The Lutheran Review

Don't Eat the Oxen

 

When Elijah threw his cloak over the shoulders of Elisha sweating away as the twelfth ox plowing the field, Elisha asked for time to say good bye to his parents.  “Sure, go ahead,” said Elijah.  He also took time to butcher 11 oxen and throw a feast for everyone within the region.

However, in Luke 9:57-62 Jesus uses the scene from I Kings 19-21 to address three wanna-be disciples.  When Elijah’s life was threatened he ran to a cave on Mt. Horeb, but Jesus didn’t have a cave in which find sanctuary.  Foxes and birds had better security than he did.  His only nest would be on the tree of cross.  His only den would be a tomb, like Elijah God would not let him remain there for long.

To another would –be disciple who wanted to first take care of his father’s funeral and burial Jesus told him that those who are dead like his father could handle the burial.  Rather, Jesus directed him to go and proclaim the Kingdom of God which comes with the coming of Jesus who himself will be buried by those who are already dead.  The advent of God’s Kingdom in Christ is that life and unburial of all the dead will be won and available to all who follow him.

Finally a third person wants to go home and tell his folks good-bye.  Jesus told him that following Him meant there was no looking back.  The fields of God’s Kingdom need to be plowed and planted immediately.  There was urgency to getting the good news of the Kingdom of God out into the world.

Not everyone was discouraged from following him.  Following the incident with the three would-be disciples, he sends out seventy two others, in pairs.  Are these the new yokes of oxen that will go into the field of the Lord?  They are to go healing the sick and proclaiming ‘the kingdom of God has come near to you.”  Though they will face rejection; nevertheless the harvest will be plentiful.

There is something in this text I hadn’t seen before.  In 10:1 those he appointed will go “where he himself was about to go.”  The proclamation of the kingdom, the plowing of the fields and planting of the seeds are ours to do.  But with us and our words comes the Lord of the harvest, even Jesus Christ himself.  No where does the good news of Christ go without Christ going there also, either for blessing or for judgment.

 

Elisha gives up Farming.

Elisha had time for a Feast

I Kings 19 is action packed from beginning to end.  It starts with Elijah fleeing Jezebel.  He makes his way south to Mt. Horeb, where God asks him’ “What are you doing here?”  God sends him back into action.  One of his tasks is to anoint Elisha as his successor.

Elijah doesn’t find Elisha at a seminary sweating over the books.   Elisha is sweating out in the field.  He is plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he is the twelfth ox.  As Elijah walked by he threw his cloak over Elisha’s damp shoulders. Without a word of explanation, Elijah kept on walking.  This would be somewhat akin to a pastor picking his successor by throwing his stole around the individual’s neck as he walked by.  In any case, Elisha got the message and ran to catch up with Elijah. 

“At least let me say good-by to my parents,” Elisha pleaded.  “Go ahead,” said Elijah, “Did I say you couldn’t?”  Well, Elijah hadn’t said anything up to this time.  Elisha not only said good bye to his parents, but he butchered all eleven oxen, and hosted a massive feast.  I recall that when we butchered a hog on the farm, it took more than a day to process all the meat.  Butchering nearly a dozen large animals and then cooking their meat would have been a monumental task.  The text gives the impression that he sacrificed the lives of the oxen, and threw them, yokes and all, into a huge pot.

The story raises a number of questions in my mind, which probably aren’t very useful.  But here they are anyway.  He sacrificed them, but did he sacrifice them to God?  The text doesn’t say.  Was he so glad to be rid of working with these plodding animals that he was ensuring that he would never have share the oxen yoke again?  Good riddance to that job.  What were his parents to use to plow with now that their son had gotten rid of all the “tractors?”

What is important is that once the meal was done and all the goodbyes spoken, Elisha left and became Elijah’s assistant.

Tomorrow, I’ll compare this text with Jesus words in Luke 9:57-61.       

