Law and Gospel – What Does This Mean?

Church Words: Congregation

[Seventh in a series of posts on church words]

Encore Post:

From the very beginning of the church, Christians gathered together to read scripture, sing the praises of God, hear their pastors preach, and celebrate the Lord’s Supper. This should not surprise us — Jews had been doing that for centuries, beginning sometime during the Babylonian Exile. Those gatherings became known in Greek as συναγωγή — Synagogues — meaning “to lead, gather together; assemble.” The New Testament calls these groups ἐκκλησία — churches — literally “called up” (to assemble). The Greeks used the word for civil assemblies and the calling up of militias. The word “Congregation” is the Latin translation of these words and means “to gather together.”

The church continued to worship after the pattern of the synagogue, with two exceptions — they met for worship on the Lord’s Day (Sunday), not the Sabbath (Saturday), because it was the day on which Christ rose from the dead. They also added readings from the Gospels and letters from the Apostles and other respected leaders. These are the books that would be very quickly (for the most part) recognized as Holy Scripture, along with the Old Testament.

For the first generation of Missouri Synod leaders, the distinction between the local congregation and the universal church was crucial. They used the German word Gemeinde only for a local church and the word Kirche for the universal church. They deliberately did not call their church body a church. They called it a Synode — a Synod.

Why were they so picky? Because most of the action in God’s kingdom is not done in Church Bodies, which get most of the press, but in the local congregation. They represent the universal Church, the invisible Church. On behalf of the Church, congregations baptize, teach the Word of God, celebrate the Lord’s Supper, use the Office of the Keys to forgive and retain sins, and extend God’s call to men to exercise the Office of the Holy Ministry and other church workers to support it. The work of synods is done as local congregations band together to do things no one can do alone.

Congregations are much more than social clubs or private charities. They are God’s kingdom on earth, proclaiming the gospel and giving his gifts to all. In them, the lost get to meet Jesus, and through the word preached by them, people are saved. So come! God is waiting to meet you — and we are too!

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: Lutheran

[Sixth in a series of posts on church words]

Encore Post:

“Why do you call yourself Lutheran? I prefer to call myself a Christian,” you will hear from time to time. In fact, Martin Luther agreed with them. Five hundred and four years ago, he wrote:

I ask that my name be left silent and people not call themselves Lutheran, but rather Christians. Who is Luther? The doctrine is not mine. I have been crucified for no one. St. Paul in 1 Cor. 3:4-5 would not suffer that the Christians should call themselves of Paul or of Peter, but Christian. How should I, a poor stinking bag of worms, become so that the children of Christ are named with my unholy name? It should not be dear friends. Let us extinguish all factious names and be called Christians whose doctrine we have.
Admonition Against Insurrection (1522)

In fact, the earliest Lutherans did not use the name for themselves — they preferred to be called “Evangelicals.” It was the reformer’s chief opponent, Johannes Eck, who coined the term “Lutheran” over five hundred years ago at the Leipzig Disputation. As you might expect, it was not a compliment! Eck meant to imply that Lutherans were not catholic but rather a heresy, like the ancient Gnostics or Arians. In fact, Martin Luther and his allies spent the next few decades arguing that the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith, for Christ’s sake alone, is the ancient teaching of the church from the very beginning.

So, how did Lutherans end up waving the white flag and embracing the name? Well, probably because just about every other name for them was adopted by others. The Reformed tradition also liked the words “Evangelical” and “Protestant.” So soon the two became easily confused. When the Kaiser of Prussia forced the two traditions to merge and called the resulting church “Evangelical,” Lutherans became insistent on using both: Evangelical Lutheran. There is also a sense of defiance when a group under fire adopts the term meant to deride them. It is how Americans and Yankees came to be called those names.

These days, Lutherans use the term with pride to refer to the doctrine it represents. Lutherans believe, teach, and confess those teachings spelled out in the Book of Concord, especially that of the saving Gospel of salvation by grace through faith. It is also truth in advertising. It is just a wee bit deceptive, after all, to call yourself just the “X Community Church” or a bit arrogant to call yourself “The Christian Church.” So we stand with Luther, a sinner just like he was, beggars receiving salvation as a free gift of God’s love.

For a longer and more polished explanation, see the article “Concerning the Name Lutheran” by C. F. W. Walther, first published in the first issues of his magazine Der Lutheraner (Concerning the Name Lutheran – Concordia Theological Seminary’s Media Hub)

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: Evangelical

[Fifth in a series of posts on church words] Encore Post:

The phrase “Evangelical Lutheran” may sound strange to your ears. When you think of the word “Evangelical,” you think of Baptists, revivals, altar calls, accepting Jesus as your personal Savior, the rapture, and many similar notions, measures, and cultural traditions. Like F. C. D. Wyneken, you might think: “I don’t know whether it is of God or the Devil, but it is certainly not Lutheran!” You’d be right! This kind of evangelicalism is not Lutheran at all.

