St. Joseph, Guardian of Jesus

Today the Church remembers and honors St. Joseph, the stepfather and guardian of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Lutheran Service Book gives these readings for observing this day:

2 Samuel 7:4-16 – God will raise up David’s offspring and He shall build a house for God’s name.

Psalm 127 – “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.”

Romans 4:13-18 – God’s promise of offspring for Abraham came through the righteousness of faith.

Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23 – Joseph protects the Infant Jesus in the flight to Egypt then returns to the land of Israel and settles in Nazareth of Galilee.

Collect of the Day:

Almighty God, from the house of Your servant David You raised up Joseph to be the guardian of Your incarnate Son and the husband of His mother, Mary. Grant us grace to follow the example of this faithful workman in heeding Your counsel and obeying Your commands; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Hymn Verse:

We sing our thanks for Joseph,

The guardian of our Lord,

Who faithfully taught Jesus

Through craft and deed and word.

Grant wisdom, Lord, and patience

To parents ev’rywhere

Who guide and teach the children

Entrusted to their care. (LSB 517:14)

Meditation:

“Oh, Joseph, of the great heart, wearing goodness and understanding. You are strong, Joseph, a man of toil, of gnarled hands and faith and wise judgment. For a short moment long ago, you hesitated before this child, but then, in fullest love, you battled for him mightily, and won.

“You will endure, Joseph, for out of homeless nights and weary journeys and strength and sacrifice for a child, you built not beams and trestles, but life. Old carpenter, it is said you died in Jesus’ early manhood, but the structure that you raised lives on beyond the best of wood. You did not know at first, Joseph. But that boy was yours because you wanted him, and is yours, even as he is all mankind’s who want him.” (George W. Cornell [1920-1995], They Knew Jesus; cited in For All the Saints, III:1316)

Homily - St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist

Jesus Heals Sinners
St. Matthew, Apostle & Evangelist
Matthew 9:9-13

Today the Church remembers and thanks God for St. Matthew, the Apostle and Evangelist. In our Gospel reading, he calls himself “Matthew,” but in Mark and Luke, he’s called “Levi.” Other than that other name, the story before us today, and the Gospel that bears his name, not much is known of Matthew for sure.

We do know for certain that Matthew was a tax collector. (Hiss! Boo!) Now we know what it’s like to deal with the taxman on April 15, but that’s nothing compared to Matthew. You see, Matthew did not work for the government of his own people. No, he worked for the much-hated Roman government, the empire that occupied Palestine in the first century. So he and other tax collectors were viewed as treasonous traitors to their country. On top of that, they were also considered apostates, or standing outside of, their people’s religion in the synagogue and the temple. And on top of all that, the tax collectors would routinely overcharge the folks, in order that they could line their own pockets. Hey, what’s a few extra shekels? Give the Roman authorities their due to keep them off your back, but then have a little extra left over to get rich quick. So, what we see in our Gospel reading is pretty remarkable just because of who Matthew was before he encountered the Savior.

Then Jesus, the Word of God made flesh and dwelling among us, came to Matthew and said two simple words: “Follow Me.” Matthew, the hardened, corrupted, thieving tax collector simply “rose and followed Him.” What a miracle! Matthew was one of the sin-hardened Israelites. Why would he want to hear God’s Word in the flesh? After all, it would mean a complete change in his life. He would have to give up his dishonest gain from over charging people on their tax returns. He would have to sacrifice his posh lifestyle. But he would receive something much better in place of it all. He would receive full life with God and complete healing from sin and death.

Matthew was changed by the forgiving mercy of Jesus, and he threw a great banquet for the Lord of Life, the Word of God in the flesh. And Matthew wanted his business associates and his acquaintances to take part in this new life too. So Jesus came to eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners. What a great display of God’s eternal mercy, forgiveness, and life!

But the sin-hardened Israelites did not like what they saw: Jesus dining with sinners. “Why does He do it?” they asked the disciples. Jesus answered: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” You see, dear saints, Matthew shows us how to realize and admit our sickness of being hardened in sin. Matthew shows us how Jesus comes to heal us.

I’m sure that each of us can identify with Matthew. He had his lying, cheating, and stealing ways. We have our lies. We cheat or steal in different ways. Perhaps we cannot tell our spouse what’s really upsetting us. Perhaps we lied to the boss about that little conflict the other day. Perhaps we did not want to be completely honest with our mom or dad, or with our children. Perhaps we cut corners on our tax returns, this last year or for several years. Perhaps we cheated on that test at school, or copied someone else’s work on that term paper. Perhaps we stole the company’s time by not working to our fullest potential. We’re a lot like Matthew.

But remember this: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” You don’t go to the doctor if you are healthy; you go when you are not well. And so we have come to Jesus’ hospital for sinners here today. Since He desires mercy and not sacrifice, He gives us a wonderful prescription of healing forgiveness. Yes, it’s expensive, and no health plan can cover the cost. It cost Jesus His very life as He spilled His holy, precious, life-giving blood from the cross. But that, dear friends, is our greatest medicine! That’s what we receive today in our ears and our mouths. Jesus, our Divine Physician, desires to give us His mercy, the mercy He showed by sacrificing Himself for us and for the whole world.

Notice how He did that with Matthew. First, Jesus called him to follow after Him. Then, Matthew threw a banquet for this Jesus who showed him mercy. Then—scandal of scandals!—this Jesus starts hanging out with and dining with other tax collectors and sinners. (Gasp!) But isn’t that the way of a physician? He kind of has to hang around those who are sick with all the nasty little viruses and bacteria. A physician kind of has to deal with all of the messy, putrid little details of sick people.

Well, that’s exactly what Jesus came to do for Matthew and for us. When He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, He truly came to hang around with and deal with us who are infected by sin and death. And just why would He lower Himself to hang out with us sin-sick people? In order to set us free from our sickness of sin and death. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection set us free from our sickness that leads to lying, cheating and stealing.

We certainly see how Jesus’ healing changed Matthew. He went on to write the first Gospel account. He probably wrote it in Palestine for his fellow Israelites. That certainly comes out in his Gospel account as he shows that Jesus came to fulfill the various Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah. According to Church tradition, Matthew also proclaimed the healing of Jesus, the Gospel, in various countries in the Middle East. It’s generally believed that Matthew was martyred, that is, executed for confessing Christ and His forgiveness and life. No one is quite sure how it happened, whether he was burned, or stoned to death, or beheaded, but it does seem that Matthew was martyred for confessing and proclaiming the Lord of life and His healing of forgiveness. What enabled Matthew to do this? The full and perfect healing that he received from Jesus, the Son of God. Yes, Matthew shows us “the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.” Matthew shows us how Jesus’ healing in forgiveness leads us in the Church to “a mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

When Jesus heals us, as He did Matthew, we too can endure whatever afflictions come our way, confident that God will always love us and always see to our needs. We no longer need to live like a tax collector, scraping and scratching, thieving and cheating to make ends meet or to make our lives meaningful. No, we can live in complete confidence that we are well, that we live with God. We can enjoy the feast that our Lord puts on for us here today, a feast with all of us sinners gathered together for healing. As one preacher said: “Jesus’ sitting at table has more significance for Matthew than just dining. Jesus will be feasting not on food but on the return of sinners. He will call them back through feasting, collegiality and human affection, enjoying himself with their pleasant conversation while reclining at table.” (Peter Chysologus, ACCS, NT, I:178) Amen.

St. Bartholomew, Apostle

Today the Church remembers and thanks God for St. Bartholomew - a. k. a. Nathanael - Apostle. Here's a little write up from Philip Pfatteicher, Festivals and Commemorations: Handbook to the Calendar in Lutheran Book of Worship followed by the Collect of the Day, readings, and hymn verse from Lutheran Service Book.

St. Bartholomew, Apostle

Bartholomew is listed as one of the twelve apostles in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke and again in Acts. In these synoptic lists his name immediately follows that of Philip. The list of the Twelve in the Fourth Gospel has the name Nathaniel rather than Bartholomew, and it is sometimes assumed that the apostle’s given name was Nathaniel and that Bartholomew was a patronymic, representing the Aramaic for “son of Tolmai” (ef. “Simon Bar-Jonah” in Matthew 16:17). Nathaniel was from the town of Cana in Galilee where Jesus performed his first miracle. He was invited to discipleship by Philip, who told him that he and Andrew and Peter had found the Messiah in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. At first Nathaniel was doubtful, but after a word from Jesus, he followed.

The story of his call (John 1:45-51) is all that is recorded in the New Testament of the life of St. Bartholomew, but there are several traditions about his later labors. He is variously reported to have preached in Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, Persia, and India; in connection with India Eusebius says that Bartholomew left a copy of the Gospel of Matthew in Hebrew which Pantaenus, a missionary of the third century, found there in the hands of the local people. Most of these stories agree that St. Bartholomew spent his last years preaching in Armenia and was flayed and beheaded in Albanus (modern Derbend) on the Caspian coast. (The flayed Bartholomew is portrayed in a prominent place in the Sistine Chapel in Michaelangelo’s fresco of the Last Judgment.) The Armenian Church believes that the apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus were the first to bring the gospel to the Armenians, and that Bartholomew spent a number of years there before his death. The Armenian Church commemorates him on two days in the year: once together with St. Thaddeus and again together with an Armenian martyr.

A very different story of St. Bartholomew’s mission appears in the traditions of the Coptic and Ethiopian churches, which also revere him highly, observing his day on August 29. Their accounts tell of his preaching at an oasis in Upper Egypt (there is a special commemoration of this even on November 15), then going among the Berbers where he was rescued from wild beasts by a cannibal, and finally preaching along the coast of North Africa where a local king, Agrippa, had him sewn into a leather bag and dropped into the sea.

August 24 has been St. Bartholomew’s day on calendars of the Western church since the eighth century, but no reason for the date is known. The Eastern Orthodox churches commemorate him with St. Barnabas on June 11. In European history St. Bartholomew’s Day is remembered for the massacre of Protestants which took place on that day in Paris in 1572.

Collect of the Day
Almighty God, Your Son, Jesus Christ, chose Bartholomew to be an apostle to preach the blessed Gospel. Grant that Your Church may love what he believed and preach what he taught; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Readings
Proverbs 3:1-8
Psalm 121
2 Corinthians 4:7-10
Luke 22:24-30 or John 1:43-51

Hymn Verse
All praise for him whose candor
Through all his doubt You saw
When Philip at the fig tree
Disclosed You in the law.
Discern, beneath our surface,
O Lord, what we can be,
That by Your truth made guileless,
Your glory we may see. (LSB 518:23)

Homily - St. Bartholomew, Apostle

The No-Deceit Disciple
John 1:43-51

When we see the symbol for St. Bartholomew, we might scratch our heads in puzzlement. Bartholomew’s symbol is an open Bible with a flaying knife on it. Fishermen keep such knives in their tackle box for flaying the fish they catch. The symbol for St. Bartholomew, though, reminds of his faith, his work, and his martyrdom.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s back up to our Gospel reading for today. Again we might scratch our heads. After all, we did not hear the name “Bartholomew” in our reading from John 1. Instead, we heard the name “Nathanael.” When the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke list Jesus’ disciples, they pair up “Philip and Bartholomew” (Mt. 10:3). John’s Gospel, though, gives us Philip and this guy named Nathanael. Most likely, “Nathanael” was his first name and “Bartholomew” his last name. So, today we remember and thank God for Nathanael Bartholomew, or, in good Hebrew fashion, Nathanael, son of Tholmai.

We hear how Philip, who was already called to be a disciple by Jesus, invited Nathanael to “Come and see” this Jesus of Nazareth. After all, Philip said, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote.” But Nathanael wasn’t quite sure. He had his doubts, to be sure. But he did not have deceit. Nathanael asked if anything good could come from Nazareth. That’s like asking if anything good can come from East St. Louis or from Festus, Missouri. In Nathanael’s mind Nazareth was “Hicksville.”

And yet our Lord Jesus says these startling words when He sees Nathanael walking toward Him: “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit.” Even though Nathanael Bartholomew had his doubts about Jesus being the Messiah, at least he spoke plainly and called ‘em as he saw ‘em. He would become the Lord’s “no-deceit disciple.” Then, when Jesus told Bartholomew that He saw him sitting under the fig tree before Philip had even invited him to meet Jesus, Bartholomew realized that this Jesus was the “real deal,” truly the Messiah. So Nathanael made a confession of faith: “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

Is that all it took? Why anyone from a nearby hill could have seen Nathanael snoozing under his fig tree! So Jesus invited Nathanael to see still greater things. “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” I doubt Nathanael would of have missed that one. His last name of “Bar-Tolmai,” son of Tolmai, indicates he was a good Hebrew. And all good Hebrews knew the Old Testament story of the patriarch Jacob sleeping one night with a rock for a pillow and having a dream of a stairway that connected heaven and earth (Gen. 28:10-22). Jacob saw angels ascending and descending on that stairway and the Lord God—the Son of God—standing at the top. Now Jesus would apply that ancient dream to Himself. Nathanael Bartholomew would see heaven and earth joined in Him, in the Son of Man, the Son of God, who had come to earth and taken on human flesh.

So Jesus calls Bartholomew to Himself, overcomes his initial doubts, sparks faith in him, and essentially says, “Just you wait, Mr. Nathanael, you’ll see Me reunite heaven and earth, that is, God and sinners.” That’s the real confession of Jesus the Son of God, the King of Israel!

That’s about all the Bible tells us about St. Bartholomew, except for also mentioning him after Jesus’ Resurrection. Perhaps a couple of weeks after Jesus rose from the dead, Nathanael is listed with Peter and the others who were sitting around. Peter decided to go fishing, and we can only assume that Nathanael and the others joined him. That’s when this little band of disciples saw Jesus appear on the shore and then fix a nice little “Easter breakfast” of fish for them. So Nathanael Bartholomew witnessed the risen Christ. He did get to see the Son of Man reunite heaven and earth in His crucifixion and resurrection.

