Vol. 1 Issue 12 - December 2014

 THE INCARNATION IN PRUDENTIUS

Aurelius Prudentius Clemens lived in the Roman Empire in the late fourth century, dying probably in 405 A.D. Prudentius was a Christian poet who regarded the pagan literature of Rome not as something to be rejected, but as “part of the inheritance into which Christian Rome enters.”[1] While many Christians separated themselves from reading Virgil and the classical Roman poets, Prudentius sought to mimic their vocabulary and style in his own Christian poetry. He wrote his poems with an eye toward the intelligentsia of his day. The “upper crust” of Roman society was the slowest to convert to Christianity, even after Theodosius I decreed Nicene Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire in 380 A.D. In his poems Prudentius seeks to teach the Christian faith using a style that the educated aristocracy of the empire would find appealing.

I turn our attention to Prudentius because Christmas approaches. Christmas celebrates the incarnation of God the Son for our salvation. Prudentius wrote several beautiful things about the incarnation of the Word of God. His ancient words can teach us much to day about the nature of Christ’s incarnation and also its benefits for those who believe.

In Prudentius’ most famous work, the Psychomachia (“Fight for Mansoul” in English), Prudentius depicts the life of the Christian as a constant battle between heavenly virtue and hellish vice. All of the virtues and vices are personified so that they can bear swords and shields and armor. During the melee Chastity pierces the throat of Lust with her sword, slaying him. In her victory speech, Chastity

compares her victory over lust to Judith’s victory over the lustful Holofernes (found in the apocryphal book of Judith). She then attributes her victory over Lust to the incarnation of our Lord. She says triumphantly:

Well, since a virgin immaculate has borne a child, hast thou any claim remaining – since a virgin bore a child, since the day when mans’ body lost its primeval nature, and power from on high created a new flesh, and a woman unwedded conceived the God Christ, who is man in virtue to his mortal mother but God long with the Father? From that day all flesh is divine, since it conceived Him and takes on the nature of God by a covenant partnership. For the Word made flesh has not ceased to be what it was before, that is, the Word, by attaching to itself the experience of the flesh; its majesty is not lowered by the experience of the flesh; but raises wretched men to nobler things. He remains what He ever was, though beginning to be what He was not; but we are no longer what we were, now that we are raised at our birth to a better condition. He has given to me, yet still remained for Himself; neither has God lessened what is his by taking on what is ours, but by giving his nature to ours He has lifted us to the height of his heavenly gifts.[2]

What does this mean? By taking up our human nature into the Godhead, Christ has elevated human nature. He purifies the flesh by assuming our human flesh.  Mankind is no longer in servitude to the lusts of the flesh, avarice, ambition, pride, wealth, etc. Since our fall into sin the human flesh has been set against God’s Word and will. The flesh can only sin. Our flesh desires to sin.

But the Triune God values our nature so much that He assumes it in the incarnation, purifying it and restoring humanity to its pre-Fall existence.

This purification is apprehended by faith. This is what Prudentius means when he writes, “From that day all flesh is divine, since it conceived Him and takes on the nature of God by a covenant partnership.” Faith tethers us to Jesus so that we receive all His blessings. Holy Baptism unites us with Christ’s death and resurrection in a mystical way so that our sinful flesh has already died and been buried in in the baptismal font. This is from Romans 6:6 where St. Paul writes that, “our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” By faith in God’s promises given in Holy Baptism, we, like lady Chastity, are able to conquer our carnal desires, whatever they might be for us individually.

Christ assumes our nature and purifies it by faith, forgiving our sins, and washing us clean from the stain of our sins. As Prudentius writes, “He remains what He ever was, though beginning to be what He was not; but we are no longer what we were, now that we are raised at our birth to a better condition.” That better condition is the purity we possess now by faith, the purity of having all our sins forgiven whenever we repent and believe Christ’s promises made to us in Baptism.

