Showing posts with label Reflections. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reflections. Show all posts

Thursday, July 24, 2025

Disordered Love and the Coldness of Sin

In Dante’s Inferno, sin is pictured as disordered love, loving the right things in the wrong way. Rooted in Augustine’s theology, this idea affirms that humans, made in the image of God, were created to love rightly: to love God supremely, and to love others rightly through Him. The Seven Deadly Sins illustrate this truth vividly, as each is a distortion of something inherently good.

Lust, for example, is a disordered love for the body, beauty, and sexual intercourse, all of which God created as very good and to be desired, in the right way. Similarly, greed is a disordered love of the good things God gives to us. Each of the Seven Deadly Sins (Pride, Greed, Wrath, Envy, Lust, Gluttony, Acedia (Sloth/Apathy) is a disordered love of a right thing in a wrong way. The root of such sin is idolatry, a sin against the First Commandment, because we have loved something or someone before and more than we have loved God.

Today, a surprising example of disordered love may be found in the modern redefinition of sympathy/compassion and empathy. While sympathy/compassion and empathy are good, biblical, Christian virtues, they can be bad, even sinful, like anything else, when they become untethered from God’s word, truth, and biblical morality.

For example, it has become common to affirm one’s self-chosen identity as inherently good, regardless of its alignment with biological or moral reality. To affirm someone's preferred gender identity or pronouns, regardless of biological sex, is seen as compassionate and empathetic. Yet, Christian love must be grounded in truth (Ephesians 4:15). When empathy becomes untethered from God's design, it is enabling deception rather than healing. Christians are called to speak the truth in love – not to affirm every self-conception, but to offer the better identity found in Christ, who reorders our disordered loves and gives us new hearts.

Dante’s imagery powerfully conveys the consequence of disordered love. Surprisingly, the lowest level of hell is not fiery but frozen. Lucifer is encased in ice, unable to move, locked in isolation and resentment. This frigid image reveals the true nature of sin: not the passionate fire of love gone wrong, but the cold lifelessness of love turned inward and away from God. This is a sobering image. Disordered love does not bring liberation but spiritual paralysis. It cannot satisfy, because it is disconnected from the Source of life and love.

The Gospel offers not just forgiveness, but reformation of our loves. Jesus Christ, the embodiment of God's love and truth, came not only to save us from sin but to reorder our affections. In him, we learn to love God supremely, others rightly, and his creation as a good gift, not a god. Through repentance and faith, we are invited into the warmth of divine love that thaws the coldness of sin. The Spirit works in us to align our desires with God's will, to restore what has been disordered, and to shape us into lovers of truth and righteousness.

Every sin is a misdirection of love. Even virtues like empathy can become disordered when separated from the truth of God. But Christ is the healing of our hearts and the reordering of our desires. His love, unlike disordered love, is not cold and self-serving, but self-giving, full of grace and truth.

May we, by His Spirit, become people who love rightly, who embody both compassion and conviction, and who reflect the warm light of God’s ordered love in a world growing increasingly cold.

Monday, May 26, 2025

Specks, Logs, and Loving Our Brother

“Judge not,” you say? “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” – Inigo Montoya, “The Princess Bride”

Perhaps you recognize this little play on a catchphrase from the beloved film, “The Princess Bride?” The phrase “Judge not,” from Matthew 7:1, is at once one of the most quoted and abused verses in the Holy Scriptures. It’s an effective mouth-stopper when the mouth you wish to stop is claiming that some behavior or another is contrary to God’s Word and Commandments and therefore sinful. “Judge not!” is to say, “Shut up! You’re not supposed to judge anyone but yourself.”

But is that Jesus’ meaning? No, it is not. Context makes this clear as Jesus goes on to speak of “specks” and “logs” in our eyes, and how rightly to remove them: “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3). Both “speck” and “log” are metaphors for sin, the point being we are all sinners deserving judgment (Romans 3:10, 23).

The Greek word krino translated as “judge” in this passage can mean “to judge,” “to condemn,” or “to discern,” three related, but distinct, nuances in meaning. The context makes it clear that Jesus means “condemn not,” which is to say, don’t write anyone off as a lost cause or beyond forgiveness. Jesus elucidates this by saying, “First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:5). Jesus does not say that we should ignore or fail to notice the speck in our brother’s eye, and He most definitely does not say that we should affirm or bless it, but rather that we should help our brother to remove the speck that is in his eye. To do that, however, we must first acknowledge and confess the logs in our own eyes, our own sin, repent, and receive forgiveness, and so have that log removed. To recognize and call out a brother’s sin, therefore, is not to judge and condemn him, but it is to love and to help him so that he does not suffer harm or harm others, but this must be done in selfless humility, repentance, and love.

Someone will object, “Who can judge what is sin and sinful behavior?” Apart from the Holy Scriptures, the Word of God, there is no such authority, and the word sin is meaningless. But the Word of God is the authority, and the Ten Commandments are the Law, rule, measure, and standard over us all. Jesus did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). Indeed, the Law still stands as Jesus makes clear in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:21-22; 27-28). When something is fulfilled, it has not been abolished, but it has been changed. Jesus has fulfilled the Law; The Law is still there, but our relationship to it has changed. No longer need we obey it out of compulsion and fear of punishment, but we may obey the Law freely and without fear, even when we fail, out of love for Jesus and God our Father, and out of love for one another redeemed and forgiven by God in Jesus Christ. Yes, we may obey it freely and without fear when we fail and sin, for we have a loving Savior who has fulfilled the Law for us and has taken its condemnation and punishment upon Himself.

This is good news for sinners; this is the Gospel. But specks and logs must be removed. It will do no good to ignore them or to pretend they are not a problem. Jesus came to call, not the righteous, but sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32). Sin isn’t something to be proud of, but to repent of. The good news is that sin is forgiven in Jesus for those who trust in Him, love His Word and Commandments, and strive to live accordingly. No, we are not to judge and condemn our brother, for we are forgiven sinners too, but forgiven sinners are to so love their brother that they do not leave them in their sin but exhort them to repent and receive forgiveness in Jesus.

Rev. Jon M. Ellingworth, Pastor
St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church – Waverly, IA

Saturday, June 15, 2024

To be a father is to have a vocation of selfless sacrificial service.

“Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments!” – Psalm 112 ESV

 

Father’s Day did not become a national holiday until 1972 when President Richard Nixon’s administration declared the third Sunday in June a day to recognize and honor the role of fathers in society. In comparison, Mother’s Day became a national holiday in 1914. Whereas mothers are typically honored with gifts of cards, flowers, chocolates, and jewelry, fathers are most often honored with BBQs, picnics, and outdoor activities with the family. Whereas Mother’s Day is primarily a celebration of motherhood, Father’s Day is more a celebration of the family.

 

In Christendom, Father’s Day has its roots in the medieval observance of the Feast of St. Joseph which was celebrated on March 19. St. Joseph, being Jesus’ adoptive father, has been given the title Guardian of Jesus. One of my favorite images of St. Joseph depicts all three persons of the Holy Family – Mary gazing downward upon the infant Jesus laying in her lap, and Joseph, betrothed, but not yet married to Mary, and the guardian Father of Jesus, staring piercingly, not at Jesus nor at his mother Mary, but directly at you, the viewer, as if to communicate, “Be warned! I will protect this child and his mother with my very life!”

