Seeds of the Atonement of Jesus

And he said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come." Mark 4

In this tiny parable, Jesus tells us that the Good News of salvation is to be spread without a care as to who hears it. It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ that produces the faith in us. We hear the good news of forgiveness of sin, and we believe.

We cannot explain how it happens as we are not told how. In fact, in this little parable it says the man that scatters seed does not know how it happens, and that the earth produces by itself. It is the Holy Spirit using the Gospel that does the work.

And Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." John 12

In this parable, Jesus speaks of his own death, burial, and resurrection. It is He that bears fruit, it is He that brings us life. We are the fruit that Jesus has borne. It is because of Father's great love for us that Jesus fell into the earth and died. After three days in the earth, He rose to life. We have heard the gospel, it has killed our old man, and raised up the creature of faith.

Happy Easter! He is risen! He is risen indeed!

http://fivepintlutheran.blogspot.com/2011/04/jesus-our-mercy-seat.html
http://luthermatic.blogspot.com/2011/04/cross-and-idolatry_22.html

Forgiveness

The gospel is the good news that your sins are forgiven for the sake of Jesus. There is nothing to add on to that good news. Not even a "if you repent". Our forgiveness does not depend on our reaction to it. It already is. We are forgiven.

Training Soldiers

One's view of the sacraments, baptism and the Lord's Supper, shows itself in how one reads scripture. For instance, when one views baptism as merely an entrance into the covenant, all kinds of equivocation takes place surrounded verses that talk about the efficacy of baptism.

Abraham Kuyper is a name easily recognized among Calvinists. He is highly regarded and well-respected as a reformed theologian. Recently, I heard this quote from Abraham Kuyper, "The children of believers are to be considered as recipients of efficacious grace in whom the work of efficacious grace has already begun. And that when dying before having attained to years of discretion they can only be regarded as saved. Of course, Calvinists never declared that these things were necessarily so as they never permitted themselves to pronounce official judgment on the inward state of an adult but left the judgment to God. So they have never ususrped the right to pronounce on the presence or absence of spiritual life of infants."

Compare that quote against what scripture says about baptism, that it confers salvation, new life, makes disciples,forgiveness of sins, the gift of the Holy Spirit, the promise of resurrection, to name the promises.

I also found this catechism for Calvinists regarding infant baptism. It is full of equivocations. The very first question is about whether an infant is part of the covenant of grace.

Question 1. Are Infants of believers included in the Covenant of GraceAnswer: Yes, children are included in the Covenant of Grace, and the visible church."

What is the covenant of grace they are talking about? The catechism is stating that is it for entrance into the visible church. Did Jesus institute a covenant for entrance into the visible church?

This is the covenant Jesus instituted.

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table.

~Luke 22:19-21

Today in Sunday School we asked young children how one knows that Jesus loves them. One little boy said, "When the pastor puts water on our foreheads, we know we belong to Jesus."

Out of the mouths of babes comes the straightforward answer. There was no hedging the bet, there was no equivocation by adding "baptized into the covenant of the visible church". This little boy's yes was yes!

And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil.

~Matthew 5:36-37

The Reality

Types and shadows are in the Old Testament. They point to the promised Messiah. Then Jesus arrives on the scene. He brings the real deal. The shadows are brought into the light, no longer hidden.

Jesus would not institute a type or a shadow. He brings with him grace and truth. Jesus brings us gifts. The gift of salvation, the gift of baptism, the gift of new life, the gift of remission of sins, the gift of The Lord's Supper, and many more that I have not named. Dear reader, please remind me of the other gifts Jesus gives us in your comments!

These gifts are all grace. Jesus brings to us good things that we don't deserve. This is the reality. It is not a type or a shadow. Types and shadows are done away with because Jesus, our reality, is here.

I am baptized! Thank you Jesus for your grace and truth.

White Noise

Dictionary.com defines the noun "white noise" this way: Also called white sound. a steady, unvarying, unobtrusive sound, as an electronically produced drone or the sound of rain, used to mask or obliterate unwanted sounds.

We can have theological white noise as well. We drown out the gospel with discussions on other topics. We sound like we are talking about important things, but it is mostly white noise, avoiding Jesus.

Systematic theology is white noise. It is the discussions about God that takes place between the proclamation of God. Even as Christians, we keep Jesus at arm's length. We don't want to hear the real message, so we discuss things that keep Jesus away.
Systematic theology can be used to drown out the real message of God. What is the real message?

