Funny Friday #2

It's Funny Friday #2! We'll be having postings of a humorous nature. What a better place to start than with the folks at Lutheran Satire.




Jesu Juva,
Soli Deo Gloria

Historical Church Writings #5: John Chrysostom

Today is Historical Church Writing Thursday. Each Thursday will feature the writings of the church fathers, reformation fathers or other church writings. Today's Historical Church Writing is from John Chrysostom:

     "To me," said [Paul], "Who am less than the least of all saints, was this grace given." What grace? "To preach unto the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all men see the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things...."

     Paul himself was sent to the Gentiles, the other apostles to the circumcised. The more marvelous and astonishing commission was given, said Paul, "to me, who am less than the least." This, too, was of grace: that he who was least should have the greatest things entrusted to him; that he should be made the herald of these tidings....

     He calls it a mystery for this reason: neither did the angels know it nor was it manifest to anyone else....Angels knew only this, that "the Lord's portion was His people" (Deuteronomy 32:8-9)....For the Gospel says: "He will save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). Not a word about the Gentiles. But what concerns the Gentiles, the Spirit reveals. The angels knew that the Gentiles were called. But that they were called to the same privileges as Israel, yes, even to sit upon the throne of God, who would ever have expected this? Who would ever have believed?....

     It is evident from what the apostle himself has written that God has done "abundantly above all that we ask or think." For I indeed pray, said Paul, but He of Himself, even without any prayer of mine, will do works greater than all we ask, not simply "greater" nor "abundantly greater," but "exceeding abundantly." And this is evident from "the power that works in us," for neither did we ever ask these things nor did we expect them.

     "Unto Him be the glory," [Paul] concludes, "in the Church and in Christ Jesus, unto all generations forever and ever. Amen."

     -- John Chrysostom

Jesu Juva,
Soli Deo Gloria

LSC Wednesdays #7: Asking Blessings and Returning Thanks

This is a short series of Wednesday postings taking us through Luther's Small Catechism.

LSC WEDNESDAY #6:
HOW THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY SHOULD TEACH HIS HOUSEHOLD TO BLESS THEMSELVES IN THE MORNING AND IN THE EVENING

MORNING PRAYER
In the morning, when you rise, you shall bless yourself with the holy cross and say,

In the name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger. And I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and all evil, so that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, so that the wicked foe may have no power over me. Amen.

EVENING PRAYER
In the evening, when you go to bed, you shall bless yourself with the holy cross and say:

In the name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have graciously kept me this day. And I pray, forgive me all my sins, where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, so that the wicked foe may have no power over me. Amen.

HOW THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY SHOULD TEACH HIS HOUSEHOLD TO ASK A BLESSING AND RETURN THANKS

‹ASKING A BLESSING›
The children and servants shall go to the table with folded hands, reverently, and say:

The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in due season. You open Your hand; You satisfy the desire of every living thing. [Psalm 145:15–16]

Then say the Lord’s Prayer and the following prayer:

Lord God, Heavenly Father, bless us and these Your gifts, which we receive from Your bountiful goodness, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

RETURNING THANKS
Likewise after the meal they shall reverently and with folded hands say:

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.
He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that cry. His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor His pleasure in the legs of a man, but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His steadfast love. [Psalm 136:1; 147:9–11]

We thank You, Lord God, Father, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, for all Your benefits, who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.

Concordia : The Lutheran Confessions. Edited by Paul Timothy McCain. St. Louis, MO : Concordia Publishing House, 2005, S. 344

Jesu Juva,
Soli Deo Gloria

Pentacost: It ain't about speaking in tongues...

Pentecost
O.T. was called “Feast of Harvest” (Exodus 23:16) or “Feast of Weeks” (Exodus 34:22)
N.T.  calls it “Pentecost” because it was 50 days after Passover.
“Das Boot/U Boot” VS. “Submarine” Speaking in Tongues with translation 1 Cor. 14 at its finest.

What would happen: In the temple courts, the farmers would present a “free will offering”, as they were blessed, of grain  and recite a liturgy that we see in Deuteronomy 26. Israelites in Egypt, became a great nation, harsh treatment from Egyptians, God heard their cries and delivered them to the land he had promised.  Towards the tail end: “I have not transgressed any of your commandments, nor have I forgotten them.” As a result of this covenant, The Lord would declare them his people, as he had promised, that they would KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS and he would set them high above all nations and that they would be a people holy to Him.  This was all said in Hebrew. Later Jewish tradition would make an oath to the covenant part of the Pentecost celebration.

