Anglicans Who Hanker for Union with Rome

now have something to work with: check it out. Can the Lutherans continue to stand apart from the Holy See calling her errant children home? We can if we understand the weight of this posting by Nathan. As Nathan so often does, he simply cuts straight through to the heart of the matter.

And ANOTHER Reminder

St. Paul's will observe on this coming Friday, October 23, the Festival of St. James of Jerusalem. Vespers from Treasury prayed at 5:45 and a spoken Divine Service at 6:15.

Reminder!

If Reformation is this week, that means that All Saints is just around the corner. Any member of the parish who would like to have loved ones commemorated during the Prayers of the Church on that Sunday (we will automatically include all members who have died since last All Saints) can email me their names and I will include them.

From Lutheran Service Book Agenda, p. 151,152:

In joyful expectation of the resurrection to life eternal, we remember before the Lord our departed family and friends who have gone before us in faith and all those who are in our hearts and minds this day.

The names of those who are to be remembered may be read. A bell may be tolled following the reading of each name. The following prayer is then spoken:

Let us pray. Almighty God, we remember with thanksgiving those who loved and served You in Your Church on earth and who now rest from their labors. Keep us in fellowship with all Your saints, and bring us at last to the joy of Your heavenly Kingdom; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The Reformation Service

This year will again feature singing Divine Service, Setting V at the Sunday liturgies. We'll be blessed to have brass, bells, organ, tympani, adult choir, and quartet leading the singing. This particular setting of the Divine Service is based largely upon Dr. Luther's famous German Mass. On this day when we commemorate the inauguration of the Reformation, it makes a most fitting ordo with which to hear God's holy Word, receive the Blessed Eucharist, and render to the Blessed Trinity the thanks and praise that are His due and that our duty and delight. Here's an outline:

Confession and Absolution
Entrance: "Our Father's God"
Kyrie, God Father (sung by Quartet)
Festive Gloria ("All Glory be to God on High" with ALL the musicians and the congregation)
Collect
Epistle
Hymn of the Day: "A Mighty Fortress" (Choir on part of this and with descants)
Holy Gospel
Credo: "We All Believe" (Luther's)
Homily
Prayer of the Church
Offering
Preface
Our Father
Verba
Sanctus: "Isaiah, Mighty Seer"
Pax
Agnus: DS 3's "O Christ, Thou Lamb of God"
Distribution with singing of "Salvation unto Us Has Come" and "Built on the Rock"
Post Communion Hymn: "O Lord, We Praise Thee" stanza 1
Collect
Benediction
Hymn: "Lord, Keep Us Steadfast"

What a way to welcome in our new organist! God willing, the DVD will come out and I'll post some clips up on Youtube.

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

[In the Eucharist] He is saving us, that is, He is rescuing us from our fallenness, our lostness, our isolation, and our alienation, and giving us in this age a part of that independence and power and wholeness that will be ours totally when He once more manifests Himself at the great epiphany. This is ultimately what we mean when we say that forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are there for us in the Sacrament of the Altar. -- A. C. Piepkorn, *The Church* p. 202.

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

May the grace of the Father keep me! May the love of the Son sanctify me! May the communion of the Holy Spirit make me fruitful in all good works! -- Starck's Prayer Book, Monday morning prayer (p. 16)

Patristic Quote of the Day

No one escapes His sight; no darkness, no concealing walls, nothing is a hindrance to the eyes of God. He is so far from failing to look upon each individually, that He even looks into the hearts, which He Himself formed without any admixture of evil. God, the creator of men, made the heart simple according to His own saving image; but later we made it, by union with passions of the flesh, a complicated and manifold heart, destroying its likeness to God, its simplicity, and its integrity. -- St. Basil the Great, Homily 15

Huge Thanks

to Christopher Loemker for stepping in at the 11th hour to play for us today. Always a treat to have him on the organ bench. Reformation Sunday, though, brings our new organist, Carlo Van Ulft, and the musicians and I are all VERY excited to have the vacancy filled and filled with such a gifted organist. This coming Sunday's prelude will be "A Mighty Fortress" by Vaclav Nelhybel and the postlude Toccata in d minor by Gordon B. Nevin.

St. Ignatius of Antioch

Today our Synod commemorates St. Ignatius of Antioch. From the Treasury and our Synod's website:

Ignatius was the bishop of Antioch in Syria at the beginning of the second century A.D. and an early Christian martyr. Near the end of the reign of the Roman emperor Trajan (98–117), Ignatius was arrested, taken in chains to Rome, and eventually thrown to the wild beasts in the arena. On the way to Rome, he wrote letters to the Christians at Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, Rome, Philadelphia, and Smyrna, and also to Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna. In the letters, which are beautifully pastoral in tone, Ignatius warned against certain heresies (false teachings). He also repeatedly stressed the full humanity and deity of Christ, the reality of Christ's bodily presence in the Lord's Supper, the supreme authority of the bishop, and the unity of the Church found in her bishops. Ignatius was the first to use the word catholic to describe the universality of the Church. His Christ-centeredness, his courage in the face of martyrdom, and his zeal for the truth over against false doctrine are a lasting legacy to the Church.

The prayer for the day includes:

"...we praise Your name for Ignatius of Antioch, pastor and martyr. He offered himself as grain to be ground by the teeth of the wild beasts so that he might present to You the pure bread of sacrifice. Accept the willing tribute of all we are and all we have and give us a portion in the pure and unspotted offering of Your Son..."

The writing for the day includes these words of his:

"The prophets were His servants and foresaw Him by the Spirit and waited for Him as their teacher and expected Him as their Lord and Savior, saying, 'He will come and save us.'"

Jo Update

Today is night and day difference. She's alert, and she looks WONDERFUL. Still fretting a bit at having to stay in bed all day. But it's only hours now before she'll be able to get up and move about. She'll either come home this evening or tomorrow. Next surgery scheduled for Tuesday to deal with a problem in the neck that has left her arm and hand a bit numb and unreliable. Thanks to everyone for the prayers, and if you would not mind, continue to remember her before our gracious Lord until the next hurdle is past.

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

The Eucharist is the occasion for the church's intercession on behalf of all the world. It is at the Eucharist that historically the church has offered her most fervent supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. -- A.C. Piepkorn, *The Church* p. 200

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

As far as possible we should observe the same rites and ceremonies, just as all Christians have the same Baptism and the same Sacrament and no one has received a special one of his own from God. -- Blessed Martin Luther, AE 51:61

Patristic Quote of the Day

This world itself is mortal and is the place of mortals. Since the substance of visible things is composite, and every composite thing is wont to be destroyed, we who are in the world, being part of the world, necessarily possess the nature of everything. Therefore, even before the soul is separated from the body by death, we men frequently die. -- St. Basil the Great, Homily 22

A Much Needed Look in the Mirror

by our beloved Father Peters.

Homily upon St. Luke's Day (2009)

[Isaiah 35:5-8; 2 Timothy 4:5-18; Luke 10:1-9]

This week I spent even more hours hanging around the hospital than I usually do. We can post-pone facing it for a while, but we know the truth. These bodies of ours run down, grow tattered and worn, begin to fail. We are more fragile than we dare to imagine. And when our bodies begin to fail us, we are forced to face what we know is true but avoid considering most of the time: our pilgrimage here has a limit and this world is not our final home and this flesh in which we live is destined for the grave.

Isaiah saw a time, though, when there would be a great push back. Suddenly defective bodies, grave-bound and shackled, were being restored. Blind eyes opened again. Deaf ears unstopped. Those who have lost the ability to walk on their own, are suddenly leaping and dancing. And tongues that have been rendered silent - now singing for joy. Isaiah saw a time when Death’s feeding on us would be pushed back and halted. And it would be like waters pouring through a thirsty land - for we do thirst for a life that death cannot rob us of. And in it all the prophet sees a way, a highway. It leads home, away from the sorrows of this troubled age and to the true home we’ve been promised. Only the clean walk on that way - the people God has cleansed in that water breaking out in the desert - the waters of baptism. Even if they’re fools, if they walk on that way, they won’t go astray or get lost. They’ll head down the road to home. And at the end it will be not just a temporary healing of this or that, but a total healing of body and soul, as everlasting joy crowns our heads and sorrow and sighing are chased away forever. What a vision!

