Jason Kaspar

Last Things #9d: Writing Through Tears: Christian Obituary, pt. 3

[Eighteenth in a series of posts on Last Things]

Encore Post:

It begins and ends with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The funeral service starts with a baptismal remembrance. At the graveside, we pray and rejoice in the resurrection promised to our deceased loved ones in their baptism. The obituary should be no different.

“Jason Matthew Kaspar, a baptized child of God, died (situation may be included) on Blurnsday, Septober 32, 20xx, (location), having lived [x] years upon the earth (sometimes years, months, days, and hours are calculated).”

Use Baptismal names up front. Short forms and nicknames are suitable in the body that follows. We ought to use baptismal names at the start and in the funeral, reflecting the name God used to claim us. He knows the day He called you by name, forgave your sins, and placed faith in your heart. He knows the name by which you were called.

“Jason was born on [date, location], baptized in the Name of the Triune God on [date, congregation], confirmed in the Christian faith on [date, congregation], graduated from [name of high school, college, technical school, or such institution] on [date], was married to Mandy on [date, congregation], enjoying and toiling [x] years as husband and wife together. [They were blessed in their union by the birth(s) of [x] child(ren)]. He was ordained into the office of Holy Ministry on [date], serving the people of God [x] years in full-time ministry and [x] years of pulpit supply in retirement.”

A listing of significant dates shall include the most important ones: those involving the Christian life in faith. This is also a good spot for a military service record and/or other public service like law enforcement, elected office, service organizations, term as king or queen, and the like. It makes for better reading to list activities dryly here and expound on them in the following section.

“‘Pacco Kappa’ as he was called by little ones struggling to learn their intervocalic ‘s’es and terminal ‘r’s…” [Fluffy details and glowing remembrances go here. Please avoid making the deceased sound like a flawlessly angelic figure in need of no savior. Definitely avoid saying they deserve admission into the heavens by dint of their deeds or character.]

In my case, this will be a short section. The life-and-times bit is very important to the surviving family. It will likely be the hardest part to write. No one will likely get everything they want into the obituary. Space limitations and the memory-blurring power of immediate grief will almost certainly truncate the information contained herein. Survivors, don’t beat yourselves up about a perfect remembrance. The years to come and your memories will serve far better than these paragraphs.

“He was preceded in death by [expand or abridge this section as desired], and all the host of those have died in the faith.

He is survived by [living relative and descendants are listed here, close/beloved acquaintances are also appropriate].

We, the surviving family, with certain confidence, entrust our son, brother, grandson, friend, pastor (list exhaustively), into the arms of Jesus Christ, who called him by name on [baptismal date], and who is the Resurrection and the Life.”

The conclusion should absolutely recapitulate our only true hope and promise. No comfort exists outside of Jesus and his work for our loved ones, which has now been delivered! Double down on what gives lasting comfort: the deceased was promised salvation in baptism. And they have it today!

Details for visitation, funeral service, interment, and memorials may follow. These announcements aren’t exactly “part” of the obituary. They’re more like obituary-adjacent material. Do your survivors a solid. Start working on your own obituary today. Even just a collection of dates and basic details will help them immensely.

Let us confess Jesus Christ, certain of the resurrection.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Sole Pastor
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX

Last Things #9c: It Has Pleased Almighty God: Christian Obituary, pt. 2

[Sixteenth in a series of posts on last things]

Encore Post:

The death announcement is as much a part of an obituary as it can be without being in it. The announcement quickly identifies the deceased and where they currently reside. The hopelessness and unmitigated grief in death for unbelievers is the opposite of what we get to confess as Christians. Here is a great standardized format of how we ought to speak of our loved ones in death, commonly used by many pastors in the LCMS. I learned it from my vicarage supervisor, Rev. Robert Smith, formerly of the CTSFW Library.

“It has pleased Almighty God on September 8th, 2022 to call into His presence Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms, who, baptized in the name of the Triune God, trusted in Christ, whose tears are gone and whose sorrows have been turned into joy. We pray God will comfort those who mourn her death with the sure and certain hope of the resurrection of the dead. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord!”

