What Does This Mean?

The Star Who Crushes His Foes

I have been reflecting quite a bit on the book of Isaiah as I am teaching through it in my Bible study. We just came through Isaiah 25 and the feast that the Lord prepares for all people. But interestingly, Moab is singled out as a nation not welcome to the feast (Isa 25:1-12). At the same time, I was reading to prepare for the Feast of the Epiphany. I was reading Matthew 2, and I did more work around the Magi and the “Star.” Just do a bible search for wise men or Magi and you will find yourself in the book of Daniel. Daniel, remember, was the chief of the wise men in Nebuchadnezzar’s court. The wise men probably were men from Babylon. So that helps us get a better picture of where these men came from. But how did they notice the star? Daniel was much more than a leader of Magi in Babylon. He was a prophet of the God of Israel. Daniel most likely had access in some way to the scrolls of the Pentateuch. He preached the Word of God to the Babylonians who would listen. And listen they did.

But the star–where does the star appear in the Pentateuch? The gentile prophet Balaam prophesies of the star coming out of Jacob along with a scepter (Numbers 24:17). This star does not just come out of Jacob. This is where the Isaiah 25:10 passage comes in. The star is promised to crush Moab!

The word crush is the same word that is used to describe the act of the seed of the woman upon the serpent. The seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. So now this star will crush Moab. In the “oracles concerning the nations” in Isaiah, Moab is seen in a negative light. And in Isaiah 25, Moab is seen as the universal enemy of all the people of God. Though the word is not “crush” and not a verbal match, the idea is the same. However, it is not the seed or the star who will trample down Moab. It is the people of God who will trample down their enemies. Moab is said to be like the dung trampled into the ground.

Taking this into the New Testament, we can see Jesus crushing the head of the serpent at the cross and giving us the benefits of that victory. You and I have eternal life because of Christ’s coming into the world to be our atoning sacrifice for sin, defeating death and Satan for us by His death and resurrection from the dead. In the Gospel of Luke and Mark, we get the continuation and the language of that victory being something we too participate in, too. We get to trample down serpents (Luke 10:17-20 also see Mark 16:14-20 and Paul in Acts 28:3-6). Theologically speaking, this crushing and throwing down of Satan takes place when the word of God is preached in its truth and purity and the sacraments are rightly administered (AC V, AC VII). It is not us who do the crushing that is left to Christ, our Bright Morningstar. That is His principle work, but we, in Christ, get to trample under our feet the old evil foe.

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

A Walk Through the Liturgy: The Hymn of the Day

Encore Post: [Ninth post in a series on the Divine Service] If we follow the “Common” Divine Service, after confessing the Creed, the congregation then will sing what is referred to the Hymn of the Day. For some it may just be thought of as an “intermission” or a “time for pastor to compose himself prior to the sermon”, but in actuality the Hymn of the Day continues to narrow down the themes that have been percolating throughout the Collect and Readings of the Day, preparing us to hear those themes ring loud and clear in the upcoming sermon.

It is much easier to speak about specific hymns of the Day when we look to the Historic Lectionary. Within that lectionary, one expects certain hymns on specific days. On the Last Sunday of the Church Year, the congregation would likely sing for the Hymn of the Day: Wake, awake, For Night is Flying. The Gospel lesson is Matthew 25:1-13, the parable of the virgins. The hymn brings the singer into the story and ultimately prepares the singer/congregation to receive the Supper to which Christ calls his faithful.

The hymn of the day can be understood as yet another opportunity for the congregation to hear both Law and Gospel and be a response to such a hearing. For instance, see Lord Thee I Love With All My Heart, the hymn of the day for Lent 2 in the 3 year lectionary offerings. This year, we hear John 3, God showed his love in this way: sending his only son, giving his as the ransom for the world, “that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:16). And throughout the hymn, but particularly stanza 1, we respond to Him in kind.

We must also remember the season of the Church year when we look at hymns of the day, for that also affects the various themes that come to the forefront. So a piece of the hymn that likely will stick with the congregation in Lent is the picture of the price of our redemption: Christ’s blood, the prayer for the Lord not to forsake us. Also likely, the prayer for patience and strength to bear the cross that our Lord has placed upon us (See stanza 2).

The hymn of the Day continues the process of narrowing down the theme of the Day and should prepare us all for the words of the pastor who will likely be preaching his sermon on the themes espoused throughout the Collect, Readings, and Hymn.

