Moline 50th Reunion Gathering - Class of 1966. The Class the Stars Fell On

Patty and I were considered the most talkative at Garfield Grade School.
Kris Streed and my wife were in the same dorm at Augustana College.

This MHS66 reunion was especially fun but also poignant. Everyone came to the event, if at all possible. The 55th reunion, far in the future now, does not have the same drawing power, and some of us will no longer be available.

Toby McGriff
Our first priority was to see Toby McGriff, a friend from the 7th grade at John Deere - and also in the band. He has undergone a lot of surgery, thanks to MRSA and other problems. We were happy to learn dogs were welcome at Rosewood, so Sassy went along.

Toby is at Rosewood Care Center.

At one point I took an outside break for Sassy, so we went all the way through the facility and back again. Sassy, as always, looked for new friends, and they looked for her. We came to a stop at the big room, and soon the corridor was so choked with wheelchairs that no one could pass through. Sassy and I sang the Cattle Dog Blues together, an unlikely duet. The residents and staff loved it.

Why wasn't I in the MHS Madrigals, long ago?

Sassy has such kindly expressions that everyone is attracted to her, and her missing leg makes them especially interested in her history and abilities.

Sassy seemed to think I was talking too much to Toby, so she asked for extra petting. That reminded me of taking Erin Joy to see an ALS patient in the hospital, about 30 years ago. I placed her on the bed but talked to him too much. She began to pout. I said to him, "Erin is not getting enough attention."

He said, "She needs to learn she is not the center of the world."

I said, "YOU tell her." Erin grinned, because she was the center of the medical staff, attended meetings, passed out meds with them, and wore a Nurse Supervisor hat.

We enjoyed seeing Toby and would not have missed the chance. As he said, "The time went too fast." We were in band together most of the way through high school (except my years at Coolidge) and we saw him later at SSU - Sixteenth Street University, the nickname for Blackhawk Community College. He drove me home from high school, even the day I forgot I had my father's car in the lot. I realized a bit late and he grimly turned around in rush hour traffic and dropped me off at the almost empty high school parking lot. It's funnier now, but I did not mention that particular memory. My wife thought it was funny.




Guy Johnson
Another great visit was with Guy Johnson, MHS 68. We lived a block apart and attended Garfield Grade School. We were fanatical readers then - comics and everything else - and have not stopped. Guy just came back from a long visit in Germany. We have the same interest in WWII history.

Guy brought his dog Sneakers (part Border Collie) and Sassy came with us - to the park behind the Comfort Inn Motel.

 Guy Johnson met us at Lago's last time.

Sneakers and I got along so well that Sneakers warned Sassy away from me, so Sassy sat feet away from us for a time, a bit sad. This was finally resolved in Guy making a big deal over Sassy - who loved it - while I talked to Sneakers and petted her.

Chris was born in Germany so we all had plenty to talk about. Guy traveled all over, not only seeing the classic WWII sites but the graves of many notables.

Our class has always been welcoming, including those who transferred in late. One mentioned how much she appreciated Debbie Mitchell introducing her around and making sure she had plenty of friends from the start. That was mentioned about 45 years afterwards, so obviously it meant a lot to her. My wife has always felt she was part of the class, so she laughed when I suggested Photoshopping someone out of a shot because he was not MHS66. She knew I was kidding.

Garfield Grade School was so close that I walked one block, met Guy, and went on to school for two blocks, sometimes coming into his house, sometimes arriving way too soon. My mother, as I recall, left early with my brother, and I came along later, but that was still very early for most.

I got the early-bird gene from both parents. One classmate said something I grew up with - "The perfect family, the best teacher (your Mom) and the best donuts (your Dad)." That also meant everyone knew me and I got away with nothing.

The NSA has not caught up with Moline parenting as we knew it. But that was a great characteristic of the town.

 My family posed at our Dairy Queen. I ate.

Thursday Whiteys Country Style Smackdown
We had an informal gathering at the corner of Whiteys Ice Cream and Country Style. Kym Dennhardt always argued that Country Style (soft-serve) was the best in the world, better than Whiteys. Everyone chose a favorite. Whiteys clearly won, and I had a chance to try CS again. My wife had pumpkin ice cream from Whiteys and I grieved that I used up my carbo allotment with CS. We had a great turnout because it was posted for everyone to see, not a private party.

Sassy came along and asked for her tithe of my cone. That goes way back, when we got water in Phoenix and bought a cone similar to Whiteys. Sassy sat in the back seat and tapped my shoulder as I ate the cone in the car. No sound, but tap, tap, tap, every few minutes.

Friday and Saturday Gatherings
The Friday gathering was in a big room with great food. People kept arriving and soon we were shouting at each other,  squeezed together like kittens in shoebox.

The combination of two formal events was good, because we saw many (or missed them) one night and made up for that the other night. I prodded Billie Seesland about not seeing me Friday, and she responded on Facebook. At the country club, she drove into the next spot as I was parking.

I have to mention Garfield Grade School friends there one or both nights:

• Billie Seesland
• Kathy Wilcox
• Bruce Johnson
• Patty Puck and her husband Jeff Hall. They were not dating yet at Garfield, they hastened to tell me once. But who was?
• Mike Matalik
• Barb Williams
• John Schneck
• Jim Kron
• Mike Fleck

Lawrence Eyre (Garfield) had to coach tennis on the reunion dates.
Lane Gans came to the 50th.
The homecoming queen likes my blog posts.

Our Table, Saturday
My wife and I spotted Rex Bullock on our way to pick a table, so we went together. Soon Mary Parsons and her husband sat down with us, including Sheryl Ramsdale. Finally, Barb Williams and her Methodist minister husband sat down to complete the table.

Everyone was either clergy family or active laity, so we had a great time. Barb Williams told me how special my mother was as her teacher, and I remembered that my mother thought a lot of Barb too.

That was the key to the Garfield teaching staff. Except for one psycho teacher who hit kids without provocation (and soon retired), the teachers really loved the students and considered them family.

 The Panama Canal project in my mother's classroom made George Small
want to be an engineer. Later, he visited the Panama Canal and said,
"It was just like the working model we built in your Mom's room!"

Double Talk and Deception

I stay away from secular politics on this blog because the troubles of today are result of Christian Apostasy, falling away from the Faith.

News stories remind me that every headline about corruption could easily be replaced with similar stories from various denominations.

I sat with a clergy friend at the Moline reunion banquet - 50th anniversary. He said, "I read your blog. Lutherans are not alone with those problems." We talked about Billy Graham's grandson messing up D. James Kennedy's Coral Ridge congregation. Tullian Tchividjian blamed his affair on his wife's affair, which seemed pathological by itself. But the news came out that he was hiding another adulterous connection, so he was fired from his second church in a row.

The Evangelicals are like the Lutherans in making certain superstars untouchable and certainly ungoverned by the Ten Commandments. The Pentecostals have a slogan - "Touch not the Lord's anointed!"

In WELS or Missouri, it is, "Do you know who his father is?" In the ELS, a last name only need be dropped, because everyone knows what that means.

So they practice Management by Doubletalk. Most people realize or at least sense that certain topics are radioactive, so they avoid them. More important than the ongoing scandals are the radical departures from sound doctrine in time for the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation. All the Protestant sects will have to tip their hats to that, as they did with the KJV anniversary and the Gerhardt tricentennial.

This is one last chance to identify the Titanic for what it is before the ship goes down. Few will bother.

There will be talk and graphics about justification. But what do they mean by that?

The CLC (sic) rejects Justification by Faith Alone.
They love their UOJ Universalism.
Key doubletalk - by grace alone (Universal Absolution without Faith)
base our faith alone (Making a Decision for UOJ)
upon Scripture alone (Cherry-Picking Verses To Back CLC Dogma).

Jack Cascione has emerged from his secure, undisclosed hiding place to wonder about "The Confessors Who Will Not Confess."