“It Has Pleased Almighty God to call into His presence…” Our temporal death is a release from our bondage to the sin that remains in this flesh before the resurrection of all flesh on the last day. Our Lord loves us and is pleased to see us delivered from this vale of tears. Our Heavenly Father sent His Son to die for your sins. It shouldn’t surprise us to hear that our death and deliverance into His presence is His will and our blessing.

“…Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor …who, baptized in the name of the Triune God…” The pagan world has convinced us we can only find comfort in memory. In Christ, that’s not so. In the announcement, we say why we should take comfort. Memory can help us. But the only certain comfort, the only true comfort, comes from the knowledge that God has kept His word. He has saved the Queen, Aunt Hildegard, and Uncle Fritz. He saved them through their baptism, preserved them in the Christian faith, and delivered them to Himself.

For the death announcement and the obituary, it is good to use their full baptismal name. Nicknames and/or titles may follow. Your baptismal name is the name God used when He called you His own and put faith into your heart. This is also true of Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor.

“Who… trusted in Christ, whose tears are gone and whose sorrows have been turned into joy.” Everyone who lives a Christian life has lived from the moment of their baptism in faith. They are forgiven and renewed in that same faith by the Lord’s continued blessings in His absolution and His Eucharist for the forgiveness of sins. In that promise, Jesus has brought her from this vale of tears into heavenly joy.

“We pray that God will comfort those who mourn her death with the sure and certain hope of the resurrection of the dead.” We’ve developed a lazy social media habit of saying, “prayers.” It’s hollow, keeping up an appearance of faith. Christians and non-Christians alike share the sentiment, revealing its emptiness. Dear Christians, we pray in specificity. In death, we pray for comfort to the survivors. Their comfort comes from the Lord. It flows from knowing God’s faithfulness to us.

“Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord!” He has delivered Elizabeth from death into eternal life. He will do the same for you. That’s the comfort of the resurrection. This separation through death is temporary. We will see it resolved in Christ with our own eyes on the last day.

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. O Lord, I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant. You have loosed my bonds.” (Psalm 116:15-16)

Let us confess Jesus Christ, especially in death.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Sole Pastor
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX

Last Things #9b: Christians Don’t “Pass Away:” Christian Obituary, pt. 1

[Sixteenth in a series of posts on Last Things]

Encore Post:

The expression “pass away” is a ubiquitous term among English speakers. It’s a euphemism meant to be kind, to soften the blow of death. I’m certain. No one uses “pass away” to mislead anyone. But the term conceals reality. And it fails to confess the great news for Christians in the bitterness of death.

A euphemism is simply a good-sounding word to use in place of a term that may be profane, uncomfortable, hurtful, or off-putting. The Greek root of “euphemism” means nearly the same: good speaking. Good speaking conceals or softens uncomfortable things.

I can’t speak to the origin of “pass away” as a common euphemism for death. The funeral industry has certainly embraced it. Again, this isn’t a malicious use of the euphemism. They are likely trying to protect people’s feelings. But there may have been a theological driver here, too.

For some folks, we may not be able to speak confidently about their state after death. Without evidence of Christianity, there’s no hope of salvation or resurrection to eternal life. We should and do hope that something is hidden from us. But some dwell in sin and separation from God by their own doing.

Other Christian traditions place great importance on our actions regarding God. A Baptist may be disinclined to trust in infant baptism. They believe that, contrary to the Scriptures, a person must make a public confession as an adult and be baptized for the first time, or again, as an outward sign of the internal decision to accept Jesus. When a Romanist or a Lutheran dies, the Baptist may not have a full-throated confidence in their rest in Christ. This finds confidence in the works and words of man, not God.

We begin the funeral service by remembering baptism. That’s the key fact for Christianity. Pastor starts, “In Holy Baptism [the deceased] was clothed with the robe of Christ’s righteousness that covered all his or her sin. St. Paul says: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” (Romans 6:3) The congregation speaks along, “We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.” (Roman 6:4)

But I digress. Let’s get back to the euphemistic “passing away” as a term for death. Do the scriptures speak about passing away? Yup, they sure do.

“Terrors are turned upon me; my honor is pursued as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.” (Job 30:15) This is negative. For Job, all the good things of his life before his affliction have passed away.

