Archive for November, 2009
“Word for Today” – 3 John – www.concordialutheranchurch.com
They used to be called “Dear John” letters. Now they’re more like “Dear John” emails or texts or even Facebook posts. An increasing and alarming number of people, not wanting to have difficult face-to-face conversations with a partner, will opt for a less confrontational, even if more devastating, option of breaking up with their partners using electronic means of communication. The brilliant spirit of American capitalism has even, well, capitalized on this trend. A boyfriend or girlfriend can pre-record a breakup phone message to be sent to their partner so they don’t have to have an actual conversation through one service. There is another service known as the “Rejection Hotline,” available in more than eighty area codes. If, after a first date, someone does not want to give their date their real phone number, they can give them the “Rejection Hotline” phone number, which, when called, explains that they have been rejected. Then, there are “STD e-cards.” This debacle of a service allows its users to send anonymous e-cards to past sexual partners if they suspect that they may have given them an STD. A money maker? Absolutely. A pathetic example of sin and deceit at its worst? Sadly, yes.
There are certain things and situations for which a face-to-face conversation is needed. Indeed, this is John’s argument in today’s reading from 3 John. At the end of this very brief letter, the apostle concludes: “I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face” (verses 13-14). Apparently, a leader in one of John’s churches in Asia Minor named Diotrephes was gossiping maliciously about John and his fellow ministers seeking to discredit John’s ministry and wreck John’s church (verses 9-10). In light of this difficult situation, John feels a face-to-face visit, rather than just a letter, is in order with Diotrephes and this congregation.
The letters of the New Testament are the most lengthy and colorful of all the ancient world. Typically, letters from antiquity are short and without pathos. One of my favorite examples is this letter, written from Mystarion to Stoetis:
Greetings. I have sent you my Blastus to get forked sticks for my olive gardens. See that he does not loiter, for you know I need him every hour. Farewell.
Wow. How boring. This letter, however, written in AD 50, is a fine example of standard first century epistolatory fare. Contrast this with the towering rhetoric of the New Testament epistles, and there is no comparison. And yet, as towering as their written rhetoric may be, there is still no substitute for verbal, face-to-face communication. Indeed, this is one of the reasons that the reformers so extolled the value of preaching. For as wonderful as the written Word of God is, the reformers knew that the written Word of God takes on a unique power when it is spoken. In one of my favorite quotes from Martin Luther, and one that I take to heart every time I teach and preach, he declares, “The Gospel should not be written, but screamed” (AE Companion Volume 63-34). People who have heard me know that I have no problem screaming the gospel.
So here is your challenge for today. With whom can you share a message from God’s Word? Not just in an email or through a text message or over a Facebook post or via a blog (and yes, I am keenly aware of the irony of that statement), but with your mouth. With whom can you actually speak about Jesus today? We are commanded and commissioned to do such speaking and, if need be, even screaming. So speak with someone about Jesus and his gospel today. Who knows? God’s Word, spoken through you, might just change a human heart. And that’s heaven’s greatest joy. I hope it’s yours too.
“Word for Today” – 2 John – www.concordialutheranchurch.com
“What, then, does Jesus mean to me? To me, he was one of the greatest teachers humanity has ever had,” said Mahatma Gandhi. He continued, “To his believers, he was God’s only begotten Son.” Jesus was a great teacher of humanity, even, as Gandhi would claim elsewhere, a divine teacher of humanity. But was he God’s only begotten Son? This, it seems, Gandhi could not so readily accept.
The words of Gandhi represent a stance that that is regularly, readily, and unthinkingly parroted by countless people all over the world, albeit with less eloquence than that of Gandhi. “Jesus was a great teacher and a fine moral example,” it is said, “but God’s Son? God come in the flesh? I can’t believe that!” In a stance such as this, the pluralistic sensibilities of Gandhi are often merged with the anti-miraculous biases of a naturalistic worldview to create a strange hybrid portrait of a Jesus who is spiritual in his teaching, but certainly not miraculous or theistic in his person.
