If it is God’s Will….

Encore Post: Why does God want us to pray for his will to be done? After all, God can do anything he wants to do. When he speaks, it is done. He loves us, cares for us and wants only good for us. He promises to answer our prayer. Yet Jesus tells us to pray, “thy will be done.”

As with other aspects of God’s nature, the limits of our nature make the mystery of God’s will impossible to understand fully. God’s will will be done eventually, but in this world it is often not done. We can choose to do things our own way. With the world we often rebel against it. We sometimes do not understand why he allows evil to happen to us. Sometimes we do not even know what God wants us to do.

So, when we ask God for something that he does not promise to do unconditionally, we often pray “if it is your will.” this kind of prayer helps us to accept what God wants for us and trust it will be for our good. In that we have good company. Jesus himself prays that way in the Garden of Gethsemane. (Matthew 26:42). Because he made the Father’s will his own, his sacrifice saved us. Now we pray that God will make his will our own will.

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

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©2018 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

Why Pray for God to Make His Name Holy….

Encore Post: When you think about it, the first request we make in the Lord’s Prayer sounds strange. Maybe it is the old English “hallowed be thy name.” in modern English, we pray to God to make his name holy. To be holy means to set aside, to dedicate for one Godly purpose. By definition, God’s name is holy.

In our sinful world, however, God’s name is often used as cover for other agendas. When preachers stray from God’s word and teach their own ideas as if they were God’s word, they plant confusion and make God seem something he is not. So, for example, when preachers say that all you have to do to become rich is to believe and give money to that preacher, they make God into a vending machine. False religions of all sorts lead people to trust themselves and false gods rather that the God who loves them. This makes God’s name into something you can’t trust — like every other name. It is no longer holy.

So we pray that God will send faithful pastors, bless the preaching of the gospel so that the lost might be saved and we be made by the Holy Spirit to live according to his Word. We can be confident he will do this. After all, he asked us to pray for this.

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

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©2018 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

Dear Children and their Dear Father

Encore Post: There is nothing subtle about little children. When loved ones come home after being away, they scream, “Daddy!” “Grandpa!” “Mommy!” “Grandma” and dash across the room to hug them. They have plenty to say, are ready to play and enjoy being with them. Martin Luther in the Small Catechism compares prayer to a child who comes to talk to his father. (Small Catechism, Lord’s Prayer, 3.1) God wants us to come to him and to ask for anything, knowing that he loves us, cares for us, wants the best for us and will answer our prayer.

In many religions, prayer is more about getting what you want from a god, an ancestor, a spirit or some other supernatural being. It is often filled with attempts to manipulate the deity and receiving the desired result. These spirits are distant, not so interested in us or fearful beings. Like the Wizard of Oz, you just don’t get near them.

Not so with our Heavenly Father. Prayer is more about our relationship with our Father, who loved us before he made the world, who made us and cares for us daily, who sent his Son to die for our sins and rise from death that we might live with him forever. He wants us to come with him, to share our lives with him and to see how he acts to provide for us. After all, Luther points out, God knows what we need before we pray. We pray so that he will be a part of our everyday lives.

In our culture, there is no problem with talking to God. It is when he talks back that they think we’re crazy. But God speaks through his word, through the events in our lives and other Christians. We see his love in what he has done and will do for us. So it is that we pray to him in many ways, from a short one-liner or making the sign of the cross, to praise of him in hymns, to the formal prayers of the divine service and other times we gather as a church to pray. When we do so, we grow closer to our father in heaven, who loves it when we come to him and share our lives with him.

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

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©2018 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

The Resurrection of the Body

Encore post: To the ancient Greek philosophers, and many people today, it is nonsense. (Acts 17:32) We all know what happens to the body after death.  We’ve seen it on T.V. In crime shows and in horror films. Some families have the bodies of their loved ones cremated. It decays and eventually turns to dust, just as God promised Adam. (Genesis 3:19)

Yet God clearly promises this wonderful miracle. While we cannot understand how this can be true, we know that God, who is almighty and who created us and whole world, can do whatever he wants to do. (Matthew 22:23-33) The resurrection of the body is the bottom line for the Christian hope. Because Christ rose from the dead, we will rise from our graves on the last day. (1 Corinthians 15:12-58)

The resurrection teaches us a few very important things. First, the body matters. The way we talk about the death of a loved one makes it sounds like only our spirit matters. Yet God did not make us to be spirits only, but both body and spirit. Death unnaturally separates the two. But on the last day, when death is defeated, we will be restored and our bodies glorified like that of Jesus. Job’s prophecy will come true for him — and for us. (Job 19:25-27) Our bodies are good, even if the evils of this world mar them. We can accept ourselves the way he made us.

