Primal update

Here is an update on my primal experiment.

I'm still blown away by how well this works!

I took a few pictures of me in my jeans that I was wearing a little more than a month ago (32-inch waist).  I'm now wearing 30s and they are a little loose at this point.  And this was accomplished without any working out at all, with lots of bacon cheeseburgers (without bread!) at McDonald's and Wendy's (not to mention visits to Chopsticks Chinese buffet and Texas Roadhouse, and plenty of snacks of beef jerky, nuts, eggs, and vegetables).

I do want to start working out again, though, and the more muscle you build, the quicker the fat disappears.  What I have seen is basically the result of a "slacker's" version of the primal lifestyle.  I could be doing so much better!  With summer coming, I think my schedule may be more amenable to working in some push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups and some running.  I don't plan on doing anything too sophisticated, and certainly nothing that calls for gym membership.

Again, this progress represents two months or so of only simple dietary modification, no calorie-counting, no starvation regimen, and no drugs.  I don't even want the size of meals I used to eat, and I'm shocked at how easy it has been for me to give up pizza and sweets.  I'm also very pleased to find it not difficult to make this work even in travelling and visiting people, and when I absolutely must have some bread or a cookie or something (not to mention beer), it's really not a big deal.  The primal lifestyle advocates the 80-20 rule.  It does not demand perfection.  But then again, I like the results, and it makes me really want to keep it up.

Not only have I had to buy new pants, but even my shirts no longer fit the same.  I bought new clerical shirts and a collar for the first time since seminary (ten years ago) - as my old shirts (and clerical collars) have become comically too large for my neck.  I started off weighing in the mid-170s a couple months ago, and am now down to about 151 pounds.  I have basically reverted to my physique as it was when I was in my late twenties. I also feel a good 20 years younger as well.

This is doable for anyone!

So, if you want to give it a shot, check out Mark's Daily Apple and start reading.  Or, if you want the skinny in ten seconds or so, stop eating the following: junk food, potatoes, rice, bread, grains of any kind (including corn), and sugar.  Replace it with meat, nuts (not peanuts), seeds, veggies, and fruits (in moderation), and oil.

Or, approximately, whatever health recommendations the federal government says, do basically the opposite.  :-)

Father William Weedon at the International Center

In case you missed this interview over at Gottesdienst Online, this is an informal chat with the Rev. William Weedon who is the synod's new director of worship and International Center chaplain.

Pastor Weedon is my predecessor as the dean of the Society of Saint Polycarp.

I'm pleased and honored to have Father William entrusted with the worship life of our synod, as his own own words and deeds as a seasoned Lutheran parish pastor, evangelical preacher, theologian of the cross, and teacher of the good news of Jesus Christ, attest in no uncertain terms to his faithfulness to our confession "in doctrine and ceremonies."

There is much to be encouraged about as the leaders of our synod are steering us back in the direction of our evangelical catholic heritage and our bright future as bearers of the torch of the Gospel.  I look forward to Pastor Weedon's contribution to our Walk Together.

Sermon: Funeral of John Ryan

John Ryan and Rev. Larry Beane after John's baptism, July 23, 2010

13 May 2012 at Salem Lutheran Church, Gretna, LA

Text: John 10:10b-15, 27-30 (Rev 21:1-7, 1 Cor 15:51-57)

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!

Dear Mary, Denny, Tammy, Tracy, relatives and friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, honored guests: “Peace be with you!”  These are the first words spoken to the disciples by the risen Lord Jesus, announcing His victory over death, and comforting them in their mourning. 

Again, “Peace be with you!”

When I would tell people that I was John Ryan’s pastor, they would smile and say: “John’s a character.”  I would smile back, and agree with them.  Indeed, John is a character – right out of the parables of Jesus: a true example of the unexpected grace of God.

The first time I met John, he tried to shock me with an off-color joke.  He didn’t shock me then.  I gave it right back at him, and we became good friends.  But John did shock me when after a few months, without nagging or prodding, this 68-year old retired chief petty officer of the Navy Seals asked me to baptize him.

For that’s what is truly and joyfully shocking: God’s sudden grace, mercifully answered prayers, the unexpected call of the Holy Spirit, and John’s faithfulness even in this cynical and faithless world.

In being baptized nearly seven decades into physical life, John became a character out of the Lord’s parable of the workers, in which those who labored in the fields for a single hour, by the master’s mercy and kindness, were paid as much as those who labored all day long.

“The first will be last, and the last will be first,” says our Lord.  John is that character.

“The sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me,” says our Lord Jesus, the Good Shepherd Himself.  John is a character in this metaphor, hearing the voice of His Good Shepherd, who promises: “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand.”  For “I nothing lack if I am His, And He is mine forever.”

John is also that character.

St. Paul wrote: “I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

John is also that character, who knew the glory of world travel and the humility of being wheelchair-bound.  John knew what it was to golf with admirals and to be attended by healthcare nurses.  He knew what it was to be in faraway places and he knew what it was to be unable to get out of bed.

And it was indeed Christ who strengthened him in his own time of struggle and trial.

John is indeed a character!

And we honor Chief John T. Ryan’s courage and service to his country, rightfully so.  For in this world, honor is earned.  The Navy’s motto “non sibi sed patriae” – “not for self but for country” calls to mind our Lord’s words that the greatest love is demonstrated by those who lay down their lives for their friends.  But John Ryan has another country, not a republic but a kingdom, governed not by a president but rather ruled a King, Jesus Christ.  And this King comes not to be served but to serve.  In this country, honor is freely given and cannot be earned.  In this country, the King bleeds and the church militant reaps the reward.

John Ryan is also that character.

For ultimately, dear friends, as much as we love and admire John, this isn’t about John.  Like all of us, John was a sinner in need of a Savior.  And thanks be to God that in response to prayers, in answer to the work of the Holy Spirit, by means of the grace of God and the atoning work of Jesus Christ our Lord at the cross, John Ryan is one of the redeemed in eternity.  “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man….  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Blessed John Ryan is also that character!

And today, we are the ones who mourn – not John.  We are the ones in the church militant, continuing to wage war against the forces of evil: the world, the devil, and our own fallen flesh.  But John is today part of the church triumphant, no more to be a warrior, but rather to be the eternal victor by means of Him who won the victory for us at the bloody cross and the empty tomb. 

It is okay to mourn.  Of course, physical separation from our beloved John is painful.  But again, as St. Paul teaches, we do “not grieve as others do who have no hope.”  For John is now reaping the peace dividend of Christ’s victory, and we can pray with John and with all the saints of every time and place: “Death is swallowed up in victory.  O death, where is your victory?  O death, where is your sting?”

John is that character as well.