“I have seen a wicked, ruthless man spreading himself like a green laurel tree. But he passed away, and behold, he was no more; though I sought him, he could not be found.” (Psalm 37:35-36) This is negative. In the Psalms, wicked things, wicked people, and the brokenness of a fallen creation pass away.

“[The Assyrian’s] rock shall pass away in terror, and his officers desert the standard in panic,’ declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.” (Isaiah 31:9) This is negative. The power of Israel’s oppressor is the thing passing away.

“Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory and stretch themselves out on their couches… Therefore they shall now be the first of those who go into exile, and the revelry of those who stretch themselves out shall pass away.” (Amos 6:4a, 7) This is negative. In the minor prophets, what passes away is wicked or sinful.

(See also – Job 6:14-16; Job 11:16; Job 34:18-20; Psalm 90:7-9; Psalm 102:3-5; Psalm 148:5-6; Isaiah 2:17-18; Jeremiah 8:14; Daniel 7:13-14; Nahum 1:12-13; Zephaniah 2:1-2)

Speaking in the way the Scriptures speak, we are saying that those things which pass away are wicked, evil, sinful, oppressive, or in need of destruction. We ought to speak well of those who have died, even in our simple expressions.

Those who rest in Christ have not passed away.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Sole Pastor
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX

Last Things #9: The Ofrenda Zone

[Fourteenth in a series of posts on last things]

Encore Post:

In Hispanic culture, there is sometimes a familial practice of setting up an ofrenda (offering altar) for the home visitation upon a loved one’s death. The individual found may remain up for as long as grieving persists. For example, an elderly person might leave the ofrenda of their child, who preceded them in death, up for the rest of the years of their natural life.

In more traditional homes, you might see a family ofrenda, which bears the photos of generations of deceased family members. This type of ofrenda typically doesn’t come down.

In other cases, the individual ofrenda or family ofrenda may only be set up for the celebration of Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), November 1st and 2nd. Day of the Dead festivities come from extant pagan ancestor-worship practices of the Aztecs and other Central American tribes. Upon their conversion to Christianity, ancestor worship remained to varying degrees.

Make no mistake, the ofrenda is an altar of worship to the deceased. Placing a crucifix nearby doesn’t change that. The offerings in particular reveal this. Various food and drink offerings are set on the ofrenda for the dead. But the “required” items are: water, bread, and coins. These confess a specific, non-Christian eschatology (understanding of things pertaining to the end times).

In Aztec religious beliefs about the afterlife, the dead must undergo a journey to the land of the dead. The journey is long, through a barren land. So, the offerings are for the journey. Many pagan cultures worldwide share similar views.

Christianity teaches differently. For us, upon our death, our souls are immediately delivered to heaven to rest, awaiting the resurrection of all flesh on the last day. On that day, the souls of all believers will be reunited with their glorified bodies to dwell forever in the new Jerusalem with Jesus.

About now, you might say, “But, Pastor Kaspar, I’m an Anglo. We don’t do these things. What does this matter to us?”

Many of us have an Uncle Fritz with one of these. Uncle Fritz lost his wife 15 years ago. He put her ashes on the mantel at home, or on a sofa table in the hallway. Her picture is there too. He and the kids periodically place little mementos on the table or mantel. This is basically also an ofrenda.

The only real difference is the occasional attempt by ofrenda users to sanctify the paganism with a crucifix or a statuette of St. Mary’s Sacred Heart. The non-remembrance altar doesn’t even get religious recognition.

These altars to our deceased loved ones are a bad idea. They teach us to think about death differently than Scripture teaches. It’s best to place our dead to rest, among their brothers and sisters in the faith, in a permanent spot. Let their bodies rest undisturbed until the day of resurrection.

Remember that although death separates us in this life, we are still united in the faith. Specifically, when we celebrate the foretaste of the feast to come in the Lord’s Supper, a spectacular reality descends to us. In that moment, singing “Holy, Holy, Holy” with all the hosts of heaven, we commune with all the saints in heaven.

It’s not a little pagan altar to my mom that gets me close to her. It’s the Lord gathering the faithful around His altar, which brings us back together for a moment, a foretaste of the eternal feast awaiting us in His kingdom, for the sake of Jesus’ death for us. That’s what brings us closer to our dearly departed loved ones.

