What Does This Mean?

Who are the Saints?

Encore Post: “He’s a saint!” you might hear someone say. What they probably mean is that the person is very good, generous, kind or helpful. Most often when we use the term, we mean someone respected and honored by the early or medieval church for their example of holy living or strong faith. Such people, called a saint in the first few centuries, were witnesses to Jesus to the point of death. They were also called martyrs, witnesses.

The Bible does not use the word saint in such a narrow way. The word means, “holy one” and is used to describe God’s people, saved and made holy by his grace. St. Paul goes to great lengths to describe how those God is making holy should live. Many Lutheran pastors follow this custom and call the hearers of their sermons “saints.”

During the Middle Ages, saints who were admired for their faith went from being good examples to being venerated — worshipped really, although Catholics would object to that description. The church redefined a saint to be someone whose good deeds were more numerous than their sins and so they did not go to purgatory, but directly to heaven. (that subject is for another post!) There, it was said; they are aware of what is going on and pray for us. They are able to hear our prayers and do miracles for us — or rather ask God to perform them. The honoring of and praying to the saints became known as the cult of the saints.

Martin Luther and the reformers believed the cult of the saints had gotten out of control. They believed it was good to give thanks to God for saints, to study their lives and to imitate their faith. The Book of Hebrews says as much. (Hebrews 13:7) Yet the saints in heaven do not know what is happening on earth and they do not hear our prayers. Prayer and worship belong to God alone.

So Lutherans do not pray to saints, collect pieces of their bodies or things that belonged to them as magic objects. We study some of their lives, consider what happened to them, learn from their sins and mistakes and imitate their faith and good works. We do this not because they are better than us, but because they are just like us. If God got them through this life by faith, he can — and will — keep us to everlasting life.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

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Why doesn’t John tell the story of Christmas?

Encore Post: “In the beginning was the Word…” John begins his gospel. (John 1:1) His introduction is very different from Matthew, Mark’s and Luke’s gospels. He takes us back in time to creation itself. Where are the shepherds, the sheep, the star, the wise men and all the details we’ve come to love? Why doesn’t the beloved disciple tell us the story? It is because John is not a biography like the ones we’re used to. (The other gospels aren’t either, but that is another story!) In fact, John tells us what he is trying to do: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:30–31)

For John, what happened in the earthly life of Jesus is less important than why. The Gospel of John tells the good news simply, profoundly and in ways that strengthen the faith of every Christian — young and old. So John begins at the beginning.

Jesus is the eternal Word — the λόγος (Logos) — living with God the Father forever. He is divine, God himself, the Author of Life and the Creator of all things. He is Light itself, which overcomes darkness. He came to the world, and the world did not know him. His own people did not receive him. Yet those who believe in him, he adopted as his children, not born of human will, but by the will of God.

But John does talk about Christmas — he tells us the reason for the season. The Word became flesh and lived with us. This mystery is so profound it makes no sense to Greek philosophy. To the Greeks, spirituality is all about denying the flesh and the material world it lives in. To them, the body is suspect and evil; the spirit is good. That God’s Word would become human is backwards. For the Jew, it is offensive to think that man could be God. Yet that is exactly what happened at Christmas.

So, the beloved disciple teaches us, if you want grace and truth, look to Jesus. Human beings have never seen God, but the only begotten God — he is from the Father and made him known. Christians are blessed because, when they discover they cannot understand God, they can look to Jesus. In him, God has come to live with us and will do so now and forever.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

The Nightmare After Christmas

Encore Post: The coming of the wise men from the east is a beloved part of the story of Christmas — even if the church doesn’t get around to celebrating it until the twelfth night of Christmas. (Stay tuned!) It really was logical for them to stop in Jerusalem. Where else would you find an infant crown prince? Yet that stop set in motion unintended events that are not so pleasant.

