Sermon on 1 Cor. 10:14ff.

Service of the Word

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Lord be with you. R.

Let us pray. O almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid, cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love You and worthily magnify Your holy name; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Psalm 115

Reading: 1 Cor. 10:14-22

1 Corinthians 10:14-22 (ESV) 14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18 Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? 19 What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

Homily

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

A 14th century english proverb runs: "He who sups with the devil should have a long spoon." That is, be cautious in getting too close; he's dangerous. St. Paul, of course, is not in favor of longer spoons, but the question is how Paul made the move he does from "idols" to "demons" or "devils."

"What pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God." 

Whence such an idea? I think Paul had been reading his Septuagint, which in Psalm 96:5 says: "The gods of the nations are [not idols, as in Hebrew, but in Greek] demons; but the Lord made the heavens." So then idolatry is never just a mistake; it's downright evil. Inspired by the demons and whether wittingly or unwittingly, the worship offered to any but the living God simply goes to devils; to evil spirits and intelligences who desire our downfall.

And so St. Paul says when you see idolatry going on, there's really only one sane move and it's not grab a longer spoon. It's to toss the spoon away and high tail it out of there as fast as you can. "Flee idolatry." Run away from it. Don't toy with it. Don't think you can be so spiritual you will be untouched by it just because you happen to know that an idol is really an unding. You don't have a spoon long enough to partake with the demons. At least, not to do so and to remain Christ's. 

It's the same message at the end of 1 John. Speaking of Jesus, "This is the true God and eternal life" and so "little children, keep yourself from idols!"

How often we have lifted out the verses on the Supper in today's reading as independent and read them in isolation! Shame on us! Oh, it's true: the Supper gives you participation in Christ, in His blood and in His body, for the cup of blessing that we bless, the cup itself (or rather, its contents) IS a participation in Christ's blood; the bread we bread and distribute, it IS a participation in Christ's body. 

Yes, it's a fine text to prove the Sacramental union and all that, from Irenaeus even to Pope St. Gelasius, who taught "Certainly the sacraments of the body and blood of Christ are a divine thing, through which we are made partakers of the divine nature; and yet the substance or nature of bread and wine does not cease to be." and so, 1 Cor. 10:16 is a nice slam at Romish Transubstantiation. BUT let's not overlook the Apostles' main point. 

To be a participant in Christ's Supper, in His cup of blessing and broken bread, in His blood and body, to be one Body in Him through this participation, means you are HIS. You BELONG to HIM. And He is a jealous God, this heavenly Bridegroom of yours. He has no intention of sharing you with the demons. He makes you His or you reject that and make yourself theirs. 

Israel tried to play the spoon game in the days of the Kings; they'd keep Yahweh, of course, but what was a little offering on the side? A cake baked to the Queen of Heaven? What was wrong with some sex to Baal or even the offering a child or two to Molech? 

They found out what was wrong: You dine with those demons, you can no longer dine with Yahweh. In fact, He tossed the idols and their worshippers out of His house and out of His land. No one was the match for His mighty strength when roused to jealous anger. He left them in the hands of the demons they had chosen and that ended when the demons always want it to end: they ate them. Devoured them in death and misery and flame. 

The devil, the chief of the demons, says Jesus, is not only a murderer from the beginning, but "the father of lies." His worship is always founded on a lie, on believing a lie. "You shall not surely die" and the implied notion that God must be holding out on you, so doing your own thing is the only safe and sane way to go. This in contrast to the Table of the Lord where God reveals, definitively and finally, that He holds absolutely nothing back from you: in fact, He gave His dearly beloved Son for you, poured out His Spirit on you, and at the Table supplies the proof: the blood in the cup that carries every blessing to you, your Lord's blood; the body that unites you to Him. Held out on you? No way. He gives everything He has that you might be His own. There CAN be no blending of this truth that the Eucharist proclaims in such simplicity and clarity with the numerous shades of the demons' lies and worship. 

And, people loved by God, this is why when we see that the devil has gotten a foothold in some Christian community's confession and that it has embraced and upheld and defended some lie of the enemy, we can't just ignore it. It's why every Christian community that takes the Eucharist seriously has always practiced the closed table. It's closed to every falsehood. It's closed to every lie. It's closed to the too clever trick of trying to use the long spoon to dine with the demon while still seeking to enjoy the Lord's favor. And so the sadly divided state of the Church here until the Parousia, but there's no way around it when the demon's lie is put on the same footing as Christ's word. And that's also why we won't even think of worshipping in a mosque or Hindu temple. Run from them! We are not stronger than He and we know the truth of His jealousy.

