Lutheran Evangelism

Lutheran Evangelism
A Paraphrase of Matthew 28:19-20
The Giving of Authority and the Great Promise

Is there such a thing as Lutheran Evangelism? I say yes, especially when we understand the dynamics that we “practice what we preach.” In other words when we understand there is a direct link between what we believe and how that is lived out in our lives. Because of our Lutheran teachings, I believe we are taught to practice evangelism is a specific way. To that end, I want to paraphrase Jesus’ great giving of authority and promise at the end of Matthew’s Gospel as a summary of what I believe is truly Lutheran evangelism.

Jesus said, as you are going about your lives, in response to all the good gifts and blessings I have given and continue to give to you –the faith, forgiveness of sins, life and salvation– live in your vocations in such a way that your lives are offered as living sacrifices to me. And as you are living out your vocations, you will naturally make disciples of all nations (children included because a child is a citizen of the country in which it is born). Make disciples by always being ready to give an answer for the hope that you have, the hope that comes from the faith I have given you. The answer that you will give comes from your regular use of the means of grace, each and every Sunday and as often as offered, diligently, patiently and persistently, those external means through which I give you the gifts and blessings you are given, those means of grace offered in Divine Service, where you as a Christian are strengthened in order to go out into the world and do witnessing. The answer you give comes from your regular reading and hearing God’s Word, from your remembrance of your Baptism, from your confessing your sins and hearing the most beautiful words in the world, “Your sins are forgiven,” and from participating in My life, death and resurrection through eating and drinking My body and blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins in My Holy Supper. Do not be concerned about your confidence or your words because I will give you the very words and the courage to speak at the appropriate time, words which I have given you through My means of grace. I give you My authority and My promise that I will be with you in all these things even until the day of judgement. And please understand that none of this depends on you because I will send the Holy Spirit, and He will work faith when and where He pleases through My Word which you will speak on My authority and with My confidence. And I will greatly multiply according to My will.

Part Three - Spiritual Blessings

Fruits of the Spirit
This leads to our last topic of gifts and blessings from God, and that is how these gifts and blessings are shown forth through the fruits of the Spirit.
 

Paul speaks of the fruits of the spirit in Galatians 5:16-26:
16But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.  24And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Notice that Paul first speaks of the opposite of the fruits of the spirit by outlining the desires of the flesh. Certainly we can get a better grasp of the positive when set out against the negative. Notice that Paul shows us how the fruits of the spirit flow from the gifts of the spirit. It is faithfulness that flows out of the faith given by God through the means of His Word and Sacraments. It is love and forgiveness flowing out of God’s love for us and His first forgiving us.
 

When you plant a fruit tree, you take care of it, cultivate it, fertilize and water it. After a while you expect to harvest the fruit of that tree. Likewise, as our Lord has given us all the gifts and blessings He has to give; both physical: clothing and shoes, house and home, meat and drink, family and friends; and spiritual; faith, forgiveness, life and salvation; and as He continually cultivates, takes care of, feeds and waters us with even more gifts, the result is fruits of the spirit. Fruits of the spirit are those ways Christians, given to by God, show forth the faith that is in their hearts.
 

God called each one of us to life at conception. He calls us to faith through Holy Baptism. He calls us to live lives of faith what we call our vocation, using the gifts, talents and abilities in service to Him by serving others. He calls some men into the Office of Holy Ministry. As the Lord has called us and as He pours out His gifts and blessings on us, our response of faith is to live and serve in our vocations as priests in the priesthood of all believers. The work of a priest is to offer sacrifices, and so our work is to offer our lives as living sacrifices to the Lord with His help and to His glory.
 

How does this look in real life? It looks like faith and doctrine, what we believe, teach and confess, in action. Evangelism or better said, Lutheran Evangelism is basically one living one’s vocation always being ready to give and answer for the hope one has in Jesus, and that answer is given by God through one’s making regular and diligent us of the means of grace so that the Holy Spirit uses God’s Word to bring others to faith so they too might be a part of His kingdom and live in Godly vocations as well.
 

In summary, or in other words, God gives life. God gives faith. God gives all we need to support our body and life, physically and spiritual. God gives through means, both physical blessings and spiritual blessings. As we partake of the physical blessings, we grow in our body. As we partake of the spiritual means of grace, making regular, whenever offered, and diligent, taking God’s Word seriously, use of the means of grace, our Lord works through those means to give us the words we will speak when asked of the faith and hope that we have as we live lives as priests in our vocations. God gives, and we are given to. Thanks be to God.

