Zion Lutheran Church

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Pastor's Pen 01/15/2020

 

Pastor's Pen for 05/22/2018When Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him. (Matthew 3)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. HEAVEN is OPENED by Christ Jesus. At the Baptismal font in the River Jordan. Jesus standing in the place of sinners. What do sinners deserve? Death. For the wages of sin is death. (Romans 6)

From the banks of the Jordan – Jesus’ face is set resolutely on His journey to Calvary's Cross. Jesus paying for ALL your sins. Jesus dying in the place of sinners. By the Blood of Jesus HEAVEN is OPEN.

Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. (John 1) God the Father is well pleased with His Beloved Son. Jesus has come to bring you back to God. We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 1)

Believing in Jesus you are pleasing to God. There is no other way to the Father except through the Son. The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Jesus, crucified and risen for you. In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (Galatians 3)

In Holy Baptism HEAVEN is OPEN to you. God proclaims that He is well pleased with you. Baptism now saves you…through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 3) Jesus WINS salvation for you. Jesus DELIVERS salvation to you in His Word.

You are the baptized Children of God. Washed clean in the flood of forgiveness at the font.

He saved us…according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior. (Titus 3)

HEAVEN is OPEN. You are precious to our Lord – He has gifted you JESUS.

BUT what about my sin? The sins that continue to war against me? Where do we turn? THE WORD OF GOD! Christ who lives in me. The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal. 2)

In Baptism the flood of forgiveness never runs out. Your Old Adam is at war against your new life in Christ. What to do with sin? Kill it! REPENT. What comes forth from the waters of BAPTISM? New Life. Resurrection Power. Life lived by faith in Christ.

Luther says: (Baptism) indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sin and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.

Our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. (Romans 6) Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. (Mark 16) HEAVEN is OPEN. Happy living as the Lord's Baptized Children. Repenting & believing in Christ. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

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Published: 09 February 2020 09 February 2020
Last Updated: 09 February 2020 09 February 2020

Pastor's Pen 01/02/2020

 

Pastor's Pen for 05/22/2018Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt…for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him. (Matthew 2)

Merry Christmas. What does 2020 hold for you? New Year's resolutions? Gym membership? New diet? A budget?

Christians suffer. In every age of this sin-filled world. All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. (2 Timothy 3)

Jesus is born and Herod wants Christ dead. The shadow of the Cross is looming. Joseph flees to Egypt. Christ’s CROSS will wait until Good Friday’s Tree.

Jesus MUST go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. (Matthew 16)

Herod is in a rage that he has been fooled. He will not allow another king to threaten his kingdom. The soldiers are given the order to swing the sword. Herod had killed all the male children in Bethlehem…all who were two years old or under. (Matthew 2)

The Herods of this world are filled with rage against Christ. They continue to make war against Christ’s Church. The soldiers are sent out marching to bring death. Today it looks like a (Planned Parenthood) clinic that brings death to little babies. I will require a reckoning for the life of man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image. (Genesis 9)

There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers. (Proverbs 6)

Christians suffer for standing for LIFE. Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. (Proverbs 31) The little baby in the womb cannot speak. There is a silent cry for help.

Christians stand for life. I came that they may have LIFE and have it abundantly. (John 10)

What will 2020 be for you? God's Word preached into your ears and hearts bringing life everlasting. The LIFE giving Waters of Holy Baptism. Christians filled with confidence. This NEW YEAR – the Lord has gifts that REIGN ETERANAL FOR YOU TO LIVE IN BY FAITH.

I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. (John 11)

Christians filled with LIFE in Christ. Merry Christmas! Happy New Year. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ. (2 Corinthians 5)

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Published: 09 February 2020 09 February 2020
Last Updated: 09 February 2020 09 February 2020

Pastor's Pen 12/18/2019

 

Pastor's Pen for 05/22/2018I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The angel sent from heaven down to earth is preaching the Good News of the Gospel. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1)

GOOD NEWS OF GREAT JOY. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1)

No longer are you alone. No longer is life an aimless wandering. No longer do you need to fear death. Why? Good News of Great Joy. Jesus is born of the Virgin Mary. God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3)

Jesus comes to take the wrath of God due sinners. When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy. (Titus 3)

GOOD NEWS OF GREAT JOY IS CHRISTMAS. God brings salvation FULL & FREE.

You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. (1 Peter 1)

Jesus has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil. Jesus came from heaven down to earth out of His LOVE FOR YOU. Jesus’ destination is the Cross of Calvary – to hang from the TREE all your sins in His Body. The wood of the stable must give way to the wood of the Cross.

