Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

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Almost every Sunday morning for a very long time, we have begun the Divine Service with these or very similar words, "We begin by recalling our baptism where we have been made children of God, which makes us brothers and sisters with one another." Our baptism puts us into a unique relationship with God. He is our Father and we are His children. And therefore, our baptism also puts us into a unique relationship with all the baptized. Having the same Father, we are brothers and sisters with each other.

To say the same thing just a bit differently, through Holy Baptism we are brought into a vertical relationship with the Triune God. United to Christ, who is the Son of God, He becomes our Brother, and we share in His Sonship with the Father as sons of daughters of God. As sons and daughters of God, we are brought into a horizontal relationship with one another as siblings in Christ.

Now what this means is that as baptized children of God, you're part of a family and you have brothers and sisters, not only sitting right here in this room with you, but all over the world, most of whom you have never met, and who look a lot different than you, may have a different color skin than you do and speak a different language than you. In fact, most of these brothers and sisters of yours, you will only meet for the first time in heaven. (more…)

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Jesus wanted to get away from the demands of the crowds so that He could spend some 'quality time' with His disciples. It wasn't easy to escape the paparazzi that followed Him. Most wanted Him to perform for them – a miracle, an exorcism, make wine, make bread. And there were the religious nuts who wanted to debate and argue the finer points of theology with Him.

Don't take this the wrong way. It's not that He couldn't handle all of this. Had the whole world lined up at the door, He would have taken the time to heal each and every one of them and cast out every demon in them and answered every trick question thrown at Him. But this is not why He came into the world. Each and every one whom He miraculously healed would still die in their sins. For every demon he cast out, a legion more were ready to move in and repossess. No matter how many arguments He won, there would be no end to the reasons men and women can come up with to deny His claim to be the way, the truth and the life.

Jesus came into the world to redeem the world and to make all things new. And you don't do that by treating the symptoms, which is all that the crowds were hoping for from Him. And maybe that's as much as you're hoping for from Jesus too. (more…)

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Speech is a powerful thing. What you can do with your mouth is more powerful than what you do with your hands. If you want to hurt someone, the tongue is much more effective than the fist is. If you want to apologize to someone, all the flowers in the world won't accomplish what two little like, 'I'm sorry' can do.

How many parents try to tell their children that they love them with toys and every gizmo going? And how many children long to hear just three little words from their parents, "I love you."

Words are not just words. Words are powerful. And they can do powerful things, for better or for worse. Words can help and they can hurt. They can build up and they can tear down. By way of illustration, words are like the bit in a horses' mouth. They have the power to control others. The tongue is like a rudder on a ship. The words we speak can steer individuals, groups, even whole nations, congregations, even whole church bodies in one direction or another. (more…)

Todd Wilken interviews Molly Hemmingway who is a columnist for Christianity Today about the understanding of parenting as Christian Vocation. This is a wonderful discussion with many practical and encouraging things to say to all parents, even those whose children have moved out of the house.

Click here to go directly to Issues Etc. for a broad range of discussion on some great topics concerning the life of faith from a truly Lutheran perspective. Click on either of the "Subscribe" buttons for a complete listing of programs you can download. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED LISTENING!

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James says, "Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." If that sounds too theological and doctrinaire for you, then here's an example that might help bring it down to earth. "If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warm and filled,' without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?"

I'm becoming more and more convinced that the life of faith is not really about going and looking for people who need your help. The Lord sends them to you. The life of faith is about being spiritually perceptive enough to regard everything that comes to us each day, as from the Lord. I'm beginning to suspect that we go looking for people to help only because we don't really want to help the people whom the Lord has put right in front of us. He sends people to us with needs, because we have what they need. He's given us what they need so that we can help them.

So what good is it when we say, "God bless you," without giving them the things they need? "What good is that?" In fact, when you look at it like that, maybe we can understand why James goes so far as to say, "Can that faith save you?" (James 2:17-18). So maybe you'd preferred keeping this more theological and doctrinaire after all. (more…)