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
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO

A Walk Through the Liturgy: The Creed

Encore Post: [Eighth post in a series on the Divine Service] Following the Common Service (which Lutheran Service Book calls Divine Service Setting III), upon hearing the Gospel, the congregation and pastor recite the Creed together. As Pastor, I usually say, “Upon hearing the Gospel of our Lord, let us confess our common faith with the words of the Nicene Creed.” But saying a creed as part of the Divine Service has not always been a given. Dr. Just again from his book Heaven on Earth: The Gifts of Christ in the Divine Service, tells us that the recitation of a creed did not become an ordinary until the 11th century.

Until then, it was not even the Nicene Creed which was most often recited. Rather, it was the Apostles’ Creed being recited as part of the Baptismal liturgy. This partly explains why the Apostles’ Creed, not the Nicene Creed, makes its way into Luther’s Catechisms.

However, the Nicene Creed has become the creed of choice for the Divine Service due to the nature of the creed’s development. The Nicene Creed was the creed that tested one’s orthodoxy. Most Sunday mornings, we have the Lord’s Supper in our churches and so the recitation of the Nicene Creed announces to all in attendance that this faith which we speak and confess is the “Orthodox” faith, confessing Jesus Christ, to be of the same substance of God the Father, “who for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man.”

The location of where the Creed is recited in the Divine Service can change. And it can take on a different meaning depending on where it occurs within the liturgy. In my congregation, the Creed is recited immediately following the reading of the Holy Gospel. Having the creed at this juncture accentuates the fact that Christ, through the working of the Holy Spirit, has granted us faith to believe the words we just heard. When the creed follows the sermon, it can be understood as affirming the sermon, which was just delivered as being within the realm of orthodoxy.

It is important to note as well that the faith which we confess by reciting these creeds is not simply an academic exercise. But it is an opportunity within the Divine Service to recite back to God the faith which He gave to us, which now is being fed by the hearing of his Word. With the creed, we echo back to Him what he has told us.

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

A Walk Through the Liturgy: The Readings

Encore Post: [Seventh Post in a series on the divine service] After the Collect of the Day has been said, the pastor typically takes up residence at the lectern to read the set lectionary readings for the day. So what are these readings? And how do they work together?

Most Sundays at my congregation, you will hear an Old Testament lesson followed by a psalm. After the Psalm, then comes the Epistle lesson. Then, after the Epistle lesson, the congregation rises to sing the Alleluia before hearing the Holy Gospel for the day.

We finally get the “meat and potatoes” of what we call the “Service of the Word”. As Dr. Arthur Just says in his magnificent book Heaven on Earth: The Gifts of Christ in the Divine Service, “Christ comes to us from the voice of the pastor to our ears” (Still for sale from CPH) Jesus is really the one speaking when we hear the Word of God proclaimed from the lectern. Jesus is the Word of God now enfleshed, present among us for our salvation.

We begin with the Old Testament and move through the Psalm, which makes us consider the surrounding lessons, to the Epistles and finally to the climax of the Gospel. We note this climax by rising from our pews to stand out in reverence for the very real and recorded words of Jesus being spoken to us.

I often ask my confirmation students to find connections between the readings. The easiest connections to find at least in the three-year lectionary are those connections between the Old Testament lesson and the Gospel. Those who constructed the new lectionary wanted to follow what Dr. Just calls a “promise and fulfillment hermeneutic”. That is a fancy way to say that what is spoken about in the Old Testament lesson is dealt with in the Gospel. For instance, look at the first Sunday in Lent. The Old Testament lesson is Genesis 3:1-21, the fall of Adam. The Gospel is Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus overcoming the temptations of Satan. What Adam could not do, the new Adam, Jesus, did, and ultimately, the battle was fully won at the cross.

Depending on the season, the Epistle lesson might be part of a continuous reading from one book. But in other seasons, it jumps around a decent degree. However, what should be noted is how all the readings point us to the Gospel, the very living words of Christ Jesus our Savior, who is present for us in his flesh and blood even in His Word to work in us our salvation. Having heard the Words of Christ in the readings, we are prepared now for the Creed and the Sermon to follow.

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

A Walk Through the Liturgy: The Gloria in Excelsis

Encore Post: [Fifth post in a series on the Divine Liturgy] During two seasons of the Church Year, the Gloria in Excelsis (Glory to God in the Highest) is absent from the Liturgy.

During the rest of the church year, when Pastor and congregation finish singing the tri-fold Kyrie, there is a very short line that is sung solely by the pastor: “Glory be to God on High!” And immediately the whole congregation join in singing “And on earth, peace, good will toward men.” It’s as if the Pastor and congregation are reenacting the events of Christ’s birth according to Luke 2:8-14.

