Author Archives: prwinterstein

St. Lucy, Virgin and Martyr

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

            In some ways, St. Lucy is like St. Patrick: there are a lot of celebrations that take place around the world, while the actual details surrounding the saint’s life are hard to state definitively. For example, it is not at all clear that St. Patrick actually drove a bunch of snakes out of Ireland! I am sure he would never countenance such an abomination as green beer. Even so, from probably the sixth century, Lucy’s birthday of December 13 has been celebrated around the world with various traditions, from her home country of Italy, to Scandinavia, England, Greece, and the Philippines. She is one of the eight women named in the Roman Canon of the Mass, showing how popular and widely known she is.

            The traditional story of Lucy’s life matches many of the themes of that category of saint called “virgin-martyr.” It says that she was a firm believer in Christ from a very early age. She was promised as a wife to a pagan in Syracuse, Sicily in the very early fourth century. She convinced her mother (whom tradition says was miraculously healed) to give to the poor her dowry price. This, apparently, did not please her fiance, who then turned her in to the authorities for being a Christian. They tried to force her into prostitution, but the legend says that when they came to get her, they couldn’t move her even with a team of oxen. They piled wood around her where she stood, in order to burn her, but the wood wouldn’t burn. And, finally, they put out her eyes and killed her with swords. Another legend says that she refused to be betrothed to anyone but Christ, so she put out her own eyes. Both of those legends have led to artwork with Lucy holding two eyes on a golden platter. The conclusion of the story is that when they went to bury her, her eyes were miraculously restored. So she’s been considered the patron saint of the blind.

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Blessed is the Nation

[Preached at University Lutheran for Evening Prayer, 11/6/24]

No matter how many times we’ve heard or said it, it probably needs to be said again, because we never seem to learn it: “Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish” (Psalm 146:3-4). The “princes” will always disappoint you, whether they win or lose. And of course that applies not only to princes, but also to those who are subject to them.

Maybe you’re happy about the way the election went down; maybe you’re unhappy. Either way, where is your trust? In the things of this world that fade away, like money, the economy, promises to make things better—or great? If your candidates won, be happy. That’s ok. And if your candidates didn’t win, be unhappy. That’s ok, too. But if you believe your life depends on the person occupying the White House, your idolatry is showing. What may and should give us pause is that even if you believe the right person was elected, even when Donald Trump is inaugurated in January, Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, and New York voted to enshrine the killing of children in the womb as a fundamental, constitutional right.

Psalm 33 (and all the psalms, of course) give us a different view of things. First, it is a view not from down here, where things are so messy that we feel compressed, entangled, and anxious; it is a view from above, from God, who made the heavens by His Word, and everything in them; who puts land and sea together in their ordering; “for He spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm” (33:9). Because He is the Creator, “Let all the earth fear Yahweh; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him!” (33:8). No exceptions, no votes, no elections. Let every knee bow and every tongue confess. And it gets worse for nations: “Yahweh brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He frustrates the plans of the peoples” (33:10). Again, the psalmist doesn’t distinguish between right and left, red and blue, Democrat and Republican. He brings their counsel to nothing and He frustrates their plans.

Some people—some Christians—might find refuge in verse 12: “Blessed is the nation whose God is Yahweh, the people whom He has chosen as His heritage!” But I am sorry (not sorry) to say that that nation is not the United States. He chose Israel as His people, and promised that He would bring them into the Land. The fulfillment of that choosing is that Jesus Christ was born an Israelite, of the house of David, in the Land of Promise, and that He gathers both Jews and Gentiles into His nation, His Kingdom. You are the ones He has chosen, you are the ones He elected; not because you are Americans, but because, in His great love, Jesus’ blood and resurrection cover you. The Church is that people; the Church is that blessed nation.

And that makes all the difference for us in how we go about our lives here, or how God’s people go about their lives in whatever nation God has put them. The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength; the war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue (33:16-17). A president is not saved by the electoral college; the economy and border security are false hopes for salvation; voters, and legislatures, governors, and congressmen cannot rescue anybody from anything.

“Behold, the eye of Yahweh is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His steadfast love, that He may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine” (33:18-19). So, dear, beloved, baptized children of God, “Our soul waits for Yahweh; He is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in Him, because we trust in His holy name. Let Your steadfast love, O Yahweh, be upon us, even as we hope in You” (33:20-22).

— Pr. Timothy Winterstein, 11/6/24