Some thoughts after a long hiatus

I have not really blogged in a very long time. There have been many reasons for this, the biggest of which is just shear laziness and lack of interest. But, I think it important that I do begin to blog again. So, here is a thought after the long hiatus: Why can't western Christians (especially in the US) take their faith as seriously as many Muslims? I am not suggesting that we threaten death to anyone who criticizes us, or draws a blasphemous cartoon of the Lord of Life, Jesus Christ, or even martyrs one of our brethren in a country that is hostile to Christianity (most of the predominately Muslim eastern nations). But what I do think is missing is a healthy reverence for holy things. We grumble a bit when someone does this, but, by and large, we do not seem to care when the holy things of God are trodden upon. This sends a very clear message to those outside the one true faith, just as the reaction of many Muslims to the proposed Koran burning in Florida sends a very clear message. We are telling those outside of Christ's Church that we don't really believe what we say we do. When a female priest (sic) gives a dog communion it is a hard sell to nonbelievers that we really believe the bread and wine are Christ's Body and Blood or even represent our Lord and Savior. And just as bad a message is sent to the unbelieving world when we haphazardly celebrate the Lord's Supper in our churches in the LCMS. The clear and unmistakable message Western Christians are sending the world is that tolerance for falsehood, a casual, almost flippant attitude towards holy things, and the individual is our God. These things we will not tolerant any irreverence towards. These are the things we get really up tight about. And that is not right. Repent, Church of Christ! Hold dear and sacred those blessed gifts, those most holy things that have been given through the merit of Christ Jesus!

The Uppity Vicar Encounters Rev. Daystar

The following is a real exchange that happened to a young Lutheran vicar. The speaker came to the church promoting an ecumenical mercy group. Names are withheld to protect my butt, but not the innocent. I still insist on the Gospel ALL preaching and as a called and ordained servant of Christ, I will not tolerate anything else. Think of this when the Daystar thugs try to influence your vote this July in Houston.

{Dear Sir}
I wanted to let you know that I was affirmed through my High School Bible Study by your speech at our congregation. When I asked them what they thought of your presentation, the resounding answer was that there was no mention of God, Christ or the Gospel. While this is not good for your speech, it was very good that my High School students recognized this in a sermon and missed it.

Sincerely,

The Uppity Vicar


Dear Uppity Vicar:

I am at a loss for words! What do you mean you "were affirmed through
"my" high school Bible study by your speech at our congregation." UV -
I have no intention of engaging you in some frivolous conversation on e-mail.
Were you evaluating a speech rather than listening to a homily? Where were
these young people when I referenced to the poverty of God in Christ Jesus? "Though
He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might
become rich? " Where were they and you as a matter of fact when I said you only
see Jesus in the eyes of the poor?

Come back to me, dear friend. I have no idea what you have in mind by this kind of
adolescent comment. I regret your high schoolers were not in my educational
forum to ask questions and see a brilliant DVD on the ministry of Jesus to the poor.
UV, If I am missing the point of your post, inform me so. I am put off by this kind
conversation and more and more have grave concerns about what is happening in
theological education to produce this kind of non-professional judgment on a speaker.

If you want to call me and explain what in the world you mean or have in mind, do so.

With serious disappointment,


The Dear Sir, Ph. D., Pastor Emeritus



Dear Sir,
Please accept my humble apologies, sincerely. It was indeed wrong of me to criticize in such an adolescent manner. I respect the work of your mission, but honestly sir, and with true humility, the proclamation of the gospel was simply not there.

Again, I beg your forgiveness for my immaturity. It was out of line.

Sincerely,

The Uppity Vicar


Dear Uppity Vicar:

I have received your e-mail re: "Sermon Affirmation" posted
February 06, 2006 8:42 PM in which you expressed "humble
apologies and in the same three sentence paragraph added:
"but honestly sir, and with true humility, the proclamation of the
gospel was simply not there."

Furthermore you added in a two sentence paragraph, "Again,
I beg your forgiveness for my immaturity. It was out of line."

UV, I want to follow up this correspondence for the sake of
learning and common decency and order in the life of the
church. It is not a proper or good posture to begin in anyway
defensively. That just digs a deeper hole of misunderstanding.
I need to understand what prompted this response from you,
how it ever became a matter of discussion with the youth
[I assume Bible class] of the congregation, if you brought
this up or some disgruntled teen asked a question about
the morning sermon.

I was disappointed when 65 persons who stopped for breakfast
after the early service left before my hour presentation with
video and conversation. 12 adults remained and expressed
gratitude for the added emphasis on dealing with issue of
abject poverty in the western hemisphere. The video was
repleat with gospel references to the action of the Christian
Life, references aplenty to Matthew 25 and the final judgment.