All of this, of course, is nothing new. In our reading for today from 2 John, the apostle warns believers, “Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world” (verse 7). In our day, people object to Jesus being God’s Son because they think it impossible for a man to be God, much less for one man exclusively to be God, as is claimed by Jesus. In John’s day, however, people objected not to a man being God, but to God being a man. For in their thinking, the divine ethereal essence would never stoop so low as to become a mortal, fleshly being. People in our day say, “Jesus ≠ God.” People in John’s day declared, “God ≠ Jesus.” On whatever side of the equation you place the factors “God” and “Jesus,” however, the effect remains the same. To quote the Nicene Creed, such equations deny that Jesus is “God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father.”
John wastes no time dispensing with such heresy: “Any such person [who teaches that Jesus is not God] is the deceiver and the antichrist” (verse 7). Jesus is indeed God who is “coming in the flesh.” Interestingly, John uses a present tense participle to describe Jesus’ incarnation rather than a past tense verb, even though John penned these words around AD 90, some forty years after Jesus’ ascension into heaven. How can John maintain that Jesus is coming in the flesh when he has already come? Some believe John’s language here alludes to Communion and Christ’s presence therein. For instance, Ignatius of Antioch, echoing John’s language, writes:
Let no man deceive himself. Unless he believes that Christ Jesus has lived in the flesh, and shall confess his cross and passion, and the blood which he shed for the salvation of the world, he shall not obtain eternal life…[Some people] abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins, and which the Father, of his goodness, raised up again. (Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Smyrnaeans, chs. 6-7)
Ignatius, along with other church fathers, say that Christ not only came as a carpenter from Nazareth, but also comes through the proclamation of his Word and the administration of his Sacraments. God, time and time again, comes to be with his people.
The question of Christ’s identity is the linchpin of history. Either he was and is the Son of God, who continues to dwell with his people even now, or he was and is a deranged madman who only claimed divine authority and God remains distant and aloof, unwilling to commingle himself with sinful and broken people. Which one is Jesus to you? My prayer is that he is the former. For a Christ who is only a good teacher can never save you or dwell with you. A Christ who is God, however, can do all this – and so much more.
“Word for Today” – 1 John 5 – www.concordialutheranchurch.com
Recently, I received as a gift the new The Lutheran Study Bible. I own several study Bibles, and make regular use of them for different purposes according to their strengths. Like most study Bibles, The Lutheran Study Bible contains the biblical text on the top half of its pages with extensive notes marking the bottom half of its pages. These notes contain important interpretive commentary as well as quotes from the church fathers and even the occasional prayer to assist me as I meditate on a particular biblical text.
One of the concerns that many study Bible publishers share, including those who published The Lutheran Study Bible, is that a clear demarcation be made between the biblical text itself and the notes on the biblical text. For as helpful as study notes may be, and as salutary as the doctrine that they confess may be, a study Bible’s notes are not the inspired, inerrant words of God. Another study Bible, the ESV Study Bible, explains thusly:
The ESV Study Bible contains two kinds of words. The first kind is the actual words of the Bible, which are the very words of God to us. These are printed in the larger font at the top of each page. The second kind is the study notes, which are merely human words. These are printed in the smaller font at the bottom of each page. The difference in font sizes serves to remind readers that the words of the Bible itself are infinitely more valuable than the words of the notes. The words of the Bible are the words of our Creator speaking to us. (ESV Study Bible, 10)
As valuable as notes on the Word of God might be, it is important, say the publishers of the ESV Study Bible, to distinguish between the words of man on the Word of God and the Word of God itself. For the latter are inspired and inerrant words while the former are not.
This all brings us to our reading for today from 1 John 5. For John writes about man’s testimony about God over and against God’s testimony about himself:
This is the one who came by water and blood – Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. We accept man’s testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. (verses 6-9)
Interestingly, the King James Version of the Bible inserts another sentence immediately before verse 8 not found in the New International Version of the Bible, quoted above. The KJV includes: “There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” Why does the NIV not include this sentence?