His crew has been savagely ignorant for decades in attacking Justification by Faith Alone, calling his little club LutherQuest, no doubt for the sake of irony.

The Chief Article is not inerrancy or divine inspiration, but Justification by Faith Alone. One wonders at the hypocrisy of someone with a LutherQuest template whose real agenda comes from the college graduate (only) who covered up Martin Stephan's adultery and promoted Halle Pietism his entire career.

Frosty Bivens, a Fuller alumnus,
claims UOJ is the Chief Article of the Christian Faith.
Has he even opened the Book of Concord?
He got that opening from Zarling - even the same citation.

Just to keep the snowflakes from melting at LutherQuest and Christian News, inerrancy and divine inspiration are simply the assumptions of all Christian confessions, even though the rationalism born from Pietism says otherwise.

The brave Cascione/Otten/Montgomery battle is like saying, "We firmly believe that water is wet, that the sky is blue, and Note Dame plays football." I can see them standing up - glaring into the setting sun of Lutherdom, supporting each other in the Final Battle. If they were soldiers, they would fight without discipline and run without shame in that battle. After all, they have already surrendered the Gospel itself.

What about the Chief Article? They oppose it. They reject the Biblical doctrine of St. Paul, Augustine, Luther, Melanchthon, Chystraeus, Chemnitz, and Gerhard. They despise the teachings of Jesus, which are clear enough to reach anyone.

They even deny that Robert Preus ever questioned UOJ in his final book. I admit he was ambivalent, coming as he did from Norwegian Pietism, but my best ammo against UOJ is from Preus book - Justification and Rome.

If people want to add up Montgomery's degrees, I would counter with all the degrees earned by the College of Cardinals. Yet not one Cardinal teaches Justification by Faith Alone or tolerates it being taught.

Roman Catholics - Eastern Orthodox, even the ELDONUT wing - Protestants, Pentecostals - they all teach inerrancy and divine inspiration.

ELCA repudiates inerrancy, but WELS-LCMS-ELS and the LQ crowd make no fuss over that. If repudiating all the doctrine of the Apostles Creed is nothing to them, why should I listen to the UOJists howl and moan about an obscure professor who studied at a little known school -  Leeds, Weeds, or something like that.

This is called posturing to avoid the real issue - Justification by Faith Alone.

I have read many hundreds of theology books, and  I have spent a long time quoting Roman Catholic scholarship. When others were watching Packer games, I was mowing lawns, painting outbuildings, and selling my book and coin assets to remain in graduate school. I often thought it was a total waste of time and money. But the more I saw UOJ at work, the more I recognized the spirit of Apostasy simply devouring the denominations.

The so-called Lutherans today are worse than the Crypto-Calvinists of long ago. Those clergy hated Luther's doctrine so much that his books were shoved to the back of bookstores and Calvinism was constantly promoted. They got the Elector to punish faithful Lutherans and reward their Calvinistic pals. Finally they were found out, investigated, and arrested.

But this has repeated itself in many stages in history. Lutheran anniversaries are bad times for Lutheran doctrine.

This what Concordia Publishing House thinks of the Reformation.

Drink coaster

 I admit to teaming up with Dr. Bruce Church
to create this wonderful graphic. Absent the skinny McCain
and "Got Milke?" - this was the painting he put up on his late, lamented
papal plagiarism blog.
Missouri has a big Roman Catholic wing, which explains why
their money machine CPH despises the Reformation.

WELS Hazing and Deception Culture Supports Their Spiritual, Physical, Sexual, and Emotional Abuse. From 2008

 Top Dog Is the Name of the Game in WELS.

2016 update After denying that GA hazing at the Mequon seminary still existed, others admitted it was now called HB. Oh so clever. Change the initials. That is typical of WELS deception.
The Wisconsin sect scars its victims. The best thing to happen to anyone is to be hated out of that cesspool or kicked out. All the so-called friends will disappear, except for a very few, and one of them will stay in touch so he can report back to his handlers.
Everyone is afraid to think because those who bothered to "write a letter" or "speak face-to-face" with someone has disappeared. The Mark Jeske Crime Family runs everything for their benefit, to white-wash their abuse, skim the synod funds, and grab all the foundation money.
Drag a ten-dollar bill on a string through a WELS meeting and the guys who follow it out the door are the next DPs. The least able become teachers and the most able are left alone out in the wilderness.
Alcoholism is the norm, and no one minds church worker adultery, as long as it is not too obvious.
SP Mark Schroeder is a good example of all this. He is in charge of suppressing the scandals (much like Matt the Fat and Pope John the Malefactor). Schroeder can witness the FBI seizing WELS headquarter computers and say, "We assured Hochmuth he was already forgiven."
Some people start reading Ichabod because the WELS leaders despise the blog.

Comments from 2008

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post " Score reports? Anonymous has left a new comment...": GA was technically a "single" night--but a lot of "unsanctioned" events led up to it. GA itself was the "pinnacle" of the entire thing and fairly harmless w/lots of beer drinking--but there was more to it than just one night. I would agree that it was not secretive for the most part--at least not portions of it. There were some activities that were officially "sanctioned" by the Dean of Students and other activities that was not "sanctioned."As for sexual abuse. I have not heard anything at all in regards to that. However there was some sexual weirdness (for lack of a better term). For example at NWC, it was not uncommon for a first-year student to be told to "hump" the Sprinter (statue now up at MLC). I'm not saying it happened every year--but it did happen. MLSveteran--thanks for sharing your insight into what occurred at MLS in the past. We will not be sending our children away to any Lutheran school--even if that means our only option is public school. With or without initiation, I do not trust a few 22/23 year-olds to guide my children spiritually or to parent them properly (especially as they are not even parents themselves). I cringe when I hear Synod officials state they are more capable of raising my child in the faith than my husband and I. The church is there to assist the parents--encourage them, not to take over their God-given role.Anyways, I hope the Synod schools have done away with initiation of any sorts.I know a lot of the area Lutheran high schools did away with any form of initiation. My ALHS [Area Lutheran High School] put a strict anti-hazing policy into effect in 1991. I was never hazed and neither were my classmates. The fear of expulsion was enough to keep the bullies at bay.

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MLS Veteran has left a new comment on your post " Score reports? Anonymous has left a new comment...":

The series of secretive hazing rituals have a lot to do with this

I am not sure how "secret" the hazing was at the prep schools, colleges (DMLC and NWC), although I had never heard of GA (before Ichabod, anyway).

I remember hearing about the hazing at the prep schools in my late grade school years (6th, 7th, and 8th grade) and was warned by some friends against going away from home to high school.

But I attended all 4 years anyway. Kind of questions my intelligence right there, doesn't it?

From my understanding, there is no longer a hazing of freshman (known as your "Zex" year) at MLS. I am not sure about Luther Prep. Since Luther Prep is a much newer school they may have avoided this "sentimental" tradition.

To a certain extent, the harsh treatment of freshmen (ala the plebes of West Point, Annapolis, or other military academies) was a means whereby control could be kept over 13 and 14 year olds living away from home for the first time. There were only 2 or 3tutors in the dorm with the responsibility of looking after 125 or more male students, so the upperclassmen often were used to keep discipline over the younger classes (hazing could occur through the Sophomore year).

This is much like the "trustee" system in prison, where certain prisoners are given power over other prisoners to assist in the control of the prison population.

Unfortunately, such a system is wide open to abuse. Much like any abuse, many of those abused take revenge not upon their tormentors, but upon those that follow after them.

So young people, 13 or 14, COULD be subjected to some pretty harsh treatment. Often a number of freshman would wash out, at least in part to this social phenomena.

Unlike the Seminary, where people are much older (22 years old or older), it was impossible to "opt out" of the activities. Or, I should say, opting out meant quiting school.

Some will tell you after initiation (held during the first 2 months of school) that the Zex year is basically over. However, the formal initiation was simply
more of a public ceremony with fairly harmless events.

