Baptism & Preaching

What does your baptism mean to you? Do you know when and where you were baptized? Do you regularly thank God for your baptism? Do you renew your baptismal vows every year at the Easter Vigil liturgy?

     Martin Luther held on to his baptism. In the Large Catechism (1529) he famously taught that “faith must have something… to which it may cling and upon which it may stand. Thus faith clings to the water and believes it to be Baptism in which there is sheer salvation and life” (The Book of Concord, p. 440). Believing in Jesus is too little since we don’t have his hand to hold, nor his shoulder to lean on. But with baptism we can feel the water, hold on to our baptismal certificate, and look at the photos.  

Seven years later, however, Luther preached that whoever is baptized “no longer needs that sign, but without ceasing [needs] the Word and preaching by which faith is awakened, strengthened, and preserved.” He then goes on to say that’s “why we also see that Baptism was committed to much less important people than was the preaching office. Christ Himself baptized no one, but committed that to His disciples (John 4:2). Saint Paul say that he was not sent to baptize, but to preach the Gospel, and that he himself had baptized few people, even though he had preached the Gospel among almost all the Gentiles (1 Corinthians 1:17, 14)” (Luther’s Works 77:286). So hold on to your baptism―for sure, but perk up all the more when the Word is preached with “purity and refinement” (LW 41:219). Pastor Marshall

PRESIDENT'S REPORT....by Earl Nelson

According to Luther’s (prophetic) insight into the meaning of Holy Scripture we are saved not by works but by faith alone.  At First Lutheran Church of West Seattle we know that this does not mean that works are not required.  Rather, we accept, as did Luther, James’ dictum that faith without works is dead.  To be in such a position alienates us from the culture today as it alienated the first Christians from the culture of their day.  Human culture always conditions us to seek fulfillment through our own powers and means and to be rewarded for our efforts.  To accept the gift of salvation as it is offered to us in Christ crucified requires that we first be utterly humiliated in ourselves.  Such are the terms under which it is offered.  Sin means that we are at fault, cannot amend our fault, and do not deserve to be forgiven.  That all this should be true, and yet we should be forgiven, is not believable on human terms according to the dictates of human reason about such matters.  If sin is as bad as what I just described, then why should God forgive us?  To say nothing of what must happen in order for God to forgive us: that God should require the sacrifice by torture of the only innocent human being ever to have lived!  Indeed we must give up ourselves entirely to believe that God forgives us.

     “The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”  (Matthew 13: 45)  On the surface this parable might seem to suggest that salvation is a rational transaction: the merchant recognizes the pearl of greatest value and makes a rational decision to buy it.  Heaven is a good deal.  If this were so, then why are there so few buyers and why is this even considered a parable?  I suspect the challenge of this deceptively simple parable lies in two elements, selling all you have, and recognizing the pearl of great worth.  When a merchant makes a purely rational decision is he giving up all that he has, or is he actually relying on, and taking with him, what he essentially is, a clever buyer, the very thing that made him a successful merchant in the first place?  Secondly, what does it take to recognize the pearl of great worth?  If it is really worth more than all that the merchant has, then the merchant must be deciding that all he has worked so hard to acquire is actually worthless compared to the pearl.  This little parable turns out to be about dying to oneself, for the merchant will have to give up not just all that he has but all that he has been up to this point.  But how exactly does one “die to oneself?”  How is that something one decides to do?  It is not an ordinary decision, if that is even the right word for it.

     Accepting the gift of salvation through Christ apparently requires humiliation.  I am distinguishing here between humiliation as something that happens to you, and being humble, as something one voluntarily does.  People can try to be humble by their own effort, and sometimes make a good show of it.  But what I am talking about is something that happens to you, like the humiliation of Peter. I do not think that

people who have been truly humiliated are likely to make a show of humility.  Christ told Peter he would deny Christ three times before the cock crowed.  Peter said no, he would not.  Peter as we know then denied Christ three times.  Quite a story to have set down for all (historical) time about yourself if you are going to be the rock on which Christ will found his church!  But that was not enough.  Peter was reprimanded three times in the presence of the other disciples when the risen Christ asked him three times, “Do you love me?”  I think this was humiliation, and I think it has to do with the nature of faith, and with the rock, or foundation of the church of Christ.  

     The first part of a Lutheran sermon is “arguere peccatum” or to convict the listener of his sin.  Being convicted of one’s sinful nature, and the hopelessness of sin, is needed to “sell all that one owns,” which alone can allow us to accept the unearned, unmerited, divine gift of salvation.  I think there is a connection between discovering that you love Christ in the stories of his life, and then seeing him crucified for you, just as Peter did.  If I come to love and trust Christ in his life, I must find utter humiliation in his death on the Cross for me.  Christ humiliates me from the Cross.  The strange thing about it is, unlike the human social humiliation that we inflict on one another, of which execution is the most extreme form, in this humiliation a door opens to a new and eternal life: the pearl of great worth.  I glimpse it as in a poor mirror, as Paul puts it, and suddenly the calculus of the merchant in the parable makes sense.

