The Lutheran Review

I've been Retired

 

When our kids were small we  opened our gifts after the children’s service christmas Eve.  It seemed that five minutes after we had begun, the floor was littered with wrapping paper and boxes and everyone had scattered to their rooms.  There Becky and I sat, alone.  So we decided that next year I would hand out the gifts and we would wait until a person had unwrapped and shown their gift before another was passed out.  For thirty years handing out the gifts has been my job.

We delayed opening gifts this year until today, Dec. 30.  Six year old Abby announced that she would hand out the gifts this year, since she could read the names.  “Well,” I thought, “I think I’ve been retired.”

As Christmas approached Abby was upset that no gifts were appearing under the tree.  So she took matters into her own hands.  If nobody else was going to make “Christmas” happen, then she would.  She wrapped up some of her own stuff and regifted it.  I received two little animal dolls that she had gotten at McDonald’s.  She gave away a couple of her seashells.  She did more than regift.  She drew, colored and cut out a couple of paper crosses.  I received a Christmas card on lined tablet paper.  She covered all of the bases, even wrapping up a present for brother Lucas to give her.  Yes, sometimes in the family as in the church, you just have to make things happen.

When we went out to Culver’s for supper there were still a few Abby wrapped gifts under the tree.

It’s good to know that handing out the gifts will be in capable hands in the future.

P.S. Apparently my computer never watched Jerry Seinfeld.  It doesn’t like the word “regift.”        

 

 

Christmas isn't over, yet!

Christmas Day the “For Better or for Worse” cartoon showed the father and son in conversation.  Dad says, “You’ve been up since 6 o’clock.  It’s time to go to bed.  Christmas is over!!”  Son, “Christmas is over!?  It only got here!”

At our house Christmas isn’t over yet.  We are opening most of our presents on Friday.  But my son gave me a Packers calendar on Christmas Day.  Becky hung it on the in the kitchen. However, I have bought her a Cardinals calendar to give her on Friday.   I wonder which calendar will hang in the kitchen on New Year’s Eve.

Christmas isn’t over in the church either.   At Immanuel the elders are leading a service of word, hymns and prayer.  The  service merges the themes from the first sunday after Christmas and the Circumcision and Name of Jesus.  Worshipers will read the verse from Luke 2 in which Jesus receives his name when he is eight days old. Then they read of the occasion when he is 40 days old when the family meets Simeon in the temple.  Simeon blesses God’s Christmas gift and sings that his own eyes have seen the God’s salvation for all peoples.

He also warns Mary that her son will reveal what is in the hearts of many.  He will be opposed.  This will be like a sword piercing her soul.  It was with her soul, her inner being that she magnified the Lord in Luke chapter 1.

As Christmas moves into the background, Scripture reminds us that the salvation Simeon saw includes the cross, and the sword which pierced Jesus’ body.  In the New Year we move on as God reveals our salvation on Good Friday and Easter Sunday

 

John, Apostle and Evangelist

 

The remembrance of John goes back to the fourth century in the Eastern Church.  John one of Zebedee’s sons was a fisherman and one of the twelve disciples. 

John, together with his brother James and Peter were the three who witnessed Jesus’ Transfiguration.  When Jesus and the disciples were turned away from a Samaritan village, the brothers suggested that, with Jesus approval, they would call down a bit of fire and brimstone upon the village, just to let them know who they were dealing with.  Jesus response showed that His reign was not about power but service to others.  John is credited with writing the fourth gospel, as well the three letters near the back of the New Testament.  The Lord also granted him a vision that he wrote down in the book of Revelation.

John’s version of the Christmas story speaks of the Word becoming flesh and living among us.  Jesus is the light of God shining in the darkness.  John writes of God’s love for the world that led him to give His only Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish.  He records Jesus words in the upper room in which He commands the disciples to love one another as He has loved them.