Part Two - Spiritual Blessings

Part Two - Spiritual Blessings
God gives, and we are given to. God gives us all that we need for the support of our bodily lives, all we need, not necessarily all that we may want, because we can always want more. And yet, God gives even greater gifts. His greatest gifts are His spiritual gifts, those gifts and blessings that are given, freely given and that give eternal life. Very often we speak of the fact that God in Jesus rescues us from sin, death and the power of the devil. We speak of the fact that Jesus’ life, suffering, death and resurrection defeated sin, death and the devil. We speak in terms of Jesus giving us the strength to resist the unholy three of the devil, the world and our own sinful flesh. We speak of the fact that God gives faith, forgiveness of sins, life in this world, eternal life, salvation, strengthening of faith and so on. So, the question we might ask ourselves is this, “How does God give us these gifts and blessings?”
 

The answer to “How does God gives us these gifts and blessings?” is that He gives them through external means, in particular through the Means of Grace: the Holy Word of God, Holy Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, Confession and Absolution. God’s usual way of working with us, of giving to us is through means. God’s unusual way is directly. Now certainly we know that after Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension, after the day of Pentecost God gave His apostles the ability to perform signs and wonders, to do miracles, and this ability was given as confirmation to attest to the words they were proclaiming. Yet, as the apostles died, so did the ability to do such signs and wonders.
 

Again, God’s usual way of coming to us and giving to us is external, through means. His unusual way is internal, directly. To direct one internally, that is to direct a person to look inside himself to find the answers to life’s questions leads either to despair because all we find inside ourselves is a sinful nature, or it would lead to self and works righteousness because a person might actually believe s/he could live by the demands of the law which, according to our conceived and born in sin nature, is impossible. And so we are directed to look outside ourselves. We are directed to the external means of grace. It is through the very means of Grace, the very means of God’s Word, Holy Baptism, the Lord’s Supper and Confession and Absolution that God gives faith, forgiveness, life and salvation.
 

Paul encourages us in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11:
1Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. 3Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit. 4Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
Notice that Paul does not encourage us to look inside ourselves, rather his words are an encouragement to look outside ourselves to look to God the Holy Spirit. As he says, “no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit.” It is God the Holy Spirit who works externally through the means of His Word and Sacraments, in particular Holy Baptism to give us faith and to stir in us to say that Jesus is Lord.
 

Our doctrine, what we believe, teach and confess, determines our practice, how we live out what we believe. As momma used to say, we “Practice what you preach.” So, how does our doctrine look when we say that God gives His gifts through means? First and foremost God gives faith, and the faith He gives He usually gives soon after birth through the waters of Holy Baptism when water and His name are put on us. It is through these simple ordinary means that God does great and extraordinary things, namely giving us faith, forgiveness of sins, and writing our names in the Book of Life.
 

If we were not baptized and given faith as a child, certainly God works through the means of His Holy Word. The Holy Spirit working when and where He pleases works through our reading and hearing of the Word of God to give faith, forgiveness and eternal life.
 

Jesus purchased and won forgiveness of sins on Calvary. He distributes that forgiveness through His Word as well as through Confession and Absolution. When we confess our sins we hear the most beautiful words in the world, “Your sins are forgiven.” Those are the most beautiful words in the world because with sins forgiven we know we have life and salvation. And yet, God also distributes His forgiveness through Holy Baptism and through His Holy Supper.
 

If we were to be pointed inward, to look inside ourselves, to look internally for the gifts of God, we would live life looking for some inward sign, some manifestation of, perhaps being “slain” in the spirit, being able to do signs, wonders, even miracles. We would be disappointed, even in despair if we were not seeing such inward manifestations thinking that we are doing something wrong. Our worship service would be a time for spiritual manipulation, a time to be worked into a frenzy until we might “feel” something, even anything that would make us “feel” like we have been given something from God. Certainly to have an inward focus would mean pointing to ourselves, and the bottom line is that then we are indeed our own gods and idols.
 