What Isaiah saw beginning to happen was, of course, our Lord’s ministry. For the first time, there stood One upon the earth who could and did push back death and all its attendant sorrows. And as He was getting ready to make his grand last tour before heading up to Jerusalem, He took 72 of his disciples - and tradition says St. Luke was among them - and sent them out to every place He was headed Himself. And the power that was in Him to manifest the glory of the coming age - a glory over which death and bodily decay stand no chance - that power He laid on the 72 as He sent them forth. He sent them forth, and to told them to pray that the Lord of the harvest would raise up yet more workers. He sent them forth defenseless - lambs in the midst of wolves - armed only with the truth that they carried. He sent them forth impoverished, having only a greeting of peace to give and totally dependent upon the good will of those who heard them for bodily needs. But what peace! He sent them forth not jockeying for better positions and easier living, but occupied with but a two-fold task: to heal the sick and announce: The Kingdom, the reign of God, has come near you. Jesus is on the way. Or as C.S. Lewis would say it, Aslan is on the move. Isaiah’s vision is coming true and waters are about to bust forth that will wash you clean and set you on a highway that leads to home.

But we mustn’t forget that our Lord gives us all of this as promise in this present age. He didn’t heal every blind man or every deaf man. There were plenty left still in their beds, unable to get up and move again. There were many who never had their tongues loosed to sing. The healings and even the raising of the dead that our Lord or His disciples performed, these were all the promise of what He would finally do for all in the end. They showed where He was headed and what His death on the tree and resurrection from the dead would finally bring about. But it wouldn’t be right away. They give us a bright future and joyous hope - and with that bright future and joyous hope we can battle our way through the trials still before us. How well St. Paul understood.

In our second reading, he knows death is not far away. His life will be poured out like a drink offering. His departure from this age is at hand. Does it make him despair? No. His Lord went into death and came out alive - having secured forgiveness for the sins of the world, including Paul’s own. So he knows that what awaits him is the crown of righteousness - a crown earned by our Lord Himself for all His baptized brothers and sisters - that crown the Lord, the righteous judge, will award him on that day. He thinks about it and he is comforted. And yet…

The sorrows abound. He’s lonely. He’s in prison. His friends have all deserted him - all save St. Luke. He tells St. Timothy to bring St. Mark to him. Pitifully he tells him to bring also some of the things he’s left behind - he must have been the absent minded sort too - the cloak, the books, and above all the parchments, the papers if you will, so that he can write more. Death is before him, and yet he has more testifying to the grace of God in Jesus Christ to do. All alone he had stood at his trial, no one standing with him, but the Lord. And yet that was enough.

And so for us too, how often we will go through experiences like St. Paul’s in our lives. When we feel alone, abandoned, and death is breathing down our necks. And it’s frightening. And yet the Lord stands by us. The Lord whose very life is the guarantee that this death which we are facing down will not be the end of us. This Lord who rescues us from the lion’s mouth by setting our feet upon a holy way that the devil who prowls as a roaring lion cannot come up on. This Lord who rescues us from every evil deed and finally brings us safely into His kingdom. Even in his loneliness, his fear, his pain - the apostle is comforted and comforts others. The life that appeared in Jesus is no cheat. It is the ultimate reality - for He is the forgiveness of all sin and He is the destruction of all death and He has made us His own and we will live with Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.

And this is the truth that gets us through the hospital days and the funeral home days and the long emptiness when we feel so alone and abandoned or frightened and worried about what tomorrow will bring. The Lord, who has already shown us what our future will be, stands by us then to strengthen us and get us through to that Kingdom, and for that we give all glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Bishop Horpynchuk of the Ukrainian Lutherans and the Treasury

What a beautiful post!

Sounds from the Kitchen

Mom! Why don't we have any Brie? It's a problem! A MAJOR one!

--signed David

A lad after me own heart!

Another Hospital Day

Jo didn't get to see cardiologist till noon. And then there was an emergency and she wasn't carted off for surgery till about 5. She just was sent to ICU after a rather rough time in the recovery room. She's sleeping and resting well at the moment - and we're hoping she'll sleep all through the night. Thanks for all the prayers...and keep them coming! Next step is surgery on the neck this coming Tuesday (we hope).

You know...

you've been around an area way too long when you go to the hospital and...

1. You run into a woman who had kids in your school and who also is (or used to be) a nurse there
2. You run into a neighboring pastor you went to seminary with
3. You run into a parishioner who is a PA at the hospital
4. You run into the PA's step-son who happens also to be your parishioner and who ends up being the person assigned to sit with your mother-in-law
5. You run into one of the nurses assigned to Jo for whose mother Cindi used to be a caregiver

How small is my world...

Neglected Rubrics

The presiding minister may conduct the Confession and Absolution from outside the chancel.

INTROIT, PSALM, or ENTRANCE HYMN

The presiding minister and his assistants may enter the chancel.

These two "may" rubrics are common to all the five Divine Service Settings of LSB.

There is a truth contained here that is wonderful to mark: the confession and absolution are preparation, not actually a part of the service itself. The service proper begins with the entrance of the presiding ministers and assistants into the chancel at some point during the singing of the Introit, Psalm or Entrance Hymn. Why? Because we literally "enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise!" (Psalm 100:4) The movement of the clergy to the altar manifests that in the Divine Liturgy and the songs we offer therein, we have come into the Holy of Holies and offer our praises before the throne of God and the Lamb in the power of the Holy Spirit.

An Unexpected Hospital Day

Jo (Cindi's mom) fell last night and really ripped up her hand. Cindi took her to the hospital this a.m. for what we thought would be stitches. Ended up that her heart was doing some strange stuff - sometimes beating 25 times a minutes and then up to 155 and everything in between. After the ER no doctor got to see her today, so tomorrow the GP and the cardiologist are supposed to check in on her. Keep her in your prayers, please. She's hooked up to heart monitor and restricted in movement - which doesn't leave her in the cheeriest of moods, let the reader understand...

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

Our Lord takes this God-given and man-made bread and wine and by His mighty Word makes it His body and blood. In so doing He affirms His right by creation and conquest to all the creatures of God's hand, to all fruit of human labor, and to all the orders and institutions of the universe. But He does more. In taking a particular loaf and a particular chalice of wine as the vehicles of His body and His blood, at random, as it were, He anticipates the time when all of the groaning and travailing creation will have achieved the freedom that is its destiny, when the power of futility and of sin over it will be broken and it will possess the transfiguring glory for which it now waits in hope with such eager longing. -- A. C. Piepkorn, *The Church* pp. 199,200

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

And this was the greatest thing in His Passion: it issued from His endless and perfect love. Love was the fire that consumed His sacrificial offering. -- Blessed Johann Gerhard, Postilla II:189

Patristic Quote of the Day

"For thou wilt render to every man according to his works." If you remember this sentence throughout all your life, you will be enabled to flee many sins, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power forever. Amen. -- St. Basil the Great, Homily 21

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

The Eucharist is a symbol of the renewal of all things by Christ and in Christ. This is part of Christ's total sacramental design. By His own Baptism He hallows Jordan and all water to be a saving flood and an abundant washing away of sin. By His union with His bride the Church He reflects this great mystery in the union of every Christian husband with every Christian wife and, in a fainter refraction of the mystery, in every union where every act of unselfish giving of one's self in authentic love, no matter how fleeting, mirrors His love for the world that He has reconciled to God. By His separation to His service of a man upon whom the Spirit's charism of priesthood is bestowed by the laying on of hands, Christ affirms His will that no potential harvest anywhere in the world be lost because of a lack of laborers - a point the earliest Lutheran ordinals made very strongly. Through the reconciliation of the penitent in holy absolution He affirms that the door of hope and of rescue that the Holy Spirit opened in Baptism is never closed as long as life lasts. -- A. C. Piepkorn, *The Church* pp. 198, 199

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

The Lord of the harvest gave His Church a formula, and, so to say, instruction [as to] how they must be like in doctrine and life who are to be chosen and called for the ministry of the Word, 1 Tim 3:2-7; Titus 1:6-9. And this rule, which is to be followed, the church must set before itself in true fear of the Lord, if it wants the Lord Himself to call and send workers into His harvest through means. -- Blessed Martin Chemnitz, Loci Theologici, II, 703

Patristic Quote of the Day

The price of man is the blood of Christ. -- St. Basil the Great, Homily 21

New from Down Under

Lutheran Catholicity! Looks promising indeed.

