[Twenty-Ninth in a series of posts on church words]
Encore Post:
When you talk to people about what they believe, you hear a bunch of ideas that sometimes do not seem to fit together. More often than not, they tell you more about what they do and not why they do it. A Roman Catholic might tell you they go to Mass every Sunday and do not eat meat on Fridays. A Seventh-day Adventist might tell you they go to church on Saturday, or a Muslim might tell you they pray five times a day facing Mecca. If they do get to what they believe is true, the teaching might seem random. What you need to know is their most important teaching — the one on which all the rest are built.
For Lutherans, the teaching on justification is the doctrine on which the faith stands or falls. The question is, how does God make a sinner a saint? We believe that justification is a legal proceeding — a forensic action. From his throne, God declares sinners not guilty, even though he knows full well that we are guilty. He does this because there is no longer a penalty to pay for our sin. Jesus took the sins of the whole world and paid the full price for them on the cross. In our place, God declared him guilty and sentenced him to death. When he said, “It is finished,” the debt we owed was stamped “paid in full.”
Yet justification does more than grant us forgiveness. When God said, “Let there be light,” it was created by the power of his word. When he says, “not guilty,” we are recreated. A new Adam or Eve is born in us. So it is not simply a legal fiction. We really are righteous because God says so. And that changes everything.
When we use a computer to write something, we can choose to right, left, or fully justify the document. What we mean is that all the letters will line up at the left, right, or both margins. In theological terms, God aligns our actions with his will and the law through a process called sanctification. It is not completed in us before we die. God completes us when we enter his presence at the end of our mortal life. But that is another post. It is on this point that we differ with Roman Catholics, Methodists, and Holiness denominations, among others.
Yet God’s word clearly teaches the truth of Lutheran teaching about Justification. The gospel is really true — we are justified only because God is gracious to us, that we believe and trust that it is true, all because Jesus was born, lived a perfect life, suffered, died, and rose again for our sake. It is what makes the gospel such sweet, good news.
[Twenty-Eighth in a series of posts on church words]
Encore Post:
A child is born in ancient Rome. The baby is carefully cleaned and tenderly wrapped. She is brought to the father of the family (pater familias) and set at his feet. The household watches to see what the father will do. If he picks up the child and says, “This is my son,” the baby will be an heir in the family, even if the mother is a slave. If he turns and walks away, the child will be set outside in the street, exposed to the fates and not a part of the family. By this and similar legal proceedings, a free Roman could adopt anyone he wished and grant all the rights and privileges due to his children to that person. In Greek, the word is υἱοθεσία (υἱοθεσία — huiothesia — the placing as a son, the adoption as a son)
Because he loves us, God arranged for us to be adopted as his sons (Ephesians 1:4-5). At just the right time, the Father sent his Son to be born of the Virgin Mary, to redeem us by his sinless life, suffering, death on the cross, and resurrection, so that we might be adopted as his sons in our baptism. He then sent his Holy Spirit into our hearts, so that now we can call him “Abba” — “Father.” (Galatians 4:4-7) The Holy Spirit testified to all of this. Now, since we are God’s heirs — heirs with Christ, we share in his sufferings in order to share in his glory. (Romans 8:15-17) We await the final adoption decree, the resurrection of our bodies at the end of time. (Romans 8:23)
Because we are adopted as sons of God, we are now a part of his family. Jesus is our older brother. All Christians are now related. We are each other’s brothers and sisters in Christ. God has given us to each other. When one of us suffers, we all suffer. When one of us is blessed, we are all blessed. We care for each other, protect each other, and worship together. When our older brother returns, we will live and reign with Christ. That is why Jesus prays for us, that we may be one, as he and the Father are one. It is also why we all go by one name — Christian.
[Twenty-Seventh in a series of posts on church words]
Encore Post:
When the Bible speaks about good works, it really is not talking about the everyday things we think about when we mention good things people do. You know these kinds of good works: someone stops to pull a child out of a burning car. A famous person sneaks out, gives her entourage a slip, and goes to the homeless shelter to care for people in need without cameras. Or just the simple good things people do to make life better for others.