 

I believe that it is extremely important to consider that, though Mary was not yet Joseph’s wife, nor was Jesus his biological son, nevertheless, Joseph took up willingly his God-given vocation as husband and father, provider, guardian, defender, and protector of the holy family. Upon learning that his betrothed was suddenly with child, knowing that he was not the father, Joseph was at first of a mind to release Mary from their betrothal in a way that would protect her honor and dignity and, quite likely, preserve her and her child from death by stoning under the suspicion of being an adulteress. But an angel of the Lord visited Joseph in a dream and assured him that the child conceived in Mary’s womb was by the Holy Spirit of God. Joseph believed the word of the Lord and he took Mary to be his wife, and the son she carried he received and cared for as his very own. At the word of the Lord, Joseph took on the guardianship and protection of a family.

 

Are fathers important? God seems to think so. God called Joseph to be a husband to Mary and a father to Jesus. And Joseph, like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David before him, believed the Lord and obeyed his word. “Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments!” (Psalm 112 ESV).

 

Joseph’s fatherhood wasn’t about glory, praise, or power, but it was about servanthood, even as was Jesus’ sonship, and Mary’s motherhood. Each of these vocations are unique and distinct and, together, they serve the family, a holy trinity of mutual sacrificial love and service. Thus, in the marriage of a man and a woman, and in the procreation of children, there is a beautiful reflection of our holy Triune God himself as each person performs their unique and necessary role in relation to the others.

 

To be a father is have a vocation of selfless sacrificial service for your wife and children. Perhaps this truth is reflected in the family traditions of Father’s Day, enjoying a BBQ or a picnic with the family, playing games with your children, and enjoying God’s creation together.

 

Heavenly Father, from whom all fatherhood is named, we give You thanks for our earthly fathers. Give them confidence in their station and zeal for their task to care for their families faithfully. Make them examples to their children of godly life and love of Your Word. Bless their work of bringing up children in the fear and instruction of the Lord and give them the comfort of Your absolution over all their shortcomings. Gather us together with all our fathers to Your eternal household; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

 

Rev. Jon M. Ellingworth – Pastor, St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church – Waverly, IA


This article ran in the June 13, 2024 edition of The Waverly Democrat Newspaper

Friday, October 13, 2023

No Place for Utopia

“Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. – Romans 3:19


While the Hebrews were slaves in Egypt for 430 years there was law and order – Egyptian law and order. After leading Israel out of Egypt in the Exodus, however, God gave Moses the Ten Commandments – Divine law and order. You see, it wasn’t good, it wasn’t possible, that the people could survive and thrive without law and order of one sort or another. Men delude themselves believing that freedom means anarchy (no-rule) and utopia (no-place). Utopia literally does not, and cannot, exist, and anarchy is chaos and disorder, ensuring that no one is truly free but that all are the slaves of someone else’s power and tyranny.

From creation’s beginning God established law and order for our good. The first chapter of Genesis, above all, is the account of a divine order being established by God’s creative word (law). The laws of physics, chemistry, and biology were all set in place, and clear distinctions between plants, animals, kinds and species, male and female were set in place, remain to this very day, and will continue to remain until there are no more days. The primordial world of the first day was described as tohu wa-bohu, Hebrew words meaning chaotic and empty. Into the chaotic emptiness of the first day God spoke His creative word (law) and brought order to His creation. Without law and order, the foundation of which is God’s law and order, there is chaos and emptiness, a true and terrible utopia – no place.

 

Today many believe that we are near to realizing utopia and are rushing and pushing us evermore towards it with great fervor.  They seemingly believe that once we have thrown off the shackles of Judeo-Christian Biblical morality (the Law of God) and natural law we will be truly free. Indeed, thanks to contraception and abortion, we have seemingly freed ourselves from the consequences of sexual intercourse. And, thanks to no-fault divorce and same-sex marriage, we have freed ourselves from the constrictions of marriage as the lifelong union of a man and a woman. More recently, we have freed ourselves from the constrictions of anatomy, biology, and chromosomes defining our sex and gender. In effect, we have freed ourselves from reality and truth. But that really isn’t possible.

 

The so-called “freedom” we are experiencing today is chaotic and empty – tohu wa-bohu all over again. It is not so much the un-doing of God’s law and order – that is impossible – than it is rebellion against it. And so, we stamp our feet, raise our fists in the air, and scream and shout in rebellion against God’s law and order insisting that we are free to believe and act however we choose apart from any external law of God or man. But reality can only be denied for so long, for the reality is that we all die. Moreover, the exercise of this so-called “freedom” is not innocent and harmless, as many claim, but it affects the lives of our family members and our neighbors, our community, nation, and our world. This so-called “freedom” is truly selfishness and a lack of love, care, and concern for our neighbor. This so-called “freedom” is the very opposite of the true freedom God’s law and order call us to, to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

 

The reality is that God’s law and order is good whether anyone believes in Him or not: “Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God (Romans 3:19). This reality is reflected in the laws of nations: Every nation has laws against murder, taking another’s spouse, stealing, lying under oath, etc. God’s law and order is the foundation of human civilization built upon marriage as God created and instituted it, the procreation and rearing of children, and the forming of communities, cities, and nations. Charity begins at home, literally, for that is where we learn to love and to sacrifice ourselves one for another and so obey and keep the law of God.

 

Of course, these are precisely the institutions that have been under attack for God only knows how long – since the beginning. Let us repent of our selfishness that insists on defining reality on our own terms, enslaving us in self-love curved in on itself at the cost and casualty of others. Let us be the men and women, husbands and wives, sons and daughters God has made and called us to be living in accord with God’s law and order, being fruitful and multiplying in all things good to the glory of God and to the welfare of humankind.

 

Rev. Jon M. Ellingworth

St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church – Waverly, IA

Thursday, May 11, 2023

Quid Est Veritas? (What is truth?)

QUID EST VERITAS?

 

“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” – 2 Timothy 4:3-4

 

Rev. Jon M. Ellingworth

St. John Lutheran Church – Waverly, IA

 

It’s graduation season once again! What a festive, celebratory, and joyful time! Even if you don’t have a family member or close friend who is graduating, the hopefulness, potential, and possibility set before our young graduates is both exhilarating and contagious. It’s natural to get caught up in the jubilation. I personally know several high school graduates from W-SR and college graduates from Wartburg, Hawkeye, UNI, and ISU. No, I’m not intentionally leaving out IOWA, I simply do not know any graduates of that venerable institution personally this year. I am excited for all of them even as I recall my own graduations past and reflect upon the great adventure set before them.

 

Along with the excitement of adventure, however, there is always a little anxiety, concern, and even fear, for with adventure there is necessarily risk and even danger. This was true when I graduated many years ago, and the world is, arguably, fraught with more risk and danger today. There is so much division, anger, hatred, and violence in America today. It is no longer possible to simply mind one’s business, live and let live, and hope to not be impacted by the chaos surrounding us. Today silence is considered violence and a person is labeled either privileged or oppressed based upon the color of their skin. Not long ago that was the very definition of racism.

 

Why is this? Surely there are many reasons, but the expansive growth of technology, particularly in communications, has to be at the top of the list. Thanks to the internet and social media we can know what happened moments ago in another state or nation, and peoples’ views on the matter will also be known almost instantaneously. It wasn’t that long ago that, here in Iowa, we wouldn’t know about a subway death in New York, or about a school shooting in Texas. That would have been local news. However, today we know about these happenings instantaneously, and just as quickly they are politicized and cause us to become even more polarized.

 

Generally speaking, I believe that knowledge is good and to be desired, however not all knowledge is useful, and without wisdom, knowledge can even be bad. It’s no coincidence that the original sin of Eden involved knowledge, the knowledge of good and evil. God declared the world so newly made and everything in it, including humankind, to be – not only good – but VERY GOOD. Evil was not a part of God’s good creation, but a rebellion against it.

 

That rebellion continues to this day, and it continues to grow progressively worse. Harvard University’s motto “Veritas” means “truth.” Sadly, much of what passes for education today is a close-minded ideology, not an open search for truth. Only consider the debate on global warming, Neo-Darwinist evolutionary theory, novel untested gene therapies masking as vaccines, gender orientation, critical race theory, and identity politics. To be on the wrong side of these ideological dogmas is to be labeled anti-science, anti-intellectual, bigoted, sexist, and racist. But true education requires critical thinking and intellectual honesty, the ability to admit that, when the findings disprove your hypothesis, then what you had believed, no matter how strongly held a viewpoint, is wrong. Those who truly want to support education should defend the right of free discourse, including dissent. Those who stigmatize dissent do not protect education from its enemies. Instead, they subvert the very education, discovery, and knowledge they claim to revere.

 

This is why my excitement for our graduates is mixed with some trepidation: Our graduates are emerging from institutions that have largely ceased the search for truth and instead promulgate ideological lies in its place. As the serpent directly contradicted God’s Word and lied saying, “You will not surely die,” so the truth is directly contradicted and lies are substituted. The truth remains, however, death is real and we all die. Likewise, all lies will be exposed for what they are in time. In the meantime, please pray for our graduates, guide them, support them, and encourage them. It’s not their fault that they’ve been lied to, but it will be our fault if those who know the truth remain silent.

 

Rev. Jon M. Ellingworth

Pastor, St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church – Waverly, IA

 

Sunday, June 5, 2022

On the care of souls

Pastors shepherd God’s children through the valley of the shadow of death. From the moment they are born, pastors are literally preparing them to die. Pastors are curates and seelsorgers, they care for and cure souls. But they can’t make them live forever, and they know that all too well. Pastors are not called to be successful but faithful. Their success is in their faithfulness, even if it might be considered weakness and failure in the eyes of men.

Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Why do we pray?

Now is the time for mocking "thoughts and prayers," so it seems. "We need action, not prayers," they say, "Something has to change." They misunderstand why we pray. We do not pray to change God's mind, but we pray to change ourselves. There is a moral rot in our society and culture, and it begins with the moral rot inside each and every one of us. We do not pray to change God's mind, but we pray to change ourselves. That is where the evil resides. That is where the change is needed.
When we pray we confess that we are not God. That's a good beginning. If we are not God then we have no objective place to stand from which we can condemn others; we are all creatures of the same God and we all share the same moral rot. And we have not been destroyed. We are still here. God has shown us mercy, forgiveness, even love. Only God's mercy, forgiveness, and love can overcome the moral rot inside us. It's a beginning, and it won't be complete for some time, but what a gift a new beginning is.
Love does no harm. Murder is all harm and no love, the very opposite of love. If we do not love God we cannot love others. That is why we pray. We do not pray to change God's mind, but we pray to change ourselves. We need to stop blaming others. The blame lies within each of us. The action we need is actually the answer to our prayers: "I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." We pray to change ourselves. We pray that God will change us and remove the hatred and the murder from our hearts.
We pray to God that he would change us, that he would make us human once again. Why do we murder? Because we have become inhuman, and so we do not recognize others as human. We murder children in the womb because we do not recognize them as human. We murder people of other races because we do not recognize them as human. We murder the elderly, the sick, and the dying and feign to call it mercy because we deem their "quality of life" to be something less than human. We pray to God that he would change us, that he would make us human once again. Only then can we recognize, respect, and love the humanity in others.

Thursday, September 2, 2021

A Cure for Cynicism

This article appeared in the Waverly Democrat newspaper, Waverly, IA, on September 2, 2021.

I admit it. I’m a bit of a cynic. As a member of Generation X, cynicism is the air I breathe. Gen X is the so-called forgotten generation. We were the first latch-key children as our parents both worked out of the home and we were typically alone after school. In addition, no-fault divorce resulted in increasing numbers of broken marriages and families. Gen X grew up under the specter of the Cold War and Mutually Assured Destruction if either the United States or Russia, or maybe Iran or China, decided they’d had enough and finally pushed the button. Gen X was the first generation that was expected to do worse than our parents, and we were consistently told that Social Security would be bankrupt by the time we needed it. These and numerous other formative factors served to shape Generation X into a generation of cynics and survivors. Cynics because, when it comes to institutions, they consistently fail to deliver on their promises, and survivors who, since we tend to expect the worst, are prepared to persevere through anything.

Don’t hear me wrong. I’m not proud to be a cynic. I even suspect that it’s a bit sinful. It’s something I struggle with. I still believe in institutions and their inherent value, I do not want to see them destroyed or circumvented, but neither do I trust them completely. Somewhat ironically, the generation that preceded Gen X, the Boomers, also mistrusted institutions in their youth, but in their middle and later adulthood they came to embrace institutions, even if it was because they cynically found a way to manipulate them to their advantage. That’s a sin of a similar, but different kind. However, all of this generation talk is really to get at what I truly want to write about – what a joy and blessing it is to minister to a generation that is so very unlike either the Boomers or my own Generation X – Generation Z, who are now approaching, are in, or have recently graduated from college.

School is back in session. While parents and teachers fret and argue over masks and mandates and vaccines and more, Gen Z youth, at least as I perceive them, are fairly easy-going, eager to get to their studies, their sports, their music, their friends, and their lives. They are not cynics, like many of my generation, nor are they manipulators (another form of cynicism) like some of the Boomers. In my experience, most of the Gen Z youth I meet today are extremely positive, and outgoing. They’re not out to change the world, at least not yet. Perhaps they haven’t experienced enough of the world yet to want to change it, but that’s probably the cynic in me talking. Indeed, I’m fairly certain of this – if they could change anything, they would likely dismiss all cynicism and cynical manipulation.

I am blessed to minister to several high school students and a good number of college students, specifically Wartburg College students. I’ve been a pastor in Waverly for four years now, and throughout those four years St. John Lutheran Church has ministered to Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod students and other students at Wartburg College through worship, Bible studies, and fellowship events. What began as a small, humble gathering has grown into a bonafide campus ministry recognized officially by the LC-MS. This past year I was particularly blessed to see two students who were freshmen when I began my ministry at St. John graduate and get married (I was even blessed to marry them!), and the groom is planning to enter seminary to become a pastor! My experience with these students and their lives has been extremely encouraging and positive. I can feel them driving back my cynical tendencies, and it’s a blessing and a great relief.