Let us confess Jesus Christ, even in death.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Sole Pastor
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX

Last Things #8: Pennies From Heaven?

[Fourteenth in a series of posts on Last Things] Encore Post:

“Pennies from heaven,” “a cardinal on my fence line,” and “someone looking down on me” are a few examples of seemingly innocuous things even faithful Christians will say regarding the dead. We’ll hear folks speak of the dead as if they are still interacting with us here on Earth. I don’t believe for a second that most folks realize what they’re saying or intend to promote heresy in any way. However, it’s incorrect and needs to be addressed.

The first concern here is that our loved ones at rest in Christ are sending love notes to us from their rest in Christ in heaven. As I’ve discussed before, our deceased loved ones are finally free from the taint of sin. Dwelling only in blessedness and righteousness, they have a dim view of the world, still corrupted by sin and our part in it.

“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 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 6:9-11)

I thank the Lord that their awareness of us is probably hidden.

In Luke 16, we have the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. In torment in Hell, the nameless Rich Man is allowed to see Abraham and Lazarus. He speaks with Abraham. There is no interaction between him and Lazarus. The rich man sees nothing else of Heaven or Earth. And Abraham defines their positions thusly, “…between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.” (Luke 16:26)

Now, the second concern here is the attribution of godlike powers to those who have been taken on to glory in the heavens. In this case, Aunt Hildegard is “smiling down on me.” We’ll hear of her sending a rainbow, of a cool breeze in the summer heat, a rainstorm in a drought, sunshine to break up a monsoon, a pristine snowfall on a winter’s night, or some other weather anomaly.

We’ve made blessed Aunt Hildegard into nothing more than a pagan weather goddess. By applying god-like power to her, we diminish the Lord of the heavens and the earth. And we seek to pull her out of salvation in heaven with Jesus. Instead, we’d see her moved into a pagan pantheon and a lesser god status there, too.

The real error: finding peace and comfort in this life, not the promise of the resurrection. There’s no promise our loved ones will hear us now. But we will see them again at the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom. That’s a little sad, and a whole lot OK.

Real Christian comfort comes in knowing that our loved ones have received salvation bought for them by the death of Jesus. That’s the same salvation promised to us in our own baptism. It will be delivered in full on the day of our death. The day when we too inherit the crown of salvation bought by Jesus’s blood and righteousness.

In our grief, let the Lord be the King of Salvation.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Sole Pastor
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX

Last Things #5: What About the Disposition of Our Bodies?

Encore Post:

Gnostics, pagans, agnostics, and atheists all tell us that the body is meaningless. The atheists will say that there is nothing beyond death. Gnostics and pagans will say that the soul is a person’s true nature. Now freed from this mortal coil, the dead are on to a permanent spiritual existence.

This is not so, dear Christians!

The unnatural, violent separation of body and soul in death is a temporary state. In the resurrection of the dead, the final judgment, and the life everlasting that follows thereafter, we will be reunited with our bodies in perfected glory.

“Oh, that my words were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book! That they were engraved on a rock with an iron pen and lead, forever! For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” (Job 19:23-27 – KNJV)

“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” (Philippians 3:20-21 – ESV)

So, what do we do between now and then?

In Christianity, we have maintained a high view of the bodies of those who die in faith in Christ. Our treatment of the dead flows out of our understanding of the resurrection. We confess that our Lord is not done with this body. He will restore life and vigor to our bodies and our souls. We also confess the resurrection in the way we treat the bodies of the blessed dead.

We practice rites and rituals at the time of death. These include: the commendation of the dying, comforting of the bereaved, the funeral service, and the committal at the graveside. It’s erroneous to say these things are only for the living. We practice these rites for the living and the dead. Now, there should be no confusion here. The disposition of the dead is determined entirely by the forgiveness of sins by the atoning work of Jesus and faith in that same promise. But God is not done with the remains. So, we take great care to place the bodies of our loved ones into a safe resting place until the day of resurrection.

