May 2020 - Pastor Rich Eddy

Happy Birthday, Church!

I feel a song coming on . . .

Happy birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Church, Happy Birthday to you!

I wanted to attach an audio file of me singing that song, but for some reason the computer kept crashing every time I tried . . .

Nevertheless, I do want to wish the Church a happy birthday, with wishes for many more to come. And which church is that? Is it my church, St. Peter’s in Elk Grove, California, which incorporated 97 years ago this month? No. How about the other St. Peter’s, that one in Rome built in 1506 and serving as the cathedral for the Pope and his homies? No. Or how about the oldest church building in the world, the Dura-Europos Church in Aleppo, Syria, dating from AD 241? Still no. It’s not any particular congregation or worship space I am wishing Happy Birthday to, but to the Church (with a capital C), the great body of believers spread throughout the world, whose unity we confess every week in the Apostles’ Creed as the “holy catholic Church” or “holy Christian Church,” or the Nicene Creed as the “one holy catholic and apostolic Church.” Yep, that Church!

So, why that Church? Do we know when it was born, that our celebration right now would be timely? The New Testament uses the Greek word, ἐκκλησία (ekklēsía, ek-klay-see’-ah)*, those who are called out from the world to follow God, to refer to the Church.

In one sense, the Church has existed wherever and whenever people have responded to God’s call. That would include the Old Testament patriarchs and saints, the gatherings of the Israelites in the Tabernacle and Temple, and the congregations of the local synagogues. And, in another sense, you could call the gathering of Christ’s disciples a church, in that they, too, were “called out” to gather together and follow God. Using these understandings of church, we can’t really pick a day when the Church began.

However, there is a day that Christians throughout the centuries have marked as the birthday of the Church, and that is the Day of Pentecost, the day when the Holy Spirit came upon the earliest followers of Christ, and fulfilled Christ’s own promise, recorded in John and Luke:

John 16:7-8 “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.”

John 16:13 “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

Luke 24:49 “And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

Acts 2 contains the record of the Holy Spirit’s outpouring upon the first believers. The event was accompanied by outward signs which gave evidence of the spiritual reality:

“When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

These visible and audible phenomena were, well, phenomenal. But the greatest miracle of all that day took place after Peter explained what was happening, along with the Gospel, to a skeptical crowd, and three thousand believed and were baptized. The Birthday of the Church, indeed!

Today is Pentecost. What had just been a Jewish holiday celebrating the first harvest and the giving of the Law by Moses, is now also a Christian holy day celebration. So how do we celebrate this special birthday? We do it in many ways like any birthday: with cake and ice cream! Okay, that’s my idea, but before you reject my recommendation, consider the ways that Pentecost celebrations are already just like birthday parties:

We get together. Okay, so this year is different for most of us; we usually gather to celebrate Pentecost. This great day took place on a Sunday (the first day of the week) on the fiftieth day (seven weeks) after the resurrection of Christ. Likewise, it is still celebrated on a Sunday, the Lord’s Day, when Christians gather for weekly worship.
We dress up festively. Many Christians wear red to church (remember when we used to go to church?). Red ties, shirts, dresses, sweaters, socks – you name it. Just as congregations use red paraments on the altar and red stoles on their pastors, congregants wear red to symbolize the coming of the Holy Spirit and the flames which rested on the disciples. Red is also fitting as a sign of fire as a purifying (Malachi 3:2) and judging agent (Matthew 3:11).
We sing songs. Besides “Happy Birthday” we also sing songs like, “Holy Spirit, Ever Dwelling,” and “O Day Full of Grace.“
We get gifts. Just as the “birthday girl” or “birthday boy” gets gifts, so does the Church, whose birthday it is. The Holy Spirit gives gifts to the Church, both individually and corporately (1 Corinthians 12). These spiritual gifts equip the Church and its members to carry out the ministry to which Christ has entrusted it: the proclamation of the Gospel to the world and the making of disciples through the Word and the Sacraments. Matthew 28 quotes Jesus’ charge to his followers: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” The Spirit’s gifts help us to do just that, as well as strengthen our faith and comfort us in our difficulties. The Scriptures list some of those gifts, noting that we don’t all get the same cookie-cutter present. One size does not fit all. Instead, each is given with a special purpose matched to who we are and what we need most, unlike that one gift you got back in junior high you had to accept with a forced smile and a “Thanks so much, Uncle Mort and Aunt Gerty, I’ve always wanted one of these.” But whatever wonderful gift the Holy Spirit gives you, the best of his presents is his presence.
We have flames! Some might call them candles, but whatever they are, most birthday parties have lit candles, one for each year of age, that the birthday child has to blow out. People my age must apply for permits from the local fire district to follow that tradition; unfortunately, my birthday falls during California’s fire season, so I have been told, “don’t bother.” On the original Pentecost tongues “as of fire” rested on the believers, and though we don’t see those flames appear visibly today, we do have Paul’s instructions in 2 Timothy 1:6, “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God.” We are not to put out (quench) the Spirit, but use the gifts he has given. 1 Thessalonians 5:19 says, “Do not quench the Spirit.”
We send thank-you notes. Our prayers of thanksgiving, our offerings, our service given to others, are all responses to the gifts which God has given us, the greatest being forgiveness and eternal life. Pentecost is a Sunday, which like every other Sunday, is a miniature Easter, a day to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and the giving of the Holy Spirit. For these things we are truly grateful, which calls for our response. We do this in worship, but also in all relationships, loving God and our neighbor at Christ wants us to do. We don’t keep silent when someone gives us something wonderful; nor do we say thanks and throw away the gift. Likewise, when God gives us gifts through his Spirit, we say thank you and show our appreciation by putting the gift to use.
We eat ice cream and cake. Okay, I tried to sneak this one in again. But, don’t you agree it’s a great idea?

Today (May 31, 2020) is Pentecost. So celebrate it well, even if we are kept from gathering and celebrating this significant event as we would rather do. And just as the same God who created the Church holds us in his hand, let us hold his great creation in our hearts, and celebrate his wonderful gift.

Happy Birthday, Church!

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be grateful to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Acts 2, Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12.

* You can see this Greek word living today in the words various Romance languages use for church: la chiesa (Italian), la iglesia (Spanish), and l’eglise (French). Our English word come from Germanic roots: die Kirche. All have feminine grammatical gender, which fits since the Church is the Bride of Christ!

Let My People Go!

It’s Sunday today, and once again Karen and I are attending church: on YouTube on our TV in our house. Since March 22 (for 2 months now), this has been our modus operandi – our way of doing things when it comes to worshiping and participating in the life of our church. That, and dropping off our offering envelopes (with the offerings in them, of course).

We’re not worshiping/participating this way because it’s our preference (because it’s not), nor because it allows me to sleep in on Sundays and still attend church (though that is a nice thing). Nor is it because this method of church is better than an in-person service (it’s not, though the pastors and staff are doing a very good job in both content and video quality). We are doing church this way for one reason: it’s the law.

Not that the law requires us to hold such online services, but the governor and other government officials have prohibited church gatherings as part of the closures and social distancing ordered to slow or stop the spread of the coronavirus. In other words, the government has stopped us from holding church services in person.

Which is a problem.

Setting aside the statistics that half of all churches in the U.S. have less than 80 attendance on a Sunday, or that precautions could be taken to limit actual physical contact within sanctuaries, there are serious issues of state interference in the religious freedoms guaranteed to Americans by our Bill of Rights. Of the many freedoms enumerated in the Bill, the very first one cited – before speech, the press, assembly, trial by jury, or arms-bearing – is the freedom of religion. It was that important to our country’s founders, and it is still that important to us today.

While most people have accepted such government interference on a short-term, emergency basis, and churches have cooperated for the love of the people who could die from this nasty virus, we are now seeing protests and lawsuits against religious restrictions. Even the US Justice Department has joined one lawsuit against a state that was overly zealous in persecuting its churches for holding services. One example of such excessive state control is the state that fined people who attended a drive-in service where everyone stayed in their separate cars: the police even recorded the participants’ license plates. Such selective and over-zealous enforcement does seem like persecution when liquor stores and cannabis shops remained open as “essential” businesses.

Our own governor has recently announced some easing of restrictions regarding retail businesses, but still categorizes churches as a “Phase 3” group of activities that must remain closed for weeks – or months – to come until the government decides they may re-open.

Which, as I said, is a problem.

Upon hearing that, I was reminded of the old African-American spiritual song, “Go Down, Moses.” I would sing it for you, but that would be banned by every government in the world and not protected by the Bill of Rights. Here are the words:

When Israel was in Egypt’s land,
Let My people go!
Oppressed so hard they could not stand,
Let My people go!

Refrain:
Go down, Moses,
Way down in Egypt’s land;
Tell old Pharaoh
To let My people go!

This anti-slavery song is based on the events just preceding the Exodus, when Moses went before Pharaoh and told him God’s command that the Egyptian ruler allow the Israelites to leave Egypt. This command begins in Exodus 5:1 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” As we know, Pharaoh refused God’s command numerous times, in spite of the plagues the Lord sent upon Egypt. Not until the final plague, when all the first-born males died, did Pharaoh relent and let them leave.

Hmmm – a deadly plague that killed people who were not sheltering at home? The call on the authorities to let the people go out and worship God? Interesting similarities, for sure. Of course, there are huge differences, too – the people were ordered in not by Pharaoh, but by God, and they were protected by the blood of the lamb on their doors (a symbol of Christ and his shed blood) and not by face masks. Still, as I hear the song in my head, I can’t help but say to our rulers:

Let my people go!

It’s time to reopen our churches, or more correctly, to be allowed to do so. This is a civil rights issue, of course, and an expression of our rights as Americans, rights endowed to us by our Creator, and not by government, according to our Declaration of Independence. But as always, we cannot separate our social realm from the biblical and spiritual. So consider the following:

1. The Church is an essential service. Humans are by God’s design spiritual beings, and need the hear his Word and comfort at all times, let alone in high-stress times of danger. Bottles of water and rolls of Northern tissue* have their roles (or rolls), but are no substitute for the encouragement in faith provided by believers gathering and carrying out the public ministry which Christ entrusted to his Church. Even those most in need of spiritual care – the sick in hospitals, the lonely seniors at home, the grieving families who have lost loved ones – have been shut off from personal in-person ministry by their pastors.

Not only are churches vital to their members, they are also essential to their communities. People are so used to there being social services and agencies, they forget that most such care-providing organizations (and their workers) only exist because of Christians who put their love into practice to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, and clothe the naked. Food and clothing banks, housing, night schools, relief efforts during catastrophes, and even hospitals, have their origins and major support from churches and individual believers.

Many of our national founders, including John Witherspoon and Ben Franklin, spoke of religion’s value in maintaining a self-governing republic. George Washington said in his farewell Address, “religion and morality are indispensable supports” for “political prosperity.” He said, “Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion.” The very ability of a society to survive is the self-regulation of faith and obedience to godly commandments. There aren’t enough police or jails (as we are learning) to control everyone who might do evil. Only the fear of God allows us to serve and not harm each other.

2. God commands us to respect and obey government. This is true, even when we don’t like our government or didn’t elect it; after all, how many Christians in biblical times actually voted for the Roman emperor? Key Scriptures tell us,

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” (1 Timothy 2:1-2)

“Jesus said to them, ‘Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.'” (Mark 12:17)

“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. . . . For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.” (Romans 13:1, 6-8)

Lutherans especially have recognized the two ways in which God provides for his people: through his “proper work,” symbolized by the right hand, which is the Church and its proclamation of the Gospel; and his “alien work,” symbolized by the left hand, which is the government, which acts to protect people and punish evil (Romans 13:3-4). Note that Moses appealed to Pharaoh to let the people go, and they did not leave until Pharaoh allowed it. They didn’t rebel or fight their ruler, but obeyed God and let him handle Pharaoh to get them permission to leave. Likewise, we must pray and let God change our leaders’ hearts when he knows the time is right.

3. But God also commands a higher authority: himself. Note that when Jesus said to render to Caesar, he also said to render to God that which is his. When the two commands conflict, as they have throughout history, the obligation to God is greater than our obligation to government. That is why Christians have always met to worship, hear God’s Word, and receive the sacraments even in times when Christianity was outlawed, Christians were persecuted and even martyred, Bibles were burned, services and catechism were banned, and priests/pastor jailed.

We have a higher calling to obey God and not men. When the authorities ordered Peter and the other apostles to stop preaching in Jesus’ name, he replied in Acts 5:29-30, “We must obey God rather than men.” When the Chinese communist government expelled all foreign missionaries and banned churches, believers formed churches in their homes and the faith grew exponentially. When the Nazis tried to run the churches in Germany by assigning approved “bishops,” believers formed “The Confessing Church” and remained loyal to Christ. When ancient Rome called Christianity an illicit religion and banned it, the faithful still met to worship and pray, even if the location of their final church service became the arena. As you can see from these examples, obedience to God is not contingent on happy and easy times. As the Lord said in Deuteronomy 4:30, “When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice.”

4. When we re-open, we must still obey the greatest commandment: to love God with our whole heart and our neighbor as ourselves. We still have the obligation to each other which Christians have always had, to protect and care for each other. This means we should still follow the components of preventive health: physical separation, masking, cleaning of surfaces, and frequent hand-washing. We can find ways to have church that take these principles into account. We can pass the peace without shaking hands or giving a “holy kiss” (2 Corinthians 13:12). We can commune safely while spaced apart and the pastors using gloves (though we may need to drop our masks to actually partake of the bread and wine!). Because we care about each other, we can take the right steps to protect each other, but that should be our responsibility, and not by the government’s permission.

This is a difficult time for the Church, and for Christians who long to gather once again. We need each other; we are all parts of the body of Christ which need each other to function (See Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12). At some point, we need to stand up and assert our rights as believers, acting respectfully and peacefully toward the government, yet standing firm in fulfilling our greater obligation to God, even should it cost us penalties, for as Peter said, “We must obey God rather than men.”

So, to all those who wield authority over us during this pandemic and beyond, I repeat, “Let my people go!”

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Romans 13:1-9, 1 Corinthians 12, Acts 5:17-29, Exodus 5-12

* Like my previous blog in which I cited Charmin, I am just being fair, and am not endorsing Northern nor receiving any payment for naming or using it. Although, if rolls of either (or both) showed up mysteriously on my doorstep, I would be tempted to keep them . . .

In These Certain Times

There are two disciplines of study that are important to us as we continue to face the current pandemic and the consequent shut-down of our society and economy. The first of these is the study of history – what has happened in the past. The second is the study of theology – specifically what the Bible says about what has happened in the past and what will happen now and in the future. To these could be added a third: the viewing of funny cat and dog videos to keep us from taking everything, including ourselves, so seriously.

Why do I say these are so important? I say that because I think history and theology help us to keep our current situation in a proper perspective, especially when just about every media story, government decree, and commercial advertisement uses phrases like, “these uncertain times” and “these unprecedented times” as part of their pronouncements. But are the times in which we are now living really uncertain and unprecedented?

No, they are not.

While our current situation in America is unprecedented in our lifetimes, and there is a degree of uncertainty regarding the virus’ final medical and economic impacts, history and theology teach us that there is nothing new (or unprecedented) in what is happening. Instead, we learn that disease and social disruption have been the norm, and that mankind has suffered war, pestilence, famine, and death (the Four Horsemen of Revelation 6:1-8), as far more certain than peace and prosperity. It seems, rather, that our recent past has been a “bubble” of prosperity, a condition which itself has been unprecedented when compared to the historical reality of human struggle.

So let’s look briefly at what history and theology teach us about today’s difficult times:

1. Pandemics are not unprecedented. The corona virus is nasty and has killed lots of people so far, and will certainly continue to claim lives. But, it’s not the first, nor the worst, of widespread and deadly plagues throughout history which have killed millions and devastated entire nations. The most famous are the bubonic plague outbreaks of the 1300’s that killed up to 200 million people, including one-third of Europe; London’s Great Plague of 1665 that killed 20% of the city; the Spanish Flu of 1918-20, which killed 50 million worldwide and 675,000 in the US; the Asian Flu of 1957 (1.1 million globally and 110,000 in the US); the 1968 Hong Kong Flu (1 million worldwide and 100,000 in the US); the H1N1 “Swine Flu” of 2009 (500,000 total and 18,000 in the US); and HIV/AIDS which has infected 65 million people and killed 25 million worldwide. And these don’t count seasonal flu epidemics or unrecorded diseases from ancient and prehistoric times. Simply put, contagious diseases have always been a threat to mankind, and likely always will be, in spite of medical advances and victories over certain threats, such as smallpox.

2. Economic hardships are not unprecedented. This point seems hardly even necessary to state, let alone elaborate. Again, while we’ve become accustomed to being financially strong as a society, the opposite has been almost universally the case until the last century in the West. Only recently have Third World countries been able to rise out of poverty, and even so, many have much further to go. And in our own country, as wealthy as we have been, we have faced multiple recessions and depressions, including the Great Depression (1929-1939); the Savings and Loan crisis of the mid- 1980s; the dot-com bubble; the stock market crash of 2000; the Great Recession (2007-2009); and the sub-prime mortgage crisis of 2008-10. Of course, for most people throughout history, the idea of investment losses is irrelevant, since they had little or nothing to spend and nothing to invest.

3. Shortages of food and supplies are not unprecedented. Right now, stores are posting signs at their entrances saying which in-demand supplies are out, or limiting the number of each item which may be purchased. Some say, “Out of toilet paper” or “Out of hand sanitizer,” and others, “Limit one gallon of milk per customer.” That’s a new thing for us, but I remember seeing my parents’ ration books from World War II, in which there were tear-out coupons for purchasing such basics as flour, sugar, and butter. Other situations have been worse: consider the Irish Potato Famine of 1845 to 1852, in which at least one million Irish starved to death (and another million emigrated to the US). Even more tragic (and recent: 1959-61) was the Great Famine of China, which saw the starvation deaths of 45 million people, due to the communist government’s enforced policies. So far, at least, we still have plenty of food and other supplies during this pandemic (except for the Charmin*).

4. Uncertainty is not unprecedented. As Ben Franklin once said, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Beyond those two things, just about everything else carries with it uncertainty: our health, our jobs, our friends, families, financial situations, and even our marriages. Our longevity, our safety, and our security cannot be surely established, as much as we try. Our reliance on institutions, including our governments and leaders, can be misplaced. Even churches with familiar names on the door can betray our trust that they will teach and preach scriptural truths.

Once again, history shows us the folly of thinking we have a certain future. From villages being overrun by enemy tribes, to droughts and floods, to storms, volcanoes, and tornadoes, to fickle and oppressive rulers, to attacks by animals, to plagues and the depletion of arable lands, people have always faced uncertain futures. Add to those crises the problems caused by greed, theft, adultery, violence, and other sinful behaviors, and mankind has always lived on the brink of survival – and never with a certain future. Besides death and taxes, the other certainty is change, which by its nature ensures uncertainty. Therefore, everything we now consider as being uncertain, have always been uncertain; that uncertainty itself is all that has been certain.

5. So then, where can we find answers to the uncertainties of life and the cycles of danger, disease, destitution, and death? The answer is the Word of God, the Scriptures, and what they reveal about the world: past, present, and future. The good news is that God has made known to us what we need to know about all this.

The Bible is not some magic talisman that we can wave around us to banish all life’s problems. But it does teach us what we need to know to rightly understand what we’re going through: that we were born into a world which is cursed because of sin, both from our first parents and ourselves. God told Adam and Eve that their sin brought a curse upon the world:

“Cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:17-19)

The New Testament affirms this: “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12), and “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). And “just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). As our buddy Ben Franklin told us, death is a certainty – whether from Covid-19 or some other cause.

Because of sin’s curse, we should expect the problems that hit us in life, and find comfort that they are not new to us individually, nor a sign that we are being punished for some specific thing that we have done. We might just be experiencing what is common to mankind: the bad along with the good.

Now, I’m not saying we should ignore the coronavirus or accept life’s harms fatalistically; God’s word compels believers to ease suffering and help bring healing to all who suffer. Christ compels us to feed the poor, bind the wounds of the injured, and clothe the naked. Therefore, we should fight this illness with medicines, smart lifestyle behaviors, and hopefully, vaccines. What we learn now will help us fight the next disease that comes along.

But there is something else we learn from the Scriptures, that there are other things, wonderful things, that are even more certain than death and taxes: God’s love, God’s promises, God’s forgiveness, and eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. Because “there is no variation or shadow due to change” in God (James 1:17), and “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases” (Lamentations 3:22), his promises will not change nor end. “God is not a man that he should lie” (Numbers 23:19), so we can trust what he has promised.

Therefore, though mankind has endured tribulations in the past, though we go through tribulations now, and though people will face some horrible tribulations to come in the future, God’s promises will not change. The prophet Isaiah tells us, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever” (Isaiah 40:8).

Thanks to our Lord, Jesus Christ, and to his birth, death, and resurrection, God’s greatest promise has already been fulfilled, and we can look forward to eternal life, when God will “wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

So then, what’s this about our living in unprecedented and uncertain times? Not so much, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end he will stand upon the earth!” (Job 19:25). Of that, I am certain! Amen, come Lord Jesus!

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give your peace. Amen.

Read: Revelation 21; Genesis 3; Lamentations 3:1-24

* No endorsement of this particular brand is intended, nor money received.