Wisdom from Gregory the Great

"Thus is was that Nathan the Prophet, come to chide the king, to all appearance asked his judgment in the case of a poor man against a rich man.  The king first was to deliver judgment and then to hear that he was the culprit.  Thus he was completely unable to gainsay the just sentence which he had personally delivered against himself.  Therefore, the holy man, considering both the sinner and the king, aimed in that wonderful manner at convicting a bold culprit first by his own admission, and then cut him by his rebuke.  For a short while he concealed the person whom he was aiming at, and then at once struck him when he had convicted him.  His stroke would, perhaps, have had less force, if he had chosen to castigate the sin directly the moment he began to speak; but by beginning with a similitude, he sharpened the rebuke which he was concealing.  He came like a physician to a sick man, saw that his wound had to be incised, but was in doubt about the endurance of the patient.  He, therefore, concealed the surgeon's knife under his coat, but drawing it out suddenly, pierced the wound, that the sick man might feel the knife before he saw it, for if he had first seen it, he might have refused to feel it."

- St. Gregory the Great, 'Pastoral Care' Part III, Chapter 2.

Holy Week Schedule

Greetings friends,

Tomorrow is the start of Holy Week, and I wanted to be sure to post this info for anyone interested!

Zion Lutheran Church is located at 3401 E River Rd., Mt. Pleasant, MI.

Christ The King Lutheran Chapel (CTK) is at 1401 S Washington St., Mt. Pleasant, MI

Palm Sunday - April 17
8:00am @ Zion - Service w/ Holy Communion (this is also the Confirmation service)
9:15am @ Zion - Confirmation Reception instead of usual Bible study
10:15am @ Zion - Service w/ Holy Communion
11:45am @ CTK - Service w/ Holy Communion
7:00pm @ CTK - Student Bible Study
8:00pm @ CTK - Lutheran Student Fellowship meeting w/ officer elections

Wednesday April 20
7:30pm @ CTK - Spoken Service w/ Holy Communion
8:00pm @ CTK - Student Bible Study on Hebrews 11

Maundy Thursday - April 21
4:30pm @ Zion - Maundy Thursday Service w/ Holy Communion
7:30pm @ CTK - Maundy Thursday Service w/ Holy Communion

Good Friday - April 22
1:00pm @ Zion - Good Friday Service
3:00pm @ CTK - Good Friday Service

Easter Sunday - April 24
7:00am @ Zion - Sunrise Service w/ Holy Communion
8:00am @ Zion - Zion Youth Group hosts Easter Breakfast
10:15am @ Zion - Easter Service w/ Holy Communion
11:45am @ CTK - Easter Service w/ Holy Communion
7:00pm @ CTK - Student Bible Study

Myths about Death

One of my classmates from seminary wrote a fantastic article for the current Lutheran Witness on why Easter matters.

You can find it here.

It was a few church newsletter articles ago that I spoke of death and the issue of Christian funerals, and this certainly says it better than I did.  Please go have a look for yourself!

Newsletter article for April 2011

“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us

(for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’).”

Galatians 3:13

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in the Gospel of Matthew, our Lord warns us to be on the watch for false prophets who come to us in sheep’s clothing (Mat. 7:15). In the epistle to the Romans, St. Paul instructs us to mark and avoid those who cause divisions, who put up obstacles, and who teach contrary to the teachings of the apostles (Rom. 16:17). To put it simply, false teachers and their false teachings are spiritually dangerous for God’s people, and Scripture takes them very seriously.

A lot of false teaching about God is quite simple to spot. When the creation displaces the Creator as the center of worship, false teaching is present. When words are added to or removed from Holy Scripture, false teaching is present. When Scripture is twisted to justify sinful behavior, and what is evil is treated as if it were good, false teaching is surely present.