Stewardship

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Our Synonym for Giving

“Stewardship” seems to be used as a “theologically correct” synonym for “giving”, and often with the connotation of “giving more.” But with limited resources, it may seem there isn’t more to give.

     It seems to me that a biblical notion of stewardship is rather about taking care of what I have charge of so that I have more with which to make thank offerings to God and more to share with my neighbors in need.

     Well, of what might I be a better steward? Previously I wrote about how running tap water, hot and cold even, is an example of how wealthy I am in the context of the rest of the world. Water is a precious commodity, especially given the drought condition in the western U.S. and our destructive and deadly wildfires. Now being good stewards of water is an ever more pressing concern.

     Am I a good steward of water? No. I waste a lot of water, water that others could drink or otherwise use. Running water is constantly going down the drain: rinsing dishes, washing fruit, vegetables, my hands, brushing my teeth, etc. So much water just going down the drain. What a waste. Such poor Stewardship. So many people and so much vegetation dying from lack of water. And I’m allowing it to run down the drain.

     Now I’m trying to run the water less, and with less pressure, and collect rinse water and carry it out to the yard for thirsty vegetation. I have “waste” water that doesn’t really have to be wasted. Better Stewardship of that water is to use less of it and reuse more of it. The more water I save, the less the water bill.

     There are other resources like water: electricity, gas, paper, clothing, etc. The less I use, the more there is for others. And the less my bills, the more money I have for the needs of others.

I am one of the wealthy ones of this world, and I have been too wasteful. I have not been as good a steward of God’s blessings as I should be. I need to ask for God’s forgiveness, and change my wasteful ways. Wanting to have more for others pushes me to practice better Stewardship.

Bob Baker, Church Council

Stewardship                                               Budget                     Received

             Month (July)                                 $18,026                    $20,744

                Year to date (Jan-July)                 $143,473                  $140,895

Dealing With Job

By Pastor Marshall

“My unforgettable benefactor, tormented Job!.... If I did not have Job!.... Read him, read him again and again…. Each word remains new to me…. I hasten to it with indescribable impatience…. More swiftly than the sounding-line sinker seeks the bottom of the sea,… does my soul glide therein and remain there” So writes Søren Kierkegaard in 1843 of his deep admiration for Job (KW 6:198, 204, 205). But the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, Arthur Miller (1915–2005), sizes up Job differently: “Job is the only play in the Bible, and its most contemporary chapter. If it were ever taken seriously, half the church-going in the United States would grind to a stop. Job assures you that if after a lifetime of decent acts and goodwill toward others you lose everything you possess for absolutely no discernible reason, you have no cause to complain. Job says you’ve got to believe, not only without reward in this life but with the most severe punishment. Job is the perfect message for the concentration camps, it is purest God-contemplation, love without reciprocation. It is religion without magic, without its open or implicit attempts to bribe God. Job is a church-closer. But would the world be better off without Job, that thinnest possible thread to the stars?” [Arthur Miller, Timebends: A Life (1987, 1995) p. xv]. So where do you stand―with Kierkegaard, Miller or maybe with both in some manner, shape or form?

The Original Chalice

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Professor Danto on Holy Communion

“Of the four vessels today claimed to be the Holy Grail,… the one that most persuades me that it might be genuine is an ordinary-looking vessel, drably colored, rather like an individual salad bowl, in a vitrine in the cathedral of Valencia in Spain. It really looks like something Jesus could have used at the table, given that he affected the life of the simple persons he lived among―carpenters and fishermen and the like [Luther’s ‘uncouth bumpkins,’ LW 22:189]. Of course, as befits so venerated an object, the Sacra Cáliz, as it is called, is supported by an ornate and gilded stand embellished with pearls and emeralds, but if one saw it by itself, it would be unprepossessingly plain, though it is carved out of a piece of stone. The Grail would not have been on so ornate and precious a stand at the Last Supper itself, where it was actually used for whatever was eaten on that tremendous occasion, touched with the lips or the fingers of who those present were certain was the Messiah. Jesus himself was like that bowl, if indeed the claim is true that he was God in human form. Imagine that there was a man just his age in Jerusalem, who looked enough like Jesus that

