Gems from The Sermons of Martin Luther You Know What This Means - Another Volume Is Finishing Up

Gems from Volume 7

The Sermons of Martin Luther, 

Lenker Edition

Christians as Members of the Body

4. Similarly, no Christian can boast that his own efforts have made him a member of Christ, with other Christians, in the common faith. Nor can he by any work constitute himself a Christian. He performs good works by virtue of having become a Christian, in the new birth, through faith, regardless of any merit of his own. Clearly, then, good works do not make Christians, but Christians bring forth good works. The fruit does not make the tree, but the tree produces the fruit. Seeing does not make the eye, but the eye produces vision.

Second Sunday after Epiphany

The Self-Righteous Dislike Equality

9. The self-righteous are unable to concede this equality. They must stir up sects and distinctions among Christians. Priests aspire to be better than laymen; monks better than priests; virgins than wives. The diligent, in praying and fasting, would be better than the laborer; and they who lead austere lives, more righteous than they of ordinary life. This is the work of the devil, and productive of every form of evil. Opposed to it is Christ’s doctrine in our text. Under such conditions as mentioned, faith and love are subverted. The unlearned are deluded and led away from faith to works and orders. Inequality is everywhere. The ecclesiasts desire to sit in high places, to receive all honor, to have their feet kissed, and will honor and respect none but themselves.

Second Sunday after Epiphany

Advice to All Believers

14. See, then, that you become a member of Christ. This is to be accomplished through faith alone, regardless of works. And having become a member, if God has appointed you a duty according to your capacity, abide in it. Let no one allure you away from it. Esteem not yourself better than others, but serve them, rejoicing in their works and their offices as you do in your own, even if they are less important. Faith renders you equal with others, and others equal with you, and so on.

Second Sunday after Epiphany

Faith the Controlling Judge

20. It is of much significance that Paul recognizes faith as the controlling judge and rule in all matters of doctrine and prophecy. To faith everything must bow. By faith must all doctrine be judged and held. You see whom Paul would constitute doctors of the holy Scriptures — men of faith and no others. These should be the judges and deciders of all doctrines. Their decision should prevail, even though it conflict with that of the Pope, of the councils, of the whole world. Faith is and must be lord and God over all teachers.

The Second Sunday after Epiphany

Preaching Is Above All Offices

29. We must remember, however, that nothing takes precedence of the Word of God. The preaching of it transcends all other offices.

Second Sunday after Epiphany

God Takes Care of Justice, So We Must Endure Quietly

68. Note, in forbidding us to return blow for blow and to resort to vengeance, the apostle implies that our enjoyment of peace depends on our quiet endurance of others’ disturbance. He not only gives us assurance that we shall be avenged, but he intimidates us from usurping the office of God, to whom alone belong vengeance and retribution. Indeed, he rather deplores the fate of the Christian’s enemies, who expose themselves to God’s wrath; he would move us to pity them in view of the fact that we must give place to wrath and permit them to fall into the hands of God.

Third Sunday after Epiphany

Overcome Evil with Good, Or Be Overcome by the Evil of Vengeance

71. With this concluding counsel, it strikes me, Paul himself explains the phrase “coals of fire” in harmony with the first idea — that the malice of an enemy is to be overcome with good. Overcoming by force is equivalent to lending yourself to evil and wronging the enemy who wrongs you. By such a course your enemy overcomes you and you are made evil like himself. But if you overcome him with good, he will be made righteous like you. A spiritual overcoming is here meant; the disposition, the heart, the soul — yes, the devil who instigates the evil — are overcome.

Third Sunday after Epiphany

Making Believers Sad and the Evil Rejoice

12. Mark you, it is making the hearts of the righteous sad to load them with sins when their works are good; it is strengthening the hands of the wicked to make their works good when they are naught but sin. Relative to this subject, we read (Psalm 14:5): “There were they in great fear; for God is in the generation of the righteous.” That is, the sting of conscience fills with fear where there is neither reason for fear nor for a disturbed conscience. That is feared as sin which is really noble service to God.

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

The True Purpose of the Law Is Love

15. In the conception, the establishment and the observance of all laws, the object should be, not the furtherance of the laws in themselves, not the advancement of works, but the exercise of love. That is the true purpose of law, according to Paul here, “He that loveth his neighbor hath fulfilled the law.” Therefore, when the law contributes to the injury rather than the benefit of our neighbor, it should be ignored. The same law may at one time benefit our neighbor and at another time injure him. Consequently, it should be regulated according to its advantage to him. Law should be made to serve in the same way that food and raiment and other necessaries of life serve. We consider not the food and raiment themselves, but their benefit to our needy neighbor. And we cease to dispense them as soon as we perceive they no longer add to his comfort.