Unfortunately, not all false teaching reveals itself so plainly to God’s people. The opposite of the truth is certainly falsehood, but when it comes to the Christian faith, the issue of error is not simply a two-way street. The ancient word the church has used for false teaching is heresy, a Greek word meaning ‘choice’. To the early Christians (and to us!) it is not a matter of choice. There is only one Christ – one way, one truth, one life – and no one comes to the Father except through him.

False teaching often points to and quotes the Scriptures for support. Just a few weeks ago in Sunday’s Gospel reading on the Temptation of Jesus, the devil himself quoted Scripture in an attempt to lead Jesus into sinning against his Father in heaven. Jesus’ better knowledge of Scripture refuted the devil, but it also reveals the cunning depths to which Satan will go in search of prey.

The reason I am writing about false teaching is to bring to your attention a particular teaching that is becoming more and more mainstream in Christianity, even though it is ultimately a false teaching. This newer teaching is a refinement of classical universalism. Classical universalism claims that all people will end up in the same place when we die because of a universal reconciliation between humanity and the divine, regardless of what anyone believes about the divine. While there is no simple label for this new teaching (perhaps, ‘Universalism through Jesus’), the major difference is that it is more specific in its teaching that classical universalism. In this new teaching, Jesus’ death and resurrection is the universal reconciliation between humanity and the divine, and all will go to heaven because of Jesus, regardless of whether or not they have faith in Christ. For us in the Lutheran church, faith in Christ is essential to salvation. Through faith, we are saved by grace (Eph. 2:8-9). This new teaching is appealing, especially to those who have less experience discerning false teachers and their teachings. Even those theologically trained can be lured into it, because it is so focused on God’s love and forgiveness.

I mention this because this new teaching has found a very strong and influential voice in Rob Bell, the founding pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, a non-denominational church which over 10,000 people attend on a weekly basis. A brief search on the internet will bring forth multiple reviews and opinions on Bell’s books and teachings, both positive and negative. I encourage you to read some of them for yourself as they go into greater depth than we can in a newsletter article.

For now, here is an example from Bell’s teaching. When it comes to answering the question, ‘Why did Jesus die?’ St. Paul in Galatians teaches that Christ became a curse for us by hanging on the tree (the cross). Bell answers, ‘You don’t confront corrupt systems of power without paying for it.’ As one of my seminary professors put it, Bell treats Jesus’ death as an ‘execution,’ but not a judgment from God against sin. It is close to the truth, but not quite the truth. When it comes to the meaning of the resurrection, Bell teaches that, ‘God has not given up on the world,’ and we are therefore to, ‘trust resurrection.’ Lutherans would say that we are to trust Jesus, whose resurrection from the dead opens the door of eternal life to all who believe.

Bell and his extremely media-savvy congregation have become, for many churches, the ‘go-to’ source for youth ministry resources such as videos, Bible studies, and books. It is for this reason that I draw your attention to Bell’s teachings – I encourage our children, youth, and college students to take advantage of Bible study opportunities whenever they can. Sometimes that means going with their friends to another church for youth group or Vacation Bible School. However, Lutheran parents may want to consider taking some time to talk with their children about what they learn at other churches. Is Rob Bell’s teaching prevalent at this church? You will not know unless you ask. What better way to speak with your children about what you believe and why you believe it? As always, your pastors are always available to help out!

To Christ alone be all the glory, forever and ever, amen.

Reason #439 why LUTHERAN Campus Ministry matters...

Have you ever wondered where young Lutherans disappear to when they leave the church and don't come back?  There's not one simple answer or place, but here's an example worth checking out.
This quotation speaks for itself:

It was during my sophomore year of college when my life changed forever. That year, I began to attend an on-campus Christian fellowship group—His House Christian Fellowship. I had been baptized as a baby into the Christian faith by Bethlehem Lutheran Church, but because this baptism was done before I understood what it meant to be a Christian, I had myself baptized a second time at age 20 to make a personal commitment to God.

