Fathers, Daughters, and Christian Modesty

The following article, written by a Christian father, has not only some excellent insights with regard to feminine Christian modesty, but also excellent practical suggestions as to how Christian fathers can protect their daughters' modesty in an age and culture that is not only clueless about what is fashionable for young women, but also antithetical and hostile to a worldview shaped by Scripture and the Church.

Gents, you are in charge! Use the authority that God has given you. That doesn't mean sitting in the La-Z-Boy ordering your wife to fetch chicken wings, and hollering at your daughter to bring you a beer before the game starts. Rather, being the head of the household means you are the protector of your family - especially when it comes to defending your daughters' dignity.

That article reminded me of a blog post on the topic of feminine modesty written by Rev. Dr. Rick Stuckwisch, who is not only the parochial father of Emmanuel Lutheran Church in South Bend, Indiana, but is also the familial father of three daughters and six sons (as well as a husband of 23 years to the wife he so obviously reveres and adores).

Dr. Stuckwisch often writes about Christian fatherhood, especially in the light of his daughter's upcoming wedding.

If you're not a subscriber to Dr. Stuckwisch's blog, you're missing out! He's one of those individuals whose blog is worth reading every single time he posts - like an exquisite dessert and a delightful cup of coffee. He is poetic, profound, theological, exuding Christian joy, entertaining, and always drives his readers to think deeply, pray fervently, and seek Christ where He may be found. And he does so with evangelical humility and the doting heart of a Christian family man and pastor.

And with nine children, Dr. Stuckwisch knows a thing or two about being a dad!

Sermon: Feast of the Holy Trinity

18 May 2008 at Salem Lutheran Church, Gretna, LA
Text: John 3:1-17 (Isa 6:1-7, Rom 11:33-36)

In the name of + Jesus. Amen.

Some people that you meet are what we call an “enigma.” They are a puzzle. Just when you think you have them figured out, they surprise you. Just when you think you have them pegged, they do something you could have never predicted. Some people are so secretive that you might think they are actually foreign spies. There are some people you can know for decades and still really not really know them.

Other people are candid to a fault. They will come out and tell you everything, even without flinching. Their routines are so regular and their life so locked in to routine that you can set your watch by them. It is as though such people live in a fishbowl. There is no mystery about such people. What you see is what you get.

So, what about God. Is God enigmatic, mysterious, ethereal, otherworldly, and unpredictable enough to be frightening? Or is God predictable, consistent, approachable, plain-spoken, and an open book?

To be sure, God is mysterious, beyond our understanding, mighty, and enigmatic. As St. Paul writes to the Christians at Rome: “Oh, the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord?”

When the prophet Isaiah was transported to the throne room of the Almighty God, he was out of his element. Isaiah was dwarfed by God’s immensity. He was overwhelmed by the seraphim, the highest level of angels, who stood at the right and left of the throne, and as mighty and magnificent as they were, they themselves cowered, covering their faces, and crying out from behind their wings the praises of the God whose voice boomed and rattled the doors of the smoke-filled room.

Here we see a revelation of God as the mighty Creator, the King, the Lord of Lords, the Most Holy One, the One whose very presence terrifies the holy prophet Isaiah, who lies on the floor blubbering in the fetal position, whimpering about how unclean he is.

God is so mighty and untouchable, that it should come as no surprise there is much we simply don’t know about Him. Our feeble brains and filthy souls simply could not handle even a fraction of God. Even fleeting glimpses of God in His full glory in Scripture result in utter confusion and terror for those who stood in His presence, as well as for us, who can’t even begin to imagine what it must be like to be standing before Him.

But then, even when we think we have figured out that we can’t figure God out, he throws us another curve ball. In our Gospel, we see a man named Nicodemus, a worshiper of the God who revealed Himself to Isaiah. Nicodemus takes a nighttime stroll and finds God. Only God is not on a throne, but in human form, wearing the garb of a rabbi. Nicodemus calls God “Teacher” and proceeds to question God about the nature of the universe and salvation.