While we can think of countless reasons to be pessimistic and cynical, I encourage you to spend some time with Gen Z, particularly our college students who are out of their parent’s homes for the first time and are beginning to discover who they are and what they believe. There is good reason to be hopeful. Further, they need you as much as you need them. I’ve received several letters from students present and former, as well as from their parents, expressing how important and beneficial the St. John Campus Ministry and congregation was/is for them, some even describing it as a lifeline or net. 

It is the God-given duty of every generation to pass on to the next the right worship of the Lord God in faith, confession, and deed. While the truth of God’s Word never changes, other things most certainly do. While this can cause some unease for the former generations, I encourage you, as I encourage myself, to embrace this task with joy and thanksgiving. Instead of being fearful at what the next stewards of the faith might do, get to know them, encourage them, and find yourself encouraged and delighted at how God works, often in unexpected and always marvelous ways. God bless and keep our students and youth and make of them a rich and gracious blessing.

+ Rev. Jon M. Ellingworth

St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church – Waverly, IA

Sunday, November 15, 2020

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS ZERO-RISK FAITH

“The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Because of our First Parents’ sin, and because of our own sin, all our lives will end in death – period. As Jim Morrison of The Doors put it, “No one here gets out alive.” And so, there is inherent risk in living. Literally anything can kill you, and something inevitably will. Why is it then that we do not lock ourselves indoors, stay in bed, and hide away from all potential threats and dangers? Because life is a wonderful gift, and living it is literally worth the risk of losing it. In fact, it is impossible to live without taking risks, and locking yourself in your home isn’t living and neither will it keep you from death, and moreover it is not God’s will for you and for your life.

It is a significant risk for a baby bird to jump out the nest in its first attempt at flight. Tragically, some don’t make it. But, if they don’t take that risk they most certainly will not live, so out of the nest they go. Getting married is risky. Opening a business is risky. Getting behind the wheel of a car is risky. Having a baby is fraught with risk. Going to school, going to church, going to Wal-Mart is risky. The Garden of Eden was a risky place too, having a tree that brought death and a deadly deceiving serpent. Life is full of risks. Life is risk, and we all, consciously or unconsciously assess our risk-load in every decision we make and in everything we do. The same was true then as it is now: While there are many things in this life and world that are fearful and dangerous, we are called to fear, love, and trust in God above all else.

Let’s address the elephant in the room: COVID-19 is a serious virus and it needs to be taken seriously. I believe that the vast majority of people do indeed take it very seriously. What we see is individual persons and families assessing their personal risk-load and making decisions accordingly. Now, this is NOT a political column, but a religious column, a Christian column, and I am speaking from the Word of God. God has quite a lot to say about what we should fear and what we should not, and how we should live. His first commandment is “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). In his Small Catechism Martin Luther explains this commandment saying, “We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.” We worship what we fear most, and what we’re most afraid of losing tells us who or what we worship, where we place our fear, love, and trust. Ultimately, we don’t fear a virus, but what we fear most is losing imaginary control over our lives, and that fear keeps us locked up, looking inward to ourselves and our own safety instead of outward toward others as the rest of God’s commandments direct us to do (Matthew 22:37-40).

Asked in a letter how to respond during the Plague, Martin Luther replied: “I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance inflict and pollute others and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however, I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely as stated above. See this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God” (Luther’s Works 43:132).

If we replace the threat of the atomic bomb with the coronavirus, C.S. Lewis also chides fear and exhorts Christians to live their lives and serve their neighbors: “It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty. […] If we are all going to be destroyed by [the coronavirus], let that [virus] when it comes find us doing sensible and human things – praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts – not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about [viruses]. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds” (“On Living in an Atomic Age”).

St. Paul wrote to young Timothy, and to us all, “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7). Our Lord Jesus exhorts us, “do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). That “him” is the LORD, and no other.

There is no such thing as zero-risk faith. We are to fear the LORD and serve Him, loving no one and no thing more than Him, not even our lives, but loving all with the love with which He loves us. Taking reasonable precautions is not fearful idolatry, but it is faithful stewardship of God’s gift of reason and intellect. However, fearful paralysis that keeps us from receiving the Lord’s gifts and loving and serving our neighbor may well be fearful idolatry. Jesus was the perfect example of faithful fear and love, reaching out to unclean lepers, prostitutes, and the dead and serving them with love, mercy, compassion, and grace.

Is fear keeping you locked up, turned in on yourself? Is fear keeping you from receiving the Lord’s gifts in your house of worship? Is fear keeping you from reaching out to others in faithful love and service of your neighbor to the glory of God? What is it that you truly fear, truly love, and truly trust in? The LORD invites you to fear no man, no thing in heaven or on earth, but to fear God and find in Him freedom from all fear. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Proverbs 9:10), and the wisdom of God is Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:30). The fear of God leads to trust and trust bears the fruit of the Spirit, for a harvest of blessings for ourselves and for others. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Rev. Jon M. Ellingworth

Pastor, St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church – Waverly, IA

Friday, July 3, 2015

Striking the Balance - A Loving, Compassionate, Merciful, and Faithful Response to Same-Sex Marriage

Everything has changed. Nothing has changed. This is most certainly true.

What has changed? Well, that’s fairly obvious. Marriage has been redefined. At least, the human concept of, and language for, marriage has changed, even if the institution of marriage as God created it has not, and can never change. Nevertheless, for Americans, “marriage” is no longer the union of one man and one woman, has absolutely nothing to do with the capacity for procreation, but has been reduced to a pledge of commitment between any two people regardless of sex or gender. Prior to Friday, June 26, 2015, each state had the freedom to decide on marriage. Now, every state in the union must acknowledge and permit same-sex marriage whether its citizens want to or not. While there have only been a few isolated instances thus far, it is quite likely that individuals, businesses, and institutions that uphold traditional marriage will increasingly be penalized or persecuted in some way. For example, an employee who expresses her Christian belief that marriage is exclusively the lifelong union of one man and one woman could be disciplined or fired for breaking the tolerance code of a business that supports same-sex unions. A private business owner, perhaps a baker, photographer, or florist who does not wish to participate in a same-sex marriage ceremony could be sued for discrimination. Even the preaching and teaching of Holy Scripture on marriage and sexuality may eventually be considered hate speech in the United States, as it already is in Canada. Churches will very likely lose their tax-exempt status, forcing many to forfeit their properties, and many more to close their doors. The result being that religious freedom and speech may soon be forced completely out of the public square and confined to only what happens within the walls of the church and your private home.

What hasn’t changed? Well, that’s fairly obvious too. Jesus Christ is still Lord and King over heaven and earth. Jesus still reigns victorious over the devil, the world, and the grave. Marriage is still the lifelong union of one man and one woman as God instituted it in Eden. The Church will continue to persevere through all trial and tribulation and will emerge victorious on the Last Day just as Christ has promised. Orthodox Christians will continue to trust in the Word of the Lord and to live their lives in accordance with it. Orthodox Christian pastors will continue to preach, teach, exhort, admonish, and absolve sinners who repent. And, the Church, with a revitalized sense of Her purpose and with a new urgency, will continue to reach out to broken people in this broken world with the love, grace, mercy, compassion, and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. There have been, are, and will continue to be countless victims of our culture’s slide into relativism and licensed immorality. While the world may shake its fists and clench its teeth in anger and hatred against Christ and His Church, the fact that we are all broken and in need of healing, that we are all hurting and in need of comfort, and are all sinners in need of forgiveness hasn’t changed.