What else did St. Bartholomew do, and what happened to him after Jesus ascended? Church traditions say that he traveled east to proclaim this crucified and risen Jesus. Savior Jesus turned this plainspoken, no-deceit disciple into a brave preacher of His forgiveness, life, and salvation for the world. The story goes that Bartholomew went as far as India preaching Jesus who is the true Israelite in whom there is no deceit. In fact, the Church historian Eusebius says that Bartholomew left a Hebrew copy of the Gospel of Matthew in India, where it was rediscovered only a couple of centuries later by another missionary there. Finally, Bartholomew suffered his martyrdom, his execution for confessing Jesus Christ, in the region of Armenia—north of Iran and Iraq, between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Tradition tells us that Bartholomew was probably flayed (skin cut and pealed off) and beheaded. And all that for preaching Jesus Christ crucified and risen and thus converting the king’s brother and his family.

What does this story of St. Bartholomew have to do with us? How does it strengthen our faith in Christ crucified and risen to forgive our sins and restore us to life with God? As we Lutherans confess, “[T]he history of the saints may be set before us so that we may follow the example of their faith and good works, according to our calling” (AC XXI:1). This “no-deceit disciple” named Nathanael Bartholomew may have had his doubts about Jesus at first, but he did end up believing in Him and confessing Him with great boldness. That’s why Bartholomew’s symbol has not only the flaying knife in it, but also the open Scriptures. By God’s grace, he spent all of his days after meeting Jesus confessing the real Israelite in whom there’s no deceit, Jesus the Messiah. When the prophet Isaiah foretold the Savior and his suffering, he said, “they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth” (Is. 53:9). No-deceit Jesus “was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed” (Is. 53:5). No, we are not healed by Bartholomew’s execution. Instead, we, along with Bartholomew, are healed by Jesus’ execution. Our Lord Jesus unites heaven and earth, restores us sinners to life with God and forgives all our doubts and deceits, with His shed blood and His glorious resurrection.

And here’s how St. Bartholomew serves as our example in faith and life. In today’s Collect we asked God: “Grant that Your Church may love what [Bartholomew] believed and preach what he taught.” When we are healed by Jesus’ execution, when we also see the angels of God ascending and descending on the crucified and risen Son of Man, our hearts are free to trust Him. You see, in Him we sinners on earth are reunited with our heavenly Father, with His Son, and with the Holy Spirit. And that makes us “no-deceit disciples” too. With the confession of Jesus, the Son of God, the King of Israel in our mouths, and with His Body and Blood put in our mouths, He removes our deceit and leads us to speak the truth, just as He did for Nathanael Bartholomew.

In our day too many pastors and churches would rather moisten their fingers, stick them in the air, and try to sense which way the breezes of religion are blowing. So we need the example of St. Bartholomew. Jesus’ “no-deceit disciple” teaches us to proclaim our “no-deceit Savior” with great boldness and confidence, even in the face of death. We are free simply to proclaim Jesus Christ and Him crucified and risen. So, come to His Table, and receive His Body and Blood to strengthen you in believing and proclaiming what Bartholomew also believed and taught. Amen.

Homily - St. Barnabas, Apostle

(This homily uses and expands upon my previous post for this day of remembering St. Barnabas.)

Son of Encouragement
Acts 11:19-30; 13:1-3 & Mark 6:7-13

Today the Church remembers and thanks God for St. Barnabas, Apostle. His name means “son of encouragement” or “son of consolation,” and the Biblical witness gives ample testimony that he lived up to his name.

In our Gospel reading this evening, we hear how Jesus sent the Twelve out two by two to proclaim Him and His kingdom. While Barnabas was not in that group of sent ones, he most likely was in another group, the Seventy that Jesus later sent out (see Luke 10:1-20). To those seventy sent ones, our Lord gave the commission: “Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you’” (Lk. 10:8-9). Barnabas learned from our Lord to encourage and console by proclaiming the Savior and His kingdom.

We first meet Barnabas in Acts 4. St. Luke, the author of Acts, says that the early Christians “were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common” (Acts 4:32). In our day, when diversity is trumpeted and even Christians seem to revel in how different they can be from one another, such a comment from St. Luke is quite the encouragement. Yes, there can indeed be something better. The unity of Christians in faith and life is indeed an encouragement and consolation.

We can certainly learn a lot from the early Church of Acts, and from Barnabas himself. As we are told of the early Christians selling their own property—perhaps the equivalent of “vacation homes” and extra property—we meet Barnabas in Acts 4:36: “Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.” What a great example of Christian charity! Barnabas saw the opportunity to use his wealth to proclaim Jesus Christ crucified and risen and to extend the kingdom of God. What great encouragement our Lord gives when His people give generously so that the Gospel may be proclaimed and His kingdom promoted.

The next time we encounter this Apostle of encouragement, he comes to the rescue, humanly speaking, of the Apostle Paul. Acts 9 gives us the conversion of St. Paul, formerly a persecutor of Christians. With good reason many in the early Church were quite nervous about this man who had previously hunted down and killed their brothers and sisters in the true faith. However, “Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus” (Acts 9:27). What great encouragement Barnabas gave to St. Paul that someone would defend him and his name as a fellow Christian. What great consolation he gave to the other apostles that St. Paul was “the real deal” for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Then we meet Barnabas again in our second reading for tonight. Barnabas and Paul have become companions and coworkers in proclaiming Christ Jesus. In fact, they travel and preach and teach together for several chapters in the book of Acts. When Barnabas was sent to Antioch, he saw how the grace of God had taken hold there. So, true to his name, he encouraged the Antiochian Christians “to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose” (Acts 11:23). Yes, we all need such encouragement. Everyone from lifelong Christians to those new to the faith need the constant encouragement in God’s love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness in His Son Jesus Christ.

After Paul later joined Barnabas in Antioch, the two apostles taught the Christians there for a whole year. The encouragement of the Gospel of Jesus Christ bore great fruit in Antioch, and that’s where believers “were first called Christians” (Acts 11:26).

The preaching continued, the missionary travels multiplied, and Barnabas kept encouraging. We even hear tonight how Barnabas joined Paul in gathering and delivering monies for famine relief for Christians in Judea. What a great testimony to the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. His love for us sinners, shown on the cross and given in the Eucharist, leads His people to care for and help one another in every need. Of course, the greatest need is to hear, trust, and spread the message of Christ crucified for sinners. But Christians also encourage and console one another in other needs, such as disaster relief. As Barnabas shows us, it’s just what the people of Christ do.

What makes St. Barnabas worthy of our remembrance is that he draws our attention to the true and eternal “Son of Encouragement.” Yes, our Lord Jesus Christ is the true source of encouragement and consolation. In His death on the cross He has forgiven the sins that easily discourage. In His glorious resurrection He gives ample and eternal consolation that we have life with our holy, Triune God. Such encouragement in forgiveness and consolation in the life of Christ free us to follow the good example of St. Barnabas.

So on this day we thank God for St. Barnabas, for his selfless, generous charity, and for his defense of St. Paul's reputation as a bona fide apostle to proclaim Jesus Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Let us pray that God will lead us also to be generous with our wealth so that the Gospel may be proclaimed and the kingdom of Christ may expand. Let us pray that God will give us the good courage to defend and support our pastors as they proclaim the mercies and life of Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

St. Barnabas, Apostle

Today the Church remembers and thanks God for St. Barnabas, Apostle. His name means "son of encouragement, consolation," and the Biblical witness gives ample testimony that he lived up to his name.

We first meet Barnabas in Acts 4 when St. Luke, the author of Acts, says that the early Christians "were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common" (Acts 4:32). In our day, when diversity is trumpeted and even Christians seem to revel in how different they can be from one another, such a comment from St. Luke is quite the encouragement that there can indeed be something better. The unity of Christians in faith and life is indeed an encouragement and consolation.

We can indeed learn a lot from the early Church of Acts, and from Barnabas himself. As we are told of the early Christians selling their own property - perhaps the equivalent of "vacation homes" and extra land - we meet Barnabas in Acts 4:36: "Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet." What a great example of Christian charity! Barnabas saw the opportunity to use his wealth to proclaim Jesus Christ crucified and risen and to extend the kingdom of God. What great encouragement our Lord gives when His people give generously so that the Gospel may be proclaimed and His kingdom promoted.

The next time we encounter this Apostle of encouragement he comes to the rescue, humanly speaking, of the Apostle Paul. Acts 9 gives us the conversion of St. Paul, formerly a persecutor of Christians. With good reason many in the early Church were quite nervous about this man who had previously hunted down and killed their brothers and sisters in the true faith. However, "Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus" (Acts 9:27). What great encouragement Barnabas gave to St. Paul that someone would defend him and his name as a fellow Christian. What great consolation he gave to the other apostles that St. Paul was "the real deal" for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

So on this day we thank God for St. Barnabas, for his selfless, generous charity, and for his defense of St. Paul's reputation as a bona fide apostle to proclaim Jesus Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Let us pray that God will lead us also to be generous with our wealth so that the Gospel may be proclaimed and the kingdom of Christ may expand. Let us pray that God will give us the good courage to defend and support our pastors as they proclaim the mercies and life of Jesus Christ our Savior.

Collect of the Day (LSB)
Almighty God, Your faithful servant Barnabas sought not his own renown but gave generously of his life and substance for the encouragement of the apostles and their ministry. Grant that we may follow his example in lives given to charity and the proclamation of the Gospel; through Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Readings for the Day (LSB)
Isaiah 42:5-12
Acts 11:19-30; 13:1-3
Mark 6:7-13

Hymn Verse
For Barnabas we praise You,
Who kept Your law of love
And, leaving earthly treasures,
Sought riches from above.
O Christ, our Lord and Savior,
Let gifts of grace descend,
That Your true consolation
May through the world extend. (LSB 518:17)

St. Mark, Evangelist

Today the Church celebrates St. Mark, the Evangelist, the young man who fled naked from the garden when Jesus was arrested, and the young man who backed out on Paul and Barnabbas in their missionary work, but whom St. Paul requested be brought to him in a wonderful act of restoration. Thank God for the witness and proclamation of St. Mark!

Collect of the Day (LSB)
Almighty God, You have enriched Your Church with the proclamation of the Gospel through the evangelist Mark. Grant that we may firmly believe these glad tidings and daily walk according to Your Word; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Hymn Verse
For Mark, O Lord, we praise You,
The weak by grace made strong,
Whose labors and whose Gospel
Enrich our triumph song.
May we, in all our weakness,
Reflect Your servant life
And follow in Your footsteps,
Enduring cross and strife (LSB 518:15)

Readings from “For All the Saints: A Prayerbook By and For the Saints”
Isaiah 62:6-12
2 Timothy 4:1-11
Acts 12:25-13:3

The reading from 2 Timothy 4 gives great wisdom, guidance, and even comfort, as it prepares us for the challenges we face today in the Church and as it draws our attention to Jesus and His crown of righteousness. Here are verses 1-8:

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

St. Patrick, Missionary to Ireland

In honor of St. Patrick on this March 17, 2008, here's a little something I wrote for my congregation's newsletter:

Who was St. Patrick?

When I say, “March 17,” chances are good that you think, “St. Patrick’s Day.” And once you think of St. Patrick’s Day, you probably think of all the green clothes and hats you can wear, the green food you will eat, and the green decorations that go up just about everywhere. You might even think of delicious corned beef and cabbage (Yum!), and perhaps even green beer. (Although that still doesn’t seem right. I mean why taint perfectly good beer by turning it green? ☺)

However, St. Patrick’s Day is about much more than that. March 17 is the Church’s day to commemorate the great bishop of Ireland and his tireless work to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ among people who were quite hostile to Christianity. Through the faithful and even life-threatening work of preaching the Gospel of Christ and founding many churches, God used St. Patrick to convert Ireland from pagan religions such as Druidism to Christianity. March 17, then, commemorates the death of St. Patrick in the middle of the fifth century.

The LCMS website gives this summary of St. Patrick’s life:

Patrick is one of the best-known of the missionary saints. Born to a Christian family in Britain around the year 389, he was captured as a teenager by raiders, taken to Ireland, and forced to serve as a herdsman. After six years he escaped and found his way to a monastery community in France. Ordained a bishop in 432, he made his way back to Ireland, where he spent the rest of his long life spreading the Gospel and organizing Christian communities. He strongly defended the doctrine of the Holy Trinity in a time when it was not popular to do so. His literary legacy includes his autobiography, Confessio, and several prayers and hymns still used in the church today. Patrick died around the year 466.

On one occasion, in A.D. 433, Patrick defied the orders of King Loegaire and refused to honor a pagan festival. The king, then, tried to assassinate Patrick, but Patrick and his coworkers were able to escape unharmed. Tradition says that God’s deliverance from this peril prompted Patrick to write his best-known hymn, known today as “I Bind Unto Myself Today.” This hymn is an excellent confession of the Holy Trinity and of God’s deliverance from sin and evil through Jesus Christ. Here’s the text from our hymnal, Lutheran Service Book, 604:

I bind unto myself today
The strong name of the Trinity
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this day to me forever,
By pow’r of faith, Christ’s incarnation,
His Baptism in the Jordan River,
His cross of death for my salvation,
His bursting from the spiced tomb,
His riding up the heav’nly way,
His coming at the day of doom,
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself today
The pow’r of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need,
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward,
The Word of God to give me speech,
His heav’nly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile foes that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In ev’ry place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility,
I bind to me those holy pow’rs.

I bind unto myself the name,
The strong name of the Trinity
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three,
Of whom all nature has creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word.
Praise to the Lord of my salvation;
Salvation is of Christ the Lord!

So, this March 17, instead of merely donning the green and enjoying corned-beef for St. Patrick’s Day, we also thank God for the Bishop of Ireland and his faithful preaching of the Gospel and his confession of the Holy Trinity. No matter what opposition we face, we can also proclaim the goodness and mercy of our holy, Triune God, just as St. Patrick did.

St. Titus, Pastor and Confessor

For the third day in a row Lutheran Service Book gives us a festival relating to the Office of the Holy Ministry. First came St. Timothy (24 January), then came the Conversion of St. Paul (25 January). Today it's St. Titus, another young pastor recruited by St. Paul. Here are some reflections on the readings for this feast day:

Acts 20:28-35
The first reading for today gives us St. Paul's exhortation to pastors (shepherds) in general: "Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood" (v. 28). The shepherd's job is simply and faithfully to care for the Good Shepherd's blood-bought flock, feeding the lambs on the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. That sounds simple enough, until we read on to discover the real challenge of the the Office. Fierce wolves, a.k.a. false teachers, self-serving preachers, etc., will insert themselves into the flock of the Church. They will come from without and within. The latter - the fierce wolves that come from within the Church - may be the more dangerous. You see, such fierce wolves speak twisted things, things that sound true, Scriptural, or churchly, but things that draw attention away from the Good Shepherd. Why? Because those wolves really want to draw away the lambs after themselves. Watch out for the personality cults of any shape, size, or stripe. Watch out for those who are more "effective leaders" than they are faithful shepherds. Watch out for those who receive the accolades of being "a godly man" while they say very little about the God-Man who lived, died, and rose again to redeem the flock from the clutches of sin, death, and the devil. Instead, as St. Paul directs our attention, look to "God and the word of his grace," because that "is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified" (v. 32). Thank God for the true "godly men," faithful pastors and confessors, because they will be the ones that tell the flock, "Don't look at me; don't praise my work or my qualities! Rather, look to the true godly Man, the God-Man who actually shed His blood to cleanse you and redeem you!" The Church (flock) and her pastors (shepherds) have but one mission in life: helping those who are weak in their sin and death and remembering and proclaiming the words of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Titus 1:1-9
Now we meet St. Titus himself, through the words of the Apostle Paul. Paul greets Titus by appealing to "the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began" (vv. 1-2). Paul's work, and by extension Titus' work, focuses on God's eternal will for all people. The ministry and the Church are far different from - and far above - the programmatic, business-like pursuits that so often mark modern churches and 21st century pastors. The ministry and the Church get to proclaim and revel in the life of heaven here on earth - the true life that God intended from the beginning, the true life that He restores in the death and resurrection of His Son, the true life that He delivers in the Gospel proclaimed and the Sacraments given out, the true life that comes to full fruition and complete revelation on the Last Day.

This is why St. Paul left St. Titus on the island of Crete - to make it an "outpost" of eternity here on earth, a "colony" of the life of love from and with God here in the day-to-day life of battling sin, temptation, evil, self-serving, death, etc. And notice how Titus - the overseer (episkopos) - was to carry that out: by appointing elders (presbyterous) in every town. We may not have a specific command to follow this kind of church polity (a wink and a nod for those who get nervous twitches at the mere thought of a command! ;-), but we certainly have a salutary example, a description of a reality worth regaining. And then St. Paul reminds Titus and all pastors/priests of those characteristics and habits that best befit their office. My, how we clergy need that list! My, how we need the reminders - from bishops (not bureaucrats!) - to care for our wives and children (instead of being "married" to the congregation or denomination and its plethora of extracurricular activities), to be stewards of God's things, to be above reproach, humble, patient, sober, calm, and content with the crumbs that fall from the Master's table. My, how we clergy need to be hospitable, lovers of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. Most of all, my, how God's shepherds need to "hold firmly to the trustworthy word as taught," that is, to the Word made Flesh who dwelt among us long ago and still dwells among us in His Body and Blood on the Altar.

Luke 10:1-9
In this reading our Lord Jesus sends out the seventy-two to proclaim the Gospel. (Okay, some manuscripts say "seventy." Big deal! What's two more preachers of the Gospel here or there? Hey, the more the merrier! :-) Our Lord's missionaries - the ones sent by Him - go out as laborers in His field, as lambs who may very well be easy prey for vicious wolves, as men who need not worry about their wallets, their suitcases, or their shoes. After all, if God could preserve and provide for the Israelites, and their shoes did not wear out, for 40 years, He can certainly take care of His "sent ones" who proclaim His kingdom of mercy, grace, and forgiveness! Our Lord's missionaries - the ones ordered (ordained) by Him - are to imitate His ministry of healing the sick and proclaiming that the Kingdom has come...in Him. Sounds like another way of saying, "Preach the coming of Christ here and now, and bring people to the healing life of God in the Sacraments"! Some may receive it; others may not. However, the Lord's missionaries are to let Him worry about those who reject Him. He will deal with those who reject the Kingdom and its healing; His missionaries are simply to wipe the dust off their feet and move on. After all, the Kingdom of God and His healing of forgiveness, life, and salvation cannot be forced on those who insist on rejecting it. That would not be the way of Divine Love! (And neither should the message of the Kingdom and the King's healing be changed, altered, or amended so as to appeal to more masses and fill more pews. Setting that message on the shelf in the back room while we (pastors) find other ways to lure people into our churches ("missions") may very well be tantamount to not receiving the King!)

And in verses that follow the assigned reading (Luke 10:17-20), we discover that the seventy-two actually had some "success" in their mission of preaching the Kingdom (Jesus) and healing the sin-sick (Sacraments). But Jesus tells them not to let their achievements go to their heads. Yes, as they labored in His field, He "saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven"; yes, they had authority over serpents, scorpions, and all the power of the enemy. But they were not to rejoice in these things. Yes, when a faithful pastor dutifully proclaims Christ crucified and risen, when he baptizes, communes, and absolves, Satan's domain is greatly weakened and toppled. But let's not rejoice in such things that are beyond our control. Instead, let us join the seventy-two and rejoice that our names are written in heaven! Let us rejoice that our Lord Jesus makes us part of His Kingdom and grants us healing from our many sins and weaknesses, faults and failures. After all, that's the only thing we really have to proclaim and confess!

Hymn Verse
All praise for faithful pastors,
Who preached and taught Your Word;
For Timothy and Titus
True servants of their Lord.
Lord, help Your pastors nourish
The souls within their care,
So that Your Church may flourish
And all Your blessings share. (LSB 517:11)

Collect
Almighty God, You called Titus to the work of pastor and teacher. Make all shepherds of Your flock diligent in preaching Your holy Word so that the whole world may know the immeasurable riches of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The Conversion of St. Paul

Today we thank God for the conversion of St. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles. Not only does his conversion story show that God can convert even the worst of sinners, but also that He can and does recruit and use just about any kind of person for the proclamation of His Gospel. Much can be said about St. Paul, his conversion, and his subsequent ministry of preaching and teaching the Truth of God in the Flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ, but here I'll simply give some reflections on the readings given for today's feast in Lutheran Service Book (p. xxii)

Acts 9:1-22
What an amazing miracle! God converts a persecutor and murderer into a believer and apostle! He who persecuted Christians - and thus also Christ Himself - is now turned around by God's grace and mercy to proclaim Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Yes, persecuting Christians is tantamount to persecuting Christ. However, God can change those who persecute His people. This gives some added insight into Jesus' command to pray for those who hate us and persecute us. After all, God still wants them in His kingdom too, and God even uses them to promote and extend His kingdom. What an amazing miracle!

