Bethany and Concordia

Gene Edward Veith notes an article about the decline of youth work in churches these days. Apparently, it’s hard to get the interest of teens and keep them engaged at church, and getting harder. Maybe our own teens have something to say about that. (Read Veith’s article first, then leave a comment here or on our Facebook page.) He makes the case that a more rigorous faith — including genuine mysteries, and a good deal of ongoing, practical effort from participants — may fare better. Meanwhile, youth programs that focus on fun more than on the serious and somewhat radical business of salvation just blend into all the other “fun” alternatives in a teen’s life.

It sounds to me as though some teens (or “youth”) are simply more interested in being treated like adults than like children. That’s why I consider our Divine Service, Bible classes, and other activities to be for our youth just as much as for independent adults. I’m not opposed to doing fun things together, but our expertise and focus at Bethany and Concordia are in God’s Word, the certainty of salvation, and living as Christians in a fallen world. That’s where we’re different from 99% of the other things our youth could do. That should be important to us all. But is it enough to engage us at church? Youth too?

What do you think? By the way, the comments on Veith’s blog posts are usually worth reading too.

Many Christians are confused about God’s command to sanctify the day of rest. Does that mean we need to observe the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, as a day reserved from work and dedicated to worship? Does it mean we should do the same thing on Sunday? Or are we completely free from gathering with other believers for worship, now that we live in the time of the New Testament? Is it pleasing to God if we allow work and other scheduling concerns to dominate our days, so that there is no time left for rest, or for hearing God’s Word? May we do necessary work on the day of rest?

The answers to these questions are contained in the Large Catechism, where Martin Luther wrote about the Third Commandment. This extensive quote comes from the new “Reader’s Edition” of the Book of Concord from Concordia Publishing House, pages 367-370. You can find the edition upon which it was based online at the Book of Concord web site.

[79] The word holiday is used for the Hebrew word sabbath, which properly means “to rest,” that is, to cease from labor. Therefore, we usually say, “to stop working.” Or “Sanctify the Sabbath.” [80] Now, in the Old Testament, God set apart the seventh day and appointed it for rest [Genesis 2:3]. He commanded that it should be regarded as holy above all other days. This commandment was given only to the Jewish people for this outward obedience, that they should stop toilsome work and rest. In that way both man and beast might recover and not be weakened by endless labor [Exodus 20:8-11]. [81] Later, the Jewish people restricted the Sabbath too closely and greatly abused it. They defamed Christ and could not endure in Him the same works that they themselves would do on that day, as we read in the Gospel [Matthew 12:11]. They acted as though the commandment were fulfilled by doing no manual work whatsoever. This, however, was not the meaning. But, as we shall hear, they were supposed to sanctify the holy day or day of rest.

[82] This commandment, therefore, in its literal sense, does not apply to us Christians. It is entirely an outward matter, like other ordinances of the Old Testament. The ordinances were attached to particular customs, persons, times, and places, but now they have been made matters of freedom through Christ [Colossians 2:16-17].

[83] The simpleminded need to grasp a Christian meaning about what God requires in this commandment. Note that we don’t keep holy days for the sake of intelligent and learned Christians. (They have no need of holy days.) We keep them first of all for bodily causes and necessities, which nature teaches and requires. We keep them for the common people, manservants and maidservants, who have been attending to their work and trade the whole week. In this way they may withdraw in order to rest for a day and be refreshed.

[84] Second, and most especially, on this day of rest (since we can get no other chance), we have the freedom and time to attend divine service. We come together to hear and use God’s Word, and then to praise God, to sing and to pray [Colossians 3:16].

[85] However, this keeping of the Sabbath, I point out, is not restricted to a certain time, as with the Jewish people. It does not have to be just on this or that day. For in itself no one day is better than another [Romans 14:5-6]. Instead, this should be done daily. However, since the masses of people cannot attend every day, there must be at least one day in the week set apart. From ancient times Sunday ‹the Lord’s Day› has been appointed for this purpose. So we also should continue to do the same, in order that everything may be done in an orderly way [1 Corinthians 14:40] and no one may create disorder by starting unnecessary practices.

[86] This is the simple meaning of the commandment: People must have holidays. Therefore, such observances should be devoted to hearing God’s Word so that the special function of this day of rest should be the ministry of the Word for the young and the mass of poor people [Nehemiah 8:2-3, 8]. Yet the resting should not be strictly understood to forbid any work that comes up, which cannot be avoided.

