Ecclesiology – What Does This Mean?

Jesus Loves the Little Children

[Seventy-sixth in a series of posts on Bible Stories]

Encore Post:

In the ancient world, many children died before reaching adulthood. In fact, childhood death was common until the twentieth century. Every couple could expect to bury at least one child during their lifetime. That is why the childhood prayer was taught to generations of young people: “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. If I should live another day, I pray the Lord to guide my way.”

Children and young people, therefore, were kept at an emotional distance and paid little attention. Besides, the children were disruptive, especially when a rabbi was trying to teach. They did not understand abstract thought, so they looked for other ways to entertain themselves and get attention. They were expected to behave, to be just like the adults with them. So, they were pushed aside so that adults could attend to “important” business. Keep them out of sight and out of mind.

Jesus made two points by bringing a child before them. First, all people are important to God, no matter how small. He loves them, cares for them. In fact, Jesus came to die for them, too. They are not the future of the church — they are the church.

Second, children trust adults to take care of them, live humbly, and assume their love. In fact, they are better Christians than adults! To be Christians, after all, means to trust God to take care of us, to deny ourselves, knowing we are cared for, and to dedicate our lives to the service of others. This comes naturally to them. They are not bothered when they cannot understand something adults or God tell them. They accept the truth, rely on it, and build on it because they trust their parents, their teachers, and God. They may not know something, but they know someone. So, ironically, if we want to grow in faith, we need to become like them and trust the God who made us, loves us, died for us, cares for us, and will bring us home one day to be with him forever.

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. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Jesus Calls His Disciples

[Sixty-First in a series of posts on Bible Stories]

Encore Post:

Rabbis in Jesus’ day often had students — disciples—who followed them, observed everything they did, memorized every word they taught, and imitated their actions. Most of the time, the students chose their teachers. Jesus turned that around when He chose his own disciples. Disciples often became rabbis themselves. When Jesus told Peter, James, and John they would “catch people,” his disciples would assume they were to train for that very occupation.

It is easy to think that Jesus just walked up to the disciples with no notice and ordered them to follow him, and they did. But that likely wasn’t the case for any of them. Simon, Andrew, James, and John already knew Jesus when he called them. Jesus had made Capernaum, the headquarters of their fishing business, his hometown. Before this event, Jesus had taught in their synagogue, healed Peter’s mother-in-law, cast out demons, healed a paralytic, the Roman centurion’s daughter, and many others. His brother Andrew and others were disciples of John the Baptist, who identified Jesus as the Lamb of God. Matthew was a toll collector at Capernaum before Jesus called him, but likely heard a lot about him.

Jesus selected twelve disciples to be his closest students. The number twelve reminded Jews of the twelve tribes of Israel. By doing this, he signaled he was re-establishing God’s chosen people. These twelve would eventually be commissioned as his apostles, on whom Jesus would build his church. These would become witnesses to his resurrection and take the gospel to the ends of the Roman world. All but two would die as martyrs — Judas, who betrayed him, and John, who lived a long life and whose own disciples would pass the faith on to new generations.

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. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Jonah and the Unforgivable

[Thirty-Third in a series of posts on Bible Stories]

Encore Post:

Nineveh was the ancient capital of the Assyrian Empire, on the Tigris River in what is now modern Iraq. Our story takes place during the years when its power was growing, and several events caused the people to focus on serving their gods. About a century after the events of the Book of Jonah, the Assyrians invaded Israel and carried off all the people of the Northern Kingdom into exile.

Jonah is not a typical prophet. He came from a small town near Nazareth and hated the people of Nineveh for their legendary cruelty. Rather than take part in God’s plan to rescue the residents of the city from their sinful ways, he would rather go to the ends of the earth — literally. Tarshish was in Spain, which was the western edge of the known world at that time. As pagan sailors work to save his life, he seems unconcerned. When the fish swallows him, he comes to his senses and turns to God. Yet even then, he only preaches to Nineveh because God commands him to do so. He is even angrier with God when the people repent, and God spares them.

Before we criticize Jonah too much, consider how you’d react if God sent you to preach to people that you have no use for. Imagine being called to preach to members of murderous gangs, to Muslim terrorists, or even to those who rape or beat up children or women. It’s hard to have any sympathy for them, isn’t it?

