Has the past year with the pandemic and all the hardships made us more urgent about the Christian Faith? I ask you the question. I am not overwhelmed with indications in the culture that it has…

When I say urgent, I don’t necessarily mean panicked. But I am implying a resolute sense of devotion, an indication of the right priorities, and signs of renewed dedication. When it has been understandably difficult, and arguably dangerous, to gather, a sense of urgency might be indicated by expressions of hunger and longing for being able to gather and commune with brothers and sisters in Christ in partaking of His body and blood given with bread and wine.

In a year that we have oft heard the distinguishing between essential and non-essential workers and activities, church activities if mentioned at all, are seldom mentioned in the essential category. When one of the greatest mantras has been we need to “trust” or “follow” the science, the spiritually tuned ear finds it deafeningly silent any mention of the transcendent to see us through. Science, by the way, is certainly a valuable tool and we would be remiss without it. But is it a worthy guide above all else?

Unquestionably, a healthy amount of fear lends support to caution and the exercise of prudence. But unlike loftier rhetoric of the past, when have we been warned today that the greatest thing to fear is fear itself? Where has the realization that a meaningful life is one of taking risks, especially for the sake of the Gospel and out of love for our neighbor? Where has the demonstration been that this world is not our home, and that death in this age is complete with every generation?

In my plug for the upcoming Easter Celebration, I remind you of the Apostle Paul’s take: If Christ has not been raised from the dead; we are of all people the most to be pitied. But if He has…

Since You Asked…

How are we to understand the Easter Feast?

“Easter is to be understood as the crown of the whole year, the queen of feasts, and as such it lasts not for a day, not for a week, but for a week of weeks – a week not made up of seven days but of seven weeks. So the Sundays of this season are called the Sundays of Easter. It is one extended feast. … The Gospels for the Sundays of Easter present the themes of resurrection, ascension, and the sending of the Holy Spirit as aspects or stages of the Easter Mystery…” (from the Manual on the Liturgy a companion to the Lutheran Book of Worship, publ. by Augsburg)

I am impressed this week to talk with you about the culture war being waged against confessional Christianity and the truths of God’s Word. This is nothing new, but we are certainly currently in a bad cycle. The push back against Christian teachings and morality has become more blatant and aggressive in recent years.

If, by chance, you don’t agree with this, my purpose here is not to convince you otherwise. Instead, my concern here is for how ill equipped we are to fight back. But let me hasten to describe what I mean by fighting back. I mean with the weapons of the Spirit. Such armaments always involve speaking the truth in love, refusing to lend credence to falsehoods, standing our ground, by proclaiming and teaching the Gospel of Jesus, and by serving our neighbor.

In general, we are not well catechized as Christians in our culture. That means, we are not well-formed in the Faith. This is for a host of reasons. But oddly, I do not believe they are primarily because of external reasons. Instead, they have to do with the pampering of the flesh and enticements by the devil along with the world. They have to do with sloth and misplaced priorities. And they have to do with thinking of discipleship primarily as an appeal to our affections, rather than responding to God’s grace with the whole of our being, especially at the core, with lifelong catechesis (read apprenticeship). Jesus said discipleship is a matter of being baptized and catechized in all that He taught (cf. Mt 28:19-20).

Lacking such formation we are not able to identify the falsehoods of our age. We latch on to every whim and fancy of the culture (cf. Ja 1:6). We care more how “we feel” about something, rather than holding up all matters to the light, truth, and scrutiny of God’s Word. We care more about the approval of man than of God! And we live as if this temporal age was our true home.

Since You Asked…

What is the purpose and meaning of our Votive Prayer Candles? 

To “light a candle for someone” means that you will say a prayer for them. The candle symbolizes your prayers. When we light a candle it is a sign of attentiveness and that we are being purposeful in offering intercessory prayer. It is an important act in which we are involved! To be in prayer is to be spiritually awake and vigilant. And as the candle continues to burn it symbolizes our ongoing prayers. It is a sign to others that prayers are being offered. In such an atmosphere, indeed the darkness gives way to light.

I am impressed this week to talk with you about the culture war being waged against confessional Christianity and the truths of God’s Word. This is nothing new, but we are certainly currently in a bad cycle. The push back against Christian teachings and morality has become more blatant and aggressive in recent years.

If, by chance, you don’t agree with this, my purpose here is not to convince you otherwise. Instead, my concern here is for how ill equipped we are to fight back. But let me hasten to describe what I mean by fighting back. I mean with the weapons of the Spirit. Such armaments always involve speaking the truth in love, refusing to lend credence to falsehoods, standing our ground, by proclaiming and teaching the Gospel of Jesus, and by serving our neighbor.

In general, we are not well catechized as Christians in our culture. That means, we are not well-formed in the Faith. This is for a host of reasons. But oddly, I do not believe they are primarily because of external reasons. Instead, they have to do with the pampering of the flesh and enticements by the devil along with the world. They have to do with sloth and misplaced priorities. And they have to do with thinking of discipleship primarily as an appeal to our affections, rather than responding to God’s grace with the whole of our being, especially at the core, with lifelong catechesis (read apprenticeship). Jesus said discipleship is a matter of being baptized and catechized in all that He taught (cf. Mt 28:19-20).

Lacking such formation we are not able to identify the falsehoods of our age. We latch on to every whim and fancy of the culture (cf. Ja 1:6). We care more how “we feel” about something, rather than holding up all matters to the light, truth, and scrutiny of God’s Word. We care more about the approval of man than of God! And we live as if this temporal age was our true home.

Since You Asked…

What is the purpose and meaning of our Votive Prayer Candles? 

To “light a candle for someone” means that you will say a prayer for them. The candle symbolizes your prayers. When we light a candle it is a sign of attentiveness and that we are being purposeful in offering intercessory prayer. It is an important act in which we are involved! To be in prayer is to be spiritually awake and vigilant. And as the candle continues to burn it symbolizes our ongoing prayers. It is a sign to others that prayers are being offered. In such an atmosphere, indeed the darkness gives way to light.

This week it is my intention to complete the series on Confession and Absolution. We have specifically focused on the practice of Private Confession. As of late we have been discussing the obstacles that deter folks from taking advantage of this wonderful gift. I want to end in a strange and perhaps unexpected place.

Although I have attempted to alleviate some of the fears associated with trusting a Confessor to hear your confession, there is no way around it; our sinful nature will resist it. And the trust level and sense of vulnerability remain significant. But oddly enough, that actually works to our advantage! What do I mean?

There is an old adage: nothing worthwhile ever comes easy. So often we appreciate the value of something for which we had to work hard. In the instance of confessing our sins, it is not so much the hard work as it is the difficulty of humbling ourselves, admitting our inability to work ourselves out of the predicaments we get ourselves into, and to freely admit our need for help. One can mutter under their breath in a general way that these things are true. But you need to be intentional, and risk embarrassment, to allow your confession of sins to God to be overheard. Private Confession becomes a true act of humility and indicates great urgency. And this is good.

We are so used to God being unseen that we can adopt an “out of sight, out of mind” attitude. It should bother us more that God sees all and knows all, but frankly we are often more worried by other humans seeing and knowing what we have done. Again, this is all the more reason why an ambassador of the unseen God can bring the practice of confessing sins into vivid focus. It is also why the spoken words of “Your sins are forgiven you,” can bring home the gift in a more tangible and comforting way.