the two were often confused for one another, even by those who knew them well. The difference could not have been more momentous than that!.... It is felt that the Grail must have extraordinary powers, given the belief that it was touched by God incarnate, but the history ascribed to the Grail, if it really still exists, has left no traces on its surfaces. That is was touched by Christ’s lips, that it held Christ’s blood, cannot be deduced from anything the eye now sees. Its plainness alone testifies to the possibility that it was present at the last meal Christ shared with his disciples, where it looked like an ordinary dish, maybe a little special given the special character of he who used it. But the test for whether Jesus was God embodied is not part of the forensic repertoire. The Transfiguration described in the Synoptic Gospels was intended to show selected disciples that Jesus transcended the merely human, for example, by his radiance. But the so-called Messianic Secret was meant to be kept quiet―Jesus preferred not to be trooped after by groupies thirsting for miracles [Matthew 9:30]. For anyone other than witnesses to the Transfiguration [Matthew 17:2], Jesus was out and out human [Matthew 13:55].”

Hebrews 12.5

Monthly Home Bible Study, September 2015, Number 271

The Reverend Ronald F. Marshall

Along with our other regular study of Scripture, let us join as a congregation in this home study. We will study alone then talk informally about the assigned verses together as we have opportunity. In this way we can "gather together around the Word" even though physically we will not be getting together (Acts 13.44). (This study uses the RSV translation.)

We need to support each other in this difficult project. In 1851 Kierkegaard wrote that the Bible is "an extremely dangerous book.... [because] it is an imperious book... – it takes the whole man and may suddenly and radically change... life on a prodigious scale" (For Self-Examination). And in 1967 Thomas Merton wrote that "we all instinctively know that it is dangerous to become involved in the Bible" (Opening the Bible). Indeed this word "kills" us (Hosea 6.5) because we are "a rebellious people" (Isaiah 30.9)! As Lutherans, however, we are still to "abide in the womb of the Word" (Luther's Works 17.93) by constantly "ruminating on the Word" (LW 30.219) so that we may "become like the Word" (LW 29.155) by thinking "in the way Scripture does" (LW 25.261). Before you study, then, pray: "Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in Our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen" (quoted in R. F. Marshall, Making A New World: How Lutherans Read the Bible, 2003, p. 12). And don’t give up, for as Luther said, we “have in Scripture enough to study for all eternity” (LW 75:422)!

Week I. Read Hebrews 12.5 noting the word punish. How does God punish us? On this read Ezekiel 14.21 noting the words sword, famine, evil beasts and pestilence. Read also Luke 13.4 noting the words tower and fell. Are there then no accidents and simple acts of nature? On this read Matthew 10.29 noting the line not one sparrow will fall to the ground without your Father’s will. What does this mean? On this read James 4.15 noting the line if the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall do this or that. What is implied by believing that nothing happens without God’s permission? On this read Job 1.21 noting the words gave, taken and blessed. What is it like to bless God and praise him for what he takes away? On this read Hebrews 12.6 noting the words disciplines and loves. How does discipline and punishment show God’s love for us? On this read Romans 1.22-25 noting the line God gave them up in the lust of their hearts to impurity. This is God’s wrath (Romans 1.18). But God’s love punishes us to keep us from going down the path of impurity. Do you agree?

Week II. Read again Hebrews 12.5 noting the same word punish. How do God’s punishments keep us from going down the path of impurity? On this read Amos 4.6-11 noting the five occurrences of the word yet. In this case the punishments don’t block further corruption. For an opposite view, read Judges 6.1-6 noting the words very, low, cried and help. What was the difference between the two cases? Is it severity? On this read Exodus 12.28-33 noting the words great, cry, urgent and dead. Note that this is the tenth of the plagues hurled against Egypt to get Pharaoh to release the Israelite slaves. For another view read Job 1.22-3.1 noting the shift from 1.22 to 3.1. What causes this? At 2.10 he is still abiding with God in spite of his suffering. But after this silent shock of his friends in 2.13 registers with Job, then he curses in the next verse. Was it then the bleak reaction of his friends that pushed him over the edge? For an opposite view read Hebrews 10.23-25 noting the words stir and encouraging. Without this help, matters become too severe? Is that why sin has to become sinful beyond measure in Romans 7.13 in order to change us? Note as well the curbs placed on repenting in 2 Corinthians 7.10.

Week III. Reread Hebrews 12.5 noting the same word punish. How are we to avoid being punished? On this read Luke 13.5 noting the words unless, repent and perish. How does repentance save us from harm? On this read 1 John 1.8-10 noting the words deceive, confess, just, liar and word. How does confession and repentance trade on truth? On this read Job 10.7 and 42.3-6 noting the shift from innocence to self-loathing. Furthermore read 1 John 3.20 noting how God is greater than our condemning hearts. Read also Hosea 11.8-9 noting God’s extreme resolve to have compassion. Are these two matters – self-loathing and extreme divine compassion – the truth that repentance brings to set us free in John 8.32 and to be witnessed to in John 19.37? If so, then repentance is powerful indeed. It sets matters straight. It is the brokenness and contrition in Psalm 51.17.

