Lutheran Church – Page 5 – Mt. Olive Lutheran Church

HOLY COMMUNION: OUR WEEKLY PENTECOST

On Pentecost Sunday for 2019, I shared in my sermon about Martin Luther’s “Seven Marks of the Church” (a.k.a. “Seven Principle Signs of the Church” or “Seven Pillars of the Church”)…

1) Proclamation of the Gospel – (the good news of Jesus Christ)
2) Holy Baptism – (in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit)
3) Holy Communion – (the Lord’s Supper)
4) Absolution of Sins – (declaring forgiveness with Christ’s authority)
5) Ordination of Leadership – (deacons, pastors, bishops)
6) Praise of God – (public worship through word, prayer and song)
7) The Way of the Cross – (charitable service and sacrificial love)

For this article, I will focus on the Third Mark of the Church (Holy Communion).

In ancient times, when a relationship had been broken, the offering of a meal was given in order to bring about reconciliation and restored fellowship. In fact, this was the whole basis for the sacrifices and sin-offerings of the ancient Hebrew Tabernacle and the ancient Hebrew Temple. These sacrifices were simply offerings of food (in a spirit of confession, repentance and forgiveness) in order to restore full fellowship with God.

Quite literally, the ancient offerings of food (especially some kind of meat) were offered to restore full Table Fellowship with God, bringing reconciliation and “atonement” (at-one-ment) in relationship to God. However, the problem was that there was no perfect offering that mere human beings could have given in order to permanently and everlastingly (once and for all time) restore full fellowship with a perfect, holy and pure Almighty God.

Then two thousand years ago, a perfect offering (that God himself provided to us) was given on behalf of all us imperfect sinful human beings — a supreme offering to perfectly restore our full table fellowship with God and with one another. And as you already know of course, this perfect offering was and is the very life (body, blood, soul and divinity) of our Lord Jesus Christ, freely given and poured out for you and me and all people. Being fully God and fully human at the same time, Jesus was the perfect offering for the sins of the world. He’s the perfect “Lamb of God” (John 1:29) offered as the once-and-for-all-time sacred meal of reconciliation, atonement and renewal.

Being fully God, Jesus’ offering to restore us to fellowship with God was the most perfect of offerings. And being fully human, Jesus’ offering to restore us to communion with God was truly a real sacrifice on his part. Consequently, on the night in which he was betrayed, Jesus connected the bread and wine of his Holy Supper to the offering of his life for us. So Jesus tells us that, as we partake of this bread and wine in remembrance of him, we are literally sharing in a meal of reconciliation and holy table fellowship with God according to his sacrificial offering of his body and blood for this purpose.

Therefore, although the Lord is omnipresent (everywhere present), we believe that Christ our Lord is uniquely and especially present with us and for us in the Blessed Sacrament of Holy Communion to continually restore us to fellowship with God and strengthen us in faith, hope and love. In other words, we come to this sacramental meal (over and over again) to keep us in an abiding relationship with God, and to empower us to love one another and all people just as our Lord Jesus loves us.

When we receive the body and blood of Christ in the form of the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper, we receive the grace and power of the Holy Spirit of God, which makes this sacred meal our weekly Pentecost. But Holy Communion is not only for our own spiritual wellbeing. In fact, the purpose of Holy Communion also has to do with the great Love Commandment of our Lord Jesus.

This is why the Apostle Paul got so upset at the Corinthian Christians who were sharing in the Lord’s Supper while simultaneously setting up distinctions and discriminations between one another. Basically, the wealthy congregants were being shown special favor within the Corinthian congregation, while the poor congregants were being marginalized. This outraged Paul, so he writes that we must not receive the bread and wine of Holy Communion while practicing discrimination and partiality within the Body of Christ (the Church). “For those who eat and drink without discerning the Body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves” (First Corinthians 11:29).

