Ecclesiology – Page 4 – What Does This Mean?

Pentecost

[Ninety-Seventh in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: The Feast of Pentecost is the Greek name (πεντηκοστή) for the Jewish Feast of Weeks (Shavuoth, in Hebrew שָׁבוּעֹות ). The day celebrated the harvest of the barley crop and the planting of the wheat crop in Israel. This thanksgiving day was established by God on the fiftieth day after Passover and was one of three that the Torah commanded Jews to celebrate in Jerusalem if at all possible. In the days following Jesus’ ascension into heaven, the city was still crowded with Jews from around the world, who stayed after Passover to celebrate this feast as well in the Holy City.

The Christian Church remembers the day as a kind of birthday of the Church. On this day, God poured out the Holy Spirit on the whole church and not just the prophets he called to proclaim his word.

Both the Hebrew and Greek words for spirit mean “wind.” The Holy Spirit, or Holy Wind, hovered over the chaos before God created the heavens and the earth. During the Exodus, the Holy Spirit appeared visibly as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. When Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit settled into the Holy of Holies in the form of a cloud. When the Prophet Elijah fled to Mount Sinai, God sent a mighty wind, an earthquake, and a fire to get his attention. On Pentecost, the wind got the attention of the crowd, and the wind and tongues of fire witnessed to the presence of the Holy Spirit.

The pouring out of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost fulfilled prophecy in the Old Testament (Joel 2:28-32), by John the Baptist (Matthew 3:11), and by Jesus (Acts 1:5). By baptizing his people with the Holy Spirit, Jesus gave them the power to witness to God’s love. He provided them with a counselor to lead and guide them. Just like the prophets of the Old Testament, every one of God’s children now can proclaim His praises to everyone.

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

Matthias the Twelfth Apostle

[Ninety-sixth in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: After Jesus ascended into Heaven, St. Peter gathered the eleven Apostles and others. The betrayal of Jesus by Judas and his suicide left a vacancy among them. The number twelve was important. After all, there were twelve tribes of Israel. In Biblical numerology, the number stands for the whole people of God. When Jesus established the church, the number twelve came to stand for the church. They chose two men as candidates who had been with them from the very beginning and thus witnessed everything Jesus said and did — including the resurrection and ascension. They prayed and chose Matthias by lot.

We know little about Matthias. He appears only once in the Bible and that is in the first chapter of Acts. We know he was a disciple of Jesus from the time that he was baptized by John until the Ascension. He was probably one of the seventy men Jesus sent out two by two to preach the coming of God’s kingdom. All the disciples respected him enough to pick him as one of two men to take Judas’ place as an Apostle. We do not even know what happened to him later. Church tradition has stories: he went to Northern Turkey and set up the church there, or to Ethiopia or that he died in Jerusalem.

We might think that he and other little known Apostles really were not important. Yet God used them to build his church. No one is too small or unimportant in God’s eyes. He has a plan for everyone’s life and uses whatever they do to serve him and to take care of people. Even children can do important things for God, no matter how little those things seem.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Jesus Loves the Little Children

[Seventy-sixth in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: In the ancient world, most children died before their 18th birthday. 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 do not understand abstract thought and so would look 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 this is likely not the case with 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

The Great Library of Alexandria

Encore Post: Ptolemy I, one of Alexander the Great’s generals, claimed the throne of Egypt and painted a layer of Greek culture over the top of Pharaonic Egypt. He claimed he was a true pharaoh, which also his heirs did. He assumed the gods, trappings, and some customs of ancient Egypt. His dynasty lasted until the death of his descendant, Cleopatra, and the Roman conquest of Egypt.

His son, Ptolemy II Philadelphus, enriched the capital of Alexandria, building the two great wonders of the world — the lighthouse of Pharos, which guided navigation on the Mediterranean Sea for nearly 100 miles until its destruction in the 14th Century, and the Ancient Library of Alexandria. He became an aggressive collector of books, including the searching of incoming ships. Copies of these books were made, and the copy was given to the owner. The originals ended up in the Library of Alexandria. According to tradition, Ptolemy II commissioned the translation of the Old Testament into Greek. Known as the Septuagint and abbreviated LXX, this translation was quoted by the writers of the New Testament when they mentioned the Old Testament.

