Of the Reformation

Having been brought to the Faith by Holy Baptism as an infant, and having had the opportunity by the grace of God to study and practice as a pastor under the same discipline, there is one passage of Holy Scripture that is particularly poignant on observing the Reformation:

"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me, and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life." --John 5:39-40

These passages, later in John’s Gospel, state this similarly: "When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me." --John 15:26

Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me". --John 10:25

It is the testimony of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit you are given receive richly and daily, Dear Christian, but no more abundantly than in the liturgy of the Sabbath wherein you receive true peace and rest; a conscience free from sin, without which there is no peace.

True enough, you are unwilling to come to Him, therefore He calls you and brings you into His kingdom through tangible means of Water, Word, and Supper.

It is hidden, to be sure, this life and forgiveness you receive from Above. At the same time it is widely, concretely, and plainly published throughout the world. One Mediator. One Man born of a virgin, Whose life and being are sufficient for all who are subject to sin and death.

Do not look for Him according to your own way of thinking, but in His service to you on the Sabbath. For He has always been a ready Help in times of trouble and in times of prosperity. His help is such that He has raised you up with Himself in no other way than through His innocent sufferings and death in your body, together with His resurrection from the dead.

+ + +

Proper Authority

When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?”

As the Holy Son of God comes down from heaven to work the works He is given to do among men, the kingdom of heaven advances. As a razor blade slices one thing from another with clear precision, as a computer processes information with only 1s and 0s, as light separated the darkness on the first day of creation, as evil to this day is distinguished from the good, so this great division of all things comprehended in your Christ Jesus, the Holy Son of God, becomes manifest as He teaches in the temple.

He has set His face like flint toward Jerusalem where He will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.

Of this you may be certain: where Christ Jesus is teaching, there the heavens and the Earth are being brought into submission under His authority. All who are in His hearing are on one side or the other. There is no middle ground. The two-edged sword of the Word of the LORD does its work as it has from the beginning.

What things does Jesus teach, Who came from the bosom of the Father to reveal the Father to you and bring you to Him? He says:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.

For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

You have heard that it was said, ‘AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.’ But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.

It was these last seven words that were enough to set the Chief priests and the elders of the people into questioning Jesus’ authority. Thinking they could sit on the edge of the two-edged sword of the Word of the Lord as if sitting on a fence, they instead found themselves in the pickle of pickles. They asked two questions: “What is this authority, and who gave it to you?”

You may fast forward to the end of the Gospel of St. Matthew for the answer: “All authority in heaven and on Earth has been given to Me.”

But Jesus does not fast forward. He simply comes back at them with only one question, as opposed to their two: “I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?”

And there it is again. The great divide. The razor. The judgment. From heaven, or from men? There is no middle ground.

The Chief priests and the elders of the people could not escape this dichotomy of words, and neither can you. How about the baptism you have received? Is it from what source: from heaven or from men?

Thanks be to God, you know and have been taught that the baptism you have received is by the authority of God, through Christ Jesus, in the Holy Spirit, for Baptism is not simple water only. It is not a man-made ritual or ordinance, but it is the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whereby you who were once a disobedient Son who refused to work in the Vineyard, are now one who labors though faith as God’s own child, enduring, just as your Lord Jesus Christ has and does for you, all the devil, the world, and your own flesh throws at you day by day.

“I fight authority and authority always wins,” writes John Cougar Mellencamp in his Authority Song, which charted at #15 in the Billboard Top 100 of 1983. The meatiest verse goes like this:

So I call up my preacher I say: "Gimme strength for Round 5" He said: "You don't need no strength, you need to grow up, son" I said: "Growing up leads to growing old and then to dying, And dying to me don't sound like all that much fun"

The Chief priests and the elders began by questioning Jesus’ authority. They ended by fighting His authority. They saw to it that He was secretly arrested, then publicly tried, crucified, dead, and buried. So it goes for all who do not hear and heed the Word of the LOD, who are given to fight authority.

To say dying “won’t be all that much fun” under the circumstance of refusing the Word of the LORD is an understatement, to say the least.

Dying was never meant to be fun. By the authority of God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, dying is now inextricably woven into His judgment against sin. It is a judgment made by His authority, and now taught throughout the world by His authority. As sons and daughters baptized into this authority it is best to hear from Him concerning all that pertains both to death and to life.