Focusing on the means of grace looks like Divine Service, that is it looks like God’s service to us, first and foremost, and second would be our response of faith. Focusing on the means of grace means being reminded of our Baptism usually through an invocation. It means confessing our sins and hearing the words of absolution, wherein and through which the gifts of forgiveness are distributed and given to us. It means hearing God’s Word read and expounded. It means speaking back to God the very words He has given us to say through the words of the liturgy, not some man-made bit of pomp and circumstance, some rhyming poem or ode, but speaking God’s Word. It means being given God’s gifts through His Holy Supper wherein we partake of our Lord, participating in His life, death and resurrection. And it means concluding the service with God having His name put on us again.
 

Notice how our doctrine informs our practice which teaches our doctrine. Notice how God’s gifts are distributed through our practice which flows out of our doctrine. Notice how these all tie together and are the very means through which our Lord gives to us the gifts and blessings He has to give.

Blessings - Part One, Physical Blessings

Introduction

God gives and we are given to. God gives first. He is the prime mover. In the beginning God created all things out of nothing. Nothing exists that has not been made by God. Thus, even we who are His creation have been given to by Him. We have been given life at conception, new life through Holy Baptism, even eternal life earned and paid for by Him. As Dr. Martin Luther so well states in each of his explanations of the three articles of the Apostles’ Creed that God’s gives. God has created me. “He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life. He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil.” It is Jesus “who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death,” The “Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ.”

The following was first presented at a regular Wednesday morning Bible Class and is presented here from what can be remembered of the presentation, which was not recorded. This presentation seeks to expound on the gifts and blessings God gives to us each and every day. Certainly we hear of the gifts and blessings our Lord gives: faith, forgiveness, life and salvation, but what does that mean? From where do these gifts come? What other gifts and blessings does our Lord bestow on us? This presentation is divided into two parts. The first part will concentrate on the physical bodily blessings our Lord gives, and the second part will focus our attention on the most important gifts and blessings, spiritual blessings.

Part One
Physical Bodily
As we said, God gives, and we are given to. God has created all things out of nothing so that all that is has been created and given to us by God to use in service to Him in His Kingdom. Certainly we understand that although in the beginning God created all things prefect and holy, because of man’s sin, we now live in a world that is under the curse of that sin so now all things are not perfect, but are imperfect. Yet, all things have their origin in God.
 

God gives. God gives life at conception. Along with life God gives us all our senses: hearing, taste, touch, sight, smell. God gives us a house and a home as well as clothing and shoes, meat and drink, wife and children and all that we have, all that we need to support our body and life. God even gives us each our vocations, that is those roles in life through which we serve Him by serving others, such as husband or wife, mother or father, carpenter or miner, banker or lawyer, doctor or plumber. All these vocations are given by God as He gives each of us gifts, talents and abilities to perform the various works of service in each vocation.
 

Now, let us focus in on one physical item from God, that of food and in particular the food of oatmeal. From where does oatmeal come, other than off our pantry shelf. Normally we purchase our oatmeal form the grocery store. But, what does it take for the grocery store to have oatmeal on the shelf. The “flow chart” here presented helps us to understand all the complexity and all the gifts God gives in order for us to purchase oatmeal and have it on our pantry shelf so that we might be able to have a meal of oatmeal.
 

In order for a Grocery Store to function properly it must have an owner who must hire workers who stock the shelves as well as sell the items and keep the store clean and running.
 

In order to stock the store there needs to be trucks which deliverer the good to the store from the warehouse which must also have a staff of employees to make sure the warehouse is properly stock to fill the orders from the stores.
 

The warehouse gets its goods from the factory which produces the products it sends to the warehouse to be distributed to the stores to be sold to the consumer. The factory must have a staff of workers as well as the right equipment and packaging to produce and package the product. The equipment must be built and maintained in order for the factory to function properly, and the packaging must be available to appropriately distribute the product. Both the equipment and the packaging call for their own set of subroutines to function properly. And the factory must have workers to run the equipment.
 

The factory needs raw materials and in the case of oatmeal, the factory must purchase the oats it uses to make oatmeal from the farmer. The farmer must have good seed to plant as well as fertilizer and other farm equipment, workers, water and so forth to grow a good crop of oats. Ultimately the farmer depends on God for good weather and a good growing season in order to produce a good crop of grain.
 

Indeed the Lord blesses us with oatmeal and all we need through the labor and vocations, the gifts, talents and abilities of many workers, and yet we see it all begins and ends with the Lord.

Why Infant Baptism

Church History Supports Infant Baptism
For the first 1500 plus years of the church prior to the Reformation, the church practiced infant baptism. There was no question concerning whether or not infants should be baptized. The question of infant baptism came after the Reformation as some followed tainted human reasoning and logic, or illogic, pointing on to self for certainty of salvation. Yet, we depend not on human history or tradition in matters spiritual. What does God say in His Word?

