Tag: Lord and Savior

THREE DAYS OF AMAZING GRACE

The Three Days, also known as the Triduum in Latin, takes place at the climax of Holy Week, and it’s actually one worship service in three parts over three days: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Saturday Easter Vigil.

First comes Triduum Part I (Maundy Thursday), and the word “Maundy” means mandate or commandment, referring to the Love Commandment of Jesus Christ our Lord. Consequently, Maundy Thursday centers on Jesus’ command for us to love one another as he loves us. It is also the night we commemorate the instituting of the Lord’s Supper. Then, at the end of this first part of the Triduum, the lights are dimmed and the altar is stripped bare while Psalm 22 is read, foreshadowing the commemoration of the crucifixion of our Lord on Good Friday.

Second comes Triduum Part II (Good Friday), and this day is the second part of the liturgy of The Three Days, extending from Maundy Thursday through Saturday Easter Vigil (Easter Eve). As the Church of Jesus Christ throughout the world gathers to remember the suffering and death of Jesus on this day, the altar is dressed in black, and we focus on the significance of the sacrificial love that Jesus showed us upon the cross of Calvary. In this way, Good Friday brings us to the foot of the cross, where Jesus bore our sins and died in our place. Here we stand before the cross, beholding the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world [see John 1:29].

Third comes Triduum Part III (Saturday Easter Vigil), and this is the night when Christians around the world gather to celebrate Christ’s passage from darkness to light, from death to life. The Easter Vigil service is the other candlelight service of the Church calendar. This special service includes powerful signs: a “new fire” burning in a fire pit outside the church, the Christ Candle lit from the new fire, our handheld candles lit from the Christ Candle, the Word of our Baptismal Covenant declared, and the very first Eucharistic Meal of Eastertime received. As the altar is changed from the darkness of Good Friday to the white and gold of heavenly light, we are the first to exclaim, “Alleluia! Christ is risen!”

For Lutherans, the Triduum is the very heart of the Christian year. Far from a mere historical remembrance, the Triduum invites us to encounter the Living Christ, and through faith, we are united in the awe and wonder of his victory. Maundy Thursday calls us to love and serve as Christ did, and to be strengthened and kept in true faith by his body broken and blood shed for us, received in bread and wine. Good Friday anchors us in the cross as the source of our atonement and reconciliation with God. And Saturday Easter Vigil proclaims the new light and life we possess, showered upon us in our Risen Lord Jesus Christ, which changes everything for us.

Again, Maundy Thursday calls you to love and to receive grace. Good Friday anchors you in Christ’s atoning sacrifice and forgiveness, even when your life seems to be falling apart. Saturday Easter Vigil steadies you to wait on God’s timing to bring light anew and life everlasting. So the Triduum isn’t just three holy days — it’s a way of life. We live as those who are set free. When guilt creeps in, remind yourself that your sins died with Jesus on the cross and stayed behind in the tomb when he rose again. When fear of death looms, cling to the promise of your own resurrection made possible by his. And always celebrate small victories, like a kind word or a mended relationship, as echoes of the big victory of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ our Savior.

Blessed Triduum & Happy Easter!!! Pastor Tim

BAPTISMAL EVANGELISM

I recently read the Epistle of First Peter, and the words “Baptism now saves you” really stood out to me (see 1 Peter 3:18-22). As a result, I’ve been thinking a lot recently about our commission and ministry from our Lord Jesus Christ to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:18-20). And of course, our baptizing ministry to and for all peoples and nations is preferably done within the assembly of worship.

In worship, Christ is encountered. In the liturgy, Christ is present and self-giving, and he is ever-addressing his people. By the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, the Son of God is active and present through his Word and Sacraments. Consequently, a blessed assurance and confidence runs high within Lutheranism concerning the purpose of gospel proclamation and liturgical worship. In particular, according to the Word of God, Christ and his salvation are reliably encountered in Holy Baptism, in Holy Communion, and in the Holy Scriptures.

In the Old Testament, Psalm 105:1-6 declares the following… “O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples. Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wonderful works. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually. Remember the wonderful works he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he has uttered, O offspring of his servant Abraham, children of Jacob, his chosen ones.”