[87] So when someone asks you, “What is meant by the commandment: You shall sanctify the holy day?” Answer like this, “To sanctify the holy day is the same as to keep it holy.” “But what is meant by keeping it holy?” “Nothing else than to be occupied with holy words, works, and life.” For the day needs no sanctification for itself. It has been created holy in itself. But God desires the day to be holy to you. Therefore, it becomes holy or unholy because of you, whether you are occupied on that day with things that are holy or unholy.

[88] How, then, does such sanctification take place? Not like this: sitting behind the stove and doing no rough work, or adorning ourselves with a wreath and putting on our best clothes. But as said above, we occupy ourselves with God’s Word and exercise ourselves in the Word.

[89] Indeed, we Christians ought always to keep such a holy day and be occupied with nothing but holy things. This means we should daily be engaged with God’s Word and carry it in our hearts and upon our lips [Psalm 119:11-13]. But as said above, since we do not always have free time, we must devote several hours a week for the sake of the young, or at least a day for the sake of the entire multitude, to being concerned about this alone. We must especially teach the use of the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer, and so direct our whole life and being according to God’s Word. [90] At whatever time, then, this is being observed and practiced, there a true holy day is being kept. Other things shall not be called a Christians’ holy day. For, indeed, non-Christians can also stop working and be idle, just as the entire swarm of our Church workers do. They stand daily in the churches, singing and ringing bells, but they do not keep a holy day in true holiness, because they do not preach or use God’s Word but teach and live contrary to it.

[91] God’s Word is the true “holy thing” [Heiligtum; relic] above all holy things. Yes, it is the only one we Christians know and have. Though we had the bones of all the saints or all holy and consecrated garments upon a heap, still that would not help us at all. All that stuff is a dead thing that can sanctify no one. But God’s Word is the treasure that sanctifies everything [1 Timothy 4:5]. By the Word even all the saints themselves were sanctified [1 Corinthians 6:11]. [92] Whenever God’s Word is taught, preached, heard, read, or meditated upon, then the person, day, and work are sanctified. This is not because of the outward work, but because of the Word, which makes saints of us all. Therefore, I constantly say that all our life and work must be guided by God’s Word, if it is to be God-pleasing or holy. Where this is done, this commandment is in force and being fulfilled.

[93] On the contrary, any observance or work that is practiced without God’s Word is unholy before God. This is true no matter how brilliantly a work may shine, even though it is covered with relics, such as the fictitious spiritual orders, which know nothing about God’s Word and seek holiness in their own works.

[94] Note, therefore, that the force and power of this commandment lies not in the resting, but in the sanctifying, so that a special holy exercise belongs to this day. For other works and occupations are not properly called holy exercises, unless the person is holy first. But here a work is to be done by which a person is himself made holy. This is done (as we have heard) only through God’s Word. For this reason, particular places, times, persons, and the entire outward order of worship have been created and appointed, so that there may be order in public practice [1 Corinthians 14:40].

[95] So much depends upon God’s Word. Without it, no holy day can be sanctified. Therefore, we must know that God insists upon a strict observance of this commandment and will punish all who despise His Word and are not willing to hear and learn it, especially at the time appointed for the purpose.

[96] It is not only the people who greatly misuse and desecrate the holy day who sin against this commandment (those who neglect to hear God’s Word because of their greed or frivolity or lie in taverns and are dead drunk like swine). But even that other crowd sins. They listen to God’s Word like it was any other trifle and only come to preaching because of custom. They go away again, and at the end of the year they know as little of God’s Word as at the beginning. [97] Up to this point the opinion prevailed that you had properly hallowed Sunday when you had heard a Mass or the Gospel read. But no one cared for God’s Word, and no one taught it. Now that we have God’s Word, we fail to correct the abuse. We allow ourselves to be preached to and admonished, but we do not listen seriously and carefully.

[98] Know, therefore, that you must be concerned not only about hearing, but also about learning and retaining God’s Word in memory. Do not think that this is optional for you or of no great importance. Think that it is God’s commandment, who will require an account from you [Romans 14:12] about how you have heard, learned, and honored His Word.

[99] Likewise, those fussy spirits are to be rebuked who, after they have heard a sermon or two, find hearing more sermons to be tedious and dull. They think that they know all that well enough and need no more instruction. For that is exactly the sin that was previously counted among mortal sins and is called akadia (i.e., apathy or satisfaction). This is a malignant, dangerous plague with which the devil bewitches and deceives the hearts of many so that he may surprise us and secretly take God’s Word from us [Matthew 13:19].

[100] Let me tell you this, even though you know God’s Word perfectly and are already a master in all things: you are daily in the devil’s kingdom [Colossians 1:13-14]. He ceases neither day nor night to sneak up on you and to kindle in your heart unbelief and wicked thoughts against these three commandments and all the commandments. Therefore, you must always have God’s Word in your heart, upon your lips, and in your ears. But where the heart is idle and the Word does not make a sound, the devil breaks in and has done the damage before we are aware [Matthew 13:24-30]. [101] On the other hand, the Word is so effective that whenever it is seriously contemplated, heard, and used, it is bound never to be without fruit [Isaiah 55:11; Mark 4:20]. It always awakens new understanding, pleasure, and devoutness and produces a pure heart and pure thoughts [Philippians 4:8]. For these words are not lazy or dead, but are creative, living words [Hebrews 4:12]. [102] And even though no other interest or necessity moves us, this truth ought to urge everyone to the Word, because thereby the devil is put to flight and driven away [James 4:7]. Besides, this commandment is fulfilled and this exercise in the Word is more pleasing to God than any work of hypocrisy, however brilliant.

When the apostle Paul wrote his letters to the Corinthians, it’s clear that he had many problems to address. We sometimes hear about the problems in church organization and practice, but the more basic problems were personal. In 1 Cor. chapter 6, Paul began by explaining why Christians should not have to bring fellow Christians to court before a civil judge. We should rather accept wrongdoing from our fellow Christians, because we share the same Savior from our sins. It means we can joyfully forgive one another, and confidently rebuke those who are still caught up in sin, so that they might also repent and return to the same forgiveness.

You might wonder what happens after someone caught up in certains sins has repented and received God’s forgiveness. Is the forgiveness purely theoretical, affecting us only in some intangible way? Must that person continue repenting of the same sin for the rest of his life, enduring its shame while also suffering its worldly effects? Or is the forgiveness we receive from God powerful enough so that we never need to feel the shame of that transgression again? Are there certain sins which, even after we have received God’s forgiveness for them, somehow leave a lingering taint upon our status as Christians or our lives upon the earth?

In 1 Cor. 6, Paul urges his Christian readers to understand that their Christian faith in the forgiveness of Jesus Christ has changed them. Secular judges are important, but Christians should not need them to resolve their own differences, because unlike the secular world, we have received the most powerful gift: forgiveness.

But what about that particular sin, the one you suspect may leave a permanent smudge upon our character? You may be reminded of it in the way others look at you sometimes, or when you see the way other Christians worship, conduct themselves privately, or even serve God in some capacity at church. I’ve heard many times how some non-Christians think that the church is full of hypocrites, because they know the terrible sins that have been committed by the same people who find such joy and comfort when they attend church. In fact, they often know that some of those Christians continue to commit those sins, while seeming to pretend to be good people.

I can’t deny that there are hypocrites in the church, but it’s more likely that their favorite sins are the internal kind (envy, malice, anger, greed, pride, etc.) than the outward kind their neighbors would notice. Meanwhile, honest Christians must deal not only with internal vices, but also with frequent visible sins and temptations. Is it hypocrisy for such a person to come to church the following Sunday with a smiling heart and return home joyful and cheerful? Not at all. The forgiveness of sins makes the difference.

In fact, forgiveness not only creates a new status before God, but it creates and sustains a new character within us, willing and able to resist sin and to fight against temptation. Thus, St. Augustine, one of the most preeminent fathers of the Church, began his famous career as a pastor only after having broken off a marriage engagement, fathering a child out of wedlock with his first concubine, leaving her and a second concubine, and pursuing two of the prominent non-Christian religions in his day. As a bishop, Augustine later helped to lead the orthodox Christian church away from false doctrines, and he pointed generations to Jesus Christ alone as their certainty of forgiveness.