The Importance of Children and Child-like Faith
The following four passages are probably the same scene, but this information is so important that all three of the four Gospel writers wrote about it. In contemporary language we might say it played on three of the major networks.

Matthew 18:1-6
1At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.5“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, 6but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,  it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Please note that in verse three the word translated as turn is στρέφω (strepho) which means turn, bend, twist, or convert. The NASB uses the word converted.

Here we see that Scripture affirms the saving faith of children and infants directly and indirectly, by ascribing to children the fruit and effect of faith, namely eternal life. The denial of infant faith was born out of a rationalistic understanding of faith. Thus, not only does Scripture affirm the faith of infants and children but also encourages adults to have such faith.

Mark 9:33-37, 42
33And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 34But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. 35And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” 36And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”

42“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.

Mark 10:13-16
13And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. 14But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 15Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” 16And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

Please note in verse thirty-seven in chapter nine and in verse fifteen of chapter ten the word translated as “receive” (the word in Greek is dechomai) which means to be given to, and in this sense dechomai is equivalent to faith.

Luke 18:15-17
15Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 17Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

Again, please note that in verse seventeen, again the word translated as receive (dechomai) means to be given to and in this sense dechomai is equivalent to faith.

So to sum up these passages, we might make note that:

1. Jesus loves the children.
2. Jesus says that children have faith. Children can and do have faith, even babies have faith. They simply do not express their faith as an adult because they cannot speak the language.
3. Jesus offers their faith as an example to us.
4. Jesus never asks children to have faith like an adult because we as adults have learned to be skeptical, that we have to take care of ourselves, you cannot trust everyone, etc.

Other Passages Supporting Infant Baptism
Matthew 28:16-20
16Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Please note that children are citizens of the nation in which they are born. No child born in any nation is not considered a citizen of some nation. Their birth certificate tells to which nation they belong. Likewise, when Jesus says to baptize all nations, children being citizens of a nation are included. Notice He does not say, baptize all nations except children.

Mark 7:3-4
“3(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands, holding to the tradition of the elders, 4and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches)” (emphasis added).

As for the mode of baptism, God does not prescribe the mode, i.e., sprinkling, immersion, or simply a few drops. I do not believe that when the dining couches were baptized, washed, that they were immersed.

Luke 1:44
“44For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.”

Notice that the baby heard the word of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and having heard her voice, leaped in his mother Elizabeth’s womb. Here we see the importance of a pregnant woman being in Divine Service where she and her baby might hear the Word of God and through that very Word be given faith.

Colossians 2:11-12
“11In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.”

Here we have the comparison of baptism to circumcision. Babies were circumcised at the age of eight days old. If circumcision identified one as a member of the Jewish faith at the age of eight days, how much more should we seek to identify our children as Christian children through the sacrament of Holy Baptism at eight days or even at birth?

1 Peter 2:18-22
18For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him (emphasis added).

“As ‘the waters of Noah’ raged, a total of eight people were saved in the ark. This number eight can signify a new beginning, as when an infant entered the covenant of circumcision on the eighth day (Gen 17:10-12). The eighth is the first day of a new week, the day of Christ’s resurrection (Mt 28:1). Thus the apostle Peter associated the salvation of the eight in Noah’s ark during the flood with the Sacrament of Baptism, ‘which now saves you . . .  Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ’ (1 Pet 3:21).” (Concordia Commentary, Isaiah 40-55, R. Reed Lessing, Concordia Publishing House, © 2011, p. 642.)

When we approach the Word of God through exegesis instead of eisegesis, that is when we listen to what God says instead of attempting to put words into His mouth, the evidence for infant baptism is overwhelming. Since God’s Word declares that He gives faith, forgiveness and eternal life through Holy Baptism, nothing should keep us from baptizing our children.

Why Am I Here?

Newsletter Article - December 2012
 

God gives us His Word which speaks truth, gives gifts and is efficacious, that is it does what it says. God speaks to us concerning our care for others as we read:
 

17“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 18If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 19But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. 20Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand. 21But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul” (Ezekiel 3:17-21 (ESV))
 

I have quoted the above Bible text, because I have a concern for the members of this congregation, St. Matthew Lutheran Church of Westfield. The following may be offensive, especially to those who find themselves convicted by these words, which is how the Law of God works. Indeed, the Word of God is offensive to those who are perishing (1 Cor. 1:18). Yet it is only as the Law lays the foundation in our hearts that the Good News of the Gospel will have fertile soil in which to be planted.
 

