Advent Homily for Midweek

[Luke 1:26-56]

Ours was always a quiet home. God had not blessed us with children, and after many years together, a husband and wife learn to carry on conversations without words. A look and a look back can speak volumes. Yet we did talk. Sometime at night, after the lamps were put out, I’d stretch out beside my old Zechariah and say: “tell me the promises again.”

You see, he was a priest. He knew the Sacred writings of Torah and the Prophets. And he loved to recite the promises about the Coming One, the One who would make all things right again for a world where so much has gone wrong. He’d begin whispering them to me: “To us a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder…” “And you, Bethlehem Ephratha, are by no means least among the tribes of Judah, for out of you will come a Ruler who will govern my people Israel.” “His dominion will be from sea to sea, from the river to the ends of the earth.” “The wolf shall lie down with the lamb.” Oh, he could go on forever; he knew them all. He’d long ago stored them away in his heart, and he loved nothing more than to repeat them. They were his prayer, his hope. He was one of the Zedek - the righteous - who looked for the salvation of Israel.

When he came home from doing his priestly duty that year, he didn’t need to tell me he couldn’t talk. One look told me something had happened. His eyes were full of excitement and hope like I’d not seen in him since he was a young man. I thought he might have a fever. It took a while to get the whole story out of him. I think he was a little ashamed. It was not like him - questioning the word of one of the Lord’s angels? That was not like my husband at all. But still, the promise was staggering. We were to have a child? Now? And our child was to be the one that the prophets had foretold? The one to prepare the way for the Lord, the Messenger sent before the Lord’s face? The fulfillment of all things was now? In our lives?

When I first felt the little one move in my womb I could do nothing. I stood still and tears streamed down my face. Then laughter and joy. Our God? He comes up with the craziest ideas! Old ladies carrying little babies. Our God, the God of the universe, He promises the impossible and then He makes it happen. No good trying to wrap your mind around His ways. His goodness is beyond our thinking, His love beyond our dreams.

Five months our house was mostly silent. Zechariah watched impatiently as my womb began to swell. And there were days he’d lay his hand upon it and we’d look into each others eyes and one would start laughing and the other crying. Five months of silence in the house and then one day, a miracle greater than our little boy’s conception came running up to the door.

I heard her voice. She was calling a greeting: Shalom, Cousin Elizabeth! And that is when it happened. My little one was doing summersaults in my womb - summersaults of joy. And the Holy Spirit came upon me and I saw the whole thing. My eyes were opened like they’d never been opened before. All the past seemed like a dream and in shock and awe at what I had seen I stood to my feet.

She came to me, a look on her face, a questioning look. She thought no one knew. I let her know different right away. “Blessed!” I cried. “Blessed are you among women!” And blessed indeed, for no other woman would be both Virgin and Mother, and not just the mother of a miracle baby like my own. The mother of… The mother of so much more. I can barely bring myself to say it even after all these years. “Blessed is the fruit of your womb.” Ah, that was the heart of it. She walked into my house and it was though the Ark of Covenant had arrived, and hidden in the Ark, the beating heart of my God taken flesh. The Messiah, the One about whom all the promises centered. The One God told Abraham would bring blessing to all the families of the earth. The Serpent Crusher. The One to lead us back to Paradise. He was in my house. In her womb. His infant heart beating beneath her heart. “And why is this granted to me, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?” The look on her face. The child melted. I held her as she wept. It was a fearful secret she had been hiding. But here it was safe.

I pulled back from her and gave my old goat sitting in the corner a proper look. I pointed to her and said: “Blessed is she who BELIEVED that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” My old goat, my Zechariah, he laughed and laughed his silent laugh, agreeing with me. She had believed, and she was blessed.

And then she opened her mouth again and spoke - a hymn of praise to the One who had chosen her in love, and she foretold how every generation from that day to the end of time would remember and join in calling her blessed. Ah, the poetry of her song and the fire of her words that day!

She stayed with us for the next three months. How we talked much during those days - our house was silent no more. The last months are never easy, certainly not for old women. And she was there to help me through those hard days and to share our joy when the little lad revealed his face. She saw her divine Son’s fore-bearer, our John. And then she left, she went home to meet her Joseph and to face whatever it was that God willed for her.

There are those who think she is a almost a goddess - but they are being foolish. There are those who think that she is just an ordinary person like themselves - they are just as foolish. You must think of her as the Holy Spirit taught me that day she came to me: Blessed among women, Blessed in the fruit of her womb, and blessed above all in believing the Words of her Lord.

You can’t go wrong if you follow her example, you people who live in the time of the great fulfillment. You can’t go wrong if you also learn to say to God: “Let it be to me according to your Word” and if you learn to trust every promise God makes you, no matter how impossible, how shocking, how unreasonable. You can’t go wrong if you open up your heart and your life and give space for the Child of Mary to come and live in you, bringing you the joy of presence. It won’t mean an easy time in this world - how she found that out! - but it will mean the joy of a life that death cannot bring to an end. For it will be God’s life, the life He reaches us all in His Son, the Child of Mary, the Mother of God. Blessed be He! Blessed be He forever! Amen.

As if ONE David

isn't quite enough to handle... His final drawing for his charcoal class.

Eating Breakfast

just wiped the poor thing out...

The Question

for those who will be preaching the one year series this coming Sunday is the meaning behind the question of St. John the Baptist in the holy Gospel, Matthew 11:2-10(11).

To a man, almost all modern exegetes opine that John was in a crisis of faith, experiencing a moment of doubt. To a man, almost all the Church Fathers including our Fathers in the Reformation insist that John had absolutely no such crisis of faith, but was seeking to bring his disciples to faith in the Lord Jesus.

I confess that I have preached the text both ways - and I was inordinately fond of the approach of the modern exegetes. I've come to believe I was quite wrong about it. Here are some beautiful words that Fr. John Fenton posted from my favorite Western father, St. Peter Chrysologus that may be of help as you ponder this text:

That blessed John was the messenger to the messengers of Christ, the witness to his witnesses, and the foremost of his promoters, we have frequently mentioned in our preaching. Then why is it that the messenger asks a question, the witness is in doubt, and the promoter is lacking in knowledge? Are you the One who is to come, or do we wait for another? (Mt 11.3) John, you perfect man, are you asking whether he is the Christ who is to come, when while you were still within your mother’s womb you announced that he had already come?

John, there are your words: “Behold, the Lamb of God; behold him who takes away the sins of the world.” And when he submitted to be baptized by your hands, you said: “I ought to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” Are you not the one who heard amidst the waters of the Jordan the voice of the Father resounding from heaven: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased”? You certainly were the only human being who saw the Holy Spirit come down in bodily form from heaven upon him. You are the one who grasped the Father with your ears, the Son with your hands, and the Holy Spirit with your eyes at one and the same moment in an unparalleled manifestation of power.

And after this you ask whether he is the Christ or whether there is another who is to come?
…
We are disturbed, John, we who sing your praises are disturbed… So give an answer, John, assist yourself and assist us; say why you who used to have knowledge sent them to ask a question. Let us pay attention, brothers, let us pay attention more in-depth attention, and let us listen to the answer John gives here not only with our ears, but also with our hearts. John says: “If while I was still in the womb I instantly announced that Christ was going to be born, now after hearing of his works, works which attest to his divinity, have I plunged into the waves of doubt? Far from it! “This is the reason form my question: my disciples, who had seen my good reputation, who had admired my life, who had heard me impose penance, forgive sins, and promise that the kingdom of heaven was arriving in him who was to come, were so prepared to be bound with chains, to live in prison with me, to share my punishments, and to become my partners with me in death, that they failed to see my Lord, for whom I had prepared them. They were following the teacher of penitence so closely that they were neglecting the Giver of grace; on account of ignorance they considered themselves mine to such an extent that they were unaware that the servant’s property belongs to his Master.

“So I sent them out, in order to put heavenly goods before them, to lead them to divine ones, to hand them over to God, to return them to the Creator. I sent them, so that by his works they would affirm that he was the Christ about whom they had heard my words, and so that my [disciples] would not be lost to my Lord with my passing away. I sent them to him who knew very well why I sent them. I sent them to the One who probes the heart; I sent them to the One who judges thoughts. I sent them to him who was in me and with me. I sent them so that by recognizing his divinity by means of his works, they would not find his humanity to be a stumbling block. I sent them, so that gazing upon his humanity would not disturb them who could not but be strengthened by the signs of his divine powers.

“And so the Lord, who knew why I sent them, responded with his works before he did with words.”

And from the Lutheran Fathers:

Luther's words from the House Postil (I:60):

"This sending of his disciples amounts to John saying, Go and learn who is the true doctor and preacher. I know it well that he is the true Christ, but the people do not believe this. Therefore, you go to him and hear for yourselves from him personally, so that you will divorce yourselves from me and the entire Jewish school of thought, in order to cling to this man on whom you and the entire world's salvation depends. This, then, is the final meaning of John's message to Christ, namely, that his disciples should personally hear and see Christ, come into fellowship with him, believe on him, and eternally be saved."

Gerhard's words from Postilla (p. 25)

"John did not address such a question to the Lord Christ on behalf of himself, as if he had the slightest doubts about this. For he had actually testified to the Messiah already in his mother's womb, Luke 1:41. He saw the Holy Spirit come down from heaven upon Him, John 1:32. He heard the voice from heaven: This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased, Matt 3:17. Indeed, he had pointed at Christ with his own finger, and had confessed Him as the Lamb of God who bears the sin of the world, John 1:29. His faith and confession of the Messiah was in no way beginning to waver or doubt because of his imprisonment, because Christ shortly thereafter highly praised him for his steadfastness. Rather, this sending and questioning had to do with his disciples, that they would be led to Christ and that any doubts that still remained would be removed from their hearts."

