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Higher History

Concord #9: Augsburg Confession (The Church)

the christian church

Article 7: The Church

If you went to 1333 Kirkwood Ave. in St. Louis, Missouri, you would find the international headquarters of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. If you went to Vatican City in Italy, you might find the Pope, who is the head of the Roman Catholic Church. But in neither case would you find the Church, properly speaking. Sure, some people may use the word “church” to describe earthly organizations of Christians, but that’s not what the Church truly is.

The Church is not something that can be seen. It’s not a person, or a class of people, or a business office. The Church is an article of faith. “Also they teach that one holy Church is to continue forever. The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered,” (Augsburg Confession VII.1).

The Church is the congregation of saints. It’s the sum total of all believers everywhere, who are gathered here and there throughout the world. This congregation, however, is not a group of like-minded individuals who find that they have something in common and decide to get together and make a church. They are gathered. Passive. The Church is called, gathered, enlightened, and sanctified by the Spirit. That’s why the Church is always where the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered. They are the Spirit’s instruments.

Even though the Church cannot be seen in any earthly institution, it can be perceived by the means of grace. The preaching of God’s Word, Baptism, and the Supper are called the marks of the Church—they mark where it can be found. Because the Church is defined thusly, this is sufficient for the true unity of the Church. “And to the true unity of the Church it is enough to agree concerning the doctrine of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments. Nor is it necessary that human traditions, that is, rites or ceremonies, instituted by men, should be everywhere alike. As Paul says: One faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all, etc. Eph. 4:5-6,” (Augsburg Confession VII.2-4).

Human traditions do not define the Church, but good human traditions will always extol and point to those things that mark the Church, namely, the preaching of the Gospel and the Sacraments. Traditions that point elsewhere, or worse, deny the instruments of the Spirit, should be tossed.

We confess that the one holy Church is to continue forever. Not only will the Church never perish in this world, but it will extend into the world that is to come, when our Lord Jesus Christ returns on the Last Day.

You can read the Book of Concord at http://www.bookofconcord.org

 

“Concord” is a weekly study of the Lutheran Confessions, where we will take up a topic from the Book of Concord and reflect on what we believe, teach, and confess in the Lutheran Church. The purpose of this series is to deepen readers’ knowledge and appreciation for the confessions of the Lutheran Church, and to unite them “with one heart” to confess the teachings of Holy Scripture.

Rev. Jacob Ehrhard serves as pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in New Haven, MO.

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As Lutheran As It Gets Higher History

54: John Mason Neale – Sing, My Tongue, the Glorious Battle

This week, Pastors Gillespie and Riley discuss Neale’s translation of Fortunatus’ hymn, prayer, the two kingdoms, right and left-handed power, and the importance of a “catholic” confession of the Christian faith.

Text: “Sing, My Tongue, the Glorious Battle,” Fortunatus, tr. John Mason Neale

Listen: 

Show Notes:

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Please rate and review the show in Apple Podcasts, via https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/as-lutheran-as-it-gets/id1288159643?mt=2.

And as always, don’t forget Pr. Gillespie’s coffee for your caffeinated needs.

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Lectionary Meditations

And the Rock was Christ – A Meditation upon Exodus 17:1-7

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“You shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” – Exodus 17:6

Poor Moses. Hardly out of Egypt in the Exodus, and even with plagues and the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, the grumbling kicks in. It kicks in so badly that Moses is worried that he is going to be stoned to death. There’s no water.

The solution is simple. The LORD commands Moses to strike the rock, and then water will come, and people will drink. Very simple and straightforward. God provides for His people, even in the midst of their grumbling. However, St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 10 notes that “the Rock was Christ.”

 

There is no life apart from Christ Jesus. He is the way, the truth, and the life. And just as those folks would have died of thirst in the wilderness without the LORD intervening, so too we would die, we would cease to exist without Jesus giving us life. This is true physically, but also spiritually.

Christ Jesus, the Rock, would be struck. A spear would pierce His side when He was on the cross, and from Him flowed water – not a water to drink but a water to be washed in. Your faith, your everlasting life flows from Christ Jesus, and without His Word, His Spirit, His gifts of Baptism, your faith would dry up. Christ Jesus is the Rock that provides life for you.