In this biblical song of praise, the “deeds” that are to be made known to the “peoples” (i.e., the unbelieving Gentile nations) are referring to the deeds of God in and through his Covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God’s great covenantal acts are to be made known to the nations, to both believers and unbelievers, through our shared liturgical life by “singing” and “praising” and “telling” and “remembering” God’s deeds of creation and salvation. And the purpose of such liturgical worship by the People of Israel was not merely for historical remembrance but for an encounter with the Lord God himself.

All of this is only intensified in the New Covenant. Our Lord Jesus performs his words, deeds, miracles and judgments in and through the worshiping assembly of his Church. In fact, Martin Luther comments on Psalm 105 by saying there are two things that belong to the true Christian believer: [1] The true believer has an illumined recognition of the Lord’s words and deeds (they have ears to hear and eyes to see the spiritual reality of things), and [2] The true believer has God-given affections for the Lord Jesus who is powerfully present in his Word and Sacraments. Therefore, liturgical worship is not merely a ‘style of worship’ but a whole theology of worship. Unbelievers hear the good news, and believers are conformed to the likeness of the Lord God whom they worship. In the liturgical assembly, Christ is present both to make disciples and to deepen discipleship. And it’s been said that the most solid and unwavering means of God-inspired, liturgical and missional activity comes by way of the Covenant of Holy Baptism.

In the great and global story of Christianity throughout the ages, neither door-to-door canvassing, nor tent revivals, nor even having stadium crusades have been the greatest vehicle of Christian evangelization. In every age of the Church of Jesus Christ, it’s Holy Baptism — particularly infant baptism — that has been the overwhelmingly greatest means of increasing, growing and expanding the Church globally. Since ancient days, Christians have babies and then bring those babies to Christ (in faith) to receive Christ’s saving Covenant of Holy Baptism, so that those infant children might one day grow to accept and affirm God’s baptismal grace and salvation for themselves by faith.

Through baptizing adults and children and infants alike, the Lord Jesus has built into the New Covenant of Holy Baptism an evangelistic feature that ensures the propagation of faith and salvation in which the Lord himself does all the saving work and receives all the glory. So, if we desire to see growth for congregations of the Church in our land, then every single one of us (both pastors and parishioners) would do well to ask people if they or their children have been baptized. And with this one simple evangelistic question, we will find that a great deal of gospel discussions will follow. In addition, we need to especially encourage married couples to bring their children to the waters of Holy Baptism.

A grace-filled theology and practice of Holy Baptism keeps the Church evangelistic and mission minded. Baptism is a mighty deed of the Lord, a miraculous act, and an absolving judgment — giving us much about which to praise and adore him. God’s grace in Christ alone fills our mouths with true praise, and our worship liturgy gives us the Bible-based words to do so. Furthermore, the evangelism of Holy Baptism is especially powerful when it takes place during our Sunday morning worship service, and it’s been too long (way too long) since the Sacrament of Holy Baptism has been administered at Mt. Olive.

I have to say that a lot of my best evangelistic moments have started with asking either of these simple questions: “Are you baptized?” and “Has your child been baptized?” So let us all commit to asking these simple evangelistic questions among the people of our relational circles more often. And let us always pray to God for guidance concerning who and when to ask these questions.

Together in Christ’s Mission, Pastor Tim

PASTOR TIM’S ANNUAL REPORT

Over the past several years at Mt. Olive, we’ve been engaging with our community in new ways, especially through our annual Vacation Bible School and Trunk or Treat events. We are also in the beginning stages of a new relationship with Trail Life USA. And with Justin Tagawa’s input on our church council, we are looking into new ways we can utilize our church property for mission and ministry within our Crescenta Valley community.

In addition to all of this, we’ve started an outreach Bible study at Panera Bread Restaurant in La Cañada every third Saturday at 8:30am. We also have a Meetup.com page for this special Bible study, and we’ve had three Bible study participants join us from this social media page so far.

