tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post8859130544108748191..comments2024-03-29T09:20:16.581-05:00Comments on Pastoral Meanderings: To drink His cup... and enter His baptism...Pastor Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-48576774403005954262012-04-04T16:06:31.002-05:002012-04-04T16:06:31.002-05:00Keeping our eyes on Jesus is not general at all. I...Keeping our eyes on Jesus is not general at all. It is as specific as being in His Word, participating in confession and absolution, and being faithful in the Eucharist.<br /><br />WWJD almost presumes that Jesus might have several options before him and we have to guess which one he would choose. Jesus always chooses the right and the right is clearly disclosed in his Word.<br /><br />No?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-28331197633445692932012-03-31T13:46:53.013-05:002012-03-31T13:46:53.013-05:00Dear Pastor Peters: Here is what Scripture says in...Dear Pastor Peters: Here is what Scripture says in answer to your first question:<br /><br />John 7: 37 On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, 38 and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, "Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water.' " 39 Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.<br /><br />John 14: 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.<br /> <br />Please note especially our Lord’s careful use of words, “He abides with you” and “He will be in you.” In John 14 He does not abide in them, but He will abide in them. I cannot tell you precisely what it means that the Holy Spirit “abides with you” but it is different from “will be in you.” The latter is what Scripture claims is the gift every believer receives. With few exceptions, in the Old Testament the Holy Spirit is spoken of mostly as “being with”.<br /><br />On Easter Day our Lord gave the Apostles the gift of the Holy Spirit, to “be in them.” Their names were written in the book of life before the world was created, Matthew 25: 34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, "Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;…” What is the problem with that? That at some point they were unbelievers and did not have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them? No problem. It is the same with each one of us, but we don’t have our names written in the Book of Life only after conversion.<br /><br />I cannot quantify the ease of temptation either before or after conversion. But my point is that at the time when the comparison was made, they did not have “the full armor of God”, but we do. Moreover we have the fullness of God, in the Person of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, Who intercedes for us. So we are not alone in our temptation.<br /><br />“Keeping our eyes on Jesus” is a very general admonition. On the other hand, apparently not everyone favors the “What would Jesus do” concept. So how are we to translate this “keeping our eyes on Jesus” into practice? I am not sure precisely what it means. But I do know what God says to us in His Word because of the Holy Spirit Who dwells in each of His children, and I do know that He strengthens us against temptation through prayer, hearing of His Word, and by eating and drinking His Body and Blood, and possibly in a variety of other ways we are not even aware of.<br /><br />Peace and Joy!<br />George A. MarquartAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-52061945569358048962012-03-31T13:06:52.147-05:002012-03-31T13:06:52.147-05:00George,
I am not sure what to say. Do you mean th...George,<br /><br />I am not sure what to say. Do you mean that the disciples had no Spirit prior to Pentecost? So then what did it mean when Jesus breathed on them the Holy Spirit right after Easter (John's Gospel). What about Peters whose confession is claimed not to come from him but from above? Or that their names were written in the book of life? Of that the Spirit abided in them John 14.<br /><br />George, the disciples were just as easily confused to the purpose of God after Pentecost -- consider the Council at Jerusalem.<br /><br />Are we not as easily tempted by the glory of the moment as were James and John?<br /><br />I meant only that as soon as we take our eyes off of Jesus, we end up in the murky areas in which God and His purposes are confused to us.Pastor Petershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-24861525769102696552012-03-30T20:30:49.366-05:002012-03-30T20:30:49.366-05:00“The disciples did not get it….
… What about us?...“The disciples did not get it….<br /><br /> … What about us?”<br /><br />I have lost count of the many times I have heard this homiletic device, and it makes me sick each time I hear it. It is used because there is no meaningful doctrine of the Holy Spirit in the Lutheran Church. <br /><br />The Disciples did not “get it” because nobody could “get it” without the Holy Spirit. They could not help it; therefore they should not be faulted. Our Lord could fault them, because He is perfect. We can fault them if it is our own achievement when we “get it.” The Disciples only received the Holy Spirit when our Lord breathed on them on the day of His resurrection. After that they began to understand, but they only understood fully when they were given that special, Apostolic gift on Pentecost. <br /><br />We should not compare the Apostles before the Resurrection to ourselves, because they did not have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, and we do.<br /><br />We should not compare the Apostles after Pentecost to ourselves, because they received a unique gift at Pentecost, which qualified them to have their names engraved into the foundation of the New Jerusalem.<br /><br />They were like ourselves for the 50 days between the Resurrection and Pentecost, except that they had seen the Lord face to face and had been taught by Him.<br /><br />Peace and Joy!<br />George A. MarquartAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-19821946486980453902012-03-29T20:31:18.789-05:002012-03-29T20:31:18.789-05:00As long as Lutherans keep finding "reasons&qu...As long as Lutherans keep finding "reasons", trumped up as they are, to ignore and/or remove the feast days associated with the Blessed Virgin, then the more ignorance will prevail in Lutheran congregations and the lesser chance there will be of finding Mary restored to her proper place in the context of the faith.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06200319733737651773noreply@blogger.com