Yet that is what we are called to do. American Lutheran pastor Henry Gerecke had volunteered as a chaplain in World War II. He served as a chaplain in an army unit and visited the Dachau death camp. When the Army asked him to be the chaplain for the Nazis on death row during the Nuremberg war crime trials, he volunteered. How do you minister to monsters? He approached the eleven Nazi leaders who conducted the Holocaust through their childhood faith. He did not gloss over their crimes. When they asked to be communed, he refused unless they truly repented and confessed faith in Jesus. It is not a surprise that seven did not. Yet four did. He prayed a childhood prayer with one of them as the Nazi went to the gallows.

We must never forget that we, too, are sinners and unworthy of God’s mercy. Yet God, in his love, sent Jesus to see and to save the lost — both respectable people and the monsters, too. He calls on us to rejoice, for he has found his lost sheep and brought them all home.

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. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
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@msn.com.

Happy birthday, Lutheran Church!

Encore Post:

Most people think of October 31st, 1517, as the date of the founding of the Lutheran Church. However, Martin Luther and most Lutheran historians disagree. On the day that Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses, he was very much a Catholic. In fact, on this day, Luther was upset that people did not have to suffer enough for their sins and were being let off the hook way too easily. You could say he was more Catholic than the Pope. Considering the nature of Pope Leo X, he was.

On the first Reformation Day, the Reformation was just beginning. We only begin to recognize Luther’s complete theology in his writings from 1520 onward. And it really wasn’t until 1529 that the reformers and their princes thought of the Lutheran tradition as a separate faith.

Emperor Charles V had many problems in 1529. The Turkish Empire of Suleiman the Great had invaded Austria and laid siege to Vienna. France and the Pope were constantly challenging his authority in southern Europe. He badly wanted to unify his German territories under Roman Catholic control. So he called all the territories together at Augsburg for a meeting of the Holy Roman Empire.

Elector John of Saxony, Luther’s Prince, commissioned Luther and his friends to create a unified statement of the disputes between the Pope and the Lutheran territories. The result was a document called the Augsburg Confession. All the Lutheran princes who attended the Diet of Augsburg signed the document as their own faith.

On June 25th, 1530, the Augsburg Confession was presented to Charles V by the Lutheran princes. To this day, June 25th is known as the birthday of the Lutheran Church.

As time passed, the Augsburg Confession gained acceptance in Lutheran territories and among theologians. It became the standard for what we believe and confess, and it remained so. Today, every Lutheran Pastor pledges to teach according to the Augsburg Confession and the other documents in the Book of Concord of 1580.

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. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Friedrich Wyneken’s Far-Flung Parish

Encore Post:

Wyneken did not remain idle while he waited for a dismissal from missionary service. He began his ministry in Fort Wayne and Adams County and preached to a small settlement near Auburn, Indiana, on the Cedar Creek, along what would become the Lima Pike Road. On the third of December, he set out for the Elkhart area, but found his horse too lame to make the journey. He spent Advent and Christmas in the Fort Wayne area.

Wyneken made a northern journey just after the first of the year. His horse went lame again, and he was left along the way. The missionary completed the journey to Benton on foot. There he baptized nine and formed a congregation. He continued on to Goshen, where he baptized a child and stayed overnight. Although he became ill in Goshen, Wyneken continued on to Elkhart, where he was expected. There he was able to preach, conduct a confessional service, commune eighteen and baptize six. His illness worsened and forced the missionary to remain in bed two days.
Since he promised to preach to a small settlement ten miles from Wolf Lake, Wyneken had to turn back for Fort Wayne.

Upon his return, Wyneken found a letter relieving him of his position as a missionary of the Pennsylvania Ministerium. During the eventful period from September 10th to the end of his commission on January 11th, he organized three congregations, preached fifty-eight times, baptized sixty-eight children and two adults, confirmed one, communed one hundred and eighty, married one couple, and buried one person. He collected contributions totaling $16.50.

Settling down to serve two parishes in Northeast Indiana did not stop Wyneken, full of zeal, from preaching, teaching, and organizing congregations whenever he had the time. When time permitted, he would respond to requests to visit other settlements on weekdays and preach there.

The circuit rider felt he could not organize these stations into congregations because most of them lacked either sufficient catechesis or piety and because he simply could not properly care for them. It broke his heart to have to ignore the many pleas to come and prepare children for confirmation and to meet many desperate needs. He could see whole villages sinking back into paganism. On his longer trips, sometimes four to six weeks from home, Wyneken had to depart settlement after settlement, sick with the knowledge that not even a survey missionary would minister in these places for the next few years

He could only promise to return from time to time and tell them of his many letters to Germany, begging for help.

