What Does This Mean?

Turned Inside Out by the Cross

When Martin Luther described our nature as sinful human beings, he concluded that we are in curvatus se — we are curved in on ourselves– like a turtle that hides in its shell. We seek to satisfy our own needs, our own comfort, our own desires before all things. We want things to make sense to us and so, in a way, make everything over in our own image — including God. (Ephesians 2:3, 2 Timothy 3:2-5, 4:3-4) Our attitude is like that of Satan in John Milton’s Paradise Lost: ” Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven” (1:263)

Our culture plays to this built-in selfishness, parading all kinds of delights in commercials, music and literature. It plays to greed, jealousy, lust, pride and envy. We are easily hooked by such things which often become obsessions. The problem with such pursuits is it makes things and ultimately ourselves into gods. The irony is these things eventually make us into their slaves rather than liberating us. They set us in conflict with others and make more and more alone. They lead away from God, the source of life, to destuction.

God is very different. From the beginning, his focus was on us. He loved us before he made the world. He decided to make us his childen and rigged the history of the world to adopt us as his heirs. In Christ, he set aside his power and glory to become a man, live a perfect life for us, bear our selfishness and sin to the cross, suffered, died and rose again from the dead to break into our lives. In baptism, he kills this selfish nature and plants a new life in us — one that focuses outward on him and our neighbor.

In the strength he provides us through baptism and the Lord’s Supper and the power of the word that changes hearts, we take up his call to take up our cross daily and follow him. In doing so, we deny our sinful nature and are turned inside out. Instead of serving ourselves or seeking to be served, we serve God and others. As we do this, God meets our needs and those of others.

Sunday School #33: Noah and the Flood

After Cain killed Abel, the world continued its descent into evil. For awhile, the descendants of Seth, called by Moses the Sons of God, remained separate from the descendants of Cain. They remained faithful to God and his will. However, slowly but surely, they began to marry each other, The Sons of God soon became as evil as their neighbors. This should not surprise us. Because of sin their every thought was evil. So God resolved to destroy the world and all of the descendants of Adam and Eve — except for eight of them. God preserved humanity in the person of Noah and his family, who had continued to serve him. God kept them safe in the Ark he built and resettled the world through him.

The first time we read about the flood, we get the impression that Noah and his family were saved because they were saints in a world full of sinners. But this is not true. They were just as sinful at heart as their neighbors (compare Genesis 6:5-6, before the flood and 8:21 after the flood). The difference was that they “walked with God” (6:9) and were righteous by faith (Hebrews 11:7), trusting God to care for them and obeying His commands. In Martin Luther’s Flood Prayer, which we use in our baptismal services, we confess it this way: “Almighty and eternal God, according to Your strict judgment You condemned the unbelieving world through the flood, yet according to Your great mercy You preserved believing Noah and his family, eight souls in all. ”

The flood reminds Christians of baptism, in which our sins are drowned and we are safely carried to new life. We speak about the Church as God’s new ark, in which he keeps us safe from the evil world. The place in our church building where we sit for worship is named the Nave, which means ship in Latin. Baptism saves us by uniting us with Christ’s suffering and death. In it our sins are washed away, where Jesus received them at his baptism. In exchange, we receive his righteousness by faith. When we rise from the water of baptism, we are united with his resurrection. So, as Christ rose from the dead, we will rise from our graves on the last day.

The Need of a New Heart

Encore Post: God used Moses to give his people the Lord’s Law on Mt. Sinai. It was the Lord’s holy will for Israel. And in effect, the way that Israel was called to live was to serve as an effective witness to the nations that surrounded it. Their way of life was to point to the Law of the Lord and bring life to the nations. That is why that he calls us to teach our children and their children. I think that is a call to remember the 3rd commandment because on the sabbath day Israel was to remember what the Lord had done for them and their salvation (Exodus out of Egypt). The generation with Moses were either eye witnesses or they were the generation that followed the eye witnesses of those events.

