January 2010

January 4

My name is Connor.  Here’s what I learned on my second Christmas.  Christmas means “No!”

Santa Claus brought me a big box of crayons.  I took the crayons out and threw them all over.  The big people said, “Connor, no!”  I got a ball.  A ball is to throw.  So I threw it across the room and bang, it hit one of Oma’s decorative plates.  The big people said, “Connor, no!”  The big people were having snacks.  I had snacks.  When I was done, I put my plate on the stack of clean plates.  “Connor, no!”  Opa put Christmas music on his CD player.  I know how those things work.  I turned it off.  Opa said, “Connor, no!”  I drink out of a sippy cup.  I threw it in the toilet.  “Connor, no!”   On Christmas Eve we went to Jesus’ birthday party at church.  When the offering plate came by, I reached in and took money out.  All those big people said, “Connor, no!”  So Jesus birthday must be about “no.”  Those church people even sang, “The First NOel.”

Opa said something about “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him” (John 3:17). Opa wonders how big people can not always be “no” people.

January 5

Since 1934 floor traders at the New York Stock Exchange have ended the year singing, “Wait ‘till the sun shines, Nellie, and the clouds go drifting by.  We will be happy, Nellie, don’t you cry.”

But some of you are unemployed.  Many struggle to pay their bills.  Tight credit.  Foreclosures.  How far will positive thinking take you?  Barbara Ehrenreich has written a new book, “Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America.”  Other experts agree, saying negative moods can make you more attentive to your surroundings and more careful in your thought. (New York Times, December 31; E7)

If you follow the One who was dead but now is alive, it’s not positive thinking as much as trust that God will keep His promises to you.  “Pray to Me in the time of trouble.  I will rescue you and you will honor Me.”  (Psalm 50:15).  “Why am I discouraged?  I trust You!  And I will praise You again because You help me, and You are my God.”  (Psalm 42:11)  “Wait ‘Till the Sun Shines, Nellie” is a great old song but in recession remember this lyric, “When all things seem against us, to drive us to despair, we know one gate is open, one ear will hear our prayer.” (Lutheran Service Book, 915, 4)

January 6

I often ask my students, “What happened on June 6, 1944?”  Only a few faces will light up with the answer.  Today’s question: “What’s up with January 6^th?”

The Bible tells us not to get hung up on dates.  “You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!  I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.”  (Galatians 4:10-11)  But certain dates evoke certain truths, like June 6 and D-Day.  Today, January 6, is Epiphany.  In eastern Christianity, it’s the celebration of Christmas.  Western Christianity recalls the wise men and salvation for Jew and Gentile alike.  Either way, today is a day to remember that the glorious God has come to save all people from the power of evil and eternal death.

Average Americans no longer know the Bible well, if at all.  Rather than lament the decline, a better thing for each of us is to immerse ourselves in the story.  “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” (Psalm 119:105)  January 6^th is a day to radiate the glory.  “Darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you.  Nations will come to your light.”  (Isaiah 60:2-3)  Today is not for dim bulbs!

January 7

Last Sunday commentator Brit Hume spoke about Tiger Woods.  "The extent to which he can recover, seems to me, depends on his faith.  He is said to be a Buddhist. I don't think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. My message to Tiger would be, 'Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.’"

No surprise, that brought comments.  One blogger wrote, “Really sad that one person is not able to respect another person’s religion and subtly puts it down.  I guess Christians never commit murders or infidelity, only Buddhists.  Remember that man created each religion of Christianity, not Jesus Christ.”  (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 6; M1)

A seasoned reporter, Brit Hume wasn’t surprised by the reaction.  In a subsequent interview he said that if you mention Jesus Christ, the complaints will come.  1 Peter 4:14, 16 says, “If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you….  If you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.”

Of course, you can dismiss that and other scriptures, if you think that Christianity is man-made.

January 8

Many church-goers Sunday will hear about Jesus’ baptism.  Matthew 3:13-17 begins, “Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.  But John tried to deter Him saying, ‘I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?’”  John’s resistance makes sense.  Since the Bible teaches that baptism saves us, 1 Peter 3:21, why should the Savior be baptized?  John knew enough to resist Jesus’ word.   Jesus could have compelled John, the way a lord would do, but instead took the gentler way of asking.  “Jesus replied, ‘Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.’”  He hadn’t come as a compelling Lord but gently to be one of us.  Hence Jesus desired baptism and “John consented.”

Does your relationship with Jesus continually move from objection to consent?  If you’re a Bible reader, then you know that Jesus has something to say to you everyday.  Often our instinctive reaction is this, “Jesus, I know more about this than you do.  What You say is too simple, too weak for what is needed here.”  Jesus doesn’t compel.  He has given you the scary ability to say “no” to God but He does keep pleading with you.  John submitted to the Word.  It is our constant struggle.

January 11

By submitting to baptism, Jesus identified with us.  James Montgomery wrote, “He comes with rescue speedy to those who suffer wrong, to help the poor and needy and bid the weak be strong; to give them songs for sighing, their darkness turn to light, whose souls condemned and dying were precious in His sight.”

How often we suffer various wrongs and ills in life without drawing confidence from our Helper!

“Here is My servant, whom I uphold, My chosen one in whom I delight.  A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out.”  (Isaiah 42:1, 3)

“We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.  Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”  (Hebrews 4:15-16)

The voice from heaven was clear.  “You are my Son, whom I love.  With You I am well pleased.”  (Luke 3:22)  The lesson is clear as well.  “Him you must hear, and Him alone, and trust in fullest measure the word that He has spoken.”  (Martin Luther, Lutheran Service Book, 406, 3)

January 12

Mrs. Miep Gies died Monday night.  After invading the Netherlands in 1940, the Nazis began sending Jews to death camps.  Otto Frank asked Mrs. Gies if she would hide him and his family and she did, along with a van Pels family, eight people in all.  August 4, 1944 the Nazi’s found and deported them, all except young Anne Frank, who for whatever reason was left behind.  Anne was hidden in rooms behind a moveable bookcase where Mrs. Gies brought her food, books, news, and even gave the young girl her first pair of high heels.  Anne Frank was eventually taken to the concentration camp Bergen-Belsen where she died three months before her 16^th birthday.  It was Mrs. Gies who preserved Anne’s diary.

Mrs. Gies wrote, “I stand at the end of the long, long line of good Dutch people who did what I did and more – much more – during those dark and terrible times years ago, but always like yesterday in the heart of those of us who bear witness.”  (New York Times, January 12; A16)

Evil comes and changes the lives we had hoped to live.  It’s in our response to what happens that we further God’s purposes of justice.  The Savior “will bring forth justice; He will not falter or be discouraged till He establishes justice on earth.”  (Isaiah 42:3-4)  Remember evil, “always like yesterday” and work for justice today.

January 13

The day after President George W. Bush’s first inauguration, The Washington Post headline said, “Bush calls for Unity, Civility.”  The hopes raised by President Obama for bipartisanship haven’t been realized either.  Ours is a factious time.

So was Rome in the first century before Christ.  The Latin words “res publica,” from which we get “republic,” meant a complete devotion by citizens and leaders to the common well-being.  In that first century Roman leaders talked a good game about the common good but what really drove them was their own political gain.  The result was a century of civil wars.  When Octavian, later known as Caesar Augustus, gained military control, he did not rule as an absolute dictator but shared power.  On this date in 27 B.C. he handed over power for the state’s well-being to the Senate and people so they could discuss and discern with him what was best for Rome.  A long period of peace followed.

The Bible teaches the true meaning of love, that it’s not seeking your own interests but working for the well-being of others.  If adherents of the majority world religion in America, Christianity, practiced the true meaning of “love” in our lives and voting, our country might move closer to “Unity, Civility.”  Then righteousness would exalt our nation (Proverbs 14:34).    

January 14

When Epiphany begins, some eastern Europeans write the letters CMB on the door of their homes.  Some say CMB stands for Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, the traditional names of the wise men, but the late Wally Bronner of Frankenmuth, Michigan researched the letters and says CMB stands for “Christus Mansem Benedicat,” “May Christ bless this home.”

Here’s a story of two homes blessed through adversity.  When Eric and Jennifer Bartel’s home burned, Mrs. Bartel said, “It was absolutely a blessing. If it takes our house catching on fire so Steve can get a second chance on life, we’re fine with that.”  Steve is Stephen Koch, a 42-year-old man in ill health.  In rushing to help his neighbors, he dislodged a blood clot that caused a heart attack.  Had it not happened that way, doctors conjecture the blood clot would remained undiscovered until he would have suffered a fatal heart attack.

How can you see blessings in adversity?  Said Mr. Koch, “I pay attention to everything: every flower, every beautiful day, every rainy day, every time a kid is smiling, every time a kid is hurt or not happy.  I pay attention to those things because I know everything means something, and what you do notice matters.”  (Nancy Cambria, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 2; B1)

“God moves in mysterious ways His wonders to perform.”  CMB, may Christ bless your home!

January 15

Elizabeth Gilbert seems obsessed about marriage.  Now in the second year of her second marriage, she’s written a new book, “Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage.”  She recently contrasted the wedding day to the actual marriage.  “Young women of the romantic variety,” she said, believe “for that one day you are the most valuable creature in the world—a treasure, a princess, a prize.”  (Wall Street Journal, January 2)

C.S. Lewis wrote, “Ceasing to be ‘in love’ need not mean ceasing to love.  Love in this second sense – love as distinct from ‘being in love’ is not merely a feeling.  It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit....  It is on this love that the engine of marriage is run; being in love was the explosion that started it.”  (“For All the Saints,” I, 271f.)

Sunday many church goers will hear about Jesus changing water into wine at the wedding of Cana, John 2:1-11.  “Jesus showed His glory, and His disciples put their faith in Him.”  So when you, bride, begin to doubt you are “a treasure, a princess, a prize,” and you, groom, don’t get it, then it’s time for will-power, for habit, and for the Savior’s presence.  “A rope made from three strands of cord is hard to break.” (Ecclesiastes 4:12)

January 18

In 1963 Martin Luther King delivered his most famous speech with the well known refrain, “I have a dream.”  He said, “It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro.  There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights.  The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.” 

That “bright day of justice” will not dawn without people of faith.  For Christians today is also the “Confession of St. Peter.”  Although Peter confessed Jesus as the Messiah, he continued to draw ethnic distinctions, staying away from “those people,” thinking himself better than others.  But when Peter went to Joppa and was repulsed by the ways of non-Jews, God shattered Peter’s injustice.  “Now I am certain that God treats all people alike.  God is pleased with everyone who worships him and does right, no matter what nation they come from.”  (Acts 10:34-35)  Some years later Peter wrote, “God doesn’t have favorites!  He judges all people by what they do.” (1 Peter 1:17)

Dr. King’s dream and our Lord’s impartiality:  How can you and I as persons of faith not strive for “the bright day of justice?” 

January 19

“O Lord, our hearts awaken to know and love You more, in faith to stand unshaken….”  The words of the 16^th century poet Elizabeth Cruciger are especially poignant after the earthquake.  How can we “stand in faith unshaken?”

Long ago Elijah was shaken, though for different reasons.  He seemed unsuccessful in his “prophet” work, authorities wanted him dead, and so he fled and hid in a cave.  “A great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind.  After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.  After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.  And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”  Elijah had sought solitude in his troubles and there God came in the whisper, a still, small voice.  So it must be today, retreat and meditate if we will “stand in faith unshaken.”  (1 Kings 19:11-13)

Martin Luther wrote, “In the midst of death’s dark vale powers of hell o’ertake us.  Who shall help when they assail, who secure shall make us?  Thou only, Lord, Thou only!  Thy heart is moved with tenderness, pities us in our distress.  Holy and righteous God!  Holy and mighty God!  Holy and all-merciful Savior!”