As noble as a good deed is, the good things people do are always deep down colored with mixed motives. Maybe we did them so that people would sing our praises. Maybe we expected to get something from them, a reward, a trophy, or a good deed in return. The Hindu idea called Karma is supposed to work that way. If you do good, good will be done to you.
Sometimes the things we choose to do are our own ideas. All-night vigils, long fasts, pilgrimages, and similar feats are very impressive, but God never actually asks us to do these things. They all have the effect of making us feel better about ourselves. Jesus had a simple but biting evaluation of their worth. “You have received your reward.”
The bottom line is that no good work done saves us or even especially pleases God, unless we do them because we have faith in God and want to thank him for his love and mercy towards us. Strictly speaking, non-Christians cannot do good works. Everything they do is motivated by a desire to get something out of it. Even Christians who love and trust God aren’t perfect when it comes to doing good with pure motives.
Truly good works, then, are the product of faith in Jesus Christ. Every thankful thought, grateful prayer of thanksgiving, and things done because we love God are good works. Even though a sinful thought or motive might tarnish them, because Christ earned our forgiveness on the cross, God does not count these sins against us but sees only those things we do because we love him.
So, good works are not worthless. Nor are they trivial things that really don’t matter because God has already saved us. What is important is to put things in good order. Faith in Christ comes first. Then, because we already love God, we want to do good things to thank him for his grace and love. With the strength he gives, we do what he created us to do — good works, which he prepared in advance for us to do.
I am Jesus’ little lamb, Ever glad at heart I am; For my Shepherd gently guides me, Knows my need and well provides me, Loves me ev’ry day the same, Even calls me by my name. — “I am Jesus’ little lamb” LSB 740
After a very long labor, my late wife Kris delivered our twin sons. While she enjoyed a very much earned sleep, I took each boy, one after the other, into my arms and sang, “I am Jesus Little Lamb.” When their sister was born three years later, I took my daughter into my arms and sang it again. Our family would sing this song together many times over the next few decades.
Day by day, at home, away, Jesus is my staff and stay. When I hunger, Jesus feeds me, Into pleasant pastures leads me; When I thirst, He bids me go Where the quiet waters flow. — “I am Jesus’ little lamb” LSB 740
When our children grew up and began to have our grandchildren, I dusted off this hymn again. The first time I held each of my grandchildren, I sang this song to them. Should more come along, I plan to continue this little tradition. Who knows? Perhaps God will give me a decade or two more and I will be able to hold great-grandchildren and sing them this song.
While we were preparing for Kris’ funeral, my daughter found a playlist on our Alexa instance. On that playlist was “I am Jesus’ Little Lamb.” The pastor missed it during the funeral, so it wasn’t sung on that day. The next day was Good Shepherd Sunday at church and we did sing it then. I could almost her then — and now — Kris singing the last stanza to us,
Who so happy as I am, Even now the Shepherd’s lamb? And when my short life is ended, By His angel host attended, He shall fold me to His breast, There within His arms to rest. — “I am Jesus’ little lamb” LSB 740
[Twenty-Sixth in a series of posts on church words]
Encore Post:
“You won’t die,” hissed the snake. So, what could it hurt? So Eve and then Adam ate the fruit. What they didn’t realize is they had ruined everything. In effect, they told God they knew better than him. They built a wall between God and us. But that was not all. They built walls between them and set their descendants up for constant warfare in one form or another forever. And, it turns out, God was right. Cut yourself off from the source of life, and you die. Slowly, but surely, your body wears out. Creation itself tries to kill you, and everything lives for itself and nothing else. Thorns infest the ground.
When two people are angry with each other, someone has to bring them together. Often it is an apology sealed with a small sacrifice, — one man buying his angry friend a beer, a husband bringing flowers to his wife or other sign of giving a part of themselves to reconcile. The bigger the breach, the more dramatic the sacrifice. An employee resigns to save the company and restore faith in it. A child works off the cost of the window her softball broke.
