Encore Posts: The Egyptians were not the only people that built pyramids. The Mayans, the Aztecs, the Sumerians — and the Babylonians did also. The all had the same purpose. They were meant to be man-made mountains that would be a ladder from Earth to Heaven, where they could visit the gods, sacrifice to them and get what they want from heaven. Most had temples at the very top, where sacrifices were made, some of them human sacrifices.
The people of Babel intended to settle down, build a city and one of these temples. This idea was sinful in two ways. God had commanded them to migrate over the whole Earth and fill it with people. They saw good farmland and decided to stay. They decide to build a great temple to manipulate God so that they could get everything they wanted. In a sense, they worshipped themselves. But God confused their language and scattered them anyway. Their sin resulted in people fearing each other and set one nation against another.
God gave Abraham a glimpse of this on Mount Moriah. Every indication God gave to him was that sacrifice would be just like the way his pagan neighbors practiced it. He demanded what was most precious to him in sacrifice — his own son whom he loved. But God had something else in mind on that mountain. God’s own son — his only son — whom he loved — stopped the sacrifice of Isaac. Later it would be God who would provide himself as the sacrifice for sin.
So Jesus came to be the ultimate sacrifice. His death was not an attempt to manipulate God, but was God of His own free will paying the price for their sins of rebellion. In Jesus, all divisions among people come to an end. The miracle of the Day of Pentecost showed that God can make us one people again — not to serve ourselves, but worship God together. The speaking of tongues on that day showed that God would bring together his people from all times, places, races, peoples, nations and languages.
Why are we the loneliest generation? With ever-present devices designed for communication, we can be instantly in contact with every friend we ever had. Social media allows us to do this easily and effortlessly not only by phone, but by computer or by simply speaking to devices we’ve installed throughout our homes. These were lifelines for us during the pandemic of 2020-21, allowing us even to watch worship services and sermons while barred from gathering in person. These blessings tempt us to think we do not need to get together with others or even go to church in person.
Yet study after study tells us what we know deep down. Disembodied communications will do in a pinch, but we really do need each other and not a ghost of each other on a computer screen. The shut down of society resulted in record numbers of suicides, drug overdose deaths and domestic violence. The heart-breaking images on TV news of spouses and children, separated from loved ones as they died haunt us.
None of this should surprise us. God made human beings to be with him and with each other. In the Garden of Eden, God observed “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make a helper fit for him.” (Genesis 2:18) So he made a woman to be with him. He then commanded our first parents to have children and fill the world with their descendents. Because God made humanity in his image, we are made to live with each other, much like the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are not alone, but live together eternally.
When sin separated God from people and people from each other, God did not leave it that way. God’s Son was sent by the Father to become a flesh-and-blood man, conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Through his sufferings and death, he paid the price for our salvation and destroyed the separation between God and his people and the wall of hostility between us all. He calls us together to live with him and each other. When we gather together, he is with us all. When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, the Lord Jesus himself is with us literally to give us his body to eat and his blood to drink. When we do this, he is really present with us and we are really present with each other.
Since God made us to be with each other, we need to gather together. Each of us brings a different set of gifts and talents to the mix. The truth is that we need each other, no matter how unimportant we might think of ourselves. (1 Corinthian 12:12-30) When we get together, God is present to give us his gifts of the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. We rejoice together in these gifts, share each other’s sufferings and each other’s blessings. We encourage each other to love God and our neighbors. We support each other in doing the good works God calls us to do.(Hebrews 10:19-25)
This is why we gather together, being really present with each other, really present as Christ’s Church and really present with our Lord with whom we will live forever.
It is Spring cleaning time at our blog and so, like a good librarian, I’ve moved things around a bit. We used to use URLs (link addresses) that contained the date a post was last made public. We have removed the date from the URL. So, if you have a link to one of our posts and want to re-read it, just delete the date from it and you are good to go.
If you can’t find a post in the near future, this is likely the problem. To find one if you don’t have the link for some reason or another, you can search for it from our home page (whatdoesthismean.blog to from google or another search engine. Just search for this address in th search engine alone with a few of the words from the post title.
Thanks for understanding.
Rev. Robert E. Smith Electronic Resources Librarian Concordia Theological Seminary Fort Wayne, Indiana and Editor What Does This Mean? Blog
In May of 1521, young knight moved into the Castle Wartburg, in a small apartment normally used to house noble prisoners. He was cared for by two young squires and was well cared for by the warden of the castle, who became his friend. From time to time, he would venture out into the town nearby. Once he went hunting with other nobles, but didn’t seem to enjoy the sport. Known as Junker Jörg, (Knight George), he was not the minor noble that he seemed. Lucas Cranach the Younger, renaissance artist, painted his portrait. He was in fact Martin Luther.
Luther lived in the Wartburg for ten months while the politics of Germany settled down in the wake of the Edict of Worms. The secret was well-kept. Even the brother of Elector Frederick, who would be Luther’s ruler in a few years, did not know the reformer was there until he visited the castle in September. Before too long, his friend knew he was alive and well. Luther wrote an amazing number of letters to support and advise them. These letters went from Luther to the Elector’s chancellor and his good friend George Spalatin, who sent them on. Without the duties of a professor, pastor and leader of a movement, Luther was able concentrate on writing and write he did. Excluding the letters, his Wartburg writings fill two full volumes of the Weimar Edition of his works.
Although he eventually became used to life in the Wartburg, Luther was not suited to life as a noble. He went from being a monastic with a frugal diet to the rich foods of the court. He got much less exercise and was cut off from the all the interaction with people. He was ill suited to that kind of life. It would be only a matter of time before he would have to return to Wittenberg publically.
When the negotiations between the Estates of the German Nation and Luther failed to find a solution, Luther left Worms, supposedly for home, but in reality to be taken to safe keeping in the Castle Wartburg, after a staged kidnapping. To the world, it looked like someone had violated Luther’s safe conduct.
In the meantime, Emperor Charles V, announced his intent to take action against Luther and anyone who supported him. He asked for the Estates’ advice. They agreed and asked to have input into its drafting. The pope’s legate, Aleander, was given the task of drafting the document. To his distress, but likely not to his surprise, the imperial court began to make changes to the document in favor of the Emperor and at the expense of the Pope. Even though the printer had begun to set the Latin and German versions in type, the Grand Chancellor informed him it could not be published without getting the consent of the estates.
On May 21st, the Diet approved its recess, set to be on May 25th. Elector Frederick left Worms on May 23rd, complaining of gout. Before he left town, he gained the consent of the Emperor not to publish the Edict in Saxony, in effect, meaning it was not in force in his territories. After the close of the Diet, the Emperor presented the Edict to the Estates still present in Worms. Without discussion, the Elector of Brandenburg judged it approved by the Diet.
The Edict of Worms sought to enforce bull Exsurge Domine. It declared Luther an outlaw and, in effect, was an arrest warrant for him and his supporters. It authorized the seizure of their properties and forbid the printing and distribution of any of Luther’s works.
While the Edict was a powerful tool in the hands of Luther’s opponents, since it confined Luther’s movements to the territories of his supporters, it was largely worked around or ignored. It did not result in the suppression of the reformation, which continued to take root in Germany and later Scandinavia and the Baltic nations.
I’m delighted to introduce our newest regular author, Rev. James Peterson. You can learn more about him at his bio page: https://whatdoesthismean.blog/meet-rev-james-peterson/ It may be a little while before his first post appears, but I thought I’d announce his coming so you all can watch for it.
Sermon on John 15:9-17 Sixth Sunday of Easter Our Hope Lutheran Church 9 May 2021
Text: “I loved you the same way the Father has loved me. Stay in my love. When you guard my commandments, you will stay in my love, just as I have guarded my Father’s commandments and stay in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. My commandment is that you love one another the same way that I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends when you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” (my translation)
Intro: Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Grace, Mercy and Peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who by his death has destroyed death and by his rising opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
Today we thank God for our mothers, who bore us, gave birth to us and who raised us. We thank God also for aunts, sisters, and grandmothers, babysitters, teachers, and teachers of the faith. They chose to love us and care for us and gave their lives for us so that we might live. They reflect the love that God has for us in very real ways.
The love of the Father and the Son is the source of Christ’s love for us.
The Father loves the Son and declares that he is the beloved Son.
He sends his Son into the world to redeem us.
Because the Father love the Son, the Son loves us and lays down his life for us.
Stay in God’s love.
Like a mother’s love, God’s love for us even before we were born.
It is an unconditional love; God loves us no matter what we do or what happens.
Because God loves us, we have nothing to fear.
We often love ourselves more than we love others.
We look out for ourselves first.
We offer our love with strings attached.
We wonder if will take advantage of us if we love them.
We can only truly love when we stay in God’s love.
Jesus’ love is the greatest of all; He laid down His live for His friends.
We were doomed to die eternally for our sins.
Jesus died in our place, breaking its power over us.
Because He loves us, we are free to love others.
On the last day, His love will change everything forever.
Encore Post: Frederick III grew up in the noble German household of Ernest, Elector of Saxony. His father gave him a fine classical education in the Humanist tradition. Frederick grew up to be a patron of German renaissance painters, especially Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach the Elder and Lucas Cranach the Younger. He founded the University of Wittenberg and systematically built it up to become prominent. He was a pious and faithful Christian, a collector of relics, a supporter of the Augustinian observant movement in Saxony.
A skillful diplomat, he negotiated major reforms in the structure of the Holy Roman Empire, increasing the power and freedom of its electors, nobles and free cities. In 1518, he was the Imperial Vicar, second only to Emperor Maximilian I, who was approaching death. When the Emperor died in January of 1519, he was regent of the Empire. The Pope, the electors, princes and cities of the Empire preferred that Frederick be crowned the next emperor rather than young Charles V of the Hapsburg dynasty. Charles was already king of Spain, Austria, and Hungary, ruler of territories in the Netherlands, France and Italy. Becoming Emperor would make him the most powerful monarch in Europe.
Yet Frederick did not want to be Emperor. He negotiated with Charles to have the Empire repay its debts to Saxony and a number of other concessions in exchange for his vote and support. After Charles was elected Emperor, Frederick used his considerable political skills and influence to protect Luther and advance the Reformation. When he died in 1525, he was succeeded by his brother John, who was an ardent supporter of the reformation.
After his speech before the German nation at Worms, Luther remained in Worms for eight days. The Emperor gave a speech to the Diet, written by his own hand, in which he vowed like his ancestors to be a faithful son of the church. He would move against Luther and all who supported him. The estates (the noble rulers of all the German territories and representatives of the free cities) pledged to support the Emperor, but requested a chance to try one more time to change the reformers mind. The efforts were sincere, but since they did not promise Luther a hearing to be decided by Scripture a sound reason alone, it did not succeed. Yet the time was not wasted.
While the Emperor and papal ambassador Aleander drafted a edict to sanction Luther and his friends, in effect an arrest warrant and warrant to seize their property, plans were being made by the court of Electoral Saxony to carry Luther away to safety. The elector approved the plan, but did not want to be told the details of the effort. Luther and his close friends, including Amsdorf, were quietly informed of the initiative, but the details were not provided. The idea was to have Luther drop out of sight quietly as to both protect him and to avoid upsetting the Emperor. Instructions were sent ahead to the Warden of the Castle Wartburg, overlooking the city of Eisenach, where Luther attending elementary school.
