The Praise of Men

. . . but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts. -1 Thess. 2:4

The Apostle Paul speaks within the context of his office as an Apostle. As he was given to build up the Church through clear admonitions, it is essential that he not compromise in word or deed; that he not allow the opinions of others govern his teaching, but rather continue in what Adam taught his children. The same holds for Pastors in the Church to this very hour.

The praise of men will never fall upon a crucified criminal, but the opinions of men see only horror and contempt in the Cross. So it is the chief aim of the Apostle to keep the crucified and risen Christ at the fore as One Who in love sought not the praise of men, but their contempt so that he might bestow on them the precise and best object of praise, namely God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who by His Holy Spirit has taught us that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

It is important, however, not to place the Apostle’s self-description on such a level that it governs every vocation to the extent one may not in good conscience seek to please another person, or seek to win approval. Elsewise the entire entertainment and political spectra, for example, would be under strict condemnation, which in many circles they are.

The office of the Apostle and those who follow in his path, being joined to the Head of the Church, sanctify all vocations, and thereby put into place for one and all the parameters that govern day to day behavior. An entertainer seeks praise. A politician seeks praise. Yes. Neither is committed in their particular stations to preach the Gospel. Both are remanded to the custody of humility and offering praise where praise ultimately is due.

Here I am addressing Christians who struggle with applying their gifts in the world when their gifts truly do invite praise from others. It is not as if the Christian enters into this for the sole purpose of gaining the praise of men, or that the Christian is unaware that all things have been given in Christ. But the Christian serves his neighbor by honing skills and displaying them so that the neighbor may both be served and have double opportunity to heap praise, first upon Creator, and then upon His creation of which the epitome is man.

Without question, because of sin there will always be struggles within Christians as their flesh is constrained by the love of Christ into Whom they are baptized; Who gives identity not only in this life but in the life of the world to come. And yet, because the gift of Life in every way sanctifies all that is taken out into creation, a Christian called to entertain, to do exceedingly well in any sport or business, or even to hanker for votes, may run the race and rest in Christ at the same time.
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Teach Us to Number

So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom. – Psalm 90:12

Well, look at that! The LORD of time and eternity has taught you to pray in such a manner that you ask Him to teach you to number your days.

This He has done, in answer to your prayer. You have a calendar, and you have a clock. Both are tools to mark out the past and the future as you live your days. Both serve as a way of governing perspective and ordering the good works you have been given to do as a baptized child of God.

They are a way of looking back to how God has graciously intervened so many times on behalf of His beloved creation, of which you are a part He does not neglect in the least. You look back on your own time with fear and trembling, because of sin and death.

The calendar we know today has a long and extensive history. It is rooted in the biblical texts, beginning with the Day of Creation. The Book of Genesis states clearly how old Adam was when he died. It does not use smoke, mirrors, or other twists of philosophy.

It is normal days, just like you see every day, that transpired while Adam and Eve lived in fear and trembling and hoped for salvation in the Christ who was to come at the appointed time and apply His days in such a manner as to win salvation for all poor sinners, Good Friday through Easter in particular being days of note.

You see the same sun each day that Adam and Eve saw. As a heart of wisdom can only be created from Above by the same Word that created the heavens and the Earth, that heart is yours because you’ve been baptized into His name and His works on your behalf.

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The Head

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people." -Luke 1:58

It may seem strange and out of place to observe with thanksgiving the beheading of John the Baptizer as we do this day. The separation of head from body is an experience anyone of reasonable mind and spirit considers horrifying.

But if one is to take seriously the Commandment to have no other gods than the One true God (which Commandment is indeed in effect from the begging and into eternity), then how are you by natural birth different than someone who was born without a head?

It is for a headless world that the Holy Son of God, Christ Jesus, came down from heaven and assumed the flesh of death while retaining His pure holiness, so that He would rescue it by His innocent suffering, crucifixion, and resurrection; the same Christ to Whom John the Baptizer pointed and cried aloud most clearly: "Behold the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world!"

Since He takes away sin, He takes away death. Since He takes away death, He takes away fear and all that would harm, even if it means literally losing ones' head to the executioner.

Much can be said about how John the Baptizer was faithful in all things, yet suffered ignominy, hardship, and even a sudden, bitter end. Since you are joined to Christ Jesus along with John the Baptizer, it is ultimately Christ, your Head, who will sustain you in this life and draw you in tender love to Himself. This, despite all evidence around you to the contrary. For it is the Maker of all things Who is acting for you! + + +

Tide

Kids have a way of shedding dirty shoes and clothes at earliest convenience and with little regard for any higher authority who will have to pick up those clothes, wash them, and arrange them for future use.

