Christmas Shoes

You know who I'm talkin' about.  It's the people that get new Sunday duds twice a year.  That's right, the people that attend church at Christmas and Easter.  They show up as part of their family tradition, so church continues to make memories.  It makes them feel good about God twice during the year.  And they take our favorite pew to rub salt into the wound!

I have an inkling why they only attend twice a year.  It's the two times a year they are guaranteed to hear about why Jesus came to the earth.  So often our churches are full of sermons that could have been plucked off the self-help shelf at our local bookstore. How to Have a Happy Marriage; Five Ways to Bring Up Your Children; Twenty Best Kept Secrets to Be a Cheerful Giver.  All things that are supposed to improve your life or make you happier.  Funny thing is, they don't work.

At Christmas services, we are guaranteed that we will hear about Jesus.  There will be the familiar passage in Luke's Gospel of Jesus' birth.  It is read far and wide, in every Christian pulpit.  Those people will see Jesus' love for them as He incarnates and creation celebrates His arrival.  They will see God's sovereignty displayed in a baby lying in a manger, a feedstall, who had a scandalous virgin birth.  Can you hear the whispers of Mary's neighbors?  "She's pregnant.  She's no virgin! Shameful!"  

They will also hear that Jesus is their Savior, sent from our Heavenly Father, and how he receives worship from all of creation.  The angels celebrate, the shepherds, the magi, even the animals.  They will see how great the Father's love is that he has lavished on us.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,  which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight  making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ ~ Ephesians 1:7-9
They won't know these things unless somebody tells them.  Welcome them into your churches.  It is a wonderful thing they have arrived!  They have come and will hear about salvation!

And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” ~Romans 10:15

Put on your best Christmas shoes and join the celebration!

Diapers and Decrees

Calvinists like to bring up the sovereignty of God and view everything through that lens.  Some even to the point of God decreeing what color car they will drive to decreeing their own sin. God decreeing sin sounds to me an awful lot like Adam upon being caught after eating from the tree of knowledge  of good and evil, "It's that woman YOU GAVE ME LORD."  Adam tried to pin his own sin on to God.  If God is responsible for our sin, then why would we need a strong savior?  We are responsible for our sin.  No amount of excusing and accusing will take that away, no amount of syllogisms can remove that fact.  Stop denying your sin by hiding behind God sovereignly decreeing your sin.

Was Jesus sovereign when he was dependent upon Mary and Joseph to meet his daily needs, including changing soiled diapers? When Jesus was on the cross being poked with spears, having vinegar presented to him to drink, being mocked by Roman soldiers, was He still sovereign?  As He died in pain and anguish, suffering, was He sovereign?  Or are you like those around him at that time that thought He should have saved Himself?

Often I will hear that it was only Jesus' body on the cross.  People say such things because they are offended that a sovereign God would allow Himself to be treated in such a manner.  Suddenly, the Nestorian error pops up in order to protect God's sovereignty.  "God can't die",  "It was only Jesus' humanity on the cross".  Have you heard those notions?  They are mortal men's notions, you know.  The Psalms are full of praising the God of our Salvation.  Of course, God died for you.

The whole of Jesus died upon the cross for the whole of you, He was sovereignly victorying for you.  What looks foolish and weak to the world, was our dear Savior's mighty act of power.  Behold your God.  Praise Him.

Say What Herr Doctor Luther?

From all this it is easy to understand why faith has such great power, and why no good works, nor even all good works put together, can compare with it; since no work can cleave to the word of God, or be in the soul. Faith alone and the word reign in it; and such as is the word, such is the soul made by it; just as iron exposed to fire glows like fire, on account of its union with the fire. It is clear then that to a Christian man his faith suffices for everything, and that he has no need of works for justification. But if he has no need of works, neither has he need of the law; and, if he has no need of the law, he is certainly free from the law, and the saying is true: "The law is not made for a righteous man." (1 Tim. i. 9.) This is that Christian liberty, our faith, the effect of which is, not that we should be careless or lead a bad life, but that no one should need the law or works for justification and salvation.

I read that at least three times. Stunned.

Realizing how difficult it is to hear that those that live by faith have no need of works, and hence no need of the law. We think we can obey the law and thereby perform good works and Father will love us more than some other person.

Jesus accomplished our justification for us apart from our help. Father approves of us, apart from our works. Do not fret, dear Christian, over your works. Live by the faith given to you from above!

Golden Calf Days of Yore

Remember the good ol' days? Most of us think they exist. We talk about them fondly. "Life was simpler then. Less complicated and easier to manage." I remember being young and the concerns that plagued me and others over schoolyard politics. Will I be the last one chosen for the dodgeball team? Is Suzy going to try to trip me during jumprope today? Must I suffer that embarrassment again?

Some even go so far as to think the early church had things easy; that those were the good ol' days. A reading through Corinthians should dispel one of the notion that those days were a breeze.

There are days I want to return to my fictitious golden days of yore. The times when I felt I could control God, or manage Him. He was so prettily packaged with a flower, the Calvinist TULIP. I thought it was a sure foundation; I thought it explained God in a very logical, easy-to-understand package.

Now, God is God. He hides from me, except in Jesus. I only know Him through Jesus, The Word and Sacrament. No more peering behind the cross to try to keep Him contained. Trying to look into the why's of God creates speculation. Scripture tells us to avoid speculation. Speculation causes doubt and uncertainty. Clear words are muddied, and sometimes completely turned upside down to mean the exact opposite of the word.

My vision must stop at the Gospel. The best place to stop is at the Gospel. The gospel contains my justification and my sanctification. It is at the cross where Jesus' love for me shines brightest. He loves me, He saves me, He gives me life, He gives me righteousness, He gives me faith. We must return to the assurance in the Gospel. Always.