John is a fitting companion for Christ in the days after we celebrate Jesus birth.  John was the "Beloved" disciple emphasizing Christ’s love for the world.  Whereas Stephen was the first Christian martyr; John was the only disciple to die a natural death.  According to tradition he was banished to the island of Patmos by the Roman emperor Domitian.  He died at Ephesus around 100 A.D.  Thus, there were Christians who either knew John or knew those who had been his students well into the second century.

Prayer of the Day

Merciful Lord, cast the bright beans of Your light upon Your Church that we, being instructed in the doctrine of Your blessed apostle and evangelist John, may come to the light of everlasting life; for You live reign with the Father and the holy spirit, one God, now and forever.

 

 

Sing A New Song

    Christmas Day, Psalm 98
Oh, sing to the Lord a new song: for he has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.  The Lord has made known his salvation…

While at Concordia College, St. Paul, our choir would sing a shortened version of our Christmas concert in the local churches.  The processional carol was a loud and rousing setting of the Latin hymn, Hodie Christus Natus Est, meaning, “Today Christ is born.”  One Sunday as we gathered at the entrance to the sanctuary of St. Stephanus church, I noticed a couple of older women deeply engaged in conversation.  Though it was Advent They were not in expectation of what was about to come.  When the director gave a barely perceptible downbeat we sang out in triple forte, “Hodie Christus Natus Est.”  Off to the side I noticed the two women leap in their seats at the unexpected announcement that “Today Christ is born.”

“Today Christ is born” the angel announced to shepherds abiding in the field.  Then the heavenly host, who numbered in the myriads upon myriads, sang out a new song in what must have been triple forte multiplied by ten and then some, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”  I can well imagine those shepherds leaping out of their drowsy watch by night to full and wide eyed attentiveness.  Today we respond to the angel announcement and the new song composed in the eternal realms of heaven with our own loud voice praise the Lord is come.”  We on earth add our voices to heaven and nature as we sing of the wonders of His love. However the good news of great joy did not begin with a triple forte chorus, but with a quiet angel solo, singing pianissimo, in the back country of Galilee, in little Nazareth from which not much was expected.  How silently, how silently the dear Christ entered into the body of Mary, beginning with a single cell.  In Mary’s womb, in the midst of hometown chatter and gossip about Mary and Joseph and the baby forming in her womb, God’s Son, dividing cell by dividing cell took shape, human shape.

Everyone was oblivious to what was about to happen, save for Mary and later Joseph and later still Mary’s elderly kinswoman Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah.  You know how it is when we know something, but not much about a situation.  Having no details we tend to fill in the story with our own conjecturing.  For Nazareth, the only plausible explanation was that Mary had been unfaithful to her betrothed and Joseph’s evident gullibility.  Through all these months God added no other note to the new song of salvation save for the single one in Mary’s womb.  Of course in Nazareth there were many sour notes being sung by the gossips. How silently, how silently the couple trod their way south at the trumpet command of Caesar in far away Rome, that they register in the family’s ancestral home town of Bethlehem.  How silently, how silently they slipped into the little hometown of their forefather David.  Without a discordant note they made the stable a birthing room.  Meanwhile, Bethlehem remained oblivious to the tune being played in the stable while they reveled in their own raucous and ribald songs as the silent stars passed by.  Therefore no ear in Bethlehem could hear his coming into this world of sin.  Only the meek souls of Joseph and Mary had received him.  Only into their hearts had the dear Christ entered in.

 The joyful noise which arose in the town came from the booming economy as pilgrims entered bringing their money for food, lodging and entertainment. How is it today?  People continue to listen to and join in the singing of the old songs.  The measure of Christmas is how much we spend.  The measure of whether a child has Christmas is whether they get toys and other gifts.  I don’t want to seem like the Grinch who thought he could steal Christmas by stealing the presents.

 A “B.C.” comic strip sets us straight. Two characters stand on a shore looking at a cross shaped star hanging over the ocean.  “Tonight is Christ Eve.” said one character.  His friend replies, “Yes, people give many gifts.”  The first man asks, “Remember when all families just give one gift to child?”  “That very amazing,” his friend answered.  With the star cross still hanging in the sky the first man queries, “Why amazing?”  His friend replies, “On first Christmas, just one child was gift to all families.”

