Pastor Rich Eddy

The other day I came across a video about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German Lutheran theologian and pastor who was executed by the Nazis in 1945. I have always been interested in his story and in his writings, such as his famous quote about discipleship: “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” (From The Cost of Discipleship, 1937).

What intrigued me was the subject of the video, which was Bonhoeffer’s views on stupidity. Having had some experience in that area, I decided to watch to learn what he said about it – written in one of his final Letters From Prison (1945), shortly before his execution.

Bonhoeffer’s purpose in the letter was to answer the question which so puzzled him, which was how a country so advanced in science, art, literature, and religion as Germany certainly was, could perpetrate the horrors he was witnessing firsthand. His answer was: stupidity. Not so sure of his conclusion, I watched intently. What I saw was not just a critique of Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, but a warning to America in the 2020’s, because much of what he wrote applies to what’s happening here today. So let’s consider what he said, and see if I’m right about the parallels.

First, he was appalled by what he saw in society: an authoritarian regime that allowed no opposition, incited mobs that rioted and destroyed shops and businesses, and the persecution and murder of targeted groups. He wondered how the people had turned into cowards, crooks, and criminals.

Second, his answer was that the people had become stupid. By stupid he didn’t mean mentally deficient or uneducated; he meant people who closed their eyes and ears to the truth around them, closing their minds, and yielding their independence and autonomy to those who took power.

Third, stupidity is not a psychological problem, but a sociological one, which is fostered by social group interactions. You don’t inherit it from your parents, but you “catch” it from other people around you. Also, it is not an intellectual problem, but a moral one – the equivalent to what the Bible calls “foolishness.”

Fourth, he said that you cannot reason with or argue with a stupid person. Stupid people are secure and self-satisfied with their prejudices; they are willfully stupid. They speak in slogans and catch-phrases, as if under a spell. If you disagree with them, they become irritated and go on the attack. They are dangerous.

When I got to this point in the video, I sat back and said, “Wow!” It was like watching the news: government mandates, mobs smashing and looting stores, angry people shouting at each other, absence of any civil discourse, public shaming of certain groups, mindless slogans, and moral failures everywhere. Like Bonhoeffer, I found myself asking, “How can a country so blessed as we have been, with our freedoms, prosperity, and resources, have fallen into what Bonhoeffer called, stupidity?”

The core problem predates our situation, or even Nazi Germany. It was known back in biblical times, when the nation of Israel turned away from the true God to worship idols, even when God gave them every gift, creating and preserving a people out of them. The image that comes to my mind is when the newly liberated nation built a golden calf and worshiped it, saying,  “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” (Exodus 32:4,8).

The problem then, and now, is that people turn their backs on God and become fools. The Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10), and that “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God'” (Psalm 14:1). Foolishness is a moral issue, not an intellectual one, and the Bible equates it with stupidity. In typical Hebrew poetry, the prophet Jeremiah puts foolishness and stupidity together: “For my people are foolish; they know me not; they are stupid children;” (Jeremiah 42:2).  And the basis of their foolishness/stupidity? They don’t know God.

As a nation, we have gone from at least a common set of biblical teachings and references, so that disagreements could be settled by appeal to the one Higher Authority, to a situation where “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6). In Israel’s case, God allowed other nations to enslave them for their disobedience; is he now doing the same regarding the U.S.?

Scripture supports Bonhoeffer’s view of national stupidity., that people won’t listen and cannot be reasoned with:

1. Proverbs 12:15 “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.”
2. Psalm 92:6 “The stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot understand this:”
3. Proverbs 23:9 “Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the good sense of your words.”
4. Proverbs 26:4 “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself.”
5. And finally, Proverbs 29:9, “If a wise man has an argument with a fool, the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet.”

Seeing so many parallels between what Bonhoeffer (and Scripture) said about moral foolishness/stupidity, I was eager to see what solution he might offer for the problem we face today. Unfortunately, here I was disappointed. I was expecting our Lenten call to “Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love” (Joel 2:13). Or maybe a fire and brimstone warning to unbelievers to “seek the Lord while he may be found.” (Isaiah 55:6). But Bonhoeffer’s solution was “liberation,” of the soul certainly, but beginning with external liberation.

I can understand that he would have wanted himself and the other prisoners to be freed from their prison, but Christian history is filled with people who were imprisoned physically for their faith, yet thrived spiritually, holding to the faith and accepting their persecution as a testimony to Jesus Christ. I think of other prisoners who did not become stupid or foolish against God: Paul, Peter, William Tyndale, Martin Luther King, Jr. and many others, including Bonhoeffer himself.

But I do agree with his assertion that there must be an internal liberation, through which a person becomes free of the social and cultural bondage which keeps him or her in a state of stupidity. How is that liberation achieved? The same way that all of us are called out of darkness into the marvelous light of God: by the power of the Holy Spirit working though God’s Word. Only when we love and fear God are we wise; only by his Word do we believe in God and accept his Truth. And it is that Truth of which Jesus spoke when he said, “and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).

So how do we combat the rampant moral stupidity that has infected our country? By holding fast to and proclaiming God’s Word, for it is more than just an argument or point of view; it is the power of God for salvation to all who believe (Romans 1:16), sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). It is a spiritual weapon that brings inward freedom, which we pray will also bring wisdom and external freedom back to our nation, which sorely needs it, for we are in an era of moral stupidity.

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: Psalm 92; Proverbs 29; Hebrews 4:11-13; 

P.S. The video is available at https://youtu.be/ww47bR86wSc  It was posted by Sprouts (not the grocery), www.sproutsschools.com

From time to time, I have posted a blog under the title, “Odds & Ends,” deviating from the usual mini-sermon/essay format to share news, do some “house-keeping,” or explain some things that don’t rise to the level of full blog material. This is the sixth such posting. Some of the comments may be familiar to you, but given that there are a number of new readers, I thought it wise to iterate the new and reiterate the old.

1. The blog address originally began with http:// but now starts with https://. The added letter “s” signifies “secure,” which is a security improvement to the website, provided by the host company. This is to the benefit of both the writer (me) and the reader (you).
2. Many, if not most, websites include paid advertising that pops up alongside or beneath the writers’ articles. This is very common, and is one way for the “bloggist” (Is there such a word? If not, there should be – “blogger” sounds so mundane. . . ) to pay for his or her site, or even to make money, based on the number of views they get. I have decided not to use paid ads, for three reasons. First, because I’m not doing this site to make money, and I can afford the low cost the web hosting company charges. Second, I can write what I believe without looking over my shoulder at sponsors, being afraid to run afoul of their editorial policies. I already have one very special Editor looking over my shoulder regarding my writing – and He is the only one I am accountable to. Third, in most cases the bloggist, er, blogger, does not get to choose which ads appear on the site. I have seen Christian blogs with some very questionable ads, and my immediate reaction has been to ask why the bloggers chose those ads – and then I remember they didn’t have a choice. So, to avoid those mixed messages, I chose not to take ads.
3. Likewise, I do not “harvest” data, either names or email, from my readers to sell to anyone. If you know someone who might like to read my blog, I will be glad to add them to my notification list, but only with their permission.  People can also subscribe on my site to receive notices directly from the blog as soon as I post each new article. This might help if you find my notices getting sent to your spam folder.
4. I find that I’m blogging about twice a month on average (160 blogs so far!), so if you don’t hear from me in over a month, check your spam/junk folders for my notices, or go directly to the blog to catch up.
5. A couple reminders on format: I usually use the English Standard Version (ESV) for my biblical quotations, but occasionally use other versions when useful – such as when a key word is in a version I memorized. In those cases I signify which translation I’m quoting, such as KJV or NIV. Also, I usually don’t capitalize pronouns used for God, using “he, him, and his” instead of “He, Him, and His.” This is not to lessen reverence for God, but to follow the lead of the original biblical languages, which did not capitalize such pronouns, either. At least I don’t use “s/he, ze, or them”! I do capitalize titles used of God, such as Creator, Savior, etc.
6. A few of my articles have been picked up and published in our church’s national bimonthly magazine, The Evangel, such as in the March-April of 2021 issue (#198). That and other back issues of the magazine are available on the website at https://www.taalc.org/the-evangel-magazine.
7. The Bibles pictured in the heading on my blog pages are from my own library. While I was looking online for stock images of books to place in the header and portray my interest in reading, my wife asked me why I didn’t just take a picture of my own books since I had so many to choose from. It was one of those “duh!” moments. She was right of course, so I got out the camera and took the picture you see. We like how it turned out, and besides . . . no royalties! (Unless you want to use it, then let’s talk . . .)

As always, I close with what is called the Aaronic Blessing, a benediction which, in Numbers 6:24-26, the Lord told Moses’ brother, Aaron, to say to the people : 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: Ecclesiastes 12:12; Numbers 6:22-27

On September the 1st, Karen and I made a second trip to Indiana to handle my late sister’s matters, this time to pack up the contents of her 10′ x 10′  storage unit into a 16 foot rental truck. After a couple nights in Indiana, we hit the road for a 2,290 mile drive back to our home in California. Here, we would unload everything into our living room (and family room, and back porch, and. . .) for a safer and more leisurely opening and sorting.

As we hit the road, Karen and I talked about all the stuff my sister had left behind when she passed in mid-July. For the most part, we had no idea what all was in the many boxes, plastic bins, and garbage bags, except that much of it had probably been saved by my father, who had himself passed away in Indiana seven years earlier.

Karen summed up the situation with the true comment, “Well, you can’t take it with you.” But as soon as she said it, we looked at each other, and both blurted out at the same time, “We ARE taking it with us!”

Somewhere in the middle of the six-day journey (we rested on the seventh day), as we barely outran a sudden SNOW storm in Wyoming and dodged hurricane-force winds of 100+ miles per hour in Salt Lake City, I began to wonder whether we should have just abandoned the storage unit and waited for it to appear on the show, Storage Wars, instead.

Now, as we go through the unbelievable quantity of papers, clothes, and various objects, we’re glad we didn’t just abandon it all, since we are finding some incredible family-history items, including old pictures, antique jewelry, watches, and even newspapers from the early 1900s. It’s really a journey back in time, made possible because, well, “You can’t take it with you.” Now we have to figure out what can be saved and how, because we, like our deceased family members, can’t take it with us, either, when our time comes. I’m thinking . . . maybe an Eddy Family Museum or Eddy Presidential Library (don’t laugh; we’re not too old for one of us to be President; we’re still just in our 60s!).

The truth that “we can’t take it with us” when we die has prompted me to ask the question, “Is there anything we can take with us when our time comes?” And after some study and consideration, I believe the answer is “Yes! There are some things we can and will take with us.” But what are they?

First of all, we know that our material possession are NOT on that list. That’s why there are many jokes about people who tried to take their wealth with them:  from the dying guy who begged his wife to bury his money with him when he died, so she wrote a check and stuck it in his coffin; to the guy who cashed in all his money and bought a block of solid gold, only to be asked by St. Peter why he brought a paving brick with him; to the 1938 romantic comedy (and Academy Award winner), You Can’t Take it With You. As King Solomon lamented in Ecclesiastes 2:18-23, you can work hard your whole life to gather wealth, only to have to leave it to those who come after you when you die. Many tombs, from ancient times to the present, are filled with what archaeologists call, “grave goods,” which were placed there to assist the deceased in the “next life.” Of course, since those goods are still in the tombs, it just proves the old saying, “You can’t take it with you.”

So what can we take with us?