God told us from the beginning what the sacrifice must be. A holy God cannot live with a sinful, selfish being. To be reconciled to God means to die. Yet God loved us from before he made the world and does not want sinners to die. So God himself provided the sacrifice to bring about at-one-ment — atonement. First, it would be prize lambs or other livestock that would be hurt for a shepherd to lose. Yet that would never really do. So his people still die.
It would take the sacrifice of a sinless human life to bring God and his children back together. Yet they are in short supply — all humans are born sinful. And God himself is sinless — but he cannot die — or so it seems. God in his grace decided to redeem us with the sacrifice of his Son — his only Son– whom he loved. This is not divine child abuse as the atheists charge because God is the Holy Trinity. When the Son of God died, God sacrificed himself. So, the Eternal Son, the author of life, became a man in the womb of the Virgin Mary. When he died on the cross for us, he saved us with his own blood. The curtain of the Holy of Holies tore from top to bottom, and the walls between us came tumbling down.
Now we are at one with God. In every Divine Service, the Lord Jesus seals the New Covenant in his blood. He gives us his body to eat with the bread and his blood to drink with the wine. It is a down payment on the Marriage Feast of the Lamb, which we will join all too soon. Then, fully reconciled with God, we will live with him forever.
Commemoration of Friedrich Wyneken, Pastor and Missionary
Kramer Chapel
May 4, 2020
Text:
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light…” (1 Peter 2:9–12)
Introduction
One hundred and eighty‑two years ago, a dense forest stretched from the Great Lakes west to the Illinois prairie and south to the Ohio River Valley. The frontier was a cathedral of towering oaks, sycamores, elms, maples, chestnuts, pines, and cedars. Even young banker Hugh McCulloch was moved to awe at the sight.
Into this wilderness poured thousands—soon tens of thousands—of Germans and Irish, drawn by the promise of fertile land where a man might carve out a farmstead and leave a heritage to his children. They found hard work in a hard climate. They found isolation. The bush might keep you from knowing you even had neighbors… No church bells would call you to worship in non‑existent churches.
The settlers came. Pastors, by and large, did not.
Even when a congregation was blessed with a servant of the Word, tragedy often struck. In Fort Wayne, St. Paul’s Lutheran Congregation mourned the death of its young German‑American pastor. Elder Adam Wesel wrote to the Pennsylvania Ministerium on June 4:
“If you canvass the northern part of Indiana, you will soon see how important it is that you send us a faithful shepherd… If it is not possible to send us a pastor, dear brothers, then send us a circuit rider. We hunger and thirst for the Word of God.”
God heard their prayer.
Three days before their pastor died, Friedrich Wyneken set sail for Baltimore on the Brig Apollo. As Wesel’s letter arrived in Pennsylvania, Wyneken presented himself to the mission society, ready to receive a call. They sent him to gather the scattered German Protestants of Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. And he did.
“Called Out of Darkness Into His Marvelous Light”
(1 Peter 2:9)
Peter’s words fit Wyneken’s world—and yours.
“You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession” (1 Peter 2:9). God called Wyneken out of darkness into His marvelous light, and through him God called thousands more.
And now, God calls you.
As God’s people prayed for a pastor then, so they do now. As God answered their prayer, sending Wyneken, so he answers their prayer and sends you.
You bear the same call Wyneken bore. You preach the same Gospel. You administer the same Baptism (Matthew 28:19). You grant the same Absolution (John 20:23). You celebrate the same Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23–26).
The office is the same. The Christ is the same. The mercy is the same.
“Sojourners and Exiles” (1 Peter 2:11)
Yet the world into which you are sent is no less foreign than Wyneken’s frontier.
While a remnant of Christian America remains, we live in a pagan culture. The fear of death drives the world’s actions (Hebrews 2:15). What little they know of Jesus or His Church is often a caricature.
Peter’s counsel is sound:
“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul” (1 Peter 2:11).
And again:
“Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable” (1 Peter 2:12).
You are not sent to win arguments. You are sent to bear Christ.
