Encore Post: On a chilly October morning, Martin Luther left the Black Cloister to walk to the Castle Church. A light breeze blew a few leaves across his path. When he passed Saint Mary’s Church, a few students hurried to join him. As they walked along, they asked questions about their last lesson. The town was busy that morning. Children played in the street. Farmers came to sell their crops and goods. Pilgrims walked along the same street. They hoped to see the relics on display at the church. Relics are parts of a deceased holy person’s body or belongings that are kept as objects of reverence. Luther walked up the stairs to the door of the Castle Church. He moved several notices nailed there to make room for his announcement. After nailing his call for a disputation — a conference — to discuss the power of indulgences, he headed for his classroom. It was an ordinary day, but one that would change the world.
Luther’s announcement on that ordinary day, October 31, 1517, touched off an explosion throughout the Western Christian Church. Known as the 95 Theses, Luther’s announcement seemed to suggest that the pope did not have the power to offer indulgences. Pope Leo X sent a messenger to convince Luther to apologize for his comments and to be quiet. Instead, Luther studied the Bible even more carefully. Finally, at a disputation between the reformer and Johann Eck, which was held in Leipzig, Germany, Luther said that much of what Jan Hus had said was right. Then, in the days that followed the debate, Luther wrote that the church was mistaken about other beliefs.
In 1520, Pope Leo X condemned Luther’s teachings as heretical and threatened to excommunicate him. Undeterred, Luther burned the pope’s letter, as well as many of the church’s books, in a bonfire in Wittenberg. Later, at the Diet of Worms in 1521, an assembly of the officials of the Holy Roman Empire, Martin Luther was condemned as an outlaw.
The 95 Theses themselves were not all that important. Yet because they were like lighting the fuse for a bomb, they set off the explosion that brought the precious Gospel back to light in Christ’s Church. From the rubble of that explosion rose the Lutheran Church. That is why we thank God for Martin Luther on October 31st.
Encore post: Fall brings changing colors to landscapes in northern areas of the United States. Green leaves change to a breathtaking variety of red, orange, yellow and brown. People will drive miles to just take in all in. The beauty of it all brings out praise of God for his creation.
In Lutheran Churches, colors change in the sanctuary almost weekly during late October and early November as the church marks the last weeks of ordinary time. This time begins with red paraments for Reformation Day, celebrated on the nearest Sunday before October 31. Red is the color used for the Holy Spirit and his work and martyrdom.
The color soon changes to white for All Saints’ Sunday, celebrated the Sunday after November 1, All Saints’ Day. White is the color of the resurrection, celebration and the saints, who wash their robes white in the Blood of the Lamb.
The next week or two, the color returns to the green of Pentecost or Trinity season (the name depends on how your church counts the Sundays of ordinary time) Green is the color of life and growth. It is also used in Epiphany Season.
The theme for the last three Sundays of the church year is preparation for the Second Advent of Christ. In fact, in some lectionaries, the Sundays are referred to as the Third-Last Sunday, Second-Last Sunday and the Last Sunday of the Church year. Some churches call the last Sunday the Sunday of the Fulfillment or Christ the King Sunday. Some churches change color to white.
Finally, the new church year begins with a change to the color blue or purple for the season of Advent and the beginning of a new church year. Purple is the color of repentance and is traditionally used for Lent — where the church fasts to receive Jesus as the Son of God and Son of Mary. Blue is the color of hope and used more recently, where Advent is celebrated as a season of joy.
One more color change happens in some churches (to white) in the United States for Thanksgiving Day, which is the celebration of the good gifts God has given to us and our thanks to him for these blessings.
Enjoy this season of meditation, joy, expectation and hope as we consider the various blessing Jesus has given and will give to us because of his love for us, shown by his incarnation, sufferings, death, resurrection, ascension and soon return in glory.
[Second in a series of posts on Last Things] Encore Post: This is one of a host of throwaway platitudes we may say at the death of a Christian. We’ve inherited … Or, more correctly, we’ve been infected by the language of a faithless culture around us. In the absence of the faith, in the absence of the certainty of the resurrection promise of Holy Baptism, the pagan world speaks from ignorance to sloppily salve suffering in grief.
None of these words comes from an evil intent. It’s honorable and good to try to speak peace to those in grief. But we’d do better to stick to the words and themes of the Bible.
“Heaven needed another angel.”
No, we don’t become angels when we die. Heaven’s angels are fixed in number. They are created heavenly beings. (Colossians 1:16) They are the messengers of God. The angels are His army, His mighty host. (Joshua 5:14-15; 1 Samuel 17:45) The angels are fearsome in appearance. (Luke 2:9-10) And God has charged His angels to protect and defend us from the minions of the Evil One.
The Evil One, Lucifer, the Devil, was also one of God’s angels. (Luke 10:17-18) He and one-third of the angels in heaven rebelled against God. They were cast out. (Revelation 8:10-11; 9:1-3) Satan and his demons (angels) now dwell in hell apart from God and make war to separate us from the love of Jesus.
God didn’t send His Son to suffer and die to redeem the fallen angels. He did that for us. We are loved and have been redeemed and forgiven in a unique way. Saying that we will become them denigrates the angels. It diminishes God’s love for us to deny that our path to eternal salvation remains human and regains our flesh on the last day. Not angels–fully perfected human beings.
“He’s gone. She’s in a better place.”
Where’d he go?! Is she in a better place, like Antigua? He was hooked up to an awful lot of machines the last time I saw him.
The science-y view of nothingness beyond death leads to language like passing away. They are “gone” in that there’s nothing more. When we say someone has gone to a better place. We’re agreeing that we don’t know where. It’s a grief-softening move for those without hope. But we have great hope and a tremendous promise.
We Christians have more to say than that. We can speak the words of the scripture to console and correctly locate our loved ones. The blessed dead in the faith are at rest in Christ. The better place to which they’ve gone has a name. They have gone to heaven! We should leap at the chance to name the place where they are. That’s true, consoling, faithful, and beautiful.
The scriptures say that someone has died. (see all of Genesis 5). If we’re still uncomfortable saying someone has died, the scripture still gives us softer words. These softer words contain and still confess the hope we have.
Gained Heaven
We can say that they have “gained heaven.” “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21)
At Rest
We should say they are “at rest.” “Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.” (Revelation 6:11)
“And I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!” (Rev 14:13)
If you go through an old Lutheran churchyard (cemetery), you’ll see a curious thing. When the gravestones switch from English to German, the common phrases switch too. “Loving mother/father and beloved child” give way to something else. You’ll see things like: “Hier Ruhet.” “Ruhet in Gott,” or “Ruhe’ in Christi.” These mean: here rests, rest in God, and rest in Christ.
Let’s stick with the language and imagery of the Bible.
Hang on tight—what happens when we die? Comes next.
[First in a series of posts on Last Things]Encore Post “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes,” quipped Benjamin Franklin. He was right about death, at least. In 1997, a satirical online newspaper ran this headline: “World Death Rate Holding Steady At 100 Percent.” They were right. All but two people in the world’s history have died — including God in the person of Jesus Christ! Yet all people fear death because it means that, in the end, they will lose control of everything. We do everything we can to extend life, and, in our age, we have done quite well at it. Yet still, all people will die, and some quite young.
Physically speaking, death is a process that happens as our vital organs cease to function. Practically speaking, medical science pronounces death when the heart stops without the possibility of reviving it or when brain waves cease.
Yet, death is much more than the end of our physical life. It is the judgment of God on sin. Since sin cuts us off from the source of our life, God himself, we will die. When God forbade Adam from eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, he warned: “In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Gen 2:17). When Adam fell, he pronounced his sentence — and ours. “You return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:19)
There is also another aspect of death that is not about the end of physical life. The essence of our life, our spirit, our soul, is violently separated from our bodies. For Christians who are redeemed by the atoning death of Jesus, the soul separated from its body by death is cleansed of its sin, relieved of pain and grief, and lives in paradise with Christ and the souls of all who are redeemed. There, they wait for the second coming of Christ. On that day, the Lord will call their bodies from the grave, reunite their souls and bodies, transforming them to be fit for eternal life.
[One hundred and fourth in a series of posts on Bible Stories] 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 plug in 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 at 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 that God wants us always to be ready. He wants us to love Him and take care of each other every day, not just on 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 comforts us. On that day, sin will be removed from us forever. There will be no more grief, sorrow, sickness, or pain. At 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!”