And on that we must finally close. The demon can only project its own sinful heart onto God. So it imagines He's so narrow in His demands because He is a tyrant and vicious ogre who wants to devour the whole world all Himself. But the truth, the beautiful truth, behind the jealousy of the Lord is that He is terribly jealous for you because He knows that He alone can give you eternal life, the forgiveness that is only in Him, that your welfare and safety and future are only secure with Him. He wants you all for Himself not to devour you like the demons, but to fill you, to be devoured by you, because He is the only One who CAN save you (and he wants you saved!). Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day.

In contrast, Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them. So, O Israel, trust in the Lord! He is our help and our shield!...He has been mindful of us, He will bless us...He will bless them that fear the Lord, both great and small...And we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the Lord!"

Which might be paraphrased: Drop the spoon and run away from the table of those who want to devour you to the table of Him who wants to be devoured by you, in the awesome greatness of His condescending love.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

Hymn: 623 Lord Jesus Christ, We Humbly Pray

Prayers:

Lord, remember us in Your kingdom and teach us to pray: Our Father...

Remember, Holy and most merciful Father, all who suffer for Your name, all who are in prison, the hungry and ill-clad, the poor and the lonely, those who travel, and all who cry out to You in their time of need, especially Molly, Melanie, Gene, Paula, Roger, Allen, Jan and all who grieve the passing of Elinor and Kathy and all who grieve for Bob. Take them all under Your tender care and grant them Your peace and a happy issue out of all their afflictions, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. 

Almighty God, send the light of Your truth into all the earth. Raise up faithful servants of Christ to advance the Gospel both at home and in distant lands. Remember especially in Your mercy this day Pr. JP and Aimee Cima, serving in Asia, and all missionaries. By their devoted service cause faith to abound and the Kingdom to increase; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Almighty God, You have given grace at this time and with one accord to make our common supplications to You and You promise that where two or three are gathered in Your name, You will grant their requests. Fulfill now, O Lord, the desires and petitions of Your servants as may be most expedient for them, grant us in this world knowledge of Your truth and in the world to come, life everlasting; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all! Amen.

Homily for February 14, 2019

Prayer and Preaching, p. 260

Reading: Exodus 3:1-14

1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, "I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned." 4 When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." 5 Then he said, "Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." 6 And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. 7 Then the LORD said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." 11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?" 12 He said, "But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain." 13 Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" 14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

Homily

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

"The bush was burning, yet it was not consumed." That was the odd thing that attracted Moses attention and so he draws near, only to find himself on holy ground (and so off come the shoes; remember, cursed is the ground for your sake as spoken to Adam, but where Yahweh touches the ground again, it is holy, and so need for the shoes that will protect you from the thorns and thistles.) And so there Moses stands barefoot before the fire the burns without consuming and hears the voice and learns the Name and receives a commission of deliverance, of salvation for the people.

For Moses the Mount of Transfiguration was surely a bit of dejavu all over again, only BETTER. Only this time, the Messenger of Yahweh is shining not in a flame of fire in bush that doesn't burn up, but in the very human nature He assumed from holy Mary's womb. But it is the same One speaking and with the same purpose. He's seen His people's misery. He knows their suffering. He's heard their cry. He's come down to rescue them. His people. Not just Israel now, but His people, all the human family. And the human family has bigger issues than some earthly Pharaoh or his modern day descendants making life a misery and burden. The problem of Satan, the problem of sin which is Satan's beachhead in our hearts, our desires. The problem of where it all lands us inevitably: death and decay and separation from the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who is the Great I Am.

But the awesome wonder was that instead of sending a servant with a message and signs of wonder like a Moses or even an Elijah, he tells the servants that He will do it Himself this time. This Exodus the One who is Son of God and Son of Man will lead. He'll lead the way not through some mighty sea, but through His own bloody suffering and death itself to open wide the way to home that the Promised land was only a type of. Home to the Father. "When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers." Te Deum

"In this bush the Son of God prefigured His future incarnation and appeared to Moses." Chemnitz, Two Natures, p. 90. Jesus, doing His Jesus thing even then, but His Jesus thing then was but a type and foreshadowing of the full glory He came among us to bring about.

Shoes off, holy ground, wherever you encounter the presence of Him who reveals Himself by name and is an all-consuming fire, and yet who do not consume the Virgin's womb or the nature He assumed there, anymore than he consumed that bush, but He comes among us, shining and radiant with divine love, not to consume us, but to consume that which would devour us, which He does upon His Cross and so open the way home, for our Exodus.