A Wistful Watching

Cindi and Bekah have been busy around the house. Painting and such. And I look at the transformation of Bekah's room and it makes me kind of sad. Don't get me wrong - looks very nice, very nice indeed. But it is no longer a high-schooler's room (just as earlier it had ceased to be a little girl's room). It is an adult's room now. Tastefully arranged. David's room is the same way (when he straightens it up, which does periodically - ever the artist, I think he artfully arranges his clothe dumps all over the floor!). It's an adult room. There are no more children here, and the rooms declare it. I love my children as adults and dearly enjoy their company, but still I note the passing of the marks of their childhood and adolescence with some sadness.

Lectio Divina

From Deut. 12, did you notice the JOY? This one place that the Lord will establish where our worship is to be offered? "There you shall eat before the Lord, and you shall rejoice." "And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God." This "place" for us is the Table of the Lord which is now set up throughout the world. And as we gather before that place to bring to Him of what He has given to us so that He can give back infinitely more than we offer to Him of what was already His own, He brings joy to our hearts. Worship is the fount of joy - from it comes the joy that is lasting - this joy of "eating before the Lord" or with the Lord or actually eating the Lord Himself, shocking as that sounds. Joy overflowing indeed!

On the second reading from Matthew 12, is it not absolutely striking how the Lord Jesus, when speaking of the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, makes it utterly clear that the Holy Spirit is a PERSON? Sasse once said that you might get the impression from the rest of the NT, absent John 14-17, the farewell discourse, that the Spirit was but a force or power of God. But you can't sin against a force, you can't sin against a power. You can only sin against a Person.

On the Call

I was chatting with a friend who takes issue with the way we speak of "call" inside of the Lutheran Church, particularly in the Synod. He pointed out that the usual word in the NT is "sent" not "called." But I think much is clarified if we consider that the word "call" in this instance should be understood out from Matthew 10:1 and Mark 3:13,14.

Our Lord CALLS the twelve to Him (Mark adds the all important "that they might be with Him") so that He can send them out to preach. The calling of Christ precedes the sending. He calls a man to first of all BE WITH HIM; to spend time with Him in His Word and in prayer, and these are the ones He sends.

When speaking of a congregation's relationship to one of these called and sent servants, I think it's best expressed this way:

Pastors are called BY Christ THROUGH some agency of men (in our case, the congregation*) to do the tasks Christ sends them to do in that arena as servants of the people of God in that place and they are to be readied for this task by continually "being with" Him.

* Note also Didache 15: "Therefore, appoint for yourselves bishops and deacons worthy of the Lord, men meek, and not lovers of money, 1 Timothy 3:4 and truthful and proven; for they also render to you the service of prophets and teachers."

On Variation in Text of the Ordinary

A comment was made yesterday at Octoberfest that I mostly agree with: it's a crying shame that we have various texts of the ordinary, which really result in differing liturgies, not "settings" as they are misnamed.

But it is worth noting that in one regard, this peculiarity of LSB is actually deeply imbedded in Lutheranism itself. From quite early on, the great rimed hymn paraphrases of the Ordinary were treated as full equals to the straight forward prose texts (which mostly persisted in Latin, rather than German). If we were to drop for a visit to the Thomas Kirche in Bach's day, the Mass was held with great reverence and dignity. On the Sunday the good choir was at work, the Latin ordinary was sung: Gloria in excelsis Deo et in terra pax hominibus... On the next Sunday the "b-level" choir led the singing of: Allein Gott in der Höhe sei Ehr. The Latin Gloria or the German Gloria, they were thought of. Similarly, and even more shockingly so, the Nicene Creed. In either case, the priest intoned the solemn "Credo in unum Deum" to be followed by the so-called "Patrem" - one week the actual text of the Nicene Creed (Patrem omnipotem etc.) and the next week Luther's paraphrase "Wir glauben all in einen Gott."

Some argue from this that Lutherans were free to substitute ANYTHING for the ordinary and thus the ordinary doesn't really exist. But that's precisely not the case. Rather, a distinctly limited set of chorales came to be regarded AS the Ordinary. The idea that you would have a Mass without singing Kyrie was unthinkable to them! But the Kyrie could be one of the troped Kyries from the Middle Ages (Chemnitz cites the Kyrie Fons Bonitatis as the clincher in setting forth the Church's confession of the Trinity in Loci Theologici), a straight Gregorian Kyrie (though usually reduced from nine to threefold), or Kyrie, Gott Vater!

Now, what they were doing, in their own minds, was providing a vernacular setting of the Latin ordinary, but doing so in rimed paraphrase and using the chorale as the musical idiom. What they were not doing was saying that you can use just any old text. The depth of this rimed paraphrase tradition is always before me here at St. Paul's, where the great bell is inscribed around with "Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr!" They didn't think of it as "just a paraphrase"; they thought of it AS the Gloria in Excelsis - the German version.

Thus, I believe that what the LSB did in part was to recognize this tradition as an authentic ascpect of our heritage (Divine Service, Setting Five) and one worth preserving; and also attempt a similar matter for English (Divine Service, Setting Four). The intention of either of these is not to suggest that one can decide to toss the Kyrie or the Agnus. It was rather to say that the Church has various ways to sing these texts, and straight forward prose rendering is one of those ways, and will, I would think, always be the touchstone against which the authenticity of the rimed paraphrases should be demonstrated.

P.S. No, Terry, I'm not addressing the matters of DS I and II in the above, as you will no doubt note... The real crying shame is that *the prose versions* do not agree!!! Here my touchstone will always be the Common Service, Divine Service, Setting 3 because it is a more faithful rendering of the Latin text. Note the apocopation in the Gloria in Exclesis and the paraphrasing of Lord of Sabaoth or hosts with "God of power and might."

P.S.S. Studying Lutheran liturgy vs. Anglican liturgy is always instructive too - because the one thing that screams out from the pages is how preoccupied Lutheran liturgy was from the get go with MUSIC. And it from the music that you can see why we have the two different prose texts of the ordinary in LSB: the COW desired to preserve music that had become dear and loved to many of our parishes.

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

Everyone who eats the body and drinks the blood of the Christ through whom and in whom and for whom all things were made can, according to his vocation and influence and resources, conscientiously seek to redeem the area of his own influence for the Christ whose advent into this world had as its aim the destruction of the works of the adversary. -- A. C. Piepkorn, *The Church* p. 198

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

He [the person with "an established heart"] looks alone upon the certain, never-changing Word. This is the precious thing of which our text speaks: an established heart that is not carried about by various and strange doctrines. -- C. F. W. Walther, *God Grant It!* p. 774,5

Patristic Quote of the Day

You were angry, since 'we were by nature children of wrath,' having no hope, and being without God in the world. You had mercy on us when You set forth Your only-begotten Son as a propitiation for our sins in order that in His blood we might find redemption. -- St. Basil the Great, Homily 20

A Query

So, if we were to put together a seminar here in Southern Illinois which featured learning how to use the LSB to the max, with help on the psalm tones, the choices in the rubrics, three year vs. one year, and so forth - would anyone be interested in attending such a thing? Think Zion's St. Michael's, but in an LSB tonality. Takers? We've discussed it for some years, but we've not got it off the ground, but I'm thinking that it's time may have come.

