North America Lutheran Church

Okay, you may have heard about this already, but I just discovered today that the congregations that were leaving the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have formed a new church: the North American Lutheran Church (NALC).

Check out the NALC website.

I suspect there is a lot of enthusiasm right now among those churches, pastors, and lay people involved in the NALC. There is also the daunting task of organizing a new church body and all the administrative hassles that involves. God's blessings on their endeavor.

Guess that means if the LCMS wants to change her name, we cannot choose NALC anymore. Thank God! I am happy with the name the Synod has now.

Eurovision 2010 Winner

">Satellite

Congrats to Germany and Lena for winning this year's Eurovision in Oslo, Norway.

">chanée & N'evergreen

I thought chanée & N'evergreen from Denmark had the best song and performance, though.

I wish the U.S. would try to get some broadcasting rights for the Eurovison, until then we can at least watch it (live!) on the Eurovision website. We are, however, making some progress: the World Cup and the Rugby 2011 World Cup. It would also be nice if Directv, Dish Network, and cable would offer us a basic European package with a few stations from each European country.

President Lincoln's ,,Gettysburg Address"

Here is Lincoln's address. This is the one that is engraved on the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. I got it from Wikipedia.

THE
GETTYSBURG
ADDRESS

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth
on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and
dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing
whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so
dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-
field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of
that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave
their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether
fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate…we cannot
consecrate…we cannot hallow…this ground. The brave men,
living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it
far above our poor power to add or detract. The world
will little note nor long remember what we say here, but
it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the
living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished
work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly
advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the
great task remaining before us…that from these honored
dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which
they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here
highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain;
that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of
freedom; and that government of the people, by the people,
for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

November 19, 1863

Listen to the Gettysburg Address as read by Britton Rea.

Battlestar Galactica and Theology

I was pondering the other night, thinking about the mid-season/season finale of Caprica. (I cannot tell anymore if SyFy is going with a 13-episode season or a full 22-episode season broken up for winter and late summer.) It struck me that in the BSG story, every time the human civilization reaches the apex of "resurrection" belief the civilization comes crashing down. On Kobol, the Cylons had a belief in the resurrection, and some time after that a devastating war erupted between the lords of Kobol. It is unknown whether resurrection doctrine was intertwined in that. Then when the Cylons leave Kobol and form their own colony, as soon as the Five Cylons rediscover resurrection tech/doctrine, a civil war breaks out and their colony is destroyed. On ,,Caprica" a similar line is developing: resurrection doctrine is fast becoming a reality as two humans have transcended death. Caprica is on the verge of a two wars that will eventually destroy the 12 Colonies.

I am not sure what to make of this. In most religions, and especially in Christianity, the afterlife is seen as a good thing. The Christian concept of resurrection is understood as God's renewal of His fallen creation back to His original intent of purity and holiness. In the BSG world, it appears that the concept of the resurrection is a cause for mankind's destruction. Is BSG trying to put forward the ideal that belief in God, the gods, and a spiritual afterlife something that breeds war and strife? Is BSG focusing on the ideal that religion is the cause of all our problems? Is BSG trying to tackle the threat of terrorism and radical extremists by lumping all religious people into the same boat and saying, ,,Because you believe in God, you therefore are the cause of all suffering on this planet?" I am not sure. So far, there is no light at the end of the tunnel, just the foretelling of horrible destruction without any hope for something better. Perhaps we will see more as ,,Caprica" unfolds.

I miss the days of ,,Babylon 5" where JMS treated people of religious conviction fairly and without stereotypes.

More on Heilsgeschichte

Yesterday I was reading Dr. Horace Hummel's excellent book, The Word Becoming Flesh, looking up his references to Heilsgeschichte. While doing so, I came across some other wonderful, but neglected terms: Heilseschatologie(salvation eschatology), Heilsorakel (oracle of salvation),and Heilsprophetie (salvation prophecy).

Hummel made some powerful comments regarding the Minor Prophets. Perhaps more than any other prophet, Hosea is the prophet of Heilsgeschichte (The Word Becoming Flesh 297). The Prophet Habakkuk attacks the problem of evil more directly related to the themes of Heilsgeschichte (The Word Becoming Flesh351). Many times the Minor Prophets are overshadowed by the Major Prophets. Much emphasis is focused on Isaiah and his suffering Servant themes that are so predictive of the Christ. But Hummel points out that a number of the Minor Prophets unpack the Heilsgeschichte theme.

Dr. Horace Hummel rightly notes, "Heilsgeschichte (the term may be used very positively) does not first begin with Gen. 12, as critics commonly hold, but at Gen. 3:15, the ‘Protoevangelium.’" (The Word Becoming Flesh66). This statement is vitally important to understanding Heilsgeschichte. The LORD's salvation history does not begin with Abraham, but with Eve. Abraham and Genesis 12 are merely the next steps in God's unfolding plan to save fallen, sinful humanity, a plan which the LORD undertook at the very moment mankind fell into sin and rebellion. As such, Hummel is challenging the accepted theological approach of historical criticism that devalues Genesis 1-11 as nothing more than a small step above the pagan myths.

God's Heilsgeschichte theme winds its way throughout the Old Testament. Often it is hidden in the saving acts of Israel, quietly pointing to a future, more full saving act of the LORD's Christ. Other times it cries from the roof tops, as seen in Isaiah, Hosea, and Habakkuk. God's salvation history moves forward with each generation in the Old Testament until it finds fulfillment in the New Testament with the birth of Jesus who suffers on the cross for our forgiveness and is raised from the grave on Easter for our victory. The theme of salvation history continues to move forward with the preaching of the gospel and the administration of the Sacraments. On the last day, Christ will return and we will experience Heilsgeschichte in our resurrected bodies.

Long-awaited internet search strikes gold!

For several years, I have been searching the internet for sermons preached by Wilhelm Loehe. This morning I found a book that Google Books scanned into their online library of Loehe's Gospel sermons. I took a brief look at it, and was happy to have found it. Even more difficult to find on the internet are English translations of Loehe's sermons.

The only challenge with Google's scan is that the book used the old German typescript, which, if you aren't familiar with it takes some work figuring out some of the letters. I haven't read German texts using the old typescript for some time, but after a few minutes it became more familiar.

I'm interested in reading Loehe's sermons. One website dedicated to him describes him as a preacher in the style of Martin Luther. Loehe was known to preach without notes, only writing his sermon down after he had preached it. This is much different from Norman Nagel's style of reading his sermon verbatim from the pulpit. Nevertheless, Nagel is a great preacher.

Luke 2,1-5

A translation of a sermon I translated from German that was preached by my friend, Armin Wenz in Germany:

Christmas Eve – 24.12.2008 – Luke 2,1-5 – Oberursel – Armin Wenz

Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken throughout the world. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was the governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the family and from the noble house of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and she was pregnant.