What should we do? Well, I would hope that this is fairly obvious as well. Nevertheless, many Christians are asking and wondering. What should we do? We should keep on being the Church of Christ. That is to say, we must keep on hearing His Word and receiving His gifts and allowing them to continue to reshape and remold us back into the image of Christ in which we were first created. We must continue to clearly articulate what the Scriptures teach about true marriage and about the true purpose and end of marriage, to reveal to us the marriage of Christ and His Bride the Church. We must strive to recover and to recommit ourselves to upholding the holiness and sacredness of marriage as God instituted it, which we have permitted to become corrupted and devalued by widespread divorce, premarital sex, pornography, and adultery.

Now is not a time to lash out in anger at a world that has immersed itself in a narrative of decline. Now is not a time to bury our heads in the sand and take a position of isolation. Now is not a time to mourn in despair and hopelessness. The Church of Christ has always been at odds with the world. Her Lord Jesus Himself promised us this. Now is the time to be the Church of Jesus Christ in the world, but not of the world. Now is the time to be the baptized children of God and to leaven, salt, and enlighten the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Now is the time in which God has placed you to live and to love, to share and to serve. This is not an accident, but it is God’s purpose, place, and calling for you. Do not be afraid. You were baptized for this. Remain faithful unto death, and Christ has promised to give you the crown of life. But, each and every day you live, you are His. He has promised to be with you, and to never leave or forsake you, and that not even death can separate you from Him and His love. Therefore, what is there to fear? If even death has been defeated, what can any man or government take from you or do to you that really matters? Nothing. You are His, period, and always. The LORD bless you and keep you. The LORD make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The LORD lift up His countenance upon you and grant you His Peace.

In the Peace that is Christ Jesus.

+ Pastor Ellingworth

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Why is it so hard to live freely?


It is really hard to live in the freedom of the Gospel. The flesh actually likes, loves the Law. Well, ok, it's a love/hate relationship. The flesh loves the Law because it justifies itself (falsely, of course) by it. The flesh hates the Law because it forbids what it wants to do.  Like a toddler, however, the flesh rebels against the Law in part to test that it is still there. The flesh receives comfort knowing that the rules are still in force.

This plays out in interesting ways in the Christian life. How tempting it is for those who are justified by grace through faith in Jesus Christ to grope around for laws to follow and to impose upon others? And then there's the temptation to rebel against the Gospel itself, because it contains the Law fulfilled in Jesus. This is to say that we are free *in* the Gospel, not *from* the Gospel. The Law is fulfilled; it has not been abolished, nor did it pass away. That's a BIG difference!

Well intentioned Christians both cast the justified back into the shackles of law and teach that the law no longer applies! My heart is comforted in the proclamation that Christ has justified me in His blood, and then some yahoo comes along and says, "Now you have to do this...: evangelize, witness, read your Bible more, attend small groups, whatever." Of course, some other yahoo will come along and say, "Just go to mass, that's all."

No. Justification means something. It means that you are freed from the Law's demands that you may live freely *in* the Gospel. You see, that's a bit different from the kind of antinomian freedom some peddle. In Christ you are a new creation; that means a new life and a new way of living. It doesn't mean a sinless life, but it means a repentant life, a contrite life, a humble life. However, the works of this new life are not to be quantified or measured -- that is purely a human rationalistic idea. The fruit of faith is not to be quantified or measured, but they must be there; and they will be there, if there is faith. Christ says that faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains. I don't know anyone who's moved any mountains. Undoubtedly, "O ye of little faith" are amongst the best that our Lord will ever find. "O Lord, I believe; help me in my unbelief," a father cried. "He who believes... will be saved." How much? How often? Doesn't enter into the equation.

"Give, and it will be given..."
"Love God...., and love your neighbor..."
"Forgive...., and you will be forgiven..."

How much? How often?
Doesn't enter into the equation.

Living in the freedom of the Gospel can only be done in continual contrition, humility, and repentance in faith and trust in Jesus Christ who is making (still) all things new. The faithful follow Him in the Way that He goes. They cannot be Him, but they are baptized into Him and He will make them like Him throughout their lives, culminating in the resurrection of their bodies on the Last Day and eternal life with Him thereafter.

What does that life look like? Perhaps it's better to say what it does not look like. The new life does *not* look like a life lived under the Law or law. It does not have a long list of "must dos" or "pieties" or "steps" or anything else contrived by human reason and sinful pride.  It does not force a rationalistic interpretation upon God's Word breaking it into "three rules" or "seven dispensations" or any other forced categorization. I suppose it might be said to look like the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount, not because they describe a new Law, rule, or guide for the Christian life, but because they describe Christ and His kingdom which has broken into this world and is day by day establishing its reign until the culmination and unveiling of Christ's glory on the Last Day.

Think fruits, not rules.
Think contrition, repentance, and humility, not works and obedience.
Think what Christ has done, not what I must do.
And, do your vocation. Be your vocation. Faithfully, in humility and repentance, every day of your life.
Live *in* the freedom of the Gospel. That is all.

Monday, December 17, 2012

The “O” Antiphons of Advent

Year06

“And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.” Isaiah 11:1-2

In response to the Scriptural exhortation to “pray without ceasing,” (1 Thess. 5:17) the ancient Church developed the Canonical Hours – fixed hours of prayer at which Scripture would be read and Psalms would be sung. From about the 4th century on, these hours, in the West have traditionally followed this order: Matins (midnight), Lauds (3 a.m.), Prime (6 a.m.), Terce (9 a.m.), Sext (noon), None (3 p.m.), Vespers (6 p.m.), and Compline (9 p.m.).

As you can well imagine, this was an extremely difficult and challenging discipline to maintain; only the monks, nuns, and some clergy were very successful at it. Sensing the value of such disciplined daily prayer, however, Martin Luther did not wish to abolish the Hours but simply to condense them into the more manageable and recognizable Hours of Matins (morning prayer) and Vespers (evening prayer). To this day, these Hours of daily prayer are a part of our tradition and piety.

As we begin a new Church Year with the season of Advent, I thought it appropriate to share with you an especially beautiful and poignant part of our catholic tradition which has become all but forgotten amongst Lutheran Christians, The “O” Antiphons. Traditionally, the last eight days of Advent form a little liturgical season unto themselves. As the Church prepares to celebrate the birthday of Christ, the liturgy gets somewhat more intense, freighted with all the hopes of an expectant church.

The “O” Antiphons are a series of “Holy Titles” for Christ by which the Church calls on Him to come. Beginning at Vespers on December 17, each night gives him a new name: “O Wisdom,” “O Sacred Lord,” “O Flower of Jesse’s Stem,” “O Key of David,” “O Radiant Dawn,” “O King of All the Nations,” and the greatest of them all, “O Emmanuel,” a name which means “God is with us.” The great and wonderful Advent hymn “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” (LW 31) is based upon The “O” Antiphons – check the seven titles against this hymn’s seven verses.