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

Faith Removes Our Sins, the Holy Spirit Moves Us To Delight in Doing Good

22. I reply: As we have frequently said, we must properly distinguish between faith and love. Faith deals with the heart, and love with the works. Faith removes our sins, renders us acceptable, justifies us. And being accepted and justified as to our person, love is given us in the Holy Spirit and we delight in doing good. Now, it is the nature of the Law to attack our person and demand good works; and it will not cease to demand until it gains its point. We cannot do good works without the Spirit and love. The Law constrains us to know ourselves with our imperfections, and to recognize the necessity of our becoming altogether different individuals that we may satisfy the Law. The Law does not exact so much of the heart as of works; in fact, it demands nothing but works and ignores the heart. It leaves the individual to discover, from the works required, that he must become an altogether different person. But faith, when it comes, creates a nature capable of accomplishing the works the Law demands. Thus is the Law fulfilled.

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

How Can Love of Neighbor Be Equal to Love of God?

26. Another question arises: How can love for our neighbor be the fulfillment of the Law when we are required to love God supremely, even above our neighbor? I reply: Christ answers the question when he tells us (Matthew 22:39) the second commandment is like unto the first. He makes love to God and love to our neighbor the same love. The reason for this is, first: God, having no need for our works and benefactions for himself, bids us to do for our neighbor what we would do for God. He asks for himself only our faith and our recognition of him as God. The object of proclaiming his honor and rendering him praise and thanks here on earth is that our neighbor may be converted and brought into fellowship with God. Such service is called the love of God, and is performed out of love to God; but it is exercised for the benefit of our neighbor only.

27. The second reason why God makes love to our neighbor an obligation equal to love to himself is: God has made worldly wisdom foolish, desiring henceforth to be loved amid crosses and afflictions. Paul says (Corinthians 1:21), “Seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save them that believe.” Therefore, upon the cross he submitted himself unto death and misery, and imposed the same submission upon all his disciples. They who refused to love him before when he bestowed upon them food and drink, blessing and honor, must now love him in hunger and sorrow, in adversity and disgrace. All works of love, then, must be directed to our wretched, needy neighbors. In these lowly ones we are to find and love God, in them we are to serve and honor him, and only so can we do it. The commandment to love God is wholly merged in that to love our neighbors.

28. These facts restrain those elusive, soaring spirits that seek after God only in great and glorious undertakings. It stops the mouths of those who strive after greatness like his, who would force themselves into heaven, presuming to serve and love him with their brilliant works. But they miss him by passing over him in their earthly neighbor, in whom God would be loved and honored. Therefore, they will hear, on the last day, the sentence (Matthew 25:42), “I was hungry, and ye did not give me to eat,” etc. For Christ laid aside his divinity and took upon himself the form of a servant for the very purpose of bringing down and centering upon our neighbor the love we extend to himself. Yet we leave the Lord to lie here in his humiliation while we gaze open-mouthed into heaven and make great pretensions to love and service to God.

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

Lock him up | Max Brantley | Arkansas news, politics, opinion, restaurants, music, movies and art

Oren Paris III - Ecclesia College,
the only work-study college in the state.

Support your local weed-study college.
"The moment you blaze up, another student gets
a tuition discount at Ecclesia College."
But that dream went up in smoke.

Lock him up | Max Brantley | Arkansas news, politics, opinion, restaurants, music, movies and art: 


"This scandal was huge. Had Neal not blown the whistle, Woods had really big plans for Ecclesia College. He talked of making it a beneficiary of the tax on medical marijuana at one point. At another, he drew up a plan to have it qualify for a special higher education appropriation as a "work-study" institution. He also was the architect of the measure that lengthened term limits, watered down new ethics rules and restored the public treasury as a source of taxpayer subsidies for chambers of commerce. Everybody under the Capitol dome loved him. He was building a Louisiana-sized swamp."

GJ - Note that the state bans giving churches tax money, and Ecclesia College calls itself a church. On that basis they refuse to say what they did with all the money, though it is known they paid too much for 50 acres of land. With 200 acres already owned, they did not need more land for 100 or so students.

The law-makers passed the special appropriation for any and all "work-study" college. There are only about seven in the US, and only one in Arkansas - Ecclesia College.

 Get a diploma and a career in agricultural sales.

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Quiet, modest pioneer – Covenant. George Lindbeck, Yale, 94

 This is George Lindbeck, the way he looked when he
came to the early morning service at Bethesda Lutheran Church, New Haven.

