Your Pastors Already Know...

Your Pastors Already Know

Encore Post: The data is out there. The trends are known. We know before we go about our duties. We know who is likely to remain in the church. We know who is likely to return to the church. We already know.

Will the married couple remain in the church after their wedding in our building? Will the family bring their baptized child into the Lord’s house regularly? Will the catechumens remain in the church after they’re admitted to the altar? Will the new visitors become a permanent fixture here after transfer or conversion? Will the family, newly invigorated by the death of a closely related blessed saint of the Lord, lose their zeal or keep it? Will the children keep coming when the duties, passions, and hormones of adolescence drag them around wildly in their own minds?

Your pastors pray that the data is more dire than reality.

In each case, it boils down to habits and patterns.

Newlyweds: What is their family background? Was the couple from a similar upbringing? LCMS, regularly attending as a child and adolescent, and both parents bringing them to church? It’s the same way that similar ideas about money, number of children, and, chiefly, whether moms and dads were married and remain married, improve the chances of a successful marriage. The commonality of faith also improves the chances that these kids will be and remain in the church.

Your pastor will coach you on the difficulties you will face in the future when the odds are not stacked in your favor. Only in scarce circumstances will he refuse marriage. Success is always possible. But, for that to blossom, we have to be honest about the poor odds. Your pastor prays the Lord will deliver you from misfortune and strife, even the foreseeable kind.

Baptized child: What’s the deal with Mom and Dad? If they are or become regular attenders, the kids will probably follow suit. If they are not, their kids will still likely follow suit. Your pastor will often baptize a child whose future in the church is uncertain. He prays that foreseeable apostasy does not befall your house.

Catechumens, again, what’s the deal with Mom and Dad? Here, there’s more data readily available. Did y’all attend regularly before confirmation was on the horizon? If not, there’s a mighty high chance the catechumens will peter out quickly following confirmation.

Your pastors will desperately attempt to instill new habits in the kids. He’ll impose strict attendance standards or require seemingly endless piles of sermon reports. He’s seen parents drop children off for required church attendance, while driving off themselves. He’s grieved to know the child may be lost already. He prays he’s wrong, keeps up with his efforts, and prays the Holy Spirit defeats those odds. Rarely would he withhold confirmation.

Transfers/Converts/Those motivated by a close death: Where were you before? Are you returning to lifelong patterns of attendance at the Lord’s house? Or are these attempts to develop a new pattern? Those who attended before are more likely to attend again. Those who did not are not.

Adolescents: This group gets the most attention, the most ink spilled over them, and even individualistic ministerial attention. How often have you heard of a church with a minister of newlywed Christianization, baptismal life, catechetical instruction, or newly returned Christian life instruction? Prob’ly never. But, we’ve all seen churches with a youth minister or a youth ministry team.

Sadly, that’s also an example of the poor return on those efforts. Again, data indicates that strong youth programs don’t predict strong Christian adults from within them. Worse, when those programs look distinctively different from the churches from which they spring, they serve as an offramp directly out of the church. By the time the youth are at that age, the patterns are well-established. It will take an earth-moving effort by their father, dragging to the entire family to church, consistently to develop a new pattern. That effort has a chance. The youth group or activities are woefully unlikely to move the needle.

Can’t we beat the odds? Yes, we can. Your pastor prays you do. He preaches, teaches, and conducts himself towards you, assuming the data is wrong in your case.

As a body of believers, we have data to help direct our efforts. Children follow the patterns established by their fathers regarding church. As we discussed before, the data is stark in this regard. If we want baptized babies in church, children in church following along and learning, catechumens attending to the Lord’s house, youth who remain in or return to church, newlyweds who attend regularly and bring their babies to the font, we must have fathers to build those patterns into their children.

Your pastors already know. We pray every day that the data is wrong in your case.

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

Meet Wilhelm Löhe

Encore Post: 154 years ago, Wilhelm Löhe was the pastor of a small, rural parish in Neuendettelsau, Bavaria. He was a leader in Germany’s then-new Confessionalist movement. Because of this role, he always had a strained relationship with the leaders of his church body and so was kept out of the way — or so they thought.

Löhe was a man of boundless energy, persuasive when advocating a cause, and highly skilled at marshaling talent and funds to accomplish a goal. In 1842, he read Friedrich Wyneken‘s appeals for the spiritual need of German Lutherans on the American frontier and his stirring plea for pastors. Löhe published his own appeal. He arranged to meet Wyneken to publish a polished version of the missionary’s appeal, titled Die Noth der deutschen Lutheraner in Nordamerika (The Need of the German Lutherans in North America). These appeals caused donations to flow in, and soon, second-career men volunteered to meet the need.

