Robert Smith – Page 2 – What Does This Mean?

Church Words #2: Church Invisible, Visible, etc.

Encore Post: Jesus told Peter that he would “build [his] church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18) St. Paul described this church as ” one body and … you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6) In many other places and using many metaphors, Scripture is clear that there is only one Church and that it lasts forever. Theologians call the church catholic (the Latin word for universal — that word is for yet another post!) Another term we use for this Church is the invisible Church. St. Augustine came up with the term because we really do not know absolutely for sure who is a Christian and who is not. Only God, who can see what is in a person’s heart knows that. Martin Luther puts it this way: “these two belong together, faith and God. That now, I say, upon which you set your heart and put your trust is properly your god. ” (Large Catechism 1.1.3)

Yet the church does not look like it is one at all. ” Tho’ with a scornful wonder, men see her sore oppressed, by schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed ” (The Church’s One Foundation, Stanza 3) There are thousands of denominations, theological positions, opposing camps. There are evil people who pretend to be holy in their midst. There are religions that pretend to be Christian, but in truth, are far from it. And in the hearts of every Christian living in this world, sin itself still lives and pollutes hearts and minds. We’ve met the enemy — and it is us. This is the church we can see. Theologians call it the visible church. In the visible church, both the save and the lost live together. We take people at their word when they say they believe, but there are many that are just acting. (ὑποκριτής = hypocrite = Greek word for actor)

Yet even in the visible church, signs of the true, invisible church can been seen. Where the Gospel is purely preached and the Sacraments rightly administered, there the true Church is at work. We call these the marks of the church. There Christ builds his church — on the rock of His Word and trust in it. Go where you hear his voice and you are at home — even on earth!

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

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Church Words #1: The Church

Encore Post: A little Sunday School song shows a few of the many ways we use the word church in English: “The church is not a building. The church is not a steeple. The church is not a resting place. The church is a people.” The problem, of course, is it is both. The meanings of two ancient Greek words merge together into our English term. The word church itself comes to us from the phrase κυριακός οἰκία (kuriakos oikia = the Lord’s house), used by the early church, through the Germanic, and Scandinavian languages (think kirk and kirche) and means the place where Christians gather to worship. (so… it is a building!) The other word, ἐκκλησία (ekklesia = to call together, an assembly) means both a local congregation and all Christians worldwide. This is the word used for church in the New Testament. (so.. it is a people!)

In addition to these two meanings, we use the word church for what Christian people do in this building — we talk about going to church –going to worship. There is some reason to do so. In the Smalcald Articles, Luther says:

God be praised, a seven-year-old child knows what the church is: holy believers and “the little sheep who hear the voice of their shepherd.” This is why children pray in this way, “I believe in one holy Christian church.” This holiness does not consist of surplices, tonsures, long albs, or other ceremonies of theirs that they have invented over and above the Holy Scriptures. Its holiness exists in the Word of God and true faith. — Smalcald Articles 3.12.2

Yet the main way we use the word is for the whole church in heaven and on earth. It is made up of all who have ever trusted in God’s promises, especially those to save us. The first generations of Missouri Synod pastors tended to use the word kirche (church) for the invisible church (that term in another post), synode (synod) for church bodies and gemeinde (local community) for congregations. It is this church that has one Lord, one faith and one God the Father. (Ephesians 4:4-5) They are “the assembly of all believers and saints” (Augsburg Confession 1.8)

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

Blog Post Series

Who do you think you are?

Encore Post: “What are you going to be when you grow up?” American adults love to ask children. We teach our youth to dream. If you work hard enough, there is no limit to what you can do or be. You might even be president of the United States someday! We grow up trying to find ourselves. And when we get to age eighteen, we go off to “find ourselves” in the world or college. Yet in doing so, we miss some very important things we already have and a call, a vocation, every Christian has. It begins with knowing not who you are, but whose you are.