We also can live life in hope of the next. We do grieve when death separates us from loved ones. But we will see them again, quicker than we suppose. We can face down the demands of an evil world, knowing it is temporary and life eternal awaits. Best of all, we will live forever with him who bought us, shed his own blood for us and broke the power of sin and death over us.  He is with us always, today and forever.

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

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©2018 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

The Forgiveness of Sins


Encore Post: King David was a prime example of someone who needed forgiveness. In one episode, he managed to shirk his duty as a commander, lust after his neighbor’s wife, use his power to rape or commit adultery with her, lie to her husband, send him on a suicide mission to murder him then marry Bathsheba to cover it up. He sinned against everyone it seems. Yet it is to God he goes for forgiveness. In the end, all sins are rebellion against God. (2 Samuel 11:1-12:25 and Psalm 51)

Forgiveness is hard to come by in this world. When we are hurt, we want to return that hurt in kind. Eastern religions like Hinduism and Buddhism have no forgiveness — you pay back the bad Karma you give with suffering in this life or nearly endless reincarnations. Mormon must cease sinning to pay for forgiveness and progress towards godhood. Pagan religions require a suitable sacrifice to an appropriate spirit.

Christianity is different. We have a loving and merciful God, who in Jesus died to pay for our forgiveness and through the Holy Spirit gives faith, the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. The Spirit chooses to use his Church to bring this forgiveness to all.  In the Church, the Gospel is preached, God adopts his children through baptism,  Jesus gives his body and blood for the forgiveness of sins and he hears our confessions and absolves us of our sins by pastors he sends to do so.

So, then, the Church is not a country club, a place where only good people need apply. It is a hospital, where we who are sick can get well, taking the only medicine that can make us well. We are, after all, beggars telling other beggars where they can find bread.

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

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©2018 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

The Marks of the Church

Encore Post: The word “Church” is used in many ways by Christians. We call our buildings churches. We name our local gatherings of Christians churches. We talk about national organizations of Christian believers, congregations, colleges and seminaries churches. We even call worship services church — in a way. Strictly speaking, the Church is all those who have faith in Christ. Even though only God knows for sure who is a Christian or who is not, the public confession of Christians and their good works reveal them to us and to the world. The same thing is true for the Church as a whole. When the Gospel is preached and the sacraments are offered, there you will find the visible Church. So, these things are called the marks of the Church.

The Means of Grace are the instruments that the Holy Spirit uses to call people to faith in Christ and to strengthen and maintain that faith. He places these gifts into the hands of the church and the pastors he calls to shepherd them. They are the masks God wears to seek and to save the lost. He calls them together to receive these gifts, to encourage each other and to thank and praise him. This divine service is what we often call worship.

The church in this sense is also called the church militant — the fighting church — because it is at war with the World, the devil and his forces and our sinful desires. These earthly organizations formed by members of the Church are plagued by the same things individual Christian are. The sinful self of its members mean that congregations also sin, are persecuted by the world, tempted by the devil and suffer along with the Christians who form them. Unbelievers may also belong to them, all the while deceiving themselves and others, behaving like any other Christian.

Yet, as flawed as they are, God loves his people and choses to use them to proclaim his Gospel, create faith, forgive sins and bring the lost home. After all, the Lord of the Church, her Good Shepherd, laid down his life for them. And the day will come when he will return to bring his bride, the church, home to enjoy the marriage feast which has no end.

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

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©2018 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

Enlightened with His Gifts

Encore Post: Everyone loves receiving gifts. They show us that we are appreciated and that someone was thinking about us. This is true even when it comes from someone you love. Of course a young woman loves to receive an engagement ring. It not only shows her that her boyfriend cares about her, but it carries with it a promise. The day soon will come when he will make her his bride. It is filled with visions of a happy life, children and the hope that she will not be alone as long as they both live. It is likely the ring is not the first gift that she received from him or gave to him. And it will not be the last. Yet she would never consider returning a gift from her beloved. Each new gift comes with the same reminded that she is loved.

God the Holy Spirit gives to us many gifts. The Means of Grace are the most precious of them. While they are simple in form — written words on a page or said by a man, water poured on your head, bread and wine eaten with other very ordinary people — they are precious gifts. All of them come with the power of the Holy Spirit to create faith in our hearts, make a new Adam or Eve within us who loves God and wants to serve him and gives us the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. In the waters of baptism, we are adopted as God’s children. With the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper, with eat the body of our Lord broken on the cross to pay for our sins and drink the blood of the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. In Absolution, we hear the words of Jesus that our sins are forgiven in the voice of the one sent to say them to us.

