:3-4
And this communication that is done by means of ceremonies is also carried out by a lack of ceremony. For just as the act of deliberately and reverently genuflecting and elevating during the consecration nonverbally communicates and confesses what is happening at the altar, a rapid and casual approach, devoid of ceremony, also teaches something.
Of course, while other reforming groups were iconoclastically tearing down statues and covering up murals, our Evangelical tradition (advocates of Pietism being the exception) has always appreciated the power of art to convey the truths of Scripture - even without words. Altar pieces depicting Jesus as the Lamb, as well as blood pouring from the side of the crucified Christ into a chalice convey the Gospel without words. The image of the corpus on the crucifix proclaims both Law and Gospel. Stained glass windows explicitly convey truths of Scripture. Baptismal fonts are often adorned with crosses, doves, or some variation of the octagon - confessing a sacramental and salvific view of Holy Baptism. Ceremonies like the sign of the cross, ashes on Ash Wednesday, and rising for the Gospel and for doxological stanzas of hymns all teach by virtue of their action.
And especially if one has been properly catechized, and if the preaching in one’s congregation is solid, the art and architecture and the ceremonies used in the Divine Service will, like the gestures and body language of the pastor, proclaim the Good News of Jesus.
So indeed, it is necessary to use words to preach the Gospel. But let us not neglect those times when we really do preach the Gospel nonverbally. Let us never allow a separation or a contradiction between what we say and what we do, between our preaching and celebrating, between our doctrine and ceremonies, between what we teach with our mouths and what we convey with our body language.
Let us proclaim the Gospel in word and deed. So yes, “preach the Gospel at all times,” and yes, “when necessary, use words.”
Tuesday Feb 16, 2021
Tuesday Feb 16, 2021
Antiseptic Ash Wednesday?
Now we come to the day when Lent begins, and a special emphasis is put on our unworthiness, our deep singular need for Christ, and even the practices we undertake for the purposes of helping us focus. We fast from certain foods, not as a dietary function, but to be bodily reminded that we do not deserve them, and we need Christ. We fast from certain sights, not because we can save a little money on flowers during Lent, but to remember that even the beauties of the earth are undeserved, and given for our eyes to see without any merit or worthiness in us. We fast from singing alleluias, not because we want to do something different in the liturgy, but to remember that even our lips to sing praises are unmerited gifts.
And we employ the marking of the forehead with ashes on the first day of Lent not as an outward show in order to be seen by men, but rather to remember, O man, that we are dust, and to dust we shall return. This is no idle exercise. We really are dust, we were created out of the ground, and would surely return to dust the moment God withdrew his sustaining hand that preserves us moment by moment. And we really shall return to dust, as everyone knows. We really die, we are really buried, we really disintegrate. We really cannot live, and will really die, and that eternally, without Christ, and without his holy incarnation and the sanctification and renewal of our flesh by his holy sacrifice and resurrection. I believe in the resurrection of the body. And this body is in dire need of being renewed and raised from the dead. And the imposition of ashes is a poignant and personal reminder of that.
So what, then, can we say of the antiseptic practices some have chosen to undergo in order to impose ashes on foreheads on Ash Wednesday because of the fear of spreading germs? What can we say of the practice of reminding people to wash their foreheads first, and of using disposable gloves and disposable swabs? What can we say of the sprinkling of ashes instead of the imposition of them? Does this not all run directly contrary to what the imposition of ashes means? Does this not say, rather, something like this? “Let’s do the ash thing, but let’s first take care that we do not really get sick and die! Let’s engage in this ritual because it’s important somehow, but we wouldn’t want to pass any germs around!” Must we now say, “Remember, O man, that you are dust, but that’s nothing! You might get covid!”
Ash Wednesday is not the time, O man, to be carefully remembering first of all to take whatever measures you must take to stay safe! For you, O man, are not safe! You are dust, and to dust shall you return. Of all times, Ash Wednesday calls us away from all earthly enterprises, to believe this, and to call upon the Incarnate God who alone can rescue us.
Wednesday Feb 10, 2021
Wednesday Feb 10, 2021
As Lutherans who hold to Sola Scritpura, we have all heard the charges of fundamentalism and biblicism as we ask where that particular teaching can be found in the Bible. But adhering to Sola Scriptura is neither fundamentalist nor biblicism. In this episode, Fritz Eckardt (pastor of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Kewanee, IL, and Editor-in-Chief of Gottesdienst: The Journal of Lutheran Liturgy) talks about what makes him most cranky: reductionistic and poorly-informed interpretation of the Scriptures.