How have we failed this young man?  I met him once, when he stopped by the chapel hoping I would read his book (I haven't, yet), and possibly hoping I'd recommend it to others.  He claimed to be Lutheran, but how do you reconcile rebaptism with Lutheran theology - either he understands one or the other.

I don't have a lot of time to theologize what happened, but here's a man raised in an LCMS congregation who attended a university with a thriving LCMS Campus Ministry *right in the middle of campus*.  You can walk from the church he mentions in his testimony to the chapel I serve in about 12 minutes.  For some reason, however, he began attending another church (I don't know whether he ever attended Christ The King Lutheran Chapel) and began believing what this other church teaches (in other words, he fell for the anabaptist heresy condemned in the Concordia).  I can't speculate as to the reason(s), there could be many.  If he reads this, perhaps he will respond, who knows.  I had long been searching for his story after seeing it once years ago, and am glad to have found it and hope it finds its way to other Lutherans so that they see what we are up against.

The Humanists are advertising now...ho hum...

One of two things are true.  Either the economy is so robust right now that a group of humanists has spare cash on hand to spend on humanist advertisements, or humanists believe so strongly in their cause that they will sacrificially give toward its promotion even when things aren't going so well.

I speak facetiously, but you can check it out for yourself: Humanists launch huge godless ad campaign

What to make of it?  Is it going to convince anyone?  Unlikely, but it is revealing that when humanism attacks Christianity (it also attacks Judaism and Islam in this case, but they can speak for themselves), it usually makes some kind of moral argument.  The message in this case is loud and clear: picking and choosing passages from the Bible that depict God acting and/or speaking immorally and contrasting those passages with quotations from 'humanists' that show a higher morality gives credence to the idea that belief in God is not the morally superior option.

There are plenty of responses available to Christians.  Some would be tempted to respond to the accusations directly, perhaps trying to justify God's words or actions based on the specifics of the situation or the bigger picture of God's unquestionable justice.  That's a lot of work, and even if it's true, it doesn't address the major issues we should have with the image of Christianity that these advertisements address.  Others might posit that the humanists employ a flawed hermeneutical formula (interpretive lens) when it comes to Scripture.  Still others could ask probing questions about the presuppositional bias of the humanists themselves.  What is the basis for the employed standard of morality?  How is it possible to approve the conduct or attitude of one over another in the absence of an absolute and unchanging moral standard?  Is an unchanging, absolute moral standard even possible apart from a supreme authority who gives and upholds it?  Even still, though, it all avoids bringing the discussion to the proper place.

The point of Christianity is not that we live moral lives.  It is not that we work to improve our moral conduct throughout our life.  It is not even to have the perfect moral code nor is it to attain moral perfection. 

We have an enormous problem called sin.  We cannot conquer our sinfulness nor can we perfectly keep it from expressing itself in sinful deeds.  We all fail in light of God's moral code (which is, incidentally, perfect - because it is from God).  We are all the hypocrites we are accused of being in that we hold up one moral standard and our actions fall short. 

The point of Christianity is for you to live with God forever.  How is this possible?  Not by having a perfect moral code nor by living perfectly morally, but by faith.  The Father, in the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus of Nazareth, forgives the moral failings of the world.  They are ascribed to Jesus and on account of them Jesus suffered and died.  The Son of God did not stay dead, however; death has no dominion over him.  Jesus rose from the dead to the glory of God the Father to demonstrate to all his power over sin, death, and the devil.  By the power of the Holy Spirit we are called, gathered, enlightened, and sanctified in the one, holy, Christian and apostolic Church.  God mercifully forgives our sins and graciously gives us everlasting life.

So do the Humanists have a point?  Do they really show people the fallacy of faith in Christ with their advertising and self-promotion?  Of course not.  What they uphold is utterly pathetic in light of what true Christianity proclaims and teaches.  The point of Christianity is everlasting life, and God grants this by forgiving immoral humanity on account of his perfect Son. 

What humanistic teaching can compare with this?  When a humanist fails (and they most surely do), they become just as hypocritical as the failed Christian.  Then what?  Is he or she excommunicated from humanism?  Are they no longer permitted to be humanists?  Of course not - humanism will usually rewrite its moral code to encompass this now 'enlightened' conduct and justify it to the world.  It gets old and tiring.  With God, the moral code does not change even when everyone fails to uphold it.  We all want to uphold it, and we even hope to improve our conduct throughout our lives, but at the same time we acknowledge our human limitations.  The problem is not with the Law, but with the failing people.  Thankfully with God, the remedy to cure failing humanity also never changes - forgiveness from the Father is ours through the death and resurrection of Christ, which is delivered to us through the Means of Grace by the Holy Spirit!

Last Sunday of the Church Year Sermon 2010

With thanks to the Rev. Rick Stuckwisch for helping with the end!

Do Not Weep for Me

Luke 23:27-43

26th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 29 C, 2010)

Zion Lutheran Church

Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Pastor Jonathon Bakker

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. The Holy Scripture for our consideration this day is the Gospel reading from St. Luke which you just heard read.

And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him. But Jesus, turning to them, said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!' Then they will begin ‘to say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!”’ For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?" There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots. And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.” The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.” And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

‘Do not weep for me, daughters of Jerusalem, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed.’ Is this that day, dear brothers and sisters in Christ? Do we cry out for the mountains to fall on us, or for the hills to cover us?

Today is the last Sunday of the church year – the Sunday of the Fulfillment. Often on this Sunday we have heard the parable of the wise and foolish virgins – they are the basis for the sermon hymn. Today’s text is quite different. When Jesus taught the parables of the fig tree, of the wise and foolish virgins, and of the sheep and the goats, he was already in Jerusalem, but there was much more to take place before his betrayal, arrest, trial, and crucifixion. When our Lord speaks today, he is trudging along the path toward Golgotha; Simon of Cyrene is already carrying his cross. He is bleeding, wounded, and dying. The scourging torture he suffered at the hands of Herod’s men had sapped him of the strength to carry his own cross. He did not have much time to tell a dramatic parable.

His chosen 12 had all but abandoned him. John alone is said to have been with Jesus at the cross. At this point of our Lord’s life he was speaking to crowds of followers, but not the apostles. It is unlikely that they would have heard many of his teachings or parables before. Not only was his time short, but the hearers were unfamiliar. There were women among the multitudes lamenting him and mourning for him.

‘Do not weep for me, daughters of Jerusalem.’ It sounds comforting, but our Lord is not trying to comfort them – far from it. This is a warning, a dire warning, to a people oblivious to the signs around them. ‘Weep for yourselves and for your children.’ On the surface, things are well. The condemnation of Jesus actually made friends of King Herod and Pontius Pilate, and even the temple was being rebuilt. Things were not well, however. That which drove the Son of Man to Golgotha was also at work in every man, woman and child; as surely as Jesus would meet his death later that day upon the cross, the same end was in store for all of the people. It could not be avoided.

‘Behold,’ Jesus said, ‘the days are coming when they will say, “Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!” Then they will begin to say to the mountains, “Fall on us,” and to the hills, “Cover us.” For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?’ These are chilling words from Christ, and they are not spoken in fear or spite; he is simply foretelling what humanity can expect.

Have we reached those days? Do we cry out to the mountains and hills to smother us? Do we wish, for fear of what is to come for our children and grandchildren, that they had never been born?

Maybe not. Life is good. How many of us actually want for food or shelter? Maybe we wish we ate better and lived in homes that are bigger or nicer, but we are not starving or freezing to death. For the most part, our health is certainly acceptable too. Again, many of us would probably like to shed some pounds, or overcome this or that physical ailment, but we are not dying where we sit, either? Or are we?

That is an uncomfortable question, is it not? We like to believe that we have some measure of control over our lifestyle and life expectancy, but as Christians we must acknowledge that this is not, ultimately, in our hands. God alone numbers our days. We live as long he gives us, and no more.