The Pastor and congregation join in that wonderful song with the angel and all the company of Heaven (similarly to the Sanctus). But why does the pastor have the first line by himself? Perhaps, and this my speculation, it has to do with the fact that the Pastor is the “angel” to the congregation. “angel” means messenger. And in the book of Revelation, Jesus tells John to write the seven letters to the seven angels of the churches. The angels are the pastors of those churches. The pastor is the messenger sent by God to this congregation to announce the good news of Christ Jesus, that in Him we have forgiveness of sins and peace with God. Pastors proclaim the same peace sung by the angelic host to those in the congregation! With such news of forgiveness for the sake of the Son, Jesus Christ, it is only right and proper for the congregation to join in the hymn of the heavenly host.

But the words of the Gloria go further than just the words of the angels on the night of Christ’s birth. We know the full story of Christ’s birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension for our salvation via the Gospels. The canticle hymn of praise hits all of these facets for which we ought to praise God for what He has done to save us from our sins and give to us His peace. With this hymn, we have a fitting close to a little portion of the service, singing praise for the forgiveness of sins just recently announced upon us for the sake of Christ Jesus. We are ready now for the Collect of the Day and the readings of the Day.

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

A Walk Through the Liturgy: The Kyrie

Encore Post: [Fourth post in a series on the Divine Service] As we continue looking at the liturgy of the Divine Service, after the Confession and Absolution, Introit, we find ourselves staring at the Kyrie, the most basic and frequent prayer made to our Lord.

The Church has always been a place where prayers are said. In our services, we offer up prayers and petitions seemingly at every point. All of those are prayers in their own ways as we are speaking to God the words He has given us to speak.

The word Kyrie is the Greek word for Lord, which is the first word we sing in prayer. But Kyrie is shorthand for the longer phrase: Kyrie Eleison or in English “Lord have mercy.” This prayer is perhaps the most basic prayer in the entire world. It certainly is the most frequent prayer to Jesus that we can find in the Gospels. See Luke 17:11-19, Mark 10:48, Matthew 15:21-28.

You might ask why do we sing the Kyrie when we do in the service? We have just received absolution. Mercy was just poured out to us in the forgiveness of sins. And you would be correct, so think of this prayer/song not only as a prayer for mercy, but an acknowledgement that mercy comes solely from the Trinitarian God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That is why we sing it three times. Dr. Luther wrote his own hymn for the Kyrie, which is much more specific, addressing each person of the Trinity by name.

One Pastor calls the Kyrie the first great pillar of the Divine Service because it teaches us what true Christian worship really is. If we look to the Book of Concord in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, we learn that true worship of God is the reception of His gifts, namely the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life won for us by Jesus. Mercy has been shown to us, and with this prayer leading us further into the Service of the Word, mercy is exactly what we receive by hearing God’s Word in truth and purity.

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

Jews and Gentiles

Encore Post: The Greeks saw the world as made up of two kinds of people — Greeks and Barbarians. For the Romans, it was Romans and Pagans. In the 1960s, we saw the world as Americans versus Communists. The Communists saw the world as Communists and Capitalists or Imperialists. For the Jews, it was Jews and Gentiles.

Of course, for them, God was the source of this separation. He called Abraham out from the Sumerian culture and the serving of multiple gods to the service of the one, true God. He set him aside from the rest of the world to be a blessing to it. He grew the nation from the descendants of Abraham and Sarah. He freed them from slavery in Egypt, gave them his law, formed them in the desert and gave them the land of promise.

But there the other nations — the gentiles — worshiped other gods and lived in great immorality.Not the least of that evil was that they would sacrifice their children for favors from their gods. So God commanded the people of Israel to kill them all and destroy all their possessions. The Israelites did not do this perfectly. Those people tempted God’s people to wander from him and sink into their immorality. God punished them with exile in Babylon. Except for 150 or so years, they lived as the subjects of pagan nations.

They learned the lesson. The Jews — at least the pious ones — tried to keep the law so perfectly they invented their own laws and traditions. Among those was strict separation from Gentiles, to the point of not even eating with them. In the temple, they would not allow gentiles to enter the temple proper and punished transgression with death.

The celebration of Epiphany marks how the coming of Christ changes this once and for all. Jesus died on the cross for the sins of both Jew and gentiles. The reason for the division is destroyed, demonstrated when the temple curtain tore in two from top to bottom. Now, as Isaiah prophesied, the nations come to God through Christ and meet God’s people there. Together we praise him who called us both out of darkness into his marvelous light.

