Huh?

 In Morning Prayer today, we read the following words:

. . . if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules . . .

~ 1 Kings 9:4

Huh?

How could God say such things of David? Doesn't He remember Bathsheba, the adultery, how David tried to cover it up, and then finally murdered her husband?

Well, no, actually, He doesn't remember! David was forgiven. That means those sins of his were separated from him as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). Now, when the Lord looked at David, He did not see an awful sinner - He saw a forgiven son.

And that is how He looks at you, too! Your sin, your unworthiness, your shame, your guilt, all that would separate you from your heavenly Father has been put on Christ and taken away from you. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). With the forgiveness of sins, that is all gone. 

Pretty awesome, huh?  :-)

Moses and Ephesians

Well, I'm back from a great vacation. I'll post about that soon with some pictures, but for now, just something I noticed from Morning Prayer today . . .

Moses' life can be broken down into three 40 years segments:
From birth to 40 years old in Egypt.
Then 40 years a shepherd in Midian.
Then 40 years wandering with Israel in the wilderness to the border of the Promised Land.

Now, this isn't perfect - it doesn't account for however long it took for Pharaoh to agree to let Israel go and the time it took them to get to the border of the Promised Land the first time, but still, it seems pretty interesting to me!

But maybe I'm just weird . . .  :-)

And then also we read this from Ephesians (4:17-20a) this morning:

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!—

Sounds a lot like modern day unbelievers. And then we read from Gregory the Great who said:

. . . refuse to put wicked fables before the clearest truth, and what you may happen to read or hear contrary to the rule of the catholic and apostolic creed, judge it altogether deadly and diabolical.  . . .  Indeed, they put on a cloak of piety and chastity, but under this deceit they conceal the filthiness of their acts . . .

What are the wicked fables we so hear today? Untruths, half-truths, that many consider truth? And how often it has to do with two things: money and sensuality. Monsters those two can be. Had another recently leave the Confession of the truth for this. It always saddens me. Not just the leaving, but the blindness, thinking the truth isn't changing. Really?

Today's TDP Writing

A good writing by Luther in the Treasury of Daily Prayer today. Here's part of it. (When Luther speaks of the "son of a king," I think of the ruckus in the media whenever Princess Diana or Prince William go to other countries and help causes.)

There is no greater bondage than that of sin; and there is no greater service than that displayed by the Son of God, who becomes the servant of all, no matter how poor, wretched, or despised they may be, and bears their sins. It would be spectacular and amazing, prompting all the world to open ears and eyes, mouth and nose in uncomprehending wonderment, if some king's son were to appear in a beggar's home to nurse him in his illness, wash off his filth, and do everything else the beggar would have to do. Would this not be profound humility? Any spectator or any beneficiary of this honor would feel impelled to admit that he had seen or experienced something unusual and extraordinary, something magnificent. But what is a king or an emperor compared with the Son of God? Furthermore, what is a beggar's filth or stench compared with the filth of sin which is ours by nature, stinking a hundred thousand times worse and looking infinitely more repulsive to God than any foul matter found in a hospital? And yet the love of the Son of God for us is of such magnitude that the greater the filth and stench of our sins, the more He befriends us, the more He cleanses us, relieving us of all our misery and of the burden of all our sins and placing them upon His own back. All the holiness of the monks stinks in comparison with this service of Christ, the fact that the beloved Lamb, the great Man, yes, the Son of the Exalted Majesty, descends from heaven to serve me.

[Treasury of Daily Prayer, p 867]

Thursday Morning Thoughts

#1: Due to the generosity and kindness of some members of my congregation, my family and I got to go see my Phillies put a whuppin' on Steven Strasburg and the Nationals on Tuesday night, 8-0. Included in the feast was Juan Pierre stealing second, then stealing third a pitch or two later, an error on the throw and an easy walk home. Pitcher Cliff Lee stealing second and then scoring on Jimmy Rollins inside-the-park homerun. While at the park, also made sure I tried a Ben's Chili Bowl half smoke chili dog. Ben's is a Washington landmark, so I wanted to try it. Result? Eh. Nuthin' special in my opinion.