In terms of Law and Gospel, this was an intense covenant of Law.
Acts 2:1-21
Acts 2:1. ESV “When the day of Pentecost arrived”  KJV “When the day of Pentecost was fully come”
Luke’s verbiage in the Greek R.C.H. Lenski:  It was here, time was filling up and up towards what was going to happen. Not merely Pentecost, but the fulfillment of what Christ had said to the disciples in Acts 1:5,8 “for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. “ 

Acts 2:2-4
Luke gives us descriptions: “sound like a mighty rushing wind” and “tongues as of fire”. These were supernatural occurrences. Here we see the fulfillment of what Christ and John the Baptizer had said. They had been baptized by the Holy Spirit and with fire and were now speaking in tongues, more appropriately, earthly languages that the Holy Spirit was giving them. They were doing this loudly and intelligibly, as they were given by the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:5 devout – they were here for Pentecost, the ones from outside of Israel were known as the Jews of the Diaspora, or the “dispersion.” And they were that because of wars and persecutions, their business activities, they had been spread out throughout the Roman Empire and beyond it. 

Acts 2:6-11They heard the “sound like a mighty rushing wind” and came to check to see what was going on and found the disciples speaking in the crowds native languages. During the observation of the Feast of Pentecost, the liturgy that they were reciting was going to be in Hebrew.  From the Galilee area common language would have been Aramaic and otherwise the universal language would have been Greek. But they weren’t hearing Hebrew or these other two universal languages, they were hearing the articulated, fluent, accurate languages of their native homes. They know that the disciples are from Galilee and that there is no way that they could know all these languages fluently. So they don’t understand how this is happening. Well, they probably didn’t know what Jesus had said to the disciples, that this very event was going to happen, but hopefully they would have know what the Prophet Joel had said, which Peter is going to remind them of shortly.

Then we get the running list of where all these people are from
Acts 2:9-11
These people are from literally all throughout their known world and they are hearing the disciples speaking fluently in the crowds native languages, declaring the mighty works of God. This wasn’t small talk, it wasn’t mere conversation in the crowds native languages. There was no (Como te llamas?/ Me llamo Leif Halvorson. Y tu? / Me llamo Pedro. Soy de aqui? / No soy de aqui. Soy de Sidney, Montana en Los Estatdos Unidos/ Ohh)
There was  no exchange of names, not talk about where they were from or other trivial things such as this.They were boldly, loudly, accurately, articulately declaring the mighty works of God

Acts 2:12 Obviously some Lutheran’s in the crowd. People who’ve gone through confirmation, remember the continual question from Luther’s small catechism? What does this mean? These people genuinely wanted to know what was going on. It’s possible at this moment that the Holy Spirit is starting to work in people who are in the crowd.

But then there was “the other people”
Acts 2:13
They hear the word of God and they try to dismiss it by making fun of the disciples. Often times, we’re like these people. At first glance, all that they are doing is making fun of the disciples. But what they are actually doing is much different than doing something that might be considered as innocent as poking jabs at the disciples.  And at this Peter throws down the hammer.

Acts 2:14
In other words cut the wisecracks and listen up
Acts 2:15: (analogue hand clock, opposite side) it was the 3^rd hour of the day, which was the time of prayer and sacrifice. On this day they didn’t have their first meal until after the sacrifice, and for this meal they would only eat bread. They would only drink wine when they ate meat and they only had meat at evening meal or their main meal of the day.  The disciples and everyone else who was there for Pentecost would have adhered to this. So Peter is kind of saying to these wise cracks is “look you morons, you know what time it is, now one has had anything yet.”

Peter continues
Acts 2:16-21
You see, the wisecracks weren’t just mocking the disciples, they were mocking God’s word. And to mock God’s word is to mock God. Here we’re seeing the start of the fulfillment of what Joel had said, the rest of which would be completed later. Acts 2:17: Prophesy is not just the foretelling of future events. It also means to utter forth, declare, a thing which can only be known by divine revelation, to know and believe that Christ is Lord of all, to teach, refute, reprove, admonish and comfort others. This right now, because of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, this pouring out of the Holy Spirit on to the disciples, Peter and the disciples where prophesying. This could not have happened if it had not been the start of the last days mentioned, which could not have started had it not been that Christ was what and who he was. 

These guys thought they were merely mocking the disciples, but in mocking the disciples, because of what the disciples were doing, they were mocking the scriptures that were now beginning to be fulfilled, thereby mocking Christ. Their faith was in what they were doing. They actually thought that they were keeping their covenant, despite the fact that they weren’t and Christ had fulfilled it for them. This is far worse than what it seems. To put it into perspective, it’s a though if they were there at the crucifixion, looking up at Christ as He’s hanging on the cross and saying, “Naw, I’m good.” They thought it was about what they were doing.

