Robert Smith – Page 18 – What Does This Mean?

Church Words #24: Salvation

Encore Post: One of the most used words in the church’s vocabulary is salvation. We sing about it, we preach about it. It is the goal that every Christian aims for. You can ask even a child what it means. It means that we go to heaven when we die. Right?

Not really. Salvation is not about what we are saved for. It is about what we are saved from. The Hebrew word ישׁע (yasa) and the Greek word σῴζω (sozo) mean “to help, to make whole, to save, to deliver” and similar things. The Hebrew word is behind the names Joshua, Jesus and Isaiah and many others. It is used for saving people from disaster, sickness, enemies and oppression. God saved his people from slavery in Egypt. He saved and preserved his people countless times, not because they deserved it but because he loved them.

It is also used by the prophets for the ultimate rescue — from sin, death and power of the devil. These begin with the promise to Adam and Eve that their Seed would crush the head of the serpent, Satan, and he would bruise the heal of the Seed. (Genesis 3:15) The promised Messiah would bear our sins, atone for them and intercede for them. (Isaiah 53) Finally, he would be born of a virgin at just the right time. (Galatians 4:4-5) The Angel announced to Joseph that he would name the Messiah “God saves” (Jesus) because he would save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21) Jesus was the Lamb of God, who bore the sins of the world to the cross. (John 1:29) His death destroyed death and his resurrection won the victory for us, opening the grave for us on the last day. (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)

Ultimately, then, what Jesus saves us from is sin. Sin threatened to destroy us and separate us from God forever. This is why we do not return to sin, now that we are baptized. It would be like having a fireman carry us out of our burning home, only to try to go back to get our favorite pictures. There is no point in being saved when you are going to put yourself in danger. When we were baptized, we died with him. When he rose, we rose to new life.

So, what are you saved from? From sin, death and the power of the devil. Why? So that you can live as his child, redeemed, forgiven and be with him forever.

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

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Church Word #23: Compassion

Encore Post: After Jesus was baptized and tempted by the devil, he went from town to town, mostly in Galilee, near the Sea of Galilee. He preached, taught and healed the sick. The longer he did this, the more people came to see him. What he saw moved him deeply. He had compassion on them. They were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. So he send seventy disciples out to care for them. (Matthew 9:35-38)

The English words compassion and sympathy are very similar in meaning. Compassion is from Latin and sympathy from Greek. Both are from words that mean “to suffer with.” The word used for compassion by the Gospels and St. Paul is σπλαγχνίζομαι (splagchnizomai — a feeling of sorrow over the suffering of others that comes from deep inside [literally the liver, stomach, heart, etc.] Compassion is a feeling that moves you to action. You just can’t watch such suffering and not do something.

True compassion begins with God himself. When God finished creating the world, he looked at everything he made and he called it all “very good.” He knows what life was like for Adam and Eve before they sinned and what life would have been like for us if sin never existed. He knew how sin would ruin everything. He warned them, “In the day you eat of it, you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:17) It is no surprise, then, that he became very angry when Adam and Eve fell. Death colors everything in our world. Sickness and suffering are the beginning of death in our lives as it seeks to tighten its grip on us.

So God in his love shares our pain at the effects of sin in our lives. In the person of Jesus, he experienced all of its effects and died to break its power over us. The Holy Spirit suffers along with us, praying for us even when we cannot pray. (Romans 8:23-26) One day, Jesus will return to bring an end to sin, death and the power of the devil forever.

God in his compassion does not wait for the end of time to help and to save. Today he calls on us to be compassionate as he is compassionate. He sends us to where people need his presence and his help. He especially sends pastors with his gifts and spirit and deaconesses to meet the physical needs of people. We are then, his heart to suffer with others, his hands to care for them and his feet to go where others will not go. Through us he demonstrates his own self-description: the Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abound in faithful love.

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

Church Word #20: Mercy

Encore Post: Many Lutheran pastors begin their sermons with the greeting: “Grace, Mercy and Peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.” St. Paul used this blessing to begin both his letters to Timothy and St. John used it for one of his letters. Two other posts cover grace and peace. In this one we take up the third of the triad, mercy.

Yet, in a way, we’ve been here before. One of the Hebrew words for love, חֶ֫סֶד, often translated lovingkindness, is also used for mercy. You probably already know the Greek word for mercy. It is ἐλεέω — eleeo — the word in the ancient prayer we call the Kyrie Eleison: “Lord, have mercy.” This prayer appears as the congregation’s response to prayer in worship services of the 4th century (300s AD) To this day, Christians still pray it in traditional worship services. The word mercy is love in action. It is the response that someone who cares had when his sees another in pain and suffering greatly.