Through the Apostle Paul’s very strong words in First Corinthians 11, we can see the intimate connection between the Lord’s Supper and Jesus’ command to love one another and all people as he loves us. Therefore, the good gifts of God’s Holy Spirit through the Sacrament of the Altar (the Lord’s Supper) are for an inclusive purpose according to God’s all-encompassing love. In other words, Holy Communion is focused outwards as well as inwards.

From Holy Communion we are sent by the power of the Holy Spirit to bear the grace and love of God to all the world around us! Empowered by Christ’s sacramental offering and presence at the altar, we are to go out from this meal to serve and love (according to his Way of the Cross) for the sake of the world.

Together in Christ, Pastor Tim

BORN TO ETERNAL LIFE

On the Fourth Sunday of Eastertime a few weeks ago, which also was Mother’s Day, I shared a story in my sermon that many people asked me for a copy. So, I thought I’d include it in my article for the June issue of our Olive Branch newsletter.

This wonderfully imaginative story is about fraternal twin babies in their mother’s womb discussing life after delivery, and while it’s originally attributed to the great Dutch theologian Henri Nouwen, there are many different variations of it. The following is the version I used for my sermon…

One of the twin babies asked the other, “Do you believe in life after delivery?” The other replied, “Of course. There has to be something after delivery. And maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.” “Nonsense” said the first. “There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be?” The second said, “I don’t know exactly, but I feel there will be more light there than here. Not that faint red glow we sometimes have here. Maybe we will be able to move around more freely and journey to places we just can’t understand right now. And maybe we will have other senses that we can’t yet understand.” The first replied, “That’s absurd! Ridiculous! This umbilical cord supplies everything we need. But the umbilical cord is too short, so life after delivery is to be logically excluded.” The second insisted, “Well I think there is something, and maybe it’s just different than it is here. Maybe we won’t need this umbilical cord anymore.” The first replied, “Absolute nonsense, and furthermore, delivery is the end, and in the after-delivery there is nothing but oblivion. It takes us nowhere.” “Well” said the second, “I trust in Mother, and when we get to meet her in the after-delivery, she will show us all these amazing things.” The first replied, “A Mother? You actually believe in a Mother?! That’s laughable. If a Mother exists, then where is She right now?” The second said, “She’s all around us. We are surrounded by Her. We are of Her. It is in Her that we live and move and have our being. Without Her this small confined existence of ours would not, and could not, exist.” And the first said, “Well I don’t see Her, so it is only logical that She doesn’t exist.” To which the second replied, “Well sometimes, when you’re in silence, and you focus and really listen, you can feel Her Presence.”

This ‘embryonic’ mortal existence we are journeying through is temporary, and one of my preferred terms for our physical death from this world is “Born to eternal life.” And you know it’s been said that we are spiritual beings having a human experience — an experience that is so very brief in the grand scheme of things.

However, the good news of the gospel of Christ our Good Shepherd leads us to the supreme joy and hope of heaven. Therefore, the reality of heaven (an eternal existence of true and never-ending happiness) is a central part of the honest-to-goodness gospel of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

So simply because we live in a cynical and jaded time, we as Christians should not shy away from or downplay this great Easter truth and grace of eternal resurrection life. Rather we should embrace this heavenly faith, and then live lives of compassion and service in the name of Jesus. Because Christ is risen and because we too shall arise through him, we must live our lives right now according to the Word of the Lord in Micah chapter 6…

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8

Jesus is risen beyond this impermanent existence, and we are his sheep who are to hear him and follow him for the sake of a better world for all people and for an eternal heavenly future by his grace.

Together in Christ, Pastor Tim

SO MUST THE SON OF MAN BE LIFTED UP

We should not feel bad about feeling bad. Within our society that idealizes feeling “happy, happy, happy” all the time, we can sometimes be shamed into feeling bad about feeling bad. However, this is not right, because it is an unrealistic societal pressure placed upon us that only makes us feel worse.