Israel was told not to forget the things they had seen, lest they lose life. But the problem was that Israel had a bad heart. And that is our problem too. We don’t listen and take to heart what the Lord our God tells us. If we look long and hard at our own hearts, or better yet, let’s let God talk about our heart. According to Him, we have a heart of stone. Israel could not be the witness the Lord called them to be, and neither can we. We utterly fail to walk in the way of the Lord. And we can’t make our hearts of stone alive. We need a new heart.

Dear Christian, you have been given a new heart, a new spirit.. This happened at your Baptism. This heart is made in the image of the One, the Word made flesh. Jesus walked in the ways of the Lord our God, His Father. He walked in the statutes and laws of His Father on your behalf. It was through Him and by Him that the nations learn of the mercy of God. And because of this wonderful One, Jesus Christ, you have life everlasting. Your heart is made alive in Christ, through baptism into His name. There at those baptismal waters you were made God’s child. He made Himself your God. And in and through Christ you certainly and do keep the laws and statutes of your Heavenly Father, for He has done them for you. And now we want to walk in His Way which leads us to life everlasting.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO

See Also: The Law of God is Good and Wise | Fence, Mirror and Guidebook | What is Baptism? | Baptized into Christ’s Body | Sabbath as Day the of Salvation

Preach the Word

Encore Post: The pastoral ministry is all about feeding Christ’s sheep. Jesus and his Church have given pastors the privilege of distributing the means of grace publicly. Pastors preach God’s Word and the administer his sacraments as God’s representatives and in the name of the church. (See Augsburg Confession 5) We can believe that, when a pastor does these things according to God’s Word, it is God himself speaking to us, baptizing us and giving us the body and blood of Jesus himself with the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper. Of all these acts, the one a pastor does most often is preaching.

The New Testament uses several words for preaching, almost all tied to what a herald does. The main word used is κηρύσσω (Kerusso) — to announce, make known, proclaim. (2 Timothy 4:2) Preaching is all about delivering a message from God. That message is mainly the good news of salvation won for us by Jesus on the cross. But it also extends to the whole counsel of God.

Pastors preach not only on Sunday morning during a worship service, but also anytime someone needs to hear from God’s word. It may be urging them to repentance, or may be assuring them that God forgives them for the sake of Jesus Christ. During a worship service, a sermon is much more formal than that. Most often a sermon takes the message in a passage read earlier, it explains those truths to God’s people, and urges them to believe these words. It is not about teaching, presenting all kinds of facts to be remembered. It is not entertainment, helping people to escape from their day-to-day lives just for a little while.

Preaching is all about changing the lives of those who hear the message. It does not do so because of the pastors skill, his inspiring insights, or how hilarious is jokes are. The point of a sermon is to bring the message that God put it in the scriptures to people. It’s all about changing lives, and strengthening the faith of those who hear. You may remember the words of a talented speaker for a long time. But a sermon is God’s gift to you. It contains the Gospel, which gives you his grace. It is the very words of eternal life.

Pastors are Called by God

Encore Post: At the beginning of the first century, disciples chose their Rabbis. To a certain extent, we choose our jobs today. The pastoral ministry is different. While a man may seek the office of the Holy Ministry, he is called by God to serve in this way. This is where the term vocation originally comes from. It is based on the Latin word for a calling.

In a sense, this is no different than the way God operated in the Scriptures. He chose every one of the prophets and apostles. The difference in those times is he did so directly. Today pastors are called by God through the congregation the pastor will serve or by a representative they choose. When a congregation calls a man and he becomes convinced after much prayer that the call is from God, he becomes their pastor.

Because it is God who calls (Acts 20:28, 1 Corinthians 12:28 ), a pastor is not an employee of his congregation, to be hired and fired at will. Only when a pastor is unfaithful to his call to teach according to God’s word or lives an immoral life may he be removed. At the same token, it is not for him to choose when or who to serve. Only when a congregation is no longer faithful to God’s word, he receives another call from God to summon him to a new place or health makes him unable to serve may he conclude his ministry.

His office is to be the face and hands of God to care for the sheep placed in his fold. He is also their face and hands, to bring the gifts God gives to them and to others. He preaches the good news, baptizes, celebrates the Lord’s Supper and forgives the sins of those who repent. In doing so, he lays down his life, as did Jesus, so that the lost sheep will be found and the whole flock in his care brought safely to eternal life.

Jesus Establishes the Holy Ministry

Encore Post: “As the father has sent me so I send you,” said Jesus. (John 20:20-23) The Father sent Jesus not to be served but to serve and to give his life for ransom for many.(Mark 10:43-45) He sent his son to seek and to save the lost. (Luke 19:10) Jesus then, in turn, sent his disciples to continue his ministry.

In every generation, Jesus calls men to seek out those who do not have faith in Christ, to offer the forgiveness of sins life and salvation, and to make them a part of God’s Kingdom. These men are his ambassadors, proclaiming the good news of salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:19-21) Through this ministry, faith is created and sustained in the lives of God’s people.

The scriptures call these men pastors, preachers, elders, bishops, and many other things. We call this ministry the office of the holy ministry, the office of the public ministry, the pastoral ministry, and other similar things. Because many Christians use the word minister for anyone who serves in the church, Lutheran pastors prefer to be called “pastor,” which means “shepherd.” We also use adjectives with the word ministry to identify it as the office of word and sacrament

A Mustard Seed Size Faith

Encore Post: Mustard seeds were important to people where Jesus lived. Mustard seeds were the smallest crop that farmers planted, but grew into a tree as large as 10 feet tall. The seed of this kind of mustard plant was black. Farmers ground the seed to make a spice and to use the oil in them. Birds loved to eat these seeds and would often come to eat the seeds and build nests in their branches.

Jesus compared the mustard seed to the Kingdom of God. The kingdom starts small, but grows very big, so that many people can become part of it. The kingdom doesn’t seem to be important, but it will change everything for the good. When we share the Good News of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and the forgiveness he won for us on the cross, the Holy Spirit uses it like a seed, to plant faith in hearts and cause it to grow there. Soon the kingdom of God blooms there and spreads.

Sunday School #32: Cain and Abel

After the Fall, Adam and Eve followed God’s plan to have children. The Bible does not tell us how many God blessed them with, but they had many during their hundreds of years of life. Because they were made directly by God, their health held up much better than it does for us. Moses does tell us about three sons: Cain, Abel and Seth. When Cain is born, Eve named him the usual naming formula: “I have received a man– the Lord.” Martin Luther and many theologians think Eve believed Cain was to be the Messiah that God promised them after the Fall. (Genesis 3:15) Others see it as Eve thanking God for giving her a child and not taking credit for the birth herself.

Abel grew up to be a shepherd and Cain a farmer. Both Abel and Cain brought offerings to God. Cain gave some of his crops to God because he felt he had to. Abel gave the very best of the very best of his flock because he loved God. God accepted both gifts, but favored Abel’s over Cain’s because Abel gave his gift by faith, while Cain offered his as a work.

Cain was jealous. God warned him to let it go and to work on being a better person. Jealously has a way of feeding our sinful nature. In this case, Cain grew angry with his brother Abel and killed him. This first murder fed the decline of society into the evil that resulted in God’s decision to destroy them all — except Noah and his family.

Nevertheless, God loved him and showed him mercy. He put a mark on him to protect him from death. He got married and had children that shaped the world.

Friedrich Wyneken Defends Confessional Lutheran Theology

Friedrich Wyneken was not always a strong voice for Lutheran theology. Like many of his contemporaries, he joined the German Awakening in his college years. At the University of Halle, Friedrich found a mentor in Augustus Tholuck. Through his influence, Wyneken became an “awakened” and “believing” Christian.

Upon graduation, Wyneken served as a private instructor in the home of Consistorial Counselor von Henfstengel at Leesum, a town near Bremen. This experience had made him into a strong, convinced Pietist, full of zeal for the Lord and “a fanatic full of fire to oppose strict churchliness.”