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. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Wyneken Heads South to the Wabash

Encore post:

In very bad weather, on the 17th of October 1838, Wyneken traveled west to Bertrand and Niles, Michigan, along the present route of US 12. There he met several families, but was unable to assemble a congregation for worship. Finding himself once again on the Michigan Road, Wyneken returned via South Bend to Harris Prairie and Elkhart. He preached to them on the 21st, forming two congregations, one located in each place. Striking out across country along the present route of Indiana State Highway 331, he stopped briefly in Mishawaka to baptize a child. Continuing on his way, he reached the town of Bremen, a settlement on the north branch of the Yellow River. Almost all of the people of the town were ill with cholera, yet the circuit rider preached to one of the largest congregations he was to assemble on his first missionary journey.

Wyneken returned to the Michigan Road, traveling through Logansport to the
Wabash River. He could not locate the German Lutherans he had been told lived along the future route of the canal. Few of the people he encountered there were even willing to take information to their neighbors. Riding on to the southwest along the river, he entered the town of Delphi on a Sunday afternoon. Prospects for a worship service appeared slight. Finding only a handful of people who could speak German, he asked if there were Germans living in the area. He was informed that these settlers “belonged to no church.” Not a man to be easily discouraged, Wyneken made the rounds of the taverns, argued heatedly with the men he found there, finally dragging enough of them out of the bars to gather together a sizable congregation for an evening worship service. After lecturing them well into the night, Wyneken convinced them to gather in prayer on future Sundays, rather than desecrate the sabbath in the saloons.

The missionary continued on to Lafayette, where he had no success in gathering a congregation for worship. Following the Wild Cat River, he rode on to a settlement a few miles away. Here he discovered that six congregations existed in the Lafayette neighborhood, making it ideal for a resident pastor. After a futile attempt to find a congregation reported to be at the middle fork of the Wild Cat, Wyneken followed the Wabash River into Fountain County. There he encountered a road running along the present route of US 136 and Indiana 32. Taking this trail, he passed through Crawfordsville and Lebanon, before meeting the Michigan Road and turning north. There he preached to a congregation visited by Eusebius Henkel of Lebanon at the Sugar Creek in Clinton County.

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. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Half Time in the Church Year

Encore Post: As a liturgical church, the Lutheran Church organizes its worship life around the church year, a calendar of themes, Scripture readings, worship services, practices, symbols, and prayers. It shares much of this organization with other liturgical churches and even some non-liturgical faith traditions.

The most general division in the Church Year is the semester. Tradition divides the church calendar into two parts. The first begins with the first Sunday of Advent and ends with the Day of Pentecost. It is known by several names. Most often, it is called either the Festival Season or the Semester of our Lord. During this half-year, the church focuses on the life and earthly ministry of Jesus.

After the Day of Pentecost, the second half of the year, known as the Semester of the Church, begins. It is also called Ordinary Time, the Season of Pentecost or the Season of Trinity. The focus is on how Christians should live in this fallen world. Some pieces of the liturgy change at about week ten in the season of Pentecost and then again after the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels. The list of readings, known as the lectionary, shifts from a list geared to the reading’s place in the season (nth Sunday in Lent, etc.) to one based on its position on secular calendars. These sets of readings are called Proper 1, Proper 2, Proper 3, etc. This is to keep the readings on the same Sunday, more or less, each year.

This means that a bit of variety is always part of our worship, even in its most traditional forms. As we receive God’s gifts, we hear most of the Scripture read to us. At the same time, we study and pray in unity with the church in every time and place.

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. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

©2018-2023 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@msn.com

Friedrich Wyneken’s Missionary Journey

Encore Post: On October 2nd, 1838, Young circuit rider Friedrich Wyneken set out along the Goshen Road towards Elkhart and South Bend (Now US Route 33). A severe cholera epidemic held Western Ohio and Northern Indiana in its grip at that time. Wyneken reported, “On the whole, from a human point of view, the time in which I traveled was an unfortunate time to work for God’s kingdom. Sickness raged everywhere. Often I entered a town where not one house was without a sick person: In many homes, everyone was sick, so that often my gatherings were very small.”