1. Our souls/spirits. Theologians debate over the meaning of those terms, and whether they refer to the same thing or not. I’ll use “spirit” to refer to that essential non-material part of our being that defines us as a living being made in the image of God. At the moment of death, our spirits depart our bodies and pass into what we call, “the intermediate state.” Some believe that this temporary period is one of unconscious sleep (“soul-sleep”), but I believe the Scriptures teach a period of consciousness when we are either with Christ and joyously awaiting his return, or held awaiting our judgment apart from him. Evidence for this comes from Jesus’ parable of Lazarus and the rich man, in which the two are found after death to be in two separate places, “Abraham’s side”* and Hades. Both are conscious and in very different conditions (Luke 16:19-31). Further evidence comes from John’s revelation in which he sees the souls of the martyred under the altar in heaven (Revelation 6:9). Also, when 1 Thessalonians 4 describes Christ’s return, it says, “God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep (that is, died)” who will then be raised (resurrected). Since the bodies of the dead will not rise until the resurrection, how can they be with Christ already, unless it is by their spirits?

2. Our bodies. “Wait, pastor, didn’t you just say our spirits leave but our bodies remain? After all, those same tombs holding burial goods are also holding remains of people’s bodies. So how can you say we will take our bodies with us?” Okay, you’re right . . . but so am I, because I’m not speaking of the intermediate state following our bodily deaths, but to the eternal state after the great resurrection of the dead when Christ returns. On that day, the cemeteries will empty and the sea will give up its dead (Revelation 20:13) and our spirits will be reunited with our resurrected bodies so that we will be whole again. But what about our bodies; will they be the condition they were in at our death? Will we be missing parts, suffering from diseases, needing glasses or wheelchairs or oxygen tanks? No, the word of Scripture is clear that we will be made perfect. 1 Corinthians 15 is a wonderful chapter that describes our resurrection to come, stating, “For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality” (verse 53). Paul describes our death to be like the planting of a seed that is sown in weakness and dishonor but then sprouts in strength and honor. Our Creeds attest to this faith when we confess, “I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.” There’s more we would like to know, such as what we will look like, what “age” we will appear to be (I’m guessing 30), and what abilities we will have (will I be able to fly?), but Scripture tells us all we need to know: that we will be raised to eternal life, and that we will enter into the joy of the Lord. In the words of the old gospel hymn, “it’s good enough for me!”**

3. Our memories. This is a little more touchy to assert, since all of us have memories we treasure and want to hold onto, while at the same time having horrible memories we would just as soon forget. Will we remember all our hurts, all our sins, all our mistakes and embarrassments, along with all our joys and blessings? The Bible isn’t clear about this, but I think there are some conclusions we can draw. Since Christ promises to wipe every tear from our eyes (Revelation 21:4) and replace our mourning with joy and laughter (James 4:9, Lamentations 5:15), we can assume that at a minimum, whatever pain or regret our memories cause will be removed. If we do remember, we will see things from a now sinless perspective, and understand God’s purposes in what we went through. We will be so grateful and joyful to be with the Lord that any memories of our sins will just cause us greater joy at God’s mercy and forgiveness. Likewise, I believe we will recount the many blessings which God gave us in our earthly lives, which will result in our greater adoration and worship of the One who blessed us. Will we remember our faith, those special times Christ touched our lives, and our loved ones? Yes, I believe we will. Will you remember my sermons or my blogs? Probably not . . .

4. Our crowns. What we do here and now in this life will impact eternity. Our lives impact the lives of others, whether we give them life through having children, or saving lives from danger, or taking them by accident or on purpose. The immediate effect can be seen, but there can be eternal consequences as well. When we raise a child in the faith, teach someone about Christ and they believe, or do a good work that brings glory to God, we affect lives not only here, but potentially forever. The Bible promises eternal life as a gift to those who believe, and says “there is now no  condemnation for those in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1), but at the same time says we will stand before the Judgment Seat to give account for all we have done (2 Corinthians 5:10). This accounting by those who are saved by faith will be to reveal and reward the good works which we have done (which of course are also by God’s grace and power). Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3 that we will receive a reward for any works that are built on the one sure foundation of Jesus Christ.The degrees of reward will vary, as they should: for I expect Christian martyrs to receive greater reward than I will; but there is no competition or boasting, only joy at what such works accomplish. Christ told of rewarding those who have been faithful with what they were given (Luke 19), and Paul speaks of his converts in the churches of Philippi and Thessaloniki as his crowns: “For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?” (1 Thess. 2:19).

Therefore, I think of our rewards as crowns bestowed by Christ as signs of the eternal blessings he has done through us. And what will we do with those crowns? Will we parade around those streets of gold, strutting and showing them off (“My crown’s bigger than your crown!”)? Naw, we’ll do what the elders do and throw them at the feet of the One who gave us those crowns, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, to whom be all praise and honor and glory and thanks (Revelation 4:9-11). For whatever we accomplish here that will be of eternal merit will be done by God’s will and by his power, so the rewards truly belong to him.

So go ahead and live your life, thanking God for that life and doing the good works he created you to do (Ephesians 2:10), knowing that you CAN take everything that is truly good and matters to God with you!

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: Ephesians 2:8-10, 1 Corinthians 3:12-15, Revelation 4

* ESV version; older translations call it the “bosom of Abraham.”

**Gimme That Old Time Religion, an African-American folk gospel song dating from 1873. Published by Charles Davis Tillman in 1889.

Prison Break!

When some of you read that, you thought to yourself, “Finally! Pastor Rich is taking a ‘break’ from writing articles supposedly from prison, as if his missives could in any way compare to the great letters actually written from prison by such notables as the Apostle Paul, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Martin Luther King, Jr.”

But, no. By “prison break” I just mean that yesterday I escaped from my shelter-at-home prison of the mandated coronavirus quarantine. In other words, I got out! Okay, it was just for an hour or so to a local store and home again, but the “parole” was refreshing, and my wife and I did practice safe social distancing, wore face coverings, and washed our hands before and after what little surface contact we made.

One can look at our current stay-at-home isolation in two ways: it is harmful to our freedom and to our economy, to our social interactions and to our organizations, especially our churches. But hopefully, we will find the isolation will slow or limit the spread of this disease, and at the same time force us to find new ways to interact with our families, and with God through more study of his Word and time in prayer. We may even find time to go through those old VHS and casette collections to see if they’re still any good!

While on the way to the store, the words, “jail break” and “prison break” went through my mind, which in turn mutated into thoughts about prison breaks in movies such as The Great Escape and The Shawshank Redemption. From there, it was just a short mental jog to considering other, more significant escapes worth thinking about. This blog deals with some of those important prison breaks:

1. In Acts 12, the Apostle Peter was put in prison. This was pure persecution, in which the ruler, Herod, arrested Peter for the horrible crime of preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Herod had already executed James and planned to do the same with Peter, ostensibly handing him over to the crowd the next day. To make sure Peter didn’t escape, the jailers made him sleep between two soldiers, bound him with two chains, and posted sentries outside the door to guard the prison (Acts 12:7). But during the night, an angel woke Peter up, made the chains fall off, told him to get dressed, and led the drowsy prisoner past the sleeping guards, through an iron gate that opened on its own, and out into the street. Peter was free! The story ends jubilantly when Peter joins the group of Christians who had gathered to pray for his release, but not before those friends humorously left him outside their locked door while they debated whether it was really Peter or just his ghost! (Verse 15).

2. Similarly, the Apostle Paul and Silas make an impressive prison break in Acts 16. Once again, preachers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ were thrown into prison by local authorities, ostensibly to keep the peace. In this case, it was in the Macedonian city of Philippi. And as with Peter before, special measures were taken to make sure they didn’t escape: the jailer “put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks” (16:24). This time, an earthquake hit around midnight while the two prisoners were praying, making their chains fall off and the doors swing open. But though they were now free, they didn’t leave, resulting in the conversion and baptism of the jailer and his whole family. Once again God showed his power, and his saving grace toward the jailer, who was about to kill himself when he thought the prisoners had gotten away.

The above accounts are wonderful examples of God miraculously freeing his servants. I always loved these passages, because they show God’s power over men (even tyrants like Herod). They demonstrate that God is with his people, that “no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed” (Isaiah 54:17), and that “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). And yet, such examples have their limitations. Not everyone held unjustly gets freed supernaturally, not even faithful believers. Most remain in jail and some die there for their faith. The same Acts 12 passage tells us that Herod put James to death “with the sword,” and eventually, even Peter and Paul were executed during their final imprisonments from which God did not free them.

So what good do those prison breaks do us, given that they were temporary and not universally available?

There are several, more obvious answers. First, they remind us that God has power over creation and can intervene for his Church as he wills. Second, in Peter and Paul’s cases, God had much important work yet for them to do. Third, God’s actions on their behalf validated their apostolic authority. And fourth, the events happened, and are part of the history of the Church worth telling.

But beyond these reasons, I believe there is a greater spiritual lesson and example here for us to learn. I believe that these liberations of some of God’s people are partial, visible fulfillments of the Messianic prophecies which God’s Old Testament prophets foretold would mark the work of the Christ.

We read in the Old Testament prophet Isaiah (61:1), these words about the coming Day of the Lord’s favor: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” Then, when Christ began his earthly ministry, he read those same words from Isaiah’s scroll in his home synagogue and added this comment: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:16-21). Jesus knew who he was and what he had come to do, which included proclaiming liberty to captives and opening the prison to free the captives.

But unless the gospels leave out a lot of what Jesus did while on earth, we don’t see him going around to various jails and prisons and opening the gates to let all the prisoners go free. He didn’t hand out “Get out of jail free” cards to his disciples or the crowds which followed him. He didn’t abolish incarcerations as some kind of social activist or reformer. So what did he do to fulfill the prophecy? How was it fulfilled in his reading?

First, we should understand that when reading that passage, Jesus was claiming that the whole prophecy of Isaiah about the Messiah was pointing to himself. He was claiming messiahship; his coming, and the work he was about to do, would fulfill the words which God had given Isaiah to write.

Second, as Messiah, Christ would fulfill all that was foretold, but each thing in its own proper time and in its own proper way. We see in the gospels the fulfillment of all Isaiah’s Chapter 61 predictions about Messiah except the freeing of prisoners; even John the Baptist died in prison during Jesus’ earthly ministry, and if there were anyone Jesus would have wanted to free, it was certainly him (Jesus said, “I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John.” Luke 7:28). Interestingly, when John the Baptist sent messengers to Jesus to ask if Jesus were really the Messiah, Jesus again quoted the Isaiah passage, but this time left off the “free the prisoners” portions (Matthew 11:4-5 and Luke 7:22-23). Maybe he did so because John was in prison and Jesus knew how that would end?

Third, this puts the freeing of Peter and Paul in a new light. Not only were they specific and personal blessings for those two and the Church they would serve, they were also signs of Christ’s messiahship, fulfilling what was promised by Isaiah. Even from heaven, Christ reached down and freed the captives, for it is clear that God freed these proclaimers of Christ. Now, the fulfillment of Isaiah 61 was complete.

But just as the fulfillment of the prison prophecy was temporary, so were the healings which Isaiah had foretold and Jesus had claimed: the blind saw .  .  . but would die. The lame would walk . .  . but would still die. The poor would die. And even those Christ would raise from the dead would, once more, die. Does that mean Jesus was only a “temporary” Messiah, one whose work applied to one place and time? Isn’t there a more permanent fulfillment of Christ and his work?

Fourth, indeed there is. While the signs which validated Jesus’s identity as the Christ had temporary fulfillments, the work which he accomplished on the Cross and by his resurrection is permanent, even eternal. Christ died so that all who believe in him would be freed forever from the bondage to sin and death. He freed us from sin’s curse; we are no longer its slaves: “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed.” Therefore, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1), and “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13).