In hearing His only begotten Son this day, you are brought into life, but that life brings with it a kind of dying, namely a dying to all the lusts and desires of your flesh that cry out against God and against His authority. Oh, you can fight it. You can walk right out that door to be “your own man.” Go ahead. You can pretend to judge the authority of God from the sidelines and think to yourself how slick you are. Go ahead. But you will find yourself in a condition worse than the pickle of pickles, worse than a 2x4 upside the head. You will find yourself lost eternally, having loved your life in this world.

Better, dear children of God, to receive the authority of God as He measures it out to you, and bestows it upon you, in His loving kindness, as He heals your broken heart and binds up your wounds, for this is what He aims to do with His authority, and authority that has come down to you to save you from your sin and to raise you up into the highest heavens through Christ Jesus.

You see, as Christ Jesus is teaching by the authority of God the Father, He is doing so as your champion, as every movement, every moment, every breath, and every Word is a fulfillment of the Law in His body on your behalf, for He is carrying you in His body. He can do this. He alone can do this. How can He do this? Because God ordained from eternity that He would be your substitute and sacrifice in all things, so that His righteousness may be your righteousness, and He has all authority in heaven and on Earth.

It is the perfect righteousness of Christ that He delivers to you by his authority, through His servants of the Word, whom He has seen to call and ordain in this place, in answer to the prayer He has taught you: “Hallowed be thy name.”

To pray Hallowed be Thy Name is nothing less than to ask of your Father in Heaven that He would, by his pure authority, send you pastors and teachers who will administrate and deliver the benefits of Christ’s innocent sufferings and death, and His resurrection from the dead, into not only your ears and hearts and minds, but even upon your very bodies in baptism and into your mouths through the Holy Communion.

When you see this rotund, bald, bearded, bespectacled man before you in robes, speaking to you according to the world of the Lord, when you see the other, thinner, bespectacled servant of the LORD before you in robes, also speaking to you according to the word of the LORD, then know for certain that the heavens and the earth are rejoicing, for by the authority of God they are here to deliver to you in person the very fruits of Christ’s atoning sacrifice, namely the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life.

This is not a thing to question. This is not a thing to fight. This is life everlasting for you to receive in joy and to endure with patience under the cross, for the glory that awaits you is hidden for now.

You, who were once an exile, God has gathered to His bosom by His authority. It is He who will keep you there. It is He who will place before you every opportunity to exercise the same love and forgiveness into which you have been placed, whether it be toward your own children or toward the stranger or toward your enemies.

The authority wherewith Christ exercises His kingdom is an authority that comes down in the mercy and strength of God the Father Almighty who would see to it that all flesh may hope in this one Man, Christ Jesus, born under the law to take the place who suffer under the authority of the consequences for being disobedient sons and daughters.

By His authority you are now free from sin and death, because He has taken your sin and death into His own perfect, righteous body and given Himself up as a sweet-smelling sacrifice before the face of God. By His authority, you are now free to love and serve your neighbor.

His authority is a blessing for you in every case, whether it is your father and mother, your teacher, or the other authorities God has placed over you, these are all for your good, all set into their office for good order and discipline, and especially that you may be served in the life God has given you.

Are you someone who has authority over others? Good. Use that authority in love and service to those placed under your care. Are you under authority? Good. Do not fight or question it, but honor it as coming from Above.

The admonishment of the Holy Spirit through the Word by St. Paul pertains: Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

Yes, in this fallen world some abuse their authority, just as did the Chief priests and the elders of the people. Even then, in the wisdom of your Father in Heaven, let your words be few and well chosen while enduring their abuse, knowing that all will give an account at the last day. All souls are His; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son.

Most of all, however, know this: Your Father in heaven, in and through Christ Jesus, is intent on using His authority to teach you, to bless you, to lead you in paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake, and especially to forgive your sins and bring you into life everlasting, even as in Christ Jesus He has laid down His life and taken it up again, the same life which He will now feed to your own life and body in the Holy Supper of body and blood, given and shed for you unto life everlasting.

+ + +

Food at the Proper Time

The food that is placed before you this day, and every day, did not come into being instantly, though it may seem like it.

Think about it. What food is there that does not take time to develop? Not only so, but it must have just the right conditions and be prepared for you.

In all likelihood there is not a single food on earth consumed by mankind that did not take at least a few months to grow, and then be harvested, processed, packaged, and prepared before it is consumed in a matter of moments.

This is why, when about to partake of food, it is good discipline to pause and give thanks, because without considerable time and preparation, that which sustains the body and gives enjoyment from eating, will not come about.

Christians know that all good food, like all good things, come from a caring, loving, merciful Father in heaven, Who graciously feeds even those who are His enemies.

They also know that, when it comes to the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life, it was not a matter of instant gratification, but of careful provision of Christ's own body offered up on the Cross at the proper time.

From this, it is good to observe and to learn patience. Moreover it is good to rejoice, because God the Father of our LORD Jesus Christ does all things well.
+ + +

Declaration of Dependence

For whom the LORD loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights. --Proverbs 3:12

To be placed into the midst of a Christian congregation and under the care of a Christian pastor is explicitly to be a dependent and to admit it publicly, for it is incompatible with the Christian Faith to assert independence except an independence from all that is wrong and evil. This fact does not sit well with the rest of the world.

Christ builds His church by incorporating souls into His body through His teaching and sacraments. No one may join the church by his own independent decisions any more than one may cause himself to be born. This, too, does not sit well with the rest of the world.

The Christian church is coterminous with the body of Christ and therefore dependent upon Him alone for all things. The parts of the body are dependent. They do not seek their own way, but they live and abide in concord with the whole body.

To the extent any Christian is given to “do his own thing,” it is inimical to the essence of the Church. This may happen while under the care of the body of Christ, yet the body of Christ reacts not with rejection or revulsion, but with ongoing teaching and patience. Were the body of Christ not to care for its members and exert discipline, it would not be the body of Christ.

That is not to say it is impossible for a member to reject the body altogether, as happens with those who fall away. There are many who do, just as there are many who gleefully assert their independence while mocking those who are incorporated into the church and are dependent upon Christ for all things.

It remains for all Christians to be freer than those who claim independence for themselves. How so? They are free from the fear of death. They are free from superstition. They are free from idolizing everything the rest of the world worships. They are free from demonizing the good things of creation and may use them in service to themselves and others. They are free to suffer for doing good without despairing.

+ + +

On Possessions, Income, and Time

The earth is the LORD’S, and all it contains,
The world, and those who dwell in it. -Psalm 24:1

Possessions: Stuff, family, reputation, etc. There is a legitimate purpose for having them.

With respect to your own possessions, you ought to think of them as on loan and subject to departure at any moment for any reason, whether by breakage, loss, theft, destruction, or your own departure from this life. With respect to your neighbor’s possessions, you ought to seek their protection and their increase.

Ownership: personal control, manipulation, whether for oneself or for others. To own something is to have power over that object, to dispense it, manipulate it, consume it, watch it, and apply it to reason and senses, all during a short time under the sun.

By nature, your heart treats as the highest and best good anything other than God and neighbor. That includes your possessions, income, time, and even at times your family. Uh oh! Your soul is at stake in all this. Your soul is worth more than your possessions but also includes them. Abusing your possessions is abusing your life.

By nature, however, God’s utmost desire is to have and keep you and His people as His own possession. This He does, in and through Christ Jesus. He honors your life and possessions first by laying down His life and taking it up again, and by seeing to it that your life and all you have may be joined to Him forever through the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life.

All that you are and have are in and through Christ Jesus, dear Christian. Therefore, your possessions, income, and time are to be used with this in mind.

Part of this includes money in support of your pastor(s) and for churchly supplies so that the Gospel may be preached and practiced, apart from which you cannot live.

Part of this also includes money for goods and services provided by your neighbor, so that he, too, may live and prosper in peace.

Lastly, the grace of God in Christ Jesus makes you mindful of the poor who are all about you, so that your possessions and income may be used in their favor as well.

Thus it stands for all those who know and believe that they have not made themselves and cannot make themselves. + + +

Dear Emma Elizabeth,

This morning I listened and watched as you were plucked from the kingdom of the evil one and placed firmly into the ark of Christendom. You were baptized in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Already, after less than two weeks outside your Mommy’s womb, your Father in heaven has seen to it that sin and death will not have its way with you. The same Father in heaven who gave you the gift of your body through your Mom and Dad has made you His own child today, because He, too, was conceived and born of the same flesh and blood you have, except He has taken your place as your sin-bearer and Savior.

Your life is not the same any more. As a matter of fact, your life is no longer your own, but it is a life purchased and won for you at great cost. You’ll learn more about that as you grow up.

As you grow older your Mom and Dad, as well as your sponsors, Mr. and Mrs. Rhein, and your pastor(s) will take a keen interest in seeing to it that you are raised within the hearing of God’s Word, in God’s house, so that you never forget where you came from or where you are going, but will live out your days in thanks and praise to the One who has loved you with an everlasting love from the beginning.

