No Posts In The Near Future

Due to an abundance of circumstances (personal, logistics, and computer issues) I will probably not be posting too much in the near future. I may be able to from time to time, but I wouldn't count on it.

Thanks, and God Bless.

A Great Sermon

Check out the great sermon from this past Sunday preached by Pastor William Weedon.

The text can be found here.

The audio (as an Issues Etc. sermon review) can be found here.

It is very good, I heartily recommend it. Enjoy!

Why is the Sacramental Union So "Unbelievable"?

While perhaps it should come as no surprise to me, it is still difficult to understand why so many Christians today cannot even admit the possibility that the bread and wine of the Lord's supper are at the same time the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Their argument makes perfect sense of course, the bread does not look or taste like flesh. The wine (or grape juice) does not look or taste like blood. If one was to run a chemical test on them, they would show no traces of flesh or blood. The cannot be perceived as anything other than bread and wine.

This of course is true. Even in the sacramental union, the bread and wine are not changed. They remain bread and wine. Paul refers to the consecrated bread and wine as bread and wine in his first letter to the Corinthians. Yet our blessed Lord himself calls them His own body and blood. Because we have no physical evidence for the elements to be anything other than bread and wine, it is logical to believe they are merely symbols of Jesus' body and blood.

Why then, is it difficult for me to understand why so many are unable to at admit the possibility of the Jesus' words meaning what they literally say? Because the same people who, when speaking of the Lord's Supper bind their faith to follow their reason, have no problem believing that Jesus Christ is true God and true man at the same time. Looking at Jesus, we see nothing but a poor man. Under the most rigorous of medical examination, no doctor would call him anything but a simple man. There is no evidence for Jesus being both true God and true man other than his word, holy scripture.

Although speaking of two different kinds of unions here (sacramental as opposed to personal) they describe very similar things. In both cases things appear to the wisdom of this world to be only one simply earthly thing. In both cases, to the wisdom of the Spirit and faith, the ordinary earthly things become supernatural, but no less real.

Why is one acceptable to some Christians, but not the other? I have no idea.

SOLI DEO GLORIA

Confession & Absolution

One of the most common objections I hear from visitors to a Lutheran Church is that they cannot believe the pastor had the audacity to say "I forgive You All Your Sins." It is completely unfathomable, they say, for forgiveness to come from anywhere other than directly from Jesus himself. No pastor has the Authority to forgive sins, and they shouldn't presume to do so.

Of course, what these people don't understand is that the forgiveness spoken by the pastor, or any Christian, is in no way separated from Christ and His sacrificial death. To remove Christ's death and resurrection from atonement or absolution is impossible. Atonement apart from Christ's death and resurrection does not exist. This fact was even true for Christ himself. Whenever he announced absolution to a person, he could not have done so without doing so in reference to His perfect life, His future death, and His promised resurrection. Anytime Jesus told someone their sins were forgiven, it did not just magically (or miraculously) happen because Jesus said so. Forgiveness for these people came exclusively from the cross, just as it did when the apostles forgave sins, when the pastor forgives sins in Church Sunday morning, and when you forgive a brother or sister in Christ.

For those of you who have objections, it is may be helpful to think of forgiveness in terms that we Americans are more familiar with; a presidential pardon. If a president issues a pardon to someone who is in prison, it is only by the president's authority that he may be released from prison. Yet, it is very unlikely that the president himself will deliver the message. He would probably send someone else to release the man from prison. The Person sent could certainly say “By the Authority of the President of the United States of America, I release you from this prison.” The president's messenger has no authority of his own to release the man, he will not be the person to open the cell and let him out. Yet, this messenger can say “I release you.”

In the same way, Christ has sent us and gives us the privilege to tell the penitent “I forgive you.” In the very words of absolution on Sunday morning, the pastor makes it clear that it is not his personal authority that forgives sins, but the authority given to him “as a called and ordained servant of the word.”

Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you." [22] And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. [23] If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld."
- John 20:21-23 ESV

There is no forgiveness without Christ's death. Yet through Christ's Death, He has given all of us the privilege to forgive the sins of repentant Christians.

SOLI DEO GLORIA

Note: The standard words of absolution are as follows:

Upon this your confession, I, as a called and ordained servant of the Word, announce the grace of God to all of you, and in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

I had a pastor who usually edited this slightly to read as follows (added part in bold):

Upon this your confession, I, as a called and ordained servant of the Word, announce the grace of God to all of you, and in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, by virtue of his sacrificial death and resurrection, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Although this small edit does not really change anything being said, it always helped me to remember and better understand that the forgiveness being announced in absolution was the very forgiveness won by Jesus Christ on the Cross. It was simple way to keep the congregation's thoughts Christ centered and Cross Focused.

Of Sand and The Rock

Mat 7:24-27 ESV "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. [25] And the rain fell, and he floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. [26] And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. [27] And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."

This is a familiar passage to most readers of the Bible. It is commonly brought up in sermons and Bible classes. And the application seems simple, if we do what Jesus says, we are building our “house” on the rock and we will be safe. After all, we did such a great job picking our foundation that our house will certainly not be knocked down.

The real question posed by this passage, is not which is better, to build on sand or to build on rock, but how to build on the Rock. What does it mean when a man “hears these words of mine and does them?” On first glance, it seem like we simply need to hear the word of God and then do what it says. In the things of this world, we hear our master's command and we then fulfill it. Isn't it same to hear God's command and then fulfill it? Yet, look at the demands placed before this statement. It is the sermon on the mount. To “do” the words of Christ which proceeds this statement means to love your enemy as yourself, do everything possible to help your fellow man no matter who he is, to refrain from retaliation, anger, and lust. We are told to fast cheerfully, and to “not be anxious” but to have perfect faith in God our Father. And that is not even the half of it, and yet every single person reading this has broken each of these word's of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have in fact built out house on the sand.

Looking at it this way, we have built our house on the Law, we see what God commands and have tried to do all we could to keep it and we have failed miserably. The rain and floods of the law have come and crashed into our feebly built house. The winds have knocked it to the ground, because its foundation was not on Christ, but on our own works of the law.

What then does it mean to do the words of Christ. I means nothing else other than to repent and believe on Christ, on the Rock himself. In John 6:29, Jesus tells us that the “work of God” is simply to believe in the one whom God has sent. To do the work of God is to believe in Jesus himself. John repeats this truth in the third chapter of his first epistle. The doing of which Christ speaks is the Faith that is created in us through Baptism and the Word!

When we realize that the Rock is Christ himself (1 Cor 10:4) we realize that it is not our works that keep us strong, but the works of Christ on the Cross and the Holy Spirit in us through the means of Grace. To build on the Rock is to strengthen faith, and faith is only created and strengthened by the Gospel in Word and Sacrament. There is no substitution. Working to fulfill the law does not build on the rock, but builds on the sand of our own works. By receiving the gifts of Christ, our faith is being built on the Solid Rock of Jesus Christ.

SOLI DEO GLORIA

Beethoven Symphonies

Tonight, while at work, I am taking the time to do something I have never done before, listen to the entire cycle of Beethoven's Nine Symphonies. The works individually are each brilliant in their own way, but the impact of listening to them all so far has been a wonderful experience. I had forgotten how much I love the oft overlooked fourth symphony.

I'm just finishing the famous fifth now, and the best is yet to come. If you've never listened to them in a cycle I highly recommend it. It will take around six hours.

If you are looking for a good and reasonably priced complete set, I would recommend on of the following.

Herbert Von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic - The 1963 recording is generally regarded as best. It is certainly a classic recording, and Karajan squeezes all the drama he can from the wonderful BPO (I'll never understand how the Amazon Editorial Reviewer calls Karajan's Beethoven "Squeaky Clean" and "Emotionally Cool). The only let-down in this set for me is the Ninth. The performance is superb, but the 1963 recording really shows its age in the finale. The Choir is muddled and unintelligible, the orchestra and Soloists do well though. It is also worth noting that Karajan tended to over-emphasize the strings almost to the point of drowning out the brass. Even with these weaknesses the set is one of the best available for the drama alone.

David Zinman and the Zurich Tonhalle - This is the recording I am listening to tonight. It doesn't quite have the dramatic impact of Karajan, but the performances and recordings (from 1999 I believe, very recent) are still top notch. Zinman tends to keep the tempos very quick, almost to the point of distraction in a couple of places, but overall to very good effect (And likely closer to Beethoven's intentions). These are excellent performances and recordings and for $20.00 on Amazon, you really can't go wrong with them.

Forgive My Lack Of Posting

I haven't been writing much lately, I have been working a support shift at work (afternoons and evenings as opposed to morning and early afternoon) and it has been kicking my butt. My Bible Study and therefore my postings have suffered as well.

Looking forward to getting back into the Word over the weekend though.

One Stop Shop For Reformation Resources

Pastor McCain of Cyberbrethren has pointed us towards another great online resource for Reformation Information.

See his post here, or go directly to "Reformation."