Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

He whom the serpent has wounded fatally cannot prepare a medicine for himself.  Thus we could not have prepared a cure for ourselves after we were struck by the infernal serpent.  However, in the womb of Mary, God prepared the most precious medicine against those stings by uniting personally, through the operation of the Holy Spirit, the divine and human natures in Christ so that He would be our physician and our medicine, healing the wounds of our soul, soothing our pains, restoring our health.  -- Blessed Johann Gerhard, On Christ, p. 143.

Patristic Quote of the Day

Our fathers thought they should welcome the evening light with something better than silence, so they gave thanks as soon as it appeared.  We cannot say who composed these words of thanksgiving at the lighting of the lamps, but the people use these ancient words, and no one accuses them of blasphemy:  We praise Father, Son, and God's Spirit." -- St. Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit, par. 73.

[Note, the saint refers to the hymn we still sing in evening prayer:  Joyous Light of Glory - Phos Hilaron]

I suppose it partakes

of a boundless theology of glory, but man, oh, man do I love the music for All Saints.  Wes blessed us with trumpet, Sonya with timpani, and the congregation rose to the occasion by belting out the hymns with encouragement from the choir.  We started with the joy of "Ye Watchers," the standard festival setting of "For All the Saints" but it was the final setting of Starke's great Te Deum that led to the loudest singing.  What a great setting by Mark Bender!  The choir verse was outstanding, and the musical painting on the Christological verse - words simply fail!  The whole leaves you begging that the song not cease, that it just go on forever.  "May we with saints be numbered where praises never end in glory everlasting.  Amen, O Lord, Amen!"

You can listen to the hymn here - from the Grand Rapids Higher Things Conference - you'll just have to bend your head! Or here from Nashville Higher Things.  Gotta love those young voices belting it out!!!

Whenever we celebrate All Saints...

...it's like Easter in the fall.  I love this feast, its readings, its hymns, its prayers.  I love how the holy Evangelists look down at us from the balcony as we read their words in the midst of the congregation.  I love how St. Paul gazes steadfastly toward the front of the Church, to the images of Christ.  All together, the saints invite us to join them in their steady gaze at the beloved Lamb of God, who has taken away the sin of the world, who alone is THEIR righteousness and ours. 

Today

Cindi and I got up and had breakfast, she cut my hair, we said our prayers and then hit the Y for a good 30 minute workout.  Then off to St. Louis, where we lunched at Bottleworks.  She had a tasty "brat burger" and I had a bison burger.  Also had some caesar salad with crunched parmesan.  Good stuff!  Then to Trader Joe's.  Picked up the usual nuts, frozen beans and asparagus and blue berries, assorted other veggies and stuff.  But best of all:  picked up Kerry Gold Butter.

Ever since I was a youngster, I've searched high and low for something that TASTES like I remember Aunt Emma's butter tasting.  It was hard as a brick, and you had to chop it off in chunks, but when it melted into your food, especially the cornbread?  Oh, my!  It was the best tasting butter in all the world.  When I first heard about Kerry Gold I immediately thought:  maybe?  I think my search has ended.  Absolutely delicious - a rich and creamy butter that is a close first cousin to a cheese.  Yes, I tried it without any bread at all - just to see what it tasted like and by golly, THAT'S IT.  I think some almond toast is on the menu soon!!!

The Daily Prayers

Treasury of Daily Prayer provides a set prayer to pray each day of the week.  Each day is devoted to specific concerns:  Sunday is prayer for a blessed celebration of the Divine Service, praying for pastors in their preaching and all who receive the blessed Sacrament.  Monday prays for all sorts and conditions of men.  Tuesday prays especially for the persecuted.  Wednesday prays for the dying.  Thursday prays for the grace for a blessed reception of the Holy Eucharist.  Friday commemorates our Lord's sufferings and asks for its powerful grace to be at work in our lives.  Saturday reviews the week, asks for forgiveness, and anticipates the Sunday liturgy.  The longer I come to live in their rhythm, the more I truly love praying each one as its day arrives.  If you've not tried it, I encourage you by all means to adopt the practice.  It will be a blessing!  Promise!

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

We, however, drink the most holy blood of Christ,
the blood that
atoned for our sins,
frees us from the stain of sin,
protects us from the powers of darkness,
fills us with the Holy Spirit,
and transfuses us with the divine life of Christ.
 -- Dr. John Kleinig, Grace upon Grace, p. 282.