The Scriptures have some indications of the practices we mimic. Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Leah, and Jacob are all buried in the cave of Machpelah in the field of Ephron the Hittite in Mamre. (Genesis ch. 23, 35, 49, & 50) The Cave of the Patriarchs remains a religious pilgrimage site today. It is visited by Jews, Christians, and Islamists. The Islamist side of the Herodian building has a wall separating it from the other side. All visitors still visit the same site.

The committal at the graveside is a significant part of these collected rites. Your pastor blesses the body in its casket/coffin for the last time. He blesses the grave itself. In many cases, the pastor remains with the body from its entrance into the church through the funeral and interment, leaving only when the grave is being filled. He does this to serve as a visual representation of Jesus, in whose stead and by whose command he speaks. In burial, we place our deceased loved ones to rest in a bed in the earth. There their bodies rest securely under a blanket of earth until the Lord’s return.

It is best for us to bury a body in a casket/coffin. Our Christian burial practices differ from those of the pagans. We confess the resurrection of all flesh. The pagans confess the end of the flesh. In their confession, burning the remains, scattering the remains, or exposing the dead for scavenging are all “natural” treatments of an empty vessel. Since they do not believe in a resurrection, they treat the body like refuse. Christians have only recently embraced cremation as an acceptable practice. It is not the best option.

“But, Pastor, can’t God put them back together?” Yes, but that’s the wrong question. What’s the best option? Burial of the body, with great reverence and care, confesses the resurrection in word and deed. It does not challenge or test God. Instead, bodily burial reinforces God’s promise concerning the body.

“What about those burned in fire/destroyed in combat/buried at sea?” We will often go to extreme examples to carve out defenses for less-than-defensible positions. We do our best based on circumstances. When there’s near total loss, we bury what we can. Even the military will place limited remains into a casket for transport home to be buried.

Even burial at sea is also a deliberate, careful practice. The body is sent to rest in “the deep.” Davey Jones’ Locker, or some other euphemism, is a place. It’s not a place like a cemetery. But it is a place in its concept. All the dead buried at sea go to rest in the deep together, like those buried in a cemetery.

Mandy and I have intent for each other. For our bodies, we prefer to be buried without embalming in meager wooden boxes, preferably a coffin in style. The eight surfaces of a coffin continue to confess the eighth-day baptismal promise in which we rest. We do not wish to have any viewing or an open casket. Everyone knows what’s in that box. No one needs to imply anything else. And at last, bury us among other Christians awaiting the resurrection on the last day.

Let us confess Jesus Christ, even in death.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Sole Pastor
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX

Last Things #4: Do the Dead Perceive Us?

[Fourth in a series of posts on Last Things]

Encore Post:

We have two examples of the dead interacting from where they await the resurrection of all flesh. These two share little with us. But we need to know what they do share.

In Luke 16, we have the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. In torment in Hell, the nameless Rich Man is allowed to see Abraham and Lazarus. He speaks with Abraham. He has no interaction with Lazarus. The Rich Man sees nothing else of Heaven or Earth. And Abraham defines their positions thusly: “… between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.” (Luke 16:26)

We can safely assume this is an abnormal interaction. The Rich Man sees neither Heaven itself nor the chasm separating them. His address to Abraham, directing him to order Lazarus, reveals no change of mind or understanding about his own state or lack of authority. He is hardened in his wickedness.

St. John reveals the souls of the martyrs under the altar, who speak. “When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out in a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 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 6:9-11)

These saints under that altar have no love for the sin on the earth. They are purified of all sin. As a result, they see the whole earth as evil and in need of vengeance. We don’t want the souls at rest in heaven to see us. They will only see our sin. Jesus has compassion for us and is saving us. They cannot save us. In part, this is also why we do not pray to the saints. They would cry out for our blood if they could hear us.

Thanks be to God that we are separated from there. We have one mediator between God and man, between Heaven and Earth. Jesus speaks for us, forgives our sin, and prepares a place for us. In faith, we await our own admission. In faith, we will rest secure. In faith, we will receive a crown of glory that we do not deserve.

Hang tight—What About the Disposition of Our Remains? Comes next.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Sole Pastor
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX

Last Things #2: No, Heaven Doesn’t Need Another Angel

[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 come 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 Bible’s words and themes.