You might be surprised that Lutherans actually coined the word “Evangelical.” It comes from the New Testament Greek word: εὐαγγελίον (euangelion, evangel). It means “good message, good news” — the gospel! At first, Lutherans did not call themselves “Lutheran” at all. Their enemies made that term up to suggest that Lutherans were not catholic or orthodox, but were heretics. Lutherans wanted to be known as gospel-oriented. Their faith was founded on the teaching that salvation is by faith alone through the grace of God alone, for Christ’s sake alone. For centuries, they preferred to be called Evangelical — and until the 1800s, when someone in Europe used the name Evangelical, Evangelisch, they meant Lutheran.

Like the word “Protestant,” which also used to mean “Lutheran,” other non-Catholics really liked the sound of it. Many of them also cherish the gospel of salvation by the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross. They even like the phrase: “salvation by grace or faith alone.” So, even though they believe very different things from Lutherans, they call themselves Evangelical. Since there are far more Christians in this tradition than Lutherans, they are the ones who come to mind when people say “Evangelical.”

Unlike the word “Protestant,” however, Lutherans refuse to give up this word, because it summarizes what we believe so well. So, you will notice, we put the word in our church names, include it in our Baptism and Confirmation services, and at other times. For the Good News is that it is not God’s will that sinners like us perish forever. So in the person of Jesus Christ, our Lord, he set aside all his power and authority, was born a man in the womb of Mary, bore our sins on the cross, paid their price by his suffering and death and rose again so that our sins might be forgiven, we might rise on the last day from the grave and live with him forever. All that is packed into the simple word, “Evangelical.” So we use it proudly, but add the word “Lutheran” to keep from being confused with others.

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

What is Absolution?

Encore Post:

[Fifty-Seventh in a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]

Lutherans cherish absolution as a way that the forgiveness of sins won by Jesus on the cross is applied to Christians when they confess their sins. It is a form of preaching the Gospel that takes what God has promised to all who believe in him and announces it to specific individuals. All Christians may assure their brothers and sisters that their sins are forgiven, but ordinarily it is pastors who hear confessions of sin and pronounce forgiveness to specific individuals or congregations. This is done for the sake of good order and for the assurance of troubled souls that their sins are really forgiven. Pastors are men that God calls through a local congregation to preach the Gospel and administer the sacraments on their behalf and as an instrument of their Lord Jesus.

The form that Lutheran pastors use to absolve sins sounds odd to many Protestants and even offensive to some. Yet they do so at the command of Jesus, who instituted absolution and gave the church the power to forgive sins or retain them. (Matthew 18:18-20, John 20:21-23, 2 Corinthians 5:19-21) This power Jesus gives is called by theologians the Office of the Keys.

Confession and Absolution come in two forms: Private Confession and General Confession. Private Confession is available, especially when you commit a sin that you cannot shake, that Satan uses to accuse you, and that you feel God cannot possibly forgive. When he is ordained, a pastor promises before God that he will never reveal what is confessed to him — even to his wife. This seal of the confessional is absolute, unless the person who confesses the sin releases the pastor of the obligation. When you share the deepest of your sins, and the pastor forgives you, you can be at rest. Jesus promised you can believe this as if he himself spoke these words — because it is Jesus who is speaking through your pastor. (Luke 10:16)

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 Forgiveness of Sins

Encore Post:

[Thirty-Seventh in a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]

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. Mormons 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 uses 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 through 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.

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 Holy Spirit seeks the Lost

Encore Post:

[Thirty-Third in a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]

Evangelicals are looking for seekers. These are people without Christ, who are looking for someone or something to fill the God-shaped hole in their hearts. Evangelicals believe that when they hear the gospel, they are won over by the preacher and accept Jesus as their savior. Or perhaps they responded to an altar call and prayed the sinner’s prayer. This decision theology holds that it is our decision that saves us. Lutherans believe they are mistaken. Why?

Because the Holy Scripture describes people without faith in Christ as dead in their sins, unable to accept the things of the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:1-3, 1 Corinthians 2:14) Nowhere in the Bible do we find a passage commanding us to accept Jesus as Savior. In fact, if you review in your mind all the Sunday school lessons about people God used in his plan to save us, you will discover that God came looking for them. They didn’t seek him. Faith is not accepting a series of facts as true or choosing to follow Jesus.

We are saved because God seeks and saves the lost. The Holy Spirit used the Gospel, shared by parents, friends, and loved ones with us, read in the pages of the Bible, and preached to us, and when we are baptized. He used it to create faith in our hearts that trusts in Jesus to save us. He calls us by the Gospel, enlightens us with his gifts, sanctifies and keeps us in the faith. We can be confident in our salvation because it depends on God, not on our own strength.

