A Glorious Feast of St. Michael and All Angels

“….Through Him Your majesty is praised by all the holy angels and celebrated with one accord by the heavens and all the powers therein. The cherubim and seraphim sing Your praise, and with them we laud and magnify Your glorious name…” Just got back from the Divine Service for this holy day. We sang “Stars of the Morning,” “Lord God, to Thee We Give All Praise,” “Let All Mortal Flesh,” and “Christ, the Lord of Hosts Unshaken.” Liturgy was Divine Service 3 with Pastor Ball as celebrant. Pastor Mark Preus served as Deacon and chanted (exquisitely!) the Gospel and preached us very sweet and joyous homily (even more exquisitely!!!). Three school children formed our choir and sang the Introit, Gradual and Alleluia Verse. We had full procession with incense, cross, torches, and Gospel Book. Aside from the school children, a number of parishioners attended and some guests from neighboring parishes. Now, don’t forget about tonight’s hymn festival at Good Shepherd at 7 p.m.! It promises to be simply glorious. What a perfect St. Michael and All Angels day from start to finish!

 

Pic from this Morning

 

Patristic Quote of the Day

Blessed is God, who works wonders alone, who makes all things and transforms them. Those who were captives until yesterday are now free and citizens of the Church; those who were formerly in disgrace because of sins now have boldness and righteousness. They are not only free but also holy, not only holy but also righteous, not only righteous but also sons, not only sons but also heirs, not only heirs but also brothers of Christ, not only brothers of Christ but also joint heirs, not only joint heirs but also members, not only members but also temples, not only temples but also instruments of the Spirit.—St. John Chrysostom, Homily 3 on the Newly Illumined

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

The Book of Wisdom speaks truly when it says about such children, “For his soul pleased the Lord; therefore hasted He to take him away from among the wicked.” (Wisdom 4:14) What could it be but love if someone were to free us from a solitary, dark underground prison and lead us into a hall of light where we would be united with our best friends? What else it be but love if someone were to bring us from a place full of danger to a perfectly secure castle? What else could it be but love if someone moved us from bitter poverty to riches, from the deepest shame to the highest honor, from misery and distress to joy, from continual sickness into lasting health, from dying into never-ending life?—C. F. W. Walther, God Grant It!, p. 744.

Lewis

Let me implore the reader to try to believe, if only for the moment, that God, who made these deserving people, may really be right when He thinks that their modest prosperity and the happiness of their children are not enough to make them blessed: that all this must fall from them in the end, and that if they have not learned to know Him they will be wretched. And therefore He troubles them, warning them in advance of an insufficiency that one day they will have to discover.—Business of Heaven, p. 244.

Catechesis

Since by faith the believer has overcome death’s terrors, there is no longer in the believer’s death that sting and sense of anger of which Paul says, “The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law.”—Ap XIIb:56.

Patristic Quote of the Day

Therefore, the faith in this [i.e., baptism], which grants the forgiveness of sins, bestows upon us this adoption. And the things that follow, sufficient to instruct us about who has been liberated and who has been honored by this mystical rite. For as they emerge from those holy pools, all those present embrace, greet, kiss, rejoice, and are glad that those who were formerly slaves and captives have become free and sons, and have been invited to the royal banquet. After the ascent from there, they are immediately led to the terrifying table, full of countless goods, and they partake of the body and blood of the Lord, and they become the dwelling place of the Spirit. And they go forth adorned like certain earthly angels, appearing everywhere and shining with the rays of the sun.—St. John Chrysostom, Second Sermon on the Newly Illumined

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

The unbelieving world thinks it is impossible to sing a hymn of thanksgiving at the coffins and graves of its loved ones. Rather, it wants to quarrel with its Creator and Ruler, cursing God as a cruel tyrant who has jealously taken from it its dearest on earth and, with a merciless hand, destroyed its life happiness. But believers, standing at the coffins and graves of their loved ones who have fallen asleep in faith have a completely different outlook. They humbly submit themselves to the wondrous counsel of their God and Father. They sing in firm faith, “What God ordains is always good.” But they also thank Him that, out of His eternal goodness, He created them, preserved them, governed them, and redeemed them by His Son.—C. F. W. Walther, God Grant It!, p. 742.

Lewis

No doubt Pain as God’s megaphone is a terrible instrument; it may lead to final and unrepented rebellion. But it gives the only opportunity the bad man can have for amendment. It removes the veil, it plants the flag of truth within the fortress of a rebel soul.—Business of Heaven, p. 243.

Catechesis

True prayers, true alms, and true fastings have God’s command. Where they have God’s command, they cannot be omitted without sin.—Ap XIIB:46

Patristic Quote of the Day

For indeed, baptism is both a burial and a resurrection. ‘For the old man is buried in sin, and the new one, being renewed in the image of the Creator, rises up.’ We put off and we put on. We put off the old garment, tattered by the multitude of sins, and we put on the new one, free from every stain. But what am I saying? We put on Christ Himself: ‘For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.’—St John Chrysostom, On the Newly Illumined

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

You may think you do not fear death, but have you ever looked directly into its smirking face, into its hallow, staring eyes? Truly, it is not the might of man, but God’s grace alone, that can overcome this king of terror.—C. F. W. Walther, God Grant It!, p. 738.