Let them see your good works—not to glorify you, but “to glorify God on the day of visitation. (1 Peter 2:12).
Never Alone
“We are founded on the living cornerstone, chosen and precious” (1 Peter 2:4). “We are not redeemed with silver or gold, but with His precious blood” (1 Peter 1:18–19). “We are now His own holy nation, a royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9).
And though you may seem alone, you are never alone.
Wyneken was not alone in the forest. You are not alone in this culture. Christ is with His Church. Christ is with His pastors. Christ is with His people.
He who called you out of darkness will keep you in His marvelous light.
And now may the peace of God, which passes understanding, set watch over your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus to live everlasting. Amen.
Sermon on Revelation 7:13-17 All Saints’ Sunday November 5-6, 2023 Our Hope Lutheran Church Huntertown, Indiana
Note: This is a sermon version of my All Saints’ Day devotional, revised to remember my late wife, Kris, and dear friends at my home parish. She entered rest on 29 April 2022 and was buried from this church on 6 May 2022.
Text: “Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. “Therefore, they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Prayer: For all the saints who from their labors rest, Who Thee by faith before the world confessed, Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest. Amen.
Christ is Risen!
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who by his death has destroyed death and by his rising again opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
Introduction: All Saints’ Day is a memorial day. From the earliest days of the church, first congregations, then regions, remembered Christian loved ones on the day they died — especially those who died as martyrs. The November 1 celebration began under Pope Gregory III in the 8th century and was made universal by Pope Gregory IV in 837. Since then, the church has marked that day to follow the lead of the Book of Hebrews: “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God; consider the outcome of their life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.” (Hebrews 13:7–8) Memorial days are really the last stage of grief. We thank God for our departed, remember how they lived, especially how they trusted God, and make their trust in Jesus our own. They are now at rest with Jesus, after all, and one day we will join them.
Our text this morning opens the curtain of heaven for us to see the throne of God. The Elder explains to St. John that the crowd no one can number are coming from the Great Tribulation, the time between the Ascension of Jesus and his return in glory. They are gathered before the Father and the Lamb of God. They are God’s children from every time – Adam and Noah, Joseph and Moses, David and Elijah, all those trusting in the coming Messiah. The Apostles and Evangelists, Christians from every time and place, language, and nation are there. There also people much more familiar to us. Our grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters, spouses, friends, and sometimes children are there. It is good to remember them, to thank God for them, to consider the things they did, especially the good things they did in faith and because they love God.
Who do you remember? I remember my own grandparents and grandparents-in-law, who lived and prospered through incredibly hard times, kept the faith in their own … unique … ways, who were often living examples of saints and sinners at the same time. Some of you remember the days of the World Wars and the Depression all too well. I remember my grandmother Smith reading from the big, KJV family Bible to me as a child on her lap. I remember my grandmother Schneider and her aunt who gave me my first Greek New Testament as a confirmation gift. There are also my parents and parents-in-law, troubled in troubled times, yet who still kept their faith. Also present is my father, that bruised reed the Lord did not break. And now in 2023, i remember my beloved wife, Kris, who has joined them. She loved me, her children and grandchildren through constant pain all of her life, produced endless beautiful and practical crafts that blessed many. Her straightforward, rock-hard faith was an inspiration to me and to many.
Who do you remember? As you and I look out at our church today, we remember brothers and sisters in Christ who sat here with us. We can almost see them in their favorite pews. All are at rest with their Savior. Many others are there, too. My Fathers and brothers in the faith. I remember those that taught me and many others and laid the stole of ministry on me the same stole I have now laid on my son-in-law, spiritual sons. I am thankful for them and for their confessions. I pray to be as faithful to the Lord as they were.
So, how did they get there before the throne? Born sinners, they struggled with the Old Adam and Old Eve until the day they died. Yet when they were baptized, Jesus united them with his death. He, the Lamb of God, took away the sins of the world – their sin, our sin. When he rose from the dead, he opened the way for them – and us – to be with him forever. He gave them and us the white robe when he baptized them, the robe of his perfect righteousness. He placed the palm branch of victory in their hands. When we worship, we join them and angels and archangels in praise. You can almost see them waving the branches when we sing with them, “Hosanna in the highest!”
