Tag: Salvation by Grace through Faith

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

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