Sabbath Rest

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

Think of that very first sabbath. Think of it: the very first seventh day ever in the history of this creation. God had created the heavens and the earth; light and darkness; sky and land and water. He had created the sun, moon, and stars; the plants, and animals, and—the crown of His creation—a man and a woman made in His own image. And His creation was finished, and it was very good. And on the seventh day, God rested from all His work that He had done in creation. He rested, and He brought Adam and Eve into that rest, put them in the Garden, gave them everything as a gift, and spoke His Word to them. Luther imagines that, perhaps, it was about noon on that first sabbath when God was done speaking to Adam and Eve. About noon, when the Divine Service was finished, and Adam and Eve went back to their Garden. About noon, when God finished His conversation with them, and Satan began to speak to Eve. As it is wont to be on this day, Luther says. It is still the same, even on our sabbath day, when we rest from our work so that God can do His. We rest today in the Word of Christ because this is the day that He rose from the dead. Wherever God’s Word is, there the devil also goes about his business of spreading falsehood and false teaching. Because it grieves him that through the Word, we, like Adam in Paradise, should be made citizens of heaven (LW 1:82). Perhaps this is where the quotation, often attributed to Luther, comes from: where God builds a church, the devil builds a chapel. Wherever God’s Word is, the devil also makes it his business to spread falsehood and false teaching, contradicting God’s Word, asking whether God really could have said such things.

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Bishop and Christian*, October 2015

In 1897, the pastor H.C. Schwan (who would become the third president of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod) wrote about his experiences as preacher at an old preaching station, which would eventually be incorporated as a congregation. When the other pastors asked him to show them that congregation’s constitution, he said that he didn’t have a copy with him, but that he could recite it to them. He said: “Here is its heading: ‘Constitution and organization of the German Evangelical Lutheran Church at X.’ No. 1: In our congregation, God’s Word and Luther’s teaching shall rule as regards all spiritual matters. No. 2: In all other matters, we shall be ruled by love. Period” (At Home in the House of My Fathers. Edited by Matthew C. Harrison. [Lutheran Legacy, 2009], 565).

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Bible Study Summary, 10/4/15

[We are using Pr. Matt Richard‘s helpful study, “How Do We View Christianity?” which sums up two ways of looking at the various aspects of human beings, sin, free will, salvation, and more.]

Two weeks ago, we talked about the Sacraments, particularly the Lord’s Supper, and our communion practice.  So this week, we read through the description of our communion practice on Faith’s website.  You can read it here.

We are going to pick up p. 9 of the study guide this coming Sunday.  Join us!

Bible Study Summary, 9/20/15

[We are using Pr. Matt Richard‘s helpful study, “How Do We View Christianity?” which sums up two ways of looking at the various aspects of human beings, sin, free will, salvation, and more.]

We continued our discussion on the Sacraments, on p. 8 of the study guide.

Our discussion revolved around the Lutheran (and formerly universal) practice of “closed Communion.”  Some issues were raised about how our practice comes across: as though we are judging people, or considering them lesser Christians, or acting as if we could know someone’s heart.

We used an illustration from this book to ask the question: who, actually, is claiming to know another person’s heart?  The pastor who speaks about fellowship in terms of where a person communes (and, hence, makes a public confession, even if the person does not understand the nature of that confession)?  Or the person who claims that someone else is a “sincere Christian”?

I also made the point that the decision about who communes should not be made by the pastor.  Then, the Church becomes fragmented according to each pastor’s practice, even in differing practice from pastor to pastor within a single congregation.  Rather, outward, altar fellowship is the only firm basis for who communes where.  Since neither the pastor–nor anyone else–can see a person’s heart, the decision is actually being made by the individual, based on where he or she communes currently.

We discussed a number of other questions of practice, but they are best discussed in person, within our congregation!  So please come in two weeks (Pr. Winterstein will be gone at the LWML retreat this week), when we take up the discussion again.