At the deaths of our dear saints, Jesus sent his angels to bring them home to him in paradise. In our church, we drape their bodies at rest in a pall. It reminds us of the white robes of his righteousness and the palms of victory they now wave before the throne.
So, how did they make it through this Valley of the Shadow of Death? In life, Jesus was their Rock, their Fortress, and their Might; he was their Captain in the well-fought fight. Their fears were calmed when they remembered he was with them. They placed their burdens at the feet of the cross. The Lord’s Supper strengthened them like bread for the journey — a phrase that pastors often say when communing the very ill and those near death.
I was blessed to celebrate All Saints Day with my wife thirty-four times, thankful for each day we were together, praying to thank the Lord for those safely home. Now I pray after receiving the Lord’s Supper to thank God for my late wife, an ever-growing list of grandchildren, my children, and their spouses. I will rejoice that this year I can still hold their hands, speak with them, and see them all once in a while. Soon, all too soon, the angels will come for one of them or me, to join those at the Wedding Feast of the Lamb as the Lord Jesus says to one of us, “Welcome to the joy of your Father.”
As glorious as this is, yet there breaks a more glorious day. As blessed as being with Jesus in paradise, the best is yet to come. The saints triumphant will rise in bright array; The King of glory will pass on His way. Sin and death will die. The world renewed, restored, and transformed, fit for eternity. God will pitch his tent with us and live with us forever. And he will dry every tear from our eyes. There will be no more sorrow, sighing grief, or pain. All these will pass away. God will make all things new again. Once more, he will see all that he has made and now redeemed with his own blood and say, “Look, it is very Good!” Amen, come Lord Jesus, at the end of days and at the end of our days.
Christ is Risen!
Prayer: Oh, may Thy soldiers, faithful, true, and bold, Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old And win with them the victor’s crown of gold! Amen.
Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, set watch over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus to life everlasting.
Rev. Robert E. Smith Pastor Emeritus Fort Wayne, Indiana
Sleep well, my love, When next you wake, Your eyes will see our Savior’s face. With joy, he’ll dry your every tear, And gently calm your every fear.
Sleep well, my love, Before too long, I’ll hear his call to come on home, With you and loved ones gone before We’ll see the God whom we adore.
Sleep well, my love, The Shepherd keep, Your body safe until the time When he will call us from the grave, To live with him in endless day.
Notes: Kristina Pugh Smith (1960-2022) went to sleep on Thursday evening, April 28th, 2022. Her husband and daughter had spent the day with her. She settled into a coma, and her family was alerted that death was near. The next morning, they had the blessing of spending the last seven hours of her life with her. Her husband said words similar to this, along with the Nunc Dimittis, that Friday morning. As morning prayer began in Kramer Chapel that day, therapeutic care was removed, and hospice care began. As the seminary community prayed a prayer of commendation of the dying, she gently entered eternal life. This poem was written to capture those words a week later.
“Holy” is one of the most common church words. It is a part of the very fabric of the English language, used often even by non-Christians. We give very little thought to the word — most often we think of it as another way of saying “Godly.” We use it to connect something to God — or as a swear word or phrase to emphasize something. So, if we think about it, the phrases “Holy God” or “Holy Trinity” seem like we’re repeating ourselves — kind of like saying “Godly God.”
The Hebrew word for holy is קָדֹושׁ (kadosh — Separate, devoted, pure). When we say God is holy, we mean he is completely separate from all things, high above all things. Theologians use it to describe all of God’s qualities (attributes). Everything about God is absolutely pure and not mixed with anything else. When it comes to talking about God’s will and actions, the word “holy” means that God is absolutely good and without sin. Nothing impure can exist in his presence. That is why a sinful person cannot see God’s glory and live. That is why, in the temple, only the purified High Priest could enter the Most Holy Place (Holy of Holies) once a year, and only to bring the blood of the sacrifice that brought the people of Israel the forgiveness of sins.