When God shows mercy, he acts out of his compassion to save, to help and to heal. Most of the time, the person suffering cannot help themselves. All of the time, they do not deserve mercy. Mercy comes from the love and grace of God. Sometimes the person asking for mercy is about to be sentenced for a crime and hopes for punishment less severe than he should receive. God’s mercy is always for the sake of his Son, who took the punishment we deserved, atoned for our sins on the cross and suffered for us in full. God is indeed merciful for us, for he forgives our sins and grants to us everlasting life.

Yet mercy does not end with God. Because God is merciful to us, we are merciful to our suffering neighbors. Since the very beginning of the church, Christians have sought to be channels of God’s mercy to all who suffer. They have visited the sick and brought healing where they could. They have fed the hungry, clothed the naked, sheltered the homeless, visited the imprisoned, befriended the lonely and those grieving and cared for orphans and widows. In us, they see God, who is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and full of faithful love. Most of all, we bring the good news of God’s greatest mercy — salvation in Christ Jesus, our merciful Lord.

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

Blog Post Series

Church Word #19: Ministry

Encore Post: The word ministry is used very often in church circles and in the world of politics. In European countries, the word Minister means just about the same thing as we mean when we say the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, etc. A ministry, or portfolio, is the government department they supervise. In church, we talk about children’s ministry, music ministry, various programs for the poor — any work of a Christian to serve God and others in the name of God. Until the last few centuries, however, the word was used to mean pastor — a man called to the Office of the Public Ministry — and the work he does.

Ministry is all about service. In fact, the word for ministry is a Latin translation of the Greek word διακονία (diakonia), which means personal service. Ancient Greeks use several words for service: δουλεύω (douleuo), to serve because you are a slave, λατρεύω (latreuo), to work for a wage, λειτουργία (leitourgia), public service and θεραπεύω (therapeuo), to serve willingly, to care for, especially the sick.

For the Greeks, almost all service was viewed as demeaning. Jesus turned that around. Jesus said that he came to serve, not to be served, so Christians must serve each other. (Matthew 20:26-28) The church took this charge to heart. They called themselves servants and slaves of Jesus. (Acts 4:29, Romans 1:1, Philippians 1:1, Revelation 1:1) They came to reason that if Jesus loved us, we should love each other.

The New Testament came to use the Greek words for service in two ways. In general, it came to stand for the preaching of the word and the sharing of the sacraments by Christians in every way. In its narrow use, it refers to the work of pastors. To carry out ministry, Jesus created the office of the Pastoral Ministry and the Apostles created the deaconate to support them. Today, pastors, professional church workers and laypeople serve together in ministry — to live and work dedicated to God and to others. It this way, we proclaim together the gospel and show the love of God to the world.

Church Word #18: Peace

Encore Post: Every culture has a different way of greeting. We say “hello” informally, “Good morning,” “Good afternoon,” and “Good evening.” The Romans said, “Salve” (“be well”) The Greeks said, “χαίρετε” — kairete (“be joyful”) From ancient times, the Hebrews, and now Israelis, says “שָׁלוֹם” — shalom (peace, be well, whole and complete) They also say shalom when they say “Good bye.”

When we say “peace,” we mean that everything is calm, that we are not at war and all is calm. In God’s Word, it is much more than that. Peace means everything is right with our world. Peace begins with our relationship with God. It comes from knowing he loves us, cares for us, will be with us always and know we will live with him forever. No matter what else is wrong in our world, nothing can take away our peace. Peace is what Adam and Eve had in Eden, when God saw all that he made and said it is “very good!”

Yet sin makes peace on earth nearly impossible to find. Theologians say that we are “curved in on ourselves.” Sin makes us think of what pleases us, to seek our own interests over others and to run over anything that gets in our way. This outlook on life puts us in conflict with God, with others and with our world. It is the source of evil, sickness, grief and death. No matter what we do, we cannot reconcile with God or each other on our own power. Selfishness is a part of everything we think and do. Death rules and fear of it colors all we are.

To bring peace, God’s Son, the Prince of Peace, became one of us. He lived his life in perfect harmony with his Father. He offered himself to pay the price of our rebellion and warfare against God. He reconciled us with God by his own blood. In his body, all walls that separate us from God and each other fell. We now are at peace with God, even in this world of war.

Soon the day will come when the Prince of Peace returns to rule. Then he will once and for all bring an end to sin, death and the power of the devil. God himself will live with us. No more will there be sin, sorrow, grief and pain. All these things will pass away as he makes all things new. Then peace will reign and God will again say, “See! It is very good!”