As the gift for all families was delivered from the womb of Mary the calm of a silent night was shattered.  The sky lit up bright with the glory of the Lord shining around the shepherds in the field.  The shepherds quaked at the sight.  It was as if a single voice had been holding a note all those long centuries, accompanied by a barely audible flute.  Now suddenly, the full chorus burst into song and the orchestra with timpani and symbols, drums and trumpets, violins and French horns, clarinets and piccolos all sounded forth in a great crescendo of music.  That’s what happened when Jesus was born.  On God’s downbeat, according to his own time, all the hopes and fears of humans and all the plans and promises which God had been orchestrating met there in David’s royal city. He who came in such weakness that he could do nothing else than follow the decree of Caesar and be carried helplessly to Bethlehem in Mary’s womb; he who after being born was wrapped in swaddling cloths like any other baby; he who would in his adulthood have his arm outstretched and his hand nailed to a cross is God’s Savior.  Even in his weakness His right hand and holy arm worked salvation.  Jesus is God’s Savior for the nations, even for those who would proclaim that the world is godless and there is no god and can’t stand to see the word Christ in Christmas.  As St. Paul wrote, “For we were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.”

Thus we lift up Christ like a highway directional sign so that all people might follow the path to salvation.  Therefore we sing a new song to the Lord.  That is, we live a life in which sin and sorrow are choked out by the repeating sounding joy we have in Christ.  We join the heavenly host and the whole creation in praising God for the Lord has come with the wonders of His love.  On this day, we sing in triple forte, we hear his word of sounding joy and come to the Lord’s Table where we welcome to earth the noble guest who casts out our sin and enters in as he is born in us today.          

 

Christmas at Immanuel Lutheran Chapel

The End of Advent?

Since the coming of Christ goes on forever-he is always he who is to come in the world and in the church-there is always an Advent going on.

Jean Danielou

I Corinthians 16:22, Marana tha.

Christmas Coincidence?

 

A family in the church where I serve owed more than $1,600 to the Day care.  They had stopped sending their kids.  A hoped for grant had not materialized.  The family had not been able to keep up with a repayment plan.  Earlier in the year they stopped attending church.

They were from West Africa.  When Professor Loum was our guest preacher in the fallm he went to visit the family.  Eventually the mother and children returned to worship.  We welcomed her back with open arms and glad hearts.  But the debt still hung out there.

In December, a member of the congregation anonymously paid the debt off.  This member had a dying oak tree in the back yard that would need removing in the spring.  Cost estimates were $1,500 - $2,000.  As I understand it, the very next day after giving the check to the Day Care Director, a crew of tree trimmers showed up from Ameren UE (electric company).  Other crews had trimmed the tree at least twice before.  But this crew worked all one afternoon and returned the next day to finish the job.  They took out all the dead limbs and anything that could remotely be a threat to the power lines.  Because of the tree trimming work, the homeowner won’t have to spend the money this coming spring taking down the tree.  They are also left with a large living branch to provide shade on the house for at least one more year.

  Merely coincidence or one of those God things?      

 

 

 

Luther's "Katie"

Katharina von Bora Luther, 1499-1552

Katharina, “Katie” born to an impoverished nobleman, was five when her mother died and she was sent to a convent.  In 1515 she took vows as a nun, but in 1523, she along with seven other nuns were rescued from the convent and taken to Wittenberg.  Some were returned to their families, while others were placed in good homes.  Katharina and Martin were married on June 13, 1525.  They were blessed with six children.  Katharina needed to be a skilled manager of the household, for the home was often filled with people enjoying Luther’s hospitality.  Luther also gave away household items as gifts.

She was so influential that Luther took to calling her, “my Lord Katie.”

The Treasury of Daily Prayer includes quotes from Luther regarding his wife.

In a letter to Katharina, Luther writes in part,

“Most holy Ms. Doctor, We thank you very kindly for your great concern that kept you awake.  For from the day you (started) worrying about us, a fire right outside of our quarters’ door was eager to consume us.”  He goes on to write of a stone that almost fell on his head from a weakness in the ceiling of the chamber in which he was staying.   “I am concerned that if you do not stop worrying, the earth might swallow us up at the end and all the elements pursuing us…As it says in Psalm 55 and other places, ‘Cast your  burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you.’”

He also wrote, “The Letter to the Galatians is my beloved epistle; I trust it.  It is my Kate von Bora…

In his Table Talks he is quoted, “To have grace and peace in marriage is a gift second only to the knowledge of the Gospel….Kate; you have a god-fearing man who loves you.  You are an empress, realize and thank God for it.”

 She continued to live in Wittenberg after Luther’s death in 1546, though her state was one of impoverishment much of the time.  In 1552, while traveling with her children to escape the plague, she died as the result of an accident.

  

It's Nacht nicht Nackt

 

Yesterday afternoon son, Aaron, called to gloat over the Packers losing their first game of the season.  Schadenfreude is the best one can do when you grow up in the center of Wisconsin as a Vikings fan.

He went on to tell about a European born member of his congregation who goes crazy over our American habit of singing the German words to Silent Night wrong.   “It’s Silent Night not Silent Naked.”

Each hymn stanza begins with “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht!”  But those of us who like to sing the German probably sing “Stille Nackt, Heilige Nackt” which translates into “Silent Naked, Holy Naked!”  I suppose one could make something theological out of “naked” since after Jesus was born Mary wrapped him in swaddling cloths.  Jesus came into this world naked, as we all do, and he hung on the cross, naked, for the sins for which we stand naked before God’s judgment.  

 Becky and I were at Holy Cross for the children’s Christmas service last Nacht, not last Nackt.  Near the end of the service we sang Silent Night.  I got out the hymnal and sang in German concentrating on singing “Nacht” and not “Nackt.”  It took some work to get my tongue around “cht.”  We may have to make that dotted quarter note a whole note.  I’ll work on it again at the Christmas Eve Candlelight service.

Let’s try to give some peace to the woman at Peace in Christ, Walkersville, Maryland and sing the carol correctly.  Don’t tell me to sing it in English, what fun is that?  I could try it in Spanish, but I haven’t figured out the upside down exclamation mark in front of “Noche.”    

That's the World God came to Save

Fourth Sunday in Advent, 2011, Luke 1:26-38

*The two paintings are available for viewing by googling “The Annunciation.”

In Gabriel Rossetti’s painting * of the angel‘s appearance to Mary, she sits on a cot-sized bed. A man floating just above the floor offers her a lily. Mary, legs drawn up, pushes her body against the wall. Behind her stands a screen the color of royal purple.

“Greetings,” the angel Gabriel says. This was not the sort of greeting addressed to a woman of no importance in a nowhere place like Nazareth. It was reserved for royalty. What did Mary know of royalty?

“Rejoice,” is what Gabriel means. In the prophet Zephaniah we read, “Rejoice and exult with all your heart!…The Lord has taken away the judgments against you.” God was about to take away his judgment against people through the son born from the womb of Mary.

“Greetings, favored one,” continues Gabriel. Mary is the receiver of God’s unearned grace. Like Noah, Abraham, Moses and David before her, Mary has found favor in the eyes of the Lord, not because of anything she has done but solely through the grace-filled choosing of the Lord.

The angel assures her, “The Lord is with you.” The presence of the Lord is about to come upon Mary. In her womb life will spring forth. This same presence comes upon us too giving us faith and creating within us a new life in Christ. It comes through the same means as it came to Mary, through God’s word, powered by his Spirit.

We need to hear the message of the Lord’s favorable presence because much of what we hear and see, what we do and say during the week is often anything but assurance that the Lord is present anywhere. Some years ago I was making pre Christmas shut in calls. My usual parting message was, “Blessed Christmas.” One elderly woman replied, “Christmas has never been blessed for me.” She then recounted how both of her parents had died at Christmas time when she was a child. That same year I visited another woman whose husband had died during the year and she had had several other set backs. She responded to blessed Christmas, saying, “I don’t know about that.” One time our next door neighbor, Debra, said to me, “I believe, I just don’t go to church.“ I hope she clung to that thin thread of faith, when a spiral down into addiction and depression ended in her mixing anti-freeze with her liquor Monday evening to make sure she succeeded in taking her life this time. That’s the kind of world Jesus came to save. Through Jesus, God has delivered from us the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.” None of us are natives of God’s kingdom. We are all immigrants by God’s choosing to show us His favor. Gabriel says to Mary, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” that’s what it means to have a blessed Christmas, even if it isn’t happy or merry.

Remember the purple colored screen in Rossetti’s painting of the Annunciation? That’s fitting. Mary was royalty after all. She would be the Queen Mother of a new King in the line of David who would establish his kingdom and reign forever and ever.

The son she was about to conceive and bear would be named Jesus.

Jesus’ name spoke of his identity and his task. He was God’s Savior. The angel continues. “He will be great.” He is greater than Abraham, greater than David, greater than his cousin John the Baptist. He is the Great One whose name is above every name. There is salvation in no one else. He will be called the Son of the Most High crying out to God “You are my father, my God.” And finally, Gabriel assures her that God will give to her son the throne of his ancestor David. The throne of David had come to a dishonorable end nearly 600 years before when Zedekiah, the last reigning king of Judah was carried into exile in Babylon. The last thing he ever saw were his sons being killed. Then his eyes were put out. That’s the kind of world Jesus came to save. Now all the hopes and predictions of the prophets which seem to have goner awry, were about to be fulfilled.

Those are the promises Gabriel brought directly from God. But how could this be, Mary asked? “Glad you asked, Mary.” The Holy Spirit will come upon her and overshadow her and thus she will conceive. This is the same Spirit who hovered over the waters at the beginning of creation. This is the same Spirit who was present in the cloud by day and pillar of fire by night when the Israelites were in the desert for forty years. This is the same Spirit who would come upon Jesus at his baptism and transfiguration. This is the same Spirit who was poured out upon the disciples on Pentecost. And this is the same Holy Spirit who in our baptism created faith and new life in us. This is the same Spirit who has called us by the Gospel, enlightened us with his gifts and keeps us in the one true faith.

God will be the father of the child conceived in Mary‘s womb. “For with God nothing is impossible.” He who creates the conventions of reproduction can circumvent those same conventions. He who created Adam from dust and Eve from a rib will bring about Mary’s pregnancy.

In humble obedience she states simply, “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; Let it be with me according to your word.” In that moment, the Holy Spirit came upon her, overshadowed her and an embryo started to grow who would emerge nine months later as Jesus, the Great One, Son of the Most High and descendant of David who would rule forever and ever.

In another painting of the annunciation, by artist Mrs. E.G. Mcmillan, Mary sits barefooted on a simple hand-woven cot. Her pondering eyes look not at us but into a distance beyond.* She seems to be contemplating what it means to be the bearer of her Savior and our Savior. As a disciple of Christ, yes, she is Jesus’ first disciple, she is the model disciple for you and me. She reminds us that we are not our own. We have been bought with a price-the life of the only Begotten of the Father full of grace and truth. Her son will redeem India, Africa, Europe, the Americas and the rest of the world through his self-sacrifice on the cross in order to lead all nations home to God once again.

Our opening hymn “What Child is This,” sung to the familiar tune of Greensleeves is beloved by all. Right in the middle of the middle stanza we sing,

“Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,

The cross be borne for me, for you;

Hail, hail, the word made flesh,

The babe, the son of Mary.”

That’s what it took to save the world. “Rejoice, O favored ones. The Lord is with you.” You will have a Blessed Christmas.A