Soteriology – Page 3 – What Does This Mean?

To you is Born the Savior — the Lord Christ

Encore Post: Shepherds were hard-working everyday people. To some extent, they even looked down on a bit. If you were a king, you wouldn’t send a herald to them. And yet, that was exactly what God did. He sent his Angel — his messenger, — with an εὐαγγέλιον (evangelion — Gospel) to — of all people — shepherds.

Royal proclamations of Good News announced the victory over enemies, the birth of a royal heir, the beginning of the reign of a new king. Often the messenger is also a Legatus — an ambassador — with the authority of the ruler to set forth a big celebration. He could free captives, cancel debts, suspend taxes, sponsor games and the like. This Gospel is unlike any other. “Good news of great joy for all the people,” the angel announced the birth of God’s own son in David’s hometown of Bethlehem. He is the Lord Christ — who would save his people from their sins.

The Christmas gospel is very good news indeed. God the Father, our Savior, reveals his kindness and love of people in it. He sent Jesus, our Savior, to save us because of his mercy, not because of the good deeds we have done. Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit, our Savior, on us, who washed away our sins in Holy Baptism and regenerated our hearts. We are justified by the grace of the Holy Trinity, so that we may be made heirs of eternal life, being justified by his grace.

So, great joy comes to us at Christmas. Not only the song of a legion of angels, eager shepherds to rush to see the Savior and the mother who treasured it all in her heart. God has broken into our world and changed things forever. We have an inexpressible joy, for we know God keeps his promises. And so it is our hope is certain. Many blessings are awaiting us in Heaven, where Jesus is preparing a place for us. We have seen a great light and nothing can ever take that from us.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

O Emmanuel

Encore Post: O Emmanuel, our King and our Lord, the Anointed for the nations and their Savior, Come and save us, O Lord our God.

O Emmanuel, Rex et legisfer noster, expectatio gentium, et Salvator erum, veni ad salvandum nos, Domine Deus noster.

In most of the world’s religions, God is very far away. For some, he is the high god that made the world and left it to lesser gods and humans to manage as they can. In Eastern religious traditions, everything is god, a single being without differences. According to them, the problem is we think we’re individuals and weighed down by our bodies and material things. Deists of the enlightenment — like Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin — think of God as a craftsman — like a watchmaker — who made a fine watch — the world — wound it up and let it run as designed.

Over the last few years, we’ve caught glimpses of this in popular song. We’re told “the three men I admired most, The Father, Son, and The Holy Ghost, They took the last train for the coast.” (Don McLean, American Pie, Verse Six) and “God is watching us from a distance” (Bette Midler, From a Distance, Refrain). We’re asked, “What if God was one of us?” (Joan Osborne, One of Us, Chorus)

Our last antiphon reminds us that this is not true at all. A virgin conceived and bore a son — Emmanuel — God-with-Us. (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23). This child — Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), never left us. Instead, he left his throne and became one of us. He was in every way like us, except he did not sin. He lived a perfect life for us, suffered for us, bore our sins and died for us, rose from the dead to open the gate to heaven for us. He is with us whenever we gather to worship. He gives us his body with bread and his blood with wine for the forgiveness of sins. He will come again to bring us home before very long.

So, yes, God is one of us. “He’s by our side, with his good gifts and Spirit.” (Martin Luther, A Mighty Fortress, Stanza Four) So, come, Emmanuel, come!

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!

Lutheran Service Book, 357, Stanza One

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

O King of the Nations

Encore Post: O King of the Nations, the Ruler they long for, the Cornerstone uniting all people, Come and save us all, whom You formed out of clay.

O Rex gentium, et desideratus earum, lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unem, veni, et salva hominem, quem de limo formasti.

Everyone wants a hero king. A strong, powerful, attractive warrior, a leader who inspires loyalty. In our stories, myths and ballads, he is without flaw and brings peace through strength. Of course, this king is from our tribe! He conquers all and resolves all our disputes. The more arrogant of us think this king should be me !

There have been real kings that did most of these things. Alexander the Great unified the Western world. Augustus Caesar repeated the feat three hundred years later. There were Israel’s Kings David, Solomon and Hezekiah. Egypt had its Ramses and Cleopatra. England had Arthur and others. The problem with all of them, great as they were, is they were flawed — and made lots of enemies.