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

Blog Post Series

Church Word #17: Grace

Encore Post: At the end of many worship services, the pastor will announce God’s blessing to his people. “The Lord bless you and keep you;the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenanceupon you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:23-26) This is nothing new. Through Moses, God commanded priests to announce his grace to his people in this way. For 3,500 years, priests and pastors have done so. God blesses and watches over his people. God smiles at his people and favors them. He looks at them and everything is right in the world.

The key word in this blessing is the word, “Grace” (Hebrew חנן (chanan) = to look at someone favorably, Greek χάρις (charis)= to view someone favorably, a gift given without strings attached) When describing God in the Old Testament, his prophets often announce: “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness” (For example, Psalm 145:8, my translation) St. Paul opens almost all his letters with “Grace to you and peace…”) Almost all the time, Grace travels with the same words: “mercy,” “peace,” “love” among them.

God’s grace is not a thing which is given out when you do something. It is God’s attitude towards us. He loved us even before he made the world. (Ephesians 1:4-5) When he thinks about us, he is inclined to be kind to us. It is not because we deserve his kindness. In our sin, we have turned our back on him, broken all his laws, ruined his creation and deserve nothing but death and hell. Yet the good news is that, for the sake of Christ’s death on the cross, he looks on us ready to give his good gifts and his Spirit. It is by this grace alone that we are saved.

But there is more to grace than that he smiles on us. The Greeks used the word χάρις for gifts given just because he loves us. Among these gifts are the Means of Grace, the gifts of Baptism, the Lord’s Supper and God’s Word, which bring with them in turn the gifts of the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation — and the faith to receive them and to trust God to keep his promises. Grace is forever. It is how we can look forward to the day we see the smile on God’s face as he says, “Well done, good and faithful servant … enter into the joy of your master.” (Matthew 25:21)

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

Blog Post Series

Sermon for the Commemoration of Friedrich Wyneken, Pastor and Missionary

Introduction: One Hundred and Eighty-six years ago, a dense forest stretched from the Great Lakes west to the Illinois prairie and south to the Ohio River Valley. Majestic oaks and sycamores, elms and maples, chestnuts, pines and cedars lined the paths and newly hewn roads, moved even young banker Hugh McCulloch to awe. Into this frontier poured first thousands and soon tens of thousands of Germans and Irishmen, drawn by the promise of the most fertile land in the world, where anyone was free to carve out a farmstead and leave a heritage to his children. They found it hard work in a hard climate. Isolated in the wilderness, where the bush might keep you from knowing you even had neighbors, you were very much alone and isolated. No church bells would call you to worship in non-existent churches. You see, while they came, pastors, by and large, did not.

Even when you were blessed with a servant of the word and the Lord’s house, tragedy often struck. In the frontier village of Fort Wayne, St. Paul’s Lutheran Congregation was in mourning. Their young German American pastor had just died. Their elder Adam Wesel wrote the Pennsylvania Ministerium Mission society on June 4^th: “If you canvas the northern part of Indiana, you will soon see how important it is that you send us a faithful Shepherd. The harvest is great, but unfortunately there are no workers. If it is not possible to send us a pastor, dear brothers, then send us a circuit rider. We hunger and thirst for the Word of God.”

God heard their prayer. Three days before their pastor died, Friedrich Wyneken set sail for Baltimore on the Brig Apollo. As Adam Wesel’s letter arrived in Pennsylvania, he presented himself before the mission society, prepared to receive a call as a missionary. They sent him to gather the scattered Germany Protestants of Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. And he did.

God has called you to proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light

a) As God’s people prayed for a pastor then, so they do now.
b) As God answered their prayer, sending Wyneken, so he answers their prayer and sends you.
c) You bear the same call that Wyneken did
d) You have the same gospel to proclaim, the same baptism to administer; the same absolution to grant; the same Supper to celebrate.

2. Yet you are aliens and exiles in this world

a) While a remnant of Christian America remains, we live a pagan culture.
b) The fear of death drives their lives and actions
c) What little they know about Jesus and the church is a caricature.
d) Peter’s advice is sound: live an honorable life among them.

3. We are founded on the living cornerstone, chosen and precious

a) We are not redeemed by silver and gold, but his precious blood.
b) We are now his own holy nation, a royal priesthood.
c) Though we may seem alone, we are never alone.

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

©2020-2024 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

Church Word #16: Love

Encore Post: Love makes the world go around. We love our pets, our favorite food, good weather, our sports teams, our friends, freedom and truth — just about everything. Americans seem to love just about everything!

