Gospel Deficiency

Gospel deficiency is the major crisis of the evangelical church. The good news has been replaced by many things, most often a therapeutic, self-help approach to biblical application. The result is a Church that, ironically enough, preaches works, not grace, and a growing number of Christians who neither understand the gospel nor revel in its scandal. So says Jared C. Wilson on the First Things blog...

WOW... this evangelical has gotten it... The Protestant churches (and not just evangelicals) have for a long time moved from proclaiming the Gospel to using the pulpit to meet the felt needs of the hearers. The subject matter has moved from the forgiveness of sins and the One whose death and resurrection makes this forgiveness possible to making us feel better about our selves, our lives, and our world. The themes of the proclamation has moved from the great gulf between God and man to a man centered world in which we face impediments to our desire to be happy, healthy, wealthy, and successful. The focus of the of the church's life, ministry, and proclamation has moved from God to me -- without a seeming ripple of guilt or hesitance to define everything through the lens of my feelings, thoughts, and desires.

BUT not only the Protestants are afflicted with this deficiency; some Lutherans also are deficient of the essential Gospel proclamation that guarantees we receive what God intends for the redemption of our lost lives, for the rebirth of our lives by grace, for the renewal of our lives in faith, and for the restoration of our relationship to the God who invites us to call Him Father.

Now this might only be a matter for the pulpit if the Gospel were present in the Sacrament of the Altar every week and the liturgy retained its historic flow and pattern, words and song. When the Sacrament of the Altar is there, when the liturgy is there in its historic fullness, when the church's song sings out the Gospel, it is possible for the folks in the pews to walk away without much of a sermon and still to have been embraced with the grace of God that forgives, instills new life, strengthens in hope, and sustains the weary to everlasting life. BUT, when the liturgy is missing, the Sacrament of the Altar is not there, the hymns do not sing the Gospel in song, then the sermon is the only place left for God to meet the hearer with His grace and favor.

This is why for Lutherans it is not and cannot be merely a matter for the pulpit. It is an issue for the altar and what takes place there, for the liturgy (the Divine Service), and for the Church's hymnody and song. For this reason renewal is not a renewal from the pulpit but from both the pulpit and altar so that the people of God who meet every Lord's Day in His name will receive what God intends -- the richest of His treasure of grace through the divinely intended means of pulpit and table and the historic pattern of the Divine Service that enfolds these and the music of hymn and song that sing the Gospel so that we may hear it there as well.

Who Is Offended

I was perusing some headlines when I came across a story about a church in America's heartland (Terre Haute, IN) that was under fire for a message on its sign board. The sign stated, “Jesus died and rose and lives for you. What did Allah do.” According to the story, people were mightily upset about the sign. They were offended by a church message that many people would deem “intolerant” and raised objections to what they considered to be an offense against Islam.

While I am not here to defend this or any particular sign, I find it very interesting that Islam needed to be defended by those who were not Islam, that it was offensive to those who did not believe in this religion that another religion might "challenge" this faith. Well, news to me. For about a half a century now, Christianity has been portrayed in the poorest of light in the news media, TV, and movies yet I do not recall any non-Christian running to defend the Christians against this offense. But I digress. I do not want to open the door to the slights against Christianity that no one has bothered to notice, much less defend.

The point in this all is how those who are offended take the offense. For Christians it has been largely a quiet long suffering of abuse from those who neither understand nor respect Christian faith and practice. From the ridicule over the the nearly unanimous stance of Christians pro-life to the quickness to parade in public the sins of Christian leaders, the Church has stood by in quiet strength against those who defamed us. We did not organize hit men or women. We did not rally a cry to holy war against our accusers. We did not threaten the lives of those who spoke disparagingly of our faith, of our churches, and of our piety.

To be sure there were crazies whose self-proclaimed Christian faith was used as justification for murder or mayhem but did any Christian churches rally to them or their cause? No, there was uniform condemnation for the man who murdered an abortion doctor in Wichita and for other extreme acts of violence. Never once did Christians offer support for or condone in any way the threat or action against those who disagree with us.

Islam has many qualities that may be attractive to Christians -- a strong discipline of prayer, a deep respect for and adherence to worship and practice of the faith, and a high regard for clerics as well as a general heeding of their words and counsel. Most Pastors (no matter what their church tradition) would be happy if their people prayed rigorously five times daily, worshiped with diligence and faithfulness, and heard and heeded their sermons and teaching.