Paul wrote, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”

Do you have a crucifix nearby? If so, look at it closely. See how it represents the body of Jesus hanging upon a cross? That is what He truly did for you, and for every sinner. When we repent, whether it be for some peccadillo, a white lie, for fratricide or for genocide, we are asking God to place our burden of guilt upon His Son, whose flesh was hanging by those nails from two pieces of blood-stained wood. We are confessing that we deserve His mercy no more than any other individual on earth. We are asking Him to accept the death of Jesus in place of the punishment we deserve, so that we might receive the status that Jesus obtained by His perfect life. God grants this to you, to me, and to every penitent Christian. The Church gathers every week for no greater purpose than to receive this forgiveness.

Is it possible for a person to start over? With Jesus, it is certainly possible, and more than once. He takes away our sins, and He creates us anew through the rebirth of water and His Word. This is not only some theoretical, abstract kind of rebirth, but a true spiritual regeneration, resulting in a new creature with a new nature and a new character. Unfortunately for us, the old nature still fights to survive, but when we consider ourselves and our fellows as Christians, remember that our identity is no longer found in the sinful flesh. As Paul wrote in Col. 3, “you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” It is this new self, created by the forgiveness of sins, that will live eternally.

In today’s sermon I mentioned two composers who wrote music and words on the basis of their faith, just as David did three thousand years ago. Now, I see that an example of Bach’s poetry and music was posted today at Cyberbrethren, which is the blog of Paul McCain, the publisher at Concordia Publishing house. You can go there and listen to it, while you read along in translation.

In our catechism we talk about the three ways that God uses His moral Law by using three metaphors or comparisons. Most importantly, He uses His Law as a mirror, which shows us our sinfulness and need for a savior. Also of great importance, He uses His law as a curb upon the evil in the whole world, since it is written upon the hearts of everyone to a limited degree. Finally, God guides Christians with His Law in the ways we are to live as His redeemed children. This is necessary because Christians still have the sinful flesh as long as we live, which obscures and confuses our knowledge of God’s will.

Strictly speaking, the Ten Commandments as found in the Bible were given to the children of Israel, and not to us. However, Jesus confirmed that they describe the way God would have us live, with the exception that the Third Commandment no longer requires a specific day of the week as the Sabbath. Seventh-day Adventists object to this, wishing to retain the meaning of the Third Commandment as it applied to the Israelites. They fail to understand that this aspect of the Third Commandment is not part of God’s universal will for all people (moral law), but His instructions for the worship life of the Jews (ceremonial law), and as such it is fulfilled for us all by Jesus Christ and superceded by faith in Him (Colossians 2:16-17). That does not make it wrong to observe the Sabbath on Saturdays, but it is wrong to insist that every Christian do so.

So in the distinction between the ceremonial and moral law, we can see a difference between God’s will for the behavior of Israelites and for Gentiles. Still, a similar difference also exists in connection with the Ten Commandments. Since Jesus has fulfilled all of them in our place, our righteousness before God is found entirely in Him. Since He gave His life to suffering and death in payment for our disobedience, the Ten Commandments have no more power to condemn those who trust in the Gospel. So Jesus has not only separated us from the ceremonial law, but also from the moral law, though in a different way. It means that Christians can understand and use the Ten Commandments without fear of punishment or condemnation. In Jesus, we no longer have any guilt. He has freed us to live without the intolerable burden of God’s conditional favor: “If you obey My commandments, I will consider you to be righteous.” Now, we are already righteous, entirely through the obedience of Jesus.

With the freedom we have from the Law, we now have a different relationship to the Ten Commandments. They become more precious, because they describe the will of a gracious and loving God. We can approach them with a confidence that as long as we remain in our baptismal grace, they cannot condemn us. So when God says, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain,” we can see more clearly, and more readily admit those times when our personal behavior has not met His righteous expectations.

In Jesus Christ, we can say, “Yes, I have taken God’s name in vain today. I have cursed another in my heart and used His name to decieve another person. Moreover, I have relied upon my own strength in time of trouble, failing to call upon His name, and I have thanklessly taken the credit for my deliverance from trouble. For these things I need God’s forgiveness.” Such an admission is what we call repentance. It’s possible for Christians only because we know that Jesus has obtained forgiveness for us, and God is ready to pronounce that forgiveness upon us at any time we need it.

Sometimes, we may feel the terror of God’s condemnation upon our guilt, but repentance is not necessarily like that. Often, the terror of our guilt is still far away because we still know that Jesus is our savior from sin and death, and the accusations of the devil cannot penetrate our faith in that fact. It may seem unnecessary, in that case, to acknowledge our faults and repent of them, but repentance is always necessary. Faith in Jesus exists only inasmuch as we trust that He is our savior from sin — from the guilt of our own sins. That’s the essence of the Gospel. So in order to have faith in Jesus, to be a Christian, we need to repent. In order to repent, we must have some guilt to acknowledge. God builds our faith with the Gospel, which can only be received through repentance, which in turn can only exist where there is guilt. Understanding this, we can be confident that Jesus has delivered us from God’s wrath, while simultaneously and freely repenting of our many sins that should have incurred that wrath.

When we fail to acknowledge our sins before God, claiming or thinking that we have actually kept one or more of God’s commandments, then we have not rightly understood the demands of His Law in relation to our thoughts, words, and deeds. In that case, we become self-righteous, and that excludes faith. We become unbelievers again, and are in peril of eternal punishment if we should die during that time. An important duty of a pastor is to remind his congregants of their sins, and even to confront those who may have become impenitent with the real danger of God’s punishment in hell. Naturally, we don’t enjoy hearing such a message, but only through that message can we recall our utter need for a Savior.

Beside the spiritual application of the Ten Commandments, Christians also find that they describe a blessed life on earth. Though we can’t keep any of the Commandments as perfectly as they demand, many people (even unbelievers) can live righteous lives outwardly to some degree. Those who do become a blessing to other people, and are themselves blessed in many ways. Those blessings do not equate to “the easy life,” because Christians always live under the shadow of Jesus’ cross, bearing crosses of their own. However, it becomes clear that those who disregard God’s commandments create much more trouble and suffering for themselves and others. So the Ten Commandments, as a summary of the way God would have people live, describe an excellent foundation for a civil society. One does not have to be a Christian or a Jew to see this, or to benefit from it, because God has hidden an echo of His Law in the heart of every human being.

To help you continue to grow in faith, I recommend that you read the Large Catechism on the Ten Commandments, where Dr. Luther explains in detail what each commandment means. You might read about only one commandment each day, and meditate upon Jesus’ fulfillment of that commandment for you, and the ways in which your life continues to make His work necessary for your salvation. You might also wish to think about the way each commandment might be a blessing upon civil society on earth when its members endeavor to live outwardly moral lives, according to God’s will.

Pastor Abrahamson has posted a couple “Words of the Week” that you should find edifying. Here’s the beginning of one on Marriage.

The first institution God made for His people was the institution of marriage. We are told in Genesis 1:27 that the image of God resides in the marriage of a man and a woman as God created them, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

From the time Adam and Eve fell into sin their marriage was under assault. God’s image in them was perverted. Before they fell into sin, God’s Word in Genesis 2:23–24 says: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

Read more at diatheke.

To those preparing for the Final Advent of our Lord, My family and I feel very blessed to be among so many wonderful people. You have been very generous and kind to us. Thank you for your hospitality and the opportunity to serve you. I knew preaching and teaching God’s Word would be enjoyable, but it is made all the more enjoyable when people are appreciative and understand the value of it in their daily lives. When I first came to Concordia and Bethany, I understood that there was a desire for more opportunities to study God’s Word. This is a desire that is truly pleasing to God and can only come from His work in your hearts. This is also a blessing for Pastor and me since this is the very reason that we are among you – to teach and preach God’s Word to His people. In this Advent season, we key in on the truth of Jesus’ coming. At Christmas time, we celebrate His first coming to this earth, being born of the Virgin Mary so that as both God and Man, He could live perfectly for us and take away our eternal punishment. But this first coming would mean nothing to us if He did not come into our hearts. This gracious coming happens only through His Word (the Bible) and Sacraments (Holy Baptism and Holy Communion). In His Word, God tells us that Jesus will come again on finally on Judgment Day. Jesus gracious coming to us is essential for both benefitting from His first coming and preparing for His final coming. This gracious coming is why we Christians continually desire to come together around the Means of Grace – Word and Sacrament. In the 3rd Commandment, God reminds us that the day of rest, was for both the body and the soul. Jesus is your Sabbath rest. “Come unto Me ye weary…and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:28) So I invite you to come and rest in your Savior. There are many opportunities happening every week.