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Thursday Feb 04, 2021
Thursday Feb 04, 2021
There’s Never Jocularity in Prayer
This thought occurred to me: Never, when we are at prayer, is there ever the remotest thought of praying with levity or jocularity. Never is humor added as if to maintain the attention of people who might be silently praying along. Never in the prayers of the church, or for that matter, in personal prayers, is humor thought to be a helpful ingredient. Not even during personal prayers when they are said aloud, say, in a family setting. Of course this would not be the case in church when saying printed prayers and collects in a liturgical setting, but never even when ex corde prayers are uttered by the pastor (if that is his inclination during the prayer of the church). Never.
And so I thought, How odd. How odd, that is, that whenever we speak to God we are dead serious. We are not trying in the slightest way to be funny, or evoke laughter. We would never.
So why, then, is there so often such a strong push to employ levity or evoke laughter when it is time for us to hear God? When there is preaching? For not only is reading Scripture aloud the hearing of God’s word. Preaching is too, as the catechism says: “We should fear and love God that we may not despise preaching and His word, but hold it sacred, and gladly hear and learn it.”
The sermon is the integration of God’s word with the words of the pastor, but even the words of the pastor are the application of God’s word, by God’s own direction. The Gospel is to be preached, not simply read aloud. And for that matter, even prayers themselves are best said when they integrate God’s promises with one’s own supplications, as also the Psalms routinely do. They confess the faith and they implore God, and in their case all the words are His, in a primary sense. In a derived sort of sense, the same ought to be true of the sermon. It, too, is all God’s word, although when the pastor preaches he is employing his own words. Still, he is doing a holy thing, though of course in a much lesser sense than in the case of the Psalter. The whole sermon is still called God’s word. The sermon must be norma normata, that is, “normed” by the Scriptures. The Scriptures must be its guide and compass. It must be derived, governed by the Scriptures. That is required of preachers, though of course they have great latitude in how they preach and apply God’s word.
Still, the sermon is not stand up comedy. It is not a time to connect with the hearers in the way that motivational speakers might do. It’s different. It’s norma normata. Certainly the pastor is using the sermon to connect with the hearers, but why must he feel constrained to so so with levity? Why with jokes?
You don’t joke around when speaking to God, so why, then, should you joke around when you, O pastor, are the vehicle through which God is speaking? We are, as the catechism says, to hold preaching sacred. Certainly this applies to the preacher as well as to the hearers.
Wednesday Feb 03, 2021
Wednesday Feb 03, 2021
Requiescat in Potentia?
“Peace be with you.”— JESUS (JOHN 20:19)
“Perhaps they think that they will exercise power for the general good, but that is what all those with power have believed. Power is evil in itself, regardless of who exercises it.”— LUDWIG VON MISES, *NATION, STATE, AND ECONOMY*
"Rest in Power" has become a trendy slogan for Leftists in response to when someone, usually a celebrity, politician, or someone politically useful, dies. This is, of course, a parody of the ancient Christian prayer and confession "May (he or she) rest in peace" (requiescat in pace) that is said when a believer dies.
The Latin grammar of the expression "in pace" (ablative singular) expresses the idea that the believer is not merely headed towards the destination of peace (which would be the accusative case), but that the person is now at rest, already reaching the destination of "peace." This is because when a believer dies, he or she is with Christ. Thus “Rest in peace” is an explicitly Christian confession. For in Christian theology, Jesus is the "Prince of Peace" (Isa 9:6) whose first word to the mourning disciples after His resurrection was "Peace be with you" (John 20:19). Christians often speak of the Church on earth as the "Church militant" and the Church in heaven as the "Church triumphant." A popular Christian hymn ("For All the Saints") speaks of the departed Christians as those who "from their labor rest."
To those who serve the religion of "social justice," a person's work is not ended at death. He or she is not at rest. For instead of heaven being found in eternity, it is sought in an unattainable Utopia here on earth: Karl Marx's communistic egalitarian paradise in which there is no scarcity, and thus no need for private property and trade, as articulated by John Lennon: "No need for greed and hunger, a brotherhood of man." Of course, Mr. Lennon might today have his statues toppled and his photographs altered for microaggressive sexism and an unforgiveable failure to acknowledge the gender non-corforming community.
