Odds & Ends #3

Once again, here are a few items that I’ve been holding onto, that I have wanted to share with you in a less-than-full-article manner. So, here they are, in no particular order:

A. The benediction at the end of each blog: Those of you who regularly attend our church services recognize the benediction that appears at the end of each of my blog postings. It is roughly the same as what the pastors proclaim at the end of each church service: “The Lord bless you and keep you, etc.” Where does that come from, or do we just make it up each week as something that sounds nice to say? While the actual wording varies a little based on the translation that is used, the original blessing is found in Number 6:22-27, and reads like this in the ESV: “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, “Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, ‘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.’ “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.” This blessing was commanded by the Lord God, who told Moses that Aaron and the other priests were to bless the people with these words. Because the command was given to Aaron, this has come to be known as the Aaronic Blessing. Christian churches have adopted its use for their services as well. As I mentioned, due to a translation difference, we may say “favor” instead of “countenance,” since the latter is no longer common in everyday speech, but the meaning is the same. You may have noticed that I have switched over to the ESV version of the benediction (which word comes from the Latin word for blessing: benedictionem, from bene [well] and dicere [to speak]).

B. Indulgences: With October 31st fast approaching, I am reminded once again of the theses which Martin Luther nailed to the church door 500 years ago. The primary theme of those Ninety-five Theses was the Roman Catholic practice of indulgences. An indulgence, as defined by Rome, is “The remission before God of the temporal punishment due for sins already forgiven” (Catholic Glossary of the Archdiocese of St. Louis). Let me unpack the meaning of that theological statement: Catholic doctrine agrees that the sins of believers are forgiven by Christ’s sacrifice, but there are still punishments to be suffered by the believer after death. Death itself is one punishment (since forgiven Christians still die), but to the Catholics, there are still many temporal (that is temporary, time-related) punishments which must be laid upon believers after death and before they are “purged” and allowed into heaven. Their guilt is gone, but punishments remain. The punishments are said to be agonizing and hellish, but only temporary, though the length of time to be punished may go on for millennia. As I wrote previously, such doctrines rob Christ of his glory and allow the Church to exert a fearful control over its members, as the Church leaders are the ones with the power to shorten the time of punishment.  In Luther’s day, the pope sold indulgences to raise funds for building St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, and for fighting the Muslim invasion into Europe. A typical believer would pay to see special relics at the churches (such as the bones of saints, pieces of the Cross, straw from Jesus’ manger, or even fire from the burning bush) or just pay cash directly for a certificate of remission. One collector of such payments was named Johann Tetzel, who traveled Germany collecting funds with the promise: “As in the box the money rings, the soul from Purgatory springs.” Luther challenged the practice, insisting on true repentance for forgiveness of sins, and asking, “Why does not the Pope deliver all souls at the same time out of Purgatory for the sake of most holy love and on account of the bitterest distress of those souls?” rather than charging them money to do so.

We should note that indulgences are still offered by today’s Popes, though usually in exchange for good works. For example, in the Jubilee Year of our Lord 2000, Pope John Paul II offered a special indulgence to Catholics: they could look forward to spending one less day in purgatory for each day they refrained from smoking or doing drugs. Interestingly, a new relic – a vial of Pope John Paul II’s blood – is even now being taken around the world for veneration.

C. My Parents the Gangsters? In my recent articles extolling the wonderful legacy I have received from my parents, I didn’t have room to tell about their brushes with Prohibition Era gangsters. First, my mom: she and a girlfriend were enjoying a day at one of Chicago’s Lake Michigan beaches, when a good looking young man approached her and asked her out. He told her he made a good lasagna, and invited her over to have some. She blushed, but recognized him as Ralph Capone, Jr., nephew of the infamous Al Capone. She declined the invitation, and later said she was glad she did, because she knew the woman who married him and saw how that woman became hardened by the kind of life the Capones lived. Even so, whenever Mom told that story, even into her final years, her eyes still twinkled as she would say, “He was so handsome!” For my dad, I can’t prove such contact (other than moving to Chicago and marrying someone asked out by a Capone), but the circumstantial evidence is there: Fact #1 – my dad was raised in a town in central Florida, a town close to where Ma Barker and her gangster sons moved in 1935. The gang was discovered because the boys went out shooting ducks with their “Tommy guns,” which local farmers reported hearing. Fact #2 – before moving to hide out in Florida, the Barkers spent time in Chicago, the same city where my mom was living. Coincidence? Maybe. . . Fact #3 – The Barkers were from Lawrence, Kansas, the same town where my dad was born. And finally, Fact #4 – the first house where my dad lived in Lawrence was on – wait for it – Barker Street. Fact #5 – my dad married a woman who was in the favor of at least one Capone. I rest my case. It’s amazing they both turned out to be as good as they were. It must have been the influence of their kids . . .

Until later, 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: Number 6:22-27, 2 Corinthians 5:6-8, and Exodus 20:12