Of course, there are those who suffer from chronic neuro-chemical imbalances that cause prolonged mental illnesses (bipolar disorder, etc.), and our culture is slowly coming to a better place where mental illness is not stigmatized as much as it once was. But aside from this, everyone can understand feeling mentally and emotionally down from time to time, especially if they have experienced a great loss of some kind. So we are all in need of healing and wholeness in life, and I would especially say this regarding spiritual concerns.

At the time of the Prophet Mosheh (Moses), the ancient Israelites were being attacked and killed by poisonous serpents, so Moses prayed for them and God gave them something as a means through which they would receive grace for their healing:

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a poisonousserpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.’ So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.”
NUMBERS 21: 8-9

And later, at the time our Lord Yeshua (Jesus) walked on earth, he declared the following before his crucifixion and resurrection:

“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
JOHN 3: 14-16

Therefore, when we are being vexed by the poisonous spiritual bites of sin, death and the devil, we can look to the One who was “lifted up” for our spiritual healing. The good news is that Jesus (the Son of Man and Son of God) was lifted up on a cross for our atonement, was lifted up from death for our redemption, and was lifted up into the higher dimensions of reality (what we call “heaven”) for our everlasting salvation. Even in the midst of the poisonous serpents of loss, grief, failure, guilt and regret, we can look to the Savior who was lifted up, and we can find in him forgiveness, renewal and wholeness.

For many people Easter is over, with all the Easter eggs and bunnies now in the rearview mirror. However, for us Christians, Eastertime is a season of seven Sundays during which we celebrate the Lifted Up One, our risen Lord and Savior. For he alone has fully shown, affirmed, confirmed and proved to us the love and grace of God through his life, teachings, sufferings, death, resurrection and ascension. Through Jesus Christ, we have seen and now know that God indeed loves us and the entire world so very much, because he laid down his life for us and is now raised forever.

Christ Is Risen!!!

Grace & Peace, Pastor Tim

THE ISRAEL OF GOD

After our Lenten journey of penitential contemplation and intensified spiritual devotion, we come to the pinnacle of the Church Year known as Holy Week. It is the time of year we focus on the events of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, his last supper, his torture, his crucifixion, his sacrificial death and his glorious resurrection. So as I reflect on the sacred events of Holy Week, I find myself drawn to the following words of the Apostle Paul from the Book of Galatians:

“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is faith made effective through love.”
The Holy Bible, Galatians 5:6

“For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything! As for those who follow this rule – peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.”
The Holy Bible, Galatians 6:15-16

The Apostle Paul wrote these words to the Christians in Galatia in order to remind them of the New Covenant of God through Christ, based on God’s universal grace, not on religious works prescribed by the laws and ordinances of the Old Testament (as it says in Galatians). He reminded them (and us) that the New Testament of Christ fulfills all the promises and covenants of the Old Testament for all people everywhere, not just for Jesus’ fellow Jewish people.

As a result of this, God’s promises and covenants to the Hebrew People (which are still in effect for them) are now also universally extended to all people by God’s grace in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. So, while there is still the literal People of Israel (the Jewish People), there is also an expanded spiritual “Israel of God” (the universal Israel in Christ Jesus) which is everyone who trusts in the Lord: including Jew and Gentile, male and female, black and white, Democrat and Republican, liberal and conservative, rich and poor, and so on (see Galatians 3 and 6).

In both Galatians and Romans, the Apostle Paul writes that all people are “heirs” of God’s covenant promises to Abraham by God’s grace through faith in Christ. From Galatians 3 and Romans 3, we hear that all people are “descendants of Abraham” and “heirs according to the promise” by “the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ for all who believe.”

Therefore, even the promised blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant are now extended to everyone everywhere by the Christ/Messiah of God, Jesus (or Yeshua in Hebrew for Joshua, meaning “God Saves”), and not by our own religious works prescribed by the law. In other words, the Abrahamic inheritance given to the Hebrews is now renewed and broadened to include every single one of us by faith in Christ! Thanks be to God! Consequently, the Apostle Paul declares that all distinctions (circumcision and uncircumcision, Jew and Gentile, etc.) are nothing, and they count for nothing. All that matters now, he says, is the “new creation” coming into being by the unconditional love and all-encompassing grace of God revealed to the whole world in and through our Lord Yeshua (Jesus), the only begotten Son of God. And St. Paul adds that the only thing that now counts is our loving response to this free grace of God in the form of charitable service — or as he calls it, “faith made effective through love.”