Patristic Quote of the Day

Grant us Thy help, O All-good One, and never abandon our race! Vouchsafe us Thine all-searching wisdom, that we might know the transience of all things. Heal our sores with repentance. Visit us, that we might not persist in sins. Thou Who art most merciful to our souls, instill in us remembrance of good, for much have we loved evil. Dispel all harm from us, O Good One. - St. Ephrem the Syrian, *A Spiritual Psalter* #13

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

This great wonder is first announced to shepherds, because as the true Shepherd of souls He had come at that time to bring back His lost sheep into His fold. The glad tidings of great joy are proclaimed to the despised and lowly, because no one can become a sharer in that joy, who is not lightly esteemed in his own eyes. -- Johann Gerhard, *Sacred Meditations* XIV

The Crud and Thy Will

Sorry postings have been slim of late. I think I have some version of the "winter crud." This one was a first for me. It really hit after Divine Service and Baptism on Saturday - was totally wiped out and knew something was wrong. I was able to do the services yesterday morning, but I didn't do Bible class and came home and slept for 1/2 hour instead. I also cancelled catechism service and missed an important meeting this morning. No temperature to speak of. Throat still hurts - but not in the sharp way it did before. Achy here and there. What's really weird is that if I am up and about for more than 15 minutes, it totally wipes me out - and using my voice at all exhausts me as much as walking around. (Thanks be to God for Bob and the Church's sound system! I was able to just speak in a very quiet voice yesterday and still be heard. And yet even that was totally exhausting.)

So the big bummers are that I missed Bekah's Christmas concert yesterday at Metro East Lutheran High and I'm knocked out of the Collinsville Chorale Concert--I was really looking forward to them both. I couldn't make practice last week, and I won't make it tonight. Sigh. Man proposes, God disposes. I'm still learning to pray "Thy will be done" and to trust that His will, plans, and purposes are always the best - far better than my own ideas. What a struggle to believe and trust that about little things like this - how much more about the big things?!

Credo, Domine; adjuva incredulitatem meam.

Christmas Bulletins

Bah! Humbug!

'Nuff said.

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

Consider, O devout soul, how greatly God hath loved thee in calling thee into the fellowship of His Church. 'My beloved is one,' says the Bridegroom in Canticles vi.1; truly one, seeing that there is but one true and orthodox Church, the beloved Bride of Christ. - Johann Gerhard, *Sacred Meditations* XXIII

Patristic Quote of the Day

Others think that licence is granted them to sin, because the hope of penitence is before them, whereas penitence is the remedy, not an incentive to sin. For the salve is necessary for the wound, not the wound for the salve, since a salve is sought because of the wound, the wound is not wished for on account of the salve. The hope which is put off to a future season is but feeble, for every season is uncertain, and hope does not outlive all time. - St. Ambrose of Milan, *On Repentance* Book II: par. 9

Ambrose of Milan, Pastor and Hymnwriter

Today our Synod remembers St. Ambrose:

Born in Trier in A.D. 340, Ambrose was one of the four great Latin Doctors of the Church (with Augustine, Jerome, and Gregory the Great). He was a prolific author of hymns, the most common of which is Veni, Redemptor gentium (“Savior of the Nations, Come”). His name is also associated with Ambrosian Chant, the style of chanting the ancient liturgy that took hold in the province of Milan. While serving as a civil governor, Ambrose sought to bring peace among Christians in Milan who were divided into quarreling factions. When a new bishop was to be elected in 374, Ambrose addressed the crowd, and someone cried out, “Ambrose, bishop!” The entire gathering gave their support. This acclaim of Ambrose, a 34-year-old catechumen, led to his baptism on December 7, after which he was consecrated bishop of Milan. A strong defender of the faith, Ambrose convinced the Roman emperor Gratian in 379 to forbid the Arian heresy in the West. At Ambrose's urging, Gratian's successor, Theodosius, also publicly opposed Arianism. Ambrose died on Good Friday, April 4, 397. As a courageous doctor and musician he upheld the truth of God's Word. (Synod's Website)

Lutheran congregations across the world sing St. Ambrose's Veni Redemptor gentium on the first Sunday in Advent:

Savior of the nations, come,
Virgin's Son, make here Your home!
Marvel now, O heaven and earth,
That the Lord chose such a birth.

Not by human flesh and blood,
By the Spirit of our God,
Was the Word of God made flesh
Woman's Offspring, pure and fresh.
LSB 332:1,2

Another popular hymn of St. Ambrose is the evening hymn: "O Blessed Light, O Trinity"

O blessed Light, O Trinity,
O everlasting Unity;
As now the fiery sun departs
Send forth Your light into our hearts.

To You our morning hymn of praise,
To You our evening prayer we raise;
We praise Your light in ev'ry age,
The glory of our pilgrimage.

All glory be to God above
And to the Son, the Prince of love,
And to the Spirit, One in Three!
We praise You blessed Trinity.
LSB: 890

We also love to sing his morning hymn "O Splendor of God's Glory Bright." (LSB 874)

Ambrose wrote with particular clarity about the justification and forgiveness. One of his letters is cited in the Apology to the Augsburg Confession:

"The Law, which declared all people sinners, seemed to have done harm. But when the Lord Jesus Christ came, He forgave to all people the sin, which no one could avoid. And by the shedding of His blood, He blotted out the handwriting that was against us.... Christ took away the sin of the whole world, as John testified, saying in John 1:29 'Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!' And for this reason let no one boast about works, because no one is justified by his deeds." (Ap IV:103)

For Your servant, Saint Ambrose, O Lord, receive our thanks and our praise!

At Last!

It's been teasing us all afternoon. Now there's SOMETHING falling from the sky that you can see. Sweet!

Productive day, though a tad hectic. Men's Study at InnKeeper bright and early at 6:15. Then home to work on stuff. Managed to finish a homily for the Synod for 2 Epiphany (Life Sunday this year), and Sunday's homily, Sunday's Bible Class, memory sheets for the school through the beginning of January, and some running around. Proofed bulletin and messenger for Sunday. Edited some letters for Joanie. Now, in an hour and 15 minutes, we'll celebrate the Divine Service and commemorate St. Nicholas (provided folks show up in the snow, ice, whatever it is!), and then done for the day - I hope!

But not Cindi. SHE has choir. I wonder how that will go with the snow!

Homily for Advent II

[Malachi 4:1-6 / Romans 15:4-13 / Luke 21:25-36]

So what’s hope? You hear it incorrectly if you hear overtones of “wouldn’t it be nice, wouldn’t it be lovely?" Such is NOT what the Sacred Scriptures mean by hope. In today’s Epistle, St. Paul called our God, a God of hope who fills His people with all joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit they may abound in hope. That’s not so they would abound in “wouldn’t it be nice, wouldn’t it be lovely!” Or hope is not so frilly as that. Our hope is rock solid. It does not waver. It is founded upon the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and His promise to appear in glory at the Last Day when He will bring in an Age where all that is loveless, joyless, painfilled, and sorrowful in our lives will be done away. Our hope rests in this coming Age where Love reigns over all and in all.

And we know it’s no pipe dream, because our Lord has already risen into it. Where the Head is, the body soon must follow. In fact, we get to live from it already now. Already in this age that is coming to an end, we as the people of God are called to live from the certain joy, the expectant hope, of the age that is coming. If you’ve never thought of our parish as a colony from the future, you’ve not thought of it as God does. If you’ve never thought of yourself as a colonist from the future, you’ve not thought of yourself as God does.

We look toward that day, and we seek to live toward that day, to order our lives toward the realities that we know are true and lasting - all that we’ve seen and known in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

We know that not everyone will welcome that day. There are those whose hearts are tied tightly to THIS world and its pleasures and joys, its worries and distractions. Advent reminds us that we can’t live that was as God’s holy people. If your heart is tied to life in this world, then when that Day comes, you’ll experience it the way Malachi described it: a burning oven, devouring all the arrogant and evildoers, setting them ablaze.

But for the people in whom the Holy Spirit has planted His joy and peace - we know that this world cannot be our final home, and that its pleasures and its passions cannot give to us what we long for. Yes, we still live in the flesh, and there’s no one so perfect that they don’t have to struggle still against desires that would tie down and tangle up. Advent is the call of the Church to keep on struggling, to keep on fighting the darkness of this age and its bitterness, resentments and anger, with light of our certain hope, our future with Christ.

You see the struggle will not go on forever! For you who fear my name, says the Lord, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall! The Day when our certain hope arrives, the Day when Christ stands again unveiled in His glory upon this earth - that is the day when He transforms the flesh, the sinful nature, the old Adam. It’s the day He heals you forever from the old passions that keep seeking to trap and trip you up. It’s the day you get to say goodbye and good riddance to your foul temper, to your lying tongue, to your wanting to cherish resentments and all such. The Light of that day burns away everything that is not the love in your life!

Any wonder that the people of God ACHE for that day? That they pray for it unceasingly: “Our Lord, come! Maranatha!” Come, and bring us Your healing! Come, and take the darkness from our lives! Come, and make us wholly Yours, forever!

In today’s Gospel, our Lord says that when the time comes and all things around us are shaken and people all around are fainting from fear of what’s happening to their world - then, says He, is the time for His people to “straighten up and raise our heads.” Because that’s when our redemption is drawing near.

Redemption? I thought that happened back on Calvary, back when our Lord shed His blood to blot out the record of our sins, of the world’s sin! How can the Lord speak of redemption as future?

Actually, in Scripture, redemption usually refers to the Second Coming. Because that is where He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. That’s where the healing that has begun in your life through your Baptism will be finished. That’s where the foretaste of the Supper ends and the Feast that never ends begins. That's where the life we've received a teasing taste of in the Church becomes the very fabric of our being.

And so the Lord doesn’t ever say to you in His Scripture: “You’re saved. Don’t worry about it. You’ve got your get-into-heaven free ticket.” No. Constantly in Scripture your Lord warns you: “Watch yourselves.”