And Octoberfest

made me quite grateful for the simplicity of the LSB Psalm tones. True, they are no match for the beauty of the Gregorian tones; but they enable us to focus upon the words of the Psalter and even a musical idiot can pull them off!

And one more thing...

...inevitably the question arose of authority. I suggested again, as I have before, that there should be submission to the Liturgy adopted by our Synod. I did not mean particularly that one must use Lutheran Service Book. But if one uses Lutheran Worship, it should be governed by the rubrics contained in Lutheran Worship Altar Book; similarly, if one uses The Lutheran Hymnal, according to the rubrics in The Lutheran Liturgy; and of course, if Lutheran Service Book, according to the rubrics in the Altar Book.

Now, I was challenged on this and it was pointed out that I do not observe these rites as they are printed. The point being that I elevate, I genuflect, I sign myself with the cross on forehead, lips and heart before the Gospel, I kiss the Gospel book and the altar, and so on. In short, I do ceremonies that are neither prescribed nor suggested.

I would respond, though, that there is a great difference between adding ceremonies (especially historic ones) and dropping ceremonies or parts of the rite which are explicitly prescribed. Certainly in the rubrics of all three books, there are ceremonies that are suggested but not prescribed ("may" rubrics). The worth of any ceremony is in what it confesses. And above all, I'd argue, the text and the ordering of the text in each rite should be respected precisely as it stands.

I maintain that we ought, as Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod clerics, to submit ourselves to the "shall" rubrics of the rite our parish employs because of what these rubrics end up confessing and confessing clearly. Other ceremonies beyond those prescribed or suggested may indeed be used if these aid in confessing the faith, and this in no way undermines the general principle: "Read the black, do the red." In fact, it recognizes that many customs that grow up and spread from the grass roots, if you will, end up being "may" rubrics in the next generation. I wouldn't be surprised to see that happen with the elevation, which has spread like wildfire in the Synod in my own life-time, though it is not (yet) so much as mentioned in our rubrics.

So while additional ceremonies may be used without prejudice, I think it utterly fitting that we all learn the humility of DOING the ceremony as prescribed in the rite used within our parish.

Post-Octoberfest Musings

This year's Octoberfest at St. Paul's in Kewanee addressed in general the topic that the divine liturgy is not an indifferent matter - sort of Gottesdiesnst's motto. The format was a panel discussion (this is the second such I've been subjected to in two weeks and my opinion is that they are rather pointless and need to go bye-bye!) and despite the wretched manner of the forum there were some interesting highlights along the way.

Pastor Petersen said a most interesting thing when he noted that we'd likely give a man a pass on shoddy liturgy if he did a bang up job delivering law (that showed us our sin and invited to repentance) and gave us sweet Gospel. I immediately thought: Amen! And then I thought, you know, that's probably a unique Lutheran position. It's not that it justifies mutilation of the liturgy; for a service with the liturgy done well AND an outstanding sermon is simply an unbeatable combo. But if you have to choose between impeccable liturgy with inane or even heretical sermon vs. deformed liturgy with true and solid preaching, well, a Lutheran, I suspect, will choose the latter every time. How did Blessed Loehe put it? "The Church remains what she is even without a liturgy, she remains a queen even in beggar's rags. It is better to give up everything else and to hold only the pure doctrine than to go about in the pomp and glory of splendid services which are without light and life because the doctrine has become impure - Yet it is not necessary to let the Church go in beggar's rags. Much better it is that her prayers, her hymns, her sacred order, the holy thoughts of her Liturgy, should be impressed upon the people innocently, and in sermon and catechetical instruction used as a living book for proof and instruction. The true faith finds voice not only in the sermon, but it is prayed in the prayers and sung in the hymns." (Three Books, p. 198, 199)

Pastor Stuckwisch, as is his wont, invited us to focus on the main thing and to see that we continually speak of the liturgy as our Symbols do - as the Lord's mandated giving out of His absolution, His teaching, His body and His blood for our forgiveness, life, and salvation. Although he didn't allude to the theses he composed, they were definitely in the background and right on.

Pastor Curtis thought that a way around the endless debate on "taste" is to ask why? Why would you change this? What's the thinking behind it? And he posited that in his conversations, the reason usually comes round to this: so that we can reach those who are turned off by the traditional. As though what was converting them was something other than the Word. In fact, Pr. Curtis suggests, there a latent (or not latent in some cases) Arminianism at work, whereby we seek the right emotional tools to get unbelievers to assent to salvation. I think he's truly onto something there. I thought of how Dr. Rast has been pointing out for some time that it's new measures all over again!

Pastor Eckardt did best of all what he always does: he preached us Jesus and he presided with reverence and love at the Holy Table. The votive festival was for the Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist, and beginning with James and how our desires conceive and bring forth and sin finally gives birth to death, the law he delivered to us was from Herod and the insatiable nature of sexual sin, truly a bottomless pit that beguiles and entices, but that ends in death and destruction. Who was free and who was the slave? Herod was slave to his appetites and John was the free man even while he sat in prison and even in his death. John must decrease and Christ must increase. John decreased by a head, to show us that Christ must be our head and the one who fills us with His will and desires. Christ who was increased by being lifted high on a tree to let His blood flow for us. And I'm leaving out more than half of the insights. It was a stunning homily delivered, as is Pr. Eckardt's wont, off the cuff.

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

Whoever and whatever these invisible powers are [the angelic choirs], they are. The church has been particularly aware of them as she gathers about the altar for the Eucharist ever since the Holy, Holy, Holy became part of the canon. -- A. C. Piepkorn, *The Church* p. 196

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

[Speaking as Christ] "For through the power which I shall have at the right hand of the Father, being of the same divine Majesty, and openly transfigured and shown forth to be very God and Lord over all creatures, I shall work in you who believe in me and who, having received My Word, Baptism, and the Sacrament, steadfastly abide in them." -- Blessed Martin Luther, Exposition of John xiv and xv (Day by Day, p. 366)

Patristic Quote of the Day

Look at that which was given in exchange for you and realize your own worth. You were bought with the precious blood of Christ; do not become a slave of sin. Understand your own honor, in order that you may not be made like the senseless beasts. -- St. Basil the Great, Homily 19

Nicene Creed Series

Last week's broadcasts of the Nicene Creed series I did with Pr. Wilken are now up on Issues "on demand" page. You just have to scroll down a little bit:

Nicene Creed

I wonder how often

it will happen that a reading in Church on a given day matches part of the reading in Treasury. Today we were treated to Deuteronomy 10 twice - and I'm not complaining. That little bit in there "for your good" doesn't get emphasized enough!

When Teaching Genesis 2-3

anymore, I can't get Stephen Starke out of my head. LSB 572 and LSB 561.

Excellent Articles

If you get The Lutheran Witness, there is a very fine article in the October edition written by Fr. Christopher Hall on "Unrealistic - AND FAITHFUL - Prayer" on the "impossible" collect for grace at Matins. He not only writes about one of my favorite prayers, but manages to cite one of my favorite Luther quotes. Of his own words, I found these to be particularly apt:

Hope is not hope if the thing hoped for is easily realized or immanently revealed. Faith is not faith if the things believed in are seen. The Christian who has received this faith and hope in things to come is a most unrealistic man or a most idealistic woman.

Amen!

And as if that were not enough, Dr. Al Colver has a fine article on Dr. Luther's famous hymn "A Mighty Fortress." He mentions being in Madagascar for the celebration of Lent - yes, Virginia, there ARE Madagascan Lutherans, millions of them! Dr. Colver writes:

Here in Madagascar, thousands of miles from our churches in America, the Malagasy were singing this great hymn of comfort. Through a common liturgy, lectionary, and this famous hymn by Luther, Lutherans around the world were united in confessing how the Lord is a Mighty Fortress.

Good stuff again - the whole is worth enjoying.

Oh, and some Weedon fellow did the Search the Scriptures on the Great Solas in the same issue...