Lindbeck's later photograph, published by
another periodical.
About Covenant

Quiet, modest pioneer – Covenant:



"George A. Lindbeck, 1923-2018
George A. Lindbeck’s death on January 8 brings to a close an era of extraordinarily fruitful theological work that he engaged with colleagues around the Church. At Yale, he worked with the late Hans Frei and Brevard Childs; within Lutheranism, with thinkers like Jaroslav Pelikan, Robert Jenson, and Harding Meyer; he had Roman Catholic partners like Walter Kasper, and Jewish ones like Peter Ochs. Lindbeck’s personal contributions to this network of discussion was enormous, though often modestly quiet. His writings were comparatively few, with only one monograph achieving renown — although one of towering proportions — The Nature of Doctrine (1984). Lindbeck also wrote numerous articles, only a few of which have been republished (cf. The Church in a Postliberal Age [2003]).

He tirelessly engaged in ecumenical discussion. He had a major role in the landmark Lutheran-Roman Catholic Joint Declaration on Justification (1999). His continuous teaching at Yale from 1952 to 1993 provided him with detailed research, notes, and reflection that, by the end of his life, pointed to astonishing new directions on ecclesiological reflection that not only derive from his individual creativity but embody elements drawn from his rich intellectual interactions. All scholars live within a vital network of collegial work. Lindbeck’s, however, represents a unique moment of transition in the Church’s theological self-understanding, laying on the table and engaging what are now standard, if difficult and contested contemporary, challenges of missionary witness within broadly hostile or indifferent cultural settings.

Lindbeck was born in China, to missionary parents, a formation that proved central to his vision. His advanced theological training was in late medieval philosophy, which he studied in Toronto and Paris, under Étienne Gilson and Paul Vignaux, respectively. In part this training shaped his precise, analytical approach to matters, one that sometimes masked his deep piety and Christian fervor. At Yale, he regularly taught ordinands medieval and Reformation theology, in lectures that were detailed, careful, often profound and daring in their questions, as year by year he constantly refashioned his thinking in exciting ways. He was an expert on Luther but also on Aquinas (and his seminar notes on the latter are ones I still study). His many students, Protestant and Catholic, have enriched the Church’s ministry, and many have become key theologians in their own right. Those who knew Lindbeck could not help but be transformed by his faith, humility, quiet focus, charity, sometimes sly wisdom, and profound knowledge and imagination.


George Lindbeck, left, and Kristen Skydsgaard meet Pope John XXIII during Vatican II in 1963.

For all his extraordinary historical and theological erudition, Lindbeck’s main vocation was ecumenical. He was one of the official Protestant observers at Vatican II, and he remained engaged in formal and informal dialogues for his entire career. His celebrated volume The Nature of Doctrine was a direct response to this ecumenical work."

 Sterling LIbrary had books that were on the shelves
from the earliest days of the school.
Roland Bainton had his own office here,
and we were invited up to see him on one trip - and that included Little Ichabod.

 Yale Divinity School is spartan in appearance
but stunning in its setting of the fall colors of New Haven.
Bainton lived a few blocks away, so we saw him often
and heard him lecture.

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***

GJ - As I have told one of our members, "It is not Do you know... but How do you know this person?"

When I attended Yale Divinity School, the Lutheran students mentioned that Bethesda Lutheran Church was just down the hill from YDS. In fact, the congregation bought a mansion and attached a church building to it, after moving from the inner city.

As a result, the Lutheran theology professors and students went to Bethesda. The professors were:

• George Lindbeck - theology;
• Paul L. Holmer - theology;
• Nils A. Dahl - New Testament;
• Sydney Ahlstrom - American church history; +
• Jaroslav Pelikan - European church history. +

One Sunday, we had some visitors in church for some tour of the school, so we also had in attendance -

• Henri Nouwen - pastoral theology; and
• The YDS dean.

Day Mission Library - YDS

I often conducted the early service at Bethesda and preached several sermons at both service. The morning service was in a converted room of the mansion and rather small. Lindbeck was there every Sunday. We did not get to know him, so one day, the pastor and future bishop of the region said, "You don't know who George Lindbeck is? He was the official Lutheran official appointed to attend Vatican II."

I wrote about the YDS Lutheran faculty for The Lutheran (LCA) magazine. They did not call attention to themselves, so they were not celebrity professors. Late, YDS graduate Stan Hauerwas became high profile for publishing an enormous number of articles and books.

Harkness Bell Tower dominates the downtown campus.

To Understand the Bible, These Basics Are Necessary

 Norma A. Boeckler

The Bible is not about God, but is God's unique Book of the Holy Spirit, teaching one Truth through various human authors. Thanks to the influence of Karl Barth and his lovely Commie mistress, Charlotte Kirschbaum, many Evangelicals see the Bible as containing God's Word, not as God's Word. Fuller Seminary has disseminated this false view from their own faculty learning under Barth/Kirschbaum.

 Norma A. Boeckler

The Spirit always works with God's Word and never apart from God's Word. Isaiah 55:8ff makes that clear, as do many other passages in the Old and New Testaments. The beginning of all false doctrine is the Spirit/Word divorce. That separation makes possible the decrees of the Pope in Rome and the popes in Lutherdom. All pagan religion comes from this Enthusiasm, the label Luther gave this basic error.

This divine efficacy and power means that God created the universe in six 24-hour days. Young earth? The only reason for an old earth is God's need to slowly work out the details of evolution to the satisfaction of the Calvinists and compromisers.

The Real Presence is also related to the efficacy and power of the Word. And Sacraments do accomplish - through the Word - what is promised in the Scriptures.

Jesus Himself made it clear that the foundational sin is unbelief, specifically not believing in Him.

 Norma A. Boeckler

John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;

10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;

11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

Grace can only come to us through the Spirit at work in the Word, so God has appointed Means or Instruments to end all anxiety and doubt about whether we are forgiven. Those who despise the Means of Grace are merely exhibiting their hatred for the Word of God and the grace of God. The UOJists imagine they are God's counselors, so they have God doing and saying things that cannot be found in the Scriptures but readily available among the Universalists, Unitarians, and occultists.

Therefore, the work of the Bride of Christ is not to burn more incense and attend more Romanizing workshops, but to teach faith in Christ the Savior.

Because these basics have been neglected, mocked, and jettisoned, the Lutheran Church is no more. Lutheran pastors and congregations still do their work. But the synodical apparatus is against them at every level, from the Circuit Pastors and District Pastors to the Synod Presidents and learned or unlearned professors.

Notice how the false teachers, corrupt, and incompetent are rewarded, praised, and promoted. This is not man's work, but God's work - to punish people for their indifference to sound doctrine. Their insurance dollars pay for ELCA programs. Their offering dollars evaporate faster than booze at a Fox Valley gathering.

 Norma A. Boeckler

Updated List of Books To Read for Laity and Clergy. But First of All, For Laity

Best Bibles

• King James Version, aka the English Luther Bible
• KJV 21 - slightly modernized, just as our current KJV is...
• Third Millennium Bible - ditto. All three Bibles above use the traditional text and precise translations rather than anything goes text and paraphrasing (NIV, ESV, Surfer Dude, The Message, Good News).
• Note how the apostate "conservative" Lutherans will not let any KJV Bible even be named in any discussion about translations.

The KJV is the Tyndale Bible, and the Tyndale Bible
is Luther's Bible in English. So why do the SynCon seminaries and synod poobahs hate the KJV? Answer - they loathe Luther.

Best of Luther

• Luther's Sermons, Lenker Edition
• Galatians Lectures, either the shorter version or the longer one.
• The Large Catechism
• The Small Catechism, by itself.

Best of Melanchthon

• The Augsburg Confession
• Apology, on Justification

Best of Chemnitz

• The Formula of Concord, especially the Righteousness of Faith and the article on Election.
• Read carefully through Examination of the Council of Trent, any single volume, or
• The Two Natures in Christ is beautifully written and can be considered as a devotional work of the highest caliber.

Best American Lutherans - Learn These Authors To Realize Who Is Discarded Today

• Henry Eyster Jacobs - Doctrinal Outlines. Clear treatment of the Efficacy of the Word and the Means of Grace.
• Theodore Schmauk - Confessional Principles. He battled for Lutheran doctrine and had many wise things to say about issues we face today. So also with...
• C. P. Krauth. The Conservative Reformation.
• Johann Michael Reu. Lectures on Unionism. Read about your unionistic synod leaders. Reu knew the score. He was a little bit liberal at first and became conservative.
• RCH Lenski was rejected by his own Ohio (ALC) Synod and seminary, but he is read today - NT commentaries and also other books. 

From the Reader Who Ordered All of Luther's Sermons

 No there was one even worse in WELS,
comparing Jesus to the Energizer Bunny.
And the pastor was proud of it.

From the Layman Ordering All of Luther's Sermons

After wandering in the wilderness of various strands of Enthusiasm I believe I stand at last on solid ground, the Rock of Confessional Lutheranism,  which I take to be not really an "ism" at all, but in fact is the genuine Christianity as preached by the original Apostles, as sent forth by Christ Himself. 