In the Bible, two Hebrew words are used to speak about love. The word אהב (‘ahav — love) means just about the same things as our word love. The Holy Scriptures this term means most of the time the love shown by people and very rarely is used for God’s love. The word חֶ֫סֶד (chesed — love, kindness, mercy, loving-kindness) is very hard, if not impossible, to translate. The King James Version called it lovingkindness. It is in almost all the expressions of God’s love in the Old Testament. The word חֶ֫סֶד and the Greek Word ἀγαπάω mean about the same thing. Yet it has a tenderness to it that includes compassion and mercy.

The Greek language of the New Testament has several words for love. φιλέω (phileo) is the love and affection between friends. ἔρος (Eros) is sexual love that is obsessed with another and is not satisfied until it gets what it wants. ἀγαπάω is a love that sacrifices for the good of the one it loves. (See 1 Corinthians 13) ἀγαπάω is God’s love and the love God wants us to show to him and our neighbors. With Faith and Hope, Love is the greatest of the three virtues and lasts forever.

Our love is rooted in the love of God. God loved us before he made the world. (Ephesians 1:4-5) He loved us so much that he sacrificed his only Son to save us. (John 3:16-17) Because he first loved us, we love him and want to please him.

In the Gospel of John, we learn God is Love. The two greatest commandments are to love God and love our neighbors. He commands us to love him and our neighbors. Jesus tells us that the whole of God’s law is to love God and our neighbors as ourselves. (Matthew 22:37-40) Actually, our love is itself God’s gift to us. The way people know we are disciples of Jesus is that we love each other. While our love in this world is not perfect, God’s love for us is perfect. It lasts forever and conquers even death.

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

Church Word #15: Hope

Encore Post: In today’s English, the word Hope means a wish for that something we very much want to happen will come true. There is something about it that makes us doubt we will be so lucky. “Well, I hope so,” we’ll say.

In the Bible, hope is a bit different. Hope is something you have no doubt will happen, so much so that you can build your life on it. In theological terms, the Christian hope is the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Because it is God himself who promises these blessings, we can count on it and live our lives knowing it will happen. This is how Christians can suffer and die rather than deny their faith in Christ. It is why the burial service calls it “the sure and certain hope of the Resurrection of the dead.”

Why is the Christian Hope so sure and certain? First, because God himself promises it in his Word. Second, because Jesus proved these promises are true by dying and rising again from the dead. So, he can be trusted to keep his promises that where he is, we will be also. For us, hope becomes reality when we die. He comes to bring us to be with him forever. Exactly what happens then is a mystery.

But this is just the beginning of the blessings kept safe in Heaven for us. On the last day, Jesus will return in glory and he will bring us with him. He will raise our bodies from the grave and change us to be like him. We will then be gathered before the throne and our names read from the Book of Life. We will then live with him forever in Paradise, where there is no more sorrow, crying, grief or pain. God will make everything new. He will bring us to the great marriage feast of the Lamb, which will never end. This great hope gives us joy even in suffering, since we know it will pass away.

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

©2018-2024 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

Church Word #14: Faith

Encore Post: Faith is one of those “church words” that everyone knows and uses, but find hard to pin down. We use it to mean everything from a family of church bodies, to a system of things people believe, to trust in God, to accepting something is true, but that we cannot prove. Hebrew uses various forms of the word ( אמן — ‘aman— firm, trustworthy, safe). The word Amen comes from this same word. It means something like: “I believe that. I agree. It is true”) The Greek language uses one word for both faith and belief. (πιστεύω — pisteoo — to believe, πίστις– pistis — Faith) When the New Testament uses the word, it uses it for both what we believe in and our trust in God to keep his promises to save us.

Many Christians think of faith or believing in a different way. They think it means something like accepting as true and as facts things they can’t prove, such as “Jesus is God,” “God will raise us from the dead on the last day,” and other teachings of the Holy Scripture. They may understand passages like Hebrews 11 to mean this. (For example, verse 1: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”) What they miss is that most of the chapter is about what the Old Testament saints did because they trust God and his promises. James, the brother of Jesus, demonstrates how mistaken this view of faith is when he wrote: ” You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! ” (James 2:19)

When the Bible talks about faith in God, (Saving Faith, Justifying Faith) it means a trust in God to keep his promises, especially his promise to save us. This trust is not something we create by things we do. It is created in us when the Holy Spirit comes to us through the Gospel, Baptism or the Lord’s Supper. (Romans 1:17, John 20:30-31, Ephesians 1:13, Romans 1:16-17) Our faith clings to Jesus, believing that his sufferings and death on the cross forgives our sins and gives us everlasting life. This faith responds to the Grace given to us in God’s Word and the Sacraments. It thanks God for his mercy, praises him and gives us the desire to serve God and our neighbors.

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

©2018-2019 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