Islam is an evangelistic faith -- like Christianity -- except that its evangelism is tinged with fear and with the embrace of this faith comes the call not to be passive or quiet against those who would defame Islam. Christianity attempts to win people through the proclamation of the Word of God and the actions of love and charity in Jesus' name. As much as we Christians believe that faith is essential for living out this life and for possessing the life which is to come, we do not convert under threat. Now someone is always sure to raise the issue of the Crusades and a few other dark moments in Christian history but Christians were not the only aggressors there and this violence has been roundly condemned as not only wrong headed but sinful.

Yet Islam is a faith that includes a violent side. Moderate Islamic people choose not to follow the clear dictum's of their Qur'an. The only fault we can make against those whom we consider to be extremists or fanatics is that they follow the words of their holy book to the letter. As one author put it:

"the Qur'an contains at least 109 verses that call Muslims to war with nonbelievers. Some are quite graphic, with commands to chop off heads and fingers and kill infidels wherever they may be hiding. Muslims who do not join the fight are called 'hypocrites' and warned that Allah will send them to Hell if they do not join the slaughter.

These verses are mostly open-ended, meaning that the historical context is not embedded within the surrounding text (as are nearly all of the Old Testament verses of violence). They are part of the eternal, unchanging word of Allah, and just as relevant or subjective as anything else in the Qur'an.

Unfortunately, there are very few verses of tolerance and peace to abrogate or even balance out the many that call for nonbelievers to be fought and subdued until they either accept humiliation, convert to Islam, or are killed. This proclivity toward violence - and Muhammad's own martial legacy - has left a trail of blood and tears across world history."

Let me quote just a few: Qur'an (2:216) - "Fighting is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knoweth, and ye know not."

Qur'an (3:151) - "Soon shall We cast terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers, for that they joined companions with Allah, for which He had sent no authority".

Qur'an (4:95) - "Not equal are those believers who sit (at home) and receive no hurt, and those who strive and fight in the cause of Allah with their goods and their persons. Allah hath granted a grade higher to those who strive and fight with their goods and persons than to those who sit (at home). Unto all (in Faith) Hath Allah promised good: But those who strive and fight Hath He distinguished above those who sit (at home) by a special reward,-"

Qur'an (9:29) - "Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued." [People of the Book means Christians]

My point is this... Why is it that the culture is more concerned about offense given to one religion than that given to another? And why is it that a religion which advocates praying for your enemies is put on equal stature with one that advocates killing your enemies? I am no expert in Islam and do not advocate hate except hate for sin. I am not a huge fan of the five word sermons that appear on church sign boards (though I too am guilty of some of them). But in this case I find it hard to find where the signboard of this one particular church is so offensive... except that the truth always offends (Law) before it can amend (Gospel)...

Good People... Good Intentions... Peer Pressure

By the way... this window to the left is the means of grace window of Grace Lutheran Church, Clarksville, TN, and at 8 feet in diameter it shines over the altar to challenge us to believe in this Word and Sacrament every Sunday...

I continue to be impressed by the good people of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. We may not show this goodness in visible ways but I have met hundreds of Pastors and thousands upon thousands of lay folks over my 30 years as a Pastor and there are few whom I would classify as bad eggs. Of course, I have disagreed with many, had arguments with many, and been angry at many but I believe their hearts are genuinely desirous of what is good for our Church. I have spent the weekend with some 700 people in our church body and this goodness has been reaffirmed over and over again.

That said, I wonder why it is that as Lutherans struggle so with confidence in our confessional identity and evangelical catholic practice. I think part of it is the culture of our ethnic heritage (as Garrison Keillor jokes about Lutheran timidity and penchant for downsizing). Some of it is that we attend conferences and meetings with those who do not shy from trumpeting their horns and we, who have been too well taught to keep silent and not to trust in our works, don't have anything to say in response. This subtle peer pressure means that we always tend to believe they are more effective than we are.

But there is more... and that is that our methods are not glamorous or self-serving -- our methods are Christ's methods -- the Word and the Sacraments. We do not control these, we do not update these to meet the times, we do not transform these to make them more successful... all we do is trust in them... that when we speak His Word, His Spirit works to accomplish the purpose for which He sends it... that when we apply water in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that water kills and gives life, destroys and gives new birth to one who wears Christ's righteousness, and bears the mark of belonging to the Lamb (not to mention his/her name is written in the Book of Life... that when we set apart bread and wine according to His Word, heaven's meal is glimpsed and tasted and the food we need most of all is given to us today "for the forgiveness of sins" and as the fellowship meal of those who belong to His Body, the Church. What is required of us is trust... trust in the means of grace... trust in Christ...