Herod the Great was a master politician and a loyal client of Rome. He was a master builder, rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem, constructing the port of Caesarea Maritima out of nothing, among other projects. He was also paranoid, executing anyone he thought was plotting to take his throne, including his favorite wife and several of his sons. The standard joke in Rome was that it was safer to be Herod’s pig than his son. (as a Jew, he did not eat pork) No wonder his court was upset when foreign scholars wanted to worship the newborn King of the Jews!

When the wise men were warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the king took no chances and ordered all young boys in Bethlehem to be executed. True to his name, Jesus’ foster father Joseph heeded an angel who appeared to him in a dream and took his family to Egypt. This may sound strange to us, but it was not odd during the time. Egypt was then a province of Rome, the route there well traveled and relatively safe. Many Jews lived in Egypt, especially in Alexandria, the intellectual capital of the empire. Egypt had, for centuries, been very friendly to Jews.

On the Church’s calendar, December 28th is celebrated as Holy Innocents Day. We remember the boys murdered by Herod as martyrs for Jesus, even though they did not realize it. We also remember all the children sacrificed by their parents for various reasons and dedicate ourselves to preserving the life of infants — born and unborn.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Meet John, Apostle and Evangelist

Encore Post: John, son of Zebedee, was many things. He was the youngest of the disciples of Jesus. With Peter and his brother James, he was the inner circle of the apostles. The beloved disciple, he was likely the closest Jesus had to a best friend. With his father, his brother, Peter, and Andrew, they operated a successful fishing business on the Sea of Galilee. They headquartered in Capernaum, operated several boats and employed a number of assistants. An early follower of John the Baptist, John heard the last of the prophets point to Jesus as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.

John had a ringside seat for the ministry of Jesus. He was present from the wedding at Cana through the ascension of Jesus into heaven. He saw all the miracles, the healings, and heard all that Jesus taught. During the last supper, he leaned at the side of the Lord. Unlike most of the disciples, he remained with the Lord throughout his trial and his crucifixion. To him, Jesus entrusted the care of his mother Mary. When the women who first heard the news of the Resurrection came to announce it to the disciples, he went with Peter to the empty tomb.

In the beginning, John and Peter led the church from Jerusalem. Eventually, he moved to Ephesus with Mary. There, he would live longer than all the apostles. He was never martyred, but was exiled for a while on the island of Patmos. Next to St. Paul, he wrote more of the New Testament books than anyone else. His gospel was the last of the four, written, taking into account the other three. He wrote three letters and probably the book of Revelation.

The church gives thanks to God for St. John on December 27th. Among the passages of Scripture most loved by Christians are words given through him. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) All that he wrote was so that we might believe and believing might have life in his name. (John 20:31)

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Stephen, the First Martyr

Encore Post: “You will be my martyrs (μάρτυρες),” Jesus said to his disciples just before he ascended into heaven. (Acts 1:8) A martyr is the New Testament is a witness to the good news about Jesus. All Christians are martyrs, then. The only question is how good a witness we will be.

The apostles and early disciples were very good martyrs. In fact, all the apostles except John the Evangelist (tune in tomorrow) validated their testimony with their lives, most of them through torturous, painful deaths. That is why we associate the term martyr with giving up one’s life for a cause. For a while, though, harassment was the push back of the leaders who had seen to the crucifixion of Jesus.

All this changed with a confrontation with Stephen the Deacon. He was a Jew whose native language was Greek. The apostles had appointed him and six others to take care of the poor among them. He was very good at evangelism, so Jews that rejected Jesus as the Messiah lied about him to get him arrested. Brought before the Sanhedrin, he argued from the Scripture that Jesus was the Messiah and that they had killed him. He called on them to repent and believe the good news.

In great anger, they seized Stephen and took him outside the city and began to stone him to death. Following the example of Jesus, he forgave them and gave up his spirit. Among those who witnessed the stoning and approved it was Saul of Tarsus, the man who would soon become the Apostle Paul. The church remembers him as the protomartyr — the first martyr. It gives thanks to God for his life and witness on the second day of Christmas — December 26.