“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 God’s messengers. 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, 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 that we regain 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 they’ve gone to has a name. They have gone to heaven! We should leap at the chance to name the place they’re in. That’s true, consoling, faithful, and beautiful.

Scripture says 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 walk through an old Lutheran churchyard (cemetery), you’ll see something curious. 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.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Sole Pastor
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX

Fiery Serpents

In the wilderness, most likely Western Arabia, the Hebrews are heading towards the promised land. Avoiding the land of Edom, the descendants of Esau, Jacob’s (Israel’s) brother, they travel West towards the Red Sea. Along the way, we hear a common refrain: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” (Exodus 21:5b) The people constantly grumble against Moses and Aaron, but chiefly against the Lord, who sent them.

In response to their First Commandment sin, God sends fiery serpents among them. The snakes bite and kill people. The people repent and ask that Moses pray that the serpents be removed. God does not take them away. He commands Moses to set up a bronze serpent on a pole (a carved, formed, or graven image). If anyone sees it, he will live.

Two very important details stand out here. First, the serpents remain, presumably biting and even killing. The temporal consequence of sin can and often does remain with us. Jail sentences remain, even in the face of forgiveness before God. The physical damage from chemical abuse doesn’t easily go away.

Second, seeing is not the same as looking. The “seeing” here is a passive reception of God’s forgiveness and setting aside the punishment. The Hebrews were given a gift to see and from which to receive. Jesus recalls this too, prefiguring His crucifixion in one of the least well-known passages of Scripture. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” (John 3:14-15)

The Bronze Serpent God commanded Moses to form and place for the Hebrews to see is the image of the punishment for sin. Our sin against God, like theirs, demands a price. For the Hebrews, their deliverance came from seeing the serpent. The image God gave them of their punishment, taking away their punishment, prefigures Jesus being raised up in punishment for our sin.

By faith, we see a dead thing on a tree. The death of Jesus is the moment of our salvation. It was finished when sin’s price was paid for you. In the same way, the congregation of Israel saw that serpent’s image, we should also revel in the image of the crucifix, Jesus on a pole for our salvation.

Let us never recoil at the image of our salvation,

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Sole Pastor
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX

This Place Used to Be Packed

Do you remember our Lutheran churches teeming with life? Do you remember infants, children, young people, young families, and folks of all ages? To some degree or another most of us remember the better times that preceded our current season in the church. From our demographic peak in the LCMS around 1970 and right now, each year has been less populous than the one before. Now that I’ve turned the corner of 50, I remember very well the church in about the middle of that decline, which was far better than today.

In order to look clearly at the individual partial causes, we need to look clearly at the broad demographic change. Someone will certainly look at this data and its analysis, finding offense. I intend no offense, nor personal criticism. However, we cannot hide our heads in the sand in the face of evidence which must be acknowledged.

Around 1970, the LCMS consisted of about 2.79 million members, dispersed among around 5,745 congregations, at an average of 485 per congregation, with Sunday attendance around 180. These congregations had 1,400 parochial elementary schools distributed among them, with 156,000 pupils, averaging 111 per school.

Around 2025, the LCMS consisted of about 1.67 million members (-40%), dispersed among around 5,794 congregations (+1%), at an average of 288 per congregation (-40%), with Sunday attendance around 95 (-47%). These congregations had 660 parochial elementary schools distributed among them (-47%). The number of pupils for parochial elementary schools isn’t readily available since that current data has been mingled with early childcare center (ECC) data. But, we can extrapolate in the most generous way. Using the 111 per school average, which is certainly higher than the current average, there are no more than 74,000 pupils among our parochial elementary schools (consistent with the 47% decline).

While that’s dire data, it’s common among American Christian churches. In particular, our neighbors in the ELCA have seen a 49% drop between 1988 & 2024, compared to our 40% drop from 1970-2025. The exception here is the sudden growth within the Roman and Eastern Orthodox churches.

(Data sourced by Grok AI using: concordiatheology.org, thearda.com, adcrucem.news.org, christiancyclopedia.org, & 2026 convention lcms.org)

We are recipients of a perfect storm: a birth rate problem, interfaith marriage, parochial elementary school closures, urbanization, and sheep poaching.