Like Joshua in the Old Testament who led the ancient Israelites into the land of Canaan through the waters of the Jordan River, our Lord Jesus is the New Joshua who leads us into the universal promised land of salvation and the Kingdom of God through the waters of Holy Baptism where we are born again from above by his Holy Spirit within us.

Yes, as Christians, our faith is all about the New Inclusive Covenant, heralded and set in motion by the New Universal Joshua (Jesus). And just as God empowered the People of Israel with the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament, God has given us the Word and Sacrament of Christ to empower us in Christian faith and life. Just as God’s Shekinah Presence (Glorious Presence) mysteriously and uniquely dwelled between the wings of the cherubim on the Ark, so also God’s Holy Shekinah Presence is uniquely and powerfully made available to us and for us through the Sacrament of Holy Communion so that we may abide in the faith, hope and love of our Lord and Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus).

Christ has died, Christ is risen, and Christ will return! Almighty God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — bless us (the members of the expanded “Israel of God”) now and forever! Amen!

Blessed Holy Week & Happy Easter!!!

Pastor Tim

THE WORD OF GOD WITHIN THE BIBLE

There are five essential pillars for the Lutheran branch of Christianity, including for our Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and these pillars are known as the “Five Solae” which are as follows:

+ Sola Scriptura – “Scripture alone” or “Word alone”

+ Sola Fide – “Faith alone”

+ Sola Gratia – “Grace alone”

+ Solus Christus – “Christ alone”

+ Soli Deo Gloria – “Glory to God alone”

So according to God’s WORD within the Holy Scriptures, we are saved by God’s GRACE through the gift of FAITH in JESUS CHRIST for the sake of God’s GLORY and our eternal benefit.

Along with all of our brothers and sisters of the Lutheran branch of Christianity throughout the world, we ELCA Christians regard the Holy Scriptures (the Bible) as our primary source and norm for Christian doctrine and life. As a matter of fact, we understand the Bible to be “inspired” by God just as the Apostle Paul declared in Second Timothy: “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16). Therefore, while we acknowledge that the Bible is not inerrant (“completely without error” in all matters of history and science), we wholeheartedly profess that the Bible is inspired (“breathed into” by God) and is infallible (it “does not fail” in matters of salvation). For example, the Bible has two conflicting years for Jesus’ birth (around 4 BC in Matthew or around 6 AD in Luke), but what matters is that in the Land of Israel a Savior has been born unto us, Christ the Lord. For another example, the Bible has the empty tomb being discovered by 2 women in Matthew, 3 women in Mark, and only 1 woman in John, but what matters is that the tomb was discovered empty and that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. And for a final example, the Bible has two conflicting times for Jesus giving the Holy Spirit (on Resurrection evening in John or about 50 days later on Pentecost in Acts), but what matters is that the risen Lord Jesus appeared many times to many people and that he gave us the gift of his Holy Spirit.

In addition, this understanding of the nature of the Bible recognizes that the Bible reflects and contains a few archaic notions regarding the sciences. However, if we seek to understand the historical context underlying such things, then God’s Word can be opened-up in amazing ways for us today. So just like it is with a goldmine, we read and study the Bible in order to unearth the biblical veins of quartz which lead us right to those wonderful deposits of pure theological and spiritual gold. Consequently, the inspiration and infallibility of the Bible do not necessarily rest in every single one of the Bible’s contextually specific instructions, but more importantly in its overarching trajectories, themes, values and ideals (the Heart of the Law and Prophets as Jesus taught us).