An antiphon is a small portion of a Psalm, or some other appropriate words, which is sung at the beginning and at the end of a Psalm or a canticle. The “O” Antiphons were sung specifically before and after the Magnificat (Mary’s Song) during the Hour of Vespers the last week of Advent. These seven Holy Titles for Jesus are appropriate “book ends” to Mary’s beautiful and reverent hymn of praise.

As The “O” Antiphons were originally sung in Latin, when considering the Latin titles an interesting acrostic (word puzzle) appears. When the Latin titles are arranged last to first and the first letter of each title is read consecutively, Christ’s answer to the cry of His Church “Come” is revealed: “Ero cras,” which means, “I shall, tomorrow.”

Emmanuel                  Emmanuel

Rex Gentium              King of the Nations

Oriens                          Dawn

Clavis David                Key of David

Radix Jesse                 Root of Jesse

Adonai                          Lord

Sapientia                      Wisdom

 

Ero cras. I shall, tomorrow.

 

“O Come, O come Emmanuel,” cries the Church. “I shall, tomorrow,” Jesus answers. And so, the Church awaits. Waiting is what Advent is all about. Even as we celebrate the birthday of Jesus, we await, looking expectantly for His second coming. And as we await, we prepare by repenting of our sins and receiving holy absolution, by remaining in His Word, and by receiving His body and blood. The Bride, the Church, awaits and looks expectantly for the coming of Her Bridegroom – Her lamp in hand, she prepares and awaits.

 

“Come soon to save us,” cries the Church,

“From sin and death and sorrow.”

Our Lord’s reply is “Ero cras,”

Which means “I shall, tomorrow.”

The Lord Continue to bless you in the Peace that is Christ Jesus until He comes.

Friday, December 14, 2012

On the Naming of Churches

What’s in a name? In ages not long past, one’s name was central to one’s prosperity and livelihood. One’s name was akin to one’s reputation, something to be defended and preserved, inseparable from one’s ancestry and lineage. One’s name had actual meaning (e.g., Peter means “rock”, Christopher means “light of Christ”) and often was descriptive, or prescriptive, of its bearer. Outside of our own American culture, such attribution to a name is still common practice.

The names of biblical figures are nearly always rich with meaning. Abraham means “father of nations”, Adam means “earth” (Adam, quite literally, is the “Dirt Man”). In their baptisms, Christians, traditionally, receive a new name – a Christian name. This is in symbolic recognition that the “Old Man” has been drowned and that the “New Man” has arisen. That which is ‘born again’ needs a new name. A Christian name was typically a biblical name, e.g, David, Peter, Andrew, Sarah, Mary, Ruth. Such a name connects the bearer to the life example of that figure who bore the name before them. The name Peter carries with it the association to St. Peter’s bold confession of faith even unto death, along with his failings, repentance, and restoration by our Lord.

Biblical names are not so in vogue today. Names inspired by western American landscapes (Dakota, Sierra), cities (Madison, Austin), or popular culture (Destiny, Dylan, Hunter) dominate the school rolls. On the one hand, trends change from generation to generation; but on the other, is there, maybe, something more deceptive and devious at work? The shift away from traditional Christian (biblical) names also marks a distancing from the character and quality those names represent. Subtly, seemingly innocently, our culture continues to sever its ties that ground it in the Judeo-Christian tradition.

A similar thing has happened in the naming of churches. It used to be that liturgical Christian churches were named after saints, e.g., St. John’s, St. Peter’s, St. Paul’s, etc. In the catholic tradition, the saint a church was named after was called the Patron, meaning ‘Father’. The patron saint was to the church a spiritual father, that is, someone whose faith and witness were to be emulated amongst the parishioners. The church did not worship the saint, nor was the church the saint’s possession, but the church venerated (honored) the faith and witness of that saint, and God’s faithfulness to the Saint, and sought to follow in that example.

More and more churches today bear ‘conceptual’ names like ‘Love’, ‘Peace’, ‘Hope’, ‘New Life’, or ‘Family of Faith’. While the ‘concepts’ these names represent are certainly consistent with Christian faith and doctrine, they exist in the realm of ‘ideas’, ‘thoughts’, and ‘imagination’ – that is, they do not have physical, corporal (bodily) referents. In other words, they have no ‘flesh and blood’, no ‘body’, no ‘life’.

Once again, there may be something more subtle, deceptive, and devious going on here that is consistent with an ancient heresy known as Gnosticism. The primary tenant of Gnosticism is that physical matter is evil; thus, Gnostics abhor the flesh, the body. Ancient Gnostics would often fall into one of two behavior patterns: In the first pattern, since they abhorred the flesh, they would become ascetics and would starve themselves and mortify their bodies. In the second pattern, since they abhorred the flesh, they would abuse it by engaging in excessive drinking, eating, and sexual promiscuity of all manner. A related tenant of the Gnostic philosophy was a denial of the Incarnation (the Word of God taking on human flesh in the conception and birth of Jesus) and of the Resurrection of the Dead. Hence, Gnosticism is a heretical belief that the Christian Church has fought against since the time of Christ.

The modern church names mentioned earlier (‘Love’, ‘Peace’, ‘Family of Faith’) have no connection to anyone or anything that ever lived in flesh and blood by the breath of God. The devil must be enjoying this thoroughly! All the devil desires to do is to take our eyes, our focus, off of Jesus Christ – God in the flesh – by any means possible. These ‘conceptual’ names are, perhaps, just one more deception of the devil that serve to direct us away from Jesus.

Churches named in the traditional manner, after saints and martyrs, have connection, whether recognized or not, to real, flesh and blood people, people who gave their lives for their faith. Such examples are for God’s people to emulate in their own faith and confession and to receive strength and encouragement from in the face of temptation, persecution, and suffering. God saw St. Paul through countless challenges, even a martyr’s death, and has given him the crown of life. Christians thank God for the example of St. Paul and the entire Communion of Saints – for the example of their faithfulness and witness, and for the witness of God’s faithfulness.

What’s in a name? A lot! Our church is named ‘Christ the King’ – that certainly says something! Jesus Christ is the greatest saint of all! He is the spiritual Son of God, the Word of God, in human flesh – real body, real blood, real life, real death, real resurrection. God the Father was Jesus’ strength throughout His temptation, persecution, suffering, and death; Jesus is our strength throughout ours. He has been through it all for us, and He has emerged victorious! Flesh and blood now reign in power at the right hand of God the Father! Where He is, He has promised we will be too! Now, there’s strength to live and faith to persevere!

Friday, October 29, 2010

Magic, Sorcery, Witchcraft, and Alchemy–A Natural Science Rather than A Spiritual One?

Opponents of Christianity often point to supposed atrocities committed in the Name of Christ, particularly during the so-called “Dark” Ages and the Late-Medieval Period, such as the Spanish Inquisition and witch trials, to demonstrate that Christian faith is inherently superstitious, ignorant, and violent. Once again, however, David Bentley Hart masterfully and scholarly demonstrates the historical aberrations, misconceptions, and exaggerations in such claims in his book Atheist Delusions – The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies. Hart demonstrates that heresy and sorcery during this time was much more a concern of the state rather than of the church. The Inquisition and, later, witch hunts, were more about maintaining political power than fending off the powers of darkness. This is not, however, to exonerate the Church completely of periodic complicity with the state in the violence of early modernity, but the contemporary portrait of this period and the Church looks nothing like that which emerges when honest historical scholarship commands the palette and brush.