Dear congregation!
Christ, the Eternal Son of God, was born under the political laws of our world. These laws of the mighty ones on the Earth are valid. We need governments, which through laws fight against evil and promote the good, that with taxes they look after the streets and build schools.
Admittedly the mighty ones are also always tempted to misuse their power. Jesus had hardly been born, when King Herod attempted to kill Him, because he feared Jesus as a rival. And at the end of His earthly life, Pontius Pilatus handed Christ over to death, even though he had recognized Christ’s innocence.
The wheels of bureaucracy of the Roman Empire included almost the entire known world at the time of Jesus, this bureaucracy frames, so to speak, the life of Jesus of Nazareth. While His mother is pregnant with Him, His parents must travel to their ancestral home of Bethlehem in order to be registered in the census tax. And also the hour of His death is occupied by Roman bureaucrats.
So we see, therefore, that Jesus Christ is not any exception in this point. Also He ends up in the wheels of earthly bureaucracy. Also those who heard about His incarnation also. The Eternal Son of God is also fully whole and truly one of us.
However, dear congregation, solace and help give us this observation only, if we discover, that in reality the emperor in Rome does not pulls the strings, but the Father of Jesus Christ pulls the strings. Yes, in the end it is even so, that the emperor in Rome serves God with his bureaucracy, and also with this census.
And if one viewed the entire history of Jesus, then one notices that God not only put the emperor with his bureaucracy into His service puts, but also the action of the emperor is a parable for what God in Christ is doing for mankind.
Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, so the Prophets had proclaimed Him in the Old Testament, is born in Bethlehem, the city of David’s birth.
Long before the decree of the emperor went out, God had already decreed in the Old Testament: The Savior will be born in Bethlehem. And this decree of the emperor in Rome – without knowing it – serves God, in that he ordered the census.
So the imperial heralds are sent out, who requested that the people go to their home towns. Everyone should comprehend, so that the mighty power of the empire is apparent.
The Heavenly Father also sent out heralds. However, He did not send them into all the world, but only to a few chosen people. To the magi, He sent the star. To the shepherds He sent the angel. These heralds also invite the people, to set out for a journey. God’s heralds, however, did not send the people to their earthly, ancestral homes, but they sent them to the Child in the manger.
Fear not! Behold, I proclaim to you a great joy, that will be for all people; for to you, today, the Savior has been born, who is Christ the Lord, in city of David.
The Savior, says the angel, the Savior has been born. The Roman emperor also claimed for himself the title ,,savior“. Yes, he claimed that he had brought peace to the whole world peace, in that he forced all people under his control. If the angels now describe Jesus as the Savior, then put in there that clear indication of God:
Dear shepherds! Dear people of all times! Your Savior doesn’t sit in the palaces of capital cities. These sovereigns are only servants of God who shall provide for it, that it on Earth moderately approaches civilian/civil. However, they are not your savior: they guarantee neither your health nor your life-happiness and certainly not your eternal salvation.
You want to find your Savior, like the magi and the shepherds do, so approach the Child in the manger. And hear, that through this Child you can also be My people. Whoever has been baptized in the Name of this Child, that person is registered in heaven, that person’s name is written into the book of the life. That person gets civil rights with God’s heaven for all eternity.
Therefore Baptism is like that census. The preaching of the gospel and Baptism give Christ and His resurrection a world-wide census. Christ sends out His heralds who preach His Word and baptize in His Name. People become so registered as children of God.
This registration is not the first route of an obligation for people, as the emperor’s census-tax was, but it is a privilege. Has registered us as God’s children, so we have the right to call upon the Heavenly Father directly. So we have the right to receive at any time Jesus Christ’s gifts of salvation, which we get through our faith in Him: to hear His Word and to receive His Sacraments.
This faith is the type and means, how we take our claim in the heavenly civil rights.
Therefore, whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. So says Christ, and He adds: But whoever does not believe will be damned.
Therefore, whoever does not come to Jesus and abide in Him like the shepherds did, that person gives up his civil rights. God does not force us, but He invites us.
And although it was a clear, little flock that assembled themselves around the manger in Bethlehem, this flock continues to grow to the present day, so that they are more numerous than the inhabitants of the Roman Empire ever were.
The Roman Empire goes the way of all empires. The only empire of this world that will not go under, is God’s empire that founded upon and built upon Jesus Christ, this empire, that has called everyone, who hear the Christmas gospel.
Therefore, you dear birthday-guests of the Savior Jesus Christ, if we in our life here and there complain about the many bureaucracies in our land, if we register here and there must report: Lets us not forget that in reality a different regiment is in place that is far better than the power of the politician.
And lets us not forget also that Mary and Joseph and Christ themselves were commissioned to register births and deaths with the earthly authorities.
Also that has however only serve God’s goals in heaven and with also goes, that we
through the work of salvation of the Savior win that heavenly civil rights, that we had lost based on our sin.
Therefore, dear Christian, do it as a grateful, good citizen of the heavenly empire: use the
privileges that bring you to the Child in the manger. The voice of one in that praise of the angel, when the world sings a song of sorrow, the praise the shepherds and the magi.
Then the degree of the emperor put the whole world in motion. For centuries the gospel of Jesus Christ put all people of men in motion. It may that it in these parts there are fewer people, because many people only view Jesus as folklore and ornamentation, but not as
Savior and King, with the gift that they live forever.
But on the whole the Roman Empire does not see, and not even the greatest in Germany or Europe see, that has seen and will see mankind, but that flock of people who are described in the Revelation of John, where he calls out:
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb! (7,9-10).
But the Lamb of God is He who came to the world in the manger at Bethlehem, who on the cross at Golgotha laid down His life for the sin of the world. He has risen, He lives, and is returning again on the last day, appearing to open the door of heaven.
He is not like folklore and ornament like the Halloween pumpkins or the Easter bunny, that is put up today and tomorrow is cleared away, but He is the Lord and Judge of the world, to those He mercifully meets, who believe in Him.
He alone is the Savior and no one else, He calls you and me to Him. Blessed is everyone, who hears His Name and along with the shepherds adore Him all their life. Amen.