Satisfying

A silly word for it, perhaps. But that's how I find it: the Divine Service. It's satisfying.

I walk away from the Divine Service with a full tummy - spiritually speaking. I mean, the joy of confessing our sins and receiving the holy absolution; of singing the praises of the Blessed Trinity with angel hosts and in words of the Psalms (and today even in the words of Ecclesiasticus!) and hymns - some from long ago and some from not so long ago; of hearing as God speaks to us in His Word; of offering to Him our tithes and thank offerings and above all, our intercessions; of bowing with angels and archangels before the Blessed One who comes to us in the name of the Lord, bringing salvation, the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world; of feasting together as one family with those beloved saints in our congregation and all Christians throughout the world and the saints who have gone before us; of receiving His blessing and being sent forth as witnesses to our Lord and the miracle of His Church - truly a haven of peace in a troubled world.

When folks can no longer get to Church who have made the Divine Service their life-long habit, the sorrow of missing this gathering is palpable. They long for it, ache for it. They are among those who were "glad when they said, 'Let us go up to the house of the Lord'" (today's Introit).

"Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it!" says the Lord in Psalm 81. As we open our mouths to confess our sins, to declare His praise, to receive the Savior's body and blood, He does indeed fill our mouths with good things beyond all our imagining or deserving. "Bless the Lord, O my soul... who satisfies you with good, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's!" (Ps. 103)

P.S. The truly odd thing is that thoroughly satisfied, it rouses a hunger for more.

St. Philip the Deacon

On this day, our Synod commemorates St. Philip, the Deacon and Evangelist. From the Treasury and our Synod's website:

Philip, also called the Evangelist (Acts 21:8), was one of the seven men appointed to assist in the work of the twelve Apostles and of the rapidly growing early church by overseeing the distribution of food to the poor (6:1–6). Following the martyrdom of Stephen, Philip proclaimed the Gospel in Samaria and led Simon the Sorcerer to become a believer in Christ (8:4–13). He was also instrumental in bringing about the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch (8:26–39), through whom Philip became indirectly responsible for bringing the Good News of Jesus to the people on the continent of Africa. In the town of Caesarea he was host for several days to the Apostle Paul, who stopped there on his last journey to Jerusalem (21:8–15).

In the collect for the commemoration we pray: "...we give thanks to You for Your servant Philip the Deacon. You called him to preach the Gospel to the people of Samaria and Ethiopia. Raise up in this and every land messengers of Your kingdom, that Your Church may proclaim the immeasurable riches of our Savior..."

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

The Word of God, the true light that enlightens every man, the divine hypostasis that became man in order that human beings might be partakers of the divine nature, and so divinized, is precisely the focal point of creation. -- A. C. Piepkorn, *The Church* p. 195

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

The flame of true love for God and neighbor, even for the enemy, has been lit in the hearts of all true Christians, and where this heavenly fire does not burn, a person's so-called Christianity is nothing but self-deception. -- C. F. W. Walther, *God Grant It!* p. 770

Patristic Quote of the Day

Now, do not assume, because He sojourned with us 'in the likeness of sinful flesh' that our Lord is only man, failing to discern the power of the divinity, who had no need to give God a ransom for Himself nor to redeem His own soul because 'He did no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.' No one is sufficient to redeem himself, unless He comes who turns away the captivity of the people, not with ransoms nor with gifts, as it is written in Isaiah, but in His own blood. -- St. Basil the Great, Homily 19

What a Treat!

To have Pr. Vieker as organist this morning. He played a fantastic setting of "In Thee Is Gladness" that he himself composed as postlude. He brings many gifts to the congregation as he plays, but one area that he positively excels at is bringing the congregation in when it is time to start singing. No guess work - it's clear as can be. Thanks, Pr. Vieker! Always a blessing to have you with us.

A Long Overdue "Thank You"

to Candace Esch - who donates I don't even want to imagine how many hours toward the maintenance of St. Paul's website. In addition to maintaining our site, Candy also teaches in our school and serves on our Board for Christian Life. We'd be lost without her efforts! So here's to you, Candy Esch! Many thanks and may God bless you for your kind service to St. Paul's.

Homily upon Trinity 18

[Deuteronomy 10:12-21 / 1 Cor. 1:4-9 / St. Matt. 22:34-46]

Our Lord had been to Catechism Class and learned his lessons well. In today’s Gospel He has just silenced the Sadducees with proving from the Scripture that the dead will indeed rise again. The Pharisees would have thought that mega-cool. They taught that too and so they gather around Him to quiz Him a bit further, to “test him.” That needn’t be heard as trying to entrap Him. They might honestly have been intrigued and so wanted to know how orthodox His teaching was. His practice certainly left them scratching their heads at times. Hence the question about the big commandment in the Law.

The Lord supplies the stock answer, the one that every little Jewish lad learned at his father and mother’s knees. “Love the Lord your God with all your being.” And He adds without being prompted the second that is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commands - says He - depend all the Law and the Prophets.” In Mark’s account the Scribe answers in delight: “You are right, teacher. You have truly said that He is one and there is no other besides Him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole-burnt offerings and sacrifices.” (Mark 12:33)

So puzzled as the Pharisees were by the way Jesus could disregard their traditions and the shocking way He treated Scripture as His very own, they couldn’t argue with His orthodoxy. He was teaching the same truth that they themselves held and taught. Out of all the myriad laws that fill the pages of Torah, the command to love God with one’s all and the neighbor as one’s self simply tower as the twin peaks of God’s revelation of His will for mankind.

But our Lord now takes His turn in asking a question, and His question, when understood, illumines the inner connection between the two great commandments. He asks the Pharisees: “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”

The Pharisees looked at Him like He was mentally deficient. EVERYONE knew whose Son the Messiah would be. God had promised Him to the House of David. He was David’s Son. They said as much, wondering what on earth He was up to, asking such a simple question. Comes the second question: “How is it that David, speaking in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying: ‘The Lord said to MY LORD, Sit at my right hand, until I put Your enemies under Your feet.’ If David calls Him Lord, how is He his Son?

Now there’s a puzzle for them to think through. To us who know the answer, it seems so obvious. But they were still grappling with WHOM they were talking to. An orthodox rabbi or was there more there than met the eye? I mean, what other rabbi did the things this rabbi did? Who is it that meets us in this man, Jesus of Nazareth? Who IS HE?

We sing it: “Son of God and Son of man.” That is, God’s Son and yet David’s descendant too. Both together. For Jesus is not one or the other, but our Lord is both God and Man in one person. As we confess in the Athanasian Creed, God of the substance of His Father begotten before all ages, and He is Man, born from the substance of His mother in this age. Perfect God and perfect man, composed of a rational soul and human flesh; equal to the Father with respect to His divinity; less than the Father with respect to His humanity. Although He is God and Man, He is not two, but one Christ.

And so the deep inner link between the two great commandments. The God who is to be loved with one’s all shows up as a neighbor whom we are to love as ourselves. But that’s still to leave the towering peaks of the twin commandments running from us to God. The shocker is when you realize that they also run from God to us.

God loved us with His all. He loved us by giving us His all. That is, He sent His Son into our flesh so that He could love His neighbor as Himself. He came among us who had categorically failed in keeping either of the twin commandments - for it is one thing to know the right answer to the catechism question and quite another to live it - but He lived those commandments and lived them perfectly. He showed them to us to be the way of life.

This was His conviction: a life that was total love was a life over which death could have no power. “The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the Law.” And when there is no sin because the life was wholly love, the sting of death is drawn and death itself crumbles. Thus His death on the cross is the highest manifestation of His love, as He loves His neighbor even to the point of letting all His neighbor’s sins be His and this is how He loves God with His all - and so from His death on the cross, death itself loses its claim for any who are placed into Him.

When you were baptized, that happened. He reached out to you and wrapped you up in that love that is His - that perfect love that at no point failed or fails. And so it is, as Paul said in the second reading today, that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. YOU, guiltless. Because you have been wrapped in Christ, whose perfect love fulfills the twin commandments, and you have been called into the fellowship of Christ, our Lord.