You CAN fall away from grace. You CAN fall into unbelief in the future though now you are a believer. Once saved, always saved? It’s a lie. Don’t believe it. What our Lord says is that He who endures to the end will be saved.

And so in today’s Gospel He warns: “Keep watch over yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly as a trap.” Which is to say, keep watch over yourself that you never say in your heart: “Lord, don’t come quite yet. I’m having a rather good time at the moment getting plastered, getting wasted, enjoying this or that pleasure and I really don’t want to freed from my sin quite yet. I LIKE it and want to keep it for the time being. Make me holy but do it LATER.”

Against such evil in our hearts, the Lord warns and tells us to stay awake and pray. An awake heart says: “Lord, have mercy on me. You see how much I am drawn to this sin, to this pleasure, to this worry. Forgive me, Lord, heal me, cleanse me. Take away my sin, wash me from my iniquity.”

Do you see the difference? I pray you do. It is the difference between those who will experience His coming as terror and those who experience it as joy. As Dr. Luther once preached, the person who longs to be freed from his sin has nothing to fear from the coming of that Day.

During holy Advent, then, the Church calls for us to repent. To turn from hearts weighed down with the pleasure or the frettings of this world, and beg Christ for healing. We pray during these Advent Days that He would fill us with all joy and peace in believing His certain hope, so that our lives come to truly reflect the age that is coming in all we think, speak, or do. Then to Christ alone, our victorious and returning Lord, be all glory and honor with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Catechesis

So, if anyone wants to check out what we're up to with Catechesis at St. Paul's, you can click this link:

Catechesis

Pr. Lehmann figured out to get the video up on Youtube.

You can also go directly to where it is on Youtube here:

Direct Catechesis

This was our first week of using Service of Prayer and Preaching, so the singing and stuff is a bit rough. We've picked it up quite well, however, after all these weeks.

Commemoration of Nicholas of Myra, Pastor

From our Synod's Website:

Of the many saints commemorated by the Christian Church, Nicholas (d. A.D. 342) is one of the best known. Very little is known historically of him, although there was a church of Saint Nicholas in Constantinople as early as the sixth century. Research has affirmed that there was a bishop by the name of Nicholas in the city of Myra in Lycia (part of Turkey today) in the fourth century. From that coastal location, legends about Nicholas have traveled throughout time and space. He is associated with charitable giving in many countries around the world and is portrayed as the rescuer of sailors, the protector of children, and the friend of people in distress or need. In commemoration of “Sinte Klaas” (Dutch for Saint Nicholas, in English “Santa Claus”), December 6 is a day for giving and receiving gifts in many parts of Europe.
***

Fr. Thomas Hopko writes of St. Nicholas that what is extraordinary about this very popular saint is that there was nothing extraordinary he's known for. "In a word, he was a good pastor, father, and bishop to his flock, known especially for his love and care for the poor. Most simply put, he was a divinely good man." (Winter Pascha, p. 39) That's it. A saint whose life reminds us that "it is more blessed to give than to receive." A saint through whom Christ reveals the joy of a life that is "unbent" from the "curve in on one's self" and turned outward to others in kindness and love.

From the Brotherhood Prayer Book:

Remember them that have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the Word of God;
Whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.

Let us pray. Accept, O Lord, our thanksgiving this day for Thy servant, Nicholas; and grant that all ministers and stewards of Thy mysteries may afford to Thy faithful people, by word and example, the instruction which is of Thy grace; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Patristic Quote of the Day

Praise be to the Good One Who descended for our sake, became like unto us and healed our sores by His all-sanctifying flesh and His all-sanctifying blood! May all sing praises to Him! - St. Ephrem, the Syrian *A Spiritual Psalter* #14

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

He is sent from heaven as the messenger of redemptive grace, because no one on earth knew its exceeding greatness. It is with good reason that He, a heavenly messenger, should bring us the tidings of those heavenly blessings that are reserved for us at His right hand above. -- Johann Gerhard, *Sacred Meditations* XIV

Homily for Midweek Advent

I had been raised well. My parents, bless their souls, had taught us to fear the Lord and to walk in his ways. They told us the story of God’s dealings with us, His people, the Jews. They told us of Abraham and Sarah. They told us of Moses and Elijah. They told us most of all about the coming of the Promised One who would bring an end to sorrow and death and restore all things to what they were created to be at the beginning. They told us. And we believed. I believed. I, Zacharias, of the house of Abijah, a priest from a family of priests. I believed and so I waited.

But waiting is wearying and I had grown old as I waited. I began to suspect that I would go down to the grave still waiting - no Promised One in sight. Little did I know. Little did I know.

The day arrived when it was my turn to do the priest’s duty in the great temple of my people in Jerusalem. I had done it before and it was always an honor, but only once in a priest’s life did the opportunity come to go beyond the big altar in the courtyard and actually enter the sanctuary, the holy place and there offer the sacred incense - sign of the prayers of the people of God ascending to the throne of God. It was my turn and I was filled with joy and holy fear. Soon, soon, I would be standing only feet away from the most holy place, the holy of holies. Soon, soon, I would be spreading the coals and then sprinkling the incense upon them, watching it rise even as the prayers of God’s people rise to the throne of heaven.

And my prayer? I did not speak my prayer. It is a terrible thing to have your only prayer be a regret. But that was my prayer: “I am sad, God, that you have given me no child, no son.” That was the prayer that was in my heart as I stood before the altar and spread the coals with the shovel and then sprinkled the incense. That was my prayer. It was hidden in my heart. Or so I thought.

Then he stood beside me, a great Angel of the Lord, a messenger from God most high and I was terrified. I had heard of these messengers. I think that I had believed in them all my life, but I was not prepared to meet one. Stepping out of the sacred stories and crossing right into my life. I was not prepared for that at all. But there he stood nonetheless.

And such words he spoke. He told me that God had heard my prayer and that it was granted. I was going to have a son - a son who would bring me joy and gladness. And not only me, but many people. A son who would be like the Nazarites of old, consecrated to God from the womb. A child filled with the Spirit of the Most High even in his mother’s womb.

Can you understand what it was like for me to hear that? I was suddenly confronted with God moving out of the story and into my life and giving me what I didn’t even dare to hope for anymore. I doubted. I couldn’t believe it. I questioned. My trust wavered and I began to wonder if I had ever really believed at all before. I said: “How will I know this? I am an old man. My wife is old - beyond the years of child-bearing. It’s impossible. It just can’t be.”

Have you ever seen an angel get riled, get mad? Let me tell you, it is not a comfortable sight. Seems that nothing angers them so swiftly as our not believing. They just don’t understand it. They have been with God for so long and they have never known a word He spoke not to come true. To them He is utterly and completely reliable and so they grow impatient with our foolish distrust.

He drew himself up; He grew in power and might before me and I covered my eyes in fear as his glory was unveiled. I think for a moment I must have seen him, this mighty angel, as he appears before the throne of God. A being of beauty that hurts our eyes to look at, a being of goodness so great that we suddenly feel shamed and dirty. He said: “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God. I was sent to bring you these glad tidings! Behold, you do not believe! You want a sign. A sign you shall have. You shall be mute, unable to speak, not even a word, until these things take place, for you did not believe my words which most certainly will be fulfilled at their time.”

And then he was gone. The smoke of the incense had long since disappeared, but the sweet smell still filled the room. I don’t know how long it took, but it must have taken awhile. I went out from the sanctuary and looked at the puzzled, upturned faces. They didn’t know why I had been delayed and now they couldn’t understand why I didn’t given them the blessing. But I couldn’t tell them. I made signs and finally they began to understand that something awesome had happened to me in that room.

I went home, a man silent and yet my heart was bursting for joy. And it happened, just like God had said through the angel. It happened. Impossibly. Miraculously. God had stepped out of the story and into my life and suddenly my life was like the story. It was Abraham and Sarah all over again. It was Elkanah and Hannah all over again. God was doing it again. An old couple, unable to have children, suddenly giving birth.

You who live in the time of the Great Fulfilment, you who live in the aftermath of those days, will you trust an old man who says to you to watch out! The story is more alive than you imagine. Don’t ever underestimate the power of God to step right out of the story into your life and then pull your life right back into the story. I know whereof I speak. For my child, wondrous as he was, was but the Fore-runner. The Greater One came a few months later. The waiting was then at an end. He came into my world and He comes into your world. He comes to bring the joy and destroy the sadness, just as the prophets said he would.

Watch out for Him, my friends! Watch for Him! This God who comes to be one flesh with you and to suffer and die and to rise and bring life indestructible and joy eternal to you and to all people. Watch for Him, for He comes. He comes - and your lives will never be the same again.

Reflections on a Botched Evening Prayer

Nothing like the pastor bellowing away at the front in the way that HE thinks the singing should go, and the poor, bewildered organist and people left trying to play catch up. That was me tonight. Mea culpa! I confess, my usual speed in life is "fast-forward." I walk fast. I talk fast. I sing fast. That's not to boast - because when it comes to singing it a downright hindrance to the prayerfulness of the song of God's people. Lesson learned from Advent I Evening Prayer: "Weedon SHUT UP." If you stand out in your singing, you are not serving, but hindering. I had a good friend remind me of this tonight and my dear wife reinforced it! There is no prize won for finishing the Magnificat ahead of everyone else.

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

He is born in a mean stable, that He might lead us back to the royal palace of His Father in heaven. -- Johann Gerhard, *Sacred Meditations* XIV.

Patristic Quote of the Day

If I abstain from indulging my foolish desires, I praise myself vaingloriously. If I succeed in vigilance, I fall into the snare of conceit and contradiction. If I refrain from eating, I drown in pride and arrogance. If I am wakeful in prayer, I am vanquished by irritability and wrath. If I see virtue in someone, I studiously avoid him. -- St. Ephrem the Syrian *A Spiritual Psalter* #55 [A theologian of a cross calls a things what it is!]