Isaiah prophesied the real King, the Messiah, would come to unite the nations. (Isaiah 2:2-5, Isaiah 9:6-7, Isaiah 60) The Messiah brings peace that lasts forever. He will prevail where mortal kings cannot because He is God and lays down his life for his people. He brings together all peoples as one because he removes the sin that divides them. He is the cornerstone on which the eternal, peaceable kingdom is built.

Our antiphon calls on him to come and save us. We are mortal and cannot save ourselves. He is eternal and is salvation itself. He has already come and made his people a kingdom of priests to serve for the sake of others. When he comes again, he will remove the darkness cast overs us and live with us forever.

Oh, come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!

Lutheran Service Book, 357, Stanza Seven

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Concordia Theological Seminary
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 to control access to the throne, so that royal time is not wasted on trivial things or matters not the focus of the King’s agenda. Isaiah announces God’s appointment of such an officer for King Hezekiah. He was the ancient 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, removes the chains of our sin and shame and provides 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

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

O Adonai, My Lord

Encore Post: O Adonai and Ruler of the House of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the burning bush and gave him the Law on Sinai, come with an outstretched arm and redeem us.

O Adonai, et dux domus Israel, qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi apparuisti, et ei in Sina legem dedisti, veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.

Moses was minding his own father-in-law’s business — his sheep — when he saw a bush on fire that did not burn up. When he went up to see what was happening, the Angel of the Lord (the pre-incarnate Son of God himself) spoke with him from the bush. He commissioned Moses to free the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt. Doing everything he could to avoid the subject, Moses asked for the Name of God. “I am who I am,” the Messiah replied. (Exodus 3) That name we pronounce Yahweh. It is spelled with four consonants in Hebrew — יהוה (YHWH) After the Babylonian exile, the Jewish people decided not to pronounce that name so it could not be taken in vain. Instead, they said, “Adonai” which means “my Lord.” Wherever the Angel of the Lord appears in the Old Testament, this name is given to him. He revealed God’s Law to Moses on this same spot after the Exodus.

Because the Messiah is God, there is nothing he cannot do. He loved his people Israel, so he sent Moses to free them. He displayed his power to free them with plagues and miracles, including the parting of the Red Sea. Later, the Scriptures would describe it as his outstretched arm.

The prayer calls on the Messiah to come and redeem us — which he did. This time the miracle was not raw power, but the power of God himself paying the price of our salvation — not with silver or gold, but with his own blood. He himself became the sacrifice of our sin, paying its price in full.

One day he will come again in glory, to redeem the world once and for all, defeating death, sin and the devil. On that day, his outstretched arm will restore all things and bring all to his throne. There all will confess Jesus Christ as Lord to the glory of God the Father.

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times didst give the Law
In cloud and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!
— Lutheran Service Book 357, Stanza Three

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Preparation for the Gospel: Judaism

Encore Post: When the Babylonians conquered Judah, destroyed the temple and the walls of Jerusalem, and carried off most of her people into exile, the people had a crisis of faith. How could they worship God without a temple where they could sacrifice? How could they relate to him at all? God sent prophets to help them work all this out. The result was the birth of a brand new religion — Judaism. A religion is a series of customs, duties, practices and rites that people do to serve their god or gods. It is a culture, really. God used Judaism as a place where true faith in him could be planted, nurtured and grow, even when there was no temple, sacrificial system and functioning priesthood to support it.

Judaism — especially the party of the Pharisees — was built on a devotion to the Torah. They read it, taught it and even vowed to practice traditions that kept them from ever violating the commandments it teaches. To prevent accidental violation of a particular commandment, the Rabbis taught you should follow a tradition stricter than the Law requires. So, for example, to avoid taking the name of the Lord in vain, they did not pronounce the name of God at all, but said Adonai — my Lord — instead. This practice is called “building a hedge around the Torah.”

During the exile, wherever ten men were available to worship (called a minyan), Jews would gather to pray on the Sabbath. These congregations became known by the Greek word “Synagogue” (“coming together”). When they built houses of prayer, these buildings became known as synagogues. By New Testament times, the worship service settled into a pattern of saying the Shema (“Hear, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one”), prayer, readings from the Torah and the prophets, a sermon and a benediction.

When Cyrus the Great ended the exile, not all Jews returned home. Some stayed in Babylon and Persia, others moved to Greece, Rome and other parts of the world. The Synagogue went with them, along with other aspects of Judaism. In these events, God prepared the world for the ministry of Jesus, the apostles, and especially the Apostle Paul.