What we need to do as Lutherans is to trust in the means of grace -- not to look for better ideas or methods from those who do not share this confidence in the efficacy of the Word and Sacraments. What we need to do as Lutherans is to place these means of grace center stage in all we are and in all we do. Pastors need to lift up the Word and Sacraments over and over again until the people of God hear it and hold on to it as the life-giving hope and promise of God that will not abandon them or leave them as orphans in our world of terror, sin, and death. What we need to do as Lutheran congregations is to pour enough resources into the Sunday morning experience of the Word and Sacrament that good music serves this Word, good architecture and art draws our visual attention to this Word, good common sense directs how we make our way through the hymnal (especially for those new to us), good welcome is given to those who walk through our doors new to our churches, good preparation is given to making sure that the fullest resources of the liturgy and hymns are woven together into a seamless fabric of ordinary, pericope, sermon, and service, and good motivation is given to those in the pews to invite people, share the Gospel with people, love their neighbors, and care for the poor and needy in Christ's name...

I believe that the overwhelming majority of Pastors and parishes have a good heart in the Lord and for the Lord... but what we lack is confidence in the means of grace... the kind of confidence that will enable us to shift our dollars and time from the pursuit of methods and paradigms and programs of others into the pastoral and congregational ministry rooted in, shaped by, and directed back to the means of grace... We need to resist the temptation to look over into the neighbor's yard as our library of resources and we need to resist the peer pressure of those who hold similar positions in non-Lutheran churches. Can we learn from others, of course, BUT... what we learn must be filtered through the Lutheran lens of Word and Sacrament, Law and Gospel, Confessional and catholic identity, faithful and evangelical practice that reflects this faith and trust in Christ and in His means of grace.... Well... enough pontificating for one morning...

Lutheran Angst and Self-Guilt

I just sat through another meeting in which we Lutherans paid a non-Lutheran (Northern Baptist, in this case) to showcase what they are doing right and we are doing wrong. He was powerful and persuasive, witty and humorous, passionate and confident. All the things, apparently, we are not. So we paid him to address a plenary gathering and then we paid him even more to address a small group (the people most likely to purchase his books). It is not that his words were completely worthless or that we should not listen to those outside our tradition. It was that much of what he said is directly opposed to who we are and what we say.

The purpose of the Church... according to him, our Lord established the Church to make disciples to change the world... according to Lutherans, He established the Church to proclaim the Gospel so that the Holy Spirit might work faith in the hearts of the hearers and that they might be brought from death to life and in particularly to life eternal, through the suffering, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ that has accomplished the forgiveness of sins and the redemption of our lost lives.

The purpose of worship... according to him, worship is not the end but merely the means to an end; that worship is nothing more or less than a program or tool in the overall quest of making disciples.... according to Lutherans, worship is the high and holy cause and purpose for which we are saved (see the Athanasian Creed)... whoever would be saved must confess the catholic faith and the catholic faith is that we worship the Trinity in unity. . . and so on. . .

The work of God in the sacraments... according to him, his church kills people by drowning them in immersion and we Lutherans send them through a car wash... according to Lutherans, our Lord does kill and make alive in baptism, imparts to us the Holy Spirit and all the gifts won for us by the life-giving death and life-bestowing resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, connecting us to Jesus Christ in a sacramental way so that we can say with Paul that we have died with Christ and rose with Him to new and newness of life...

These are just three things I recall from his plenary address and I took no notes.... I could probably come up with more...

My point is... yes Lutherans have congregations that need "revitalizing" but the how to on this will not do from the perspective of those who do not believe in Word and Sacrament and the efficacious Word of the Gospel. We do not need to be instructed by those whose methods are antithetical to our very Confession of Faith. We need to revitalize congregations who have lost their sense of purpose or become inwardly focused but surely we are not so lacking of people and programs that we cannot use Lutheran means to this end -- building upon the strengths in our Confessions and our identity to accomplish this salutary task.