After the Angel preaches the Good News to lowly Shepherds, Heaven breaks wide open. The Angelic choir is singing. A multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2)

God the Father is glorified in the work of His Son. God is glorified as sinners are brought to faith in Jesus. Jesus brings PEACE – PEACE with God. “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. He breathed on them “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. (John 20)

Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Christ gifts you Christmas peace. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4)

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. (Colossians 3)

Christians have Christmas peace through the forgiveness of sins. Forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. (Colossians 3)

Peace be with you. Merry Christmas. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

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Published: 09 February 2020 09 February 2020
Last Updated: 09 February 2020 09 February 2020

Pastor's Pen 11/21/2019

 

Pastor's Pen for 05/22/2018The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (Philippians 4)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Thanksgiving is a part of the Christian life. To give thanks to God for all His Good Gifts.

God has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my limbs, my reason, and all my senses, an still preserves them… all this out of pure, fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me; for all which I owe it to Him to thank, praise, serve, and obey Him. (1st Article)

The greatest gift God gives you is His Son Jesus.

The surpassing grace of God upon you. Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift! (2 Corinthians 9)

This is eternal life, that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. (John 17)

Jesus redeemed you from sin, death and the devil with His Blood shed on the Cross.

Be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3)

We are to speak the Word of God to one another with thankfulness in our hearts to God. Thanksgiving is not equal to happiness. Happiness is an emotion that comes and goes. Thanksgiving is a state of being – living in Christ. I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. (Philippians 4)

We do not relegate thanksgiving to one day a year.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His name! (Psalm 100)

Christians receive God’s gifts with THANKSGIVING. Jesus in His Word, Jesus in Baptism, Jesus in the Lord's Supper filling you up with life and salvation. Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! (1 Chronicles 16)

Rejoice in receiving God's gifts that reign eternal. A Blessed Thanksgiving to you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits to me? I will offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call on the name of the Lord. I will take the cup of salvation and will call on the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all His people, in the courts of the Lord’s house, in the midst of you, O Jerusalem. (Offertory)

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Published: 09 February 2020 09 February 2020
Last Updated: 09 February 2020 09 February 2020

Pastor's Pen 11/07/2019

Pastor's Pen for 05/22/2018We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. (2 Corinthians 5)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Christ’s second coming. Jesus’ Return to judge the living and the dead. What do the Scriptures teach about Christ’s second coming?

A. Christ Will Return Visibly on the Last Day.

The day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. (2 Peter 3)

B. Christ Will Return to Judge the World.

When the Son of Man comes in his glory. He will gather all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. (Matthew 25)

C. Christ Will Return on a Specific Day Known by God Alone.

You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. (Matthew 24)

D. Before Christ Returns, There Will be Increasing Suffering for the Church.

In later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons. (1 Timothy 4)

E. The Return of Christ is a Source of Great Joy for the Christian.

Christ will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. (Hebrews 9)

Christ’s Return is drawing near. How to be ready for Christ’s Return? Hear the Word of the Lord. Believe the Gospel. Live by FAITH in Christ Crucified & Risen for you. When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? (Luke 18)

God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5)

The Christian always is with the Lord. Christ’s promise to you in Holy Baptism “Never to leave you.” God with His people through WORD & SACRAMENT. The Church lives by the Word of God. By every word that comes from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4)

What is the church to do while we anticipate the Lord’s Return? Watch and pray. Come Lord Jesus, come quickly. (Rev. 22) Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10)

The Lord’s Church never despairs. We are filled up with God’s Word. We stir one another to LOVE & GOOD WORKS. Filled with God’s mercy and love, we love and care for one another. Compassion. Mercy. Kindness. Generosity. The Holy Spirit working through you for the GOOD of your neighbor. The God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. (1 Thessalonians 5)

Happy encouraging one another in these Last Days. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen

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Published: 09 February 2020 09 February 2020
Last Updated: 09 February 2020 09 February 2020

Life and Death: Christ and Children

Pastor Hale Bible

A Message from Pastor Hale

Life is what we make it to be – that is the lie we have been sold – that we get to be who and what we want, that our aspirations make life worth living; our dreams should be chased no matter the cost.

 

The reality is that human life, as the fleshly person knows it, is empty and futile – in opposition to God and His holy will, which we were created for. It is under the rule of death and in slavery to sin – no matter how alive or good someone feels. The proof is in the pudding: death – the effect of our sin – is inescapable, for those in Adam’s image. Nothing can be done by us to fix it, but that does not stop sinners from trying. “Because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man” (Rom. 5:17).

 

Without Christ, there is no life. But we see much death, even trusting in and being united to His death, which is life for us. Belief does not undo sin or our bad decisions. In Christ, justified through faith in Him, we are alive to God. But this change occurs in heaven in how He sees us. Our righteousness is hidden in Christ, so that we do not escape all the effects of sin in this life.

 

Being Christian does not mean having children. Marriage, marital knowing, and childbirth are physical, natural things. In fact, they are inescapable to a large extent, for most. God works through these biological commands, but not in a spiritual way – in a natural way. He has made us male or female, for the purpose of marriage, even if one never marries in actuality. But our design and function is of God.

 

The problem for the world and fleshly man is that God is not seen as good. Those who fight against His creation, fight against the Maker of heaven and earth. What is abortion? An unloving act of self-preservation. Kill the baby before he kills you. But the problem is not a child, or many children. The problem is with the giver of life – God Himself. God does not command us verbally to have children. Instead, He makes us so that most have to have children. When life is considered bad, God is seen as bad. Abortion is a heinous sin, a plight on our people and nation.

 

The worst part is that we are all abortionists in our heart. We murder, not physically, but in our attitude, our heart, and how we think and talk about children. A churchgoing Christian can easily use the same language as the abortion clinic and its customers, without incident or alarm, among other Christians: “I accidentally got pregnant”; “It was a mistake”; “It was an unplanned pregnancy”; “when do you want your family and how many precisely do you want?”; “What is your choice?”; “It’s not the right time to have a child.”

 

The language and philosophy are the same: Children are the problem, and not having children is the solution. The difference? Christians, of course, may not have a child physically dismembered in utero, so Christians are “stuck” with a child they didn’t “choose,” if a child is actually conceived. That is a difference, to be sure, but not so much when it comes to the heart and loving God’s will.

 

From our perspective children may seem accidental, but God does not make mistakes or unplanned decisions. And life is His, make no mistake – it is not ours. God is not surprised by His works. Children are His creations, not our pet projects. We can’t create in the image of God – having a child is not about following a recipe. It does not take holy thoughts or long preparation to physically have a child – our part is so minuscule, it’s silly to even talk about and take credit for it. But marital knowing has been de-sanctified and made common, instead of honored as God’s holy tool for divine purposes.

 

Is our family, that is, our children, ours, or does God have a say for His people? No one actually chooses their children, though many assume so. There is no catalog from which we may pick out our progeny and what they will be like. But we talk like it, and so devalue what God Himself makes. We just assume that avoiding children is a real choice – because it seems like life and possibilities to those in sin.

 

Christians like to talk up the blessings of children, generically, but there is a reason earthly mammon is more sought after than children: children are death to the sinful flesh of parents. They will bring suffering, and death, most literally – they are of Adam and must die. To bring a child into the world is to bring more death and sin into the world.

 

The Christian must face death, if he is to be saved, which is why God sent His Son in human form to die. Christ died for all death-infected sinners, impaling sin in its heart – the cause of our misery and death. But death did not slay Jesus forever. He rose, in the Spirit, to bring forth life. Life is everywhere in Christ. Because you live by faith in Him, united to His death, you are life. His salvation is life, and you have a good and kind Father above. Death has no hold on you.

 

So what about children? See them in Christ, not just with deathly goggles. God’s will, and therefore the children He brings forth, are always good. Maybe not to corrupt sinners, but to the holy God. So in faith, everything is sanctified and becomes holy, as we live to God. We want there to be more people to hear the good news and believe. There are no people without birth. Having a child is natural, but raising one to be a Christian is unnatural and difficult – you will have to face much death, inside and outside your heart.

 

Don’t sugarcoat having children as easy-peasy, or glorify a “prolife” stance that is actually quite cold to the reality of receiving and taking care of God’s blessings. But death to the flesh is not something to avoid for the Christian, it is life in Christ. The more we die with Christ to sin, the more we partake of His comfort and life. If we die with Him, we will live with Him.

 

Look beyond death and believe it has been extinguished, even as we live in the midst of death. See children as God sees them – and you. Look beyond death and earthly problems to the promise of glory with Him. We wait for resurrection – when there will be only life. Christ is life, all is life in Him. The death and sin we see is merely an empty husk, waiting to be discarded in resurrection life, by Life Himself, our Lord Jesus Christ. Even He was not too proud to be conceived in a mother and be born in the normal way. We mourn death, but welcome life. Amen.

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Published: 08 February 2020 08 February 2020
Last Updated: 08 February 2020 08 February 2020

A New Year is not Really New

Pastor Hale Bible

A Message from Pastor Hale

The world worships time. A new year is assumed to provide for the possibility of new and improved outcomes. The optimist is to expect more and better things to come to him. But time is not God, and neither is chance or possibility. Just as more time (even billions of years) does not allow the promise of improvement, via evolution, so more time in the future for us does not mean better earthly things are coming. To depend on a new year to fix things in your life and heart is to worship time, a thing that was created by our Lord. Time is a creaturely, fading thing, doomed to pass away when Christ returns.