The earliest biblical manuscript in which this sentence from the KJV appears is Minuscule 88, a twelfth century manuscript, now housed at a museum in Naples. Notably, this sentence is not included as part of the biblical text, but on the side margin, much like a study Bible note. Apparently, some early biblical interpreters took John’s reference to “the Spirit, the water, and the blood” in verse 8 to be a reference to the Trinity and so inserted this note clearly proclaiming the doctrine of the Trinity. With time, this originally marginal note made its way into some manuscripts as part of the actual biblical text! The translators of the KJV used one such manuscript and so included it in their translation. More recent scholarship, however, has noted that these words were not originally penned by John as part of his letter. Thus, they are not included in more modern translations.
Do these words from the KJV concerning the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost teach false doctrine? Absolutely not! Are these words helpful in properly understanding the Trinity? Of course they are! Then why leave them out from modern translations of the Bible? Because as true and helpful as these words might be, they are finally words of man, written later, and not part of the inerrant, inspired Word of God. These words make a terrific note for a study Bible, but they are not part of the Bible itself.
More notes, commentaries, and books have been written on the Good Book than any other book in the history of the world. Many of the notes, commentaries, and books have lots of enlightening, encouraging, and true things to say. But remember, they are the words of man on the Word of God, not the Word of God itself. And nothing can displace or replace the Word of God as primary for a Christian. Thus, commit yourself to continued reading of God’s Word, first and foremost. For this is the only Word in which we hear the absolute sure and certain voice of God. Everything else is just commentary. And so ends my commentary for today. Now, go and read your Bible.
“Word for Today” – 1 John 4 – www.concordialutheranchurch.com
“Beam me up, Scotty.” “It’s elementary, my dear Watson.” “Let them eat cake.” “Play it again, Sam.” Who said each of these quotes? If you guessed James Kirk, Sherlock Holmes, Marie Antoinette, and Ingrid Bergman, you are incorrect. These are famous misquotes that, because they have been so often repeated, have become more well known than the real quotes which they parody! Captain Kirk didn’t say “Beam me up, Scotty,” but “Beam me up, Mr. Scott.” The quote “It’s elementary, my dear Watson” is found not in a Sherlock Holmes novel, but in a 1929 New York Times film review. Marie Antoinette said, “Let them eat bread,” not cake. And that oh so famous line uttered by Bergman to Dooley Wilson from Casablanca is, “Play it, Sam. Play ‘As Time Goes By.’” She never said, “Play it again, Sam.”
Accurately quoting someone is very important. That’s why books and articles have footnotes, endnotes, and in-text citations. Indeed, the value of accurate quotation is what John extols in our reading for today from 1 John 4:
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. (verses 1-3)
John reminds us that to acknowledge Jesus Christ and correct doctrine about him is paramount to the Christian faith. The Greek word for “acknowledge” is homologeo, meaning, “to speak the same thing as.” Thus, John is exhorting us to “speak the same thing as” Jesus. He is exhorting us to faithfully and accurately quote Jesus in all he teaches.
There are three main ways in which Jesus is not homologeo-d in our world. It is useful to briefly examine each of these.
People speak against what Jesus says.
The first failure to homologeo Jesus constitutes a crass and belligerent rejection of what Jesus has said and done. For example, when Jesus foretells his suffering and death to his disciples, one of his disciples, named Peter, responds, “Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you” (Matthew 16:22). Peter is speaking against Jesus’ mission of the cross. And Jesus’ response is fierce and frank: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men” (Matthew 16:23). We are never to speak against what Jesus says.
People speak part of what Jesus says.
Some people, who are not nearly so bold as to crassly dismiss Jesus’ words, instead subtly undermine his teaching by taking into account only the parts of Jesus’ teaching which comport with an already preconceived world view. For example, some people may proudly quote Jesus saying, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged” (Matthew 7:1), but never read on to see that judgment of sin is allowed, albeit only after a Christian has carefully considered and judged his own sin (cf. Matthew 7:3-5). What is prohibited in Matthew 7 is rash and hypocritical judgment, not all judgment of sin. In order to quote Jesus correctly, a person must take all of what Jesus says, not just some of what he says.
People speak arrogantly what Jesus says.
Some people, although they may speak the words of Jesus, refuse to speak them in the spirit which Jesus sepaks them. In other words, rather than saying the same thing as Jesus from a position of humility and compassion, they say the same thing as Jesus from a position of arrogance and self-righteousness. As the apostle Peter, himself familiar with the dangers of arrogance, reminds us, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15). We are not only to say what Jesus says, but we are to say it in the way which Jesus says it.
