Category: Lutheran Church

EVOLUTION & RESURRECTION

I consider myself a science buff; not an expert, but an informed enthusiast. Consequently, ever since the successful deployment of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), I’ve been amazed by its unequalled ability to see through time and space into the deep history of the cosmos. Of course, as a Christian, I always emphasize that the evolution of the universe was not by “chance” processes, but by the designs of the infinite and eternal Mind of God. That is, according to the principles of both faith and reason, it is quite clear that the entire universe (from the very large scale to the infinitesimally small) is intentionally fine-tuned toward the manifestation of life. And this reality leans strongly toward the conclusion that the genesis and evolution of all things is not by chance.

Interestingly, the science of quantum physics tells us that there are eleven dimensions in order for the universe to make mathematical sense, and this tells us that there are higher aspects to existence than we perceive with our five physical senses. We can use mathematics and creative metaphors to describe these higher dimensions, but we can never truly wrap our minds around the reality that our existence has far more dimensions than we can fully comprehend. Nor can we wrap our minds around the scientific fact that there was a “time” before time and space. And of course, the fact that our universe is so finely orchestrated to produce life is a clear indication of a Grand Orchestrator — an infinite, eternal and transcendent Orchestrator of all that is, both seen and unseen.

Certainly, there are still those who seek to perpetuate the archaic notion that there is a war between faith and reason. They insist that a person must be either spiritual or rational, but not both. I completely disagree with this false dichotomy. Science addresses a certain set of questions and religion addresses another set of questions. In other words, science addresses questions dealing with the function of the universe, while religious faith addresses the meaning of it all. Therefore, these are not mutually exclusive pursuits. Rather, while respecting the boundaries and limitations of both science and religious faith, these are actually complementary disciplines. Simply put, to be a person of faith does not mean that you have to turn off your intellectual self, and to be a person of science does not mean that you have to turn off your spiritual self. We can be both scientific and faithful.

So, how does the Resurrection of Jesus the Universal Messiah factor into all of this cosmic evolution? Could it be that resurrection itself is a “quantum leap” forward in God’s evolution of our universe? Could it be that God, who is beyond time and space, is drawing all things toward his universal renewal? In other words, by Divine Providence, we can say that God is still creating and re-creating, and that we might not know exactly what the future holds, but we have come to know the One who holds the future.

What a blessing it is to live every single day in a personal relationship with the Creator and Redeemer of the entire cosmos! And in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior, we intuitively know this truth according to the spiritual “sixth sense” of God’s grace through faith by the power of God’s Holy Spirit.

The gospel truth is that God is still creating, renewing and redeeming, and this is what resurrection life is all about. For the Apostle Paul writes in First Corinthians 15…

“I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, then to the Twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the Apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the Apostles, unfit to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God… What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain… So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. As there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body.” – (1 Corinthians 15: 3-9, 36b-37, 42-44)

From Easter Sunday through all seven weeks of Eastertime, we have been commemorating and celebrating (“as of first importance”) the living hope of resurrection life with Jesus in the Eternal Kingdom of our Heavenly Father. Because of our Lord Jesus Christ, we Christians believe and trust in “the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting” (from the Apostles’ Creed). And the Apostle Paul described this resurrection of the body as relating to some sort of “spiritual body” (First Corinthians 15:44) that has the following supernatural characteristics: imperishable, glorified and powerful. Thanks be to God!

So the New Testament declaration is that resurrection life beyond this present life is the ultimate stage of our existence in Christ, and the Resurrection of our Lord is the foretaste of the great universal resurrection yet to come. Like a caterpillar before its metamorphosis into a butterfly, unable to conceive of flying in the sunlight from flower to flower, we also cannot conceive “what God has prepared for those who love him” (First Corinthians 2:9d). And the eventual “end” of our ever-expanding (and accelerating) universe shall be the fulfillment and consummation of all things (of all worlds and all beings) in the One Eternal God of All.

Hallelujah! Jesus is Lord! Christ is risen!