And how sweet that was for Moses. Moses, who would miss out on the earthly promised land that he wanted to go into so badly after those forty years of wandering due to his own sin, but he ended up being given so much more. On the Mount of Transfiguration he IS standing in the holy land, Mt. Tabor most likely. And it was sweet, but even sweeter to live forever in the presence of Jesus in the true land of the living. The light that shines from Him, from a nature that is like Moses' own, like yours or mine, that is Moses' eternal joy now. Beyond Horeb to Calvary, beyond Calvary to Zion. Home. Moses' home. Elijah's home. Your home and mine. Jesus, true God and true Man, and whose divinity did not consume His humanity, but glorified it. As it will yours and mine on the Day of His appearing. But first, the exodus through our own suffering and death, and then home free.

 

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Hymn: 616 "Swiftly Pass the Clouds of Glory"

Prayers:

Chaplain Peter Burfeind

Melanie, Gene, Paula, Roger, Allan and Jan

Thursday’s Chapel Homily - Romans 13:8-10

You can listen right here.

A Little Cofffee Talk

With Andy and Sarah on See My Savior’s Hands

Wednesday’s Chapel Homily

Sermon on Romans 1. And it is as I was sitting at the piano and playing the hymn afterwards, that it hit me like a ton of bricks that I had left OUT the most crucial bit of Gospel. Hebrews 2:

Hebrews 2:11-13 (KJV) 11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified [are] all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. 13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.

HE IS NOT ASHAMED OF US. That’s the awesomeness of His love and that’s why finally we will not be ashamed of Him. Sigh. So, when you forget to give full octane gospel in the SERMON, you sneak it into the PRAYER. Which I did. And I hope everyone heard and was blessed by it too. For whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame. Glory to God in the highest!

Lutheran Prayer Companion

So I had to do a video at CPH on Thursday and while there, Pr. McCain gave me a copy of Lutheran Prayer Companion. I cannot stress how awesome this volume (translated by the remarkable Matthew Carver) is. I knew years ago when I first encountered the German that we had lost TONS by not having this puppy in English. Just think about the prayer for Saturday from the Catechism and the piety that would include such a petition:  “Be my strength in greatest weakness, that my last meal in this world may be the Holy Supper, my last thought to imagine Jesus crucified and dying, my last word may be to call out: Father, into Your hands I commend my spirit” (p. 32).  

The best way to conceptualize this volume is to think of it as the complete Lutheran Breviary, designed for use in the Lutheran monastery (and that would be THE HOME - I always said Luther never ceased being a monk, he just literally and I do mean literally moved the FAMILY into the monastery!). 

The hymn section is particularly wonderful and Olearius’ adaptation of the Breviary’s daily hymns (interfacing the days of creation with the events of Holy Week) was especially outstanding. 

Bonhoeffer famously taught us that we must learn to pray from the riches of God’s Word and not the poverty of our own hearts, but he neglected to remind us that this is EXACTLY how our spiritual ancestors prayed constantly. Drawing on the rich knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures that characterized our beloved theologians and pastors in the past centuries, this book uses their prayers as a means for us to allow the Word (which so shaped and formed them) to dwell inside of us too and do its mighty work.  

The volume is handsome on the outside, and the bold embossing only is the merest HINT at the gold that awaits within. Here’s a link. Order you. You won’t be sorry: 

Lutheran Prayer Companion

A different kind of number, or Rise, Peter, Kill and Eat

So Cin and I were wondering how fast we could power through Vitality (a supposed health program that our work insurance pushes, with financial incentives). I don’t remember for sure when we reached Platinum last year, but this year, it took all of 20 days. We ploughed through the assessments and the online learning, worked out every day, set our goals, submitted Bible studies, and did our health screenings.

The real irony is that we categorically dispute almost ALL the dietary advice the folks behind this program try to give. In my opinion, it’s nothing but a prescription for staying overweight munching on franken foods and ending up dependent upon big pharma. Think the hullabaloo about the latest Lancet EAT stuff and you’re pretty much right there.

In contrast, I’d invite anyone interested in results and not theory to check out: www.meatheals.com and start reading. Read about ordinary folk taking their health into their own hands and changing it remarkably for the better. Read about this, that, and the other problem ended up being resolved, including situations that the medicos called “chronic.” All without your daily dose of veg or fruit, nuts or grain!