Philip of Hesse issued a safe conduct through his territory to Luther and his party. Elector Frederick provided 40 Gulden to finance the trip and arranged a farewell dinner. On 26 April, Luther left Worms to travel home to Wittenberg via Hesse and his boyhood region, where he intended to visit relatives. The imperial herald accompanied them as far as Hesse, where Luther gratefully dismissed him, stating he felt safe for the balance of the trip. In fact, they were reducing the number of people who would be able to identify his “captors,” escorts from the Saxon army really.
On the 3rd of May, Luther preached in Eisenach. He left more of his friends there, taking only Amsdorf and a few others to go on to Möhra, where his relatives lived. On May 4th, on their way back from his relatives, a force “attacked” Luther’s party. Some ran away, the few attendants and driver not aware of the plan held at crossbow point. Luther was hustled out of the cart, Amsdorf making a show of cursing and protesting the treatment. Luther was forced to run alongside the horses until they were out of sight. He was then provided a horse and the party proceeded with detours to throw of possible pursuit to Wartburg Castle, where Luther was kept safe for ten months.
On April 18th, 1521, the imperial herald escorted Martin Luther to a larger chamber in the archbishop’s residence. There the Diet gathered to hear him. The group was larger — many people not a part of the assembly had joined them to hear the reformer. He had to wait until six o’clock, since other business had occupied the attention of the estates. Due to the lateness of the hour, torches were lit to light the chamber.
Johann von der Ecken, the Emperor’s spokesman, repeated the questions from the day before. Unlike his first appearance, Luther spoke loudly and confidently, first in German and then in Latin. His language was appropriately humble and restrained, yet firm and in command of his answer. He had prepared well.
He began by apologizing for his lack of courtly manners, noting he was unaccustomed of being before so worthy an audience. His motive for teaching and writing was to honor God and instruct the faithful. He acknowledge that, unless the contents of the books on the table had been altered in some way, that the writings there were his.
In reply to whether he would confess or retract any of them, he divided the works into three types. The first group were so innocent and useful that even his opponents praised them. It would not do to retract them. The second group of works address the abuses and evil done and taught in the church that even the German nation complained about. To retract those works would be to let those evils continue. He could not do that. The third group were those that attacked personally those defending these errors. He admitted that his language was over the top and not fitting for his office and vocation. To retract these would be to condone their views, which he could not do.
Answering Von der Ecken’s admonition that he give heed to the peace of the church, he believed it necessary to bring conflict for the sake of the Gospel, that Jesus had come not for peace but the sword. One must fear God. He did not intend, nor needed to instruct the authorities of the German nation, but he did not want to fail his nation. He begged them not to be poisoned by the words of his opponents. If he was in error, he invited them to correct him from the word of God and solid reason. If they did so, he would throw his own books on the fire. Elector Frederick was especially pleased with the latin version of this reply.
The Emperor’s spokesman then said it was not the books themselves that concerned him. If Luther would retract his heretical statements and theology, the Emperor would intercede with the Pope and the good need not be destroyed with the evil. If he did not, then they would all be destroyed. Von der Ecken dismissed the appeal to Scriptures as the attempt of all heretics to be the final judge over doctrine. He then asked Luther for a simple answer without horns or teeth.
Luther’s answer has gone down through five hundred years as a classic statement of confession and bravery:
Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen
Martin Luther (from Martin Brecht, Martin Luther, 1:160.
The words, “Here I stand, I can do no other” were likely not said by Luther. They do not appear in accounts from that time, but in later editions of the reports.
After exchanging a few words, Luther was escorted out by two imperial officials. When the crowd asked if he had been arrested, the answer was no. Back in his room, Luther was elated at his performance. Elector Frederick commented to Spalatin: “Father Martinus spoke well before the Lord Emperor, all the princes, and the estates. But be is much too bold for me.”
For several weeks, an imperial commission met with Luther to see if some sort of settlement could be reached while the Diet struggled to decide what action to take.