Finally...well...almost

I purchased today a stand-alone version of Windows XP (I'd been warned against Vista) that allowed me finally finish my complete transition to this MacBook. Whew. So far, it's working fabulously. My only gripe is that while most documents print fine from Parallels, the bulletins created for the church on LSB Builder do not. Somehow or other the printer is getting the message they're going on an 8.5 X 11 when it's really an 8.5 X 14, so the top part is then cropped off. Grr. I've tried various settings and have gotten nowhere. No big deal. The files are fine and I can carry them over to the Church's computer and they print superb there. Still, it would be nice to get them to work at home. I'll likely keep worrying at it. Google did not yield much help this time. Getting all that set up took much of the morning, but the afternoon was productive and bulletins were finally handed off to the amazing Joanie (Church Secretary extraordinaire!). In fact, Parallels is working so well that I decided to drop plans to install on Bootcamp. I deleted the partition I'd made for that, and so I have more storage than I anticipated having. Yeah!

Over the years...

...I've done a fair number of radio interviews on the liturgy with Issues, Etc. I recently discovered that Pr. Ritter had gathered a number of them together, with some other guests of the show, and provided them all in one place. So, here you go:

Liturgy Links

May I recommend them for those nights when you simply can't seem to fall asleep; no doubt, they'll work wonders.

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

The great creeds were set up with this intention, so that people could comprehend with their minds a summary of the doctrine. And many have written lengthy summaries which show their theological method or skill, as Methodius did long ago and later John of Damascus. For in the case of everything we teach we must show the beginning, the progress or development of the matter, and the purpose or end. And this should be done sparingly, but as the ancients said, generously and clearly. -- Martin Chemnitz, Introduction to the Loci Theologici

Patristic Quote of the Day

Yes, and most wonderful of all is that all these things were successfully brought about through a cross and suffering and death. The Gospel of the knowledge of God has been preached to the whole world and has put the adversaries to flight not by war and arms and camps. Rather, it was a few unarmed, poor, unlettered, persecuted, tormented, done-to-death men, who, by preaching the One who had died crucified in the flesh, prevailed over the wise and powerful, because the almighty power of the Crucified was with them....

Well done, O Christ, O Wisdom and Power and Word of God, and God almighty! What should we resourceless people give Thee in return for all things? For all things are Thine and Thou askest nothing of us but that we be saved. Even this Thou hast given us, and by Thy ineffable goodness Thou art grateful to those who accept it. Thanks be to Thee who hast given being and grace of well-being and who by Thy ineffable condescension hast brought back to this state those who fell from it!

--from Book 4 of *The Orthodox Faith* by St. John of Damascus:

Commemoration of St. John of Damascus

From the Synod's website:

December 4
John of Damascus

John (ca. 675–749) is known as the great compiler and summarizer of the orthodox faith and the last great Greek theologian. Born in Damascus, John gave up an influential position in the Islamic court to devote himself to the Christian faith. Around 716 he entered a monastery outside of Jerusalem and was ordained a priest. When the Byzantine emperor Leo the Isaurian in 726 issued a decree forbidding images (icons), John forcefully resisted. In his Apostolic Discourses he argued for the legitimacy of the veneration of images, which earned him the condemnation of the Iconoclast Council in 754. John also wrote defenses of the orthodox faith against contemporary heresies. In addition, he was a gifted hymnwriter (“Come, You Faithful, Raise the Strain”) and contributed to the liturgy of the Byzantine churches. His greatest work was the Fount of Wisdom which was a massive compendium of truth from previous Christian theologians, covering practically every conceivable doctrinal topic. John's summary of the orthodox faith left a lasting stamp on both the Eastern and Western churches.

***

In our Lutheran Service Book, Hymns 478 (The Day of Resurrection) and 487 (Come, You Faithful) are by this great father.

I'll feature him today in the Patristic Quote for the Day.

Meanwhile, from the Brotherhood Prayer Book:

Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the Word of God;
Whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.

Let us pray. O God, who hast endowed thy servant St. John Damascene with clarity of faith and holiness of life: grant us to keep with steadfast minds the faith which he taught, and in his fellowship to be made partakers of eternal glory; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Beautiful Thought

Luther on this coming Sunday's Gospel:

"When someone lies captive in a dungeon, he cannot be rescued unless the dungeon be broken open. Consequently, you will not be set free until the world comes to an end." HP 1:49

How true!

Purely Personal Pet Peeve

Calling the Dr., talking to the nurse, asking for antibiotics for a very sore throat.

Being told: "No, you have to come in for a culture."

Arriving at the appointed time, having the Dr. walk in and look at the throat and say: "Yup, it's bright red and infected. Here's your prescription." No culture. Just the sore throat I already TOLD them I had.

I don't know. Maybe in this crazy day and age $30 isn't too much to spend to get a perscription? It seems silly, though, and a waste of time for me AND for them.

What do I know? I'm not a doctor.

Patristic Quote of the Day

He is God the Word Which was flesh. For if He was not flesh, why was Mary chosen? And if He is not God, whom does Gabriel call Lord? If He was not flesh, who was laid in a manger? And if He is not God, whom did the angels who came down from heaven glorify? If He was not flesh who was wrapped in swaddling clothes? And if He is not God, in whose honor did the star appear? - St. Ephrem the Syrian, *A Spiritual Psalter* #23

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

Well may we rejoice, then, and magnify the mercy of our God. What good thing will He, who loved us while we were yet His enemies, disdaining not to take our human nature into the very closest union with His divinity, withhold from those who are partakers with Him of the same flesh? Who has ever hated His own flesh? How can He possibly cast us off, when by an exercise of such exalted and infinite mercy, He hath made us partakers of His own nature? - Johann Gerhard, *Sacred Meditations* XV

Half-way Mark

Tonight marked the half-way point of our journey through Lutheran Catechesis (Bender's 24 week series), using LSB's Service of Prayer and Preaching. Tonight we finished up with the Apostles' Creed, and we celebrated by a Chief Parts Party - there were three kinds of meat, three kinds of dessert, etc. Tonight provided the opportunity to note the changes in the service that indicate that we've entered into a season of penitence, prayer, and fasting - Holy Advent.

This week we'll be reciting the entire third article of the Creed and also Acts 2:38,39 twice a day. Amazing how fast that fastens these verses down into the memory!

I know many are skeptical of how well this manner of catechesis works, but to the skeptics I say: give it a try and then we'll talk. We continue to have lively discussions (often led by the children). Now that we are half way through it, I'm sold on it more than ever!

One of the Greatest Poems Ever Prayed

I shared this with a friend today. If that person needed to hear it again, others may too. I know I need to hear it, pray it, constantly. Very much in the spirit of the Advent call to repentance:

A HYMN TO GOD THE FATHER.
by John Donne


I.
WILT Thou forgive that sin where I begun,
Which was my sin, though it were done before?
Wilt Thou forgive that sin, through which I run,
And do run still, though still I do deplore?
When Thou hast done, Thou hast not done,
For I have more.

II.
Wilt Thou forgive that sin which I have won
Others to sin, and made my sin their door?
Wilt Thou forgive that sin which I did shun
A year or two, but wallowed in a score?
When Thou hast done, Thou hast not done,
For I have more.

III.
I have a sin of fear, that when I have spun
My last thread, I shall perish on the shore ;
But swear by Thyself, that at my death Thy Son
Shall shine as he shines now, and heretofore ;
And having done that, Thou hast done ;
I fear no more.

Advent Part II

Begins on December 17th. Note in LSB #357 "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" provides the Great "O" Antiphons for their respective days. These are to be prayed before and after Magnificat at Vespers or Evening Prayer. Someone or other did a series on them a couple years ago on Issues, Etc. When those days arrive, I'll try to provide a synopsis of the great O's on this blog, D.v.

What Joy!

Tonight at Evening Prayer the Advent Psalms began, and tonight at the Divine Service we blessed and lighted the Advent wreath. I confess that I still look forward to this time of the year even as I did when I was a young child. It has a way of bringing memories flooding back.

Tonight I remembered that this time last year we were shivering without power due to an ice-storm - thanks be to God that hasn't happened since! I remember that Sunday I read to those who braved the weather for our Bible class the story of Fr. Arseny being locked into that punishment shed with the young atheist boy he'd rescued and how after all those hours in sub zero temperatures they lived - to the utter shock and confounding of their tormenters! They spent the whole time in praise of God and God protected and defended them from their enemies. The story took away all our complaining as we trooped upstairs to celebrate the Divine Service in a frigid sanctuary, though I remember also that I delivered a very short homily.

Tomorrow we have the joy of a Baptism AGAIN. We've had a number of them in the last few months, after a mostly "dry" spell from the beginning of the year. I think Joanie told me that this is the twelfth this year. I love to hear the little ones as we celebrate the Divine Service.

The Bride

My copy of *The Bride of Christ* arrived today. It looks to be the last copy unless someone revives the journal yet again. What riches though! The reprint of Edward Peter's article "The Blight of Receptionism" is particularly appreciated. If this IS the end of the Bride, she couldn't go down in a more worthy way.

Happy New Year!

For Western Christians, the new year of grace begins with the setting of the sun this evening. Advent is upon us! Can these days of grace in the Church mark a new beginning for us? I pray so. I pray that during these days we will give more time to the hearing of God's Word (most churches provide extra services in these days - usually midweek), more time for prayer and meditation, and more time for letting our homes become "little churches" where we read devotions, pray, and sing together to Him who, when He came among us, found no welcome in a home, but had to be born in a manger. Here's my first resolution for this shortly arriving new year of grace: By His grace, I will not allow the culture pressures of this time to divert me or my family from making true preparation for the Advent of the King. May His words and the songs of His church fill our home as we await with joy the celebration of His Nativity.

How blest the land, the city blest,
Where Christ as ruler is confessed!
O peaceful hearts and happy homes
To whom this King in triumph comes!
The cloudless sun of joy is He
Who comes to set His people free.
To God the Spirit raise
Your happy shouts of praise!

Fling wide the portals of your heart;
Make it a temple set apart
From earthly use for heaven's employ,
Adorned with prayer and love and joy.
So shall Your Sov'reign enter in
And new and nobler life begin.
To God alone be praise
For word and deed and grace!

Redeemer, come, and open wide
My heart to Thee; here, Lord, abide!
O enter with Thy grace divine;
Thy face of mercy on me shine.
Thy Holy Spirit guide us on
Until our glorious rest is won.
Eternal praise and fame
We offer to Thy name!
LSB 341:3-5

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

The streams of divine grace flow downwards, not upwards. As nature's streams seek the lowlands, so those of divine grace flow down into lowly hearts. -- Johann Gerhard, *Sacred Meditations* XXXIV

Patristic Quote of the Day

One and the Same is earthly and heavenly, temporal and eternal, both with and without beginning, timeless and subject to time, created and uncreated, suffering and free of suffering, God and Man and perfect in both. One in two natures, in both Unitary. - St. Ephrem the Syrian, *A Spiritual Psalter* 29

Homily for Advent I

When our Lord stood before Pontius Pilate, he said: “My kingdom is not of this world.” He owned up to the fact that He was a king and that He had a kingdom. But not anything like what Pilate was thinking. We are so far removed from the days of kings that we forget what they were all about. Do you recall when the Israelites first demanded a king from God? It was so that they would be like the nations all around them and have someone to go out and lead their armies. A king was the man at the head of the charge. A king was the man who marshaled the troops to deal with the enemy. A king was the man to secure peace and prosperity for his people.

Small wonder, then, that throughout His earthly ministry our Lord steadfastly refused the title of King. He did so because people always heard it the wrong way, the worldly way. He didn’t come to be such a King. He didn’t come to deal with such paltry enemies as the Romans. His was to be a kingdom altogether different. Zechariah already signaled the difference. He foretold in clearest terms about the day the promised King would arrive. He cried out: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.” It was only on Palm Sunday, as those words came to fulfillment, that our Lord first publicly took the title of King.

This King comes to establish His kingdom not among the nations of the world, but in the heart of men. This King does not come to fight against enemies of flesh and blood, but against the real enemies of the human race: sin, death, Satan, hell. This King does not come taking tribute, but giving out gifts to His people. And so He mounts the donkey and rides into Jerusalem that first Palm Sunday, as the palm strewed its branches and the stones lay within the roadway to pave His kingdom come, waiting for that fearful moment when God’s blood would stain the spearhead.

Jesus enters Jerusalem to be King, not of this or that nation, but in the hearts of man. In your heart and mine. What it means to have Jesus be your King is clear already from the prayer that He gave us. What does it mean to ask “Thy Kingdom come” except in the same breath to ask “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”? Thy will be done in my life, not the will of the devil or the world or of my own sinful flesh. Thy will alone be done. Thus He reigns in the hearts of His own. We are a people who can no longer call the shots on our own lives. We can no longer pretend to be in charge. We have surrendered to Another and on His bidding we wait. The person who still would be his own boss has no part in this King or His Kingdom.

Jesus enters Jerusalem not to fight against this or that enemy of flesh and blood. He knows that the real enemy of the human race is not another human being, but sin, death, and the devil. These He enters Jerusalem to fight once and for all. He rides into Jerusalem the Sacrifice Appointed. He rides in to take our sin upon Him; no, even stronger, to be our sin upon His cross. To bear it entirely and fully in Himself. To die our death and so free us from the power of eternal death. To rise again and so be Himself the Promise that our sins have been atoned and forgiven. That’s how Satan is defeated, death destroyed, sin’s power removed from us. These are the enemies of the race. These the bullies He comes to fight.

Jesus enters Jerusalem not as a King exacting tribute from fearful subjects, but as a King bestowing gifts upon His grateful people. What is the gift He comes bearing? Jeremiah told us by the name given in our first reading: “The Lord, our Righteousness.” This is the gift He comes to give all people. It is for the bestowing of this, His righteousness, that He will yield His life up. As in the garden, God slaughtered animals to clothe the nakedness of Adam and Eve, so God provides a garment to cover the nakedness of our shame and sin - His Son’s own holiness. This will be our covering, our shield on the day of judgment.

Jesus enters Jerusalem. But that was long ago. That was far away. Why does the Church read out this Gospel on the start of Advent each year? Because the One who came as King to reign in the hearts of men, to defeat the enemies of the human race, to give the gift of His own righteousness, this King still comes to His own people, still with the same purpose. This is His Advent in the means of grace, in His Word and Sacraments. Think of it!

In Holy Baptism, the King came riding into your life on the lowly water. There He established His Kingdom in your heart. Marked you as His own dominion. Gave Himself to you as the Lord of your life. Gave you the right to pray the Our Father. Your life then ceased to be your own. It became His. “He delivered us from the dominion of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” is how St. Paul expresses the fact in Colossians 1.

In Holy Absolution, the King comes riding into your life on the lowly words of forgiveness spoken by the pastor. They do their battle still against sin, death, hell and Satan. For they bestow what they say: Christ’s own forgiveness. What Christ entered Jerusalem to obtain for you, is in those words most surely delivered. With sin forgiven, then death has no sting, and neither hell nor Satan can hurt you.

In the Holy Supper, the King comes riding into your life in the lowly bread that is His Body and the wine that is His blood. As He is greeted with the shout of “Hosanna!” and “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!”, He reaches out to you His own righteousness. For that is what the Body and the Blood of Jesus are. His righteousness given to cover your sin.

Such is the bounty, the gift that the King came to bestow upon you. Clothed in such riches, you have the joy of a seat at His Table on the Day of His return in glory as Judge of the living and the dead, to whom be glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages! Amen.

I Blame It On Pastor Allen Braun

HE'S the one that got us hooked on Peace Lutheran's Boar's Head Christmas Festival. Then we found our old friend, Donald McKetchnie's Aunt Vera (we knew Don in Md) is a member of Peace and she calls us up each year to ask how many tickets we need. This year six of us went out to dinner then headed over to Peace to enjoy the pageantry and music. I don't really have a favorite part, because each part is so good, but I confess that each year I choke up over these words of the Boar's Head Carol itself:

The mightiest hunter of them all
We honor in this festal hall
Born of a humble Virgin mild,
Heaven's King became a little child:
Caput apri defero, reddens laudes Domino.

He hunted down through earth and hell
That swart boar Death until it fell.
This mighty deed for us was done,
Therefore sing we in unison:
Caput apri defero, reddens laudes Domino.

Let not this boar's head cause alarm,
The huntsman drew his power to harm.
So death, which still appears so grim,
Has yielded all its power to Him!
Caput apri defero, reddens laudes Domino.

Patristic Quote of the Day

Enter not into judgment with me, O our Lord, for no living creature can be justified before Thee. Thou alone, O Lord, art pure. Spare me and cleanse me of my sins by Thy grace. Vouchsafe me, O kind-hearted One, Thy great compassions, that they might make me rich and that I might receive forgiveness, and Thine angels might rejoice according to Thy word, O Thou who art kindhearted toward sinners. --St. Ephrem the Syrian, *A Spiritual Psalter* #66

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

When he [the devil] would lead us into sin he magnifies the great mercy of God. When he has succeeded in leading us astray, he enlarges upon the rigorous justice of God. First he would lead us into presumptuous sin, and then attempt to drag us down into the depths of despair. -- Johann Gerhard, *Sacred Meditations* XXVII

Advent Hymn

"One generation shall proclaim Your works to another." And so the hymns and songs of Christians who have long since gone to their eternal rest, continue to live on in the Church and to bring blessing to new generations. There are so many beautiful hymns to welcome the growing Advent light, but one that I've become especially enamored of in recent years is this ancient office hymn: Conditor Alme Siderum. In some Lutheran orders it was sung and prayed daily at Vespers during the days of Advent. Its tune is as peaceful as its words:

Creator of the stars of night,
Thy people's everlasting Light:
O Christ, Redeemer, save us all
And hear Thy servants when they call.

Thou, grieving that the ancient curse
Should doom to death a universe,
Hast found the healing full of grace
To cure and save our ruined race.

Thou cam'st the Bridegroom of the bride,
As drew the world to eventide,
The spotless Victim all divine
Proceeding from a virgin shrine.

At whose dread name, majestic now,
All knees must bend, all hearts must bow;
All things celestial Thee shall own,
And things terrestrial, Lord alone.

O Thou whose coming is with dread
To judge the living and the dead,
Preserve us from the ancient foe
While still we wander here below.

To God the Father and the Son
And Holy Spirit, Three in One,
Praise, honor, might and glory be
From age to age eternally.
Amen.
(LSB 351)

P.S. It is sad to note, though, that the words of verse three have not been fairly translated. The Latin (from the Lutheran Magdeburg Book of 1613): Vergente mundi vespere / Ceu Sponsus ex cubuiculo / egressus escastissima / De Matris almae clausula. Thus, confessing the closed womb birth. The Lutheran Magdeburg Book of 1613 has the hymn provided for Vespers in this form and with a series of Scriptures listed in the column. When you get to "De Matris almae clausua" we find Ezekiel 44:2. Fancy that! Back to the old Lex Orandi observation - even though confessed in FC SD VII:100, what is not prayed and sung, does not maintain itself in the people's faith.

St. John Chrysostom

Pastor David Jay Webber just sent me the link to this stunning fresco of St. John Chyrsostom - who is certainly one of my all time favorites among the Fathers. Pastor Webber writes: "This is from Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, Ukraine. This cathedral, built by my ancestor Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise in the 11th century, is one of my favorite places in the world." I think I can see why! Beautiful!