In today’s world, Christians are still called to witness to Jesus with their lives. Even in our own country, opposition to faith is growing and Christians are called upon to testify to the gospel at a cost to reputation, property and perhaps some day freedom and lives. We have the example of our Lord, Stephen, and countless martyrs to give us courage. With them numbered may we be, here and in eternity.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

To you is Born the Savior — the Lord Christ

Encore Post: Shepherds were hard-working everyday people. To some extent, they even looked down on a bit. If you were a king, you wouldn’t send a herald to them. And yet, that was exactly what God did. He sent his Angel — his messenger, — with an εὐαγγέλιον (evangelion — Gospel) to — of all people — shepherds.

Royal proclamations of Good News announced the victory over enemies, the birth of a royal heir, the beginning of the reign of a new king. Often the messenger is also a Legatus — an ambassador — with the authority of the ruler to set forth a big celebration. He could free captives, cancel debts, suspend taxes, sponsor games and the like. This Gospel is unlike any other. “Good news of great joy for all the people,” the angel announced the birth of God’s own son in David’s hometown of Bethlehem. He is the Lord Christ — who would save his people from their sins.

The Christmas gospel is very good news indeed. God the Father, our Savior, reveals his kindness and love of people in it. He sent Jesus, our Savior, to save us because of his mercy, not because of the good deeds we have done. Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit, our Savior, on us, who washed away our sins in Holy Baptism and regenerated our hearts. We are justified by the grace of the Holy Trinity, so that we may be made heirs of eternal life, being justified by his grace.

So, great joy comes to us at Christmas. Not only the song of a legion of angels, eager shepherds to rush to see the Savior and the mother who treasured it all in her heart. God has broken into our world and changed things forever. We have an inexpressible joy, for we know God keeps his promises. And so it is our hope is certain. Many blessings are awaiting us in Heaven, where Jesus is preparing a place for us. We have seen a great light and nothing can ever take that from us.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Christmas Message from Martin Luther

Encore Post: A Wonderful thing happened when the angel announced Christ’s birth to the shepherds.

If this birth had been proclaimed to the nobles of this world; If the shepherds had measured themselves against the standard of these important fellows; If the shepherds had compared to royal wisdom and wealth, they would have been afraid, because power frightens and wisdom intimidates people.

If Christ had come with trumpets sounding; If he had a cradle of gold, His birth would have been a stately thing. But it wouldn’t comfort me.

So, He had to lie in a poor girl’s lap and be scarcely noticed by the world. In that lap I can come to see Him; In this way, He now reveals Himself to the distressed. Yes, He would’ve had greater fame, if He’d have come in great power, splendor, wisdom and high class. Yet, He will come some day, in another way, when He comes to oppose the great nobles. But now He comes to the poor, who need a Savior.

— Martin Luther
Sermon on Christmas Day 1530
Translated by Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus

Translation: ©2022 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com

Silent Night, Holy Night

Encore Post: On Christmas Eve of 1818, two hundred and eleven years ago today, Joseph Mohr, the catholic priest of a small parish in Oberndorf, Austria, learned that the organ was out of order and not available for mass that evening. A few years earlier, he had composed a poem meditating on the birth of Jesus. The times were very hard for his parishioners. Austria and all of Europe was still recovering from the wars of Napoleon, which was followed by a famine caused by a very cold year and the crop failures that followed. He did not want to disappoint them. He asked his organist and friend, Franz Gruber, to set it to music for the guitar.

The quiet tune and simple words struck a chord in the hearts of people. Traveling choir troupes soon picked up the song and spread it. The beloved carol has found a place now in Christmas worldwide. During the dark days of World War I, during a spontaneous Christmas truce, both sides joined in singing the carol together.

Like most poetry, the song takes some poetic liberties. Jesus probably did not have golden hair, as the German original sings. A stable is not likely to have been very quiet and Scripture does not tell us what time of day Mary gave birth. Yet it does capture, as most carols do, the simple truths. In a rural, working town, in the far corner of a client kingdom of the Roman Empire, is where God Himself became a man, born of simple, young woman.