And of course, this Marxist Utopia includes the dictum "and no religion too," for there is "no hell below us, above us only sky." In the millenarian faith of "social justice," there is no afterlife, only the struggle to achieve heaven on earth. And since there is no God, ultimately, there are no human beings created in the image of God. There is rather a stark division between "good people" (who think like John Lennon and Karl Marx) and "bad people" - capitalists, conservatives, Christians, etc. And in the worldview of the "good people," the "bad people" must either change, or be liquidated.
They may be changed by "education" - schools, government posters, movies, books, etc. designed specifically to push such a worldview. For the dissident, there are consequences. For the stubborn, there will be camps and prisons. For the recalcitrant, there will be bullets. And as technocracy enables, we can reward "good people" with liberty to work, travel, and own a few personal items (as Socialists make a distinction between "personal" property, which is allowed, and "private" property, which is not). We can also, using a "social credit" system, exert power over people in which the iron fist is covered by a velvet app on the phone, one that constantly rates and scores people based on desired thoughts, words, and deeds - in order to make use of the power to control people to the desired end.
In the fallen world, power is the manifestation of the internal wicked desire that St. Augustine called "libido dominandi" - the "lust for domination." And every nightmarish dystopian civilization that ended up bringing "bad people" on boxcars to camps and stacking tens of millions of corpses into shallow graves has begun as a dreamy utopian vision in which "good people" would use power "for good."
Hence "Rest in power."
Wikipedia has an entry explaining that the expression "Rest in power" began in the early 21st century, and is mainly used by racialist and non-traditional sexual groups who hold a worldview that pits "the oppressors" against "the oppressed." This is known as "critical theory" as espoused by the Frankfurt School - which is itself a modification of Marxism that replaces the clash between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie with a struggle between culturally dominant groups and the marginalized. This is where the Orwellian ideas of "microaggressions" and "systemic" oppression come from, in which "privilege" is so prevalent, that the oppression seems non-existent - which is evidence for its existence. To deny its existence is to affirm it.
Wikipedia also has an entry for "Rest in peace," which locates its origins with Christian tombs in catacombs during times of actual bloody persecution, in which Christians were physically tortured and killed by their Roman oppressors. These were historically-verifiable genocidal mega-aggressions committed by those in power. The actual systemic oppression of Christianity is manifest by the still extant bloodstains on the floor of the Coliseum and the stacks of bones in Christian tombs of the martyrs.
And so we see the contrast between "Rest in peace" and "Rest in power." The two expressions are not compatible with each other.
That said, Christians sometimes get caught up in the trendiness of the world, identifying more with their power-seeking friends on social media than their departed brothers and sisters of the faith who lived centuries ago, but who now are at rest in Christ.
It speaks volumes that “Rest in power” is commonly used to mourn the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who wielded considerable worldly power to empower the ongoing holocaust of infanticide in the United States. There is no clearer expression of power in the hands of fallen men than murdering tens of millions of those who are powerless.
“Rest in power,” indeed.
A review of the use of the word "power" in the New Testament is revealing. It is always used in the context of the power of God. Jesus says, "Peace be with you," never "power be with you." By contrast, Jesus delegates His own "authority" to the newly ordained apostles, as He commissions them to "make disciples" by baptism and teaching (Matt 28:18-20). God's power is paradoxically manifested in human weakness, as God revealed to St. Paul (1 Cor 12:9-10). The only grant of power from God to individual human beings is in the context of the gift of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus said shortly before His ascension, speaking once again to the apostles: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you..." But notice what this power is used for: "...and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” The grant of power from the Holy Spirit is intended for the purpose of converting the world to faith in Christ, through the ministry of Word and Sacrament. There is no mention of political goals or the pursuit of a worldly Utopia.
The risen body of Christ - given to us miraculously in the Eucharist, stands in stark contrast to the still-dead corpse of Lenin, which tourists gawk at, ghoulishly mummified in a shrine to Marxism in the capital of a Union that no longer exists. Only one will return in glory. Only one gives us the peace which the world cannot give (John 14:27).