Because God is holy, anything set apart for his use is called holy. The temple, the sacrifices, his people. In the New Testament, the Word of God and the Sacraments are called holy: they connect God and his people. They are Means of Grace, how God, in his grace and mercy, creates faith in our hearts, forgives our sins, claims us as his own children, and gives us life and salvation for the sake of the atoning sacrifice of God’s Son on the cross. In Baptism, Jesus makes us holy. (Ephesians 1:4, 5:27) Now we are his saints (“Holy Ones”). We are a holy nation called to proclaim his good news to the whole world.
Now God calls on us, as his holy people, to be holy as our Heavenly Father is holy and perfect. (Leviticus 19:2, Matthew 5:48) As sinners, we will not be completely holy in our lifetime, but in faith, trusting in Christ, we can begin to do good works. Because of the cross, God sees only these works and remembers our sins no more. When we die and enter Christ’s eternal presence, we will then be purged of our sins once and for all, and live as holy people in fellowship with our Holy God forever.
Orthodox is a term that is a bit like catholic in the minds of casual Christians. We hear these terms as they are applied to identifiable sects. That identification can lead us to assume that the word itself must refer to the sect.
Catholic simply means universal or whole. So, in the Sunday morning prayers, when we pray for “the whole Christian Church on earth,” we could just as well say the “Catholic Church” on earth. Our friends in the Roman Catholic sect are the most significant association with that term, applying to a specific denomination within Christianity. There are also other non-Roman Catholic denominations that identify themselves as Catholic. Rome neither holds nor exercises exclusive rights to that term, though the pope may want us to think that.
Orthodox rings similarly in our ears. For those who’ve heard of the Eastern Orthodox Church, we assume those terms are synonymous with the Eastern Christian sect. That’s not exactly so.
The Eastern and Western Christians split in 1054 AD. The patriarchs of Rome and Constantinople had a falling-out, which led to the split. The patriarchs of the Eastern churches sided with the patriarch of Constantinople. The Roman patriarch found himself alone, heading a large portion of Christianity. The churches we call Orthodox are from the Eastern side and those patriarchs. That time deserves its own treatment in another article or articles.
Ὀρθόδοξος (Orthodox) simply means straight teaching, opinion, or belief. For those of an etymological inclination, ὀρθῶς (orthōs) means straight, unbent, or unwavering. And, δόξα (doksa) means teaching, opinion, or belief. It is the foil of heterodoxy, which is mingled or combined teaching.
There’s more here than simply lexical understandings. Orthodoxy in Christianity is normed by the scriptures and our teaching drawn from them. The Bible is the norm that norms our teaching. Our teaching is the norm, which is normed by the Word of God, the Bible.
There are also orthodox teachers of non-Christian religions. Orthodox adherents of Judaism, who may or may not be Orthodox Jews, will want to destroy the Dome of the Rock, rebuild the Jewish Temple, and resume the O.T. sacrificial system. Orthodox Muslims are politely called “extremists.” It is orthodoxy in Islam to desire and seek the death of the infidel, all non-Muslims. Orthodoxy in the Latter-Day Saints requires plural marriage and the rejection of all unbelievers (Christians outside the LDS). Former Mormons receive the worst fate among orthodox LDS. They are the only ones who can go to “outer darkness.”
There is also an orthodoxy in all sects of Christianity. Orthodox Lutherans, Anglicans, Baptists, and Methodists seek to maintain adherence to the teachings as we have received them. In a seeming incongruity, orthodox teachers of heterodox churches teach contrary to Christian orthodoxy and the Word of God from which it springs.
For we Lutherans, that means that we hold to our doctrines and remain in the Word of God, always ready to be corrected by the scriptures in our understanding and teachings. The five solas of the reformation (grace alone, faith alone, scripture alone, Christ alone, to the glory of God alone) constantly direct us back to the Word of God and conform our straight teaching to it.
By our Orthodoxy, we preach Christ, and Him crucified.