It is a sobering thought, indeed, but the warning our Lord gave was about more than death. His own experience would be an icon of what could be expected for his followers. ‘If they do these things while the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?’

Green wood is newer wood, freshly cut. As it ages it dries. The older it gets, usually the drier it becomes. Green wood does not burn well, and if you try to build something with it, there is a good chance that the project will warp. Green branches and twigs are malleable; they flex when you bend them and spring back into shape. Dry branches are stiff and brittle; they will snap in two when you bend them. The one clear advantage green wood has over dry wood is that it is less likely to split when you drive a nail through it.

When Jesus is still preaching and teaching, the wood is green. The lessons and miracles are fresh. Many who witnessed his earthly ministry were still alive, and could testify to the magnificent healings, feedings, and actions he had done before them. It was one thing for him to claim to be God’s Son, but it was another to make that claim and then perform all those miracles.

If the wood was green before Jesus’ death, it quickly dried after. What could his followers expect? Better lives? Peaceful coexistence with the surrounding peoples? Three weeks ago, as we celebrated the festival of the Reformation, 58 Christians were slaughtered in Bagdad, Iraq by gunmen who called them infidels. Among the victims were men, women – some pregnant, and children. 70 others were injured. It would be an outrage were it to happen in this country, but it is the sad reality of life under the cross for our brothers and sisters in Christ in many places around the world. We live in relative peace here, where some of the worst things that will happen are vandals attacking our facilities, or the media making light of our beliefs, but we are living in a fantasy world if we believe that we have a privileged status in this land or anywhere in the world.

As long as sinful humanity populates the earth, the Gospel and its adherents will always be under attack. Not all attacks are physical; some are intellectual, or social. All attacks are spiritual, though, and the world, the devil, and our own sinful flesh will never give us a break. If they do these things while the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?

It gives new meaning to Jesus’ words. Do not weep for him; weep for yourselves. The days are coming when they will say, ‘blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ We pray that we would be delivered from such evil, but the answer to that prayer is only completed when Jesus returns in glory. We do see a glimpse of it, however, later on in this reading. Our Lord’s crucifixion is ordinarily accounted to us during Lent, but it is relevant every day of our lives.

In the reading we heard first about the weepers and the mourners. These people Jesus warned with the words I have repeated for you several times already. Next came the scoffers, the rulers, and one of the thieves crucified beside him. They ridiculed him, challenged him to take himself off the cross, and cast lots to divide his garments. He responded to them, too, praying on their behalf. ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ The last person we hear about is the other thief. He rebuked the first thief, ‘Do you not fear God, sin you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.’ And then he said to Jesus, ‘Remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ Jesus’ final response answers the thief’s prayer, and it provides the answer to our prayers as well. ‘Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.’

Jesus died shortly thereafter to fulfill that promise. Three days later he would rise from the dead to show that he was truly the Son of God as he had claimed all along. It is doubtful that many would have been weeping or mourning for the thief like they did for Jesus, but that does not matter; Jesus did not need the weeping or mourning either. He warned them because he knew what would follow his death. He came to establish a kingdom of forgiveness, and the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins is a scandal to the world. Your ancestry is not important in this kingdom, and your wealth is immaterial. Only the faith given by the Holy Spirit brings you into that kingdom and receives the gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation that are freely given by Christ. Not because you are faithful, but He is.

As he did for the thief, Jesus also remembers you as he comes to you in and with his kingdom. He remembers you with his word of peace, his gospel of forgiveness. He remembers you with his Body and Blood, given and poured out for you to eat and drink.

Truly, he is with you, and today you are with him in Paradise. That is his word and promise to the poor miserable sinner who was crucified and died with him; and that is his word and promise to you, who have been crucified and died with him in Holy Baptism. So surely are you also raised with him in his resurrection.

To Christ alone be all the glory, forever and ever, amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, our Lord, amen.