Why are we as Lutherans so darn filled with self-doubt, with angst and guilt, that we would abandon who we are in order to adopt methods that will surely lead us away from our Confessions and our Confessional identity? Do we have no talents or sage individuals to help us meet the needs of our church body without selling our souls to others?

I listened to our Synodical President raise the challenge before us of stewardship to finance the mission, passion to accomplish the mission, and program resources to equip us to do the mission but instead of our Confessions or our Lutheran teachers of old (or of today) or even Scripture, we hear of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Bill Borden (nothing to fear but fear itself, and no restrictions, no retreats, no regrets). When I asked him a question following his Q & A session (which had time for only four questions), I asked about the growing practice of starting missions in the LCMS which eschew the name Lutheran and do minimal teaching about their Lutheran identity (something established Lutheran congregations are even doing). He responded about how he was old fashioned and he thought it was not a bad things to emphasize Lutheran identity but he surely understood that they were making this "sacrifice" in order to accomplish a greater good (soul winning). So I guess this is neither an endorsement or a condemnation but an admission that this practice will continue.

I truly believe that the folks who spoke were well intentioned, that they have a heart for the Church and the work of God's kingdom -- just as nearly everyone who sat in the room listening to them. But I also believe that we are truly misguided in our search for success when we leave behind our Lutheran identity, when we do not turn to our Confessions for guides in this pursuit, and when we fail to capitalize (or even mention) the Lutheran strengths of Law and Gospel, Word and Sacrament, catholic and evangelical identity. I too want the Church to grow but I do not see how adopting the methods of or listening to people who do not understand or even ridicule our Confessional identity will help us do anything but become more and more like these people (also well intentioned and passionate) and less and less like the Lutherans we are -- unless, perhaps, that is what we want to do...

Going to Church Does Not Make You A Christian

Having heard it again, from a well meaning individual, it is time to look at this statement again. Going to Church does not make you a Christian. Okay, I get what is being said but not going to Church does not make you a Christian either. If neither going to Church nor not going to Church makes you a Christian, I would hold that at least going to Church has the potential to make you a Christian. For where two or three are gathered (a liturgical statement from our Lord referring to the two or three who are gathered around His Word and Sacraments), there is Christ among them and where Christ is, the Holy Spirit, and where the Holy Spirit, the means to breaking through the hardened shell of our human heart and prompting within us the faith that trusts in Jesus Christ. Simply going to Church does not make you a Christian but going to Church places you in the context of the means of grace (the life giving Word and life bestowing Sacraments) which are the means through which God works to call, gather, enlighten and sanctify His Church and those individually who are members of it.

I know that there are those wooden blocks who sit in the pews and whose hearts and minds are closed to the Holy Spirit and the means of grace through which the Spirit works. I do not know who they are but I know they are there. Not going to Church is not going to assist the Spirit in breaking through to them. In fact, I have known people who have told me they came to Church to satisfy a mom or dad or husband or wife or because it was the thing to do on Sunday morning and the Lord slowly and surely built within them faith until all of a sudden they realized that they believed. And it happened because they were in Church where the Word and Sacraments of the Lord were.

There are people who are legitimately prevented from being in the Lord's House on the Lord's Day or any other day and not being in the Lord's House does not keep them from reading His Word, from praying, and from the joyful acknowledgment of all that Lord has done for them through His Son Jesus Christ. I know soldiers in my parish whose deployments kept them from the gathering around the Word and Table of the Lord with their fellow believers. Of course God did not leave them alone nor abandon them, but they would affirm that this condition is not only NOT optimum for their life and strength of their faith, it was a struggle to maintain their faith and hope under conditions of loneliness, stress, and threat. They were thankful to return to a place where they could be together with the Lord and His people once again. In many cases it was a joy reflected in tears and peace that was overwhelming.

Lets be careful to say what we mean. Not being able to be in the meeting together of the Lord's people as He intends does not mean we are alone or apart from His gracious love and mercy, but being together in the Lord's House and not neglecting this opportunity and gift IS the intention of God for all Christians and every Christian.

Being in Church and not being in Church are not equal options. When by good reason we are prevented from being in Church, we can feed on Christ by faith in our heart... But every other occasion it is the intention of the Lord that we feed on Christ in His body and blood given to us in His Holy Supper and together hear the Word that has the power to keep its promises and do what it proclaims...

