Löhe on Mark 16,16

Jesus said to the Eleven: Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16,16 ESV). 

from: http://kwaweber.org/2013/05/10/lohe-on-mark-1616/

What did the Lord Jesus Christ leave those, whom he left behind when he ascended into heaven? According to the gospel of Saint Mark, we can answer this question as follows: He left them holy Baptism and also gifts of miracles and wonders. That’s his coat – much richer and more potent than the coat of Elijah ever was. Holy Baptism can cover the entire world with God’s peace and blessing. It is wide and big enough and also has a very great promise that it will not cease nor stop granting fountains of living water just as little as all the oceans, rivers and fountains of this world will stop to pour forth precious fluid. They will remain doing so until the end comes.

And the miracles and wonders? They all have this one commonality that they strive to overcome and remove the evil disturbing the godly creation. So the talking in many languages is nothing else than overcoming the evil of Babylonian confusion. All the detrimental consequences and outgrowths of sin and evil must finally disappear and be eradicated by the power of salvation and the blessed cure of holy Baptism. This holy Baptism is the blessed beginning and sanctified start while the miracles and wonders point us to the end, the finalization and completion of all in Jesus Christ. Beginning and end, way and goal, means and purpose are all given and present in him, who has ascended gloriously into the highest heaven and received gifts and graces for his people.

Löhe on 1. Peter 2,11

»Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul« (1. Peter 2,11 ESV).

from http://kwaweber.org/2013/04/23/lohe-on-1-peter-211-2/

The Apostle encourages the Christians to live chaste and pure lives. This does not only relate to the 6^th commandment, but goes further than that. Even the fifth and seventh commandments are directed against sinful desires, which war against our souls. Anger, revenge, theft, corruption and many other sinful desires war against our souls. They destroy the joy and gladness in our hearts. They work like frost in a spring night – destroying the blossoming fruits of the season in no time.

The word “war against your soul” can be understood in more than one way, but all will agree that the happiness of our souls and the associated holy lives are severely damaged by these sinful desires. How is the pilgrim to make his way home steadily if these things preoccupy him and keep him from going about his real business. Where is the joy and courage to come from to reach out to heaven if these things are pulling him back and holding him down? That is why we should concentrate our energy, strength and capacities to abstain from sinful desires, to rid ourselves of sinful ways and to put off all that holds us back and makes us sluggish in our Christian pilgrimage.

O holy God, who will be perceived only by those with clean hearts, grant us your Holy Spirit, that he cleanse our hearts from all sin and sanctify us through and through. Work in us both the will to do and the doing of good works. Strengthen, empower, confirm and capacitate us that we will be found pure and without blame on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Whoever strives to accommodate himself to this world, will be put to shame. The sinful world does not hold its promises. It is not dependable.

Whoever depends on God and the world, will limp on both sides. His heart will remain divided and won’t find peace. It’ll have trouble and pain – no end.

On God alone – that’s how it should be – he is the true sanctuary. Who trusts in God, builds on him alone, is blessed here and saved eternally. (Julius Sturm, 1816-1896)

This is a rather free translation of Wilhelm Löhe’s devotion for Tuesday after the third Sunday after Easter: Jubilate. It is found on Pg. 182 in Lob sei Dir ewig, o Jesu!   (Eternal Praise to you o Jesus!) edited by A. Schuster and published in the Freimund Verlag, Neuendettelsau 1949.

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A thought on „The Bible“

One of my critiques of The History Channel’s recently concluded miniseries „The Bible“ is the fast pace it set in each episode. I am critical of this because in our 21st American society we cannot presume that someone knows the background of any particular Biblical story. There is a vast ignorance in our culture about the background and context of the Bible and the events recorded therein. As such, more time needs to be devoted when producing a film or series about the Bible.

Even with a thorough knowledge of the Bible, the miniseries was still too fast paced. Case in point, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, the cornerstone of the Christian faith and the Church, was rushed. Important dialogue was left out that would have clarified the events. The Holy Gospels devote most of their pages to the Passion of Jesus. The Gospels slow down when they arrive at Holy Week and go into great detail about the events. The final episode crammed too much into a 2-hour block. It would have been better to make an additional episode so one could have been devoted solely to the crucifixion and resurrection and the last episode focus on Pentecost and the Book of Acts.

In spite of all this, „The Bible“’s ratings success has shown that there is a hunger for shows that tell a story, and this bodes well for the future of American TV which has way too much „reality“ TV that is void of any substance.

Easter Monday

That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them: „What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?“ And they stood still, looking sad. (Luke 24,13-17 ESV)

Yesterday’s gospel tells about Easter morning, today’s gospel talks about that evening. What a morning and what an evening – and all the difference made by Jesus Christ’s victorious resurrection from the dead. Two disciples are going to Emmaus mourning and crying. Asked by the stranger concerning their sorrow, they give an Easter answer, but without the joy of Easter. They are crying while spreading joyous seeds, which had not yet sprouted to their own rejoicing. In this way you can be rich without knowing about those boxes of treasures – hungry in spite of all your wealth. But this is to change quite dramatically. The stranger can call these sorrowing men out of their distress and bring them to the hopeful glory by his insight into matters. Their hearts start to burn. It was the fire of hope for an eternal life and the resurrection of the body, which even today still has the power to kill all sorrow, kindle comfort and awaken peace and in this way vitalize the soul with eternal joy.

Two disciples go with longing across the veld to Emmaus; their eyes are full of tears, theirs souls full of regrets and they’re sharing words of mourning, but Lord Jesus close already close by to dispel all misery.

Oh, so many hearts are caught up in despair, bewailing own pain and hurt while going forward heavily burdened – yet Jesus is already quite close by to dispel all misery.

If two souls are in discourse Jesus is the third. He knows all hurts, but has the cure too. He won’t fail us even as we are at a loss without hope, but does all to comfort and to heal.  (Johann Neunherz, 1653-1737)

This is a rather free translation of Wilhelm Löhe’s devotion for Monday, the 2^nd Holiday of Easter. It is found on Pg. 160 in Lob sei Dir ewig, o Jesu!   (Eternal Praise to you o Jesus!) edited by A. Schuster and published in the Freimund Verlag, Neuendettelsau 1949.

Irish-Scandinavian St. Patrick's Day

March 17 is St. Patrick’s Day and a national day of pride for the Irish. The day should also be celebrated as one of Scandinavian culture as well. Modern Ireland is a mix of Celtic and Scandinavian culture. Norwegian Vikings raided Scotland and Ireland; they eventually settled in those countries. Dublin was founded by Norwegians under their leader Turgeis as a Viking war base. The cities of Wexford, Limerick, Wicklow and Waterford are anglicized names of their Norwegian names. The Celtic and Norwegian cultures mixed to produce what we now know as Ireland.

Learning from Löhe: Reminiscere

15. "And therefore finally being heard. The intercessory mother had made the whole thing to her daughter and her faithful interchange pleases the Lord. We must pray in our time of need, which can be seen here, even praying in external hardships. These are holy, heavenly souls who live as they perceive as their own, and so strange woe (153) long outlive our own distress, as they perceive external hardships. External needs are no different in the hearts of the saints, intercession and petition are distinctions which  the petitioner should not perceive, but which sees the Lord as gracious and joyfully forgets this distinction when they come to pray. So it is here. This mother's healthy body is sick because her daughter is sick. They begged for help for themselves. Thus the Lord now heals together both mother and daughter, heals the mother lying near His feet, and in the distance the daughter - and His simple help, such as the thanks and honor is doubled by the compassionate love that was doubled in need" (Löhe 152-53; Matthew 15,21-28). 

Why Does God Allow Natural Disasters?

After seeing the images on TV, and perhaps experiencing the storm yourself, you wonder: “Why did this hurricane devastate the lives of so many people in New Jersey, New York City, and thousands of towns up and down the East Coast?” God’s people have asked such questions since the book of Genesis. We find Job pondering why bad things have happened to a righteous man. Others ask Jesus why some kinsmen were killed when a building fell upon them. 

Natural disasters are part and parcel of our fallen world. In a perfect world, there would be no floods, tornados or tsunamis. But we don’t live in a perfect world. Rather, we live in a world that has been contorted and knocked off kilter by sin − our sin. God cursed the ground on account of Adam. Thorns and thistles will now grow and make our stewardship of the earth much more difficult. Paul talks about creation groaning under the weight of God’s curse. 

So when we wonder why did God allow this hurricane to happen, we discover from Holy Scripture that natural disasters happen because we are sinful people who live in a world that has been cursed by God on account of our sins. 

Does this mean God is punishing us for some unrepented sin? Is He punishing our nation for national sins that we, as a nation, are guilty of? Only insofar as we live on a world whose nature has been cursed by God as a result of our sinfulness. Hurricanes are just one way, among many, that this cursed earth unleashes because of the curse placed upon it. 

Does this mean God is indifferent or uncaring? Certainly not! We should realize that God has protected us from any number of natural disasters throughout the years. When was the last time an asteroid slammed into the earth and extinguished 4 or 5 billion human beings? When was the last time the earth was soaked with flood waters so that only eight people survived? God watches over us and protects us many, many times. 

It’s just this more recent incident when God seems to have taken a break from rescuing His creation. Or has He? Consider what God is doing in the aftermath of this hurricane. He is working through individuals, organizations and State governments to send help, money and supplies. God’s people are praying for the lives and rescue of those unaccounted. 

God is working through men and women to help ease the awful suffering. God is showing His love for the world by working through the actions of the world to offer assistance. 

You see, God can be found where there’s trouble. God is there with the nurse giving help to one injured in the hurricane. God is with the pilot who flies a cargo plane with needed supplies. God is with those who search for the unaccounted. 

God is found in the midst of our greatest heartache and despair. Rather than seeing a hurricane as the angry and contorted face of God, we should instead look at the true God revealed in Christ. For when we see Christ contorted and suffering on the cross, we see God’s friendly heart, a heart so enamored with His people and His creation that He is willing to give up His only Son to redeem us from all our sins. And Paul tells us that God’s redemption in Christ will one day remove the curse imposed upon creation. 

Christ our Lord intervened in a disaster hundreds of times worse than the recent Hurricane Sandy. Our Savior went to the cross, suffered and gave up His own life to save us from our sins. The Christ hanging on the cross reveals the heart of God and the great love He has for us. And when we realize how much God loves us and that Christ is where our greatest need is that needs fixing, then we realize that our Christian faith points the way to where Christ needs to be now: in boroughs and with people who have suffered greatly. And where Christ is, there we will be. Perhaps merely in spirit and prayers. Or in the sending of support. Or offering other help. Each time you give an encouraging word to your neighbors, bring them a cup of coffee, offer them some respite from the sufferings of the hurricane’s aftermath, the hands and words of Jesus are working and speaking through you. These are Divine words of love and support. God has given us an opportunity to do acts of charity and mercy for our neighbors, and for each other in the household of God. And reminding people that God loves us through Christ and that not even a hurricane can alter God’s good disposition upon us through Christ our Lord and Savior.