So why do we bother with Vitality, then? Well, I did mention the financial incentives. It pays. Not much, but something. And I think Cindi and I have about $200 plus sitting as Amazon gift cards just waiting to be needed, now that we reached Platinum after some 20 days. It was a fun race to the end. Wonder what we’ll end up doing for an encore?

Numbers, numbers, numbers

I'm not a big believer in numbers. I go far more by how my body actually feels and functions. But I did get the blood work done after six months of carnivorious eating. Here are the numbers for this 58 year old bod:

Blood Pressure: 113/75 (Optimal)

BMI 21.12 (Ideal)

Waist/height: .48  (Healthy)

Percentage bodyfat: 8.4 (from the InBody Test at work)

Blood work

"Bad news"

Total Cholesterol: 274 HIGH

LDL: 162 HIGH

Conflicting with:

"Good news"

Trig: 80 (solidly healthy)

Chol/HDL: 2.9 (Highly desireable) 

HDL: 94 (Optimal)

Fasting Glucose: 86 (Optimal)

What does all this mean?

Quest kindly provides a nice little note on how the Chol/HDL ratio is what really matters and how that actually offsets high LDL or high total; and triglycerides being solidly inline indicate that the body is handling any fat delivery just fine, thank you very much. 

So am I the least bit worried about a high LDL? Nope. Not in the least. There are ZERO statins in this lad's future. That theory has been debunked utterly and completely. What is fun is that having listened to David Feldman describe his triglyceride experiment, I did the same thing. I waited what must have been nearly 17 hours since food was last consumed AND I worked out (hard!) fasted just before the blood draw. Last time I had the test done, I had buttered coffee in the morning before the blood draw and sure enough, trigs were up at 111. If you want to get the best trig number, be sure and fast a minimum of 12 hours! Forget that "9-12" make it "12-16" hours.

And it’s here!

My newest book, a little volume for children:  See My Savior’s Hands

Baptism of Our Lord

Another Sunday, another FEAST! This time, the Baptism of Our Lord, on a snowy, wintry day. The bells sounded off our joy with a prelude on "God's Own Child" by DeLancy. The processional hymn was "To Jordan's River Came Our Lord." Again, the Antiphon we heard a week ago on Epiphany trumpeted forth ("Behold, the Lord, the Ruler has come, and the kingdom and the power and the glory are in his hand.") Pastor chose the Old Testament option of reading from Joshua 3—and it flashed through my head what Kevin Armbrust pointed out: in most of the OT types of Baptism, the people don't get wet. Ha! True. But with the Jordan piled up and the people crossing on dry land, what could we say but the words of the Gradual: "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be His glorious name forever!" The Epistle from 1 Corinthians 1 invited us to ponder the Lord's decided preference for the lowly in how He works, what looks foolish to shame the wise, what looks weak to shame the strong. The alleluias rang out as we stood on the banks of Jordan in sacred story and saw heaven opened, the Spirit descend, the Father declare: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." In the Creed we confessed, as always, "one Baptism for the remission of sins." The sermon hymn was Luther's incomparable "To Jordan Came the Christ, our Lord." Awesome text and awesome tune. It still cracks me up that he inserted the words of the Transfiguration INTO the words at the Baptism: "Him you must hear and Him alone." And then it really made me smile to realize that Starke did the exact same in our recessional: "Jesus, Once with Sinners Numbered." Pastor's homily was pure joy and comfort: Jesus coming to us in our uncleaness in the Baptism He received to give us His perfect righteousness in the Baptism He commands. A perfect righteousness that Baptism imparts not once upon a time, but every day, a wonderful cleansing for our persistently sinful flesh. During the offering, Buxtehude's Herr Christ, der einig Gottes Sohn anticipated a hymn we would sing in Distribution. I opened my hymnal and sang along with the communion liturgy, because for some reason my mind does not want to remember the bass line on the Doxology for the Lord's Prayer. I've got 95% down, but there is one point that always trips me up. A quick glance revealed a cheat to get to another note in the chord that would be easier and my mind stopped thinking about notes and turned back to the joy of glorying in the doxology (so similar, of course, to the Antiphon of the Introit on this day). Working on article for Lutheran Witness on the communion of saints in the Eucharist, and so as I knelt down today to receive the Lord's holy Body and Blood, I kept thinking of the countless saints in so many diverse circumstances across all the centuries and in every inhabited place who also knelt and opened their mouths and were bodied and blooded to the Lord. We are all one. Surely one of the joys of life in the Kingdom will be the privilege of coming to know the entire family, of whom we know such a miniscule slice at present. A people put into Christ in Baptism and into whom Christ puts Himself in His Body and Blood at the Eucharist. Due to the snow, it was a slimer crowd than usual at early church. We ended up needing but two hymns at distribution. As we left the strains of Kantor playing Pachelbel's Christ, Unser Herr brought a smile to my face and thanksgiving to God that we are blessed to worship in a parish where Bach and Buxtehude and Pachelbel sound forth so regularly. Blessed Feast Day, people loved by God!