In this case, God is plain-spoken. He speaks to Nicodemus eyeball to eyeball, Man to man. He tells him that in order to be a part of God’s kingdom, one must be “born again.” He further explains to a confused Nicodemus that this second birth is not a form of reincarnation from one’s mother, but is rather a rebirth of “water and the Spirit.” Jesus tells him: “Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.” Jesus speaks of Himself in the plural: “We” and “Our.” “If I have told you earthly things,” says our Lord, “and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”

Nicodemus encounters God being candid, visible, tangible, available for questions, willing to have a conversation, and openly walking about in space and time, limited in space, and communicating through flesh to flesh. This is the God who sits at table, eats, drinks, laughs, weeps, hurts, is angry, who prays to His Father, who promises to send the Holy Spirit, who admits to being a heavenly king over the hosts of heaven, and yet who is executed by an earthly king egged on by a mob and betrayed by a son of hell.

And so we see God as both enigma and as teacher, as the unknowable and as the self-revelation, as the completely Other and the completely Us, as the Creator who is apart from time and space and as the One who is bound by the very limits of creation itself – all wrapped up in one.

This is the God who has created us, redeemed us, and sanctified us. The God whose demands condemn us, and whose mercy saves us. The God whose perfection must be appeased, and who perfectly appeases that perfection Himself. This is the God into whose Triune name – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – we have been baptized. This is the God whom we are too small to understand, and yet, who became small enough for us to understand.

And so, on this day, the Sunday after Pentecost, the Church throughout the world worships our Lord in His revelation to us as both Trinity and Unity. And as we confessed in the Creed: “Whoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the catholic faith. Whoever does not keep it whole and undefiled will without doubt perish eternally. And the catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity…”

And though holding the correct doctrine is a given, notice that the creed does not say we are saved by the good work of holding the right doctrine. Indeed, we are saved by grace, not by works. This is why we confess we are saved by holding the catholic faith. Faith. Faith alone. Faith, meaning belief. The catholic faith is a belief, and yet it is not intellectual. For “the catholic faith is this, that we worship…”

If you are interested in salvation, dear friends, it is not enough to be able to recite the catechism. It is not enough to express belief in God. It isn’t even enough to claim to have faith. For you must hold the catholic faith, the one true faith, the wholesome faith in its entirety. And what is this faith? It is that we “worship.” You cannot be a Christian if you simply believe in God – even simply believing in the Trinity. Even Satan believes in the Trinity. Indeed, to hold the catholic faith unto salvation means to worship the Triune God, the true God in His Unity and the true God in His Trinity.

To hold the catholic faith, to be saved, is to worship the Father, to worship the Son, and to worship the Holy Spirit.

We fall upon our faces before God just as Isaiah did. We sit at the feet of our Master and Teacher, just as Nicodemus did. We are regenerated and renewed by the Holy Spirit, given the forgiveness of sins promised by the Father and secured by the Son. We are born again of water and the Spirit in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And we worship this God who puts His name on us, who gives us new birth, who draws us into His kingdom, who brings us to eternal life.

One thing God has revealed about Himself is His disposition towards His creation. “For while we were yet sinners, Christ,” that is God, “died for us.” Even when His creation betrayed Him, He desired to save that creation. Even when one He called “friend” betrayed Him, He was to die for that betrayer, and all betrayers. For in spite of the world’s unlovableness, in the face of mankind’s rebellion and sin, our Triune God is a God of love and mercy: “For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” As our Lord Himself testifies: “Greater love has no-one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”

This, dear friends, is the good news of the catholic faith. For our faith isn’t a sterile collection of teachings that you get rewarded for answering correctly, a cosmic version of Final Jeopardy. The catholic faith we hold on to, cling to, hang on for dear life to, is this: we worship the one true God, the one Triune God, the One who took flesh, the One who died a sacrificial death, the One who conquered the evil one, the One who broke death’s stranglehold over us.

We worship the One whose flesh and blood are given to us to eat and drink for the forgiveness of sins. We worship the One who gives us a second birth by water and Word. We worship the One whose Spirit is given to those ordained to pronounce forgiveness. We worship the One whose coal from the altar is placed upon our lips, the One who declares in His mercy, in His love, in His Trinity, and in His Unity: “Your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.”

“For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever.” Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Amen.

Some helpful Latin sites

(photo by Vautrin_Baires)

Here is free web-based course to learn medieval Latin - which is almost identical to classical Latin, but there are a few slight grammatical differences as well as some different vocabulary. This site is run by the British National Archives.

Here is a helpful site from St. Louis University. Lots of university level handouts, charts, and exercises. SLU is a Jesuit university. Need I say more? Similarly, here is a link to Fr. Reggie Foster's Latin class (Fr. Reggie is the Vatican's chief Latinist) through one of his students, Fr. Gary Coulter. Also, here is the Vatican's collection of writings in Latin.

Here is a fantastic blogsite with outstanding links. The Latin-English parsing dictionary called Words is a work of genius, and is a must-have (and it's free, and can be downloaded and run locally). And here is a Windows interface for the Words program.

Here is a ton of Latin texts and textbooks, from beginner to advanced, all free, all in the public domain, all for download in pdf. This one is a gem! Also a gem is this online library of ancient and not-so-ancient Latin texts. And if you'd like to read the actual Latin scrolls, check this out! Poetry lovers, don't miss this line-by-line parallel collection of poems by Catullus.

Classicist Dr. Laura Gibbs has some really helpful ideas, such as learning Latin through proverbs (including audio), through fables, as well as through the Vulgate (the Latin Bible).

Here is a site of free MP3s of the Bible in Latin and Greek. Note: the Latin pronunciation is based on the rules of modern Spanish and the New Testament (Koine) Greek is pronounced according to modern Greek. For those who want an excellent Vulgate-English online tool (that even parses!), it is online, and can be downloaded and run locally as well.

Ephemeris is a Latin web-based newspaper, that also has some audio on some of the stories. The Finnish Broadcasting Company has a podcast of its shortwave news program in Latin. Here is a blog of weekly news in Latin. Here is another podcast, of Latin readings. Here is a collection of photographs of Latin inscriptions from flickr. And if you're really ambitious, check out this Latin webring.

I would be remiss if I didn't point you to what is, in my opinion, the very best Latin course ever, in which you learn Latin by jumping in with both feet and reading Latin. This is the course I'm using with my middle school students, and they are doing great! This course, by Danish scholar Hans Oerberg, has even replaced the standard Wheelock course at Concordia University - Chicago.

Please feel free to comment with other sites and helpful hints! I know this barely scratches the surface, and with the internet, we never run out of useful tools for teachers and students alike.

Bona fortuna, discipuli!

The Non-Reporter and Big Brother Ablaze!(tm)

A certain church convention of the future?

I just got the new Reporter, the national monthly "official" newspaper of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod.

A couple of things caught my eye.

According to page 11, there was a conference put on by the Women's Leadership Institute to promote women's leadership in the church, including: "technology, getting youth involved in ministry [sic], vocation, worship styles, spirituality, and outreach." Interesting, especially when juxtaposed with page 2 of the Ablaze!(tm) update insert highlighting the work of 4 long term missionaries (sic) in England, Germany, and Hungary. None of them are ordained, and, in fact, all of them are women. This, when pastors are being recalled from missionary fields.

Also interesting, on page 3 of the Ablaze!(tm) insert, there is a new congregation in the LCMS called "theAlley" (lower-case "t", no space, and upper-case "A") in which the benediction at the end of the service (sic) closes with "...Amen. Now hit the streets." The self-importance of this congregation is such that even the mighty English language must bow to its quirks. There are several sentences in the Reporter that begin with a lowercase "t" to accommodate the iconoclastic appellation of this heavily featured and funded operation. Page 4 of the insert highlights another "church plant" (sic) that, like theAlley, avoids any mention of being Lutheran. It's called "Mosaic" and is touted as a "worshiping community" that holds "celebration events."

Under the headline "Acts 1:8 offers outreach tips" (which made me want to respond: "well, that's mighty nice of the Bible, isn't it?), we're given an example of a church marketing strategy: give out free postage stamps on tax day. Of course, Acts 1:8 says nothing about gimmicks and giveaways, but rather testifies of our Lord giving the Eleven the authority to preach by virtue of the promised Holy Spirit, and telling them they are to be "witnesses" (Greek: "martyrs") to the whole world. And there is no gimmick or giveaway that corresponds to martyrdom. But hey, people need postage stamps and eternal salvation. So why not offer it as a bundle? I sold a lot of candy and goodies at Hollywood Video using this technique, so why should the Christian faith be any different than convincing people to buy microwave snacks?