The Ptolemies were defenders of the Jewish people. As a result, the largest Jewish population outside of Israel settled in Alexandria. One of these Jews, Philo of Alexandria, became the most prominent philosopher of Judaism in ancient times.

God prepared the way for His Son when He installed the Ptolemies. They provided a home for his people where they could be safe, learn Greek culture, and be introduced to the Scriptures. With the translation of the Septuagint, he provided the Apostles with a tool accessible to the pagan world around them, where the church grew and thrived.

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

Note: This series of blog posts is available as a Kindle book and eventually as a print booklet at: Amazon.com: Preparation for the Gospel. Please note the author makes a small profit on the sale of this book.

Alexander the Great

Encore Post: Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia, one of the greatest generals in history, reigned in Macedonia and Greece beginning in 336 B.C. and reigned until 323 B.C. He conquered Greece, Persia, Egypt, and Palestine. As a student of Aristotle, he had a vision of extending the Greek language and culture throughout his lands and merging the peoples of his empire into a unified nation. At his death, the vision of a single empire died, but three large kingdoms, ruled by his generals and their heirs, emerged and established Greek culture throughout the Western world.

In 277 B.C., after years of civil war, the empire was divided into three hereditary kingdoms: one under Ptolemy in Egypt, Macedonia and Greece under Antigonus II, and the Seleucid Empire in Syria, Palestine, and Asia. These kingdoms shared the same language, Koine (Common) Greek, the same culture, philosophy, love of learning, and a similar appreciation for sports. Even the up-and-coming Roman Republic, which came early to absorb Greek colonies in southern Italy, came to appreciate much of Greek culture and to use common Greek to communicate with other nations.

God used Alexander and the Greeks, then, to prepare the way for the birth of his Son. Jesus may have taught in Greek and communicated in Greek. The New Testament was written in that language, and it used the Greek translation of the Old Testament when quoting Scripture. Paul also employed this language and its common culture to share the Good News of salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Because of this common culture, the disciples of Jesus established the church throughout the entire Roman world within one generation.

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 Emertitus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Happy birthday, Lutheran Church!

Encore Post: Most people think of October 31st, 1517 as the date 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, Luther on this day 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 first begin to recognize Luther’s complete theology in his writings in 1520. 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 sign 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 by Lutheran territories and theologians. It became the standard for what we believe and confess and 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

Half Time in the Church Year

Encore Post: As a liturgical church, the Lutheran Church organizes its worship life around a calendar of themes, readings from Scripture, worship services, practices, symbols and prayers known as the church year. 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 a life 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, changes from a list geared to the place of the reading in the season (nth Sunday in Lent, etc.) to its position on the 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.

What this means is that a bit of variety is always a 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@gmail.com

Church and State Relations

The State, as we learned, is to wield the sword and keep rampant evil and sin at bay. The Church is given to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.

So, how do we citizens of the State and the Church fit into both categories? What ought we be doing? The answer, I believe, comes through vocation.

One vocation that we all have is being citizen of the State. This vocation is informed by the many others we have, as well as the Word of God, especially the vocation that comes from being baptized into Christ. Each vocation places duties on us, and the Small Catechism gives us a small picture into some of those duties. Peter in his first letter reminds us to honor all, even the Emperor.

Christ our Lord says in the Gospel of John, be in the world but not of the world. And Paul also reminds us that our citizenship truly lies in heaven. But we aren’t in heaven yet, but we live in that hope. We are here in the world to serve our neighbor through our various vocations, and that includes the State and our government leaders. The Church is in the unique position to inform the State of God’s law and gospel.

We are even given the command that when the state compels us by law to do something against the Lord’s will, we are to obey God rather than men. The Church has a voice in the public sphere, particularly to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. How else will the citizens of the state receive the grace of God? Certainly, they will not see that grace from the State. That is not the State’s job or purpose.

What do we do as citizens of the State? We desire peace and prosperity. We pray for our government leaders in our worship services, even those we don’t agree with politically. We pray that the Lord God use them to fulfill their vocation as leaders and give us a peaceful and quiet life that allows us to worship our God and Savior Jesus Christ without fear.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp

Christ Lutheran Church

Noblesville, Indiana