As we read and study the Bible together (taking into account the historical context, the living experience of the Church, and the data from science), we engage in a powerful dialogue with God and in discerning the Bible’s application for our faith, ethics and daily life. Just like a Big Wheel tricycle, our Christian life has three wheels: 1) the large front wheel is the Bible, 2) one of the pair of back wheels is the living tradition and experience of the Church today, and 3) the remaining back wheel is the various disciplines of science. So it is this spiritual Big Wheel tricycle that best guides us, rather than the biblical unicycle that some might assert as necessary for our salvation.

Of course, this tried-and-true Big Wheel understanding of Sola Scriptura is really nothing new. Martin Luther, the first Protestant reformer and the founder of the Lutheran branch of Christianity, compared the Bible to the manger of Christ. The manger was human made. Being made of stone or of wood, it no doubt had some imperfections — and in either case, it no doubt had some straw held within it. Nevertheless, it held the Living Word of God for us and our world. Likewise, Luther stated that the Bible is “human” but that it’s also “divine” because it holds and presents Christ.

Thanks be to God for the Bible, through which the Holy Spirit opens us up to receive God’s grace and truth, and through which we come to know and grow into the life-changing faith, hope and love of God’s Son Jesus our Lord! And it’s such a great blessing that Mt. Olive Lutheran Church offers several Bible study opportunities on a regular basis. So all are welcome to participate in these Bible studies and join the conversation.

Together in Christ,

Pastor Tim

THE FEAR OF THE LORD IN 2019

At a recent Sunday morning Bible study here at Mt. Olive, we were discussing the topic of “trusting in the Lord” for our future. So I offered a bit of wisdom from one of my favorite sayings: Trust in the Lord but tie up your horse. And this statement is really concerning the virtue of prudence.

Prudence is using our best judgment to consider various consequences and outcomes in order to prepare accordingly and provide for the future. Essentially, prudence is a type of good fear that has us lock our doors at night and provide for the safety and security of our loved ones, both short-term and long-term. It is a kind of good fear that promotes things like disaster preparedness. In fact, it is prudence that leads the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to encourage all U.S. citizens to maintain at least a basic three-day supply of drinking water, food, fuel and supplies.

Yes, prudence is a good kind of fear that says to us the following:

+ Pray as though it’s all up to God but work as though it’s all up to you.

+ Trust in God but tie up your horse.

However, there is a second type of good fear, and it is the “fear” of the Lord God Almighty. This is the “fear” of awe-struck wonder at the deep mystery of God. It is the “fearful” reverence for what the Native Americans call the Great Spirit — an awe and reverence that leads to insight, understanding and wisdom. As it says in the biblical Book of Proverbs, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Proverbs 9:10).

This biblical “fear of the Lord” is what leads us to be peacemakers in our lives and our world, freeing us from all forms of tribalism, clannishness and cliquishness for the glory of God and the benefit of all. In other words, it is what leads us (in, with and through Christ our Lord) to transcend all earthly divisions so that we might manifest a more inclusive human community here and now — even as we await the fullness of God’s Kingdom to come when our resurrected Lord Jesus returns to us in person someday.

As citizens of the USA, we are especially blessed to live in the most universal of all the countries on Earth. It’s not perfect (no country has a perfect history), but we are nonetheless the most diverse country in the world, and I believe God has blessed us Americans with the task of modeling and defending the idea of a universal human society. We are blessed with the sacred task of advancing greater and greater unity in diversity — e pluribus unum. And as Christians, God has given to us the good news of the one universal Kingdom of God’s truth, grace and love revealed through our Lord Jesus Christ for us to share with all people. As it says in Ephesians chapter 2, “He came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.” (Ephesians 2:17-20).

As we begin 2019, may these two good fears guide us into the future. As prudence would demand, may we “Trust in God but tie up our horse” for our households, community, nation and world. However, as the unifying “fear of the Lord” would command, may we follow Jesus by being agents of unity in diversity for the sake of all people everywhere.

Happy New Year to all of you!!!

Pastor Tim