Homologeo-ing Jesus is a sobering mantle. For it is imperative that we speak Jesus’ words accurately and appropriately. But speaking Jesus’ words is also a joyous privilege. For his words bring hope to the hurting, joy to the pained, and even life to the spiritually dead. With whom can you homologeo Jesus’ words today?
“Word for Today” – 1 John 3 – www.concordialutheranchurch.com
I have never had much of a green thumb. Just the other day, my wife and I received an email asking us to purchase some poinsettias as part of a fundraiser. After agreeing to the offer because the proceeds go to a good cause, we also agreed to find good homes for them. After all, if we were to keep them, they wouldn’t last a week. For I never have had much of a green thumb.
I can remember, when I was in second grade, how my class planted seeds in Dixie cups and placed them on the windowsill and waited for them to grow. Many of my classmates’ seeds sprouted quickly, beautiful, and heartily. Mine, on the other hand, never broke its soil. Indeed, the only seed I have ever had that has done anything impressive is birdseed. The pigeons loved me.
In our reading for today from 1 John 3, the apostle speaks of a Christian’s life in Jesus: “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God” (verse 9). A Christian, John says, has God’s seed in him. What seed is this? It is the same seed promised by God as he cursed Satan for his beguilement: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15). God promised a Seed from Eve who would crush Satan’s head. Who is this Seed? None other than Jesus Christ. Indeed, Jesus even speaks of himself as Seed when he foretells his death: “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:24). Jesus, through his death on the cross as the Seed of Eve, produces many seeds. These seeds, in turn, are we who are “called children of God” (verse 1). We are the seeds of God.
Commenting on the Lord’s Prayer, Martin Luther writes, “God would tenderly encourage us to believe that he is our true father and that we are his true children, so that we may ask him confidently with all assurance, as dear children ask their dear father” (SC III:2). This is John’s encouragement as well. We, as Christians, are invited to approach God as our Father, for we are his children – we are his seeds.
With what do you need to approach God today? Is there something heavy on your heart? Is there a trial that you face? Perhaps there is a daunting decision that you have to make. Whatever it is, don’t forget to turn to your heavenly Father for the guidance and strength you need. He will always be there to here and to help. After all, you are family. You are his child. You are his seed.
“Word for Today” – 1 John 2 – www.concordialutheranchurch.com
I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later. A couple of months ago, I received a link in my email inbox to a YouTube video which made the unfounded claim that our president was the antichrist. Honestly, I just groaned a little bit. My heart also sank, knowing that this video was frightening some beloved Christian friends of mine with its polemical antics and misconstrued exegesis.
It seems as though just about everyone and everything has been called the antichrist at one time or another. The Roman Empire was seen as the antichrist in the first century. The Protestant reformers thought of the papacy as the antichrist. Then, there have been the usual more recent historical suspects: Hitler, Mussolini, our former president, and yes, our current president. I’ve even seen a few people try to argue that Billy Graham is the antichrist!
Blessedly, our reading for today from 1 John 2 encourages us to dispose of such juvenile and foolish speculation and leads us toward a more reasoned theology of the antichrist:
Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. (verses 18-19)
A few things are notable about this passage. First, worries about the antichrist are nothing new. Apparently, Christians in John’s day were also worried about this mysterious figure. Second, lest we recklessly dump the title of “antichrist” on any politician for whom we might not particularly care, John seems to indicate in verse 19 that the antichrist will come out of the church, not the secular world: “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us.” The Lutheran reformers picked up on this line and on Paul’s words in 2 Thessalonians 2 and so wrote: The antichrist is “someone reigning in the church, not a pagan ruler…because he will invent doctrine that conflicts with the gospel and will arrogate to himself divine authority” (Tr. 39). Thus, the antichrist seems to be someone who is interested in perverting true doctrine, not just in gaining secular power. Third, notice that John mentions not just one antichrist, but “many antichrists.” In other words, looking for just one antichrist is a fool’s chase. For there are many antichrists.
The Greek prefix anti- means “in place of.” An antichrist, then, is anyone who sets him or her self up in place of the true Christ who is God. And John warns that there are many who do this. In fact, if you want to know who the first antichrists were, you need look no farther than Genesis 3:
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’? The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:1-5)
“You will be like God.” That’s the very definition of an antichrist – one who wants to be in the place of God. And so the very first antichrists are born. Their names? Adam and Eve.
On September 10, 1813, after defeating the British fleet in the Battle of Lake Erie, Commander Oliver Perry, sent the following message Major General William Harrison concerning their victory: “We have met the enemy, and they are ours.” This famous saying was later paraphrased in 1971 by Walt Kelly in his Pogo cartoon strip as, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” Sadly, this is the case when it comes to John’s antichrist. So often, people speculate wildly about the identity of the antichrist. We are blind, however, to the fact that, at least in one sense, we have met the antichrist, and he is us. For all we seek to put ourselves in God’s place every time we sin. We all have a little bit of antichrist in us.
Of course, the good news of the gospel is that we don’t have to continue to play the role of Christ. After all, playing the role Christ is hard work. Playing the role Christ involves the cross. No, we don’t have to save the world and rule the universe, for we have someone who saves and rules it sovereignly, lovingly, and more efficiently than we ever could. And he is the true God. So let’s leave that to him.
Finally, we need not fear antichrists. Indeed, we need not fear even the great antichrist, spoken of in 2 Thessalonians 2, who will arise at the end of the time. For as powerful as that final antichrist might be, he’s no match for the real Christ. And it’s the real Christ who we trust. It’s the real Christ who we worship. It’s the real Christ who holds our salvation secure. Don’t settle for anything less than him.
“Word for Today” – 1 John 1 – www.concordialutheranchurch.com
On a fairly consistent basis, I am called upon to answer questions from people who email the church looking for information concerning Concordia’s beliefs, practices, or ministries. Because these emails are not sent specifically to me, but to the church in general, I try to stay keenly aware that I am answering on behalf of my beloved congregation. Therefore, I am very careful and precise in how I answer these questions because I want to present Concordia in the best light possible. It is with this in mind that I have developed an intentional grammatical habit. Whenever I write someone on behalf of Concordia, I use first person plural pronouns rather than first person singular ones. For example, if I was to share Concordia’s mission, I would write, “We want to shine like stars in the universe” rather than “I want to shine like a star in the universe” because I am writing on behalf of the congregation. My hope, when writing such letters, is that the person to whom I am writing will eventually become a part of that first personal plural pronoun. For we at Concordia have a deep and abiding passion to welcome more and more people into our beloved family of faith.
The deep and abiding passion that runs through Concordia is clearly shared by the apostle John in our reading for today from 1 John 1. John, although writing personally, begins his letter with a communal pronoun: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word of life” (verse 1). If John is the singular author of this letter, why would he use the plural pronoun “we”? Because John is not just writing for himself, he’s writing on behalf of the apostles. For all of the apostles had seen with their eyes and touched with their hand God’s very Word of life, Jesus Christ. And not only that, they received a message from him:
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (verses 5-8)
A significant shift in the referent of the first person plural pronouns occurs at verse 6. In verses 1-4, John’s “we” refers only to John and his apostolic band. But in verses 6-9, John uses the first person plural pronoun “we” to refer to the sinfulness of all Christians and how they are all purified by the blood of Christ. In other words, the “we” of verses 6-9 includes a lot more people than does the “we” of verses 1-4. And it’s in these pronouns that John’s deep and abiding passion is to be found. For the “we” of apostles in verses 1-4 proclaims the gospel message to the “you” of verse 5, who subsequently are included in the “we” of all Christians in verses 6-9. This, then, is the mission of God: to take people from being “you’s” of the world and make them into “we’s” in the family of God. God wants his first person plural pronoun of his church to grow larger and larger.
“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in his there is no darkness at all” (verse 5). With whom can you share this message today? There are so many people going through dark times who need the light of Christ to shine on their hearts. And when his light does shine on their hearts, they become part of us – they become part of God’s “we.” For they have been purified from all unrighteousness by the blood of Jesus. Here’s to the growing “we” of God’s Kingdom.