Jesus Christ, the eternally begotten Son of God, and by the greatest mystery of them all, true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is our Lord. He redeemed us, not with silver or gold, but with his holy and precious blood and innocent suffering and death. We now are his own and live in his kingdom. When God sees us, he sees Jesus. When we see Jesus, we see God.

So we sing this Christmas lullaby and go to sleep in peace, even in the midst of our turbulent world, filled as it is with sorrow, trouble, grief and death. Sleep in peace, children of God. Rest merry. Christ was born to save us all from Satan’s power when we had gone astray. He has destroyed death and crushed the serpent’s head. You will live with him forever.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

©2018-2023 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com

O Emmanuel

Encore Post: O Emmanuel, our King and our Lord, the Anointed for the nations and their Savior, Come and save us, O Lord our God.

O Emmanuel, Rex et legisfer noster, expectatio gentium, et Salvator erum, veni ad salvandum nos, Domine Deus noster.

In most of the world’s religions, God is very far away. For some, he is the high god that made the world and left it to lesser gods and humans to manage as they can. In Eastern religious traditions, everything is god, a single being without differences. According to them, the problem is we think we’re individuals and weighed down by our bodies and material things. Deists of the enlightenment — like Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin — think of God as a craftsman — like a watchmaker — who made a fine watch — the world — wound it up and let it run as designed.

Over the last few years, we’ve caught glimpses of this in popular song. We’re told “the three men I admired most, The Father, Son, and The Holy Ghost, They took the last train for the coast.” (Don McLean, American Pie, Verse Six) and “God is watching us from a distance” (Bette Midler, From a Distance, Refrain). We’re asked, “What if God was one of us?” (Joan Osborne, One of Us, Chorus)

Our last antiphon reminds us that this is not true at all. A virgin conceived and bore a son — Emmanuel — God-with-Us. (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23). This child — Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), never left us. Instead, he left his throne and became one of us. He was in every way like us, except he did not sin. He lived a perfect life for us, suffered for us, bore our sins and died for us, rose from the dead to open the gate to heaven for us. He is with us whenever we gather to worship. He gives us his body with bread and his blood with wine for the forgiveness of sins. He will come again to bring us home before very long.

So, yes, God is one of us. “He’s by our side, with his good gifts and Spirit.” (Martin Luther, A Mighty Fortress, Stanza Four) So, come, Emmanuel, come!

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!

Lutheran Service Book, 357, Stanza One

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

O King of the Nations

Encore Post: O King of the Nations, the Ruler they long for, the Cornerstone uniting all people, Come and save us all, whom You formed out of clay.

O Rex gentium, et desideratus earum, lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unem, veni, et salva hominem, quem de limo formasti.

Everyone wants a hero king. A strong, powerful, attractive warrior, a leader who inspires loyalty. In our stories, myths and ballads, he is without flaw and brings peace through strength. Of course, this king is from our tribe! He conquers all and resolves all our disputes. The more arrogant of us think this king should be me !

There have been real kings that did most of these things. Alexander the Great unified the Western world. Augustus Caesar repeated the feat three hundred years later. There were Israel’s Kings David, Solomon and Hezekiah. Egypt had its Ramses and Cleopatra. England had Arthur and others. The problem with all of them, great as they were, is they were flawed — and made lots of enemies.

Isaiah prophesied the real King, the Messiah, would come to unite the nations. (Isaiah 2:2-5, Isaiah 9:6-7, Isaiah 60) The Messiah brings peace that lasts forever. He will prevail where mortal kings cannot because He is God and lays down his life for his people. He brings together all peoples as one because he removes the sin that divides them. He is the cornerstone on which the eternal, peaceable kingdom is built.

Our antiphon calls on him to come and save us. We are mortal and cannot save ourselves. He is eternal and is salvation itself. He has already come and made his people a kingdom of priests to serve for the sake of others. When he comes again, he will remove the darkness cast overs us and live with us forever.

Oh, come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!

Lutheran Service Book, 357, Stanza Seven

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, Indiana