Not only is our fleshly condition better by faith, but we look forward to the day when we will share in His nature entirely, being spotless and without blemish, being pure and He is pure. Now we possess this all by faith. On the Last Day we will possess that purity by sight.

This is also a great aid to the Christian as we fight our individual temptations. God the Son has wrapped Himself in our flesh.  As Prudentius puts it, the Word has had “the experience of the flesh.” Christ knows our weakness. He even tells Peter, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41)

The author of Hebrews writes beautifully:

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, so that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:15-16)

Since God the Son has assumed our human nature and experienced it He speaks tenderly to His baptized faithful who struggle against the sinful flesh. He reminds us in Matthew 11:29, “I am gentle and lowly in heart.” So we approach our Father in prayer all the more readily for our High Priest and Advocate with the Father understands our frailty of our nature, for He has borne it Himself, and still bears it, though now Christ’s flesh is glorified as it will be for all eternity.

By His incarnation, Christ Jesus raises us to nobler things in this life. By assuming our flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary and being born as all men are born, Christ elevates our human flesh to what it was originally intended to be: His pure creation meant for His service and praise. As you gather around the manger this year, ponder the great gift of which Prudentius, and the whole church, sings: the gift of God assuming our flesh to purify us by the forgiveness of sins by faith in the incarnate Word. A blessed Christmas to you. Amen.

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[1] Thompson. H.J. Prudentius. Volume I. Loeb Classical Library. Harvard Press. 1949. P.viii.

[2] Ibid. pg. 285.

Vol. 1 Issue 11 - November 2014

IS THIS WORD OF THE LORD FOR ME?

Local and Federal Elections are upon us. For months we have endured politicking, campaign signs and commercials. This is just part of life in the world and we ought to rejoice that we live in a society where we have opportunity to choose our representatives. What is intolerable about this time of year is the inevitable intrusion of churches into politics. Every election cycle some churches get into the spirit of the season with pastors preaching about electing godly leaders and suggesting that if only we had Christians in public office then our nation would flourish once again. They reason that if we, as a nation, were to repent of our sins and embrace a Christian rule then the Lord would grant material blessings to our nation. Usually this revolves around a misreading of 2 Chronicles 7:14 which is a favorite way for ‘evangelicals’ to “biblicize” their politics. There the Lord says to Solomon:

If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 

This verse, along with Philippians 4:13, has become one of the must misused passages in North American Christianity. Many evangelicals interpret the U.S.A. as the “my people” to whom God is speaking. In some, this comes from a belief that the U.S.A. is a “Christian” nation that serves as the modern equivalent of Old Testament Israel. This reading also arises from an interpretive idea that believes all of God’s words are spoken directly to the reader regardless of time or place. This is the idea that a person can open their Bible and apply whatever is said directly to them in their

situation. In short, this interpretive method ignores the context of bible verses (as is the case with the aforementioned Philippians 4:13) and what I like to call the “contextual recipients” of specific words of God.

Dr. Luther ran into these sorts of people in his own day. They wanted to make Mosaic Law the Law of Saxony. They argued that Mosaic Law is the Word of the Lord, so it would be far better than any human law. Luther argues that these theologians were ignoring the fact that Mosaic Law was spoken only to the children of Israel, since they were both church and state. He addressed this way of thinking in a 1525 sermon entitled How Christians Should Regard Moses. He writes:

It is all God’s word. But let God’s word be what is may, I must pay attention and know to whom God’s word is addressed. You are still a long way from being the people with whom God spoke. . . One must deal cleanly with the Scriptures. From the very beginning the word has come to us in various ways. It is not enough simply to look and see whether this is God’s word, whether God has said it; rather we must look and see to whom it has been spoken, whether it fits us. This makes all the difference between night and day. (LW35:170)

The spirit than claims “The Word of God says!” yet ignores the context of that Word is a false spirit. Luther’s point is that God’s Word is not to be taken out of context and applied evenly across the board. The “contextual recipient” of Mosaic Law was not the Saxons, the Irish, or North Americans. It was Old Testament Israel. Luther’s idea can be distilled to this question, “To whom is the Lord speaking in this passage?”