Problems would occur during the normal 24/7 life of the dorm student.

In any organziation, there is always an unwritten rule against breaking the "bonds" of the institution. Sort of like Skull and Bones (famous Yale secret society) were some pretty freaky rituals go on, if the rumors are to be believed.

I can truthfully say that as far as I know there has not been any sexual type abuse in connection with this tradition of hazing. The real problem arise with the fear and hate that often accompanied the Zex year (nice for a Christian school dedicated to training pastors to have a tradition associated with fear and hate).

GA, a single evening, sounds fairly mild compared to a full year (and if one was especially targeted, it could continue into the sophomore year) in prep. That part about being naked within view of some female kitchen workers sounds kind of creepy though. It gives Ichabod's term "The Sausage Factory" a very graphic interpretation.

Thanks, Ichabod, I can't enjoy Hickory Farm summer sausage anymore!

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post " Score reports? Anonymous has left a new comment...":

Interesting. When we went through the Seminary (late 90s), there were no "score reports"--unless of course the people I knew just wasn't "cool" enough to be included..I don't know.

I will say that while most (maybe 99.9%?) WELS pastors went through initiation at both NWC (not sure what they do at MLC) and the Seminary. Not all agreed with it--but they still went through with it to fit in.

Not all men went through initiation though--I know of one man that did not. During his first year at NWC, he was told by the Dean of Students at NWC that he would never ever be a WELS pastor because he had chosen not to participate in initiation. He was ridiculed and mocked. He did not merge into the "brotherhood" as defined by the WELS.

When he hit the Seminary, he again refused to participate in GA. I remember 2 seniors (only 1 of which is still in the ministry) at the Sem approaching him in the Sem parking lot--trying to convince him that he needed to participate in GA to "build the bonds of brotherhood." I watched as he emphatically told them "NO."

He never ate lunch at the Seminary because the mockery during GA was too great. If you did not participate, you were isolated--making it very clear that you were not part of the "brotherhood."

This man's argument for not joining in on initiation is that humiliation and degradation is not how one builds the bonds of trust in Christ. The disciples of Christ were solidified together not by mockery or perversion--but by the teaching of Christ--as well as His love and patience with them.

I am not sure how many men have refused to participate in initiation over the years, but many participated not because they truly believed it was a "good" thing to do, but because it was what they felt was "expected" and they were too afraid to stand up for what was right.

It's a sad statement--especially as it is still remembered who did and did not participate. In that, many WELS pastors will know who I am talking about because literally 99.9% of all pastors that I know of prior to the 2002 "effigy" burning at the Seminary participated in GA.

This man has been in the ministry now for many years--but the ghosts of initiations ignored follow him to some degree. After all, "once and opty, always an opty" at least in the minds of some "brothers."

***

GJ - The weirdness of WELS is beyond comprehension. A college president was talking to me about a WELS pastor. In the middle of the conversation, the president said, in an aggitated voice, "He didn't like GA." That was apparently an indictment in WELS.

Two men went to Dean John Brenner at Mequon, expressing their opposition to GA. Brenner defended GA. Neither man finished at Mequon. Doesn't WELS teach that "you must express yourself to the person involved?" Yes, but that only makes the dissenter a target. That is the idea. Hazing promotes conformity and mediocrity. One only has to contemplate the faculty at the Sausage Factory to see the results.

When I sent an email about GA to various people, I received an email denouncing me for printing an article about it in Christian News. They could not say I had never witnessed GA, so they made up an accusation (as if it mattered). They could not deny the details because I saw the first-year class at Mequon disrobing outside (after looking for the pope's bowling ball in the sewer water pond). And I heard a circuit pastor laughing about the female kitchen staff watching this annual skin show. I know from WELS pastors about: someone's leg being broken, a tooth being knocked out, a NWC student knocked unconscious by being hit with a pillow case full of books. (That gives new meaning to the term pillow head.) One prep school student was held out of his second-storey window by the heels. Unfortunately, the morons lost their grip and dropped him. He broke some bones in the terrifying fall.

GA was highly secretive. Anyone who knew the outcome would get special treatment from the upper classmen. I was told repeatedly that no one was allowed to tell anyone else the secrets of GA, including spouse and children. Hazing was a freshman ritual at Michigan Lutheran Seminary and at Northwestern College. The senior year at NWC included Bonecruncher, a pre-GA hazing that included various humiliations, and sex jokes - with wives and girlfriends invited to watch. The Wisconsin sect confuses sadism with humor. I heard of many cases where students took a year off from Holy Mother School to get away from the abuse. The next higher class seemed to have a franchise on abusing the next lower class. Leaving for one year got away from that particular group's franchise.

WELS is an abusive sect with many characteristics similar what we see featured on TV. The micro-mini sects and nano-synods are similar. The core issue is corrupt doctrine, which I will take up later.

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Same anon as before has left a new comment on your post "Various Reports on WELS Hazing and GA":

GA is highly secretive. I always found this fascinating. I talked to a WELS pastor (second career btw) and when I questioned him on what occurred at GA, he stated he could not tell me. He went on to say that he had not even told his wife, so he couldn't possibly tell me. The goal of GA was secrecy--this secrecy is to further bond the men into the "brotherhood."

What I find interesting is that we criticize Masonic lodges for several reasons--but one reason is because they are based on a lot of secrecy. Yet here we see a history of WELS schools endorsing selective secrecy and I find that a bit hypocritical.

The "opty" I know, never participated in "Bonecruncher"(senior then at MLC)--so I have no idea if wives/fiances/girlfriends were there or what occurred.

He also didn't live on campus at the Seminary, so he was a able to just tune out most of it. He would go to class and leave right after. He was much more insulated from the whole thing at the Sem than he was at NWC when he was a dorming student.

So, does anyone know if hazing is totally removed from all levels of the WELS system? It seemed to affect the dorming schools moreso than the ALHS. I believe GA was technically abandoned in 2002 right? I was told by someone they built an effigy representing initiation and burnt it.

Is there any confirmation on this?

I think there is a lot of room in the WELS for spiritual abuse to occur. I am assuming you will be blaming UOJ--but I am not sure we can lay the blame of this all at the feet of UOJ. I am opening to hearing varying thoughts on this though.

Thanks for discussing this--I think it needs to be talked about because it explains a lot of why the WELS is the way it is.

***

GJ - I doubt whether hazing will disappear. Tiefel (aka Teufel) at Mequon is 100% for GA. He fought to get GA going again when it had been stopped. According to a very good source, there is an open and sanitized GA in operation at the Sausage Factory, plus a secret and abusive GA still in progress. Secrecy is the key for all these pathetic little brother-hoods (like my pun?), from WELS to ELDONA.

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Names Changed to Protect the Innocent has left a new comment on your post "Various Reports on WELS Hazing and GA":

Hello -

I thank Dr. Jackson for pointing out the ills of hazing. In high school at LPS I was originally disappointed that hazing was virtually non-existent by then (mid 90s), except for a few trouble-making seniors, most of whom never made it past graduation, let alone college anyway. However, I now agree that it was a horrible practice.

At MLC I never once heard of anything remotely close to hazing. Not even a whisper.

At WLS I had heard GA was dead, and was glad to find out that it was. I know Dr. Jackson takes denials of GA as confirmation that it exists, so this comment is primarily for other readers. (Besides, if a denial constitutes and admission then it's a lose-lose situation as far as talking about the issue goes.)

GA at WLS now no more. I've heard of one person with whom a couple seniors messed around with, but it amounted to nothing more than a trip to check out the dark attic.

Nowadays there is an event planned for the first couple weeks of school. Seniors take groups of juniors to various fun places (e.g. batting cages, golf courses, restaurants) in the area like Milwaukee to get them acquainted with the region and to get to know the juniors. The seniors pay for this out of their own pockets. Afterwards, a large barbecue dinner is prepared and everyone eats together. A devotion is conducted afterwards by the student body president. The topic is usually about biblical brotherhood and how faith unites us, and not some superficial unity.

I suspect this drastic change comes from the harsh criticism by many, which is good, since the criticism was valid. It also appears that most (again, not all, a few still are stubborn) of the newer generation of students who had less hazing in high school and none in college view hazing as ridiculous and pointless and much prefer to build actual bonds of Christian brotherhood and friendship.

You can believe this report or discount it, it matters not to me because I and many others know and have experienced the positive changes.

Many problems remain, particularly theological ones and the rampant infatuation with church growth methods, but at least in this area of WELS, I can report that a dark chapter is being set aside.

Thanks for your time.

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rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Various Reports on WELS Hazing and GA":

I am wondering if shedding light on all of this will be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Besides the doctrinal issues, the hazing in the worker training schools seems to be a type of conditioning that lays a foundation for all sorts of problems that the called workers experience in the real world. The Masonic type of secret rituals and the vow of silence is creepy enough as it is. It is no wonder that so many are now coming forward and saying publicly that the WELS is cult-like in their actions.

The brotherhood thing or "good ol' boy network" works to the advantage of the called workers when a lay member attempts to air a grievance through the circuit pastor or district bishop. Obfuscation and nepotism seem to describe that situation properly.
As indicated in this posting, the hazing has another aspect to it that would be equally important in a cult setting. This has to do with the "opters" or those who choose not to participate. One who more actively resists will surely be handled more harshly. The strangest twist on all of this is when members are admonished to bring their concerns forward. To the unsuspecting, this would appear to be fair and democratic. But, sometimes it is used as a means to identify those who will not "get with the program". They can be singled out and be given special treatment. In some of these situations, it would be better to remain silent and let "one rascal beat up another" as Luther once said.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Various Reports on WELS Hazing and GA":

Yes...GA is dead. There is a new tradition...HB (another German abbreviation, which stands for something like "Brotherly functions" or something). It is a day when the seminary students get together in groups. Older students man certain locations, which are different every year; locations such as a mini-golf place, a driving range, Frisbee golfing, batting cages, restaurants etc., and the Juniors go from one place to another. It is a brotherly-bonding event where you actually sit down and chat with the new Seminarians and get to know them and they you. It's really quite fun and helps facilitate the family atmosphere of the Seminary.

GA is dead for a number of reasons, the prime reasons being it fostered anger/bitterness from some students toward others. There are greater numbers of second career students for which GA is inappropriate for; there is the issue of potential lawsuits that could occur if an injury of any kind occurs; and it is an out-dated tradition. The Seminary faculty unanimously approved the ending of GA, even warning students about there being harsh consequences if any aspect of GA ever happened.

GA is dead, and the Seminary is the better for it.

***

GJ - Those who doubt my doubts should reflect on the perfidious atmosphere of lying in the Wisconsin sect. "There is no Church Growth in WELS." (Wayne Mueller, in charge of Church Growth) "The Anschluss will only cost $8 million dollars, or we will pull the plug." (SP Gurgel, finessing the so-called amalgamation.) "Floyd Luther Stolzenburg has a Scriptural divorce." (VP Kuske, Kovaciny, etc.) "Al Just is innocent." (Lloyd Huebner, president of DMLS) "Tabor is innocent." (The Love Shack) "I didn't know nothing." (Fred Adrian, about his vicar Scott Zerbe).

If GA is indeed gone, that is good. If all hazing is banished from WELS, that is very good. Could the exposure in Thy Strong Word, the Internet posting of Thy Strong Word, and the Ichabod blog have been a cause for the loss of this great tradition of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse?

Lawyers may have frightened the WELS GA veterans and enablers more than any publication. The legal problem is this - WELS cannot deny knowledge when the facts are in print and on the Internet, years before and publicly commented upon. That is how they lost the Zerbe case, when the minor girl--"counseled" by the married vicar--sued in court. The judge, informed by the little girl's lawyer, forced WELS to tell the painful truth. The sect had a boatload of cases. The jury voted a large settlement. WELS immediately filed an appeal. (I call that going to court against a fellow Christian. No?) I still have the list of felons in my file.

Score Reports from 2008

Score reports?

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Another Triumphalist WELS Post":

Off topic just a bit, but relevant to the topic of the seminary/Sausage Factory/etc.

I was reading on an older post about "Score Reports" at the seminary.

What exactly is/was that?

I know what GA was (is?)--but am clueless on the Score Report issue...

Thank you.
A woman in the WELS who will be able to use her name once she leaves the WELS.

***

GJ - In a WELS gathering, someone brought up score reports. I think it was a pastor's wife. She objected to the custom. I wondered about the term. Her husband, a circuit pastor at one time, laughed and explained. The guys got together and described exactly what they had done with their dates. She continued complaining and he continued laughing. That may explain the Wisconsin sect's attitude toward women.

After Sig Becker left the LCMS for the Wisconsin sect, he complained to Herman Otten about the drunkenness and adultery of the WELS pastors. That suggests the amount of both was surprisingly higher than in the Missouri Synod.

A national traveler told East Coast (a WELS pastor) that the Wisconsin ministers were the crudest, most loutish, and and carnal of all the denominations he had seen.

The series of secretive hazing rituals have a lot to do with this. The doctrinal foundation is UOJ. Everyone is forgiven already, so whatever they do is fine. WELS also has a strong streak of antinomianism. The Law is obsolete, some of them will say. UOJ and no-Law go together quite well. Both have been thriving in ELCA for decades.

I was blamed for all the trouble in Columbus, Ohio, which had nothing to do with
their false doctrine, alcoholism, and adultery - of course.
Later, the Intrepid Lutherans were accused of being under my control.
Poor little Tim Glende even complained about this blog
when he sued a staffer's husband in court for telling the truth
about his and Ski's sexual harassment of the man's wife.
Apparently, the judge said something like this,
"What? A blog in Arkansas?"

Delivering the Nutrition to the Plants. From 2014

Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona
illustrates God's landscaping methods.

Strangely, gardeners and farmers have followed the Liebig mistake in thinking their big programs work better than microscopic action in the soil.

1. If I buy 40 pounds of nitrogen and spread it on my lawn, the grass will be so happy. I will bag up all the clippings and haul them away for that neat pool table look.
2. If I scratch fertilizer into the garden, the flowers will love me. 
3. If I rototill the garden before and after the season, the soil will be be fertile and smooth.

All three programs are wrong for the soil and harmful for the plants. Yet people blunder away, spending too much money and working too hard for bad results.

Almost all the nutritional benefits come from fungi and bacteria, and the interactions based upon fungi and bacteria. The bacteria are so small that 500,000 fit on the same space occupied by a period at the end of a sentence. Fungi are bigger and can be quite lengthy. Fungi can grow faster in a few hours than bacteria move in a lifetime.

As a Creation gardener, I want to help the fungi and bacteria distribute nutrition as they work with earthworms and other creatures. The three actions above damage the microscopic actions in the soil without providing more than marginal help. For example, Scotts Lawn fertilizer will not stay in the lawn but pass through into the water table, adding to pollution.

In contrast, nitrogen from mulched grass will be locked up by the soil creatures and passed back and forth in the root zone, to feed and energize those living forms that need nitrogen. They pass it to plant roots in exchange for their carbohydrates. The root tips receive nutrition from and donate food the bacteria, protozoa, and fungi need.

The earthworms are gentle bulldozers than move soil constantly, improving and multiplying the good effects of the bacteria they graze upon. I do not want to tear up this intricate web, but support it from above by protecting it from disruption.

Crepe Myrtle can produce glorious, long-lasting blooms,
and bloom again the same summer.

Before, when I put mulch under the crepe myrtle bush, I thought about holding in rainwater and protecting the surface from drying out and wind erosion.

