Messiah Lutheran Church

Tonight begins the “O Antiphons.”  That is, the verses that eventually became the hymn “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”  Prior to this hymn, they were an “antiphon” (a verse that comes before and after a Biblical song or psalm.  In the case of the “O Antiphons,” they accompanied the singing of the Magnificat at Vespers starting December 17.  I’ve written about them before (you can read here).  This year, I’d like to reflect briefly on each antiphon as a prayer (which they are).

The language of this kind of prayer may seem very rigid and highly structured compared to the “Father God, I juswanna” prayers that are common in America.  These prayers begin with a statement of who Christ is in rich Biblical language and then move to a petition, that is to ask for something.  Note the pattern, prayer starts with God’s Word and then responds back asking based on the very thing God’s Word promises.

O Wisdom, proceeding from the mouth of the Most High,
Pervading and permeating all creation, mightily ordering all things:
Come and teach us the way of prudence.

Jesus declared “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14).  In doing so he also identified Himself as Wisdom which is personified in Proverbs 9.  St. Paul talks about such Wisdom:  ”The foolishness of God is wiser than men, the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Cor. 1:25).  But note what comes before:  ”Jews demand signs, Gentiles seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified” (1 Cor. 1:22-23).  You see it is the preaching of Christ crucified that is Wisdom.

Prudence is known as the “Father of the Virtues.”  Now it would be easy to think of this in terms of crass or worldly wisdom.  That which seeks to understand, to figure things out, to discern right from wrong, etc. and by doing so, to find comfort in that.  The truth is this is the kind of wisdom, we think, can be mastered.  And yet this is that which is not even worthy of being called foolishness when it comes to God.  So what is this Wisdom, this prudence?  Again, it is Christ.  You can master an idea or a principle, but you cannot master a man, even less so God incarnate as a man, and even less so God incarnate dead on a cross.

So this prayer is less about trying to get a grip on our life, and more dying to ourselves and being raised in Christ.  It is the life of repentance.  The fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom (Psalm 110:10, Proverbs 1:7)… such fear orders our lives, brings us to our knees, and behold, the Lord is gracious and not only provides for our needs in giving us this day our daily bread, but gives us that which leads to eternal life: His forgiveness, His holiness, His Spirit which continues to teach us of Christ Jesus, the Wisdom from on high.

It is no secret that I’m a Green Bay Packers fan.  After all, Green Bay is the town I was born and raised in.  In fact, on a clear day in the fall or winter, you can see the stadium lights from my parents house all the way across town.

Today, in order to pay for an addition of luxury boxes to Lambeau Field, the Green Bay Packers are offering shares in the football team for $250 + $25 shipping and handling.  What this means is that one can be one of the many thousands of owners of the Green Bay Packers.  Sounds cool right?

Well, the reality is this stock is more of a piece of paper for bragging rights.  You can’t sell it at a later date.  You get none of the profits of the team.  The only benefit is that you can go to the annual “owners meeting” at Lambeau Field.  In fact, I’ve said that next to the sale of indulgences to build St. Peter’s Bascillica in Rome (which ended up sparking the Reformation), this is the 2nd greatest money raising scam ever conceived.  I may have to rethink that statement, as more money is being raised from this stock sale than ever was with the sale of indulgences.

But aside from the silliness (and fellow Packer fans, let’s be honest, it is silly), this whole stock sale really exposes our priorities… and at its worst, our apathy for our neighbor in need.  Just think of what could be done with $275?

So here’s a sampling of what $275 could get you:
- Sponsor one month’s tuition at a Lutheran School for a family in need
- Provide 9 families (of 6) in Haiti clean drinking water for 5 years
- Make 948 PB&J sandwhiches for the homeless
- Plant a garden and feed your family for almost a year (and then think of what you could do with what is spent on food, or with all the extra food you may have).

I know this can be a touchy subject, especially since many good friends do in fact own or are going to own a share of the Packers.  So let me make this abundantly clear, your forgiveness and salvation is entirely a gift won for you through Jesus’ death on the cross.  There’s nothing you can do to earn your way to heaven, salvation is already yours.  The life we have is one where we are given, in varying degrees, material blessings which we can use to help our neighbor.

How big is “your Jesus?  It is a bit of an odd question, I admit.  But take a moment to think about it.  Is the Jesus you speak about doing what any other person could do?  Maybe he’s doing it just a bit better than anyone else, but still essentially doing what any person could do.  Is Jesus simply an example to follow?  Is he simply a leader or “coach?”

If all you have Jesus for is to help you to be a better you… then you really have a small problem… and if your problem is small, you have a small Jesus.

Of course, there is no Jesus but the Jesus who died on the cross for your sins, for the sins of the world.  When we keep our eyes fixed on this real Jesus, not the Jesus of our fancy or imagination or comfort, we do see the magnitude of our problem.  Our sin demands nothing short of the wrath of God and there on Calvary we see that our big problems are dealt with by an even bigger Jesus who gives you big forgiveness… even more forgiveness than you have sin… more life than your death.

If you have a TV or watch TV, by now you’ve already been inundated with commercials for “Black Friday” depicting crazed shoppers acting like strung out meth addicts.  If not, you’re lucky.  It is probably appropriate that now advertising media has reflected the madness of materialism with the same mannerisms as a drug addict.  It is quite the apt commentary on our consumerist society.

We are told by these ads that it is the loving thing to do to spend all kinds of money on gifts for loved ones (and of course, while you’re at it, you deserve to buy yourself a present or 16).  Now, let me be clear, there’s nothing wrong with getting gifts for family and friends.  However so often we go far beyond our means, putting families into debt and causing financial stress.  To top that off we continue to reinforce the idea that stuff will make us happy.  If one takes into consideration just how much money is spent between now and Christmas on gifts ($450 Billion as one video points out), one can also start thinking of the good that could be done if just a part of this were to go toward helping our neighbor.

According to my unscientific and cursory search, it would take $30 Billion a year to end world hunger and $20 Billion to provide clean water world wide.  Of course, solving problems like these takes more than simply throwing money at it.

There are a few charities that I especially care about, so here’s my Christmas List:

LCMS World Relief and Human Care – On their give now page they have ways that you can help in many different relief efforts, from supporting orphans in Kenya, to building wells in Haiti, to helping rebuild cities such as Joplin or New Orleans affected by domestic disaster.

Kenyan Children Receiving Good News Magazine in Kiswahili

Lutherans in Africa – Works in conjunction with Lutheran Heritage Foundation translating Catechisms, Hymnals, the Lutheran Confessions, and Catechetical Resources and trains African church leaders (Pastors, Evangelists, and lay leaders) who can then spread the Good News of Jesus.  Since many do not read, a good deal of effort is put into memorization and oral teaching of the faith.

Lutherans for Life – Is an advocacy and education group dedicated to supporting life in all stages.

Birthright of La Crosse – Is a local chapter of Birthright International.  This organization puts talk to walk and helps any mother or mother to be and simply asks “How can we help you?”  It is an organization that cares for both baby and mother, one I’ve been proud to help out.

Hope Lutheran High School – Hope is supported by the congregations of the Winona circuit.  Because we believe that Lutheran education is important, Hope is dedicated to providing affordable Lutheran Secondary Education to SE Minnesota.  If a family cannot afford tuition, Hope believes that this should not be an obstacle to a student’s enrollment and provides tuition assistance.  The goal set by the Hope Lutheran High School Board (of which I am the secretary), is to have these scholarships fully funded.

Issues Etc. – The premiere Lutheran talk radio show that engages current issues and theological topics.

Philadelphia Lutheran Ministries – A network of congregations who have just called a missionary to North East Philly.  Rev. Gale has been called to reach out to the homeless in Philly and work on urban renewal.

So this Christmas… why not try something different?  As Christians we have been given new life in Christ and are a light that shines in the darkness of this world.  A light that shines both the life giving Word of the Gospel and works of mercy that help our neighbor.

This last Sunday we heard Jesus say “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”  This week, as my family and I mourned the loss of my Uncle and Godfather Dale, Jesus was true to His Word, as He always is.

Comfort comes in many forms, a hug from a relative or friend, kind words, or even a tissue given at an opportune time.  As always, God works through means, and this is ever so true in the Church, not just in the comfort brought through the actions of loved ones, but when the Word of God is spoken.  Then, not only does the Word of God bring comfort, but the Comforter Himself, Jesus Christ, is delivered into your ear.

It is fitting then that at the committal service, family and friends sang back to God what was put into our ears and what sealed our beloved as a child of God:  His Holy Name in Doxology to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The “Common Doxology” as it has come to be known, was penned as the final stanza to “Awake, My Soul, and With the Sun” and “All Praise to Thee, My God, This Night” written by Anglican Bishop Thomas Ken.  It may not seem to be the most natural thing for a spontaneous song which starts “Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow” to be the song which mourners choose to sing, but it reflects exactly the paradox of Christians who mourn.  On one hand, we are saddened that a loved one has died… and it is right to be saddened by this as death itself is not what God had intended for His creation.  Sin brought death, and with death came mourning.  But God in His mercy also has given reason for this Doxology, as death has been swallowed up in Christ’s victory over death as He, who was crucified for your sins and mine, is risen for our justification.  Thus, amid sadness, the Christian clings (and this is certainly not easy) to this reality, this promise, that death is not the end for our loved one.  Christ is risen… we and our loved ones too will share in that resurrection on the last day.

Christ has come to redeem the whole person, body and soul.  Now the soul is safe with Christ and the body rests in the ground corruptable and separated from the soul, but on that last day there will be a glorious reunion.  The body will be raised  in glory incorruptible and rejoined and animated with the soul.

“All Praise to Thee, My God, This Night”

All praise to Thee, my God, this night,
For all the blessings of the light!
Keep me, O keep me, King of kings,
Beneath Thine own almighty wings.

Forgive me, Lord, for Thy dear Son,
The ill that I this day have done,
That with the world, myself, and Thee,
I, ere I sleep, at peace may be.

Teach me to live, that I may dread
The grave as little as my bed.
Teach me to die, that so I may
Rise glorious at the judgment day.

O may my soul on Thee repose,
And with sweet sleep mine eyelids close,
Sleep that may me more vigorous make
To serve my God when I awake.

When in the night I sleepless lie,
My soul with heavenly thoughts supply;
Let no ill dreams disturb my rest,
No powers of darkness me molest.

O when shall I, in endless day,
For ever chase dark sleep away,
And hymns divine with angels sing,
All praise to thee, eternal King?

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Messiah will hold its annual Pumpkin Night this Sunday, October 30 at the church.  Carving of pumpkins will begin at 3:00 p.m. with prizes and game to follow.  At 5:00 p.m. a Pot Luck Dinner will be held.  Sloppy Joes will be provided for the pot luck dinner. Please bring a dish to pass.

One of the many hats I wear is that of “Youth Ministry Coordinator” for my circuit.  In order to provide resources here is a grossly incomplete, but very helpful reading list for those who work with youth in the Church:

Soul Searching:  The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers - Christian Smith – Probably THE most comprehensive study about the spirituality (or lack thereof) of American youth.

Hurt 2.0 - Chap Clark – A more comprehensive look at the world our youth live in, their struggles, their “hurt”.  This is an update to the previous edition.

Already Gone: Why your kids will quit church and what you can do to stop it – Ken Ham – By the time most kids start confirmation and join youth groups, we are often too late in trying to shape the worldview of our youth.

The Theological Turn in Youth Ministry – Root & Dean – This book argues that not only can youth handle in depth discipleship (that is learning), such in depth teaching and learning is essential.

Eutychus Youth: Applied Theology for Youth Ministry: Reaching Youth on the Ledge – John Oberdeck – This book argues for a distinctively Lutheran approach to Youth Ministry and gives very practical advice to this end.

The Lutheran Catechesis Series from the Concordia Catechetical Academy – The somewhat infamous “Bender Binder” is a very comprehensive approach to catechesis.  It seeks to place catechesis into the prayer life of the Church and the family (rather than being an information dump in a classroom).

Again, this list isn’t intended to be comprehensive, there is a common theme:  we need to rethink how we have been approaching the spiritual care of our young people as we have known it the last 40 years.  Pizza, rock bands, video games, and goofiness, while fun and have their place, don’t cut it.  As one pastor put it, “when our youth get to college they are finding that getting drunk, getting high, and getting laid are far more fun than any of the silliness of their weekly youth group pizza parties.”  So what is the big takeaway?  I’ll try limiting it to 3 things:

1.  In depth discipleship – that is actually teaching the faith in depth from a very young age onward.

2.  Connection to the rest of the Church community – the less we segregate our young people from the rest of our congregation the better.

3.  Establish a relationship with the pastor early – This isn’t being “buddy-buddy” with Pastor Matt, but that our youth see their pastor as their pastor: namely the one who forgives them in Absolution, who baptized them (or reminds them of their baptism), who gives them Jesus from the pulpit and at the communion rail.

This also has led me to the following conclusions:

1.  Waiting to begin communing children in 7th or 8th grade is far too late

2.  Waiting to seriously catechize our children until 5th or 6th grade is far too late

3.  Catechesis is something the whole congregation does together.

What books do you recommend?  What insights do you have?

My mentor, especially my 4th year at Seminary, was Dr. Feuerhahn, and so by extension, I am a student of the late Dr. Hermann Sasse.  The influence of these two men has shown itself in many ways, one of which is what has become my favorite hymn:  Lord Jesus Christ, With Us Abide.  I’d like to offer a brief reflection on the first stanza:

Lord Jesus Christ, with us abide,
For round us falls the eventide.
O let Your Word, that saving light,
Shine forth undimmed into the night.

This first stanza was written by Phillip Melanchthon, a colleague of Luther’s at the University of Wittenberg and the author of the Augsburg Confession, the Defense of the Augburg Confession, and the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope.

This first stanza is rich in the language of John’s Gospel.  As John tells us of the life of Christ two big themes that arise are the contrast of light and darkness and the theme of “abiding”.

We truly live in the “eventide” of this world, as the darkness of sin surrounds us.  For some this darkness is a very personal battle, especially for those who struggle with depression (be sure to click that link for a free resource on dealing with depression).  But even if this darkness isn’t as dark as suicidal thoughts or crippling anxiety, the darkness surrounds us.  We can look to the world and everything that is thrown at us, from an ever more materialistic world, to injustice both in the political sphere and even in the Church, to having sex pandered to us on television, in advertising, in fashion, and all over the internet.  Darkness is where we find ourselves as we are being assaulted by sin and as we dive headlong into it, and darkness is the very condition of our hearts.

It is something outside of us that breaks through this darkness:  ”Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105).  The light of the Word, and of the Word-Made-Flesh, Jesus Christ is the very thing that shatters the darkness, that exposes the festering blackness of this world and of our hearts.  ”In Him [Jesus] was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:4-5).  The wonderful emphasis that Luther and Melanchthon brought in the Reformation was that this light, that salvation, is something that happens outside of us.  That when God looks upon the sacrifice of Christ, He declares us righteous.  This then comes to us through the Word proclaimed and administered in the Sacraments.  So when the darkness comes creeping in, we can point to that Gospel outside of us and be absolutely certain that we are forgiven, that we are God’s own child, that we are saved.

This connects well to that other Johannine theme of “abiding.”  The word “abide” shows up in just a few chapters:  5, 6, 8, and 15.  Probably the most famous of these is John 15:5: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”  Jesus goes on to explain this further that the one who abides in His Word abides in Him.  This is the same in both chapters 5 & 8.  In John 6, to abide in Christ, is to eat His body and drink His blood.

The big question that we must face is not whether God is present: as the man on the fishing boat “experiencing God’s presence in nature” will be quick to point out, but rather is God present for us as He is with us?  The God present in nature is all that we are not: all holy, big, eternal, all powerful, etc.  The God present for us in Word and Sacrament, that’s the God that is for us, and meets us where we are at.

Of course, that’s how God operates in Jesus Christ.  As another great hymn, the Te Deum, confesses:  ”When You took upon Yourself to deliver man, You humbled Yourself to be born of a virgin.”  The mere fact of the incarnation is not that God is present, but that He is present with us and for us “by the assumption of humanity into God.”

This means we have a God who got His toenails dirty for us, even as they trod to that lonely hill where he would be crucified.  As he hung there, in mid-day, darkness covered the earth for three hours, but as John said, the darkness could not overcome Him.  There on that cross, the light of the World hung for you.  There sin was defeated.  There, in the midst of darkness, the darkness of this eventide has been conquered by this Saving Light and the great joy of the Christian life is that when this Gospel is proclaimed, the Light of Christ shines even into the most dark places of this world.