On Sunday, November 18, 2012 the attendance at St. Matthew Lutheran Church of Westfield was 65. You read that correctly, there were only 65 members of our congregation who gathered in attendance to be given the gifts God gives through His external means of Word and Sacrament. This means the 76% of our members stayed away from Divine Service refusing and rejecting the gifts God has to give. On Thanksgiving Eve, Wednesday, November 21, 2012 the attendance at St. Matthew Lutheran Church of Westfield was 26. Again, you read that correctly, there were 26 members of our congregation who gathered in attendance to give thanks to the Lord and to be given the gifts God gives through His external Word. This means that 90% of our members stayed away from Divine Service refusing and rejecting the gifts God has to give (Certainly God understands those who cannot physically attend).
 

At first I began to think that this rejection was a rejection of me as the pastor. And yes, I know there are a handful of people who do reject the pastor God has called to serve in this congregation and so are truly rejecting God and the gifts He gives, but everyone who absents themselves from Divine Service is truly rejecting God and the gifts He has to give.
 

We have a spiritual problem in our congregation, as we do in our world today. What is it that I am constantly preaching? Is it not that we are to make regular and diligent use of the means of grace, and we do that by being in Divine Service (and Bible Class) as often as it is offered? Thus, if we are hearing God’s Word and if we are hearing His Word through the man, the servant, the pastor He has called and placed in our midst, should not our attendance every Sunday be a majority of our members? Otherwise, are we not then guilty of refusing and rejecting God’s Word and the gifts He gives through His Word and His Sacraments. If we refuse and reject God’s Word and His Word as spoken by His called servant, then why do we bother having a pastor?
 

How or why would we expect God to bless us if and when we fail to be where His gifts are given out? If you fail to go to the grocery store, would you not expect to not have groceries? When we fail to be in Divine Service, when we refuse and reject the good gifts and blessings God has to give, how can we then ask for God to bless us? He has blessed us with so much, more than we need and more than we could possibly want.
 

As I have told people, “I do not go looking for trouble, it finds me.” There are times I hear people say such things as, “Don’t tell the pastor, he would not approve.” If the pastor would not approve, would God approve? Do we not believe the words our pastor is speaking, which from the pulpit, should be God’s Word, thus we do not believe God? Someone once suggested that we think about and determine the things we do by asking the question, “Would I want to be caught doing what I am doing by Jesus?” If I would not want to be caught doing something by Jesus, then should I be doing it at all?
God loves you so very much. He has given you all that you have and need and even much of what you may want. He wants you, and He has you when He has all of you. I would urge you, be given the gifts!    God has given us so much. He has given us life at conception. He has given us faith and new life through Holy Baptism. He gives us forgiveness of sins through Confession and Absolution. He gives us forgiveness and strengthening of faith through His Word and Sacrament. He gives and gives and gives. God gives first, and God gives all we need. How is it that we expect even more from Him when we fail, first to recognize Him as the giver of all and second as we refuse and reject the gifts He has to give? We fail to recognize Him by failing to offer to Him the first fruits of what He has given to us. We refuse and reject His gifts by absenting ourselves from where the gifts are given out.
 

I am a sinner whom God has called to be the pastor of this congregation and so I lead in a sinful manner. Yet, my life stands before this congregation, as it has for the past ten years, as an example and the example I and my family live is that our custom is that we are in Divine Service every Sunday and whenever offered. And even when we are away on vacation, we find a church in which to be in Divine Service. Even on Sundays when we are at scouting events, either I lead a service for the scouts and/or we are in a church near our scouting event. When it comes to giving of our time, my family gives as much time as we can to attend other congregational events. When it comes to giving, we give our first fruits. I have only owned one new vehicle in my lifetime. We live in a modest house. We do not all have smart phones, as a matter of fact, my wife and I simply have cell phones that make phone calls. Yes, we do have some other amenities in our home, but only what we can afford after giving our first fruits. And God continues to bless us. God gives and we are given to and as we are given to we respond in thanks by returning to the Lord our first fruits of our time, our talents and our treasure know that as He has given to us and as we return, in faith, to Him, He will shower us we even more blessings. No one can out give God.
 