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Christ on Campus

Let It Go: Your Identity in Christ Trumps Your GPA

Article PDF | Bible Study PDF | Leader’s Guide PDF

Ramona Tausz

Chances are, if you’re a Christian youth, you’re also a student. From grade school, to high school, to college, youth spend the first big chunk of their lives undergoing formal education. That period of time can get even bigger when you factor in graduate school, law school, or seminary. In short, “school” is a constant presence in young people’s lives. We exist in an academic world of grades, test scores, and exams. For years, our whole lives revolve around getting a great ACT score, being accepted to the best colleges, and maintaining a stellar GPA. And yet, our performance in this academic life and “world” that we live in has virtually no bearing on our eternal home and the life of the world to come.

The trouble is, we so often don’t act in light of this. Our salvation has been won and we’ve been declared perfect by Jesus Christ. We already have the “one thing needful,” yet the world we live in tells us we still need to prove ourselves through our academic success. Don’t get me wrong—being a student is a God-given vocation, and thus we are called to fulfill this vocation faithfully as a means of honoring God’s gifts to us and serving our neighbor in the world. But like any of God’s gifts, we tend to pervert them and turn something good into bad. Going overboard in your vocation as student can easily become idolatry.

Christian youth today hear a lot about how their true identity is not in their clothes, their body image, their popularity, alcohol, or drugs. But for many youth, is it not a much more common temptation to find identity and fulfillment in academic performance? We tend to look at scholastic achievements and ambition as purely good, but as sinful human beings, we can twist even the positive accomplishments of the worthy vocation of student.

I was always a dedicated student, but when I began my freshman year of college, this focus took a turn for the worse. At college, my sinful nature, with its tendency to idolize academics, was more evident than ever. I became obsessed with getting perfect grades and was constantly comparing myself to other students. My own academic performance became everything to me. I started slaving away at my books until the early hours of the morning, and barely slept—abusing my body as a temple of the Holy Spirit and disregarding God’s gift of health and rest. I made God’s blessings of learning and education into merely a means to my own glory. I stopped doing things purely for the sake of truth and my fellow man and instead did activities and assignments as a means to give myself accomplishments and build up my resume. Everything—even God’s Word, worship, and serving my neighbor—played second fiddle to the all-consuming focus of myself and my academic accolades. I started ignoring the other vocations God had given me as daughter, granddaughter, sister, and friend by rarely talking to my friends, calling my family, or even serving or communicating with my campus neighbors and dorm-mates.

Of course, my tendencies haven’t miraculously stopped now that I am a sophomore. I will live with my sinful nature all my life, but I take comfort in the daily drowning of the Old Adam “by daily contrition and repentance…that a new man should daily emerge and arise” has helped me to continually repent of my idolatry and live in Christ’s forgiveness (SC IV).

Perhaps your obsession with academics hasn’t reached the extent of my idolatry. Perhaps it doesn’t seem that bad compared to other addictions. But don’t be fooled. Looking to anything other than God for fulfillment and identity is as damning as Baal worship. Repent of idolatry, even if it is only a slight tendency, and keep repenting. Say with St. Paul, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6:14 ESV). Sin doesn’t just disappear; while we are on earth, our old Adam continually battles our new man. Fortunately, however, our identity is no longer completely wrapped up in this old man. Neither is it found in our ACT score, our GPA, or any other sign of academic achievement.

Rather, our identity is found entirely outside ourselves, in Jesus Christ. We are no longer a mere number, such as a test score, but rather baptized children of God with our identity in Christ. As St. Paul writes, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). We are defined not by our own glory and the things we do ourselves, but in Christ and what He did for us. When God looks at us, He doesn’t see us at all, but rather His precious Son. Your value is found not in grades or academic achievements, but in the price paid for you in pint after pint of Jesus’ holy precious blood and innocent suffering and death.

My freshman year in college was self-inflicted hell-on-earth: I relied on myself for success and thus had to drown again and again in failure and despair. I could never find peace and happiness and rest when I was trying to find fulfillment alone. True comfort and happiness can only come when Christ is our fulfillment.

Take comfort in the Gospel and look no longer for your identity in academics. Rather, look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross. Give thanks always for God’s gift of education, but also for the greater gift of His Son’s death on the cross.

 

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Higher Homilies

Bread-of-Life Jesus

This sermon was preached at Thursday Matins at the 2016 Bread of Life conferences in Nashville, TN and Fort Collins, CO.