In the following paragraph, Hart demonstrates that magic, sorcery, witchcraft, and alchemy were not spiritual or religious by nature but were more akin to an emerging modern scientific understanding in which there is no transcendent, spiritual realm but rather subtler, hidden material forces and substances to be discovered and manipulated by men to achieve ever-increasing dominance over the material world. This is always sinful man’s greatest desire – to be god unto himself.

In truth, the rise of modern science and the early modern obsession with sorcery were not merely contemporaneous currents within Western society but were two closely allied manifestations of the development of a new post-Christian sense of human mastery over the world. There is nothing especially outrageous in such a claim. After all, magic is essentially a species of materialism; if it invokes any agencies beyond the visible sphere, they are not supernatural – in the theological sense of “transcendent” – but at most preternatural: they are merely, that is to say, subtler, more potent aspects of the physical cosmos. Hermetic magic and modern science (in its most Baconian form at least) are both concerned with hidden forces within the material order, forces that are largely impersonal and morally neutral, which one can learn to manipulate, and which may be turned to ends fair or foul; both, that is to say, are concerned with domination of the physical cosmos, the instrumental subjection of nature to humanity, and the constant increase of human power. Hence, there was not really any later modern triumph of science over magic, so much as there was a natural dissolution of the latter into the former, as the power of science to accomplish what magic could only adumbrate became progressively more obvious. Or, rather, “magic” and “science” in the modern period are distinguishable only retrospectively, according to relative degrees of efficacy. There never was, however, an antagonism between the two: metaphysically, morally, and conceptually, they belonged to a single continuum.

David Bentley Hart, Atheist Delusions – The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies, p82

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

David Bentley Hart on the New Age Movement

In a chapter of his book Atheist Delusions dealing with the nature of perceived free will, Hart posits that, almost universally, “the inviolable liberty of personal volition” or “choice” is the first principle of perceived human freedom, “often seeming to exercise an almost mystical supremacy over all other concerns.” Hart observes that, due to our belief that personal choice is the “highest good,” we fear that subscribing to some established tradition, belief, worldview, etc. is to limit our freedom to choose. Thus, the great claim today is to be spiritual and not religious. It is popular to string together bits and pieces of religion, philosophy, political views, scientific theories, etc. as if we were choosing selections from a cafeteria buffet. Hart writes:

This is especially obvious at modern Western religion’s pastel-tinged margins, in those realms of the New Age where the gods of the boutique hold uncontested sway. Here one may cultivate a private atmosphere of “spirituality” as undemanding and therapeutically comforting as one likes simply by purchasing a dream catcher, a few pretty crystals, some books on the goddess, a Tibetan prayer wheel, a volume of Joseph Campbell or Carl Jung or Robert Graves, a Nataraja figurine, a purse of tiles engraved with runes, a scattering of Pre-Raphaelite prints drenched in Celtic twilight, an Andean flute, and so forth, until this mounting congeries of string, worthless quartz, cheap joss sticks, baked clay, kitsch, borrowed iconography, and fraudulent scholarship reaches that mysterious point of saturation at which religion has become indistinguishable from interior decorating. Then one may either abandon one’s gods for something new or bide with them for a time, but in either case without any real reverence, love, or dread. There could scarcely be a more thoroughly modern form of religion than this. It certainly bears no resemblance to the genuine and honorable idolatries of old, or to the sort of ravenous religious eclecticism that characterized the late Roman Empire. The peoples of early and late antiquity actually believed in, adored, and feared their gods. No one really believes in the gods of the New Age; they are deities not of the celestial hierarchy above but of the ornamental étagère in the corner, and their only “divine” office is to give symbolic expression to the dreamier sides of their votaries’ personalities. They are purchased gods, gods as accessories, and hence are merely masks by means of which the one true god – the will – at once conceals and reveals itself.

From Atheist Delusions – The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies by David Bentley Hart, pp 23-24

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Killing is a human constant.

I’ve been reading off and on a book by David Bentley Hart entitled Atheist Delusions – The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies. In this book, Hart takes to task the so-called “Four Horsemen” of the further so-called “New Atheist” Movement: Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, and Sam Harris. Hart’s is the first Christian response that I’ve seen whose arguments are not just as ignorant and foolish as those he is responding too. On the contrary, Hart has a great command of history, sociology, and philosophy, particularly logic, and mastrerfully exposes the false presumptions, premises, reasoning, etc. of his opponents. Hart’s book, for me, is not a quick read. It’s one of those books that is simply chock full of rich tidbits that I find my mind wandering off on inspired tangents so that a page, or a paragraph, a day is about all I can process. I make no promises, but I hope to share a few gleanings from this thoughtful book.

Today, I share with you Hart’s reflections on why men kill. Proponents of the New Atheist movement like to claim that religion is inherently violent and has been responsible for the world’s greatest number of deaths by persecution, war, etc. Hart demonstrates, from common sense and a simple historical awareness, that killing is a human constant wholly apart from religious belief or unbelief:

… the broader, even more general, and yet more pertinent truth is that men kill (women kill too, but historically have had fewer opportunities to do so). Some kill because their faiths explicitly command them to do so, some kill though their faiths explicitly forbid them to do so, and some kill because they have no faith and hence believe all things are permitted to them. Polytheists, monotheists, and atheists kill – indeed, this last class is especially prolifically homicidal, if the evidence of the twentieth century is to be consulted. Men kill for their gods, or for their God, or because there is no God and the destiny of humanity must be shaped by gigantic exertions of human will . They kill in pursuit of universal truths and out of fidelity to tribal allegiances; for faith, blood and soil, empire, national greatness, the “socialist utopia,” capitalism, and “democratization.” Men will always seek gods in whose name they may perform great deeds or commit unspeakable atrocities, even when those gods are not gods but “tribal honor” or “genetic imperatives” or “social ideals” or “human destiny” or “liberal democracy.” Then again, men also kill on account of money, land, love, pride, hatred, envy, or ambition. They kill out of conviction or out of lack of conviction. […] Does religious conviction provide a powerful reason for killing? Undeniably it often does. It also often provides the sole compelling reason for refusing to kill, or for being merciful, or for seeking peace; only the profoundest ignorance of history could prevent one from recognizing this. For the truth is that religion and irreligion are cultural variables, but killing is a human constant.

From Atheist Delusions – The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies by David Bentley Hart, pp12-13

Saturday, September 18, 2010

The Resurrection Driven Life

The following is a newsletter article I wrote some time ago following Easter. I post it now in relation to this Sunday’s Gospel lesson from the Historic One-Year Lectionary, Luke 7:11-17 – The Raising of the Widow’s Son. +JME

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. –Colossians 3:1-3Dear Redeemed in the Blood of the Lamb,

“He is risen! He is risen indeed, alleluia!” – Then why do so many of us live our lives like “death warmed over”? We drearily trudge through our lives, week after week, grumbling, moaning, and complaining, caught up in the endless pursuit of riches and the possessions that we think will make us truly happy, but, in reality, only further bind us in debt and the fear of “losing it all”. Daily, we give ourselves over to the desires of the flesh – food and drink, comfort, sex – leaving our bodies, temporarily satisfied, but, lastingly, bloated and abused. We begrudge our spouses and our children for selfishly wasting or stealing our precious time, as they no doubt do, even as we ourselves will barely lift a finger to help out, to show interest in our children’s activities, never mind actually setting aside our own self-interest to be concerned about the needs of our family.

