The Importance of a Confessional Faith

This week, the Church of Sweden elected Antje Jackelén as the new archbishop of the 6.5 million member Lutheran Church. You can read an article about it here. 

This is a historic election for the Church of Sweden for a number of reasons. Jackelén is Sweden’s first female archbishop, and she joins the ranks of other female presiding bishops like those in the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. For Sweden, this is not a bold move as they have had female bishops for a number of years. While Lutherans of a conservative strain bemoan her election on the basis of gender, there are even more serious concerns raised by Lutherans both in and outside Sweden. 

Jackelén has said things that are clearly out of step with the historic confession of the Church for the past two thousand years. 

On 1. October the candidates for archbishop were asked a number of doctrinal questions. She was asked if she thought Jesus presented a truer picture of God than Muhammed. With her evasive answer, Jackelén was seen as someone who couldn’t (or wouldn’t) choose between Jesus and Muhammed. 

She also said that the Church of Sweden has more in common with other religions than with other Christian churches, that the Virgin Birth must be understood metaphorically, that hell doesn’t exist and that the Biblical texts should not be taken as truth.

While not listed in the articles I’ve read, I suspect she also rejects the validity of the resurrection of Jesus. The rejection of the resurrection is usually the first doctrine jettisoned by liberal Christians, and it would be hard to believe that someone who views the virgin birth Jesus as a metaphor does not hold the same toward the resurrection on Easter. 

Rejection of one of these doctrines would raise red flags among Christians, but this whole domino effect of rejecting doctrine after doctrine raises serious doubt regarding Jackelén’s confession of the faith and those who elected her to the office of archbishop. 

Corners of the 21. century Church have slid far down the slippery slope. Those like Jackelén who toss aside the historic confession of the Church to be culturally sensitive and politically correct appear spineless when compared to the first Christians who were persecuted and martyred for their faith in such things as the Divinity of Jesus and His resurrection on Easter. 

The Church faces many cultural and religious challenges around the world. She still faces persecution and martyrdom for her faith in Jesus. It would be easy to take the route Jackelén and others take, for it is a path of comfort and little conflict. The rough path is the path that follows Jesus; it is a path that leads to suffering and the cross, but ultimately a path that arrives at the resurrection and eternal life in God’s presence. Those who follow Jesus do not reject the Church’s doctrines for any reason but remain faithful to them, to Jesus, in good times and bad. Jesus will not forsake us and that is why we stand faithful to Him and the confession of our Christian faith. 

Christ the Victor

The Rev. Dr. Norman E. Nagel was one of my professors at the seminary. He continues to be one of my mentors to this very day. I share something he preached on Matthew 6,28 in 1954: 

„Sin brought the world into such a cursed mess that only the Son of God could rescue it. This He did by becoming part of our sin-cursed world, making Himself our brother and subject to the curse. Jesus stake Himself with us. If He is crushed by the curse, there is no hope. If He overcomes the curse, then death cannot have its way with us. The fate of Christ and the fate of me are one. I can only be destroyed by death if Christ can be destroyed by death. Christ did die, but He rose again. His resurrection means my resurrection…. When I come to die, I can now die … quietly and without complaint“ (Select Sermons of Norman Nagel 216). 

In this paragraph, Dr. Nagel is, in part, referring to the Apostle Paul, who wrote: »Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His« (Romans 6,3.5). 

Christianity is a religion (and a theology) grounded in historical facts: Jesus was born, lived and died. His tomb was empty three days later. These are verifiable facts attested to in the Bible, the historians of the time and even those opposed to Jesus (like the scribes and Pharisees). The point of contention is: what happened to Jesus’ body? 

Without the resurrection of Jesus, Christianity loses its unique claim and joins the rank and file of every other religion out there. Without the resurrection, Christianity has its teacher and a set of virtues by which a person may order his or her life, and that is about it. 

The apostles, however, contend and preach that Christianity is something far and above all the other religions and philosophies that clamor for our attention. The heart and soul of Christianity is the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. The apostles proclaim that Jesus is the Lamb of God sacrificed on the cross as payment for our sin, and His resurrection is the evidence that His sacrifice is accepted by God the Father and that Jesus has triumphed over death, hell and the devil. 

Our fate is, therefore, linked to Christ’s. His victory is our victory. His death is our death. His resurrection is our resurrection. His life in heaven is our life in heaven. Sin, death, hell and the devil cannot have their way with us or over us, for Christ has conquered them. 

For those who mourn the loss of loved ones on September 11, 2001, we commend them to the mercy of the Triune God. For those in Christ who died that day, they are in His blessed presence, free from the trials and sufferings of this world. On the last day, they and all who die in Christ will be reunited in heavenly glory with a resurrected body.  Amen. 

Ten Important Dates in Western History

At the beginning of the summer, I compiled a list of what I considered were important dates in Western history. I limited the list to ten, but I could have easily doubled it. There are other important events that I did not list. In high school, my world history teacher told us there were three dates in Western history that we should always remember: the death of Jesus, the Fall of Rome and the Fall of Constantinople. 

1. 3. April 33, the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. 

2. 325, the Council of Nicaea and the Nicene Creed.

3. 31. October 1517, Luther nails the 95 Theses inaugurating the Reformation. 

4. 4. September 476, the fall of Rome.

5. 29. May 1453, the fall of Constantinople. 

6. 25. December 800 Charlemagne is crowned Holy Roman emperor. He became king of the Franks on 9. October 768 and king of the Lombards on 10. July 774.  

7. 4. July 1776, the Declaration of Independence. 

8. 9. November 1989, the fall of the Berlin Wall. 

9. 20. January 1981, Ronald Reagan is inaugurated president. 

10. 1000, Leif Ericson establishes a colony at Vinland, Newfoundland. 

50th German Champions 2013

Life is good! Congrats, FC Bayern on your championship. Bring home the Champions League trophy in two weeks. 

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.