Ask the Pastor

No “Buts” about It

2013-05-16T01:34:00.000-05:00

Want to say no without actually saying, “No”? It’s easy — agree with someone and then add a “but.” We like to use “but” to disagree without sounding disagreeable. When we “but in” to others’ statements, we’re actually telling them to “butt out.”

Most of us are guilty at times of using “but” to avoid going along with the thoughts of others — but when others do it to us, watch out! How dare they tell us yes and no in the same breath! And if it pains us, imagine what God thinks when we say “but” to Him.

Many classic Christian heresies grew out of people saying “but” to clear words of Scripture. Arius said, “Yes, Jesus is the Son of God — but He’s not really God.” He also would have replied in the affirmative if you’d have asked him, “Was there ever a time when the Son of God was not?”

Nestorius confessed that Jesus was God and man — but established a theology that so divided the divine and human natures that the Christ was essentially two people in one person. He claimed that certain things only happened to the man-part or the God-part and not to the entire Son. Heretics such as these accepted what they could comprehend and then rejected what was difficult or uncomfortable to believe.

Today, millions of people will agree that Jesus was a great teacher or a mighty prophet — but not God’s own Son. When they hear Him say, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life, (John 14:6)” they’ll say, “Yes, but not the only way, the only truth, and the only life.” Often, they would rather embrace the contradictions of conflicting beliefs than the paradoxes of biblical Christianity, where God’s harsh, sin-condemning Law stands beside His gracious Gospel that forgives and forgets our wickedness.

In our own faith and personal piety, we also can be guilty of using “but” in order to hold God at arm’s length. Often this comes in our hesitance to fully and completely accept Christ’s atoning sacrifice. Our fallen natures resent divine monergism — the idea that God is solely responsible for establishing and maintaining our salvation, our faith, and our new lives as believers.

Not wanting to think of their natural-born selves as sinners, rebels, God’s enemies, or spiritually dead, people try to put a “but” after agreeing with our Lord’s absolutes. Yes, Scripture plainly teaches that God rejects, condemns, and finally damns unrepentant sinners — but I’m not really all that sinful. Yes, I’m saved only by grace through faith in Christ — but I have to do or undo something before this salvation takes effect.

When we say “but” to the Law, we tell God that we aren’t really as bad as He says we are. When we say “but” to the Gospel, we demean Jesus’ sacrifice by claiming that there’s something good and right in us that can share the credit (and the glory) for our salvation.

When the Holy Spirit catches us in this error of agreeing with God and then contradicting Him, He moves us to repent and receive full forgiveness. Instead of the self-accommodation of “but” the Spirit teaches us to say, “Amen.”

Amen is the “anti-but.” It means “truly” or “so be it.” Amen is faith’s answer to an all-powerful, incomprehensible God. Amen tells the Lord, “You’re right. I may not understand or even like what You’re saying — but that’s fine, because You’re God and I’m not.” Instead of our “but” negating God’s holy Word and perfect will, our “Amen” becomes the “but” that negates our own sinful disagreement with Him.

“Verily, verily,” Jesus often said. This, “Amen, amen,” was and remains His way of saying, “My Word is truth.” When that truth lives in us, it drives out our sinful “buts” that we might respond in kind. When the Law rebukes our wickedness and calls us sinners, we say, “Amen.” When the Father invites us to receive His forgiveness for Christ’s sake, we say, “Amen.” When Scripture tells us that we cannot save ourselves or cooperate even in the slightest manner in our salvation, we say, “Amen.” And when we open our hearts and minds to Him in prayer, we close with “Amen” because we are certain that He truly hears and will answer in the way that is best for us.

God grant you the integrity in your everyday life to avoid hiding behind your “but.” May you plainly and clearly agree or disagree with others, yet always in humility and respect, letting your yes be yes and your no be no. And when receiving God’s Word or responding in prayer, may He lead you to ever reply with the whole Church, “Amen! Yes, Lord! Amen!”

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Walter Snyder is a Lutheran pastor, conference speaker, author of the book What Do Lutherans Believe, and writer of numerous published devotions, prayers, and sermons.

Article first appeared in The Concordian of 1 May AD 2013 in a slightly different form.

Pentecost Hymn: Upon the Plain of Shinar

2013-05-15T12:09:00.000-05:00

Genesis 11:1-9 is the appointed reading for Pentecost in the One Year Lectionary and Year C of the Three Year cycle of readings. It tells of the confusion of tongues at Babel. Pentecost shows God undoing the curse of Babel as He brought the Gospel to disparate tongues through the Apostles’ preaching.

This hymn tells the story of Genesis 11 and continues it into the New Testament. Human disunity — a sign of our lack of oneness with God Himself — is undone by Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection. As we are made one with God, so now God also works to unite the world’s disparate tongues into a united voice of faith and praise.

I wrote Upon the Plain of Shinar in the LM (88 88) meter but it also works as an LMD hymn. Therefore, I’ve provided versification and suggested tunes for each form and a link to a copier-ready PDF with both LM and LMD included.

LM (88 88) suggested tunes include Gottlob, es geht nunmehr zu Ende, Herr Jesu Christ, O Heilige Dreifaltigkeit, Winchester New, and Wo Gott zum Haus.

Upon the plain of Shinar stood
The sinful heirs of Adam’s fall.
They formed and fired bricks of mud
To raise a town with tower tall.
They said, “This tow’r and city bold
Shall serve as beacons for our race.
Their majesty our hearts shall hold,
To cease our straying from this place.”
Their wicked, vain, and prideful hearts
The Lord condemned: “It shall not be.
Your evil minds pervert fair arts —
You think yourselves to be like Me.
“This unity of sinful pride
Has led you to deep shame and woes.
Your evil efforts I’ve denied —
Now turn, O neighbors, into foes.
“Your tongues,” He said, “Shall speak no more
What each the other comprehends.
Your pridefulness I do abhor;
Be banished to the earth’s far ends.”
This curse upon our fathers’ pride
Its full and fell intent achieved.
Mankind was scattered far and wide
And foreign tongues were ill-received.
To join the scattered tribes again
The Son of God took human frame.
By bloody death, through bitter pain,
He reconciled us in His name.
Then came the time for Christ’s ascent
To God’s right hand, His heav’nly home.
The Holy Spirit Jesus sent,
To grow and counsel Christendom.
The Holy Spirit testifies,
“Believe in Christ; be whole again.
Forsake fore’er satanic lies
And live as one with God and men.”
Come, join in faith, each race and tribe;
Sing praise to God, the Father wise,
The Spirit, and the crucified
And resurrected Jesus Christ.

LMD (88 88 D) suggested tunes include O Grosser Gott and Tallis' Lamentation.

Upon the plain of Shinar stood
The sinful heirs of Adam’s fall.
They formed and fired bricks of mud
To raise a town with tower tall.
They said, “This tow’r and city bold
Shall serve as beacons for our race.
Their majesty our hearts shall hold,
To cease our straying from this place.”
Their wicked, vain, and prideful hearts
The Lord condemned: “It shall not be.
Your evil minds pervert fair arts —
You think yourselves to be like Me.
“This unity of sinful pride
Has led you to deep shame and woes.
Your evil efforts I’ve denied —
Now turn, O neighbors, into foes.
“Your tongues,” He said, “Shall speak no more
What each the other comprehends.
Your pridefulness I do abhor;
Be banished to the earth’s far ends.”
This curse upon our fathers’ pride
Its full and fell intent achieved.
Mankind was scattered far and wide
And foreign tongues were ill-received.
To join the scattered tribes again
The Son of God took human frame.
By bloody death, through bitter pain,
He reconciled us in His name.
Then came the time for Christ’s ascent
To God’s right hand, His heav’nly home.
The Holy Spirit Jesus sent,
To grow and counsel Christendom.
The Holy Spirit testifies,
“Believe in Christ; be whole again.
Forsake fore’er satanic lies
And live as one with God and men.”
Come, join in faith, each race and tribe;
Sing praise to God, the Father wise,
The Spirit, and the crucified
And resurrected Jesus Christ.

Blessing Objects

2013-04-06T18:04:00.002-05:00

Q: Is it okay to “bless” things in the Church? I’m thinking specifically of things like ashes, palms, or even wedding rings.

A: Our current Agenda for Lutheran Service Book and its predecessors all have sections on blessing of new buildings and additions, new fixtures (organs, bells, altars, windows, etc.), new paraments and vestments, and the like. The LSB Agenda has some seventy pages devoted to the topic, with both rites and resources.

The “blessing” of the rings printed in the LSB marriage rite is actually a blessing of the union they symbolize and, at the barest of minimums, it passed LCMS doctrinal review: “Send Your blessing upon the couple who shall wear these ✠ rings as a constant reminder of their marital fidelity.”

In the past, many Lutherans kept the practice of blessing the coming planting and growing season on Rogate (the Sixth Sunday of Easter). In some places, this practice continues. There are also churches (not necessarily Lutheran) that annually bless domestic animals (both livestock and pets). Others near ports and marinas hold blessings of watercraft.

Parts of Christendom also observe the Rogation Days (25 April as the Major Rogation Day and the three days prior to Ascension as the Minor Rogation Days). “Rogate,” the traditional name for Easter 6, got its name from the traditional Gospel of the day. It means to ask or petition, based on Jesus’ teaching the disciples to ask the Father for what they need in John 14.

It is never wrong to seek God’s blessing on godly vocational and recreational pursuits, let alone on those things that the Church uses in its proclamation of the Gospel. That in mind, however, I think that of the three things mentioned in your question, I would be much less likely to participate in the blessing of either ashes or palms than of rings.

I think that house blessings are one of the most loving types of pastoral ministry in the flock, as the ministers visit homes and pray for the Lord’s protection of those dwelling within. So also the blessing of other structures where godly vocation is practiced. And if one’s vocation involves a truck or tractor, then blessing a Peterbilt or a John Deere likewise is right, fitting, and proper.

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Walter Snyder is a Lutheran pastor, conference speaker, author of the book What Do Lutherans Believe, and writer of numerous published devotions, prayers, and sermons.

Transfiguration to Disfiguration—and Back Again

2013-02-13T00:00:00.000-06:00

A Meditation on Transfiguration, Lent, and Easter

Today, Ash Wednesday, marks a time when those who follow a liturgical calendar of the Church year change seasons. From the time of Christmas (Jesus, the Word becoming flesh) through Epiphany (Jesus shown as the Christ to Jews and Gentiles), we move into the time of Lent (Jesus setting forth to die). From a time of feasting and celebrating, we transition to one of penitence and fasting, of looking backward at our lives and inward toward ourselves and seeing nothing truly good that we are or have done.

Epiphany ends with the Transfiguration of Our Lord, which celebrates that day when Jesus stood on the mountaintop conversing with Moses and Elijah about His upcoming departure (exodus; see Luke 9:31) from this life. Lent concludes with our Savior’s disfiguration at the hands of those who tortured and crucified Him, as the Church gathers in solemn remembrance of His suffering and death on Good Friday.

Both of these events are part of God’s plan for saving sinful mankind from the evil with which we are born and our accumulated wicked thoughts, words, and deeds. Both the glory and the gore testify to God’s love for sinners as He came down in human flesh to bear our sins and win our forgiveness.

Jesus, Moses, and Elijah all knew grief and pain as the Devil and sinful people attempted to thwart them. Yet each overcame and triumphed in the tasks God assigned. Jesus supplanted Moses as the great Rescuer. Moses led an exodus of Hebrews from bondage in Egypt while Jesus headed the exodus of all believers from eternal slavery to sin, death, and Satan. Elijah gloriously and bodily ascended to the Father without suffering earthly death. Jesus even more gloriously rose from the dead before His own ascension to God’s right hand.

As we begin the season of Lent, we trust that Jesus already cemented our victory. We may still suffer, whether because of others’ actions, the consequences of our own sins, the weakening of our bodies or minds due to age, illness, or accident, or because of Satan’s direct assault. However, just as Moses and Israel crossed the Red Sea, Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal and showed the Lord’s might, and Jesus conquered death by dying and rising, so we will one day attain everlasting life.

Life’s events may disfigure our bodies or crush our minds but Christ’s Holy Spirit transfigures our spirits, creating and sustaining faith through Jesus’ forgiveness applied in Baptism, Absolution, and Holy Communion. Transformed by the Gospel, you need not fear the Devil’s attempts to malform you, for “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:36)

Jesus, the perfect Image of His Father suffered the disfiguration of His Passion and death in order to transfigure us who were born hideously disfigured by sin into His own image. Exchanging the glory of heaven for the pain and death common to man, He then exchanges our sins for His righteousness and promises to glorify us in the Resurrection.

May God keep the image of Christ crucified before your eyes so that you may always trust that “he was pierced for our transgressions ... and with his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)”

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Walter Snyder is a Lutheran pastor, conference speaker, author of the book What Do Lutherans Believe, and writer of numerous published devotions, prayers, and sermons.

Article first appeared in The Concordian of 13 February AD 2013.

A Truly Meaningful Christmas

2012-12-25T00:00:00.000-06:00

Reposted from 25 December 2007

Complaints about people not knowing “the true meaning of Christmas” started this year in mid-October, as the first holiday advertising began. Most Christians complain at least a bit about commercialism obscuring or obliterating a godly celebration of our Savior’s birth. We’re joined by many non-believers who likewise deplore the money-first mentality of the season’s advertising.

While there’s certainly plenty of blame to go around, we who claim to be Christian cannot accuse others without at least partially accusing ourselves. After all, don’t we already know about “the true meaning of Christmas”? Most of us can tell the story, many able to recite it word-for-word from our old King James Bibles.

Unfortunately, knowing the true meaning of Christmas doesn’t guarantee our celebrating a truly meaningful Christmas. In all of life, Christians too often experience disconnects between what we know and what we do. So it is with the Feast of the Nativity. We remember the angel’s words, “Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:11)” Then we forget why we need this Savior.

The Christmas hymn Hark the Glad Sound first announces His coming, then invites our response: “Let every heart prepare a throne And every voice a song.” The next stanzas tell how He brought salvation from “Satan’s bondage” and our own sinful actions. They sing of Christ rescuing mankind from the effects of sin, including mental defect and illness, blindness, fiscal and spiritual poverty, heartbreak, and the like. We know that in time, we receive these only in part; however, we are certain that we’ll enjoy them fully in the Resurrection.

The true meaning of Christmas certainly includes the fullness of Jesus’ life, work, suffering, death, and resurrection. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15)” and no amount of commercial or sentimental excess can change this fact. The Christ Child came not to market violent electronic games, expensive new cars, or other consumer items. Likewise, His virgin mother “laid him in a manger (Luke 2:7)” not to invite our cooing over the cute Baby but simply to give Him a place to rest His newborn, helpless body as He entered the world to which His Father sent Him as Savior.

How could any true Christian peer into Jesus’ first bed without also seeing cross and tomb? At the beginning of His life of humble service, Mary “laid him in a manger.” After He died, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took Him to “a new tomb” in a garden and “laid Jesus there. (John 19:41-42)” The almighty Son of God began and ended His saving work unable to bed Himself. He depended upon others to lay Him to rest after He drew His first breath and once He drew His last. He willingly “made himself nothing” and “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of ... death on a cross. (Philippians 2:7-8)” We understand the true meaning of Christmas when we realize that everything Jesus Christ did, He did to save us from our sins.

Unfortunately, we often get stuck between knowing the true meaning of Christmas and converting that knowledge into a Christmas that’s truly meaningful. When we become caught up in buying and exchanging gifts, we forget that true gifts aren’t exchanged — they’re given. Indeed, if you expect something of equal value in return, how can it be a gift? We can get tired and frustrated when we desire to focus on the holiday’s central meaning while still going along with so many of the world’s distractions. In this, we don’t differ from Saint Paul, who lamented, “I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. (Romans 7:19)”

In A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge was terrified into changing his outlook and actions. Dickens commented on the miser’s conversion: “It was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge.” He then expressed the wish, “May that be truly said of us, and all of us!” Dickens may have gotten some of the actions right — “Love is the fulfilling of the Law (Romans 13:10)” — yet nowhere recognizes that permanent change comes not from within but without. Scrooge’s change was wrought by fear, and fear is a tool of God’s Law.

If we were able to keep the Law, we’d have no need for our Savior. However, we can no more truly and fully “keep Christmas well” than can we “listen to the voice of the Lord ... do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes. (Exodus 15:26)” Christ kept the Law perfectly, fulfilling its demands of which we were incapable. We can’t make ourselves into “better” Christians any more than we can make ourselves into Christians in the first place. The ability and the glory belong to “God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13)”

Likewise, keeping Christmas cannot happen because we hate our own actions or despise the world’s greed. Christ’s birthday celebration holds deeper meaning as we quit trying to “keep” or to “do” or to “change” and instead are kept by Him, changed by Him, and have His good done to us. Having a meaningful Christmas doesn’t necessarily mean singing in the Church choir, preaching the festive sermon, or placing a larger than usual offering in the plate — although each of these can be wonderful ways of celebrating the holiday’s meaning.

Christmas becomes meaningful when we quit trying to bend it into our own shapes and instead let it shape us. Instead of a time of demanding that God do what we desire, we ask Him to work His desires upon us. Having a meaningful Christmas means having the knowledge that nothing we can give God could ever match His Gift to us — all the while seeking new ways to offer our thanksgivings by offering ourselves to Him in thought, word, and deed.

A meaningful Christmas won’t be found in malls or online shopping sites. It will not come in a dream delivered by ghosts. Watching A Christmas Story, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, or A Charlie Brown Christmas aren’t the right answers, either — although Linus’ recitation of the Christmas Gospel to Charlie Brown (see video below) points us in the right direction. Not even at home, gathering around decorated tree or blazing fire, do we usually find a completely meaningful Christmas.

A meaningful Christmas comes when we recognize that God gives us every good gift, including meaningful lives. It comes from the pure preaching of the Gospel Word and the proper use of the sacraments. It comes where and when it pleases the Holy Spirit — and the Spirit is quite pleased to give us the goods in Christ’s Church. Meaning fades through“neglecting to meet together” in Christ’s Church rather than “encouraging one another (Hebrews 10:25)” in corporate worship.

Nothing has changed since apostolic times. Christ still intends for us to receive His gifts in corporate worship. We find a meaningful Christmas as we continue devoting ourselves “to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. (Acts 2:42)” In the gathering of the saints, Baptism saves us “by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly. (Titus 3:5-6)” Hearing the Gospel, “the word of the cross” applies “the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18)” that forgives and renews us. Holy Communion feeds us on our pilgrimage, restoring and enhancing meaning through the sealing of a new covenant relationship with God “for the forgiveness of sins. (Matthew 26:28)”

A truly meaningful Christmas comes not by what we say or do. It isn’t anything we can produce or purchase. It isn’t reckoned by the number and value of presents given or received. A truly meaningful Christmas happens only when we realize that without Christmas, none of life would have meaning.

“God bless us, every one!” Bless us with faith, with meaning, and with a fervent desire to give to others the Love that came down at Christmas.

Cross posted from Happenings.

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version™, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles.

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Walter Snyder is a Lutheran pastor, conference speaker, author of the book What Do Lutherans Believe, and writer of numerous published devotions, prayers, and sermons.

Newspaper column #532

The Real Saint Nick

2012-12-06T00:31:00.000-06:00

The Commemoration of Nicholas of Myra

While many Christians give presents sometime during early winter, many avoid gift-giving on Christmas. Some wait until Epiphany on 6 January, since this day celebrates the Wise Men arriving in Bethlehem and giving their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the Christ Child.

In much of Europe, children will receive presents this Thursday (6 December), which is Saint Nicholas Day. Stories about this Third Century pastor’s generosity gradually led to tales of his ongoing bringing of presents. Yet the Nicholas of history bears scant resemblance to the “jolly old elf” of Clement Moore’s poem or the chunky, red-clad image developed by Thomas Nast and expanded by Coca-Cola.

Actually, we know very little about the original St. Nick. A study of his remains indicates a man barely 5 feet tall who at one time suffered a broken nose. Whether broken as an adult or a child, we don’t know — although he seems to have had a rather combative nature, particularly when faced with an unrepentant heretic. Because Arius denied the full divinity of Jesus, Nicholas reportedly slapped him during a meeting of the Council of Nicaea.

The other bishops didn’t take this lightly and Nicholas’s violence dismayed even the most orthodox among them. Their strong rebuke included a threat to strip him of his bishopric but Nicholas quickly repented his action and remained in office.

The bringer of gifts obviously grew out of different stories. He seemingly came from a wealthy family. Desiring to serve God in physical poverty, he gave away his inherited fortune and gained renown for his generosity, especially toward the truly poor and needy. The stories say that he gave his contributions in secret whenever possible.

An apocryphal story tells of three sisters whose father wasted the family fortune. If a girl had no dowry, she had no way to marry into a respectable family. Normally, only slavery or prostitution would be such a woman’s means of support. When Nicholas about them, he sneaked up to the house and tossed sufficient dowry money through the sleeping family’s windows so that the girls could each wait for a proper marriage. Some versions have him wrapping coins (and jewels) in stockings — beginning a tradition of gifts in stockings.

The three bags of gold were later stylized into three golden balls, which passed into usage as the sign of pawnbrokers. Perhaps the connection is that those in dire financial straits often turn to such people in order to gain ready cash to tide them through their troubles. Because of this, when patron saints became popular, he became favored by pawnbrokers. Additionally, many sailors looked to him for help.

His patronage for children stemmed from another apocryphal story, one much less likely than that of the three sisters. In it, he raised three boys from the dead after they’d been murdered by an evil butcher and placed in a brine barrel to be cured and sold as ham. Perhaps the salty brine also led to the connection with sailors.

So if you’re tired of the commercialization of Christmas but still want to keep Santa in some way, or if you just want your presents three weeks sooner than everyone else, maybe you should look into celebrating St. Nicholas Day. And if you do pause to remember the saint, here’s a hymn verse I wrote for the commemoration:

   With joy Your Church remembers
   Saint Nicholas, the blest,
   Who gave up earthly treasures
   And Jesus’ name confessed.
   The poor and weak he welcomed,
   The heretic he scorned;
   Through faith and life and preaching,
   Christ’s Gospel he adorned.

Added note: For a bit more, including Lection and Collect, check this post from Aardvark Alley.

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Walter Snyder is a Lutheran pastor, conference speaker, author of the book What Do Lutherans Believe, and writer of numerous published devotions, prayers, and sermons.

Article first appeared in The Concordian of 5 December AD 2012.

A Family Tradition

2012-07-20T02:04:00.000-05:00

or I’m Sure Jesus Done It This Way

Hank Williams, Jr. had a huge hit in 1979 with the song Family Tradition. In it, he defended his hard-living, hard-drinking lifestyle against country music purists who wondered why he didn’t act more like they did. His response was that his behavior was just a “family tradition,” a statement that has some merit, since Hank, Sr. also frequently was at odds with the status quo of his day.

The song can be expanded beyond the Williams family — rebellious, illegal, wrong-headed, and self-destructive behavior is also a family tradition of Adam and Eve’s entire family tree. It may be expressed in different ways, subtly by some and brazenly by others, but no one conceived and born of human parents is exempt from sinful attempts to uphold the initial rebellion of our first parents in Creation’s early days.

It’s a family tradition to think of ourselves too highly and to look to gain unfair advantage over others. Conversely, it’s also a family tradition to despair of ourselves, to think that we are utterly without worth and having no place in the world. Self-control is practiced most frequently when it involves self-interest.

This doesn’t mean that drinking, dancing, or enjoying ourselves are wrong in and of themselves. Neither are walking, talking, or a host of other activities. But sinful intent — often followed by sinful excess — can turn any good gift of God into a mockery and make any blessing into a curse.

The entire tradition of the family of man, then, is a giant rebellion against God, usually accompanied by the misuse of His good gifts and normally at the expense of our brothers and sisters. Like the song says, some people “drink” (to excess) or “roll smoke” (even though marijuana is illegal for most people in most parts of the country). However, even if we abstain from these, all of us find ways to “live out the songs” that we write for ourselves by envisioning a sinful narrative for our lives and then acting it out.

Thank God that He has another “family tradition” — that of showing grace and mercy to undeserving, rebellious sinners for the sake of His holy and perfect Son Jesus. In the divine Family, the Son perfectly follows the Father’s lead. He accepted the burden of flesh carried by Adam’s family but lived His life according to His Father’s will.

Jesus broke our human tradition of breaking God’s commandments. He enjoyed the gifts of Creation in moderation, treated others with kindness, acceptance, and forgiveness, and never rebelled, no matter what the Father asked Him to do. Even taking our sins upon Himself, suffering the consequences for His human family’s rebellion, and dying on the cross He did willingly and “for the joy that was set before him. (Hebrews 12:2)”

In faith, we are adopted out of our sinful family and made God’s children through Holy Baptism. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God moves us to embrace new traditions of faith toward Him and sincere, active, fervent love for our brothers and sisters. As we practice living and loving as Christ lived and loves, these new traditions become ever more deeply ingrained and we may find it increasingly easy to love our neighbor — even our enemy — as ourselves.

We won’t see the old, sinful traditions pass away until we depart this life, either in death or when our Lord returns. Yet Christians are already allowed to practice the new traditions of our perfect family that will remain with us through the Resurrection of the Dead and into life everlasting.

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles.

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Walter Snyder is a Lutheran pastor, conference speaker, author of the book What Do Lutherans Believe, and writer of numerous published devotions, prayers, and sermons.

Tags: Family Tradition | bad habits | self-destructive behavior | original sin | actual sin | justification | sanctification | new life | Hank Williams, Jr. | Jesus | Jesus Christ | Christian | Christ | Lutheran | doctrine | theology | Pastor Walter P. Snyder | W. P. Snyder | Ask the Pastor

Based on my article from The Concordian of 18 July AD 2012.

Ascension RSVP

2012-05-16T12:00:00.000-05:00

Don’t Forfeit Your Banquet Invitation

What if you held a feast and no one came? Jesus dealt with this in the Parable of the Great Banquet (Luke 14:15-24). He told of a rich man who “invited many” but kept hearing excuses. Dismayed with the responses of his friends and acquaintances, the man had his servants invite “the poor and crippled and blind and lame” but there was “still room.” So he sent them out again to compel strangers to join the party and declared that no one who’d first declined would be able to attend.

In the Christian calendar, Ascension Day reminds me of the Great Banquet. Traditionally one of the major feast days, it celebrates our Lord returning to His Father on the fortieth day of Easter. This year, it falls on 17 May. Jesus ascended to His heavenly home because His earthly work was complete. He lived a perfect life and died an innocent victim in order to pay for mankind’s sins. He left that He might gift His disciples and the Church with the Holy Spirit. He also ascended so that He might “go to prepare a place for” believers (John 14:2).

After telling the Twelve why He would soon depart, He then said, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. (v. 3)” This promise is ours, also, and is why the Church so highly regarded the Feast of the Ascension. It was Jesus’ final earthly deed before He returns bodily to end the world, judge the nations, and bring the faithful to eternal life.

Our Host joyfully awaits the guests He has invited to the eternal feast, “the marriage supper of the Lamb. (Revelation 19:9)” We are not wealthy enough in righteousness and good works to merit an invitation. Instead, we are the spiritually “poor and crippled and blind and lame” who deserve nothing yet are promised all good things. He only asks us to trust His words and, with His blessing, to love others as He loves us as we live out our vocations.

Perhaps our inattention to the Ascension is a sign of the busy-ness of our lives. Our calendars are filled to overflowing and it seems difficult to carve out the time for worship on this one special Thursday each Spring. Perhaps we also downplay Ascension because it doesn’t have the cute Baby, sweet mother, shepherds, angels, and all the trappings of Christmas and because it lacks the deep valley and spectacular peak of Holy Week and Easter.

However, Ascension Day may also slip by because we are too grounded in things earthly. Family and friends, business and agriculture, labor and leisure — these are all wonderful blessings from God. Yet they pale before the Father’s Gift of Jesus and the Son’s wonderful gifts of forgiveness, salvation, and life eternal. But we cannot see, taste, or touch them in the same manner as we do the people and things surrounding us and if we aren’t constant in the Word and attentive to His promises, these greater gifts become distant and less important to us.

Is it necessary that congregations hold special Ascension services? No.

If they do, is it imperative that we drop everything to attend? Of course not!

Paul wrote the Colossian Christians, “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. (2:16)” However, when holy days are regularly overlooked, it becomes much easier for us to forget the reasons why the celebrations first began.

Returning to the Parable of the Great Banquet, we see how easy it is for sinners to forget the enormity of the debt Christ paid, the fullness of His forgiveness, and the certainty of our salvation. When asked to stop our day-to-day tasks, to step away from things that provide brief earthly pleasure or diversion, and to specially prepare for a special day, we’re tempted to compose our own list of excuses. We might be pastors who don’t want to prepare an extra sermon and service. We could be parishioners who want to come home from work and relax, farmers who want to plant a few more acres, or parents who’ve already planned to drive our children to their regularly scheduled athletic activities. Each of us finds ways to say, “Sorry, Jesus, I’m a little to busy right now.”

I say this not to drive you to church but to invite you to always remember the Lamb’s Feast. We won’t fully participate until the Last Day dawns but already we have a foretaste as we gather to hear the Word and eat His Supper here on earth. Why celebrate Christ’s Ascension? Because it reminds us of — and guarantees to us — His return! For even as Paul challenged narrow, legalistic demands that all Christians worship at the same set times, He also reminded those same Colossians, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (3:2)”

Remembering the Feast of the Ascension, particularly attending church that day, is one way to turn our eyes away from things earthly, to “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely” and to focus on “Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)”

I pray that whether at home or in the house of the Lord, you remember why He came, where He has gone, and whom He will invite to join Him in the never ending banquet He has established.

The line drawing is © 2004 by Ed Riojas and part of a collection available for purchase through the Higher Things Store.

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles.

Send email to Ask the Pastor.

Walter Snyder is a Lutheran pastor, conference speaker, author of the book What Do Lutherans Believe, and writer of numerous published devotions, prayers, and sermons.

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Based on my article from The Concordian of 16 May AD 2012.

The Feast of the Holy Innocents

2011-12-28T15:12:00.009-06:00

Christmas Joy Meets Satanic Slaughter

The ancient calendar followed by most of the Christian Church for almost two millennia intersperses beauty and awe with violence and death. Aside from Holy Week and Easter, this is nowhere more apparent than during the days of Christmastide.

Following the joyful celebration of our Savior’s nativity, the Second Day of Christmas commemorates Stephen, the Church’s first martyr, on the 26th. Saint John, the only apostle believed to have avoided a violent death, is remembered the next day. Through him, the Holy Spirit provides theological depth to the Gospels. John’s writings offer a treasury of understanding and living our lives as forgiven sinners, the promise of divine protection even in times of persecution, and the unshakeable, certain hope of our resurrection to eternal life.

The uplift of the Feast of Saint John dissolves into bloodshed on 28 December, the Fourth Day of Christmas. Holy Innocents Day marks the massacre of Bethlehem’s children by Herod the Great.

The account of the Wise Men who traveled to find the King of the Jews (see Matthew 2:1-12) inflamed Herod’s jealousy. In response, he sent his soldiers to kill all of Bethlehem’s boys two years old and younger in order to protect his throne and lineage. This was one of the last major decisions Herod made in a life filled with vainglory and descending into bodily sickness and increasing madness.

Matthew 18:13-18 records what happened following the Wise Men’s visit. The evangelist concludes his account with a heartbreaking quote from the Old Testament: “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more. (v. 18; from Jeremiah 31:15)”

The slaughter of Bethlehem’s boys testifies to the world’s denial of God’s rule and its rejection of Christ’s Gospel of forgiveness. Fear drove Herod to do what he could to destroy Jesus. God rescued His Son but allowed the other young sons to be killed.

Some try to use this massacre to accuse God of lovelessness. However, He intends it to strengthen our faith. The story of Christ’s Nativity may belong to the “milk” of Christian doctrine (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:2); the slaughter of the Innocents is certainly tough meat, a food for which we often still find ourselves “not yet ready.” Dining on the Word’s difficult passages fortifies us to face similar trials to those of Scripture’s saints. We learn that there is no “pain-free” Christianity anymore than there was a pain-free Christ. Though we are healed by Jesus’ wounds, devil and world remain eager to wound us anew.

Even though God allowed it to happen, He certainly took no pleasure in infanticide and bereavement, nor did He ignore the pain of the victims and their survivors. Callous disregard was Herod’s way, not God’s. We know how the Father’s heart was stricken because we see the depth of His Son’s woe at other times of spiritual or physical loss: Jesus cried over Mary and Martha’s loss of Lazarus (John 11:32-36) and wept for sinful Jerusalem (Luke 19:41-44).

Bethlehem lost her children because of God’s sympathy for our plight. They were part of the painful cost Christ accepted when He came to save us. He died not to keep these children from Herod but from Hell. He knew personally and intimately the pain felt by sword-pierced babies and grief-stricken parents. He carried it in His flesh and felt it fully as He hung from the cross.

Until this world ends, God will continue to use death, often savage and sometimes seemingly senseless, to open the gates of eternal life. Baptism is our participation in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Each saint’s death reminds us of the Savior’s death. Funereal sorrow gives way to supernal joy as we remember the One who died for us, since “to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21)”

May the Lord use the account of the Holy Innocents to lead us to sorrow over our sins and joy in His redemption. So we ask in the traditional prayer for this day: “Almighty God, the martyred innocents of Bethlehem showed forth Your praise not by speaking but by dying. Put to death in us all that is in conflict with Your will that our lives may bear witness to the faith we profess with our lips; through Lord Jesus, our Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.”

See related material at Cyberbrethren, Father Watson, and Aardvark Alley as well the archived posts on The Witness Days and The Days After Christmas here on Ask the Pastor.

Images of the paintings and the stained glass are in the public domain. The line drawing is © 2004 by Ed Riojas and part of a collection available for purchase through the Higher Things Store.

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles.

Send email to Ask the Pastor.

Walter Snyder is a Lutheran pastor, conference speaker, author of the book What Do Lutherans Believe, and writer of numerous published devotions, prayers, and sermons.

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Based on my article from The Concordian of 28 December AD 2011

Help Me, Mr. Wizard!

2011-10-23T21:33:00.006-05:00

Many of us who watched television as children in the early 1960s included King Leonardo and his Short Subjects (later renamed The King and Odie) in our Saturday morning schedule. One recurring segment involved Tooter Turtle, a young turtle living in the forest who wasn’t content with being a young turtle living in the forest. Because of this, he regularly (over 39 episodes) visited the lizard known as Mr. Wizard, asking him to change the time and place of his circumstances.

Tooter thought that going to another time and place would give him the opportunity to remake himself. In every episode, Mr. Wizard sent him off to new experiences, including working high iron, exploring the polar regions, flying a plane, and even riding with the U. S. Cavalry (which ended at Little Big Horn). The trouble was always the same: You can take the turtle out of the forest, but you can’t take the foolish thinking out of the turtle.

However, Tooter never suffered permanent consequences — at least not until his cartoon show was cancelled. Whenever a new endeavor collapsed and he was on the brink of absolute ruin or certain death, he would call out, “Help me, Mr. Wizard!”

As soon he cried out for help, Mr. Wizard chanted, “Drizzle, drazzle, druzzle, drome; time for zis one to come home.” A swirling spell surrounded Tooter, who quickly reappeared in the lizard’s presence. After his return, Mr. Wizard gave him the same advice every time: “Be just vhat you is, not vhat you is not. Folks vhat do zis are ze happiest lot.”

Discontent with our own lives may lead us into like troubles. We may try to be someone we are not or do things for which we are unprepared. People reinvent their pasts and tell a story contrary to their personal histories. They become heroes when they were once participants, participants when they were once observers, or observers when they were once uninvolved.

Among our cultural stereotypes is the man facing a mid-life crisis. This movie and television plot staple feels trapped by a dead-end job or a marriage without the zest it once had. In milder settings, he makes foolish purchases of a motorcycle or a sports car or he starts dressing, talking, and acting like someone years younger. In more serious shows, he may have an affair or just walk out on his family, perhaps taking a new, younger wife. The reason this Hollywood stereotype abounds is that it’s built on actual events that happen all too often in the “real world.”

While aging white men are the customary on-screen culprits, no segment of society is without people desiring to be something — or someone — different and better from the way they perceive themselves. Yet, like Tooter Turtle, the fantasies they invent for themselves always seems to unravel, often with extreme consequences.

This isn’t to say that we shouldn’t examine ourselves nor that we should be satisfied with our personal mediocrity. It means that we should pin our hopes for positive, real, and permanent change on something more than reinterpreted memories and wishful thinking. For example, the imprisoned Saint Paul wrote, “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. (Philippians 4:11)”

However, Paul’s contentment was with his station in life, not who he was by nature. For this same apostle could also complain about himself, “I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.... Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Romans 7:18, 24)”

Paul recognized that the Source of his contentment was also his Rescuer from discontent: Rather than inventing a new version of himself, he turned over his old, sinful self to God. Instead of chasing fantasies of what might have been, Paul focused on the reality of Christ crucified for his sins and raised for his justification (cf. Romans 4:23-25).

Paul realized that it wasn’t his circumstances, his friends, or his past that needed changing but rather his present, sinful self. He was certain that such a change didn’t come from within but from without, therefore, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:25)”

Rarely does God reach out and save us unscathed from the consequences of our fantasies of discontent. To do so might leave us thinking that we could continue to fall back into the same sinful desires with no lasting ill effect. However, he never abandons us. When we cry, “Help me, God,” He hears and responds by forgiving that which we have thought, said, and done. He may not stop the catastrophe but He always leads us through. We may carry scars in our flesh or in our memories but we also trust His words: “I will never leave you nor forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5)”

If we hear Him in time and take Him at His Word, we may never find ourselves hopeless at the edge of existence. When we realize that our root problem isn’t that we aren’t smart enough, heroic enough, or well-enough liked but that we are “brought forth in iniquity” and from conception tainted by sin (Psalm 51:5), God also teaches us that our problem isn’t fixed by reinventing ourselves but by being remade by Him. Only from the Lord do we receive “a right spirit” and “a clean heart (v. 10)”

Our rescue isn’t a cheap magic trick. There’s no Mr. Wizard or genii in a bottle to bail us out. The only salvation we have comes through brutally hard work and absolute adherence to the Word and the will of God. Yet it’s not our work or our faithfulness that saves but that of Christ. By the grace of God, through faith in Jesus, we receive the benefits of His perfect obedience and innocent suffering and death.

As God changes our condition, He continues to work on our persons. His discontent with our sinful natures leads Him not to banish us but to repair, restore, and redeem us. He blesses us with the same contentment Paul carried; that is, the peace of knowing that we’re in His care while He works through Word and Holy Spirit to recreate us in the divine image our first parents abandoned in Eden.

We remain works-in-progress as long as we remain on earth. Yet we know that our healing will be complete in the Resurrection. Finally, we will be free of all our sin-brought discontent when we stand before our Savior on the Last Day and hear His invitation to enter His Father’s eternal presence in purity and glory. This story has the real “happily ever after” ending that our broken spirits crave — an ending already guaranteed by our living, loving Lord Jesus Christ.

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles.

Send email to Ask the Pastor.

Walter Snyder is a Lutheran pastor, conference speaker, author of the book What Do Lutherans Believe, and writer of numerous published devotions, prayers, and sermons.

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Expanded from newspaper column of 19 October AD 2011

Sexually Pleasuring Yourself

2011-09-27T19:24:00.004-05:00

From the Archives

Q: Is masturbation a sin?

A: I receive this question with a fair degree of regularity. It’s true that the Bible does not specifically prohibit it. However, I believe that Scripture generally speaks against the thoughts and feelings involved in the action.

Among Christians and many Jews, masturbation often is called “onanism,” after the sin of Onan, who would not fulfill his responsibility with Tamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law. His was only one of several transgressions committed by Judah’s family in Genesis 38 which the Lord needed to confront.

Technically, Onan wasn’t condemned for the act of masturbation per se, but for failure to act as husband in all aspects in completing the duties of his deceased brother for his sister-in-law. It appears that his actual, physical sin was premature withdrawal in order to avoid fathering a child. Verse 9 says, “Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So whenever he went in to his brother’s wife he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother.” In so doing, Onan experienced sexual pleasure without living up to the moral and familial obligations that sex entails.

We know that just because one feels guilty about a particular action doesn’t automatically make it wrong, since Satan would have us feel guilty about many guilt-free activities, thus burdening our consciences. Still, since masturbation normally accompanies lustful desires and erotic fantasies, it is best left alone. In other words, it may not be the action but is certainly the accompanying desire that is both sinful and hurtful to the one involved.

Jesus said, “Everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:28)” This includes looking with our imaginations in the privacy of our own rooms. Therefore, the sins of lust, covetousness, and adultery can all be involved in masturbation, although it may not be true that all are involved every time.

Also, masturbation may become part of a pattern of psychological and spiritual addiction. Desire for self-gratification can outweigh a relationship with the Giver of all good things. It can lead one to avoid establishing and maintaining good relationships with others of the opposite sex. In short, while someone may argue that masturbation isn’t always wrong, you cannot convince me that it’s the most right thing to do.

I’m going to let Martin Luther have the final word here. In explaining the 6th Commandment, “You shall not commit adultery,” he wrote, “We should fear and love God that we may lead a chaste and decent life in words and deeds, and each love and honor his spouse. (Small Catechism)” I fail to see how masturbation and the accompanying imaginations of the heart are at all “chaste and decent.”

Meaning of the Sixth Commandment quoted from The Small Catechism by Martin Luther, a public domain text.

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles.

Send email to Ask the Pastor.

Walter Snyder is a Lutheran pastor, conference speaker, author of the book What Do Lutherans Believe, and writer of numerous published devotions, prayers, and sermons.

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Expanded from newspaper column #143:3

A Hug Is Just a Hug ... or Is It?

2011-09-19T20:45:00.005-05:00

If a man allows himself to be hugged by his ex-girlfriend is he committing adultery?

Normally, I'd say no. However, if he finds himself still desiring her, then yes. Of course, the desire would probably be there before the hug. I think that most men and women probably hug at least one former boy- or girlfriend after they've started dating, become engaged to, or married someone else. The vast majority of these are, likely, completely innocent.

You should also ask yourself why you want the answer. If this is the man you’ve married or are otherwise committed to, has he ever given you occasion to doubt his sincerity and commitment to you? Or is this a bit of unfounded suspicion that could tear apart the relationship you now have?

Of course, there are times when even innocent-seeming actions are wrong. Jesus’ words are certainly true: “I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:28)” The same goes for hugging and any displays of affection or flirtatiousness. For example read what I wrote in Flirting with Disaster.

Bottom line: Unless you have good reason to doubt him, try investing the same energy you’re spending in questioning him — and more — in showing your love for him.

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles.

Send email to Ask the Pastor.

Walter Snyder is a Lutheran pastor, conference speaker, author of the book What Do Lutherans Believe, and writer of numerous published devotions, prayers, and sermons.

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Blessed Virgin Mary: Mother of God

2011-08-15T10:37:00.003-05:00

Q: You refer to Mary as “God’s mother.” Is that the same as saying “Mother of God”?

A: This question came in response to one of last week’s posts, Jesus Is Immanuel, concerning matters of Christmas and Epiphany, wherein I wrote, “Immanuel means that the Virgin conceived and bore a Son without human father; God assumed our flesh and joined Himself to mankind; a human woman became God’s mother.”

If Mary is not the “Mother of God,” then Christ is not true God and our faith is built upon a lie. Perhaps because of persistent anti-Roman Catholicism, particularly among American Lutherans and Protestants, many parts of the Church became uncomfortable referring to Mary by this title. However, if we are heirs of the true theology of Scripture, the early Church fathers, and the Reformation, we cannot abandon this teaching.

Calling the Blessed Virgin “Mother of God” doesn’t mean we worship Mary. It means that we are worshiping the God who chose such miraculous means to come into His Creation and deliver sinful mankind. However, thinking and speaking in such manner does fulfill the prophecy Mary uttered when visiting Elizabeth: “For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. (Luke 1:48-49)” Notice how she herself distinguishes between the honor she receives and the total majesty of almighty God.

After centuries of common use, the Council of Ephesus (AD 431) officially sanctioned the title Theotokos (God-bearer) for the Virgin. Somewhat amazingly to our modern sensibilities, this council officially condemned another title, Christotokos (Christ-bearer). This wasn’t done to dishonor the Christ but to remove one possible way for heretics to point to a Christ who wasn’t truly and completely God and one with His Father.

During its formative days, the Lutheran Church carefully aligned itself with historic Biblical Christianity. Thus, regarding Mary, the Formula of Concord (1577) clearly states, “We believe, teach, and confess that Mary conceived and bore not a mere man and no more, but the true Son of God; therefore she also is rightly called and truly is the mother of God. (Epitome VIII:7)”

For more on her feast day, please see Saint Mary, Mother of God at Aardvark Alley.

Reposted from 2006.

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version™, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles.

Send email to Ask the Pastor.

Walter Snyder is a Lutheran pastor, conference speaker, author of the book What Do Lutherans Believe, and writer of numerous published devotions, prayers, and sermons.

Remembering the Saints

2011-08-03T10:07:00.001-05:00

Q: What are some of the reasons why we celebrate saints’ days?

A: Scripture commends our remembering the lives of earlier believers. The writer of Hebrews cites examples in chapter 11. Chapter 12 concludes this catalog of faithfulness by saying, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (vv. 1-2)”

When and how we remember them is a matter of Christian freedom; that we do so is a way by which the Lord both corrects and inspires His Church. The correction comes both when we compare our faithlessness to their faithfulness and when we remember that many of the great heroes of the Faith also committed grievous sins — just as do you and I. The inspiration and encouragement come as we see how God takes ordinary people and does extraordinary things through them.

Let’s use today’s commemoration as our example. The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod chose this day, 3 August, to commemorate three faithful women, the “Myrrh Bearers” Joanna, Mary, and Salome. These, along with Mary Magdalene, are the first people the Bible names who came to Jesus’ tomb early on that Sunday morning following His crucifixion. It appears from Luke 24:10 that other women accompanied them, these are the only ones we know.

Easter morn isn’t the first time they appear in Scripture. Luke 8:1-3 mentions Mary Magdalene and Joanna among the women providing financial support to Jesus and the Twelve. Salome was mother of James and John, so she had a very early knowledge of His work and she, along with Mary the mother of James the younger, joined the mourners as the Lord hung on the cross.

None of them seem to have come to the tomb because they were feeling extraordinarily holy. Instead, they came for the same reason that so many others visit so many different graves: They’d lost someone for whom they deeply cared and they wanted to honor Him by completing His burial preparations that the Sabbath had interrupted. They were so caught up in sorrow that they didn’t realize they were acting as faithful children of God.

Their faithfulness to One they thought dead was rewarded in spectacular fashion. When they arrived at the sepulcher, tearfully wondering who they would find to move the stone from its mouth, angels greeted them with the wondrous message of the Resurrection. One angel charged them with telling the disciples, and the women “departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell. (Matthew 28:8)”

So it was that the earliest witnesses of the empty tomb and the risen Savior weren’t Peter, James, or John. Instead, it was some of Jesus’ quiet followers who first discovered that death was undone.

In these women, we have a wonderful example of faithful living and an indication that God often chooses ordinary people in ordinary situations to carry out His will. These were holy, pious, God-fearing women but they likely didn’t see themselves as that. To themselves, they were probably just Joanna, Mary, and Salome, three women who loved Jesus because He first loved them.

We, also, are most likely to act in true, selfless faith when we are least conscious of how holy, pious, or God-fearing we might be. Instead, we do right because it’s the right thing to do and only later — maybe not until the Last Day, do we find out that our deeds were righteous and praised by the Lord.

Jesus taught this lesson when speaking about the judgment of the sheep and the goats, when the righteous ask Him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? (Matthew 25:37-39)” These three women — with Mary Magdalene and whomever else may have accompanied them — lived it out in their support of Jesus’ ministry, their visit to His tomb, and their fearful yet joyful return to Jerusalem with the news that He was alive and coming soon to be with them.

For suggested readings and a prayer for the day, please see Joanna, Mary, and Salome at Aardvark Alley.

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles.

Send email to Ask the Pastor.

Walter Snyder is a Lutheran pastor, conference speaker, author of the book What Do Lutherans Believe, and writer of numerous published devotions, prayers, and sermons.

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The Presentation of the Augsburg Confession

2011-06-25T10:07:00.001-05:00

As a Lutheran pastor and theologian, I continually receive questions about my church: Who are we, where do we come from, what do we believe? Since we Lutherans have a very special remembrance today, I thought this a good time to share a bit of our history and teaching.

In 1530, our Lutheran forefathers made public proclamation of a new summary of the ancient Scripture truth: Mankind is justified by God’s grace through faith in Christ Jesus. They set forth this notion in a religious document affirmed by secular rulers. Written by Philipp Melanchthon, approved by Martin Luther, and signed by princes, dukes, and other civil leaders, the Augsburg Confession was presented to Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, on 25 June AD 1530.

Some thirteen years of activity preceded this gathering. Many Lutherans (and a considerable number of non-Lutherans) date the beginning of the Lutheran Church to Martin Luther’s posting of the Ninety-five Theses on the Wittenberg church doors on 31 October 1517. However, when he did this, he considered himself a faithful son of the Roman Catholic Church. When ecclesiastical leaders resisted debate and discussion, defending doctrines and practices Luther considered Biblically indefensible, his efforts for reform increased and others began following his lead.

By the time the Charles declared a diet (an imperial assembly) in Augsburg and summoned German princes and free territories to explain themselves and their “new” religious convictions, almost ten years had passed since Luther had been excommunicated by Rome and subsequently declared an “outlaw” by the empire. His theological understanding had grown, his differences with Rome and its papacy sharpened, and few of his followers believed that the possibility of reconciliation existed.

Still, they came to Augsburg — or at least some of them did. Luther’s ruler, John “the Steadfast” of Saxony, forbad Luther to attend, fearing he would be arrested or killed outright. When Melanchthon sat down to compose a statement of belief for the Evangelicals (evangelical means “of the Gospel”), he based the document on the Torgau Articles, written by Luther with input from a number of other theologians.

After completing an early draft, he sent it to Luther, who made a few suggestions but approved of its overall content. Some of the other religious leaders added their ideas and “Master Philipp” put it all together into a statement of Evangelical belief, citing supporting Scriptures and quoting the Church fathers to show that what was written was no novelty but was fully supported and attested by Holy Writ and the orthodox theology of the ancient Church.

This wasn’t what the emperor wanted. He desired peace, unity, and an organized resistance against Islamic Turks who were invading Europe. Instead, a group of the empire’s foremost leaders, including some responsible for the election of emperors, affixed their names to a document claiming that much of what the emperor believed was wrong and stating that his church misunderstood, obscured, and misapplied much of the Gospel.

When the German leaders wanted to make a public reading of their articles of faith, Charles first denied them. He then shifted the venue into a small chapel where no spectators would hear. On 25 June 1530, Saxon chancellors Bruck and Beyer brought German and Latin copies of the document into the room. Although Charles objected, the German copy was read aloud, then both copies were given to him. He kept the Latin, giving the German to his chancellor, probably because he barely understood the language spoken by a large number of his subjects.

From this time forward, the Evangelicals (later to be known as Protestants and Lutherans) were clearly distinguishable. The leaders had made a confession — not that they had done wrong, but rather of what they believed to be right. Perhaps the 95 Theses had announced the beginning of the end for the medieval Church but it wasn’t until Augsburg, when rulers and theologians publicly clarified their ongoing and irreconcilable differences with Rome, that we see what we might term a distinct Lutheran Church.

As the Evangelical movement spread, the Augsburg Confession became a test of Evangelical fidelity and a sort of “constitution” for Lutheranism. In some ways, we might draw a parallel from American history, where the Declaration of Independence set in motion events which culminated in the United States Constitution and the federal republic it established.

After Holy Scripture, the Augsburg Confession is the heart of the Lutheran Church. Based on Luther’s writings and in accord with his teaching, it also bears the mark of the gentler, more refined Philipp Melanchthon. It never seeks to be combative but in simple language states exactly what the Evangelicals believed, which Scriptures supported their faith, what beliefs and practices of Rome they thought contrary to the Gospel, and in what areas there was already agreement.

This “heart of Lutheranism” itself has a “heart” — the unmerited but full forgiveness of our sins won by Christ on the cross. The first three articles tell who God is, declare His wrath at sin, and proclaim the incarnation, suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ. In Article IV, we then learn how God fixes all that is wrong in us: “[We] teach that men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works, but are freely justified for Christ’s sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor, and that their sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake, who, by His death, has made satisfaction for our sins. This faith God imputes for righteousness in His sight. Romans 3 and 4.”

How does this salvation come to us? Article V says, “That we may obtain this faith, the Ministry of Teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted. For through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Ghost is given, who works faith; where and when it pleases God, in them that hear the Gospel, to wit, that God, not for our own merits, but for Christ’s sake, justifies those who believe that they are received into grace for Christ’s sake.”

The Confession continues by defining the Church in terms of the Gospel, condemning anything that obscures the Gospel or devalues Christ and detailing changes implemented by the Evangelicals to correct doctrinal abuses. It invites the reader (particularly Charles V) to see for himself that the Evangelicals had not tossed out any babies with the dirty bath water, but had kept any and all practices, ceremonies, and teachings that were not contrary to the Gospel.

Other statements of belief, ranging from the ecumenical Christian creeds of earlier centuries to other Lutheran documents of the 1500s, joined the Augsburg Confession in Concordia, the Lutheran Book of Concord (Agreement), in 1580. Just as a handful of thoroughly convinced public leaders signed the Augsburg Confession, so a large number of rulers and town council members joined in the initial subscription to Concordia. Meanwhile, over 8000 pastors and theologians had already become subscribers to the Formula of Concord, the summary confessional document in Concordia.

To this day, in The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod, every pastor, teacher, and congregation pledges wholehearted agreement with Holy Scripture and with the entire Book of Concord, including the Augsburg Confession. This follows the practice of solidly Lutheran bodies around the world.

Of course, some always find disagreement with Biblical dogma and may try to weaken the force of a doctrinal statement in order to include a wider confessional range within its teaching. This happened with the Augsburg Confession. Philipp Melanchthon, as previously noted, was gentler and more conciliatory in nature than many of his contemporaries and wanted to expand Evangelicalism to include the followers of John Calvin and others and, perhaps, also extend olive branches to Rome. Furthermore, since he’d written the Augsburg Confession, he seemed to think of it as his own, a document he could change to suit circumstances rather than a fixed exposition of Lutheran theology.

Melanchthon developed several alternate texts, the most noted being the Variata of 1540. It so weakened communion theology that John Calvin could accept it in good conscience. Therefore, later confessional Lutherans learned to specify that their subscription was to the Unaltered Augsburg Confession (UAC), not to the Variata. That is why many Lutheran cornerstones here in the United States include the initials UAC, as an expression agreement with the document presented on 25 June 1530.

Those who call themselves “confessional Lutherans” continue subscribing (signing on) to its theology because they believe that the creeds and confessions of Concordia are true expositions of Holy Scripture. These do not supplant nor supplement God’s Word; they merely focus on particular teachings in an orderly fashion.

We sometimes speak of Scripture as the norma normans (ruling rule) — it defines and establishes all doctrine. The Augsburg Confession, as are the other creedal statements, is norma normata (ruled rule) — it draws its entire content from Scripture. In other words, Concordia “rules” in confessional Lutheranism because Holy Scripture “rules” the creeds and confessions.

Because of this, confessional Lutherans practice quia (because) and not quatenus (insofar as) subscription: We agree with the Lutheran Confessions because they agree with Scripture, not insofar as they agree. In other words, we don’t pick and choose which of Concordia’s doctrines we will uphold and which we will deny. Instead, we believe that since all of the theology of the Book of Concord is the theology of God’s Word, all of Concordia is suitable for the tasks of teaching the Church, reproving false doctrine, correcting behavior, and encouraging the saints.

Augsburg Confession quotes public domain from the Triglot Concordia of 1921 as found at The Book of Concord Online Edition.

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Reposted with slight changes from 21 June 2006.

Walter Snyder is a Lutheran pastor, conference speaker, author of the book What Do Lutherans Believe, and writer of numerous published devotions, prayers, and sermons.

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Doing the Judgment Day Math

2011-05-18T20:57:00.005-05:00

According to certain people, if you don’t read this column before the weekend, you’ll never have the opportunity. That’s because they’ve been spreading the word that the world will end on Saturday. They do this by tallying certain selected numbers from Scripture and using linguistic leaps of logic to tell us that Jesus clearly said one thing yet actually meant quite another.

Of course, there’s nothing novel about these predictions. Almost as soon as Jesus ascended on the fortieth day of His resurrection, His followers started wondering when He was coming back. There’s nothing wrong with wondering — and truly much commendable about hoping that the day is near — but once we start attempting to pin down a date, we also start leaving behind God’s clear Word in favor of human assumptions.

What could be more authoritative for Christians than Christ’s own words? I can make only one clear interpretation of what He said in the week before His crucifixion: “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. (Matthew 24:36)” Likewise, after His resurrection and immediately before His ascension, He told the disciples, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. (Acts 1:7)”

Throughout the New Testament, the writers warn believers to be ready but never tell them when their anticipation will see fruition. Instead, they keep pointing to the Savior. At times they urge the Church to stand firm and at others to move forth boldly, but always to be “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2)”

The most specific signs of the end times have been surrounding mankind almost since the fall. Consider, for instance, Matthew 24:6-7. Jesus said, there will be “wars and rumors of wars.... Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.” These are the signs of a decaying, dying world. However, they’re also “but the beginning of the birth pains. (v. 8)”

When we concentrate on the Author of Scripture, He turns our eyes away from this world and its signs and toward Himself, the Fulfillment of prophecy and the Keeper of the divine promises. Holy Baptism, attention to the Word, faithfulness in attending a church that proclaims the Gospel truth in love, and receiving Absolution and the Lord’s Supper bring far more blessing than playing guessing games with God.

Not only does He command us to be faithful until the end (instead of saying, “Why bother?”). He also enables us to remain faithful, strengthening us through His Church, His Gospel and His Supper until the Day of the Lord is revealed. Even the Bible’s splendid and most terrifying visions exist only to keep us constantly on guard.

The speculators cause two major problems. First, many well-meaning people are taken in by them. History is filled with examples of false prophecies of the End Times leading numbers of people into giving away all they have and rushing away to a predicted sacred spot to await Jesus’ return. The other negative consequence is probably much more wide-spread and damaging: It leads to disregarding the certainty of our end on earth, whether on Judgment Day or on the day we die.

Every false prophecy in the name of Christ brings that name into disrepute. Already I’m reading humorous invitations to join in the post-rapture looting of the property left behind by those who’ve been taken away. Eager to poke fun at a perceived band of kooks, some are also taking lightly their Creator.

Additionally, the Bible warns not only of that final “great and awesome day of the Lord. (Joel 2:31)” It also reminds us that our personal ends may come at any time and that we shouldn’t be encumbered with the things of this world at the expense of eternal treasure. For example, Jesus told the story of the rich man who thought to add to and hoard his wealth with no regard of final judgment: “God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ (Luke 12:20)”

Bottom line: “No one knows.” It might be Saturday. It could also be today or tomorrow. And whether or not you’re reading this on Wednesday or Sunday, perhaps I might not be here to receive your comments. You and I — and all believers — will be much better served by “looking to Jesus” than to internet gurus, Mayan calendar makers, or Bible numbers-crunchers.

“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved. (Acts 16:31)” Believe anything else and your eternal life is in jeopardy, no matter when your end — or that of the world — happens to arrive.

And should you be reading this in the weeks, months, or years ahead, please try dealing gently with those who initiated this false prophecy of the End and with those who succumbed to their lies. For they, too, are lost sheep who definitely need the loving guidance of the Good Shepherd.

For more from this blog, see The End of the World and “Kooks on TV” and earlier posts linked from it.

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles.

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Walter Snyder is a Lutheran pastor, conference speaker, author of the book What Do Lutherans Believe, and writer of numerous published devotions, prayers, and sermons.

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Why Doesn’t Easter Settle Down to One Date?

2011-05-07T22:22:00.003-05:00

From the Archives

Q: Some people have told me that the way the day Easter is determined is by what day there is a full moon in March. Is this true? I also wanted to let you know that I find your “Ask the Pastor” wonderful and for all denominations, not just Lutherans. Thank you very much.

A: You are very much welcome! Basically, you’ve been told correctly, but there’s more to the calculations and a lot more to the history. We’ll look at our past so as to lead up to our present method of determining when we will celebrate Easter. This also determines when we begin Lent, as we will see in an upcoming post.

In the early days of the Church, the Good Friday-Easter events were commemorated every week. A vestige of this remains in most churches, with our regular Sunday services. This is why many churches that observe Lent do not include Sundays in its 40 days, since no celebration of the Resurrection, even weekly, well fits a penitential season. It also explains why certain churches fast (or restrict the diet) on Fridays. Every Friday was to be a reminder of the Savior’s death, while each Sunday was a new celebration of His resurrection. Later, the Church began to focus on an annual Easter observance.

With scattered congregations, differing languages and theologies, and often poor communication, the date of the annual remembrance of the Resurrection was argued about. With all the early Christian defenses of the humanity and the deity of Jesus Christ, you might be surprised to learn that they fought almost as hard over the date of Easter as they did over the person and nature of Christ.

Much of the Eastern Church, basing its calculations on the date for Passover, commemorated the death of Christ on the 14th day of the Hebrew month Nisan, which could be any day of the week. The West focused on his Sunday resurrection, commemorating His death on the preceding Friday. The Western Church judged that the East’s practice over-emphasized His death at the expense of His resurrection. The dispute almost broke the Church apart before the Council of Nicea ruled against the Quartodecimans (the 14thers), who were then treated as heretics.

The Nicene council then moved to establish one date, based not on the Hebrew calendar and the time of Passover, but on the western calendar. The decree was that Easter would be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal (spring) equinox — unless that full moon falls on a Sunday, when the date is moved one week later. The date was refined in later days, when our current calendar came into effect.

However, even this agreement isn’t perfect. The Western Church bases its calculations on the Gregorian Calendar. Meanwhile, Eastern Christianity, by and large, uses the Julian Calendar for liturgical purposes. Therefore, East and West rarely celebrate the Lord’s Resurrection on the same day. In fact, in the forty-one years from 1982 through 2022, Eastern and Western Christendom share a same-day celebration only ten times. Otherwise, the observations may be anywhere from a week to more than a month separated from each other. Just once during this span, in 2010 and 2011, do we see back-to-back years where the churches agree on the day.

A recent development leads to more “controversy” about the day on which Easter falls. In the United States, Daylight Saving Time recently was extended, from the last Sunday in April to the first Sunday and then to the last Sunday in March. Since this happened, there is a possibility that Easter will fall on the date of the time change. The time change regularly causes problems with people forgetting to reset their clocks and coming to church an hour late — and those who attend are still tired because of a short night’s sleep. It becomes worse when our worship includes Saturday night’s Easter Vigil or a Sunday sunrise service commemorating the women’s early visit to the tomb.

See also Notes on the Christian Calendar and Setting a Date for Easter.

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Walter Snyder is a Lutheran pastor, conference speaker, author of the book What Do Lutherans Believe, and writer of numerous published devotions, prayers, and sermons.

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Updated from newspaper column #22

The Good Book and Good Books

2011-05-04T00:58:00.006-05:00

From the Archives

I’ve learned any number of things since leaving school for the “real world.” If you’re out of school, you’ll probably say the same for yourself. If you’re still in school and haven’t yet discovered this truth, I’ll break it to you gently: You never really get out of school. Every day brings new learning, and many of the tests are much more serious.

Not all of the information is earthshaking. Some is common sense; much is mundane. For instance, in all my years of college and seminary, no one ever taught me that a shovel is an essential item for the pastor’s study. It took months of being buried by offers from This, That, or The Other Company before I got a handle on the mail.

The ministry is a reading-intensive calling. However, I find some publishers wanting to push that intensiveness to intensive care. I mean, just carrying the printed ads and catalogs home is enough to put me in the hospital. Commentaries, Bible studies, sermon helps, and more — some people seem to think that I can’t preach or teach without their latest offerings. What they don’t realize is that my trash can often ranks right behind the Bible as a tool for effective ministry.

Still, there’s plenty of good reading to be found. Separating this wheat from the chaff brings us to this week’s question.

Q: The Christian book stores and catalogs are full of choices. I’m looking for devotional reading and for help with some of the difficult parts of the Bible. How do I find something that’s right for me?

A: Not too many years ago, few people would have had this question. Pastors and lay people alike would have gone to their church bodies’ official book catalogs, ordered what they wanted, and been done. Now, Christianity is “big bucks,” and countless publishers are competing for your devotional dollars.

Along with the blessing of having real options come some problems. First of all, there are often too many choices. For a given topic, there may be several adequate texts. As Ecclesiastes 12:12 says, “Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.”

With the glut in publishers and their products comes also the problem of wolves in sheep’s clothing. We are warned about false prophets — and Satan can utilize the printing press quite well. Many cults and Christian fringe groups, as well as people completely removed from Christianity, have produced materials that seem to be solid, Biblical, and orthodox. Only close study reveals some of their errors.

In my own congregations, I recommend first those devotions, studies, and commentaries published by our church body’s Concordia Publishing House. Then, I keep my eyes open for quality works from others. If the saving work of Christ is not central, then I’d say, “Avoid it.” If Scripture is used as a springboard for human speculation, again I’d say, “Avoid it.”

As you seek to build your own Christian library, start with what you know — and with whom you know. If a publisher or an author has previously been a good read and has stayed true to the Bible, assume the same for current works unless proven otherwise. Ask people whom you respect what they read and what they got out of it. Most folks enjoy being consulted as experts.

In picking devotions, personal preferences are probably more important than in other works. Private or family Bible study and meditation needs to fit your personality, your age, and your station in life. If you have a chance, read a bit of what you’re considering buying before taking it out of the store. However, Christ’s work for you should still be the central theme of any good devotional series.

Concordia Publishing House (CPH) of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod is one good source for devotions, Bible studies, and study Bibles. Portals of Prayer is an excellent series of daily meditations published quarterly and the new Lutheran Study Bible has outstanding resources both for learning and for devotions.

If establishing a stronger, more formal personal or family devotional life interests you, see what I wrote concerning The Why and How of Home Altars.

You also mentioned wanting to work through some of the more difficult to understand parts of Scripture. To this end, I recommend William Arndt’s Bible Difficulties and Seeming Contradictions. It is printed by CPH, and you can order it online through most Christian and secular book stores. Also quite helpful is the Hard Sayings series from InterVarsity Press.

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version™, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles.

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Walter Snyder is a Lutheran pastor, conference speaker, author of the book What Do Lutherans Believe, and writer of numerous published devotions, prayers, and sermons.

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Revised and updated from newspaper column #20

A Loving God in a Disaster Filled World

2011-05-02T20:23:00.005-05:00

From the Archives

I thought this a good time to bring this question out of the archives as we continue our Easter celebration even in the aftermath of earthquakes, tsunamis, and killer tornadoes.

Q: Why do evil things happen to good people?

A: This question comes to pastors more often than almost any other spiritual query. As I visit sick and, especially, dying people, I ask, too. Why this saintly person? Why not that other “not-so-good” person?

Others’ (or my own) pain and suffering reminds me of my grandparents’ deaths. One grandfather died slowly, fighting for breath as emphysema overtook him. The other went suddenly with a massive heart attack. Prepared for the first, our family’s pain and shock was lessened somewhat. Similarly, one grandmother died of liver cancer, which filled her body with pain. Near the end, every little movement of the hospital sheets across her skin brought agony. The other slipped quietly away in her sleep. Again, the family’s pain was lessened in the former’s passing, since we had time to prepare and to begin our mourning while she was still with us. But her own physical pain was much greater.

Searching the Scriptures, we find the basics: Pain, suffering, and death entered the world because of Adam’s fall into sin. Each of us earns the “wages of sin,” which, Paul reminds us, “is death. (Romans 6:23)” Each of us faces toil and hardship, whether physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual.

While we know this by faith and by intellect, the specifics bother us. And comparisons — a form of unscriptural judging — often trigger our problem: Why did the most overtly God-fearing, practicing Christian among my grandparents suffer the most painful death? Why did she, years before, have to watch her husband slowly strangle under his failing lungs?

These events can cause even strong believers to ask, “God, why’d You do this to such a saint instead of to that sinner down the street?” Why do we sometimes still cry over memories, years after a final hospital visit, long after a coffin was lowered? It’s not fair, is it? When we get in God’s face and start yelling our rage, our pain, our frustration, where’s our answer? Why doesn’t He give us a clear sign?

Maybe, though, He already has; perhaps He even gave us multiple signs, if we would only remember where to look and how to see.

Look first at Job: Remember his terrible suffering. Remember also a God who basically says to this righteous man (and to us): “Mind your own business. When you’re God, then you can make the rules.” We keep running up against One who says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. (Isaiah 55:8)” The Psalms are likewise full of laments at personal or societal suffering, when no end seems in sight. Yet when we look closer, we see hope glimmering. These same Psalms which complain about the pain also say, “Yet will I still praise God.” And so will we.

God sometimes uses suffering as a teaching tool. Pain may turn us from what is unnecessary or wrong to Him who is truly the One thing needed. He even uses our afflictions to draw attention and praise to Himself. Remember the healing of the man who was blind from birth in John 9. Jesus was asked whose sin it was that caused the blindness: Was it the parents’ fault, or did God anticipate a future infraction in the man and punish it in advance? Neither, is what Jesus said. This happened so God could be glorified, said the Savior — who then proceeded to heal the man.

Ultimately, we’ll never have a full answer in this life as to why bad things happen to good people — with one great exception. Otherwise, even the beauty of the Easter Gospel at a funeral, even all the other Bible words of hope and consolation sound trite and hollow when our pain is so great. The exception is in the totally unwarranted agony of Jesus. “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.... He was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:4-5)”

We know why He suffered. He paid the price demanded for our failure. His loss was our gain, His pain our pleasure, His agony our ecstasy. Sitting in the rubble of his life, Job could still look forward to his Savior’s day and say, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me! (19:25-27)” The hymn based on this Scripture concludes: “He lives, all glory to His Name! He lives, my Jesus, still the same. Oh, the sweet joy this sentence gives, ‘I know that my Redeemer lives!’”

He lives, and because He lives, we shall live also (cf. John 14:19). In the worst of times, we know we have One on our side who’s already faced the same terrible pain, who’s already shouldered the same staggering load, and who’s already crushed sin, death, and devil beneath His almighty foot. He is the clear Sign that God loves us. He has shown us the height and the depth of His love for us. “All glory to His Name!” Amen.

Search this blog for related columns, including Why Suffering and Death?

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version™, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles.

Send email to Ask the Pastor.

Walter Snyder is a Lutheran pastor, conference speaker, author of the book What Do Lutherans Believe, and writer of numerous published devotions, prayers, and sermons.

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Expanded from newspaper column #15

The Jesus Seminar

2011-04-24T23:57:00.003-05:00

From the Archives

Q: What is the “Jesus Seminar?” I’ve seen them mentioned in the news from time to time, usually suggesting that our understanding of the Bible is wrong.

A: The “Jesus Seminar” is a group of people who’ve come together under the basic assumption that much ... or most ... or all ... of the New Testament is a collection of myths, folk tales, or fabrications of the early Christians. Under the banner of “scholarship,” they assemble to discuss and then vote whether or not they believe that Jesus said or did the things recorded in Scripture and whether or not the records of His followers are true.

Because of their biases coming in, they’ve decided that the miracles didn’t really happen, that Jesus’ words about Himself as divine are later fabrications, and that most of what we believe about the Savior is — if not an outright lie — wishful thinking. These people’s lack of faith is to be pitied, their conclusions are to be denied, and their conversion to the true faith to be prayed for.