The proclamation of the gospel of our Lord and Savior is the real message. That Jesus has reconciled us, and we are free. Be reconciled!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. ~ 2 Corinthians 5

Singing of Jesus

We met at the church's parking lot early in the morning. It was cold. The hay bales were strategically placed on the flatbed trailer. The silver foil garland was taped around the edge of the trailer. Speakers were put in the back of the pick up, and given a supply source. Microphones were plugged in and checked.

It was time to go get in the line up for the parade. Off we all went downtown to the staging area. Other parishioners arrived in the staging area. We had lots of children to dress up as angels and shepherds. Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus arrived, and took their spot on the flatbed. Everyone's excitement was rising. On the sides of the truck were banners that read "Blessings to you from Messiah Lutheran". On the front of the truck we had a gift tag that read, "To YOU, from GOD", with the hood and cab decorated to look like a present. On the manger for baby Jesus was another gift tag, saying the same.

Our small army of parishioners were ready to pass out the magnet puzzles to kids, along with the invitation to our living nativity and church services. Some of the choir sat in the truck bed and we practiced while waiting for the go ahead from the parade marshal. In front of pastor were two boys carrying our sign that read Messiah Lutheran, then Pastor walked, then the float, with our army of walkers. We had 50 people total.

This was a first for me. I could not stop smiling and making eye contact with people watching the parade. I could see people that Jesus loves. We were singing songs of reconciliation, all familiar Christmas Carols. To see faces light up with freedom to say "Merry Christmas" back to us between songs; to see that Jesus loves these people was overwhelming. In a city that most Christians say is spiritually dark, I saw how open and needy people are to hear the Gospel. We kept singing, and some would sing with us, most would smile and wave back. Smile, wave, sing of Jesus, was all I could do. It was wonderful.

Today in History

"Mom. We're in lockdown. I'm in the library, in the room in the middle. Someone shot their police guard, took her gun, and ran from the medical hospital in this direction. He's six foot seven, Mom."

Stunned, I didn't know what to say. I wanted to get to the school and get her out. I'm not sure I heard anything else she said.

"Are you okay? Who is with you?"

"I'm okay. I'm really hungry and I have to pee. We can't go to the bathrooms, though. Mina is with me. There were two classes that were in the library. There are five teachers with us."

"How long have you been there?"

"Since 10:30."

"It's 1:00 now. I haven't heard from the school or anybody."

"It will be okay, Maddie. Let others use your phone if they want to call somebody. Call me back. I love you."

"Bye Mom."

That was the first phone call I received today. The television had no reports of what was happening, so I looked on the local t.v. station websites. I found one small article. It confirmed what Madeline reported to me. I called Larry to tell him what was happening. We were still in unbelief or denial. Not sure which.

Then came the second phone call.

"Mom, we're still here. I'm so hungry."

"It's noisy. Are the other kids being loud."

"They're on their phones, too. I'm scared. We've been here so long."

"I know. I've been praying. Now is a good time to pray. Tell Father on the gunman and ask for safety."

"Okay. I'll talk to you again. I love you."

"I love you, too. It will be okay."

I had so much pent up energy, but wanted to stay home. The police did not know where the gunman was. The hospital is in between the school and our home, so I locked all the doors; prayed; did chores; prayed. Then I texted Maddie this verse: This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

The school sent out an automated call telling us the school is in lockdown, as the sheriff's department ordered. Another half hour passed. I called Maddie.

"Hi Maddie. You doing alright?"

"Yes. I want to leave. They announced that the man has a hostage over on English Street."

"It is good they know where he is. Now, you know he is not on campus."

"Yeah. I have to go. They're making an announcement. I love you."

"I love you."

The next phone call was from the school. They were releasing students and parents should come pick them up. I texted Maddie "I am on my way."

Maddie called, "Don't come to the usual pick up place. They won't let us go to that part of the campus. I'll meet you at the Dry Cleaners on Soquel."

"See you there."

I was so happy to see her walk up the street. We hugged.

"Where do you want to go? Home, or get some lunch?"

"Lunch, Mom. I'm starving. Can we go to the bakery?"

"Yes, let's go!"

We ordered lunch for Maddie, a coffee for me. She devoured her twice baked potato and iced tea. When she was telling me of the ordeal, she was wiping away tears.