A thought on the Longer Ending of Mark

As we're studying St. Mark on Thy Strong Word, I referred the listeners to Acts 10 and Peter's sermon in the house of Cornelius. It is a remarkably fine summary of St. Mark, and fits very well with the solid tradition that though St. Mark wrote this Gospel, WHAT he wrote was the Gospel St. Peter preached. 

But then I noticed something that hadn't struck me before: it provides a fuller account of the events after the Crucifixion:

"....and made him to appear, not to all the people, but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that whoever believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."

It hit me that THIS comports quite well with the longer ending. He appeared to the eleven reclining at table (who ate and drank with him). He commanded them to "Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel" (he commanded us to preach) and He promised that whoever believes and is baptized will be saved (forgiveness of sins through his name - the name put on us in Baptism). So I do assume that we have lost the original ending that Mark wrote for his Gospel, but I wonder if some faithful person in the early Church just put in its place another record of St. Peter's preaching, so that the longer ending may not be by Mark, but it IS Petrine (just like the rest of Mark's Gospel). What does anyone think?

A most kind review

Of Thank, Praise, Serve and Obey by Deaconess Mary Moerbe:

Meet, Write, and Salutary

Deo gratias!

Got the stats today on the downloads for Thy Strong Word. By December 31 we had crossed over a million downloads since our inception in August of 2014 or, to be more precise, 1,008,748. And 402,279 of those came in just 2018 - an increase from the previous year of 44%. That amazes me. Praise be to God!

Pondering the Joys of the Divine Service upon Epiphany

I noticed on the way to Church this morning that you can FEEL the sun making its comeback now. The light is growing. And so fitting to sense it on the Feast of the Epiphany. Overflowing joy from start to finish. Kantor began worship with that awesome "Wie Schön Leuchtet" by Kaufmann; it almost dances. Hard to sit still in the pew listening to it. Makes you want to move! Then to the more somber but lovely "As With Gladness Men of Old." Old Dix wrote some really excellent stuff: "As with joy they hailed its light, Leading onward, beaming bright, So, most gracious Lord, may we Evermore be led by Thee."

Amilia trumpeted with sturdy and lovely alto voice the Antiphon to the Introit that announces the joy of the feast: "Behold, the Lord, the ruler, has come, and the kingdom and the power and the glory are in his hand!" Before Him we ask for mercy (Kyrie) and sing His triune praise (Gloria in Excelsis)

As usual, I don't like how the collect was changed in our new rite; there was something so gutsy and daring about asking for "the fruition of Thy glorious Godhead", and "to enjoy in heaven the fullness of Your divine presence" just doesn't cut it. The beautiful promises from Isaiah 60 "your heart shall thrill and exult" and "gold and frankincense." During the reading of the epistle, I remembered that the Isaiah reading WAS the Epistle historically on this day and contemplated how the very close juxtaposition of Isaiah's words with Matthew's would have formed a beautiful dance to Christians of yesteryear. I still struggle a bit with the ESV's "we saw his star when it rose;" I prefer the KJV "in the east."

Following the Gospel from Matthew 2, pastor (as he always does) read us the announcement of the holy days for this year. I love how Christmas, with the reading of the Kalends (which precedes the start of the Divine Service) situates us on the vertical plane (through the depths of time and the sacred writings) while on Epiphany, the calendar notices situates us on the horizontal plane of this current year of grace. They are like bookends. Here is the announcement: 

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the glory of the Lord has shone upon us and shall ever manifest itself among us until the day of His return. Through the rhythms and changes of time let us call to mind and live the mysteries of salvation.

The center of the whole liturgical year is the Paschal Triduum of the Lord, crucified, buried, and risen, which will culminate in the solemn Vigil of Easter during the holy night that will end with the dawn of the twenty-first day of April. Every Sunday, as in a weekly Easter, Christ's holy church around the world makes present that great and saving deed by which Christ has conquered sin and death.

