More Than We Can Imagine*

Paul is absolutely correct when he says that God "is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine" (Ephesians 3:20). In contrast, our prayers tend to be weak and insignificant. Joseph didn't dare ask for what he finally received. His heart was like a bruised reed and a smolderding wick. His groaning was like smoke that rises straight to heaven. His heart was a real incencse burner! The sweet aroma that comes from a humble, groaning heart pleases God. Though Joseph may have felt like he was dying, his groaning didn't cause any real harm.

Hang on. God will remain faithful. Don't despair. Cling to the truth the psalmist proclaims: "Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord" (Psalm 27:14). The Lord won't extinguish a smoldering wick but instead will make it glow brightly. He won't break the bruised reed but instead will strengthen it (Isaiah 42:3).

God wants to give us more than we ask for, not just fulfill our weak prayers. Joseph asked for nothing more than to be rescued, released from prison, and returned to his father. God in heaven let him pray for a long time. In effect, God was saying, "You don't know what you are asking [Matthew 20:22]. I will give you more than all you ask or imagine [Ephesians 3:20]. That's why you have to wait a little longer. I want more of the smoke that rises straight to heaven." But later, Joseph received what he never could have imagined. He never would have had the confidence or courage to ask for it. We must recognize that God's wisdom, grace, mercy, and power are most certainly with us, as they were with Joseph. However, God usually doesn't give them to us in the way we ask for them.

*Faith Alone: A Daily Devotional, Martin Luther, Gen. Ed. James C. Galvin

Zondervan, Grand Rapids, copyright 2005

The Dissidence of Life's Harmony

From the American Edition of Luther's Works, vol. 6, pg. 92, editied in Faith Alone by James C. Galvin.

People who are unfamiliar with the principles of musical harmony have trouble appreciating how the various sounds produced by an organ or harp can result in such beautiful music. In this life, we hear the sounds, not the symphony. It appears to us that God is asleep and the devil is wide-awake and ruling everything. Human reason concludes that neither God nor people are in control of the world, but that everything on earth happens by chance. Human wisdom can't comprehend the infinite, heavenly truth that God is in charge and allows many more things in this world to succeed than fail. God's kindness is more widespread that the devil's cruelty. But human reason makes us uncertain because we experience so much disorder and injustice. We feel uncertain because we don't see by the same light the angels do. We can't understand how right and wrong, life and death, light and darkness all harmonize.

Our Hidden Lives

This morning in Men's Bible Study we were talking about looking to the cross for all good things. There are trials and tribulations in our lives, and while I will not presume to know the mind of God or His reasoning, one of the blessings of trials and tribulations for Christians is that it can point us back to our sufficiency in Christ.

This afternoon while reading Luther, I came across this very beautiful description of our hidden lives. While we are redeemed and share presently in the glory of our resurrected and ascended Lord, that reality is often hidden.

Luther says: But faith must close its eyes and refuse to pass judgment on what it sees or feels in the world. You won't become aware of eternal life until Christ raises you from the dead. Meanwhile, your eternal life is hidden in death. It's covered up and out of sight. But you have forgiveness. If you feel the weight of sin crushing you, you can still say, "My sins are forgiven." When your sins hunt you down, bite at you, and terrify you, you can look to Christ, put your feeble faith in Him, and hold on tightly.*

It seems at times that telling people to just look to Christ isn't enough. Our sinful nature wants to take the reigns from God. That is where so many church bodies and pastors get into trouble. When you get to a point where Christ's sacrificial and atoning death, His justifying resurrection and glorious ascension and mediation are no longer enough you may as well hand your soul to the devil. Faith closes its eyes to everything but Christ and Him crucified. There we have our sufficiency.

*Luther's Works AE 23:74

Lady Law

In the last post, Luther presents a dialogue between the believer and “Lady Law.” I have been thinking more about this interesting personification of the Law and the believer’s interaction with the Law. Luther had some more to say about our relationship with the “empress” and Christ’s relationship to this “cruel and powerful tyrant.”

So, any thoughts out there about what Luther has to say to “Lady Law”? Or even what Christ has to say to the accursed Lady? Is Luther to hard on this empress?

Also, as mentioned before, I love when Luther provides these dialogues. It reminds me of Satan before God in the book of Job.

If, then, you want to divide the Word of truth rightly (2 Tim. 2:15), you must distinguish the promise from the Law as far as possible, both in your attitude and in your whole life. It is not without purpose that Paul urged this argument so diligently; for he saw that in the church this evil would arise, namely, that the Word of God would be confused, which means that the promise would be mixed with the Law and in this way be completely lost. For when the promise is mixed up with the Law, it becomes Law pure and simple. For this reason you should accustom yourself to distinguish the Law from the promise even in time, so that when the Law comes and accuses your conscience, you say: “Lady Law, you are not coming on time; you are coming too late. Look back four hundred and thirty years; if these were rolled back, you could come. But you are coming too late and tardily; for you have been preceded for four hundred and thirty years by the promise, to which I agree and in which I gently rest. Therefore you have nothing to do with me; I do not hear you. Now I am living after Abraham the believer; or rather, I am living after the revelation of Christ, who has abrogated and abolished you.” Thus let Christ always be set forth to the heart as a kind of summary of all the arguments in support of faith and against the righteousness of the flesh, the Law, works, and merits.*

This was truly a remarkable duel, when the Law, a creature, came into conflict with the Creator, exceeding its every jurisdiction to vex the Son of God with the same tyranny with which it vexed us, the sons of wrath (Eph. 2:3). Because the Law has sinned so horribly and wickedly against its God, it is summoned to court and accused. Here Christ says: “Lady Law, you empress, you cruel and powerful tyrant over the whole human race, what did I commit that you accused, intimidated, and condemned Me in My innocence?” Here the Law, which once condemned and killed all men, has nothing with which to defend or cleanse itself. Therefore it is condemned and killed in turn, so that it loses its jurisdiction not only over Christ—whom it attacked and killed without any right anyway—but also over all who believe in Him. Here Christ says (Matt. 11:28): “Come to Me, all who labor under the yoke of the Law. I could have overcome the Law by My supreme authority, without any injury to Me; for I am the Lord of the Law, and therefore it has no jurisdiction over Me. But for the sake of you, who were under the Law, I assumed your flesh and subjected Myself to the Law. That is, beyond the call of duty I went down into the same imprisonment, tyranny, and slavery of the Law under which you were serving as captives. I permitted the Law to lord it over Me, its Lord, to terrify Me, to subject Me to sin, death, and the wrath of God—none of which it had any right to do. Therefore I have conquered the Law by a double claim:9 first, as the Son of God, the Lord of the Law; secondly, in your person, which is tantamount to your having conquered the Law yourselves.”**

*Luther, M. (1999, c1963). Vol. 26: Luther's works, vol. 26 : Lectures on Galatians, 1535, Chapters 1-4 (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann, Ed.). Luther's Works (Ga 3:18). Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.
**Ibid

Some Things I LOVE about Luther:

He is so pastoral, he has a great way of presenting theology in a simple and clear way, and, who could not love his “dialogues” with the soul?

Just as I’m finishing up my seminary training and may be tempted to think that I have somehow grasped theology, Luther’s words bring me back to reality in my morning devotions.

Grace is present when your heart is restored by the promise of God’s free mercy. Then your heart can say with the author of Psalm 42, [here’s one of those great dialogues!] “O my soul, why are you so troubled and restless? Do you see only the law, sin, terror, sadness, despair, death, hell, and the devil? Aren’t grace, forgiveness of sins, righteousness, comfort, joy, peace, life, heaven, Christ, and God also present? Stop being troubled, my soul. What are the law, sin, and everything evil compared to them? Trust God. He didn’t spare His own Son but offered him up to death on a cross for your sins.”
So when you are frightened by the law, you can say, “Lady Law, you are not the only thing, and you are not everything. Besides you there is something even greater and better, specifically, grace, faith, and blessing. They don’t accuse, frighten, or condemn me. They comfort me, tell me to expect the best, and assure me of my certain victory and salvation in Christ. So there’s no reason for me to despair.”

[And now, the exhortation to me in my last quarter and to all pastors who may be tempted to think they have a grasp on things!]

Whoever truly understands this can be called a theologian. Certain leaders who are always boasting about the Spirit believe that they understand living by faith extremely well. I, however, and others like me know that we scarcely possess the fundamentals. We are diligent students in the school where the art of faith is taught. No matter who well it’s taught, as long as we remain in these sinful bodies, we will never finish learning.*


Lord, may I ever be a willing and humble student of your grace in Jesus Christ!


*From Faith Alone: A Daily Devotional, James C. Galvin, General Editor. Zondervan, 2005.

Religious Fanatics

“Each of us carries in our heart a horrible religious fanatic. We would like to be able to do something so spectacular that we could brag, ‘Look what I’ve done! With all my prayers and good works, I’ve done enough for God today that I can feel at peace.’…Consciences are delicate. We need to guard them against the sin of arrogance. So we can’t be overconfident. We who confess Christ should always walk in fear and grow in faith. We should realize that we all carry in our hearts a horrible religious fanatic, who will destroy our faith with foolish delusions of good works.”

“The Holy Spirit provides us with a way to counter this godless delusion. We need to hold tightly to what we have received through the grace of God. God’s approval doesn’t come to us by what we do. Rather, it comes through the holiness of Christ, who suffered for us and rose again from the dead.”*

+++

I am always impressed by the pastoral and loving nature of Martin Luther’s writings. This reading accompanied my morning prayers and was a humbling reminder that my works gain nothing. I am only made right by the holy and perfect works of Christ, my Savior, whose passion we as a Church focus our attention on this Lenten season.

The accompanying picture is by Juan de Flandes of the Temptation of Christ (c. 1500). Interesting, I found, was the dress of the Tempter, monk’s habit and rosary in hand, a true “religious fanatic.” Doesn’t that old evil foe also come to us in that way, in seeming religious humility and fanaticism? As if to say, “I too would offer up to God the sweetest works. Join me in a few Hail Mary’s. Our, if you're Lutheran, why not pray Luther's Morning Prayer with me, or better yet, let us rejoice in our work of the Lord's Prayer.”

Lord Jesus, our Suffering Servant, have mercy on us who turn away from Your holy word and instead put our hope, trust and joy in that which is filthy rags. Keep us in humility to serve You in purity and righteousness, that the great gift of Your Passion may not be removed from us, but engraved in our hearts. For Yours truly are the perfect and holy merits that make us righteous before the Heavenly Father.
Amen.


*From Faith Alone: A Daily Devotional, ed. James C. Galvin. Zondervan 2005.

Loving and Hating

I wonder if the following Luther quote has any significance for participating in ministerial alliances, or "community" Thanksgiving worship services?

I abhor the assembly of evildoers and refuse to sit with the wicked. Psalm 26:5

We should have nothing to do with evildoers and wicked people. David said, “ I have nothing but hatred for them” (Psalm 139:22). The author of Psalm 1 praises believers who avoid them: “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers” (v. 1). If you spend too much time with false teachers, you will eventually share in their false doctrine, lies, and errors. If you play with tar, you’re going to get dirty.

From Martin Luther, Faith Alone: A Daily Devotional, James C. Galvin, general editor.

An Interesting Merging of Reformation Day and Election Day

The Most Reverend Tom Chryst has posted this news story on his blog.

"If you should ask where to place the pope with the papists, either we shall say that they belong in this last group—for they attack and condemn many things they know are good and in harmony with the Word—or we shall simply classify them among the persecutors and opponents of sound doctrine, as the pope is called Antichrist for this reason."*

Here I stand, I can do none other! God help me!
And a very blessed Reformation Day to all!

*Luther, M. (1999, c1960). Vol. 2: Luther's works, vol. 2 : Lectures on Genesis: Chapters 6-14 (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann, Ed.). Luther's Works (Ge 12:18). Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.

Vestis virum reddit

"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society." --Mark Twain

Behold, with the words “He who abides in Me, and I in him,” (John 15:5) Christ wants to indicate that Christianity is not brought in from without; it is not put on like a garment, nor does it consist in the adoption of a new manner of living, which, like monasticism and self-chosen sanctity, is concerned with works. It is a new birth brought about by God’s Word and Spirit; there must be an entirely new man from the bottom of his heart. Then, however, when the heart is born anew in Christ, fruits will follow naturally, such as the confession of the Gospel, works of love, obedience, patience, chastity, etc.
Luther, M. (1999, c1961). Vol. 24: Luther's works, vol. 24 : Sermons on the Gospel of St. John: Chapters 14-16 (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann, Ed.). Luther's Works (Jn 15:6). Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.

It is true, Christianity is not put on like a garment, it does not come about by some new manner of living, it is a new birth, a recreation. However, just as a man should wear men's clothing, a woman woman's clothing, and children children's clothing, the new man in Christ does put on the clothes of Christ.

As Mark Twain said, naked people, especially "naked" Christians, have little to no effect on society. So...GET DRESSED!!

Luther Sprache

Luther said, "Don't argue with the Devil...he has had five thousand years of experience. He has tried out all his tricks on Adam, Abraham, and David, and he knows exactly the weak spots."

A Man's Most Priceless Possession...

My wife is gone for a few days. She went back to Indiana for a friend's wedding, leaving me a very lonely and sad husband. Luther could not have been more correct when he said, "The greatest treasure on earth is a liebe Hausfrau," and "A good wife is not found accidentally and without divine guidance. On the contrary, she is a gift of God and does not come, as the heathen imagine, in answer to our planning and judging."

My dear Lesa, I miss you a whole bunch and I love you 2 bits!

Luther Sprache

Luther said, "When Jesus Christ utters a word, He opens His mouth so wide that it embraces all Heaven and earth, even though that word be but in a whisper."

On this day in Lutheranism...

On May 16th, 1529, Martin Luther published the Small Catechism. Thanks be to God!