But even more important, UV, is the greater concern I have
for someone [and I do not know whom] who called the
{Social Gospel} headquarters and complained that I
had preached about a "generic" God. UV, do you know
anything about this telephone call? If you do, I would
appreciate your response[s].

When I introduced the homily reference was made to the
problems Paul was having with the church in Corinth - do
you remember that? "I do not say this as a command,
but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the
earnestness of others. For you know the generous act of
our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for
your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you
might become rich."

The gospel is proclaimed in deed and in truth. This
issues of abject poverty require such a stretch for
wealthy Christians, one speaks the gospel in the
actions of love and care for the poor. Remember - you
only see Jesus in the eyes of the poor. . .

What is of concern for me, is talking behind one back,
what is loveless is stirring a pot when there may be
misunderstanding. What hurts and cuts to the center of the
heart is what has been going on in the synod for more than
four decades, these kinds of accusations and often
it results in lovelessness and professional lynchings.

Uppity Vicar, I have preached for 44 years, over 2000 times, beginning
as a prepie, student at the seminary, a vicarage in [a salt water district][many] years ago, and years and years as a professor
and pastor of the church and NEVER have I been accused of
what you have written. O, yes, I have preached some lousy,
bad, poorly constructed, misunderstood, I'm sure, sermons.
We all do. No one is perfect and there is never a perfect
sermon.

Remember, dear young vicar, when you are young and ambitious
and often critical of others - you probably approach every
preaching situation wanting to preach a good sermon. That's
great! I have taught communications and homiletics for more
than 40 years. But Uppity Vicar, as you mature and grow into the
demands of ministry you will need to think about preaching a
sermon that does some good! That's what we are called to
do.

As I gave my examples of caring for the poor, I was walking
in the footsteps of Jesus. Jesus didn't preach as much as he
taught, he didn't lecture as much as the loved, and forgave
healed and ate with the street people of his world .

Please be careful, not to judge people, to create kangaroo
courts to denigrate others. If you are having difficulty with
someone, go first to that person for clarification and
understanding.

I feel violated by someone, UV. I pray it was not you and I
have no evidence it was and cannot accuse you of that
unkind act. But if you know of anyone that did this to me
please direct that person to me. That is step one in
solvng a spiritual problem for the well-being of both parties.

I remember my vicarage very well. My bishop made it very
clear to me that I made no decisions that were not his. I was
a student preparng for pastoral ministry. The grace of my
supervisor was this that if I did make a mistake he took
responsibility for it, and then helped me to grow in ways that
avoided doing the same thing wrong twice.

I write as one who had the responsibility of placing thousands
of Lutheran students into parish ministries world wide and
pray that the continuation of your year of internship will be a blessing
to you as you await that special calling wherever it my be. As I
lecture in the University classroom during this spring semester,
I am aware of how things have changed in our beloved synod.
The classroom is filled with those who have no active faith, is
represented by students pregnant out of wedlock, and the list
could go on. There is never a moment when the gospel message
is not worked out in word and deed.

Thanks for reading this rather lengthy transmittal. I pray that you
will receive it with grace and in the spirit of Christian love.

Sincerely in Christ Jesus,

Dear Sir, Pastor Emeritus

Issues, etc. Audio Open Lines: The ELCA and Gay Clergy

We, as Missouri Synod Lutherans, need to know as much about this as possible so that we may answer the question: "Oh yeah, you're Lutheran, don't you allow...?"

Rev. Matt Harrison on the ELCA's decision to ordain openly gay and lesbian clergy

This man speaks wisdom with force, with confidence, with humility and wisdom. I pray that God would raise him up for the office of Synodical President in the LCMS at our next convention.

A great sermon by Rev. William Weedon

May be listened to at Issues, etc. [Rev. Wilkens gives some commentary, which one may or may not find helpful, but the sermon is great with or without the commentary.]

Should we ever stand up for anything?

I am not a political person. I don't have the stomach for it. But every now and then I hear something on either side of the political spectrum that causes me to pause as a theologian and clergyman.

So far, both O'Bama and Biden have made it clear that, while they believe life does start at conception, it is "beyond their pay-grade" to protect that life. In other words, they believe it, but not enough to do anything about it.

This is the biggest bunch of bull I have ever heard, and it is statements like this from all politicians (especially in the BS--LCMS--that is, "Beloved Synod" LCMS) that make me want to vomit. How can anyone with two brain cells say that they believe that life begins at conception and then turn around and say that they cannot impose that belief on others by trying to protect what they say is life?? You either believe it is the beginning of life and therefore should be protected as all life should or you don't believe life begins at conception and is therefore open for termination (death) for the betterment of those who are "living." The saddest part is that the retarded Evangelical/Fundamental vote swallows this reasoning hook, line and sinker.