I'm happy that you received much encouragement from my email. I believe that you do valuable work in seeing us through this current age of apostasy, an age which ultimately will collapse under the weight of its own ridiculous folly.

More Glimpses from the Past - The Sparky Brenner Hagiography - Jars of Clay

Roland Bainton, Yale University,
author of Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther

My approach to reading history is to look for the telling detail. However an author might organize his material, certain things give away the agenda.

I have three heroes in the field of history:

1. Thucydides -  History of the Peloponnesian War remains the greatest analytical history ever. Written 2400 years ago.
2. Gibbon - The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. This is the greatest history written in the English language. The volumes came out as America was gaining independence, so it profoundly affected the American leaders who were trained in the classics. Imagine that today - political leaders fluent in Latin.
3. Roland Bainton - Many call him an anecdotal historian. He collected vast amounts of material first, using stories to capture key points he wanted to teach about a given era. Fortunately, I was able to meet him and hear him lecture several times. He helped me when I was writing my dissertation and offered to do some xeroxing for me. Imagine the pampered peacocks of higher education doing that today. Bainton knew 20+ languages, so I borrowed his method for teaching Latin, Greek, German, any language.

I appreciate John Sparky Brenner's work because any scribe, rummaging through the closets, will throw out precious bits of data, which are valuable - even when left on the floor.

I am enjoying the narratives about various WELS leaders of the past. Hoenecke is one of my favorites. He was not translated into English until nobody was left who cared about doctrine. Brenner told about Hoenecke defending the "correct" position on Election. Missouri loved that.

"Now. I. Am. Interested."

Yes, I am a Kenda fan. So I pick up the cigar butt left on the floor and wonder - "Why is it on the floor and not thrown away? Was it deliberate? Accidental? DNA? Brand? Smoking habits?" A cigar butt can be a file cabinet full of information to investigate.

The cigar butt in this instance in "the correct position on Election," which is dropped and left alone. The main point was that our WELS guy became an instant hero to Missouri. That is often stated, so this is more of a point in a seminary class.

The "correct position" is Walther's divisive obsession about Election without Faith - to provide some foundation for the quicksand of his Justification without Faith/UOJ/OJ/General Justification.  

For people in WELS and for the desperately seeking UOJ in Missouri, Hoenecke is magical. He is little known and seldom quoted because WELS did not want to translate his Dogmatics into English, then took 10 years to complete the project. But he is one more expert to add to the Synodical Conference UOJ roster.

Hoenecke's environment was mostly rationalistic, and he graduated from Halle University when rationalism was dominant. His mentor Tholuck was a Universalist. I see Hoenecke as a man who came a long long from his educational background and was far better in his work than F. Pieper.

I do not think we have anyone left who really knows the German and Latin sources, as Lenski and Hoenecke did. They are both invaluable for their use of sources.

Jarring Admission

Brenner does not like Schleiermacher being quoted so much by Hoenecke, but Schleiermacher was the man who made OJ/SJ come of age, theologically speaking, by dropping the SJ. Barth and all the modern theologians followed. Everyone is forgiven and saved - there is nothing else to say.

I would not put Hoenecke in the same camp as the foaming-at-the-mouth UOJ Enthusiasts. I found his section lukewarm on the subject, but he added a horrible notion to the dogma - OJ "protects the Gospel." Nothing "protects" the Word of God, which is always effective in carrying out and prospering His will. If a claim goes against the clear teaching of the Bible, it cannot be maintained as Christian.

For Justification by Faith we have the entire New Testament, the Augsburg Confession, the Apology, the Formula of Concord, and that special book commended by the Formula - Luther's Galatians Lectures. Chemnitz, Gerhard, and Calov are also clear and compelling, but the Synodical Conference was a muddle and now is united with ELCA in teaching Universalism.

Why Read Sparky's Jars of Clay

Those who want to make sense of WELS-ELS-LCMS claims should study the details of the past. It is easy for some to cite a self-serving story to prove their case, knowing that most are supposed to be in worshipful awe about well known figures, even if they are mostly forgotten. 

Remember that every WELS anecdote about the LCMS has the Missouri Synod in awe of the Wisconsin sect's superiority. However, I never saw a hint of that in the Missouri Synod. Listening to WELS story-telling will reveal that self-serving habit, learned in seminary, polished to a fine sheen from never being rebutted.

 You question the superiority of WELS?

If you question the myths, you are no longer in fellowship and deserving of the stink-eye, the shun button, or the Left Foot of Fellowship.

Harley-Davidson closing Kansas City plant as motorcycle sales fall No! Read Scott Oelhafen's Sermon to Them!