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

But what do we have in common with that heresy (the Novatian) - we who zealously encourage to serious repentance those who have fallen into even the most serious sins after Baptism?  If they bear witness of this with their words, gestures, and deeds, we lift them up with the consolation of the Gospel and announce to them the remission of their sins. -- Johann Gerhard, The Church, p. 429.

Patristic Quote of the Day

We treat the profession of faith [the Creed] as the origin and mother of doxology. -- St. Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit, par. 68.

Dr. Herl just shared

some fascinating tidbits with me from the Vesperale of Matthäus Ludecus for the Lutheran cathedral at Havelberg (1589).  Check this out for the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin [a festival, by the way, that still is included in my German CPH published Bible in the list of holy days - how did we lose it?]:

“Gaude Maria virgo, cunctas haereses sola interemisti in universo mundo”

(“Rejoice, O Virgin Mary; you only have killed all the heresies in the entire world” Translation by Dr. Herl.).

Curiously, the antiphon gets a footnote.  And there we read:

“Maria sola inquit D. Vrbanus Rhegius, interemit omnes hareses seu hereticos negantes eam in partu & post partum virginem permansisse, tanquam Organon seu causa materialis, in qua seu ex qua Filius Dei humanam naturam assumsit inviolata eius virginitate, ad quod admirandum, & ineffabile opus sola hac virgo a Deo electa fuit.”

("Mary herself, says Dr. U. Rhegius [note - confessor at Smaclald!]., abolishes all heresies or heretics who deny that she remains a virgin in partu and post partem, as she is the 'organon' or material cause, in which or from whom the Son of God assumes a human nature from her inviolate virginity; For the sake of this admirable and ineffable work alone the virgin was chosen by God" translation by Pr. Curtis)


The following antiphon was also included:

“Post partum virgo inuiolata permansisti, Dei genitrix sit semper benedicta”

(“After birth you remained an inviolate virgin; may the mother of God be ever blessed!” translation by Dr. Herl).

Those early Lutherans!  Whatever were they thinking?  Gotta love the early Lutheran lex orandi!  And how it matches the Lutheran lex credendi of only a few years earlier:  FC SD VIII:24!

To reinforce

from tonight's Bible Class. We're in Jeremiah, and did chapter 9.  Eleanor sometimes visits our class.  She had the most disturbing comment to report this evening:  some fellow Lutherans had actually said to her "I'm forgiven so it doesn't matter what I do."

THIS IS NOT LUTHERAN.  This is purely devilish.

The first of the 95 must ever be remembered:  When our Lord Jesus Christ commanded us to repent, he meant that the entire life of the Christian should be repentance.

Which is to say, the entire life of the Christian, powered by the forgiveness of God, is an ongoing war against the sin that remains in our flesh. There is no peace treaty with that sin because of forgiveness.  The exact opposite.

You have a house infested with poisonous snakes and you make a treaty of peace with them?  Heck no!  You go after them with a vengeance each time one shows its ugly head.  You do so in the joyful confidence that the final victory WILL be yours, not theirs!

It is absolutely true that this battle continues to our grave.  The evil desires continue to pop up from our corrupted flesh and will.  But the grace of the Holy Spirit is given us for this battle to wage on.

Do we do it perfectly?  Of course not!  We literally LIVE from the forgiveness of our sins.  But because we do, we're snake hunters.  We watch for the wretches to show up and then we attack with a vengeance.  We know they mean us death, and so we bring them to death.  We most certainly do NOT feed them, coddle them, or excuse them with saying:  "But I'm forgiven, so they can stay."

I had always turned to the Apology's repeated assertions about the impossibility of faith existing outside of repentance, but Pastor Curtis pointed out that the Smalcald Articles are even clearer.  Read for yourself III:III:40, 43-45.  Luther is utterly clear.

Rant over.  And thanks to Eleanor for bringing the matter up - for it surely is a wound that needs addressing on the body of Lutheranism.

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

That meal [the Eucharist] is the dynamic center of our spirituality, the heart of our piety. -- Dr. John Kleinig, Grace upon Grace, p. 281.

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

We do say that part of hell's punishment - and, in fact the most serious part by far - consists of an alienation from the life of God... - Blessed Johann Gerhard, On the Church, p. 427.

Patristic Quote of the Day

Every time we bend our knees for prayer and then rise again, we show by this action that through sin we fell down to earth, but our Creator, the Lover of Mankind, has called us back to heaven. -- St. Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit, par. 66.

Yum

Cindi made Jalapeño poppers for dinner.  SNARF.  Munched on them alongside left-over pumpkin muffins (made with almond flour), a couple pieces of celery with peanut butter, and some slices of gouda.  But the poppers were king.  As David noted, the bacon just makes them.

From the All Saints Liturgy

O higher than the cherubim,
More glorious than the seraphim,
Lead their praises, alleluia!
Thou, Bearer of the Eternal Word,
Most gracious, magnify the Lord!
Alleluia...

Respond ye souls in endless rest,
Ye patriarchs and prophets blest,
Alleluia...
Ye holy twelve, ye martyrs strong,
All saints triumphant raise the song!
Alleluia... (Processional)


These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.  They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Introit)

You have knit together Your faithful people of all times and places into one holy communion, the mystical body of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Grant us so to follow Your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living that, together with them, we may come to the unspeakable joys You have prepared for those who love You... (Collect)

Blessed are those whose strength is in You, in whose hearts are the highways to Zion. (Gradual)

Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. (Verse)

Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. (Gospel)

Oh, blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle; they in glory shine.
Yet all are one in Thee for all are Thine.
Alleluia.  (Hymn of the Day)

Give to Your whole Church, in heaven and on earth, Your light and Your peace.  (Prayer of the Church)

In the communion of all Your saints, gathered into the one body of Your Son, You have surrounded us with so great a cloud of witnesses that we, encouraged by their faith and strengthened by their fellowship, may run with perseverance the race that is set before us and, together with them, receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.  Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify Your glorious name, evermore praising You and saying:  Holy, holy, holy Lord...  (Proper Preface)

Keep us firm in the true faith throughout our days of pilgrimage that, on the day of His coming, we may, together with all Your saints, celebrate the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom which has no end.  (Post-communion collect)

The band of the apostles in glory sing Your praise;
The fellowship of prophets their deathless voices raise.
The martyrs in Your kingdom, a vast and noble throng,
Sing with the holy church throughout all the world this song:
O all-majestic Father, Your true and only Son,
And Holy Spirit, Comforter - forever Three in One! (Last Hymn)

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

The Spirit empowers us to offer ourselves with all our tasks, needs, joys, and sorrows to God the Father to serve Him daily in our particular location.  As we listen to His Word, we receive His blessings so that we can pass them on to the people around us.  As we pray for those God places before us each day, we bring them and their needs to Him. -- Dr. John Kleinig, Grace upon Grace, p. 280.

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

From this, however, one cannot infer that the writings of the fathers are per se and simply the norm and rule of doctrine in all things, because the fathers subject their own writings to the canonical authority of Scripture.  Not only do they allow, but they even order, that everything they teach be proved and examined on the basis of Scripture.  Thus they acknowledge that Scripture is the universal, primary, and principal norm; whatever does not agree with it cannot be acknowledged as divine but is a fiction humanly devised by whomever it is advanced. -- Blessed Johann Gerhard, On the Church, p. 411.

Patristic Quote of the Day

This day [the 8th] foreshadows the state which is to follow the present age:  a day without sunset, nightfall, or successor, an age which does not grow old or come to an end.  It is therefore necessary for the Church to teach her newborn children to stand for prayer on this day, so that they will always be reminded of eternal life, and not neglect preparations for their journey. -- St. Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit, par. 66.

A Homily upon the Feast of All Saints (2011)

 [Revelation 14:9-17 / 1 John 3:1-3 / Matt. 5:1-12]

Use the eyes of your body, people loved by God, and the Church can look pretty wretched.  Think how the hymn describes her:  “Though with a scornful wonder, men see her sore oppressed; by schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed.”  And that’s not even mentioning the bad behavior of her pastors and her laity – for how often do we bring shame on the holy name of our Savior by the words and deeds of our own lives?  Yes, the Church looks like a first class train wreck.

Odd as it may sound, things weren’t too much different toward the close of the first century when St. John was writing.  You know, he outlived all the other apostles.  And so he got to see the countless assaults that attacked the first plantings of the church.  False teachers arising right from the midst of the people of God and spouting off their own crazy ideas as Gospel truth; the heavy hand of the Roman state crashing down on the Church over and over again to wipe her out; the luke-warmness of those who began to take their faith for granted – oh, they showed up for the Divine Services, but they’d lost their first love.  It all became a bit ho-hum for them.

And now exiled and sitting all by his own alone self there on Patmos, God gives John a priceless gift that he shared with us by writing it down:  a vision of the Church as she truly is, as God sees her and declares her to be, and will finally reveal her to all the world:  a vast multitude – you number lovers, give up trying to count them, impossible – and they are from all over the creation:  every nation and tribe and people and language.  But they are gathered in one spot:  before the throne of the Father and of the Lamb.  They are clothed in gleaming white and they bear in their hands the palm branch of victory and as they wave it they announce that:  “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb!”  That is, they stand before the throne and every last of them owns up that salvation came to them as pure gift from the hand of God and the Lamb, our Lord Jesus.  Not their doing!

When John is asked who they are, he gives the wise answer:  You better tell me.  And tell him the elder does:  “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation – the great trouble."  THIS age!  They have washed their robes in Lamb’s blood and so they are white and they stand before the throne and they worship day and night in God’s holy temple.  And He shelters them.  Gone the hunger, the thirst, the threat from sun with its heat.  The Lamb is their shepherd. He guides them to springs that flow with living water.  And God Himself wipes away all their tears.

Want to see the Church?  Listen and see with your ears this stunning picture.  That’s what we really are.  Not the mess.  Not the shame and the disaster you see before you eyes – but that huge and noble assembly of all the elect children of God gathered into the worship of God and the Lamb by and in the Holy Spirit.

And so the very same author wrote to the churches in his first epistle, marveling at the massive love that the Father has given you – not will give you – HAS given you.  That right now you should be His children.  And John says it only gets better.  We can’t even begin to guess how it will end up when Christ appears in glory – except for this:  we will be like Him.  We shall see Him in that moment as He truly is, and seeing Him we shall see – yes, with our eyes – ourselves as we really are in Him.  And everyone will see in that moment the gleaming white, the palm branches, the massive crowd of those who have been redeemed, clothed and sheltered throughout the difficulties of this present age.  John says:  If you have this hope, you purify yourself, just as your Jesus is pure.  This hope focuses your life, and you spend the time left to you in your pilgrimage here practicing for the age to come, where love has triumphed over all and there is only joy and peace and thanksgiving and praise in response to the God who has given you everything:  your body and soul, forgiveness for all your sin, and a life that is so strong death turns tail and runs away from it.

It is in light of what shall be, that our Lord pronounces His beatitudes.  This is His first teaching He gives to His disciples.  In it, He trains them to keep the focus on what will be in light of what they have been given already and so that they may endure the hardships that await.  The gift now to the poor in spirit and the persecuted is the very Kingdom of God itself – first and eighth beatitudes.  That kingdom shows up in Jesus.  He is the gift of God’s gracious reign in our flesh and blood.  You are blessed indeed when you have Him; when He is your King and you get to serve Him in everlasting “righteousness, innocence and blessedness.”  That’s to wear the white robe that is blood washed and to stand in the great assembly – unseen now, but truly there – singing and offering praises with all the rest.

But notice that all the middle beatitudes – from second through seventh – are future, not present.  The mourners will be comforted, the meek will inherit this earth, the people who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled, the merciful will receive mercy, the purified in heart will see God, the peacemakers will be called His children.   Which is our Lord’s way of saying:  “now and not yet.”  Now the Kingdom.  Now His gracious presence, reigning in your heart.  Working all things together for your good.  And not yet.  “For the troubles of this present life are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed” is how St. Paul would put it later.  Lot of agony and sorrow here and now as you live in His kingdom, but through it all His presence sustains you, and trains you to focus on what will be.  Even as He did:  “Who for the joy set before Him despised the cross, scorning the shame, and sat down at the right hand of God with angels and principalities subject to Him.”

As with the Head, so with His body.  You don’t focus upon the hardships and the griefs and the heart-breaking sorrows, your failures to live as His people, your constant falling and crawling back to His grace.  No.  You focus through them all on where and how it ends.  “Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,” St. Paul says, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 3:13,14.  “Our citizenship is in heaven and from it we await the Savior who will transform our lowly bodies to be like His own by the power that enables Him to subdue all things to Himself.” Phil. 3:20,21.  All things – even your weak and straying hearts.  “We WILL be like Him for we shall see Him as He is.”

So, All Saints.  The day for us to learn to see the future and to press toward it by the power of God’s Spirit as Christ’s own blessed people.  Not the mess of the church as she appears in this world; not the weakness of your own Christian life; but the final result of Christ’s saving work which will appear in all its glory only when He appears again.  Behold it now by faith, love it, ache for it, and live towards it – for in the end that blessedness which is yours and hidden now will be yours and visible on that glorious day.

To Christ, the Lamb whose blood has washed away our sin, to whom alone belongs salvation, be all glory, honor and praise, with the Father and the Holy Spirit  in His holy church now and ever and to the ages of ages.  Amen.