But Loha was just getting started. With his friend Johann Friedrich Wucherer, he provided a basic education to second-career men who volunteered to go to America. Soon they founded a mission society, raised funds, wrote manuals, instructions, and churchly books. He at first sent these men and donations to the Ohio Synod’s seminary in Columbus, Ohio. When cultural and theological differences made that no longer possible, he worked with Wilhelm Sihler, pastor at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of Fort Wayne, Indiana, to found a “practical seminary” — an institution focused on providing pastors for the church as quickly as possible. In October 1846, this institution opened in his parsonage. This institution is now known as Concordia Theological Seminary — but that is another story!

Wilhelm Löhe, his friends, and his small parish were just getting started, though. Seeing the suffering of the poor, the ill, the widowed, and the orphaned, he revived the office of deaconess. He also sent men and material to the Wartburg Seminary and its church body, the Iowa Synod (now a part of the ELCA), to Australia, the German colonists of Russia, and other places. To provide a Christian witness to native Americans, he organized and founded Frankenmuth, Michigan, and neighboring communities. His liturgies and worship books became the foundation of the Missouri Synod’s liturgy.

At the age of 63, Wilhelm Löhe died still serving as the pastor of his rural parish on January 2, 1872. He is buried where he served. His institutions still continue to this day, serving God and his church worldwide.

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

O Key of David

Encore Post: O Key of David, and Scepter of the House of Israel, You open and no one can close, You close and no one can open. Come and rescue the prisoners who are in darkness and the shadow of death.

O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel, qui aperis, et nemo claudit; claudis, et nemo aperit, veni et educ vinctum de domo carceris, sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

Even in monarchies, kings cannot rule by themselves. They need quite a few officials to carry out their will and control access to the throne, so that royal time is not wasted on trivial matters or those not on the King’s agenda. Isaiah announces God’s appointment of such an officer for King Hezekiah. He was the former Chief of Staff. The symbol of his authority was the Key of David, so that he would open doors no one could close and close doors no one could open. (Isaiah 22:22)

In the letters to the seven churches of Asia in the Book of Revelation, Jesus announces he has the Key of David and opens the door to the Kingdom of Heaven, which no one can shut. (Revelation 3:7) Many try to place burdens on God’s people, restrict those who can come to the Father, and block the way to Heaven.

But Jesus is the Key of David, who opened the kingdom of Heaven by his sacrificial death and by breaking the seal of the grave when he rose from the dead. For those who believe in him, heaven is always open and is never shut. He removes the sin that blocks our way and bars the door to hell forever.

Now, through pastors whom he sends to his people, the keys to open heaven unlock doors for us, remove the chains of our sin and shame, and provide bread and drink for the journey — His holy body and his precious blood. These sustain us until we arrive home at last and enter its open door forever.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heav’nly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!

Lutheran Service Book, 357, Stanza Five

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
Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, Indiana

The Real Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra

Encore Post: Christmas in America doesn’t seem possible without Santa Claus. In an image first drawn by Thomas Nast for Harper’s Weekly in 1863 and shaped to his current form by Haddon Sundblum for a Coca-Cola advertising campaign, the jolly Saint Nick is said to live at the North Pole, making toys for children to give on Christmas Eve. Our Santa’s legend has grown from the Dutch form of the Father Christmas story, where candies were distributed on December 6. Through poems, songs, and TV specials, the story continues to change each year. Many Americans tell their children that Christmas gifts come from him.

Yet the image did begin with the story of a real St. Nicholas, a Greek bishop who cared for God’s people during the most intense persecution of the Church before the 20th Century. Nicholas was born to wealthy Christian parents, who died during his early manhood. Nicholas followed his uncle into the priesthood and was chosen Bishop of Myra, a town in what is now Turkey. His legend says he gave away his parents’ wealth to the poor, but, being a humble man, he did so secretly. One story tells of a father who lost his wealth during a tragedy. Unable to afford a dowry for his three daughters, he feared he would have to sell them as slaves or hire them as prostitutes. Upon hearing the story, Bishop Nicholas resolved to help. On two successive nights, he slipped a bag of gold through the girls’ window. In the morning, the father was greatly thankful to his mystery patron. So he watched on the third night for the donor to appear. Unmasking Nicholas, the saint apparently begged him, unsuccessfully, to keep his generosity a secret. The girls, now each with a generous dowry, were married successfully and escaped a depressing fate. From this story, the Dutch legend of Sinterklaas developed, who is said to give children gifts on December 6. This story came across the Atlantic during the colonization of New Amsterdam (New York).

During the Great Persecution under Emperor Diocletian of Rome, Nicholas was thrown into prison and tortured in an attempt to get him to renounce his faith. Remaining faithful to Christ, he was released by Emperor Constantine the Great. One legend places Bishop Nicholas at the Council of Nicea, where he is said to have slapped Arius the heretic and to have temporarily lost his office for the incident. Restored to office, he stood up for his people, battled idolatry and heresy, and intervened with authorities from time to time to protect his flock and the poor in general.

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

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

Elijah’s Mantle on Elisha Cast

[Thirty-First in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: Elijah knew his ministry was nearing the end. At Mount Sinai, he complained to God that all his ministry, including fire called from heaven, was useless. He believed he was alone. God showed his prophet his glory in wind, earthquake, and fire. As Moses did in the same place, Elijah hid his eyes from the glory of God — this time with his cloak, the symbol of his call as a prophet. Yet even after seeing the glory of God, Elijah was unmoved. So, in a quiet voice, God told his faithful prophet he was far from alone. To Elijah, he gave a final commission: to appoint his successors.

God sent Elijah to call Elisha to be his successor. Their names sound very close in English, but are very different in Hebrew. Elijah means, “Yahweh is God.” Elisha means, “God saves.” Elisha’s name is very close to Joshua’s name. Joshua means, “Yahweh saves.” Elijah threw his cloak over Elisha, who did not miss the meaning of that gesture.

When it was time for Elijah to go, he and Elisha went to Gilgal. There, the people of Israel had first camped when they came into the promised land, were circumcised as God’s people, celebrated the Passover, saw the end of the coming of Manna, and the departure of the pillar of fire by night and cloud by day. There, the Angel of the Lord commissioned Joshua. Then they went to Bethel, where Jacob had dreamed of the angels coming and going from heaven. Finally, they went to Jericho, where Joshua struck the first blow against the gods of Canaan.

When the two prophets arrived at the Jordan River, Elijah rolled up the cloak into a staff like Moses’. He struck the river, and it parted — just as it did in the same place for Joshua. Like Moses, Elijah would depart this world from just outside the promised land. As the chariot of fire carried Elijah into heaven in a whirlwind, Elisha caught his cloak. The new prophet struck the Jordan with it, and it parted. God had made Elisha the heir of Elijah’s ministry.

Nearly two thousand years later, Moses and Elijah met with Jesus as those he would send watched. The new Joshua (Jesus’ name is the Greek form of Joshua’s name) would suffer, die and rise again to defeat sin, death and the power of the devil. Rising from the dead, he breathed the Holy Spirit on his appointed prophets. From generation to generation, one generation’s prophets have laid their hands upon those who would take up their stoles after them. God of the prophets, bless the prophets’ sons, Elijah’s mantle on Elisha cast. Make each one nobler, stronger than the last.

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: 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 to be 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) and 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. In 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 are 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

Vocations: Working out from Ground Zero

[Sixty-Ninth in a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]Encore Post: In Holy Baptism we are made God’s child. This is perhaps the greatest and most wonderful vocation into which we are placed. Let’s call baptism ground zero for vocations. Moving from ground zero, there are other vocations that are built into the kingdom of God. The vocation or calling of a pastor comes to mind.

In the Old Testament God commanded the men of the tribe of Levi to serve in his tabernacle and later temple as priests and the specific men who would do the bulk of the public preaching and teaching concerning the Lord and his wonderful works of salvation, like the Exodus events of the Passover Lamb and Red Sea.

In the New Testament, no longer is it about tribal blood lines. Jesus calls 12 men to be his disciples and we are not really told much about their tribal relationships. The original 12 disciples who were with Jesus from the beginning of his ministry from his baptism to his ascension into heaven were then sent to proclaim their testimony concerning what they had seen. They were to proclaim the salvation won for us by Jesus Christ’s life, death, resurrection and ascension. They did this publicly. Paul was a late comer but chosen by the risen Christ, Himself to be the voice to the Gentiles.

Jesus called these 12 apostles to preach and to proclaim the saving Gospel. They also wrote letters and the Gospels that are in our Bible, as John so aptly puts it, “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and have life in His Name.” Today’s pastors are placed into a very related office of the apostles. Pastors are called to preach the Word, as it has been handed down by the apostles in Scripture. For by this preaching of Jesus’ salvific work, faith is created in the hearer. Baptisms are administered. The Lord’s Body and Blood is given to the body of believers. The baptized child of God is then ministered to by the next vocation in the line.

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. Jacob Hercamp
Christ Lutheran Church
Noblesville, 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 the preaching of the Gospel, which 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 the confession of sins and pronounce the forgiveness of sins 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 a 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 comes 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