And what a miracle for Ananias as well. I can't even imagine the horror he must have felt, when God told him to go to Saul. After all, he knew Saul's reputation as a persecutor and murderer. If he went to this man, would he, Ananias, be summarily arrested, handed over to the Jewish leaders, or even killed? Yet Ananias also shows the miracle of God's grace: trust in the Savior, even in the midst of perilous circumstances. And God used Ananias as His earthen vessel to proclaim the Gospel to Saul. Humanly speaking, Ananias brought the soon-to-be Apostle Paul into God's kingdom via the laying on of hands and Holy Baptism.

As a result of being filled with the gift of the Holy Spirit, St. Paul - his new name meaning "little one" - proclaimed that Jesus is the Son of God. The miracle we celebrate today is this: the man who persecuted the Church became one of its greatest proponents and Apostles. If God can do such great things for St. Paul, He can certainly free us from our pasts, no matter how sordid or shady; He can certainly liberate us from the sins and death that blinds us to His goodness and forgiveness; He can certainly use us, with all of our weaknesses, faults and foibles, to proclaim His Son and His forgiving mercy. What an amazing miracle!

Galatians 1:11-24
Here St. Paul relates more about his ongoing conversion, if you will. The amazing miracle of Acts 9, the divinely given revelation of Jesus the Son of God, is followed by yet more learning and growing. The Apostle was certainly called by God's grace, but I would sure like to know what he did and learned when he went away into Arabia. What did the Apostle learn and study for those three years before he went up to Jerusalem to visit Peter? I'd like to think it was a time of prayer and study on how this crucified Jesus truly is the Son of God, the King of kings, the Lord of lords. Whatever happened, the great thing about Paul's conversion is that "He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy." Because of this, God was glorified!

Matthew 19:27-30
On this day when we thank God for His gift of a persecutor turned Apostle, we also get to hear what our Lord told Peter about leaving all to follow Him. When Peter wanted to hold on to a little something that he had done for Jesus - leaving everything and following Him - Jesus reminds him, and us, that "everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life." We need not fear losing all this side of eternity, because we have already received all of eternal life in our Lord Jesus Christ.

St. Paul's own words explain this truth quite well: "Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own tha tcomes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith" (Philippians 3:7-9). What an amazing miracle to lose everything in this world and yet to gain everything in Christ Jesus!

Collect of the Day (LSB):
Almighty God, You turned the heart of him who persecuted the Church and by his preaching caused the light of the Gospel to shine throughout the world. Grant us ever to rejoice in the saving light of Your Gospel and following the example of the apostle Paul, to spread it to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Collect:
O God, by the preaching of your apostle Paul you have caused the light of the Gospel to shine throughout th world: Grant, we pray, that we, having his wonderful conversion in remembrance, may show ourselves thankful to you by following his holy teaching; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (The Book of Common Prayer)

Collect:
O God, who didst call Saul, the persecutor of the Church, to be the Apostle Paul, and to proclaim the gospel of thy Son Jesus Christ to the Gentiles: Grant that, as thou hast called us also, we may be true to our calling, and count everything loss for the gain of knowing Christ Jesus as our Saviour; to whom with thee and the Holy Spirit be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen. (Church of South India; quoted in For All the Saints: A Prayerbook for and by the Church, v. III, p. 1298)

Hymn Verse:
Praise for the light from heaven
And for the voice of awe;
Praise for the glorious vision
The persecutor saw.
O Lord, for Paul's conversion,
We bless Your name today;
Come shine within our darkness,
And guide us on our way.

St. Timothy, Pastor and Confessor

Today the Lutheran Service Book calendar thanks God for St. Timothy, Pastor and Confessor. It's more than just a "Commemoration"; it's a full "Feast and Festival" with three readings appointed for the Divine Service (Mass). Here are some reflections on those readings.

Acts 16:1-5
In the first reading for this feast day, we read how St. Paul first met Timothy and how he recruited Timothy to join him in the service of preaching the Gospel. Timothy was "the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek." How interesting that Timothy came from a family of one pious parent and one parent who was, well, we just don't know, aside from his nationality. For whatever reason, most likely his father's will, Timothy was not circumcised. So as St. Paul recruited Timothy into the service of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, he chose to circumcise Timothy in order that the Gospel might have a hearing among the Jews. From this reading we see that God most certainly can and does use us weak, earthen vessels, with all of our family and personal baggage - actually, despite all our baggage! - to proclaim His goodness and mercy in Christ Jesus crucified and risen. After Timothy joined St. Paul's missionary entourage, "the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily." A great testimony to the Messiah and the message that St. Timothy was called to preach!

1 Timothy 6:11-16
In this reading St. Paul exhorts Timothy on being a faithful pastor, that is, a shepherd of souls. He urges the young pastor and confessor to flee the self-serving, wealth-seeking ways of the false teachers (6:3-10), and then he lists severals things that are to characterize faithful pastors: "righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness." St. Paul urges Timothy - and, by extension, all faithful pastors - to "fight the good fight of faith" and "take hold of the eternal life to which you were called." While the pastor may indeed serve and help people in this life, even with bodily needs, his ultimate aim, his chief goal, for himself and his hearers, is faith and eternal life - that is, life in communion with God, both now and into eternity. As Timothy also learned from St. Paul, the pastor's main business is to make the good confession. And what a great example of the good confession the Apostle gives to Timothy in verses 14-16! How different this is from so many modern views of the pastoral office that urge us to be congregational CEOs, junior psychotherapists, company men always on the lookout for the next faddish way to excite people, lure people, gather crowds, etc. Faithful Pastor Timothy shows us what truly matters: confessing Jesus Christ crucified and risen, "the King of kings and Lord of lords."

Matthew 24:42-47
While the Gospel reading does not mention St. Timothy, per se, it does extol the pastoral office. Just as Timothy was, so are all pastors called to be "the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time." The pastor is certainly set over his congregation, but only as the servant of the Master, answerable to Him. No, not a servant who kowtows to the whims of the fellow servants and merely seeks their momentary pleasure and all-too-fleeting approval. Rather, the servant who does the Master's bidding for the spiritual benefit and eternal life of his fellow servants in the Master's household. And what is the "faithful and wise servant" - the pastor - given to do? "Give them their food at the proper time." Of course, he is not to mistreat his fellow servants, nor lord it over them, etc.; but neither is he free to give them whatever faddish pablum or worldly false nutrition that he can innovate on his computer or unveil from the denominational corporate office. Like Timothy, the faithful pastor is to give out the Master's food - the very Bread of Life - the Master Himself in His Body and Blood and in the "bread" of His Gospel message. And once again we hear a clue about the ultimate aim of the pastor's work: not this life, but eternal life - life with the blessed and holy Trinity. He is to keep his fellow servants awake to the life and love that God gives in His Son. His message is this: "Here comes the Lord Himself, both now - in the Gospel's message of mercy and in the Sacraments of water, bread and wine, and absolving words - and on the Last Day - when the Master returns."

As St. Paul wrote to St. Timothy: "The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task" (1 Timothy 3:1). What a "noble task" this Office of the Holy Ministry is! What a great example we have in St. Timothy! Thank You, Lord, for Your saint who learned from St. Paul and who passed on the "good confession."! And so, for all pastors who want to be faithful and follow in the footsteps of St. Timothy, we can do nothing better than emblazon on our minds and hearts the words of 2 Timothy 4:1-5:

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Hymn Verse:
All praise for faithful pastors,
Who preached and taught Your Word;
For Timothy and Titus
True servants of their Lord.
Lord, help Your pastors nourish
The souls within their care,
So that Your Church may flourish
And all Your blessings share. (LSB 517:11)

Collect of the Day:
Lord Jesus Christ, You have always given to Your Church on earth faithful shepherds such as Timothy to guide and feed Your flock. Make all pastors diligent to preach Your holy Word and administer Your means of grace, and grant Your people wisdom to follow in the way that leads to life eternal; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (LSB Collects of the Day)

Longing for the Saints

In his book The Presence, Pr. Berthold von Schenk has some pretty interesting, and insightful, things to say on the communion of saints. If I didn't know better, I'd think that he were writing today, in 2008, not "way back" in 1945! I guess some things just don't change that quickly after all! :-)

Pr. von Schenk begins by saying that "the connecting link between Heaven and earth is the Holy Communion.... It is the ladder by which the risen, ascended Saviour comes down to us" (p. 123). Then he discusses the saints, first by clarifying that they were not some kind of spiritual supermen or wonder women [my phrase], but rather people who were tempted and who struggled and suffered just as we do.

Then von Schenk says, "It was a sad loss to the church, a grave mistake, when a few stupid people pushed the saints out of the picture. It was a sad mistake when they took them out of the life of the church, but it was even a greater mistake to place them into the niche of supernatural people. What has the church substituted for the saints and their glorious triumphant lives? Perhaps respectability, which is not holiness" (p. 124).

After critiquing such "respectability" in the church, von Schenk continues to lobby for the usefulness of the saints in the life of the church: "In place of that smug, cold, soulless respectability we must put the passionate love, first for Jesus, and then for sinners for Jesus' sake. We must have a reckless, supernatural, sacrificial love, supernatural in its vision; supernatural in its power to transform our lives; supernatural in its power to heal the souls of men. Let us get off that pedestal of respectability and fall on our knees and learn to be saints!" (p. 125).

I think von Schenk may be on to something here. Instead of groping for respectability in the eyes of the world and/or people around us (even respectability measured by mere numbers or even mere increasing numbers!), let's learn to be saints - those who live only by the grace and mercy of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, those who learn to love Him and the people around them with a sacrificial love, and, yes, those who even suffer trials, temptations, and even death for the sake of confessing Christ crucified and risen. As von Schenk also says, "The saint has only one motive. This motive is the love of Jesus guiding and dominating everything he does or says. It is not his life, but Christ's life" (p. 126).

And I just cannot resist including this snippet from The Presence. It really puts things in perspective. We don't need more humanly derived notions, plans, and programs to save the church! We need the divine Love, the Calvary Love, the very love that sparked and warmed the saints, the very love that unites us with them. Here's von Schenk's juicy little morsel:

"What men have done men can do again. The world needs saints; men who will free themselves of self, who love with the divine love. Church leaders are looking for [something] to save a declining Church. They start all sorts of campaigns, drives, calls of the Cross. And while the Church is deliberating, men's hearts are aching, are hungering for the supernatural, for saints, for glimpses of heaven, for romance. Conferences, synods, arguments, eloquence, committees, campaigns are merely stopping leaks in a weak dam. The world needs saints; it needs the mad vision of saints, which alone can keep us sane, the supernatural vision which will turn the world, which is upside down, back to where God wants it. The saints are not mere figures in history; they speak today. They are part of the Church, the mystical Body of Christ. Certainly the Body of Christ cannot be divided. Death cannot separate the members of the Body of Christ, the Church. The Church on earth knows of no separation from the Church beyond the grave. What is this bond of union? Why, the Communion. At the Altar we link ourselves with the saints. Here we are caught up with them. The Blessed Sacrament is the link which binds us to our risen and ascended Lord, and the whole company of Heaven. Here at the Altar I get a glimpse of the saints. Here I am united with them, and here heaven is made real to me as my faith is nourished" (pp. 126-127, emphasis original).

St. John, Apostle and Evangelist

Today the Church celebrates and commemorates St. John, the Apostle and Evangelist. His simple writing proclaims the most glorious truths of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, especially as He is the Word made flesh and how He is one with the Father and the Holy Spirit. His Gospel and his letters (1 John, 2 John, and 3 John) give such profound and life-changing truth and light, and his Revelation gives great hope that the Lamb of God, who bled, died, and rose again to take away the sin of the world will come again to rescue us and place us around His glorious throne, along with the whole company of heaven, to sing praises to the Holy Trinity and bask in His eternal life. Thank You, Lord, for Your gift of "St. John the Divine"!

Collect for St. John, Apostle and Evangelist:
Merciful Lord, cast the bright beams of Your light upon Your Church that we, being instructed in the doctrine of Your blessed apostle and evangelist John, may come to the light of everlasting life; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Hymn Verse:
For Your belov'd disciple
Exiled to Patmos' shore,
And for his faithful record,
We praise You evermore.
Praise for the mystic vision
Through him to us revealed;
May we, in patience waiting,
With Your elect be sealed. (LSB 517:8)

St. Thomas, Apostle

Today the Church remembers and thanks God for St. Thomas. Though a faithful follower of the Lord Jesus, Thomas wasn't quite sure about the message he received from the other ten that they had seen the Risen Lord. We usually think of Thomas as "doubting," but the text uses the word "unbelieving." And I wonder if it isn't best to keep the context in mind: Thomas wasn't doubting/unbelieving everything, but specifically that the other ten had seen the Risen Lord.

At any rate, we remember and honor St. Thomas because the Lord does lead him to confess the God-Man, Jesus Christ. What a great confession of the Divine-Human Savior Thomas makes when he says, "My Lord and my God"! And that just after he had poked his fingers and hands into Jesus' very open, fleshly wounds in His hands and His side. That wounded Man is truly God and Lord indeed.

So, we can thank God for Thomas because we see how He, our gracious Lord, handles our doubts and questions that undoubtedly creep up on us from time to time: He simply keeps revealing Himself to us; He lets us poke around and explore the wounds; He does bring us to confess Him as "Lord and God." It's no wonder that the Church as placed this feast so close to the celebration of the Christ-Mass. In just a few days we'll all get to hear and sing with great joy that our Lord and God is in the flesh and in the manger at Bethlehem!