[One hundred and third in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: Timothy was one of the very first Christians to grow up in a Christian family. His grandmother, Lois, and his 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 into a strong young Christian leader.
Paul met him in his hometown 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 essential 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 found himself in prison and was 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 as a martyr on 22 January 97 A.D..
Timothy has become one of the favorite fathers of the early church to seminaries and students studying to be pastors. Paul’s advice 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!
Campus Ministry Sermon Psalm 24, 1 Samuel 10 October 25, 2023
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
The theme is this: Saul points us to Jesus as the Prophet, Priest, and King.
Last month, we began this series recognizing that Jesus is the King of all. This month, we focus in on the very first king of Israel, Saul of the tribe of Benjamin. There are many stories you have probably heard about King Saul, but today we will only look at Saul’s anointing to become king. At Saul’s anointing, we notice that he foreshadows Jesus, who will be the Prophet, Priest and King for us.
First, we hear in the reading this evening, “Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. Anointing with oil is not a common practice anymore in the world or in the church. We hardly have kings anymore; parliaments and presidents are much more common. But in the days of Saul, becoming a king was a religious experience. It was the church who anointed the kings. It was God who established the government authorities. Israel truly was a godly nation at that point in history.
But oil on the head only set Saul apart from the people as their king. What was it that confirmed that he was the king? Samuel prophesied a few signs. Our reading says, “And this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince over his heritage. When you depart from me today, you will meet two men by Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah, and they will say to you, ‘The donkeys that you went to seek are found, and now your father has ceased to care about the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?”’ First, Saul has to go to Bethlehem; he had to journey to Rachel’s tomb and there he would pick up some donkeys. It is no small detail that the kings of Israel began to reign in Bethlehem. Before Bethlehem was known as the City of David, before David was even a king, Bethlehem was known as the City of Rachel, the burial place for Rachel, the wife of Jacob.
But more than Rachel, more than Saul and more than David, we all know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and was given gifts by three kings, gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. It was at Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem that He was named the King of the Jews. It was in Bethlehem that He laid among the donkeys and other farm animals.
But donkeys? How can forget to mention the donkeys? It is shocking that Israel’s kings rode on donkeys. No movie shows a king riding on a donkey. No nation wants their kings riding on donkeys. Can you imagine instead of Air Force One that the President of the United States would ride into town on a donkey? What about the King of England? No, kings do not ride on donkeys. But here Saul is on the search for donkeys and he will get them.
And Jesus, the king of all, will ride on donkeys too. Jesus will ride on a donkey with His mother Mary as they journey to Bethlehem. Jesus will ride on a donkey into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday too. Saul, the first king of Israel, shows us what it means to be king, to ride on a donkey. And because of that, Jesus too is truly a King.
But what else is in this story? Then you shall go on from there farther and come to the oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from their hand. This second sign for Saul demonstrates the work of the priests. From Bethlehem as king to Bethel as a priest, Saul now sees a sign of three men, three goats, three loaves of bread, and some wine. The priest with the goats will make a blood sacrifice. The priest with the three loaves will make a grain offering. The priest with the skin of wine will make a thanksgiving offering. All of these things proclaim and confirm the kingship of Saul.
How does this point us to Jesus as a priest? Jesus will make a blood sacrifice, not of goats’ blood, but of His own blood. This is what John means when He proclaims, “Jesus the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!” Not only this, but Jesus will make a grain offering, feeding 5,000 and 4,000 souls by the Sea of Galilee, doing a grain miracle just like the manna in the wilderness. And Jesus will take the cup of wine, and He will declare to the disciples, “This is the New Testament in my Blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Yes. Jesus is a priest. In fact, He is the High Priest. He makes the sacrifice for the earth to cover all sins of all people.
But wait. What is the final sign? Our reading continues with these words: After that you shall come to Gibeath-elohim, where there is a garrison of the Philistines. And there, as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying. Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you.
First, we saw that Saul was to be the Bethlehem king. Then we saw that Saul was to be the Bethel priest. Now, Saul will be a prophet. In the midst of the Philistines, Saul will begin to proclaim the true God to unbelievers. What a miracle that was! This passage shows us so much more than establishing the kingship of Israel. It is way more than oil on the head. In this reading, we recognize what godly kings are supposed to be like and what they are to do.