Lewis

We can rest contentedly in our sins and in our stupidities; and anyone who has watch gluttons shovelling down the most exquisite foods as if they did not know what they were eating, will admit that we can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world. —Business of Heaven, p. 242. 

Catechesis

True terrors, true grief of mind, do not allow the body to satisfy itself in sensual pleasures, and true faith is not ungrateful to God. Neither does true faith hate God’s commandments. In a word, there is no inner repentance unless it also produces the outward putting to death of the flesh.—Ap XIIB:34

Look What’s Here!

You can order your copy or copies from Lutheran Public Radio:

Patristic Quote of the Day

Have you seen the condescension of the Master? Have you seen the impossible philanthropy? He does not ask for anything burdensome or difficult from us. For He did not say, ‘Learn from Me, for I have worked miracles, raised the dead, and performed wonders, all by My own power.’ But what did He say? ‘Learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.’ Have you seen how great the gain is from this yoke? How great the benefit? Therefore, if anyone is worthy to come under this yoke and capable of learning from the Master that He is gentle and humble in heart, he will provide rest for his whole soul. For this is the essence of our salvation.—St. John Chrysostom, On the Newly Illumined

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

For the small earthly good we contribute to the preservation and spreading of the Word of God, we have a means of making a poor person’s soul rich in imperishable treasure. With it we have a key to unlock eternal joy and a seed that will grow into a fruitful tree.—C. F. W. Walther, God Grant It!, p., 732. 

Lewis

They [Adam and Eve] wanted, as we say, to ‘call their souls their own’. But that means to live a lie, for our souls are not, in fact, our own. They wanted some corner in the universe of which they could say to God, ‘This is our business, not yours.’ But there is no such corner.—Business of Heaven, p. 239. 

Catechesis

Therefore, it would be wicked to remove private Absolution from the Church. If anyone despises private Absolution, he does not understand what the forgiveness of sins or the Power of the Keys is…. The ministry of Absolution is favor or grace; it is not a legal process or law.—Ap XIIb:3-6

Patristic Quote of the Day

Consider whom He calls: those who have spent their resources in transgressions, those who are burdened by sins, those who can no longer stand upright, those filled with shame, those who have no boldness. And for what purpose does He call them? Not to demand an account or to sit in judgment. But what? To grant rest from their toil, to remove the heavy burden.—St. John Chrysostom, On the Newly Illumined

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

Nevertheless, for the Christian, there can be no doubt that is obligated to sacrifice some of his earthly goods for the preservation and spreading of God’s Word.—C. F. W. Walther, God Grant It!, p. 728.

Lewis

And indeed the only way in which I can make real to myself what theology teaches about the heinousness of sin is to remember that every sin is the distortion of an energy breathed into us—an energy which, if not thus distorted, would have blossomed into one of those holy acts whereof ‘God did it’ and ‘I did it’ are both true descriptions.—Business of Heaven, p. 239.

Catechesis

Neither is there any doubt that we are defending Paul’s meaning. He teaches that through faith we receive the forgiveness of sins for Christ’s sake, and that through faith we should set Christ as Mediator against God’s wrath, and not our works. Nor should godly minds be disturbed when the adversaries find fault with Paul’s judgments. Nothing is said so simply that it cannot be distorted by objecting. We know that we have mentioned Paul’s true and genuine meaning. We know that our belief brings sure comfort to godly consciences, without which no one can stand in God’s judgment.—AC XIIa:84

Patristic Quote of the Day

You need to know that no sin is so great that it can overcome the zeal of the Lord. Even if someone is a fornicator, an adulterer, effeminate, a homosexual, a prostitute, a thief, a greedy person, a drunkard, an idolater, the power of grace and the philanthropy of the Lord is so great that it can erase all these things and show the mind alone to be grateful.—St. John Chrysostom, Sermon on the Newly Illumined

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

People think they should know themselves easily and so do not seek to penetrate the hidden depths of their soul. However, in today’s text (Lam 3:40: Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD!) and in many other places in the Bible, we are urgently called upon to learn to know ourselves. That we are so often implored to do this suggests that it is not at all as easy to accomplish as we may think.—C. F. W. Walther, God Grant It!, p. 725, 726

Lewis

We do not really know what it feels like to be a man much better than ourselves. His whole inner landscape is one we have never seen, and when we guess it we blunder.—Business of Heaven, p. 238.