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

Remember that You Are Dust…

Encore Post: Ash Wednesday works like a kind of speed bump in the lives of Christians. After celebrating the birth of Jesus, hearing how God revealed himself in the person of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, and seeing him in his full glory on the Mount of Transfiguration, we’re tempted to bask in the glory of God’s grace and love. Yet still our stubborn Old Adam or Old Eve clings to us and threatens to take over our lives. Lest we forget, Lent comes to help us discipline ourselves, repent of our sin, and live life, trusting in God and his promises. Ash Wednesday greets us with the words God spoke to Adam — and to us — when imposing the curse that resulted from the first sin: “Remember that you are dust and to the dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:19)

This phrase is a part of the ancient discipline of remembering mortality. (Memento mori — “Remember death”) It is the conscious meditation on the cold, hard truth that all the pleasures and blessings of life are temporary and that death comes to all of us, often suddenly. Ash Wednesday calls on us to pause what we are doing and consider the damage our sin does in our lives, both now and eternally. The collect for the day sets the tone: “Almighty and everlasting God, You despise nothing You have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent. Create in us new and contrite hearts that lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness we may receive from You full pardon and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.”

Repentance is more than saying you’re sorry. The Greek word the New Testament uses for repentance is μετάνοια, which means “to completely change your mind.” It includes recognizing your sins, being sorry for them, and stopping doing them. All of this is only possible for Christians because it is the work of the Holy Spirit that makes us holy. Ash Wednesday wakes us up, reminds us how to use the disciplines of fasting, prayer, and meditation, and gives us the forgiveness of sins through confession, absolution, and the Lord’s Supper. It sets the tone for our forty-day meditation. It marks our sorrow with the ashes of the palms from the previous Palm Sunday and with the sign of the Holy Cross, reminding us of the redemption that is ours in the passion, death, and Resurrection of Jesus.

May God grant you a blessed meditation on the suffering and death of Jesus so that you will be well prepared to celebrate with joy the coming Easter celebration.

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 Season of Lent

Encore Post: “Mardi Gras” — “Fat Tuesday” or “Carnival” — “Farewell to meat” — are names given to the days full of parties just before Lent. In Christian countries, people celebrated these days, knowing that the beginning of Lent meant they would spend forty days fasting. By the time of the Reformation, Lent had become a somber season of self-denial, with repentance and meditation on the sufferings and death of Jesus dominating the everyday lives of Christians. In order to earn some merit before God, the serious believer would not only fast, but give alms to the poor, go on pilgrimages, and do anything they thought would please God.

This approach to Lent differs significantly from how it was understood in the Early Church. The season arose as a part of the process of becoming a Christian. A new convert to the faith spent forty days being taught the basic truths of God’s word, especially about the life, sufferings, and death of the Lord Jesus. Forty days is the symbolic period of testing, fasting, and discipline done to focus a believer’s mind on prayer and meditation on God’s word. Since the customary day for baptizing new Christians shifted from the day celebrating the Baptism of our Lord to the Vigil of Easter (Holy Saturday), catechumens (new Christians studying the faith) and their Catechists (teachers of the faith) would fast the forty weekdays prior to Easter each year. Since Sundays always celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus, they do not fast on Sundays. They found the practice to be a great blessing, and so the whole church soon began to fast with them. Ash Wednesday, therefore, begins Lent, which lasts until Holy Saturday.

Lutherans reformed the practice of Lent so that, rather than being a season of sorrow, it is a season of discipline. Beginning with repentance for sins on Ash Wednesday, it continues with quiet reflection on the basic teachings of the Christian faith. When the Church comes to Holy Week, it becomes a witness to the events of our salvation, leading us to Easter and the joy of our Lord’s resurrection, and to the promise of everlasting life it brings.

For the most part, we will use this Lent to discuss the basics of the faith, as Martin Luther explains them in the Small Catechism. May God bless you as you meditate and pray during this season of Lent.

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 Judge of the Living and the Dead

Encore Post:

[Thirty-second in a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]

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 dominate, 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, someday, 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 will 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 Himself, 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 will really live happily ever after.

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

Love

Encore Post: In American culture, love is everywhere. It is a constant theme of movies, TV programs, stories, songs, poetry, and even commercials! On Valentine’s Day especially, images of couples planning romantic moments are everywhere. At some point in the dating life of many lovers, men and women obsess over whether they should tell their dates that they love them.

But the English word love is more than that. We love our pets, our favorite food, good weather, our sports teams, our friends, freedom, and truth — just about everything. The Greek language of the New Testament uses several words to cover it all. φιλέω (phileo) is the love and affection between friends. ἔρος (Eros) is sexual love that is obsessed with another and is not satisfied until it gets what it wants. ἀγαπάω is a love that sacrifices for the good of the one it loves. (See 1 Corinthians 13) ἀγαπάω is the word the New Testament uses for God’s love and the love God wants us to show to him and our neighbors.

God loved us before he made the world. (Ephesians 1:4-5) He loved us so much that he sacrificed his only Son to save us. (John 3:16-17) Because he first loved us, we love him and want to please him. He commands us to love him and our neighbors. Jesus tells us that the whole of God’s law is to love God and our neighbors as ourselves. (Matthew 22:37-40) In a very real sense, our love is itself God’s gift to us. While our love in this world is not perfect, God’s love for us is perfect. It lasts forever and conquers even 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. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana