Don't Let Christmas Ruin Your Advent

This is one of my favorite phrases that I have coined (at least I don't recall hearing it from anyone else!): Don't let Christmas ruin your Advent.

I like that because most people tend to think the other way around - that the Church, with the season of Advent and its focus on repentance and holding off singing Christmas hymns until Christmas, ruins the Christmas season. Its a giant downer when the rest of the world is merry and bright.

But perhaps there's another way to look at it . . . That if we let the merry and bright of the world's Christmas overshadow Advent and make us miss out on it, that we are missing out on something beautiful in its own right. For Advent is a beautiful season. A season of yes, repentance, but also of waiting and rejoicing in the gifts of God, especially the gift of His Son who came, is coming, and will come again.

And then there's this, too: this holiday season with all its demands can make the month of December a quite busy, hectic, and difficult time - a time people just try to get "done." But Advent helps us stop and rest and take a breather in the midst of it all; a time to hear the Word of God speak to us in the midst of busy life; a time to pray and focus on more than just merry and bright. So that when Christmas does come, our joy is not ending but just beginning!

So don't let Christmas ruin your Advent. Enjoy Advent and Christmas both this year. :-)

Liturgical Schizophrenia

In my area (and I suspect in many areas of the country) people are working longer hours, which makes attending midweek services and Bible studies difficult. The traffic in my area around DC compounds the problem. So the question is: what to do with those festivals of the church year that fall during the week? If they are important festivals I want my people to commemorate, is it better to observe them on the nearest Sunday or stick to my liturgical guns and keep them on a weeknight?

Hi, my name is Pastor Peasant, and I am a "liturgical schizophrenic."

What I mean is that I do both. Some festivals (like Epiphany) I observe on the nearest Sunday, but some (like Ascension) I thus far have resisted moving and continue to celebrate on either Wednesday or Thursday night. As I think about it, I have no set of criteria I use to determine this - just some I do and some I don't. I know churches and pastors of many denominations wrestle with this also. So if you are reading this, what do you think? What should be done? And why? What criteria should be used?

I have spoken to some pastors who will stick to their guns - no. matter. what. A festival is a festival that is to be celebrated on. that. day. and will be - even if no one comes. I am sympathetic to them, but also ask why? Yes, we are teaching our people the importance of the church year and liturgical celebrations and the proper rhythm of Sundays and festivals, but if a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it . . .

I am also sympathetic to those who observe festivals on the nearest Sundays. The people are then there to celebrations these, though it does displace the Sunday, which robs the people of those part of the church year.

So what to do? I don't have a good answer and will probably continue in my schizophrenic state. But it is on my mind . . .

Baptism is Bigger Than You Think

If you had to name the three biggest feasts in the Church year, I think there would be little argument - they are Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost.

Don't know why, but it occurred to me today that Baptism is linked to all three.

Christmas is the incarnation of the Son of God as a son of man; in Holy Baptism we sons of men are made sons of God. He is born here below, we are born from above (John 3:3).

Easter is the resurrection of our Lord; in Holy Baptism the old Adam in us is drowned and a new man raised up. Or as Paul puts it in Romans (6:5): in Holy Baptism, we are joined to Christ in His death and resurrection.

Pentecost is the sending of the Holy Spirit upon the Church; in Holy Baptism the Spirit is given to us through water and the Word (Acts 2:38).

So perhaps we could say that Holy Baptism gives us the whole Christ - from birth to resurrection to the sending of His Spirit. Or as Luther put it: "Therefore, Baptism is not only natural water, but a divine, heavenly, holy, and blessed water, and whatever other terms we can find to praise it. This is all because of the Word, which is a heavenly, holy Word, which no one can praise enough. For it has, and is able to do, all that God is and can do." (Large Catechism)

What Some Pastors Have Taught Me About Evangelism

As some of you may know, there are two lectionaries (scheduled assignments of Scripture to be read in church through the church year) in use in the church today: a three year series of readings and a one year series. The three year series is newer (in use for approximately the last 50 years or so). The one year series is more historic and been in use for a much longer time. The majority of churches (that I know of) use the three year lectionary, though the minority that uses the one year is very dedicated to it and very vocal about it. Recently I read another blog post written by someone who “converted” from the three year to the one year series. I skimmed through the article and heard pretty much the same arguments I had heard before. (Note: I am not married to or devoted to either one.)

But a thought came to me this time: if they want me to care (much less convert!), they have to come up with better arguments and show me why it matters. This is NOT an invitation to do that here, in the comments! Here’s the point: this is what I think is the reaction of many people to the efforts of the church at outreach and evangelism. They listen to what we have to say, maybe what they’ve already heard before, but remain unconvinced. Why? Because we haven’t convinced them why it matters. I am happy for those who have switched from the three year to the one year, and glad they have come to that conclusion. And maybe unbelievers are happy for those who have become Christians and glad that they have come to that conclusion. But for those who remain unbelievers, it doesn’t matter. For them, they need a better reason to “convert.”

Now, this isn’t a perfect analogy because when we’re talking about faith, that is the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of those who hear the Word. But this was the first time I think I understood where those folks we reach out to are and what (perhaps) many of them think. Some are hostile to Christianity, yes, but for many, it just doesn’t matter. We need to show them it does.

Some Weeks . . .

Some professional golfers consistently do well on certain courses. They say that the course just "fits their eye." I think the same is true of pastors, at least this one. There are some Sundays in the church year that I seem to have an easier time preaching on than others. I wonder if other pastors feel the same way . . .

Preaching Challenges, Part Deux

To follow up on my post of yesterday, about the struggles that I seem to have every year to preach on Good Shepherd Sunday . . . it seems like this should be an easy Sunday to preach on, but for me it's not. I think this is so because I am conscious of how easy it is to preach an unchristian message this day. What do I mean by that? A sermon where the forgiveness of sins is not central. The picture of the Good Shepherd is one of feeding and care and rest - God is taking care of you, providing for you, and protecting you. That's all true, of course, but is it the Gospel? Is that not a sermon you could also hear in many other religions that are not Christian? Indeed, it is. So there must be more to the sermon than that. There must be the theology of the cross.

So the challenge I face each year is to take a true, but incomplete, picture of the Good Shepherd and expand it in the minds of my people, so that they think of the true care we receive from Christ in His death and resurrection and in the forgiveness of their sins. And I think that is where I have been a bit clumsy or challenged. This year I took the approach that we have a Good Shepherd, but He may not always seem good, because we don't always know what good is. Like when parents force their children to eat their vegetables - the child thinks that's horrible, but the parents know this is good. It is at those times when we think our Shepherd isn't being good that we are tempted to wander and look for greener pastures (Law). But even then, our Good Shepherd is good, leaving the 99 to go after the one and bring us back in forgiveness (Gospel).

So far, so good, I think. But notice - the cross still isn't there. Oh, yes, it's implicit in the forgiveness of sins, but it needs to be explicit. I could just add it - forgiveness earned and won for us on the cross, but that seems forced and artificial. Better, I think, to try here to use the analogy given in the Gospel of the satanic wolf and that Jesus stood between us and the wolf to save us from him; to save us from death. That works, but now notice that the cross still isn't linked to the atonement, but to rescuing us from death and satan. Again, true enough, and there's an implicit connection there . . . but can you see how I am having trouble tying the whole bundle together?

Anyway, I wonder if other pastors have similar problems on this or other weeks? The challenge isn't bad - it forces me to think and study and pray to proclaim the Word better, and that's all good. And as I said yesterday, it is a great comfort to know that the Spirit works through my meager and often clumsy proclamation. That's not an excuse for bad sermons! But it is a comfort. The harvest is His, and He will work. He promised.

Holy Saturday

Quiet. Rest. One last sabbath rest before the dawning of the eighth day, the day of eternity, when Christ breaks out of death and the grave and all the world breaks forth in song and joyful acclamation.

But not yet.

It is difficult to imagine what today must have been like for the disciples. The fear, the doubt, the questions racing through their minds. All the shouldas, wouldas, and couldas. The grief and pain. How long this day must have been for them. While the Jews around them celebrated! Yes, they were celebrating the Passover. Salt in the wound? We thought He was the One . . .

Tonight is the Great Vigil of Easter in our church. Though I probably should not have favorites, this is one of my favorite services of the year. The quietness and calm, the anticipated joy, all the OT Scriptures, the baptismal focus and remembrance, "God has brought His Israel into joy from sadness." Tomorrow will be the full throated shouts. Tonight is the calm, confident joy of our Lord. Wonderful.

Holy Thursday

Today begins the Triduum - the final three days of Lent - in which we remember and celebrate our Lord laying down His life for us.

Today, Holy Thursday, has two foci: Jesus washing the feet of His disciples and the giving of His Supper. The two are not unrelated. A close reading of the foot washing text from John 13 reveals that Jesus is doing more than washing feet - He speaks of cleanness and uncleanness in a greater way. He is teaching His disciples about forgiveness and the ongoing washing away of sins that is needed. He speaks of bathing only once (baptism), but the need of the ongoing washing of the dirt collected from everyday life (absolution). He says "not all of you are clean" because He knew who would betray Him. He also says "if I do not wash you, you have no share with me." Clearly, these are all statements of a washing not just of feet, but of sin. So what Jesus is doing here is a kind of "living parable," not unlike what the prophets in the Old Testament would often do - act out the words of their teaching.

Then Jesus gives them His Supper, the preeminent way this ongoing forgiveness would be given by Him through the service of the disciples who would now become apostles - sent ones, sent to do what Jesus has done: serve, love, forgive, and lay down their lives for the life of the world. Through them, and those who would come after them, Jesus will continue to serve His people and wash them and feed them with the forgiveness, life, and salvation they need.

So having taught and given all this, Jesus now goes to accomplish the forgiveness that will be given through these means - He goes to the cross.

Thanksgiving

Well, back from our usual whirlwind thanksgiving! After the Divine Service on Wednesday night, we drive up to my-laws in NJ - arriving very late - and spend Thanksgiving Day with them. Then Friday morning, down to my Father in Philadelphia, and then Saturday home again. As I said, it's always a bit of a whirlwind, but a good one. Good to see all the parents again. And, in honor of Pastor Weedon, I will communicate the fact that my wife was undefeated in cards! She had several different partners, but always ended up on the winning side.

Now we plunge into the season of Advent - a season I absolutely love. Dr. Gene Veith asked about the ending of one church year and the beginning of another, and why there isn't more of a definitive break marking the official last day of the church year. I think one reason is that the origin and development of the church year, and of the season of Advent in particular, was very fluid and very regional. There was no one way to do Advent for a long time. But I also think this is helpful in this way: Advent continues the focus of the end of the church year even as we transition to the beginning of a new one. And so the fact that it just kind of flows together I think it good, actually. It helps us remember that Advent is much more and much bigger than just "getting ready for Christmas."

All Saints Day

Did I ever say how much I love All Saints Day (which my church will observe today)? One of the absolute high points in the Church Year for me.

Somewhere in that great crowd of saints around the altar (on the unseen side!) is my dear mother, cancer having taken her physical life, my brother who died at 2 weeks old, and all the saints from my churches whose bodies I had the honor of laying to rest in this world. I think of them all on this day, and rejoice that they are not dead, but alive in the Lord.

I also visited a man with a brain injury yesterday, soon to be a member of my congregation, for we will receive him when we receive his family into membership. He needs 24 hour care, but he, too, is a saint! Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, though struggling mightily here on earth. How good to know. How great a Saviour!

Oh, blest communion, fellowship divine!

We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;

Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

The Church's Wisdom

I love the fact that while Christmas for the world ends on Christmas Day (just take note of how many folks take down their trees and turn off their lights starting today), for the Church Christmas is just beginning. We get to celebrate this wonder for 12 days (and Easter for 50)! The Church’s wisdom with the formation of the Church Year is truly evident here in this.

I especially appreciate this as a pastor. As a pastor, the days leading up to Christmas are so busy with the preparations to be made in leading the faithful in the services, that were Christmas to end on the 25^th, I (we!) would miss it. But no, the Church continues to celebrate, and we pastors get to sit quietly and reflect on the wonder.