You see, you belong to God. When you were lost in the darkness of sin and death, Jesus came and sought you to be his holy bride. With his own blood he bought you and for your life he died. Not with silver or gold were you bought back from sin, the devil and death, but with his precious blood and his suffering and death. He did this for a purpose — not that you would move along the path to the American Dream or self fulfillment, but that you would live with him in his kingdom forever.

It is in his kingdom that we have our most sacred call. We are called to be a royal priesthood, a holy nation, set apart to be his favorite possession. (1 Peter 2) A priest is someone who stands between a god and his people. His role is to bring the god’s instructions and blessings to people and their prayers and their sacrifices to the god. Our role as the nation of the priests of the Holy Trinity is to bring the good news of salvation to the nations and to pray for them, calling on God to have mercy on them.

This Priesthood of All Believers, as Martin Luther called it, has received God’s call to forgive sins for Christ’s sake, to proclaim the good news to all the ends of the earth, to baptize and to teach them. Together we have done these things for 2000 years and counting. As God’s church, we primarily do this through men God has called to represent us — to be our pastors. Yet we do not sit back and watch. We are all his priests, his messengers, his witnesses to everyone. This is who you really are.

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

Blog Post Series

One Loaf, One Body

Encore Post: For many Christians, Holy Communion is a very personal thing. Even those who think of it as a symbol and not a sacrament cherish it. It has a way of strengthening the faith they have in Jesus. So it comes as surprise to many that the Lord’s Supper has a way of doing the same thing between Christians. St. Paul says “because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body.” (1 Corinthians 10:17) When we eat The bread and drink the cup, we proclaim together his death until he comes. (1 Corinthians 11:26) so, when we commune together, we are confessing that we share the same faith as well as receive the benefits of the sacrament.

This is why Confessional Lutherans practice Closed Communion. All those that share the sacrament with us are proclaiming that what we teach is what they believe. Since non-Lutherans may not believe this, we do not want them to be saying something they do not believe. It is also why we do not commune at churches whose teachings we do not believe. In addition, if a communicant does not believe they receive Christ’s body and blood with the bread and wine of the sacrament, they may not examine themselves before receiving it. In love, we ask them not to put themselves in danger of sinning against Christ when they receive it.

Because we do not want this divide to remain, we take every opportunity to study God’s word with them on subjects on which we disagree.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Blog Post Series

Forgiveness of Sins, Life and Salvation

Encore Post: The Lord’s Supper is a great gift to us. With bread and wine, Jesus gives us his Body and Blood to eat and to drink. This gift would be precious even if that was all there was to it. But God gives us much more in this Sacrament. He meets our greatest need — to be forgiven of our sins.

The greatest disaster that comes from Adam and Eve’s disobedience is that it separated them — and us — from God. Cut off from the source of life itself, it brought death to all of us. By giving his body on the cross and shedding his blood there, he paid the price for sin, earning us the forgiveness of sins and reconciling us with God. With the reason for our eternal death removed, the seal of the grave is broken. We are saved and will live with him eternally.

In Baptism, God applies these benefits to us. Yet our sinful nature remains in us. “The old Adam is a good swimmer,” the old quip goes. (no, Martin Luther likely did not say it!) Constantly harassed by the world and its temptations, the sweet lies of Satan and the lure of our passions, we sin often. The Lord’s Supper forgives our sins and assures us of God’s love for us. It is communion with Jesus in the most intimate way. It is as the ancient liturgy for anointing the sick, “bread for the journey.”

So, we receive this precious gift often. After all, Jesus is really present there. And where he is, there we also want to be.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Blog Post Series

The Lord’s Supper is Christ’s Supper

Encore Post: The Lord’ Supper is really very simple. At his last Passover meal, Jesus took bread, broke it, gave it to his disciples and said, “This is my body” and took a cup of wine and said “This is my blood.” When we eat this bread, we also eat his body and when we drink this wine, we drink his blood. From the day the Lord instituted this sacrament until the Reformation, all Christians believed these words do what they say. They also realized this was a mystery that human reason cannot possibly begin to understand.

