tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post7883948426965435228..comments2024-03-27T15:47:46.091-05:00Comments on Pastoral Meanderings: Are You Being Served?Pastor Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-70350438227772254562010-12-07T12:00:55.013-06:002010-12-07T12:00:55.013-06:00It’s those darn people, isn’t it, always getting t...It’s those darn people, isn’t it, always getting things wrong? Nothing that comes in contact with people remains perfect (laypeople, pastors, theologians, doctors of the Church). I could quote at least a dozen passages from Scripture to prove this axiom, but limitations of space prohibit me from doing so. If you don’t agree with it, don’t bother reading any further. <br /><br />Is there anything seriously wrong in our Church with the proclamation of the Word (the Gospel is the criterion according to our Confessions) and the Sacraments? I believe there is:<br /><br />1. Our Lord spent about 3 years proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and in Luke 4:43 claimed that He was sent for this purpose. Yet we in the Lutheran Church do not have a Doctrine of the Kingdom. Unfortunately, he whom I respect as the greatest theologian of modern times, Dr. Martin Luther, did not get it quite right in his explanation of the 2nd Petition of the Lord’s Prayer. The Kingdom does not come to us bit by bit; according to Colossians 1: 13, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, …” Luther here and elsewhere confused the Kingdom with Sanctification. In the Defense of the Augsburg Confession, Articles VII and VIII: Of the Church we read, “ 16 …Besides, the Church is the kingdom of Christ, distinguished from the kingdom of the devil.” Our Lord wanted to be sure that after He had accomplished His awesome work on Calvary, His people would have a place apart from the world. In other words, after we become Christians, we spend the rest of our lives and eternity in His Kingdom. Therefore, “He opened the Kingdom to all believers.” Our people know very little about this.<br /><br />2. The Lutheran Church does not have a Doctrine of the Holy Spirit (Sasse wrote it before me). He is the One Who has come to dwell in His people as the “down-payment” or “earnest money” for our redemption. He is God the Holy Spirit. Yet we hear and read from respected Lutheran pastors and scholars that the Holy Spirit “leaks out of us”, that we can receive “refills” of the Holy Spirit, and that He fills us during the Lord’s Supper. But in spite of the fact that there is not a single verse in Scripture that supports these views, nobody is upset.<br /><br />3. The interpretation of “discerning the body” in 1Cor. 11:29 has denied to many the gift our Lord intended for them. I am a firm believer in the real presence, but this verse has been perverted to hide the worse horror of not respecting God’s people. Our Confessions never use this verse as it is interpreted today. I would really be interested to know who the first person was to do so – it had to be within the last hundred years or so. <br /><br />Between “quia” confessors and Scriptural inerrancy we have created a climate which discourages us from looking to see whether we have gone wrong anywhere. We should not have “itchy” ears and criticize everything in sight. But we should also not sit back and think nothing could go wrong as long as we believe Scripture is inerrant and we subscribe to the Confessions. We have to examine the substance of things.<br /><br />Peace and Joy!<br />George A. MarquartAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-13898541808194015802010-12-07T11:55:51.465-06:002010-12-07T11:55:51.465-06:00"Do your best to present yourself to
God as o..."Do your best to present yourself to<br />God as one approved, a worker who has<br />no need to be ashamed, rightly<br />handling the word of truth."<br />2 Timothy 2:15 (ESV)<br /><br />As preachers our real audience is God<br />Himself. We do not want to bring<br />shame on ourselves by our inept<br />handling of His Word.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-27506443899382603692010-12-07T10:45:55.404-06:002010-12-07T10:45:55.404-06:00"Is the Word proclaimed faithfully?"
It ..."Is the Word proclaimed faithfully?"<br />It is vital to the spiritual health<br />of a parish that the pastor PREPARE<br />faithfully before he can proclaim<br />the Word faithfully. The sermon is<br />not meant to be delivered with<br />minimum preparation. The faithful<br />pastor will spend large portions of<br />uninterrupted time in grasping the<br />message of the text in his study of<br />the Word. Then he needs to write it<br />out in coherent language of law and<br />gospel for his hearers. If there <br />is no meaningful content in a <br />sermon the parish will starve.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-27303724293578093322010-12-07T09:10:17.506-06:002010-12-07T09:10:17.506-06:00"Let us all agree, that if congregations and ..."Let us all agree, that if congregations and the Church as a whole are going to be evaluated, it needs to be on the basis of faithfulness"<br /><br /><b>If we know the Word, yet do not obey the Word, we are no different from those who do not believe the Word.</b>ErnestOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13077415409728022160noreply@blogger.com