The fellowship, the koinonia, the communion of Christ. That is, to the communion of His body and blood, where He in perfect love goes on loving you, being neighbor to you, giving you forgiveness and the guaranteed promise that in Him God has loved you with His all. And so He sets you free to love God ever more and to learn to love your neighbor as yourself, freed to learn to love under the forgiving blood!

This is the grace that God has given us in Christ, the Son of David, the Son of God, who alone keeps the towering twin commandments and who keeps them perfectly for you, as your righteousness before God, and who causes you to grow in them as His Spirit lives in you. And for such grace we give to Him all glory and praise with His all-holy Father and life-giving Spirit now and ever and to the ages of ages! Amen.

A Most Interesting Site

on LCMS Missions. Much that is thought provoking here. Thanks to Pr. Hess for pointing this out on ALPB.

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

I submit that it is wrong to use the celebration of the Holy Eucharist as a spectacle. -- A. C. Piepkorn, *The Church* p. 188

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

To be sure, in our rebirth and renewal the old tree and its fruits are cut down; but, nonetheless, the evil roots remain within us that constantly pour forth with wicked lusts and try to grow; and this is the sin that continually clings to us (Heb. 12:1). This is why the saints confess that if the Lord God should mark many sins to their account, that they could not survive God's judgment, and that they must plead for forgiveness of sins. -- Blessed Johann Gerhard, *Postilla* II:188

Patristic Quote of the Day

In fact, what can man find great enough that he may give it for the ransom of his soul? But, one thing was found worth as much as all men together. This was given for the price of ransom for our souls, the holy and highly honored blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He poured out for all of us; therefore, we were bought at a great price. -- St. Basil the Great, Homily 19

Yup, it's 5 lbs or so

Hence, even while the larger print is of advantage to those who need such things (present company included), the actual weight *might* make the book unwieldy to the very ones who need it. I just can't see frail little Grandma Schmidt hefting this puppy...

Hmm. I understand CPH's dilemma. To make The Lutheran Study Bible chocked full of goodies, and to make the goodies easy to read, there's only one way to go. And they went that way. Just be warned. I wish we had known before we ordered them that they were so massive - and I do mean - massive. Cindi pointed out that they are more like what you think of a "family Bible" in actual size. For myself, I think it's worth the weight to easily read the notes and cross-references. But I'll definitely have to think twice before deciding to carry my Bible around - as in, is this a day for upper body workout? :)

I have definitely decided...

...that plunking notes for the organ tuner is mind numbing.

Commemoration of Abraham

Today our Synod commemorates Abraham. From our Synod's website and Treasury:

Abraham (known early in his life as Abram) was called by God to become the father of a great nation (Genesis 12). At the age of 75 and in obedience to God's command, he, his wife Sarah, and his nephew Lot moved southwest from the town of Haran to the land of Canaan. There God established a covenant with Abraham (15:18), promising the land of Canaan to his descendants. At the age of 100 Abraham and Sarah were finally blessed with Isaac, the son long promised to them by God. Abraham demonstrated supreme obedience when God commanded him to offer Isaac as a burnt offering. God spared the young man's life only at the last moment and provided a ram as a substitute offering (22:1–19). Abraham died at the age of 175 and was buried in the Cave of Machpelah, which he had purchased earlier as a burial site for Sarah. He is especially honored as the first of the three great Old Testament Patriarchs—and for his “righteousness before God through faith” (Romans 4:1–12).

The God of Abr'ham praise,
Who reigns enthroned above;
Ancient of everlasting days
And God of love.
Jehovah, great I AM!
By earth and heav'n confessed;
I bow and bless the sacred name
Forever blest!

The whole triumphant host
Give thanks to God on high.
"Hail, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!"
They ever cry.
Hail, Abr'ham's God and mine!
I join the heavenly lays:
All mighty and majesty are Thine
And endless praise!
(LSB 798:1,9)

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

I am suggesting that it is wrong to admit individuals to the Holy Eucharist indiscriminately merely because they are physically present, with no effort to determine if they have been baptized, with no effort to determine their continuing status as members of the church, and with no assurance that they have the requisite dispositions of sorrow for their wrong-doing and faith in the atoning work of the Lord that is made present again in this mystery. --A.C. Piepkorn, *The Church* p. 188

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

Faith is a work that man must do, and yet it is also called a work of God; for this is the true existence, work, life, and merit with which God desires to be honored and served.... For faith is a divine work which God demands of us; but at the same timeHe Himself must implant it in us, for we cannot believe by ourselves. -- Blessed Martin Luther (cited in Treasury, p. 796)

Patristic Quote of the Day

Do not, then, seek your brother for your ransoming, but Him who surpasses your nature, not a mere man, but the Man God Jesus Christ, who alone is able to give ransom to God for all of us, because 'God has set him forth as a propitiation by his blood through faith." -- St. Basil the Great, Homily 19

Close up of St. Paul's Crucifix

Nothing among you but Jesus Christ, and Him crucified...

Large Print "The Lutheran Study Bible" arrived...

...think I can drop my Y membership. Will get plenty of exercise just trying to carry this thing around!!!

Amen, Pr. Brockman!

Check out his letter to the editor of the Lutheran Witness here by Pr. Brockman of Hutchinson, KS. HT: Esgetology

P.S. Fr. Brockman, I still have my salt!

On a gloomy, cold, rainy day

anything better than a steaming bowl of Induction Chili (no beans, all hamburger) for lunch and then Cindi's amazing pumpkin pie in almond-flour crust for an afternoon pick-me-up? Yum, yum! Tonight promises to be tasty too - a parmesan sesame seed encrusted turkey breast. Have you ever pondered the delight that God has reserved for us embodied creatures when it comes to tastes? An angel will never know the joy of receiving from God's hand such yumulicious food! But we know, and can give Him thanks that He who created me and all creatures has given us "body and soul, eyes, ears and all my members, my reason, and all my senses."

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

A living faith always includes good works. A body that doesn't move and function is dead. A faith that doesn't show itself through good deeds is just as dead. -- Bishop Bo Giertz, *To Live With Christ* p. 628

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

Nothing in customary rites should be chanced without a reasonable cause. So to nurture unity, old customs that can be kept without sin or great inconvenience should be kept. -- Philip Melanchthon, Apology XV:51

Patristic Quote of the Day

He who is assembling and summoning all by the proclamation is the Paraclete, the Spirit of truth, who brings together through prophets and apostles those who are saved. -- St. Basil the Great, Homily 19

Commemoration of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg

Today our Synod commemorates the father of American Lutheranism. From the Treasury and our Synod's website: Henry Melchior Muhlenberg.

Moving from the Old World to the New, Muhlenberg established the shape of Lutheran parishes for America during a 45-year ministry in Pennsylvania. Born at Einbeck, Germany, in 1711, he came to the American colonies in 1742. A tireless traveler, Muhlenberg helped to found many Lutheran congregations and was the guiding force behind the first American Lutheran synod, the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, founded in 1748. He valued the role of music in Lutheran worship (often serving as his own organist) and was also the guiding force in preparing the first American Lutheran liturgy (also in 1748). Muhlenberg is remembered as a church leader, a journalist, a liturgist, and—above all—a pastor to the congregation in his charge. He died in 1787, leaving behind a large extended family and a lasting heritage: American Lutheranism.

Today at the Pastoral Conference, we were treated to an excellent homily that commemorated his life and work by Pr. Jeff Hemmer. We were warned against wanting to have success like this blessed fellow had and urged to trust - as he did - in the one Good Shepherd, the Bonum Pastor, whose death alone is our victory. If he's reading, send me a copy and I'd love to post it.

You can read more on Muhlenberg here.

In the collect for today we pray: "...we give You thanks for Your servant Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, who was faithful in the care and nurture of the flock entrusted to his care. So that they may follow his example and the teaching of his holy life, give strength to pastors today who shepherd Your flock, so that by Your grace Your flock may grow into the fullness of life intended for them in paradise..." (Treasury, p. 791)

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

James means that the law is no longer compulsive. He knows, just as John, that God's Commandments aren't a burden when they're taken from the hand of Christ, not as a duty that has to be performed to achieve salvation, but as something you have a chance to do as Christ's assistant, together with Him. -- Bishop Bo Giertz, *To Live With Christ* p. 627

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

Thus, if we want to become inwardly strong, we must learn more and more to recognize Christ's love.

We must learn to recognize its "width" that it is wider than the whole world; it embraces all sinners and, indeed, everything that lives in heaven and on earth.

We learn to recognize its "length" that this love is longer than the duration of the world; it is from eternity and extends until eternity.

We must learn to recognize its "height" for this love is higher than all the mountains of the world; it reaches even to heaven.

We must learn to recognize its "depth" for this love is deeper than the foundation of the earth; it is a deep, inexhaustible, unfathomable spring that flows from the depths of God's own heart.

--C. F. W. Walther, *God Grant It!* p. 750

Patristic Quote of the Day

'Come, children, hearken to me' and 'Come, all you who labor and are burdened.' It is the paternal voice of One with outstretched arms calling to Himself those who until then were rebelling. He who has heard the call and has approached and cleaves to the One commanding, will see Him who through the cross made all things peaceful 'whether on the earth or in the heavens.' -- St. Basil the Great, Homily 18

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

God’s vocation through the Word and the Sacraments is always serious (SD XI:29) and is not intended only for a few (SD XI:34). We can conclude what His will toward us from the fact that He called us by the Word and the Sacraments (SD XI:39-42). -- A. C. Piepkorn, Comments on Election

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

It is true that of all the church bodies which have left the papacy, it is precisely the Lutheran Church which is accused of retaining many papal abuses and of having been the least successful in cleansing itself. It is pointed out, for example, that in our church priestly clothing, church ornamentation, pictures, altar, crucifixes, candles, confession, the sign of the cross, and the like are still apparent. But, my friends, whoever regards these innocent things as vestiges of the papacy knows neither what the papacy is, nor what the Bible teaches. The very fact that the Lutheran Reformation was not aimed at indifferent adiaphora, but retained those things which were in harmony with God's Word, shows that it was not a disorderly revolution, but a Biblical reformation. -- C. F. W. Walther

Patristic Quote of the Day

The Scripture invites those who are far from the word of truth to nearness through knowledge, saying: 'Come and behold.' -- St. Basil the Great, Homily 18

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

[the parish...]

Here in the words which the Holy Spirit imparts and hallows to be His own words, the mutual conversation and consolation of brothers and sisters in Christ takes place as part of the Gospel's counsel and aid against sin.

Here the words of divine witness and admonition are spoken from human lips for the edifying of God's building and for the purging of God's vineyard.

In short, the parish derives its significance from the fact that it is an arena in which God establishes contact with man. It is a symbol of the divine primacy and the divine initiative in our transformation from sinners to saints.

--A.C. Piepkorn, *The Church*, p. 124, 125

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

True Christians are, through faith, different people. They are not compelled by the Law. No, from a spontaneous impulse of love poured into their hearts, they do all sorts of good wherever they can. -- C. F. W. Walther, *God Grant It!* p. 761

Patristic Quote of the Day

Those outside the word of truth, despising the simplicity of expression in the Scriptures, call the preaching of the Gospel folly; but we, who glory in the cross of Christ, 'to whom the gifts bestowed on us by God were manifested through the Spirit, not in words taught by human wisdom,' know that the grace poured out by God in the teachings concerning Christ is rich. -- St. Basil the Great, Homily 17

Starck's Birthday Meditation and Prayer

Believing Christians Praise God on the Return of Their Birthdays.

EXHORTATION.

What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me? Psalm 116:12

The return of the day when we first beheld the light of this world, our birthday, ought to be a day of praise and thanksgiving. We should spend it singing and praying, and with devotional exercises in thought and act. We should, in particular, reflect on the many and great blessings that we have received from the hand of our faithful God throughout the days of our life up to the present moment. He has carried us in His arms in childhood, in youth, to the present hour. Unbelievers do not consider these things. True, they remember the day and celebrate it, but how? Only with partying and such. A day thus spent doesn’t deserve to be called a day of thanksgiving and praise, a day pleasing to God.

When the children God live to see their birthday year after year, they praise the faithfulness and goodness of God. (1) He had them to be born of Christian parents, who brought to them to the knowledge of salvation in Jesus Christ. (2) He has given them a healthy body and sound mind, great blessings of God, though rarely acknowledged as so by human beings. (3) He has guarded them against misfortune, rescued them from dangers, and preserved them up to the present.

At the same time, (4) they humbly ask for forgiveness of their sins, and promise God that they will spend the remaining days of their life in childlike obedience and godliness. (5) They also comfort themselves with the thought that as they continue in faith and love, God will continue to spread the wings of His mercy over them. (6) Finally, they reflect that the celebration of their birthday this year may be their last such celebration on earth.

PRAYER.

Eternal, gracious, and merciful God, by Your favor I have again lived to see my birthday, the day on which You ushered me into the light of day, to receive me later by Holy Baptism as Your child. By the former favor I was made a human being and your creature, by the latter I become Your child and heir. And so this day will be a day of prayer, praise and thanksgiving to me.

Bless the Lord, O my soul; all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together. I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise will continually be in my mouth. Should I not praise and magnify You, my God, because You have let me be born not only with sound limbs and a well-formed body, which is a great favor, but also from Christian parents, who from my youth have taught me to know You, O Triune God? Now I know and love You and have life and salvation of my soul in You.

Having been nurtured in Your arms, I have been guided and accompanied by You in the years that followed. You have given me food and clothing, and have graciously guarded me until this day. O my God, I am not worthy of the least of all of the mercies and of all the faithfulness that You have shown me. Come and hear; I will declare what the Lord has done for my body and soul. Unfortunately I cannot recount everything! One could sooner number the stars in the sky than the gracious gifts I have received from You, O Lord. From how many dangers You have delivered me! How many calamities You have warded off from me! Your Spirit has taught, governed, guided, and when I was leaning toward sin, has inwardly warned and restrained me.

O my God, while my years increase and Your favors also become numerous, I am reminded today of the sins that I have committed throughout my life. Forgive them to me for Jesus’ sake. Blot them out with His holy blood, and let me obtain mercy for His sake. Grant me grace to spend the remaining days of my life, which are written in Your book, in true fear of You and in sincere faith, that all my doings and my whole life may be pleasing to You. And since I do not know the number of my days on earth, while I know that You have fixed bounds for me which I cannot pass, keep me from shortening my own life by anger, intemperance, sins, wrecklessness, and crimes. Let me reach the limit of life appointed for me in health, under Your blessing and protection, until after this earthly and transitory life You will give me eternal and heavenly life for the sake of Jesus Christ. Till then I shall celebrate this day, as often as it recurs, with praise and thanksgiving, and shall now sing:

My soul, now praise your Maker! Let all within me bless His name Who makes you full partaker Of mercies more than you dare claim. Forget Him not whose meekness Still bears with all your sin, Who heals your ev’ry weakness, Renews your life within; Whose grace and care are endless And saved you through the past; Who leaves no suff’rer friendless But rights the wronged at last. LSB 820:1

Sunday's Prayer

[from the prayer we offer on Sundays in Treasury, p. 1306]

O merciful Lord, where You in the mystery of the Sacrament of Your body and blood make an entrance among Your people, there grant that all the faithful may bow in holy fear and humility before You and that all whom You Yourself feed may receive the sacred gift not impenitently to their judgment, but as a medicine of eternal life. Look not upon the sins we commit against You this day, and bring to nothing all the plans of the evil foe. Let the Last Day come soon, so that we, released from all strife, may behold You with all saints and angels face-to-face and sing our praises to You better than we are now able. Amen. Yes, come Lord Jesus! Amen.