Because we cannot understand how this can be true, the Reformed and Evangelical traditions believe that Jesus did not mean these words literally, but that the sacrament is a meaningful symbol that reminds us of the death of Jesus on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. They argue that a human body can only be in one place at a time. Since Jesus is now in Heaven, the literal body and blood of Jesus cannot be in the elements of Holy Communion. This way of interpreting the words of Jesus, however, relies not on Holy Scripture, but on our capability of making sense of them.

The problem with this approach is it causes all kinds of other difficulties. Human wisdom is limited because we are creatures and God is our creator and because we are sinful and God is holy. We can never know for sure that we are right when we depend upon our reason. So, Lutherans are content to use our reason to understand what God’s word says and then believe it, even when we cannot put it all together. We let the Bible be the master of our minds and not our minds the master of the Bible. (theologians call these approaches the ministerial and magisterial uses of reason) When we start to alter the meaning of Scripture based on reason, we end up with all kinds of unintended problems. For example, if Christ’s resurrected body can be in only one place at a time, Heaven, then how can he be as he promised “with us always until the end of time.” (my paraphrase of Matthew 28:20)

Since all of the passages which report the institution of the Lord’s Supper are simple reports of the historical events and none of them have poetry, teaching or preaching in them, we take them at face value. They mean exactly what they say. When Jesus says “this is my body” and “this is my blood,” we believe that is exactly what the Lord’s Supper is: Bread together with the body of Christ and Wine together with the blood of Christ. We wonder at the mystery of it all and thank God for the gift of his own flesh and blood to us, uniting us to him now and forever.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Blog Post Series

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Who is the the Lord’s Supper for?

Encore Post: Baptism is for everyone — every person of any place, color, class, race, country or age. God wants to save everyone. The Lord’s Supper, however, is for Christians only. (1 Corinthians 10:14-22) St. Paul tells us that sometimes even Christians should not receive this sacrament. (1 Corinthians 11:27-32) So… who is the supper for?

Sincere Christians have often worried much over whether they are worthy to receive the Lord’s Body and Blood. Did they sin too much? Did they forget to apologize for something or to forgive someone? Should they go to the altar or not?

Martin Luther takes this up in his Catechisms (Small Catechism 6.5, Large Catechism 7.75) “he is truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words: Given, and shed for you, for the remission of sins. But he that does not believe these words, or doubts, is unworthy and unfit; for the words For you require altogether believing hearts.” If you realize that you are a sinner, in need of forgiveness, believe that Jesus offers you that forgiveness with his body and blood and the bread and wine of the Supper, then it is for you.

St. Paul’s warning is for those who are sinning in the process of going to the Sacrament. If you really do not want forgiveness for some or all of your sins, watch out. You are, at best, treating trivially the very Body and Blood of your Savior, sacrificed on the cross for you. At worst, you mock the Lord’s Supper. This you would do to your peril.

This is why Christians take a moment to prepare to receive Holy Communion. Luther’s Christian Questions and Their Answers are very helpful when you do this. Remember your sins, your need for forgiveness, that Jesus desires to forgive you. Then joyfully go to the altar to receive the sacrifice he made for you, being united with him and your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Blog Post Series

Names for the Lord’s Supper

God gives his grace to us through the means of grace — the Gospel, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper and Absolution. The Lord’s Supper is unique in that it is known by several names. Each emphasizes a different aspect of this great gift to us.

The name the Lord’s Supper reminds us that this sacrament belongs to our Lord Jesus, who instituted it and whose Body and Blood we eat with its bread and wine. The Lord’s Supper is both very simple and yet completely beyond our understanding. We trust the Lord who gives it to us and so call it his supper.

When we call the Lord’s Supper the Sacrament of the Altar, we focus on the sacrifice of Jesus. Following his command, we remember that he offered up the body that we eat and the blood that we drink as a sacrifice for our sins. The blessings this sacrament gives — forgiveness of sins, life and salvation — are ours because of this sacrifice.