Together in Resurrection Hope, Pastor Tim

CROSSES OF ASHES

The Church Season of Lent starts with the words “Remember that you are dust…”

On the day we call Ash Wednesday, we hear this annual reminder of our mortality in order to encourage us to turn toward God in self-reflection and repentance. In addition, this special day begins our annual spiritual journey of increased devotion in preparation for the coming of Holy Week and Easter. And of course, the seventh Sunday following Ash Wednesday is Easter Sunday, which celebrates the glorious good news of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I have to say that there’s something truly amazing about Ash Wednesday; something deeply compelling that draws us together for a special midweek service every single year. It’s more than just religious observance, and somehow more than just the beginning of Lent, because what we do and say on this special Wednesday has power. There’s gospel power for our souls when we receive the imposition of ashes on our foreheads and the proclamation of those solemn words, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

With this simple phrase on Ash Wednesday, we are reminded that we are mortal. Or as a very matter-of-fact social media post I’ve seen states, “We all came here by birth and we all will leave here by death.” Or in traditional poetic terms, we say we are “Ashes to ashes and dust to dust.” And as if hearing this were not enough, these words are literally rubbed into our faces! With an ashen cross upon our foreheads, our mortality is strangely visible for all to see, including for ourselves in the mirror — and all of this seems like bad news. So how is there gospel power for us on Ash Wednesday? How is there good news in all of this?

Firstly, we need to begin with the ancient past, with the Christian theology that we and the entire universe are intelligently designed and created by Almighty God. In other words, the universal scrambled eggs of the Big Bang did not just unscramble themselves without the cosmic fine-tuning of God over the eons. In fact, every fundamental constant of our universe (from the very first moment of the Big Bang) needed to be exactly tuned for all matter and life to exist. If anything was off by even the smallest infinitesimal degree, then we and all life would not exist. Therefore, the “dust” of our ancient beginnings is not a cosmic fluke. It was and is orchestrated, and fine-tuned on a razor’s edge, to produce the beautifully complex universe in which all life can flourish. So our lives are 100% wonderfully-made gifts from God, nothing less.

As the late Pope Benedict XVI famously wrote: “We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary.”

Because the energy, matter, space and time of the universe are continually shaped and molded by God our Supreme Maker, this means that our ancient evolutionary dust is a sacred and holy dust. And God’s grace and love from before the beginning of this universal creation shall carry us through our physical disintegration and death unto an immortal embodiment beyond this present life.

Secondly, these ashes on Ash Wednesday are not just randomly smeared on our foreheads without design. They are intentionally placed on us in the form of a cross. Therefore, with the symbol of the cross on our flesh, we mortals are connected with the eternal love of God expressed on Good Friday and the eternal life of God revealed on Easter Sunday. On Ash Wednesday we remember the promise that, just as we have come from cosmic stardust to occupy this mortal life, we shall also arise from the dust of death unto glorious immortality with Jesus our Savior and Lord! Yes, to dust we shall return, but THROUGH this dust and ashes we shall rise up to life everlasting in Jesus Christ!

Consequently, crosses of ashes on our foreheads are actually good news for us. Crosses of ashes point us toward the love and life of God, both at the beginning of all things and at the end of all things — from the Alpha to the Omega, from everlasting to everlasting. And crosses of ashes remind us that, because of this wonderful good news, we are called to self-reflect, repent, and to turn toward the Lord more fully in our daily lives.

The good news of Ash Wednesday centers on God’s love that is at the very heart of the entire cosmos itself, and that is most fully revealed through the cross and empty tomb of Jesus our Savior. So as an ashen cross is smeared upon your forehead, let this be a sacred occasion to return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful.

Blessed Lent to all of you!  Pastor Tim

THE POWER OF THE CROSS OF CHRIST

As winter approaches, there’s deep concern about a looming energy crisis in Europe, caused in no small part by the war in Ukraine. And our country is also experiencing its own problems regarding energy. Debates rage about how to transition to non-fossil fuel sources as energy prices go up and our power grids in some places are strained almost to the brink of collapse. And very moderate estimates say that we would need to double the size of our power grid just to begin to meet the energy requirements for a future in which the electric vehicle (or EV) is the dominant form of automotive transportation.

As brownouts roll across high population centers, people are increasingly asking: Where are we going to get the power? Is it going to come from low-carbon natural gas? From solar, wind, geothermal, or nuclear? Or is it simply a robust combination of all of these sources?

