Bishop Eaton’s Mistake

By Pastor Marshall

The Presiding Bishop of the ELCA, Elizabeth Eaton, attenuates the Gospel when she says that God doesn’t have to be “appeased” in order to set us free from our “murderous rebellion” (Living Lutheran, October 2018). But in Martin Luther’s 1544 sermon on John 3 he says just that: “Because there was no other counsel or remedy through any creature in heaven or earth to appease His eternal wrath at sin and to redeem from eternal death, the only Son of God had to take our place and become a sacrifice for our sin, through which God’s wrath would be appeased and satisfaction would be made” (Luther’s Works 78:50). This sermon fills out Luther’s Small Catechism (1529) and tells the whole truth about salvation. This is the “richer and fuller understanding” that the Small Catechism asks for in its Preface — something which Bishop Eaton has left out of her coverage of the Small Catechism.

KARL BARTH

100TH ANNIVERSARY

His Romans Commentary of 1918

“If only [the Church] would not so grimly struggle to live. It can hear and proclaim the Word of God – if, without any pretensions of becoming great through the Word, and without any anxiety for the morrow, it would care only for the Truth of the Word…. If the Church were sufficiently humble to… endure patiently the sneers of the rationalists;… if it were courageous enough to keep its eyes fixed upon its own theme, to abandon all striving after, attaining, and boasting about, visible goals and successes;… if only it would bring forth good and pious people – that most obstinate species of the human genus! – by persistently and tirelessly confronting them with the hosts of men who have been justified by God, such as… Imperialists, Capitalists, and other unsympathetic persons, as for example, those who are not devoted to Social Reform; if only the Church were directed wholly and altogether towards the unknown, living, free God, and would concentrate its preaching upon the Cross of Christ – then the Church could be,… in a manner unheard of, the Church… of the righteousness of God…. But [then] the Church… must dare to begin in faith, in the ‘darkness’ of faith (Luther). And this the Church has never dared…. It is oriented to what can be seen of men…. The Church does not love the solitariness of the desert…. The Church does not wish to be a stranger in the world…. Faith, as it appears in Hebrews 11, seems to the Church too unsympathetic, too loveless, too dangerous, too unpsychological, too unpractical.”

[Karl Barth, The Epistle to the Romans (1918),

6th edition (1928) trans. Edwyn C. Hoskyns

(New York: Oxford, 1968) pp. 367–68 ].

With the Mind:  Readings in Contemporary Theology

12-2 pm in the Church Lounge, Sunday, November 18th

The book for November is C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity: A Biography (2016), by George M. Marsden, renowned historian and winner of the Bancroft prize and Merle Curti award. Based on four radio broadcasts, Mere Christianity (1952) has sold millions of copies and been translated into thirty-six languages! It is a modern day “classic” (1). It’s a simple (56, 111), clear (171) and poetic (176) presentation of basic Christian teachings – apart from any denominational confessions (182). There’s nothing like it in modern America. The Lutheran Paul Holmer makes a case for its reliability (110–11, 169). If someone you know wants to read book about Christianity, it’s probably the best one around for the general reader. (Marsden also lists a few of the standard criticism against this classic – 139–52.)

      A copy of this history of the classic by C. S. Lewis is in the library. If you would like to purchase one for yourself, contact Pastor Marshall. Feel free to attend our meeting when we discuss how to describe Christianity in simple terms.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:  

THANKSGIVING EVE:  Thanksgiving will be observed with Holy Eucharist on Wednesday, November 21st at 7 pm, in the chapel. 

COMPASS HOUSING ALLIANCE:  Until Friday, December 14th, we will be collecting Christmas gift items for the Compass Center for both men and women.  Some suggested items to collect are: fast food, coffee shop, Target, and grocery store gift cards in $5 to $25 increments; new sweatshirts in large sizes with the tags on, underwear, flip-flops, hats and gloves in neutral colors and new toiletries in small sizes. Also, cash donations are welcome.  Please leave your donations at the office.

FREE MONEY?  Sign up for the Bartell Drugs loyalty card program and designate First Lutheran Church of West Seattle.  4% of your purchases will be automatically donated to the church.  Also Amazon.com has a program called Amazon Smile that one can sign up for. 

FLOWER CHART:  There are still a few spaces left for Christmas flowers. 

FOOD BANK COLLECTION suggested donation for November is holiday foods: canned yams, turkey, gravy, cranberries, stuffing and pumpkin. 

All Saints’ Join us this year for the All Saints’ Liturgy, Thursday, November 1st, for our Columbarium Liturgy and Holy Eucharist.  Plan to attend this memorial at 11:45 am in the chapel. 

On Hell

Correcting a Wayward Lutheran Scholar

By Pastor Marshall

Even though Dr. Timothy Wengert is highly regarded as a Luther scholar worldwide, his teaching on heaven and hell in the Living Lutheran (October 2018) leaves much to be desired. (Furthermore he probably sides with Karl Barth’s statement, which he quotes, that hell is empty – even though he says that this might be going too far – which is also a weak critique of Barth. And so I think he secretly sides with him – which puts Wengert in direct violation of church teaching.)

Wengert’s right that who goes to heaven and hell is up to God, and not to us. Of course! But he is wrong that we are just to sit and wait to find out what happens.

The New Testament says we are instead to warn the world of the coming damnation punishing those not believing in Christ (John 3:36; 1 John 5:12; 2 Thessalonians 1:9).

We also know for sure that only a few go to heaven and many go to hell (Matthew 7:13-14).

And we know that hell is a “place of torment” (Luke 16:23, 28) – not a state of mind.

We also know that heaven and hell are eternal (Matthew 25:46) – and that you can’t move back and forth between the two (Luke 16:26).

Furthermore we don’t send ourselves to hell by not believing, as Wengert says. God sends us to hell by hardening us (Romans 9:18). It doesn’t depend on our will (Romans 9:16). Luther underscores this in The Bondage of the Will (which Wengert quotes, but only spottily). So according to Luther, God “saves so few and damns so many” (Luther’s Works 33:62). Therefore we have as much free will as “a stone or a log of wood” (LW 33:109).

So the same logic requires us to praise God “when he damns the undeserving as when he saves the unworthy” (LW 33:208). You can’t have grace without wrath.

Therefore we don’t know who is going to heaven and who is going to hell. Nor do we decide who is going to heaven and who is going to hell. But we do know whoever believes and is baptized will be saved (Mark 16:16; Small Catechism 4.8 – contra the Biblical critics who dismiss these last verses of Mark’s Gospel as inauthentic). It’s just that we don’t know who believes individually.

People can fake it, after all (Jeremiah 17:9) – and fool any and all of us. God is the only one who cannot be fooled – for he is the only one who can see into our hearts (1 Samuel 16:7).

But that doesn’t mean that we don’t know anything at all about heaven and hell. We know plenty – and it’s all scary. No wonder then that the brightest say that we don’t.

Raising Eleven Children

A Factory of Joy

By Pastor Marshall

Bruce and Bonnie Dike have been worshipping with us for about two years. They commute from Issaquah where they moved to from Missouri in 2000. In Missouri they raised eleven kids (no twins or triplets) – six girls and five boys, born between 1980 and 1999 – with a son named Malcolm (almost) in the middle – before there was that popular TV show. Why stop at eleven? After the last one was born, then simply, no more babies arrived. Didn’t they know they are cheaper by the dozen? Well, maybe, but it was out of their hands. When young couples tell them they aren’t ready yet to have children, they say: “No one ever is! If there is a right time, it’s right now!”

     Bruce and Bonnie both grew up outside of Lansing, Michigan – Bruce being a couple years older. They were high school sweethearts and attended Michigan State University together. At an early age Bruce learned to play the violin and Bonnie the cello. Bruce elected to earn his bachelor and master degrees in mathematics. But both played their instruments to pay their way through college – with Bonnie getting her degree in music. Over the years Bruce has worked for McDonnell-Douglas in Missouri and Boeing in Seattle. Bonnie has been a home maker – and also educated her children at home. Their youngest two children are now in college and so since 2017 they are empty-nesters. Both Bonnie and Bruce still play their instruments. Bonnie is teaching some yoga classes now that she has some extra time. “Why should the Hindus have all the fun!” – she says.

     How did they raise so many kids? Bonnie and Bruce’s siblings just shake their heads when they think of their large family. Both of them say their home was a “factory of joy.” The few problems they had raising their children pale when compared to the happiness they had together. Whatever difficulties they had are forgotten! For summer vacation they would rent a fifteen passenger van, load it with camping gear and head out on an adventure – every year. After their third child was born, the family dynamics didn’t change much when the others were born. They just went from a man-to-man defense to a zone defense (football jargon). At their peak there were five cars in the drive way; 3 full bathrooms; and six bedrooms. The kids policed their own bathrooms – one for the girls and one for the boys. All the children get along. No jealousy, then or now. Everyone was too busy at home for there to be enough emotional gasoline for any major drama. Bruce would always have the kids help with his tasks around the house – including working on their fleet of cars.

     How did they pay for it all? It helped that Bruce was granted steady and rewarding employment. All the children have gone to college (but not all have graduated yet). Bonnie and Bruce have assisted them with their educational expenses (with their kids attending affordable public universities). Seven of them are married. One daughter has six children of her own (Bruce and Bonnie have thirteen grandchildren at last count.). There are two keys to their success. Thrift and economy is the first – both of money and activity. They discovered the truth of 1 Kings 17:16 – that the cruse of oil never fails and the jar of meal never goes empty! And when occasional stirrings arose, Bruce often counseled 1 Timothy 6:8 – “and having food and raiment let us be therewith content” – and then he usually gave in. Next is Mom and Dad learning more from their independent and strong-headed children than what they gave them – being that they believed there were and are strong divine arms holding them all together. Both Bonnie and Bruce said they couldn’t manipulate them even if they wanted to (which they learned early on not to try). Their children are from God and belong to Him and so they are only loving guardians and stewards of their upbringing. Parenting is a beloved Christian duty – but also the most wonderful adventure of their lives.

     Eight of their children were born at home with a midwife and a wonderful home doctor (who was from Jamaica – and became a family friend), all with successful deliveries. The children were all healthy and required little medical care growing up – except for one who was seriously ill for several months, but made a full recovery. All their children learned to play a musical instrument. All were baptized and many of them attend church. Seven are married – all to fine people. What a story, wouldn’t you say? Give thanks to God for the Dike family! And keep an eye out for their children when they visit and attend church together. Some already have. And, oh yes, their names are Emily, Julia, Byron, Margaret, Charlotte, George, Malcolm, Elizabeth, Wesley, Robert and Madeleine.