It is no different for those who receive the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit. The dirty laundry is His to clean. The clean laundry is His to bestow, and this He does gladly, just as Moms and Dads do for their kids, whom they love dearly despite all weakness and frailty because the kids are of the same flesh.

It is as real as Moms and Dads who love their kids, only on a more profound scale, toward a more glorious end that the Holy Son of God renews all of creation through His innocent suffering and death; through His rising again from the dead, all while bearing you up in the midst of the fading glory of this life and world.

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Tender Discipline

All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. –Hebrews 12:11

Discipline by definition and of necessity comes with a decided order. There can be no discipline without authority, and there can be no authority unless it has been established; ordered from top to bottom.

How often it happens that, rather than being subject to authorities that are higher, the flesh prefers authorities that are equal, lower, or non-existent. We may attribute this to the natural inclination to avoid pain, yet pain, by all accounts, is what comes with true and proper discipline.

Athletes train. Professionals develop their skills. Each in his vocation strives to do better. This we may attribute to self-control, but not to discipline in the strict sense (although we use the word discipline to describe such efforts, and such discipline may indeed involve pain).

Discipline of the kind referenced here is generated from the rub between holiness and sinfulness. It grates upon the subject so unpleasantly that it is far from joyful. It is sorrowful. It brings tears of sadness. Because your Father in Heaven has so clearly revealed His law, it grates upon the Old Adam severely, often to the extent you would rather run and hide than face it.

But rather than let you go undisciplined, your Father in Heaven sought you ought through the holy, incarnate Son of God, who was disciplined with the sorrowful discipline of being stricken, smitten, afflicted, and abandoned by God, so that you may share not only in this discipline through Holy Baptism and the Supper, but also share the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

Once your entire inclination was to kick against the divine order of authority that metes out discipline, but now your heart has been turned by the Holy Spirit so that you accept fully what is both your position under the law, and your station in life both temporal and eternal under the Gospel.

This is the Lord’s doing, and because the source is true, good, and proper, the peaceful fruit of righteousness springs up as does fruit from a plant well-watered, pruned, and tended by its owner.
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Television

"And through his shrewdness He will cause deceit to succeed by his influence; And he will magnify himself in his heart, And he will destroy many while they are at ease. He will even oppose the Prince of princes, But he will be broken without human agency. - Daniel 8:25

The advent of photography and other recorded media is fairly recent. Its impact on modern culture is profound.

Where once imagery and audio was confined to single memory, with the advent of recorded media imagery may be viewed repeatedly, at great length, at will, and apart from its original context.

Where once a given image was confined to the locale of the subject, it may now be cast upon many subjects at once. Broadcasting, as it has accompanied the development of media, has also had a profound impact on modern culture.

For what purpose is most audio-visual material produced and distributed? Why do people take photographs, make movies, and record audio? The predominant purpose is self-satisfaction, with secondary concern toward ones' neighbor who may or may not accede favorably to the results.

Modern media is capable of driving a great deal of fear, greed, envy, and lust. One may deny all he wants that he is capable and culpable in these regards, but it remains a fact that these ubiquitous forms of entertainment bear close scrutiny in terms of a life of, or lack of, faith in the true and living God.

Ancient ancestors were once easily engrossed in animism - attributing various levels of life and intellect to any and every inanimate object. Our current engrossment of choice seems to be the animation and satisfaction supplied by devices that allow us to experience imagery and audio almost at will.

How have new media realms effected your character? Your relationships with your neighbors? Your relationship with your Creator?

Imagine what a mess you would have if Christ Jesus had been born in this age of recorded media, when images can be manipulated and broadcast in such a way as to spread disinformation and lies as so often happens today.

One may think our current age is one of great improvement and fulfillment, but it appears the Creator is not so enamored of media capabilities that He chose to enter human history, suffer, and die, and rise from the dead for you in front of cameras and recorders. Instead He is personally joined to you in preaching and sacraments.

Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, That I not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the LORD?” Or that I not be in want and steal, And profane the name of my God.

No matter what attempts may be made at gaining self-satisfaction, and no matter what the age, the order of Creation remains subject to the Prince of Princes, who has arranged things in such a way that you partake of Him and His resurrection from the dead. He will preserve you from the deceit so prevalent in this modern age.
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Telosvision

And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect. -Hebrews 11:39-40

The author of the Letter to the Hebrews sets forth an impressive list of biblical predecessors including Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Esau, Joseph, the sons of Israel, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the Prophets.