O merciful God, what a kind and gracious Father You are, who deals so sincerely and fatherly with us poor and condemned sinners. You cast Your only Son, Jesus Christ, Your most precious possession, into the jaws of death and the devil. You required that He should descend into the deep and again ascend on high and lead captive the captivity which has held us all in bondage. Through this we are Your dear children, His brothers and heirs of all His eternal, heavenly blessings. Give us Your Holy Spirit so that He may preserve us in faith to the end. Grant Your grace that young people and those unborn, the weak in faith and those not properly instructed may gain and keep a right understanding of the doctrine that they also are privileged to become fellow citizens with the angels. This is the privilege of those who believe in Christ. Amen

Martin Luther

How the world rewards service

As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, "This is the way your servant treated me," his anger was kindled. And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison.
Genesis 39:19-20

Losing his good reputation and being thrown in prison was certainly Joseph's worst hardship. What disgraceful wages he received for his years of faithful service! His impeccable character and hard work were rewarded with punishment and a ruined reputation. We serve, teach, counsel, comfort, and do what God tells us to do. For the most part, we do this for undeserving people from whom we get nothing in return except hatred, envy, and suffering. It seems that our lives are wasted on being kind to people who don't appreciate it.

Don't ever expect the world to acknowledge or reward your faithfulness and hard work. The opposite often happens, as Joseph's life shows. Therefore, make sure that you direct your service and life elsewhere. Don't look for favor and kindness from the world. Its favor can quickly turn into furious anger.

If you are called as a pastor or teacher, or if you are in some other position, set this goal for yourself: I will do my job faithfully without expecting any reward from the people I serve. I won't assume that they will be grateful to me. Rather, I will bless others the same way my heavenly Father hands out his blessings. He gives money, talents, peace, and health even to the most ungrateful and evil people. I will remember Christ's command, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). This means that we must serve people who are wicked, undeserving, and ungrateful. A few will acknowledge our service and thank us. But the others might even threaten our lives. Joseph's example shows us what reward we can expect from the world for even the greatest of kindness--being tied up and thrown in prison.

Excerpt from Faith Alone: A Daily Devotional by Martin Luther, edited by James C. Galvin

Attributes of a Good Preacher...

Again, my Old Lutheran Tidbit of the Day Calendar has given me a little golden tidbit from Herr Doktor Marty.

"It is commonly said that these three are the three qualifications which mark a good preacher: First, that they stand straight when in the pulpit; secondly, that they speak up and say something worthwhile; thirdly, that they know when to stop."

Well said, Bruder Martin, well said!

To Whoever wishes to be a Pastor...

"Whoever wishes to be a pastor must be committed with his whole heart to seek only the glory of God and the welfare of his fellowman. If, however, he does not solely seek God's honor and the good of his fellowman, but by his office seeks for personal gain or his neighbor's hurt, you may be sure that he will not stay the course."

--From Martin Luther's second sermon for Misericordias Domini, 1534.

Luther on the importance of Prayer...

Luther said, "To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing."

Prayer is an important part of our spiritual life, but who do we pray FOR? Do we pray for our benefit of for God's? Do we pray to be better people, to somehow earn favor with God?

To take Luther's comparison of prayer and breathing further, who do we breathe for? Do we ever breathe for anyone else? Certainly not! We breathe to have life. In prayer, we "breathe" so that our new life in Christ will be made stronger. Just as God provides the oxygen we need to breathe, He also provides the Words we breathe in prayer. And the pneuma, that is the Spirit, "helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." Romans 8:26.

I encourage you to be healthy "breathers" and not asthematic Christians. If you don't know what to pray, try this "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner."
Or, "Holy Spirit, my Comfort, pray for me a sinner."

Amen.

Check your ears!

One of the temptations and dangers of serving a congregation is getting caught up in praise (not of God, but of yourself.) I'm not saying this to be boastful, but I do get a lot of praise as a Vicar. The congregation likes me and likes to tell me that and I admit sometimes I get to thinking I am pretty great. I was going along with my head about the size of a football field when I turned the page of my Old Lutheran "Tidbit of the Day" Calendar. It had a quote from Luther that really brought me down to earth.

"If you are highly pleased when someone praises you in the presence of others; if perhaps you look for praise, and would sulk or quit what you are doing if you did not get it; if you are of that stripe, dear friend, then take yourself by the ears, and if you do this in the right way you will find a beautiful pair of big, long, shaggy donkey ears."

Dear Lord, You spoke truth through Balaam's ass. I pray that You would continue to use me as Your servant when I am an ass. Keep me and all of Your servants humble as we serve Your Word, that Word that was made flesh for us, that Word that was crucified for us, Jesus Christ. In His name hear all of our prayers!

Amen