Rev. Aaron Fenker

“What’s God done for ME?” It’s an honest question, and maybe we’ve asked that from time to time. “Well, God, what have you done for me lately?” Bread-of-Life Jesus gives us the right answer to that question. What has God done for you? Well, God’s done everything for your salvation in Jesus.

That’s not enough
Yeah, well, that’s not enough. That’s how we act! We’re like the Israelites. Salvation’s not enough! “Yes, we’ve been rescued from slavery in Egypt. Yes, Pharaoh and his army were destroyed—drowned dead in the Red Sea. But we’re hungry!” “Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we had meat to the full…” “When the LORD heard, he was full of wrath…his anger rose against Israel, because they did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power.” The Jews were still like them, and like us.

“We want more food!” Jesus calls them and you out: “You are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” “Yes, I’ve been rescued from the slavery sin; yes, the devil’s been drowned in the waters of Baptism; yes, I’m part of God’s holy people, but I want more!” We want Jesus to be a vending-machine God. From a better grade to a spot on the team; from more popularity to more money; from a better phone to getting us out of jam:

“What do I have to do to get God to do what I need Him to do! What sort of prayer do I need to say, what good work do I have to do, to get what I want?” “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” What indeed? What indeed?

It’s really more than enough—and more!
Well, Bread-of-Life Jesus sets the record straight. Thanks be to God He does! Thanks be to God that “the works of God” don’t have anything to do with you at all! “God’s works” have everything to do with God working…FOR YOU! That’s what Jesus means when He says, “This is God’s Work: you believe in the One He sent.” You believe in Jesus because God worked faith within you. You don’t have to do anything—not even muster up enough belief within yourself. In Holy Baptism He gave you faith. In Absolution He forgives your sins of wanting a have-it-your-way-at-Burger-King Jesus. All that’s forgiven. Now and forever. In the Word He sustains your faith. In the Lord’s Supper He strengthens you in body and soul unto life everlasting. These are all “God’s works” FOR YOU. All because Jesus is the Bread of Life FOR YOU. He is the Bread from heaven that gives life to the world by giving His life for the world—you too! “Body and blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins” Then on Calvary. But Bread-of-Life Jesus isn’t done yet. Risen from the dead, He delivers His life to the World: “Body and blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins” Now in His Supper. What Bread-of-Life Jesus has and gives never runs out: “Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

What’s God done for you? Well, what’s Bread-of-Life Jesus done for you? EVERYTHING! Died for you. Rose for you. Salvation forever for you. What have all the things we want really done for us? What can they do for us? Nothing. Not when you die. Bread-of-Life Jesus will raise you from the dead on the Last Day.

There’s not one thing you do for it. Nothing you can do! Not even your eating and drinking do it! “How can bodily eating do such great things?” Only because Bread-of-Life Jesus is true to His promises. Body and blood for you. Bread of Life for you. “Whoever believes these words has exactly what they say: ‘forgiveness of sins.'”

And “where there’s forgiveness of sins, there’s also life and salvation.” And that, my friends, is ALL that God’s done FOR YOU. All Jesus working FOR YOU.

 

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Pop. Culture & the Arts

José y Maria

Rev. Bror Erickson

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. – Luke 2:7 (ESV)

In 2014, the graphic novelist, Everette Patterson, of Portland Oregon decided to do a Christmas card in the vein of the graphic novel pioneer Will Eisner, “who so often depicted, with religious reverence, noble individuals enduring the many minor discomforts and petty indignities of urban America.”

The result was a very untraditional nativity scene, perhaps on first blush, looking almost blasphemous, but more accurately depicting the true nature of the story than the typical nativity scene nowadays. The true story just wasn’t as nice as we make it out to be in children’s Christmas pageants.

In his Gospel, Luke hints at the indignities suffered by the Holy Family when he writes that there was “no room for them in the inn.” Despite the twisting and hoop jumping of modern scholars who want to say that the inn was the last place Mary and Joseph would like to be, and that the grotto with the barn animals was preferred, the text itself indicates otherwise. Luke would not have mentioned the inn, if that weren’t the preferred place to be. But the text doesn’t say there was no room. The text says there was no room for them. And this is the cause for a little head scratching. How is it that Joseph can’t find hospitable lodging for him and his pregnant wife in his home town? No uncles, or brothers? Why should he have to knock on the door of the inn in the first place? And do we really think the whole country side was so anxious to pay their taxes that the small inconsequential town a half an hour walk away from Jerusalem had absolutely no vacancies? Why would not one of these Middle Easterners so famed for their hospitality allow the young family to share quarters?