Regarding worship, we are rotating between three liturgies throughout the year: ELW 2, ELW 4 (which is basically LBW 2), and Victory Feast. Jim Tagawa has formed the Cross Street Kids group with our little ones, and they have presented various musical offerings for worship several times this past year. We continue to be blessed to have Sean Paxton and Angela Zelaya direct our choirs. Rita Kubela and the Sanctuary Decorations Committee continue to decorate the sanctuary for our annual cycles of worship. Furthermore, we are also holding joint worship services with Lutheran Church in the Foothills (LCIF) for Ash Wednesday and Thanksgiving Eve each year on a rotating basis.

Lastly but most importantly, we continue to faithfully offer Christ to and for all people. Our clear message to the Crescenta Valley community continues to be the following:

God loves you, and he has poured out his love for you in and through Jesus Christ. By his sacrificial death and resurrection life, Christ renews your life.

At Mt. Olive Lutheran Church we continue to proclaim Christ crucified for us and for all people. Visitors to Mt. Olive find God with his people. Every Sunday morning at 9:30am they find a grace-filled encounter with God through the Holy Word and Blessed Sacrament of Jesus our Lord, as well as through sacred prayers, time-honored hymns and spiritual songs. Moreover, every week at our midweek Bible study, and every third Saturday at our outreach Bible study at Panera, people find personal connection and spiritual relationship with each other around the Word of God within the Holy Scriptures.

May the love, grace and peace of Christ our Lord be with all of you!

Respectfully Submitted in the Name of Jesus Christ, Pastor Tim

2025 JUBILEE

The biblical observance of a Jubilee Year is a special Divinely-sanctioned year of universal forgiveness of debts and pardon for sins. In the Old Testament the Jubilee Year is mentioned to occur every 50th year, during which financial indebtedness would be forgiven, prisoners would be pardoned, and slaves would be freed. In Leviticus 25, the Lord God Almighty commands that the Jubilee Year shall be a holy year, stating, “Thou shalt proclaim remission to all the inhabitants of thy land: for it is the year of jubilee” (25:10).

Regulating property rights was also included in the Jubilee observance found in the Book of Leviticus, and everyone was supposed to return to their family property in the Year of Jubilee. Moreover, the Jubilee Year was to be a time of reconciliation between adversaries and of personal conversion to faith in God.

As I write this newsletter article, it’s still the Season of Advent and it’s five days before Christmas Day. We have just finished our “Mary, Did You Know?” series for our midweek Advent services, and my mind is already turning to the New Year ahead. After contemplating the biblical answer to the question “Mary, did you know?” over the past several weeks of Advent, my mind is starting to shift to the themes of the various liturgical seasons of the Church calendar in 2025. And my prayer is that 2025 will be a year of personal, spiritual, national, and global Jubilee for all of us.

I pray that 2025 will be a year of Jubilee in our hearts, Jubilee in our homes, Jubilee among our friends and family, Jubilee for our city and state, Jubilee for our nation, and Jubilee for our whole world.

Just as Mary could not have known early in Jesus’ life that he would be the One and Only to give himself as the perfect offering of atonement for all humanity; and just as Mary (the woman uniquely graced by God to bear the Son of God) once held the infant Jesus in her arms while not knowing that she would one day hold his lifeless body in her arms at the foot of Jesus’ cross, as he thereby completed the once-and-for-all-time sacrificial offering for our infinite atonement and eternal life; and just as Mary could not have known that, after all the terror and death of Jesus’ crucifixion, she and many others would find his tomb to be empty on the morning of the third day, and they would encounter the risen Lord Jesus many times before his Heavenly Ascension, which brought ultimate victory over sin, death and the devil; and just as Mary and the Apostles could not have had detailed foreknowledge of the universal Jubilee of God’s salvation through Jesus’ death and resurrection, we too do not know all of what God has in store for us in this Year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and Twenty-five, and in the years to come beyond it.

For as the Word of God declares within the Holy Scriptures, “Things no eye has seen and no ear has heard, that have not entered the heart of humankind — these things God has prepared for those who love him” (First Corinthians 2:9). Amen! And thanks be to God!

Happy New Year & Jubilee Blessings!!! Pastor Tim

STEWARDSHIP & THE MIRACLE MAKER

In chapter 12 of the Gospel of Mark, Jesus addressed the subject of temple offerings. The following is from Mark 12:41-43…

He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury.”

Of course, Jesus is not saying that we should give to the work of God’s Kingdom to the point of financial hardship. Rather, he is saying that those who give out of their abundant wealth are not giving as much as those with far less wealth who give a lesser amount. In other words, Jesus is simply praising the generous spirit of the poor widow over and against the less generous spirit of the rich elite of Jerusalem.

While Jesus is not advocating for our impoverishment in Mark 12, he is certainly advocating for us to be as generous as possible (without material injury to ourselves) for the work of the ministry of God’s Kingdom for all people. Because of God’s unlimited grace for us in Christ Jesus our Lord, we are free to joyfully and cheerfully give whatever it is that we have pledged to the mission and ministry of our “temple” congregation, Mt. Olive Lutheran Church. For that’s what it says in Second Corinthians 9:7, where it says, “Each of you must give as you have made up your own mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

ALL that we have and ALL that we are (absolutely everything) comes from God and belongs to God. From the Christian perspective, we are not owners but only stewards of all that the Creator gives to us — our lives, families, possessions, labor, income and talents. Therefore, everything that we have and everything that we are is to serve the glory of God for the sake of the world.

So, it’s not that we give a certain percentage to the work of God, and the rest is ours. No, it’s that 100% belongs to God, and we are to be good stewards of his 100%, including our offerings to our congregation. It is all from God anyway, and so it’s all in service of God’s Kingdom here in our earthly lives as a sweet foretaste of our heavenly lives to come. In other words, stewardship is everything we do after we say we believe. And stewardship is also the first things that we do. It’s the first fruits of our lives; the first fruits of everything.

“First fruits” means that we dedicate a certain amount of our time, talents and income to the work of God first thing — right off the top. For example, our Sunday worship service is the first fruits of our time each week, which is the morning of the very first day of the week. For another example, the Lord’s Prayer prayed each morning as we’re still sitting on the side of our bed (first thing) is a powerful first fruits practice. And of course, cheerfully giving a pledged amount of our income every pay period (first thing, right off the top) is a fundamental first fruits spiritual discipline.

Giving a set pledged amount to the work of God within our community of faith first thing off the top — rather than the last thing from the bottom dregs — is an act of worship that is multiplied by the offerings of others. As our Lord Jesus miraculously multiplied the loaves and fishes, we need to remember that it’s not for us to perform the miracle but it’s only for us to offer the five loaves and two fish. From everlasting to everlasting, the Lord God Almighty is the Miracle Maker and the Source of all that is, both seen and unseen.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, eternal world without end! Amen!

Together in Christ, Pastor Tim

PLANTING TREES

There is no doubt that we live in a time of colossal and world-shattering change: socially, religiously, culturally, nationally, globally, etcetera. It is indeed the end of the world as we know it.

Historians have recognized that approximately every five hundred years human civilization goes through some kind of major transition from an older structure of things to a new one, and it sure feels like that’s exactly what’s happening in our time. In fact, the last major civilizational shift was the Protestant Reformation, five hundred years ago, when Martin Luther and the other Protestant Reformers sparked this world-changing transfiguration through their reforms of the Medieval Roman Church.

Today, the world as we have known it is rapidly being replace by an emerging reality that is not yet fully clear. Consequently, speculations of the various end times theologies and ideologies abound. And due to the influential pre-millennial theology of the Left Behind novels, some Christians have started to regard any global peacemaking initiative as automatically some kind of great antichrist deception.

Consequently, such Christians (in the name of Jesus) often orient themselves against work for international peace and reconciliation because their Left Behind theology says that such work is always secretly on the side of the evil one. However, our Lord Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9). And when Martin Luther was asked what he would do today if he knew the world would end tomorrow, Luther said, “I would plant a tree.”

In other words, even if we knew that tomorrow the world was going to end and the Kingdom of God was going to come in its fullness, we are called to never stop planting “trees” today (both literally and metaphorically). That is, we are to especially plant the metaphorical trees of peace and truth and grace today, no matter what God has in store tomorrow.

God’s people are to always and continually take part in the creative and redeeming work of God today and every day! By the grace and power of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, we are to plant trees of faith in the midst of fear, trees of hope against all hope, and trees of righteousness and peace. And of course, we are to not forget to plant real trees that give us oxygen and help regulate the balance of life on God’s green Earth. Therefore, to prescribe and do anything other than this is to be “anti” (against) Christ.

As our Lord Jesus declares in Matthew 25:31-46, we are called to continue to labor to make the world a better place right up to the great Day of the Lord, the great Second Advent of Jesus Christ. By God’s grace, we are to continue to work (right up to the very moment of Christ’s return) to ease human suffering, to promote equal treatment under law, and, of course, to be peacemakers in the name of Yeshua (Jesus) our Eternal Savior.

Together in Christ, Pastor Tim

JESUS & MATZAH BREAD

During the festival of Pesach (Passover), our Jewish brothers and sisters around the world connect themselves to one of the greatest stories ever told by celebrating the Seder, which is an interactive dinner where the events of the Exodus from Egypt are retold. And for Christians, this annual liturgical meal also points to Mashiach Yeshua (Christ Jesus), and this is perhaps in no place more clearly illustrated than in the tradition of hiding the broken afikoman matzah bread (also spelled afikomen).

For the uninitiated, one of the traditions of the Passover Seder Meal is a special bag called a matzah tash that has three compartments, each containing a whole matzah (unleavened bread). The tradition is to take the middle matzah out and break it in half. Half of the matzah is placed back in the matzah tash, but the other half is wrapped in a linen napkin. This piece is called the afikoman (from the Greek epikomon), meaning “that which comes after,” and it’s considered a substitute for the ancient Passover sacrifice which was the last thing eaten at the Passover Seder during the historical eras of the First and Second Jerusalem Temples. The afikoman is then hidden by an adult for the duration of the first part of the Seder, and after dinner the children search for it and bring it back to their parents to be redeemed for a prize. Traditionally, the Seder cannot end until the afikoman is found.

The searching and finding of the afikoman is a beloved Passover tradition, but Judaism has no authoritative explanation as to the origin or the meaning of the afikoman. A number of diverse and often conflicting theories have emerged over the centuries. One tradition holds that the three pieces of matzah represent the three casts of Judaism: the Israelites, the Levites, and the Kohanim (the Priests). Another theory is that the three matzah breads represent Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But these are later innovations; they are not mentioned in either the Mishnah or the Talmud (the authoritative writings of Rabbinic Judaism).

Moreover, why is the middle matzah broken? What would breaking the Priests or Isaac accomplish? Some rabbis believe that breaking the matzah represents the splitting of the Red Sea, but if that’s the case why is a half piece of the ocean hidden away? Lastly, one tradition even says that the afikoman is hidden so that it doesn’t get eaten by accident before the meal is over.

Of course, none of these theories are truly authoritative or satisfying. However, there is one other explanation that makes perfect sense, and it ties all of the symbolism together and tells a cohesive story.

First presented by Austrian-Jewish scholar Robert Eisler in 1925, the most coherent explanation of the tradition of the afikoman was likely conceived by the First Century Jewish followers of Mashiach Yeshua (Christ Jesus) and that the afikoman is a symbol of Jesus himself. In fact, the very texture of the matzah bread and the way it’s prepared is indicative of Jesus. Matzah has stripes burned into it from the oven rack and it must be pierced with holes to prevent it from rising. In the same way, our Lord Yeshua was literally striped by the lashes of a whip, and he was pierced by nails and a spear.

In addition, the three compartments of the one matzah bag represent the three ways we experience the One Almighty God as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit — our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. And the middle matzah (representing the Son of God) is broken, just as Yeshua our Savior was broken for us (see Isaiah 53). And after his death on the cross, Yeshua’s body was wrapped in a linen shroud and buried away for three days until his resurrection. So too, the afikoman is wrapped in a linen cloth and hidden until the end of the Passover Seder Meal.

