Don’t [Just] Read your Bible [Alone]

My article from this week's edition of the Rockford Squire:

In decades past, it was necessary in many places for a problem to be addressed in the Church – largely across denominational lines.  In many circles, it was common for people to hold the misconception that if they attended a Sunday service, they had their weekly dose of God’s Word, and it would hold them over for the week until they repeated the process.  As a result, there was broad encouragement for people to read their Bibles at home, on their own, or to gather with a peer group to discuss it.  Bible distribution increased to greater levels than previously witnessed.  Other disciplines like a daily, individual “quiet time” emerged, and Bible reading in the home really did increase. 

 

Today, we can still see residual effects of that movement, but we have reached the point where an opposite correction may be in order.  However people approach what they read in the Bible, one can see a generally positive attitude toward it, but today, it can be witnessed that many people who identify as Christians only read their Bible at home alone.  When the effort was made to encourage Bible reading in those past decades, it was intended to be in addition to hearing the Scriptures on Sunday, but in a growing number of cases, it has become what people do instead of hearing the Scriptures in a weekly service. 

 

While there is certainly a danger in a preacher twisting the Bible to say what he wants it to say, the danger is equal or greater when the reader becomes his own preacher.  If someone proclaiming God’s word publicly strays from the truth, there are others there to correct him, but when the reader only preaches to himself, there is no one to correct his errors, and they have the opportunity to compound. 

 

So, do read your Bible, even at home alone, but also gather with other Christians to hear God’s Word proclaimed and explained.  Receive the Sacraments in a weekly service, and discuss the Scriptures with others, whether in a structured study or a less formal group.  Even have a live expert in your corner who can be your guide to quality resources beyond your Bible to aid your understanding, and coach you (preferably with knowledge of the original Greek and Hebrew language of Scripture) in understanding what you have read and how other Christians have historically.  Grow deeper not in just what the Bible means to you, but in knowledge of what it actually means, so that you would gain assurance in genuine, reliable truth. 

GALATIA VS. CORINTH

My article from this week's edition of the Rockford Squire:

Among present-day churches, one can find plenty of contentious topics.  No need to list them now, but I often hear from pastors who are being criticized for being too lenient about a certain teaching or practice or too strict about another.  This isn’t a problem unique to our present experience, though.  It was found even in the early Church while the New Testament was still being written. 

Two of St. Paul’s letters actually address each end of this spectrum.  At the Church of Galatia, Paul had proclaimed the Gospel, and a congregation arose.  However, after Paul’s departure, other teachers followed him in and deceived the people.  He had proclaimed that Christ died for the sins of the world and forgives sins by grace—as a free gift.  The false teachers attempted to convince the people that to be “real Christians,” they needed to also follow the Old Testament law.

In Corinth, the trouble wasn’t with too many laws, but with disregard for the law.  The Corinthians didn’t just experience the struggle common to all Christians to overcome sin, but they went above and beyond in order to find new and creative ways to break God’s law.  Paul had proclaimed the same Gospel here, but the people of that congregation chose to use it as an excuse to disregard the law entirely. 

One congregation added to God’s command and burdened the conscience of Christians with laws God Himself never imposed on them.  The other ignored or defended behavior that was clearly immoral even apart from Scripture, using grace as an excuse to follow their own desires.  Paul demonstrated to both churches that they had been deceived and were following something other than the truth.  He admonished the Corinthians to correct their excesses, while encouraging the Galatians to throw off the excesses that had been imposed upon them. 

The appropriateness of St. Paul’s correction did not flow from being a middle way between the extremes, but instead from the fact that it was objectively true and both extremes had departed in opposite directions from what was written in Scripture and what was proclaimed to them.  When the Apostles held a council about many of these controversial matters (Acts 15), they did not seek to satisfy one side or the other, or even to compromise between the two, but only to be faithful to what they had received from Christ.  Likewise, the resolution of present-day controversy is not in appeasing one extreme or the other, or even finding a compromise between them, but rather in proclaiming no more and no less than the words of our Lord given through His Apostles in Scripture. 

Easter - Ascension - Pentecost

 

Now that Resurrection Sunday has concluded, the average person probably thinks to the civic holidays of Summer (Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day) as the next highlights on the calendar, and Christmas as the next big religious event.  However, for the historic Church, the day that we English-speakers call Easter was really just the beginning of about 2 months of feasts and festivals remembering major events in the post-Resurrection life of Jesus and the birth of the Christian Church. 

 

We just began to celebrate the historic fact that after Jesus died on Friday afternoon, He rose to life again on Sunday morning, because Easter Sunday actually serves as merely the kick-off to an eight-week celebration of the Resurrection.  The 8 weeks represent the “8^th Day” of the New Creation which is promised in Scripture and initiated in the resurrection of Jesus, and many of the readings for these Sundays show the events in which Jesus appeared to his disciples (Luke 24, John 20-21), other eyewitnesses, and even a crowd of hundreds (1 Corinthians 15)

40 days into this Easter season is the Feast of the Ascension, observing the day 40 days after the Resurrection when, while Jesus was talking with His disciples, Jesus began to be lifted up, and a cloud hid Him from the sight of the disciples.  Other New Testament passages speak of Jesus as presently being ascended into Heaven and that He is “seated at the right hand of God the Father…” as Christians confess in the Apostles’ Creed. 

 

Finally, on the 50^th day after the Resurrection, the disciples appeared in Jerusalem, proclaiming the resurrected Christ as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophesy in a miraculous event where they were understood by pilgrims of numerous languages and homelands, marking the birth of Church by the Baptism of 3000 people, which is celebrated by Christians as Pentecost. 

 

Before Jesus died, He had promised His disciples that after He had risen, He would send the Holy Spirit to guide them and remind them of the things He had said (John 14-16), and just before He ascended, He again promised to send the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:8).  Through the Church, born on Pentecost, He fulfills these promises, which the rest of the New Testament urges us to seek out in the proclamation of Scripture, in Baptism, and in the Lord’s Supper, occurring in the gathering of other Christians, and through which the Holy Spirit causes people to trust in Jesus. 

Thanks be to God for this rich observance of our Lord’s resurrected life in the heritage of the Church, which we continue to receive, even nearly 20 centuries after the original events.

"...in Jesus' name"

 

Under the Old Testament law, infant boys were commanded to be circumcised on the 8^th day after birth.  It was also custom that they would formally be named at the time of their circumcision.  Because of this, the Church Year observes the Feast of the “Circumcision and Name of Jesus” on January 1 (or the evening of December 31), which is the 8^th day after we celebrate His birth on Christmas. 

 

In the Gospels, the adult Jesus frequently speaks of those who trust in Him doing things such as praying, preaching, gathering, and other actions “in my name,” and the epistles will also speak frequently of the name of Jesus.  In light of this, we English speakers might hastily jump to the conclusion that there is some spiritual power to be exercised simply by speaking the syllables of the name Jesus in these settings. 

 

Jesus, however, is promising something far greater than this.  In the Old Testament we frequently see the phrase “Name of the Lord” used.  That name is the one given to Moses at the Burning Bush—YHWH, or as we sometimes see it in English, “I am.”  In light of the commandment not to misuse the Lord’s name, the people of Israel eventually came to never speak it out loud and would instead substitute “Adonai” (which means Lord) or “Ha-shem” (the Hebrew words for “the Name”) when reading it out loud.  Later in the New Testament, St. Paul will proclaim the simple creed, “Jesus is Lord.”  In saying that, Paul is not making the assertion that Jesus is simply our master, but rather that “Jesus is YHWH”, eternal God with the Father. 

 

So Jesus is promising something far greater than the ability to use His name as a magical incantation or to assure our prayers are heard simply because we concluded them with a formula including His name.  After all, if this were the case, we would have the trouble of figuring out whether we should go back to the Hebrew Yeshua, its English equivalent Joshua, or the Greek Iesus or whether it’s ok to use the anglicized rendering Jesus. 