7From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ 8Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 10Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need (Malachi 3:7-10).
 

And so I get back to the question, “Why am I here?” I have been proclaiming God’s Word, encouraging making regular and diligent us of the means of grace and first fruits giving as a response of faith and yet our actions, our giving and our attendance seem to indicate that either I am not actually proclaiming the Gospel, or it is being rejected and not believed. Truly I see these things as a sign that we are in the end times as our Lord tells us that, as the day of judgment approaches people will fall away, people will seek to hear what their itching ears want to hear, people will refuse and reject Him.
 

There are several articles include in this newsletter that I hope you will read. Two are from the November issue of the “Lutheran Witness,” and speak about our pastor, one is from a pastor in Arizona who asks if we are ready to die. These articles and this one are intended to get you to stop and think about your spiritual well-being and to encourage you in your spiritual life.
 

God loves you so very much. He has given you all that you have and need and even much of what you may want. He wants you, and He has you when He has all of you. I would urge you, be given the gifts!

Gentiles Worship the King - January 6, 2013 - Epiphany Sunday - Text: Matthew 2:1-12

Today is Epiphany Sunday. The last time that Epiphany fell on a Sunday was back in 2002. And, unfortunately, Epiphany is not one of our big holidays and so, unless it falls on a Sunday, it usually gets shorted. For those of you who do not know, Epiphany is considered the Gentile Christmas, that is, Epiphany is your Christmas and mine. It is considered the Gentile Christmas, because it was at this time that the Christ Child was first visited by non-Jews, Gentiles. The word “Epiphany” literally means manifestation, or appearing. And so, on this Epiphany Sunday we celebrate the manifestation or the appearing of Jesus, the one who came to save the world, to the Gentiles. Jesus is our Savior too.
 

The only Epiphany account we have in Scripture is this account of the visit of the Magi as described in our Gospel reading from Matthew. The Gentile Magi came to pay homage to the new born King of the Jews, the Messiah. And so we ask, who were these Magi? These Magi were astronomers, not astrologers. An astrologer is a fortune teller and one who tries to read the future in the stars and the planets. An astronomer is one who is a scientist and who studies the stars and the planets in order to learn more about the solar system and even our own planet, the times and seasons and the like. These Magi were astronomers who were studying the heavens, looking for signs in the heavens.
 

These Magi were also Gentiles. They were not Jewish. They were not a part of God’s chosen people, the children of Israel, however, someone, somewhere along the way through their lives, must have shared with them the message of the promise of a Messiah, a Savior. Having heard the message, perhaps having gained access to copies of the sacred writings of the Old Testament, these Magi studied the Word of God, believed the Word and were looking for the coming of the one who was promised, the Messiah, the Savior of the world even their own Savior.
 

And these Magi were from the east. By all indications, they traveled a long way in order to bring gifts and to bear homage to a stranger. They traveled following the star which God placed in the heavens in order to lead them to this Christ Child. They first traveled to the place of Kings, Jerusalem, the capital city of the Children of Israel. And there in Jerusalem they met King Herod.
 

Which brings us to King Herod. Herod was King in Jerusalem at the time of the birth of Jesus. When the Magi came to Jerusalem and announced that they were seeking the one who was born as King of the Jews, we are told that Herod “was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.” Herod was disturbed because he was afraid of a rival king. All the people were disturbed with him because they were afraid of what he might do, in other words they knew Herod’s jealousy and wondered how far he would go in his attempt to get rid of this child that he believed might challenge him for his throne. Interestingly enough, how often do we find ourselves acting like Herod. Jesus wants first place in our lives, yet we dethrone Him because we want to be the rulers of our lives. We want to do things our way and so we look for ways to rid ourselves of Jesus ruling over us. The question we would ask ourselves is how far will we go, at what cost or expense will we spend, in keeping Jesus from bring the sole ruler of our lives?
 

Herod’s problem, though, was that he did not know about this king, nor of His whereabouts. And so, the search for truth was on. Herod called in his best men for the job, the chief priests and teachers of the Law. They diligently searched the Scriptures until they found the proof passage, Micah 5:2, “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.” Now here, I just want to make an aside. If these chief priest and teachers of the Law had searched the Scriptures and found these passages which tell about the birth of this Christ Child, the one who would be the Savior of the world, why did they not believe that Jesus was the Savior, the Messiah when thirty years later He came into town and began preaching and teaching?
 

