The Lutheran Review

Andrew, Apostle of Jesus Christ

　

Since Andrew’s day falls on November 30 right at the beginning of Advent, he often receives short shrift. Originally he was a disciple of John the Baptist. John’s preaching brought him to recognize Jesus as the Christ. According to John 1:40 he was the first of the disciples. Then he immediately went out and found his brother Simon and brought him to Jesus.

When Jesus was confronted with five thousand hungry people, it was Andrew who knew of a boy who had five loaves and two fish, though he wondered how far they would go in feeding so many. Later when some Greeks wanted to see Jesus, Andrew along with Philip told Jesus.

Early church historian Eusebius quotes Origin (c.200) that Andrew preached in Asia Minor (turkey) along the Black Sea as far as Volga and Kiev. He was martyred by crucifixion in western Greece. In the Middle Ages a tradition arose that he was crucified on an X shaped cross. He is held in special honor in Scotland, Greece, and Russia.

Prayer for Andrews Day

Almighty God, by Your grace the apostle Andrew obeyed the call of Your Son to be a disciple. Grant us also to follow the same Lord Jesus Christ in heart and life, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

A Righteous Branch

 

    The past week or more Ameren UE has been in our area trimming tree branches away for power lines.  In our Old Testament lesson from Jeremiah 33:14-16, the Lord promises that “I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David.”  The family of David had endured more than a bit of branch trimming.  The family tree was dying, spiritually and physically.  The last of the Davidic line had died in exile. They had been cut off at the roots.  Hardly even a stump remained.

However, the branch that grows out of the dead family tree will not be by natural processes.  God will cause a new branch in the family tree to grow.  The new branch won’t be afflicted by the old diseases that killed the first family tree of David.  No, this God- raised- Branch will be filled with wisdom, not the foolishness of ungodly ways, justice, not oppression and righteousness toward God and those whom this new King rules.  The result is that the people will be saved and live securely.

It was the fruit of a branch that did in Adam and Eve.  The fruit of the righteous Branch gives us life.  His fruit came to fruition on a cross shaped tree of dead wood.  The name by which the righteous Branch is called is, “The Lord is our righteousness.”  Since we have no rightness with God on our own, since we are by nature deadwood, God, in Jesus Christ gives us His rightness.  Thus we can rightly confess that Jesus our Lord is our rightness with God and therefore, we are right with God.

Hymn 342 LSB

A shoot will sprout from Jesse’s stem.

 A branch from David’s line,

A Prince of Peace in Bethlehem;

 The fruit of God’s design.

  

Children's Book

Since the day after Thanksgiving has taken on the claim to be "Black Friday" I thought I should offer my own version of the day. Karen, "Becky," the one to whom I am married has written a just published children's book. Click the website below for more information.

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www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/TheComingOfAnAstronaut.html

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty

Thanksgiving and Revelry?

Thanksgiving 2009

“Do you have a turkey ticket?” the lady behind the meat counter at Johnny’s Market inquired.  Becky had asked me to pick up our fresh turkey after supper today since I was going to be out anyway.  “No!” I replied.  “Do you know the size, large or small?”  She asked.  “No” I said.  “What’s the name?” she persisted.  Well, that I knew.  “Jansen” I volunteered.

Yesterday I noticed that a church down on Lindbergh was having a Thanksgiving Day service tonight.  In fact they are about to begin the service as I am writing.

But what really caught my attention was a below the fold headline in the Post Dispatch. “Thanksgiving and revelry are now close companions,” it read.  Mark Erney of Erney’s 32 Degrees night club opened his club the day after Thanksgiving last year.  “That’s one of the biggest club going times of the year.” he said.  Who knew?  Well I certainly didn’t.  But then I haven’t been to club in over 45 years.  Thanksgiving is the biggest family holiday of the year.   Those coming in from out of town not only gather around the dinner table on Thanksgiving, but also use the occasion to spend time with friends they haven’t seen for some time.

As I think about it, Thanksgiving has always been a mixed holiday.  Growing up in Wisconsin, it fell in the latter half of the deer hunting season.  As the week progressed “buck fever” waned and the deer grew more skittish.  So at least at our house, Thanksgiving morning was spent in church, giving thanks to the Lord for all the blessings He had afforded us in the past year, including the buck hanging from the tree in the yard.  But we also gathered with several other relatives for the usual Thanksgiving dinner, an afternoon of football, conversation and snoozing.   The men were most likely to do the snoozing.  The women would just keep on talking.

Thursday morning I’ll be down at Conant for a Thanksgiving Service.  I still like the idea of a service on Thanksgiving Day.  But I will feel some pressure to get back home by 11:30.  That is when the Packer – Lions game starts.

Somewhere in the midst of all the multi-events surrounding the Day and I haven’t even mentioned the parades, set aside a portion of Thanksgiving Day to be thankful.

Hymn 894 LSB

For the fruits of His creation, Thanks be to God.

For His gifts to every nation, Thanks be to God.

For the plowing, sowing, reaping,

 Silent growth while we are sleeping,

Future needs in earth’s safe keeping, Thanks be to God.

 

       

Clement of Rome

Clement and the Church at Corinth

A friend of mine is an interim pastor at fractured congregation.  He  planned to lead a bible study on I Corinthians.  The Lutheran Study bible lists some of the Corinthian congregation’s problems that Paul addressed.  People promoted themselves based on who baptized them.   They quarreled over whether Paul or Apollos were more important.  Sexual immorality was a problem.  They sued one another in court.  They argued over spiritual gifts and some doubted the resurrection.

However, Paul not only took them to task, but he kept himself and the congregation centered on the Gospel.  Luther writes, “St. Paul exhorts the Corinthians to be one in faith and love, and to see to it that they learn well the chief thing, namely, that Christ is our salvation, the thing over which all reason and logic stumbles…”

In about 96 AD, Clement (35-100) wrote a letter to the still factious congregation in Corinth.  It seems that some young men had been ringleaders of a revolt which succeeded in deposing the ruling elders.  Clements letter is an example of pastoral care for God’s people.  His letter was so highly regarded in the early church that for a time it was deemed to be part of the canon of scripture in Egypt and Syria.

Like Paul, he emphasized Jesus’ death and resurrection as the main thing: “Let us fix our eyes on the blood of Christ, realizing how precious it is to His Father, since it was poured out for salvation and brought the grace of repentance to the whole world”  ( I Clement 6:31).

Clement continued to display such Christ centered love for God’s redeemed people.  Though we don’t know much about his life, according to a history written by Dion Cassius (d.240) Clement suffered a martyr’s death by drowning at the order of Emperor Domitian.  He was charged with atheism.  That may sound strange to our ears, but Christians who refused to acknowledge the deity of the emperor and the other Roman gods were regarded as godless and a danger to the state.

Clement may be remembered as serving as an inspiration to future generations to build the church on the foundation of the prophets and apostles keep.ing Christ as the cornerstone.      

The Lord be with You

Greetings

One of the most meaningful and yet overlooked parts of the liturgy is the dialog between the pastor and the congregation during the Service of the Sacrament.  This dialog is both ancient and almost universally used in both the eastern and western church.

The pastor greets the people he serves, “The Lord be with you.”

In a world where we spend much time finding fault and condemning other people it’s refreshing to hear someone say, “The Lord be with you.”  Of course, we are saying that exact thing whenever we say, “Good bye” to someone.

Having heard this greeting of blessing from the pastor the people respond in kind, “and also with you.”

With our increasing caution regarding germs and viruses more churches are forgoing the passing of the peace, “peace be with you,” during the service.  Omitting the opportunity to assure one another that we are united in the peace of Christ makes the greeting in the Service of the Sacrament and before the Collect of the Day earlier in the service all the more important.

A few weeks ago a member at Trinity, Conant told me a story of a man still lying in bed on Sunday morning.  His wife said, “You had better get up or you’re going to be late for the service.  The husband says, “I don’t know if I will go today or not.  I don’t care much for the people and I don’t think the people like me.”  “But,” his wife said, “You’re the pastor.”

I wonder how the exchange in the above dialog affects congregations where there is division.  Actually, I don’t have to wonder.  I know.  We simply gloss over this exchange that the Lord be with one another.  We say it, like we say many things in the liturgy, without even thinking about it. 

Perhaps it would be a good time for the pastor or a member to say, “Hey wait a minute.  Did we really mean what we just said?”  It would be startling to say the least.  We may be too startled to say anything.  Or we could start a dialogue.

It is well for us to stop and think.  In the next exchange the pastor urges the people to, “Life up your hearts.”  How can we lift up our hearts when our hearts are downcast and burdened with division and anger?  Though the people respond with, “We lift them to the Lord.”  Are we really able to lift up our hearts to the Lord when we aren’t able to lift our hearts to one another?

The wonder of it all is that the Lord is with the people and with the pastor.  For as unfair as it might seem, unfair from a human perspective that is, our animosities have already been dealt with on the cross.  So powerful is the presence of the Lord in His word that when we announce to someone, “The Lord be with you,” even if we really don’t want the Lord to be with that person, the word of the Lord is stronger than our wishes.  That the Lord is stronger than our sins, is powerful gospel coming from a powerful Lord who overcame death and the grave that He might always be with us.    

 

  

Creativity

God’s Gift of Creativity

The mall nearest our home is in the neighboring community of Crestwood.  When we first came to the area it was a bustling enterprise.  Both the mall and Watson road were packed at Christmas time.  Now there are hardly any stores open. The five jewelry stores are closed as are the two bookstores.   Once cell phone kiosks dotted the mallscape, now there are none.  Only Sears remains as an anchor.  Subway is the lone occupant of the food court. Nevertheless, something exciting is occurring besides us mall walkers.

A group called ArtSpace is turning the stores into locations for art of various kinds to come together in one spot.  At least three theaters put on plays.  One is having an”O Henry” Christmas.  Several dance studios occupy former stores.  As I walked in my quiet sneakers the sound of hammering heals echoed down the halls as dancers in one location learned Irish dancing while in another women practiced flamenco steps.  Two art jewelry stores have replaced the five commercials ventures.  One store features art made in Missouri, another has homemade rugs.  A fire engine museum occupies still another store. So it goes as one walks the mall.  Photography, antiques, sculpture, repurposed goods, clothing, pottery, children’s art classes and displays are scattered along the path of the walker. 

Of course there are a few commercial stores open yet.  Bath and Body has a spot across from Victoria’s Secret.  A couple of shoes stores remain after even Payless closed last week.

We have a creative God as is evidenced in the varied wonder of creation itself.  But He has given to the human being the gift of creativity.  To see so much of it coming together in one spot is a wonder.

I was looking ahead at some texts for this coming January.  One of the gospel lessons is “The wedding at Cana” where Jesus created wine out of water.  Christ in his ministry demonstrated his creativity as he created health in the unhealthy, wiped out sins in the sinners, and gave renewed life to the lifeless.

Someday we will get to experience the eternity He has created for us.    

 

Elizabeth of Hungary

Elizabeth and the Wartburg Castle

    Mention Wartburg Castle to a Lutheran and he may recall that it had something to do with Luther.  Indeed it did.  After the Diet of Worms in 1521 at which Luther made his famous saying, whether he actually said it or not is beside the point, “Here I stand, God help me, I cannot do otherwise.”  Though given a safe conduct to Wittenberg, it was feared that once it expired he would be seized and put to death.

  A hundred before a safe conduct to a Council in Rome hadn’t done Jon Hus much good.  He was arrested and burned.  About the same in England, the church reached into the grave of John Wycliffe, who had been dead for 40 years, dug up what bones they could find and burned them.  In 1498, a priest from Florence, Italy was hanged and burned for preaching against immorality in the church.

     With the Church proving to be untrustworthy in regard to their critic’s lives, Elector Frederick the Wise ordered Luther to be kidnapped and taken to Wartburg Castle that overlooked the little town of Eisenach, Luther’s home town.  There he remained for ten months.

Three hundred years before the events of the Reformation a teenage bride named Elizabeth lived in Wartburg Castle with her husband Louis of Thuringia.  Elizabeth was born in 1207 in Pressburg, Hungary to King Andrew II and his wife Gertrude.  She was married to Louis at the age of fourteen in a political arranged marriage.  She gave birth to three children.  Elizabeth demonstrated a spirit of Christian charity making Wartburg Castle a center of hospitality for the sick and needy.  She was widowed at age twenty.  After making provision for her children, she entered into the strict life of a nun in the Order of Saint Francis.  Her self- denial led to ill health and an early death at age 24.  Elizabeth is commemorated through the numerous hospitals named in her honor.

As we move toward Thanksgiving and the time of Christmas might use Elizabeth as a model of hospitality and care for the sick and the needy. 

Shine like the Stars

 

The Old Testament lesson for this Sunday, Daniel 12: 1-3 is set during a time of great duress for the people of Israel.  Babylon had crushed Jerusalem, destroyed Solomon’s temple and carried the people into exile.  Daniel has been thrown in a Lion’s den.  Three men are tossed into a burning furnace.  Each time God steps in with rescue. Threatened on all sides Israel’s only hope is in their God who rescued Daniel and the three men. 

In our text the archangel Michael, guardian of Israel of old and the new Israel of those who trust in Christ, arose to deliver them. 

In Genesis 3 God had declared that Adam would return to the dust of the ground from which he had been formed.  Now, in Daniel, for the first time in the Hebrew Scriptures, resurrection from the dust is announced.  Indeed dust and death are no longer permanently connected.  Now those who lie in the dust are but asleep.  They shall wake up.  Some shall rise to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 

For those who wise, that is, those who trusted in god for salvation, they shall go from being dull dust to a brightness that rivals the sun lighted blue sky above.  Those wise ones, who through their life and witness have turned others to trust in God for hope and salvation, they will shine like stars eternally.

Cyril of Jerusalem (315-386) looks to the glowworm as a foretaste of what the righteous might expect in the resurrection.  “God…has given to the smallest worms to emit from their bodies beams of light in the summer, that natural fluorescence might be a parable of what we expect…He who makes the worm shine luminously will much more illumine the just person.  Therefore we shall rise again, all with eternal bodies, though not all with like bodies.  A just person will receive a heavenly body, to dwell worthily with angels, whereas the sinner will receive an eternal body and so never be consumed, though it burn eternally in fire (From Cyril’s Catechetical Lectures).

 

Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, lived about the same time as Cyril.  Ambrose wrote, “For the life after death is compared with stars, while our life here is condemned to misery.” (From a funeral oration, “On His Brother Satyrus.”)

Whatever attempts are made to describe the resurrected life we received in baptism and will receive in fullness when Christ returns, will all fall short of what that life will be.  But there does seem to be a common denominator in the descriptions.  Eternal life in the presence of God and the resurrected Christ is most often described in terms related to light.

Prayer:

Eternal Lord, thank you for the gift of the true light of the world, even Jesus Christ our Lord, who in the darkness of Good Friday turned our darkness into Day of our salvation.  Though we love to imagine what the resurrected life will be, keep us, through your Holy Spirit, ever faithful and trusting in Your grace for our salvation and eternal life.  In Jesus name.  Amen.