 

Cyril of Alexandria

One brief biography of Cyril (376-444) remembers him “as an outstanding theologian as
well as a contentious personality.”  He strenuously defended the faith against Nestorious.  Nestorious taught that Christ's human and divine natures were entirely distinct and therefore Mary could not be called the Mother of God.  This caused a huge split in the church, not only because of the doctrinal differences, but also because of rivalry between Constantinople and Alexandria.  Other leaders in Rome, Antioch and Jerusalem and the emperor also became involved.  Finally, Cyril’s interpretation, that Christ’s person included both divine and human natures was affirmed at the Council of Ephesus in 431.

Cyril wrote, “I am amazed that there are some who are extremely doubtful whether the holy Virgin should be called the Mother of God or no.  For if our Lord Jesus Christ is God, then surely the holy Virgin who gave him birth must be God’s mother”

Cyril compares it to a mother giving birth to an ordinary person.  A mother carries in her womb the flesh of the gradually developing human according to the natural laws of generation and the secret operation of “until it reaches perfection and attains the form of a human being.” God also “endows this living creature with spirit.  Although those mothers are only mothers of bodies belonging to this world, still they are said to give birth, not to a part of a man but to the whole man, consisting of soul and body…I anyone maintained that anyone’s mother was ‘mother of flesh’ and not ‘mother of soul’ he would be talking nonsense.  For what she has produced is one living being, composite to two dissimilar elements, but a single human being, with each element retaining its nature.”

Cyril’s writings about Christ were an important source for Lutheran confessional writings.  He was quoted to show that the teachings of the Lutherans were not an innovation, but in line with the teachings of the early church.
In writing of the Lord’s Supper he states, “We proclaim the death in the flesh, of the only begotten son of god, Jesus Christ, and acknowledge his return to life from the dead and his ascension into heaven, and as we do this we perform the bloodless sacrfice in the churches; and thus  we approach the consecrated gifts of the sacrament, and are sanctified by p.artaking of the holy flesh and the precious blood of Christ, the Savior of us all.

For Bob and JoAnne on their 50th Anniversary

 

The Longly –Weds Know

Leah Furnas

That it isn’t about the Golden anniversary at all, but about all the unremarkable years

That Hallmark doesn’t even make a card for.

It’s about the 2^nd anniversary when they were surprised to find they cared for each other more than last year

And the 4^th when both kids had chickenpox and she threw her shoe at him for no reason

And the 6^th when he accidentally got drunk on the way home from work because being a husband and father was so damn hard

It’s about the 11^th and 12^th and 13^th years when they discovered they could survive crisis

And the 22^nd anniversary when they looked at each other across the empty nest, and found it good

It’s about the 37^th year when she finally decided she could never change him

And the 38^th when he decided a little change wasn’t that bad

It’s about the 46^th anniversary when they both bought cards, and forgot to give them to each other

But most of all it’s about the end of the 49^th year when they discovered you don’t have to be old to have your 50^th anniversary!!!!

From Good Poems selected by Garrison Keillor

Becky said the anniversary cards for other years had lots to say.  She couldn’t find one that said much about fifty years.  Maybe the cards were written by 21 year olds who can’t comprehend fifty years.  Maybe they were the same people who congratulated the Gores for calling it quits after 40 years.  Maybe by the time you hit fifty “you’ve said it all.”

God says, “Mercy, Peace, Grace and Blessings ARE yours now and forever.”  No maybe about it.

Congratulations

 

 

Presentation of the Augsburg Confession

Celebrating the Augsburg Confession

On June 25th 1530 the Lutherans presented the Augsburg confession to Emperor Charles of the Holy Roman Empire.  Written by Philip Melancthon and endorsed by Martin Luther, the confession is a brief summary of points in which the reformers saw their teaching as either agreeing with the ancient teachings of the church or differing from that of the Roman Catholic Church of the time.

While writing the history of Holy Cross, Collinsville, I found a description of the celebration of the 350th anniversary of the presentation of the Augsburg Confession.

“On Sunday, June 27, 1880, the day before the celebration in St. Louis, Holy Cross, Pleasant Ridge (Maryville) and Troy gathered for a festival at Collinsville Park, formerly Becker’s Grove.  A regular worship service was held in the morning followed by a children’s program in the afternoon.”

An account in the St. Louis times (CHIQ Vol. 3, 1930 pp33-40) describes the events of the next day when all the churches met in St. Louis.  The headline read, “Miles of Men - Procession five miles long from (Soulard, where Old Trinity, the original LCMS church in St. Louis is located) to the Fairgrounds.”  (The fairgrounds were located in what is now north St. Louis)
A unit of mounted .police cleared the way.  They were followed by the Arsenal band. “Following the marshals came the visitors.  More than 600 visitors participated, including seminary students and the St. Louis Young Men’s Association.  These were followed by another band (in those days each congregation had a band) and the St. Louis Orchestra.  Next came the men of the St. Louis congregations. Fifty one wagons filled with school children followed the men and the bands.  Each wagon was decorated with evergreens and flags.  Banners on the wagons contained mottoes such as “Das Wort Sie Sollen Lassen Stahn,” The Word they still shall let remain.  Behind the children came the seminary .professors and pastors likely riding in carriages.  Then 276 carriages carrying young lades, almost all dressed in white, as well as their mothers and other relatives.  The procession was completed by a two-mile train of wagons with members from area congregations.  The parade started at 8:30 a.m. and the ended at 1:30 p.m.

After two hours of rest, the program began.  It consisted mainly of singing led by a 1,000 voice choir and 200 musicians.  Speeches were few and brief.  The paper commented the next day, “The Germans as a class are not a speechmaking people…Had the celebration been an Irish or an American one, there would have been at least two hours of speeches, to which no one would care to listen.”

Given all that was done in 1880, how did you celebrate the presentation of the Augsburg Confession?

 

Zach

Zach

“People say, ‘Zach never met a stranger.’  Then I had to go nine months without speaking to friends or strangers.  But now it’s over.  The Lord lived up to the meaning of my name, ‘The Lord remembers.’

 It wasn’t easy for Liz carry a child at her age (easy for me to say) and then the ‘old man’ not being able to talk.  There were the times when both of us were in a foul mood.  We got on each other’s nerves.  We found it helpful to read about Abraham and Sarah, Hannah, Moses, Aaron and Miriam, all people of a ripe old age whom God called into his service.

I don’t know what we would have done without Mary.  She stayed three months.  She had the energy to do what we couldn’t.  She helped get Liz back out into public even when she was ‘showing.’   That young lady has a lot of spunk.  ‘Let ‘em talk.  Your child, just like mine, is from the Lord.  Should we keep secret what the Lord is doing in us?’ she said.

It turned out she was right.  When Joanna, the midwife, came all the women of the village stood at the ready.  I, of course, was banished.  When the baby was born a shout went up from the women and the men at the city gate passed around a jug of wine to celebrate.  ‘We didn’t know you had it in you, Zach.’ They kidded.  And me, not able to have a comeback, though I thought of a few.

Eight days later there was another celebration as the crowd gathered at our house for the circumcision.  All those years, Liz and I were kind of outsiders, childless, and all.  Now, two parties in eight days.  This baby has changed everything.  How in the world are we going to raise this kid?  Lord you sure you know what you’re doing?

If Liz and I having a baby was a surprise, another surprise awaited everyone at the circumcision.  Everyone started calling our boy ‘little Zach.’  Liz said, ‘No! No, his name is John.’ 

‘What, the relatives responded.  No one the family is named John.  How many more children to you plan on having?  The oldest son should be named after his father, Ben Zachariah.’  They looked to me. They motioned toward the baby and Liz like I was deaf.  I called for my writing tablet.  In big letters I wrote ‘his name is JOHN.’

I had no sooner written his name than my tongue became untied and I started to speak.  I spoke praise and blessing to God for giving us this little gift.  I was taken over by the Holy Spirit and foretold how this son of ours would be a prophet of the Most high.  He would prepare the way for the coming of the Lord.  He would give knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of sins.

Everyone was stunned by what they heard.  They didn’t quite know what to think or how to act.  But many nodded their heads in agreement.  John’s birth meant something was up with God.  It didn’t take long for the word to spread throughout all the hill country.

But right now Liz and I  have to raise this baby and hope we live to see what he will be.”

(June 24, is the date commemorated as the Birth of John the Baptist.  I chose to use the alternative form of Zechariah’s name, as it is found in the King James Version

 

Liz

Liz

“Ech!  I’m too old for this,” Liz sighed, as she climbed back onto the sleeping mat she shared with her husband.  “How did Sarah ever do it?  And she was nearly twice my age.  Having kids is for young people, not us over the hill women.  Its bad enough being old and having to go all the time.  Now this baby has taken a permanent seat on my bladder.”

  She rolled over toward her husband adjusting her belly to gain a bit of comfort.  “Uff,” Liz grunted.

She whispered, “I didn’t know she was coming.  Did you know anything about this?  I know, I know, you’d have written it on your slate.”

Zach moved closer and nuzzled Liz’s neck.

“Here’s the strange thing, not as if things weren’t already strange ever since you led worship that day in the temple.  When I opened the door the baby jumped.”

Zach patted her belly and nuzzled her neck again.

“Will you cut that out.  I’m trying to tell you what happened.  You and that angel have already done enough.  When the baby leaped in my belly it was as if it recognized what was going on in Mary. It was like he happy – joyful, exited.  I didn’t even know that she was going to have a baby too.  Then I seemed to fill up with words.   I burst out, ‘Mary, you are the most blessed woman in the world.’  Where did that come from? I thought.  By this time all the neighbors were looking.  And then I virtually shouted, ‘Blessed is the fruit of your womb!’  I didn’t even know she was pregnant.   But I had a sense like I had been taken over by the Holy Spirit.  I’m not even sure I know what that means.  I just couldn’t stop myself.  I even thanked God that Mary had believed what God had told her about our pregnancies.”

Zach put his arm over his wife, patted her on the rear and kissed her shoulder.

Liz patted him on the cheek and kissed him on the forehead.  She turned over with an “Uff” and said, “Tomorrow, we need to talk with Mary.  How did she know I was going to have a baby?  Every day I feel I understand Sarah a little better.  At least we’re not the first ones to go through this.  But that was 2,000 years ago.  God is up to something.”

“Goodnight Zach.  I need some sleep.”

Zach scooted over and bumped his rear into hers.     

The Kingdom of God Is

The kingdom of God is like digging through the refrigerator freezer on a 95 degree first day of summer and finding a last package of rhubarb AND a last package of venison.

Ron Jansen

Onesimus Nesib, translator and evangelist, 1856 - 1931

He was born in Ethiopia among the Oromo people.  His original name was Hika, “translator.” Soon after his father died, he was stolen from his mother and sold into slavery.  Renamed Nesib, he was resold four more time before being liberated on the Red Sea coast.  He was placed as a servant to a teacher and a student at the Swedish Evangelical Mission School.  On Easter Sunday, March 31^st 1870 he was given the name Onesimus “useful” at his baptism.

He hoped to evangelize the Oromo people; therefore, he prayed, “How long, O Lord, before you send a preacher of the gospel there.”  It would be a long time indeed, Onesimus and his wife and other missionaries from the Swedish church met political obstacles, nearly getting buried by a sandstorm while crossing the Nubian Desert by camel, opposition from the Orthodox archbishop, illness and death among those who accompanied him etc.

A lengthy and detailed account is posted by the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Makeme Yesus on the website for the Dictionary of African Christian Biography.  The account of his life and trials would make a good basis for an Elizabeth Peters novel.

He wrote a hymnbook “100 songs and Psalms,” translated hymns, Luther’s Small Catechism and eventually translated the entire bible.

It wasn’t until after 1900 that he was able to return to his homeland

He died at the age of 75.   Jeremiah 22:29, “O land, land, land, hear the word of the Lord!” is inscribed on his tombstone.

A personal note.  If I had not begun serving Immanuel Chapel in North St. Louis County, probably would have passed over Onesimus Nesib.  However, yesterday we accepted a mother and three children who are members of the Lutheran church in Liberia.  Yenyea’s husband is coming over this summer.  Edom, a member of the Board of Elders is a native of Nigeria.  There are others from Sierra Leone.

During my interview at the seminary forty three years ago, I was asked if I was interested in being a missionary.  I said I was pretty much of a Midwestern guy.  My main concern was that my wife still had one year of college left.   I was assigned to Winona, MN which had three colleges, two catholic and one public.  I’ve been pretty much a Midwestern pastor.  Now since Easter I’ve found that I need to learn about what those missionaries who weren’t content to be Midwestern guys have accomplished.  The fruits of their labor and that of Holy Spirit are now in the Midwest.

One way or another, God is going to give you opportunity to do what he wants you to do.  So now this Midwestern guy is learning new tricks. 

A good prayer for us is Psalm 25:4 “Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your path’s.” 

A Tickle of an Idea

Usually by Wednesday I have a pretty good idea where the sermon for next Sunday is going.  This week Wednesday arrived with the barest tickle of an approach.  Some weeks ago I picked the alternative Old Testament lesson from I Kings 19 as the sermon text.  I had a theme, “What are you doing here?” based on God’s question to Elijah as he hid in the cave on Mt. Horeb.  However, by this week, the theme wasn’t going anywhere.  I still only had the barest tickle of an approach.

It wasn’t that the assigned texts didn’t have anything going for them.  Quite the contrary.  Isaiah 65 pictures God, jumping up and down and waving his arms, “Here am I, here am I.”  But like the kid who always gets picked last for the softball game, no one took any notice.  Once all the other gods were picked, Yahweh would be assigned to play right field, position number 9 in the field and in the batting line up.

The Epistle from Galatians 3 and 4 had much going for it also.  “For as many of you were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”  That means there is no discrimination in the church.  We pastors in the Missouri Synod need to hear that and take it to heart, with our all to willingness to not speak well of those with whom we disagree.  This all came about because in God’s fullness of time God sent forth his Son to redeem who were under the law.  Thereby, we have been adopts as children of God and heirs through God.  Good stuff there.

As far as the gospel lesson from Luke 8 is concerned, image stepping out of a boat after crossing a lake and being confronted by a wild crazy man dressed only in his birthday suit.  That what Jesus faced in the demon possessed man whom the townsfolk kept under guard and bound in chains and shackles.  But he kept busting loose and preferred to live in a cemetery.  When Jesus chased out the demons, he permitted them to enter into a herd of hogs who proceeded rush down a steep bank into the sea where they drowned.  Needless to say the ruination of their economy did not make Jesus popular among the Gerasenes.

With all of that good word of God – nothing.  Nevertheless, a sermon lies on the dining room table waiting preaching tomorrow. I gave into the tickle of an idea and went back to my original title, “What are you doing here?”  You see the tickle of an idea was to do the sermon as a poem.  Every year or so I get the urge to do a poem sermon, but this was just a tickle.

Equipped with the ESV bible, Robert Alter’s translation of the Psalm, a dictionary, thesaurus and rhyming dictionary, I worked Thursday between playing hearts on the computer and walking around the house.  I worked Friday at our daughter’s house while the grandkids played with playdough.  “What are you doing, grandpa?” asked four year old Abby.  “I’m writing a poem sermon.  You paint pictures and I write poetry.”  Abby went to her stash and showed me her latest creations, a happy face in an H, lines that ended up as a dinosaur, a bunch of squiggles with her mom in the middle, and a sun with a happy face in it.

All during the writing the question asked in the theme kept popping into mind, “What are you doing here?”  Ah yes, we shall find out tomorrow, what the Spirit and I have cooked up.