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Walter Snyder is a Lutheran pastor, conference speaker, author of the book What Do Lutherans Believe, and writer of numerous published devotions, prayers, and sermons.

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Revised and expanded from newspaper column #10:2

Confessional Lutheranism

2011-04-24T23:21:00.006-05:00

From the Archives

Q: I’ve read that call yourself a “confessional” Lutheran. What does this mean?

A: Most of us are familiar with conservatism. In the case of our church (and many others), it means those unwilling or unlikely to make hasty change, who are connected to their past, and who interpret the Bible assuming that it is God’s revealed, true Word. We officially reject those who call the Bible a human invention, or a mixture of the divine and the human.

The word “confessional” is not so commonly used. Normally, we think of a confession as an admission of guilt. “Confess” has a root meaning of “acknowledge together.” In matters of error, we state that we have, indeed, done what’s wrong — we “fess up.” But confession also has positive application: It can be used to declare faith. Thus, “Jesus Christ is Lord,” is a confession.

Christians have always made such confessions. Lutherans emphasize the place of formalized confession of Scriptural teaching. We officially accept three of the early Creeds (statements of belief) of the Christian Church. These are the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds. Each of these is a summary of Christian, Biblical teaching (doctrine).

During the time of the Reformation, in the mid-1500s, various interpretations of the Bible were being used by the parties involved. The reformers went to Scripture to assemble statements of faith which were topically arranged. For example, how many places in the Bible speak of Jesus’ return in judgment on the Last Day? A formal confession pulls all these references together into a unified article with which all can agree.

Many confessions were produced. Six were drawn together with the Creeds into The Book of Concord (Agreement). All who claimed the title Lutheran (or “Evangelical”) were asked to subscribe to, or agree with, the Holy Scriptures as the source and norm of all Christian teaching and these confessions as being correct expositions of Scripture.

Pastors, other church workers, and congregations of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod and other confessional Lutheran bodies are asked to do the same if they wish to join themselves to our body. A quick summary of this wholehearted agreement with the Confessions may be found at Aardvark Alley in the post Who You Calling Quia?

Confession is finally and ultimately done in the lives of individual Christians. Our confession of faith involves all we say, think, or do. It includes our confession of sins, since this acknowledges our guilt before God. It involves doing everything in life under the cross of Christ, directed ourselves toward a heavenly end. Confession’s goal is to give all praise, honor, and glory to God.

The heart of our confession of faith is that we are justified (declared righteous) by grace through faith in Christ. This is clearly expressed in Article IV of the Augsburg Confession: “Our churches teach that people cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works. People are freely justified for Christ’s sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor and that their sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake. By His death, Christ made satisfaction for our sins. God counts this faith for righteousness in His sight (Romans 3 and 4 [3:21–26; 4:5].”

Augsburg Confession quoted from Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. 2005 (Edited by Paul Timothy McCain) (33). St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.

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Walter Snyder is a Lutheran pastor, conference speaker, author of the book What Do Lutherans Believe, and writer of numerous published devotions, prayers, and sermons.

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Revised and expanded from newspaper column #10:1

Come, Join the Easter Parade

2011-04-24T00:01:00.007-05:00

(Bonnet Not Needed)

Sitting high on Dad’s shoulders ... watching a parade ... wishing to be part of it.... Grand and glorious ... beautiful floats ... bright costumes ... flags and horses ... thundering bands. Only years later would I realize that I was already in the grandest, most glorious parade this world has ever known.

These past eight days, from Palm Sunday through the Feast of the Resurrection open the heart and soul of Christianity for all to see. Christ’s parade through this world is here to watch and to join. The angels’ Christmas message of “peace” was not because a Baby lay quiet in a manger; it was because that Baby would remove our sins and make peace with God. Pentecost’s wonder wasn’t because Galilean fishermen spoke in different languages. Rather, in those languages they proclaimed Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Savior of the world.

Jesus’ assigned path was laid out from all eternity. He came to earth not to entertain watchers, but to save sinners. He refused to be tempted from this path, either by Satan or by His own desires. He couldn’t be threatened or bullied from the route by religious or secular authorities.

A parade for God Incarnate should be glorious, yet much of it was hideously ugly, grotesquely violent. This week — “Holy Week” — parades past us the lowest and the highest points of Christ’s entire life on earth.

To human eyes, Palm Sunday topped Jesus’ life. The crowd sang his praises, “Hosanna! Save us, we pray!” He was cheered as conquering king and hero of the day. So He would be, but not in the way expected.

The crowds thinned; Jesus kept on the route. He established His New Testament and called to Himself a new covenant people.

Then He was betrayed, tortured, and killed. His parade left the city. Instead of being carried (on donkey-back) and cheered, He carried (His cross and our sins) and was jeered. The route appeared to end at a place called Skull. He was lifted up and nailed to the cross. The voices weren’t saying “save us.” Instead they taunted, “He saved others, Himself he cannot save.”

In His pain, how much could Jesus have desired that the elements would wipe out his parade, so He didn’t have to endure its conclusion? The skies darkened. The earth even shook, but He stayed on the cross until His last breath left Him. In so doing, He rained on Satan’s parade. He interrupted the devil’s schemes to lead all humanity to hell, and fulfilled God’s plans to lead His people to heaven.

He was taken down and buried. The procession seemed ended.

But on the third day — miracle of miracles! — the parade resumed. Jesus was raised from the dead. Those who watched Him pass by to His death, who directly participated in it, or who were responsible for it because of their own sinfulness are all invited to join in the procession. Satan’s prisoners are forgiven and are free to follow joyfully where Christ Jesus leads. “Therefore it says, ‘When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.’ (Ephesians 4:8)”

The march is big and beautiful. Those with Him make music with their songs of praise. They are beautifully clothed, not in earthly attire, but with the righteousness of Christ which has been given them in Baptism and His Word.

Everyone who believes in Him as Savior and who has been baptized in His Name has traveled this route with Him. We are “buried ... with him by baptism into [His] death. (Romans 6:4)” We are raised through that same baptism into life eternal. His death puts our sinful natures to death. His resurrection raises us to new life.

Look to see who He brought into his ranks. Ahead of you marched Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses and Elijah. Peter, James, and John left all they had and followed Him. Look closer, now. There are faces less familiar. People throughout history and from around the world take up their cross and follow Him.

See, there you are ... and there am I. Heaven stands open before us, the true end of this parade route. Our Palm Sunday “hosanna” is answered. We have been saved. Now the alleluias of Easter ring out again. “Praise the Lord!” The host of captives is free and is marching home, bearing Christ’s gifts.

Christ continually gives his gifts in His Word and sacraments. You are invited to join the celebration throughout His Church. Lutherans (and other Christians) around the world will join in worship today, receiving the forgiveness and new life won on the cross and guaranteed by Jesus’ resurrection. His body and blood, given and shed for us, are our Easter feast and our sustaining food as we continue in the parade toward our eternal home with Him who saved us and our Father who sent our Savior to take our flesh upon Himself.

This celebration will never end throughout time and will attain eternal perfection in the day of our own resurrection to life everlasting.

Ecclesiastical art by Ed Riojas. Graphics for the Church Year (1-Year and 3-Year Lectionaries) are available for for purchase on CD or by ZIP download from the Higher Things Store.

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version™, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles.

Send email to Ask the Pastor.

Walter Snyder is a Lutheran pastor, conference speaker, author of the book What Do Lutherans Believe, and writer of numerous published devotions, prayers, and sermons.

Technorati Tags: Passover | Holy Week | Maundy Thursday | Good Friday | Easter | crucifixion | resurrection | Pastor Walter P. Snyder | Walter Snyder | Ask the Pastor

Revised from newspaper column #78

Christ’s Humiliation Ends in the Tomb

2011-04-23T00:09:00.002-05:00

Reposted Thoughts for Holy Saturday

Q: An elder in my church said that Jesus is a little lower than God. Where is Jesus in relationship to God?

A: Sometimes the Bible uses “God” and “Father” almost interchangeably. At other times, Scripture makes it clear that Jesus is God, as are the Father and the Holy Spirit. Jesus is “lower” than the Father only in that He is eternally begotten of the Father and will always serve and obey Him. However, He is also the Father’s equal as touches His being God and possessing all divine attributes, including omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, and the like. Jesus says of Himself in John 10:30, “I and the Father are One.”

Regarding His incarnation and birth, the Bible (e.g., Psalm 8 and Hebrews 2) testifies to the Messiah, Jesus, being made lower than the heavenly beings or angels “for a little while. (Hebrews 2:7)” This is sometimes called Christ’s “state of humiliation” by the Christian Church. In this state, even though He remained fully God, He did not fully use all His divine powers. “Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. (Hebrews 2:8-9)”

Corresponding to His humiliation, we have a term for the Son’s condition before His incarnation and after His resurrection. This the Church calls Christ’s “state of exaltation.”

Here in the quiet between Good Friday and the celebration of Christ’s resurrection in the coming services, we straddle the border between Christ’s humiliation and His exaltation. His Sabbath rest came after He fulfilled the fullness of the Law and suffered on our behalf. At some point during His time in the tomb, the Father granted Him life once again. Most likely, this is when He — the now exalted Son of God — descended into Hell to proclaim His victory over sin, death, and Satan.

I invite you to read some of what I wrote previously concerning Jesus being God and about His descent into Hell in these following posts:

   § Jesus Christ: True God
   § Questions about God and Jesus
   § The Humanity and Deity of Christ
   § He Descended into Hell

You can find more by browsing this blog if you use the search box at the top of this blog with the terms Jesus and God.

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version™, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles.

Send email to Ask the Pastor.

Walter Snyder is the pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Emma, Missouri and coauthor of the book What Do Lutherans Believe.

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Maundy Thursday

2011-04-21T00:01:00.001-05:00

Reposted

Q: Where do we get the term Maundy Thursday?

A: Also known as “Holy Thursday,” the Church uses this fifth day of Holy Week to remember the institution of the Lord’s Supper. From the account of the Upper Room in John 13:1-15, some have called it the Day of Food Washing.

“Maundy” may come from the Latin Bible’s rendering of John 13:34, where Jesus gave the disciples a new mandatum (commandment) in the upper room: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”

Another idea is that it grew out from an ancient custom of carrying gifts to the poor in hand baskets (known as “maunds” or “maund baskets”) on that day.

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version™, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles.

Walter Snyder is a Lutheran pastor, conference speaker, author of the book What Do Lutherans Believe, and writer of numerous published devotions, prayers, and sermons.

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