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

A Walk Through the Liturgy: The Collect of the Day

Encore Post: [Sixth post in a series about the Divine Service] Today we will look at the Collect of the Day, the prayer which “collects” the thoughts of the day’s readings and succinctly summarizes them in prayer form and continues pointing us toward the theme of the whole day. Now, there are other “Collects” that we say in other services. Sometimes you might read in the service of Matins the “Collect for the Word” or something else, but they all follow a typical pattern. The pattern is this: There is an address to God, recalling His character or action in the world on our behalf. Then we make our request known to God. Then we close the prayer typically in this fashion, “through Jesus Christ, Your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.”

If you are a parishioner, you probably do not see the “Collect of the Day” unless you are in a congregation which prints it in the bulletin. In past hymnals, you could find each collect printed next to the readings for the day. The Collect, like the readings for each day of the church year, should be understood as a proper. By that, I mean to say that it changes each Sunday. Remember, in the divine service, there are ordinaries and there are propers.

The Collect of the Day, as I said earlier, should help tune our ears to hear what we just prayed for in the upcoming readings. So we pray this prayer with great anticipation, waiting to hear from Christ’s own Word concerning the fulfillment of what we just prayed. May you take a moment in worship to truly hear and listen to the Collect of the Day this Sunday and always.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
Christ Lutheran Church
Noblesville, Indiana

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

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God in Man made Manifest

Encore Post: Epiphany is a season of unwrapping God’s gifts. The word comes from Greek. It means reveal, make known, and, in old English, make manifest or clear. As creatures and sinners, we cannot fully understand God. Even if we could stand in God’s holy presence, we would die. (Exodus 33:20) Even as Christians, we often find ourselves say, “I don’t get you, God!”

God knows this well. It is why he reveals himself to us in Jesus. When we want to see God, we can look at Jesus. The Apostle John sums it up well: “No one has seen God. The only begotten God, he is from the Father and he has made him known.” (John 1:18) In the season of Epiphany, we get to know Jesus by what he said and did. We sit at his feet and see with our own eyes that he is the Messiah — and more than that — that he is God himself.

The season begins with a θεοφάνεια (Theophaneia) — God appearing or making himself known to people. At the Baptism of our Lord, we see the Son of God, hear the voice of the Father, and the Holy Spirit settles on the Son in the form of a dove. For the Three-Year Lectionary, the season ends with another θεοφάνεια. The Son glows with his full glory as God; the Father speaks and the presence of God settles on the mountain in the ancient Cloud of Glory.

In between, he calls disciples from their nets, turns water into wine, feeds whole crowds with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish. He casts out demons, raises the dead, gives sight to the blind, not with shows of great ritual, but with a few words: “I will; be clean!” “Get out!” “be still!” He prays and teaches with authority — unlike the Pharisees and Bible experts. In the next season, Lent, we will see him be the Lamb of God, who takes our sins to the cross, pays the price of our salvation with his own blood and rises from the dead to break the seal of the grave forever.

So we get to know Jesus, and, through him, get to know God. One day, we will see him — and God face to face — in our own flesh, we will see God.

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 Wisemen, the Star and the Gifts

Encore Post: At Christmas time, we see them everywhere. The crèches– Nativity scenes– appear on lawns, in malls, under Christmas trees and especially in our churches. They are not only great decorations, but they are ways to tell the Christmas story to those who cannot read. In virtually all of them are three figures bearing gifts. They stand next to camels. Often they look like kings from the Middle Ages of Europe.

Yet these figures were not yet there on the night Jesus was born. Nor were they kings. They were scholars from Persia or Babylon, skilled in the study of the stars. No wonder the star got their attention. No one knows what the star was, but it appeared two years before they got to Bethlehem. They are in the stable because the Christian Church in the West celebrates their arrival on the 12th night after Christmas. It makes it easier to explain what is happening on both holidays. You can read their story in Matthew 2.

The day that follows is called Epiphany — appearance. It is the first day of the season of Epiphany, when the Church celebrates the ways Jesus revealed himself through his ministry in ancient Galilee and Judea. The church cherishes the Wisemen because they were the first Gentiles to worship Jesus.

The child Jesus did not remain small, however. Like every one of us, he grew up, learned his lessons, worked with his father and brothers as a craftsman. Both God and his community were very pleased. Yet this is but the first way that Jesus earned our salvation. This season, watch for the other ways Jesus and his Heavenly Father reveal the rest of the story.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

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