We see this contrast played out in the early church in Acts 4, when Peter and John were interrogated by the worldly powers about what power lies behind the apostles' miracles. St. Peter was "filled with the Holy Spirit” (v. 8) and responded that the source of this power was the "name of Jesus Christ” (v. 10). In the same chapter, we read that "with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all" (v. 33) thus fulfilling the prophecy of Jesus that by the power of the Holy Spirit, they would be His witnesses.
By contrast, Romans 13 speaks of political and social order being kept by means of "authority" as opposed to "power." Authority is delegated to those bearing an office through which God works. Authority is not power.
Outside of the divine power given to the Church to preach the Gospel, human nature seeks power, and fallen men use power to bend the will of others to their own. And while they couch this in pious-sounding terms, power appeals to the base nature of the Old Adam. The most crass example in Scripture involves Simon Magus, who wanted to buy this power: "Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, 'Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit'" (Acts 8:18-19). Even when claiming to do good, wicked men use power to dominate others, as Ludwig von Mises put it succinctly, "Perhaps they think that they will exercise power for the general good, but that is what all those with power have believed. Power is evil in itself, regardless of who exercises it."
"Rest in power" is not just a parody of the pious and ancient Christian prayer and confession linked to Jesus and the resurrection, it is a perversion of it. It is used in conjunction with the deaths of people who had nothing to do with proclaiming the Gospel. It is an attempt to use a person's memory to achieve a political goal instead of pondering the mystery of faith that Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again, comforting the mourning with the sure and certain hope of the resurrection, instead reducing the person to a mere cog in the wheel of a political agenda - and one that seeks to minimize or deny the role of creation and the Creator, one that seeks Utopia through domination, one that dehumanizes the person into an abstraction.
For the unbeliever, such an expression is understandable, as what else does he have but a moldering body and a memory? But to the Christian, this expression is an inexcusable blasphemy that mocks our Lord's benediction and promise: "Peace be with you."
The oppressed and marginalized early Christians understood this. And though they preached the Word of God with power - divine power not of their own, sufficient to overthrow even Caesar himself within three centuries - they did not say anything as trite or silly or short-sighted as "Rest in power." They understood that our victory is in Christ, that our paradise is in the heaven and earth to come, that the only power that is truly benevolent is the power of God, and that Jesus has restored peace to those who die in Him.
May all of our departed brethren rest in peace. Amen.
Wednesday Feb 03, 2021
Wednesday Feb 03, 2021
The times we are living in and through have raised a number of questions about the obedience we owe the government. We have begun again to wrestle with similar questions as the magisterial reformers, especially our Lutheran fathers in the faith: Luther, Melanchthon, Amsdorf, etc. To what extent should the governing authorities be obeyed? How are we to make those judgments? Is there a biblical and confessional framework for deciding these things? David Ramirez (pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Union Grove, WI) will walk us through the history.
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Thursday Jan 28, 2021
Thursday Jan 28, 2021
The Confidence and Courage of Faith in the Life and Labors of Love
by Rick Stuckwisch
“At this time, in the present danger of the plague, we are in a state of trepidation. It is as though we did not have the command to live and to call upon God. We have a most dependable Word uttered by the mouth of the Son of God (John 11:25-26): ‘I Am the Resurrection and the Life; he who believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.’ But who is interested in this Word or pays any attention to it? Similarly, anyone can be certain about his calling from the Word of God, whether it is a calling in civil life or in the church. But there is nothing we neglect more than our duty. The negligence and idleness of the government is familiar to all. The bishops and the pastors remain silent like dumb dogs (cf. Is. 56:10) and do not believe that they are what they are; they strive for riches and honors, but they do not perform their tasks. Meanwhile we complain that we lack the opportunity to do good works.
“We have the command that applies to us all, namely, that we should love God and fear no one — not the devil, not the Turk, not the plague — when we walk in our ways, even if our life is in danger, in accordance with the passage (Ps. 27:14): ‘Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage.’ But who heeds this? Nobody. For nobody believes that God has commanded confidence and has condemned despair. Therefore this passage [Genesis 22:1-14] deserves careful consideration, in order that we may learn true obedience toward God and how important it is to have the assurance of a command from God and with what great confidence this fills the hearts of the godly. We assuredly should have sought for this in the remotest limits of the world, but there is no need of a long journey or of a painstaking search. Our home, body, and heart are full of commands of God; yet we do not believe. Therefore we feel no joy; nor do we have any light or understanding with regard to that spiritual pride and confidence that is based on the Word of God and His commands.
“It is for this reason that the examples of the fathers, in which the efficacy and power of the Word of God and of faith are prominent, should be exalted and carefully emphasized, as David boasts (Ps. 119:50): ‘These are my comfort, namely, Thy utterances.’ Relying on these utterances, he killed a bear, a lion, and the Philistine Goliath, and performed other difficult and remarkable feats. . . .
“Thus in this unbelievable trial [in which the Lord commanded him to sacrifice his son, Isaac,] it was Abraham’s sole consolation that he knew he had a command from God. He surely would not have fled from the plague or from many thousands of Turks, because his heart held fast to this confidence: ‘I believe in God Almighty.’ But what are 10,000 Turks in comparison with Almighty God? Therefore he does not delay at this point, but he immediately takes hold of the command and is ready to carry out the sacrifice.
“We should learn to understand this power of the Word of God — this power which the Holy Spirit is wont to exalt so much that He makes it greater than every creature, hell, death, and the good and bad angels. Yes, He even makes it equal to God, as it actually is, inasmuch as in Rom. 1:16 Paul calls it ‘the might and power of God’; and indeed one should feel the same way about the spoken Word. Abraham understood this very clearly; therefore he had no doubt that Isaac, even if he were to die, nevertheless would be revived and that his progeny would live on, because God does not permit His command and promise to be of no effect.
“In Ps. 91;7, 11 it is stated: ‘A thousand will fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not come near you. For He will give His angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways.’ He who holds firmly to this promise and meanwhile diligently does his duty in his place, which he knows has been assigned to him by God, even if some dangers or obstacles are put in his way, nevertheless has no doubt about a happy issue and favorable outcome but is convinced in his heart that all the angels will come flying from heaven to help and defend him rather than that any godly undertaking in accord with the Word of God should be in vain and useless. What you undertake on the strength of His Word must succeed, even though there were to be no angel remaining in heaven” (From Dr. Luther’s Lectures on Genesis 22:3, Luther’s Works AE 4, 105-107).
Tuesday Jan 26, 2021
Tuesday Jan 26, 2021
What is the history surrounding Septuagesima? What are the ceremonies associated with it? What are the biblical themes for Septuagesima and what is its connection to Lent? These questions among others are answered by Stefan Gramenz (pastor of The Lutheran Church of Christ the King, Pawling, NY, and an Editor of The Lutheran Missal Project). He recently published an article on The Lutheran Missal Project's blog entitled Septuagesimal Strife, which serves as the basis for our conversation.
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Tuesday Jan 19, 2021
Tuesday Jan 19, 2021
When Demons Show Up
by Anthony Dodgers
“People shouldn’t call for demons unless they really mean what they say.”
In The Last Battle, C.S. Lewis’s final volume in The Chronicles of Narnia, the enemies of Narnia promote a false teaching that Aslan, the great Lion and true King of Narnia, is the same as Tash, the wicked vulture-like god of the Calormenes. It eventually becomes clear that they have no problem equating the two beings because they believe in neither of them. But then, invoked by these enemies of truth, Tash shows up:
Roughly the shape of a man but it had the head of a bird; some bird of prey with a cruel, curved beak. It had four arms which it held high above its head, stretching them out Northward as if it wanted to snatch all Narnia in its grip; and its fingers—all twenty of them—were curved like its beak and had long, pointed, bird-like claws instead of nails. It floated on the grass instead of walking, and the grass seemed to wither beneath it.
[True and faithful Narnians witness the arrival of this pagan god:]
“It seems, then,” said the Unicorn, “That there is a real Tash, after all.”
“Yes,” said the Dwarf. “And this fool of an Ape, who didn’t believe in Tash, will get more than he bargained for! He has called for Tash: Tash has come…
It has come to dwell among us. They have called it and it has come… People shouldn’t call for demons unless they really mean what they say.” (The Last Battle, Chapter VIII).
I would claim that America is suffering a similar fate. On January 3, 2021, the opening prayer for Congress was concluded with these words: “Give us peace… peace even in this chamber, now and evermore. We ask it in the name of the monotheistic god, Brahma, a god known by many names and many different faiths. Amen and Awoman.” Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Democrat from Missouri, is also a minister in the United Methodist Church, yet he prayed for peace in the House’s chamber while invoking demons. Three days later “demons” showed up in that chamber.
On January 6, a protest devolving into a riot spilled into the Capitol building. Far from being a unified group with a set goal in mind, this crowd included everyone from “Grandmas for Trump” to the guy in the Camp Auschwitz hoodie. And no one can forget the shirtless Norse pagan shaman. The “sacrilege” committed by this mob was not lost on our elites either. Following the riot, both Democrats and Republicans had all kinds of condemnation for these people who violated their “temple of democracy.”
Everything is theological. Demons were invoked on Sunday and they showed up on Wednesday. I am not saying that the storming of the Capitol on January 6 was directly caused by Rep. Cleaver’s prayer. But the true God always hears the blasphemous prayers of the wicked and He answers those prayers in His wrath. The true Narnians should not be blind to the obvious connection between this country’s faithlessness and the violent degeneracy we see today.
Our nation has worshiped demons for a long time, and it should be no surprise when they show up, whether they come from the right or the left. We have had the institutionalized slaughter of unborn children for almost 50 years. That is no less than the worship of Moloch. We have countless ways of accessing pornography, and its softer versions are basically mainstream. That is hardly different than how the worshipers of Baal and Asherah could consort with their gods by visiting the temple prostitute. Mars and Bacchus are adored by the ubiquitous violence and hedonism of our entertainment, encouraged by the rhetoric of politicians and celebrities.
If our nation is devoted to such things, can we be surprised that our people have come to embody such things? Have we forgotten the wisdom of the psalmist?
Our God is in the heavens;
He does all that He pleases.
Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
They have mouths, but do not speak;
eyes, but do not see.
They have ears, but do not hear;
noses, but do not smell.
They have hands, but do not feel;
feet, but do not walk;
and they do not make a sound in their throat.
Those who make them become like them;
so do all who trust in them. (Psalm 115:3–8)
In contrast to the living God, idols are lifeless and empty. And those who worship them become like them. Those who worship sex and violence get nothing but shame and fear, injustice and death. If you call for demons, they will come.
In case you think I’m being too literal, the Apostle Paul is the one who exposes the gods:
What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? (1 Corinthians 10:19–22)
Yet this is precisely what the unbelieving nations do: they provoke the Lord. The psalmist sees this blasphemy and marvels:
Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”
The beginning of Psalm 2 describes many in our nation, those who think they can rule themselves and overthrow the rule and order of God. They rebel against the Creator and Christ. And yet…
He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
The enemies of God cannot touch Him. Their demon gods cannot rescue them from His hand. His judgment is set. His will is done.
Then He will speak to them in His wrath,
and terrify them in His fury, saying,
“As for Me, I have set My King
on Zion, My holy hill.”
I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to Me, “You are My Son;
today I have begotten You.
Ask of Me, and I will make the nations Your heritage,
and the ends of the earth Your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”
In these verses, we hear the Father’s eternal decree: His Son is the one true King and He reigns from the holy hill of Zion, the holy hill of Calvary. He is enthroned upon the cross and, by dying and rising again, He is given all authority in heaven and on earth. All who submit to this King in faith are made His heritage, His possession, citizens of His eternal kingdom. All who mock and resist the crucified King will be broken, shattered, and cast down forever.
Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son,
lest He be angry, and you perish in the way,
for His wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in Him. (Psalm 2)
The lesson we must learn from the evil that is coming upon our nation is that it’s getting what it deserves. And we have all participated in our nation’s sinful decadence in one way or another. We all need to repent. “Kiss the Son, lest He be angry.” Turn back to Him and mourn your sin. Confess it, and flee from it and its destructive end. “Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.” Blessed are all who flee to the King on His holy hill, and find absolution and protection in His holy blood.
This also means that there is no cause for despair. The blessed can be confident in our King who rules over all nations. Even surrounded by demons, we can continue in good works and peace, for we belong to the living God. And even if this society and nation fall apart, we can rebuild. The Church has done it before. While earthly empires crumble into dust, the Church picks up the pieces and carries on. So, it is still right to hope for goodness in this world, for as long as we remain faithful to God’s Word, we can hope for His blessing here and now. More than that, we have hope that goes beyond this world. Our King gives His life to us, and we will live in His Kingdom that cannot be destroyed.
Let us pray: Almighty God, merciful Father, You are right to be angry over our many sins. Yet, we flee to Your mercy that You have shown us in our Savior and His death on the cross for the world. Forgive us and restore us, that we may live holy lives and serve Your kingdom here while this world lasts. “Grant peace, we pray, in mercy, Lord; peace in our time, O send us! For there is none on earth but You, none other to defend us. You only, Lord, can fight for us” (LSB 777). We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our King, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the one true God, now and forever. Amen.
Sunday Jan 17, 2021
Sunday Jan 17, 2021
www.gottesdienst.org/gottesblog/2020/12/15/timeo-daneos-et-dona-ferentes
“Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes.”— VIRGIL
There is a reason why Homer’s “Trojan Horse” has become a metaphor in nearly every language. Nearly every invasion of diabolical, revolutionary ideas comes by invitation rather than by frontal assault.
The progressive purveyors of the Gramscian “Long March Through the Institutions” understand the importance of targeting the Christian Church in order to push their agenda. And so we saw Critical Theory embed and mainstream itself into mainline churches ever so slowly over the course of decades. They used Academia as their command post: universities, Bible colleges, divinity schools, and seminaries. Scholars advocating Higher Criticism made their way into the church’s educational facilities, at first slowly, then in an onslaught.
From there, the cancer could metastasize into our parishes, parochial schools, and literature of ordinary Christians. This Trojan Horse successfully overthrew Christianity in many liberal, mainline church bodies. But the ruse was discovered in the 1970s in the LCMS, and the Critical Method was turned away by those who were willing to take a stand against it.
But this is now half a century in the past.
The Long March has left the LCMS surrounded. We have seen church body after church body succumb. And the strategy has shifted to focus on issues of race and sexuality under the color of “social justice.” Where we have seen incursions of the Critical Theory methodology in the LCMS manifests more in two distinct areas: educational institutions, and “saltwater” districts.
And before the wailing and gnashing of teeth begins, I am generalizing. There are notable exceptions. There are indeed professors and there are coastal institutions of our church that are bastions of orthodoxy. But if you are going to think strategically, you have to generalize. A good general understands that there are certain types of terrain where an ambush is more likely, where he has more reason to fear heavy artillery, or under what circumstances his own people may find themselves trapped behind enemy lines. A good bit of strategy involves playing the odds.
And playing the odds means looking at things as they are, not based on sentimentality or desires.
Odds are, if you’re going to have clubs dedicated to breaking the sixth commandment and celebrating sexual deviancy contrary to Holy Scripture, it is most likely that this Trojan Horse will be wheeled into a university setting, and again, most likely (though not exclusively) on the coasts.
If you’re going to have a violent BLM member receive a Servant of Christ award, chances are, this will be in an educational setting and, again, will likely be on one of the coasts.
If you’re going to have a convocation based on Critical Race Theory, watch the synod’s schools - especially the seminaries.
If an employee in one of our church’s institutions who is unrepentant regarding the sixth commandment and the Lord’s created order of male and female is to be promoted and lauded by the administration, that Trojan Horse is likely to be wheeled into the groves of LCMS Academia, and again, likely not in “flyover country.”
If a district is going to consecrate female “deacons” and vest them in albs and stoles, chances are that this will not be in the heartland (while the South is also sometimes known for this particular Trojan Horse).
If there are institutions bearing the name “Lutheran” to which many LCMS young people are encouraged to attend - but where they will encounter “ordained” female “Lutheran pastors” and Higher Critical Method biblical hermeneutics, what are the chances that this is an educational institution? Why do we send young people such mixed messages? Can we not cut down the Asherah poles and stop the worship on the “high places”? Instead, we wheel the abomination right into our own gates and encourage our young people to jump right in. And if young people leave our churches, then I suppose the traditional liturgy is to blame.
The quote above from Virgil’s Aeneid is loosely translated as “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.” That too has become a proverb of the ages, because it is sage advice. Those who serve on boards overseeing our Concordia system and our seminaries - as well as those charged with oversight of our more liberal districts - should strive to be vigilant, prepared to sound the alarm (utilizing the tools that we have today in social media), aware of Greeks bearing gifts, and prepared to send Critical Theory right back to where it came from. Resist the urge to go along to get along. Don’t wait. The Church needs to know now!
For today, the very same handsome structure that gives you prestige and street cred - and perhaps even a large salary - will tomorrow pop open with hostile soldiers intent upon slaughtering your children in their beds.