Now I realize that by mulching the bush with its plant material, I am feeding the bacteria and especially the fungi that need dark moist environs to do their work. Fungi distribute the chemicals where they are needed.

Church Programs - Scotts Lawn for Congregations
Church programs are like the three damaging steps I described above. The grand projects, often forced at a national level, ignore the divine effect of the Word and substitute man's cleverness. The more they fail, the more they insist on doing everything the wrong way. They search among all the false teachers to find an expensive magical formula instead of trusting in God's Word.

Creation and the efficacy of the Word are two sides of the same coin, to borrow a phrase. Denying one means rejecting the other.

Sassy Helps Deflect a Ticket on the Way Back from Moline

 "Officer, I was only looking around for a place to stop."

We were getting close to Arkansas when we decided to stop and fill up in Nevada, Missouri.

We got off I-49 one exit early and thought we might connect to Nevada  (Ne-vay-da to us locals) on the old highway. The streets were almost deserted - with an emphasis on almost. Soon a police car lit up behind us and stopped us.

I could only roll down Sassy's window because mine froze up weeks ago. So I began talking to the officer about our search for gasoline. He checked out my pristine driving record (no arrests) and came back without his writing pad. Good news so far.

He was very friendly and asked if he could pet Sassy. I am sure Sassy was giving him those loving eyes she uses on everyone. He petted her a while and said, "I will drive you to the nearest gas station. Follow me."

He took us north on I-49 a mile, the south on I-49, then into Nevada to the gas station, doing a U-turn and driving away, waving.

Singing Our Song


Sassy signals her need to stop with a high-pitched sound, not loud, but distinctive and lasting.

We answered by saying we were close and not to worry. Sassy's Cattle Dog style chattering began with certain mutterings mixed with high-pitched sounds.

Only four or five minutes to Ne-vay-da,
Please don't get wet on the seat
Mama will cry from the mess you make
Please wait longer for goodness sake...
(45 Minutes from Broadway)

Sassy sang and murmured along with me. My mother had us write variations in poems. At the end of her life, after a broken hip, she composed poems on the fly as we wheeled her through the nursing home where she was recovering. The staff was stunned, because she used a poetic meter and rhymed everything as she rolled along.

This is Sassy's response to being in trouble.
"No one could possibly be upset with me."

WELS Source - "Mark Jeske Will Not Support Luther Days Because He Knows Natalie Pratt Is Behind the Shattered Pulpit and WELS Documented Blogs."

Luther Days

September 10 at 10:33am · 

Join us on Sep 17th from 9 to 4 for the largest Lutheran Festival in North America! Luther Days is a family event that has something for everyone including: 100 workshops, 75 WELS/ELS presenters, 50+ WELS/ELS organizations, Guinness World Record Attempt, Liturgical Art contest, kids activities, German food, lots of Lutheran shopping and much more!

Luther's Sermon for the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity - The Raising of the Widow's Son. Luke 7:11-17

Norma Boeckler

Luther's Second Sermon for the SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. LUKE 7:11-17.


KJV Luke 7:11 And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. 12 Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. 14 And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. 15 And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. 16 And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people. 17 And this rumour of him went forth throughout all Judaea, and throughout all the region round about.


This sermon, which is found only in Edition c, is composed by uniting two sermons, the first of which (§§ 1-13) appeared in 1534 under the title: “A short sermon on the Gospel of Luke 7 chapter, the widow whose son had died, 1534, Dr. Martin Luther.” The other sermon (§§ 14-40) Cruciger embodied evidently from his own copy into the Postil and is also found in the little book issued by him: “Some comforting writings and sermons for those visited by death and other distress and temptations. Dr. Martin Luther, 1545.” — At the end of the book are these words:, “Printed at Wittenberg, by Hans Luft, 1544.” A second edition appeared at Wittenberg in 1548. Its title in this collection of sermons is: “A Sermon on Death and Life, on the Gospel of Luke 7 chapter, the widow’s son raised from the dead.” Erl. 14, 131; W. 11, 2211; St. L. 11, 1658.

CONTENTS:

THE RESURRECTION OF THE WIDOW’S SON, THE YOUNG MAN OF NAIN.
I. THIS RESURRECTION IN GENERAL.

A. How it praises the grace, work and power of God in the kingdom of Christ.

* The conduct of flesh and blood in time of need and misery. 2.

II. THIS RESURRECTION IN DETAIL.

A. How it opposes the false notions, which human nature forms of God in the time of trouble, and awakens us to serve God. 3-5.

* The punishment of God in our temptations.

1. God permits the punishment for a time to pass upon the wicked and the pious.

2. Why God permits punishment to pass upon the godly.

3. How and why believers should not take offense at chastisement and temptation. 8f.

4. The thoughts believers should cherish under, chastisement and temptation. 8-12.

* A Christian should be strong in faith and praise God. 13.

B. How this resurrection paints before our eyes the true picture of Christ.

1. What is the true and characteristic work of Christ.

2. How it is set forth in this resurrection. 15f.

* Of death and life. a. in the time of death as well as of life. 16-17. b. The thoughts reason has of death. 18-19. c. The doctrine Christ teaches of death. 20-21. d. No human wisdom and power can prevent death, and restore life. 22-24. e. How without our works we must come to life through Christ. (1) The nature, sense and understanding of this. 25-27. (2) A picture of this. 28-32. f. The essence of the whole world is nothing but a picture of death and a daily journey to death. 33-34. f. The essence of the whole world is nothing but a picture of death and a daily journey to death. 33-34. g. In Christ we have a comforting picture of life. 35-38. h. With what should a Christian comfort himself in time of death. 39- 40.

1. This portion of the Gospel teaches us to know the grace, work and power of God in the kingdom of Christ, our Lord, and to praise and thank him, as well as cheerfully to serve and obey him. For this miracle and act of mercy are related in order that we may recognize him as our helper in all times of need; and then, when we acknowledge him as our helper, that we love him, thank him for his benefits, and willingly suffer and endure whatever he allows to befall us, especially since we know with certainty that he does not permit anything to happen to us in order to destroy us, but only to try our faith, to see whether our trust and refuge securely rest in him, or in something else.

2. It is the nature of flesh and blood always to seek help and comfort from other sources than God, where they should only be sought, and at last, when all other help fails, to come to God for aid; if, indeed, things turn out so well that they do not wholly despair of God, and rush to satan; for many, when no other help avails, give themselves over to the devil. This results from the fact that they do not know God, and think that he has forgotten them, if he permits some small misfortune to happen to them.

3. Overagainst such thoughts, this Gospel presents a picture of how the Lord Jesus Christ acted toward the poor widow in the time of her greatest need, at the death of her son. On earth no greater need can arise than that caused by death, when the world and everything else have an end. In this greatest extremity he helped her, and raised the dead to life, as an example for us who hear it. For this was done not merely for the sake of the widow and her son, but, as St. John 20:31, says: “But these things are done and written, that ye may believe.” In this way he impresses upon the hearts of all this and his other miracles performed by the blessed Lord Jesus, as if he meant to say: Behold, now you hear how this widow’s son was raised from the dead; let this be preached into your heart, in order that you may accept it, and in this learn what God can and will do, that he can and will help you in all times of need, no matter how great they may be. And if it should happen that your needs should press heavily upon you and you realize that earthly counsel and help are unavailing, that then you do not despair but let this example strengthen your heart, so that you may look to the Lord Jesus for the best that he can give.

4. This was, indeed, no jest in the life of the widow. First, she lost her husband, and then her only son, whom she loved, died. Among those people it was regarded a great misfortune, if parents could not leave a name or children. They regarded this as a great disfavor of God. Hence this widow, who after the death of her husband, placed all her hope and comfort in her only son, must have had great sorrow when her son was torn from her and she had nothing left on earth. Under such circumstances the thoughts were undoubtedly forced upon her: Behold, you are also one of the cursed women to whom God is such an enemy that they must pass from the earth without leaving an offspring. For thus it is written in the Psalms and the Prophets, that God threatens the ungodly, that he will destroy them root and branch, exactly as when one so entirely destroys a tree that neither leaf nor twig remains. This was regarded as the greatest curse and punishment, as may be seen in the lives of many emperors, kings and princes, who were so completely destroyed that nothing is known of them. This has the appearance as if it were the utmost disfavor.

