7th Commandment

"You shall not steal."

Luther: What does this mean?

We should fear and love God so we do not take our neighbor's money or possessions, or get them in any dishonest way, but help him to improve and protect his possessions and income.

Earth Day Aftermath

Here are some links to a few little pieces on Earth Day, and even more specifically, Earth Day as celebrated by Concordia Seminary St. Louis.

Whoa. What? A conservative LUTHERAN seminary of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, celebrated Earth Day?

Yup. Weird.

http://concordiatheology.org/2010/04/earth-day-together-with-all-creatures/

http://interact.stltoday.com/blogzone/civil-religion/general/2010/04/how-one-seminary-celebrated-earth-day/

http://cslmedia.org/arand/?p=243

As someone who has enjoyed the idea behind Earth Day immensely, I am thrilled that this had such an emphasis at my conservative Lutheran seminary of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

Happy reading, Happy Earth Day

First Things First

If there is one thing I have learned this year that has resonated with me the most it has been the emphasis on recapturing the First Article in Christianity. The First Article of what you ask? Why the creed of course. Which creed? For the purposes of Luther's Small Catechism, we will say the Apostle's Creed which reads,

"I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth."

For his catechisms, Luther supplied explanations of each article of the creed, Luther went from the traditional "twelve articles" of the Apostle's Creed (one article for each Apostle) to 3 basic articles: Creation, Redemption, Sanctification. Just as he does with the Commandments in asking the question What does this mean? Luther supplies a succinct answer that makes sense.

Here at the seminary there is an emphasis on the part of the faculty to use the First Article more in everyday life to promote things such as sound stewardship of the environment, simply enjoying what God created and called good in Genesis, and also to help stave off the Christian "escapism" attitude that is so prevalent. It's an attitude that says heaven is the goal, and we need to escape this body and life. An emphasis on the First Article shows that God gives us all we have in this life and that it is good and that the work of the 2nd and 3rd Articles is to restore the things of the First Article.

Here is Luther's explanation from the Small Catechism:

I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them.

He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, spouse and children, land, animals, and all that I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.

He defends me against all danger, and guards and protects me from all evil.

All this He does only out of Fatherly divine goodness and mercy, of no merit or worthiness in me. For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.

Some of you may be wondering, so what? The so what is that in a world which has gone crazy in fighting over climate change, and in a religion that displays so much contempt for this life and world, misapplying and misunderstanding that when scripture talks about flesh as evil and the world as evil it talks about the powers that subdue it in sin and death. It is not a sin to be human, and it is not a sin to love all of creation.

The first responsibility given to humans, pre fall into sin, was to have dominion over the earth. Over the course of history that has been used as an excuse to mess up creation and to pump whatever it is we want into the atmosphere. It has been used as an excuse to abuse fellow creatures that God created and declared good, before we screwed it up. The human responsibility is not to see the earth as merely their own playground with which they can do whatever they like to it. No, the human responsibility is to see all of creation, which includes fellow creatures, as God given gifts and to cherish its very existence.

It makes one deal intimately with creation and to look at things sacramentally. God won't even deal with us outside of creation: eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and even in Baptism with God using water, an element of creation, and in the Lord's Supper God using bread and wine to come to us.

To disavow creation is to disavow the Creator. Sin is an intrusion to creation which effects include natural disasters: earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, etc. And it is also an intrusion which effects include hatred, bloodshed, war, yes even death. Even though sin has entered into the world it is not an excuse to run rough shod all over the earth. Especially if Christians are to be taken seriously, we follow in the foot steps of Jesus the Christ the first fruits of the new creation (1 Corinthians 15:20-28), we need not and cannot treat God's earth and all its creatures with contempt and careless activity.

Go to the beach, go to the park, be environmental, enjoy all that you see, and know it is okay. God made the earth beautiful, and despite sin and death, it continues to be beautiful in many many ways.

Peace?

Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

On the basis of the Gospel lesson (John 20:19-31) this morning, let’s talk about Peace.

There are many thoughts out there on what “peace” is. For example, take these quotes from some famous, and some not famous, people who have expressed what they think about peace. (read list, be sure to leave White House thoughts on East Jerusalem construction plan last).

“Peace, to me, is a relatively safe and healthy individual, family, community and world. Definitely achievable by 2020.”—Random hopeful for peace in the world

“All we are saying is give peace a chance.”

John Lennon

“Doesn’t just wish for peace. He works for it.” (Dalai Lama) HOPE-Pass It On Campaign at Lambert International Airport

“Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.”—Mahatma Ghandi

“Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson

White House: Israel construction plan hinders peace

In our Gospel text for today we see a situation in which the disciples are hiding because they do not feel peace. But how could this be? Just last week we heard the glorious news of Christ’s rising from the dead, because “He is risen!” (He is risen indeed, Alleluia). Alleluia indeed! Which is what makes this story all the more confusing. Our hero has come back from the dead and appears first to the women. He tells the women to announce this good news to his disciples, and we see that men not listening to women extends thousands of years back, because the boys don’t really listen to the women and lock themselves in a house.

I really find myself wondering what must be going through the heads of the disciples. On Palm Sunday they enter the big city and the crowds chant Hosanna to Jesus. On Thursday night they have a nice big dinner for the Passover holiday but then, during that dinner, things begin to go horribly wrong. All of the sudden Jesus is telling them tonight’s the night, and he will be betrayed by one of them. And it happens in the garden after dinner. Judas betrays. One of them betrays. Jesus is hauled off and sentenced to death and all of the sudden everything has fallen a part. They scatter out of fear and go into hiding.

Then their leader dies. They are without hope and peace when they really need it most. Their hope and peace is gone. As if that wasn’t enough the third day comes and the women are saying he is alive. So Peter and John go and check out the tomb, and sure enough, Jesus’ body is gone, but it all doesn’t make any sense. So they assemble together. They hide. They fear. And from what seems like out of nowhere, Jesus appears and says, “Peace to you.” Peace? Really? What peace? It’s so ridiculous that even Thomas, one of them, refuses to believe it until he has actually touched Jesus’ hands and side himself.

So here they are in Jerusalem, their shining city on a hill, where peace has never been. Sound familiar? As I mentioned before, in Israel today, in Jerusalem today, they still search for peace. And if that wasn’t enough in some sick joke of irony if we look at the Hebrew to understand what Jerusalem means we find the name itself suggests it is “the city of peace,” “the city of wholeness.”

How’s attaining peace and wholeness going for you in your life? Do you have economic peace? If you’re in between jobs or living by a financial thread do you know peace? Maybe someone has just died in your life and you feel a hole instead of feeling whole. Where’s the peace in your life? Did you just graduate and now have absolutely no idea what to do with yourself? Did you just graduate at another point in life, namely retirement, and you're not quite sure what to do? Maybe you’re a teenager and in school you struggle with grades, or you just can’t quite fit in and are wondering when your peace will come. Consider this tragedy from my hometown, where a beautiful, young, 17 year old soccer star took her own life a few weeks ago because she couldn’t find her peace. And if the quest for peace in our own lives weren’t enough forget turning on the news because we will become overwhelmed by the lack of peace. Another war, another shooting, another life claimed by drugs, another lying politician, another Christian minister harms a child. It seems we have anything but peace. It seems all we have is disruption.

These disruptions of peace in our lives are brought about by sin. And we know the ultimate disruption of peace because of sin is death. Death is so cold. Death is so dark. Death is so final. Where is the hope and peace found in that? Life literally seems like a dead end. So how ridiculous is it that Jesus just pops in the door and tells his disciples, “Peace to you.” Remember the disciples are about to embark on a journey that brings them anything but peace. Of the remaining twelve, all but one of them, will be killed for their faith. The writer of today’s Gospel gets lucky. He gets to be persecuted, tortured, and exiled to live out his life alone. What a reward. What peace.

Yet, as ridiculous as it may seem that Jesus says, “Peace to you,” the disciple’s response sparks our interest. “The disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.” They were glad. As quickly as their peace was taken from them, that’s how quickly it was restored. Jesus’ words actually mean something. As much as the world breaks its promises, that’s how much Jesus keeps his. The burden that sin creates in our life is lifted by the Son of Man, who is lifted up on the cross. Now they remember Jesus’ words on Thursday night when he said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.” And even more crucial these words, “Not as the world gives peace, do I give peace to you.”

Not as the world gives peace. See the world does a lot of talking about peace, and promising peace, and working towards peace, but there has only been One who has overcome the troubles of this world to give peace. This is not to say that your problems are of little matter, or that they will disappear, but consider the disciples response to Jesus here and beyond. They now know what lies ahead. This peace is granting them wholeness. For that is what Jesus’ peace literally means. When Jesus gives his peace it is to make things whole. Peace is not an abstract concept of supposed comfort. Peace is not what John Lennon says, peace is not what Ralph Waldo Emerson says, peace is not what politicians, rock stars, or poets say. Peace is far greater. True peace is found in Jesus Christ. True peace is given to you because Jesus releases you from knowing no peace and makes you whole.

In your baptism, the still waters of peace washed away your sins and granted you that wholeness in Jesus. Through that you were brought into a community that although a collection of broken sinners, together as baptized believers, are made whole. It’s a peace and wholeness that pushes beyond even our gravest fears and doubts. So just as Thomas demanded to see the risen Jesus, we too come to this table, in faith, demanding to see the risen Jesus. Reach out your hands and touch Jesus, receive him in his body and blood and do not disbelieve, but believe. This meal is a foretaste, of not only the feast, but the peace to come. Notice the words we use in our liturgy right after the words of institution, “The peace of the Lord be with you always.” This is not some flippant nicety that we say because we need to use these words. Rather, this is a proclamation, which embodies the very meaning of what it is to receive the forgiveness of sins and experience peace in Christ.

The reason Jesus’ actions are baffling is because he simply bucks the trend. When the world brings emptiness, brokenness, and sadness, Jesus brings wholeness, completeness, and gladness. On the cross of Calvary Jesus completed the work of the Father, and in his resurrection he defeated sin, death, and the devil. And in some twisted, beautiful sense of irony we look fondly upon the meaning of the city Jerusalem. It really is “the city of peace,” “the city of wholeness.” Jesus makes it whole. Even though the disciples die, they will be made whole. And my brothers and sisters, this wholeness extends beyond even the soul resting in heaven. No, this wholeness, this peace means the disciples will rise just as Jesus rises. This peace, this wholeness means your loved ones, the saints departed of this community, will rise from the dead and be made whole. This peace, this wholeness means that even we, though we may die, will be brought back to life at the sound of trumpets blaring and Jesus declaring, “It is over! Sin and death reign no more. Your wholeness has come. Peace is here!” This is not a distant concept. This is not an empty promise. This is complete reality. This is wholeness. This is peace. Jesus is peace.

And now may the peace, the wholeness, of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting. Amen.

Isaiah 65:17-25

More than Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 15, and yes, even more than the words of Luke's Gospel in chapter 24, these words from the Prophet Isaiah, chapter 65, verses 17 through 25 are what gave me the goofiest grin in church on Easter Sunday.

This is what we're headed for, this is what we're all about:

¹⁷"For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
or come into mind.
¹⁸But be glad and rejoice forever
in that which I create;
for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy,
and her people to be a gladness.
¹⁹ I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and be glad in my people;
no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
and the cry of distress.
²⁰No more shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for the young man shall die a hundred years old,
and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
²¹ They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
²² They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
²³ They shall not labor in vain
or bear children for calamity,
for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of Yahweh,
and their descendants with them.
²⁴ Before they call I will answer;
while they are yet speaking I will hear.
²⁵ The wolf and the lamb shall graze together;
the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
and dust shall be the serpent’s food.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain,"

says Yahweh.

