tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78389128757706172432024-03-13T09:05:45.701-05:00HemmersphereHemmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11371362875734155065noreply@blogger.comBlogger190125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7838912875770617243.post-78429478475597349682014-10-02T11:04:00.002-05:002014-10-02T11:04:20.424-05:00What's the point?<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I had a strange phone call from a
former member of Bethany this morning. She wanted to know whether
something she was considering doing was against the teachings of our
Church.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
That's a question for your Baptist
preacher or your Roman Catholic priest, not your Lutheran pastor. The
Lutheran Church is not principally about ethics, not about doing
what's right. The Lutheran Church is about forgiveness.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
That's what was most strange about this
conversation. This long lost member hadn't been to church here (or
anywhere else, presumably) for almost a decade. And yet she was
worried about doing something that might be contrary to what
Lutherans teach.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
What Lutherans teach is Law and Gospel.
What Lutherans preach is Christ crucified. We do, of course teach
ethics or righteous works done for the good of one's neighbor. But
those are not the core of who we are and what we believe. Those are
at the periphery. And if you miss the center, it's pointless to
dabble in the peripherals.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
What's the core? The Divine Service.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
On Sunday mornings, when God gathers
His people together, He gives the gifts that we cannot live without.
He gives sinners forgiveness that transforms them into saints. He
gives dead people life. He gives people who cannot do anything good
apart from His intervention the full righteousness of Jesus.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
This former member is not alone in her
thinking. Lots of people think this way. How many times have you
thought about someone, “Sure he doesn't go to church, but at least
he's not into really bad sins like others are.” “Sure my kids
don't go to church, but at least they don't (do drugs/shack up
without marriage/hit their wives/get too drunk too often/end up in
the police blotter).”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
That's not Christianity. That's not
Lutheran. That's works righteousness. The point of the Church is not
to keep you from sinning. The point of the Church is to deliver
forgiveness. If you don't go to church where God gives us
forgiveness, life, and salvation, no amount of avoiding “big”
sins can help you. It's not sin that damns us. Jesus died for all
sins. It's unbelief that damns. And rejecting God's gifts in the
Divine Service by skipping church is unbelief. Telling God “no”
is unbelief.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
At the end of this odd phone
conversation, I didn't care what she chose to do with her moral
quandary. All I wanted was for her to be receiving the gifts of God
again.</div>
Hemmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11371362875734155065noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7838912875770617243.post-68051194299283955942013-07-02T07:36:00.000-05:002013-07-02T07:36:36.340-05:00Beaten Before We Started <div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">As I write this, news is breaking that the
Supreme Court has struck down the Defense of Marriage Act as
unconstitutional. So it goes. It was bound to happen. The redefinition of marriage has been going
on for decades, and the Church has allowed it to happen. Only recently, when the definition has been
slightly expanded to include two people of the same gender, has the church
raised her voice in protest. And then
only weakly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">What
happened? Before two people of the same
gender who loved each other deeply argued for their right to get married, two
people who used to love each other deeply but no longer do argued for their
right to get divorced. Before that, two
people who love each other deeply with little or no desire to share that love
or receive the natural fruit of their sexual union argued that they should be
allowed to marry without also being expected to have children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Marriage
has already been redefined. As God
created marriage, it was a life-long union between a man and a woman, as the
liturgy of Holy Matrimony teaches, “intended by God for the mutual
companionship, help, and support that each person ought to receive from the
other…so that man and woman may find delight in one another…for the procreation
of children who are to be brought up in the fear and instruction of the Lord.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Did
you catch that? We used to believe that
marriage was about more than just love.
It was about the life-long companionship of a man and a woman, that they
might have a God-pleasing outlet for their sexual desires, that God might bless
their union with children. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Then
the culture embraced contraception, believing that sexual pleasure could be
separated from God’s gift of children. And
the church went along with the culture. Then
the culture sold us no-fault divorce, supposing that if a couple is no longer
“in love,” they should divorce in order to find happiness. And the church bought what the culture was
selling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">If
you believe that marriage is simply about love, then children are optional and
divorce is a good solution if you quit loving each other.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zk9KTh17Py4/UdLJMEzxRTI/AAAAAAAAzrk/SRtO7hnJ9cU/s1200/Wedding_rings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zk9KTh17Py4/UdLJMEzxRTI/AAAAAAAAzrk/SRtO7hnJ9cU/s320/Wedding_rings.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">When
the church protests against same-sex marriage, while making no fuss about the
prevalence of divorce or contraception among Christian couples, she sounds
exactly like advocates of homosexual marriage misrepresent her: whiny and
narrow-minded. God’s Word doesn’t
prohibit same-sex marriage because homosexual behavior is sinful (which it
is). It prohibits same-sex marriage
because marriage is a gift from God for the life-long, procreative union of a
man and a woman. The gift of marriage is
much bigger than we’ve allowed it to be reduced to.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">As
long as the church is unrepentant for allowing contraception and no-fault
divorce, she has already allowed marriage to be redefined. Advocates of same-sex marriage are just using
the new definition of marriage that we have permitted: two people who love each
other.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Before
we gripe and moan about the SCOTUS’s opinion on DOMA, we would do well to turn
critical eyes toward ourselves. If we
begin in repentance for our past (and present) mistakes, for wanting to receive
some of God’s gifts but not all of them, we’ve found better ground to stand
on. Then we can extol the beautiful gift
of marriage, which is more than just the relationship between a man and a
woman. It’s an icon of the relationship
between Christ and His Bride, the Church.
This is the only perfect marriage, the only perfectly eternal marriage,
the only perfectly fruitful marriage. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Let’s
receive the gifts God desires to give as He desires to give them. His gifts truly are good.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Hemmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11371362875734155065noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7838912875770617243.post-27814987915144727062013-05-30T09:54:00.000-05:002013-05-30T09:54:08.285-05:00An Open Letter to Dave Roemer, Park President, Six Flags St. LouisMay 22, 2013<br />
<br />
Dear Mr. Roemer,<br />
<br />
I left a message for someone in your group sales office that I'm reasonably certain will go unreturned. As I did last year, I called to speak to someone there regarding the coupons we receive every year from Six Flags that you ask us to hand out to our captive audience of school children and VBS-goers. What I was calling to find out was how many fliers for Bethany Lutheran Church to mail to you to hand out to visitors to your park on one day. I figure if you expect me to advertise for Six Flags, the least you can do is return the favor.
<br />
<br />
Believe me, I don't expect that to happen. But neither should you expect a congregation of the Lord's Church to be the instrument by which you do your marketing.<br />
<br />
Maybe you've been duped by an entertainment-saturated culture into believing that the Church is just another place people go to get entertained, and so, “customers” of churches should be ripe customers for Six Flags. Maybe you've been tricked by the preachers who scratch where ears itch that the Church is little more than a social club of affluent (or wanna-be affluent) people who come to feel better about themselves so they can live better lives now. Maybe you blasphemously see the Church as a means to an end, whereby you can more easily disseminate admission coupons than by coughing up the cash for ads on Coca-Cola cans.<br />
<br />
The Bride of the Lord Jesus, the Church is none of those things. Well, not exactly. She is a means to an end, but not where the end is greater revenue for Six Flags (or any of the bazillion companies who want us to try to sell their stuff to the people in our congregations). The end for which the Church exists is the saving of people, the forgiveness of sinners, the reconciling of humanity to God. As such, the Church is the place where God accomplishes these miraculous events.<br />
<br />
It is in the Church where God gathers His people to lavish upon them His gifts, where he collects them to preach His good news to them that Jesus has died to take away the penalty for their sinfulness. The Church is the place where God kills sinners in the waters of Holy Baptism and raises from those waters newborn saints. The Church is the place where Jesus sends pastors to speak words of forgiveness to sin-seared consciences. The Church is the place where those of us who know our great need for forgiveness find it in the meal of the Lord's Supper, where Jesus gives to those He gathers His real Body to eat and His real Blood to drink.<br />
<br />
Those are holy things.<br />
And they're all gifts.<br />
<br />
Imagine how it would cheapen this message and trivialize the gifts of God the Church exists to give out if we coupled the message of forgiveness abundant and free to an advertisement for reduced admission to an amusement park.<br />
<br />
Do I have anything against Six Flags? No. In fact, if we find enough discount coupons from Coke cans, I might even bring my family there this summer.<br />
<br />
But I'll let your amusement park remain a place for amusement and entertainment, and I ask you to let the Lord's Church be the place for forgiveness and salvation.<br />
<br />
Sincerely,<br />
Rev. Jeff Hemmer, Pastor<br />
Bethany Evangelical Lutheran Church
Fairview Heights, IL
Hemmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11371362875734155065noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7838912875770617243.post-30435330366512204552012-05-27T08:08:00.000-05:002012-05-27T08:08:28.898-05:00A little teary eyedStories like this make me a little misty-eyed. A little.
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/OTFUiEpNoCU" width="560"></iframe>Hemmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11371362875734155065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7838912875770617243.post-5563168052944955452012-04-03T08:14:00.003-05:002012-04-03T08:28:52.140-05:00Back from the dead<span ><span style="font-size: 100%;">The blog at least. Jesus, too, of course, but it's Holy Week; don't get ahead of yourself.</span></span><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; ">Holy week greetings from the "presiding bishop" of the Missouri Synod</div><div><span ><iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/27W7-GEuIns" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; ">Compare that to the Easter greetings from the presiding "bishop" of the Episcopal Church, Katherine Schiori. </div><div><span ><script src="http://player.ooyala.com/player.js?embedCode=l3bzFxMjpi3iTWVurWDanv17ikdyFy89&width=640&deepLinkEmbedCode=l3bzFxMjpi3iTWVurWDanv17ikdyFy89%2CFjY3ZiNDr19U7eFLh_s8E6SHmqXWpn_o&height=360"></script></span></div><div><span ><br /></span></div><div><span >One you can listen to uncritically, simply receiving the Word as it's proclaimed to you and for you. They both will cause you to give thanks to God for faithful, pastoral church leadership of the Missouri Synod.</span></div>Hemmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11371362875734155065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7838912875770617243.post-32331266284232533642011-12-13T18:15:00.004-06:002011-12-13T18:24:51.911-06:00The LUTHERAN Witness<img src="http://witness.lcms.org/graphics/assets/images/Witness/5999E17F2DEA2179.jpg" alt="Witness Cover" />Does the <a href="http://witness.lcms.org/pages/witness.asp">Lutheran Witness</a> set the paradigm for all things Lutheran? If so, the December issue normalizes for Missouri Lutherans things classically Lutheran like saints, crucifixes, rich church architecture, first communion prior to Confirmation, a pastor's study, repentance, and maintaining the distinction between Advent and Christmas. Gee whiz. Really? Those things are <span style="font-style:italic;">Lutheran</span>? Who knew.<div><br /></div><div>If you don't subscribe, you should.</div>Hemmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11371362875734155065noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7838912875770617243.post-10847858483316536812011-12-06T11:41:00.006-06:002011-12-06T11:52:49.681-06:00Jolly Ol' St. Nick, reprise<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KPjzX6eGsSo/Tt5VWpv5IGI/AAAAAAAAevQ/aLM5H2Ps194/s1600/Nicholas%2B%2526%2BArius.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KPjzX6eGsSo/Tt5VWpv5IGI/AAAAAAAAevQ/aLM5H2Ps194/s400/Nicholas%2B%2526%2BArius.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683073627440357474" /></a><br /><a href="http://hemmersphere.blogspot.com/2009/12/jolly-ol-st-nicholas.html">This </a>is from last year's St. Nick's Day. <div><br /></div><div>And <a href="http://www.worldmag.com/articles/11390">this article</a> from World Mag in 2005 has been bouncing around the Internet today. In it, Dr. Veith calls for incorporating the St. Nicholas slap into our Christmas traditions. I think that's a fantastic idea.</div><div></div><blockquote><div><br /></div><div><p style="outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; font-family: georgia, 'times roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></p><blockquote><p style="outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; font-family: georgia, 'times roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; ">This will take a little tweaking of the mythology. Santa and his elves live at the North Pole where they compile a list of who is naughty, who is nice, and who is Nicean. On Christmas Eve, flying reindeer pull his sleigh full of gifts. And after he comes down the chimney, he will steal into the rooms of people dreaming of sugarplums who think they can do without Christ and slap them awake.</p><p style="outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; font-family: georgia, 'times roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; "></p><p style="outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; font-family: georgia, 'times roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></p><p style="outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; font-family: georgia, 'times roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></p><p style="outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; font-family: georgia, 'times roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; "></p><p style="outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; font-family: georgia, 'times roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; ">And we'll need new songs and TV specials ("Santa Claus Is Coming to Slap," "Deck the Apollinarian with Bats of Holly," "Frosty the Gnostic," "How the Arian Stole Christmas," "Rudolph the Red Knows Jesus").</p><p style="outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; font-family: georgia, 'times roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; "></p><p style="outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; font-family: georgia, 'times roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></p><p style="outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; font-family: georgia, 'times roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; "></p><p style="outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; font-family: georgia, 'times roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; "></p><p style="outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; font-family: georgia, 'times roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; ">Department store Santas should ask the children on their laps if they have been good, what they want for Christmas, and whether they understand the Two Natures of Christ. The Santas should also roam the shopping aisles, and if they hear any clerks wish their customers a mere "Happy Holiday," give them a slap.</p><p style="outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; font-family: georgia, 'times roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; "></p><p style="outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; font-family: georgia, 'times roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; "></p><p style="outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; font-family: georgia, 'times roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; "></p><p style="outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; font-family: georgia, 'times roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></p><p style="outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; font-family: georgia, 'times roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; ">This addition to his job description will keep Santa busy. Teachers who forbid the singing of religious Christmas carols—SLAP! Office managers who erect Holiday Trees—SLAP! Judges who outlaw manger displays—SLAP! People who give The Da Vinci Code as a Christmas present—SLAP! Ministers who cancel Sunday church services that fall on Christmas day—SLAP! SLAP!</p></blockquote></div></blockquote><div><blockquote><p style="outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; font-family: georgia, 'times roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; "></p></blockquote><p style="outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; font-family: georgia, 'times roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"></p></div>Hemmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11371362875734155065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7838912875770617243.post-64386262892295456902011-11-24T08:29:00.001-06:002011-11-24T08:31:29.878-06:00Don't be EffectiveBe faithful.<div>Here's a fantastic article on <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tim-suttle/how-to-shrink-your-church_b_1095841.html">How to Shrink Your Church</a>.</div>Hemmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11371362875734155065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7838912875770617243.post-22241439016161313512011-10-31T12:38:00.000-05:002011-10-31T12:39:11.895-05:00For Reformation Day: A Lutheran Identity<p class="MsoNormal">What is a Lutheran, anyway?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> Sometimes people define Lutherans by what we’re not: the most common being “We’re not Roman Catholics.” Well, that’s true. The Augsburg Confession still calls the Roman Catholic church to repent of her false doctrine and practice and return to the teachings of the apostles and fathers. But if the sum of a person’s Lutheran identity is simply what we’re <i>not</i>, that’s not a very robust identity. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> For many whose Lutheran identity is little more than “not Roman Catholic,” there’s a fear of things that look a little too Roman Catholic. Because Lutherans and Roman Catholics share a common heritage, a common history, they will naturally have many things in common with one another, just like two siblings from the same parents may not only look alike but also act alike. Two such things that often ruffle peoples’ feathers and cause them to protest that things are “too Roman Catholic” are making the sign of the cross and having private Confession and Absolution.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">If you had to think of one thing that all Lutherans have in common, one thing that defines what it means to be a Lutheran Christian, you’d be hard-pressed to find something better than Luther’s Small Catechism. Everyone has a catechism. Everyone had to learn it to be confirmed. It’s the layman’s summary of the Bible. It’s quintessentially Lutheran. And yet, right there in the catechism are these two “too Roman Catholic” things: the sign of the cross and private confession and absolution. So how did it come to be that these two things, among many others, featured prominently in the most Lutheran thing you can think of, are regarded as Roman Catholic practices?</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Because we’ve been wasting our time defining ourselves by what we’re not. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Who cares what we’re not. Let’s be who we are: Lutherans. Let’s learn to speak the words Lutherans speak, sing the songs Lutherans sing, worship the way Lutherans worship, pray the way Lutherans pray, catechize our children the way Lutherans catechize their children. In short, let’s not be afraid to be Lutherans, with a robust Lutheran identity. Lutherans are people who trust completely in God’s work for salvation. They don’t believe they had to make a decision to be saved; they don’t believe their works earn them God’s mercy. They believe in a Triune God who works from outside of them to deliver to them His precious gift of faith. They believe faith comes by hearing, that God adopts them into His family in Holy Baptism, that the Lord Jesus sends pastors to forgive their sins, and that God feeds them with forgiveness through the Body and Blood of Jesus in the Lord’s Supper.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">This is a wonderful time to be a Lutheran Christian. We’re in the middle of something of a renaissance of classic Lutheranism. The greatest Lutheran publishing house in the world is turning out some of the best resources ever: The Lutheran Study Bible, Treasury of Daily Prayer, Lutheran Service Book, Concordia: the Lutheran Confessions, a newly redesigned <i>Lutheran Witness</i>, and more. More and more congregations are returning to the Lutheran practice of receiving the Lord’s Supper every Lord’s Day. Lutherans are rediscovering the Church’s historic vestments, covering their ordinary pastors in the extraordinary beauty of Christ’s Office. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">It’s always a good time to be a Lutheran if you want rock-solid certainty of salvation. But today is a particularly invigorating day to be a Lutheran as we’re gradually growing in a robust, confident Lutheran identity.</p>Hemmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11371362875734155065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7838912875770617243.post-83626568802327763362011-08-15T18:31:00.003-05:002011-08-15T18:35:43.551-05:00St. Mary, Mother of Our LordHappy August 15, the Feast day of St. Mary. What to do with Mary? Confess with her: "Let it be unto me according to Your word." What to do with Mary? Learn from her: "Do whatever He tells you." What to do with Mary? Sing with her: "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior." What to do with Mary? Learn to respect the holy estate of motherhood. What to do with Mary? The same thing we do with the rest of the saints whose death days we commemorate in the Church's calendar: join them. <div>
<br /></div><div><a href="http://www.wmltblog.org/2011/08/st-mary-mother-of-our-lord/">Here's the sermon from the LCMS International Center today.</a></div>Hemmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11371362875734155065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7838912875770617243.post-610755720333911622011-07-25T13:58:00.003-05:002011-07-25T14:05:26.426-05:00Sorry, Chevy FansHm, what to say about this:<div><iframe src="http://videos.sportsgrid.com/embed/player/?r=6111140977591276&content=LM3K432TRRK46Z9S&widget_type_cid=svp&read_more=1" width="420" height="320" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" allowtransparency="true"></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>When you deliberately eschew liturgy, you think ending prayers "boogity, boogity, boogity" is ok with Jesus?</div><div>Why not thank God for the Chevys? Toyotas but not Chevys? What's he got against the bowtie?</div><div>What has more advertisements? A Nascar car or a Nascar prayer?</div><div>Would he still give thanks if his wife were only smolderin' hot?</div>Hemmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11371362875734155065noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7838912875770617243.post-59226657433365500912011-07-22T11:46:00.002-05:002011-07-22T12:07:29.117-05:00I'm so happy...Michelle Bachman, in response to the hullabaloo surrounding her former membership in a church body that confessed that the office of the Papacy is antichrist (that's a Lutheran church, by the way), had this to say: "I'm a believer in Jesus Christ. I was born into a family where we were Lutherans. I'm sure that the Gospel was preached from the pulpit. I just didn't hear it."<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> According to the <a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/07/21/138568870/bachmann-courts-king-makers-in-south-carolina">NPR story</a>, "</span>Bachman then went on to describe how at 16 she gave her heart to Jesus Christ."<div><br /></div><div>"I don't hear the Gospel," is a charge I've heard a couple times recently. And, according to other Lutheran preachers, it's a fairly common charge. But it's a very serious charge. If a Lutheran pastor is preaching and not preaching the Gospel, he should repent and preach the Gospel or he should be defrocked.</div><div><br /></div><div>So why does the charge persist? I think, in part, because what the complainer means to say is not that he doesn't hear the proclamation of Jesus Christ the Crucified, who takes away the sins of the world, who comes in Word and Sacrament to deliver faith and forgiveness of sins. Instead, the complainer means to say, "I expect the Gospel to make me feel good, and sometimes church just doesn't give me that good feeling I want."</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, that's different. The Gospel is not a guarantee of happiness. It's a guarantee of joy, but sometimes joy and sadness coexist. Sometimes an unfettered joy at having one's sins forgiven can coexist alongside the sadness of having to struggle every day against our old sinful flesh. </div><div><br /></div><div>One professor at semonary called this the "backspin of the Gospel." The pure proclamation of the Gospel, that all sins are forgiven for the sake of Jesus, contains just a bit of sadness, that these sins existed in the first place, that you weren't able to free yourself from the mire of your sinfulness. </div><div><br /></div><div>Sometimes there's heartache in beauty, sadness in joy, melancholy in forgiveness. All that aching is to point toward the future, toward the day of Christ's return, when our sinful selves will finally be put asunder. </div><div><br /></div><div>In the meanwhile, if you're a little gloomy, enjoy this video from Hocus Pick (formerly Hocus Pick Manoeuver), a Canadian Christian rock/ska band from my boyhood:</div><div><div><div><br /></div><div><iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/J_7pRQ18TII" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div></div></div>Hemmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11371362875734155065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7838912875770617243.post-87795584808451233522011-07-20T13:52:00.003-05:002011-07-20T13:58:01.999-05:00Don't forget to take your medicine."Birth control is preventive medicine that should be fully covered by insurance companies, a panel advising the government recommended Tuesday," is the first like of a story in today's <i>St. Louis Post Dispatch</i>. <div><br /></div><div>Preventive medicine? Preventive, yes. But medicine? Well, if you consider pregnancy a disease and fertility a sickness, then, yes, birth control is medicine for what ails ya.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then again, pregnancy and children can have a cancerous effect on organs like independence, self-importance, financial well being, and immaturity.</div>Hemmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11371362875734155065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7838912875770617243.post-5054438266557173382011-07-14T13:58:00.001-05:002011-07-14T14:00:09.519-05:00Wow.If the goal was to make me feel good, you failed, UCC. <div><object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XHY4K6Tr_EA&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XHY4K6Tr_EA&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="640" height="390"></embed></object></div>Hemmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11371362875734155065noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7838912875770617243.post-49264049371820429852011-07-13T17:54:00.002-05:002011-07-13T17:56:46.502-05:00Orate pro nobisThe people of Bethany Lutheran Church in Fairview Heights, IL have extended a call to me to serve as their pastor. Pray for us as we seek to discern the best place for us and the best situation for the people of Bethany and the people of Hope in Jerseyville.Hemmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11371362875734155065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7838912875770617243.post-27499125421639250072011-07-06T15:04:00.000-05:002011-07-06T15:05:26.190-05:00ATP: What is Repentance?<p class="MsoNormal">On the question of repentance, the Lutheran reformers made a clean, decisive break with the teaching of the Pope, eschewing the Roman Catholic teaching that repentance has three parts (contrition, confession, & satisfaction), preferring instead the clear teaching of Scripture and the confession of the historic Christian church on repentance.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In fact, the entire Reformation may be over-simplified into a question of repentance. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“Strictly speaking, repentance consists of two parts.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>One part is contrition, that is, terrors striking the conscience through the knowledge of sin.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The other part is faith, which is born of the Gospel or the Absolution and believes that for Christ’s sake, sins are forgiven” (Augsburg Confession, XII, 3-5).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Two parts.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>First, contrition, that is, sorrow over one’s sins.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This comes from the preaching of the Law and the work of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Second, faith, that is trust in Jesus for forgiveness.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This comes from the preaching of the Gospel, and is also the work of the Holy Spirit (Jn 15:26).</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">This is where Rome gets it horribly wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>By adding a third part to repentance—satisfaction—all the comfort, all the reliance on Jesus’ full satisfaction for sins, is removed.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Instead, removal of punishment and appeasement of God’s wrath comes from the works a person does to reverse the effects of his sins.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Garbage.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>There’s no hope in that.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>With such a papist, false understand of repentance, we would see repentance as a once-and-done thing we do for each sin.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Got a sin?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Be sorry, confess it, make satisfaction for it; and you’re done.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Not Scriptural; not Lutheran.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">See how this plays out in a Roman Catholic understanding of confession.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Why go to confession?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Because you have sins that need to be taken care of.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Compare that with a Lutheran understanding of confession.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Why go to confession?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Because you’re a sinner.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Because you have full and complete trust that for Jesus’ sake, all your sin is removed.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Because you love to hear the word of Absolution.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Repentance acknowledges your complete sinfulness and your utter inability to free yourself from your sinful condition.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And at the same time, repentance relies completely and perfectly on Jesus for forgiveness.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>That’s why the first of Luther’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">95 Theses</i> was, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent,’ He willed the whole Christian life to be repentance.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Repentance—sorrow over sin and perfect faith in Jesus for forgiveness—is where a Christian lives.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Like the water around a fish, or air around a bird, repentance is your habitat.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">True repentance, therefore, comes through the work of the Holy Spirit, through the preaching of the Word of God, properly divided Law and Gospel.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Repentance is not your work; it is the work of the Holy Spirit within you.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>So, happy Pentecost.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Thank God that you have received the Holy Spirit, who has worked repentance within you, who keeps you in that repentant faith by gathering you around God’s Word and Sacraments.</p>Hemmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11371362875734155065noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7838912875770617243.post-17948385938718603332011-07-06T07:38:00.001-05:002011-07-06T07:41:41.950-05:00Personalized Pastoral Care<p class="MsoNormal">“One size does not fit all” is a popular marketing gimmick.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And, for the most part, it’s true.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>How irritating is it to call a company—usually one with whom you do business—only to have the phone answered by a computer, with a “menu” of choices to direct your phone call to the right person (if you ever get to talk to a person at all).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You want a more personalized response from your phone company (or your credit card company, your electric company, etc.).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You’re not just an account number.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Nevertheless, the bigger the company, the more impersonal it becomes.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">During the recent recession, in response to the crisis at several investment banks, replete with multi-billion-dollar bailouts from the government, small, local banks tried to disassociate themselves from these behemoth banks.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“We’re not like them,” they contended.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“We’re in your hometown, and we know you by name.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>A personalized approach to banking, was their sales pitch.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>When you go to the doctor, you don’t want a general approach to your health.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You want a doctor who will pay attention to you, who will consider your symptoms, your history, your family medical history, your lifestyle, your concerns, and more.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In short, you want personalized treatment from your doctor.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Colleges and private schools sell themselves with lower student-to-teacher ratios, which permit more interaction between the teacher and each student, thereby fostering a more personalized approach to education.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>So also pastoral care.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>When it comes to pastoral care, you don’t need a general approach.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You need a pastor who takes into consideration your whole person, with your individual needs, your life’s situations, your particular circumstances.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>That’s not to say that the Word of God is relative to your personal needs, but how the Word gets applied to you should be done in as personalized a manner as possible.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>This is the goal of private Absolution.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>When the Lutheran princes stood before Emperor Charles V at the Imperial Diet of Augsburg and declared to him that “our churches teach that private Absolution should be retained in the churches,” they did so because they knew the value of personalized pastoral care (Augsburg Confession, Article XI).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It’s one thing to listen to a sermon and to hear the pastor proclaim the Gospel “for you.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It’s an altogether different thing to kneel at the rail and to hear him preach a personal sermon to you immediately after he has given Christ’s forgiveness to you individually.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This time of individual confession and absolution, when you have confessed your personal sins, when the pastor, in the stead of Christ, has forgiven you personally, provides a special opportunity for very personalized pastoral care.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>After the absolution in Individual Confession and Absolution, the rubrics for the rite specify, “The pastor may speak additional Scripture passages to comfort and strengthen the faith” of those who have confessed their sins and been forgiven (Lutheran Service Book, p. 293).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This is a time for the pastor to preach the Gospel to you individually and personally.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This is an opportunity for personalized pastoral care like no other.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Private Confession and Absolution is not meant to be a burden.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Quite the opposite.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It’s meant to be a particular, personal comfort.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>God loves you personally, individually, so He sends pastors to proclaim the Gospel, His Word of forgiveness to you, both corporately, as a member of the whole Body of Christ, His Church, and individually, as a unique sinner-saint who has a story and a history different from the guy in the pew next to him, who struggles with sins different from those around him, who has unique needs, who isn’t at the exact same place as anyone else in his personal life of faith.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>So God sends pastors to do highly specialized, personalized pastoral care, not because he needs to hear your individual confession, but because He wants to speak to you individually, privately, personally.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>In what other part of your life do you have access to such a personalized gift?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Your doctor may see you personally, but you’ll have to make an appointment weeks or months in advance.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Your banker might meet with you privately, but he doesn’t have set hours to meet with bank customers personally.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>But your pastor keeps regular hours (Wednesdays between 6 and 6:45) and is available anytime by appointment to speak these most precious words of Christ to you personally: “I forgive you.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Hear these words of Jesus for you.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Note: HT: to Pr. Rick Stuckwisch for his insight at the CCA Symposium that private absolution is like a personal sermon</p>Hemmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11371362875734155065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7838912875770617243.post-34519053998667869082011-06-18T14:49:00.002-05:002011-06-18T14:58:19.820-05:00On Fatherhood, Boys to Men, and the ChurchHere's a <a href="http://www.esquire.com/features/john-lasseter-quotes-0611">fascinating article</a> about John Lasseter, the CEO at Pixar, on being a father, a man, and a boy.<div><br /></div><div>This quotation was particularly insightful:</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; ">From cocky Lightning McQueen learning to win by not crossing the finish line in <i>Cars,</i> to grumpy old Carl Fredricksen living up to the promises he made his wife by letting them go in <i>Up,</i> to cowboy Woody giving up the prospect of immortality in <i>Toy Story 2,</i> Pixar characters always find fulfillment of their individual dreams by surrendering their individual dreams to the dictates of family and friends<br />.<span><br /><br /></span></span>That's where the Church comes in. Isn't that how she makes men from boys? By teaching them to surrender their individual dreams, for the benefit of family, congregation, and community, whereby their individual dreams are fulfilled. </div><div><br /></div><div>I have as little tolerance for feminized Christianity as for emasculated men who stay away from Church. Selfishness is antithetical to masculinity, and the Church catechizes away from self-love (which isn't love) to self-giving love (which is the only kind of love). So, tomorrow, go to church with dad on Father's Day. It'll make him feel all manly and stuff.</div>Hemmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11371362875734155065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7838912875770617243.post-31915869804918716752011-06-14T09:48:00.004-05:002011-06-14T09:58:36.362-05:00Just in Time for Father's DayBirth control for men. <div>Finally.</div><div><br /></div><div>And--good news for the pro-choice crowd--you have <i>choices</i>. There are two male contraceptives coming to the market soon. The first is a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/08/male-birth-control-vasectomy_n_873145.html">gel that blocks passage of sperm</a> (and physically disables those who pass through the gel), 100% effective for 10-15 years at keeping you from being a father. The other is a <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Health/WomensHealth/birth-control-pill-men-count/story?id=13782605">pill for men</a> that stops production of sperm that has "aced tests in mouse testes" (try saying that five times fast).</div><div><br /></div><div>My favorite part of these stories is what may become the effective marketing tagline for the BCP for men: "<i>One company's toxin may be another person's contraceptive</i>." There you have it, folks. </div>Hemmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11371362875734155065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7838912875770617243.post-54748283244863564822011-06-07T17:39:00.001-05:002011-06-07T17:47:45.832-05:00Sleep Well<p class="MsoNoSpacing">Lutherans know what they believe.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Many times, they know what other Christian confessions believe, too.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And they believe that they are right where others are wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We don’t allow anyone to pastor our congregations who doesn’t confess that the Lutheran Confessions are a faithful and true exposition of Holy Scripture, and we don’t let anyone be a member of our congregations who doesn’t confess the doctrine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, as taught in the Small Catechism, to be faithful and true.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In short, we’re Lutherans because we believe Lutheran doctrine to be correct.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Whoa.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>At face value, that seems <s>a little bit offensive</s> ridiculously and pompously arrogant.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">Why do we care about doctrine?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Why is right teaching—orthodoxy—so important to Missouri Synod Lutherans?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In short, so you can sleep well.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">We study Scripture, we learn from the Lutheran Confessions, we learn the Small Catechism by heart, we sing hymns with rather rigorous doctrinal content (and eschew the pithy and superficial), we have high expectations of young confirmands (and adult confirmands, too), and we confess that we will all be catechumens of the Word of God our whole lives long for one simple reason: so we can have rock-solid confidence in our salvation.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">The goal of doctrine is not to be right for the sake of being right.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The goal of doctrine is to give you full confidence in Jesus as your Savior.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The beauty of Lutheran doctrine is not that it’s right as much as that it’s comforting.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You are a sinner, sinful from birth and having sinned every day since.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Your sins are not a small deal.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They’re a huge deal.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They’re heinously offensive to a holy God.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You deserve to die forever because of them.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And yet…<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>(How beautiful is that word “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">yet</i>”!)<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>For the sake of Jesus, you do not get what you deserve.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>God gave your sin and your punishment to Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He died for you.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He rose for you.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>To this point most Christians agree.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">But how do the benefits of Jesus death on the cross get delivered to you?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In answering this question,<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Christians do not agree.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>A Roman Catholic would say that God gives us grace through His Sacraments in order that we might do good and thereby merit God’s mercy at the end of our lives.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Most American Evangelicals would say that God completely does the work of salvation except He leaves it up to you to choose salvation (or ask Jesus into your heart, or pray the sinner’s prayer, or make Jesus the Lord of your life, etc.).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Genuine Calvinists would say that God completely does the work of salvation, but He does not offer it to all people, only to His elect (that is, He creates some people whom He never intends to save), and you can never know with confidence that you’re among God’s elect until the end.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">For both Roman Catholics and most Evangelicals, salvation is based on your works, either the works God enables you to do throughout your lifetime or that one work, that one exercise of your will, to choose Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What if your works aren’t enough?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What if you do some back-sliding?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>For Calvinists, the work of Jesus on the cross is limited only to those God eternally elects to salvation.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>None of that instills certain confidence in salvation.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>None of that makes for a good night’s sleep.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">We do not believe only Lutherans are Christians.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Absolutely not.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Since we know and have confidence that we cannot save ourselves by any work, so also we know that a man cannot be saved by the precision of his confession.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In the “life of the world to come,” there will be Christians of every stripe and every denomination.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">But in nowhere but Confessional Lutheranism (the kind of Lutheranism that still believes in the Word of God and holds the Lutheran Confessions as true) is there this kind of confidence.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You are saved solely and exclusively by the Word of God.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He works through means (Word & Sacraments) to deliver saving faith to you, to preserve you in saving faith, to do absolutely everything you need for salvation.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Nothing is required of you; God does it all.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You can be (and should be) absolutely certain of your salvation because Lutheran doctrine calls you to look outside of yourself to God for confidence.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Have this confidence.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Sleep well.</p>Hemmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11371362875734155065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7838912875770617243.post-43762560227997948832011-05-31T09:44:00.001-05:002011-05-31T09:44:58.769-05:00ATP: What is Faith?<p class="MsoNormal">First, the opposite question: What isn’t faith?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Lots of people believe faith is necessary.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What or whom your faith is in is less important to them that that you have faith.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You might call this “faith in faith” or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">fideism</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>That’s not what Scripture calls faith.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The object of faith is important.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Just believing in a god doesn’t mean you believe in the one, true, Triune God.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Some people equate faith with feelings.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>If you have a positive feeling toward God, you can feel safe.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This faith in feelings, or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">emotionalism</i>, however, is not Biblical faith.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Still others make faith into a work.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>God does the work of salvation except faith, which is the part you contribute.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You put your faith in Him and endeavor to live a good life, and you can sleep comfortably at night.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This notion of faith as a work is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">synergism</i>, working together with God to accomplish salvation.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>But faith as God describes it, is the opposite of a work.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>(For a clearer understanding of these false notions of faith, see the chart “Saving Faith” on p. 2016 of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The Lutheran Study Bible</i>.)</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Now to the question: what <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">is</i> faith?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What does Scripture say?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“For by grace you have been saved through faith.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Faith is purely a gift from God, not a work.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Belief in God does not come from within us, but from outside us: “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Faith is perhaps best summarized with the Hebrew word “Amen.” Faith says “amen” or “yes” to God’s gifts.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Faith says “amen” to God’s Word, His declaration that we are sinners, and His declaration that we are completely forgiven and covered in the righteousness of Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Faith says “amen” to God’s Word, hearing it where and when it is preached.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Faith says “amen” to God’s forgiveness, offered in His Sacraments.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Faith says “amen” to God, receiving the gifts He bestows.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">More than knowledge, more than belief that God exists, more than belief that Jesus died and rose, more than affiliation with other Christians, faith is full, complete, child-like trust in Jesus for forgiveness.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Faith is completely a gift.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>God gives it, guards it, grows it.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What He gives is always enough.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p>Hemmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11371362875734155065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7838912875770617243.post-40867753190041908782011-05-22T07:03:00.004-05:002011-05-22T07:08:24.599-05:00Oops.<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GquHlM13gqY/Tdj7v8wuOXI/AAAAAAAAcRA/hCMuQEhl6Qk/s1600/family%2Bradio%2Bscreenshot.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 250px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GquHlM13gqY/Tdj7v8wuOXI/AAAAAAAAcRA/hCMuQEhl6Qk/s400/family%2Bradio%2Bscreenshot.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5609510137072859506" /></a><div><br /></div>Turns out Jesus, not Harold Camping, was right: "But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only" (Mt. 24:36).Hemmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11371362875734155065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7838912875770617243.post-30081301411567422782011-04-29T14:49:00.003-05:002011-04-29T14:53:34.773-05:00PornographyTwo of the best pieces about pornography in the Church:<div><a href="http://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=24-03-003-e">Russell Moore in the newest issue of Touchstone</a></div><div><a href="http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/issuesetc.org/podcast/582092110H2.mp3">John Kleinig on Issues Etc.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Read. Listen. Yes, you.</div>Hemmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11371362875734155065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7838912875770617243.post-72322556289539482922011-04-23T09:13:00.000-05:002011-04-23T09:14:39.967-05:00Slow down.<p class="MsoNormal">Slow down.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">That message came across to me several times in the Good Friday services (Chief Service at Noon and Tenebrae in the evening).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In the Tenebrae service, for instance, the chanting of four complete psalms is tedious.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>For a long time, it feels like that’s all we’re doing.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>All that’s happened in the service so far is a collect.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And then the Psalms say, “Slow down; enjoy the poetic Word of God.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>In the Chief Service (a service new to all of us at Hope), the longer Passion reading, the times of silence, the bidding prayer, the reproaches—everything seems to slow the service down and force us to meditate on the suffering and death of Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The Service of the Sacrament is the exception, abbreviating the ordinaries and speaking everything, it feels abrupt and terse.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Nevertheless, the overall pace of the service exhorts, “Slow down; know that all this is for you.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Vesting for Good Friday also demands a slow, drawn-out pace.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>My cassock has 30 buttons, one for each of the years of the life of Christ when He began His ministry.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I don’t usually button them all.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>On Good Friday, I do.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And it takes quite a while.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Slow down.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Consider our Lord’s suffering.</p>Hemmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11371362875734155065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7838912875770617243.post-40861619979914121402011-04-18T09:41:00.002-05:002011-04-18T09:44:02.863-05:00Blessed Holy Week<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-family:"Cambria","serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin">Holy Week Schedule</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; ">Holy Week</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;tab-stops:right 357.45pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Cambria","serif";mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin">Holy Monday Vespers <span style="mso-tab-count:1"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></span>Apr. 18, 7:00 p.m. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;tab-stops:right 357.45pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Cambria","serif";mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin">Holy Tuesday Vespers <span style="mso-tab-count:1"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></span>Apr. 19, 7:00 p.m. <sup><o:p></o:p></sup></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;tab-stops:right 357.45pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Cambria","serif";mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin">Holy Wednesday Vespers <span style="mso-tab-count:1"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></span>Apr. 20, 7:00 p.m.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;tab-stops:right 357.45pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Cambria","serif";mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin">Maundy Thursday Divine Service<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Apr. 21, 7:00 p.m.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;tab-stops:right 357.45pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Cambria","serif";mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin">Good Friday Chief Service<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Apr. 22, 12:00 p.m.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;tab-stops:right 357.45pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Cambria","serif";mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin">Good Friday Tenebrae Vespers<span style="mso-tab-count:1"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Apr</span>. 22, 7:00 p.m.<sup><o:p></o:p></sup></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;tab-stops:right 357.45pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Cambria","serif";mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin">Holy Saturday Matins<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Apr. 23, 9:30 a.m.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; ">The Resurrection of Our Lord<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;tab-stops:right 357.45pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Cambria","serif";mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin">Easter Vigil <span style="mso-tab-count:1"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></span>Apr. 23, 7:30 p.m.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;tab-stops:right 357.45pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Cambria","serif";mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin">Easter Sunrise Divine Service <span style="mso-tab-count:1"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></span>Apr. 24, 6:00 a.m.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;tab-stops:right 357.45pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Cambria","serif";mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin">Easter Breakfast <span style="mso-tab-count:1"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></span>Apr. 24, 7:00 a.m.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;tab-stops:right 357.45pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Cambria","serif";mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin">Easter Day Divine Service <span style="mso-tab-count:1"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></span>Apr. 24, 9:30 a.m.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Hemmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11371362875734155065noreply@blogger.com0