When the meal ends, the children search for the afikoman to gain the prize that comes from finding it. In this act, the salvation and redemption that comes through the sacrificial offering of the Divine Messiah is illustrated. And how fitting it is that it’s the children who seek the afikoman, for Jesus taught that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these (Matt 19:14) and that we all must become like little children to enter the Kingdom (Matt 18:3). And just as the Seder cannot end until the afikoman is found, the Kingdom of God will not be established in its fullness until the great return of The Universal Afikoman (Jesus the Messiah).

Now it’s true that the word “afikoman” is often translated as “that which comes after,” but according to Prof. David Daube (a preeminent Twentieth Century scholar of Biblical law) a better origin and definition of afikoman is the Greek word aphikomenos which means “the one who has arrived.” And of course, if nothing else, we know that our risen Lord Yeshua is with us always, and that he has identified the matzah bread of the Passover with his very own body and mystical presence. For at his Last Supper (his Passover Seder that he ate before he suffered) Jesus took the matzah, gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to all of them, saying, “This is my body, which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of me” (First Corinthians 11:24).

Together in Christ, Pastor Tim

THE ASSEMBLY OF WORSHIP

United by their distaste and suspicion of Jesus, the Pharisees and Herodians approached him with some false flattery: “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality.” Then they asked him a cynical trick question that was meant to trap him: “Now, tell us, is it lawful to pay taxes to the Emperor, or not?” And by “lawful” they of course were referring to the biblical Torah.

If Jesus had said to his fellow Jews that they should pay the imperial tax and support the Roman world order, then he would have allied himself with a totalitarian power that was robbing Israel of its sovereignty and was killing Jews. However, if Jesus had said that Jews should not pay taxes to the international imperial world order, then it would have been seen as sedition against the Roman Empire. This gotcha question was a perfect trap: “Is it Torah to pay taxes to the Emperor, or not?” So in response, Jesus answered them by calling attention to the image of the Emperor on a coin, and he famously declared, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21).

You see, Jesus very cleverly threw the question back at the Pharisees and Herodians, and his shrewd answer raises a very important issue for his followers throughout the centuries unto today’s day and age. It reminds us that we cannot worship both the Lord our God and “Caesar” as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. That is, we cannot simultaneously follow the ways of the Spirit and the ways of the flesh (as the Bible puts it). In other words, we cannot put our trust in the Lord and in the world at the same time. It’s a transgression of the First Commandment.

For example, even the modern-day Church of Jesus Christ has fallen into this trap within its worship life for almost a half century. For decades now, large swaths of the Church have drifted afield from the liturgical worship of Jesus and his Apostles that’s rooted in the worship of the ancient biblical Temple. For at least 40+ years, congregations of the Church have served a worldly concept of worship, calling it “Entertainment Evangelism.” Diminishing the importance of the Sacraments of Christ, Church congregations have even put sanctuary altars on wheels so they can be easily moved, or they have gotten rid of their altars altogether, turning the chancel of the congregational sanctuary into a performance stage. Indeed, for far too many years, we’ve seen concert hall worship spaces and personality cult preachers, which turns divine worship into a theater and the congregation into a mere audience. And what has the Church gotten from selling-out its great and holy birthright for a bowl of entertainment culture porridge?

So, what is worship all about? Is it entertainment or is it something much higher?

In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader from the The Chronicles of Narnia saga, the central character of Aslan tells the four Pevensie children and their cousin the reason why they were brought to Narnia. As he is sending them back to our realm, Aslan says to them, “This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.” And this beautiful dialogue powerfully illustrates why we assemble for worship in the holy sanctuary of our congregation. That is, we assemble for worship and fellowship so that by knowing Christ in the worshipping assembly for a little bit each week at Mt. Olive, we thereby may know him better out in the world.

This is why I dislike the phrase “I’m going to Church.” This is because we do not “go” to Church; rather, we ARE the Church. We may “go” to worship for our weekly Sunday assembly, and then “go” from our weekly gathering to serve, but we don’t “go” to Church because we ARE the Church. In other words, we go to worship in order to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed and receive the Living Christ in bread and wine. Yes, as we assemble each week in person-to-person living community and access the powerful means of God’s grace (the Word and Sacrament), we are strengthened to go live daily God-conscious lives and to do the work of ministry in the world around us. For it says the following in Ephesians 4…

“The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints [that’s all of us] for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.”