 

The problem is not time, but what we do with the time. Sinners are not neutral actors that just need the right circumstances to do good or better. It is said that “Given enough time, a hypothetical chimpanzee typing at random would, as part of its output, almost surely produce one of Shakespeare's plays (or any other text).” But time is limited and what is new is soon old. But sin remains, as does God’s Law. The problem is that future time does not make us new or improved. From the standpoint of our sinful flesh, the future only allows possibility for more sin, if we trust in our own power to effect good.

 

Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (Eph. 4:23-24).

 

Newness in Scripture is connected with the Holy Spirit, not simply wide open prairies of possibilities. So turn to something old, which is always new: The Word of God and His Spirit given you in Baptism. This singular act is always a new beginning in Christ, our risen Lord. Three days did not stop Him, and no amount of time – or any created thing – can separate us from our Lord. So no past sin is to rule over us, through the Law. All sin is dead in Christ. This very message has the power to make us new.

 

But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code (Rom. 7:6).

 

We don’t just need a new year – every day is to be new to God in repentance and forgiveness. Turn from your possibilities and fake optimism, which can only be sinful and contrary to God, and hear God’s certain promises which will last beyond time and this earth. Live crucified to sin and the world in Christ, alive to God in confident faith. Every second is new and redeemed, because you are, through the promise of life.

 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come (2 Cor. 5:17).

 

Amen.

 

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:4).

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Published: 08 February 2020 08 February 2020
Last Updated: 08 February 2020 08 February 2020

The Call to be Pastor: Theology and Practice

Pastor Hale Bible

A Message from Pastor Hale

The call is easily misunderstood because it is not of this world, yet it is very much of this world because it is tied up with ordinary sinners and their arbitrary decisions. But it will never be understood unless we start with Scripture and God’s will. Pastors are called by God into His harvest field to preach His Word. He sends every pastor to be His ambassador and speak with His authority to free sinners from Satan’s bondage. This is an article of faith. Pastors do not always appear to be divine gifts, but they are not the point: God’s Word is the divine thing which pastors are called to deliver and Christians are to hear and obey as if God Himself is speaking.

 

The Word belongs to all the baptized and is the right of every Christian to believe and use it. But God is a God of order. When gathered together, we cannot all speak and exercise the keys to heaven in competition in a chaotic fashion without sinning. But this is not a human order, as if we need a boss or manager over all the saints in a congregation – it is a divine order. “And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’ ” (Rom. 10:15). If anyone sees the pastor-congregation relationship as a fight for control or power, he does not see the divine relationship that the Lord established. The Lord rules over and works through both parties.

 

Pastors do not choose themselves to speak for Christ, but neither do congregations choose their pastors. This does not appear to be the case if we use our eyes. We see pastors making selfish, thoughtless decisions that do not honor the call from our Lord. Congregations vote to approve a call to a pastor with limited knowledge of him. But God works through sinners, even if they are following their own sinful will.

 

It is always God’s call, even when it comes through a voters’ assembly, so it cannot be rescinded, unless the Lord Himself does so. Pastors are not pastors for life, though. If they cannot do what God demands of the office or they sin against the scriptural expectations, then God is the one removing the pastor – as long as His Word is followed. As St. Paul often repeats, pastors are called to be God’s servants – not spineless lackeys or abusive kings. “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God” (Rom. 1:1). God’s call gives the confidence to preach the Word, whether it will be well received or not. But it also demands that the congregation listen and not let human pettiness get in the way of divine instruction.

 

“Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness” (James 3:1). Pastors are not accountable to congregations and all their wants and whims. Neither are pastors tyrannical rulers that congregations must submit to unconditionally. The Word of God is the power of the office, not the person in the office. And the Word taught correctly has all the authority of God Himself. So Christians are to hear and submit to God’s Word, because it is Christ speaking to them – not a sinner who appears inadequate and weak. But apart from God’s Word and His ordering of pastor (which means shepherd) and sheep, there is no power structure or spiritual authority – as there is in every human relationship. The power is God’s Spirit in the Word and pastors are to use the Word publicly in Christ’s name, just like every layman is to use the Word at home and in their own earthly vocations. The public, external call makes demands on pastor and congregation, so that the Lord is foremost, not sinners. But understood rightly, the pastoral office is a great gift to His church and God’s express will for congregations.

 

Practically, the process of how a call is extended is a black box to many. And it is very earthly. Congregations develop personal feelings (positive or negative) toward their pastor, and vice versa, because we are real sinners. But that earthly attitude is to be subservient to God’s will and office. The pastoral office is to be honored and supported because of God and His Word we expect to hear from it. Christ trumps all emotional, personal sentiments. Pastors have the same personal reactions as congregations and may not feel like they are doing divine things when they preach and teach. But the call is an external thing – not an intangible feeling – that both pastor and congregation can point to. It is truly a comfort when earthly situations become difficult and trying. The public office allows God’s Word to be the center of attention in the midst of sinners who are forgiven. God’s will is to be done over our sinful will. And His divine will to relieve sinners of their guilt, so they partake of eternal life in the Son, is always present in His Word, no matter who speaks it.

 

But what about a pastor who receives a call who already has a call to serve? This is a perplexing situation for the pastor and congregations. Both calls are divine, even when one is from an unknown congregation. Yet, it is fully God’s will and call to preach there, as is the already existing call. Both are equally divine. I’ve heard several odd questions over the years that deny the divine aspect of the call: “Are you open to a call?” “Are you considering the call you received?” If calls are divine, doesn’t every one have to be taken most seriously? To not do so would be to dismiss God Himself who issued the call. How can a Christian ever not be open to God’s will? No, God’s call is never something to be dismissed. Even “retirement” is an unbiblical category when it comes to the pastoral office and is simply resigning the call to be a pastor for Christ. The call makes the pastor, not education, certification, experience, or aptitude. That is simply another way of saying that God Himself makes a pastor.

 

A pastor with two calls cannot serve God’s sheep in different locations. Both calls are fully of God and real, but only one can be lived in and served, so the other is not “rejected,” technically. It is “returned,” so another man can be sought to fill the call. It is not about the person himself in the office, but the hearing of the holy Law and forgiving Gospel of Christ that creates faith. The Word which makes faith makes Christians. So the deliberation of the call is not to be a negotiation or hostage situation. God works through every call, because the office belongs to him – not pastors or congregations. But this is something to believe, congregations or pastors are not promised to see it. Even when the call is mistreated or ignored, it remains divine.

 

Does a new call mean a pastor wanted out of a church or he is unhappy? It doesn’t matter – the call itself is divine and of the utmost seriousness. It is much like marriage. Whether a couple dated for ten years prior or got married after one date – marriage is always a holy and divine calling, not a personal choice for us to end. It doesn’t matter how much a married couple likes or dislikes one another – God’s call to be faithful is what matters. And just like every marriage must end, the Lord removes every pastor – in His own time though, not ours. But we are to respect and love God’s will more than our own.

 

In our synod, any church can call any rostered clergyman: active, retired, or without a call. There is no one secret, magical call list of pastors who want a new situation. They can tell certain people to circulate their name, but the call list is truly the entire clergy roster, in practice. The call remains God’s will and tells the pastor where to serve, even if it means laying down his life. Districts can have lists of names, but congregations are free to ignore them (and often they should). In practice, this process can appear quite messy and disorganized – but the call itself is always holy and above us and our sin. We are to trust that good results, and must, because it is the Lord’s work and office ultimately. It is God’s will for every congregation and Christian to have a pastor who preaches God’s Word faithfully. We are not to lead ourselves – but to be led by Christ, who always speaks in His Word. Amen.

 

 

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Published: 08 February 2020 08 February 2020
Last Updated: 08 February 2020 08 February 2020

Pastors are not God

Pastor Hale Bible

A Message from Pastor Hale

Pastors are called by God into a divine office. This is a heavy responsibility and great honor. However, they are merely servants of Christ. They have no authority to go beyond Christ’s written Word, the holy Scriptures. Where they do not speak for Christ, but depend on their on their own authority or knowledge, apart from the Scriptures, they are as worthless as salt that is no longer salty. Certain pastors in the LCMS love to extol the office and boast about their learning and achievements, but this does not, in itself, honor Christ. Pastors who actually do what Christ gave them to do – to preach the Word faithfully, use the keys of heaven to bind and forgive sins, and faithfully give the sacraments to repentant sinners – do extol the office of the minister in the best possible way. This is the true way to bring honor to the office – to do what Christ actually called the pastor to do: to be His mouth and speak for Him. An empty office, where the Word of Christ is not at the forefront of what is preached is no office of Christ at all. The man God called is irrelevant to a large extent, since the Word is to dominate, so that Christ Himself speaks in the office through His Word. Man, as a sinner, can only get in the way of Christ’s Word. As St. John the Baptist said: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (Jn. 3:30). But where the authority of Scripture is lost in confession or practice, the status and personal authority of a pastor is often offered as a substitute. This poor replacement for God’s own authority is endemic in our circles, even among the most conservative of pastors.

 

One case is in the doctrine of marriage. God creates the one flesh union of man and woman, which exists until God parts them in death, or man destructively breaks this union by adultery. Christ’s own word confirms that marriage is no human arrangement: “So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate” (Mt. 19:6). Man cannot create this one flesh union, he can only break it. So the “no divorce policy” in the church is not merely a rule or arbitrary guideline – it is God’s express will, which the Christian will respect. It may mean suffering and anguish, but the Christian should see this as a cross to bear in hope. A legal divorce, where the marriage is unbroken by adultery, seems like an easy way out of earthly difficulty, but the marriage union remains intact in this case, despite what government paperwork or society says. A husband and wife remain one flesh – joined by God Himself directly – until God breaks it in death or man does so by the sin of adultery. So to pretend the marriage union is not there by obtaining a civil divorce, which is a public confession to the world, is sin and unchristian, if the other party is willing to remain married. Jesus explicitly says this legal action is tantamount to adultery, since it leads to it in practice: “whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery” (Mt. 19:9).

 

While plenty of people do get divorced for selfish reasons and fall into sin, causing adultery, which is by definition a breaking of God’s martial uniting, this is not God’s will. That is also what the command says: “You shall not commit adultery.” It is Christ’s will that husband and wife love and honor each other. God hates divorce because it directly infringes on His personal work of uniting in marriage, which is also for our good and protection. Marriage is not about happiness and fulfillment. It is protection from sexual sin and a divine vocation into which the Lord Christ places each husband and wife to give them opportunity to serve Him in love, and also so He may multiply them and fill the earth with people to hear His Gospel. Although not a mandate, it is a practical necessity for most people to be married: “because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband” (1 Cor. 7:2).

 

The sin of sexual immorality, unlike sins of the heart and mind, directly affects our bodies, which for the believer is the temple of the Holy Spirit. So this outward sin goes against the Holy Spirit in the body and is incompatible with true repentance and faith. “The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.... But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own” (1 Cor. 6). One cannot love the Lord and also hate and willingly destroy His uniting work, in which He has personally joined the two into one. And the Lord also says through St. Paul that every act of sexual immorality, imitating marriage, physically creates a new one flesh union between male and female, but outside of God’s order, Word, and blessing. Our marriage ceremony proclaims: “What God has joined together, let no one put asunder.” Every marriage union is a holy thing, a divine creation. The Christian who submits to Christ and His works will respect this and not sin against it in his own body, thereby grieving the Holy Spirit he has been given.

 

But egotistical pastors who are sympathetic to the plight of those who suffer want to go beyond God’s Word to offer a comfort that is not in the Gospel. An LCMS pastor who fancies himself a true Lutheran recently defended legal divorce to me, apart from adultery or desertion. But he was unable to make a case on the basis of Scripture. He generally advised against divorce, in theory, but could not say: “It is God’s will for you to stay married and if you wish to be considered a Christian, you must not divide what God has joined together or pretend that you are no longer married by obtaining a legal divorce.” His conclusion was that marriage and divorce is “complex” in practice. This is not God’s Word, but contrary to it. A pastor, no matter how smart, decorated, or respected, is not God Himself. And where he speaks beyond or besides God’s Word, he is nothing and should not be listened to. A pastor who cannot explain his action and support it by Scripture is a false shepherd and should not be listened to. You can only have one master, so listen to Christ's voice alone. This requires a firm knowledge of Scripture by laymen. Faith holds to the Word of Christ, not the flimsy and changing precepts of men.

 

Divorce is not a matter of “casuistry,” which is defined as “a process of reasoning that seeks to resolve moral problems by extracting or extending theoretical rules from a particular case.” If “no divorce” is a vague and general guideline open to exceptions, then it is assumed God has not spoken explicitly on the matter. This is a lie. No doubt there are very difficult circumstances that tug at a pastor’s heart strings. But pastors do not get to make exceptions to God’s Word or speak new words for Him. Separation of a married couple for a time is permissible, but the goal must always be to preserve a marriage union, since it is God’s work and calling. It takes two to remain married, to be sure, but the Christian will not willingly and gladly abandon a marriage union into which Christ has placed him. In fact, Scripture says that only an unbeliever will leave a marriage which is unbroken by adultery: “if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him…. But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so” (1 Cor. 7). Nowhere does Scripture say that a Christian may go against Christ’s physical work in marriage. So “no divorce” is not a rule to be bent or made vaguely “complex,” even by a respected pastor, but a consequence of God’s holy union to respect. No word of man can nullify the Word of God or His work of marriage.

 

The Gospel does not give earthly relief from suffering or permission to sin against the holy God. So no matter how much horrible drama occurs or how bad a pastor may feel for a struggling parishioner in an unhappy marriage, God’s marriage union – the one flesh bond itself – remains a divine work the Christian and pastor must respect. God will end every marriage in His own time, but not ours, unless we sin. St. Paul, regarding marriage in 1 Cor 7, confirms that the Gospel and our hope in Christ require no outward change at all, not even in marriage status, but only inward repentance by the renewing Spirit: “Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches…. Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called.” Pastors must bind consciences regarding marriage and call sinners to repentance, even the divorced, in the name of Christ.

 

The Gospel does not prevent sin, divorce, and great harm, even by one’s own spouse, but it does give hope of a better world, in which there is no marriage. However, Christ who gave the Gospel never gives permission to sin against marriage, which is always a sin against the Holy God. “To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband,” just as Christ Himself also commands: “the husband should not divorce his wife” (1 Cor. 7:10, 11). It is not a different god who creates each marriage, than the One who also forgives sinners by the Word. The sin of man surely occurs in this cursed world against marriage, but it can only be grieved and preached against, not excused or defended in the name of Christ. Divorce, which Christ says implies an act of adultery, is a direct sin against the Lord who died for our sin and rose for our justification.

 

Some pastors play god in another way. They take the place of government and try to regulate marriage by having a marriage ceremony for those who are not intending to be legally married. But there are not two different types of marriages, one spiritual and one worldly. Marriage is always a fleshly, bodily thing, and so it is regulated among us by government, which has God’s authority. But the work of every marriage remains God’s own. Civil laws cannot nullify the command and work of Christ. So a pastor who does not require a couple to legally marry, but preforms a mock wedding ceremony anyway, is approving and blessing fornication. We ratify our public commitment by fulfilling the government’s obligations. Marriage is a public act and institution, not a private decision or spiritual choice. Pastors may not make a new form and way of entering marriage. There is only one institution of marriage, which is a natural right, from God the Father, who created man male and female for this purpose.

 

Another common error among both conservative and liberal pastors is to think that church fellowship, and therefore Communion fellowship, is entirely their domain and prerogative. This is sometimes well meant, but it is extremely arrogant. A particular pastor may think his opinion and verdict of visitors or other pastors and churches determines “his” fellowship – who he is joined to publicly. But Christ’s Church does not revolve around a single pastor and his personal judgment. So to think the pastor alone in his judgment may decide arbitrarily who may commune, or the minister who leaves it completely up to the unknown visitor as to whether he should to take Christ’s most precious body and blood, is wrong and unfaithful.

 

External church fellowship is based on mutual recognition of the teaching of the Gospel. One person does not decide the bounds of the visible church or the confession of another. No one gets to decide what another believes. His confession alone – his words and actions – speaks to his doctrine. So the person a god-like “conservative” pastor likes, feels a bond with, or personally knows is in their “fellowship” – or conversely those who they don’t personally know, sympathize, or agree with are not in his own clique of “fellowship.” Church membership, official confessions, and the other party must take a back seat in this scenario, and therefore the actual confession of Christ. It is selfish and puts the pastor in place of Christ.

 

While there is a place to discipline false doctrine and rebuke actual sin, by refusing the Supper to the unrepentant, pastors do not mentally delineate and manipulate church boundaries based upon their own subjective emotions. The pastor’s thoughts are not more holy than the layman’s. To think the pastor determines the bounds of fellowship is as absurd as saying, “I personally set the boundaries of all countries, by merely thinking thoughts in my mind.” So church fellowship is much bigger than a pastor and his limited vantage point. It must be based on and related to the tangible and public Word of Christ, a public badge of confession. An individual pastor alone assuming he determines fellowship himself makes as great an error as those refusing to consider public fellowship at all when inviting everyone to Christ’s altar, abdicating the responsibility to be Christ’s faithful shepherd.

 

Connected with this error is thinking that a synod (a church body united around a particular teaching of Christ) and its inherent public confession of unity around the Word doesn’t mean anything. I heard the comment at a conference this summer that a synod and her implied fellowship is like a teacher’s union, so that it is merely the price of admission for having a congregation. This might sound practical and relieve somewhat the personal anguish of dealing with heterodox congregations and pastors in one’s fellowship, but it makes the confession of a synod, and what it says about Christ and His doctrine, to be nothing. To say we are united in a synod around the teaching and sacraments of Christ has to mean something, if confessing the teaching of Christ is to mean anything. It can be a false union and denied in practice, but the public confession of unity in the Word of Jesus still counts for far more than the personal thoughts of any pastor or layman.

 

To be in a synod is itself a confession to everyone, even the unbeliever, so to denigrate the very idea of external fellowship within an individual church body is inconsistent, but also duplicitous. It also conveniently allows one to think, do, and practice anything he wishes with impudent freedom and without the constraint of maintaining church unity, as if each expert pastor were his own church body, and perhaps even divine being. But pastors are not the oracles of God, the Scriptures are (Rom. 3:2).