From Easter there comes forth and are reckoned all the days we keep holy: Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten spring, the sixth day of March; the Ascension of our Lord, the thirtieth day of May; and Pentecost, the ninth day of June; the first Sunday of Advent, the first day of December.

Likewise in the feasts of Mary, of the Apostles, of all the Saints, and the commemoration of the faith departed, the pilgrim Church on earth proclaims the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord.

To Christ who was, who is, and who is to come, the Lord of time and history, be endless praise forever and ever! Amen.

After the Creed came the great "O Morning Star." I could sing that hymn every single Sunday! "Almighty Father, in Your Son, You loved us when not yet begun Was this old earth's foundation!" Amen!

Pastor's homily was so simple and comforting: an invitation to childlike faith to trust the Word of God spoken by the holy evangelist, that we too, like the Magi, may rejoice with exceeding great joy.

After the offerings were gathered and before the Prayer of the Church, the new officers were installed. Again, I miss the line that used to be in the Agenda, charging the officers not just to see "that the services of the Church are held at their proper time" but also "and in accordance with the order of our Church." I think that going AWOL highly suspicious. It's the ONLY criticism I have of our Lutheran Service Book Agenda, which is one of the crown gems of the LSB project.

Pastor had noted in the sermon how the wisemen saw nothing of obvious glory before they fell down in front of the Child on His mother's lap, how they believed the word of the prophet and rejoiced in the light of the star. So we fall down before Christ at the altar where He comes to us, with His glory hidden, and yet we know where to find Him. The Altar is our Bethlehem. "Brightest and Best" and "Of the Father's Love" and "Let All Mortal Flesh" served us to sing out our joy before Him as He fed us with His body and His blood, and with them Himself our Forgiveness and everlasting Joy.

Prayers with Simeon for a blessed departure and the Lord's blessing and then onto one of the great Reformation hymns that comes to us from a woman: Elizabeth Cruciger. My favorite stanza by far: "O time of God appointed, O bright and holy morn! He comes, the king anointed, The Christ, the virgin-born, Grim death to vanquish for us, To open heav'n before us And bring us life again!" LSB 402:2

And Kantor crowned our joy by giving us Bach's postlude on that chorale. Joy, joy, joy! Epiphany joy: God in man made manifest. Blessed Epiphany, one and all!

Dec. 15, 1920-Jan. 5, 1980

Remembering my father upon his death day. He had just turned 59. This year I will turn 59. Can't believe it's been 39 years. And I can't believe that only three of us are left of the seven. "Time like an ever rolling stream soon bears us all away / We fly forgotten as a dream dies at the op'ning day."

Glorious day for hiking

At Pere Marquette State Park with Cindi and Bekah.

Stuff that has made a real-life difference

I've been thinking a lot about this. I know I've written on some of it before, but for what it's worth, here are some things have had a hugely positive impact on our lives:

* Dave Ramsey and Financial Peace University. First introduced to me by my good friend, Pr. Randy Asburry. It's astounding how simple it is, and how good it feels to be fiscally disciplined (and out of debt!). And if you really want to up the game, there's Mr. Money Mustache. 

* Treasury. It's been out for 10 years - and these days it seems like it's been around forever. Cin and I like to start the day at the kitchen table with buttered coffee (with cinnamon) in hand and the Treasury of Daily Prayer. How unthinkable to start the day without the Word, the wisdom of the ages, the song of the church, and prayer to God!

* Bodyweight exercises. Brad Wood's the fellow who first shared his routine on this with me. I've adapted it to myself, but it's so simple and I can do it quite literally anywhere. I've been known to sneak in a few pushups at the car dealership (waiting on some work to get done), at the airport, and of course in my living room. I've settled down to norm of 200 pushups Monday through Saturday (Sunday is rest day), and then two other days a week throwing in different stuff (pullups, dips, situps, kettlebells). I know that as I head down the stretch toward 60 I'm stronger than I was heading down the stretch to 50 and certainly at any time prior.

* Walking. It's not exercise. It is movement, of course, but it's mostly just head clearing. I love walking alone and I love walking with Cindi. Either way is great, silent or chatting. But walking is just my preferred way to move around.

* Standing. That is, at work! I love my standing desk. I go home each day quite refreshed, much better than when I SAT all day and came home exhausted. I know, it makes no sense to me either. But there you have it. 

* Konmari. This simple and beautiful method of evaluating your stuff is beyond par. We ended up keeping very little, but what we kept is all stuff that does indeed spark joy at every turn. Love it.