The answer is consequences. A whole village intent on making sure there were consequences for the improprieties of this young woman. Joseph taking her in rather than divorcing her or having her stoned was not doing “the right thing” according to these people. His response was corrosive to the moral fabric of the whole nation by sparing this young woman the consequences of her (apparent) actions. So there would be no room for them in the inn, lest their own daughters should be given wild ideas.

It would be just the beginning of the indignities Jesus would suffer at the hands of the sinners He came to die for — indignities that would culminate in crucifixion. And that is what Everette depicts for us with this wildly popular scene full of hidden innuendos. (Look all over the picture to find details from the Nativity story in Luke’s Gospel. How many can you find?) A modern-day Joseph and Mary, using the last pay phone in town, trying to find shelter across the street from the sort of motel that conjures images of Jesse Pinkman getting a root beer for Wendy from jailed vending machines. It’s a dark world and the only hope is the shoot from Jesse’s stem breaking through the concrete. A shoot that thirty some years later would be a tree bearing the fruit of life so that all of us would escape the consequences of our own indignities shared in failing to see Christ himself in the least of these.

 

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Lectionary Meditations

A Bit Too Much Glory – A Meditation on Exodus 34:29-35

Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God – Exodus 34:29

The children of Israel had messed up. Royally. Moses had been on Sinai getting the ten commandments and the law, but they decided to make a golden calf. Idol Worship at the holy mountain is a big mistake. It is so bad that God even suggests that He not go with them “lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff necked people.” (Ex. 33:6)

But Moses interceded for the people, and asked that God continue to be with them and to be their God. And so God called Moses up to Sinai again a second time, and the Commandments and Law are given again. And the people wait. They wait knowing that the last time they had to wait for Moses, they messed up drastically.

Then Moses comes down the mountain… and his face is glowing. And the people are terrified. Of course they are! The last time Moses came down the mountain there was death and destruction, and now his face is glowing. And so Moses does a kind thing. After he is done talking with them, he wears a veil. It keeps the children of Israel from getting too freaked out, too aware of their sin and shame so that they become paralyzed. It was too much glory for them to deal with.

Sinful man cannot handle even the reflection of the presence of God. It points out our sin, our lack, too clearly. Moses wore the veil so that the children of Israel could handle him being around. Likewise, the Word became flesh so that He would be able to dwell among us in a way that we could handle without fear or terror. Jesus rarely lets His glory shine forth fully – and when He does people are terrified. Instead, the True God comes to us as True Man, so that He can be with us. Even today, Jesus gives us forgiveness and life not through fear-inducing glory bombs, but through simple things. Water and His Word. Bread and Wine now Body and Blood. Things that we can handle – the wonder and majesty hidden for our good and for our sake.

Because Jesus wants to be your God, and so He will come to you in a way that you can handle, even until that day when He comes again and you are raised from the dead and can enjoy His unveiled and unbridled presence for all eternity. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen.

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Catechesis

Not as the World Gives

by Jonathan Kohlmeier

This world isn’t very peaceful is it? You are always hearing about hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, earthquakes, flooding and other natural disasters. The news is plagued with stories of tragic accidents, homicides, suicides, rape, or the constant slandering of public officials. Just viewing the world from the outside can show that it is not a peaceful place. In fact, all the evil may even lead one to become extremely depressed.

But it doesn’t stop there, does it? The violent attacks of sin, death and the devil don’t just stay “out there;” they hit close to home. You don’t do as well as you know you should in school. Your boyfriend or girlfriend breaks up with you. Your parents go through an ugly divorce. A friend is killed in a car accident. You lose your own house to a natural disaster. You finally get up the courage to ask that special girl out – only to be turned down. You cry when you find out that the guy who you have liked for as long as you can remember changes his Facebook relationship status to “In a relationship.” That peace thing… it seems like a distant memory, if not some old fairy tale. How can there possibly be any peace in a world like this?

Depressed. That’s where it leaves us; in a dark hole that we have no hope of ever getting out of. Hopeless. Depressed with no reason left to go on.

“Now, wait a second Jon. That can’t be right. We’re still going on, sometimes even with a little happiness in our lives.”