Hymn Verse:
All praise, O Lord, for Thomas,
Whose short-lived doubtings prove
Your perfect twofold nature,
The fullness of Your love.
To all who live with questions
A steadfast faith afford;
And grant us grace to know You,
True man, yet God and Lord. (LSB, 517:6)

Collect for St. Thomas, Apostle
Almighty and ever-living God, You strengthened Your apostle Thomas with firm and certain faith in the resurrection of Your Son. Grant us such faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God, that we may never be found wanting in Your sight; through the same Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

St. Andrew's Martyrdom

On the occasion of St. Andrew's day, here is John Foxe's account of the Apostle's martyrdom:

Of Andrew the apostle and brother to Peter, thus writeth Jerome. “Andrew did preach, in the year fourscore of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the Scythians and Sogdians, to the Sacae, and in a city which is called Sebastopolis, where the Ethiopians do now inhabit. He was buried in Patrae, a city of Achaia, being crucified by Aegeas, the governor of the Edessenes.” Bernard, and St. Cyprian, do make mention of the confession and martyrdom of this blessed Apostle; whereof partly out of these, partly out of other credible writers, we have collected after this manner: When Andrew, through his diligent preaching, had brought many to the faith of Christ, Aegeas the governor, knowing this, resorted to Patrae, to the intent he might constrain as many as did believe Christ to be God, by the whole consent of the senate, to do sacrifice unto the idols, and so give divine honours unto them. Andrew, thinking good at the beginning to resist the wicked counsel and the doings of Aegeas, went unto him, saying to this effect unto him: “that it behooved him who was judge of men, first to know his Judge which dwelleth in heaven, and then to worship Him being known; and so, in worshiping the true God, to revoke his mind from false gods and blind idols.” These words spake Andrew to the proconsul.

But Aegeas, greatly therewith discontented, demanded of him, whether he was the same Andrew that did overthrow the temple of the gods, and persuade men to be of that superstitious sect which the Romans of late had commanded to be abolished and rejected. Andrew did plainly affirm that the princes of the Romans did not understand the truth and that the Son of God, coming from heaven into the world for man’s sake, hath taught and declared how those idols, whom they so honoured as gods, were not only not gods, but also most cruel devils; enemies to mankind, teaching the people nothing else but that wherewith God is offended, and, being offended, turneth away and regardeth them not; and so by the wicked service of the devil, they do fall headlong into all wickedness, and, after their departing, nothing remaineth unto them, but their evil deeds.

But the proconsul charged and commanded Andrew not to teach and preach such things any more; or, if he did, he should be fastened to the cross with all speed.

Andrew, abiding in his former mind very constant, answered thus concerning the punishment which he threatened: “He would not have preached the honour and glory of the cross, if he had feared the death of the cross.” Whereupon sentence of condemnation was pronounced; that Andrew, teaching and enterprising a new sect, and taking away the religion of their gods, ought to be crucified. Andrew, going toward the place, and seeing afar off the cross prepared, did change neither countenance nor colour, neither did his blood shrink, neither did he fail in his speech, his body fainted not, neither was his mind molested, not did his understanding fail him, as it is the manner of men to do, but out of the abundance of his heart his mouth did speak, and fervent charity did appear in his words as kindled sparks; he said, “O cross, most welcome and long looked for! with [sic] a willing mind, joyfully and desirously, I come to thee, being the scholar of Him which did hang on thee: because I have always been thy lover, and have coveted to embrace thee.”

(John Foxe (1516-1587), The Acts and Monuments, which from the date of publication in 1563 was popularly know[n] as The Book of Martyrs. Cited from For All the Saints: A Prayer Book For and By the Church, Volume III, pp. 1283-1285.)

St. Andrew, Apostle

Today the Church remembers St. Andrew, Apostle of our Lord. Of course, St. Andrew is best known for first recognizing that Jesus is the Messiah and then for going to find his brother, Simon, to tell him, "We have found the Christ." See John 1:35-42. Would that St. Andrew - and not the latest in corporate marketing strategies, or multi-million dollar programs and "movements" - would be our genuine inspiration for evangelism work! Then our evangelism efforts just might be received more readily and, well, in a more genuine and authentic manner.

At any rate, we thank God for the example of St. Andrew as, technically speaking, today we begin a new Church Year of receiving and living in God's grace given in His Son Jesus Christ.

Hymn verse:
All praise, O Lord, for Andrew,
The first to welcome You,
Whose witness to his brother
Named You Messiah true.
May we, with hearts kept open
To You throughout the year,
Confess to friend and neighbor
Your advent ever near. (LSB 517:5)

Collect from Lutheran Service Book:
Almighty God, by Your grace the apostle Andrew obeyed the call of Your Son to be a disciple. Grant us also to follow the same Lord Jesus Christ in heart and life, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Collect from The Book of Common Prayer:
Almighty God, who gave such grace to your apostle Andrew that he readily obeyed the call of your Son Jesus Christ, and brought his brother with him: Give us, who are called by your holy Word, grace to follow him without delay, and to bring those near to us into his gracious presence; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

“The Tax Collector and His Friends”

As we thank God for His gift of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist, we also praise Him for His boundless pardon and forgiveness for sinners. Patrick Henry Reardon brings this out beautifully when he discusses "The Tax Collector and His Friends" (in Christ in His Saints, p. 22-23). After he comments on the call of Levi and the call of Matthew being identical, he says:

It is much more significant, however, that all three Synoptic Gospels treat the call of the tax collector (Levi/Matthew) as a centerpiece bracketed between two stories about sinners: the paralytic being forgiven his sins and Jesus having dinner with notorious sinners. Thus set between these two events, the call of the tax collector represents above all the evangelical summons to repentance and the forgiveness of sins.

The dialogue connected with the meal at his house illustrates this meaning of the tax collector’s call. Jesus, criticized for his association with sinners on this occasion, explains that "those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick" (Mark 2:17). In thus addressing sin through the metaphor of sickness, the Lord strikes again the note recently sounded by His healing the paralytic as proof of His authority to forgive the man’s sins (2:5-12).

Furthermore, summoning sinners to repentance and salvation is not just one of the things Jesus happens to do. There is a sense in which this is the defining thing that Jesus does, the very reason He came into this world. This truth is affirmed at the meal at the tax collector’s house, where He proclaims, "I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance" (Luke 5:32; cf. Matthew 9:13; Mark 2:17). Again, it is in the context of the call of yet another tax collector, Zacchaeus, that Jesus says, "the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10).

One of those "lost" was the Apostle Paul, who remembered himself to have been "a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man." But then he recalled that the same Lord who received the friends of the tax collector also received him: "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief" (1 Timothy 1:13-15).

Christ can call sinners, only because He can really do something about their sins. And He can forgive their sins precisely because He has paid the price of those sins. Therefore, Jesus’ forgiveness of sins is theologically inseparable from His dying for sinners. Correct repentance, then, brings the sinner to the foot of the Cross.

St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist

Tomorrow the Church remembers and celebrates St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist. This little verse from Lutheran Service Book 518:2 sums things up quite well:

Praise, Lord, for him whose Gospel
Your human life declared,
Who, worldly gain forsaking,
Your path of suff'ring shared.
From all unrighteous mammon,
O raise our eyes anew
That we in our vocation
May rise and follow You.