* Carnivory. That was our huge discovery this year. We both feel so much better on just meat, eggs, cheese, and fish. And the body composition difference is pronounced and fun. January is World Carnivore Month; why not give it a try and see how YOUR body reacts to a month of nothing but nourishing meat?

* Digital Minimalism. Think iPhone, iPad (for writing and such) and HomePod for music. 

* Audible and Podcasts. My commute has become my university classroom and library. I listen and learn and ponder. By the way, it was a Joe Rogan podcast with Jordan Peterson that got me to give carnivory a try! And I got to know Peterson by listening to his book 12 Rules.

* Mindfulness. Check out the free app from Oak for this. I find that nothing prepares me to meet the day with calm and clarity like a bit of time breathing and decluttering the mind. The freedom to act and not merely react and to aid you in refusing to allow the urgent but ultimately unimportant to push out the non-urgent but important things of life.

* Stoicism. Things in your control; things not in your control. A binary gift for learning what to concern yourself about and how to free the mind from useless preoccupations. Also cold (think Wim Hoff); in general Monday to Saturday, the shower ends on cold for as long as I can take it. 

What about for you? Have you found stuff that has made a lasting difference for the good in your life? What was it?

The Sunday in the Octave

Our pastor's son experienced an accident yesterday that necessitated some emergency treatment and even as I write he's back at the hospital and preparing for a second surgical procedure on his mouth. Keep Elijah in your prayers, please.

I filled in for pastor at the early liturgy, and served as deacon to pastor at the second (our second pastor, Pr. Gleason, is serving a vacancy at a neighboring parish). I thought as I prayed my way through the liturgy what an utter blessing to worship in this place, where the old liturgy remains in its sturdy strength and the gospel joy permeates the whole of our worship.

Before the liturgy began I gathered in the Narthex with the acolytes and prepared for the opening hymn. Above the doors stands the passage from Genesis 28: “This is none other than the house of God and this is the gate of heaven." How utterly true. We entered to the strains of “Angels We Have Heard on High.” The traditional introit for the Sunday in the octave was transferred to Midnight Mass for us on Christmas from Lutheran Worship onward. Makes sense, of course, given the words, but I miss it on this Sunday, where it was at least an option in TLH. Still, Psalm 93 made a fine Introit with its focus on God's house. 

Another change is the new collect for the day. I miss the crisp and quintessentially unsentimental old collect: “Almighty and everlasting God, direct our actions according to Thy good pleasure, that in the name of Thy beloved Son, we may be made to abound in good works; through the same...” This is rather faithful to the Latin (though the Latin is a tad starker: that we may merit to abound in good works). The new collect reflects the unity between creation and redemption, confessing that as God has wonderfully created us, He has even more wondrously restored human nature through the incarnation.

Isaiah 11 and the words of love from Psalm 45 in the Gradual and then onto the Epistle (I always remember the summary of the rector's homily on the same in The Nine Tailors by Sayers) from Galatians four with its great confession: “But in the fullness of time...” The Alleluia with more from Psalm 93 and the contrast between the Lord’s majesty and the humble appearance of the babe in the Holy Virgin’s arms. The beautiful Gospel from Luke 2, the Presentation and the witness of Sts. Simeon and Anna to the child. 

And why does the genuflection during the Creed always touch so deeply during this time of the year? It can never be perfunctory when we think of kneeling before the Child. Onto “Let All together Praise Our God,” which Dr. Stephenson has forever ruined for me by pointing out the anaemic translation of stanza 4 in LSB. No, it's not His realm, His glory and His name He gives auf Deutsch, but the luminous Godhead that he has come to bestow upon us. Awesome. “God became man that man might become god” as the Fathers are all wont to confess.

A visit with Simeon, Mary, Joseph, and Anna and how the Child prepares us one and all to depart in peace. “Create in Me” and then the offering gathered, the table prepared. The intercessions for the church, her pastors, the government and the nations, those in afflictions, all those gathered together for that service, the honoring of the saints who have gone before (especially the Virgin Mother, St. Joseph, St. Simeon and St. Anna) and the prayer for the worthy reception of the the miracle about to unfold before us in the most holy Eucharist.

The lines of chant whose tune is so ancient, untouched through these long centuries: The Lord be with you...Lift up your hearts... Let us give thanks to the Lord our God... And the preface for Christmastide, the invitation to marvel at how through the Word made flesh God would draw our hearts to love that which is not seen, the Father. Joining with angels and archangels in adoration as the endless cry rings out: Holy, holy, holy...blessed is He that cometh...