As the Church Lady would say: "Well now, isn't that special?"

The Joys of E-mail...

The following is an e-mail correspondence I had with a fellow pastor in the Missouri Synod. It is regards to my concerns about a video he had posted on YouTube of a woman preaching. To be fair, she was not preaching from a pulpit or to a congregation. However, this pastor teaches a homiletics class at his church and this was her final exam. At best, this kind of thing is confusing and borders on false-teaching and a vast misunderstanding of AC XIV, at worst, this is a denial of what Scripture teaches regarding the role of women, our Confessional Documents and the doctrine our church body holds to.

I admit that I was a bit over-zealous and have called him to apologize for being so harsh. I have left two messages with my brother in the hopes that we can work this out.

As you will see in his response, he was not interested in explaining himself or his actions. He was condescending, trite, and arrogant in his response to me. I am a new pastor and I do strive for integrity to the Holy Scriptures and the Confession of Christ's Church. I encourage all Lutherans to strive for the same integrity, however, learn from my example. Don't be jerky in defense of your beliefs.

Also, do not assume new, young pastors are somehow fundamentally lacking because they have not been infected with "life-experience" (i.e., blatant liberalism and a compromising attitude toward all doctrine). If someone asks you a question, even if it is a bit (or a lot) snarky, you can't automatically play the "Pharisee" card. We are supposed to be in communion with one another. I still am waiting for a defense of his practice.

__________________________________________
I saw a video on YouTube of a woman preaching and it claims she is studying homiletics under your supervision. Is this the actual case? If it is, as a brother pastor in the Missouri Synod, I am very disappointed and disturbed by this disdain for Scripture, the Confessions and our own church's
teaching on the role of women in the Church. I can certainly understand if you
do not agree with the teachings of Holy Scripture, the Confessions, or our
church body, but if you do not agree, why would you so blatantly scandalize and your brothers and sisters? Why not leave? Do you want there to be a rift? Are you trying to cause problems, to offend your weaker brother?
Please clarify this for me, as your dear brother. I will await your reply
while putting the best construction on what I hope is an innocent mistake.

Response:

I read your email and couldn't help but think of how Jesus continually attacked the Pharisees. The Pharisees were white washed tombs. The outside of their cups were clean but the insides were dirty. Jim, you are a modern day Pharisee.

In your email you call me brother. I can assure you that you are not a brother in any sense of the term. You are self righteous, proud and arrogant. I checked and I see that you are a recent sem graduate. Now your email makes sense.

You are young and in need of a mentor. I suggest you find a pastor who has life experience to take you under their wing. You and any ministry you are involved in need that help.

I will not read any further correspondences from you. I will delete them immediately. If you want to give me a call and apologize I will be happy to discuss any and all issues you would like.

The Pendulum of History...

seems to always swing between extremes with a brief encounter with stability. The problem is knowing what is true stability and what is your own brand of extremism. Our guide as truly orthodox, catholic Christians (i.e., Confessional Lutherans) is always Holy Scripture, which never changes. Again, the problem is knowing what is truly Holy Scripture and what is your own brand of faulty interpretation.

A Good Analogy

You remember in those standardized tests the questions that went something like this:

Hard is to Soft as Cold is to Hot.

Common questions used to test a persons ability to make analogies and to understand the levels on which two different things are being compared.

A few weeks ago after one of my classes, one of the new fathers in my class said that he has seen devices for fathers to breast feed their babies. I was totally grossed out! Now, if there is some extraordinary reason that this needs to be done to keep the baby alive, that is one thing. But for men to "breast feed" their babies just because? That is just weird!

But it got me thinking about an analogy to male breast feeding. So, here goes:

Male breast feeding is like

Female Ordination.

Both go against some of the fundamentals of the order of creation. There was a time when both grossed people out and were laughable if not completely unthinkable.

I think this is a good analogy. Some people will not see anything wrong with males breast feeding, but I think everyone knows that it is fundamentally wrong. And the reasons it is fundamentally wrong are the same reasons it is fundamentally wrong for women to be pastors.

What a load!

Of what, you may ask. I'll tell you of what...of Episcoplaian, "open-minded," liberal, gay CRAP!
A new "bishop" (of what? The Devil?) has been elected for San Francisco. He's not the gay one, but he might as well be. Read his address to all people, the gay and lesbian, the single and "partnered" (whatever the crap that means!)

This is really too far. In my opinion, which is informed and formed by the Word of God, the Episcopal Church is NO church of God, but a den of vipers and a white-washed tomb.