 

To say being part of a synod, in itself, means nothing is to confess one thing, but to actually be in a synod says the opposite. Our public confession to the world in giving the name and appearance of unity is an important thing. That is why, no matter how flawed, church fellowship must be based on tangible things, of which nothing is more official than congregational membership. It matters to what church we belong. So to ignore that public aspect of confessing Christ, and prefer one’s own private opinions and ideas, is to arrogate divine status to oneself. Pastors do not admit to communion on their own whims or feelings, but on behalf of the public confession of Christ, whose Supper is being served. The Supper belongs to no sinner, even the pastor, nor should anyone demand the right to take or modify what is God’s gift and institution. As Communion is always a public act, with implications of public fellowship, so communion admittance should be based on something public indicating fellowship – not simply the personal thoughts of a pastor, who is not Christ.

 

Pastors must be kept honest by their parishioners, who in turn must actually know what God has said in Scripture. It does no good for a pastor to play the expert and to think he is above questioning. He is then only preaching his own, sinful idea of Christ, not Christ Himself. Conversely, laymen should not think they are automatically Lutheran, and above correction by the divine Word, because of their experience, tradition, or voting power. It is Christ’s church. All Christians need to be continually reminded that we do not need a substitute for Christ. He is not dead; He is risen. Amen.

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Published: 08 February 2020 08 February 2020
Last Updated: 08 February 2020 08 February 2020

Pastor's Pen 10/01/2019

Pastor's Pen for 05/22/2018For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6)

 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. LAW & GOSPEL. This summarizes the teaching of the bible. The LAW teaches what we are to do and not to do. The LAW places demands on us. Love perfectly God and your neighbor. Sinners fall short of the glory of God. By works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. (Romans 3)

 

The wages of sin is death. The LAW is: you get what you deserve. Our labors bring the payment. The payment for our sin is death. Sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. (James 1) The LAW shows our sin and God's anger. The preaching of the LAW calls sinners to repentance. Repent…that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. (Acts 3)

 

The GOSPEL is ALL GIFT. Jesus comes down out of heaven to save sinners. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. (John 1) The GOSPEL teaches us what God has done and still does for us by His Grace. The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1)

 

God so loved you that He has gifted you His only Son. Jesus comes to stand in the place of sinners as our substitute. Jesus loves God and His neighbor perfectly. We were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. (Romans 5) Jesus stands in the place of sinners under the wrath of God for all our LAW breaking. JESUS takes the punishment for all our sin. Christ crucified.

 

For our sake God made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5)

 

Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift! (2 Corinthians 9)

 

GOSPEL Good News – Jesus has bled, Jesus has died, Jesus has risen from the dead. Good News – JESUS has done it all for you! Salvation is a gift full and free in the Gospel preached to you. For by grace you have been saved through faith. This is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works. (Ephesians 2)

 

The Holy Spirit is at work on sinners by the power of the Word of God. Both LAW & GOSPEL. Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Romans 10)

 

Receiving GIFTS is a GREAT JOY. No need to wake up children on Christmas morning to receive gifts. Sunday morning is time for God's Baptized Children to gather around our Risen Lord Jesus. The kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel. (Mark 1)

 

“Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2)

 

Christians happy hearing God’s Word of LAW & GOSPEL. REPENTANCE and FORGIVENESS ALL FOR CHRIST’S SAKE. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

 

The Gifts Christ Freely Gives  LSB 602:1

The gifts Christ freely gives

He gives to you and me

To be His Church, His bride,

His chosen, saved and free!

Saints blest with these rich gifts

Are children who proclaim

That they were won by Christ

And cling to His strong name.

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Published: 16 October 2019 16 October 2019
Last Updated: 16 October 2019 16 October 2019

More Articles ...

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  2. Zion's Updated Communion Announcement
  3. Review of "The Path to Understanding Justification"
  4. Pastor's Pen 09/05/2019
  5. Pastor's Pen 08/21/2019
  6. Pastor's Pen 08/08/2019
  7. Pastor's Pen 07/23/2019
  8. Pastor's Pen 07/09/2019
  9. Pastor's Pen 06/19/2019
  10. Pastor's Pen 04/16/2019

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Hymn of the Church Season

  • A hymn for Lent is called A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth (LSB 438). More info about this hymn is available here.
  • A hymn for Transiguration Sunday O Wondrous Type! O Vision Fair (LSB 413).  Two different version and the text can be seen here.
  • Built On the Rock, the Church Shall Stand (LSB 645)
  • Behold a Host Arrayed in White (LSB 676) -   More Info
  • Jesus Priceless Treasure (LSB 743) -   More Info
  • Come Holy Ghost, Creator Blest (LSB 498) -   More Info
  • Shepherd of Tender Youth (LSB 864) -   More Info

Other Hymns

Other hymns of the seasons can be found on the Church Hymns page.


T

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
- Matthew 28:5-10

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Zion Lutheran Church is a member of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. This is an international church consisting of over 6,000 congregations in the U.S. and missionaries in over 50 foreign countries. To learn more about the LCMS, please visit www.lcms.org.
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Zion Lutheran Church
14205 Ida Street
Omaha, NE 68142