Worship before a Crucifix

Yes, it did change things. The image of that love before my eyes. I was drawn to it again and again throughout the Divine Service. Each time I looked it hurt and yet it filled me with joy. He did that for me - for us! Oddest thing is the hands of the Crucified Lord. The right hand is arranged to give the Western blessing (three fingers straight, two bent inward); and unless I am much mistaken, the hand on the left is giving the Eastern blessing, actually spelling the name "Christ" in Greek. I don't know who thought of that, but it was a positively stunning insight. West and East the Lord embraces with His blessing, His hands pierced for both and nailed to the cross to bring blessing to both, hence to all the world. "On my heart imprint Your image!"

Treasury Joy - Not Alone!

An internet friend, Myrtle, wrote these wondrous words today. I share them with her permission:

When you read the "Treasury," do you not just sometimes find yourself pausing a moment to revel in knowing that there are so many other Christians reading the very same words, praying the very same prayers, with you each day? Yes, it is an amazing tool. Truly it is. I did not know baptismal sponsors are actually godparents. And I did not know that godparents give gifts. So receiving the "Treasury" as my baptismal gift a couple of weeks after my "sprinkling" was a total surprise magnified all the more when I realized what the book actually was. However, aside from being the richest of resources, for me, the best part is the fellowship it brings, fellowship in knowing that while I am alone in my room, I am not alone in proclaiming the Word of God and lifting up my voice in prayer.

A Painful Vacancy

St. Paul's organist position went vacant in late April, I believe. It's now October, a half year later. We'd have never gotten through without the kindness of so many people filling in here - each talented and blessed in their own way (as also was our former organist). But with different musicians sitting at the bench all the time, a unique challenge is injected into the congregation's worship: it is very, very difficult for a congregation never to know HOW a canticle or hymn is going to be introduced. We can't keep track of the way the various organists and pianists do it. We have but three weeks to go before our new and permanent organist takes the bench on Reformation Sunday. I am so looking forward to stability again, and I am more excited than words can say about what Mr. Carlo van Ulft will bring to the parish - weekly treats from Buxtehude, Bach, and so many more. I am so eager for the parish to hear what our organ can sound like when it is played by a master - and that is not too strong a word - a master of music. In addition to being an outstanding organist, Mr. van Ulft is also the carollinist for Centralia Carillon - the pic is of Mr. van Ulft in front of that instrument. Welcome to St. Paul's, Carlo!!! We are delighted to have you on board.

Brr...

...the sun shone for a few minutes. Cin and I decided to take a bike ride. 11 miles later and frozen to death! Well, maybe not to death. But frozen. Wind is still strong and we'd no sooner set out than all we had were gray wind clouds filling the sky. October is still beginning, but the last couple days have seemed more like November. And why is it that when it's chilly like this, and gray, I long for Virginia and either grandparent's home? The smell of the wood burning stove, and something warm to sip on after a long afternoon romping in the woods.

Hymn to the Holy Spirit

O Sweetest Love,
Your grace on us bestow;
Set out hearts
with sacred fire aglow
That with hearts united
we love each other,
Ev'ry stranger,
sister, and brother.
Lord, have mercy!
--LSB 768:2 (To God the Holy Spirit, Let Us Pray)

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

[The parish...]

Here at God's command instruction in the divine and saving Truth is imparted to those who desire admission to the Sacrament of the Altar.

Here at the Holy Spirit's direction the cross of sickness is sanctified where it is not taken away, and the sins of the contemporary counterparts of the paralytic on his pallet are forgiven by the ministry of God's ministers.

--A.C. Piepkorn, *The Church* p. 124

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

Whoever knows Christ's love knows enough, even if he knows nothing else. -- C. F. W. Walther, *God Grant It!* p. 750.

Patristic Quote of the Day

A psalm is a city of refuge from the demons; a means of inducing help from the angels, a weapon in fears by night, a rest from toils by day, a safeguard for infants, an adornment for those at the height of their vigor, a consolation for the elders, a most fitting ornament for women. It peoples the solitudes; it rids the market place of excesses; it is the elementary exposition of beginners, the improvement of those advancing, the solid support of the perfect, the voice of the Church. It brightens the feast days; it creates a sorrow which is in accordance with God. For, a psalm calls forth a tear even from a heart of stone. A psalm is the work of angels, a heavenly institution, the spiritual incense. -- St. Basil the Great, Homily 10

Hymn of the Day for Trinity 17

My heart's delight,
My crown most bright,
O Christ, my joy forever!
Not wealth nor pride
Nor fortune's tide
Our bonds of love shall sever.
You are my Lord;
Your precious Word
Shall guide my way
And help me stay
Forever in Your presence.
(LSB 557:4)

Name that Album!

From CPH:

Name That Tune

We need your help naming a new product. Since Treasury of Daily Prayer was released from Concordia Publishing House in Fall 2008, we have received many requests to record the various prayer services.

CPH, working closely with the Kantorei of Concordia Theological Seminary, will provide a set of beautiful recordings of the sung and spoken portions of the prayer services offered in the Treasury. Included are:
• Matins (8 tracks)
• Vespers (6 tracks)
• Compline (9 tracks)
• Morning Prayer (7 tracks)
• Evening Prayer (8 tracks)
• Litany (1 track)

The Kantorei is a choir of sixteen male voices from the student body of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana. The recordings have been prepared to allow an individual, family, or even a small group to have the support to confidently sing the liturgy of the prayer services.

While this will be a wonderful complementary product for the users of Treasury of Daily Prayer, others who desire to connect their personal devotion time to the Church’s pattern of prayer will find this to be a rich and meaningful resource.

So get creative and send us your best suggestion. The poll is open through Friday, October 9, 2009.

Give us your ideas. Visit here to vote.

Should any of you come across anything written by wife...

...in which she SAYS that her husband was a ding-a-ling and not only left the keys in the car, but left the car running after getting home from the Y this a.m.... well, just IGNORE her or chalk it up to the fact that I am, after all, Lauren Herbert's daddy (but at least *I* didn't leave the car running all night...) or David Weedon's daddy. Hmm. Maybe it "runs" in the family? Bekah and Cindi, your day will come!

Don't know if you know it or not...

...but doing a five mile run in 15-25 mph winds, with gusts of 35, is a lot like running 8 miles! I'm worn out.

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

[The Parish...]

Here as God through his church calls new candidates into the sacred and lifelong ministry of reconciliation and of oversight, his ordained representatives commit to these new officers of the militia Christi the authority to proclaim the Word of God, to remit and retain sins, and to administer the Sacraments.

Here Christian men and women whom God has called to life together by their mutual consent in Holy Matrimony initiate a new cell of the church and in their life of mutual love and concern enact the mystery of the bond that unites the Heavenly Bridegroom with His bride the church.

--A. C. Piepkorn, *The Church* p. 124

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

From these and similar passages of Holy Scripture, it's quite obvious to conclude that the restoration of the image of God and the renewal of our nature is not perfect in this life, but that sin in the flesh is still continuously present in reborn and renewed people. By the power of the Spirit, they must strive against this, stifle it, and kill it off in order that they not be overcome by it and become stuck into the former yoke of sin. -- Blessed Johann Gerhard, Schola Pietatis, p. 201

Patristic Quote of the Day

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful, composed by the Spirit for this reason, namely, that we men, each and all of us, as in a general hospital for souls, may select the remedy for his own sinful condition. -- St Basil the Great, Homily on Psalm 1

BBC Series on Bach

A couple days Fr. Peters' blog, Pastoral Meanderings, alerted me to this wonderful series on Bach and the Lutheran Church Music. I just listened to the entirety. Very good. Enjoy!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Starck's Prayer Book...

...in possession! CPH did a very nice job with this little puppy and I've added it to my bookshelf, right above my desk, to keep handy for daily prayers. Thanks so very much to Scot Kinnaman and the good folks at CPH for allowing me the opportunity gently to update this treasure and offer it to a new generation!