We speak of Holy Communion because the Lord unites us with himself and with our brothers and sister in Christ in this meal. (1 Corinthians 10:16-17) The Lord’s Supper brings together bread with his body given for us and wine with his blood shed for us. When we eat it, we are united with him in the same way that Baptism unites us with his death and resurrection. We are also brought together as one body with Christians of all times and places and are united with them.

We call the service of worship in which the Lord’s Supper is offered the Eucharist, which is from the Greek word εὐχαριστήσας which means thanksgiving. It refers to our thankfulness for the gift of this precious sacrament. It is sometimes called the Mass (yes, even by Lutherans!), which comes from that Latin words that conclude the liturgy: “Ite, missa est” (“Go, you are sent”) It reminds us that we are sent by God into the world. Most frequently, however, Lutherans prefer the term Divine Service (from the German word Gottesdienst). This term reminds us that two things happen in worship. God serves us, giving us his gifts of his word and sacraments and we serve God, returning to him our thanks and praise for his mercy.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

What is Absolution?

Encore Post: Lutherans cherish absolution as a way that the forgiveness of sins won by Jesus on the cross is applied to Christians when they confess their sins. It is a form of the preaching of the Gospel, which takes what God has promised to all who believe in him and announces it to specific individuals. All Christians may assure their brothers and sisters that their sins are forgiven, but ordinarily it is pastors who hear the confession of sins and pronounce the forgiveness of sins to specific individuals or congregations. This is done for the sake of good order and for the assurance of troubled souls that their sins are really forgiven. Pastors are men that God calls through a local congregation to preach the Gospel and administer the sacraments on their behalf and as a instrument of their Lord Jesus.

The form that Lutheran pastors use to absolve sins sounds odd to many Protestants and even offensive to some. Yet they do so at the command of Jesus, who instituted absolution and gave the church the power to forgive sins or retain them. (Matthew 18:18-20, John 20:21-23, 2 Corinthians 5:19-21) This power Jesus gives is called by theologians the Office of the Keys.

Confession and Absolution comes in two forms: Private Confession and General Confession. Private Confession is available especially when you commit a sin that you cannot shake, that Satan uses to accuse you and that you feel God cannot possibly forgive. When he is ordained, a pastor promises before God that he will never reveal what is confessed to him — even to his wife. This seal of the confessional is absolute, unless the person who confesses the sin releases the pastor of the obligation. When you share the deepest of your sins and the pastor forgives you, you can be at rest. Jesus promised that you can believe this as if he himself spoke these words — because it is Jesus who is speaking through your pastor. (Luke 10:16)

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Blog Post Series

The Day of Resurrection

Encore Post: He is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!

In the silence of a cold, dark tomb the world changed forever. Just as he promised, Jesus rose from his rest in the grave, breaking the seal of the tomb forever. And no one noticed.

The Romans were really good at torturing people to death. Crucifixion was a slow death, designed to kill with the maximum amount of pain and humiliation possible. If the Romans killed you, you were dead. Jesus, in fact, was already dead when the soldiers moved to hurry up the process to get the bodies into a grave before sunset and the beginning of the Sabbath.

Once they laid Jesus in the tomb, no one expected him to go anywhere. Pilate ordered the tomb sealed by the authority of Rome, setting its seal on the stone that shut it off from the world. Had he not risen from death, the women would have completed his embalming and they would have mourned him seven days. After a year, they would gather his bones into a stone box. In fact, this is what Caiaphas’ family did. Archaeologists have found his box. Had he not risen, likely no one today would even know the name of Jesus.

But Jesus did rise from the dead. The seal of our graves is broken. When we die now, our spirits live with him until the last day. When Jesus returns on that day, he will call our bodies from the grave and a new creation will occur. We will finally be whole — our bodies — like his resurrected body — will be fit for eternal life. Death no longer has a sting. The grave no victory. (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)

This is why Easter strikes such a chord with Christians. It is why we greet each other with joy… Christ is risen…