 

Instead, Jesus and St. Paul are assuring those who hear and read these promises that those who rely on Jesus are relying on God Himself, and those who trust in the promises of Jesus are trusting the promises of the Triune God Himself—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  As a result, those who pray trusting in Jesus have access to YHWH Himself, and those who gather around the proclamation of Jesus are proclaiming and receiving the same God who is their creator, who took on human flesh to be our Savior, and who still comes today in His Word and Sacraments. 

"...know that I am the Lord."

 “You will know that I am the Lord”

God stating that someone will “…know that [He is] the Lord”  is a familiar refrain for those who read the Bible even casually.  Chances are that this language probably brings to mind a picture of God’s vengeance for most who hear it.  In fact, the most famous cultural reference to this Biblical phrase comes from a movie almost 30 years ago where one of the main characters, a hitman, paraphrases Ezekiel 25:17 as the last words his victims hear before death, saying, “And I will I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger…  and you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you!”

 

The Old Testament speaks of those who will “know that I am the Lord” 88 times.  Mostly in Ezekiel and Exodus.  In a few cases, such as the prophesy against Philistia quoted above, and the promises to defeat Pharoah in Exodus, these words are a reference to the defeated knowing God’s vengeance.  However, it is more commonly a sign of God’s mercy and rescue for His people instead.

 

Sometimes it is Israel knowing that He is the Lord.  Other times it is the nations knowing that He is the Lord, so that they might turn to trust in Him, when they witness Israel being rescued.  Never, though, is it merely directed vengeance executed for its own sake, nor is he achieving victory for His own sake.  Instead, whoever is to know that He is the Lord, it is in the act of rescuing His people, and His victory is on their behalf.  In His rescue of those He has chosen, He is known. 

 

The ultimate victory in which He is known is in the cross and resurrection of Jesus.  While we might long for the kind of the displays Israel repeatedly witnessed throughout her history by which the Lord was made known, those served only to foreshadow the greater rescue which He would achieve in the cross of Christ and greater victory which would be displayed when Jesus rose from the dead.  That greatest victory is the foundation upon which all truth is built, and the assurance that God will rescue all who rely on Him from the penalty for sin and give them instead the eternal, resurrected life which is promised to all who trust in Jesus.

Heritage and Truth

 

It would probably be safe to conclude that everyone agrees that the church should have a concern for truth.  Our history in the English-speaking world, not to mention some modern-day yard sign battles, might indicate a divergence about what that truth consists of, but that divergence actually highlights the common understanding that the church is concerned with truth. 

 

At one time, it was also commonly understood that the church had a concern for heritage.  Some might see the term tradition, when referring to this heritage, as derogatory, but the term as used in Scripture simply means that which has been handed down.  It was used to refer to the teaching of the apostles, as it was handed down to their students, and as they recorded it in their writings, but it also referred to the heritage of the way they conducted themselves as the church gathered. 

 

In fact, the apostles had such reverence for what had been handed down that they retained many practices from the synagogue as they began to gather around preaching and the Sacraments after Pentecost.  If your congregation follows a Church Year (whether just Christmas and Easter or a fuller calendar), if you hear a series of three readings on Sunday, or if you sing a canticle in the Communion liturgy called the Sanctus, which begins with the words “Holy, holy, holy” from Isaiah 6, these are just a few examples where you witness elements which go back not just to the apostles, but which they and Jesus would have experienced in the synagogue during Jesus’ earthly ministry. 

 

At the time of the Reformation, the question of how to handle this heritage emerged.  Some advocated keeping what was handed down to them, only editing where necessary to remove error that had arisen, while others chose to build new forms and orders, after which later generations of those streams largely repeated the effort. 

Advocates for constant novelty in the church often have good intentions, seeking to avoid thoughtless repetition and encourage sincere expression, but notice how unique this is in human experience.  Opening ceremonies of sporting events, the awarding of Olympic medals, academic graduations, never face such accusations, but rather we largely embrace what has been handed down because it teaches and assimilates those who observe and engage in the event.  How much more appropriate when that tradition carries eternal truth to those who participate!

 

The Vocation of Matryoshka

 

Several weeks ago, as St. Peter’s and a number of other congregations in greater Grand Rapids joined forces to raise funds to support a seminary in Siberia, we had a number of Russian Matryoshka dolls that we would sometimes give to donors or volunteers.  Having a genuine Matryoshka doll in hand for the first time caused me to recall an illustration I had frequently used them to make while teaching in the past.

 

That is that the various roles we serve in human life, also known as vocation, serve to reveal insights into the relationship between our Creator and humanity.  The clearest instance of this is in marriage as Paul describes in Ephesians 5, saying, “…it refers to Christ and the Church,” and another frequent and familiar example is the reference to God as Father.  The roles we hold in family, church, and society are all variations which reveal to us facets of the truth about how our Lord relates to us. 

 

So we see in the relationship between husband and wife an icon of Christ and His Church.  Just like Christ does not die for Himself and the Church does not worship herself, a husband is united to a wife in marriage.  In the life of the church, pastors represent the Lord Himself as they baptize, absolve, and commune the gathered Church, which is collectively Christ’s bride.  Pastors serve as spiritual fathers in their roles, and the Church herself is routinely referenced in the history of Christian thought as the mother of Christians.  For example, 3^rd Century bishop Cyprian of Carthage wrote that one cannot have God as His Father without the Church as his mother. 

 

Likewise, the relationship between father and child, brother and sister, ruler and subject, master and servant (or employer and employee), or manager and property serve to reveal other facets of how God and man relate.  We see these and many other examples sprinkled throughout the writings of the prophets, and we see them vividly portrayed in the parables of Jesus.  Viewed together, they nest into one another like the Matryoshka, to jointly reveal to us the greater reality of our Creator and Redeemer who desires to forgive sin, preserve the world in order, and ultimately restore His creation to its uncorrupted state on the Last Day, which Scripture commonly portrays as the wedding feast between Christ and His bride the Church. 

 

Christians Mark Time Differently

 

Just a couple weeks ago, we celebrated Easter.  Of course, we in the English-speaking world are the only ones who use this term, or anything like it.  The ancient Church, and present day Christians of other languages use some variation on the term Passover or Resurrection to refer to the day of celebrating Jesus’ rising from death.  This is because the day celebrates more than a mere season, but an event that occurred in real time and space, and that event is the anchor of a way of marking time completely different than that of the surrounding world.  Much like the future eternal life of the Christian is one that will be lived out in space and matter, the present life of the Church is also one marked within time and space, rather than one which disregards these material facets of our existence. 

 

Days like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Memorial Day, and Super Bowl Sunday are not a part of this calendar, since those are national holidays, unique to the United States.  Instead, this includes seasons like Advent, Epiphany, or Lent, and festivals like Pentecost, Ascension, and All Saints.  The resurrection is the anchor point of this calendar, as both the oldest and most significant event it contains.  Leading up to Resurrection Sunday is a series of seasons and festivals related to the life of Jesus, and following the 8-week festival of the Resurrection continues with a time that reflects on the teachings of Jesus and the life of the Church as it awaits his return.

 

This way of marking time was so prominent in the lives of Christians that during many centuries of church history, they did not date their letters and speeches with the Gregorian dates we presently see uniformly used, like March 25, 2021, Instead, they would use a reference to the church year, such as “Fifth Sunday in Lent, AD 2021” or “Thursday of Pentecost 12, AD 2021.”  When we understand time in such a way, and revolving around the life of Jesus, we also live, knowing that our future is in His hands, and free from the anxiety of carefully watching the world’s dangers and disasters, or and living by its time and its fears, but knowing with certainty what is prayed during the Easter Vigil: 

 

“Christ Jesus, the same yesterday, today, and forever, the beginning and the ending, the Alpha and the Omega.  His are time and eternity; His are the glory and dominion, now and forever.  By His wounds we have healing both now and forever…  May the light of Christ, who is risen in glory from the dead, scatter all the darkness of our hearts and minds… Amen.”

 

Soul Doctor

 

This week marks the one year anniversary since everyone’s life changed in the name of protecting the body from infection.  We have changed behaviors, adjusted our distance in relation to one another, added precautions and barriers of various kinds, and so much more in order to care for the body. 