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.

At Just the Right Time

Encore Post: Time is a funny thing. We use clocks that measure the vibrations of atoms, coordinated with telescopes to record its passage with great precision and consistency from place to place, transmit them to us via computers, satellites, radio, television and other digital signals and synchronize our clocks with them. We barely notice that time is a human thing — except on leap year or when we change our clocks twice a year or move from time zone to time zone.

Time is the way we record the change we notice more and more with each year of life. Time passes quickly. When you are a child, an hour drags on forever. As an adult, it passes before your realize it. What is important, our culture has noticed, is not time itself, but what you do with it. It has become our new currency. We sooner will write a check than hang out.

The Greek of the New Testament has two different words for time. καιρός (Chairos) translates roughly “the right time.” χρόνος (Chronos) is about the passage of time, minute after minute, hour after hour, year after year. Seasons like Advent, days like Christmas and New Years Day are χρόνος, times that we plan for, come and go, forming a part of the rhythm of life. That Christmas when you opened your first present is καιρός

The fullness of time when God sent his son, born of a virgin, is God’s καιρός (Galatians 4:4-5). His acts and plans unfolded slowly, one building on another, leading to just that right time. The next big καιρός is the Second Advent, when time itself will come to an end in God’s eternal life with his people.

The persons, events and institutions leading to that first right time, the incarnation, life, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension of Immanuel — God-with-us — were called by the Early Church the praeparatio Evangelii (The Preparation of the Gospel).

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Life Everlasting

Encore Post: Three words in the creeds go by quickly when we confess them — but we talk about them very little. The closest we come is when we think about what happens when we die or when we comfort each other at the death of a Christian loved one. “She’s in heaven now,” we say. Or “my baby is now an angel.” There are a lot of misconceptions packed into these thoughts. Perhaps the greatest of these is that things cannot get any better for them. But that is far from true. Things are very good indeed for them, for they are with Jesus and at rest from their labors. But the best is yet to come.

On a day we do not know, Jesus will return from heaven. He will bring an end to sin, suffering, grief and pain. He will raise them and us from the dead, reuniting their spirits with their bodies and transforming them to be like his. We will be reunited with them in the sky. After the last judgement, the real joy begins. It is so far beyond our comprehension that words cannot describe it. So God’s Word tells us bits and pieces, in symbol, metaphor and image. The bottom line: we will see Jesus and there can be no greater joy. God will have restored his creation to the state he intended from the very beginning. He will again call it “very good.”

The announcement in the Book of Revelation says it best:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” (Revelation 21:1-5)

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Church Word #7: Congregation

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!

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Blog Post Series

Church Words #2: Church Invisible, Visible, etc.

Encore Post: Jesus told Peter that he would “build [his] church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18) St. Paul described this church as ” one body and … you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call — one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6) In many other places and using many metaphors, Scripture is clear that there is only one Church, and that it lasts forever. Theologians call the church catholic (the Latin word for universal — that word is for yet another post!) Another term we use for this Church is the invisible Church. St. Augustine came up with the term because we really do not know absolutely for sure who is a Christian and who is not. Only God, who can see what is in a person’s heart, knows that. Martin Luther puts it this way: “these two belong together, faith and God. That now, I say, upon which you set your heart and put your trust, is properly your god. ” (Large Catechism 1.1.3)

Yet the church does not look like it is one at all. ” Tho’ with a scornful wonder, men see her sore oppressed, by schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed ” (The Church’s One Foundation, Stanza 3) There are thousands of denominations, theological positions, opposing camps. There are evil people who pretend to be holy in their midst. There are religions that pretend to be Christian, but in truth, are far from it. And in the hearts of every Christian living in this world, sin itself still lives and pollutes hearts and minds. We’ve met the enemy — and it is us. This is the church we can see. Theologians call it the visible church. In the visible church, both the save and the lost live together. We take people at their word when they say they believe, but there are many that are just acting. (ὑποκριτής = hypocrite = Greek word for actor)

Yet even in the visible church, signs of the true, invisible church can be seen. Where the Gospel is purely preached and the Sacraments rightly administered, there the true Church is at work. We call these the marks of the church. There Christ builds his church — on the rock of His Word and trust in it. Go where you hear his voice and you are at home — even on earth!

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

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