The same problem we are observing nationally also affects the LCMS, the Texas District, Circuit 23, and our own congregation. The replacement birth rate is 2.1 children per woman. That means family sizes of 1 to 3 kids, calculated together with all of the zeros, like my family, put our synodical birth rate below 2.1. That has caused, and will continue to cause, our churches to shrink. Church population increases primarily by birth rate, not by conversion. Now, combine that with the known retention rate of 67% when Dad brings kids to church by himself, and 39% when Mom brings children to church by herself, and we get a colony collapse level of reduction.

Interfaith marriage was once loosely forbidden among us Lutherans in the LCMS. I’ve even heard anecdotal reports of parents forbidding dating outside the Wendish community in central Texas. That devolved into requiring a suitor to convert to the LCMS. Then, commending the kids to find a faithful Christian, someone who goes to church, someone who’s at least Christian, someone who “believes,” and so forth. We have raised up at least two generations of Christian families without attendance habits in the better examples. In worse cases, kids are left to decide for themselves whether to follow Mom’s, Dad’s, or no faith tradition. Spoiler: most of those kids choose apostasy (falling away from the faith), agnosticism, or atheism.

During this same timeframe, we’ve closed 47% of our parochial elementary schools. Parochial education is the forward-facing loss to the church. We’ve also lost the community impact of professional church workers. Even a tiny school with two teachers could easily inject ten or more committed Lutherans into a church and a town. That impact is especially strong in rural and small-town communities.

The quality of education is another concealed loss. Propagandists question the quality of parochial and homeschool education. Another spoiler: parochial and homeschool students consistently outperform public school students. For the families that can access it, private school is a far better option.

For a time, Sunday School became a standard feature of our churches. (We borrowed the concept of Sunday School from the Methodists, who had no parochial elementary school tradition). While it’s a laudable side item, Sunday school doesn’t begin to fill the void left by closing a parochial elementary school.

What about preschools? ECCs are a good service for us to provide. But they do not have an effect on the vitality of a congregation like that of a parochial elementary school. It’s also unfair of us to expect a similar effect from such a narrow span of time and such a distant memory for the kids involved.

We also suffer from urbanization. Humans tend to follow employment opportunities, which often revolve around cities. For rural and small-town churches and their communities, the migration depletes our stock of young families. It’s an unstoppable force. Outside of industry setting up shop in our area, there’s very little that can be done in that fight.

Even in these massive urban centers, sheep poaching is still a problem. You may have noticed that Lutheran mega-churches are practically non-existent in rural and small-town areas. In urban metro areas (Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Denver, Chicago, et al.), large congregations can and have grown to enormous size by directly or indirectly, deliberately or accidentally, poaching members from competing congregations.

These churches will often cite the “unchurched” in their membership numbers. That’s not entirely accurate. For the most part, these unchurched folks are members/former members of local neighborhood congregations, who’ve been drawn in by the big show. The megachurch has a well-documented membership life cycle: discovery, membership, involvement, volunteerism, burnout, and departure. The sad aspects of that cycle are these: most new members come from recent activity at an existing congregation. The average span of membership is about five years. And, worst of all, people departing tend to leave Christianity altogether. The megachurch system is largely a vacuum, sucking people from neighborhood churches into apostasy.

What can we do? Start evangelism programs, youth groups, or outreach events? Those external activities came into Lutheranism amid the steady decline. They changed nothing at that time, when they were the “bigger, better” new deal.

Is this a hopeless situation? Certainly not. We have good metrics to help us reverse some trends. There aren’t enough children. We need to encourage marrying young, remaining faithful, and having lots of babies. Consider this: informally adopt a young family in your church. Buy them some groceries. Give them some gas money. Help mothers caring for their children. Encourage and chastise fathers to lead their families to church. Establish and fund a parochial elementary school, with a generous active-member family discount. Use that as a “bribe” to bring in and retain families in church attendance during the elementary years. Focus on the central part of Christianity: Sunday morning worship. That’s the actual prize, the unique feature of the faith. That’s where the Lord gathers us in His presence, delivers the forgiveness of sins, and strengthens us in the faith. The house of the Lord is where Christianity dwells.

The times are tough, but not hopeless,

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Sole Pastor
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX