Jesus Christ, Alpha and Omega, Yesterday, Today, Forever.

 

The everlasting covenant is in Him, through Him, by Him, for us.

The kingdom is not of this world.

Remember:

"Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when he was betrayed, took the bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said: Take; eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way he also took the cup after the supper, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them saying, Drink of it, all of you. This cup is the New Testament in my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

Early Christianity

This is a little excerpt from a book from the Christian History project developed by our Albertan maverick Ted Byfield. It is from book 2:  A Pinch of Incense, AD 70-250.

Not until 250, under Decius, did the empire as a whole attack the Christians systematically.  The earlier sporadic persecutions were nonetheless terrifying.  Christians could live in undisturbed peace for years, then suddenly be confronted with sheer horror.  The threat of arrest was always there.  After all, though they might meet in secret, they lived for the most part in full view of their neighbors in the empire's most populous cities.  It was there, of course, that the first evangelists could find the biggest audiences.  By A.D. 80-90 there were already Gentile Christians living in Rome, and by the middle of the second century their numbers approached thirty thousand, enough to support an impressive professional staff of 150 presbyters or priests, plus deacons and full-time "visitors."  They could hardly be called an underground church.

As city folk, they were mostly artisans, tent-makers, cloth-dealers, laborers, slaves and servants, potters, plasterers, masons, and tavern keepers.  They also included people of wealth and station;  their early writings reveal a sophistication found only among the educated classes.  Their preaching in the marketplaces, their mixed-gender services, their care for the sick, all in the tightly packed living conditions of Rome, inevitably drew attention, much of it scornful.  Their children were taunted by other children.  Christians were ridiculed in graffiti like the one still there on the Palatine Hill, showing a man standing before a crucified donkey, over the words, "Alexamenos worships his god."

The rumors of their sexual excesses lay in sharp contrast to the facts.  Many took Paul's advice and became celibates, vowing they would never marry.  Divorce was disapproved among the Christians.  So was the remarriage of widows.  Some observers, like the second-century pagan physician Galen, wrote admiringly of them:  "They include not only men, but also women who refrain from cohabiting all their lives;  and they also number individuals who, in self-discipline and self-control, have attained a pitch not inferior to that of genuine philosophers."  Fidelity and chastity in marriage were still ideals in imperial Rome, respected if not observed, but Christians practiced them so conspicuously and universally they became hallmarks of their faith.

They similarly distinguished themselves by their support for the needy, the sick, for widows and orphans.  They consistently networked.  The wealthier employed the needy, preferred their brethren in business, and opened their houses as meeting places, adorning the walls with frescoes and the floors with mosaics showing communion loaves, chalices, praying figures, and such symbols of Christ as lambs and fish.  The Christians were their own mutual-aid society that transcended class.


They distanced themselves from their neighbors in other ways.  Most refused to attend the gladiatorial games, or use imperial coins that proclaimed the emperor a god, or teach school, let the syllabus require retelling the bawdy shenanigans of pagan deities.  They shunned the theater for the same reason, along with sculpture or painting, and they denounced rampant homosexuality with in the public baths.  A Christian had to be careful in businesses where contracts were sealed with oaths to deified emperors. pp. 9-70.

I pulled out this quote because several things struck me.   One the whole idea of the "mutual aid society" and the care of widows and orphans again.  Another the preaching in the "market place".  What would that have been?  Another blogger keeps asking "Where is Mars hill"?  Where do you engage the public, not the converted? Where is there even a market place, nowadays?  The other point is the church staff of "visitors."  I've been wondering for our church, can we not have some "visitors", as we seem to have had when reading Luther and the early presidents of the synod.

That's all for now.

Kyrie

What are we reading this summer?  We sailed through a book "G.K. Chesterton, Essential Writings".   He was fun.  There is another book, which is taking time.  I find I can only handle 5 pages at a time or so.  This is alright:  less reading more thinking, more enjoying favorable weather.  This books is "Heaven on Earth /  the Gifts of Christ in the Divine Service" by Arthur A. Just, Jr.

Just a sample.  Something I was reading  in "Heaven on Earth" , yesterday, and it dovetails with "Christ have mercy".

KYRIE

In the ancient world, the king would sometimes visit a village or city.  Anticipating his coming, villagers would line the road waiting for him to appear, and as he entered the city they would cry,  "Lord, have mercy!"  amid their shouts, one could also hear petitions from he crowd for gifts that reflected the king's mercy, such as food, protection, lower taxes, and always and most important, peace.  Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem is an excellent example of this.  In the Eastern Church, Christians adopted the practice of petitioning for gifts with cries of mercy as the clergy entered the church during the procession to the altar at the beginning of the service.  This secular practice was adopted for their King--the King of the Universe--for He was coming to them in His Word to bring the gifts of His presence:  "The Kyrie is not another confession of sins, but a prayer for grace and help in time of need--'the ardent cry of the Church for assistance.'"

The cry for mercy is biblical, particularly for those seeking the release from bondage that only Jesus the King can give.  It is the cry of the ten lepers, who seeing Jesus and knowing He can heal, cry out, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us"  (Luke 17:13).  It is the cry of a blind beggar at the gate of Jericho, who, on hearing that "Jesus of Nazareth  is passing by," cries, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  (Luke 18: 37-38).  This petition for mercy has been explained in this way:

[It is] the most comprehensive and most expressive of all prayers.... To beg God's mercy is to ask for the coming of His kingdom which Christ promised to give to those who seek it, assuring them that all other things will be added (Matthew 6:33).  Because of this, it is a perfect example of a universal petition.

The Kyrie is the acknowledgment of gifts to be received with eager thankfulness and praise because the King is coming in His Word.  the most ancient form of the Kyrie was the simple acclamation  "Lord, have mercy,"  but early on it took the form of a litany similar to the one in many contemporary Lutheran service books.

In peace let us pray to the Lord.  Lord, have mercy.

For the peace from above and for our salivation let us pray to the Lord.  Lord, have mercy.

For the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of the Church of God, and for the unity of all let us pray to the Lord.  Lord, have mercy.

For this holy house and for all who offer here their worship and praise, let us pray to the Lord.  Lord, have mercy.

Help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord.
Amen.

The cry for mercy in the Kyrie is a cry for peace.  The entire Kyrie is prayed  "in peace,"  and two of the first three petitions are for "peace from above"  and for "the peace of the whole world."  The petition for "peace from above"  acknowledges that peace came from heaven to earth through the incarnation of Jesus Christ and petitions the Lord to continue to be present among us in our worship.  The invasion of peace from above is why we petition for "the peace of the whole world"--a peace realized in salvation, the well-being of the Church of God, the unity of all, a peace for this holy house and for all who worship here.  Peace is the condition of "wholeness and well-being"  that now exists on earth and in heaven because of the incarnation and atoning death of Jesus, a theme echoed in the opening verse of the Gloria in Excelsis from Luke's Gospel.

Peace is also the new greeting of the Church of the new Testament that provided the foundation for the post-Pentecost Church in mission.  Jesus sent the seventy out to greet households in peace, and his first greeting to the eleven after the resurrection was the greeting of peace as He ate roasted fish before them (Luke 24:36).  Peace and hospitality at the table go hand in hand in the mission of Jesus and His disciples.  God's mercy is expressed at the table of His son through forgiveness offered and received, the very mercy and forgiveness that Jesus showed to sinners as He went from house to house with the greeting of peace.  The petitions conclude with a list describing the essence of our cry for God's mercy:  "help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord."  And so the divine Service as table fellowship with Jesus begins in peace as the people cry for mercy in the Kyrie.

 p, 189, 190.

Somehow, this is enough to ponder for one day.

Peace of the Lord to you and me, today, in his mercy.  Amen.

Catechism and rearing another generation

Therefore, I advise and exhort as before that with warning and threatening, restraint and punishment, the children should be trained early to shun falsehood.  They should especially avoid the use of God's name to support falsehood.  For where children are allowed to do as they please, no good will result.  This is clear even now.  The world is worse than it has ever been, and there is no government, no obedience, no loyalty, no faith, but only daring, unbridled people.  No teaching or reproof helps them.  All this is God's wrath and punishment for our lewd contempt of this commandment...

Look, we could train our youth this way [Proverbs 22:6], in a childlike way and playfully in the fear and honor of God.  Then the First and Second Commandments might be well kept and in constant practice.  Then some good might take root, spring up, and bear fruit.  People would grow up whom an entire land might relish and enjoy.  In addition, this would be the true way to bring up children well as long as they could be trained with kindness and delight.  For children who must be forced with rods and blows will not develop into a good generation.  At best they will remain godly under such treatment only as long as the rod is upon their backs  [Proverbs 10:13]

But teaching the commandments in a childlike and playful way spreads its roots in the heart so that children fear God more than rods and clubs.  This I say with such simplicity for the sake of the young, that it may penetrate their minds.  For we are preaching to children, so we must also talk like them.  In this way we would prevent the abuse of the divine name and teach the right use.  This should happen not only in words, but also practice and life.  Then we may know God is well pleased with this and will as richly reward good use of His name as He will terribly punish the abuse.

Large Catechism on the first commandment.

It is really quite amazing.  For all the ideas proposed for improving the world, Luther hits upon the important parts.  In our days, the answer for every problem is the right kind or more "education".  And for solving the world's problems more "programming".  But here we get at the heart of the matter.  While "education" and "programming" are good, they are good in the law sense.  They can only give us so much and then we are up against hearts that are not changed, efforts that are wasted and unfruitful.

Here, Luther would raise and educate another generation, which truly fears the Lord, knows the commandments, shuns falsehood, etc. by inculcating the ten commandments.  (Where have we heard lately any public figure, or even pastors, advocate that we need to fix the world by fixing in the children 's minds the ten commandments?)  The first commandment is the most important:  the fear and love of God will motivate the good.  Without motivation all is dead. Without faith all is dead.

And these commandments need to inculcated in a loving way.  No one can be driven with blows to be good.  He might behave while under supervision.  But with loving teaching of the commandments to fear and love God and neighbor, an new generation might be instructed and improved.

The way Luther handles law and gospel, here, in the catechism explanations of the ten commandments is really phenomenal.  Also his hope of improving the world is unlike the world's "best" ideas. 

Christ have Mercy/ I don't know what number

[I am NOT reading a book.  This is from the Treasury of Daily Prayer which Martin and I use every day (almost).  This is basic necessity. Just three pages a day, most of it scripture readings.]

Yesterday, there was this, below, from the Large Catechism that involved looking after poor.  To my chagrin, I have no idea where exactly it is from.  It only says:  Large Catechism I 247, 252-253.  --  Aha, which book?  Am I missing something?  Someone tell me.


This is how it reads:

Beware of this:  The poor man will come to you (there are so many now).  He must buy things with the penny of his daily wages and live upon it.  When you are harsh to him, as though everyone lived by your favor, and you skin and scrape him to the bone, and when you turn him away with pride and arrogance to whom you ought to give things without payment, he will go away wretched and sorrowful.  since he can complaint no one else, he will cry and call to heaven [Psalm 20:6;  146: 8-9].  Then beware, I say again,  as of the devil himself.  For such groaning and calling will be no joke.  It will have a weight that will prove too heavy for you and all the world.  For it will reach Him who takes care of the poor, sorrowful hearts.  He will not allow them to go unavenged [Isaiah 61:1-3].  but if you despise this and become defiant, see the One you have brought upon you.  If you succeed and prosper, before all the world, you may call God and me a liar.

And the other one.

Whoever now seeks and desires good works will find here more than enough to do that are heartily acceptable and pleasing to God.  In addition, they are favored and crowned with excellent blessings.  So we are to be richly compensated for all that we do for our neighbor's good and from friendship.  King Solomon also teaches this in Proverbs 19:17, "Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and He will repay him for his deed."  Here, then , you have a rich Lord.  He is certainly enough for you.  He will not allow you to come up short in anything or to lack [Psalm 37:25].  So you can with a joyful conscience enjoy a hundred times more than you could scrape together with unfaithfulness and wrong.  Now, whoever does not desire this blessing will find enough wrath and misfortune.

This is somewhere in the Large Catechism.  I don't have time to read it right now to find it.  From reading the Large Catechism before, however, I did find that Luther was very interested in building a better society--all based on the ten commandments and from faith in Christ. Especially on the ten commandments, he stressed how these should be brought close to the generation being reared so something like useful citizens would become of the young people.  It's definitely there.

Sommersendepause/ summer break in broadcasting

In the title, find a nice German compound noun for you.  All the nouns just get run together to form a new noun.

As you could tell, going through "Christ have Mercy"  got me started reading and writing on a ton of stuff again.  This is all good, except not right now.  We will pick up where we left off, later.

In the meantime, safe and happy holidays to everyone!  Hopefully, everyone can grab a little vacation.


You may pray for our bridal couple and all our families.  The wedding is on July 17th.  The relatives are arriving in 15 days.  We are engaging in lots of great get-togethers. It will be rather a large wedding now. Hardly anyone has declined the invitation and long lost relatives have announced themselves by word of mouth.  All of this is delightful.

June 28th would also have marked Stefan's 20th birthday.  I won't be posting anything for that.  But he will be on our minds, as always.  Find is youtube videos under "nafteslooc" (cool Stefan, backwards)

If anyone wants to e-mail, phone or visit, that would be splendid.  My contact is in the profile.

Just something from Romans that relates to mercy, justification and our limited understanding.  (Romans 11:30-36)  What would we ever be without the word and what would we be without God's mercy.

 For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience,  so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now  receive mercy.  For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. 
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

“For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
 “Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Lord's Supper 3

This is such a good summary.  I have to post it, too.
From "The Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ--Against the Fanatics". 1526.

Here then you have the distinction as to what the commemoration is, and how one should use the sacrament and derive benefit from it, namely, by simply correcting our shortcomings and failings.  We share the common frailties of other people, and each has his own peculiar frailties;  because of these we come here to seek strength.  This is why this sacrament is called a food for hungry and thirsty souls, who feel their misery and would gladly be rescued from death and all misfortune.  The papists have taught:  "Beware, do not go thither unless you are pure and have no evil conscience,"  so that Christ may be certain to have a pure abode.  They have so stupefied and frightened the poor souls by this that they have fled from the sacraments, and yet have had to receive it under constraint--with such trembling that they would as gladly have entered a fiery furnace.

We are to be pure in the sense that we are sorry for our sins and would gladly be rid of them, and are vexed that we are such miserable people--insofar as we are serious about it and not just pretending.  Complete sinlessness, however, no one will ever attain.  Even if you should do so, you would not dare to go to the sacrament, for it was instituted specifically for the sake of the weak.  So much for the use of the sacrament:  it is to strengthen the conscience against all distress and temptation.

Now there remains the part concerning the fruit of the sacrament.  Of this I have had much to say at other places.  It is nothing other than love.  The early fathers too have emphasized this most of all, and for this reason they called the sacrament communio, that is, a communion.  this is also presented to us here in two ways--first, by way of an example, and second, by way of a symbol or sign which is the bread and wine--so every Christian, no matter how crude he maybe, may be able to comprehend here in the sacrament the whole christian doctrine, what he is to believe and what he is to do through faith.  for it is necessary for each one to know that Christ has given his body, flesh, and blood on the cross to be our treasure and to help us to receive forgiveness of sins, that is, that we may be saved, redeemed from death and hell.

That is the first principle of christian doctrine.  It is presented to us in the words, and his body and blood are given to us to be received corporeally as a token and confirmation of this fact.  to be sure, he did this only once, carrying it out and achieving it on the cross;  but he causes it each day anew to be set before us, distributed and poured out through preaching, and he orders us to remember him always and never forget him.

The second principle is love.  It is demonstrated in the first place by the fact that he has left us an example.  As he give himself for us with his body and blood in order to redeem us from all misery, so we too are to give ourselves with might and main for our neighbor.  whoever knows this and lives accordingly is holy, and has not much more to learn, nor will he find anything more in the whole bible.  for these two principles are here inscribed together as on a tablet which is always before our eyes and which we use daily.

(Lull, pp. 330, 331)

Christ have Mercy/ Lord's Supper 2

Over the weekend, I've realized another thing or two about the Lord's Supper.  This strong emphasis as the church as one loaf, one body that cares for all members, as elaborated upon in the last post, we do not find in the Catechisms.  They stress what a sacrament is, the "pro me" of faith, and the real presence.  The entire book of  Concord is to a large degree dealing with controverted articles with the result that some of the obvious, basic things, are not discussed in it.   Maybe love is dealt with in conjunction with the supper somewhere, but I haven't found it, yet, (not knowing the BOC backward and forward like some). 

When Paul writes about the supper in 1. Corinthians 10 and 11, he makes a strong connection of the supper to the church as the body of Christ.  First he talks about the supper, the wrong use, the words of institution, discerning the body, followed right after with the church as Christ's body with many parts and then going right into the love chapter, the most excellent way.

So we have it all right there together:  forgiveness, faith, the body, the body of Christ and love.  It can't be split up.

When Paul says:  "For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment upon himself." (11:29), he is speaking about the ONE body of the Lord, he being the head.

I used to wonder, when I read this, which body is he talking about???  Is he talking about the body and blood of Christ in the elements or is he talking about the fellowship of the church?  I have sometimes heard people pitting these against each other.  Now, I realize, it is the same thing.  Through the supper we are incorporated into Him, together with the rest of the Saints, through faith.  This is his real body.  He is in us and we in him, and all of us together.

And this body is a body of love, sharing its various gifts.  Everything we read in the last post is true, even if it is not in the catechism.

"But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lack it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.  If one part suffers, every part suffers with it;  if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it."  (1. Cor. 12:24,25). 

And as we read before:
"Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ?  And is not the bread that we break a participation int he body of Christ?  Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf."  (1. Cor. 10: 16,17)


Through the blood of Christ we are one body, both very real.  Hence the admonition to give reverence to the body.

When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat, for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else.  One remains hungry, another gets drunk.  Don't you have homes to eat and drink in?   Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing?"  (1 Cor. 11: 20,21)

When you do not consider the fellowship, you are not having the Lord's Supper.

As an aside and a consequence, it occurs to me that this also argues completely against the idea of "virtual communion" as proposed by some on the internet.  Yes, we can have an amazing fellowship on-line, but it's not the same thing--because we don't live together and cannot do things for each other, share the cup, participate.

We can learn a lot about Christ, read, talk, even pray long distance, but we cannot live together and commune together.  You need to share the prerequisite physical elements:  bread, wine, your local fellowship which lives on faith, love and forgiveness.

Maybe I'm side-tracked, maybe not.

It makes me also think about how this manifests itself in our congregations.  Sometimes, we live so far apart and have so little to do with each other that this is more theoretical than real.  Here all the new kinds of communications media can help. 

It is easy to stay in touch but also to be out of touch, and the elderly generally have no computer, etc. (which is probably also good and bad).  When you are actually with someone they are often distracted by their i-phones and gadgets.  Is anyone actually listening to anybody?  When you want to leave someone a Facebook message, you don't know how often they check their messages.  If they did not reply, the message might have got buried in their many messages, or maybe they are ignoring you.  There is a lot of vagueness in the communication and guessing, these days.

People talk about churches with lots of small groups and whether that's a good thing or not, or a necessary thing or not.  Small groups are places where people can learn together, get to know each other, become friends and care for each other.  I have no problems with them.

What surprised me coming into my first LCC church was that people did not invite each other to dinner in each other's homes, that they did not go to the lake together, share cabins, plan retreats, have devotions, plan devotions, sing, like I was used to in my previous (independent Luth.) church.  I think now that that has something to do with the family I married into.  But even so, I think more could be shared, easily.

Still in the church we find the love and acceptance of Christ and each other.  This is in his blood.   It is the hugest blessing.

Christ have Mercy / The Lord's Supper

We are taking our sweet time with this study.  This is alright because it gives time to digest.  There is plenty to think about.

We are in Matthew Harrison's book:  "Christ have Mercy.  How to put your Faith in Action" , now looking at chapter 7.

In planning to write about the Lord's Supper and the Means of Grace in general and how that is all tied together by mercy (chapter 7 and 8), I have got myself reading the entire Part IV of Timothy Lull's "Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings" on The Promise of the Sacraments.

(You think I am insane.  Pages 235 to 404.  I can read Luther all day long.)

The reason I need to read all this is because I do not own an edition of Luther's Works.  Whenever Harrison quotes Luther at the beginning of the chapter it seems a bit deus ex machina to me and the reference is to a book I  have.  I need the context.  I need the document.  Having a little quote plopped down does not work for me.  It reminds me of Germany, where the only Luther I'd ever heard was a short saying somewhere between hymns (aside from the hymns themselves).

(Just to illustrate.)

Let's move on. At the beginning of this chapter 7 in  "Christ have Mercy" we have the title:  "Christ's Body and Blood" with subtitle "With Might and Main For Our Neighbor."  We have our leading Bible verse:

Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.  1 Corinthians 10:17

And we have our Luther quote:

O this is a great sacrament... that Christ and the church are one flesh and bone.  Again through this same love, we are to be changed and to make the infirmities of all other Christians our own;  we are to take upon ourselves their form and their necessity..... That is real fellowship, and that is the true significance of this sacrament.  Martin Luther (p. 87)

The reason I gave this long introduction about Luther documents is that this quote does NOT represent something torn out of context and set up as a novelty.  It is not making a major out of a minor.  Luther's writing on the Lord's Supper is woven through  with this thought, that the partaking of the body and blood of the Lord unites us into this one body that rejoices and suffers together through the bond of love.

We may take out our Lull from our Introduction to Luther course.  Or find it on-line.  James Swan probably has them all on his blog.  ("Confession Concerning Christ's Supper".  "The blessed Sacrament of the Holy and True Body and Blood of Christ, and the Brotherhoods".  "The Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ--Against the Fanatics.")

Here is just one long quote from one of the documents.  Enjoy.  Chopped up by myself.

The significance or effect of this sacrament is fellowship of all the saints.  From this it derives its common name synaxis [Greek] or communio [Latin], that is, fellowship.  And the Latin communicare, or as we say in German, zum Sakrament gehen [go to the sacrament], means to take part in this fellowship.  Hence it is that Christ and all saints are one spiritual body, just as the inhabitants of a city are one community and body, each citizen being a member of the other and of the entire city.  All the saints, therefore, are members of Christ and of the church, which is a spiritual and eternal city of God.  ...

To receive this sacrament in bread and wine, then, is nothing else than to receive a sure sign of this fellowship and incorporation with Christ and all saints.  It is as if a citizen were given a sign, a document, or some other token to assure him that he is a citizen of the city, a member of that particular community.  St. Paul says this very thing in I Corinthians 10: [:17], "We are all one bread and one body, for we all partake of one bread and of one cup...

Again all sufferings and sins also become common property;  and thus love engenders love in return and unites.

In this sacrament, therefore, man is given through the priest a sure sign from God himself that he is thus united with Christ and his saints and has all things in common [with them], that Christ's sufferings and life are his own, together with the lives and sufferings of all the saints.  therefore whoever does injury to [the believer], does injury to Christ and all the saints, as he says through the prophet [Zech. 2:8], "He who touches you touches the apple of my eye."  On the other hand whoever does him a kindness does it to Christ and all his saints;  as he says in Matthew 25, "As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren,you did it to me."  Again, man must be willing to share all the burdens and misfortunes of Christ and his saints, the cost as well as the profit.  Let us consider more fully these two [sides of the fellowship].

Now adversity assails us in more than one form.  There is, in the first place, the sin that remains in our flesh after baptism:  the inclination to anger, hatred, pride, unchastity, and so forth.  this sin assails us as long as we live.  Here we not only need the help of the community and of Christ, in order that they might with us fight this sin, but it is also necessary that Christ and his saints intercede for us  before God, so that this sin may not be charged to our account by God's strict judgment.  Therefore in order to strengthen and encourage us against this same sin, God gives us this sacrament, as much as to say, "Look, many kinds of sin are assailing you;  take this sign by which I give you my pledge that this sin is assailing not only you but also my Son, Christ, and all his saints in heaven and on earth.  Therefore take heart and be bold.  You are not fighting alone.  Great help and support are all around you...

Whoever is in despair, distressed by a sin-stricken conscience or terrified by death or carrying some other burden upon his heart if he would be rid of them all, let him go joyfully to the sacrament of the altar and lay down his woe in the midst of the community and seek help from the entire company of the spiritual body...

When you have partaken of this sacrament, therefore, or desire to partake of it, you must in turn share the misfortunes of the fellowship, as has been said.  But what are these?  Christ in heaven and the angels, together with the saints, have no misfortunes, except when injury is done to the truth and to the Word of God.  Indeed, as we have said, every bane and blessing of all the saints on earth affects them.  Here your heart must go out in love and learn that this is a sacrament of love.  As love and support are given you, you in turn must render love and support to Christ in his needy ones.  You must feel with sorrow all the dishonor done to Christ in his holy Word, all the misery of Christendom, all the unjust suffering of the innocent, with which the world is everywhere filled to overflowing.  You must fight, work, pray, and--if you cannot do more--have heartfelt sympathy.  See, this is what it means to bear in your turn the misfortune and adversity of Christ and his saints.  Here the saying of Paul is fulfilled, "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" [Gal.6:2].  See, as you uphold all of them, so they all in turn uphold you;  and all things are in common, both good and evil.  Then all things become easy, and the evil spirit cannot stand up against this fellowship.

When Christ instituted the sacrament, he said, "This is my body which is given for you, this is my blood which is poured out for you.  As often as you do this, remember me."  It is as if he were saying, "I am the Head, I will be the first to give himself for you.  I will make your suffering and misfortune my own and will bear it for you, so that you in your turn may do the same for me and for one another, allowing all things to be common property, in me, and with me.  And I leave you this sacrament as a sure token of all this, in order that you may not forget me, but daily call to mind and admonish one another by means of what I did and am still doing for you, in order that you may be strengthened, and also bear one another in the same way."

This is also a reason, indeed the chief reason, why this sacrament is received many times, while baptism is received but once...  There is the devil, the world, and our own flesh and conscience, as I have said.  They never cease to hound us and oppress us.  Therefore we need the strength, support and help of Christ and of his saints.  These are pledged to us here, as in a sure sign, by which we are made one with them--incorporated into them--and all our woe is laid down in the midst of the community...

There are those, indeed, who would gladly share in the profits but not in the costs.  That is, they like to hear that in this sacrament the help, fellowship, and support of all the saints are promised and given to them.  But they are unwilling in their turn to belong also to this fellowship.  They will not help the poor, put up with sinners, care for the sorrowing, suffer with the suffering, intercede for others, defend the truth, and at the risk of life, property, and honor seek the betterment of the church and of all Christians.  They are unwilling because they fear the world...

For this reason slanderers and those who wickedly judge and despise others cannot but receive death in the sacrament, as St. Paul writes in I Corinthians 11 [:29].  for they do not do unto their neighbor what they seek from Christ, and what the sacrament indicates.  They begrudge others anything good;  they have no sympathy for them;  they do not care for others as they themselves desire to be cared for by Christ.  And then they fall into such blindness that they do not know what else to do in this sacrament except to fear and honor Christ there present with their own prayers and devotion....

And Christ values his spiritual body, which is the fellowship of his saints, more than his own natural body.  To him it is more important, especially in this sacrament, that faith in the fellowship with him and with the saints may be properly exercised and become strong in it;  and that we, in keeping with it, may properly exercise our fellowship with one another.  This purpose of Christ the blind worshipers do not perceive.... 

In conclusion, the blessing of this sacrament is fellowship and love, by which we are strengthened against death and all evil.  This fellowship is twofold:  on the one hand we partake of Christ and all saints;  on the other hand we permit all Christians to be partakers of us, in whatever way they and we are able.  Thus by means of this which seeks the common good of all;  and through the change wrought by love there is one bread, one drink one body, one community. This is the true unity of Christian brethren.

(Lull, p. 243- 260.  Sacrament of the Body and Blood of  Christ.)

There is so much more. And already this is so much to think about.  Again, this quote I dug out and chose myself.  It is not from "Christ have Mercy", so as not to misrepresent the book.

Stressing this point is also not doing justice to chapter 7.  However, this is something Harrison does want to bring out.  Chapter 7 is actually a very nice overview on the teaching of the Lord's Supper and I would recommend it as an excellent introduction.

I'll quit here for now.  There is only so much one can blog about at a time.  My husband will want some supper.

I like this picture.  I sent it to my nephew.  He will start confirmation next year.  I am praying his father will go with him.

The Bride and I

The bride and I are on errands.


Just for my memory and for anyone's interest:  the was an I-Monk post recently on Wright, linking to some talks of his.  My comment is the last one.  Wright is quite wrong on Luther.  Let's all pray he reads some.

http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/recommended#respond

There was a thread on Bonhoeffer, too, which was pretty mangled, in my opinion.  My comment is pretty much the last, as well.

http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/wash-your-ears-out-with-this#respond

Besides reading books, this is how I come to some of my opinions. 

Another thing:  I --sort of--asked someone for forgiveness this week and guess what he said:  "You could never offend me."

Now that was gracious.

Christ have Mercy/ Forgiveness

Let me try once more to go through the book.  Meanwhile I'm reading it with my husband, but blogging is worthwhile.  I'll try not to get sidetracked again.  Let's go back to Chapter 6.

We have here two powerful stories employed to convey what it is like to ask for and receive forgiveness from the people you associate with.  And to give it also.  These moments in life are very powerful, if we allow them to happen with us.  It brings me back to the gut-feeling of mercy.  These forgiving moments are also often deeply felt and treasured.  Harrison says:  "I will always treasure that moment.  Both of us will treasure it together in eternity.  My son knows something of being spoken free and living mercifully."  (p. 77)

I like also the part about treasuring this in eternity.  I think of life this way, too.  Why this life?  What the pain, the drama, the resolve, the happiness, the gifts?  Why anything at all?  It matters in the eternal frame.  We know what we are waiting for.  The trials sharpen the hope. The tears are counted.  The death is precious. The gifts have a giver.  The forgiveness cleanses us and binds us into an unspeakable care.  It matters somehow and it prepares us.

We have a section that explains the effectiveness of the divine word of forgiveness, the office of the keys.

And again Harrison brings it around to the "mutual conversation and consolation of bretheren".  "To forgive is the vocation of all Christians."   (p. 79)

Does this mean only pastors forgive sins? No!  Every Christian is able to speak forgiveness when sin besets us in our unique vocations and stations of life.  According to Luther not only can every Christian do this, but every Christian should do this.  There is never a shortage of sin!  But a word of Gospel, a word of forgiveness--even spoken by the humblest child ("Yes, I forgive you, dad"--is divine and effective).  The Lutheran Confessions call such words "mutual conversation and consolation of brethren."  Luther calls this lay absolution "confidential." p. 79

Then he tells something I find interesting about counselling couples.

Growing up, I had never experienced or even contemplated private confession to a clergyman.  But during my first years in the parish, I began to comprehend the importance of private confession and absolution.  Like every other pastor, I worked with those experiencing trouble in their marriage, broken families, individuals caught in unspeakable sins those in mourning and numerous other challenging situations.  I was struggling o provide the needed care until I overheard an older pastor say that once he began using private confession and absolution in his pastoral care of married couples, the number of repeat visits diminished markedly.  Having the conflict and the sin named, confessed, and forgiven was extremely salutary in distressed lives.  It also helped the pastor to apply appropriate portions of God's Word as advice and salve in that situation.... Like every pastor, after a decade in the parish, I had heard it all.  Yet I bear absolutely no burden, because Christ bore everyone's burden on the cross.  All is forgiven.  Moreover, hearing those saints confess and receive absolution gave me courage to name and confess my own sins.  (p. 80)

This reminds me of something I read in the Christless Christianity (Michael Horton) over the weekend:

It is just as easy to lose Christ by distraction as it is by denial.  We keep expecting the ball to be fumbled by the liberals, when conservative churches are often as likely to be interested in someone or something other than Christ crucified this week.  A woman who was struggling in her marriage told a pastor friend of mine that she decided to visit his church because her home church was going through a series on "How to Have a Better Marriage."  "What I need to hear most right now is who God is and what Christ has done for me even though I'm a wreck.  My marriage needs a lot of things, but that more than anything else."  She was right.  (p. 144)

I think Michael Horton is Reformed, so I don't know for sure what he could say about absolution.  He is talking about a general presentation of the gospel, where Harrison talks about actual delivery of it through persons.  The latter is more powerful because more direct and pointed.

It also reminds me of my own grief and how I am not interested in grief groups.  Please, just give me the sacrament.  I don't want to cry.  I don't need to talk about how to cope with every little thing.  One step at a time. The hole in life will be there.  Other gifts will be given. You have to live with it and try to make the best of it, indeed, but the rainbow is up above.  You have to look somewhere else.

Anyhow, the observation about confession and absolution is probably most astute.

And hearts are only changed and healed through the Gospel, anyways, come to think of that, together with the attendant humility and generosity.

Then we get an admonition. It makes me think of Bonhoeffer, too.  "Forgiveness without confession" is cheap grace, if we shan't shy away from that term.  We need to practice speaking both.

"As much as we Lutherans harp on the importance of forgiveness, it forever amazes me that we can be so inept, so silent, so unable to speak absolution to one another.  We daily live the parable of the unforgiving servant.  Our innumerable sins (even those of which we are unaware) are forgiven in Christ. We obsess, we stew, we fret, and we grind our axes, over one sin committed against us.  After one untoward word from a  brother or sister in Christ or one off-the-cuff remark from  a family member, we are shouting, "Pay what you owe!"

Sad indeed.   Lord give us the needed courage and humility.  I find since the Treasury of Daily Prayer came out and we sometimes have a Compline at night, which includes a general confession and absolution, it at least opens the heart and the avenue.

The chapter ends with a section called "Freed for a Purpose."  Again, we get the idea, that this forgivness is not just for ourselves in isolation.  The freedom achieved through forgiveness is a "freedom toward community."  This makes sense to me, as without the community, forgiveness hardly matters. Again we are admonished:

God freely gives out His grace, so we also serve Him freely.  According to David Yeago, throughout the Lutheran world today freedom has come to mean something quite different from what Luther understood it to be.  Yeago wrote that "the notion of freedom is essentially negative:  release from pressure, the lifting of the burden of an unendurable expectation."  However, Luther places a unique emphasis on that fact that freedom in Christ is toward something, not only away from something.  Freedom in Christ has an object, as result.  During confirmation instruction, most Lutherans learned these words form Luther's explanation to the Second Article of the Apostles' Creed:  "He has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil."  But Luther does not stop there.  Instead, he continues:  "That I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness."  Luther adapted the long-standing Augustinian tradition of defining the self in terms of love and the "innate directedness toward the good..  By contrast, modernity finds the dignity of the self in terms of power and free will, including "the power to impose its will on the world, or to realize is own authentic uniqueness despite the world."  The will of God came to be viewed as something fundamentally limiting--and post- modernity concurs with this view.  For "we are free insofar as we can do what we want, insofar as our power is unchecked, unhindered by expectations or prohibitions imposed form outside ourselves."  How completely different is our freedom spoken in Christ.

This is really important for us to realize.  This also comes up often in conversation with other Christians.  Sometimes one wants to talk about justification with someone and we are in the second article of the creed and it is so profoundly wonderful about redemption with His holy, precious blood and His innocent suffering and death;  and then it finished off, like tacked on, but it is not tacked on:  that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom...  (Small Catechism)

Some people really want to emphasize this living and working in the kingdom, like Bishop N.T. Wright and because of that they don't understand Lutheran (Christian) justification.  The point is:  we want to get both right.  Justification through the atonement, forgiveness of sins, all for the purpose of coming into Christ's kingdom AND living under Him.  If we understand everything correctly, there is no dichotomy. 

You have done it to ME/ Christ have Mercy

Ok, now, I think the antinomian controversy is settled.

We shall continue to preach the law to Christians.  As far as Christ is not raised in them, they still need to hear it.

We also deepened the concept of sin.  As Adam and Eve fell, they sinned against the first commandment.  When we fail to show mercy, or sin against the second table, we also sin against the first commandment.  (Thanks to Larry for this.)  This is what is means to deny God when you refuse to show mercy.  There are many layers to this.

I am sort of glad to give the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25)  a little different reading or emphasis from what is usually expounded in our circles.  Read Jesus words for what they are there.  What a relief.  Let's not beat around the bush.

Jesus is not emphasizing the fact that the sheep did all their merciful acts spontaneously because they have been justified by faith, (though this is also true).  He is emphasizing that when you do this for your needy neighbor, you are serving HIM in THEM.  And THESE are the KINDS of works to be doing, not, as Luther militated against, the pilgrimages, the venerating of relics, the asceticism.  Do not ever invent your own type of worship or works.

I personally think that I'm quite aware of what I am doing.  I may do some good spontaneously, i.e. freely, gladly, but nobody is going to say, "You went to see such and such in the hospital"  to me and I'm going to say "When did I do that?"  As long as I have a memory, I will know that I went to see such and such in the hospital. (just an example, not praising myself).  Jesus point is, if you want to do what I want you to do, then you  do these things.  And this is very serious.  You shall see ME in this needy person.  You deny them mercy, you deny me who has been merciful to you.

And, yet, all this without coercion because of the Gospel.

I get from this, too, that good deeds can be "planned", that while the primary "program" of the church is forgiveness, it can also have a "program" of mercy;  it need not be haphazard.

Another corollary is that we are also dignified in our suffering, which will surely come to us.

Agricola/ Christ have Mercy

Why am I on this detour?  At some point a blogger I read called another blogger I read and "antinomian" and dropped all contact with him.  It has bothered me all this time, because I like both bloggers.

Today, I read  this article about Agricola, the antinomian, trying to figure out what the exact position of the antinomian is. The antinomian is one who thinks the law has no more role to play at all in the believer's life.

This is what Agricola said:

Christians do out of love and desire, everything God demands of them.
For they are sealed with the spontaneous Spirit of Christ. Therefore no law ought to force them,
for no law is given to the righteous (1 Timothy 1:9). Moreover, as
soon as the gospel becomes a matter of compulsion and a rule, then
it is no longer the gospel.

The truth is that the law still moves to repentance and that is how it has to be, otherwise we would already be perfect, which we are and are not, being simultaneously saint and sinner.  However, the primary role of the law is still this driving to Christ, not the measuring of  your performance, although, I don't see though how that could be separated.  If you want to be driven to Christ, you have to take the law seriously enough to check your performance and properly let that frighten you.  Otherwise it is a toothless law, which is no law.

You don't want to be merciful?  This is a denial of God, we are told.
Yes, it is definitely a cause for repentance.  It's working for me.

Chapter 6/ Christ have Mercy

Chapter 6.  "Spoken free and living mercifully" is the title.  We have now a chapter on receiving and giving forgiveness in various settings.  The baptismal life, which we learned about in the last chapter, which both frees and obligates to living in mercy, is about constant forgiveness.  There is some law here.  We could be so much more forgiving and merciful with each other. But much more we have the freedom to do something constructive with this forgiveness.

And seizing [his fellow servant], he began to choke him, saying, "Pay what you owe."  Matthew 18:28.

After [confession and absolution]  we can do a lot of good [works] -- to the glory of God alone and to the benefit of our fellow-men.... for God give us his grace freely and without cost;  so we should also serve him freely and without cost.  Martin Luther. (p.75)

As an aside, there are people who do not want to hear any "should's", "ought's" and "must's" in the Christian life.   Christ's words could not be clearer.   We "should" forgive.  I am going to use the word "should".   The Luther quote says we "should" do it "freely".  It does sound like a guilt trip still, to say you "should freely", but how else are you going to say it?  We know the ability to do freely is only as far as the Lord's own love has it's way with us and our nature does not get in the way.  Sometimes I do freely, sometimes I do not, sometimes half-way.  I still "should" do it "freely".

HOWEVER, in this chapter we have no heavy handed treatment, whatsoever.  We can see clearly that forgiveness is the most wonderful thing of all.  We desire it.  We get it.  We give it.  We have moments in time which we will treasure together for eternity.  I like it.  It is the most natural thing for the Christian.

Yet, we also can be stingy with it.  And here the "should" comes in.  We do fail and we are harsh.  And we stand admonished.  And Jesus himself is the harshest of all, when it comes to someone not wanting to live mercifully.  We are not going to get around him.

The law is still the law and that's why forgiveness is so wonderful.  And this forgiveness is also there to serve the neighbor with.

So much for tonight.

Christ have mercy 9/ Does this jive?

6. Naught, naught, can now condemn me
        Nor set my hope aside;
        Now hell no more can claim me,
        Its fury I deride.
        No sentence e'er reproves me,
        No ill destroys my peace;
        For Christ, my Savior, loves me
        And shields me with His grace.

"To deny mercy--even worse, to reject the demonstration of mercy and care to those in need--is more than breaking God's Law.  Denying mercy denies and rejects the Gospel of Holy Baptism.  It denies the mercy of God in Baptism.  It denies the triune God, who is named in Baptism.  It denies the gracious word of the Father ("this is My beloved son, "  Matthew 3:17).  It denies the Son who undergoes and opens Baptism to us.  It denies the Spirit, who descends also upon us in Baptism.  It denies the gifts of that same Spirit, among which are charity, mercy, humility, and love.  Denial of mercy to the unbaptized fails to recognize that we, too, were once outside the church, outside of Christ.  We, too, were brought in the body of Christ through mercy, despite ourselves."

What do with think of this juxtaposition?  Does this fit together?  These quotes come from the last two posts.  I've debated this a bit somewhere else the last couple of days and in my head.   And what is the best way to talk about it?  I've convinced myself through this discussion that the second quote is also true, and from thinking about what Jesus said and what Paul said and what Luther said.

The thing is, God is not mocked and the law still applies.  There are ways to nullify the gift.  And Jesus is not joking when he says some things.  Everything about faith is a serious business.  Joyful, but serious.

We are back to the old discussion about the "necessity" of  love and good works.  We should refer to our confessions.

Baptism/ Christ have Mercy 8/ The rubber hits the road.

Chapter 5 is titled:  "Baptized for This Moment".

It is a smart title.  The chapter deals with the Sacrament of Baptism, what it means, what it means within the community and how it bears us up in all manner of crises and demands AND how this is becoming part of a body that works together and helps each other.

The chapter reminds me again of Stefan's death.  When the accident happened and the pastors were wondering how we were doing, my husband always told them, that he had been going to church for exactly a moment like this.  They thought it was the best answer they had ever heard.  It's a similar situation.-- The rubber hits the road.

We hear in this chapter the story of the relief effort in the New Orleans disaster.  There are some thoughtful and sensitive accounts.  I appreciated the way the needs of the traumatized are recognized and addressed.  DP Schulz asked to be prayed with and this was the prayer:  "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.  Blessed be the name of the Lord.  Grant Your servant Kurt, O Lord,  the strength to bear up under this challenge in the name of Christ." 

Well, yes, Amen.  Nice and short and to the point and there is not much else to pray.  Strength is really what it is about in a disaster.  I found that when people insisted I deal with my grief properly and attend grief sessions, that that was not giving me strength.  It made me really sad and zapped my energy.  I stopped going.  I was better without it, but that may just be me.  I had lots of real people in my life to stand by me, I did not need a specially formed group to dig everything up.  I also had a blog.  And there was really not that much else to say.

To bless the Lord in such a situation is also a special grace and something to experience when it happens to you.  We obviously don't look for this or ask for this.  But you can just simply say what Job said.  It works.  We know from the Bible that it's a good prayer and it's ready for you and God pleasing.  So just have it.

Then we have in the chapter various actions to save people in New Orleans, and we have the congregation at worship and volunteering to help other, etc.  We see how Word and Sacrament strengthens people to reach out again.

I realized at that moment how I had underestimated the body of Christ there, at the point of duress.  They confidently chose to act in mercy for their neighbors.  God baptized and preached them into one body through Pastors Schmieling and David Buss and countless others.  They responded as "one body" because they had "one Lord, one faith, one baptism"  (Ephesians 4:5).  Truly, they "were baptized for this moment." (p. 65)

The rubber hits the road again.  We learn in this section what Baptism is, what it means, how it is commanded, and yet a gift and God's doing.  We begin to see how the book is a lovely primer on theology and everything flows from word and sacrament.  One can really give this book to anyone to understand all the basics and more.

Then in another rubber-hits-the-road moment we learn how all this goes together:

When Christians are baptized, they give ear to the Gospel, read Holy Scripture, partake of Holy Communion, and love their neighbor. Luther. (p.68)

This is also one of the heading quotes for the chapter.  And of course scripture's witness:

How can we [plural] who died to sin still live in it?  Do you not know that all of us [plural] who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?  In order that... we [plural] too might walk in newness of life.  If we [plural] have been united with Him in a death like His, we [plural] shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.  We [plural] know that our [plural] old self was crucified with Him.  Now if we [plural] have died with Christ, we  [plural] believe that we [plural] will also live with Him.  Romans 6:2-8.  (p. 68,69)

Apparently, the "plurals" in Romans 6 "jump off the page."  The verbs, too, are something to think about.  Such as "ebptistheemen" which is "were-baptized-together-in" Christ.  The other verbs are like this.   Seems like an interesting verb construction in Greek.  But I don't know any Greek.  Anyhow, it looks like we are missing some things from not knowing Greek.

From this we get a little dissertation which strikes me as one of the key points of this theology.

This is not symbolic language.  the Church really and truly is the body of Christ.  Baptized into Christ and made members of His Body, because we are in Him, we become ever more what he is--merciful one to another.  Luther writes:  "Thus we Christians, through our rebirth in baptism, become children of God.  and if we pattern ourselves after our Father and all his ways, all his goods and names are likewise our inheritance forever.  Now, our Father is and is called merciful and good, as Christ says, 'Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful' [Luke 6:36]."

To deny mercy--even worse, to reject the demonstration of mercy and care to those in need--is more than breaking god's Law.  denying mercy denies and rejects the gospel of Holy Baptism.  It denies the mercy of God in Baptism.  It denies the triune God, who is named in Baptism.  It denies the gracious word of the Father ("this is My beloved son, "  Matthew 3:17).  It denies the Son who undergoes and opens Baptism to us.  It denies the Spirit, who descends also upon us in Baptism.  It denies the gifts of that same Spirit, among which are charity, mercy, humility, and love.  Denial of mercy to the unbaptized fails to recognize that we, too were once outside the church, outside of Christ.  We, too, were brought in the body of Christ through mercy, despite ourselves.

Infant baptism beautifully demonstrates this.  Born into the flesh, we are children of the flesh, "dead in our trespasses"  (Ephesians 2;5). God's mercy seeks and creates the object of its love--though that object is quite unlovable!  Denial of mercy to needy Christians in particular is a denial of Christ's Body, the church.  It is a denial of Christ in my neighbor, as we read in Scripture:  "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ"  (Galatians 3:27) or "As you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me"  (Matthew 25:40).  So Luther can say that Baptism (like the Lord's Supper) makes us all, with Christ, "one loaf".  Denial of mercy, even to non-Christians, is a denial of the way the Lord has sought and claimed us who were unlovable and condemned sinners.  Baptism is mercy. 

 There is a little bit more about this and then we talk about being "daring", daring to believe that "because of Jesus we are wholly pleasing and acceptable to God.  And it becomes daring to live life outside ourselves and in and for others:  "'The Father of infinite mercies has by the gospel made us daring lords.'" (p. 70).   We nevertheless bear crosses but are comforted by the promises of baptism.  And once more the exhortation to love:

I [Christ] have imposed the Gospel, Baptism, and the Sacrament on you.  And... it is your treasure, which I have given you gratis.... but now, since you have all received the treasure that you should have, do just this one thing:  be joined together in the bonds of love. (Luther)  (p. 71)

About this daring action, joyfully based on the joyful knowledge of God's grace and favor, I read an interesting thing on confessingevangelical, the other day.   "What would it be fun to present the Master with upon his return?"

It's just that maybe "fun" is not quite the right word, or maybe it is,  and it's not for the Master per se,  it is for the neighbor, in whom we find the Master, remember. That would be being merciful like him.

Justification/ Christ have Mercy 7

We are in "Christ have Mercy.  How to put your Faith in Action".  Chapter 4, the second half.

The question, in light of liberal "Christianity"  (I put it in quotation marks, because largely it seems to put itself right outside of Christianity; see the "curriculum" mentioned a couple of posts ago), is:  "Can Justification mean anything today?" (p.54)

In liberal theology, the "focus changes from Christ to the needs of man, which are not seen in the context of sin and grace.  Thus mainline denominations are dying and dying quickly", writes Harrison  (p,55)  The Gospel is recast into different context and loses Christ.  

Harrison quotes Amos:

 "Behold, the days are coming,"  declares the Lord God, "when I will send a famine on the land--not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.  They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east;  they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it." Amos 8:11-12.

What a famine this is.  From here we get some interesting illustrations.

Traveling the world, I have seen the best and the worst of humanity.  I have seen the oppressed and the oppressor.  I have met Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Protestants, Catholics, Animists, and tribe after indigenous tribe.  There is no more fundamental desire of the human race than justification, that is, to justify one's being and existence.  It is a human universal.  I justify my wealth.  I justify the time spent working away from family.  I justify the approach I have taken toward my children.  I justify the treatment of my wife.  I justify my value to my employer.  I justify my right to pennies from a wealthier man.  I justify my right to your money.  I justify my plea for various commodities of humanitarian aid.  I justify  lethargy.  I justify my thievery by lying to others and believing the lies myself.  I justify my tribe's hatred of "those people."  Universally practiced and understood, the language of "justification" is a fundamental phenomenon of life in society.

Ouch.

There are other ways at looking at justification as a universal need/famine. Harrison supplies a quote from Oswald Bayer, who according to the footnote is a retired professor of systematic theology from Tuebingen.  The book is  Living by Faith:  Justification and Sanctification.

There is no escaping the questions and evaluations of others.  If one accepts and welcomes the other or not, if one greets the other or not, if one acknowledged the other--either through praise or reproach, affirmation or negation--or if one does not acknowledge the other and regards the others as worthless, a decision is made concerning our being or non-being.  Only a being that is recognized and acknowledged is a being that is alive.  If no one were to call and greet me by name, if no one were ready to speak to me and look at me, then I would be socially nonexistent.

In this sense we are all beggars.  Without the acknowledgment of others we don't really exist socially.  We deal with this in many ways and Harrison gives a number of examples, which I've had to think about.  You should get the book.  I can't put it all here.

The chapter finishes with God's answer to these universal problems.  We receive the proper teaching of justification.  "By nature, every person knows something of God's Law (Romans 2:14) and each person knows just enough to think he can justify himself.  However, justification and the peace it brings is a gift." ( p. 58).

We learn about the wrong path of self-justification and  find the beautiful Bible passages, teaching grace through faith, the undeserved gift from God himself.

"But the free gift is not like the trespass.  For if many died through one man's trespass.  For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many... If because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ"  (Romans 5:15, 17, emphasis added by Harrison).  (p.59)

One more important paragraph deals with mankind's customary ways of justifying itself.  This also needs to be recognized:

We are justified not because of something that has changed within us.  Adoplf  Koeberle's book the Quest for Holiness demonstrated how perpetual attempts at self-justification occur along three persistent paths;  attempts at perfecting the mind, the will, and the emotions.  In real life, it works out this way:  The intellectual seeks to comprehend and define the divine.  The moralist strives to possess pure moral thought and action.  The mystic seeks to empty himself of everything that is not "god" and seeks to feel god by his ecstatic presence.  All three of these are fruits from the same tree.

All of this is the antithesis of grace.  "For Christ's sake" we are just. The definitive work in justification is outside us, not inside us.  This work was performed by Jesus Christ, not us, and it occurred on Golgotha more than two thousand years ago.  "It is finished!"  Jesus cried out from the cross (John 19:30).  The apostle Paul explains:  In Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself"  (2 corinthians5:19).  This act transcends all of history.  It was justification for me and for everyone who ever lived before and after Jesus.  Peter testifies"  there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved".  (Acts 4:12)

In reflecting on this entire section, I think we find here  a little apologetic written for liberals and for moralists alike, to explain how and why justification is the heart of the heart of our lives and of merciful action for neighbors.  Without forgiveness of sins of sinners, without the atonement, the shedding of blood, the death of God to salvage us--we have nothing to work with, hope for, live for, nothing to be justified by, nothing our neighbor is justified by.  In your quest for unity, do not jettison the thing that really matters, that really unites us.  Please, think it over.  We also find the Gospel proclaimed to us here.  It is a chance for all of us to hear it again and to ponder it.  What struck me today was the "how much more" in the Romans 5:15-17 passage.  If we think that our sins is so great, we should know that God's free gift and righteousness is even greater.  It is all encompassing.


One could really go launching into a lot of things here, but I'll stop myself, except to say that where we have this proper confession of Christ as Lord, God, and Savior, we also have a love that is quite unfathomable.  Pastor Bror Erickson wrote about it beautifully, the other morning.

Where I meet another blood-bought brother or sister, there is what Paul said to the Galatians:  "For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them for me." 

Shakespear on Mercy/ Christ have Mercy

Recently, I met a gentleman, a stranger to me, but no longer.  He  lost his wife not very long ago and he seemed very tender, hurting still.  He sent me this poem on mercy from the Merchant of Venice.  --Thank you very much.

The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The thronéd monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthronéd in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much
To mitigate the justice of thy plea;
Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice
Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant there.

Christ have Mercy 6

Let's go with the full title of the book:  "Christ have Mercy.  How to Put Your Faith in Action".

Now that I've typed it, I notice is says "in Action" not "into Action".  That could mean several things.  One that faith is not something that we "try" to put "into" action, but it is faith that is ready to propel action, just like "splanchnon" causes action.  Or else it could mean that  our systematic theology will also have something to do with action.

We have had several caveats in laying the groundwork for this theology.  One was that we are not prescribing an ethic, another that the action should be supplied in conjunction with the local congregation and its proper Gospel ministry of word and sacrament.  The example was the Lutheran congregation in Othoro, where the housemother and the pastor care for the orphans who also belong to the church.

In chapter 4, we have other caveats.  The chapter is entitled:  "The Heart of Mercy's Heart. Justification."  Two quotes set the theme.

For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing;  it is the gift of God.... For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.  Ephesians 2, 8-9.

You are white as snow [Isa. 1:18], pure from all sins.  But you must wear this red dress and color now, and remember to love your neighbor.  Moreover it should be a fervent love, not a pale red love.... For this is the way sins are covered, even a multitude, a heap, a sea, a forest of sins.  Martin Luther. (p.51)

What will be discussed is that  we are not on one hand denying anything of the historic Christian faith and its heart of actual justification through Christ, who actually is faithfully witnessed to by scripture and its eye-witnesses.  On the contrary, this justification by God's grace and "mercy" is via the "faith" that puts itself into action.  This justification is the heart of the heart.

In the beginning of the chapter we get a run down of what "enlightenment", "modernism" and "post-modernism" has done with our faith by trying to divorce it from history, and making it a mere "mythology".

We know a good deal of this sad story and I have recently had a conversation with someone from the "United Church of Canada", who could not say anything about faith and religion without using the word "myth".   He liked the "god-myth" of the Christian story, the best, but now he is trying other ones.  Blabla.  All the United Church people talk something like this:  the Bible is not reliable, the Bible is not reliable.  It is like a mantra throughout all the ranks.

Matt Harrison has this little illustration on page 51.

"And I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who was
not conceived by the Holy Spirit,
not born of the virgin Mary,
probably suffered under Pontius Pilate,
perhaps was crucified, died and buried,
but certainly did not descend into hell,
did not rise again on the third day,
did not ascend into heaven, and
will by no means come again to judge the living and the dead." (p. 51)

If it were not a travesty, it would be quite funny.

And another very sad one:

Deconstructionists pull trigger after trigger in a game of Russian roulette with Western Christian culture. (p.53)

Anyhow, we are not like this.  We believe what we confess as a Church, and justification is at the heart of everything.  Social gospel is not enough; deconstruction is hugely damaging; we're not about ethics.

From then on we get into subheadings:  "Can justification mean anything today" and "the universal need for self-justification."  and "by grace for Christ's sake through faith".

I don't have anything underlined there, yet.  So I'll quit for now.

I'll just say, in terms of this deconstruction and the other threats from Islam, etc, which are mentioned, I think one way to put your faith in action is to say something about all this.  Luther describes good works in quite a wide way;  he includes things like admonishing, teaching, praying, etc. (though this is not "action" per se.)  I think those of us who spend time thinking of an apologetic for a historic faith and engaging in conversation are also doing good work.  There is really no dichotomy between all these things.  The historic faith is to be preached, also defended in the trenches, and received and lived in mercy.  This all goes hand in hand and that's what's being said.

Once, I attended a talk by the well known apologist Scott Klusendorff.  He bemoaned the fact that Christians don't think enough.  "Why are we sending Christian kids to build houses in Mexico?  They should learn how to think and argue the faith, pro-life stance, defend the unborn, the elderly in the public sphere, media, etc."

Well, yes, we are not the most intellectual society these days.  We can use good Christian apologetics.  But we noticed already that a merciful act requires only that you know God's mercy and you can pass on the love of Jesus in very simple, humble and not necessarily intellectual ways.  This is good.  We all have something to do and everyone has different roles in the same mission.  That really is one of the beauties of it.

Christ have Mercy 5

OK, let's do a little more.  I wish now it was not so off the cuff, but this morning I woke up panicking about my daughter's upcoming wedding shower, (which panic I will utilize into getting something practical done, as soon as this is finished for today) unlike Sunday morning when I woke up thinking wonderful, lofty things about how the Holy Spirit is "comforter", also sent to us in our pitiable estate.  The Spirit also shows mercy, in fact through him we have the forgiveness of sins in the church.  We can just be glad and glad and glad for all that.

Chapter 3 is mostly about "splanchnon"  this stirring pity, compassion, which is for us like a deep feeling in the gut or the heart, or the internal organs, something "visceral".  I seem to remember that the Greeks or some other ancients had seats for different things, such as emotions.  Was not the liver the place for something and other organs for other things?   So "splanchnon" is for Harrison, "one of the all time great Greek words".

Splanchnon has to be one of the all-time great Greek words in the new Testament.  You will not find more incarnation, enfleshed talk about Christ than in this word.  I am convinced the word is an onomatopoeia, that is, a word that sounds like what it denotes.  Repeat splanchnon a few times at a low decibel, smile inverted, and lips pursed, and you will know what it means even without Greek 101.  As you repeat the word, you can almost imagine a pagan priest removing these organs from a sacrificial animal and carting them on a surface to be "divined" to predict the future.  Say the word and you are back in Old Testament times, watching the priest removing the bowels of the sacrificial animal and casting them aside-splat! to be burned or hauled out of the city.  Splanchnon sounds like a verbal splat!  You can all but hear the word used in this most base and concrete meaning in Acts 1:18 "... falling headlong [Judas] burst open in the middle and all his bowels [splanchnon] gushed out"

In ancient pre-Christian usage, the Greek word splanchnon denoted the "inward parts" of a sacrifice, such as the "liver, lungs and spleen".  It also denoted the lower half of the body--the womb or the loins.  In more figurative usage, and for obvious reasons, the word meant "the seat of 'impulsive passions.'"  In pre-Christian use, splanchnon is never used for mercy.  In the Septuagint, the Greek edition of the Old Testament, splanchnon began its journey toward is significant and sacred use in the gospels, particularly in association with Jesus and His actions. (p. 40.)

That is hugely interesting, yet, we easily know this emotion from our very own innards.  Yes, yes, all emotions are mediated via hormones, etc.  They still seem to be located in the chest and solar plexus.   Sometimes the feeling is so strong we remember it years afterward and we remember whom we had it toward and why.  Unfortunately, I have to say I have it also toward myself, the selfish beast, maybe more often than anyone else.  And then we cry some about our lot in life and God even hears and cares about that.  Anyhow, we know very well what is meant and the excursion into the Greek is very understandable and great illustration.

Jesus has a lot of "splanchnon" in the Gospels.  And Jesus shows us what the Father is like in his love and compassion.  "Abba Father", indeed.  We get it.

In Chapter 3, we now have 12 passages from the gospels printed out where "splanchnon" is employed.  Jesus has a lot of it for the crowds and for individuals whom he heals.  The point is that "splanchnon" moves to action.  You don't have it and then simply go away.  It's not a TV soap opera for indulging in feelings.  People need help and they receive it.  Something gets done.

There are also the parables.  The "Good Samaritan" had it and he actually did something.  In German we say: "Der barmherzige Samariter."  So we use the "splanchnon" word in the title not the generic "good."

This makes me think about "the good tree" that we are supposed to be.  We know that is not something that can be simply commanded.  The Law has never produced the right kind of tree.  But "splanchnon" has, God's merciful action in saving us in Christ, does.  So this "good" tree, maybe is like the Samaritan not just simply "good" but more specifically "merciful" ("barmherzig").  I like this because often when there are good deeds, the focus seems to be on people trying to do something to justify themselves, or designing good works that do not fit the need of the recipient.  Nothing is more annoying than that kind of "good."  In fact, sometimes, it seems rather detestable and distancing. In contrast, a merciful work, moved by the need of the needy, will be truly good.

This is what Jesus did, anyhow.  He fixed the sight of those who wanted and needed it fixed.  The Samaritan saved the man who lay bleeding from assault.

I notice that none of the examples are from John.  He seems to deal  in "agape".  Paul uses "agape" in 1. Corinthians 13, but "splagchnon" in a few other places, as well.  They don't mean exactly the same thing it seems.  Maybe agape is a little more clean word,  it sounds so soft and lovely.  "Splanchnon" is this from the gut, almost convulsing, maybe a little down and dirtier (enfleshed), word-- stronger, more masculine even, perhaps.  More adrenaline, more urgent action. (I am gathering.)

I marvel that the evangelists would always add this in about Jesus' "splanchnon".  They could just have said:  "There were these blind people and Jesus healed them."  And we would have realized Jesus saw them, loved them and did something for them.  But, no,  we are told very specifically that he had this feeling.  Now, that I think about it, I am glad they mention it.  For some reason it is God's most urgent agenda to save us at all costs.   


Now the author of the book wants to be very clear that here we do not have a call for "ethics" for "law" or a protocol for how to act or care for the needy.  Ethics can be found in other religions, too.  He says:  "The attempt to follow the example of Jesus as a means to gain God's favor merits nothing but hell" (p.44).

Instead we should realize this:

The coming of God into the flesh is Gospel.  It is God's gracious act to accomplish our salvation.  Luther writes that Jesus "became incarnate to comfort."  Jesus is mercy incarnate.  Christ's life is filled with compassion and compassionate action for those in need.  Christ's life is more than an example for our living.  The incarnation of Christ is the strongest and most powerful gospel gift.  He was the sacrifice that earned salvation for us.  In Word and Sacrament, the church delivers what Christ obtained on Calvary--forgiveness of sin.  In newness of Life (Romans 6), the believer demonstrates compassion for those in need, the lowly, the suffering, the orphan, etc.  However, God Himself, God accepts our daily acts of compassion as our daily and holy worship because of Christ.  Philippians 2: 5-8, the great Pauline hymn of the incarnation, teaches us the key motivation for divinely wrought mercy...

We are baptized by Christ into merciful compassion for those in need around us.  In this way we indeed become "incarnate" to our neighbor. Luther nailed it when he wrote:

Therefore, if we recognize the great and precious things which re given us, as Paul says [Rom.5:5], our hearts will be filled by the Holy Spirit with the love which makes us free, joyful, almighty workers and conquerors over all tribulations, servants of our neighbors, and yet lords of all.  For those who do not recognize the gifts bestowed upon them through Christ, however, Christ has been born in vain... Just as our neighbor is in need and lacks that in which we abound, so we were in need before God and lacked his mercy.  Hence, as our heavenly Father has in Christ freely come to our aid, we also ought freely to help our neighbor through our body and its works, and each one should become as it were a Christ to the other that we may be Christ to one another and Christ may be the same in all, that is that we may be truly Christians.

Because of Christ's incarnation, we are freed and sent by God as "incarnate" christs to one another.  As Luther said, we "clothe ourselves in our neighbor's flesh"  We have compassion (splanchnon) enlivened in Christ, and that compassion takes action.  To refuse to "have the mind in you" is to refuse mercy.  It is worse than a mere transgression of the Law;  it is a denial of the very incarnation of Jesus Christ in the flesh.  Thus John the apostle could write:

By this we know love, that he laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.  But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart [splanchnon!] against him, how does god's love abide in him?  Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.  1 John 3: 16-18.  (pp. 45-47)

On the internet, here, we sometimes debate, if Christians are any better than atheist, on average.  Does it make any sense to talk this way?  How does one talk with atheists?  There is nothing worse than the self-righteously arrogant.

Still, last months' McClean's Magazine had a story about how much more Christians give to charity than uncommitted people.  It seemed to be a reason, not to try and get rid of all the churches.  What will we do when all the churches close down?  Who will be doing the volunteer work and give to charity?

That was interesting.

All I can say is, we do have this in the church.  We have God's mercy and we have it for each other.  Maybe there could be much, much more and we can work on that, and organize it better, etc.  And the last thing one would want to do is brag about being better.  If we keep our eyes on Christ and his "splanchon" we'll be alright.  "Christ have mercy" never goes away.  It is the daily cry.

BUT, it is true;  we have this.  We have mercy and freedom and love and joy and I don't even know how other people go through life without  this "comfort".   This is why they seek it in all the wrong places and in the wrong ways and we witness what we witness, although, often enough this happens to Christians, too.  This is why it is our  job to tell everybody about him and paint him before their eyes, as we received in this chapter.  He has "splanchnon" for us all, and this all the time, and again and again.  And we are seriously reminded, you dare not neglect to help your neighbor in need, in view of this mercy.  This is what shapes the great and harmonious community which we desire.  It can't spring from any other source than God's love, his actual doing in the body for all.

The atheists we talk to on-line are very angry that the messages contains condemnation. People who do not believe in Christ will not be saved.  They hear in their mind a harsh message.  The fact is that without Christ we truly are and have nothing.  You are already lost whether you know it or not.  You are already dead, condemned, lost, blind, deaf until Christ's mercy opens your eyes and ears.