This question, in a spiritual sense, is also a question that Christianity is asking these days within our American society. Of course, I’m not talking about how we’re going to power the lights and air conditioning. What I’m saying is, spiritually speaking, where are we going to get the energy for these times of colossal societal shifts that are so much bigger than us? Where are we going to get the power?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we face a different kind of energy crisis as Christians within our secularizing American culture. Our declining denominations of every branch of the Church, dwindling Christian institutions, and struggling congregations, are causing us to wonder (and even worry) where we’re going to get the power to move into the future. Yes, COVID took its toll on the Church, no doubt about it. However, this spiritual energy crisis for the Church in the United States was already in place, and growing, long before any of us ever heard about the coronavirus. The pandemic was merely a kind of accelerant which exacerbated trends within American Christianity that were already well established.

Seminary enrollments have seen a marked drop in recent decades. Worship attendance has been trending downward for years in every single county of the United States. The fastest growing religious affiliation in our country is “none” — no affiliation whatsoever. Volunteerism is way down across the board in our American society, which has a huge impact on service clubs, fraternal organizations, youth organizations, and, of course, on congregational life. And Church bodies and institutions have been made to reorganize, then reorganize again, and then reorganize yet again, in response to dwindling resources. So, essentially, we have an energy crisis in the Church throughout our nation, even within the mega-church congregations now.

Nonetheless, at the risk of sounding overly simplistic, I would like to suggest that we have a power source which can fuel the future of the Christian Church in America (whatever form that future might take), and this power source is right under our noses. It’s a renewable resource of inexhaustible supply, and this power is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the message we have been given to proclaim to the world that [1] there really is such a thing as sin, [2] our sin separates us from God and one another, and [3] we sinners are reconciled to God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It’s the message that we are forgiven and freed by the sacrificial blood of the cross of Christ our Lord, so that we might live a new life with God which begins now and continues forever.

In fact, the New Testament refers to the gospel as “the power of God” for our salvation in the Book of Romans. And the actual Greek word translated into English as the word “power” is the word dynamis. So if this word sounds to you like the word “dynamite” then you are correct. That is, according to the New Testament, the full gospel concerning the reality of sin, the spiritual consequences of sin, and then the forgiveness of sin granted to us by the infinite atonement of the sacrificial offering of Christ on our behalf, is an explosively saving and redeeming message. It’s a message that detonates within the receptive ear and open heart, igniting the living fire of faith and salvation. The gospel is the very power that drives faith and fuels the Church.

I believe a major factor in the energy crisis of the Church in America is that we’ve lost our focus on the power of the gospel. Far too many think it’s insufficient as an energy source — that it must be combined with something else, such as the latest fashions in entertainment and media. Or, too many people these days seek to dilute the significance of the cross of Christ, making Jesus into merely a grand religious example, a great spiritual ethicist, or the ideal leader of a liberation army. Therefore, as long as the cross is treated as an afterthought — or worse, as an embarrassment — you can expect the energy crisis in the American Church to continue.

But I’m optimistic. As other power sources we run after prove to be insufficient, the Church will continue to grow dim for a time, BUT within the growing darkness of our culture we will more and more come to see the True Light who was hanged on a central cross between two criminals. For as we see in Luke chapter 23, amid sarcasm and scoffing from those who mockingly call Jesus messiah and king, our Lord Jesus Christ reveals that he, as the Universal Messiah and Everlasting King, gives his life in love for the sake of the world. Enthroned on his sacrificial cross, Jesus uses his divine authority to welcome a penitent sinner into God’s heavenly paradise. And Jesus does the same thing for us! Thanks be to God!

In other words, if we were to die tonight, and we were to enter God’s paradise, what would we say about our entry into glory? Would we say, It’s because I…? It’s because I made a covenant with God, or it’s because I am faithful, or it’s because I am this or that… No! Rather, it is because HE (Jesus). It’s because HE died for me. It’s because HE made a baptismal covenant with me. It’s because HE is faithful and true. Like the thief on a cross next to Jesus, it is entirely because HE granted us access to God’s paradise. The thief in paradise can only and ever say, It’s because the man on the middle cross said I could come. Likewise, when we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, it can only and ever be said by us that it’s entirely because the man who was hanged on the middle cross said that you and I could come to be there.