Harley-Davidson closing Kansas City plant as motorcycle sales fall:


"MILWAUKEE — Harley-Davidson's sales fell sharply in 2017 and the company will move ahead with a plan to consolidate manufacturing operations, including the closure of its Kansas City, Mo. plant.

The world's largest maker of heavyweight motorcycles has struggled to reverse a four-year sales slide, with growth overseas somewhat helping offset a decline in the U.S. bike market."



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Harley Davidson - Our theme for today's WELS sermon.

 

WELS Pastor Scott Oelhafen, the author of this...uh....the author.

I Am so Glad that Jesus Rode a 'Hog'

A sermon by Pastor Scott Oelhafen

August 31/September 1, 2003 - Pentecost 12

Text: Luke 8: 26-39
(Posted but no longer available on the congregation's website--Trinity, Waukesha)

[GJ - That particular Sunday marked the 100th anniversary of Harley Davidson. Few ministers can manage a product tie-in so deftly. I hope the Harley Davidson folks preserved this commercial message on their website.]

1. He proved His heavenly horsepower
2. He promoted His heavenly mission
(Special thanks to Trinity member Greg Heichelbeck for parking his Harley Davidson motorcycle in front of our church for this sermon and for loaning me his Harley merchandise for this service).

Dear friends of Jesus,
They came this past week all dressed up and places to go. Did you see them? They came motoring across the country, state, and city, revving their engines. Undoubtedly, you heard them. From the city streets, to the parking lots and even in the hallways, their mommas were proud of them. It was truly a sight to behold. Of course you, know what I´m talking about. School started this past week and students, staff, and parents returned to the classroom. Okay -- that´s not what I´m referring to. Unless, you´ve been sequestered in a cabin in the Northwoods for the past few months, you´ll know that Metro-Milwaukee has welcomed more than an estimated half-a-million Harley-Davidson motorcycle enthusiasts. With their world headquarters here in Milwaukee, Harley-Davidson is celebrating its 100th birthday. It´s a popular motorcycle company holding 46% of the sales in North America.

We have a number of Trinity members that are associated with Harley. If you talk with them, they´ll tell you why someone wants to buy a Harley. They´ll tell you that when a customer is buying a Harley, he or she is buying an image first and a motorcycle second. So what´s the image of Harley-Davidson? Most people get their image from the movies like The Wild One in 1953 or Easy Rider in 1969. Harley riders are pictured as big, tough, rebels without a cause. But, remember these words, your mom probably first spoke to you: “don´t always judge a book by it´s cover.’ Some years ago a young, single school teacher decided to travel across America to see the sights she had taught about. Traveling alone in a truck and a camper in tow, she found herself on Interstate 5, near Sacramento, California. In rush-hour traffic, wouldn´t you know it, her water pump blew. She was tired and scared. In spite of the traffic jam, no one seemed interested in helping her. Leaning up against her trailer, she finally prayed, and this was her prayer: “Please God, send me an angel .. preferably one with mechanical experience.’ Four minutes later, a huge Harley drove up, ridden by an enormous man, sporting long black hair, a beard and multiple tattoos. With an incredible air of confidence, he jumped off his Harley, barely glanced at the young woman, and went to work on the truck. Within another few minutes, he flagged down a large truck, attached the tow chain to frame of the disabled truck. He whisked the truck off the freeway to a side street where he continued to work on the truck. The intimidated teacher was too overwhelmed to speak -- especially, when she read the paralyzing words off his leather jacket – “Hell´s Angels, California.’ Yes, God had sent her an angel she wasn´t expecting. As he finished the repair, she finally got up the courage to say: “Thanks so much.’ Noticing her fear, he looked right in her eyes and simply said: “Don´t always judge a book by it´s (sic) cover. You may not know who you´re talking to.’ And with that, he smiled, closed the hood of her truck, and straddled his Harley. He was gone as quickly as he appeared. “Don´t judge a book by it´s cover.’ Good advice – especially when it comes to the greatest person in history – Jesus Christ. Most people who saw Jesus weren´t impressed by Him. Jesus didn´t have the kind of education or degrees that would´ve attracted attention. He didn´t come from a prominent family – just the adopted son of a carpenter from an unknown hick-town known as Nazareth. Isaiah told us ahead of time in his prophesy concerning Jesus Christ: He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him (Isaiah 53:3). Most people would call Jesus the original “rebel without a cause.’ He certainly didn´t fit in to what most people were expecting in a Savior. Sadly, most people of His day dismissed Jesus as unimportant and irrelevant (like many do today). Jesus didn´t fit in to their lifestyle and His Word didn´t appeal to their way of thinking. So they wrote Jesus off. In doing so, they missed out on a God-centered purpose for life now, and an eternity with God in the future. Let´s not make the same mistake. You probably know the nickname for Harley-Davidson motorcycles, don´t you? They´re known as hogs. If you could see the divine Jesus walking among us, I´d like to think that that Jesus could identify with us as human beings. And I´ll bet that even Jesus would ride a Harley this weekend. I don´t know He´d choose a Harley model like Low-rider, Fat Boy, or Heritage. But, as our sermon text will show us, I Am So Glad that Jesus Rode a Hog. In the Biblical account of demon-possession, we´ll hear again how Jesus rode those demon-possessed hogs or pigs, right out of town. But, Jesus did this for good reasons. Jesus Rode Those Hogs to prove His divine horsepower. And Jesus Rode Those Hogs to promote His heavenly mission.