The Lutheran Study Bible's article on p. 1198 called A New Eden highlights the beauty of this passage from the prophet Isaiah. And in the last paragraph this really caught my eye, "As you await with all of creation the redemption of your body, read Isaiah 65:17-25 again. Close your eyes and ponder anew the new creation God has made for you. 'For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create.' "

The former things: sin, the devil, and death, will not be remembered or come into mind. Be glad and rejoice forever!

But on the first day of the week...

at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise."

-Luke 24:1-6a

But on the first day...to understand this "but" it helps to look at the text of Luke's Gospel, which is where the above is quoted from, in order to appreciate just how much of an intrusion this "but" is.

"It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.

On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment."

-Luke 23:54-56

His body had been wrapped in linen and laid in the tomb and the women prepared the spices needed, according to custom, for burial. On the Sabbath they rested, little did they know their Sabbath would burst forth from the rock the very next day. This "but," this seemingly harmless transition in literature, has earth shaking consequence. Scripture says he is dead, "but on the first day of the week..."

His enemies saw that he had died and wanted to guard the tomb where his body lay to keep the disciples from taking it out and claiming he was alive, "but on the first day of the week..."

The people of the world today will sneer, laugh, scoff, chuckle, turn their nose, and avert their eyes, "but on the first day of the week..."

Satan, sin, and death claimed victory the second he died then on Saturday when he preached to the souls in Hell claiming Lordship over even there they knew this was no good for them but could they have anticipated the words "but on the first day of the week..."

All of creation groans in anguish and pain as we see the death and destruction brought forth by earthquakes, other natural disasters, senseless crimes against God's creatures, abuse of his servants, distrust of his Word, indifference to his promises, "BUT ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK..."

...wrapped in linen, as he was in his cradle, and laid in a tomb no man had entered and no one had resided previously, like his mother Mary, Christ came forth from the grave, like no one had done before, and angels announced this new birth, like they had at its first, except this was different because it was the first day.

It is the first day, the new day, the first day of the new creation, ALLELUIA. NOTHING and NOBODY can take the joy of this celebration away from you. Christ is risen, he is risen indeed, Alleluia!

Holy Saturday

One of the most interesting days of the church year. You're caught in suspense as you hold in the A-word for just one more night. Come morning the A's ring out. But for tonight we celebrate subdued. The Easter Vigil is personally one of my favorite services of the year. In fact you could probably find my top 5 being this weekend. This service at 5pm at Trinity Islip is a close second to the overjoyed celebration that takes place in the morning. The order of the service will follow lighting the Paschal Candle in the darkness and following that in behind with candles lit ourselves. The Service of the Readings, which encompass Creation, The Flood, Israel's Deliverance at the Red Sea, and Encouragement flows right into the Service of Holy Baptism. From there we remember our baptisms and renounce the devil and all forces of evil and go to the Service of Holy Communion. Nourished by Christ's Body and Blood we go out into the evening/night ready to burst at the seems, but holding fast for one more night.

The Sending Hymn? The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns.

Also, for your reading enjoyment, here's a nugget from Pastor Cwirla, of Trinity Lutheran Church in Hacienda, CA. His Lenten Daily Devotional, Sacred Head, Now Wounded, I have been following throughout these 46 days. This section from today especially stood out to me:

This night, the night before the morning of the resurrection, is the most holy of all nights. This is the first day, when light was spoken into darkness. This is the night of the Passover, when the children of Israel walked through blood-stained wood into freedom. This is the night that Israel walked through sea on dry ground. This is the night the crucified Lamb declares the victory of His cross. This is the night when the chains of death are broken and light breaks out in the darkness of the grave.

Wow. This is the night!