Jesus proclaimed about himself, “If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed” (John 8:36). But he did more than just say we are free; by his death he set us free from the curse of the Law, canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. Colossians 2:14 says, “This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”

Because of Christ and through his sacrifice, our sins are forgiven, our debts are paid, and we are set free! The Liberator has come, broken our chains and opened the prison gate. We have been pardoned, our record has been expunged, and we are free to follow him now and into eternity.

Talk about a prison break!

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: Isaiah 61; Acts 12; Acts 16

There’s an old saying: “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” Well, this past week, my wife modified the saying slightly to say, “You can lead a cat to water, but you can’t make him drink,” thus providing the title to this blog. The occasion for the new saying is one of the reasons my blogging has been delayed: our cat, Charco*, suddenly got sick, started hiding out all day and night, and stopped eating and drinking for almost a week. I took him to the vet twice, including one 3:00 am trip, for hydration shots, and we have been trying all kinds of things to get him to eat and drink something. The good news is that after five days he finally came out and started eating; the bad news is that after eight days he still isn’t drinking from his water bowl, which he always loved to do. As my wife said, you really can’t make a cat drink. (By the way, after vet exams and blood work, Charco was pronounced a healthy cat! Healthy, except for being sick . . .)

As I thought about this experience, several ideas, or lessons, came to mind that I believe are worth sharing.

1. God’s mandate at creation was for us to care for what he has created. Ever since our first parents were placed in the Garden of Eden, God has charged us with the proper management of the land, plants, and animals (Genesis 1:28 “have dominion over every living thing” and 2:15 “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”). All living things are God’s, which he declares in Psalm 50:10-11, “For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine.” Therefore, we are responsible to our Creator to properly care for all he has made. All Christians who take God’s ownership of the earth seriously, should be ardent environmentalists, not in the sense of radicals who think the world would be better without humans, but in the sense of being true stewards who protect what God has made and given to us for our blessing. This means in my case, to care for the animal God brought into our life at a time when I needed a special blessing.
   
2. Though sickness and death affect all living creatures, God still loves what he has made. Jesus reminds us in Matthew 6:26, “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.” And when God threatened to destroy the great city of Nineveh, he sent Jonah to warn them, saying he took pity on the people and on the “many cattle” who lived there (Jonah 4:11). Even when God’s wrath was poured out by flooding the whole earth due to mankind’s overwhelming sinfulness, he preserved animals as well as humans on the ark (even though we wish some insects like flies and mosquitoes would have missed the boat!). The Bible calls Jesus the Good Shepherd who cares for his sheep, using the analogy of a shepherd who goes out to save his lost sheep (which we are!). And when God wanted to show his wisdom and power to Job, he used two of the animals which he had created as evidence of his greatness: behemoth and leviathan, mighty land and sea creatures, respectively.
3. Pets are more than just animals. The fact we call them “pets” is evidence of that. Though my wife and I have often said, “He’s just a cat” about Charco, meaning there are limits to what we would do for him, when it came down to this week, we found ourselves worrying, working at feeding him, petting him, and spending hundreds of dollars on his medical care and medicines. He’s not a child, nor are we “pet parents.” But we find that he has a special place in our hearts just for who he is. He doesn’t actively do anything for us; he doesn’t do tricks, fetch my slippers, or even come every time we call him. He is, after all, a cat. But he does amuse us, and we care for him. In this way, our relationship to him is similar to God’s relationship to us: we don’t earn God’s love and grace by what we do for him; he loves us because of who he is. We are just people – sinful and imperfect – yet to God we are more than just animals he created. By his love, he considers us as valuable enough for Christ to die for, and desires us to be with him in paradise. He does not desire for any of us to perish (2 Peter 3:9) but considers us to be of far more value than the birds of the air (Matthew 6:26 again) or many sparrows (Luke 12:7). We are not just God’s pets, either; he calls all of us who believe in Christ to be his children (John 1:12). 
4. You can lead a cat to water, but you can’t make him drink. Charco resists our efforts to get him to drink. I tried reasoning with him but he just stared blankly. I tried threatening him, but he just yawned. Karen changed his water bowls and where they are placed, but he just said, “Puhleeaze” and walked away. Karen finally mixed water in with the food he ate, so he is getting some water. But even though we knew he needed to drink, he just isn’t going along with the program.Which leads me to my final observation:
   
5. You can lead a person to Christ, but you can’t make him or her believe.  As with cats and horses, so with us human beings, if not with water, then with matters of faith. We read in the Bible and see in the world around us, that you can proclaim the Gospel, explain the Scriptures, show evidence in your life of what Christ has done for you, answer objections, explain the benefits (here and in eternity) of faith in Christ, and talk until you’re blue in the face, but you can’t make someone believe. This has been true ever since Christ himself walked the earth. There was a rich young ruler who was devout in his Jewish faith, but when Jesus told him to sell his wealth and follow him, the man walked away. When Jesus proclaimed his Messiahship at his home synagogue, the people tried to throw him off a cliff. When he did miracles in front of the Pharisees, they accused him of breaking the Sabbath law and of using the devil’s power. Worst, after personally witnessing three years of Jesus’s authoritative preaching, teaching, and performing incredible miracles, one of his closest disciples betrayed him and another denied him. Later, Paul taught two Roman governors who held him in prison, Felix and Festus, and King Agrippa, about Christ, but they didn’t respond in faith to what they heard (Acts 25 and 26). As in biblical times, so today. When I was pastoring, many of our members came to me, lamenting that they had family members who were raised in church but didn’t believe in Jesus anymore. We all know other people who know about Christ and Christianity who have chosen other religions or consider themselves atheists (or agnostics, as if that were a kinder, gentler way of saying they don’t believe). In almost all these situations, the problem is not lack of knowledge, but a lack of faith. Which is not a good thing, because “without faith, it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6).
   
6. So how does a person come to believe in Christ? First, they need to hear the Gospel. Paul tells us in Romans 10:13-14 that we are charged with teaching people the Gospel: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” The Word of God works on their hearts and minds and spirit to produce faith, which is created in them by the work of the Holy Spirit. It is a supernatural act which cannot be done by our own effort (as hearers or teachers) but by God himself. That is why he tells us in Ephesians 2:10, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” This truth is echoed in Luther’s Small Catechism, which says in explanation of the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed: “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” Therefore, although we present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people in love for them and in obedience to Christ’s command to evangelize the world, we cannot make them believe. We do the best job we can and then pray for them to believe, and for God to work in their hearts to create that saving faith we all need.
   

Thanks be to God that he loves us as much as he does, and that he is more patient with us than Karen and I are with Charco. For as we know that our cat needs water to live, so our Lord knows we need faith in his Son to live forever. He has told us that without him, we are planted in a desert, a dry and thirsty land (Ezekiel 19:13). So don’t let that thirst ruin you: drink deeply of the Living Water he has given for us!

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

Read: Job chapters 1-4, Acts 26

* Charco is not short for “charcoal,” even though he has black fur; it’s short for “Charcot,” the name of the foot disease that I came down with just before we got him as a kitten. My wife’s idea, since she wanted something good to come out of this, and for the name to mean something good. So now we have the only cat in history ever named after a foot disease.

One of my earliest blogs was called “Odds & Ends” which explained a number of approaches I was taking to my blogging. Since many of you have joined the vast (?) crowd of readers well after the first year, I decided to repeat that early blog for the benefit of my newer readers. At the end I added an updated note, #5. So, here it is again:

Our church’s monthly newsletter has a page called, “This ‘n That” which provides the pastors a space to post announcements of upcoming events, give short summaries of recent developments, congratulate people, offer condolences, and list people who need prayers for healing. It is a helpful way to communicate important matters to the members in a succinct manner.

I found it very useful, which is why I’m beginning a similar “page” for my blog. I’m calling it, “Odds & Ends” (to avoid copyright infringement?). I don’t know how often it will appear, but whenever I accumulate a few things to tell you which don’t warrant an entire article, I’ll stick them in “Odds & Ends” and pass them along. I hope you will find these short comments useful and interesting.

1. The Bible translation I am using the most in my blog citations is the English Standard Version (ESV). It follows in the long tradition of the King James Version/ASV/RSV while taking advantage of recent textual discoveries and updated language. Before switching to the ESV I used the NIV because it was very comfortable and understandable, but its tendency to play loose at times with its translations, plus the decision of the copyright holder to forbid public use of the NIV from any editions before 2011, led me to make the switch. (Besides, “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want” (ESV), just sounds better than “The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing” (NIV). I know my preference is subjective and not a rigorous scholarly opinion, but it is after all my blog!
2. You may have noticed that except for my first post, I have not been capitalizing the personal pronouns which refer to the Deity. This is not to show any lack of respect or honor for God, but to be consistent with both the modern English translations which I cite (such as the ESV) and the Hebrew and Greek biblical texts from which those translations are made. Pronouns such as he, his, him, and himself are not capitalized in the Greek or the Hebrew texts, so using lower case letters is actually more scripturally accurate.
3. The Bibles pictured in the heading on my blog pages are from my own library. While I was looking online for stock images of books to place in the header and portray my interest in reading, my wife asked me why I didn’t just take a picture of my own books since I had so many to choose from. It was one of those “duh!” moments. She was right of course, so I got out the camera and took the picture you see. We like how it turned out, and besides . . . no royalties! (Unless you want to use it, then let’s talk . . .)
4. Besides writing my blog and trying to assimilate the books from my church office into my home library, I’m also finishing work on my second book, which has the working title of Raising Ebenezers: Recognizing God’s Miracles in Your Life. I was almost done with it until I taught a course on miracles at church and realized there were a few more things to be added to the book. By the way, Ebenezer means “stone of help,” and refers to a stone that Samuel erected to commemorate God’s help in defeating the Philistines at Mizpah (1 Samuel 7:12). Watch for news of publication when it’s done!

And now, an update for June 2019:

5. I finished the Raising Ebenezers book, which received a favorable review from a Christian writers’ service, but which I will probably self-publish soon. I also wrote a novel about biblical times, titled: Out of the Tombs. It tells the fictional story of one of the saints raised when Jesus resurrected that first Easter (Matthew 27:52-53). I have begun laying out plans for two other novels, also about other fictional saints resurrected that day.

P.S. I just received an invitation to my high school’s 50 Year Reunion. How is that possible? I don’t remember graduating when I was only seven years old . . .

Until next time, the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord look upon you with favor, and give you peace.

Read: 1 Samuel 7:5-14

Today, my wife and I wore red to church.

So did the pastor, the altar, the pulpit, the lectern, and the music team (all except one singer who didn’t get the memo). So did many of the other congregation members. Even the flowers behind the altar were red.

Now, I get wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day, even if the Irish side of my ancestors were “Orangemen” Protestants from Northern Ireland. Green is associated with Ireland, as are shamrocks, leprechauns, green beer and St. Paddy himself. But why red? Is this for a Russian saint’s day? St. Dimitry’s Day? St. Vladimir’s Day? St. Nicholas’ Day (yes, he is Russia’s patron saint)?

No; we wore red because today is Pentecost, the day in the Church year that celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit in power upon the Church and into the lives of believers. Acts 1 and 2 tell us that the first believers, about 120 in number, were gathered in Jerusalem waiting for “power from on high” (Luke 243:49) before taking the message of Christ and his resurrection out into the world. Forty days after his resurrection, Jesus had ascended into heaven, but not before promising the Father would send the Holy Spirit to his disciples in his place. Now another ten days had passed, and Jews from around the Mediterranean had gathered in Jerusalem for the feast day of Pentecost.

Pentecost, from a Greek word meaning “fifty,” was a feast held fifty days after Passover. The Jews called it the “Feast of Weeks” (7 X 7 weeks plus the actual day) or the “Feast of First-Fruits,” which celebrated the first harvest of the year. It also came to celebrate the giving of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. It was one of the three major feasts of the year, one which Jewish males were supposed to celebrate by a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. But now, it was about to take on special significance to Christians.

Acts 2 tells us the events of that day: “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.”

The Holy Spirit came upon them in the promised power from on high with signs that were both visual (tongues of fire) and audible (the sound of rushing wind). Then, to show that the Spirit not only came around them but also entered into each of them, the believers began to speak in other languages beyond their natural capabilities. By the power of God, they spoke in many other languages which were understandable to the various nationalities of Jews who had come to Jerusalem and now heard them speaking – and praising God – in their different tongues.

This amazed the hearers, who realized the Spirit-empowered believers were predominately Galileans; how did these back-country folks know their dialects? The phenomenon was so striking that some of the hearers thought the disciples were just babbling drunkenly; maybe those critics couldn’t understand the languages themselves.

Many Christians today focus on the supernatural gift of tongues which the Holy Spirit bestowed that day, as if that were the great sign of God’s presence and empowerment. But it was just a sign, an announcement of sorts to get people’s attention to pay heed to the greater miracle which was about to occur. For following the miraculous speaking of foreign tongues, Peter got up and spoke in a common, understood language, explaining not only the just-witnessed phenomenon, but also proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This man Peter had gone from hiding out in fear and denying his Lord three times, to standing up boldly before a crowd and charging them with killing their Messiah. This was miraculous in itself that Peter would do so, but Pentecost’s miracles were not finished. When the crowd cried out in conviction of their sin and pleaded how they might be saved, Peter told them to repent and be baptized. The Holy Spirit moved in the people’s hearts, and we are told that 3,000 of them were baptized that day.

And thus the Christian Church was born, and disciples empowered by the Holy Spirit would go out into the whole world, risking and giving their lives for the sake of Jesus Christ and the souls of the people of every nation, tribe, and yes – language.

Over the centuries, Christians have noted several things about the events and significance of that special day of Pentecost:

1. God chose the Feast of First-Fruits, a harvest festival, to begin the harvest of souls in the Church. The 3000 who joined the Church that day were the first-fruits of evangelism by the newly-empowered apostles. That gathering of fruit continues to this day, in that over 2 billion alive today have been baptized in Jesus’ name.

2. Just as the Jews marked the giving of the Law to Moses in their Pentecost celebrations, so the Christian Church marks the giving of the Gospel at the new Pentecost. This also celebrates the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy that God would send another prophet “like unto Moses” to whom the people were to listen (Deuteronomy 18:15). The comparison/contrast between Moses and Christ is stated explicitly in Acts 3:22 and Acts 7:37. John 1:17 puts it this way: “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

3. Pentecost is a reversal of God’s curse upon the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11), at which he confused what had been the one common language of all mankind so that the people could not understand each other. This thwarted their building of the tower, and caused them to spread out over the earth, as God had originally commanded them to do. Ever since, the world has been filled with many languages and dialects which developed in the millennia since the days of the confusion. Today there are estimated to be around 6,500 different languages (I don’t know if this includes invented languages like Klingon). Then along comes Pentecost, and the Holy Spirit bridges the language gap, uniting people from many countries into the one Church by speaking their language. As God once cursed mankind by separating them due to their sin, he now unites them in the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ.

4. Today, mission work requires people to study and learn other languages through hard work. Organizations such as Wycliffe and Lutheran Bible Translators are committed to providing the Scriptures in every language. But it is still the Holy Spirit who takes those translated works and uses them to change the hearts and minds of the hearers and readers, creating faith and bringing them to Christ their Savior, who died for them as well as for first-century Greek and Hebrew speakers.

Personally, I don’t lament that there are many languages around the world; they have added a richness to human life and experience. How else could we eat hamburgers, tacos, chow mein, pad Thai, pizza, sauerkraut, borscht, sushi, bagels, and lutefisk? Wait, skip that last one. But what I lament is that we (and I) can’t speak or understand all of them. The Bible promises that people of every language will be in heaven: “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands” (Revelation 7:9). I believe in that day we will understand each other, whatever language or languages we will use, and that our words will do the same as the miraculous words did on Pentecost: we will praise the mighty and wonderful works of God.

But again, why do we wear red on Pentecost? To symbolize the coming and work of the Holy Spirit, who manifested his coming by tongues of fire resting on the disciples. May his power, so evident that day in so many ways, bless and keep you strong in the faith every day of the year!

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: Acts 2, John 1.

Until a couple weeks ago, I always had the greatest respect for Kate Smith. The fact she could sing and I cannot had something to do with it. So did my mother’s admiration for her; my mother was a singer and a larger woman, as was Kate, and mom always respected people who were larger than average and excelled in their craft.

But the main reason I respected Kate Smith was her famous and inspiring rendition of Irving Berlin’s 1938 classic, God Bless America. As someone who always loved both God and country, I found that song to be a thrilling tribute to both. The words are simple but stirring:

God Bless America, land that I love.
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans white with foam.
God Bless America, my home sweet home.
God Bless America, my home sweet home.

Recordings of Kate Smith singing this song have inspired literally millions of Americans, from the darkest days of the Great Depression, through World War Two, and even up to the present. Famously, her recording was played by the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team instead of the National Anthem to start many of their games – especially the ones where a lot hung on the outcome of those games. The Flyers compiled an impressive win-loss-tie record of 100-29-5 whenever they played her singing God Bless America (she also sang it live for them four times).

The game I remember most was when the Flyers played the Soviet’s Red Army team in January of 1976. The Red Army had beaten most of the NHL teams in a series of exhibition games before coming to Philadelphia. I lived in the area at the time, and watched on TV when the teams took to the ice. They lined up for the playing of the National Anthem, when over the speakers came the unmistakable voice of Kate Smith singing her song. The stands went crazy as the crowd of thousands started cheering and belting out the song. I remember seeing the puzzled and shaken looks on the Soviet players faces during the song. Kate’s magic worked once again, as the Flyers went on to win the game 4-1.

But then, just about a month ago, there surfaced a recording of Kate singing a much less inspiring song. In fact, it was a terrible song, filled with the most offensive lyrics against blacks – referring to them in derogatory terms and saying they were made to serve as slaves. It was so bad, that I actually laughed, not because the lyrics were funny – they weren’t – but because the song was so over-the-top terrible. It was almost a parody of such songs, but sadly, it was not. Kate . . . how could you?

Since the publicizing of that awful song, Kate’s recording of God Bless America has been removed from the Flyers’ playlist, and a statue of her which stood outside their arena has been removed, after first being covered in protest of the racist song. Since then, arguments have raged about race, political correctness, and what response we should make regarding our heroes’ failures. Does a bad act disqualify the good acts a person does?

I remembered a line from Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar. After Caesar was assassinated, those contending for power attended the public funeral. Marc Antony addressed the crowd, beginning with these words:

In last week’s blog article, I set aside working on my own taxes long enough to address some of the issues that arise from our tax systems and how a Christian should relate to them.

Basically, I pointed out from Scripture that:

1. God has instituted all authority (Romans 13:1); 2. The rulers are God’s instruments for justice and the restraint of evil (Romans 13:3-7); 3. Everyone is to be subject to the governing authorities (Romans 3:1 and 1 Peter 2:13-14 – “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.”); and 4. Jesus himself commanded us to “render to Caesar” what belongs to him, namely his taxes, but to render to God the things that are God’s (Matthew 22:21). This two-way submission is God honoring, but it may lead to problems when our duties to God and our duties to the state  conflict with each other.

At the close of the last blog, I said “At some point, we may need to just say ‘No’; there may be a point when obedience to God means saying no to government demands.” I then ended with the statement:  “Before we do, there are certain criteria we must take into account if our protest is going to be God-honoring.” But, what are those things?

1. First, we recognize that “no one can serve two masters” (Luke 16:13). If God and government disagree, God is the supreme authority. As Jesus told his disciples regarding coming persecutions: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). I would rather be judged by the state than by God.
2. Next, we have to make sure that our objection to particular government demands is based on God’s word, and not just our opinions or attitudes. Just because we don’t like a certain tax or law doesn’t mean we get to refuse it. The Apostle Peter was clear about this when he told Christians to behave, so that if they were persecuted it was for their faith and not for their criminal actions. He wrote in 1 Peter 2:19-20, “For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.”
3. The form of government does not matter when it comes to honoring those in authority, since all authority is given by God. Whether we are in a kingdom, an empire, a republic, a democracy, or a dictatorship, we are still to do our civic duty. In fact, for most of history, including all the earliest centuries of the faith, believers were under pagan kings and emperor – yet Christ’s command was still valid.
4. Our form of government puts more of the onus on us as citizens. We cannot just point the finger at distant rulers and blame them for everything (as guilty as they might be); we share the responsibility because of our role in electing our leaders and decision-makers (or passively allowing others to elect those leaders for us). Our approach must be one of humility before we complain too loudly.
5. If a law or tax violates God’s word, we must first seek to change that law or tax in ways that respect government and those who work in it. This means lobbying our legislators, speaking out publicly, forming organizations that seek to overturn the bad policies, etc. We must first make the case for why we object to the law or tax.
6.  Refusal to follow an evil law must be done while still honoring our fellow citizens who are enforcing those laws. We owe them respect, recognizing the position they are in, even if they fully endorse what they are doing. By treating them well we remove the personal nature of our refusal and have a better chance of winning them to our viewpoint. Hatred breeds hatred; love calls forth love.
7. If we decide that we must disobey a law or tax, we must do so without violence. All violence decides is who has the biggest, or most, guns. People will decide that might makes right, rather than see the rightness of our cause. When a matter is decided violently, it is never truly settled; anger, hate, and revenge can simmer just below the surface, waiting for the chance to boil over. The early Church grew in spite of persecution by winning the hearts and minds of even the persecutors.
8. If we disobey the law, we must be ready to suffer the consequences. We may not like the punishment, and may truly suffer loss of property and freedom, but those are prices that we must sometimes pay if we are to obey God. The martyrs before us, and those in other places around the world today, gave all they had for the faith. And they considered themselves blessed to suffer for their Lord who had suffered for them. Why should we expect to avoid government’s rod or sword?
9. Ultimately, God will judge those in authority for what they did with their power. He brings down people and governments for doing evil and for not fulfilling the purposes for which he raised them up. God requires rulers to restrain and punish evil, to establish and administer justice, to protect the vulnerable, and to guard the lives of its people. It’s very interesting that the founders of many of our states’ early constitutions required that elected officials be Christians, or otherwise believed in judgment after death; they wanted leaders who recognized they were under divine authority and would one day be judged for what they did in office. (Too bad we don’t require that any more!)

There is a question to which all these considerations point: namely, what are the things of God that we must render to him? We owe him our very lives; we owe him our possessions (recognizing that he says to pay some of them to Caesar); we owe him our time; we owe him worship; we owe him our relationships and our activities; we owe him obedience to all his commandments (even recognizing that we cannot fulfill any of them); we owe him our faith and trust. We owe him love with all our heart and mind and strength; we owe him love for our neighbors as ourselves. In other words, we owe him everything. Should government command we look to it as our god, we must refuse. Should government outlaw our faith, we must resist. Should government order us to violate God’s commandments, we must refuse. For where our duty to God conflicts with the demands of men, God wins.

Finally: when Jesus was asked about taxes, he pointed to Caesar’s image on a coin and asked whose image was on it. If you look at a dollar bill today, you see a picture of George Washington, and the words, “In God We Trust.” If Jesus were asked that same question today, I can imagine him saying, “Render to Washington the things that are Washington’s, but render to God the things that are God’s, and trust in God for the outcome.”

With that in mind, have a great April 15th!

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: 1 Peter 2, Matthew 10:16-33

The Super Bowl was yesterday. I didn’t watch it, except for the final two minutes, so I guess I saw all the exciting parts. Part of the reason I didn’t watch was I wasn’t sure what time it was to start. Between pre-game shows, the puppy bowl, the kitten bowl and the cat bowl, there was too much to keep track of. Besides, I wasn’t invested in either team (emotionally or financially) to feel the need to watch the “big game.” It’s not that I don’t like football – I do enjoy watching it whenever I have it on – and I did play football back in college (okay, intramural flag football – still it was football) – but I usually have something else I’d rather do whenever it’s on. Like nap or write a blog.

And yet, as I thought about this year’s Super Bowl, several things came to mind which I could consider as lessons which I am taking to heart. There are three such lessons that come to mind:

First Lesson: I should have stuck with my flag football career in college and built it up to employment with the NFL. Those guys make serious money. Just to be on a team that plays in the Super Bowl, each player gets $53,000. Being on the winning team brings you $107,000. And that’s in addition to the multi-millions earned for the rest of the season. Like I said, I should have played more football. Of course, playing football can lead to brain injuries, so I would pick a safer position such as designated kicker (the opposing team is penalized for even touching the kicker) or water boy.

Second Lesson: I’m glad I gave up on my musical career. It turns out that the half-time performers don’t receive any pay for their singing and/or dancing. I could be up on stage, thrilling millions of people with my dulcet tones, yet only get a pat on the back when it was over. Then too, there is always the danger of a wardrobe malfunction. But we won’t go there.

Third – and Real – Lesson: Okay, there was something that caught my attention about the lead-in to this year’s Super Bowl, and that is the role the referees and officials played in the outcomes of the two league (AFC and NFC) championship games that determined which teams finally made it to the Super Bowl. Both games had questionable, actually downright bad calls that favored the teams that went on to win those games: New England and Los Angeles. While not getting technical about the nature of those calls, I can say that fans of the teams that lost have legitimate gripes against the calls that were made. They could justly claim that their teams were treated unfairly.

If there’s any particular ethical expectation left in our society, it is the doctrine of “fairness.” We expect judges to be unbiased, playing fields to be level, opportunities to be equal, produce to be fair-traded, teachers to grade fairly, taxes to be fair, and scales to give fair weight. The concept of fairness is so ingrained in us that one of our earliest complaints as a child is, “That’s not fair!” And as adults, we pass laws and enact policies that are intended to ensure fairness in all transactions.

Unfortunately, the world is not fair.

Unfortunately, the world is not fair. Life is not fair. There are no guarantees of fairness in this fallen world. Refs make bad calls all the time (just think of some of the judging at the Olympics!). Elections are cheated in, and spouses are cheated on. Insider deals make millions for favored investors, while seniors lose value in their pensions due to inflation. Small countries are bullied by bigger ones, and small mom-and-pop stores are crushed by big box giants. The coach’s son always gets to play, while the shy, unknown kid does not. The crook who embezzled millions gets off on a technicality, while someone like you or me has to pay hundreds of dollars for driving three miles over the speed limit or parking one inch over a line. And, tragically, sweet, loving, generous people we know and love come down with horrible diseases like cancer. It’s just not fair.

God is well aware of the unfairness we sinners have brought into the world. His Word is full of admonitions for his people to be fair in all their actions toward others. In Deuteronomy 25:15 he commanded the use of full and fair weights and measures in commerce. He charged Israel with treating its people unfairly, of judging in favor of the wealthy, and of taking bribes (Micah 7:3). In Proverbs 31:9, he commanded, “Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

God demonstrates fairness in his own actions:

As an example to us, God demonstrates fairness in his own actions: in Isaiah 2:3-4, we read about God’s Anointed One, “He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.” Psalm 67:4 praises God: “Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.” God affirms that he is not partial to those who might have undo influence in society: Acts 10:34 says, “God shows no partiality” (about nationality); Romans 2:11 says, “For God shows no partiality”(toward Jew or Greek); Galatians 2:6 teaches, “God shows no partiality” (toward people in respected positions); Ephesians 6:9 adds, “there is no partiality with him” (toward master or slave); and Colossians 3:25 teaches in a paragraph dealing with relations between husbands and wives, masters and slaves, parents and children, that all will be held accountable to God for their actions because with God “there is no partiality.” The Lord demonstrated this when he directed Samuel to anoint David as king, bypassing one of his brothers named Eliab who looked very regal: “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

The only place where God does not deal fairly is with us when it comes to our sins

The only place where God does not deal fairly is with us when it comes to our sins. Instead of  giving us what we deserve, he forgives us. Instead of casting us all into the pit of fire, he provides a means of escape. Instead of turning his back on us, he provides reconciliation through the sacrifice of his Son. As the psalmist said, “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?” (Psalm 130:3) If anyone could claim to be treated unfairly, it was Jesus, who lived a perfect life and obeyed all of God’s commands, who showed love and compassion toward those who suffered, and who paid for our salvation through his own horrible death on the cross. But though he suffered unfairly for us, he came to earth for that very purpose, and went uncomplaining to his death. Thanks be to God that he has ignored what we believe to be fair in order to save us from ourselves.

Recognizing that there is much unfairness in the world, yet knowing that God commands us to do good to each other, how do we respond when we have been treated unfairly?

The answer is not complicated, but is sometimes hard to do, depending on how hurt we are and how severe the wrong we have suffered. There are two parts to it: our obligation to others, and our obligation to God.

Regarding our obligation to others:  1. Christ told us to turn the other cheek, to forgive, and bless those who hurt us (Matthew 5:39, 44). 2. Vengeance is the Lord’s property, not ours (Deuteronomy 32:35). 3. We have an obligation to protect others and try to stop the unfairness from continuing. This means confronting the wrong with gentle firmness, speaking up, warning others, and working with the authorities to restrain the evil that is being done (Romans 13:3-4). Forgiving the person who wrongs us does not mean we have to condone the actions they did or allow them to continue against us or other people.

Regarding our obligation to God: Jesus told a parable about a servant who owed a huge, unpayable debt to a king. The king forgave him the debt, but then the servant went out and jailed another servant who owed him a trifling amount. When the king heard it, he became enraged and threw the first servant into prison, saying, “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?” (Matthew 18:21-35). By this parable, Jesus showed that because God has forgiven us greatly, we must forgive each other as well.

Unfairness hurts, but it is part of living in a fallen world

Unfairness hurts, but it is part of living in a fallen world, where sin drives people to lie, cheat, and steal, to take unfair advantage of people, and to believe they deserve whatever they want. But God has broken into this world through his Son, and has given us the Holy Spirit to empower us to forgive and to receive the comfort and healing God wants for us to have. So when you have such hurts, take them first to God in prayer to ease the pain, to find the power to forgive, and to receive guidance for how you should respond. And when you respond, remember to be fair in what you do!

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: Matthew 18:21-35, 1 Samuel 16:1-13

Over the past few weeks there has been a lot of talk about “The Wall.” Politicians and pundits of all persuasions have been arguing the merits and demerits of adding to the barriers on the US’s southern border with Mexico. The issue has led to acrimonious charges back and forth, and is at the center of the current partial government shutdown. It is a hot-button political issue that has reached an impasse.

I have been following the debate to some extent, and have some opinions on the matter, but the good news is that I’m not going to inflict them on you. Instead, I’m going to tell you how thinking about the issue led me to consider “walls” in the biblical context, and to share with you what the Bible says about them. In particular I want to talk about the most important wall in the Scriptures.

But first, a quick review of what walls do. Basically, a wall is a barrier that keeps someone or something from going from one place to another. A wall may be used to keep people in a location, such as a prison wall that keeps inmates from leaving; or it may be used to keep people out of an area, such as a wall around an embassy that restricts movement into the facility. A wall may provide protection from natural forces, such as sea walls that break up waves and protect shoreline buildings, or it may keep animals from raiding your kitchen (unless the animal is our cat, who parks himself in front of our refrigerator and stares at us until we feed him). Walls provide privacy, such as the walls between stalls in, well, you-know-where. Walls may be opaque, to limit distractions or visibility, or clear, to allow “transparency” in office settings. A wall may delineate property lines, and keep property safe from theft. It may provide barriers against the spread of disease, such as in a hospital, or help a patient breathe better  by “tenting” them with enhanced oxygen flow. And then there are walls that provide canvases for graffiti artists, or launching platforms for skateboard and parkour (obstacle course) athletes. Walls have many uses, which is probably why we have so many of them.

Walls are usually physical dividers, but they can also be psychological or symbolic. Once, when I was in college, my roommate and I had a disagreement over some stupid issue, and decided to give each other some needed “space.” So we divided our 10 x 12 foot dorm room in half with an imaginary wall. That lasted for about ten minutes before we realized how petty we were being. Plus, the bathroom door was on his side of the room.  Likewise, our state borders are usually drawn with imaginary lines which nevertheless carry the force of law. If you have ever been to Wendover, you know the town is divided in half between Nevada and Utah. The main street actually has a line painted across it indicating the border; when you look up from it, you can see that all the town’s casinos are on the Nevada side of the line. Those state boundaries make a difference.

There are also social barriers or walls that divide people into those who are accepted and those who are not. Such walls may separate people by income and social status, race, sex, and religion. Some of those social barriers are helpful – such as our church requiring pastors who are Christians (duh!) – while others are not – such as the drinking fountains I saw during a childhood trip to Florida that limited use to “whites” or “coloreds.”

So walls can be good or bad, but they are so common it is hard to imagine living without them to some degree in certain places.

But what about the Bible? What does it say about walls? The ESV uses the word “wall” 226 times. It usually uses the term to refer to protective walls around cities, such as the wall around Jericho in the book of Joshua, which the Lord had to bring down to allow the Israelites to attack the city successfully. Or the wall around Jerusalem. But it also uses the term in other, related ways: for example, it uses the term to describe the parting of the Red Sea during the start of the exodus, saying, “And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left” (Exodus 14:22). 1 Samuel 25 refers to David’s men as being a wall that protected some shepherds: “They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep” (1 Samuel 25:16). And when Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem, attention was paid to the construction of the Temple walls, which were made of stone lined with cedar (1 Kings 6:15).

The New Testament speaks of walls, too, mentioning them a few times, culminating in the description of the New Jerusalem in the book of Revelation: it describes the walls of the heavenly city in chapter 21 as being built of jasper and measuring 144 cubits (216 feet) tall.

But the usage that interests me most is found in Ephesians 2:14, where it speaks of there being a “dividing wall of hostility” which Christ broke down “in his flesh.” What is that talking about?

The dividing wall of hostility refers to the separation we have from God due to our sin. The first evidence of this is in Genesis 3, when after Adam and Eve sinned, God expelled them from the Garden of Eden. God set up a kind of wall in the form of cherubim wielding a flaming sword to keep them from returning. Talk about a barrier! Sin had now separated us from paradise, and from the blessings of God’s presence. Later, God established his Law for Israel, which included first a tabernacle, and later a temple, where his presence would manifest itself for the benefit – and forgiveness – of his people. But even then, people were still separated from God by barriers: one wall (or curtain) kept everyone except priests out of the holy place, and another curtain kept everyone except the high priest out of the innermost place – the Holy of Holies – where God was most present. Only on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) did the High Priest venture behind that final barrier to bring the blood offering which atoned for the sins of the people. Only in that way was the wall of hostility breached.

But though the High Priest could enter the Holiest place on that one day, the dividing wall remained. We were still separated from God. It was not until Jesus Christ died on the cross did we receive full forgiveness; only by his death was the true blood of atonement shed. This amazing transaction was shown at Christ’s death, when, according to Matthew 27:51, “And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.” By his death for our sake, Jesus became our High Priest, essentially carrying his own blood into the Holy of Holies, offering it for our forgiveness. By doing so, the curtain was torn apart to show that the dividing wall was removed, and we now have access to God himself. Our sins, which required there to be such a barrier, were forgiven, so the barrier was no longer needed.

In the Old Testament, God broke down the walls of Jericho to allow his people access into the promised land of Canaan. This had a practical and immediate purpose, but it also was a pre-figuring of what was to come, because in the New Testament God brought down the wall which kept us from the Promised Land – which was a wall created by our sin and sinfulness. Thanks to Jesus Christ, we are forgiven, reconciled to God, and destined to dwell in that New Jerusalem with the jasper walls.

Just as the heavenly city has walls, so do we in this fallen world, where barriers are needed to protect people and property, and to help in many other ways: after all, without walls, where would you hang pictures? But it’s good to know that the most important wall, the wall of hostility which kept us away from God, is now gone!

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: Ephesians 2, Hebrews 7, Revelation 21

Yes, I’ve had an epiphany. Today. Actually, I’ve had 67 consecutive Epiphanies, since I’ve lived 67 consecutive January 6th’s, the day the Church has long designated as the Epiphany. (Although, the term “consecutive” is a bit redundant, since the only way for me to live 67 non-consecutive January 6th’s is to have died before a January 6th and then been brought back to life after  that date. And as far as I know, that hasn’t happened.)

Normally, when people say they’ve had an epiphany, they’re saying they’ve had some sudden insight or realization, like the cartoons that show a light bulb over someone’s head to signify the character has just had an idea pop into their head. Examples in daily life might include: parents who realizes just how caught up in social media their child is when they discover that child’s media page full of hundreds of pictures, likes and dislikes. Or when a doctor’s lab test scares you enough to make you realize you need to start exercising or you’re soon going to have serious health issues. You have had an epiphany about your health.

An epiphany doesn’t create something new; it just makes known to someone a thing that was already true. Thus, if  I have an epiphany about corruption in Washington, D.C., my sudden realization doesn’t create the corruption; the corruption was already going on. This point is important to understand, because an epiphany is a kind of revelation, a making known of something to someone.

A word often used to define “epiphany” is “manifestation.” In this sense, an epiphany is a fulfillment of something that was foretold and is now coming together or taking place. Thus, a winter storm can be tracked and forecast for days ahead of time, but finally manifests itself when the snow starts falling. The classic example is that of a hurricane, which is tracked across the ocean and warned about for a long time before it finally hits land and does its damage. The hurricane was manifested when it dumped its rain and wind onto the targeted state or country, even though the storm already existed.

In our nation’s history, the term, “manifest destiny” was used to assert the (averred divine) plan for the United States to fill the North American continent from Atlantic to Pacific. Our destiny was considered proper and inevitable, to spread across the entire land; the destiny was made manifest in its fulfillment.

So, an epiphany has two ideas associated with it: first, that something which was foretold is finally taking place, or becoming manifest. Second, that people come to realize the reality and truth of what is taking place. Both of those ideas can be seen in the Church’s use of the term Epiphany to designate a certain day (and season) of the Church year:

The earliest reference to Epiphany as a Christian feast day was in AD 361. In the Eastern churches, the festival grouped together all the earliest events in Jesus’s life, up to and including his baptism and even his first miracle at the wedding feast at Cana. In the Western churches, the emphasis was on the visit of the Magi as recorded in Matthew 2. We have followed the Western tradition, at least as far as the actual day of Epiphany on January 6th.

Epiphany is also the season of the Church year which begins January 6th and lasts until the onset of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Because the date of Ash Wednesday varies each year depending on the day of Easter, the length of Epiphany also varies. This year, the season of Epiphany runs through March 5th, with Ash Wednesday on March 6th. During that season, we do commemorate not only the visit of the Magi, but also Jesus’ baptism, the wedding feast at Cana, and the Transfiguration.

You can see how Christ is revealed to the world in each of these events: the visit of the Magi reveals Christ to the nations as fulfillment of the prophesied king; at his baptism, Christ is revealed as the Son of God who is beginning his earthly ministry; at Cana, Jesus’ divine power is revealed in his first miracle; and at the Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John behold Christ’s divine glory. By celebrating these events, we are recognizing the manifestation of who Christ is to the world.

When the Magi visited the infant Jesus, they did not just stumble across him while on vacation; they intentionally went to Judea to find the one who was to be born the “King of the Jews” (Matthew 2:2). They knew the birth had been prophesied (probably from the writings of Daniel) and went to see the manifestation of that prophecy in their day. By being found as foretold, Jesus was made known to the Gentile nations, represented by the Magi. The visit did not make Jesus to be the King of the Jews; he was already that by nature. The visit just recognized what was already true.

When thinking about the Epiphany, and considering what difference such a celebration might make to us, I am reminded of Martin Luther’s comments in his Small Catechism when he describes the petitions in the Lord’s Prayer. When he speaks of the words, “Hallowed be thy name,” He says that God’s name is already hallowed, so what we are praying is that his name be hallowed by us. Likewise, when we pray, “Thy kingdom come,” we know that his kingdom will come, but are praying that it comes in us. And finally, when we pray, “Thy will be done,” we know that God’s will, will be done even without our prayer; we are praying that his will be done by us.

So also with the Epiphany. It reveals things about Jesus Christ that are already true, things that are true about his nature, and things in his life and actions that fulfill God’s promises. When we celebrate that nature and those events, we are not causing them to be true; they already are true, we are just recognizing them for what they are. And by doing so, we are affirming the importance of who Christ is and what he has done for us.

When we celebrate the coming of the Magi, we are affirming that Jesus is the King of the Jews and of the nations, for the Gentile Magi came to worship him and bring him gifts suitable for a king. When we sing, We Three Kings, we stand in the place of those wise men of old as we sing, “Gold I bring to crown him again,” “Frankincense to offer have I,” and “Myrrh is mine,”and so on. We are acknowledging for ourselves, and to the world, that Jesus is “King and God and Sacrifice.”* We are affirming Jesus is our King.

Likewise, in all the celebrations of Epiphany, we are just recognizing what is already true about Jesus Christ. He is King, he is the Son of God, he is divine in his power and glory. We are saying that we affirm who Christ is and what he has done. For those of us who have known and believed in Christ our entire lives, we may not have a specific “light bulb” moment when we first realized who Jesus is. But that’s okay; it doesn’t change who he is, and now we can join with those who have just had an “epiphany” about Christ in celebrating the Son of God who came to seek and to save the lost. May this season encourage you as you consider the very nature of our God and Savior!

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: Matthew 2, Matthew 3:13-17, John 2:1-12, Mark 9:2-13

As you read Matthew 2, take note of all the statements that show the Magi arrived to see Jesus later than his birth. They were not at the stable, though we usually include them in nativity scenes.

• We three Kings, originally Three Kings of Orient, written by John Henry Hopkins in 1857.

William Shakespeare wrote in his famous play, Romeo and Juliet, the equally famous line, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” His point was that a name is just a name, and does not change the actual nature of what it denotes or describes. It is used in the play to lament the fact that the star-crossed lovers respectively bore last names that belonged to warring families, preventing them from what could have been a wonderful life together.

Those who study languages know this all too well, as different languages use different words to refer to the same item. Pointing to a frog, for example, various speakers might call it a frog, a Frosch, a grenouille, a rana, a kikker (my favorite) or  a sammakko. And that’s just in Europe! Even though people have come up with different names for the same animal, the nature of that animal does not change. That which we call a frog by any other name would smell as . . . I mean, hop as far. Well, you get the idea.

But when it comes to the names people call themselves and each other, the matter is not so simple. Especially when it comes to grouping people into different categories, the name or title used can be happily embraced, angrily denounced, or changed daily according to fashion. Thus, people in our society have insisted on being called certain things, some of which are brand new names. And those preferred names can and do change. For example, people who were once called idiots (not an insult at the time) were then called retarded (meaning slower to develop, again not an insult), then special education students (or “speds” which did become an insult), then  “developmentally challenged,” “people with cognitive disabilities,” and most recently, “differently capable.” But the people so-described or so-named didn’t change.

People are lumped into generational categories, racial and ethnic groups, and self-described gender identities. It’s hard to keep track of the name-du-jour, if one wants to be politically correct.

Not decrying such efforts, I embrace them in today’s blog, as I suggest to you some names with which you may group Karen and me. We will not be offended by any of the following, but fully endorse your usage of them when it comes to describing us:

We are biennials. As we begin a new year, Karen and I stand across two different years, 2018 and 2019. We have no regrets from the outgoing year, but look forward to the incoming year with anticipation. We will not, however, celebrate it by watching Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. We will be lucky to watch the ball drop in Times Square . . . on TV . . . at 9:00 pm Pacific Time.

We are perennials. Like flowers that are planted once and keep coming back, so do we. Year after year after year. Even if you don’t want us to, we are there. Like weeds. Twenty-four years so far in California, which was originally planned as a one-year internship. Yep, perennials.

We are bi-centennials. Not only did we live during America’s Bicentennial celebration (1976-1981 for you youngsters out there), our lives have spanned two centuries (so far). We were there at Valley Forge on July the 4th, 1976, and at the Battle of Yorktown – the reenactment in 1981, of course – we’re not quadri-centennials, after all, regardless of my hair color!

We are trans-millennials. Spanning two centuries is cool, but spanning two millennia is just plain awesome! How many people in all history can say they lived during two millennia? Okay, maybe billions of people, but it’s still awesome.

I am a batrachophile, Karen is a bactrachophobe. Considering the Greek word for frog is batrachos, you can figure out where we stand in relation to my pet frog, Romeo (not to be confused with Shakespeare’s character of the same name. Actually, I suspect the frog may be a Juliet instead . . . as the Bard said, “What’s in a name? . . . “).

We are sexagenarians. Don’t assume you know what this means. Look it up.

We are uniterrestrials. Not to be confused with members of a church bearing a similar name. We live on one planet, the same as everyone else, except the few who at any one time are orbiting the same planet in a space station. By the way, that space station isn’t that far away; it’s closer to us than Bakersfield, CA. So wave, the next time it goes by. And be thankful you’re down here and not up there.

We are bibliophiles. Yep, book lovers. Karen reads all her books now in e-reader format, and that way can carry hundreds of them on her at a time. Which is about right for a weekend’s reading for her. I, on the other hand, require thousands of hard- and soft-cover books weighing at least a ton, books that I can actually hold in my hand – before going to the computer and reading them in digital format. At least I know that when the world runs out of electricity, I’ll be the one with the library. And library cards will not be cheap.

I am an omnivore. We have a nephew who as a little child loved dinosaurs. Each day he would announce to his parents whether he was a carnivore or an herbivore, so they could choose his food appropriately. Eschewing those names, I chew as an omnivore, meaning I will eat anything that is edible and not moving, though I could waive the last part if I get hungry enough. Then, I may turn from a batrachophile to a batrachovore.

We are Christians. Ah, now we’re on to something important! What could be more vital than to bear the name and title of our Savior? In the Old Testament, God spoke of those who were called by his name. In 2 Chronicles 7:14 he said, “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” Then, in Isaiah 43:6-7 he said, “Bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth— everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” Then in the New Testament, Philippians 2:9-11 proclaims triumphantly, “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” To be associated with Jesus Christ, to be found in him, to be called by his name, is the greatest title we ever could have. The title will outlast all fashions of political correctness, and will be with us forever. Because of Christ.

We are trans-peccatoris. We are sinners who have “crossed over,” that is, been made righteous by the grace of God through faith in his Son, Jesus Christ. In the words of Martin Luther, we are “simul justis et peccator” (“at the same time, saint and sinner”), whereas without faith we are just peccatoris.  In the words of John Newton’s great hymn, Amazing Grace, “[We] once were lost, but now are found, [were] blind but now [we] see.” There is a basic change in our very nature, in which the righteousness of Jesus Christ was imputed, that is reckoned to us by faith. We retain the old nature in part, but we now have the new nature as well. We are “trans” in the highest use of the term.

We are eternalists. If we thought spanning centuries and millennia was something special, just wait until we span eons and ages without number. When we have, according to a verse added to Amazing Grace by another lyricist:

“When we’ve been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun
We’ll have no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we first begun.”

That’s one of the best descriptions of eternity’s duration, though not of course, of all its glory. That we’ll just have to wait to see for ourselves!

So then, what’s in a name? Either nothing, or everything. It depends on what the name is, and why we have it. We can choose any name or title for ourselves, and find that it is only temporary, or we can take on the Name of Christ through faith in him, and be conformed to him forever. Interestingly, the Book of Revelation speaks of new names that Christ will one day give us. Revelation 2:17 says, “To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.”

So what’s in a name? Plenty, if it is the Name which is above every name: the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. May his name be found in you now and forever!

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: Philippians 2:5-11, Acts 2, Acts 15:6-21

In the corner of the living room sat a beautifully-wrapped Christmas present. The colorful paper, bright bows, and festive ribbon promised a gift inside that had been carefully and lovingly chosen for its intended recipient. The present had arrived early under the tree, and the entire family – as well as their holiday guests – had marveled at it and wondered just what treasure lay hidden inside. The big night finally arrived; the family returned from their church’s Christmas Eve service (of course!) and began the time-honored tradition of opening their presents while gathered around the tree. One by one the gifts were passed to their recipients, and one by one the wrapping was torn off to the accompaniment of laughter, squeals of “Thank you!”, a couple “You shouldn’t have’s” and even one “But I’m glad you did!”

Finally the evening’s festivities were over, and after hugs and kisses all around, the family went off to bed while in the corner, under the tree, amidst all the wrapping paper debris, sat that one special present, still intact and unopened. And there it would stay, unopened, long after Christmas was over.

An unopened present. . . not likely to happen, is it? Especially if the giver were someone you knew and loved, and you knew that giver had chosen the gift just for you to give you joy and make your life better than it is, you’d be sure to open it wouldn’t you? I’m sure you would happily unwrap such a present, for the joy it would give you – and the giver, who wanted you to have it.  And yet, the truth is, there is a great and wonderful gift which has been given to the world, and which has been largely unopened, left  to sit in the corner of our lives. We know it’s there, and we sometimes give special attention to it at Christmas time; we talk about it, marvel that it’s been given to us, and even say thank you to the Giver occasionally, but for the most part, we leave it alone. What is that gift? Listen to the words spoken at the very first Christmas when the gift was announced by a multitude of heaven’s angels: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:14)

Peace. What a wonderful gift, yet one seemingly in such short supply in today’s world that it could be considered “the Unopened Present.”  What did God mean by sending such a message through his angels, and why is it that a gift announced over 2000 years ago has yet to be fully opened by the world to whom  it was given? Why is peace missing from so many families, from our country, and from the world at large? As we celebrate the Advent of the Prince of Peace, let’s prayerfully consider God’s gift of peace:

3. The gift is not found in some abstract idea of peace, but in the Gift Himself, Jesus Christ. We do not and cannot find true peace apart from Him. Like the bumper stickers that say, “No Jesus, No Peace; Know Jesus, Know Peace,” we look to Jesus as the source and goal of peace. Our own efforts at peace through our own strength, wisdom, political savvy, “visualization,” or good intentions will always fail.
4. The peace promised by God through Christ is first and foremost peace with God, reconciliation with God by the forgiveness of our sins through faith in His Son. “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself,” (2 Corinthians 5:19) “. . . having made peace through the blood of His cross.” (Colossians 1:20)
5. When we receive peace with God through Christ, we have both God’s love and the power of His Spirit to move and enable us to seek peace with our families, the world, and even our enemies. It is because so many reject Christ and His call to love and forgive others that attaining peace is so difficult. And yet, we must not give up, for our work is to seek peace, by showing Christ’s love and making the Gift known. So make sure everyone knows their Gift is waiting. . . and don’t leave your own gift unopened this year!

Merry Christmas, and may the God of peace be with you all!

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: Luke 2

“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)

Recently, I saw part of a TV program that was discussing the possibility of extra-terrestrial life. The program talked about governmental agencies and private organizations that are heavily involved in the search for alien life out there in the cosmos. Using massive radio receivers and telescopes mounted on earth and on space vehicles like the Hubble, the researchers want to answer the question of whether we are alone in the universe.

Shucks, I could have answered that question for them, and for a lot less money than they’re spending! Of course  we are not alone in the universe! But the researchers are looking the wrong direction, because the proof of that life is not to be found in the “heavens,” but here on earth, for it is here that a Being from heaven came down to live among us. That Being is Jesus Christ.

Christmas is the celebration of that life-changing event, when the God of the universe – its Creator and Sustainer – came down to earth to not only live among us, but also to live as one of us. He became us, being born as we are, growing up and living as we do, understanding life’s struggles from both divine and human experience. Then, though he had lived without sin, he became sin for our sake (2 Corinthians 5:21) and took our sins with Him to the cross to save us from the just punishment those sins deserved. His earthly journey to the cross began in the womb and then in a humble stable in Bethlehem.

Sure, there were signs in the heavens that Christ’s birth was special: the shepherds looked up into the night sky and saw first one angel and then a multitude of them; they heard the proclamation that the Savior had just been born, and were convinced enough to go and see the newborn child for themselves. There was also the other celestial sign – the star that led the wise men from the east to the place where the infant Jesus lay. These signs in the heavens were miraculous confirmation that the Savior had been born, but note where both signs directed the attention of the people: back to earth, where the heavenly Being now lived.

For the next 33 years or so, Christ walked among us. He performed miracles, healed many and even raised the dead. He taught about the kingdom of God and proclaimed that it was now here through Him. Then, He died, rose again, and after another 40 days teaching His disciples, returned to heaven. You might think that was it, that now we’re on our own because the One who came down from heaven is no longer with us. If that were the case, we would still be grateful that God had come down, showed us what He is like, and then provided for our forgiveness and eternal life. It would have been enough to struggle through this life on our own, knowing that we will spend eternity with God.

But the good news of Christmas is that God is Emmanuel, which means, “God with us.” (Matthew 1:23). The kingdom which He established is still here; He didn’t take it away when He ascended to heaven. He is still in His Church “wherever two or three are gathered in (His) name” (Matthew 18:20). Christ has not abandoned us; rather, he is still “God with us.” As He promised before returning to heaven, He will be with us always, even to the end of this age (Matthew 28:20). We can trust He will “never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

We are not alone in this universe, now or ever, because God Himself is with us. He walks beside us through this life and longs to welcome us into the next. He came to earth as the Babe of Bethlehem, lives in us even now through His Holy Spirit, and will come for us some day in the Second Advent to take us to be with Him forever.

When that glorious day comes, even all those who don’t yet believe in Him will know in a powerful moment the truth that their telescopes and radio receivers could not prove: that we are not alone. May all of us who already know that truth celebrate it with joy this Christmas, at the birth of Emmanuel!

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: Matthew 1:18-25, Matthew 28:16-20

“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20 ESV)

Happy Advent! I know, you expected me to say, “Merry Christmas!” now that it’s December, didn’t you? Well, of course I do wish you a Merry Christmas, but it’s not Christmas yet . . . for as of this coming Sunday, December 2, we enter a new church year and a new church season, namely, the season of Advent. Advent means “coming” and refers to someone or something that is approaching us or arriving. It is applied to the four weeks leading up to Christmas as we anticipate the coming of only one very special person: Jesus Christ our Lord. The season of Advent is a time of preparation, prayer, and pondering about Jesus’ birth and why he came to earth to become one of us.

Advent is a season with its own special traditions: special songs and hymns like “O Come O Come Emmanuel,” the Advent wreath, special wall banners, Advent calendars, and even the Advent Buzzard (ask me about that one some time!). It’s a season to be enjoyed and experienced for itself, and not just four weeks to get through before the real celebration of Christmas.

Unfortunately, for our culture around us, Advent has totally disappeared and been replaced by the season of “Let’s shop and party and get stuff.” To our society, the Twelve Days of Christmas are the last twelve shopping days before Christmas, rather than the real twelve days that begin on Christmas and last until January 6, the Epiphany,  when we celebrate the arrival of the Wise Men. Even in many churches, Advent is squeezed out as they move straight from Thanksgiving to Christmas in decorations, song choices, and programs. (Okay, as pastor, I did some of that, too!)

Advent is an important time for Christians because we know that the true meaning of Christmas is more than parties, decorations, songs about grandmas and reindeer, and gifts. It is about more than even the sentimental “family-discovers-the-true-meaning-of-Christmas” TV specials this time of year (none of which actually gets around to mentioning the name of Jesus!). Advent reminds us each year of just who Jesus is and why we needed him to come to us, how we were lost in our sins and unable to save ourselves. We are reminded of the prophecies that foretold His birth and sacrifice for our forgiveness. It truly prepares us to celebrate His birth with our eyes and hearts and minds wide open to the wonderful life-giving miracle of God becoming man.

But Advent is about more than just pre-Christmas preparation, because during Advent we recognize that Christmas is only one of three ways that Jesus comes to us. There are actually three Advents:

3. Advent #1 – Christmas, the birth of Jesus of Nazareth when the eternal Son of God took on flesh and became one of us. This Incarnation was essential for Jesus to become our sacrifice on the Cross.
4. Advent #2 – the Parousia, a fancy church-word for the Return of Christ, when he comes in power and great glory to judge the living and the dead and to gather His people to be with him.
5. Advent #3 – our Conversion, when we are born again through water and the word, receiving Jesus Christ and His Spirit when we believe and are baptized. This is the individual Advent each of us needs.

In the weeks ahead, you will be challenged by the society around you to skip over Advent and move straight to a secular celebration of “The Holidays.” Now, it’s okay to enjoy a secular celebration such as New Years at this time of year. It’s even okay to enjoy the secular traditions which have become part of Christmas, accumulated like barnacles onto the core celebration of Christ’s birth. Just don’t let society rob you of the rich meaning of Advent, for Advent can prepare you to understand and await eagerly the coming of our Lord. And it can do so in ways that no special sale (in-store or online), holiday special (sentimental or funny), or holiday party (family or office) can do. So have a Happy Advent – and a joyous Christmas – too!

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: John 3, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Revelation 22:6-20

Yes, it’s true. I am rich.

Now, by rich, I don’t mean that I won the latest Super Mega-millions, Power Ball, half-billion (with a “b”) dollar lottery; I would have to buy a ticket first to be eligible. Nor am I saying that Publisher’s Clearing House arrived at my door with a (measly) million dollar check (if they did, I wasn’t home at the time). Neither am I saying that I drove my Maserati to the airport to board my private Gulfstream jet to fly to Monaco for the weekend (if I did, at least I was home in time for church today).

No, I’m not rich in those ways, though as many commentators have pointed out, today’s American middle class is rich by any historical measure of wealth: to have the abundance of food choices and quantities, homes with reliable heating, cooling, and electricity, motor vehicles, closets full of clothing, electronic gadgets, and money in the bank (not to mention the need for rented storage to hold all our stuff!), is beyond even the wildest dreams of the richest kings and queens through centuries past.

I am not even saying I am Rich because that is my name, for I am far too sophisticated and serious to ever use puns in my speech (though I must admit that I may have possibly told people in the past, “My parents named me Rich because they figured that was the only way I would be called that.”)

No, by saying, “I am rich,” I am expressing the thought that came to mind last Sunday during one of the songs we sang in church. The song was, “Give Thanks,” written by Don Moen. I have always liked that song, both for its music and for its lyrics, but this time the chorus struck me perhaps a bit more powerfully than usual. The words go like this:

And now let the weak say, “I am strong”
Let the poor say, “I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us”

As I sang it, I smiled when I got to the “I am rich” line, thinking at first, “Yes, that’s right: I am Rich!” (Okay, so maybe making a pun is not beneath me . . .). But the more I thought about it, the more I thought along the lines of how blessed materially my wife and I are, to have all the things I cited above as middle class wealth (except the storage unit), so that even as retirees, we are able to live comfortably. I even thought about the “I am strong” portion of the chorus, thankful to God that even though I am once again riding a wheelchair following recent foot surgery, I am strong enough to work the chair, use crutches, and handle numerous (seated) daily tasks. So in many ways, I can truly say that I am strong and rich.

But then as we continued to sing the song, the real message came through to me as it has over the years whenever hearing or singing, “Give Thanks.” The last line of the chorus says it all: “Because of what the Lord has done for us.” All the things I’ve already mentioned: material comfort, and strength in the middle of disability; plus those I haven’t, such as friends and family and a loving wife who helps me in my affliction while doing all the daily tasks I can’t do while seated; all these are blessings that the Lord has done for us (or in this case, for me).

I also thought of my blessings in contrast to the horrible losses so many others have sustained in the wildfires still raging in California. Homes, businesses, pets, belongings, and loved ones – all gone in minutes. The monumental tasks ahead of the survivors seem overwhelming. Add to their losses the stories of recent hurricane survivors, and we whose houses still stand must be grateful, and not take our present condition for granted. We must recognize that our continued “normalcy” is itself the Lord’s doing, and worthy of thankfulness.

But even that is not the extent of “what the Lord has done for us.” The greatest of earthly blessings is only temporary. As time passes, so do we, and all those things we use, enjoy, or rely on will go away – or be left to someone else. Solomon – the richest man of his day (though even he lacked a good smart phone) – lamented this in Ecclesiastes 2:18, “ I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me,” and in 5:15, “As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand.” Jesus pointed out much the same in his Parable of the Rich Fool, where God says to the rich farmer who worried about tearing down his barns to build bigger ones to hold all his wealth: “Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” (Luke 12:20). Likewise, Jesus warned about our emphasis on earthly treasure, saying, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19-20).

The greatest of earthly blessings from God (and he is the source of all good things) are by his decree only temporary. But the extent of “what the Lord has done for us” reaches far past this time on earth into and through all eternity to come. For God also provides us permanent, unending blessings in heaven, and in the new earth to come. We have forgiveness of sins, full reconciliation with God, and unbroken fellowship with each other. We will have resurrected, glorified bodies that will never again sicken or die. We will enjoy all the radiance and glory of God’s presence, and never have to worry about losing any of it. Jesus promised, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Matthew 24:35).

All this is ours because of Jesus Christ, who for us poor (yes, poor) lost sinners gave his life as payment for our sins, and then rose again to defeat death and show the way to our own resurrections to come. When we consider all that God has done for us, if we don’t include the gift of his own Son for our sake, we are robbing him of his glory and the honor due him. For while we were still his enemies, he sent his Son to die for us, that we might be reconciled to him and have eternal life. The old favorite verse of all Scripture still says it best: “For God so loved the world^, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

This week we celebrate Thanksgiving, the time for turkeys and touchdowns, for gravy and gridirons, and for sweet potatoes and couch potatoes. But most of all let it be a time when we can, in the words of the song,

Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ, His Son

Give thanks for all that God has done for you – in this life and the next. And be grateful that you, indeed . . . like me . . . are rich!

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

Read: Ecclesiastes 12 and Luke 12:13-21

Paradise Lost.

This was the title of an epic poem written in 1667 by the Englishman, John Milton, which recounts Satan’s rebellion and banishment from heaven and mankind’s fall and loss of their earthly paradise. In the title, as well as in the story, we lament the loss of what was and what could have been: a perfect world, full of beauty and joy and absent any suffering or death. Milton’s account is a classic of Christian literature, and even today resonates with us as we face the challenges of this world.

It especially resonates with us this week as the term, “Paradise Lost,” takes on new meaning, with the destruction of the California town of Paradise by the holocaust of a raging wildfire. Paradise – an apt name for a small town set in the idyllic setting of the Sierra foothills – until this week when in one day, the so-called Camp Fire overwhelmed the town of 26,000 people, forcing a frantic evacuation, destroying over 6,700 structures, and killing twenty-three people. Evacuees  clustered in the middle of large parking lots, hoping for a break in the walls of flame so they could flee.  Car windows melted, and some cars had to be abandoned in the evacuation gridlock. The entire business district is gone, save for one church, city hall, and the hospital’s main building. At the time of this writing, the fire has spread to over 100,000 acres and is still largely uncontrolled.

In the coming months, as the survivors struggle to start their lives all over again, to rebuild or relocate, and to bury family, friends, and neighbors, there will be no shortage of opinions about how such tragedies could be prevented. Alarm systems, fire prevention, and evacuation procedures will all be scrutinized with the hope of saving lives and property in the future. For my part, I’ll leave such speculations and opinions to the experts (actual or self-proclaimed), and just join my prayers with others for the comfort and care of those affected and for those who have died, that they all may indeed have passed from one Paradise to an even greater one.

When such disasters occur – whether they be wildfires, hurricanes, or mass shootings – we are reminded that we have indeed lost the Paradise which God intended for us on this earth. In the beginning, the world and its first occupants lived in peace and harmony. There were no wildfires in the Garden of Eden, no storms, and no shootings. There was no illness, injury, or death. There was an abundance of food and water, and close fellowship – even intimacy – between man and woman, and between mankind and God. There was order and perfection. It was Paradise.

But then, sin entered in. Not content to live in such a wonderful world, Adam and Eve doubted God’s word, rebelled against his authority, and broke his strict commandment. For that sin, they – and all of us, their descendants –  were expelled from the earthly Paradise and subjected to disease, injury, hunger, and death. Their very first child became the first murderer, killing his brother – and we haven’t stopped doing that ever since. Only we’ve gotten better at it. Now we fight and kill each other by the millions.

Tomorrow marks the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I, or what used to be called, “The Great War” (but to quote the renowned philosopher, Yoda, “Wars do not make one great.”). At 11 o’clock on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the fighting stopped, and the belligerents hoped it would be the end of all wars. I guess they forgot about the sin thing going on in us, for within 30 years they were all back at it again, causing even greater loss of life – at least 60 million people. After each World War, leaders of the major nations sought to usher in eras of peace by forming organizations in which international disputes could be peacefully resolved: first, the League of Nations, and then the United Nations. Though such actions were commendable – Jesus himself blessed the peacemakers (Matthew 5:9) – our Lord also taught us that “there will be wars and rumors of wars” (Matthew 24:6 and Mark 13:7). Mankind’s sin was not solvable by human organizations; mankind’s sin problem will not end until Christ returns in judgment. We will not find true Paradise in this world before then.

But as great as our loss of an earthly paradise has been, the greater loss and tragedy has been our exclusion from the heavenly Paradise. Our sin has not only messed up this life, it has also kept mankind from heaven. As God placed the cherubim with flaming swords to keep mankind from returning to the Garden (and thereby have access to the Tree of Life in our sinful condition), so he has barred entry into heaven after death.

So, what hope do we have? I love the old hymn by Horatio G. Spafford, It is Well with My Soul (1873). The hymn, written by a man who had just lost his four daughters to an accident at sea, proclaimed the hope which gave him “peace like a river,” and that comforted him even as he sailed across the very spot where his daughters had died:

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

Our “helpless estate” can certainly apply to overwhelming situations in this life, such a raging wildfire,  or when a category 5 storm hits our town, or when someone starts shooting, or when an illness or accident brings us close to death. But beyond this life, it also applies to our ability to erase our sins and sinfulness, and claim a place in heaven. We are indeed helpless and unable to save ourselves or open the way to eternal life. As horrible as are the flames of the Camp Fire, they are nothing compared to the unending fires which await those whose names are not written in the Book of Life (Revelation 20:15, 21:27).

So how can we have hope in such times now and when we face our departure from this world? The answer is found in in the words, “That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate, And hath shed His own blood for my soul.” By shedding his own blood for our sake, Christ opened the way to Paradise for all who trust in him. He paid the penalty for the sins which we committed, freeing us to be accepted by God. Now, fully forgiven, we are allowed into heaven  and the eternal joy it holds.

That this forgiveness is not something we earn by our actions, but is a gift from God, is shown by the promise Jesus made to a violent criminal who confessed his sin while dying on a cross beside him. Jesus said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

It is the same promise made to all who are in Christ, that one day we too shall live with Christ in Paradise. He says in Revelation 2:7, “To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” Our exile from the Garden and from access to life itself will end, and we will live forever without wildfires, storms, shootings, wars, disease, or death. Revelation 21:4 proclaims, “He 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.”

When that happens, true Paradise will be restored, and we will enjoy a place far more beautiful than the one that perished this week. May you look forward to that day, even as we thank the One who made that day possible: Jesus Christ our Lord.

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: Genesis 2, Revelation 21-22, Matthew 5

It was October 31, and a solitary costumed figure made his way through the darkening city streets until he reached the side door of one of the local churches. He looked around, but ignoring the questioning looks of passers-by, he reached into his robes, and drew out a heavy hammer. While one hand held the points of iron nails against the door, the other swung the hammer forcefully, driving the nails deep into the heavy wood.

It wasn’t an act of Halloween vandalism. The door served as a public bulletin board for the people of Wittenberg, Germany, and the man pounding the nails into the door was posting a notice inviting a debate over some of the Church’s teachings and practices.

It was All-Hallowed Eve of 1517, and the man doing the nailing was a Catholic monk and priest by the name of Martin Luther. He chose that day to post his “Ninety-five Theses” because the next day, known as All Saints Day, would draw many people to the church for worship, including those theologians he wanted to debate.

That event is considered the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, because the questions he asked and the arguments he subsequently made, spread quickly and convinced many Christians of the need to reform the Church’s teachings, especially about what a person must do to be saved.

His teachings are just as important to us today as they were then, and are especially critical for anyone who is searching for the right relationship with God. Luther’s key teachings are the following:

1. We are all sinners, deserving God’s just punishment, and are unable to save ourselves, no matter how good we try to be.
2. God loves us and does not desire for us to come under his judgment, so he sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to take our sins upon himself and pay our penalty on the Cross.
3. We are saved from death and brought to eternal life by God’s grace (that is, his unmerited favor) solely through our faith and trust in Christ and in what Christ did.
4. Freely forgiven, we are now able to do the good works which God desires us to do, serving each other andthose in need with Christian love.
5. The Holy Bible is the authority, above all other writings or earthly teachers, for our faith and life.

What Luther did 501 years ago today opened once again for all the world the good news of what God has done for us, how through trusting alone in Jesus Christ for our salvation, we can have the peace of knowing we are right with God. And that has to be the best Halloween treat ever given!

And 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: Psalm 46 (the inspiration for A Mighty Fortress), Romans 1:16-17, Ephesians 2:8-10, and Romans 3:20-28.

(I wrote this article originally for the Pastor’s Corner column in the Elk Grove Citizen, which appeared on Friday, October 31, 2003. I updated the number of “years ago” in today’s blog to reflect 2018.)