It was a military man who confessed at the Lord’s crucifixion: “This man is truly the Son of God.”  It was also a centurion who said: “I am also a man under orders.”  John Ryan understood that he was under the orders and command of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  He knew it and confessed it like the biblical soldiers who saw Jesus.

John is that character also.

As is fitting for a man who retired from the Navy after a long life of honorable service in the water, it was good, right, and salutary that John should have gotten this victory over death through water, in the honorable service of Holy Baptism.  It was my honor on July 23, 2010 to bring John the gift of Holy Baptism, walking with him “where streams of living water flow,” John’s “ransomed soul He leadeth.”  It was always my privilege to bring the Holy Supper to John, “where verdant pastures grow, With food celestial feedeth.”

John Ryan is that character, the sheep led by the Shepherd, the lamb redeemed by the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!  Like every Christian of every time, John is the character of the child of God redeemed by the Lord’s water-borne grace, mercy, and love – even unto the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.

Indeed, dear brothers and sisters, dear fellow baptized and redeemed, we can join John Ryan in all eternity in singing:

Death, you cannot end my gladness:

I am baptized into Christ!

When I die, I leave all sadness

To inherit paradise!

Though I lie in dust and ashes

Faith’s assurance brightly flashes:

Baptism has the strength divine

To make life immortal mine.

There is nothing worth comparing

To this life-long comfort sure!

Open-eyed my grave is staring:

Even there I’ll sleep secure.

Though my flesh awaits its raising,

Still my soul continues praising:

I am baptized into Christ;

I’m a child of paradise!

John Ryan is that character!  Amen.

Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Alleluia! 

on the sickness of sinto the next - and d w liars and sons of the devil, tament, a bloodye people on

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

I'd like to go to this, wait, I am going!

Lectures  on  Lutheranism

5-6 of May 2012
Christ  Lutheran  Church  in  Hutchinson, Kansas

“The Contemporariness of a 1530 Document - The Augsburg Confession
Addresses 2012”

The debates are vigorous: How can 100-, 200-, or 300-year-old documents apply to contemporary society? That’s the question applied to the 1787 Constitution of the United States. How much more a 482-year-old document--the Augsburg Confession--a Lutheran confession of the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Faith! Does this ancient document apply to 2012?

Some would argue: “Everything changes, so must the church.” Others would argue: “There is absolutely no relation between issues and struggles of the church of 1530 and issues and struggles of the church of 2012.” Others might argue: “You are living in your grandfather’s day!” The Holy Catholic Church of 2012 argues: “Does any document, ancient or modern, speak the truth?” The Augsburg Confession speaks truth. To today.

The Rev. Father Larry Beane, pastor of Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church in Gretna, Louisiana, will lead this year’s Lectures on Lutheranism on Saturday, proving that the Augsburg Confession has contemporary application.  He will also lead the Sunday morning Bible Class and preach at the Divine Service that morning.  Plan to be the guest of Christ Lutheran Church on the weekend of May 5-6.  Call 620-665-8513 or e-mail clchutchinson@sbcglobal.net for more information.


2012 Lectures on Lutheranism Schedule

SATURDAY - May 5
12:30 p.m.  Divine Service (Pr. Brockman)
2:00 p.m.  Pastor Beane
3:00 p.m.  Break
3:30 p.m.  Pastor Beane
4:45 p.m.  Vespers (Pr. Watson)
5:20 p.m.  Brat/Beer Supper


SUNDAY - May 6
9:00 a.m.  Bible Class lead by Pr. Beane
10:15 a.m. Divine Service (Pr. Beane)

I voted twice

I just voted today right after the polls opened.  And I voted twice.  As the old saying goes: "Vote early and vote often."

The first time I voted in this election cycle was a few weeks ago.  It was at the courthouse.  It was very solemn.  I think most of us know the ritual.  After being checked by a volunteer, I was escorted behind a curtain (adorned in the National Colors).  And in total privacy with the serious air of a sacramental confessional, I voted using the computer.  This was a "primary" election held under the auspices of the government.  Polls were open all day, and people even voted days in advance using "early balloting."

At that time, there was no campaigning close by, nobody seeking my vote.  In fact, there are laws against it.  Even wearing a candidate's tee shirt or button within so many feet of the polling place during the election is illegal.  There is a statue of Thomas Jefferson a few feet away from where this election took place.

And it didn't count!

At most, that "election" was a non-binding referendum.  In reality, it as more or less a poll.

Today, I voted for real - more or less, anyway.

This "election" was a "caucus" and was held at a Quality Inn and run by volunteers from a private club.  Voters had to be there between 8:30 am and 12:00 noon.  And this is the one that supposedly counts.  This is the one that will actually select delegates - which is to say, the people who will really vote.

There are two private clubs that run the real elections.  You get to join one or the other, but not both.  And if you don't join either one, you don't get to vote.  The private clubs (which are along the lines of the collegia in the Roman Republic/Empire) have a lot of behind-the-scenes politicking and arm-twisting that are unseen by the voting public.  The clubs are usually called "parties" - but they are so similar as to be wings of a common single party.  And like the Crips and the Bloods, the main difference between the two is that one is symbolized by red, the other blue.  And again, unless you join one of these clubs, you get no vote at all in the "primary" election - which determines the candidates that will appear in the "general" election in the fall.

So today's event was, in fact, the real election (the "caucus"), as opposed to the one from a few weeks back (the "primary").

There was more of a carnival feel to it.  Unlike the solemn (non-) election at the courthouse, there were no anti-campaigning laws.  People walked about in tee-shirts and carrying campaign material.  I approached the volunteer desk and gave my name and driver's license.  When I was asked for identification, I produced my Discover card.  It was a mistake, but I consider it more of a Freudian slip.

When she handed me my ballot, I reached inside my pocket and pulled out the little case holding my reading classes, and the volunteer gasped and said she thought I was pulling out a knife.  What a sad country we have become!  Anyway, my wife and I each took the yellow piece of paper, and it was explained to us that we could either choose 25 names on one side of the ballot, or pick a slate on the other side of the ballot.

I took my ballot and looked for a place to fill it out.

I found a window ledge (overlooking the motel parking lot) so I could fill it out.  There was no little confessional booth draped in the National Colors.  As I was getting ready to vote, an older lady approached me and asked me if I knew who I was going to vote for.  I told her that I did.  She stuck her tongue out at me.  At this point, I was waiting to see if the Queen of Hearts and the Cheshire Cat would be entering stage left.  I asked her: "Why did you stick your tongue out at me?"  She replied: "I wanted you to vote for me.  If you change your mind, I'm on slate..." and she gave me the number.

I went back to the window ledge overlooking the Quality Inn parking lot so I could exercise my sacred franchise.  Needless to say, I did not support the Geriatric Lingual Slate, even with her continued yammering at me while I voted.

Afterward, Grace and I looked for where to place our "ballots."  There were cardboard boxes with holes cut in the top, kind of like something out of The Little Rascals.  A man approached us before we deposited them in the box.  He wanted to see our ballots.  He was some kind of Party volunteer, and he said he wanted to make sure that we hadn't voted on both sides of the ballot (which would have spoiled the ballot).  I found that a little odd.  Of course, I have no idea what happens to all of those paper ballots once everyone has left and volunteers from the private club start pulling them out.  I can't honestly say that I have much confidence in the process.

And that is how the Party (both of its wings) selects candidates for the "general election."  The fate of the republic hangs in those cardboard boxes with such characters that I saw today.

I'm reminded of my friend the history buff, who has a century-old ballot box from Texas that still has the lock on it and the "ballots" inside.  I'm also reminded of Communist elections, in which you can vote for any candidate as long as it is the only one on the ballot, and you can belong to any party so long as it is the Communist Party.

A lot of people believe we have a democratic form of government.  Fewer still believe we live in a republic.  I think we are really operating under some kind of bureaucratic apparatchikocracy (or a political version of the System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether) - though from what I saw today, maybe the best term is idiocracy.

The part that made the most sense was my son Leo with his toy light saber hoping to defend the republic.  I guess both of us have a healthy imagination.

Vote early, and vote often!  It's an eye-opening experience.

New Blog: Travels in Lutheran Siberia

Father Hollywood meets Father Vladislav

It has taken me a while to do this, but I have compiled my travel-blog posts from my trip to Siberia, re-edited them a bit, blew-up (as in enlarged, not as in exploded) the pictures and added some captions, and re-arranged them in chronological order.

I laid all of this out in a new blog with some different links and features, and with a different look.

The best part, though, is that it is in chronological order and easy to navigate (at least I think so).

So here it is...

Travels in Lutheran Siberia

National Parasite Appreciation Day

American Royalty and a Missed Opportunity

No wonder people spend millions of dollars making promises they could never keep to the American people  in order to become president and first lady, or should we say king and queen of America.  It's a pretty good gig!

I would love to be there for pizza with His Royal Highness in Detroit next Wednesday, but I'm having the oil changed in my Learjet that day, and I'm also expecting Bill Gates and the Sultan of Brunei over for beanie-weenies served on solid platinum saucers.  I do hope somebody is bringing the Dom Perignon, especially after I just bought brand new matching tumblers from WalMart (Biden tipped me off about the rollback...).

Ah, what is a good American to do?  I'm so disappointed.

Note to self: be sure to have regrets sent engraved by hand on solid gold plates and delivered by the butler as soon as he returns from the French Riviera (good help is so hard to find these days).

Opulence, he has it!

 What the people think the bishop had on his wrist

What the bishop really had on his wrist

This surreal article made me think of the video below...





And this one too...



A good "reflection" or bad?  Epic win, or epic fail?  Does the bishop have any lap giraffes?

Losing Fat Without Work?

It seems like there is always another fad or product or program that promises weight loss without working out - usually with the tantalizing claim that you can eat anything you want and still lose weight.  I even remember something about an ad a few years ago that claimed you could drink all the beer you want, sit on the couch, and still the pounds would melt off.  I bet that guy made a few bucks!

Mostly that kind of claim (weight loss without hard work) is nonsense.  But only mostly.

I want to report that I am stunned and amazed at my shrinking belly and how it has almost gone completely away in about a month - without working out and without taking pills.  I ran across a website by a guy named Mark Sisson, a remarkably fit middle-aged former marathon runner who has come to the conclusion that our entire approach to healthy eating and exercise is not just all wrong, but almost opposite of what really works.

He calls his approach The Primal Blueprint.

He starts with a premise based on evolutionary theory to explain why it works, and he introduces a mythical caveman to make the argument.  You can ignore all the evolutionary theory, however.  It makes no difference whether we are acting contrary to our natural bodies as evolved (according to the myth) or as created (and corrupted by original sin). His caveman tale as a foil to present the approach doesn't validate it or invalidate it.

I began to see how far we Americans have let ourselves go when I went to Russia last summer.  I saw almost no fat people anywhere.  A person who was "a bit chunky" there was a rarity.  I saw nobody who was morbidly obese - while this is increasingly common in the U.S.  Here in the states, I have always been considered "thin" - even with my middle aged paunch.  I saw how different my physique was when I was in Russia.  I was embarrassed.

Russians typically walk more than we do (especially in the summer), and that's part of it.  But the diet is really where we differ.  Russians typically do not eat junk food, prepackaged snacks, and sugary drinks.  They eat much simpler and healthier meals, usually consisting of a soup, a salad, and a meat dish.  The serving sizes are much smaller.  Food is not typically industrial and prepackaged.  They do not constantly walk around with Cokes and bags of chips in their hands "grazing" all day the way Americans typically do.  They don't eat a lot of sweets.  Fast foods are not part of the daily regimen.  Many people still grow their own vegetables.  Their meat and milk are not laced with hormones and chemicals.

They drink a lot of water, and a good bit of tea.  I found that they drink a lot less coffee than we do - and of course, far (far!) less by way of carbonated drinks - diet or otherwise.  They do have some of these things, but practice great moderation and self-control - something we Americans are not known for.

Until about a month ago, I was more than 170 pounds (I'm about 5' 10" and 48 years old), mostly with my excess fat distributed in my belly.  I don't drink much beer at all, but I was really getting a "beer gut."  I like candy, sweets, sodas, and snack foods.  I love ice cream, and became fond of a midnight snack of a bowl (or even two) of cereal.  I generally drank diet drinks, but very little water.

I did get in the habit of drinking a lot less coffee and more tea (including antioxidant-rich green teas) when I came back from Russia.

About a month ago, I joined a gym and resolved to get back into shape.  I used to run marathons in my 20s and 30s.  While at seminary, in my late 30s, I did the Bill Phillips Body for Life challenge (along with Grace).  We went like maniacs and were, if I may say so myself, quite buff by the end.  We basically continued the lifestyle, while easing up a bit after the challenge actually ended.  BFL is a 12-week plan of  balance between carbs and protein, lots of supplements (protein shakes), no sweets, and hitting the gym hard three days a week and doing aerobic exercise (running) the other three days.  We had a gymnasium to use free of charge at the seminary, and we pounded a lot of pavement and pumped a lot of iron.  My vicarage year (after leaving the seminary) was basically a continuation of the physical regimen without the supplements and less emphasis on diet.

But over the years since then, middle age crept up, and we (myself more than Grace) put on the pounds.  Grace's cross to bear was recovering from pregnancy (which she did quite well over time).

So, bottom line: just a few weeks ago, we decided to go back to the gym and try out Mark Sisson's philosophy (which is rather like Atkins - basically very low carbs, lots of protein).

So here is what I did:

• Cut out the starchy carbohydrates entirely: rice, potatoes, bread, cereal - all gone.  That means no more of my favorite food: pizza.  No more French bread.  No more bowls of cereal.  All gone.  No "cheat day."  Gone in toto.  I figured this was a short-term experiment, and I needed to see results.
• Cut out the desserts.  No more ice cream, cake, pie, etc.  We do allow ourselves little squares of dark chocolate (which is an antioxidant and good for the heart if consumed in small quantities) eaten sparingly as a treat.
• I upped the protein considerably.  Nuts, seeds, meat.  Almost limitless quantities of beef, chicken, boiled eggs, beef jerky - even bacon.  Yum!
• I enjoy fruits in moderation (they are carbs and laden with sugar, but are also healthy).
• I eat lots of vegetables!

That's pretty much it on the diet.  No calorie counting, no extensive planning.  We have continued a basic vitamin regimen that has served us very well over the past few couple years - we are almost never sick.  We take a One-a-Day, a B-vitamin, some D, and Glucosamine-Chondroitin for joint health (which we actually have stopped recently).  We also drink a powdered Vitamin C and immune system boost to ward off colds.  I have them all ready to go in the morning. (If I feel a cold coming on, I hit the Zinc and "Airborne" tablets hard and fast.  I find them very effective).

For breakfast, I continue to have my cappuccino (double espresso with whole foamed milk, but I have abolished the sugar).  For a morning snack, I eat some nuts (not peanuts though, as they are carbs), a few grapes, and a boiled egg.  At lunch, I eat a can of chicken and microwave juicy frozen vegetables (Bird's Eye Stir Fry, no sauce!) with olive oil (a tablespoon and a half) and seeds (a full tablespoon) on them.  Yum!  I try to drink tea here and there during the day - especially green tea - no sugar (except once in a while).

Dinner is typically chicken (or beef) and vegetables.  We enjoy ethnic vegetable and meat dishes.  Sometimes we go out to eat.  It's really pretty easy to go primal even at fast food joints and other restaurants.  For example, at McDonald's, I usually get two Angus bacon and cheese snack wraps - and get rid of the wrap.  I eat the meat, cheese, onions, bacon, and pickles with a fork.  No fries!  Absolutely no fries!  I may get a diet soda as a treat, since I don't really drink them at home.

You can basically do the same at Wendy's.  Taco Bell, no.  Fried chicken and fish is not the best, but if we go to Chick Fil-A or eat fried catfish (our church had fish fry Fridays during Lent), that's not so bad - so long as there are no potatoes or goodies involved.

Chinese buffet is really easy - no rice, just meat.  Lots of it!  Yum!  And Texas Road House is also easy: just avoid the bread and fries.  Order the steak with two sides, and make the sides veggies and green beans.  That's it!  And drinking water saves money.

I have found it surprisingly easy to give up the goodies.  It's just about starting a new habit.  We can have as much as we want for snacks - so long as we're talking meat, eggs (boiled eggs are really convenient - make them ahead of time and load up the fridge), beef jerky, etc.

Working out became almost impossible though, as I work full-time in the parish ministry and have a part-time job as well.  I went to the gym almost every day for a week - and then we had things that needed attending to, and Grace and I both fell out of the habit of going to the gym.  But something interesting happened...

I lost weight quicker and easier than I did doing BFL even without the working out six days a week!  The pounds seemed to melt away.  I was losing about a half-pound a day.  My posture improved.  My mind became sharper.  My aching joints became healthier.  Grace and I noticed that our skin really improved (thanks to the oil).  I was not starving.  I also had (and have) far more energy.

On Good Friday, I wore a dressy cincture (belt) with my cassock that I had not been able to get into in about seven years.  A couple days later, just for kicks, I wore my 1986 Aerosmith concert t-shirt without my belly protruding.  I bought that shirt when I was 22 years old.  I can wear it after a month of basically cutting out carbs - without even having to work out.  I went from the 170s (I don't even remember my beginning weight, as I was not taking it very seriously at first), and now I have broken the 160 barrier.  My last weigh in brought me to 158 pounds.  My 32  inch pants are hanging off of me.  I have to hike my belt tight to keep my trousers from falling off!

So now, I am indeed ready to take things to the next level.  Some of our issues have ironed out.  We are actually going to cancel our gym membership.  We live near a path for biking and running, so we can do that.  We have a pull-up bar and are considering making a small area in the shed to do free weights (which we already have).  A former teacher of mine - who was very fit well into middle age and actually bore a striking resemblance to Mark Sisson - once explained to me that you don't need to go to the gym - just do push-ups and crunches.  It worked very well for him.

So there you have it.  I think anyone can do this.  It is so worth it!  And it is not an inflexible program.  I actually had a piece of carrot cake for Easter.  But just one - not two or six.

I wanted to pass this along to anyone wanting to give it a shot.  I know that the Rev. William Weedon is a primal guy.  I know there are several others in the Lutheran blogosphere who have tried it and praise its effectiveness.  You can't argue with success!

Here are a few links: This is a young Asian guy who stopped eating rice and got amazing results.  Here is a similar story from a lady of Italian extraction who finally gave up pasta, and saw tremendous results.  Finally, here is a 71-year old man whose life has been changed by going primal.

Mark Sisson isn't selling anything. He's not trying to hawk supplements or exercise gadgets. He has authored a book (which he is quick to tell you that you don't really need - all the information is actually on his free website) and he gives away an e-book specifically about Primal Fitness.  Dr. Joseph Mercola has some similar thoughts on exercise (see here).  There are a lot of other "testimonials" on Mark Sisson's site here.  It is especially encouraging to read about people getting off of prescription drugs for things like high blood pressure and acid reflux.  Our diet in America is not commensurate with what our bodies need.  Sisson's website includes a lot of free articles and video, such as today's offering about using a pull-up bar.

His approach does run against the grain (pun intended) of some "conventional wisdom" - especially when it comes to FDA recommendations.  Keep in mind, the government is run by lobbyists, and government's conclusions are not necessarily the healthiest, but rather the wealthiest (for them, anyway).  If their guidelines were as good as they claim, we would not see so much childhood obesity, diabetes, and all the other health problems associated by being too fat.  Mark Sisson advocates for more nature and less industrial processing. This fits in well with what I saw in Russia.

So take responsibility for your own health, and leave the government bureaucrats to what they do best: making money for those industries who bribe them.  I have no financial dog in this hunt.  I'm not invested in anything I've mentioned.  I'm not selling anything.  I'm just stunned at how well this works.  It's like magic - mainly because it is rooted in truth instead of what is convenient for Big Pharma and Big Agribusiness.

I'm skeptical about claims of weight loss and "easy" programs.  But I can't argue against my own success.

One of the Best Books I Have Ever Read

Thanks to this article (which is an outstanding read in and of itself) I learned about the heroic Russian dissident Vladimir K. Bukovsky and his out-of-print remarkable biographical work To Build A Castle: My Life as a Dissenter - which I promptly ordered through inter-library loan.

I literally could not put the book down.

Bukovsky is an outstanding writer, and he structured the book almost as a novel or a fast-paced thriller.  It is so well-done that I think it would make for a compelling film.  It chronicles his life and work as a Soviet-era dissident, his work with fellow dissidents, scientists, and writers in not only producing samizdat (anonymous free-press newspapers) but also openly engaging in public demonstrations - only to be arrested by the KGB again and again.  It covers his many years in Gulag prisons, how he kept his sanity, how he was mistreated (though his prose is not gratuitous), how the Soviets misused Psychiatry as a means of political control, and how the bureaucrats who ran the country and the prison system eventually devoured one another - especially in the light of international scrutiny.

Castle is an epic of courage and devotion to liberty.

Vladimir Bukovsky was born during World War II (The Great Patriotic War) in the immediate aftermath of the end of Stalinism.  In his teen years, he rejected Communism and became involved in the burgeoning dissident movement.  Those were frightening times, and it took courage and a willingness to be imprisoned for years on end, being sent to "psychiatric hospitals" and exiled internally to labor camps - only to be released and have the whole process repeated again - all in order to continue to put pressure on the tyrannical Soviet government to start respecting human rights and liberties.  Eventually, their pressure on the bureaucracy led to the collapse of the Gulag system, the end of the USSR, and the tearing down of the Iron Curtain.

In 1976, Vladimir Bukovsky was exiled to the west.

He moved to Cambridge, England where he still lives.  A neurophysiologist, he earned a Masters degree from the University of Cambridge in Biology.  He remains politically active.  In a 2005 Washington Post article, he warned the United States about the dangers of normalizing torture as public policy.  Embedded below is a video of Bukovski warning his fellow British citizens about the dangers of the European Union - which he sees as just another incarnation of the Soviet Union.  He is a member of the UK Independence Party (whose president is the intrepid Nigel Farage).



And here is a link to an interview with Bukovsky on the shortcomings of the EU.  Here is a link to much of Bukovsky's writings in both English and Russian.


What follows are a couple of quotes from To Build A Castle: My Life as a Dissenter that I found particularly interesting:


On Marxist Economic Theory:

This dream of absolute, universal equality is amazing, terrifying, and inhuman.  And the moment it captures people's minds, the result is mountains of corpses and rivers of blood, accompanied by attempts to straighten the stooped and shorten the tall.  I remember that one part of the psychiatric examination was a test for idiocy.  The patient was given the following problem to solve: "Imagine a train crash.  It is well known that the part of the train that suffers the most damage in such crashes is the carriage at the rear.  How can you prevent that damage from taking place?"  The idiot's usual reply is expected to be: Uncouple the last carriage.  That strikes us as amusing, but just think, are the theory and practice of socialism much better?


Society, say the socialists, contains both the rich and the poor.  The rich are getting richer and the poor poorer ---  What is to be done?  Uncouple the last carriage, liquidate the rich, take away their wealth and distribute it among the poor.  And they start to uncouple the carriages.  But there is always one carriage at the back, there are always richer and poorer, for society is like a magnet: there are always two poles.  But does this discourage a true socialist?  The main thing is to realize his dream; so the richest section of society is liquidated first, and everyone rejoices because everyone gains from the share-out.  But the spoils are soon spent, and people start to notice inequality again --- again there are rich and poor.  So they uncouple the next carriage, and then the next, without end, because absolute equality has still not been achieved.  Before you know it, the peasant who has two cows and a horse turns out to be in the last carriage and is pronounced a kulak and deported.  Is it really surprising that whenever you get striving for equality and fraternity, the guillotine appears on the scene?


....It is difficult for man to resist this dream and this noble impulse, particularly for men who are impetuous and sincere.  They are the first to start chopping heads off and, eventually, to have their own chopped off.  (pp 106-108).


On Resistance and Inner Freedom

[I]f you answered lawlessness with lawlessness, there was precious little chance of ensuring observance of the law.  There was simply no other way.  In exactly the same way, answering violence with violence would only multiply violence, and answering lies with lies would never bring us closer to the truth....


[T]he suggestion was that citizens who were fed up with terror and coercion should simply refuse to acknowledge them.  The point about dealing with the Communists is that to acknowledge the reality of the life they have created and to assent to their notions means ipso facto to become bandits, informers, hangmen, or silence accomplices.  Power rests on nothing other than people's consent to submit, and each person who refuses to submit to tyranny reduces it by one two-hundred-and-fifty-millionth, whereas each who compromises only increases it.... It presupposed a small core of freedom in the individual, his "subjective sense of right," as Volpin put it.  In other words, a consciousness of his personal responsibility.  Which meant, in effect, inner freedom. (p. 240).


On Non-Violence

Until people learn to demand what belongs to them by right, no revolution will liberate them.  And by the time they learn, a revolution won't be necessary.  No, I don't believe in revolution, I don't believe in forcible salvation.


It is easy to imagine what would happen in this country if there were a revolution: universal looting, economic collapse, internecine butchery, and in every district a different band of outlaws with its own "gangleader" at its head.  And the passive, terrorized majority would gladly submit to the first strong system of government to come along, in other words, a new dictatorship. (pp. 323-324).

Contemporary Christian Music at its Finest!

Victimae Paschali Laudes

Hat Tip: The Rev. Aaron Kangas and the Concordia Theological Seminary Kantorei
Genuflection: The risen Lord Jesus Christ

Your Entertainment at Guantanamo...

If the federal government takes the next logical step in light of the NDAA and starts deporting its critics to GTMO without a trial, it won't be fun (I don't like swimming, how do you think I would react to waterboarding...), but there might be a plus side: free in-cage lectures on economics by Lew Rockwell, nostalgic reminiscences on the Constitution by Judge Andrew Napolitano, and entertainment by Tim Hawkins!

I guess it could be worse...

A Busy Week at GO

I would like to encourage FH readers to check out Gottesdienst Online.

This is the online blog of the world's greatest print journal devoted to the liturgy of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Gottesdienst - now in its 20th year (the printed edition, that is - the blog is now in its fourth year).

Okay, as a matter of full disclosure, I'm one of the editors of GO and I am also one of the editors of the print journal (the sermons editor).  I'm honored to be able to place my scribblings alongside the likes of the editors, the Revs...

• Burnell Eckardt, Ph.D.
• John Berg
• Peter Berg
• Jason Braaten
• Heath Curtis, M.A.
• Karl Fabrizius, Ph.D.
• David Petersen
• Col. Jonathan Shaw, S.T.M.
• Richard Stuckwisch, Ph.D.

Beginning this past Sunday (March 4) until now, we have seen the following articles posted at GO:

Playing the das-ist-Katholische card  (Jason Braaten)
A Letter from Rev. Gizynsky, a 2012 Sabre Nominee  (Burnell Eckardt)
Thoughts on Lent 3 and the Beelzebul Controversy  (Jason Braaten)
O contempora!  O mores!  (Heath Curtis)
Goldilocks, George Carlin, and the Middle of the Road  (yours truly)
Sermon Writer's Block  (David Petersen)
A Tyranny of Moderation  (David Petersen)
On Being Witting or Unwitting Ritualists  (Jason Braaten)
Chanting, Ceremonies, and Consciences  (Richard Stuckwisch)

There has been not only a flurry of posts, but also of thoughtful comments and lively discussion.  Really good stuff!

Gottesdienst also has a facebook page.

If you believe the worship life of the Church is important, if you believe the Bible is God's Word, if you confess the Book of Concord, if you believe in the means of grace, if you value the ancient liturgy of the Church, if you want to do your part in preserving and promoting the liturgy as we Lutherans have received it as western catholic Christians, if you value the Reformation for its focus on the Gospel and its fidelity to the catholic tradition, if you value Christocentric preaching and exegesis, if you like to learn the history and symbolism related to our rich liturgical tradition, if you would like to support your pastor in teaching the value of the liturgy, please consider subscribing to Gottesdienst.

Regular subscriptions are $15 per year, $25 for two years.  Students can subscribe for $12 per year, $20 for two years.  Better yet, get a very inexpensive bulk subscription and leave copies out for other members of your congregation!  10 copies are $45 per year, $80 for two years.  25 copies are $75 per year, $140 for two years.

You will find sermons, engaging editorials, regular columns related to the liturgy (both theological and practical), the state of our culture, issues facing the church as a whole and American Lutheranism more specifically, historical articles, thoughtful Christocentric reflections on Scripture, and even on occasion humor, poetry, and hymnody.  You will also find news and notices concerning our speaker's bureau, upcoming Gottesdienst conferences, books written and/or published by Gottesdienst editors, the annual Sabre of Boldness ceremony, and the handy annual liturgical calendar for the Sundays in the coming year.

At any rate, GO is completely free, and you are always welcome to drop by, follow our posts on facebook, or add us to your blog reader.

Tea time!

One habit I brought back from Russia was drinking tea.  I drink the stuff every day now.  There are great health benefits as reported here.

I like a lot of different kinds - from the domestic Bigelow blends to various kinds of green teas.  I generally drink tea several times a day.

A big favorite in the Hollywood home is Indian style masala chai.  It is not as full of antioxydants as green tea - but it includes the benefits of ginger (which is good for digestion) and cinnamon.  And it is just plain pleasurable to drink. I learned to make it more than 20 years ago from my friends from India.  These days, Mrs. H. and I enjoy a slightly simplified recipe, which is very quick and easy to make - which we include here at no extra charge...

This makes a large teapot worth (1.25 liters) - five large cups.

You need 2 to 3 rounded tablespoons of Assam black tea.  It really needs to be Assam tea - it is dark and pungent!  You may need to go to an international grocer or Indian store to find it.  But use Assam!  It is the foundation.  How much you use depends on the strength of the particular tea tea that you buy.  It may take a little experimentation to get the right strength.  We prefer a full-bodied cup that can hold its own with a good portion of milk as well as the melange of spices.

Add:

• 1 teaspoon of chopped ginger (it comes from a jar and is wet).
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamom.
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.

Pour in the water (boiled and then cooled just a bit - we have an electric kettle that is lightening fast).

Stir.  Let steep at least five minutes.

After pouring into a cup (you might want to use a strainer when you pour), add milk and sweetener to taste.  We use Sweet Leaf stevia - a natural calorie-free sugar product (the bottles are a little expensive, but since you only use a few drops at a time, it lasts a long time!).  It should have a beautiful caramel color, creamy consistency, and a good spicy kick.

Tea is a healthier alternative to soft drinks, and generally, has less caffeine than coffee.

Cheers!

Chick-fil-A!

In honor of our new Chick-fil-A going up in Gretna...



Bonus verse included here.

Check out Tim Hawkins other parodies and comedy routines here.

The Feds: To Serve Man... With Bleach?

Here is the article.

Is this is why we have a federal government?  So bureaucrats can invade a picnic and pour bleach on everyone's food?

If this isn't tyranny, plain and simple, I would like to know why it isn't.  One of the problems with the federal government is that in spite of all the talk of "democracy" and "republic" and "of the people" and "freedom," what we really have is an oligarchical top-down empire held captive to two nearly-identical political "parties."  There is no check and balance from the states and the people as envisioned by the founders.  Neither do each of the branches of the federal government check the other.  They have all gone into cahoots - and this is the result.

Moreover, our "elections" are completely overseen by these two extra-constitutional parties with crazy internal rules designed to allow the parties (The Party?) to keep a stranglehold on the entire process.

And for the most part, in response, the people focus on a media-driven goose-chase of buying into the politics by blaming the other party, name-calling, aping platitudes and talking points offered up again and again as mindless mantras on talk radio and in tabloid TV.  The politicians are all "outraged" and promise "change" - all the while benefiting by keeping the people divided against each other while they literally do things like pour bleach on people's food.  CNN-watchers blame the FOX-watchers; FOX-watchers blame the CNN-watchers.  The "liberals" blame the "conservatives" and the "conservatives" blame the "liberals" - all the while those terms have switched places back and forth, gotten mixed and matched, and have become utterly meaningless labels.

Hooray for our team!

Meanwhile, once entrenched in Washington, Republicans and Democrats continue growing old agencies and creating new ones like mushrooms, generating reams and reams of new laws and regulations, destroying civil rights and national security, and printing dollars until they are nearly worthless.  Both "parties" support both warfare and welfare - while cleverly convincing their own members that it's really the "other" party doing it.

It's Laurel and Hardy.  And it would be funny if they weren't equipped with the power to tax, to regulate, to control, to execute, to torture, etc. and with enough nuclear firepower to turn the planet into a cinder - all with the brainpower and wisdom of two toddlers that have unlocked the liquor cabinet and the gun rack.  A little bleach anyone?

Instead of blaming Bush and Obama, and getting all wrapped up in getting their partisans elected, Democrats and Republicans ought to ditch the party apparatuses and apparatchiks and blame the federal government (comprised almost exclusively of functionaries of both of these parties) and its arrogant, imperial, bureaucratic attitude toward the people they are supposed to serve, not rule.  Whether we are Republican, Democrat, or neither, we would all benefit by going back to the Constitution and restoring the republic.

There was a time when federal bureaucrats did not pour bleach on food.  There was a time when Americans could not secretly be executed by the president. There was a time when people had the right to a trial.  There was a time when people were free to eat whatever food they wanted to eat.  The Bill of Rights (that historic relic) actually addresses these things, although every amendment has been whittled away or outright abolished de facto by partisan lackeys in all three branches of the federal government, by both alleged parties, and by their confederates in the state governments who play along to get ahead themselves.  We are no longer a union of fifty states, but rather an empire of two teams (Red Team and Blue Team, the Elephants and the Donkeys) of the same ideological philosophy of government that holds ordinary people in contempt.

And the people have been lulled into playing along, serving as "food" as it were to the monster.  To borrow the punch line of the old Twilight Zone episode: "It's a cookbook!"

One day, maybe the people will say "enough is enough."  This is exactly the kind of thing that happens when power is left unchecked.  A little Clorox on your porterhouse, anyone?  How disgraceful and shameful!  Pouring bleach on food to ruin a peaceful picnic.  "We the people" indeed!

Have you had enough yet?  Or are you waiting for some party hack from the Red/Blue Team to vandalize your dinner table?  Public service indeed!  

Sermon: Wednesday of Reminiscere – 2012

7 March 2012 at Salem Lutheran Church, Gretna, LA


Text: Mark 8:27-38 (Rom 5:1-11)

In the name of + Jesus. Amen.

Saint Peter tends to the extreme. One minute, he’s riding high, as he had just given the right answer to our Lord’s question about who He is: “You are he Christ,” said St. Peter correctly, “the Son of God.”

But then Peter got a little too big for his britches. For when our Lord told him the plan, and did so plainly: “that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again,” well, let’s just say that Peter didn’t really like that idea. Peter “rebuked” Jesus – a term that in Greek is very strong. In other words, Peter scolded Jesus harshly: “I don’t want to hear you say that ever again,” is kind of what he is saying, “Do you hear me, Jesus?” He talks to him the way an angry parent wags his finger at a naughty child.

Peter has forgotten who the Creator is and who the creature is. Peter thinks he is above God to the point where he can call the shots. And this is exactly what the devil did in his pride. This is why Jesus turns around and lets Peter have it full bore with one of the harshest rebukes in the Bible: “Get behind Me, Satan.”

What causes the Lord to use such shocking language is not that Peter committed some great crime against humanity, or hurt a child, or swindled a widow out of her home, or bowed down before a stone idol. No, what prompted this outburst from the Son of God was that Peter was not setting his “mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Now there is a sin that I suppose all of us commit nearly all the time. How can we not? We live in a fallen world that is wrapped up in itself. We live in a me-first culture where we get to make all our own choices, and get to be offended when the world doesn’t behave the way we think it should. And what’s more, we treat God the same way Peter treated Him. We think we know best. We get angry at him when we don’t get our way. We ignore him and continue dropping him lower and lower on our priority list – and then when things are really bad for us, we summon him up like a Genie in a lamp and expect Him to do our bidding.

To that, our Lord scolds us: “Get behind Me, Satan.”

If we really want to know the plan, the Lord has made it plain to us. Indeed, He taught us all about the suffering of the Son of Man, His rejection by The Important People, His passion, His death, and yes, His resurrection.

And we are part of that plan too. We are called to follow Him. And here is what it means (for He says this plainly): “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”

Who actually likes this plan? Take up a cross? Deny ourselves? Our Lord tells us plainly that the plan is that we give up our lives. We too will suffer, be rejected by The Important People, die, and yes, rise again. That is what it means to follow Him. Where Jesus went, we go. Where Jesus goes, we shall go. And when our sinful flesh rises up on its hind legs and wags its fist at Jesus saying: “I don’t like this plan, I have a better one,” the Lord Jesus Himself rebukes us: “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

This, dear friends, is where the first commandment comes into our lives. It almost never involves stone idols. Rather we worship idols of flesh, idols we see in the mirror. We put our hearts where our treasure is, and we treasure ourselves.

Thanks be to God that the Son of God is not as selfish as we are, otherwise we would have no Savior willing to take up His cross and die in our place. And we would have no hope of rising again. Thanks be to God that Jesus casts out Satan from our sinful hearts when we confess our sins, repent, and hear the words of absolution and the proclamation of the gospel! Thanks be to God for Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper!

“For whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.”

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani knows exactly how to save his own life. He sits condemned to hang from a Muslim executioner’s rope, which would leave behind a widow and two young orphan sons. His captors tell him that he can save his life by simply renouncing Jesus. But Pastor Nadarkhani knows better. He will not place himself in the role of Satan by setting his mind on the things of man, but rather he has taken up a very heavy cross to follow the Lord. When you see the pastor’s picture, whether in a beautiful field before his capture, or in a filthy, tiny concrete cell – he has just the hint of a smile on his face. For he knows exactly how to save his life. He knows our Lord’s warning: “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul.” He is not ashamed of Jesus, even as Jesus is not ashamed of Pastor Nadarkhani’s good confession. For even if he is hanged, he receives eternal life as a free gift from the One about whom he also confesses, “You are the Christ.”

This is how another man who knew the despair of a death sentence, St. Paul the apostle, can write to us by the Holy Spirit’s inspiration: “Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand.”

Again, dear friends, this is the little smile that the saints can show to the world, the devil, and their own sinful flesh even in the face of death. For “we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” And moreover, the apostle proclaims: “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

This is how Pastor Nadarkhani can endure each day in suffering, not cursing his captors, but praising God and praying for his enemies. And when we are tried and tempted, the Lord is allowing us the opportunity to become stronger, to produce endurance, character, and hope – which we have by means of the Lord’s love for us, poured out as the blood of the sacrifice at the cross, poured into our hearts even as His heart poured out water and blood – tokens of baptism and Holy Communion, given to us so that we might have peace with God.

What a wondrous mystery, dear brothers and sisters! And if the Lord were to do things our way, we would be pretty pathetic indeed, lacking the faith to tap into God’s grace that wins eternal life for us. For if we had it our way, we would not even have the strength to endure so much as a pin prick. Thanks be to our crucified Lord that His love for us compelled Him to endure all the suffering He revealed to Peter, and indeed all that did happen to Him for our sakes.

And, dear brothers and sisters, in spite of Peter’s momentary surrender to Satan, in spite of the Lord’s stinging rebuke, in spite of Peter’s later shameful conduct at the Lord’s execution – St. Peter was justified by faith and had peace with God! He did suffer and endure and grew in character and died himself as a man of hope – not in himself, but in the Lord whom he followed by taking up his own cross.

St. Peter knew that “whoever loses his life for [Jesus’s] sake and the gospel’s will save it.”

No-one likes to bear the cross. We all have sinful flesh that resents God’s plan. But, dear friends, we have been justified by faith for peace with God. We can, in Christ, smile like Pastor Nadarkhani, knowing where we find our life – even if we lose our life. For we know that Jesus is the Christ, and that He will come “in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” And “we rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” Amen.

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

America Needs Freedom!

You can read more here.

Interestingly, in his brilliant postscript to The Screwtape Letters (1942), an essay called Screwtape Proposes a Toast (1959), C.S. Lewis ascribes this creeping control of government involvement in everyday life to Satan.  Writing in the persona of Screwtape, a demon of some reputation as a tempter of men in hell's bureaucracy, states:

Even in England we were pretty successful.  I heard the other day that in that country a man could not, without a permit, cut down his own tree with his own axe, make it into planks with his own saw, and use the planks to build a tool-shed in his own garden.

Although our own country is deeply in debt - to the point of near-certain runaway (if not hyper) inflation, and although almost without exception, politicians of both parties (more like both wings of the same party)  in Washington (and in the state capitols) are clueless, or worse, there is a wave of libertarianism sweeping among mainly younger people, the ones who are literate, who think, who yearn to be free of the petty and not-so-petty tyranny that is simply the norm today at nearly every level of government.  As we see the failure of Big Government and the increasing ridiculousness of our laws, there is a movement toward embracing freedom and becoming more self-sufficient, rolling back the Nanny State and its "happy face fascism."

A good place to begin is with the U.S. Constitution.  It is not a perfect document, but if it were actually followed, we would be a much more free people today with a healthier relationship between the people and their governments at all levels.

What we have now is not working - at least to people who value freedom the way our ancestors did.

Sermon: Reminiscere – 2012

4 March 2012 at Salem Lutheran Church, Gretna, LA


Text: Matt 15:21-28

In the name of + Jesus. Amen.

It is always amazing to hear and consider the account of the Canaanite woman, and her mini-debate with the Son of God. Everybody likes to cheer for the underdog, which means in this case, I suppose, cheering against Jesus.

But this is not a matter of winning a debate. This is a matter of faith. And while appearing to have been defeated, our Lord Jesus is the winner – and He shares His winnings with those for whom He came to save: like the Canaanite woman and her demon-oppressed daughter.

The Canaanite woman is being tested, sorely tested, tested to the point of desperation. Her daughter is under the control of a devil. And this upset mother, this Canaanite woman, has a couple strikes against her. Of course, being a woman, it is not normal for her to stroll up to the Rabbi and ask for favors. Second, she is a Gentile – a handicap the Lord Himself throws in her face as a test of her faith.

But, dear friends, what is a faith that is never tested? Can a person consider himself courageous if he is never confronted with something frightening? Can a person consider himself skilled if he only knows theories read from a book? Too often, we treat faith as though it were knowledge. And knowing the facts about the faith – such as the Nicene Creed – is important. Believing those facts is important. But faith is not something one holds in one’s head, and not something one treasures only in one’s heart, but rather faith is practiced, is acted out, carried out by hands and feet and mouth and deeds. Faith is the Nicene Creed put into motion in a believer’s life. We say it one day a week, but we live it seven days a week. Faith is the cross under the eyes and ears of one’s friends and foes in day to day life. Faith is what we have when it is all that we have. Faith is what is left after the storm has taken away everything else, when one’s trust in princes and in oneself has been purged away by the flames of trials and temptations. Faith is all that a person has when all other remedies have failed.

Faith takes risks!

The Canaanite woman risks rejection and humiliation in her quest to find Jesus and offer up her prayer to Him for help. She “came out and was crying, ‘Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David.” In her faith, she has abandoned her ego, her pride, her self-esteem. She comes before the Lord humbly, without guile, claiming no merit for herself. She bares her soul before the One of has created her, to Him who will make her well, seeking the mercy of the Lord, the Son of David, Him with the power to heal, to save, to draw life out of death, and to remove the harassment of the devil.

The Canaanite woman refuses to quit, to give up, to yield to the natural feelings of anger and resentment in the face of the harsh coldness of the disciples who say: “Send her away, for she is crying after us.” She does not lose her faith even when severely tested by God Himself, as the Lord Jesus seems to be rejecting her with the stunning words: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel” and “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

The Canaanite women understood perfectly well how insulting the term “dog” is. For Jews hold dogs to be unclean animals. The term “dog” – especially when applied to women – is nearly universal among all peoples as a terrible insult.

But the Canaanite woman, like an ace pilot refusing to be shaken off the tail of her opponent in a desperate dogfight, locks in on Jesus, refuses to be deterred, does not let emotion get in the way of her salvation, clings to Christ with all the faith she can muster, and lets fly: “Yes, Lord.” For faith always says “Yes, Lord” – even when we are tried and tempted, disappointed and hurt, harassed and harried, beaten up and beaten down by the world, even when it seems God Himself has forsaken us. “Yes, Lord,” she confesses in faith, “yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

She does not deny her uncleanness and unworthiness. But what she holds to is the promise of the Lord, His mercy, His providence, His table with which He shares the crumbs of His very self, offered for us men and for our salvation! Faith enables her to confess boldly her worthiness according to the Lord’s promise at the same time that she confesses humbly her unworthiness according to her own sinfulness.

And this paradox is at the heart of faith, where the two arms of the cross intersect at the heart: our unworthiness and Christ’s worthiness, the Law’s demands and the Gospel’s promises, our earned wages of death and the Lord’s gracious gift of life!

And in her humble “Yes, Lord,” she does not win a debate, but wins eternal life. Jesus is not defeated in a battle of wills, but rather defeats the devil by the will of His Father who sent the Son, to give faith and hope and life to all of the dogs who await the life-giving crumbs that fall from the Master’s table!

“O woman,” declares the Lord, “great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” She has passed the test, not by being clever, but by clinging to faith. She has not defeated Jesus in logic, but has yielded to Him in faith. She has won because Jesus has won. The devil’s grip on her family was beaten into submission. “And her daughter was healed instantly.”

Dear brothers and sisters, how often we get discouraged! How often we feel like the Lord has left us to bless others instead of us. And yet, how wrong we are! For the Lord has come to save us, to heal us, to forgive us, and to give us eternal life! And though it is a paradox, our faith means the most when it is tested. Our faith is made the strongest when it is challenged. Our faith is able to make us well precisely when it is all that we have, and it seems so weak.

Let us never grow weary of praying with our Canaanite sister, with one another, and with our brothers and sisters in every time and place: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David.” And let us hear yet again the Lord’s mercy: “Great is your faith. Be it done for you as you desire.” Amen.

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