Luther then uses several examples to show the dangers of ignoring context. God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his firstborn son Isaac as a test of faithfulness. Luther points out that no one in his day applies this command to themselves. Why not? Because the Lord commands that specifically to Abraham. Another example is the promise of a son to sit on David’s throne in 2 Samuel. Christians, Luther argues, are not to expect that these words about a child apply to them. He continues:

The word in Scripture is of two kinds: the first does not pertain or apply to me, the other kind does. And upon that word which does pertain to me I can boldly trust and reply, as upon a strong rock. (LW35:170)

Mosaic Law does not apply to the Christian because Mosaic Law was given for the nation of Israel to follow and to set them apart from other nations. Mosaic Law as also given to serve as shadows and illustrations of the promised Messiah and His work of salvation. It was given to Israel. Not to anyone else.

It becomes the duty of every Christian (and especially the preacher) to rightly divide God’s Word. A good question which needs asking, especially when reading the Old Testament is, “To whom does God speak this word, this to me or someone else?” And if the Lord speaks it to someone else then it is not directly for me.” So we do not sacrifice our Isaacs. We are allowed to mourn the death of loved ones (Ezekiel was commanded not to mourn the death of his wife). I am not commanded to stone adulterers, observe the Sabbath, or abstain from eating shellfish. Neither am I commanded to bathe seven times in the Jordan or dwell in booths.

When God’s word is directed at a specific contextual recipient that does not mean we get to ignore that word though. The Lord gives us the Old Testament to teach us about Himself and how He relates to sinners. St. Paul writes: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16) Even if a word of God is not spoken directly to us, that word of God is always efficacious and wants to teach us about the Lord’s way of dealing with us: Law and Gospel.

So not every word of God applies to me. 2 Chronicles 7:14 does not apply to the United States of America because we, as a nation, are not God’s chosen people. That word was a word of warning given Solomon in a dream after the dedication of the Temple. Our nation is not the New Testament Israel. Neither is the current nation-state of Israel the chosen people of God. The Israel of God is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. “My people” in the original context was Old Testament Israel, so this Word of the Lord falls into Luther’s first category: that which does not apply to me.

How is 2 Chronicles 7:14 properly used? Through this passage the Holy Ghost teaches us that the Lord always desires our repentance (see Acts 17:30). He also teaches us that when we repent the Lord is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He teaches us that God works the same in the Old Testament as He does in the New: repentance and faith in the Gospel. That word IS for us. It is for all mankind because He has said to in His Word so that we might believe and by believing have life in His name. To that end, Amen.

Vol. 1 Issue 10 - October 2014

THE GENERAL PRAYER – PART IV

[This month’s edition picks up where the August edition left us in the General Prayer from TLH page 23.] We pray:

Send forth laborers into Thy harvest, and sustain those whom Thou hast sent, that the Word of Reconciliation may be proclaimed to all people and the Gospel preached in all the world.

We pray this petition in response to the Lord’s command. St. Matthew writes, “But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, the harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” (Matthew 9:36-38) These lost sheep have no Good Shepherd to care for them, to lead them besides the green pastures of the Gospel and to the still waters of peace with God. They are a host of people without Christ and faith so they are without His blessings of forgiveness, life, and salvation. This is the harvest of the Lord.

Jesus wants us to pray that workers be send into this harvest because Jesus has compassion on this harvest of lost, unbelieving, sin-sick sheep. He has compassion on them because He is the Good Shepherd. Hirelings, who care nothing for the sheep and the harvest only lead them further away from the Lord and deeper into themselves for their salvation. But Jesus, as The Good Shepherd, truly cares for the harvest, these lost sheep.