#2: Glad the Chick-Fil-A appreciation day went so well yesterday. I wanted to eat there, but already had a lunch meeting scheduled in a town which didn't have one. I'll go soon. So tired of the intolerance of the "tolerant" . . .

#3: In the TDP reading for today, David is sent to fight Goliath. What struck me today is the faith and courage King Saul showed - not in the Lord, but in David. Earlier, Goliath's challenge had been a one-on-one fight with the result being that the loser's country would enter into servitude. So it was not only the life of the combatant that was on the line, but the fate of the nation. That King Saul would agree to let this young man go and fight with all that on the line . . . ? Saul's last words to David: "Go, and the Lord be with you." Striking in contrast to the words that Samuel had not too long ago spoken to Saul, that the Lord had rejected him and was not with him. Just found this interesting this morning . . .

A Giving King

The reading from the Treasury of Daily Prayer today was from 1 Samuel 8, where Samuel tells the people of Israel who are clamoring for an earthly king so that "we also may be like all the nations" what that king will do. He will take . . . he will take . . . he will take . . . he will take . . . he will take . . . he will take. What a contrast to their true and right King, the Lord of hosts, who doesn't take, but gives! Do they really want to be like all the other nations? Do they really not want to be God's special people, His special possession? Do they really want to live under a king who does not give but takes? They think they do. They say yes! Can't you hear their heavenly Father sigh . . .

Yet don't we do the same thing when we make sin our king? Sin which takes but does not give us what we want. There is still and always will be only one King who gives and, in fact, gave Himself for His people, even to death on the cross. That He may give us not only life, but forgiveness and eternal life. That He may not only give us food, but the food of eternal life - His very Body and Blood. That He not only give us what we need as servants, but adopt us as His sons in Holy Baptism. What a wonderful King this is - a giving King.

Luther Redivivus

As I have written before, that odd and somewhat confusing reading from Luther came up in the Treasury reading again this morning. For those who want to see what I wrote about it in the past, and for a link to another explanation, go here (post 1) and here (post 2).

From Luther

I liked this quote from Luther in Friday's Treasury reading:

We also are to look at our misfortunes in no other way than that with them God gives us a light by which we may see and understand His goodness and kindness in countless other ways. Then we conclude that such small misfortunes are barely a drop of water on a big fire or a little spark in the ocean. Then we understand and love the words: "O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His steadfast love endures forever!"

Great TDP Writing Today!

“There is no greater bondage than that of sin; and there is no greater service than that displayed by the Son of God, who becomes the servant of all, no matter how poor, wretched, or despised they may be, and bears their sins. It would be spectacular and amazing, prompting all the world to open ears and eyes, mouth and nose in uncomprehending wonderment, if some king’s son were to appear in a beggar’s home to nurse him in his illness, wash off his filth, and do everything else the beggar would have to do. Would this not be profound humility? Any spectator or any beneficiary of this honor would feel impelled to admit that he had seen or experienced something unusual and extraordinary, something magnificent. But what is a king or an emperor compared with the Son of God? Furthermore, what is a beggar’s filth or stench compared with the filth of sin which is ours by nature, stinking a hundred thousand times worse and looking infinitely more repulsive to God than any foul matter found in a hospital? And yet the love of the Son of God for us is of such magnitude that the greater the filth and stench of our sins, the more He befriends us, the more He cleanses us, relieving us of all our misery and of the burden of all our sins and placing them upon His own back. All the holiness of the monks stinks in comparison with this service of Christ, the fact that the beloved Lamb, the great Man, yes, the Son of the Exalted Majesty, descends from heaven to serve me.” (Luther, in TDP p. 867)


This will make it into this coming Sunday's sermon!

Marks of the Church

Today's TDP writing from the Apology spoke of the Marks of the Church. I have found that there is often some confusion about these - not what they are (that's easy enough: the preaching of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments), but why they are the "marks" of the church.

If you think in these terms: "I can know where the church is because she is doing these things," then you will inevitably have questions. Namely, is that church doing them right? Is the preaching pure, or pure enough? And what is pure enough? With thinking like this, the marks really aren't marks at all, but question marks. For whenever you try to base your confidence and faith on what man does, you can never be sure.

However, the Marks of the Church are the Marks of the Church not because the Church does these things, but because these things do the Church! Or in other words, the Church is where the Gospel is preached and the Sacraments are administered precisely because Christ has promised to work through these means to create and sustain His Church. Thinking like this, then, gives us not questions, but confidence, because it is all based on Christ and His promises, not on what man does. Therefore we know where the Church is because of what Christ is doing; because He has promised to be there and to build His Church through these means. Thanks be to God!

Today's TDP

In today's treasury reading, we heard of how Obadiah hid 100 of the Lord's prophets during the tyrannical reign of King Ahab and his wife Jezebel. What makes this even more amazing is that it occurred during the 3.5 years in which Israel had no rain and therefore a severe famine. Obadiah not only hid the prophets, but then, we are told, supplied them with food and water the whole time! That could not have been an easy task - first of all to find bread and water for so many, and then provide it without being found out. That took no small amount of courage and faith on Obadiah's part.

In other news, a new school year started for me yesterday. I am excited about my Directed Research class, which is a one-on-one class with a professor. I am doing it with an adjunct from the history department who wrote on "Sin and Confession on the Eve of the Reformation." So we're going to get to talk a lot about what Luther inherited and what he then did. The goal is that during the course of this semester, I'll be able to figure out more closely what I want to write on and really get a better picture of things. I'll keep you posted.

Yesterday I also got a chance to meet and speak to Dr. Michael Root a bit. Dr. Root is a new faculty member. He just recently left the Lutheran church for the Roman church, and left his position on a Lutheran college faculty and is now at CUA. (Some of you may remember him as a man who presented quite a controversial paper at the Ft. Wayne Symposia a few years ago!) Anyhow, I am looking forward to talking more with him. For even though he is no longer Lutheran, he will be a good reference for me and will be able to help me with his knowledge of things Lutheran. No, we don't agree on everything, but at least he knows (better than most at CUA) where I'm coming from. As I said, I'm looking forward to talking with him some more.

Now got to go and get some work done!  :-)

Friday's Treasury Reading

On Friday, we read from Numbers 27, where Moses is told he will not enter the Promised Land. He asks God to appoint a successor so that "the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd." Of course, the immediate successor was Joshua, but those words immediately made me think of our true Joshua, who during His public ministry had compassion for the crowds, "because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd" (Matthew 9:36).

The parallels between Joshua and Jesus are many, but I had never seen or considered this one before. Then add Ezekiel 34, which speaks of those who should have shepherded Israel but didn't, so God promises to be their shepherd and sends the Good Shepherd. For, of course, the Law (Moses) cannot lead us into the Promised Land of Heaven - only Jesus can do that.

Last Week's TDP

I'm a bit late writing about this, but two things in the readings from the Treasury of Daily Prayer last week struck me . . .

#1: The writing for Tuesday (p. 294-95) was taken from one of JS Bach's cantatas, about Jesus' Parable of the Dishonest Manager. It is quite a good sermon. It begins: "Make a reckoning! Thunderous word, which even rocky cliffs split open, word by which my blood grows frigid!" He then continues with the preaching of the Law, that we have not been faithful in our stewardship. Therefore, what shall we do when this thunderous word be spoken to us? Yikes!

Ah, but then the sweet Gospel! "But yet, O frightened heart, live and despair thou not! . . . Behold thy guarantor, He hath all debts for thee released! . . . The lamb's own blood, O love most mighty! Hath all thy debts now canceled and thee with God hath settled."

I hope I remember this is here when I next have opportunity to preach on this parable, and use this as a template for my own sermon!

#2: On Friday, the Old Testament reading from Number 12, in speaking of Aaron and Miriam's rebellion, said: "Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all the people who were on the face of the earth."

If anyone had reason not to be meek, it was Moses! The Burning Bush, leading the people out of Egypt, the signs and wonders done before Pharaoh, dividing the Red Sea, going up into Mt. Sinai - twice, speaking with God face-to-face in the Tent of Meeting. And yet Moses was the meekest man on earth! I think that is stunning. And yet, it makes sense. The closer one is to God, the more one knows his or her own sin, the meeker we must be. How could it be otherwise? Yet meekness is not weakness, but confidence - not in self, but in God. God who will protect, who will provide, who will save. Yet another way in which Moses is a type of Christ.

TDP Reminder

If you are a daily reader of the Treasury of Daily Prayer, please take note that there is a error tomorrow, the Saturday of Lent 1. The Old Testament reading is listed as from Genesis 15, but the text included is actually from Genesis 14. So to read the proper verses, you'll need to get your Bible out.

From Today's TDP

"For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead." ~ 2 Corinthians 1:8-9

Amen.

Little in Your Own Eyes

In Morning Prayer this morning, we read from 1 Samuel 15 and heard this Word of the Lord to King Saul: "Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. And the Lord sent you on a mission . . ." The apostle Paul speaks similarly to Timothy (1 Tim 4:12) when he says, "Let no one despise you for your youth."

There is a difference between the man and the office into which the Lord has placed him. Whether King Saul was little in his own eyes or not, he was the anointed one of God, placed into his office by God as king of Israel. Whether Timothy was young or not, he was the one called by God and placed into his office as pastor. In the office is the authority of God. On that we rely, not on how we see ourselves or not.

I often find myself, as a pastor, as "little in my own eyes." I know my own shortcomings and failures, weaknesses and struggles. In many ways I still see myself as a "young pastor," even though I have been in the office for 15 years now. It is a struggle for me to see myself as someone who has experience and who others look to for leadership. I still often see myself as a young guy just out of seminary.

These verses remind me that it doesn't matter how I see myself, and that, in fact, satan would very much like me to look at myself instead of at Christ and the office into which He has placed me and given me authority to teach and preach and administer the Sacraments. As it always is, when we take our eyes off Christ, we become filled with doubts and fears. It doesn't matter how old a pastor is - as he is called and ordained into the Office of the Holy Ministry, he speaks with the authority of the office, and as such can have full confidence.

Even Luther, at times, struggled with this, I believe. In those moments he looked at himself, he wondered how he could presume to teach the church; he who was just a little friar. Who was he? Yet when he considered the Office into which he had been put to speak the Word of God, he knew it didn't matter who he was - he had been chosen by God and called and put into that Office to speak this Word, no matter what. And with his eyes off himself and looking to Christ, his confidence was renewed.

I will, no doubt, struggle with this in the future. When I do, I thank God for these words! Did God not put me here? Am I not called and ordained into this office? Then speak and do not fear. It matters not who I am. But "as a called and ordained servant of the Word and by His authority, I therefore . . ."

I'm Back

We got back from vacation last night. It was a good two weeks, but as usual, went by awfully fast! But it is good to be home, in my own bed, and back in the regular routine. I now have approximately a month to get my summer projects done before school starts in late August.

But just a few getting back thoughts . . .

(1.) From Morning Prayer this day, in the reading on St. Mary Magdalene, this line struck me: ". . . Jesus lets it be clearly understood that with these three courses (Mary's tears, kiss, and anointing) Mary served a much more glorious meal than the host of the home himself." This was written with the belief that Mary was the "sinful woman" who anointed the feet of Jesus at the home of Simon the Pharisee in Luke 7. Whether or not she was, what a great thought - a more glorious meal she served than Simon. I love it. (Watch for that in the sermon next time this reading comes around!)

(2.) While on vacation, the LCMS Convention both came and went. I usually try to follow these as closely as I can while they are going on, and I certainly was interested in the years leading up to this. But while on vacation, I forced myself to stay away from all computers and e-mail - so I could enjoy the downtime and family time. So coming back is very weird; it has all come and gone. Now I have the task of catching up on all that has happened. I must say that I am pleased with the election of Matt Harrison as our new president. I am very hopeful for the future of our synod now. Which leads me to . . .

(3.) I watched the video of the presidential election being announced. How hard it must have been for current President Kieschnick to stand at the dais and announce his own defeat. Wow.

(4.) Before the convention, there was a movement afoot to move the presidential election up to the beginning of the convention, instead of dealing with the restructuring first and then proceed with the regular convention type stuff. This was actually talked about by both supporters of the main candidates for president - for different reasons. This was brought to the floor of the convention, but was rejected by the delegates - which I think was good. For while I still need to catch up on how everything unfolded, it seems to me best to deal with the restructuring on its own merits, not on the basis of who got elected or not.

And finally . . .

(5.) While we were away, we asked a friend to watch our house for us - which means pick up stuff left on the doorstep, feed our fish, water our plants, stuff like that. Well . . . I cannot tell you how surprised we were when we got home to find that not only had she done this for us, but left all sorts of goodies in the kitchen to greet us when we got home! A gallon of milk, fresh fruit, homemade soup, and other goodies, so that we wouldn't have to run out to the grocery store today! :-) What a great idea, and what love shown. I and my wife are overwhelmed. And to conclude this post similarly to the way it started, her love and thoughtfulness are a more glorious meal for us than the wonderful food she left. How blessed we are!

iTreasury

I just found out that CPH has made available an iPhone/iPod Touch app for the Treasury of Daily Prayer. If you go to the iTunes store and search for "Pray Now" you will see it. It costs only $8.99 and is quite easy to use. This is great for me for now, I do not have to haul my giant Treasury of Daily Prayer around on vacation - I need only my iPod! What a great thing. Thanks CPH!

Balaam and his Donkey

In Morning Prayer today, we read the account of Balaam and his donkey from Numbers 22. Know what I find most amazing about this story? When the donkey spoke to Balaam, Balaam spoke back and carried on a conversation with her! Had a donkey spoken to me, I don't think I would have been so calm . . .

Testing Moses?

In the Treasury readings for today, we hear this word of God to Moses: "I have seen this people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you."

What did Moses think of these words? Seems to me they may have sounded mighty tempting. In addition to being set free from this grumbling and complaining people . . . make a great nation of ME. A new patriarch. Greatness, recognition, honor. How often do we strive after and covet these things? I would think Moses would be tempted too.

But how does he respond? With prayer. He intercedes for the people, calling upon the honor of God's name and promises. He strives not after his own greatness, but that God's name be great in all the world. Here he is a type of Christ, who (Philippians 2) did not strive for greatness or equality with God, but made Himself nothing, interceding for us stiff-necked people, so that the wrath of God would not come upon us for our sins.

Lord, help me not think of myself more highly that I ought, but have this mind in myself as well: to serve and pray to the honor and glory of your name alone. Amen.

Treasury, Part 2

For more information about my blog post questions of yesterday, Pastor Weedon has written a response. [Actually, it's probably not a "response" - he's probably simply addressing the same questions.] Go check it out here.

My comment: Pastor Weedon gives good answers, though I am always a bit leery when too much of a distinction is made between the "early" Luther and the "late" Luther. I realize there is some validity to this, but I wonder if we do not sometimes make too much of this. I'm not saying Pastor Weedon does this here or not - only that that's not the first place my mind goes on these things. Secondly, as for "hell" - I had hoped to check out what Luther wrote in the German today when I got to school. That may or may not help, for even if he used the German word for hell, the meaning may be as Pastor Weedon spells out here. I have heard of the Hades belief, and of those in evangelical circles who buy into it today . . .

So now a question: why put a reading which seems to be ripe for misunderstanding and confusion into a devotional book that is meant to be used by our laity? Is that a wise decision?