We Believe vs I Believe

Originally the creed that left Nicea and Constantinople read we believe... At some point in its liturgical use, it changed from plural to singular (I believe). Luther had it both ways -- plural in the sung creed and singular when spoken. Apparently the Latin was singular prior to the Novus Ordo of Vatican II when it became, again, plural. Now a new English translation, more closely aligned with the Latin, is returning to the singular (at least by my occasional visits to Roman Catholic liturgical blogs. Before LSB had it singular (actually, the repetition of the creed from Lutheran Worship 1982, it explored a plural verb (We believe). Knowing that it was going to be a change, I went ahead and rehearsed the plural and the change from Christian to catholic so that we would not judge the new book simply by this proposed change. Some did not like it. Others found it not so different. Most went along with whatever.

I have come to appreciate the "We believe" of the creed more and more. Now I know all those out there who insist you cannot confess for others and how a creed is spoken as an individual's confession of faith. Certainly we keep the Apostles' Creed singular because of the way that creed functions in Baptism as the faith confessed of those to be baptized. But I want to explore a different attitude toward the creed entirely.

I like "We believe" because it reminds us that faith is not an individual matter. The creed (even Apostles') is never distinctly personal or individual. No one of us writes the creed confessed or owns its confession as an individual. The creed belongs to the Church. When we confess any creed we place ourselves into submission under the Church who created and passed down that creed as the faithful confession of what the Apostles taught and Scripture teaches. This is no "I believe for every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows" but the I believe of one who is being initiated into the Church through the waters of baptism and as part of that initiation expresses submission to the faith by taking the faithful and orthodox creed and owning it as his or her own.

The Protestants among us always define faith individually and I know whereof they come... but as much as each one of us believes for himself or herself, our faith is learned from the Church, our Mother, who imparts to her children the constitutive knowledge of the faith... the Trinitarian Confession. We believe for ourselves as individuals but we confess this faith as children of the Church, our Mother, who was established by Christ and who endures to the end without being overcome by the assaults and arrows of the enemy. Hell's gates cannot overcome her. She belongs to Christ. The Church is not some utilitarian arrangement for those who need help from others. Christ established His Church to be His holy Bride, equipped her with all the treasures that she may radiate His grace to the world, and He protects and defends her to eternal life.

Remember when Jesus speaks of how oft He had wanted to gather the children of Israel under His wing as a mother hen gathers her chicks? Well, just how does Jesus do this today? How does He gather us lost and wounded, marked by death? How does He do this? Through His Church! Where He has placed His Word and His Sacraments, where His ministers stand and speak in His place the life-giving Word of the Gospel, and where His people find their voice under the prompting of the Spirit to say and sing their AMEN to all that He has done. His Church mothers us with His grace with the treasures of His riches that He has entrusted to her care -- the sacred mysterion (word, water, bread, and wine).

When we stand together and speak together "We believe" is it a subtle yet real acknowledgement of our place within this blessed fellowship as children of God. When we pray, we pray "Our Father" even when we pray alone. When we confess, it is our own voice that speak but the words we speak are given to us to say -- the wonderful confession whose first forms predated much of the New Testament and whose words were renewed in Council to answer the heretic and silence the doubting. Whoever would be saved must confess... not what is formed in their feelings or the thoughts are given birth in their minds... no, whoever would be saved must confess the catholic faith and the catholic faith is this... We believe...

What I am saying is not an argument from history or practice but from the essence of the relationship we have to the Church in which the Holy Spirit works to continue to call, gather, enlighten, and sanctify each of us and all of us together. Luther had this high sense of the Church == reflected in the conservative nature of his Reformation. Calvin, Zwingli, and the other radical reformers were much bolder when it came to dismantling the sense of Church or transforming it from that Mother who give us life to an organization of rules and laws and minimum requirements.

When the Lutheran Confessions speak of Church and Ministry, of unity and fellowship, of liturgy and preaching -- it is within this sense of the one, the holy, catholic, and the apostolic Church. This Church exists not for her own glory but to glorify her Lord, soon to be her husband in the marriage supper of the Lamb for all eternity. This Church has the authority of Him who has chosen her -- His Word and His Sacraments, the means of grace. This Church instructs us in the faith and calls us to rightful submission when we would speak of what the faith is -- exchanging the freedom to speak as we might to speak the words that were first others before they were ours... This we believe. . .