Hymn for Saint Andrew's Day

All praise, O Lord, for Andrew
The first to welcome You,
Whose witness to his brother
Named You Messiah true.
May we, with hearts kept open
To You throughout the year
Confess to friend and neighbor
Your advent ever near.
LSB 517:5

It was a long day...

all week! :) Today began with our men's Bible study at 6:15 and we covered Article X of the AC. Then home to prepare for the funeral, which was at 10. Place was packed, as we knew it would be. After the funeral, committal and a while at the luncheon, off to the hospital to see Brum. He was looking very good. I just hope they can figure out what's going on there. Then finishing up the shutins in Alhambra and Hamel. Sadly, Alfred was sound asleep and I couldn't rouse him. But Shorty actually said "Hello!" back to me when I walked in the room and greeted him. That was a first for me. Had a nice visit with Debbi and Janet, and then back home for a wee bit of rest to catch my second wind for the Divine Service - tonight we commemorated St. Andrew (whose day falls tomorrow). I particularly love the vividness of the new preface for Apostles' days:

"It is truly good, right, and salutary that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to You, holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God: for You have mightily governed and protected Your holy Church, in which the blessed apostles and evangelists proclaimed Your divine and saving Gospel. Therefore with patriarchs and prophets, apostles and evangelists, with Your servant Saint Andrew, and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify Your glorious name, evermore praising You and saying: Holy, holy, holy..."

Yup, we join with St. Andrew and with all of God's holy saints in the endless doxologies that swirl about the throne of the Thrice-Holy One!

With the end of the service, my day was done, but Cindi has headed over to choir. What a crazy week! Who would have anticipated all its joys and sorrows? Only our Lord who always knows and does what is best, and to whom we give glory with all His saints to the ages of ages.

Paul Steinmann's Funeral Homily

[Job 19:23-27; 1 Peter 2:4-6; Matthew 16:13-18] Lynn, Dana, Debbie, David, family and friends of Paul Steinmann: Stein-mann - Rock- man! Did ever a fellow have a more appropriate surname? No, I’m not talking about all the years he spent hauling rock around. I refer to the fact that this man built his life upon the Rock, our Lord Jesus Christ, and so became a living stone himself, and thus was a true rock for his family and his friends.

When he was but a little bundle, not even two weeks old, his godly father and mother brought him to the Rock, to Jesus Christ. “Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling, naked, come to thee for dress, helpless look to thee for grace, foul, I to the fountain fly. Wash me, Savior, or I die!” And washed he was.

As Pastor Hansen poured the water over his little head in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, the Rock of Ages, Jesus Christ, cleft for Paul, and Paul began his journey through this world of being conformed ever more closely to his Lord, the Rock. He was in process of becoming a living stone.

It was some 13 years later that he knelt before this very altar and promised that his life would belong to the Lord Jesus and not to himself. And he opened his mouth and received into it for the very first time the body and blood of the Rock of Ages. “For you” said Pastor Hennig as he poured the blood that ran from Christ’s riven side down Paul’s throat. “For the forgiveness of your sin.”

As he grew in years his distinctive character took shape. A man of great integrity, good hearted and kind, loving and - we must say it - fun. Blue eyes that twinkled in merriment as he told his stories and laughed and led those who struggled to get along to find peace in Him who was the Rock of his life. He had the gift.

And when he laid eyes on that young teacher, Lynn Cowell, well that was the end of that. He knew what he was after and went after her with all the grace and humor that always characterized his life. And what a life you two had together - how it blessed so many people - not the least of which are your children and grandchildren, whom he loved so much. But also all those you two made feel part of your family - a family without limit, always open and welcoming to others. Truly it is said, Paul Steinmann never met a stranger.

In our second reading, we heard St. Peter (another Rock man) give an invitation: “Come to Him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, and you yourselves like living stones be built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
Paul never tired of inviting others to become living stones like himself. To build their life on the Rock that is Jesus Christ. Even during his sickness, Lynn, you told me of his witness to a woman who just couldn’t understand his contentment, his joy, his peace. He told her that he went to church where God supplied him with everything he needed for time and for eternity and he told her she should give it a try. She did, too! Her life is changed because Paul spoke up in witness to His Lord.

Paul, you see, knew how utterly precious is what goes on in this room. We who love him have a hard time remembering that he was sinner - he was to so many of us such an icon of God’s goodness. But he was that because he never forgot or underestimated his own sin.

Just three days before his death, through great pain, he spoke the words of the confession: “I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto You all my sins and iniquities with which I have ever offended You and justly deserved Your temporal and eternal punishment.” No matter what we might think, he knew that of himself he had deserved nothing from God but wrath, and yet he trusted wholly that His Lord loved him and had suffered and died for him, His Jesus, the Rock in which he always sought refuge. As the body and blood of Christ went into him for the last time, it brought him as it had across the last sixty-seven years, the promise and guarantee that his sins were answered for completely, and so death would never, ever be the end of him. He would live in Christ forevermore. To know that is to know a peace unshakable. You could see it on his face.

Having communed, he joined his feeble voice in the song of Simeon for the last time. He sang in a way that he had been practicing for these many years: “Lord, NOW lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace according to Thy word, for mine eyes have seen Thine salvation.” Which is to say: “It’s okay, God. I can die now. I know I have peace with you and life that never ends. Take me home.”

And so came that moment when, with his family gathered around him, the hymns the church on earth ringing in his ears, his eyes closed to this world and opened to heaven, and - just as you said Lynn - his voice was set free to join in the hymns of the saints who behold the Rock of Ages. It was heart-breaking, and it was devastatingly beautiful at the same time. “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.”

We, as is natural, have the tendency to look on this from our perspective. Paul was blessed in that moment to see things also from God’s. Here was a moment that God had been waiting for since before time began. He got to bring His beloved Paul, His little Rock, His Steinmann, home to the Kingdom He had prepared, joined him to his loved ones who had gone ahead of him, and showed things that we can’t even begin to dream of now.

This is the joyful and blessed end of all who build their life upon the Rock of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God. Against them, the gates of hell will never prevail. Joined to Christ, their souls live now in His light and rest, beyond all pain and heart-ache, and they await with us the joyful moment of the resurrrection of their bodies.

“Oh, that my words were written, that they were engraved in the rock for ever. I know that my Redeemer lives.” Job’s words were Paul’s as well. May they be yours and mine throughout our days of pilgrimage and whenever our last day finds us. May we live and die with the confidence of a Paul Steinmann in his everlasting Rock, and so join him in praising our Redeemer unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Patristic Quote of the Day

Grant me, O my Savior, to contemplate the life to come that I may perform Thy will. - St. Ephrem the Syrian, *A Spiritual Psalter* #136

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

As the little vessel of thy soul is being overwhelmed with the waves of temptation, arouse Christ with thy prayers. Our visible foes we subdue by striking and slaying them; but this invisible enemy of our souls we conquer by pouring out our prayers to God. O blessed Christ, do Thou fight for us and in us, that in Thee we may have the victory! - Johann Gerhard, *Sacred Meditations* XXVII

Attention St. Paul Members

The Wednesday Night Bible Class and Compline are CANCELLED this week, due to the Visitation for Paul Steinmann. This will be held at St. Paul's on Wednesday from 4-8 in the Nave. The funeral for Paul will be celebrated on Thursday morning at 10 a.m. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints."

Experiment with Pages '08

A couple weeks ago I decided to drop Microsoft Office and see how well iWorks suite did in its place. In my case, that means using Pages '08 - because I really don't use powerpoint or spreadsheets for anything. Thus far, it's been really great. I love the speed that Pages has on the Mac, the integration with iPhoto, the ability to save in Office '07 format (something even Office for the Mac can't do yet), and the streamlined features. As a word processing tool, Pages has really come into its own. At least as things look now, I think it's adios to Office!

Multiple Homilies

I spent the evening writing. I was able to write not only Paul's funeral sermon (I'll post that later), but this Sunday's homily and next Wednesday's homily for Midweek Advent Evening Prayer.

Here's a wonderful trick my friend, Dr. Lee Maxwell, taught me years ago: when you are pressed for time and have a number of homilies to prepare, write the LAST one first, and then work back in reverse order.

This method works so well because it keeps the pressure on - you've still got the nearest one that needs writing, but you can't begin to work on it until the more distant ones are completed.

I hope to do something similar throughout all the weeks of Advent/Christmas.

I don't think

that there's a better tonic in all the world than a wee chat with Wilma Henke. It brightens the whole day.

Patristic Quote of the Day

The kindhearted God gives us what we ask for not because of our prayers; rather does He nourish us according to His compassion, for it is He Who created us... For who asked the Father to give His own Son up to death on the cross? Or who entreated the Son to die for sinners? To which righteous man did the thought occur to ask the Father to give up His Son for transgressors? It is truly an unprecedented event, and the thought occurred to no one. The Father gave up His Son to death on the cross, and through His death sinners obtained life. And if He gave away His greatest treasure, can there be any obstacle to prevent a man who asks such a Lover of mankind from receiving all that he needs? -- St. Ephrem the Syrian, *A Spiritual Psalter* #138

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

In all circumstances and conditions of life we need to fear the wiles of the devil. In prosperity he puffs us up with pride; in adversity he sinks us into despair. -- Johann Gerhard, *Sacred Meditations* XXVII

Making Music

is most definitely balm to the soul and rest to the weary heart. It was with heavy hearts we went to practice tonight - I don't think either Cindi or I felt the least bit like going. But we needed to. And I'm glad we did. It has a way of washing the sorrows out, or better, setting them into perspective. I missed two meetings tonight to do so, but it's only for this one concert and so I figured it was worth it - and it was. I'm ready now for whatever tomorrow brings, either in joy or sorrow, for:

Oh come, ye people, gather here
To hear the new of good cheer,
The King of kings, the Lamb of God,
Is born today in Bethlehem!
Sing Noel!

