September 2023 – What Does This Mean?

You’re No Angel: Things Angels are Not

Encore Post: Beautiful young women in long, flowing white gowns, with big, downy wings, with a glowing, gold halo. A chubby, winged baby. The spirits of deceased Christians, also bearing wings and a halo, carrying a harp, floating on clouds. Images like these fill our pictures, movies, TV shows and songs. Yet none of these are real nor share much in common with God’s Holy Angels. They are very different creatures and are not mild, gentle beings. They are God’s Heavenly Army, powerful and, when they appear, command respect.

First of all, Angels are not people. They are spirits created by God to serve him. (Hebrews 1) Christians do not become angels when they die. Our spirits are unnaturally separated from our bodies at death — bodies which decay. But we do not remain in that state. On the last day, God will raise our bodies from the dead and reunite our spirits with them.

Angels are powerful beings, sometimes tasked with battling Satan and his demons (these are fallen angelic creatures). They guard us, plead for us before the throne of God and stand in his eternal presence. When they appear to people, they so often inspire fear that almost always their first words to humans are “fear not.” Some of God’s people are even tempted when they appear to fall down in worship. Scripture even poetically refers to them as gods.

Unlike the popular TV series and movies, Angels are not like humans with flaws, prone to temptation and sin. Good angels are now eternally sinless, having been tested by Lucifer’s rebellion. They have a perfect knowledge of God. While they always take the form of a male human when they appear to humans, they never marry. They also are not young, having existed since before the fall of Adam and Eve, nor are they ever female. The scriptures do not mention halos (these are put into medieval art to draw eyes to images of holy people and beings, especially in stained glass) and only describe angels with wings when referring to Seraphim and Cherubim).

Most importantly, they ministered to Jesus during his earthly ministry. Angels are used by God to draw us to Jesus. On our last day and the last day, they will escort us to the throne of God where we will live with God forever. So we thank God for the ministry of Angels and sing with them his praises, both here on earth and forever.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Michelmas

Encore Post: In the church’s long season of ordinary time (Sundays after Trinity if you are on a one year cycle, Sundays after Pentecost if you are on a three year cycle), the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels (September 29) marks a change in the themes of the day. After this day we turn our thoughts to the Last Day, when Jesus will return to be with us forever. We use the day to thank God for his holy angels, especially Michael the Archangel, whose army of light defeated Satan and his forces, casting them out of Heaven to the earth. In the English-speaking world, it is nicknamed Michelmas (Michael’s Mass), similiar to Christmas (Christ’s Mass)

The Holy Angels (מַלְאָךְ, ἄγγελος) are God’s messengers. They were created by God to praise him and bear his messages to his people. After the fall of Satan and his evil angels, they also serve to battle these forces and protect us from harm. Two angels are named in Scripture: Michael (“who is like God?”) and Gabriel (“God is my Strength”). Michael the Archangel is the leader of the heavenly army of Angels that battled Satan and his forces, casting him down from Heaven. Gabriel is the heavenly messenger that interpreted Daniel’s dreams and announced the conceptions of John the Baptist and Jesus.

We thank God for the ministry of angels, who stand by our side, protect us from the evil one and will on the last of our days escort us home to Jesus. With Martin Luther, we pray:

I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.

Sunday School: Come, Lord Jesus, Come

Encore Post: Ever since Jesus ascended to Heaven, Christians have wondered when He would return. We look forward to the day when He will bring an end to sin, sickness, sorrow, grief, pain and death. Every day horrible things happen and we wonder whether this could be the day He comes back.

In every generation, some people thought that they had figured out the secret. They read the prophecies of the Bible and try to match events in their lifetime to the symbols in them. They do the math and come up with a day. But the Bible is not a giant math problem where you put the right events into the equation and get a date. In fact, all the signs of the end of days were fulfilled at the time the last books of the Bible were written. We are in the last days and have been for 2000 years.

Jesus warned us about such dreaming. He told us that no one knows the day or the hour of his return. So, we are to be ready for him. He will come for us — at the end of time or the end of our times. We do not know which will come first or when it will happen. The reason we do not know when He will return is God wants us always to be ready. He wants us to love Him and take care of each other every day, not just the day we think is the end of time or the day we will die. When things are hard in our lives, Jesus wants us to know that He will fix it all one day. We can then face these things, knowing it will not be forever.

Instead, the sure and certain hope of the resurrection of the dead gives us comfort. On that day, sin will be removed from us forever. There will be no more grief, sorrow, sickness or pain. At the call of the voice of Jesus, we will rise from the grave, body and soul reunited, our bodies transformed into a glorious body, like the one Jesus has, fit to live forever. It will be as God intended it forever. It is why we join the church of all times, places, races, languages calling out, “Come, Lord Jesus, come!”

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

Sunday School: Young Pastor Timothy

Encore Post: Timothy was one of the very first Christians to grow up in a Christian family. His grandmother Lois and mother Eunice had faith in Christ before Timothy was born. His father was a gentile, so he was not circumcised. He always had faith in Christ and grew up to be a strong, young Christian leader.

Paul met him in his home town of Lystra, probably on his first missionary trip. The apostle saw the gifts God had given to the young man and immediately took him along on his journeys. Before traveling with Paul, Timothy was circumcised so as not to offend Jews.

Timothy would be sent on increasingly important missions, including delivering some of Paul’s letters to churches. Paul would eventually leave him in Ephesus as a pastor, to deal with heresies and misunderstandings that had arisen there. Paul would call for him when imprisoned, perhaps for the last time. Later, Timothy was himself in prison and released. He would accompany the author of the letter to the Hebrews on a journey. According to church tradition, Timothy was bishop of Ephesus and died on 22 January 97 as a martyr.

Timothy has become one of the favorite fathers of the early church to seminaries and students studying to be pastors. Paul gives him advice that is very practical, even today. He was one of the important second generation leaders, who passed on the teaching of God’s word to a new generation — and us!

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

Citizen Paul

Encore Post: St. Paul had a special privilege by birth. He was a Roman citizen. The Roman general Mark Anthony gave his hometown, the city of Tarsus, the right of citizenship, which Caesar Augustus later confirmed. Anyone born in this city was treated as if they had been born in Rome itself. As a Roman citizen, He would have three names — a given name, probably Saulos — Saul — a Roman family name unknown to us and a co-name — Paulos — Paul. He was entitled to a fair trial before any punishment at all. He was exempt from certain punishments — including crucifixion. He had a right to trial by the bearer of imperial authority and to have his case heard before Caesar himself. It gave him status that made travel easier and allowed him influence he would not otherwise have.

The Book of Acts mentions several times that Paul claimed his rights as a Roman citizen. He would say, “civis Romanus sum” — “I am a Roman citizen.” When he was in Philippi and the magistrate, having had him beaten and imprisoned, tried to expel him from the city, Paul demanded the Magistrate show him respect due a citizen. He came personally, apologized and asked him nicely to leave the city. When the Sanhedrin tried to execute him, a centurion arrested him and proceeded to question him, intending to torture him by flogging. Paul asked if it was legal for them to do that to a Roman citizen, and one who was born one. That brought an end to the matter and the Tribune was determined to protect Paul. Paul would remain in the custody of two Roman governors until a trial was formally begun against him. He appealed to Caesar, which brought an end to the trial and sent him to Rome.

In his letters, Paul also talks about being a citizen of Heaven. We live our lives on Earth, but this is not our home. We are citizens of Heaven. One day, we will go home to live with God and all Christians forever. In the meantime, we live in this world, but follow the rules of Heaven.

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

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Sunday School: Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

Encore Post: The Holy Spirit sent Deacon Philip to meet a Eunuch in the service of Candice of Ethiopia, the mother of the reigning king. In Ethiopian society, she was responsible for taking care of day-to-day duties of the kingdom. Ethiopians believe she was the descendant of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon. Many believe they are Jewish.

Eunuchs served as assistants for the royal family. They were often castrated so that they could be trusted to guard royal or noble women and provide physical care to kings and emperors. This man appears to have been the treasurer of Candice. He is devout and has been to worship at temple in Jerusalem. On his way home, the man is reading Isaiah 53, a detailed prophecy of the suffering and death of the Messiah. Puzzled by it, he invited Philip to explain the text to him. With this opening, Philip tells the man the good news that Jesus is the Man Isaiah prophesied. The man responded by asking to be baptized. When the Holy Spirit took Philip away, he rejoiced that salvation had come to him.

This new Christian became, in turn, the evangelist who brought the gospel to Ethiopia. A strong Eastern Orthodox church was born and grew there. Called the Coptic Church, its members still thrive in Muslim Egypt to this day. This man was the first of many Christians to believe in Christ on the continent of Africa.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Sunday School: St. Stephen

Encore Post: The word “martyr” is a Greek word that means “witness” — a person that reports what he or she sees. Just before returning to Heaven, Jesus predicted that His disciples would be witnesses of His death and resurrection.

The Apostles appointed Stephen a deacon. It was his task to feed the widows and the poor, using the funds collected for that purpose. God blessed his work by performing miracles as well. When men from the local synagogue asked what he believed, God blessed Stephen’s word, so that his opponents could not find a reply to answer his arguments. They finally decided to silence him by charging him with blasphemy — speaking lies about God.

The same Sanhedrin which condemn Jesus not more than a few weeks earlier now met to hear Stephen’s case. Stephen told the truth — that the Sanhedrin had handed over Jesus to death falsely. This infuriated them. The last straw came when Stephen related a vision of Jesus standing at the right hand of God in Heaven. For the Jewish people of the time, this was another way of saying that Jesus Himself is God. Jesus said the same thing in that very spot in the early hours of Good Friday. They condemned Stephen to death, too. This time Pontius Pilate was not in Jerusalem. So they felt safe in defying Roman law and executing Stephen by the method ordered by the Jewish Law. They took Stephen out of the city and stoned him to death. The man who would one day be the Apostle Paul held the coats of those killing Stephen.

With the death of Stephen and others that followed, the word “martyr” took on new meaning. Now it meant to die for witnessing to the truth about Jesus and for preaching the good news. The martyrs’ deaths impressed Romans. If you believe in something strongly enough to risk death by torture, they thought, then perhaps the martyrs might be right. Many were baptized because of such witnesses. That is why the church likes to say: “The blood of the Martyrs is the seed of the Church.”

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

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Holy Cross Day

Encore Post: Shortly after she joined her son Constantine’s Roman imperial household, she came to faith in Christ. Her son commissioned her to tour the holy lands and identify places connected with the life and ministry of Jesus. From 326-328 AD, she toured Syria and Palestine at the empire’s expense, interviewing residents and Christian leaders to learn what she could. Almost all the sites on modern tours were identified by her. She had churches built on the location of the birth of Jesus and his ascension.

On the spot traditionally believed to be his tomb, a pagan Roman emperor had a temple built to Jupiter. Helena had it demolished and excavated. According to tradition, on September 14th, there she found the remains of the cross on which Christ died. At the command of Constantine, a basilica was constructed that by and large remains to this day. It was dedicated on September 14th. From that day forward, the Christian Church has celebrated September 14 as Holy Cross Day.

Lutherans favor this minor festival because it calls attention to the means of our salvation. On the cross, the wisdom of God defeats all the wisdom of human beings. Our modern scientism insists something is not real unless it can be measured. You have to be able to see it, touch it, taste it, hear it or smell it — directly or by instruments we can sense. So a God who is invisible cannot be real. Our contemporary focus on feelings makes us the center of the universe. My truth is real for me, your truth is true for you. My feelings are king. If I am convinced I am female although I am objectively male, no one may contradict me. A God who makes me and redeems me offends me. Our spirituality, which makes only abstract, mystical thoughts valid, is offended by the idea that God who made the world would become man, much less die for us. The idea that we have anything to be forgiven is itself foolish.

Yet God’s wisdom is wiser than the wisdom of humanity. God is not the watchmaker, who made the world, wound it up and lets it do its work. He is not a high God who leaves the world to its own devices. God loved us, got down on his hands and knees to fashion us from the dust and breathe life into us. Knowing we would sin and be lost forever left on our own, he chose us to be his and rigged things so that we would be saved. In the person of Jesus Christ, he became a man, lived the perfect life he demands in our place, suffered and died to pay for our sins and rose again so that one day he will call us from our graves to live forever.

So it is that we preach Christ crucified and glory in it, because it is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

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

Sunday School: The Change in St. Peter

On Maundy Thursday, Jesus told His disciples that they would abandon Him and that St. Peter would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed. Peter swore he would rather die than betray his Lord. Later Peter denied he knew Jesus– three times.

When Jesus rose from the dead, Peter began to change. Jesus asked Peter three times if Peter loved Him. Three times Peter said he did. Jesus showed He forgave Peter when He commanded Peter three times to feed God’s sheep. From then on, Peter was no longer a fisherman. He was now a pastor — a shepherd — to care for God’s people with God’s word and His sacraments.

On the day of Pentecost, Peter preached to the crowd. Three thousand people were brought to faith and baptized that day. Peter went everywhere preaching, teaching, healing the sick and suffering for His Lord. Later Peter would write two letters that comfort God’s people to this day.

According to tradition, Peter would tell the story of Jesus to a younger companion, John Mark, who would write it down. He would die by the order of Nero Caesar, crucified upside down because he didn’t feel worthy to die the way his Lord did. On his confession of faith, Jesus would build his church.

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

Pentecost

Encore Post: The Feast of Pentecost is the Greek name (πεντηκοστή) for the Jewish Feast of Weeks (Shavuoth, in Hebrew שָׁבוּעֹות ). The day celebrated the harvest of the barley crop and the planting of the wheat crop in Israel. This thanksgiving day was established by God on the fiftieth day after Passover and was one of three that the Torah commanded Jews celebrate in Jerusalem if at all possible. In the days following Jesus’ ascension into heaven, the city was still crowded with Jews from around the world, who stayed after Passover to celebrate this feast as well in the Holy City.

The Christian Church remembers the day as a kind of birthday of the Church. On this day, God poured out the Holy Spirit on the whole church and not just the prophets he called to proclaim his word.

Both the Hebrew and Greek word for Spirit means “Wind.” The Holy Spirit, or Holy Wind, hovered over the chaos before God created the Heavens and the Earth. During the Exodus, the Holy Spirit appeared visibly as a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. When Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit settled into the Holy of Holies in the form of a cloud. When the Prophet Elijah fled to Mount Sinai, God sent a mighty wind, an earthquake, and a fire to get his attention. On Pentecost, the wind got the attention of the crowd and the wind and tongues of fire witnessed to the presence of the Holy Spirit.

The pouring out of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost fulfilled prophecy in Old Testament (Joel 2:28-32), by John the Baptist (Matthew 3:11) and by Jesus (Acts 1:5). By baptizing His people with the Holy Spirit, Jesus gave them the power to witness to God’s love. He provided them with a counselor to lead and guide them. Just like the prophets of the Old Testament, every one of God’s children now can proclaim His praises to everyone.