These are gifts that produce more gifts. love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These gifts serve God and our neighbors and testify that God is indeed good. (Galatians 5:22-23)

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

 Blog Post Series

©2018 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

Called by the Gospel

Encore Post: God’s grace knows no limit. He loves us so much that all three persons work for our salvation. The Father chose us to be his before the world was made. He sent the Son to die for us. The Son became a flesh-and-blood man, lived a perfect life for us, suffered and died to pay the price for our sins and rose from the dead so that we might rise to live forever.

The Holy Spirit makes us holy — sanctifies us. In theology, we use the word sanctification in two ways. The first is everything the Spirit does from placing faith in our hearts to maintaining it to the day of our death. The second way we use it is for everything the Spirit does after he saves us. Martin Luther describes the first definition in this way: “the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and kept me in the one, true Faith…” (Small Catechism, Creed, 2.3)

The Holy Spirit calls us through the preaching of God’s Word.(2 Thessalonians 2:13-14) He inspired Moses, David, the prophets, evangelists, apostles and the other human authors of the Scriptures to record his words. In the Word of God we find the law, which condemns us all as sinners, worthy of eternal death, and the gospel, which reveals that God is gracious to us for the sake of Jesus’ death on the cross and will forgive all those who believe this. This gospel is preached to us by those God sends to do so, read in the Bible and when put together with water in Baptism. In this way the Holy Spirit calls us to faith in Jesus. (Romans 10:14-17, Titus 3:5-7)

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

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©2018 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

Little Sheep that Hear the Voice of Their Shepherd

Encore Post: God the Holy Spirit gives no end of blessings to God’s people. When he calls us by the Gospel and creates faith in our hearts, we hear the voice of our Shepherd. We will live with him forever. What else can he give us, we think.

And yet, there is more. He calls us to be a member of his church. The Greek word for church is  ἐκκλησία (ekklesia) which means literally “to call out, to call up.” Greeks used it for a city council or a militia unit. The Greek translation of the Old Testament (Septuagint, LXX) used it for the gathering of God’s people. Jesus, the Gospel authors and St. Paul used it in this way. Martin Luther defined in the Smalcald Articles 10.2: “For, thank God, a child seven years old knows what the Church is, namely, the holy believers and lambs who hear the voice of their Shepherd.”

The Holy Spirit calls, gathers and enlightens the whole church, into which he places us. But this church is not limited to our local congregation. It is catholic — a Latin word that means universal. All people who believe in Jesus Christ are a part of this Church. It includes people of all nations, races, places and situations. It also includes the Church Triumphant, Christians who have died in the faith and whose spirits now live with Christ. It is eternal and cannot be destroyed. This Church is one and cannot be divided.

It is also invisible. Since the faith that makes us a member of the Church dwells in our hearts, only God knows who belongs in it. Yet it is very real. It means that we are never alone. Not only is Jesus with us always– not only does the Holy Spirit dwell in our hearts, we have our brothers and sisters to be with us, pray with and for us and to share our burdens with us. And one day, they will be with us before the throne of God, praising God forever for his grace and mercy.

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©2018 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

The Judge of the Living and the Dead

Encore Post: Every action movie, adventure novel or cartoon has a version of the same plot. A dark cloud comes over people. A sinister force imposes its will upon everyone, enslaving them and bringing misery to all. A hero arises and with great struggle defeats the evil swarm and brings justice to them. Everyone lives forever. The real world rarely turns out that way.

When evil people prosper, when sin, suffering, grief and death dominates, we pray for deliverance. Rarely does it come. In such situations, we long for Jesus to return to earth and finally set things right. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords is what we want. The beauty of that wish is that it will come true, some day, at the right time set by God’s own choosing.

On that day all the dead will rise from the grave and will be gathered before the Throne of God the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The books will be opened and everything that everyone has ever done be exposed for what it is. All evil will be judged and the books balanced. The catch — our deeds will be among them. And that is not pleasing at all.

The surprise comes when the verdict is announced. We, the very guilty will be pronounced “not guilty!” Why? Because the Great, Almighty King is the Lamb of God, who took away the sins of the world. Putting our guilt upon us, the Author of Life died to pay its penalty in full. We and those who cling to his promise of salvation in faith will live with him forever. By his death, he destroyed death and by his rising he opens the kingdom to all believers.

That day will resolve everything, not by defeating our enemies, but by destroying them. Then we really will live happily ever after forever and ever.

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

Blog Post Series

©2018 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