5. Therefore this woman had great sorrow, not only because she had been robbed of her husband and afterwards of her son and thereby the family destroyed before her eyes; but, what seemed far more serious, because she was forced to think: Now I see that God is unfavorable to me and I am cursed; for this punishment has been executed upon me because God in the Psalms and the Prophets has threatened the ungodly to destroy them root and branch. This has happened to me. Therefore the miracle the Lord Jesus wrought in her behalf seemed to her altogether impossible; and if some one had then said to her: Thy son shall live again before your eyes, she would undoubtedly have said: Alas! do not mock me in my deep sorrow. Grant me at least so much that I may bewail my great misery, and do not add to it by your mockery. This would undoubtedly have been her answer, for she was greatly distressed, both by reason of the loss she had sustained as well as on account of her scruples of conscience.

6. But all this is portrayed here in order that we might learn that with God nothing is impossible, whether it be misfortune, calamity, anger, or whatever it may be, and that he sometimes allows misfortune to come upon the good as well as upon the wicked. Yea, that he even permits the ungodly to sit at ease, as in a garden of roses, and meet with success in all their undertakings, while, on the other hand, he appears to the pious as if he were angry with them and unfavorable to them; as, for example, it happened to the godly Job, all whose children were sadly destroyed in one day, who was robbed of his cattle and land, and his body most terribly tormented. He was an innocent man and yet he was compelled to endure a punishment such as no ungodly person had suffered, so that at last even his friends said to him: “You must undoubtedly rest under a great and secret sin, since this has happened to you.” While attempting to comfort him, they added to his misery. But he answered, saying: “I have done nothing and hence am not an ungodly person, whom God often allows to live in rioting and to go unpunished.”

7. So also, it was undoubtedly a serious problem to the widow that the Lord our God punishes the good and evil alike. But to the godly this does not come as a mark of God’s anger or disfavor; while to the ungodly it comes truly as a mark of anger, in order that they may be destroyed. For God does not trifle with them, but is truly in earnest. As to the Godfearing, who have not merited punishment, he tries to see if they will remain steadfast. If they endure the test and think: “My God, though thou triest me, yet thou wilt not forsake me,” he will come again and pour out his blessings as richly upon them as he did in the case of Job, who received twice as much as he had lost, both in property and children. The widow found all her joy in her son while he lived. God tried her and took her son from her. When she wept and cried he came again and gave her tenfold more joy than she had had before; for she rejoiced more for her son in that one hour than she had done throughout her entire previous life. So richly does our Lord God give again, if only men endure and do not doubt him.

8. Therefore learn from this, whoever can learn: If we are pious and the trials come, which God sends upon us, let us cherish the thought that he means it well with us, and let us not be offended when he permits the wicked, the Pope, bishops and all others to do as they please. These think they have deserved this at the hands of our Lord God and try to justify themselves, if punished on account of their sins. But, dear friends, let us freely confess and say: Lord, thou doest right, even though thou dost punish us; for before thee, Lord, we have no right. But we hope that thou wilt punish graciously and in thine own good time cease. If we do thus, all distress will be removed, no matter how impossible help may seem to be.

9. Flesh and blood, when under trial, say, all is lost. For when our Lord God makes an attack, he does it in such a manner that we know not where to turn; and hence, no matter how we think or plan, we can find no way out, but are hemmed in on every side, as Job says, Job 3:23: “As a man, whom the Lord has surrounded with darkness,” as when one is in darkness and does not know which way to turn. If the trial does not go thus far it is no real trial. He who in hunger still knows of a supply of gold or grain, is not yet in real darkness; but when one is utterly helpless and without counsel he may be said to be really punished. As the widow’s way was so hemmed in on every side that she was compelled to conclude: I am cursed, God is against me; so she was in the midst of darkness, where there was neither a way nor an opening, and knew not where to turn.

10. All this is presented to us as an example, that we may learn to remain steadfast in faith and regard God in no other light than that of a merciful God who, indeed, may permit us to be tempted, as if he were angry with us and were laughing at us with the world; but let us guard ourselves against such laughter and not become terrified at the anger, with which he attacks his people. It may appear as if at times he were on the side of the wicked and persecuted the godly without mercy; yet it does no harm and it depends only upon a glance. But it is a blind and spiritual glance, which we must give with blind eyes, that is, with the eyes of faith, which sees nothing; For faith is invisible. Faith lays hold of things that are not seen and of things that are not matters of experience, Hebrews 11:1.

11. Philosophers have an art that deals with visible things, which can be experienced and comprehended; but a Christian deals with invisible, unsubstantial, spiritual things, that cannot be seen, nor comprehended, so that one can hardly think they are possible. In this state Sarah was with reference to her son. There was nothing but the simple word. Her womb was not fit for that because of her age and her natural condition that she was barren, and her son Isaac was indeed invisible and as nothing. So this widow, with reference to her son, did not see that he lived, but saw only that he was dead; but Christ knew that he lived and brought the dead son to life, and so made the invisible visible.

12. All this happened, as I have often said, for us to learn to trust our Lord God and believe in him in all our need, and not become terrified when we do not fare well, nor be offended if the wicked prosper. For our Lord God is one who tries, who allows his own to be tried and to suffer, so that they may truly perceive and learn to know that he is a gracious God, even though he at times hides his grace so deeply that it cannot be seen.

Afterwards, if men persevere, it is only a matter of a single word and the necessary assistance is rendered; as in this Gospel, only a word was necessary and the dead son was restored to life. By this he desires to show that what is impossible with us, is so easy for him that it requires only one little word: “Arise.” It is easily spoken, and yet is has power to restore the dead to life. We should learn to know that he can and will help us out of all our needs.

13. He who desires to be a Christian should be strong in faith and praise God and his Word, and should say: “I will acknowledge, praise and serve that God, and gladly do and suffer what he wills, who can so readily and easily help.” Thus, this and other miracles of Christ should serve to comfort us and make us better, and urge us on to believe in him and serve him, as no other god, for no other god manifests himself as our dear Lord Jesus has manifested himself. Therefore, we praise and magnify him daily, and daily bring others to him that they may also do the same. May God continue his help more and more. This is the teaching of the Gospel as presented in the example of the widow.

14. This narrative still further exhibits the true nature of Christ’s work, showing why he came and reigns, namely, that he might destroy death and in its stead give life, as the prophet Isaiah, 25:8, says: “He will swallow up death forever;” and St. Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:24-26, says that Christ must reign until he has destroyed the last enemy, death, for his Christians, and thus give them eternal life; after that he shall deliver up the kingdom to the Father, when he shall have abolished all rule and all authority and power. This is the work he will accomplish among his people and has already begun in faith before bodily death takes place. Afterwards, however, when he shall have brought all his own together he will complete his work in them at the last day.

15. Signs and types, yea, testimonies of the same are found in this and other narratives, that record the raising of people from the dead. But these form only the prelude to the work he will finally accomplish among all Christians. The pictures of both life and death are here placed over against each other, and it is shown where both originate and oppose each other, and how Christ manifests his power and authority over death.

16. For, first, when you hear the Scriptures speaking of death, you must think not only of the grave and the coffin, and of the horrible manner in which life is separated from the body and how the body is destroyed and brought to naught, but you must think of the cause by which man is brought to death and without which death and that which accompanies it, would be impossible. This cause Scripture points out and teaches, namely, that it is sin and the wrath of God on account of sin. This cause brings death, always sticks in it, appears from it, and works and draws after it all the misery and misfortune on earth, and in addition banishes man from God and from all his grace and joy.