I find it very interesting, and maybe you do too, that of all the places to go in the United States, Milwaukee, Wisconsin has been chosen by Harley-Davidson riders as they (sic) place to be. It´s a place by a lake. Listen to another gathering by another lake, albeit a smaller one, that´s recorded for the ages for us to visit time and time again. Listen as our sermon reading begins: 26 They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes,[2] which is across the lake from Galilee. 27 When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don't torture me!" 29 For Jesus had commanded the evil[3] spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places. Demon possession still attracts a lot of curious fans, especially in college or around Halloween. Just look at the movies that will be advertised in the coming few weeks. Most people just laugh demon possession off as a Steven Spielberg movie trick or pure science fiction. But, our sermon reading shows us that demon possession is fact, and happens more than we realize. The Bible tells us that there´s a spiritual world behind what we can see (and beyond what news agencies report on), and both angels and demons are locked in a spiritual battle (thank God the book of Revelation tells us that the good angels triumph as do all Christian believers). Think about how horrible demon possession would be: to be controlled by a will not your own. The man of our reading had been demon possessed for some time, away from his family, living among tombs. Actually this Biblical account is recorded in 3 of the 4 Gospel writers. The Gospel writer Mark tells us that the demon would make the man cut himself and cry out at night. What suffering! Listen to what happened next: 30Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" 31"Legion," he replied, because many demons had gone into him. And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss. Notice how many demons were in this man. A Roman legion of soldiers numbered between 3000-6000. Incredible – a good-size city (3000-6000) of demons were controlling this man. How horrible, and hopeless! But, one more powerful than Legion had come to this place by a lake and the demons had to acknowledge him. Notice the demons knew who Jesus was: the Son of the Most High God. Though many are quick to dismiss Jesus, even these demons had to admit His identity and bow at his feet. And they knew that Jesus hadn´t come to save them but to judge them. For Jesus had come to do battle with them and they only could retreat. When demons are faced with Jesus – they always lose. Listen to what happened next. 32A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, and he gave them permission. 33 When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. To prove that Jesus has all power of heaven and earth at His disposal, and to prove His horsepower as the Savior, Jesus Rode Those Hogs right out of town. For demons are always destructive.

So let me ask you, can you relate to this account of Jesus? I doubt that many here have been in the presence of the demon: Legion. But, each of us has demons that we have to reckon with. Some of us have to daily face the demons of addiction – maybe it´s the demons of drugs, alcohol, pornography, gossip, or materialism (the quest for more and more). Maybe you just can´t stop. Others have to struggle with the demon of death, that makes you feel all alone because your spouse or parent has died and you may feel abandoned. Still others have to face demons of fear, disease, or divorce. We feel trapped and don´t have a ghost of a chance to escape on our own. We can find help only when we begin to realize that we were born as rebels without a cause, rebelling against our creator in what we say, think, and do and deserve nothing but eternal punishment. Yet, remember the Savior´s presence and His words: Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28). Jesus took our demons, sins, and shame to the cross where He paid the ultimate price – His sufferings and death. Better than a car repair, He paid our way into heaven. And He walked out of the tomb to free us from the ultimate demon of death. Now, He invites us to come to Him and He will give us exactly what we need. Sometimes Jesus chooses to remove those demons with continued prayer, Bible study, and angels of all shapes and sizes who will help us. Sometimes, He chooses to let these demons remain – but always providing His almighty presence, peace, and power. Remember, Jesus Rode a Hog to prove His heavenly horsepower.