Friedrich slowly began to change when the Methodist Church’s mission to Germans came to Ft. Wayne. The German Methodists maintained that German Lutherans were heathen in need of conversion to the Christian Faith. Already in late 1839, Wyneken was complaining that the Methodists were taking advantage of the lack of Lutheran pastors by luring Lutherans into their congregations.

Beginning in 1841, Wyneken had increasingly harsh things to say
about Methodism. On 25 April, he begun a heated exchange of words with Wilhelm Nast, a leading Methodist missionary to Germans. Responding to the Methodist Pastor’s attack on Friedrich Schmidt in the Nast’s newspaper Christlichen Apologeten, Wyneken accused the whole Methodist movement of deliberately causing division within Christianity and of systematically attempting to convert Lutherans to their new denomination.

Having much time to think during a voyage to Germany, where he campaigned to raise money and recruit pastors for America, he became convinced that a return to Lutheran theology and practice was in order. Through the efforts of Wilhelm Löhe and other confessional leaders, he completed his adoption of truly Lutheran theology and tradition.

When Friedrich returned to Indiana, he proceeded to abandon practices which diluted Lutheran theology or practice, minimized the differences between Lutherans and other denominations or allowed reformed pastors to enter Lutheran pulpits. He energetically opposed both Methodist and Reformed theologies.

More than a few in Wyneken’s flocks were confused or angered by the change in their shepherd’s teaching and practice. The reformed members withdrew to form their own parish. Wyneken also came under attack from the Methodists, who asked, “Why Have You Become an Apostate?” and from pastors within his own Synod of the West, who accused him of being an “Old Lutheran” and a Jesuit in Lutheran clothing.

Since few of his members had even been exposed to truly Lutheran theology, Wyneken needed to clear the air. 175 years ago, in October of 1844, the Synod of the West convened in Fort Wayne. The embattled pastor invited his members to bring charges against him to the body. In a two hour apologetic, Wyneken defended his teachings and practice from the Lutheran Confessions. He won over most of those present. His congregation no longer doubted Wyneken the Confessor and his Synod sent him the General Synod of 1845 as their delegate. While in the midst of this defense, Wyneken received a copy of the first issue of Der Lutheraner, C. F. W. Walther’s magazine. “Thank God!,” he exclaimed, “There are still Lutherans here in America.”

About Being Born Again

Often our Evangelical brothers and sisters will call themselves “Born Again Christians.” They will often ask, “Have you been born again?” Lutherans will respond, “Why, yes, I’ve been baptized.” This answer is not satisfactory to them. The problem is not that we disagree on what being born again is all about. The difficulty is we have radically different ideas on how we get there.

For Evangelicals, there are a series of things a person needs to do before God will give you new birth. You need to realize you are a sinner. Your need to repent of your sin. You need to invite Jesus into your heart. It is only then that God will give you new birth.

Of course, Lutherans believe there is absolutely nothing we do before God gives us new birth. In fact, many of us were baptized as infants where there was nothing we could do to prepare the ground. (Of course, Evangelicals violently disagree with infant baptism, but that is another post!) We insist that we cannot do anything at all before God gives us new birth — that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone for the sake of Christ’s death on the cross alone.

To see which is correct, it helps to look at the two passages which use words translated into English as born again.

The first passage is in among the most beloved chapters in the Bible — John 3. In verse 3-7, Jesus tells Nicodemus, one of the most respected Pharisees of his day, that “unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God … unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.” Here Jesus tells us that you cannot be saved if you are not born again. He then explains that one is born again by Holy Baptism. Why is this the case? Because if you are born sinful (“of the flesh”) you cannot be born again. Holy Baptism comes with the Holy Spirit which gives you new life.

The second passage is 1 Peter 1. Here St. Peter tells us that ” According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ” (Verses 3-5) Here we see that it is God who causes us to be born again and the power comes from the resurrection of Jesus. Later he tells us that we are born again from imperishable seed — God’s word.

From these passages, then, it is clear that we are born again by God’s work alone when he unites us to the death and resurrection of Jesus in baptism and when we hear his word proclaimed to us. It is after we are born again that we fully appreciate our sinful state, repent of our sin and dedicate our lives, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to serve him alone.