Catechesis

We, on the other hand, call consciences away from the Law to the Gospel, and from confidence in their own works to confidence in the promise and Christ. We do so because the Gospel presents Christ to us and freely promises the forgiveness of sins for Christ’s sake.—Ap XIIa:76

Patristic Quote of the Day

Do not be ashamed when corrected; rather, be humbled by listening. If you wish to leave from here with the treasury of the forgiveness of sins, do not hesitate. Instead, offer your soul, lamenting bitterly for what you have done, and confess to the Master that you will no longer be found in the same condition. From that moment on, rest assured that you have also received the gift of the forgiveness of sins, and do not despair of yourself any longer.—St. John Chrysostom, Homily on the Purification of Our Lord

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

Oh, may each of us be frightened of the shameful service to mammon! Sad is the time of service, and terrible is the wage. Here on earth, it deceives man out of rest and peace of heart, and there in heaven, he will lose God, his soul, and his salvation.—C. F. W. Walther, God Grant It!, p. 725. 

Lewis

Goodness is, so to speak, itself; badness is only spoiled goodness. And there must be something good first before it can be spoiled.—Business of Heaven, p. 237.

Catechesis

For a terrified conscience cannot set our works or our love against God’s wrath. It is eventually quieted when it takes hold of Christ as Mediator and believes the promises given for His sake. For those who imagine that hearts become quieted without faith in Christ do not understand what the forgiveness of sins is or how it comes to us.—Ap XIIa:64

Patristic Quote of the Day

And in the reply, “I did not know that he was the high priest,” he spoke the truth to those who understand him. It is as though he were saying, “I have come to know another high priest, for whose name’s sake I am suffering these injuries—a high priest  whom it is not lawful to revile but whom you are reviling, because in me you hate nothing else than his name.”—St. Augustine, Sermon on the Mount 1.19.58

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

Some give, but only as little as they can give with honor. They can, out of love of money, let a person depart without having received the charity for which he asked. They can cruelly turn away from the needy individual who wants to borrow from them. They can gleefully pocket the fixed interest of the debtor who can present it to them only with groaning. They can conclude a hard bargain and even stop the wages of the poor. Each person who fits this description is a slave of mammon. Money is his idol, to whom he has sworn his soul. The love of God may be on his tongue, but it does not dwell in his heart.—C. F. W. Walther, God Grant It!, pp. 721, 722.

Lewis

That is to say, I believe in angels and I believe that some of these, by the abuse of their free will, have become enemies of God and, as a corollary, to us. These we may call devils. They do not differ in nature from good angels, but their nature is depraved.—Business of Heaven, p. 236. 

Catechesis

For conscience cannot be quieted except through faith. Therefore, faith alone makes alive, according to this declaration: “The righteous shall live by faith.”—Ap. XIIA:47

This weekend…

…I was privileged to preach the 225th anniversary of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Conover, NC. 

So I flew out Saturday afternoon to Charlotte, caught an Uber up to Conover, checked into my hotel, then enjoyed a late dinner with Pr. Scott Johnson and his lovely wife Denise. Sunday Pr. Anton Legoutine picked me up at the hotel and took me to St. John’s, where I preached their early and late services and led Bible Class. It was wonderful to see the love of the people for each other: never seen so many Lutherans hugging each other! Not once, but twice in their history their sanctuary has been destroyed by fire. After grabbing a really quick bite at their dinner, I ubered back to Charlotte and, after standing in long lines at the airport, got a chance to write Monday’s sermon for Matins, and then finally hop a flight…to Dallas…and then, at long last, finally arrived at St. Louis after ten and got home about 11. Deep breath, and off we go into a new week! Thanking the Lord, though, for safe travel and for the many saints I got to meet in Conover. 

On the Feast of the Holy Cross, 2023

Pics courtesy of my daughter-in-law, Meaghan Weedon:

Faithful cross, true sign of triumph, Be for all the noblest tree,

None in foliage, none in blossom, None in fruit Thine equal be;

Symbol of the world’s redemption, For the weight that hung on Thee.

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

As long as a man lives in sin, having no power to hate it and to fight against it, the Spirit is not in him and he walks according to the flesh on the way to hell. Whoever walks by the Spirit still has fleshly desires within him, but he is also empowered to hate sin and fight against it so that it does not gain dominion over him. If someone sins because he wants to, he walks according to the flesh. If someone walks in the Spirit, he, too, commits sin, but this is not what he wants to do and he abhors what he has done.—C. F. W. Walther, God Grant It!, p. 711.

Lewis

The freedom of God consists in the fact that no cause other than Himself produces His acts and no external obstacle impedes them—that His own goodness is the root from which they all grow and His own omnipotence the air in which they all flower.—Business of Heaven, p. 233. 

Catechesis

This regulation [Omnis utriusque] commands that we do something impossible—that we should confess all sins. However, it is clear that most sins we neither remember nor understand, according to Psalm 19:12, ‘Who can discern his errors?’—Ap XI:65

Patristic Quote of the Day

Why didn’t Jesus appear to Paul before he fell into danger? Because, as always, it is in afflictions that God consoles. For then he appears more desirable as he trains us even in the midst of dangers.—St. John Chrysostom, Homily 49 on Acts