In Benton, Indiana, a town with forty German families in 1838, this deadly disease kept the size of the congregation down to twelve people. These settlers begged the missionary to return to them later, since they hoped to form a congregation. Promising to visit again, Wyneken continued on toward South Bend. At the junction of Goshen Road and the east/west section of the Michigan Road, near the town of Elkhart, and a few miles farther west at Harris Prairie, the missionary stopped to preach. He discovered many Germans in the area and resolved to return to form congregations.

Pressing further west along the Michigan Road, he traveled through South Bend and La Porte to Michigan City. Finding no German Lutherans to the west, he returned to South Bend and preached there on the 12th of October to a congregation of six hastily gathered people. Moving farther east, Wyneken preached again at Harris Prairie on October 13 and at Elkhart on the 14th. These communities asked him to return once more and help them to organize their congregations. Agreeing to do this, the missionary took the Michigan Road northeast to Mottville, Michigan, where he preached on the 16th and visited the sick. He baptized several children there the next day.

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. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Church Words: Christian

[Nineth in a series of posts on church words]Encore Post: The oldest and most universal name for the Church is “Christian.” In fact, followers of Jesus were first called “Christian” by Gentiles in the city of Antioch — as recorded by St. Luke in the Book of Acts! (Acts 11:26) It was not a complement. The followers of crazy new religions were called by their founder’s name — with the -ian ending! In fact, most of them probably thought the disciples of Jesus were followers of a man named “Chrestus” — a popular name for a slave. Christians seemed to have called themselves “slaves of Jesus Christ” (that’s what the phrase translated “servants of Jesus Christ” really means!), brothers, holy ones (saints) or disciples. Eventually, the nickname stuck when it was used by Romans to charge Christians with believing in Jesus Christ. Since it was good enough for the martyrs, it was good enough for everyone!

Today we use it in a variety of ways. We use it for a follower of Christ, the religion they belong to, a behavior in keeping with the word of God, political parties and many other ways. As fine a word as it is, sometimes it can be quite useless. For example, Mormons, who believe that God was a man and that we, too, can earn god or goddess-hood, Jehovah’s Witnesses, who do not believe Jesus is God or died on the cross, and many others call themselves Christian. In fact, Social Scientists count them along with us. People who have never darkened the door of a church will count themselves as Christians, because they believe they are “good people.”

Yet we confess that we believe in the “one, holy, Christian and Apostolic Church.” For all the false claims and misleading uses of the word, we are proud to “belong to Christ.” After all, he loved us, set aside his glory, suffered and died for us, paying the price of our sins, rose again to break the seal of the grave for us and, in baptism, made us his own. So we fight for the term and gladly wear his name — the name the martyrs confessed and died to proclaim. Lord, may we follow in their train!

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. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Church Words: Apostolic

[Eighth in a series of posts on church words] Encore Post: “I believe in one Holy, Christian and Apostolic Church,” we confess when we recite the Nicene Creed in worship. Most Christians understand what we mean when we say, “one Holy, Christian..,” but what do we mean by Apostolic?

As you might suspect, the word comes from the word Apostle (Greek: ἀπόστολος, someone sent out, an ambassador). Jesus appointed twelve apostles. After the Ascension, the eleven surviving apostles appointed Matthias to take the place of Judas. Jesus appeared personally to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus to appoint him also as an apostle. We call the Church “Apostolic” because it is built upon the teaching of the disciples, which we have today in the books of the New Testament. So, to say the Church is Apostolic is to say that it is built upon the Bible — the foundation of the prophets and apostles, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone. (Ephesians 2:19-20)

The Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Anglican (Episcopal) traditions see it differently. For them, the phrase means that the Church is shepherded by the spiritual descendants of the apostles. This is called apostolic succession. When a pastor or bishop is ordained, the pastors present place their hands on the candidate and bless him. This ancient tradition confirms to all present that God has set aside the man to serve as a pastor. There is an unbroken line of pastors laying hands upon new pastors stretching back to the Apostles themselves.

Since the Scriptures do not teach this concept, Lutherans do not attach any sacramental value to ordination and this laying on of hands. We continue the practice, although we do not require the presence of a bishop to make the ordination valid. We find it to be a meaningful symbol of support from one generation of pastors to the next and a witness to the fact of the pastor’s call.

So, when we confess that the Church is Apostolic, we commit ourselves to the Holy Scripture. We pledge to believe, teach and confess what it proclaims to us. In doing so, we remain in fellowship with the whole church of all times and places..

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. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana