“Remember, O man, that thou art dust, and to dust shalt thou return.” “Remember, O man, that thou art dust, and to dust shalt thou return.” “Remember, O man, that thou art dust, and to dust shalt thou return.”
Something happens when you say that a few hundred times in a day. You realize the problem is bigger than me or you, or the scandal du jour….
Read MoreWhat did Satan find in Judas? While Satan asks for Peter, to test him, Satan is not able to enter him. Nor the other disciples, despite their weaknesses. But “Satan entered Judas.” Something is found in Judas that creates an opening.
It may have been greed. We know he loved money, and would steal from their treasury.
Might Satan find an opening in you? …
Read More“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem.” The term we is doing a lot of work in that sentence.
It’s like when a sportsball fan says, “We won the game.” The guy saying it didn’t win anything. The team he roots for did. But he associates himself with the team. When the team wins, he wins….
Read MoreThis is the second time I’ve made this particular mistake. A few years ago I bought a book by Victor Davis Hanson called Who Killed Homer? Since we have a wonderful classical school, I try to periodically read books on classical education, and the subtitle seemed to say it was: “The Demise of Classical Education and the Recovery of Greek Wisdom.” But the book was about how classics departments at American universities are captivated by LGBTQ ideology, and PhD candidates write dissertations with titles like, “Marxist Postcolonial Genderqueer Themes in The Odyssey.” I’m glad I read the book, but it wasn’t what I thought I was getting.
I made the same kind of mistake last month….
Read MoreMan is held in the thrall of grief. It is an anticipated grief. We see the world perishing. We love, and see we will lose that love.
And we cannot control this. We can try. We can write contracts and pass bylaws but people are sinful, people are fickle. Friends betray us….
Read MorePeter, James, and John see Him transfigured, changed, metamorphosed. His face shines like the sun; His clothes dazzle with uncreated light. The holy prophets Moses and Elijah appear.
Yet even this inner circle of the disciples does not understand. They see Jesus as one of these holy prophets. There are like a recent Uber driver of mine. He had a distinctly Islamic name, but he was listening to the local Christian radio station. So I asked him if he was a Christian. He said, “No, I’m Muslim, but we believe in Jesus too.”
He’s right….
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When that denomination led by the Bishop of Rome took away the blood of Christ from the laity, it demonstrated its ability to err. Here Luther argues that the only fully trustworthy and infallible man is Christ Jesus. To Him alone are we commanded to listen:
The fallibility of the church has been borne out by the fact that it accepted, and approved of, the pope’s proposal to restrict Holy Communion for the laity to one kind. The church did not resist this move or contend against it. But Christ nonetheless preserved the church by reason of her daily petition for “the forgiveness of sins” in the Christian Creed, as we still pray in the Lords Prayer: “And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Therefore regard the church as holy. Nevertheless, I do not trust myself to her; for the spectacle of the church in the papacy prevents me from doing so. If they teach Christ properly, I, too, shall believe and trust her; for in Christ I know no sin, no error, no lie. He alone is the Truth and the embodiment of the Father’s will. For of Him the Father says: “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him” (Matt. 17:5). If I were to give ear to anyone else, error would certainly come in.
LW 22, pp258f
Churches with dramatic claims to antiquity or authority sometimes beckon. The ancient churches of Rome and Constantinople greatly appeal to some. Why? In many churches the worship is unstable, changing with every new hit song. Doctrines change as the culture shifts. Voting becomes the highest sacrament. In such an environment, people crave stability, order, tradition.
But the cure is worse than the disease. For both Rome and the East, it’s the continuity of the institution that ultimately matters. When you break it down, these churches are defined by their bureaucracy and their geography.
But the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church is not founded upon a pope….
Read MoreLet this be said of the Orris household: “They keep no record of sins. With them is forgiveness. With them is grace, the grace of YHWH, Haniyah.”
In the moment of crisis, though, can you really forgive? Can you really forget? Can transformation happen?
Only by the command of Jesus. In our Gospel, there is failure. The wedding is falling short. “They have no wine.” This symbolizes the collapse of joy. The problem is brought to Jesus. This is always the solution.
But He seems far away. He rebukes His mother. He seems cold, distant….
Read MoreChristmas Eve at Immanuel always begins by singing Once in Royal David’s City. But in our 1982 hymnal, a stanza was missing. Thanks be to God, it was put back in our current hymnal. It starts like this: “For He is our childhood’s pattern.” Children are to imitate Jesus; He obeyed Joseph and Mary, and He’s our pattern. But we’re still missing a stanza! There’s one more the church doesn’t seem ready to sing. It goes like this…
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