Unfortunately, that IS all the world offers to you. That’s all you can achieve on your own. Left to yourself, you are just “going on,” but empty and void of peace.

But, there is hope! You are baptized!

Christ says in Matthew 11, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” His yoke is easy and His burden light because He bares them for you! He takes all the evil and sin of the world onto Himself and leaves you with rest and peace. And in John 14 his promise of peace is heard, “Peace I leave with you; My Peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

The above passages are two of the recommended readings for the Order of Compline (LSB p.253), a beautiful prayer service for use at the close of the day. An overriding theme is peace, both throughout the night and at the end of our lives. In fact the first line is, “The Lord Almighty grant us a quiet night and peace at the last. Amen.” Psalm 4, which is historically chanted during Compline, ends by saying, “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”

This sure peace that we are given comes from the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was first given to you at your baptism! You are washed clean of all sin! The devil has no power over you! You are no longer of this world! You are of Christ! Therefore you have hope and you have that peace of God which passes all human understanding.

This sure peace is granted to you in Holy Absolution. Those sins that you have committed in thought, word and deed by no fault but your own have been pardoned, forgiven and absolved. The full price was paid by Christ’s Death.

This sure peace is granted to you at the Lord’s Supper. That peace enters your mouth in the Body and Blood of Christ in, with, and under the bread and the wine. It is given to you for the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life. Not some forgiveness and everlasting life to come later; but In Christ you have forgiveness and everlasting life now!

Now violence, depression and death will always be a part of this world. But, you are baptized! You have hope and peace even amidst all the evil of this world. You can repeat another of the readings from Compline in full confidence. “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

“Guide us waking O Lord, and guard us sleeping,

that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep we may rest in peace. Amen.”

Pax Christi.

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Catechesis

A Heart that Sees

by The Rev. Jonathan Naumann

As we recently contemplated during Christmastime, the Gospel of St. John says, “[Christ] was in the world, . . . the world did not recognize Him” (John 1:10). Unfortunately, even when Jesus walked the earth in human form, many people failed to “see God”.   Also today, it is a sad reality that many people do not understand God’s plan  of salvation properly.

In his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul was inspired to write:   “I pray . . . that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:18).

God’s Word tells us that the ability to see with the heart comes from God who pours into our hearts the gift of faith. And an instrument God’s Holy Spirit uses to accomplish that is the Bible. “Faith comes by hearing the word of God” (Romans 10:17).

To encourage our faith, Holy Scripture gives us examples of human beings who had “hearts that see”. Remember Simeon and Anna, a righteous and devout pair who were among the first in Jerusalem to recognize that Jesus was the Messiah even while He was still a baby.  We are told that they waited patiently year after year for the consolation of Israel and the redemption of Jerusalem. Simeon and Anna had been seeing their Savior, through faith, for years.  On that very special day, however, when He was brought as an infant to the temple, they saw Him with their eyes.

True seeing takes place in the heart – through faith.  Faith in our hearts can see further than our physical surroundings.  Faith can see all the way through this life to the eternal promises of God.  That precious gift of “inner sight” – our faith – which we receive from God, produces a hope that works for today!  It works for us in the real world of pain and problems, struggle and mess, in which we must live and function.

That heaven-sent hope says, with the voice of God, “Remember, you are holy and blameless in my sight.”  (Ephesians 1:4) Knowing that God sees us with a heart of love gives us all the reassurance we need to make it through today.  When He gives us the faith to believe it, we see with our heart that He loves and forgives us.  For when God looks at you and me with His heart, He always looks at us in mercy, for the sake of His Son, Jesus Christ.  If God were to look at us the other way, through His Law rather than His Gospel, it would be better for us NOT to be found!

Epiphany reminds us again to look with our hearts:  to “look where your treasure is – for there will your heart be also” (Luke 12:34).  The Magi saw a star in the sky, but their hearts saw a new born king, so they ventured on a long journey to a foreign country (Matthew 2:1-2).  Shepherds saw angels in a starry sky, but their hearts saw the fulfillment of a long awaited promise.  Two new parents saw midnight feedings, sleepless nights, and diapers, but their hearts saw Immanuel – “God with us”.

Today we can think of beliefs and objects of faith that cannot be seen but are nonetheless true:  We can’t see Baptism’s water and Word washing away sin and breaking the hold of the devil; we can’t see the old Adam die and the new Adam arise; we can’t see the body and blood in, with, and under the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper.  We can’t see God with us always; we can’t see Jesus carrying our sins and defeating the Devil.  We can’t see the Holy Spirit giving the gift of faith and interceding with sighs too deep for words. We can’t see heaven’s angels protecting and defending.  Yet all these things are true.  God is doing His work, according to His Word.

Though our physical eyes don’t see, we Christians believe these promises from God.  We know they are true because He is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”  Yes, thanks be to God!  He has given us a spiritual vision, – a “heart that sees.”

Categories
Catechesis

Catechism: The Table of Duties: Parents and Children

by Rev. William C. Cwirla

From the moment of our birth, God places us in an order. We have a father and a mother who have begotten and birthed us. Even if we have been adopted or have stepfathers or mothers, God has set us into the holy order of a household as children under the authority of our parents.

This is the very heart of the 4th commandment. ” Honor your father and your mother.” Out of fear and love of God we should not despise or anger our fathers and mothers, but honor them, serve and obey them, love and cherish them. Father and mother are God’s deputies; they share a verb normally reserved for the Lord alone: to honor. Their rules are God’s law for us. This is why the apostle Paul warns fathers not to exasperate their children. Don’t frustrate them with endless, useless rules, which will only make them worse and teach them to despise God’s Law.

Rather parents, with fathers at the head, are to bring up their children in the nurture and instruction of the Lord. This begins with bringing their child to Baptism, where the life of being a disciple of Jesus begins. It means bringing the kids to church, teaching them how to sit still in the pews, how to use the hymnal, how to hear and speak and sing with your fellow believers. It means involving the children in devotions at home, teaching them the Scriptures and the catechism, confessing and forgiving each other, and training them to live as God’s free and forgiven children.

Parents are for our blessing, even though it may not always seem that way, especially when we as children don’t get what we want. They protect us, provide for us, nurture us, and mentor us into adulthood. The apostle Paul reminds us that this commandment is the first one that contains a promise: “…that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”

While obedience to parents doesn’t necessarily increase your life span, life does tend to go a lot better when you live at peace within the order God places you. You don’t get into trouble with your teachers. You don’t run afoul of the government and wind up in jail. You aren’t a nuisance to your neighbors. In short, you become a good citizen, member of the household, and congregation member.

Our problem is that we have this old Adam, our inborn “brat” who doesn’t want to be under anyone’s authority and even despises father and mother. Our old Adam is why we act up at home and in school, why we don’t help with the dishes or clean our rooms or come home at the appointed hour or don’t listen with respect to our parents. The Old Adam is why we resent their place in our lives. God’s order of the household is intended to reign in that old brat of ours.

Like the Law itself, parents are a curb, a mirror, and a guide. They curb the effects of sin with curfews, rules, and expectations. They show us where we have fallen short of the glory of God and how we have failed to live up to standards. They guide and instruct us into adulthood, apprenticing us, and teaching us by example. This literally kills our old brat, Adam, and that’s precisely what’s supposed to happen. Daily we die to sin; daily we rise to new life in Christ, until we attain full maturity in Christ (Ephesians 4).

The evangelist St. Luke tells us that Jesus, as a 12-year-old young man, was obedient to his parents, Mary and Joseph, and lived under their authority in Nazareth (Luke 2). Imagine that. The Son of God in the flesh, the second Person of the eternal holy Trinity, lived in the household of Mary and Joseph under their authority and was obedient to them. He did this for us and for our salvation. He did this to redeem our broken homes by His obedience, suffering and death. He became the obedient child for us all, so that in Him, our lives might again be ordered as God’s children, and we would receive the gift of an ordered household as God’s good and gracious gift to us.

Where sin has disrupted the holy order between parent and child, Christ brings forgiveness and reconciliation. Where we have sinned against one another, confess to one another and forgive one another as you have been forgiven in Jesus.

Gracious Father, bless our homes with ordered peace. Bless fathers and mothers in their holy vocations of raising their children in Your nurture and instruction. Bless children in their vocations as they apprentice to adulthood and train to form their own households. Bring healing and forgiveness to homes that are broken by sin, and turn the hearts of parents to their children and children to their parents, for the sake of Your Son, our Savior, Jesus. Amen.

Rev. William M. Cwirla is the pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Hacienda Heights, California.