17. Likewise, on the contrary, when the Scriptures speak of life you must also conceive the cause that brings and gives life; that must be the righteousness by which man is acceptable to God and by which he also finds in God his pleasure, delight and joy, and receives thus from God every good thing he may desire through all eternity.

18. Both these things you may see in this picture, two sorts of persons and processions: the deceased with those who carry him out of the town, and Christ who comes to meet him. All men know very well that they must die and that all of us go the same way, and see death before us, by our side and behind us. Even the learned among the heathen have complained of this misery of the human race; but they have not been able to perceive the cause of death. Most of them think death is a matter of chance, that we die like the brute, and that man is so created that he must die.

19. Others, seeing that so much misfortune, misery and sorrow pass over the human race, that so many die before their time and many are miserably destroyed, things which could happen only by chance, have searched for the cause and have been surprised that such misfortunes befall man, who, alone among all living creatures, is the noblest and should be better situated, and guarded against injury, but they have not been able to ascertain the cause of the evil, except in so far that they have seen how many men, through their own malignity or willfulness, have brought death and other misfortunes on themselves. But this in itself is a matter of great wonder how a man can be so wicked that he can willfully cast himself into trouble and misery.

20. Here Scripture teaches us, in the first place, that death originated in paradise, as the result of the eating of the forbidden fruit, that is, from the disobedience of our first parents, and since then has come upon all men on account of their sins. For if sin did not exist, there would be no death. By this we mean not only gross sins, such as adultery, murder, and the like; but they also die who neither commit, nor can commit these, as children in the cradle; yea, even the great and holy Prophets, John the Baptist, all must die.

21. Therefore some greater and different sins than murder and similar public crimes, which the executioner punishes with death, must be meant, why the whole human race is subject to death. This is the sin which we have inherited from Adam and Eve, and from our fathers and mothers, which is innate in all men born according to the common course of nature.

This exists and remains, as it did in Adam and Eve, after they had committed sin, had been banished from the presence of God, full of evil lusts and disobedience to God and his will. Hence all under the wrath of God are condemned to death, and must be forever separated from God. In this way God manifests his strong and terrible wrath against all men, which we bring upon us through sin, so that all of us must be overcome by death; because we are born of flesh and blood and in consequence must bear the guilt of our parents, and thus have become sinners and worthy of death. Psalm 90:7 teaches us: “For we are consumed in thine anger, and in thy wrath are we troubled.” It is the wrath of God, he says; hence it is not an accidental thing, or because man has been so created by God; but it is our fault that we commit sin. For since there is wrath, there must also be guilt, which causes such wrath. This wrath is not a mere ordinary thing, but such a serious affair that no one can endure it, and under which all must succumb; and yet the world is so blind that it does not see nor regard this wrath of God; yea, even the pious do not sufficiently comprehend it. The Psalmist says, Psalm 90:11: “Who knoweth the power of thine anger, and thy wrath according to the fear that is due unto thee?”

22. Much less can the world understand how one may be freed from all this misery, nor can it accomplish this by its own wisdom and power; even as in its blindness it attempts to do, when it hears of the wrath of God and seeks by its works and life to be reconciled to God and merit life. For since all men are by birth sinners and, under the wrath of God, subject to death, how shall we be able by our own works to free ourselves from death? Alas! when death is considered or how to escape death, there is neither comfort nor hope for any one, as St. Paul says, 1 Thessalonians 4:13: “That ye sorrow not, even as the rest who have no hope.”

23. For neither do these know that it is possible for a single individual to be raised from death to life, and hence they conclude: “He who is dead, must remain dead forever and must be annihilated.” Others, as the Jews, Turks, Papists, even though they hear that there is to be a resurrection, are nevertheless ignorant of the fact how they may take part in the resurrection of the righteous and the saved, think that they can merit eternal life by their own efforts; as we monks have hitherto believed and taught: that if we strictly observed the rules of our orders, prayed much, read mass, etc., God would have respect for such a holy life and in consequence help not only us, but others also, to escape death.

24. This, however, is nothing but a vain human comfort and hope, without any authority of the Word of God; for such power and authority to help ourselves cannot exist within us. Since on account of sin we have become subject to death, so that we cannot even delay bodily death, much less can we save ourselves or work ourselves free from eternal death. This we ourselves have been compelled to experience and testify to by our monkery and work-righteousness. For although we have had to do with these for a long time and comforted ourselves with them, yet at last we found them useless. When once the straits of conscience were concerned, when we had to struggle and stand before the judgment of God, all this comfort left the heart and nothing remained but vain terrified doubts, yea, even convulsions and tremblings on account of the thought: Alas! I did not live a sufficiently holy life. How shall I be able to stand before the judgment of God? For it must finally come to this, that man must feel and become conscious of that which all the Saints have experienced and confessed, namely, that no one can stand in the judgment of God on the basis of his own life, no matter how good it may have been. Of this the prophet Isaiah speaks, Isaiah 49:24: “Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captives be delivered?” The “mighty” he calls the power of death, that strangles and carries away all men and whom no one can resist or rob of its prey; but by the “lawful captives” he means the law with its t judgment, which is God’s judgment and which rightly holds all men captive, so that no one can free himself or others from it, but all must, as far as in them be, remain forever captive under it; for they themselves have merited such captivity through sin and disobedience, and have fallen into the righteous and eternal wrath of God.

25. Therefore there is no help from any creature against this. God himself had to have compassion on our misery and to conceive a plan for our deliverance, as he said in the prophecy of Isaiah, 49:25: “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered.” This had to be done by Christ, the Son of God himself, and he therefore became man, that is, took upon himself death and its cause, sin and the wrath of God, in order that he might free us from these and bring us to life and righteousness. For, as by one man both sin and death came upon all of us; so also by one man must victory over death, righteousness and life be given to us, as St. Paul says, Romans 5:17.

26. Therefore this work of life has been accomplished in such a manner that without our effort or work we attain it, just as we became subject to death without our effort and work. And in like manner as we did not bring death upon ourselves, except in so far as we were born of Adam and through the sin of another our flesh and blood became corrupt, so that we also must die; so also can we much less work out and merit redemption from sin and death, that is, righteousness and life, but must be brought to it through the righteousness and life of another one. Therefore, since sin is born in us through Adam and has now become our own; so also must the righteousness and life of Christ become our own, so that this same power of righteousness and life may work in us, as if it had been born in us through him. For it is in him not only his personal, but an actual and powerful righteousness and life; yea, a fountain that gushes forth and overflows for all who have become partakers of him, in like manner as sin and death have gushed into human nature from Adam. It means, therefore, that now all men can be delivered from sin and death and be made alive, not by nor through their own efforts, but apart from themselves through the righteousness and life of this Lord Jesus Christ, namely, if he touches them with his hand and through his Word imparts to them his work and power to destroy sin and death, and provided they believe his Word.

27. For this reason we are called Christians, that is, righteous, living and holy people, because we have this Lord and have become partakers of him through the faith of his Word and Sacrament, who is the true sin-destroyer and death-devourer (I say of our sin and death, which have strangled and devoured us) by virtue of his own power and authority. He did both these things in his own person, inasmuch as he took upon himself our sin and death. But since he was not only without sin and the guilt of death, but in himself was perfect and eternal righteousness, and sin and death had no hold on him, they were condemned and destroyed by him, and pure righteousness and life presented to us in place of sin and death. For after his victorious death and resurrection he established a kingdom in Christendom, in which he now continually until death and the grave destroys sin in his Christians through forgiveness and the power of his Spirit, and begins life in them through faith, until he can bring them all together on one day, when he will bestow on them perfect righteousness and life, both in body and soul.

28. All this you may see clearly and lovingly presented in this narrative:

This youth died, not because he had been a murderer, adulterer or open sinner who had to be punished because of his misdeeds; but before he could have become guilty of sins which those commit who have grown to maturity, and become old, death carried him away only by reason of the sin in which he was born. His mother might well bemoan her own sin, by reason of which she lost her son, who had inherited sin and death from her.