At Bethany:

Sunday 9:30 AM – Sunday School and Confirmed/Adult Bible Class * Going through the life of Jesus

11:00 AM – Divine Service * Going through Old Testament History through the Church year

1:15 PM – Confessing Jesus * Going through the Confessions of the Lutheran Church: the Book of Concord – currently studying Luther’s “last will and testament”: the Smalcald Articles.

Tuesday 5:15 PM – Lutheran Family Fellowship (2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month) * Office of Compline: At the end of Luke (a chapter at a time.)

7:00 PM – Bible Study * Going through the book of Acts

Friday 9:00 AM – Confirmation Class

9:30 – Advanced Bible History * Starting with the Creation

10:30 – Gottesdienst * Studying the Catechism through the Liturgy

12:00 – Junior Members

Saturday 7:00 – Private Absolution * This is a good time for examination and preparation for Communion.

At Concordia

Sunday 9:00 AM – Divine Service * Going through Old Testament History through the Church year

10:30 AM – Sunday School * Going through the life of Jesus

10:30 AM – Confirmed/Adult Bible Class (on Sundays with Communion and 5th Sundays of the month) * Going through the life of Jesus

1:15 PM – Confessing Jesus (Through Skype) * Going through the Confessions of the Lutheran Church: the Book of Concord – currently studying Luther’s “last will and testament”: the Smalcald Articles.

Thursday 5:15 PM – Lutheran Family Fellowship (1st & 3rd Thursday of the month) * Office of Compline: the Gospel of Mark (a chapter at a time.)

7:00 PM – Gottesdienst * Studying the Catechism through the Liturgy

At Klickitat Thursday 5:00 PM – Gottesdienst * Studying the Catechism through the Liturgy

A couple months ago, I was talking to one of our members about a new Bible Study coming up, which she was excited about. She said something that hits the nail on the head. She said, “You know, I just have to do something for me.” She is exactly right. Learning about God’s Word is “for you.” I would encourage you to take some time “for you.”

God Bless, Vicar Gullixson

The Lutheran Church confesses that the Bible is God’s Word, in every part. It is our pastors’ responsibility to preach God’s Word: the condemning and instructing Law in all of its parts, as well as the justifying and comforting Gospel in all of its aspects.

In some places (notably, Canada) it is now illegal for citizens in general to teach some parts of what the Bible says. You might think that such a law could never pass in the United States, where our freedoms of speech and religion are protected by the First Amendment. However, you should be aware that a movement has been afoot in our government to pass just such a law.

I don’t think our churches should be politically-oriented, because that’s not our mission. However, when the political part of our land transgresses into the realm of biblical teaching, I must at least inform you about it, so that you can do what your conscience dictates as a voting Christian citizen and a constituent of our representatives in Congress.

According to this “watchdog” group, so-called “hate crimes” legislation will soon be voted on in Congress. Reportedly, this vote is its only real hurdle to becoming law. If it were to become law, the door would be opened to a new kind of religious persecution, in which faithful teachers of God’s Word could be targeted by the justice system for teaching what the Bible says about gender.

According to those who favor such things, a “hate crime” occurs when someone commits a regular crime against another person, but in special circumstances. To make it a “hate crime,” the victim must be a member of a group of people especially targeted by the perpetrator. It seems the only groups considered by Congress for special protection are homosexuals and the disabled, but not religious adherents such as Jews, Catholics, or Lutherans.

While none of us should be committing crimes against others to begin with, this “hate crimes” movement should be troubling to us as Christians. There is something fundamentally new when an identical crime can be prosecuted differently based upon the supposed motive of the criminal. Worse yet, the condemning motive may be nothing more than our acceptance of God’s Word concerning homosexuals. That means anyone who teaches the biblical position on homosexuality could be accused as a “teacher of hate.”

Some think that condemning homosexuality as sin is truly hateful, but they could not be more wrong. Is it hateful to warn someone that his behavior is self-destructive, and will lead to eternal punishment? No, it’s the loving thing to do, especially because there is forgiveness and healing in Christ for all who repent.

I won’t tell you what to do about this, but I will remind you that our elected representatives answer to their constituents. Our representatives will listen to us, because we can vote them out. At the same time, you can be sure that the vocal minority of homosexuality advocates are sending all the encouragement they can to Washington. They have been organized, and have been following this strategy for some time.

I will post this in the newsletter/blog space on our web site.

Your comments are welcome.

When I began sending out newsletters, I thought it would be sporadic. The last one was in 2008, so my prediction was correct. There are good reasons why this newsletter should be sporadic, even though I am a full-time pastor. Those reasons are the things more important than sending out newsletters, things that should not be sporadic.

Our most important activity is the weekly Divine Service. Behind that comes our efforts to educate all ages, especially (for me) those in catechism class. I’m pleased to report that my efforts to keep those from becoming sporadic have been working! Yet we should still keep encouraging each other to make use of them on a non-sporadic basis. That includes Lutheran Family Fellowship at Bethany, which is a faith-growing activity for youth, for children, and for adults.

Vicar

There are two major items of news in our parish. First and foremost, we have requested a vicar from our synod’s seminary, and one has been assigned. (A vicar is a 4th-year seminary student, who will serve and learn in a parish for eleven months.)

A number of early pledges showed a surprising level of commitment among our members to support a vicar, and the vicar’s housing and utilities have worked out so well that we have to give God the credit for making this possible. If that were not enough, the vicar assigned to us is Samuel Gullixson, whose wife Anna is a daughter of (pending) Concordia member Beda Norman. Beda recently moved to Klickitat, and is excited to have the Gullixsons, with her 7-month-old grandson Abel, in the area. They will arrive in early July, but Terry Nelson will be driving their truck back from Mankato. When he arrives in The Dalles, we could use your help unloading it into the Gullixson’s house on 16th Street below MCMC.

Visits

The second news item is that all our Bethany members will be receiving a call from Linda Griswold, who has graciously consented to set up home visit appointments for me. Home visits are much more important than sending a newsletter, and only a little less important than our education efforts. It’s your family’s chance to speak to me in private, with my full attention. We’ll also have a brief Bible study and talk about how we might better serve each other. I anticipate that we’ll do the same kind of thing at Concordia in 2010. Vicar Gullixson will accompany me on some of these visits.

If you’d like to receive newsletters more often, you can do so online! Go to our church web site (address on the bulletin), and click the “Newsletter (blog)” link in the left-side navigation bar.

As we begin another summer in this beautiful land God made, I wish you peace and safety in your travels and enjoyment in your recreation. Remember to acknowledge the One who provides all these things for us, not only in your thoughts, but in your daily words, and in your weekly actions. Jesus loves you in such a way that He has provided an even better place for us all. I look forward to seeing you in church, where He comes weekly to bestow this greatest gift.

Gene Edward Veith quotes Anthony Sacramone, describing the way the Christian Church responds to a hostile culture. For a long time now, many have assumed that the American culture we live in somehow promotes, or at least allows Christian values. It has become evident over the years that this is not only untrue, but that our culture has been actively undermining and deconstructing Christian values. The goal of this strategy is the destruction of the Church, even here in the United States. Understand that when I write “Church,” I mean genuine believers everywhere who gather around God’s Word and Sacraments, not the visible institutions of this world that we call “churches.” It is the Church of Jesus Christ to which our culture is hostile, and this is evident in those congregations and church bodies that have abdicated the pure teaching of holy scripture. Those are the ones that our culture affirms, while faithful congregations and church bodies are condemned as “haters” and “intolerant.”

So it has ever been in this fallen world, and the sooner we accept the reality, the better prepared we Christians will be. In the article that Veith quotes, Sacramone points to the ways various denominations have established a foothold in the hostile culture. For Lutherans, he mentions Christian day schools, while for Roman Catholics and others, he mentions hospitals. He points out that socialized medicine may eliminate the most important characteristics of Christian hospitals, but our hostile culture has long attempted to compromise the foothold of Christian schools, too. In this phase of the struggle, things may be going better for our schools than for hospitals, but the next phase may bring something else. An evaluation of the current public school curriculum reveals an active agenda there that is hostile toward Christianity, and bent upon programming students with a secular worldview. This presents serious challenges to Christian parents, who are often at a disadvantage in the time they have available to spend with their children. At the moment, I am thankful that my own family is able to provide a Christian school at home, and I am happy to offer materials like this for families and schools that can make some use of it.

The hostility of culture toward our faith is worth much meditation and prayer. Maybe there are other ways for us to establish a foothold for our faith, or to raise our children to be the future of the Church. But finally, we must concede that our own strength is not enough. The Church is founded upon the confession that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God, and only upon that foundation will she stand through the End.