During His earthly ministry Jesus ministered to the lost sheep. He gathered the harvest briefly. But Jesus would not always walk the earth to gather the

harvest and find the lost sheep. He would ascend to the right hand of God the Father almighty. Leaving the church on earth (though only leaving physically), He commands the church of every age to “pray to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His harvest.”

Who are these laborers? They are those whom the Lord sends to work in the harvest. They are those who labor in preaching the Gospel and teaching the comfort of the Christian faith to the multitudes. In Philemon 24 St. Paul calls Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke “my fellow laborers.” In 1 Corinthians 3:9 St. Paul numbers himself and his companions among the laborers. “For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building.” Laborers are those who work in the harvest, sowing, planting, watering, and reaping the harvest of souls with the Holy Gospel.

Laborers do not send themselves. They do not decide one day, “I think I want to labor in the Lord’s harvest.” It is the Lord’s harvest so the Lord must send men to labor there. This is why Jesus commands us to pray, “Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” St. Paul reiterates this in Romans 10:15, “How shall they preach unless they are sent?” If preachers are preaching, that is, working in the harvest, and they have not been called and sent by God, then they are not working for the benefit of God’s harvest but are working against it! The answer to Paul’s question of “How can they preach if they are not sent?” is a resounding, “They can’t!” No one can preach, teach, and administer the sacraments, in the Lord’s harvest unless the Lord Himself sends that laborer to work in the harvest. The Augsburg Confession puts it this way:

Of Ecclesiastical Order they teach that no one should publicly teach in the Church or administer the Sacraments unless he be regularly called. (AC XIV: Of Ecclesiastical Order)

This is why the church ought never to allow “Lay Ministers” of any kind in the pulpit, or anyone for that matter who has not been called by Christ through the congregation. Laborers must be sent by the Lord because the harvest is the Lord’s.

The laborers must also be send by the Lord because the implement for sowing, planting, watering, and reaping in the Lord’s harvest is the Word of the Lord. We pray for the Lord to send laborers:

that the Word of Reconciliation may be proclaimed to all people and the Gospel preached in all the world.

The Word of Reconciliation is the Gospel that Christ has reconciled God to man and man to God, so that whoever is in Christ by faith enjoys the benefits of that reconciliation. Thus St. Paul writes:

Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:18-19)

This ministry of the Gospel, using the Gospel in Word and Sacrament, is the only farming implement the laborer is given. He is not commanded to ‘gussy up’ the Word, make it “more meaningful” or seemingly “relevant” or “user-friendly.” The laborer labors only with the Word preached and the Word “sacramented.”

We also pray in this petition for the Laborers whom God has already sent. It is one thing to send a laborer to work in the harvest field. It is also necessary that the laborer be sustained. The ministry is work. It is labor. Like all labors there are hazards. Without the Lord sustaining the labor, he will faint in the heat of the day or become discouraged when he does not see the yield he expects.  Pastors, like all sinful men, are subject to the temptations of burnout and looking to external results to measure their ministry. Against these, and many other temptations which would destroy the Lord’s laborer, we pray that the Lord sustains those whom He has already sent into the harvest.

Practically speaking, what we are praying for in this petition is that the Lord calls men to be pastors,  planting within their hearts the desire to serve His church, and through that desire, brings these men to attend seminary at St. Ignatius Lutheran Theological Seminary, which is the diocesan seminary. This is how laborers for the harvest are prepared. If you know of someone who you think would make a candidate for the ministry, talk to them about it and encourage them to consider it.

We also pray that the Lord would sustain me in the ministry to which the Lord has called me (and all faithful pastors). In our former Synod, October was dubbed “Pastor Appreciation Month,” which was a sad commentary about how that Synod viewed their pastors. People should not have to be reminded to appreciate their pastor. Nor should a month be set aside for gift-giving and well-wishing. The best way to appreciate your pastor is to pray regularly for him, that the Lord would sustain him in the ministry, give him joy in his service, and fidelity to Lord who has sent him to this most beautiful harvest field. To that end, Amen.