Patristic Quote of the Day

When Thou didst see, our Lord, that I had lost Thy glory, Thy love did not suffer it to be so. Thou Who descendest in Thy birth hast delivered me from Satan by Thy suffering and Thy death on the Cross. -- St. Ephrem the Syrian, *A Spiritual Psalter* #79

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

He came as Physician to the spiritually sick, as the Redeemer to the captives of sin, as the Way to those who had wandered afar off, as the Life to those dead in trespasses and sins, as the Savior to the lost. -- Johann Gerhard, *Sacred Meditations XV*

Requiem in Pace, Paul!

This morning our Lord brought His servant Paul Steinmann through suffering and death with Him into the life that never ends. Steinmann - Rock Man. He was indeed a man who built his life upon the unshakeable Rock, our Lord Jesus Christ. It was beautiful as well as heart-rending to surround Paul's passing with the music of the Church. We sang him to sleep with Gloria in Excelsis, Agnus Dei, Nunc Dimittis, What a Friend, Just as I am, Hark the Herald, For all the Saints, The Lord's My Shepherd, Blest be the Tie, Lord Let at Last, and so many more. "And did not Jesus sing a hymn that night, when utmost evil strove against the light? Then let us sing for whom He won the fight! Alleluia!" Rest in peace, dear friend! We love you. "The Strife is O'er, the Battle Done."

Vacation Done and Busy Week Ahead

I confess: I'm eager to get back in the saddle. Two weeks of vacation is great - but by the end I'm going stir crazy.

This week I will be doing our shut-in calls (I actually got a couple done last week!), numerous meetings, and several sermons to finish up. I'm teaching three days at Trinity-St. Paul Lutheran School this week. There's Golden Agers on Tuesday, our regular Wednesday class and our Thursday a.m. men's group and a meeting with our beloved District President on Thursday. And Advent looms with its extra services and sermons.

The key to peace (I preach to myself) is to look at one day at a time and to spend it in the presence of God, asking His blessing upon all that is thought, said, or done. Also allowing nothing to crowd out time in the Word and for praying the daily offices. That means getting up early tomorrow morning, and so I'm off to bed tonight.

"Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping..."

Preparing for a Psalm Shift

For those who pray the Psalter in the Daily Office from the table provided in LSB, this is the final week of the "General" or four week psalter until after the Feast of Epiphany. Beginning this coming Saturday evening, the Psalms shift to the Advent Psalms for Morning and Evening.

The shift to these Psalms will be accompanied in the Divine Service with the loss of the Greater Gloria (Gloria in Excelsis), but NOT of the Alleluias, which continue during Advent. At St. Paul's during the penitential seasons (Advent and Lent) we also use the Baptismal Creed, the Apostles', in the Divine Service rather than the customary Nicene Creed.

Homiletical Aphorisms

1. Speak what needs to be said, and then be silent; there is no virtue in rambling and it is rude to your hearers.

2. Never lose sight of your goal: that Christ be formed in the hearer.

3. Begin with the readings and feed the people of God from them.

4. Honor your fathers - study how the readings have been proclaimed in the Church - this is far more helpful, interesting, and important that spending time in modern commentaries. Pride of place should be given to Luther's Postils in your reading, but don't forget that HE got much of his insight from the fathers who came before him, especially St. John Chrysostom.

5. In honoring your fathers, pay special heed to the points at which they seem to be silly; be silent before them and listen, think and ponder what they say. Their folly may be the wisdom of God.

6. A sermon that does not get the hearers to the Cross has been worthless, for the Cross is the prism from which we view all things, and is it the key to unlocking the Sacred Scriptures.

7. Pay special heed to the Jesus "proprium." That is, what do these readings give you of Jesus that they alone give?

8. If you think you understand the OT without referring it to Him who said that the Moses and the Prophets testify of Him, you have not understood it at all.

9. The pulpit is not the place for your bright ideas, it is for speaking the Words of the Lord.

10. The pulpit is not the place for being polite: do not hesitate to call sin what it is and to call people to repent.

11. Never step into the pulpit without having prayed for God to open your lips that your mouth may declare His praise.

12. By the time Sunday evening has fallen, you should already have read the pericopes for the upcoming Sunday, and you should reread them frequently during the week, to live with and truly hear the Words of God before you try to speak them.

13. If you use "you" law (and it is law at its most potent), do not neglect to find ways to indicate to the congregation that you are very much under the same condemnation.

14. Avoid "we" gospel - for the Gospel's very essence is in its "for-you-ness."

15. Forgiveness is not a "thing" and you shouldn't make it sound like it is some kind of "get out of hell free card" that you hand over; rather make sure that forgiveness comes across as God finding the way to come to your hearers in mercy and love so that His very presence does not destroy them in their sin, but destroys their sin in them.

16. Don't waste time on telling folks how to live the blessed life before you've taught them inside and out how to die the blessed death; if they know how to die in faith, living in faith is sort of a "duh."

17. Don't preach Law - Gospel - Law. Instead preach Law - Gospel - Mystical Union.

18. Remember that preaching the Gospel is not only a means of CREATING faith; but it is one of God's prime means of SUSTAINING faith.

19. You cannot remind your hearers too often that they are "people loved by God."

20. Eucharistic preaching does not mean tacking an irrelevant reference to the Eucharist to the end of your sermon; it means to summon the baptized to that the Blood that cleanses the world from sin and the Body that belongs to God enfleshed as our brother; gifts which are not distant and imaginary, but real and will be shortly be upon the altar, in the pastor's hand and in their mouths.

Patristic Quote of the Day

To Thee, O Victor pierced by nails on the cross Who calleth out to sinners saying: come, receive forgiveness freely - to Thee I unrelentingly pray, O my Savior: turn Thine eyes away from my lawlessness, and by Thy sufferings heal my sores that I may glorify Thy kindness. -- St. Ephrem the Syrian, *A Spiritual Psalter* #8

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

He is born among the beasts of the stall that He might restore to their former dignity and honor sinful men, who through their sins had made themselves little better than the beasts. - Johann Gerhard, *Sacred Meditation XIV*

A Real Joy

is being able to go into fellow Missouri Synod parishes and find the same Hymnal in use that one uses at home. As the adoption of LSB spreads, this joy continues to grow. Tomorrow, I believe, we'll be worshipping in yet another LSB parish in our District. After the generation of separation (LBW, LW, or TLH), what joy it is to find LSB popping up nearly everywhere! I think it was already in the majority of our District's parishes just over a year after publication.

Origen!!!

HT to Chris Orr who at least ended up with an Orthodox prototype!

You’re Origen! You do nothing by half-measures. If you’re going to read the Bible, you want to read it in the original languages. If you’re going to teach, you’re going to reach as many souls as possible, through a proliferation of lectures and books. If you’re a guy and you’re going to fight for purity … well, you’d better hide the kitchen shears. Find out which Church Father you are at The Way of the Fathers!

Another Old Lutheran Quote for the Day

Here [Col. 1:11] the apostle gives us the second result of a living knowledge of God in Christ: the might and patience for the glorious perseverance in the cross. The person who has not yet learned to know God as his Father in Christ will find it impossible to joyfully endure many, great, and lengthy sufferings and afflictions. But how completely different it is with those who vividly recognize that God is their dear Father and they are His dear children! People with this knowledge have a firm staff that will not let them fall. They have an unconquerable faith that God intends good for them and that their afflictions are fatherly disciplines rather than punishments, disciplines that lead to salvation, heaven, blessedness, and glory. - C. F. W. Walther, *God Grant It!* p. 881

Mega Cool

I've made no secret that - unlike some - I rather like the ESV and the longer I've used it, the more I find myself drawn to it. Here's a wonderful portion of the ESV site on the net that allows you to have the Bible read to you from this edition according to numerous lectionary schemas. Why on earth isn't the LSB's daily reading schema up there?

Bible Reading

Homily for the Last Sunday

[from yesteryear]

Five foolish and five wise - and the only thing that separates the two in Jesus' story is that the wise had extra flasks of oil and the foolish did not. A costly mistake. The foolish lose out on the Wedding feast they had been waiting for. "The door was shut." And when the come late, asking for admittance, all they hear is: "I do not know you." So what does the extra oil stand for? What is Jesus tell us that the wise have and the foolish lack?

We could speculate on all kinds of things, but better than guessing is to go to the Scriptures and chase down "oil." Images begin to coalesce.

Noah putting forth his hand from the ark and taking in the dove, with an olive branch in its mouth - sign that the judgment had passed and that it was safe to leave the ark. Olive branch, olive oil. Water and a dove.

The anointing of Saul - oil poured by old Samuel upon the young man's head and the Spirit suddenly coming on him in power and he prophesying, so that they asked: "Is Saul also among the prophets?"

Isaiah uttering the prophesy: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor."

And all the images uniting as Jesus stands in the water, and the Spirit descends "like a dove" "anointing" him. Thus He enters His office as Christ! When we speak of our Lord as the "Christ" we are calling Him the Anointed One, and confessing that the Spirit of God rests on Him.

From start to finish the Bible unites Spirit and oil together; so much so that the verb used of pouring out oil is also the verb used of pouring out the Spirit: "anoint!"

So the five wise virgins were those who kept by them the supply of oil, that is the supply of the Spirit? What does that mean in practical terms?

We know that in Baptism God richly pours out His Spirit on His people: "Be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit - the promise is for you and your children." Acts 2. But the sad fact is that our lives are very much jars of clay, cracked pots. The Spirit poured in only once, drains out. He must be constantly and freshly poured into us if the lamp of faith is to keep burning bright in our lives. Thus Paul writes: "Do not quench the Spirit!"