What was it that we celebrated just a few days ago? What happened nearly 2,000 years ago that was so special? What does Jesus’ resurrection mean for me? These are good questions, and they deserve solid answers. Most Christians believe correctly that Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is the sign and promise assuring their own bodily resurrection when Christ comes again in judgment. That’s good! But many Christians fail to understand and to believe, and, therefore, to confess, that Jesus’ resurrection has impact and meaning in their every day lives. We celebrate with joy, one day a year, that Jesus will raise our bodies when He reappears in His glorified body at the Judgment, but we do not live resurrected lives the other 364 days a year, if even on Easter Sunday!

So many of us live our lives in the manner of what I like to call a “hamster run” (imagine a hamster in a cage running, endlessly – heart beating furiously – in his wheel, never getting anywhere at all). Is it any wonder at all that one of the bestselling books of the past couple years is titled The Purpose Driven Life? Many well-meaning Christians, and non-Christians, have found a foot-hold for their lives though the practical wisdom and counsel presented in this book. But it is a shaky and unstable foothold at best, shifting sand, for the “purpose” which is given to our lives in this book is not Christ-centered – that is, forgiveness-centered; resurrection-centered – but is, ultimately, man-centered, and thus, self-centered. The “purpose” offered may give some psychological and emotional fortitude for the “short-haul” (imagine our hamster friend hooked up to an intravenous food and water supply, but still running in his wheel, trapped in his cage, going nowhere), but it does not provide an eternal perspective – a transcendent, or heavenly, perspective – which gives purpose and relevance to our lives (outside the cage). What we need is a resurrection in our daily lives!

What we need is a “Resurrection Driven Life.” If what “drives” you does not come from the Words & Wounds of our resurrected Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, then you are being “driven” (in a manner of speaking) down the highway to hell. The author of The Purpose Driven Life begins by stating “It’s not about you,” but then goes on throughout the rest of the book to explain how “It’s all about you” – how God values you and has some “purpose” for you which you must discover. But … it’s not about you; it’s about Christ. Christ, alone, is our purpose – St. Paul wrote: You have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” But “you have been raised with Christ,” writes Paul, therefore, “seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”

In the passage from Colossians printed above, St. Paul follows these statements about our resurrection with Christ with a long list of things about “you” that you are to “put to death”: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry,…anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth, …etc.” It’s not about you; it’s about Christ.

In Holy Baptism you died and were buried with Christ, and a new (spiritual) man arose (resurrected from the dead) to live in Christ (Rom 6:3-4). Therefore Paul also writes, “you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” In baptism your old self was drowned, your original sin was forgiven, and a new man arose from that watery grave by the power of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God and the water. Each and every day, then, is an Easter Day of Resurrection as you “put off [again and again] the old self with its practices,” through repentance and forgiveness, being returned to baptismal purity, which is the work of the Holy Spirit, “being renewed in knowledge after the image of [your] creator”The Resurrection Driven Life!

Not just a resurrection from the dead when Christ comes again, but a resurrected life now is the fruit and promise of Christ’s resurrection. You have been raised up out of the mundane, earthly (the very word mundane comes from the Latin word mundi, meaning, earth) routine of purposeless existence to “set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” At times, for everyone, the ‘worldliness’ of our lives gets us down. Do not despair – “set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” “He is risen! He is risen indeed, alleluia!” – AND SO ARE YOU!

“You have been raised with Christ,” “your life is in Him”; do not put yourself back in the grave. Discover your purpose in this resurrected life, in the Words and the Wounds of your resurrected Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. “You have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator,” feed it, on “things that are above” – heavenly Word, Water, Body and Blood. “He is risen! He is risen indeed, alleluia!” – AND SO ARE YOU!

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Are You Done?

The following is an excellent post critiquing our contraceptive culture’s view on the purpose of marriage and children and provides a solid, Christian answer to that wrong-minded question “Are you done?”. The post was written by Rev. Ben Ball and was posted to the blog Lutherans and Procreation.

From what I understand mothers are asked this question all the time following the births of their children, sometimes even in the delivery room. Until today, I have never been asked.
This morning I went to my Doctor for a regular checkup. The Lord blessed us with our third child and first son in April, so the receptionist, nurse and doctor all greeted me with congratulations - very nice. Everyone in there knows I'm a pastor and I look like one too when I arrive, dressed in clericals and such - currently too hot for a cassock to wear 'round town.
As I was getting my blood drawn (lousy cholesterol) the nurse asked, "So, now that you have the boy are you done?"
I honestly did not know how to respond other than, "I certainly hope not. The Lord has given us these and I pray He gives us more." No reply to that.

The contraceptive mind must run like this. One has children to get what he wants. Now that I have a masculine child there be no need for anymore, right? I have the BOY, my hunting buddy, the guy to teach how to play baseball, football etc. MY little man, MY guy. There can only be so much attention and love (AND MONEY) to go around. Happy! Content! Finished! Desires Fulfilled! So, Done! Time for the snip snip appointment, or perhaps get my wifey to her doctor to get the tubes put in a knot or whatever other method the human mind has concocted to disrupt or destroy.

Note also the assumption that the Christian pastor must have the mentality of everyone else. He and his bride can only take so much - 2 girls, 1 boy, enough is enough. Done. But then why the question- "Are you done?"

I think it has to be the law written on the heart of all these people who ask. They know that they should not be saying, "I'm done." It has been put into their conscience by the Lord Himself to be fruitful and multiply. Let it be said once again, as with all posts of this nature, we are not dealing with the hard and difficult cases. And so that denial of Life must have company, not only with the spouse but with everyone else. If only we all say that we are DONE, than it will be OK. If only we all together reject the gifts that God Himself gives we will be OK. Safety in numbers; safety then in our choices. Choices that reject God's gift of the lives of human beings. Choices that say "No thanks God, I'm done with You giving me things that you call blessings. I am done with you creating life, people, human beings, children that you fearfully and wonderfully make through the means of the union of husband and wife. I'm done with your Son Jesus wishing the little children to come to Him. Done with Him putting His hands on them and blessing them at the font. I'm done with the very purpose of marriage itself, not by your choosing but by mine. No thank you God, I AM DONE."

I say no thanks to that. The Blessed Holy Trinity is the giver of Life, so let's let Him decide when we're done. No thanks to saying "no thanks" to the Father, (the Maker of Heaven and Earth) to His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, (In him was life; and the life was the light of men) and to the Holy Spirit, (the Lord and Giver of Life). Let's let it be up to the Blessed Trinity whether we are done, or not. Or whether we'll be given sick children, or healthy children. Let's let Him decide whose going to be living and who is going to be born. Let's even let Him decide when we should die. Let's let Him decide when our parents should die. Let's even let Him decide when our children should die - long after we are dead, d.v. Let's let Him be God, and us be creatures. Let's believe that He really is the one who makes children, that they really are His, and He seems not to be done yet. As of this writing, the Father has not sent His Son to return on the clouds with all His Holy angels.

HT: Rev. B. T. Ball