tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post3236683781477962507..comments2024-03-27T15:47:46.091-05:00Comments on Pastoral Meanderings: No need of God. . .Pastor Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-91722321603274739152019-02-09T10:29:16.168-06:002019-02-09T10:29:16.168-06:00Dear Anonymous: I believe that, “so that you may ...Dear Anonymous: I believe that, “so that you may not grieve” says that we should not grieve. The “without hope” simple defines “the others” or “the rest.” You may wish to consult a Greek scholar, but I believe that he or she would tell you that “grieving” and “without hope” have no grammatical relationship to one another.<br />More importantly, you write, “Did not Jesus weep at the death of Lazarus?” Because our human nature cannot comprehend the Gospel, we assume that whatever Jesus did, He did for the same reason we would. Read the whole story, beginning with John 11. Is there any indication that Jesus is concerned about the passing of Lazarus? No, he waits until He is sure Lazarus is dead. Before He wept, and after He wept, twice we are told that He was greatly disturbed (and deeply moved, verse 33). If you look up the Greek text (and you can do that on the Internet without being a Greek scholar), you will find that the Greek words mean that our Lord was irritated and even angry. The reason for that is given in verse 33, “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her, also weeping, He was greatly disturbed…” After Jesus wept, we are told, verse 36, “So the Jews said, ‘See how He loved him!” In John’s Gospel the witness of “the Jews” is most often not true, but false. Therefore, I assert that our Lord did not mourn because Lazarus had died. Knowing that He would resurrect Lazarus in a few minutes, why should He suddenly mourn, when Scripture gives us no indication that He mourned at any time during the several days before He wept? No, He wept because He was about to return Lazarus from Paradise to this vale of tears. You need to understand that mourning is fundamentally a selfish act; we mourn because we feel the loss, we feel sorry for ourselves. We know that our salvation could not have been accomplished if our Lord had committed one selfish act. This is made crystal clear in the words of our Lord about His own death, when just a few days after raising Lazarus, He said, John 14:28, “If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father ….” Not mourn, but rejoice! We cannot understand this by reason, as we can understand the Law, but only by God’s revelation to us, through the Holy Spirit, Who dwells in each Christian, of the precious, life-giving Gospel.<br />Yes, we are still in the world, but not of the world. If battling sin, weakness and temptation is the main part of our spiritual lives, we are wasting a lot of energy on ourselves (as if these could earn us salvation), and ignoring our Lord’s New Command, that we love one another as He loved us. Those to whom our Lord says, Matthew 25:34, “Come, you that are blessed by My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…” were those who fed, gave to drink, clothed, cared for and visited “the least of His bretheren.” <br />Peace and Joy!<br />George A. Marquart<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-5672510467203446982019-02-09T07:16:33.186-06:002019-02-09T07:16:33.186-06:00Mr. Marquart
You wrote Why do so many pastors try...Mr. Marquart<br /><br />You wrote Why do so many pastors try to tell us that we should “mourn as those who have hope,” when the text clearly tells us we should not mourn?<br /><br />That is NOT what the text says at all. It does not say no mourning but no mourning without hope. Death is for us the final enemy to be overcome and though we know the outcome, what awaits on the other side of the door, that does NOT mean that the door is a happy thing to go through for the dying or those who mourn. Did not Jesus weep at the death of Lazarus? You so often write as those we were not still in this world, not still battling sin in our bodies, not still facing weakness and temptation, not still facing death and the grave. We live in the broken world and we die -- not the eternal death most to be feared but death from which we must await the Savior to raise us up from the grave, bestow upon us a new and glorious body, and deliver us to life everlasting and the great reunion with those who died before us. You are a strange one and although I never comment, I could not help myself but wonder why you write as if it were all so cut and dried and we need no repentance from our sins still sinned or tears in the face of grief or loss.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-53916581084027885072019-02-08T09:09:28.522-06:002019-02-08T09:09:28.522-06:00You'r think. But then the ELCA cozies up to e...You'r think. But then the ELCA cozies up to everyone but confessional Lutherans so, that is how it goes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-14393515191163300892019-02-07T21:48:48.426-06:002019-02-07T21:48:48.426-06:00Pastor Peters wrote:
"If death is a big deal...Pastor Peters wrote:<br /><br />"If death is a big deal, then we need a real Savior, God in flesh, to rescue and redeem us from the death that was the side dish in our buffet of choice in which we were gods being served up nothing less than our desires."<br /><br />Buffet of choice? How then, can the leader of the Roman Catholic Church choose to sign a "Statement of Interfaith Brotherhood" with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb declaring that the diversity of religions "is willed by God?" The Muslims believe that Jesus was merely a significant human prophet and not God. How then, after the Pope signs the Interfaith Agreement, can the Roman Catholic church continue to teach that there is no salvation apart from the saving grace of Jesus the Son of God.<br /><br />http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/the-pope-and-islams-most-important-imam-just-signed-a-covenant-that-pushes-us-much-closer-to-a-one-world-religion<br /><br />Wouldn't it make more sense for Rome to admit that the Council of Trent was a mistake than to cozy up to Islam?<br /><br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-39281584610865233802019-02-07T19:19:36.681-06:002019-02-07T19:19:36.681-06:00Can you yearn for home without liking death?Can you yearn for home without liking death?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-84604533872548886532019-02-07T15:05:15.615-06:002019-02-07T15:05:15.615-06:00Dear Rev. Peters: you wrote, “So the last thing t...Dear Rev. Peters: you wrote, “So the last thing the Church ought to do is make nice with death and treat it as if it were not such a bad thing, even normal and often welcome, and leave God to the sidelines as we content ourselves with the story of the life of the dead and a few hearty laughs at their expense.”<br />It is a false dilemma to pit welcoming death against leaving God to the sidelines. Is it not necessary for the faithful pilgrim to yearn for home, while giving God the highest honors? Is it, in fact possible for the faithful pilgrim not to yearn for home while giving God the highest honor?<br />Here are a few verses from Scripture, that treat death “as if it is not such a bad thing, even normal and often welcome”:<br />Ecclesiastes 7:1, A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth.<br />Isaiah 57: 1The righteous perish, <br />and no one takes it to heart; <br />devout men are swept away, <br />with none considering <br />that the righteous are guided <br />from the presence of evil. <br />2Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; <br />they find rest, lying down in death. <br /><br />Psalm 116:15: Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.<br /><br />2 Samuel 12:22 He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ 23 But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”<br />Philippians 1:21For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. 23But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; 24yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.<br />1 Corinthians 15: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true:<br />55 “Where, O death, is your victory?<br /> Where, O death, is your sting?”<br />56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.<br />1 Thessalonians 4:13, But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. (Why do so many pastors try to tell us that we should “mourn as those who have hope,” when the text clearly tells us we should not mourn?)<br />And finally, the words of our Lord, John 14:28, “If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father ….”<br />Peace and Joy!<br />George A. Marquart<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-35042328461003257762019-02-07T13:50:29.443-06:002019-02-07T13:50:29.443-06:00"The Celebration of Life" was an inventi..."The Celebration of Life" was an invention by the Funeral Home<br />industry to remain relevant. Obviously, the Christian would<br />want their funeral service in a church. However, the non-Christian<br />had no place to go but the funeral home. So the Funeral Home<br />Industry took advantage of modern technology and made slide shows<br />available that highlighted the deceased's life. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com