But, getting back to our narrative. Now Herod knew the place but he still needed to know the time, in order to properly dispose of the problem. So, he called the Magi in secretly and found out from them when the star appeared, when the child was born. This information he later used in order to rid the country of any possible rival kings, by using this time frame for killing any child which might grow up to be king in his place. Of course, this was not told to the Magi. Herod simply asked them to find the king and then to return and tell him, “so that he might worship Him also.”
  

And so the search continued. The Magi left Jerusalem and continued to follow the star which went ahead of them, leading the way until it came to the place where the child was. Now, please understand, although we tack on the visit of the Magi to our yearly children’s Christmas program and although the Magi are prominently displayed in most of the manger scenes around town, the Magi did not get to Bethlehem until about a year later. By the time the Magi arrived, Jesus is no longer a baby, but a child. One question that does come to mind is, “Why did Mary and Joseph stay in Bethlehem for so long, why did they not go back to Nazareth?” One explanation might be that since Mary and Joseph left when Mary was an unwed, pregnant woman perhaps they did not go back to avoid any further scandal, but that is only a suggestion. Anyway, upon following the star, and here let me make another aside. Some believe the star may have been a coming together of three planets. The problem with that hypothesis is that the three planets would have to remain in that alignment for more than a year. I think the best explanation is God’s Word, that God Himself placed a special star in the heavens and it did as He commanded it. Now, getting back to our narrative, the Magi left Herod and as Matthew reports, “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.”
 

Another minor note and word of clarification. Although there are many legends concerning the Magi, we do not know how many there were. We usually see three and I would suggest that is because of the gifts they brought. The three which are mentioned are the three gifts of gold, incense and oil. The Magi did come and worship and they did present Jesus with gifts. And the gifts were of significance.
 

The Magi presented Jesus with the gift of Gold, the gift for a King. And rightfully so, because Jesus is the King of the Jews, the King of Kings, the King of the Universe, the King of all.
 

The Magi presented Jesus with the gift of incense, the gift for a priest. And rightfully so, because Jesus is our priest. He is the one who intercedes for us before His Father in heaven. He is also the one who makes sacrifices for us on our behalf and the ultimate sacrifice He made as our priest is that He sacrificed Himself for us on the cross.
 

And the Magi presented Jesus with the gift of Myrrh, which is an anointing oil, the gift for a prophet. And, again, rightfully so, because Jesus is our prophet. He is the one who continues to come to us through His means of grace, the Word and the Sacraments in order to proclaim to us the Good News of forgiveness of sins and salvation by grace through faith in Him.
 

After worshiping Jesus and presenting Him with the appropriate gifts, the Magi returned to their home land. However, after being warned in a dream, they returned by another way than through Jerusalem. After a time, Herod realized that the Magi were not going to return and here is where the time of the appearing of the star was important. Herod used this as a way to calculate how old the child might be and so he had put to death all the children under two years of age in order to make sure that any rival to the throne might be disposed.
 

Now, here on January 6, 2013 we continue to celebrate this event. We celebrate this Epiphany, this manifestation of God in flesh, this appearing of the Savior to the Gentiles, because this means that we too have a part in Jesus’ work of salvation. Even though we are not physically born of the family of Israel. Even though we too are sinful human beings. Even though we rightfully have no claim on salvation, even though we are not entitled to salvation, it is ours.
 

Today we celebrate that we can be sure that Jesus is who He said He is. Jesus is the one promised by God back in the Garden of Eden, the one promised before there was a Jew and a Gentile, when there was just people, Adam and Eve. Jesus is the one promised throughout the Old Testament by the prophets, that a Savior of the world would be born. Jesus is the one who was born for one purpose, to give His life as a ransom, to pay the price for our sins.
 

Today we celebrate that we have life, even eternal life. Yes, very often we try to dethrone Jesus in our own lives, yet, He continues to call us back to Himself through His Word and His Sacraments. He has already accomplished our forgiveness. He has called us to faith. He gives us all these gifts and blessings, faith, forgiveness and life and we celebrate.
 

I want to summarize this great Epiphany Event with these words: The prophets, by the power of the Holy Spirit, foretold of this event, which the Magi read and believed and went in search of the newborn King, which the chief priests and the teachers of the law attested to the validity of the Scriptures which Herod also believed and was terrified, so we too believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, the Savior of the world. To Him be the glory for Jesus’ sake. Amen.