Each of these in their own right is worthy of a best selling biography if for no other reason than their names are noted in the biblical texts. Yet your name, too, by virtue of your baptism into Christ Jesus, is written in the Book of Life.

These biblical characters of note are waiting for you to be perfected along with them in Christ Jesus at the last day. They are waiting not in the sense you experience time and space, but hidden for now, as all that is seen has been created from what is unseen.

The continuity that extends from the beginning over the span of all human history is given in the promise of salvation, which promise has been fulfilled completely through the innocent suffering and death of the Holy Son of God and His resurrection from the dead.

We too, like the biblical characters of old and believers in the centuries shortly following your Savior's resurrection, are still waiting to be perfected. To the extent you are given to abide in Christ through faith, each moment of every day is one of peeling away the stuff of the old Adam.

Is it not remarkable that even these ancient, biblical characters – even though they have entered into eternal joy and felicity - are still awaiting that time when all things are complete, namely the Last Day?

There are yet children whom the LORD God is forming and raising up for the praise of His glory, among whom you are counted. Do not lose heart.
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Treating With Love

Among Christians it is the practice to forgive sin and bear one anothers' burdens. There is much need for this, because each and all offend both God and neighbor daily and much.

Scarcely a moment of one day goes by that a Christian does not sense and regret offenses given: words spoken unkindly; thoughts about the neighbor that would bring harm; actions which, when held to the light, are lacking in every way when it comes to serving others; every kind of preoccupation that by all appearances is all but godly. It is all there in spades, plain as day.

It is not as if the sin and offense is ignored. It is very much apparent to all, whether within the Body of Christ or without. But the sin, even being inherent and pervasive, is not treated as deserved, each one knowing his debt has been paid at a price so unfathomable as to affect all of creation.

My neighbor in Christ may show much weakness, but He participates with me in the same Christ who, having made all things for the praise of His glory, for our sake became weak. The malice and bitterness so deserved are instead, as of a new creation, turned to love and sweetness.

Among Christians there is great rejoicing, because not only do they know their sins are forgiven, but that they may freely forgive any and all trespasses as Christ has freely, out of everlasting love, forgiven them.

The Fourth Petition you have been taught from Above is lived out in the Body of Christ because Christ is joined to His people, the Holy Spirit giving urge and utterance to all that afflicts the soul as the offenses remain visible to the eyes, yet are removed so completely that even your weak body is destined for perfect glory.
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Treating of Greeting

The LORD appeared to him from afar, saying, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness." -Jeremiah 1:3

It is common in many local parishes for the congregation to leave the sanctuary in a procession of sorts, either semi-formal or informal, allowing the Pastor (or Pastors) to greet them individually. On many occasions I have been a Pastor who greets individuals as they leave the sanctuary, just as my Pastor has.

Here it happens that a man given to consider eternal things day in and day out is presented with an unpredictable onslaught of faces and names, each of whom he holds dear to his heart, having often thought through their lives and conditions, needs and cares, and yet never knowing for certain whether his notions are in accord with reality, except that they struggle with the same flesh he does.

For you, dear one in Christ Jesus, who greets your Pastor after Divine Service or on any other occasion, Your Maker is appearing to you from afar and saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness."

A Pastor is often distracted. To you it may even seem as if he is aloof. Although he knows better, human judgments about performance hound him just as badly as your own concerns in daily life do. Yet, as he looks at each face, he is seeing the faces of those who are baptized into Christ Jesus; whose bodies will at the Last Day be raised up pure and unencumbered by all that sticks to these bodies of death; whose lives are hidden in Christ Jesus.

A Pastor delights in seeing the congregation one-on-one, as it were. He knows that despite any and all weaknesses that attend to his person, those under his charge have received the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life that Christ Jesus lavishly bestows upon the Church He purchased through His holy and precious blood; His innocent suffering and death, all of which He most earnestly desired and intended before you were born.

It is for you as you leave the sanctuary just as it is for you going in: that all things delightful and good for you are ready and present according to the way your Creator set up your eternal well-being in Christ Jesus, that He has loved you with an everlasting love, and therefore drawn you into the body and blood of Christ who is risen from the dead, having made perfect payment with joy to purchase and win you to Himself; that He has placed this weak vessel in your very presence to convey gifts that even the highest powers on earth cannot create or offer.
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