For a few centuries now, our culture has been conditioned to see the material aspect of our existence (the body) from the immaterial aspect of our existence (whether one wants to speak of the mind, the soul, the spirit, or some combination of the above).  It’s not that novel an idea, as it also can be seen in some of the Greek philosophers and other ancient thinkers.  However, it is novel in terms of a Biblical understanding of humanity and in terms of being introduced to a Christian worldview. 

 

Scripture doesn’t deal with humans as if the material body were incidental to the real person who is immaterial, and it doesn’t treat these material and immaterial aspects as if they were isolated entities with isolated needs.  Instead, it deals with people as an integrated whole.  One of these aspects cannot act apart from the other and one cannot be affected apart from the other. 

Medical science had even begun increasingly acknowledge (at least until the pandemic status descended upon us) that their efforts to heal the body are not entirely separated from what is going on in the thoughts and spiritual life of the patient.  This is something that had been a core part of the Church’s understanding of pastoral care, and Scripture even recognizes it as it speaks of the “soul,” which is not understood in Biblical literature to refer to the immaterial aspect of a human person, but rather should be translated as “self” or another term that includes the whole person.  At the time of Reformation it was even common to refer to pastors with a word that translates to “soul-curer” or “soul doctor.”

 

As we look back in hindsight, we will undoubtedly recognize that our protection of the body was undertaken with the false perception that I began with, which seeks to protect the body without regard for the whole person.  As we are beginning to see risk decline and people perceive formerly-normal activities as safe, it will be the task of churches to discern how they might correct the damage done by the widespread neglect of the whole soul this past year, and the task of Christians to work with their soul doctors to remedy the injuries they may have suffered and prepare a plan for whole-person soul-care in the future. 

Safety, Beauty, and the Image of God

 

During the past year, nearly all of us have experienced a simplification of our lives.  Family schedules that were a frenzy of activity between school, recreation, extra-curricular activities, extended family, and various tasks for care of health and household business.  Even for those who did not experience the generous amount of down time others did, because their careers actually intensified, their time became more focused on that task as these other obligations became unavailable or unadvisable. 

 

While I know many have found that simplification beneficial as an opportunity to consider their priorities, and reorganize accordingly, there is also a loss to be mourned in such circumstances, because intense focus on safety has dramatically curtailed a vital aspect of our human existence, or at least forced us to engage it in unconventional ways.  That vital aspect is the cultivation of human ability through such things as the arts and sport, by which we have the opportunity to express our experience of life or appreciate the display of ability found in others. 

 

Cultures and religions throughout time and across continents have recognized this display as a uniquely human activity, as we are able to reflect on our experience, and hone our performance in a way not found in other creatures.  For Christians, our effort to create in a way that builds beyond mere survival is understood to be a facet of the image of God that is uniquely created in humanity. 

 

As we build, design, perform, and compete, we are exercising ability given by our Creator, and cultivating it in appreciation for His goodness.  As we enjoy the expression and performance of others, we are able to appreciate His design for creation and to be reminded of His gracious provision that exceeds merely sustaining basic life and safety.  Even under the most ideal conditions, when we participate in these displays and disciplines, we may face risk of injury, or even death, in the process, because the experience and opportunity is of such value that we accept that risk. 

 

In an eternal perspective, we also recognize that as St. Paul said, “Whether we live, or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.” (Romans 14:8) The one who creates this ability and desire to exercise it within us is the same one who gives His Son into death to rescue us, and while we may need to exercise caution for a time, we recognize that even those things that are not “essential” are a vital part of our nature to engage.  Knowing this, we grieve at the deprivation of something of great value, and we seek to preserve the framework to engage again while we anticipate the day when our experience of this vital facet of our experience of life will be restored.

Two Kingdoms (Updated COVID Mandate Edition)

 

In the book of Romans, Paul writes to Christians who are facing a scenario where their religion has been outlawed, and their lives are in danger for their confession of faith.  In chapter 13, he reminds them that all authorities are to be obeyed because they rule at His pleasure.  When describing this teaching of the Bible, Martin Luther describes God as ruling two kingdoms with His two hands.  With His right hand, He rules the Church by grace, and with His left hand, He rules the kingdoms of the world, along with the earthly estates of family and employment, by law, calling Christians to obey those in authority as if rendering obedience to Him.