Week IV. Read Hebrews 12.5 one last time noting again the word punish. So if we fail to repent and are punished after all, how should we deal with it? On this read Hebrews 12.4 noting the words yet and blood. This shows that things could always be worse. So we mustn’t complain when punished, but instead thank God for his leniency. Next read Matthew 26.75 noting the phrase wept bitterly. This shows that we shouldn’t make excuses to defend ourselves when caught in the act and punished, but instead concede to the Almighty that he is right to castigate us and we are wrong for sinning. Finally read Romans 5.3 noting the word rejoice. This shows that we are to transcend the pain of the moment when punished to rejoice in God’s correction and strengthening of us through that very punishment. Can you handle that? If not go to Matthew 11.28-30 for the interplay between burden and rest.

Saint Nicholas Faire

Sunday, December 6, 2015 from 4 to 7 pm

We’re at it again.  Thank you to all who have already begun helping prepare for this annual fund raising event.  So many of you have stepped up to the plate, or in this case the “Christmas in July and August tree,” and taken ornaments.  Many of you have already made your purchases/donations and they have been catalogued and are waiting to be made into baskets for purchasing at the Faire.  At this writing, there are still some ornaments left on the “Christmas in July and August tree”….. so if you can purchase additional items for gift baskets please give me a call and I can let you know what we still need (Larraine at 206-937-6740).

     If you would prefer, you can donate money designated to the St. Nicholas Faire and we will do the shopping.  Plus, in late November, we will be purchasing items that need to be fresh, so they need to be bought closer to the date of the Faire.  If you would like to help in this way, please let me know and I can give you a list of items to choose from.   But most important, always remember that all our efforts are to support, in a fun and enjoyable way, two very important extended ministries – the West Seattle Food Bank and the West Seattle Helpline.

     We are looking forward to having a super evening of wine tasting, a new twist on the wine toss game (for prizes!), munchies, conversation and fellowship, and “shopping” for Christmas gifts for friends and family.  Where else can you go so close to home to such a party.  And it all benefits two great organizations!  So plan to come and invite your neighbors and family and friends to come with you.

X  PARISH PRAYERS  X

Remember in prayer before God those whom He has made your

brothers and sisters through baptism.

Dorothy Ryder, Florence Jenkins, Kyra Stromberg, Anelma Meeks, Bob Baker, Michael & Eileen Nestoss, Mary Goplerud, Cynthia Natiello, Leah Baker, Peggy & Bill Wright, Bob & Barbara Schorn, Cameron Lim, Ion Ceaicovschi, Luke Bowen, Tabitha Anderson, The PLU Faculty, Christine Marshall, Ron & Margaret Douglass, Donna Mullin, Tina Bagby, Calvin Diekhans, Tyler Arkles, Marjorie and Cortney. 

    Pray for the shut-ins that the light of Christ may give them joy:  Donna Apman, Pat Hansen, C. J. Christian, Louis Koser, Anelma Meeks, Dorothy Ryder, Lillian Schneider, Crystal Tudor, Nora Vanhala, Vivian Wheeler, Peggy & Bill Wright.

     Pray for the newly confirmed members that God may inspire their discipleship: Pray for Sam Allen, son of Tim and Gina Allen.

     Pray for those who have suffered the death of a loved one this Summer: Pray that God will bear their grief and lift their hearts: Pray for Sonja Clemente and family on the death of Clara Anderson; mother, grandmother, great and great-great grandmother.  Also pray for the Allen family on the death of Tim’s brother, Greg Allen; and for Vivian Wheeler and family on the death of her son David Wheeler. 

     Pray for our bishops Elizabeth Eaton and Brian Kirby Unti, our pastor Ronald Marshall, our deacon Dean Hard and our cantor Andrew King, that they may be strengthened in faith, love and the holy office to which they have been called.

     Pray that God would give us hearts which find joy in service and in celebration of Stewardship.  Pray that God would work within you to become a good steward of your time, your talents and finances.  Pray to strengthen the Stewardship of our congregation in these same ways.

     Pray for the hungry, ignored, abused, and homeless this September.  Pray for the mercy of God for these people, and for all in Christ's church to see and help those who are in distress.

     Pray for our sister congregation:  El Camino de Emmaus in the Skagit Valley that God may bless and strengthen their ministry.  Also, pray for our parish and it's ministry.

     Pray that God will bless you through the lives of the saints:  Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist; and Saint Michael and All Angels.