29. But now that he has died, where may counsel or comfort and help be found? Certainly not through the mother’s sorrow and tears, which must have been unlimited. If human work and effort could in this case have been of any avail or be meritorious, surely the tears of the widow would have accomplished much more; for they certainly came from a most anxious heart, as of a sorrowing and miserable mother, whose heart was broken by reason of her love for her son, and who would willingly have done and suffered anything, even her own death, in order to have saved her son. And now, that he was dead, she doubtless cherished the secret wish and longing: Ah! if it could be the will of God that my son might still be alive or could again be restored to life. This was so deeply concealed in her heart, that she could not see it herself, yea, she dared not even think of petitioning the Lord for it, and yet her heart was filled with the thought. If she had been asked and had confessed what her greatest desire was and what she would ask of God, she could have said nothing else than: Alas! what should I desire or ask more on earth than that my son might live. And this is a more earnest and heart-felt prayer than any one can express, for it proceeds from a purely inexpressible longing.

30. And yet this is useless both for her as well as all others, and she must cast it aside and remain in doubt; for had she not sighed, wept and prayed most earnestly before her son died, that she might retain him alive? But since all this was of no avail and her son had died, how much less could she draw hope or comfort from his suffering; she saw clearly that he could not be brought back by sighs and tears. If this were possible, other mothers would have or would still do it.

31. In a word, unbelief fought against her prayer and made it unavailing; and hence contrary to all human thought, hope and effort, her son was restored to her, alone for the reason that the Lord met and had compassion on the poor widow, as the text says, and comforted her not only with friendly words, but also with his power and authority restored her son alive to her; so that she was compelled to say that it was not her merit or that of any human being, but the pure grace and gift of the Lord, and that he was a Lord who is able to do and give “exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think,” as the Epistle for to-day says, Ephesians 3:20. For this is his way that he always manifests himself towards his saints in a wonderful manner, as Psalm 4:3 says, and in their distresses hears, delivers and saves them, not according to their own thoughts, hopes and faith, but according to his own divine and almighty power, when human counsel fails and is despaired of.

32. Behold, how the Lord exhibits his work against death when it comes into his presence, and thereby typifies or indicates for our comfort what he will also do for all his people, when, like this youth, they are seized by death. For here you see two processions or companies meeting each other; the one, the poor widow with the dead youth and the people following him to the grave; the other, Christ and those who went with him into the city.

The first picture shows what we are and what we can bring to Christ; for this is the picture of the whole world and the way of man on the earth.

There is a crowd all of whom must follow death out of the city, and Christ, when he comes, finds nothing else than that which has to do with death.

33. This is the whole essence of human life on the earth, if we look at it in the proper light. There is nothing but the image and work of death, and constant and daily approaching death until the last day, since one after another dies and the rest have to do only with the horrible affair how one may carry the other to the grave, and others follow daily. They render this service to the dead, in order that to-day or to-morrow some one else may follow them also to their graves. Wherefore Christ speaks of the character and order of our earthly life to those whom he calls into his kingdom, Matthew 8:22: “Leave the dead to bury their own dead.”

34. Thus you see on this side and in this crowd of the whole world and of the human race nothing but death. We bring this with us and with it drag ourselves from our mother’s womb, and all at the same time travel the same road with one another, only that one precedes or is carried before the others, and the rest follow after until the last one dies. Nor is there any deliverance or help for this from any creature, for death rules over them all, as St. Paul says, Romans 5:14, and drags all of them along, without the ability to resist. Yea, with such demonstration and pomp does death do this that when he overcomes one he defies all the rest who are alive and carries the dead to the grave, and shows them that he has them also in his clutches and under his power and may seize them whenever he will.

35. But on the other hand, you see here also a comforting counterpart of life, and a glorious and joyous procession of the Lord Jesus, who does not go out of the city with the dead, but meets death on his way into the city; not however as those who return home from the grave, only until they shall carry another one out. For the Lord does not come with such thoughts of death, as if he had to fear death and come under its power; but steps into his presence and opposes him as the one who has power and authority over death; first he comforts the poor widow, whose heart is filled only with death, and tells her to sorrow and weep no more, speaks other words which no one else can utter, steps up to the bier, lays his hands on it, requests the bearers to stand still, and immediately follows with a word and says: “Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.” These words are instantly followed by such power and efficacy that the dead man did not lie as before, but sat up, bound and covered as he was, began to speak and showed that he was no longer dead, but alive.

36. This was a wonderful and quick change from death to life, on the part of the young man. Where the spark of life had long been extinguished and there was truly no sign of life, there are instantly and fully restored breath, blood, sensibility, movement, thought, speech and everything else that belongs to life; and Christ, with one word, turned the sad and sorrowing procession, and the carrying of the dead from the gate of the city, into a joyous, lovely and beautiful procession of life, in which both the youth, who was being carried by four or more to be buried under ground, together with his sorrowing mother, joyously follow the Lord Jesus, accompanied by the whole crowd into the city, forgetting death, the bier and the grave, and speaking joyously and thankfully only of life.

37. But the glory and honor of this work belong only to the Lord Jesus, through whose power and authority alone death can be removed and life brought forth from it, as he also proves. Hence the fame and report concerning Christ, of which this Gospel speaks, saying that it went forth throughout the whole country, is recorded for our consolation and joy overagainst the fear and dread of death, in order that we may know what kind of a Savior we have in Christ. For he so manifested himself on earth in his ministry, office and form of a servant, that he can be known as the Lord both of death and life, to destroy the former and bring the latter to light; that although he often met death and fought with it, as in the case of the daughter of Jairus, and again in that of Lazarus, and at last in his own person, he nevertheless finally overcame and destroyed it.

38. Christ also desires to prove in our death and that of all Christians, since death casts every one of us under the ground and it thinks it has completely swallowed all; as Christ promised and confirmed by his own mouth and word in John 11:25: “I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” Again, John 5:28 says: “The hour cometh in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth.” Then only the work, which he has portrayed in this example, shall really begin, which he has put off until that time, since he wishes to complete it not only in one or a few, but at one time in all, in order to destroy death with one blow, as Isaiah 25:8 says, so that no one shall forever afterwards be overcome or taken captive by it. This shall then form a truly joyous and glorious procession, when he shall bring together, in a moment of time, all who have died, calling them forth with one word from the earth, dust and ashes, air, water and all other places, and, as St. Paul says, 1 Thessalonians 4:14, will bring with himself, as the Head, in an innumerable company all believers, having freed all from death and given them eternal life, and, as Isaiah 25:8 says, having wiped away all tears from their eyes, so that they may forever and without ceasing praise and glorify their Lord, with everlasting joy, praise and honor.

39. We should also learn to believe this and comfort ourselves in the hour of death and in all other distresses, so that, although we may come to such straits that we neither see nor feel anything else than death and destruction, as in the case of this poor widow, because of her son, yea, even though we may be in the clutches of death, as her son on the bier and on the way to the tomb; yet that we may nevertheless firmly conclude that in Christ we have obtained victory over death and life. For faith in Christ must be so disposed, as the Epistle to the Hebrews 11:1, teaches, that it can grasp and hold fast those things that can not, yea those things of which only the antithesis can be seen, as in this case, Christ wants this widow to believe in and hope for life, when he says, “Weep not;” although such faith was indeed weak and small in her, as it also is in us, since she and all the world had in their minds feelings and thoughts that despaired of life.

40. For he desires to teach us that also in our experience there is nothing in us or apart from us, except only corruption and death; but from him and in him only life, which shall swallow up both our sin and death. Yea, the more misery and death are in us, the more and the more richly shall we find comfort and life in him, provided we hold fast to him by faith, to which he spurs us on and admonishes us both through his Word and such examples as the one before us. Amen.