The solemn time of consecration: the Our Father with its joyous Doxology and then the very Words of Christ that give to us, deliver to us, exactly what He promises. His body, given for you. His blood shed for you, for the forgiveness of sins. Peace and then adoration of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

The partaking of the Most Holy amid the raucous singing of hymns: St. Germanus' “A Great and Mighty Wonder,” shades of Good King Wenceslas in “Gentle Mary Laid Her Child” and then the shepherds’ joy in “Come, Your Hearts and Voices Raising.” We have seen, tasted, touched the very body and blood of the Son of God, hidden beneath the form of the mean earthly elements, and so with Simeon we are bold to pray Nunc Dimittis. A final thanksgiving to the Father for the gift of His Son and prayer to be governed always by His Spirit. Salutation, Benedicamus, and Benediction. And when your heart is so full you wonder if it could possibly hold anymore, along comes Luther's incomparable “In Peace and Joy I Now Depart.”

We leave knowing we could die. Right now, we could die and it would be just fine. We've been given in Christ a life that is stronger than any death we will ever face, a forgiveness greater than all the sin of the world, a place, a home, made heirs, joint-heirs, and so in Him and with Him and by Him we can cry: Abba, Father! And we know He will say to us: “Welcome home, child. Welcome home at last.”

And then

There is the Divine Service on Christmas Day, technically the third Mass, though we sing only the first and the last...

From the merry song of the handbells as prelude to the solemn reading of the Kalends, from the joyful "O Come, All Ye Faithful" (with Wilcox descant on trumpet and with sopranos) to relishing the Gloria in Excelsis (being a bit more awake than last night),

from the wonderful ancient and terse collect of the day (though somewhere along the line, the "new" got lost from "birth") to the choir's joyful Psallite Unigenito (delightful macaronic piece by Praetorius - we sang the original with Latin and German),

from the Gospel from John 1 to the kneeling at the incarnatus est of the Nicene, from Luther's incomparable "We Praise You, Jesus, At Your Birth" to Pastor's preaching us the comfort of that Light that no darkness of our sin or death was able to extinguish,

from Es Ist Ein Ros to the intercessions that sweep up in love the concerns and joys of all and present them in Christ to the Father,

from the solemn chanting of Our Father and the Testament of Christ to the gift of the Savior's body and blood once again touching us, forgiving us, loving us, transforming us;

from the ringing and singing of Of the Father's Love to the joyous and triumphant dance with which we waltz our way to the Kingdom: "Now Sing We Now Rejoice!" and Bach's prelude on the same as the postlude

From start to finish, from Alpha to Omega, it was all the joy of Jesus.

His incarnation for us the incontrovertible testimony of the Father's eternal and unfathomable love for the race of men.

Thank you to Pastor, to Kantor, to the many musicians, to the singers, to all who brought us such joyful gifts.

Words cannot describe the blessing of being able to worship in an Orthodox Lutheran parish, devoted to our church's rich musical and liturgical heritage and joyfully determined to hear nothing but the preaching of God's pure Word, where every song and sermon invites us to doxology: Glory to you, Lord Jesus, our new born king!

Images

A pleasantly full church for Evening Prayer and the children's Christmas service... Pastor in his cope, seated amid singing angels (one of them Lydia!) and shepherds... Violins, viola, cello, tambourine, timpani, organ, saxophone, bells, choir... Young folks telling the story in the ancient words... Es ist ein Ros and Stille Nacht as the old walls smiled to hear the old language again ring out... Solemn Midnight Divine Service, the first Mass of Christmas Day... Trumpet and organ and strings: "Joy to the World!"..."When all was still and it was midnight"... Welcoming back the Gloria in Excelsis, absent since Advent began... Verbum caro factum est; Habitavit in nobis, alleluia, so softly and gently from the choir... Venite's call as the Alleluia Verse, summoning us to worship and bow down before the Lord, now in the manger... "In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus"... Olivia soloing the angel's message in "From Heaven Above" and the choir softly singing "Ah, dearest Jesus"... Pastor's homily God...born...of Mary...for you...to take away your sin...manger and cross...meets you here in His same body an blood...God's love for you... "Still, still, still" with strings and choir... The solemn consecration as Bethlehem touches down in Hamel and we join the angels to worship the newborn King and the shepherds to welcome Him... David's "O Holy Night"...Gerhardt's "All My Heart" as I knelt beside David and Cindi and received the miracle of divine love upon my tongue and into my heart... Candles and darkness... "Stille nacht" and the organ disappearing to let us almost whisper the words together in awe: "Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth..."