"The Bible is a story which takes us from Nekros to Sozo"
I've been blessed to have Pastors that are among the most learned teachers of Christ on the planet and am picking up some Hebrew and Greek Lexicons on the way. For many Christians, salvation mean going to Heaven instead of going to Hell. Nekros, means dead, or as my pastors would have it, road kill. Sozo, on the other hand, means salvation, in terms of making one whole and complete - spiritually, mentally, and physically. Christ has blessed the whole man not only in our after earthly life but also here and now.
“Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.” Psalms 29:2
A sure way to make worship meaningless is to include recognition rites. Is this rite seeking to please Him, or ourselves? Is this rite worshiping God in reverence and awe, or creating an at-a-boy atmosphere exalting man? The focus should always be on the glorious and gracious acts of God. I heard the arguments and will leave the apology for the practice to those who wish to hail the good works of men, with their grinning face, swaggering to the front (altar?) to receive their accolades, in the less than divine service. No, God is not present and tapping His toes, in the vain and tainted worship, where reverence is replaced by the presumptuous tradition of man. To worship God in the splendor of holiness is to deliberately set your heart and mind in prayers of adoration: thanksgiving and praise. If we have this high and reverent view of God, then the view of ourselves will be profoundly humble.
“for behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone.12 The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land” Song of Solomon 2
How fitting for this to appear on my desk calendar on the first day of spring. As Pastor Genig once said, something to the effect that, “its still February and the cold harsh winter is still upon us”. Like winter, the harsh world cast upon infants who do not realize we are reconciled and remain troubled from a deep sense of the guilt of sin and afraid of the wrath of God. As Spring time comes upon us the flowers begin to bloom at the most receptive time to hear what God has done. And realize we can come to before Him Crucified.
Christ in Everyone (possible?)
I was stunned the first time I heard Christ is in everyone. How is this possible? Christ is only in the believer, right? Well, just look in the mirror, do you see an “alter Christus”? It is difficult to find the Christ that is in us let alone someone else. I think about the sowing of seeds and how sad it is for so many, that Christ is hidden and lies like a dormant seed. I appreciate that our Pastors have alter our focus on how we are to awaken and nurture the seed that is in ourselves and in one another, and that there are consequences if we allow it to stay dormant. I love John 1, The Word Became Flesh and 2 Corinthians 6, The Temple of the Living God in the context of Christ is in everyone. I think it becomes easier, as we mature and love and forgive as Christ did, to be able so say, "The Christ in me beholds the Christ in you."
Music and the Lutheran Mass
The Worship of God is done in spirit and truth, this involves at least three reverent behaviors: bowing to God, in so doing we acknowledge his sovereignty and signify our loving and faithful obedience; glorifying God by praising Him; and drawing near to God in adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication. Singing is an important part of worship. We see that heavenly worship is expressed in singing and music (Revelation 5:8-9; 14:3; 15:3-4). In fact, we are to sing to God and make music (Isaiah 12:5; Psalms 33:2-3; Ephesians. 5:19; Colossians 3:16). The worship of God, and the music of worship, should exemplify the best the worshipper can do. There should a great difference between musical blessings that entertain men and when heaven comes down to earth and earth is raised to heaven. We join with the angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, forever praising and singing, ‘Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory, Hosanna in the highest.’
"Married Couples are Icons of the Church "
On the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost on the 2009th year of our Lord, I hear these Gospel words given out to the broken, and was astonished at the enormous theological weight of this statement. It literally says that the sacramental union manifests the present of God Himself in the world. When children of the church are joined as one in marriage, they enter the mystery of the Trinity together in their call to holiness, in a new and unique way. As living icons, the visual Gospel, painted by the Holy Spirit: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” Ephesians 5:25-27.
In this world we can hope to know only the church in her present aspect, hated by her foes, betrayed by false sons within her pale, sore oppressed by the vast number of evil persons in her membership, rent asunder by schisms, distressed by heresies, weeping amid the toil and tribulation and tumult of her warfare. To want to know any other kind of church is presumption, a hankering after a theologia gloriae instead of the theologia crucis that is our earthly lot. -- A. C. Piepkorn, *The Church* p. 49
Yet despite our shortcomings, God comes to us with Grace. May we recognize our worth comes from Christ Jesus alone. All is good; we beggars still have the Eucharist.
Our Lady's virginity during the birth is an essential part of the dogmatic pronouncement of Pope Martin I in 649 A.D., and has always been understood in the Church as it was understood by the Fathers' famous image, "As light passes through glass without harming the glass, so too Jesus left the womb of Mary in a miraculous manner without any opening of the womb and without any physical violation of her virginity." The Catechism of the Council of Trent also confirms that Mary gave birth without labor pains, as labor pains were the effect of the Fall, and the sinless Virgin would not suffer any effects of original sin.
Christ's Hour
The theme of Christ’s hour runs as a thread throughout the Gospel of John. During the wedding feast of Cana, Jesus says to his mother that his hour has not yet come (John 2:4) and does not shed light on what this hour is or when it will come. At the well, He says to the Samaritan woman that the hour is coming when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth (4:21–23). Speaking to a crowd in Jerusalem, He says the hour is coming when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and live (5:25). Finally, in John 12, Jesus enters Jerusalem during Holy Week and announces that His hour is finally here. "The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified" (Jn. 12:23). And Jesus proceeds to tell us in verse 24 that this hour is all about His sacrificial self-giving love on the Cross.
The hour of Jesus brings about the defeat of the devil. Jesus Himself says will happen in His hour: "Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the ruler of this world be cast out; and I, when, I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself. He said this to show by what death he was to die.” (Jn. 12:31–33)
Fasting
Saint Augustine (354 - 430)
“Fasting cleanses the soul, raises the mind, subjects one’s flesh to the spirit, renders the heart contrite and humble, scatters the clouds of concupiscence, quenches the fire of lust, and kindles the true light of chastity. Enter again into yourself.”- Sermon, On Prayer and Fasting, LXXII
Fasting makes us aware of what we’re really hunger for. May we fill our hearts with a hunger and thirst for God.