As your Grandpa, I have listened and watched for years as your aunts and uncles, parents and grandparents, and many before you have been blessed beyond all we could ask or think through the same Christ Jesus into Whom you were baptized today. He is faithful. He never changes.

At the same time, we and all Christians together have learned that a life worth living is never a life lived for oneself. Rather it is a life abiding in the same Jesus who was crucified as the Son of God, and Who lives to bless all of creation. It will be a life hidden under the Cross for you, just like it is for all of Jesus’ dear Christians, for whom He gladly laid down His life and took it up again.

Of course I will be praying for you, just like all Christians do for one another together as they have been taught. I suppose I will be tickling you and teasing you a little bit, too. That’s just part of the fun in being a Grandpa.

God bless and keep you, Emma, according to His everlasting mercies in Christ Jesus.

- Grandpa Seyboldt

+ + +

The Complete Handbook of Christian Decision Making

Joe Christian has a problem. He has a decision to make in his life, but The Bible does not give any specific texts on how he is to decide.

Enter The Complete Handbook of Christian Decision Making. With all the logic of Aristotle and all the precision of a well-trained surgeon, this handbook from the pen of John Calvin, the world's preeminent master of Christian decision making, will help Joe drill down, step-by-step, so that he makes the most God-pleasing decision possible.

Finally, Joe Christian will be able to to console himself in knowing He made the truly God-pleasing decision, and did not have to fumble around like all those other fools out there who do not trust God like he does.

Why live under vague rules like, "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might," or, "Love your neighbor as yourself" when, with The Complete Handbook of Christian Decision Making, you can get genuine, specific help with any life situation?

Why pray "Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it," when there is this wonderful book to spell it all out in detail?

Wondering whether you should buy a copy of Playboy, Reader's Digest, or a dictionary? Have no fear. You will not have to wonder when you peruse the chapter on Christian Book Buying.

Wondering whether a Lawn Boy to Troy-Bilt mower is better-suited to cutting your grass? Not to worry. The chapter on lawn implements is astonishing in its clarity when it comes to tending anything that grows on God's green Earth.

Don't just buy one copy. Buy several for your friends so they, too, can go through life in the sure and certain knowledge than most, if not all, of their daily decisions are God-pleasing. It's a must for every kingdom where the LORD is to reign sovereign amidst His creation.

+ + +

Gathered In His Name

"For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst."

The LORD God is not impressed with numbers as man counts them. He is not into earthly power and popularity contests. Every Christian may rejoice in knowing His mercies extend to the smallest of numbers, thus you may put away notions of greatness as you have come to think of greatness.

The LORD God is not impressed with your personal, individual, singular worship. He does not even refer to it here. Yes, He knows individual hearts and treats of individuals daily and richly, but His Word here pertains to two or three, not one. Self indulgence is inimical to Who God is and what He does. Besides, physical proximity is not the point. The Body of Christ is.

No one is hereby enjoined to make an effort to bring about the presence of Christ Jesus. The gathering of which He speaks is a gathering which only His Holy Spirit induces and effects. You cannot by your own reason or strength be gathered in His Name. He must gather you and His Church, and He does.

To be gathered in His Name does not require a special set of words or thoughts on the part of those who are gathered, but it requires the Word of the Lord to be preached and adminstered when and where it pleases Him. This may happen under circumstances not widely known or published, as it should be and often is.

Agreement, gathering, and confessing the Truth always begins with the One who piecered the darkness of this fallen world and was pierced for our transgressions. It is He Who declares unquivocally that He dwells in the midst of those who fear His Name and call upon Him at all times and in all places.
+ + +

Searched

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts . . .

No one invites this kind of scrutiny by The Most High God unless he has a conscience free from guilt.

These words are given among men to pray because The Most High God undertook to visit the sons of men with His everlasting mercy in Christ Jesus, adorning them with His righteousness so that they, too, share in His glory, a glory demonstrated not in pomp and power, but in suffering and humility.

But why invite the scrutiny? Why ask God to search the heart? Because the heart of God searches out those who are lost and condemned creatures, without help and without hope unless and until God Himself would take up their nature and be condemned to die for their sin.

Know from this that there is no sin in having anxious thoughts. Anxious thoughts are not hopeless thoughts. Anxious thoughts are the thoughts of God because He anxiously desires to bring poor sinners to Himself here and now. He is intent upon vindicating those who mourn and who walk through the valley of the shadow of death.

He does this in no other way than becoming true Man, born of the Virgin Mary so that He may be lifted up and exalted wearing the same bedraggled flesh than inhabits all the sons of Adam. Moreover, He has attached His benefits to His Word and Spirit so that all flesh under the sun may hear, know, and receive the forgiveness of sin and everlasting life.

All Christians, since they participate in the benefits obtained by Christ Jesus, the Creator of all and Redeemer of all, may pray these words with confidence, along with fear and trembling. They may also rejoice evermore, because they abide in the Shadow of the Almighty, namely Christ Jesus, Who has gone before them and lives, though once He was dead.

Christ Jesus does not suffer and die for Himself, but for those who are dead of their own accord. He lives for them, too, to bless them and take them to Himself after a short time of suffering in this world.

+ + +

Therefore I will give thanks to You among the nations, O LORD, and I will sing praises to Your name.

The gist of Christianity is not, "Let go, and let God." It is "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." This does not sit well with the ears of men, because it demands something they cannot do by their own reason or strength.

The former notion of Christianity, "Let go, and let God," is a nice, easy way to comfort oneself with an idol. "Let go" of what? How are you going to do that? Yes, you may commit all things to another, but to whom are you letting them go, and why?

The latter, however, demands a crucifixion and an application of righteousness at Someone else's expense, namely He who was made in the likeness and image of true God and true Man, the Man Christ Jesus.

He, by His Word and Spirit as generated from eternity by the Father, penetrates like water coming down from the heavens, seeking and seeping all the way down to the depths of Sheol in order to save and restore those who would reject Him outright.

In doing so He arranges that His accomplishments may be brought to bear upon poor sinners in bodily form unto the resurrection of the dead. Therefore the hope of a Christian, and the gist of Christianity, is receiving and abiding in Christ by virtue of His grace and favor alone.

Repentance and the kingdom of heaven go together like body and blood, meat and drink. As with all of creation, these are brought into being and delivered by the grace of God in Christ Jesus alone.

As for God, His way is blameless;
The word of the LORD is tried;
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

+ + +

The Fullness of Time

But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law . . . -Galatians 4:4

The fullness of time as pertains to the period when Christ Jesus walked among us in bodily form is noticeably bereft of photographic, cinematic, and audio-phonic repetition.

Could it be because it has been the intent of God from the beginning to have prophets, apostles, evangelists, and teachers in His Church, all of whom He uses as His very own mouth piece in the midst of people who need a salvation delivered to them not through airwaves and imagination, but through tangible means such baptism, supper, preaching, and absolution?

Absolutely.

That is largely why a man of this world in this age is loathe to bring himself under the discipline of the Church, preferring instead to tickle his own ears and fancy with musings untamed by the words of those who have studied and who know what the Word of the LORD says in every time and place.

It is inherently painful to dwell in the midst of people who look you in the eye and speak the truth, but without Truth there is no discipline. Without pain there is no discipline. Without discipline there is no life. Therefore God has placed His own speech in our midst though men who preach the Gospel so that that discipline may be administered according to His Word and will.

It is painful because it cuts to the core both individually and corporately. You cannot "be your own man" in this place. Nor can you be "everyone's friend." What you are, instead, is a child of God. A member of His Body.

His is a body that suffers and cries out. His is a body that lives here in time and also in eternity, because eternity has entered into time in the fullness of time at such a time when the phony mediums mentioned above were unavailable to offer any falseness, titillation, or self-enriching pablum your flesh would like to conjure up for itself.

In addition to entering into this mortal life in the fullness of time, your LORD Jesus Christ also lives in His flesh (and yours!) to precisely the right age to fulfill all righteousness. Most who have studied the matter say He dwelt in our midst in bodily form as we know it for a period of 33 years.

Why not 930 years like the first Adam? Why not till the age He was given to open the scroll and read of Himself in the Synagogue saying, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing?”

Whatever the reason, you may be sure of this: In His body He performed and suffered everything necessary for you to enter into eternal life, and He is intent on delivering this righteousness to you daily and richly.

Whatever your hands and feet, reason and senses, have done that are contrary to the holy will and purpose of God, He, by the age of 33 years, was able and willing to perform before the face of God while pouring out His soul unto death, hungering and thirsting for your vindication and life. You may also reckon that, whether you have reached the age of conception or the age of several decades, this Righteousness is all you need for all time.

+ + +