But what I find extraordinary is not so much what the Reporter says, but what it doesn't say.

The most significant news event in the life of our church body over recent weeks has been the Issues, Etc. affair, in which a popular syndicated radio program (and podcast) of that name was suddenly canceled, five days before Easter, and two full-time employees (one a called pastor, and the other whose wife has serious health issues) were sacked. They were not told why, and they were urged to sign a gag order about the whole matter.

The response of the people of our churches has been phenomenal. More than 7,000 signatures were added to an online petition in some three weeks. People in every state and many countries around the world were outraged. Pastors, laypeople, and even prominent theologians from outside the Lutheran tradition weighed in. Blogsites and facebook groups were spawned. Freewill offerings in the thousands of dollars were raised for the two men who were fired.

David Strand, of the synod's Board for Communications Services, who carried out the firings, was swamped with e-mails. His response was a lot of bureaucratic doublespeak and a great deal of legal-ese and business-ese argot coming from the church headquarters. The president of the synod claimed no input of, but rather knowledge of, the decision, while the rest of the Board was not told the firings were coming at all.

An op-ed in the Wall Street Journal by LCMS congregation member and popular religion writer Mollie Hemingway showcased the conflict and brewing disunity in the LCMS. The president of the synod, Rev. Jerry Kieschnick, replied by denying that there is disunity in synod - which ran along with other responses which clearly showed the extant level of disunity that the president denies. The whole thing has a surreal, Orwellian feel to it.

The Board for Communications Services ran an ad seeking a replacement for the talk-show host who had been sacked, only to revoke it after a day of receiving outraged calls and e-mails, claiming the posting was a "mistake."

There was even a first-ever protest at the International Center of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, as some 80 peaceful demonstrators carried signs (while employees were told not to speak to the media, to avoid the protesters, and barriers were even put up in the building). Pictures were taken of the demonstrators by synodical employees. For Lutherans, particularly conservative Missouri Synod Lutherans, to demonstrate is nothing short of extraordinary, as any casual listener of A Prairie Home Companion would be inclined to infer.

So, what does the Reporter have to say about all of this?

[cue the sound effect of crickets chirping]

No reporting in the Reporter. Not even in the letters to the editor - and I find it hard to believe that the editor suffered from a paucity of letters this month! Our church's newspaper should be called the Non-Reporter this month. Is this, as the evolutionists would have us believe, purely by accident, or was this by some top-down design?

Now, to be fair, there is an oblique reference to the situation on page three under the headline: "Kieschnick addresses unity, division in synod". And, as the title would indicate, the president is saying two things at the same time. As Father Duddleswell once remarked about fence-sitting, it's no wonder the human backside looks like it does.

So, it looks like the Reporter is destined to face the same decline as the mainstream media, especially the big newspapers, as technology makes it more and more difficult to control the flow of information via a central bureaucracy, whereby things that happened can be written out of existence and where things that are untrue can be given an official endorsement, along the lines of 1984.

But of course, Orwell never considered the role of bloggers in the neutralizing of Big Brother's monopoly on information. I don't think a lot of the dino-crats in St. Louis do either.

A step in the right direction

An earlier post of mine that concerned my desire to see our culture, and more importantly, our synod and church culture, move in a more frugal direction made a few people angry. But again, I find frugality a difficult concept for any Christian to attack. Not rushing like a lemming to join the secular world's commercial crash-and-burn into debt, materialism, and greed seems to be a common thread that runs through the Scriptures themselves.

But even apart from the concept of Christian stewardship, the ideas of self control, moderation, savings, delayed gratification, the wise use of resources, and plain old fashioned thrift just make good sense from a purely economic standpoint as well - especially as the dollar continues its downward spiral, the price of crude oil continues to skyrocket, politicians of every political stripe promise bigger and bigger government, and the world of mortgages and banking continue to be on edge.

Of course, frugality doesn't mean being a miser. Rather it means that when you do spend money, it is wisely, it is based on budgetary constraints, and it is not a matter of "I want it" and "I'll just charge it."

In the midst of my pessimism with the economy, I was encouraged to see that some young people are starting to see the writing on the wall, and are less subject to corporate manipulation that they "need" to have the latest and greatest expensive clothing. They are thinking for themselves and adopting a mindset of frugality and prioritization of resources. This shows maturity, and perhaps even the tremors of rebellion against the "youth culture" (which is, in fact, cporporate manipulation) that has contributed so much to the devastation of families - Christian families included.

Hopefully, this youthful experimentation with frugality and common sense will become a trend, and these young people won't repeat the mistakes of their big-spending "keep up with the Joneses" parents and grandparents.

Good for them!

Lutherans: A Fable of the Present

I just had another look at the 1973 film Catholics: A Fable of the Future, in which a youthful Martin Sheen plays a priest sent from Rome to deal with an outbreak of traditionalism on a remote Irish island. The movie (based on the novel by Canadian Brian Moore) is available on DVD under the title The Conflict. It is set at some point in the not-too-distant future, when the Roman Catholic Church has taken the ecumenical reforms of Vatican II to a new level (the film makes a passing reference to "Vatican IV").

The version of the VHS that I have is identical with the DVD. Some ten minutes have been edited out of the beginning of the film. Without this opening scene, the viewer must gradually figure out the dystopian, futuristic nature of the film.

While the DVD version's title is somewhat ambiguous, I have to admit that I kind of like it. The entire plot revolves around not just "a" conflict, but "the" conflict - The Conflict between absolute truth as articulated by the Christian faith over and against postmodern subjectivism of false religion.

In the movie, this conflict is focused on how the Catholic Mass is to be said - but it is soon demonstrated that the conflict isn't merely one of Latin vs. English, or which direction the celebrant should face when he presides at the altar. The conflict runs much deeper and involves the very roots of faith: the belief in the transcendent, faith in the words of Scripture, the pre-eminence of the forgiveness of sins, the purpose of the Church, and the nature of truth itself.

In short, the film captures the battle between Christian traditionalism and postmodern spirituality. It depicts a clash between a faithful monastic group that clings to ancient dogma against a pragmatic bureaucracy with a contemporary political and popular secular agenda - and the latter's embarrassment with, and intolerance of, the former.

One element of the conflict involves the dichotomy between being "missional" over and against being considered merely "maintenance" (to use current terminology not used in the film, though a revealing discussion about the nature of missionary work takes place). The aging monks on the distant island, bereft of television and quaintly ignorant of things like helicopters, live out a hard and antiquated existence of farming and fishing, as well as worshiping in a 12th century Gothic church. On the surface, nothing could be less "missional" and more "maintenance" than this tiny, largely gray-haired monastic community. Yet, their celebration of the traditional Mass has been embraced by people on the Irish mainland, as well as by pilgrims from around the world eager to worship in the old order. The traditionalism of the monks has ironically become mission work to a diverse group of people from around the world: young, old, black, white, male, female, people of every culture and language.

The popularity of this traditionalism raises alarm bells in Rome, where the order's father-general feels embarrassment at the antiquated ideas being carried out by this monastery - especially given his own status as the president of an upcoming congress between Christians and Buddhists. There seems to be a fear that this traditionalism is in reality a form of rebellion against their authority and the goals of the church hierarchy.

Martin Sheen's character, Father Kinsella, an American radical priest and advocate of "liberation theology" (which combines Marxism and Christianity and calls for leftist political revolution), is sent from Rome to the island to settle things. The ancient crucifixes on the stone walls of the monastic cells stand in stark contrast to Kinsella's plain gold cross around his neck. The traditional posture and vestments of the monks are the very antithesis of Kinsella's praying in the lotus position in his street attire. Kinsella informs the abbot and the community that in addition to the Latin Mass being banned, Catholics are no longer required to believe in the Real Presence in the Eucharist, and that private confession has been abolished in the interest of ecumenical relationships.

The monks and priests on the island are enraged and deeply hurt. They are even more resolved to resist. Their abbot is desperately trying to hold things together, seeking to maintain cordial relations with Rome and Fr. Kinsella, as well as trying to maintain a sense of order and tranquility among his monks.

I won't spoil the ending as to how the conflict turns out.

But the premise of the movie ties in very well to the current conflict in the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. The fault lines brought to visibility by the Issues, Etc. scandal make Catholics: A Fable even more meaningful to us in the LCMS. While much of the current discord among Lutherans is framed as being merely a cosmetic debate over liturgical style, the underlying causes of our synodical divisions run far deeper. The debates over liturgy are only the tip of the iceberg.

While there may not be any open conflict between the traditionalist element and their detractors in the LCMS bureaucracy regarding the Real Presence in the Sacrament, there is a similar division regarding the supernatural. The Lutheran Confessions are very clear that although God uses earthly means, that is, the Word of God as preached by pastors, to evangelize and bring people to faith, the process of conversion is supernatural. The preaching of the Word and the administration of the sacraments bring about faith when and where the Holy Spirit desires. This belief causes traditionalists within the LCMS to cling to the traditional liturgy, to theologically rigorous hymnody, and a reverential and dignified approach to worship. However, the modern element, which dominates the church's bureaucratic leadership, has a more pragmatic approach to evangelism and "church growth." The hierarchy is promoting business and sales models, gimmicks, programs, and a modernist approach to worship that more closely resembles American generic evangelicalism than the traditional catholic liturgy of historic, sacramental Lutheranism.

Thus, where traditionalists are content to allow pastors to recklessly cast seeds about like the biblical model of the sower (Matt 13:1-23), the modernists (or perhaps more accurately, post-modernists) have a far more "practical" approach that leans heavily on psychology, marketing, demographics, the social sciences, and promotional techniques learned from outside of our religious tradition (not to mention the Bible). The two underlying approaches to evangelism indeed play out in style of worship. The traditionalists cling to ancient liturgical forms, whereas the post-modernists feel free to leave tradition and embrace technology, entertainment, and other secular forms. The former are moving toward increased ritual and use of vestments, the latter are going the opposite direction, toward spontaneity and casual attire. The former pay homage to history, the latter see history as less relevant.

The current president of the LCMS has used the epithet "speed bumps" to describe traditionalists in the church body, and has admonished church members that "this is not your grandfather's church." This is precisely the role personified by Father Kinsella in the film. The monks, for their part, replied to Kinsella by singing the traditional hymn: "Faith of our Fathers".

Another subtle conflict in the film pitted Kinsella's condescension of the monk's humble fare and quaint folkways - especially in light of his cosmopolitan and stylish demeanor. In a telling scene, immediately after an impassioned and eloquent soliloquy in defense of the traditional liturgy (over and against informality and "entertainment") delivered by one of the monks, Father Manus, (who is also the main celebrant of the Latin Mass), Father Kinsella walks away disapprovingly as Manus and one of the brothers lovingly and joyfully feed a baby sheep that had been lost. The "go-getter" Kinsella, though an ordained priest, does not preach and administer sacraments. He is a bureaucratic henchman, who sees his work as Rome's executive policy enforcer as more important than "feeding lambs" (John 21:15) like a common preacher and steward of the mysteries.

The conflict over the liturgy is really symptomatic of the difference between a faith that is dogmatic and supernatural vs. a faith that is flexible and pragmatic. The same dynamic is evident in both this movie and the current situation in the LCMS: a division between traditionalist pastors and congregations and their pragmatic and political leaders who are embarrassed by the traditionalists, and seek to use ecclesiastical executive authority to bring about compliance from those they deem to be inflexible and standing in the way of the growth and public esteem of the church.

You know your church/school is in New Orleans when...

- You don't blink when a little girl is on her way to school with a baguette sticking up out of her back pack.

- Teacher's Appreciation Week includes lunch: "Fresh spinach salad with mandarin oranges, feta cheese, balsamic vinaigrette and pine nuts, crawfish pasta in a creamy tomato artichoke sauce and an assortment of dessert and drinks."

- The school fair includes such things as tiger blood snowballs, and jambalaya made with deer sausage.

- Jazzfest has an impact on church attendance

- Faculty meetings include discussions of where to get good Thai food on Canal Street.

- At your school, the word "go" is sometimes spelled "geaux".

- You're happy to see the geckos at Wednesday night services because they eat the termites.

- The school field trip to the zoo includes recipes posted next to the aquatic exhibits.

- School lunch on Monday is red beans and rice.

- 8:30 am discussions among faculty during car-pool regarding the merits of the pineapple-amaretto frozen daiquiri are just a part of life

- The principal says the following at a school assembly: "Y'all are from South Louisiana, and you've all seen bugs before..."

... This is most certainly true, dawlin'.

Sermon: Pentecost

11 May 2008 at Salem Lutheran Church, Gretna, LA
Text: John 14:23-31 (Gen 11:1-9, Acts 2:1-21)

In the name of + Jesus. Amen.

Every so often, the calendars of the secular world and the church collide. This is one such day. Today is both Mother’s Day and Pentecost. On this day we honor the women who gave us birth, and we celebrate the birthday of the mother who has given us our second birth.

As we confess in the Large Catechism with Dr. Luther: the Church is the “mother that begets and bears every Christian through the Word of God” – which is really just a rewording of an ancient confession of St. Cyprian: “He can no longer have God for his Father, who has not the Church for his mother.”

Just as our earthly mothers bore us in the flesh, of blood and water, our churchly mother bears us in the Spirit, of the blood of Christ and the water of baptism.

Today we honor our fleshly mothers, bringing to remembrance all that they have done for us. And we also give praise to God for our mother the Church, who was given the Holy Spirit according to the promise of our Lord when He prophesied: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to remembrance all things that I said to you.”

Here we see the work of the Holy Trinity. The Father sends the Holy Spirit to us, the Church, in the name of Jesus, the Son. This is the same Holy Spirit who descended in the form of a dove at our Lord’s baptism. This is the same Holy Spirit that descended on our Lord’s disciples, giving them utterance to proclaim the Gospel to the entire world, and causing three thousand of those who heard this preaching to be baptized in a single day. And here again, we see the work of the Holy Trinity, as the preaching of Christ calls people to conversion through the Holy Spirit, causing them to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, giving them a new birth. For these first converts to the holy faith indeed have God as their Father and the Church as their mother!

Both motherhood and Church have a common enemy: Satan. For the devil hates the Church. He loathes this new creation by water and Word, we who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb whose blood also defeated him. Satan has attacked and persecuted the Church from the very beginning, and continues to do so to this day. The red you see in this sanctuary not only symbolizes the fire that represents the Holy Spirit, it also calls to mind the thousands upon thousands of gallons of blood shed by the martyrs, men and women who chose death rather than break the Fourth commandment by dishonoring their father and mother – their Father in heaven and the mother that “begets and bears every Christian.”

The devil also hates mothers and motherhood with an equal loathing that he has for the Church. For our Lord Jesus has a mother, the one every generation of Christians hails as blessed, the one who, by her humble obedience, magnifies the Lord, the one who nursed the Lord, the one who changed the diapers of God, the one who protected, nurtured, and loved her Savior as only a mother can.

While our Lord was yet in His mother’s womb, the vile devil sought the Child’s destruction. The twelfth chapter of Revelation depicts the Blessed Virgin Mary, pregnant with our Lord, being stalked by the dragon. And in this mother, we see a picture of the Church – also stalked by the dragon. For wherever Mary went, the Christ she protected with her very life was also there. Even today, wherever two or three gather in His name, we find this same Christ. Where the Word of God is preached, we find the same Christ. And where the body and blood of Christ are given to sinners for forgiveness, life, and salvation, there you find the same Christ.

Satan hates the Church because he hates Christ. Satan hates all mothers because he hates Mary. He hates Mary because it was through her that God became flesh. The fact that God is incarnate and dwells in our midst puts us under the constant attack of the devil.

The prince of this world has perverted our culture to make motherhood something to be ashamed of. When young woman are asked about their dreams and aspirations, what they want to be when they grow up, almost never is the answer: “I want to be a wife and mother.” It is though there is something shameful about this holiest of all feminine vocations, as though being a reflection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, being the very conduit through which God miraculously gives life – is only something that gets in the way of a glamorous career and being able to make lots of money.

And so too has the devil made the Church into an object of loathing in our culture. The Christian faith is routinely mocked in books and movies, in music and in entertainment. Satan has succeeded in once again turning the State against the Church, and in reviving pagan religions – many of which pervert the vocations of man and woman, and likewise turn the security of the womb into a place of violence and death.

In spite of all of these things, dear Christians, take heart! For Christian mothers continue to give birth to children who are brought to the baptismal font and given a second birth by their churchly mother. The Church continues to baptize, to proclaim the Gospel, to forgive sinners, to stand in the very presence of the Lord Jesus in His body and blood - and to continue making war against the dragon that the Lord Jesus has already defeated.

Satan’s tactics are always “divide and conquer.” For in adopting this maxim, Satan imitates God’s strategy in bringing the construction of the Tower of Babel to naught. In confusing the languages, the arrogant servants of Satan were scattered into confusion. And that scattering and that confusion (the consequences of sin) became an impediment to the Gospel. For as the people had been divided by language and spread around the world, Satan could use this fact to oppose the preaching of the Gospel and the administration of baptism “to all nations”.

But through the work of the Holy Spirit, those who had been scattered abroad and confused in language were able to hear the Word of God in their own languages. The curse of the Tower of Babel was lifted. Confusion yielded to “the peace not as the world gives.” The scattering of man around the globe would be overcome by our Lord’s “arise, let us go from here” that would find fulfillment in His ordination of the apostles and their commissioning by the Holy Spirit to preach the Gospel in every language of man.

Interestingly, today is also the feast day of two of the greatest missionaries in the history of the Church: Sts. Cyril and Methodius. Eight centuries after the Holy Spirit opened the lips of the apostles to preach in other tongues, these two preachers brought the Gospel to the Slavic peoples in their own language. The Cyrillic alphabet used in Russia to this day was invented by Cyril and Methodius, and was named for Cyril, as the curse of Babel continued to be overcome, century after century, through the preaching of Christ in many languages.

And though the devil continues to try to divide and conquer the Church along ethnic and racial lines, among age groups, among those with differing tastes in music and political opinion, the Holy Spirit continues to “call, gather, enlighten, and sanctify the whole Christian Church on earth.” The Church is indeed: “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.” And though we continue to speak many languages around the world, we speak a common language of the Gospel by virtue of the Holy Spirit and the language of the liturgy.

Thanks be to God for all of our mothers: for their love, their protection, and their devotion. And thanks be to God for our mother the Church, for bringing us the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Amen.

Sermon: Exaudi (Easter 7)

4 May 2008 at Salem Lutheran Church, Gretna, LA
Text: John 15:26-16:4 (Ez 36:22-28, 1 Pet 4:7-14)

In the name of + Jesus. Amen.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

We Christians are stewards of a treasure called “the Gospel,” that is, “the good news.”

Only this good news is a very different kind of good news than that which the world expects or seeks.

For to the world, good news might go something like this:

You will be rich, comfortable, popular, respected, free from pain, and impervious to disease. You will never have family problems, money problems, or marital problems. You will never be gossiped about, slandered, stabbed in the back, robbed, hurt by deliberate violence or by random accident. You will have every material thing your heart desires. You will eat sumptuously, and drink of the finest wine. And you will live forever.

But listen to that portion of Holy Scripture we call “the Gospel” that has been read in your midst today. Hear the good news as proclaimed by our Lord Jesus Himself:

“They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.”

And listen to the holy words of the blessed apostle St. Peter: “Do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you.” He goes on to tell us that we Christians will “partake in Christ’s sufferings” and that we are likely to be “reproached.”

So, the good news that I have for you, dear brothers and sisters, is that people will not only seek to ruin your reputation and isolate you from the community, but they will also desire to murder you, and will have no twinge of conscience when they sometimes succeed. In fact, they will consider it a holy and righteous act to kill you. And as if that weren’t enough, dear Christians, you will partake in our Lord’s sufferings. You can expect a cross of your very own, along with the shedding of blood, sweat, and tears, pleading with God to take this cup from you, and in the end, bein