How often are we like this? Every time we have disregard for God’s word. Naw, I’m good. Every time we treat baptism and communion flippantly. Naw, I’m good. Every time we hear a sermon and think “I sure hope Benny was listening to this because he could sure benefit from this” ignoring our guilt and the Holy Spirit who’s trying to convict us of our sin, to bring us to a point of contrition that we might come to confession and repentance. Naw, I’m good. I’m doing fine. I’m doing good stuff. Like these wisecracks, we daily deny the work of Christ.

This event was far more than what it appeared to be at first glance. This unfolding of events was not about the start of a doctrine concerning speaking foreign languages through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. This was about the end of the old Pentecost Covenant, which was a Law covenant to the Jews, and the start of the new covenant. A Gospel covenant.

In comparing the two, Law and Gospel, What does the law do? It kills us, destroys us, it convicts us. It shows us how incapable and insignificant we are. It shows us that there is no way possible for us to keep it. When the Law  does its work, and it crushes us, it reveals to us where we really are. Lifeless and hopeless. It brings us to rock bottom. We have absolutely nothing left and have no hope as we face our reality. Suffering the wrath of our righteous, angry God.

Under this old covenant, the people were trying to satisfy the demands of the law but they were incapable of keeping it!  Remember towards the tail end of the liturgy that they would say when giving their offering at Pentecost?  “I have not transgressed any of your commandments, nor have I forgotten them.” Well shucks, you can’t go but 5 minutes, if not sooner, and they’d already broken it. The truth is, they were completely incapable of keeping them, despite the fact that they thought and hoped that they could, they were dead in their trespasses to sin.
But didn’t we say that this was the start of the new covenant?
Yes. Here, with the baptism of the disciples with the Holy Spirit, we see God making possible for the whole of humanity, not just the Jews, to know of Christ and Him crucified, that he had fulfilled the law for them because they couldn’t. That their sins were forgiven through the work of Christ alone. That they might believe and be saved.

Many of these people who were at Pentecost came from across the Roman Empire and beyond. They heard the disciples declare the mighty works of the Lord in their own native languages. So they listened. They would soon leave and disperse back all across the Roman Empire and beyond. And those who believed would take the message of Christ with them, thereby enabling the spreading if the Gospel across the whole world. The end of an impossible Law covenant and the start of this Gospel covenant. Pentecost is about God intervening that the world might know. It’s not about you and what you think you do. It’s about Christ FOR you. You and I are dead. So Christ came down to us to give us life. Christ accomplished this for the world. This is Christ for you. Believe it.

Jesu Juva,
Soli Deo Gloria

Hymn Monday - "How Precious Is the Book Divine"

Today's hymn, "How Precious Is the Book Divine" (#285) is from "The Lutheran Hymnal" (c) 1941 Concordia Publishing House.

How precious is the Book Divine, By inspiration giv'n!
Bright as a lamp its doctrines shine To guide our souls to heav'n.

Its light, descending from above Our gloomy world to cheer,
Displays a Savior's boundless love And brings His glories near.

It shows to man his wand'ring ways And where his feet have trod,
And brings to view the matchless grace Of a forgiving God.

O'er all the straight and narrow way Its radiant beams are cast;
A light whose never weary ray Grows brightest at the last.

Jesu Juva,
Soli Deo Gloria

The Start of Funny Fridays!

Here's the start of Funny Fridays where we'll be having postings of a humorous natures. What a better place to start than with the folks at Lutheran Satire.



Jesu Juva,
Soli Deo Gloria

Historical Church Writings #4: "Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord"

Today is Historical Church Writing Thursday. Each Thursday will feature the writings of the church fathers, reformation fathers or other church writings. Today's Historical Church Writing is from the "Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord":    

"These two doctrines, we believe and confess, should always be diligently taught in God's Church forever, even to the end of the world. They must be taught with the proper distinction of which we have heard: (a) throught he preaching of the Law and it's threats in the ministry of the New Testament the hearts of impenitent people may be terrified, and (b) they may be brought to a knowlege of their sins and to repentance. This must not be done in such a way that they lose heart and despair in this process. "So then, the law aws our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith" (Galations 3:24); so the Law points and leads us not from Christ, but to Christ, who "is the end of the law" (Romans 10:4). People must be comforted and strengthened again by the preaching of the Holy Gospel about Christ, our Lord. In other words, to those who believe the Gospel, God forgives all their sins through Christ, adopts them as children for His sake, and out of pure grace -- without any merit on their part -- justifies and saves them. However, He does not do this in such a way that they may abuse God's grace and may sin hoping for grace [Romans 6:1]. Paul thoroughly and forcefully shows this in the distinction between the Law and the Gospel (2 Corinthians 3:6-9)."

     -- Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord V 24-26

Jesu Juva,
Soli Deo Gloria