New Lutheran Quote of the Day

If the Law has not produced total self-condemnation, there can be - will be - no joy. Instead, there will only be self-righteousness and hypocrisy, salted with an arrogant condemnation and snooping for the sins of others - a bad conscience seared into numb bitterness by denial. -- Matthew Harrison, *A Little Book on Joy* p. 40

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

[Faith] is a most hearty conviction of God's grace to us, a confident tranquillity of heart, and an undisturbed peace of conscience relying upon the merit of Christ. Such a faith springs from the seed of the divine Word. -- Blessed Johann Gerhard, *Sacred Meditation* XII

Patristic Quote of the Day

The cross of the Lord became a trap for the Devil; the death of the Lord was the food by which he was ensnared. -- St. Augustine, Homily 263

Vibram Five Fingers

I think I really like these silly things. Did trial run today; looking forward to real run tomorrow.

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

The secret to living a good news life in a bad news world is the joyous knowledge - by the gracious enlightenment of the Holy Spirit - that Christians are not always happy and joyous. Far from it. -- Matthew Harrison, *A Little Book on Joy* p. 27.

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

Those whom Christ looks upon, weep over their sins. -- Blessed Johann Gerhard, *Explanation of the History of the Sufferings and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ* p. 121

Patristic Quote of the Day

Christ Himself is both the Way by which you go and the Haven toward which you make your way. -- St. Augustine, Homily 261

What is it about...

...Passion Vespers that is so peaceful? The calm and silence before the Passion invites a soul in. It's always odd when the reading is longer than the homily. Yet that reading is the pulsing center from which the peace flows out. Much as I love Evening Prayer, I must confess that the austerity of the Vespers liturgy suits the Passion reading better. We wrapped up tonight with the Great Litany - taking all sorts and conditions of men to the Blessed Trinity in prayer.

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

The secret to living a good news life in a bad news world is to see myself, my sins, my darkest thoughts, my constant failings and weaknesses in the dark characters and their darker moments in the Bible. -- Matthew Harrison, *A Little Book on Joy* p. 23.

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

You are to find peace in Him by a hearty despair of yourself and your own works. And now that He has received you, made your sins His and His righteousness yours, learn also firmly to believe this, as behooves you. -- Blessed Martin Luther, Letter to Friar Spenlein, 1516

Patristic Quote of the Day

Through the Man Christ you go to the God Christ. -- St. Augustine, Homily 261

UGH!!!

Jury Duty. And on Cindi's birthday no less. At least it's after Easter...

On Lectors and Such

I've gotten into this discussion in more than one place on the net and often find myself on the other side of the fence on this particular question from those with whom I usually on the same side of the fence on other questions. I'm curious what thoughts the reader of the blog might have about it.

I see absolutely nothing wrong and much to commend the practice of the people of God sharing in the reading of the Sacred Scriptures during the Divine Service. The Scriptures do not belong to the ordained; they belong to the whole people of God! Granted, my own parish does not follow the practice of having lectors from the laity. Historically, we've had seminarians or vicars to fulfill that role. But I have served in a parish where it was the practice and further it was the practice in the parish where I was baptized, confirmed, married, and ordained. I know some pastors hate it - they love to read the Scriptures themselves. I totally sympathize with that, but I do think it can be very helpful for the congregation to hear the Scriptures read by more than one voice.

The appeal to 1 Timothy 4:13 as somehow meaning that only the pastors are to read in the Divine Service is a non-starter for me. I don't think that is what St. Paul is saying to St. Timothy. And in the history of the Church we've certainly had the office of lector for a very long time - since at least the days of St. Justin Martyr. Our current rite (LSB) clearly permits an "assisting minister" (defined as either ordained or lay) to read the Old Testament and Epistle readings (not to mention to bid the Kyrie, to intone the Gloria in DS 1 and 2, to bid the prayer of the church, to distribute the chalice, and to offer the post-communion collect and chant the benedicamus).

About this person, it says:

"In addition, many congregations select lectors from within the congregation to assist the pastor by reading the Old Testament and Epistle readings. As with all matters pertaining to public worship, good judgment should be exercised in the selection of lectors. Understandably, this selection should be based on their ability to read the Word of God clearly and distinctly in a public setting. Adequate training and coaching of such lectors remains the responsibility of the called pastor, who retains the ultimate responsibility for the proclamation of the Word." [Lectionary, ix]

So, fire away. Pros and cons of the laity serving as lectors for first or second reading of the Divine Service?

You have GOT to check this out!

Lutheran hymn-translator Matthew Carver offers up his translation of a hymn that paraphrases the ENTIRE AUGSBURG CONFESSION! It's set to "Now Thank We." Check it out here.

HT: Cyberbrethren

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

Here's the secret: if we seek joy for its own sake, we will not find it. If we seek Jesus, we will be engulfed and inundated by joy, and quite by surprise. -- Matthew Harrison, *A Little Book on Joy* p. 9

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

Hence one of the two things is always present, continuing as an eternal conversation between God and the soul. Either He speaks to us and we are still, listening to God, or He listens to us as we speak to Him, praying for what we need. -- Blessed Martin Luther, Day by Day, p. 125

Patristic Quote of the Day

He came down from heaven to heal you; He ascended to heaven to lift you up. -- St. Augustine, Homily 261

Today's Treasury Reading

comes from Dr. Luther's early Reformation piece, *The Babylonian Captivity.* Some helps in sorting it out:

"Woman who should bruise the serpent's head" is based on the old Vulgate reading of Genesis 3:15 where "she" (not "he") crushes the head. Medieval Christians took this as a reference to Mary. This was often depicted in art as in the picture in this post. Luther would later notice the problem as he translates the Hebrew and disagree with the Latin, siding with the Hebrew and the Greek translation: our Lord, not His mother, tramples the serpent!

"For such a promise, being the truth of God, preserves even in hell those who believe it and wait for it."

"Hell" here is not simply the place of torment for the unbelievers; it is the place of the dead - Hades, the place where BOTH the righteous dead and the unrighteous dead were kept - think of Lazarus and the Rich Man. Part of the early church's belief was that Christ descended to Hades, to Hell, in order to rescue these OT believers who were waited in faith for the day when the Promised Seed would descend to rescue them and bring them up with Him. This is what Luther refers to here. He also refers to this belief in his famous sermon for Holy Saturday in the House Postils - "rescuing the prisoners."

Read Hebrews 11 in light of this, especially vs. 13, 39, 40. Also our Lord's words to Nicodemus in John 3: "No one has ascended into heaven except He who descended from heaven, the Son of Man."

Hope that helps in sorting out the reading for the day!

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

To the communal sacrifice of praise must be added the sacrifice of self in life. Perhaps no lesson will be harder to learn than this, but without this all we say and sing will be of little effect. -- Earnest Koenker, *Worship in Word and Sacrament* p. 109.

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

As Christians, we must also let the Word be our weapon in all temptations. We must learn from our Savior to answer all attacks of the devil only with "It is written." The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit. -- C. F. W. Walther, *God Grant It!* p. 248.