(Ephesians 4: 11-13)

Therefore, in-person assembly for worship and fellowship on Sunday is our weekly Narnia. God’s love and grace communicated through Word and Sacrament and fellowship is that which calls us, gathers us, strengthens us, equips us and sends us “for the work of ministry” (Eph. 4:12a) out in the everyday world of our daily lives. Therefore, as we read further in Ephesians 4…

“We must no longer be children… we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.”

(Ephesians 4:14-16)

Together in Christ’s Body, Pastor Tim

THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS

This year, St. Valentine’s Day falls on Ash Wednesday. So in 2024, we essentially have an annual celebration of love wrapped up together with an annual commemoration of mortality. Consequently, this strange juxtaposition of the romance of Valentine’s Day with the solemnity of Ash Wednesday highlights the fact that this world is often a mixed bag of the joyous and the sorrowful, the wholesome and the broken. In fact, we’ve seen this mixed-bag reality on stark display within current events, both nationally and internationally. Moreover, the Bible readings for our Sunday worship services recently have been focused on Jesus’ spiritual warfare against evil spiritual forces. Therefore, we’re reminded by everything I just mentioned above that our world’s physical conflicts, both locally and globally, are actually reflections of immense spiritual conflicts.

Throughout the Four Gospels of the New Testament, we see our Lord Jesus on the march against the demonic forces that oppress and bedevil humanity. From town to town, and from synagogue to synagogue, we see Jesus in the Gospels continually on the move to cast out demons and bring us healing. And it’s not insignificant that Jesus often used the setting of a synagogue as the arena of his spiritual combat. For even the meaning of the word synagogue has something to say about this.

Although the word synagogue describes a Jewish congregation of faith, it’s actually a word of Greek origin due to the widespread Greco-Roman influence on the ancient Mediterranean world. So, synagogue literally means “together bring” or “together gather.” And this is like other such words with the “syn“ prefix: words like synthesis (meaning “together stated” or “together put forth”) and synod (meaning “together path” or “together journey”). So, over and over in the New Testament, we see Jesus moving ever onward to synagogue with us (to “gather together” with us) and to synod with us (to “journey together” with us) in order to engage with the demonic forces of the spiritual realm, and to heal us with the good news of mercy and redemptive love freely granted to us in faith by his sacrificial death and resurrection life.

Furthermore, Jesus does this healing and restoring of our souls through three principle ways: 1) through his teachings, 2) through his forgiveness, and 3) through his rebuking of evil spiritual forces. That is, Jesus synagogues with us and synods with us in order to provide us with the deep personal healing of his Divine Guidance (his teachings), of his Divine Absolution (his forgiveness of sins), and of his Divine Authority (his absolute sovereignty over all spiritual powers). So just as Yahweh-God in the Old Testament rebuked the waves of the Red Sea to lead the Israelites into freedom, our Lord Jesus Christ also rebukes the demonic disorder and chaos of our world in order to restore us to the right-guidance and wholeness of God’s goodness. For example, when Jesus was confronted with someone who had an impure spirit in Mark 1, he immediately silenced this corrupt spirit and cast it out. And he did so with no magical incantation; no wizarding spell or potion; no sorcerer’s abracadabra. It’s simply because of his Divine Authority as the Son of God through his Word of Command.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we all know that the year ahead is going to be a conflicted one because of a very contentious US Presidential election and a very unstable global system. But as Christians, we also know that all of these things are physical manifestations of the much larger spiritual warfare that is being fought. Yet we have a Commander and Champion who has absolute authority, always provoking and exposing any and all unclean spirits that vie for our hearts and minds — any and all impure philosophies or theologies or spiritualities we might have.

Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, constantly challenges any and all bad ideologies so that we might be healed from these demonic spirits. For Jesus wants us to be rightly-guided by the good order and original blessing that God intended for us and his whole creation from the very beginning of it all. He wants us to synagogue together and to synod together (“gather together” and “journey together”) according to his Word, knowing that whenever we begin speaking and sharing Jesus’ good news of his grace and truth to seek and save the lost ones of our world then that’s when the unclean spirits can be provoked and stirred-up. But our Lord Jesus Christ himself commands these unclean spirits to “Be silent!” and to “Come out!” By the Divine Authority of his Holy Word and the Divine Power of his Holy Spirit, our Lord Jesus frees us from the disorder and chaos of the various demonic forces we encounter within this fallen and sinful world, and he restores us by his grace (over and over again) unto his original blessing — unto the good order, wholeness and true fulfillment of God’s uncorrupted intention for his creation.

Together in Christ, Pastor Tim

REFORMATION HOPE IN CHRIST

Martin Luther, the great evangelical catholic theologian and Sixteenth Century reformer of the Church, lived in a time of colossal challenges and hardships. In addition to the many troubles Martin Luther experienced due to his efforts to increase Biblical literacy, promote Christian revival, and reform the entrenched corruption of the Church of Rome and the Holy Roman Empire, Martin and Katie his wife also lost two of their six children (probably due to the plague) during their life together: first their infant daughter (Elizabeth Luther) died at only 7 months old, and then years later their teenage daughter (Magdalena Luther) died at 13 years old. Moreover, Europe was under constant attack by the Turkish Ottoman Empire, and there was populist unrest and revolt all over the place.

Martin Luther lived in extremely uncertain times, and it’s very unlikely in the year 1523 that Luther could have foreseen with any amount of certainty how all of his work would ultimately turn out. In that early Sixteenth Century timeframe (a pivotal time of immense transition from the Late Medieval era to the Renaissance era), Martin Luther’s evangelical catholic reformation of the Church was not a steady and glorious march of gospel revival and spiritual restoration. Indeed, it was never smooth going. Rather, it was messy, and it had its share of radicalism and extremism. However, one thing was for sure, it was quite clear that something a lot bigger than one person, a lot bigger than even the great Martin Luther, was taking place.

Furthermore, all of this socio-political and religious turmoil wasn’t happening in a technological vacuum. For it was a time of new technologies such as the printing press. It was a time in which an innovator who was a mathematician, astronomer and Church canon lawyer, named Nicolaus Copernicus, published his great scientific work that kicked Planet Earth out of the center of the Solar System. It was also a time in which the map of the globe was growing increasingly extensive and detailed, being charted by the expanding empires of Portugal and Spain.

What new kind of world was emerging out of all this? Which aspects of all this great change were good and righteous and constructive? Which aspects of all this change were destructive, unrighteous and demonic? How was God’s Holy Spirit calling, gathering and enlightening his Church for such times as this?

Today, 500 years on from Martin Luther in 1523, in this Year of our Lord 2023, we the modern-day Church of Jesus Christ find ourselves living through a similarly pivotal time of colossal challenges. We are still trying to help our youth climb out of the developmental stagnation they endured resulting from the unprecedented “stay at home” directives, requiring them to do school and learn, to build relationships and develop life skills, all from their bedroom desks on laptops and tablets. And sadly, we are still contending with old radical ideologies that have been repackaged for our digital era, causing great harm in their wake.

Additionally, the tried and true principles of life and liberty, of family and faith, and so on, are all under tremendous pressure. New technologies and discoveries are wiring us up and plugging us in (whether we like it or not) for both good and ill. Our technology can be used to keep us informed and connected, but this technology is also used to keep us propagandized and contained.

So yes, something new is emerging, and the world is changing at a lightning pace. But the question always remains: Which changes are good and Godly, healthy and constructive, and which changes are not?

I believe God is still calling and shaping us, his Holy Church, to be faithful witnesses within the world that is presently emerging, no matter what the cost to us might be. We just need to be enlightened and shaped by God’s grace and truth, first and foremost, and to be ready and willing to answer God’s call.

Forever secure in God who is “our refuge and strength” (Psalm 46:1) we can be bold in our witness of the good news of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. For as Jesus declares to his disciples of all times and places, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

Together in Christ, Pastor Tim