The Nerve of Some People

In days gone by when little children heard stories of the mission fields from the missionaries who told their story at Mission Festival (the hottest day of the summer, two services divided by a sumptuous meal or all day at church), we fancied up images of deepest darkest wherever, of half naked pagans only hours away from their last missionary as a meal, heads shrinking in the vat of magic fluid, and spears or little darts marked with terrible poison.... well, I digress...

My point is that at one point in time the civilized, Christian society saw the heathen in these far away continents as the ones who needed to hear what we needed to tell. Generations of missionaries and mission work went forth from America and Europe, too. Like children who are to be seen but not heard, we were not interested in what these people had to say, only that they would listen to us. And listen they did.

They listened and they told others around them what they heard, until the numbers of Christians exploded. The once familiar image of a Lutheran as tall, blond haired, blue eyed, and fair skinned is soon to be replaced by dark skin, dark eyes, and tastes that definitely do not run to sauerkraut and lutefisk. They listened and they believed the Word that was told to them. They took to heart the teaching and they ordered their churches with churchly offices like Bishop. They manifested the heart of Jesus in care for those no one cared for and set up orphanages and schools and hospitals. They learned how to think with the Christian mind and approached issues and problems as we had taught them through the light of God's Word.

Now they speak back to us what we taught them -- but most of us do not want to listen. To a secular Europe from whom missionaries once came, they speak of re-evangelizing Europe and call for faith to be born again among the very people who helped give it birth in Africa and Asia. To a liberal and doubting European Christianity, they speak of revitalizing church attendance, of Bible study, of reintegrating Scripture into their world view now dominated by raw scientific truth and humanistic expression. To a culture inebriated with sensuality and in search of license for their excess, they speak of morality and of self-control, of responsibility and accountability.

Now they speak back to us what we taught them -- but most of us do not want to listen. To an America still in love with consumerism, they call for equity and justice, for raising up the cause of the poor and needy before self, of loving neighbor enough to give up privilege. To an America so enamored with the individual, with individual freedoms and choice, they speak community and order, of relationship and responsibility. To an America where truth is personal and personally defined, they speak objective truth in the Word that is yesterday, today, and forever the same. To an America in which sexuality dominates nearly everything, they speak of modesty and decency, of morality that does not change, of chastity outside of marriage and of marriage that is man and woman.

Now they speak back to us what we taught them -- but most of us do not want to listen. When the come to visit us they bring mitres and copes and staffs and we stand there in our polos and khakis and sandals, texting while they talk and tweeting while they pray. They bring up our ancient creeds and our Confessions but we are more interested in technology and cutting edge ministry, in powerpoints than needlepoints, of music that flows from our tastes instead of music that serves the Word and speaks the Gospel. They are liturgical without being formalistic and we are formalistic in our anti-liturgical desire.

I am thankful for those Anglicans in Africa and Asia who may be the hope for Anglicanism if the children of those who sent those missionaries will listen to the children who came to faith because of those missionaries... I am thankful for those Methodists in Asia and Africa whose very numbers have become an anchor upon the deathward drift of Methodism into the oblivion of a crossless Christ and a Christless hope... I am thankful for those Lutherans in Africa and Asia who have the nerve to tell the ELCA they were wrong to adopt and embrace homosexuality and who have the nerve to tell the LCMS that they need to make friends and come to the Table of the Lord with people throughout the world who share their faith but look and sound different.

I am thankful for those faithful missionaries who learned no new paradigms but proclaimed the cross and empty tomb in word and action, believing that this Word is efficacious and God will bring to fruition the seeds they sowed. I am thankful for the hearts of my grandparents and parents who listened to those missionaries at those Mission Festivals and who raised one day offerings of sacrificial giving to make sure their work went on. I am thankful for those children who were born on the mission fields and still chose church work vocations because their heroes were their parents and the noblest task the work they did to bring Christ to the nations.

I am thankful for the nerve of those, many still dependent upon our dime, to speak to us words we may not want to hear but must... and I pray that we will listen... in Europe, in Scandanavia, in Lutherland of Germany, in Canada, and in America. Lord, help us to hear from them the Word we once taught them...

O Spirit, who didst once restore
Thy Church that (she) it may be again
The bringer of good news to men
Breathe on thy cloven Church once more,
That in these gray and latter days
There may be men whose life is praise,
Each life a high doxology
To Father, Son, and unto thee. Amen

How We Define Ourselves

The truth is that we define ourselves in relation to something or someone else. As a child I grew up defining myself in relation to my parents and extended family. People knew me by my relation to my mother, father, grandparents, and other family members whom they knew. I would introduce myself as the son of my father and mother. Now I often introduce myself to some as "Amy's husband" when they know my wife or as "Joseph's, Andrew's or Rachel's Dad" when they know my children.

I define myself in relation to what I do. One of the first things we do when we meet is say what it is that we do -- our vocation defines us. I am a Pastor... I am a nurse... I work for Trane... I am retired... Sometimes we define ourselves in relation to where we live... the list of things that we use to define ourselves can go on and on.

Increasingly in our culture, what defines us is our sexuality. The labels of straight, gay, lesbian, bi, transgendered, etc., have become the things that most capture who we are. Where other relationships may come and go (my relation to my parents or children or spouse or even work), our sexual identity is seen as the thing endures. Who can forget when Governor Jim McGreevey announced "I am a gay American." After being husband, father, politician, and Governor, what he chose to define himself was his sexuality.

All of these relationships that we use to define us are incapable of giving to us the identity that we need and long for -- the one identity which is planted and rooted in eternity and does not change even as we do change. That relationship is our relationship to God. Yet we cannot relate to God until and unless He chooses to relate first to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. The great longing within us to know who we are and to define us as individuals and our place within the great creation are ultimately dependent upon God's first action to reach out to us.

The great travesty of sin is that it has become a condition upon our nature that renders us -- dare I say it -- sub-human, less than we were created to be. Yes it has marked us with death but the death that is the worst is the death of our identity and place within the great creation that sin caused. We have tried to repair this missing element in our lives by defining ourselves in relation to many people and things but none of these answers our need or satisfies our longing.

When Augustine said that his soul would not rest until it rested in Thee, he was echoing this aching quest to know who I am and my place within all that is around me. We want to know who we are and we choose many paths to answer this question yet none of these answers can satisfy our longing until we are able to see ourselves in relation to God our Creator.

Our relation to God our Creator cannot be explored until God bridges the gap sin has created and comes to us in the fullness of humanity through His Son. He must meet us on the soil of our sub-humanity in order to repair the breech, restore what was lost to us, and give us what we want and need most of all -- identity and place.

I am sure that I read where C. S. Lewis said something about sexuality replacing our quest for God, when religion and faith are no longer the focus of our identities, we are left only with our sexuality and our sensuality. I listened to an Orthodox priest who said we cannot accept "human nature as an independent thing, as somehow: 'I am whole and complete in myself, and I only lack supernatural grace.' That is not the Orthodox view. The Orthodox view is: 'I am now abnormal. In my fallen humanity, I am not my full self. There’s a sense of sub-humanity in my humanity.'"

The priest went on to say: "I find it very interesting in modern life, people define themselves with aspects of what they like. They define themselves sexually or they define themselves professionally. It’s only some aspect of man, but not the whole and complete man. And I think that’s what destroys politics. You have interest groups that are trying to find meaning where there is no meaning, and they’re giving themselves this kind of existential meaning by saying: 'I’m homosexual. I’m heterosexual. I’m a professional. I’m a blue collar. I’m an immigrant. I’m a native,' or whatever or however you want to define it. These things are all attempts to get by the essential fact that you are nothing until you’re with Christ."

This is what the Church comes to proclaim -- not a better life today, not finding happiness, not figuring out how to have a better marriage or be better parents, not how to have more sex or better sex, not how to be more popular or more well liked, not to have more things or get ahead financially, no! None of these things can satisfy the longing within or answer the questions that matter of who I am and where is my place? Only Christ. When we begin defining ourselves in relation to Christ -- to the person we were made to be in the waters of baptism, the person who lives not by sight but by faith, the person for whom God sets an honored place at His Table when we deserve not even crumbs.... then we will know contentment and peace that passes understanding.

It is not that all these other ways to define ourselves are so terribly evil (as son or parent, for example) but they are deficient. They cannot give to me the identity I need, the one that was lost to me when a simple act of choice on the part of my first parents stole from me what should have been my birthright. Now, in the new birth of baptism, I receive what was supposed to be mine from the beginning -- my identity planted and rooted in God my Creator as the gift of Jesus my Redeemer through the Spirit who teaches me to know this and trust in this grace. This is who I am... now... no matter what life brings me or does not... and who I am eternally because of Jesus' resurrection.