 

However, one instance when this is not the case is if an earthly authority would command or coerce a Christian to renounce Christ or to sin against God, it is their duty to disobey that command and obey God instead.  The apostle Peter clearly expresses this in Acts 5:29 when he disobeys a sinful command saying, “We must obey God rather than men.”  

 

In the present day, Christians still live in a situation where there may be tension between the commands of God and the laws of the land.  When the secular law allows actions and behaviors which Scripture clearly forbids, Christians can still live according to their own conscience within that law.  In cases where regulations and judicial rulings attempt to restrict the rights of Christians to practice their faith in the public square or demand that they participate in actions their Scripturally-formed conscience cannot permit, they may need to disobey the secular authorities in order to obey God. 

 

Recent mandates and orders have also brought to light another tension for Christians—whether to obey or disobey orders that they believe are not legally legitimate.  Since the United States is not a monarchy, the executive branch (presidents and governors) are not the highest authority, but rather the fourth layer, after the people themselves, delegated through the Constitution, to legislative bodies, whose statutes are enforced by the executive branch.  Christians, even within the same congregation, may disagree about the legitimacy of an order, and that raises the question over how the congregation as a whole will respond. 

 

When this becomes the case, the Church is called to recognize her role as the administrator of the Lord’s gracious gifts, and not the arbiter of its members civic conclusions or the enforcer of mandates whose legitimacy is under question.  Christians who are in agreement regarding their confession of Christ seek a path to ensure the entire congregation, regardless of their level of risk, the degree of their anxiety, or the conclusions regarding civic affairs, are given the opportunity to receive the Lord’s gifts in Word and Sacrament from God’s right hand, while the individual members follow their conscience in addressing those in the sphere governed by His left. 

Why Gather?

 

For centuries, gathering weekly was an automatic assumption among Christians.  Whether the earliest years of the Church in homes and storefronts before dawn, hiding from persecution, or later in Roman public halls, or the Gothic church buildings of the middle ages, Christians would gather—at times even daily. 

 

Even when the plague killed millions, or in bombed out buildings in the midst of wars, the church still gathered.  Later, once we discovered many diseases resulted from bacteria, viruses, fungus, or parasites, rather than any of a variety of superstitions, they took a couple Sundays off, but rarely, because of the overwhelming pattern of weekly gathering that dates back to the Old Testament, and carried on in Christian practice.  I recall that I was in college before I realized some churches cancelled for snow, because in my hometown in the Thumb, this had never crossed anyone’s mind, and whoever was capable of travelling would attend. 

 

What would cause such determination to gather, even in great danger?  Of course, we have some direct commands in Scripture, like the instruction in Hebrews not to “neglect meeting together, as is the habit of some.”  There’s the Third Commandment (some readers might number it as the 4^th), which says to “Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy.” Beyond these, though, what explains the answer to this question, which also explains why you see differences between how congregations and denominations approach this, is another question, “why do we gather?”

 

If Christians gather to offer something up to God, such as their prayers and praises, then it makes perfect sense if they’re reluctant to gather when a certain degree of risk comes into play, because that can be done just as well alone with one’s family.  If Christians gather to earn something in a sort of transaction with God, then likewise, they might conclude He would certainly understand if they did it a little differently for a while.  If Christians gather to learn facts about Scripture and be inspired and motivated toward better living, then those purposes can certainly be achieved electronically. 

However, if the Church gathers around something physical, where that Word not only educates but causes the very things it says, and where the main thing is that the Holy Spirit descends in the midst of Baptismal water, and the Lord Himself comes down, bringing Heaven itself with Him, as the body and blood of Christ become present to forgive sins and grant eternal salvation, then the question ceases to be whether to gather, but how, so that we can avoid causing earthly harm, but still be present to receive these gifts beyond value in the Lord’s Word and Sacraments.