But, Jesus also rode that Hog to promote His heavenly mission. Jesus just did what no one else could do. He healed a man who was demon possessed. But, listen to two very different responses to Jesus´ saving activity as our sermon text concludes: 34 When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, 35 and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus' feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 36 Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. 37 Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left. 38 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 "Return home and tell how much God has done for you." So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him. Can you imagine the crowd shuffling Jesus out of town, after all the good He had done? That´s what happens when people are inconvenienced by Jesus and His Word for our lives. Even though they know the truth, they don´t want what Jesus has come to bring: a new life, a new change from being selfish to being self-less, a change from following sin to following the Savior. And this reaction is the scariest part of our reading – people can actually reject Jesus. You and I can reject Jesus. And Jesus doesn´t force Himself on anyone and He does leave if He´s continually rejected. The second reaction was more amazing and had a happy ending. Jesus had come to be the Savior of the World. That demon possessed man knew it and wanted to tell others. Here we have an unusual witness but one that we can relate to. Jesus gives us the same command: start at home, and let´s talk with our families, friends, and neighbors how Jesus has freed us from Satan´s grip for a life of love and concern for others. There´s no better purpose in life. We too can promote Jesus´ heavenly mission as the Savior of the World. And we can do that today by our encouragement to others, by our invitations, by our offerings and prayers. There just might be someone we know who can be freed from their personal demons if we connect them with Jesus.

Yesterday, I took my family to the Waukesha Expo Center and waterfront by Lake Michigan to see the gathering of Harleys by Lake Michigan. It was amazing to see the chrome bikes, the black leather clothes, and the black and orange t-shirts. But, I guess I was most surprised by the vintage tattoos. I wonder what would happen if I came home with a tattoo to my wife Christine. Do you think she´d like it? The only thing I´d have to wonder about is the pain of removing that tattoo :). But, think about it: you get a tattoo to always remember. Do you realize that each of us are tattooed to God´s hands by virtue of our baptism? We´re tattooed into God´s family, which is even better than being a part of the Harley family. Isaiah tells us in the Bible that God has engraved you on the palms of His hands (Isaiah 49:16). God can always see us and see a way for us to be rescued from our earthly and more important eternal problems. So the next time you see a Harley, I pray you´ll remember: Even Jesus Rode a Hog, to prove His Horsepower and promote His heavenly mission. Amen.

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GJ - The apple does not fall far from the tree. Wally Oelhafen was in charge of the Michigan District Mission Board, and he loved, loved, loved the Church Growth Movement. Wally only got angry when the CGM was criticized.

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Sceleratissimus Lutheranus has left a new comment on your post "Another Children's Sermon from WELS":

I'm speechless, this is the worst example of preaching I've seen to date. You know the definition of a synod is supposed to be people walking together in common support of the Gospel, but I think WEL"S" is now composed of different elements going in different directions. Sorry, as an Orthodox Lutheran I cannot walk in harmony with this CG/Church and Change bilge!

People Are Noticing the Enormous Swindle Called UOJ/OJ/General Justification

John Brenner, Mequon aka Mordor
His father was a great guy - John Slick Brenner.
His grandfather was John W. O. Brenner.

 John Slick Brenner was energetic and lived to be 94. He asked me, "Why do you understand the issues and our own guys don't?"

Crucial Section from Jars of Clay, 
His History of Mequon

August Pieper Reflections, 1922
"Make no mistake," Pieper insisted, "The secret of Walther's power lay in his clear, popular, joyful, and convincing presentation of objective justification. That was also Luther's power , Paul's power, and the power of the Gospel itself, the power of God which creates faith unto salvation." 


He goes on to explain -
In contrast to the justification scheme of later dogmaticians, Walther taught, not a justifying act of God in view of faith, but rather a faith in view of God's justification. God's act of justification [GJ - OJ] forgiveness of sin] precedes faith. It is not that the sinner must first believe [and only then that God forgives sin]. In this connection Walther repeatedly cited Luther's example of a royal castle that was actually bestowed on a beggar, whether he accepted it or not.

Jars of Clay, pp. 64-5

August Pieper became president of the seminary
after Kohler was removed.

"God's act of justification" is August Pieper's filter than places a gauzy layer of distortion over the Four Gospels. As Pieper admitted, Walther did not draw his dogmatic lectures from the Bible, not did he lead students into the Scriptures. He simply declared his statements, quite the opposite of Luther.

Luther did not preach a man-made institution, as the Synodical Con-men did. Each one was better than the other, yet they all agree against the Chief Article of Christianity - Justification by Faith. 

Their use of the "Justification" is a smokescreen for Absolution of the World - Without Faith. That might seem to protect them from the charge of Universalism, but OJ is Universalism with a different set of words for the same content.

The treasure of the Gospel, as the Book of Concord says - using the words of Luther - is the Atonement, Christ dying for our sins. To confuse that with Justification by Faith is a crime of stupidity or one of gross deception.