Mark's thoughts: Catechumenate during Lent in a Lutheran parish

At the beginning of Romans chapter 6, Paul writes, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Romans 6:3-5).  In this passage, Paul brings Christ’s death and resurrection together with the baptism of Christians.  He says that through baptism we have shared in Jesus Christ’s saving death on the cross.  Yet because Christ is our risen Lord, baptism provides the guarantee that we will also share in our Lord’s resurrection on the Last Day.

By the fourth century A.D. this biblical connection between the death and resurrection of Christ and Holy Baptism prompted the Church to make the Vigil of Easter the primary time for baptizing new Christians.  The remembrance of Jesus’ death on Good Friday had just taken place and Saturday reminded the Christians that Christ has been buried in the tomb.  Yet Saturday evening was also the first service of Easter and so it celebrated Christ’s resurrection that Christians have a share in because of baptism.  Lent was the time when catechumens preparing to join the Church were in the midst of catechesis as they prepared to receive Holy Baptism at the Vigil of Easter.  The presence of the catechumens reminded the Church that Lent is a return to baptism for all Christians. During Lent as we prepare again to remember our Lord’s death and resurrection, we are also preparing to remember that we have shared in that death and resurrection through the foundational event of Holy Baptism. 

In Lutheran congregations that employ the catechumenate as the means for bringing new members into the fellowship, this continues to be the experience of the Church. On the First Sunday in Lent (Invocavit in the one year lectionary), catechumens are enrolled as Candidates for Baptism and (if they have already been baptized) as Candidates for Confirmation and  Reception into Membership.  On that day catechumens approach the chancel with their sponsor.  Catechumens publicly affirm their desire for baptism, or that that in affirmation of her baptism they wish to confess the faith and be confirmed and received as a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church and of that congregation.

Sponsors attest that catechumens have been faithful in attending the Divine Service and in receiving catechesis; that they are seeking by study, prayer and example to pattern their lives in accordance with the word of God.  At Good Shepherd Lutheran, Marion, IL the pastor then asks the congregation: “People of God, as you journey through Lent, will you support these persons through your prayer, presence, and example?  As you observe the disciplines of Lent, will you be for them a community of love and growth in God’s grace?”

The congregation affirms that it will do this with the help of God, and then the catechumens are welcomed as Candidates for Baptism, and for Confirmation and Reception in to Membership. Then a blessing is spoken in the form of a prayer: “Almighty and merciful God, Creator of all that is, you have called your people from darkness into light, from error into truth, from death into life.  In your pity you looked upon a fallen world, and sent Your only begotten Son among us to vanquish the evil one.  Purify the desires and thoughts of this your servants with the light of Your Holy Spirit.  Nourish them with Your holy Word, strengthen them in faith, and confirm them in good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

This same blessing is spoken on the Third, Fourth and Fifth Sundays in Lent.  On these days after the sermon the candidates approach the chancel and join the Church in renouncing evil (Third Sunday), and they receive the Creed (Fourth Sunday) and the Lord’s Prayer (Fifth Sunday) from the congregation.  The congregation speaks these words which summarize the catechesis in faith and prayer that  the candidates have received, and emphasizes the importance of confession of the faith and prayer as the candidates enter into the fellowship. 

The candidates then take part in Holy Week with the congregation and journey through the Triduum – the one service that runs through the three days of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the Holy Saturday.  At the Vigil of Easter they approach the font in order to receive Holy Baptism or to affirm their baptism.  Then they are be confirmed, received into membership and receive the Sacrament of the Altar for the first time as they share with congregation in the sacrament of unity. 

This process during Lent serves two purposes in the life of the congregation.  The first is to emphasize the role that members have in supporting candidates through prayer, example and words of encouragement as they prepare to be received in the fellowship of the congregation.   The second is to remind the congregation that as the candidates make this journey, congregation members are also called during Lent to renew their focus on what Holy Baptism means for their life.  Holy Baptism means that  those who have shared in the saving death of Christ will share in His resurrection on the Last Day. And it means that already now the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit is at work in them so that they can walk in newness of life as they confess the faith in word and deed. 

Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season of Lent.  During Lent we repent of our sins and rededicate our lives to living out our baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection.  The Divine Service today includes the optional imposition of ashes. 
 

Scripture reading:

“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God? Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep and say, “Spare your people, O LORD, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’” Then the LORD became jealous for his land and had pity on his people. The LORD answered and said to his people, “Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations. (Joel 2:12-19)

Collect of the Day:

Almighty and everlasting God, You despise nothing You have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent.  Create in us new and contrite hearts that lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness we may received from You full pardon and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Mark's thoughts: Sin, dust and death

“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”  These words are spoken during the imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday.  They are not the most uplifting words.  Instead they are focused upon our mortality and impending death. They remind us that even in the midst of life, we are dying.  Day by day our body ages in a process that will result in only one thing.  We will die.

We live in a world that fights against this.  Billions of dollars are spent in the researching and applying medical treatments that seek to extend life.  Fortunes are spent in trying to conceal the signs that bodies are aging.  Yet ultimately, all of these fail.  Death comes to all people.

The attempts of this world fail because they do not - and cannot - deal with the root cause of death.  They do not address the problem of sin.  We learn in Genesis 2 that God formed Adam out of dust when we read, “then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature” (Genesis 2:7 ESV) .  God created man as the unity of body and soul and placed him in the very good creation that God had made (Genesis 1:31).  Man alone was created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27) and God gave him authority over creation (Genesis 1:28) and the responsibility to care for it (Genesis 2:15).  In the paradise of God’s created intention, there was no death.

However, in the attempt to be like God (Genesis 3:5), Adam and Eve disobeyed God.  They sinned.  And just as God had warned them (Genesis 2:17), sin brought death.  God said to Adam, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19 ESV). Sin brought death, and it has brought death for everyone since then, for as St. Paul tells us, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12 ESV).

There is only one way to deal with sin and the death it brings: repentance.  Repentance is the focus of Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent as a whole.  In repentance we confess our sin before God and take hold of His promise of forgiveness in Jesus Christ.  Lent prepares us for Holy Week and Easter.  The repentance of Lent leads to the death of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins and the defeat of death in His resurrection on the third day.  In this saving work of our Lord Jesus we find that forgiveness and life are ours.  As Paul told the Romans: “For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17 ESV). Through repentance and faith in the crucified Lord we find forgiveness in the present.  And in the resurrection of Jesus Christ we find the final defeat of death that will be ours when the risen One returns on the Last Day.

 

Sermon for Quinquagesima

                                                                        Quinquagesima

                                                                        1 Cor 13:1-13

                                                                        3/2/14

            I have a simple policy when it comes to roses.  I have taught it to my sons, and have told Abigail that the guy she chooses better treat her in a similar way.  Whenever I have money and see roses at a good price – for me I that is $10 for a nice dozen roses – I buy them and give them to Amy.  This means that it is not all that unusual for her to receive roses and that this occurs at completely random and unexpected times.

            The kids have gotten into this because on some days in the afternoon on the way home from school we pass a parking lot where a florist parks a refrigerated truck.  They sell gorgeous roses for either $10 or $6 dollars a dozen depending on the season of the year.  The kids look to spot the truck and then ask whether I have money in my wallet.  If I do, we stop to get some.  The three youngest children get to take turns picking the specific color of roses – a practice in which Michael’s choice once brought home the most “interesting” multi shade purple roses with sparkles on them.  Mom said they were beautiful.

            However, last month the kids learned that there is one day when we don’t buy roses. We don’t buy them on Valentine’s day.  On Valentine’s day the truck was already out at the parking lot in the morning.  As we approached it the kids noticed and of course they knew what day it was.  They asked whether I had money and was going to stop to buy some.  I told them that I did have money, but that I wasn’t going to buy any that day. When questioned about this I pointed their attention to the banner hanging from the truck: it said the price was $15.  They wanted to know why it was so much more on Valentine’s day, and so dad gave them a little lesson in supply and demand.

            Roses are more expensive on Valentine’s Day because the world says that you are supposed to give roses to the one you love on that day.  And the world’s expectations mess everything up.  Because you are “supposed” to do it becomes more costly to do it. Valentine’s Day is supposedly a celebration of love. But the world messes that one up too.  It defines love in romantic terms.  And while the language may be about how much I love the other person, what it is really talking about is what I get out of it.  It’s about how good love makes me feel.

            Our text this morning is 1 Corinthians chapter 13 – Paul’s great “love” chapter.  Yet as Paul talks about love it immediately becomes clear that his definition of love has almost nothing to do with the world’s Valentine’s Day love.  This is a love that finds its source in Jesus Christ.  It is love that seeks not its own benefit, but rather the good of others.

            As we come to this text, we find ourselves in the exact same situation that we were two weeks ago when we looked at 1 Corinthians chapter 9.  Once again we have been dropped into the middle of a discussion that began in the previous chapter and will conclude in the following chapter.  Once again, the chapter we are looking at serves as a kind of digression or interlude in which Paul discusses a subject that provides guidance for how the Corinthians are to think about the major issues being treated in these three chapters as a whole.

            The Corinthians were a major headache for the apostle Paul.  There is no other way to say it.  They were operating using the model of the world around them.  The Greco-Roman world was one that was built on status.  There was the status of being a Roman citizen, a free person (whether free born or a freed slave), and being a slave.  There was the status of wealth.  The very richest person could be a Roman senator.  At the next level of wealth, eligible to serve in different civic roles were the equestrians.  Below them were those who were well off and comfortable, and below them was a whole mass poor free persons and slaves.

            Everything was about the status that you had in relation to another person – about the patron/client relationship.  The patron was the person who had the wealth and power to help others.  The clients were those who received help.  In turn, they provided status to the patron by showing respect and by taking part in public displays.  The clients would gather at the door of the patron’s house and wait to be admitted into the room where he sat receiving his clients.  When the patron went out into the city, his retinue of clients would follow him – a visual display of the status the patron possessed.

            The Corinthians were operating in this way.  The well to do acted in the typical way of the world at the meals that were celebrated in conjunction with the Sacrament of the Altar.  And they had also adapted it to the Christian setting.  They were proud and puffed up about the spiritual knowledge and status they possessed.  And they were particularly interested in spiritual matters that brought them status – the things that made them stand out.  So, they were keenly fixated on different kinds of gifts from the Spirit and in speaking in tongues. Pride was running the show and it was creating disorder in the church.

            In our text, Paul seeks to rebuke them carefully for this, while also leading them towards behavior that reflects faith in Jesus Christ. You can hear the rebuke at the beginning of our text as Paul says, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.”  Paul says that rather than granting status tongues, prophecy and knowledge without love render the person as nothing.

            Instead, what matters is that all of these things – and all of the Christian life – be motivated and guided by love.  Paul writes, “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

            Now when you hear these words, it doesn’t take much to recognize that there have been many times this week when they didn’t describe you.  At times you were not patient with your husband or wife, son or daughter, neighbor or co-worker.  There were times when you were prideful and arrogant. There were times when you were rude – when you said thoughtless and hurtful words.  There were times when you insisted on having your own way and made life difficult until you got it.

            This is most certainly true.  But the reason Paul is speaking about love is because of the love God has revealed for you and all people in his Son Jesus Christ.  He is the one who did not insist on his own way, but instead he walked the way of service and suffering for you.  Paul will say in 2 Corinthians, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.”  Though he had the loftiest status, he willingly humbled himself for you.  As Paul says in Philippians, “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

            He died for your sins to give you forgiveness.  And then on the third day he rose from the dead.  He rose from the dead, and that resurrection points us in the direction that our text is moving. Remember, Paul is not writing these words in chapter 13 only because he wants to convict the Corinthians of the way they have been acting.  Instead, he also has a more important goal. He is seeking to change what they are doing.  He is speaking about love because those who have received the love of Christ show that love to others in what they say and do.

            Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins.  And then, he rose from the dead as he began the resurrection of the Last Day.  Paul tells us in Romans that it was the Holy Spirit who raised Christ up.  He tells us in 1 Corinthians that it is the Spirit who has worked faith in you – who enables you to confess that “Jesus is Lord.” And this means that the power of Christ’s resurrection is already at work in you now. Already now the saving love of God is at work in you.  Paul told the Romans that, “God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit whom has been given to us.”  And so it is not surprising that in Galatians Paul speaks about how faith is active in love.

            Like the Corinthians, these words prompt you to consider the love Christ has given and what this means for your life.  You have been freed from sin.  Living in the forgiveness provided by your baptism you have been freed to serve with the love that Christ has given you.  You don’t have to worry about “keeping score” and “doing enough.”  Instead you are free to serve wherever and whenever you can.

            Paul’s words in our text become a description of what you want to be. They prompt the desire for what Christ’s Spirit can enable you to be. And as we are shaped and formed by the Spirit through God’s Word they become things that more and more we do without thinking.  As Paul says, love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.”

            At the same time, we recognize that while in Christ we are the new man, in ourselves we are also still the old man that doesn’t want to be these things.  And so there are times when this will involve a struggle.  There will be moments when there is a decision to be made.  We will have to decide whether we are going to be selfish or whether we are going to act in the self-giving love of Christ.  And there will be times – many times in fact – when the act of love will the more difficult thing. After  all, when Paul speaks about love that flows from Christ he says, “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

            What tips the balance in the moment of decision?  It is the knowledge of Jesus Christ and his sacrificial love for us that the Spirit uses to prompt us to act in love.  And likewise, should we fail, it is the knowledge of Jesus Christ and his sacrificial love for us that the Spirit uses to comfort us with the knowledge of our forgiveness when we repent. 

            We live in and through Christ’s love for us as we walk in faith and hope.  And we look forward to the day when we will no longer need these.  We look forward to the day when we will see God face to face and know him fully as we are fully known.  We look forward to the day when the only thing that will remain to define our existence is God’s love for us and our love of God. 

           

           

           

           

           

LIfe news: President of Planned Parenthood says that when life begins is "not relevant"

In our world, the conclusions of science are usually the determiner of truth.  They provide the facts of life and everything else must bow before them.  Yet when it comes to abortion, all of that goes out the window.  The science is clear about when life begins.  For this reason, supporters of abortion don't want to talk about the issue.  It is therefore eye opening and staggering to hear Planned Parenthood Cecile Richards actually say that when life begins is not relevant to the discussion of abortion.  She says that the life of her children began when she delivered them.  One simply must watch this brief video and hear Richards uncomfortably seek to get around the issue.

Persecuted Church: Indonesian opposition to construction of Christian churches

Even in supposedly tolerant Muslim nations, Christians face harassment and threats of violence. In Indonesia they make the construction of a church a long and uncertain process.

Mark's thoughts: Getting a handle on the biblical "big picture"

This morning I had a great conversation about biblical eschatology with a pastor who is near the beginning of his service in the parish.  He had a very good handle on many aspects of biblical eschatology, but didn't yet quite see how it all fits together.  I pointed him to an article I had written entitled, "Good Stuff: The Material Creation and the Christian faith."  I wrote it because it is the article I wish someone had put into my hands twenty years ago.  It takes the key elements of creation, incarnation, sacraments, resurrection/renewed creation and sets them within a salvation historical framework - the "big picture" of how God works.  If you haven't read it, take a look.

It have written a bible study based on the article's content and it is available online.  It received a very positive response in the parish.