January 20

Yesterday morning I experienced once again that prayer is best done slowly and alone.  I’m conditioned to rush on but some words in the “Collect for Grace” arrested me.  “Preserve us with Your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin.”  How does God’s power keep me from sinning?  Is it a leash to yank me back when I want to go someplace I shouldn’t?  Is it a muzzle to shut my mouth against my will?

A chaplain back from Iraq told me how his safety depended upon armed soldiers.  Chaplains are not armed; they need another power to protect them.  God’s power to keep us from sinning is the weaponry of His Word.  If you want to be yourself, do your thing, you can, no leash or muzzle will stop you.  But the word sunk into your heart by memory and intentionally recalled during the day keeps you from sinning.  “Through faith you are shielded by God’s power.” (1 Peter 1:5)

Don’t have time for slow and solitary prayer?  “I walk in danger all the way.  The thought shall never leave me that Satan who has marked his prey is plotting to deceive me.  This foe with hidden snares may seize me unawares, if I should fail to watch and pray.  I walk in danger all the way.”

January 21

About the stunning Massachusetts election, the Wall Street Journal said, “The Brown victory forces the White House and congressional leaders to decide how – or whether – to salvage their long-sought health-care overhaul.  Rushing the bill after losing Massachusetts carries political risks.  So does letting it collapse.”  So these days the majority is debating whether to force ahead or moderate their goals.

When King David died, young Solomon prayed, “I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.  Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number.  So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people….”  (1 Kings 3:7-9).  The prayer was answered.

When Solomon died, his son Rehoboam became king.  Solomon’s advisers told Rehoboam, “‘If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them…, they will always be your servants.’  But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him.”  They said, “Tell these people…my little finger is thicker than my father’s waist.  My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier.”  (1 Kings 12:7, 10, 11)  That advice resulted in rebellion.

Interesting days in American politics.  God, give our leaders wisdom!

January 22

Charles Dickens’ very first words make you like David Copperfield.  “Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.  To begin my life with the beginning of my life, I record that I was born (as I have been informed and believe) on a Friday, at twelve l2 o’clock at night.”

 David recounts the hours before his birth that Friday.  “My mother was sitting by the fire, but poorly in health and very low in spirits, looking at it through her tears, and desponding heavily about herself and the fatherless little stranger, who was (coming) to a world not at all excited on the subject of his arrival.”

800 pages later, David says, “Now my written story ends.  I look back, once more—for the last time—before I close these leaves.  I see myself, with Agnes at my side, journeying along the road of life.  I see our children and our friends around us, and I hear the roar of many voices, not indifferent to me as I travel on.”

Not welcome by the world, but blessed with life.  On this Friday, this anniversary of Roe versus Wade, we lament the children who cannot look back to their birth and life.

January 25

Al Capone died 63 years ago today, January 25, 1947.  There haven’t been many sinners worse than Scarface Capone.  Saul was bad too.  The man we call “St. Paul” persecuted Christians, even joined in the murder of Stephen.  It’s nice that you and I have a Savior, but let’s tell the truth.  You and I are no Capone, no Saul.  I don’t need a Savior as much as some other people!

Diedrich Bonhoeffer: “To forego self-conceit…means, in all soberness and without mincing the matter, to consider oneself the greatest of sinners.  It sounds like an exaggeration, like an untruth.  Yet even Paul said of himself that he was the foremost of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15); he said this specifically at the point where he was speaking of his service as an apostle.  There can be no genuine acknowledgment of sin that does not lead to this extremity.  If my sinfulness appears to me to be in any way smaller or less detestable in comparison with the sins of others, I am still not recognizing my sinfulness at all.  My sin is of necessity the worst, the most grievous, the most reprehensible.”  (“Life Together,” p. 96)

Today the church observes “The Conversion of St. Paul.”  Do you think you need a Savior as much as the bad guys?

January 26

Today is the date I was baptized, January 26, 1947.  I’m told I was baptized at home, perhaps because my parents didn’t want to take me out yet, perhaps because that was a more common practice back then.  Or was it that they would have been embarrassed to show me in public?

Anyway, infant baptism has come under attack only in the last few centuries and it continues to be the practice of most Christians in the world.  Critics do raise a good point: Some Christians often act like infant baptism is eternal fire insurance.  Get baptized and the day after you can live any old way you want.

Concluding a discussion of baptism in Romans 6, Paul asks, “Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?  By no means!  You have been set free from sin and have become slaves of righteousness.”  (6:15, 18)  It’s not unlike marriage.  You say your vows at the altar but the day after, every day after, you do best to love, honor and cherish your spouse.  Eternal fire insurance?  Only when you keep paying the premium: daily renunciation of sin.

Pros and cons of infant baptism will be debated, but I trust we all agree, every day after should be given to new righteousness, to holy living.

January 27

You see it every year on the news, the President descending the aisle of the House chamber to deliver his State of the Union address.  As he walks, TV commentators point out the political power players and what’s at stake for them in the coming year. 

In the first century B.C. Horace observed important political players coming from their homes on Rome’s hills down to the Campus, a place of political wheeling and dealing.  “‘Tis true that one man plants his vineyards over wider acres than his fellow; that one candidate for office who comes down to the Campus is of nobler birth, another of greater worth and fame, while still another has a larger band of followers; yet with impartial justice Necessity allots the fates of high and low alike.  The ample funeral urn keeps tossing every name.”  (Odes III, 1) 

And a Hebrew poet saw it as well, but ended his observation with something more positive than the funeral urn.  “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.  The grass withers and the flowers fall because the breath of the Lord blows on them.  Surely the people are grass.  The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”  (Isaiah 40:7-8)

For non-partisan commentary, read the Bible!

January 28

This week, marks the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.  The Camp at Auschwitz, 30 miles from Krakow, was opened in June, 1940, and became an extermination center a year later.  Rudolf Hess testified at the Nuremberg trials that more than 2 1/2 million people, mostly Jews, were executed and another half million starved to death.  Allied troops liberated those still in the camp on January 17, 1945.  To say what is always said, we should not forget.

Another liberation is still in progress, liberating the world from the fear of terror.  Politicians and pundits say a lot, almost everything but this:

Almighty God in the highest heavens, You look down upon our ways on earth.  Appealing to Your good and gracious will, we ask that You guide human efforts to the greater goal of greater peace in our troubled world.  We beg You to protect those who are courageous enough to stand for freedom and who are threatened with danger.  Watch over our troops, we pray, and may they come home safely to us and soon.  Give us a mind to understand that liberation is not just history but is the concern of oppressed people today.  In the name of Jesus, who liberates us from the eternal terror of evil.  Amen.

January 29

Concordia Seminary recognized service anniversaries in chapel, meaning some professors were honored for their years in the holy ministry.  Time marches on, so the 35^th year of my ordination was recognized.  It was a time for looking back, and I hope my recollection is not irrelevant to your life.

A college professor taught me that we see God in hindsight.  That is, we can’t know the details of what God is doing in our lives today or the specifics of what He will do tomorrow.  It’s only in hindsight that we see how He was present in our lives, how He took up the experiences of the years to weave us into the persons we are today.  And hindsight kindly frees us to be more honest about our need for forgiveness.  That He gave as well.  Sitting in the chapel those thoughts were a pleasant release from so much.

If the past is forgiven, tomorrow is filled with hope.  Frankly we shouldn’t get too exercised about tomorrow, although we should make provision for our loved ones and church.  Tomorrow is in God’s hands.  All you and I have is now, today, what the old theologians called “the time of grace.”  “His grace has brought me safe thus far.  His grace will lead me home.”  You too?