But where is He being poured out? Where are the extra flasks filled with the oil of the Spirit we'll need for our faith to burn brightly until the Day of Christ's return?

In the Church! The full flasks are simply the means of grace - the Word and the Sacraments of Jesus. To live our lives near them, constantly being replenished by them, letting the Spirit be poured into us - that is to be a wise virgin.

To say: "O, I'm a Christian" and then wander away from them, not to give a listen to Jesus' words, not to come often to hear His absolution, not to eat often of His body and blood, is to live foolishly indeed. For what was once poured in, drains out through the cracks of our lamp, drains out through our sin. That's to live in the danger of being caught out empty on the Last Day!

So when the Lord says: "What I say to you, I say to all, watch!" He is urging us to camp out by the spiritual flasks of the Church.

The flasks of the Church are truly full to overflowing, for they are supplied from the Lord Jesus Himself, who fills them to the brim with His Spirit and His life. This is the life He came from heaven to give us. This is the life He brought into our flesh and blood when He assumed it from Mary's womb. This is the life He died on the cross to pour out into us - the gift of forgiveness, the Life of the Trinity, the Joy that is the Holy Spirit, the Peace and the Love that the Spirit brings with Him because that's who He is. All of these located for us richly in the flasks of the means of grace.

But no one else can camp out at the means of grace for you - no one else can receive the Spirit for you, and so no one can believe for you. So the wise cannot give their flasks to the foolish - impossible. Each must have their own. So it's not a matter of your mother being in church or your sister or your father or your brother. It's a matter of YOU being where the flasks are full and letting the overflow keep your lamp of faith burning bright.

Thus the only way to be prepared for that day is to make a habit of truly listening to His Words, to make a habit of hearing the absolution and trusting it, to make a habit of coming to His altar and letting Him give His body and blood into you for the forgiveness of all your sins; this is how you "watch." This is how you can have the certainty Paul spoke in our second reading that "God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him." Thus you'll be a people prepared and ready for whenever your Lord shall return and with joy, your lamp of faith will burn brightly in the night as you greet him and enter with Him into the feast of joy that never ends. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.

Thanksgiving 2007

A few more pics for any who are interested:

click here

Vacation Winding Down; More on Fasting

Vacation days are winding down, and Advent is awaiting. As usual with vacations, by the end of them I'm bored to death with vacation and eager to get back to work again. I think that's one of vacations greatest values: they teach us to long for work!

I've spent part of the afternoon reading some sermons on Advent I. Johann Gerhard and Martin Luther are quite different in homiletical approach. I enjoy them both for very different reasons. Gerhard seems always to have in mind the way that Scripture as a unity calls to itself from one passage to another, and by the time he's done with a text you've seen that text in the light of the whole of creation, redemption and eschatology. Luther tends to focus a bit more on the text. Oh, he definitely uses "scripture to interpret scripture" but he rarely moves far afield from the point of the passage under consideration. Though Gerhard is a century after Luther, Gerhard's approach is far more reminiscent of the Church fathers that he loves so much. Luther is actually more modern.

I am far more familiar with Luther's Gospel sermons than those on the Epistles. Today, though, I decided to read the sermon in the Church Postil on the Epistle for Advent I. I couldn't help but think what a fine preparation for Advent itself - the exposition of St. Paul's words in Romans 13. What is the call of the Holy Church in Advent-tide? Naught but "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires."

Luther proclaimed:

"Now in Christ we behold only the true armor of light. No gormandizing or drunkenness is here; nothing but fasting, moderation, and restraint of the flesh, incident to labor, exertion, preaching, praying and doing good to mankind."

"Now, the armor of light is, briefly, the good works opposed to gluttony, drunkenness, licentiousness; to indolence, strife, and envying: such as fasting, watchfulness, prayer, labor, chastity, modesty, temperance, goodness, endurance of hunger and thirst, of cold and heat."

"The flesh must be restrained and made subservient to the spirit."

"All foods are good creations of God and to be used. Only take heed to be temperate in appropriating them and to abstain when it is necessary to the conquest of the works of darkness. It is impossible to lay down a common rule of abstinence, for all bodies are not constituted alike. One needs more, another less. Everyone must judge for himself; and must care for his body according to the advice of St. Paul: 'Make no provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.' Had there been any other rule for us, Paul would not have omitted it here.'"

Luther's last bit there reminded me of the wise words of Blessed John Cassian about the fathers' rule for fasting. He says there really was only one that was universal and that was simply to stop eating before you are full. I think Luther would have said an "Amen" to that one too.

Patristic Quote of the Day

I glorify Thee, O Christ; for Thou, O Only-begotten Master of all, O Only Sinless One, wast, for the sake of me, an unworthy sinner, given up to death on the cross in order to free the soul of a sinner from the bondage of sin. And how shall I repay Thee, O Master? Glory to Thee, O Lover of mankind! Glory to Thee, O merciful One! Glory to Thee, O longsuffering One! Glory to Thee, Who forgivest every fall into sin! -- St. Ephrem the Syrian, *A Spiritual Psalter* #2

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

A Christian ought to live as he would be found on the Last Day before all men. - Blessed Martin Luther, Sermon for the First Sunday in Advent (Epistle), Church Postil, par. 26

Patristic Quote of the Day

On account of the first creation Christ is Master of our nature, but because of the new creation He gained power over our will. This is truly to rule over men as king, since He has bound and subjected to Himself the authority of reason and the freedom of the will which make man what he is. -- St. Nicholas Cabasilas, *The Life in Christ* p. 144

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

If you want to learn to know God's heart and will towards you, look at Christ in the manger, in the circle of sinners that surrounds Him, in Gethsemane, and on the cross. There you can read God's heart as in an open book. For whoever sees Christ also sees God the Father. As you find nothing with Christ but kindness, love, and grace, so you can be certain that you will find all of this with the Father. Christ calls sinners to Himself; and He does not condemn them; instead, He forgives them all their sins. And this is also what God does. He, too, wants to have mercy on you. Christ desires to take you up into His heavenly Kingdom, and so does the Father. To know the disposition of God's heart, you need only to look at how Christ is disposed toward you. -- C.F.W. Walther, *God Grant It!* p. 879

A Thanksgiving Postscript

David gets ready to take out Lucy and he stops and says: "It's snowing." It really is! I'm sure it won't last long, but it IS the perfect wrap up to a Thanksgiving Day, don't you think?

O Give Thanks to the Lord

for He is good; for His mercy endures forever!

I am still amazed that in this day and age we have a Church full on Thanksgiving morning, 9:00. I think for so many in our parish it would be unthinkable to start the day without gathering as a parish family and offering the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to God and hearing His Word.

We're still learning the Matins out of LSB. A few little bumps along the road with that - but we're definitely almost there.

Seminarian Richard Rikli stood in St. Paul's pulpit for the first time and delivered a homily that invited us into true thanksliving as he extolled the great things that God has done for us not only in what we normally think of as "first article" gifts, but also "second and third article gifts." As he was preaching this, my mind was drawn to the beautiful thanksgiving prayer that begins the Prayer of the Church many Sundays:

"Almighty God, we give thanks for all Your goodness and bless You for the love that sustains us from day to day. We praise You for the gift of Your Son, our Saviour, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. We thank You for the Holy Spirit, the Comforter; for Your holy Church, for the means of grace, for the lives of all faithful and just people, and for the hope of the life that is to come. Help us to treasure in our hearts all that You have done for us, and enable to us show our thankfulness in lives that are wholly given to Your service."

A visitor remarked on her way out how much she enjoyed the service, singing the old hymns and that wonderful Matins service.

We headed home and prepared the pre-feast. The gamble was the stuffed mushrooms. I tried something new. I emptied out the stems as usually, threw them in the microwave and heated them. Meanwhile I fried up some sausage patties and chopped them up. Then in the blender I put the stems, the sausage, some parmesan and some Merlot. I worked it to a fine mush and then stuffed the caps with that and topped with swiss cheese. They were really good!!!

After the pre-feast, we sang. We pretty well covered the Advent and Christmas sections of the hymnal, I believe. Lots of fun!

Then the feast. It wasn't the turkey that gave trouble. Cindi has mastered the art of the quick cook turkey. It was the potatoes. Or more precisely, the stove. It has a little button we'd not noticed before that allows a certain burner to be set to simmer! And that's where we were trying to cook the potatoes! Once we realized what was wrong, and fixed it, and finished up the taters, we were 1/2 hour behind the rest of the food. Ah well, it was still all plenty hot and tasty.

We did some clean up, some more singing, and then had room for the pie - this was a true Weedon thanksgiving. Only nine people present, but no less than four pies AND a cheesecake. Reminded me very much of our gatherings at home - we each had a different favorite pie and mom would bake one for each of us!

After our guests departed, we rested, ate a bit more, and rested more. A totally enjoyable day indeed. We're also very much looking forward to Christmas this year when Cindi's Aunt Sandy and her son and daughter-in-law will join around the table. Our dining room table used to belong to Cindi's grandmother, Nana, and we have so many wonderful memories of gathering around it at her house in Bethesda, Maryland for different holidays or just to play games. It's neat to think that at Christmas many of those who used to feast regularly at that table with feast there again. Well, enough rambling. A blessed thanksgiving to you all!

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

Faith also determines one's action. Faith, we may say, is action, not mere talk. That a person has faith can be demonstrated to others and to self only by the fact that the person lives and acts as though the faith professed is really right and true. A claimed faith, which is not matched by a life in keeping with that faith, is not faith at all; it remains a claim and nothing more. This is the important fact about faith insisted on by Saint James in his New Testament letter, and also by Saint Paul when he speaks about the judgment of God according to works in Romans 2:6. - Henry Hamann, *On Being a Christian* p. 108

Patristic Quote of the Day

In the heart, contrition; in the mouth, confession; in all things, humility. - St. John Chrysostom (Ap XII:74)

More Thanksgiving Again