The gospel of the cross of Christ is the saving dynamite that, when harnessed through his Word and Sacraments, fuels the Church. So as we try in vain to plug into other energy sources, we will come to see once again that the good news of the forgiveness of sin and the promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ provides us with all the power we will ever need.

Good Advent & Merry Christmas!!! Pastor Tim

RISE UP, O SAINTS OF GOD!

November 1st each year is All Saints’ Day, and the word “saint” in the New Testament of the Bible refers to all those who have been forgiven, justified and sanctified by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. In other words, saints are those who are reconciled to God by the infinite atonement granted to all who believe and trust in the life, death, resurrection and ascension of the Universal Messiah, Christ our King. And this biblical definition of what it means to be a “saint” (i.e. a baptized, saved and redeemed disciple of Christ) is a very important and essential concept to guide us as we journey through this confused and conflicted world in which we live.

While we recognize that we all possess various earthly identities, we also recognize that much of our society today has embraced a kind of extreme identitarianism. But as people of God, we know that our lesser earthly identities fall far below our primary identities according to the Word of God. That is, we are faithful to God’s Word to believe and understand that we have a divine identity hierarchy, with the following three identities at the very top of our identity hierarchy: as Christians, each of us are [1] a child of God Almighty, [2] a child of God’s baptismal covenant, and [3] a disciple of Jesus Christ. Therefore, all other identities on our identity hierarchy are lesser than these top three identities (our primary identity trinity, so to speak).

The problem is that our modern secularizing society wants to reverse this sacred identity hierarchy by flipping it over in order to elevate our lesser identities above our highest identities. So this extreme identitarianism of our time seeks to completely overturn and usurp our God-given identity hierarchy, as well as flip over our God-given values and virtues. For example, the Critical Race Theory (CRT) that’s based in Marxian critical theory has become an issue these days in education programs, business HR departments, religious institutions, and so on. And this CRT, as it has been manifesting itself within our present society, is merely another form of the extreme identitarianism of our modern timeframe.

However, instead of Critical Race Theory and other such things, I want to propose that we as saints of God embrace a Kingdom Race Theology (KRT). As an alternative framework to the identitarianism of CRT, Kingdom Race Theology says that God’s rule is over every single sphere of life, including racial and ethnic issues. And KRT also means that we can fully teach an honest history of our nation and world that includes both the bad and the good, that addresses both painful and commendable aspects of the past, but the gospel of the Kingdom of God always keeps our divine identity hierarchy intact and in the correct order of significance.

The Holy Bible declares in the Book of Acts, chapter 17, “Of one blood God made humankind to dwell upon all the face of the Earth” (Acts 17:26). So when Christians lead the way with this biblical KRT (Kingdom Race Theology), then it opens the door to true racial and ethnic reconciliation, and to true God-given unity under our divine identity hierarchy. Consequently, we must resist false sociological fashions in society, and stand firmly and unashamedly upon the foundation of the tried and true biblical principles that have guided God’s people since time immemorial.

Let us not be ashamed of the principles of the gospel; let us rely on them, and let us use and apply them to these big issues within society. Basically, let us have a Kingdom agenda above all other agendas. Thereby, with KRT and other gospel insights like this, we can help the world do what it simply cannot do in and of its own limited frame of reference. For as the wonderful and powerful Christian hymn Rise Up, O Saints of God states in verse two: “Speak out, O saints of God! Despair engulfs Earth’s frame; as heirs of God’s baptismal grace, the Word of hope proclaim.”

This November 2022, may all of you have a blessed All Saints’ Sunday on the 6th, a rejoiceful Christ the King Sunday on the 20th (when we’ll worship with our Korean Presbyterian brothers and sisters), as well as a very happy Thanksgiving Day on the 24th…

Grace & Peace, Pastor Tim

NOW THAT IT’S IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR

I’m sharing a picture of me with my quarantine lockdown beard that I grew back in 2020. This was taken at the height of the lockdown when I was doing video announcements, devotions and messages from my office. And growing this wizard beard was fun for me to do during an otherwise very difficult time for our nation and world.

Since the time of this photograph two years ago, the pandemic has moved into our rearview mirror. As in the rearview mirror of an automobile, we can still see the effects of the virus but the pandemic is now behind us. It’s essentially over since it has moved into an “endemic” reality. We have moved from the pandemic into an endemic phase, which means this virus is always going to be with us as a part of the overall ecosystem of annual illnesses. Consequently, there will always be new variants just as there are with influenza each year.

We have also learned that the expectation of never getting this virus is simply an unrealistic one. The truth is that, if we haven’t had it already, we are all going to get it at some point. But thankfully, due to the artificially activated immunity from the vaccines and boosters, and due to the naturally occurring immunity that comes from getting this illness, we now have widespread “herd immunity” moving forward. In addition to all of this, the various excellent therapeutics that have been developed also give us further confidence that we are free to embrace life and ministry to the fullest once again.

As a congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ, we certainly should never again take for granted the opportunity for connection with God and each other that is provided to us through regular participation in Bible study, choir, ministry committees, worship, and Holy Communion with the Lord at his Holy Table each week. Therefore, “not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some” (Hebrews 10:25), let us recommit ourselves to the blessed habit and weekly rhythm of congregational life — especially to in-person Sunday morning worship, face to face. Let us resist turning Christianity into something to be consumed electronically, understanding that Christian fellowship, discipleship and spiritual growth happen best in the week-to-week interaction of in-person community, which is beautiful (but sometimes difficult) and always truly necessary for us.

So now, let’s sing loudly together from our pew seats at church. Let’s boldly praise the Lord without inhibition. Let’s resoundingly speak our liturgies and sing our hymns by the power of the Holy Spirit. Let’s walk away from the Lord’s Table each week with a lingering foretaste of the Kingdom of God in our mouths and hearts and souls. And let’s reach out to our unchurched neighbors with the good news and lovingkindness of Jesus Christ, inviting them to the variety of outreach activities and events we are now offering, which include the following:

+ MOLC Summer Day Camp

+ MOLC Trunk or Treat

+ MOLC Holiday Artisan Festival

+ MOLC Community Luncheon

+ And more to come…

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us be changed by what we’ve experienced over the past several years to live more fully, to love more joyfully, to worship more faithfully, and to share the gospel more urgently. And may we always remember that God is with us to guide us, empower us, and embolden us forward in mission and ministry. God is here in our midst, giving us new life and hope and courage.

A very happy and blessed Fall be with all of you!

Together in Christ Our Lord, Pastor Tim

AN ECUMENICAL PEOPLE OF GOD

While staying with our son, daughter-in-law and grandkids this past August, we were able to see many of our national shrines and memorials in Washington DC and the surrounding area. We were blessed to be able to visit the giant obelisk monument to the Father of our Country, George Washington, at the National Mall area. We also visited Mount Vernon, George Washington’s beloved home in Alexandria VA, of which he famously said, “I’d rather be at Mount Vernon with a friend or two about me, than to be attended at the Seat of Government by the Officers of State and the Representatives of every Power in Europe.” We were also able to see the Jefferson Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Capitol Building, the Supreme Court, the Smithsonian Museum of American History (which displays the actual Star-Spangled Banner of our national anthem), and the Smithsonian Museum of Air & Space. In addition, we visited the US Naval Academy and harbor area of Annapolis MD, and we saw Fort McHenry (of Star-Spangled banner fame) in Baltimore.

As we traveled around these amazing historical sites, one thing I took note of was the fact that our national founding (although imperfect) was deeply rooted in biblical faith. However, our Founders made sure that our establishment was nonsectarian. While they repeatedly appealed to God in our founding documents (speaking of our “Creator” and our “Lord”), and while they regularly addressed God in our founding traditions (Congressional prayer, oaths of office, and so on), they also made sure that there would be no establishment of a state-run religious denomination. Therefore, I observed during our trip a clear Judeo-Christian rootedness on display at all of our national shrines and memorials, but this was accompanied by a clear interdenominational, nonsectarian and ecumenical emphasis according to the clear direction of our Founders.

By the way, the word “ecumenical” (oikoumene in Greek) literally means “the whole inhabitable earth” — but it refers to the concept that the entire Christian Church of all its various denominations should work together to develop closer relationships and to promote Christian unity according to the biblical High Priestly Prayer of Jesus in John, chapter 17, verses 20-26.

So all of this stuff got me thinking about our ecumenical relations right here where we live as Mt. Olive Lutheran Church. I think of Via De Cristo (VDC), the spiritual retreat ministry our congregation participates in. While it’s mostly a retreat ministry involving Lutherans, rooted in the covenantal and sacramental theology of the Lutheran branch of Christianity, VDC also draws in people from many different denominations of our Lord’s Holy Church. I also think about the Lift Up Crescenta Valley ecumenical association we are a part of, as well as all the various ecumenical partnerships we support like the Bailey Human Care Center.

Like the ark of the Prophet Noah and the fishing boat of the Apostle Peter, all the denominations of the Christian Faith constitute the holy life raft for all believers and followers of Jesus Christ in a world deluged with the floodwaters of hopelessness and spiritual death. In fact, the Christian ecumenical movement is often symbolized by a boat, representing that all the people of all the denominations of the Church of Jesus Christ are in the same spiritual boat together.

So essentially, the various branches of the Christian Church are UNITED IN THE ESSENTIALS of our Christian Faith: 1) Jesus of Nazareth was and is more than a man, even much more than a prophet or priest or king, 2) Jesus is the only-begotten divine Son of God, 3) Jesus freely gave of himself in sacrificial love to be the once-and-for-all-time offering of atonement for our sins, 4) Jesus was crucified, was dead, was buried, then he rose from the grave and ascended into heaven, 5) Jesus is our Lord and Savior, 6) We proclaim the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life by the blood of Jesus, and 7) We do good works of lovingkindness and service in the name of Jesus. However, we also have DIVERSITY IN THE NON-ESSENTIALS of our Christian Life: that is, diversity of denominational practices related to sacraments, ordination, worship, piety, organizational structures, etc.

Therefore, as the various branches of the Christian Church have diversity in the non-essentials but unity in the essentials, we should also have CHARITY IN ALL THINGS. We can have a joyful and charitable spirit with one another as we agree to disagree regarding the non-essentials, because we share together in the all-surpassing seven Christian essentials I listed above.

“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one — I in them and you in me — so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:22-23)

Together in Christ,  Pastor Tim

SACRED WATER

As our Foothills community leaves behind the annual “May gray” and “June gloom” season of overcast mornings with occasional small weather systems coming through, we are now entering the bone-dry season of July through September/October. And although we can sometimes forget we live in an arid climate because of all the irrigated landscaping we enjoy, the simple truth is that we live where the desert meets the sea. Therefore, large-scale desalination (making fresh water from salt water), using a combination of low-carbon energy sources (wind, solar, natural gas, geothermal, nuclear and hydroelectric), along with increased large-scale water storage, are clear and present necessities for the sustained wellbeing of Southern California.

However, the arid climate of our part of the country and the 3+ months of dry season we’re entering are powerful reminders of the preciousness of water and its sacredness when connected to God’s Word for the baptismal covenant that God makes with us in Holy Baptism. For indeed, water is sacred both because it’s the most basic molecular element for physical life and because it’s the most basic sacramental element for incorporating us into God’s New Covenant established through Jesus Christ our Lord. In fact, the New Testament of the Holy Bible is clear about the sacramental and covenantal use of water according to God’s Word…

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

ROMANS 6:3-4

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the bathing water [mikvah] of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This saying is sure.

TITUS 3:4-8a

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

MATTHEW 28:19-20

While some Christian traditions teach that Holy Baptism is exclusively for adult believers, not for young children or infants, Lutheran Christians understand the Bible as presenting the Sacrament of Baptism as inclusive of people at every stage of life. For Lutherans, we acknowledge that the early Church of Jesus Christ baptized both adults and entire households, including young children and infants. And we know this from the baptisms of whole households in the biblical Book of Acts as well as from the earliest of Christian Church writings from the First Century AD. Moreover, we Lutheran Christians also see the Holy Bible as presenting a covenantal understanding of Holy Baptism that’s similar to but exceeds the covenant of circumcision in the Old Testament.

Just as the Old Testament sign and seal of the Hebraic Covenant is physical circumcision — and afterward the circumcised Jewish male is expected to respond to and affirm this covenant of God in his adult life — so likewise Holy Baptism is the New Testament sign and seal of God’s New Covenant in Christ that we (both male and female) are to respond to and affirm for ourselves in our adulthood by the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, this covenantal theology of the Lutheran branch of the Christian Faith differs from Christian traditions which teach that Holy Baptism is merely symbolic.

Thanks be to God for our new birth into a living hope through God’s baptismal covenant with us! Baptized into Jesus Christ and his Church, the resurrection life of Jesus becomes our resurrection life. And as often as we affirm and abide in this baptismal grace through faith, we are “born again from above” (John 3:3-8) with a spiritual “circumcision of the heart” (Romans 2:29), over and over again, granting us continual renewal as beloved children of God throughout our lives.

Grace & Peace, Pastor Tim

WAR & PEACE

With the “wars and rumors of wars” (Matthew 24:6) of our 21st Century world, many Christians are wondering what God’s Word within the Bible says to us about such things. In particular, with Russia’s war against Ukraine in Eastern Europe and with “rumors of wars” brewing between China and Taiwan in the Western Pacific, I’ve been hearing questions about what the Bible has to say (especially the New Testament) regarding all of this. So, I thought I’d use my church article this month to do some biblical and theological reflections concerning war and peace from a Lutheran perspective.

Lutheran Christians have traditionally followed the Two Kingdoms Doctrine in our understanding of the relationship of Church and State. Rooted in the Holy Scriptures, this doctrine affirms that God established two primary realms of societal order: 1) the kingdom of God’s right hand, and 2) the kingdom of God’s left hand. Simply put, the so-called kingdom of God’s right hand is the Church and the kingdom of God’s left hand is the State.

Specifically, the kingdom of God’s left hand refers to the State’s God-given responsibility for law enforcement and military service for the sake of an orderly and peaceable society. As it says in Romans chapter 13, God has instituted the governing authorities “to bear the sword” (13:4) to exact justice upon the wrongdoer. As a result, Lutheran Christians have always honored the vocations of law enforcement and military service as God-ordained functions within society for the sake of good order.

Therefore, the kingdom of God’s left hand (the State) is the realm of law, justice and peacekeeping. While at the same time, the kingdom of God’s right hand (the Church) is the realm of forgiveness, mercy and peacemaking. And with both peacekeeping on one hand and peacemaking on the other, the whole structure of human society functions and thrives.

Now, as we apply this Two Kingdoms Doctrine to what’s going on in our globalized world today, we can acknowledge the important role of our armed forces in defending democracy, liberty and commerce. For example, if there was no United States Navy defending freedom of navigation then the seaways would be strangled by authoritarian autocrats and pirate warlords. Consequently, since the end of WWII our governing authorities have worked to cooperate with other democratic nations of the world to maintain the most peaceful and prosperous era in human history (broadly speaking, of course).

Functioning as the so-called kingdom of God’s left hand, our governing authorities have exercised the peacekeeping role of the State according to the longstanding foreign policy principle of peace through strength. As the Roman Christian, nobleman and scholar of the late 300’s AD, Flavius Vegetius Renatus, famously wrote, “If you want peace then prepare for war” (Si vis pacem para bellum). But of course, “The soldier above all others prays for peace” (General Douglas MacArthur).

On the other hand, the Church (the kingdom of God’s right hand) worships the Prince of Peace, so we always seek to faithfully exercise our role as peacemakers within our world according to the eternal principles of the gospel…  

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9).

“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:44-45).

We recognize that the kingdom of God’s left hand (the State) in its peacekeeping role and the kingdom of God’s right hand (the Church) in its peacemaking role are both essential. And we also recognize that people of faith who have been called into law enforcement or military service are uniquely positioned by God to operate within both realms, and they offer us a great bridge of understanding. For example, I proudly served in our armed forces in the USAF as a young man. But as a Christian, I’m also called to be a builder of bridges for understanding and peace.

In the face of wars and rumors of wars in these times, we acknowledge the important role of our peacekeeping forces, but we Christians also continually seek peacemaking solutions and peaceful resolutions within our world — always looking toward the great and glorious Day of the Lord when “Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

And so, with one voice in universal chorus, we exclaim, “Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:21).

Grace & Peace, Pastor Tim

OUR BLESSED ASSURANCE

Our human sinfulness alienates us from God our Creator, but the wonderful and amazing good news is that Jesus Christ gives us everlasting salvation from this self-imposed alienation, granting us reconciliation with God and eternal heavenly life. This is our blessed assurance in Christ! Thanks be to God!

This blessed assurance of God’s grace through Jesus Christ is not merely some broad, uncertain appeal to the generic mercy of God. Rather, through the compassionate life, sacrificial death and redemptive resurrection of Jesus our Lord, we have absolute assurance of our atonement and salvation with God. What good news indeed! What amazing grace this is!

Fully acknowledging and confessing that we are sinners who have alienated ourselves from God, we believe and trust that Jesus Christ died for our sins and was raised for our redemption. Therefore, by the power of his Holy Spirit, we profess him as our Savior who gives us renewal of life here and heavenly life hereafter. So now, in thanksgiving and praise for Christ’s gospel of salvation and eternal life, I would like to simply bless you with the following Bible quotations:

ROMANS 10:9-13

For if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

SECOND CORINTHIANS 4:16-17

So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure…

Brothers and sisters, this life is so brief, and, compared to a heavenly eternity with God, this life is really a fleeting bubble in a stream or flash of lightning in a cloud. And in response to the faith and hope and eternal salvation we have received through Jesus Christ our Lord, we seek to live this present mortal life in light of these great gifts, looking forward to the ultimate fulfillment of God’s Kingdom at the great Second Advent of Christ. With that in mind, I conclude this brief article with the words of the timeless hymn, Blessed Assurance:

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

Happy & Blessed Eastertide!!!  Pastor Tim

GOD WORKS IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS

As I get older, the well-known saying “God works in mysterious ways” is becoming much less a mere platitude for me and much more a powerful statement of divine truth. Biblically speaking, we see this throughout the Holy Scriptures, from the Old Testament to the New Testament. In particular, this mysterious truth is clearly apparent in God’s surprising use of very unlikely historical characters to achieve his ends for the sake of his believers and followers. For instance, King Cyrus the Great of the Persian Empire comes to mind.

The Kingdom of Judah was the last remaining Israelite realm in the Promised Land, but in 589 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar II of the Babylonian Empire laid siege to the City of Jerusalem, utterly destroying it and its Holy Temple in the summer of 587 BC. However, in 539 BC, God used the Persian Empire to thwart the Babylonian Empire, which allowed the People of Israel to return to the Promised Land in large numbers. God used King Cyrus the Great of Persia to release the Jews from their captivity in Babylon and let them go back to their beloved Jerusalem, decreeing that the Jerusalem Temple be rebuilt. This edict is fully preserved in the Book of Ezra, which states the following:

In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, the king issued a decree: “Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the temple, the place where sacrifices are offered, be rebuilt and let its foundations be retained, its height being 60 cubits and its width 60 cubits; with three layers of huge stones and one layer of timbers. And let the cost be paid from the royal treasury. Also let the gold and silver utensils of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be returned and brought to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; and you shall put them in the house of God.” – (Ezra 6:3-5)

Because of this, the Jewish People honored Cyrus the Great with the sacred title “Anointed One” — making him the only Gentile (non-Jew) to receive this title in all of history. And also in the Book of Isaiah, God says, “I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness… He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says the Lord Almighty” (Isaiah 45:13).

The return from exile of the People of Israel under the direction of King Cyrus the Great of Persia is one amazing example of many historical examples in which the mysterious ways of God are at work through unexpected people to ultimately accomplish God’s will. So in the case of King Cyrus, God used a pagan Gentile emperor to bless the Israelites and the Holy City of Jerusalem.

Again, King Cyrus is only one example of this because the Bible and history are filled to overflowing with examples of God’s mysterious work in using unlikely and very problematic individuals to further God’s purposes. Of course, this includes the various flawed biblical heroes such as Abraham, Moses, Samson, David, Peter, Matthew, Paul, etc. And this also includes biblical antiheroes like King Cyrus the Great, as well as some biblical villains like Pontius Pilate.

Even today, God continues to work in mysterious ways through unlikely and flawed people, and through unexpected turns in life, and even through you and me. The older I get, the more I see the truth of this within all aspects of our lives. For as the famous Tapestry Poem beautifully states, “[Our] life is but a weaving” and “[we], in foolish pride, forget God sees the upper and [we] the underside.” And then the great promise of the Lord is articulated in this poem with the words, “Not ‘til the loom is silent, and the shuttles cease to fly, will God unroll the tapestry and explain the reason why.”

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you!

Together in Christ, Pastor Tim