“Word for Today” – Ephesians 6 – www.concordialutheranchurch.com
The iconic, even if somewhat aloof, CEO of Apple Inc., Steve Jobs, is well known for his highly anticipated keynote addresses, known as Stevenotes, delivered at Apple events all over the country. His “Stevenotes” follow a predictable pattern. He begins by presenting sales figures and reviews for Apple products released over the past few months. He continues by presenting new products of moderate importance. After that, he feigns some concluding remarks, turns to leave the stage, but then turns back and says, “But there is one more thing…” And that “one more thing” is always his biggest announcement. With this phrase he has introduced the wireless AirPort base station, the MacBook Pro, and the iPod Touch. The “one more thing,” it turns out, always seems to be the most important thing.
The book of Ephesians could be considered a keynote address of sorts. For in this little epistle, Paul covers many issues of importance to the Christian faith: God’s divine choice in election (cf. 1:3-14), salvation by grace through faith (cf. 2:1-10), Jewish and Gentile relations (cf. 3:1-13), unity in Christ (cf. 4:1-6), and the order of a Christian household (cf. 5:22-6:9). Indeed, some scholars believe this letter is written as a primer in Christian doctrine, intended not only for the Ephesians, but as a circular letter for all Christians everywhere. This theory is derived in part from the fact that the earliest manuscripts of this letter omit the reference to Ephesus in 1:1. Thus, although I would contend this letter was indeed for the Ephesian church because of other testimonies from antiquity, I would also contend that this letter was not for the Ephesians alone. It was intended to be passed around as a keynote address.
In our reading for today from Ephesians 6, Paul is wrapping up his keynote address. He has addressed both towering points of Christian doctrine and practical points of Christian life. It seems as though Paul has finished. But then, we read this word: “Finally” (verse 10). In Greek, this is the word loipos, most often translated in the New Testament as “other.” The scene is this: Paul has addressed many things in his letter. His address now at last seems to be at its terminus. He has wrapped things up, is walking off stage, but then, pauses, turns, and announces: “Loipos. This is one other thing. There is one more thing.” And Paul’s “one more thing” is a huge thing:
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (verses 10-12)
Paul’s “one more thing” turns out to be a treatise on spiritual warfare. For Satan will relentlessly try to entice and attack those who believe and confess the doctrine contained in this letter. So Paul issues a call to Christians to gird themselves with God’s spiritual armor. In his explanation of this armor, Paul mentions “the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” (verse 17). Satan is helpless against the sure and certain promises of God’s Word. Martin Luther reminds us:
You will surely have the devil around you…Now, what is the devil? Nothing else than what the Scriptures call him: a liar and a murderer. A liar who entices the heart away from God’s Word and blinds it, making you unable to feel your need or to come to Christ. A murderer who begrudges you every hour of your life…Try this, therefore, and practice it well. Just examine yourself, or look around a little, and cling only to the Scriptures. (LC V:80-83)
“Cling only to the Scriptures.” For this is God’s effective armor against Satan. Indeed, no piety, no work, and no effort of our own can defeat the evil one. Only God’s Word and the message of Christ can accomplish such a feat. And so we cling to that.
Is Satan attacking you? Open the Scriptures, ponder their promises, and trust in the One whom the Scriptures reveal, Jesus Christ. For his victory over sin, death, and the devil and for you is assured. And that’s not just “one more thing,” that’s the very best thing. For that is the gospel. Praise be to God.
“Word for Today” – Ephesians 5 – www.concordialutheranchurch.com
“A man has the rule of this household by nature, for the deliberative faculty of a woman is inferior, in children it does not yet exist, and in the case of slaves, it is completely absent” (1 Hezekiah 14:7). Actually, Hezekiah didn’t really say this. In fact, the book of 1 Hezekiah doesn’t even exist. Rather, these words were said by Arius Didymus, the great Stoic philosopher, who is here quoting Caesar Augustus’ position on how a household is to be ordered. And Didymus’ delineations for a household are clear, crisp, and concise: The man is at the top and everyone else is beneath him.
Such instructions were not unusual in and were widely accepted by ancient Roman society. What is unusual, however, are the instructions that Paul offers concerning the first century, and twenty-first century, household in our reading for today from Ephesians 5:
Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. (verses 22-28)
Paul continues in Ephesians 6 by speaking to other members of the family:
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” – which is the first commandment with a promise – “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free. And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him. (verses 1-9)
A few things are notable about the way that Paul addresses a family’s order compared to how others addressed this same order. First, Paul addresses all the members of the family, not just the father. Because it was assumed, as demonstrated by the quote from Didymus above, that only the father had the rational abilities necessary to keep his family in order, only fathers were addressed. In Paul’s delineation of household duties, however, each member is addressed as a competent, rational human being who has something to contribute to the harmony of the family.
Second, Roman household structures assumed that a man was fit for command over his house simply by his natural aptitude as a male. As Aristotle says, “The male is by nature fitter for command than the female” (Politics 1.12). Paul says that a man is head over a household not because of some sort of innate superior aptitude, but because God has placed him there. Thus, a man is answerable to the God who places him in such an important position and thus ought to discharge his duties carefully and with much grace, following the lead of his heavenly Father.
Finally, we must not overlook how Paul opens his instructions concerning Christian households: “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (verse 21). For Paul, a healthy household is built not on power, but on loving submission – a desire to consider the needs and prerogatives of others before considering your own. For this is what Christ has done with us. He willingly submitted himself to the tortures of the cross so that we could be reconciled to God and be reckoned as “fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household” (Ephesians 2:19).
So today, give thanks to God for your family and ask yourself, “How can I discharge my duties toward my family in a godly, faithful, and loving way?” It won’t always be easy, but it will always be worth it. For we each have a roll to play in our families.
“Word for Today” – Ephesians 4 – www.concordialutheranchurch.com
E pluribus unum. “Out of many, one.” If only it were true. Yes, this motto appears on our currency and on the seals of our president and vice-president. It was even the de facto motto of our country before “In God we trust” was adopted in 1956. But a perusal of a newspaper or a surf through some cable news channels quickly jars anyone who might be serenely snoring in the dust of an imaginary national unity and drags them wide awake into the harsh reality of our prevailing partisanship. E pluribus plures. “Out of many, many.” We can’t seem to agree on much of anything.
I suppose it was bound to happen. For trying to unify different people with different ideologies is no small feat. And even if such a conglomerate of people is unified for a time, such unity never lasts. For humans, thanks to sin, have a proclivity to fracture from each other rather than to walk with each other.
There is an old story about a man who is marooned on a desert island for nearly a decade. One day, mercifully, some rescuers finally come along. Upon arriving, the rescuers find two shacks. Thinking there is another castaway on the island, they ask the man, “Why are there two shacks? Is someone else with you?” “No,” replies the man. “I sleep under the stars. The shack is where I go to church.” “What about the other shack?” inquire the rescuers. “What’s that for?” “Oh,” replies the man with an edge of indignation in his voice, “That’s where I used to go to church.” E pluribus plures. It seems humans will find a way to separate from each other – even when there’s only one human.
Like our nation’s historic motto, the Scriptures also issue a clarion call toward unity, as can be found in today’s reading from Ephesians 4: “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (verse 3). The difference between Scripture’s call to unity and our nation’s call to unity, however, is that whereas our nation takes the many and in vain tries to make them one, Scripture begins with the one God who then serves as the great unifier for his many people. Indeed, this is exactly how the apostle Paul delineates Christian unity in this chapter. He begins with the unity of God and his gifts:
There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to one hope when you were called – one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (verses 4-6).
Paul uses the word “one” seven times in these verses. Thus, the things of this list, describing God and his gifts, are the hallmark, source, and sustainer of true unity. Paul then continues by explaining how this divine unity brings together the many in the body of Christ:
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (verses 11-13)
The one Christ gives gifts to his many people so that they may experience the joy and blessing of being unified by Christ. Ex uno plures. “Out of one, many.” This is how true and lasting unity happens – not by taking many disparate, dissident factions and striving to unify them by human effort, but by beginning with the unified Godhead whose unity can bring even the most dis-unified people together. Praise be to God that we are one, not of ourselves, but in Christ!
Pastor Zach's Blog 