Saul’s anointing as king over Israel foreshadows to us that Jesus will be the true King of Israel. It shows to us that Jesus is the King, the Priest, and the Prophet of God Most High. Saul was the first king of Israel, but his life turned out that he was not the best of the kings of Israel. Yet Saul’s anointing reminds us and helps us look forward to Jesus’ anointing.
Jesus the King lives and reigns over all of creation. Jesus the Priest sacrificed for the whole world. Jesus the Prophet proclaimed the Easter victory over sin, death, and the powers of hell. What Saul could not accomplish, Jesus has accomplished for us.
Long live the King, the King Jesus! Now let us live forever with Him.
Encore Post: The Lutheran Church is a liturgical church. This means that the theme of the day is set well ahead of time by the lectionary that your parish uses. Each Sunday is normally named by the place it is in the church year — a certain Sunday in Advent, a certain Sunday in Lent, a certain Sunday of Easter, or in Epiphany, or a certain Sunday after Pentecost or Trinity.
Each day is assigned a set of propers — a Psalm, a Collect (a prayer for the day that collects the thoughts of the people related to the theme of the day), a Gradual (a few sentences of scripture spoken between the Epistle and the Gospel lessons), Scripture lessons and a proper preface (said by the pastor during the beginning of the Service of the Sacrament). These are proper to the season and day and so change from week to week or season to season. In the long season of ordinary time (Sunday after Pentecost), the themes chosen traditionally shift about every ten weeks (after the Feast of the Holy Trinity, St. Lawrence’s Day, and St. Michael and All Angels)
Once in a while, you will run into a Sunday that is named after a person, like Saint Peter, or an event, like the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist. These days are typically called Feasts or Saints’ days. Most of these are Biblical figures or events, with Reformation Day and The Presentation of the Augsburg Confession being notable exceptions. In a church, a college, or a seminary chapel, where there are services every day, these days are often observed on the appointed date. Most Missouri Synod parishes, however, celebrate them only when the date falls on a Sunday.
Also scheduled on the church calendar are commemorations. These are available to congregations of the church but are rarely used. They include Biblical figures, especially Old Testament ones, Christian leaders, or memorable figures from the church’s history. In the Missouri Synod, they include musicians (like J. S. Bach) and other artists of various kinds and figures of the Synod’s history (like C. F. W. Walther and Rev. Smith‘s favorite — F.C.D. Wyneken)
We celebrate these people and events because they point to Jesus. Saints are not perfect, nor do they have special powers. They were sinners just like us, but now live in Heaven with all the saints. (Hebrews 13:7-8)
[One hundred and second in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: St. Paul had a special privilege by birth. He was a Roman citizen. The Roman general, Mark Antony, 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 that the magistrate show him the 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, specifically one born a Roman citizen. 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.
[One Hundred and First in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: Saul, a devout Jew and Pharisee, was born in the ancient city of Tarsus, the Roman capital of Asia Minor (Turkey). His father was likely a prosperous tent maker — a good trade to practice in a colony of retired Roman army officers. He received a fine education in both Greek culture and the Jewish faith. Saul became a convinced Pharisee — a religious movement that believed that by observing God’s law as a people, they would speed the return of the Messiah.
So Saul’s father sent him to study with Gamaliel, the greatest rabbi of his time. The great teacher lived in Jerusalem and was a member of the Sanhedrin — the ruling council of the Jewish people. While Saul never mentioned meeting Jesus before his death, he was in the city during Holy Week and would fully know the events of the week. He fully agreed with the condemnation of the Galilean would-be Messiah. Anyone who claimed to be God deserved to die.
So when the cross did not snuff out what he saw as heresy, he volunteered to punish the believers of the Nazarene prophet. When Stephen Martyr witnessed to Christ’s resurrection, he fully consented with the martyrdom. He held the coats of those who stoned the deacon to death. Energized by this success, Saul received credentials from the High Priest to go to Damascus and arrest Christians to be tried in Jerusalem.
Saul persecuted the early Christians because they believed Jesus to be God. So, when heaven opened and light shone on him while on the way there, it caught him by surprise. Yet Saul knew he was in God’s presence. He asked who the figure that called to him was. It was Jesus himself. Now that he was a witness to Christ’s resurrection, a major change began in Saul’s heart and mind. When Ananias healed his vision, Saul was baptized and changed his name to Paul, the Greek form of his name.
