A Brief Overview of Closed Communion

The following was prepared as a response for a brief presentation on closed Communion.  

Closed Communion & Koinonia

1 Corinthians 10

16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation (koinonia) in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation (koinonia) in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

1 Corinthians 11

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

Acts 2

So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship (koinonia), to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common.

A Multi-Dimensional Celebration

In the Lord’s Supper there is a vertical component as the person receives the body and blood of Jesus in the bread and wine.  This is genuine koinonia with Christ.  There is also a horizontal element where the person shares koinonia with all who are communing at that altar and church. The Sacrament of the Altar is the highest form of koinonia Christians experience on earth.  They are one with Christ and with believers who share the same devotion to the apostles’ teaching.  The celebration of the Sacrament expresses unity on the horizontal level.  The presence of division at the Lord’s Supper prompts Paul to address the church in Corinth. He indicates that division breaks the unity and has no place at the Sacrament.

     We profess not only what we receive into our mouths but also confess our agreement with the teachings of the congregation confessed at that altar, pulpit and denomination. To admit people who hold a different profession of faith is both unloving and harmful to their salvation. We either make them into hypocrites who believe one thing and practice another, or we let them eat and drink judgment on themselves by not discerning the Lord’s body and blood (1 Corinthians 11:29).

Closed from the Start

     From the beginning days of the Church, Christians followed closed communion. Only those who are baptized, instructed and confess the same faith in the Lord Jesus Christ received the Sacrament of the Altar.  Visitors from other congregations needed examination or a letter of introduction from their bishop (pastor) before they would be admitted to the Lord’s Table.  By the third century there was a rite of dismissal for those who were not baptized, receiving instruction or under church discipline.  They would be dismissed with prayer from the Divine Service to continue instruction under a deacon while the faithful celebrated the Sacrament behind the closed doors of the church.  Their rationale was simple.  “The Holy Things of God for the holy people of God.”  They cited Matthew 7:6 for not communing those who were not admitted to the Sacrament.   “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.”

The Universal Practice of the Church

     Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Lutherans and other Christians practice closed communion today.  It was during the 19th and 20th centuries where the practiced changed among Protestants who did not believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Lord’s Supper.  It was only in the latter half of the 20th century when Lutherans began to practice open communion.  Lutherans remain divided on church fellowship and the Sacrament of the Altar.

The ELCA - Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

     The ELCA practices an extreme open communion policy and have declared themselves in altar fellowship with such diverse groups as the Anglicans, Episcopalians, Methodists, Presbyterians and the United Church in Christ.  In some cases only baptism remains as the requirement for attending the Lord’s Supper.  In this diversity one can believe about anything regarding the Sacrament.  1) It could be the real body and Christ for us Christians to eat and drink; 2) It is simply a memorial meal where we eat bread and drink wine while our thoughts ascend heavenward to Jesus; 3) It is a command of Jesus that we do this in remembrance of Him but it has no power to forgive sins or give us Jesus’ body and blood in bread and wine. The Lord Jesus is much clearer on this topic than many wish to believe.

      Within the ELCA the Bible contains the Word of God.  Missouri Synod Lutherans believe teach and confess that the Bible is the Word of God.  The difference is the “continental divide” within Christendom today.  When the Bible merely contains God’s Word it has other words mixed in and we can’t be sure of anything.  The worst case scenario is that anything goes.  The world writes the agenda and the church follows.  This is the rationale behind women pastors and the acceptance of gay clergy. The next issue for apostasy will appear shortly as the world turns further away from Christ.

Conclusion

Closed communion remains the practice of the majority of Christians worldwide. It is the Biblical teaching of the Sacrament of the Altar that we retain in The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod.

No Concern for Tomorrow?

The 1960's band The Grass Roots exhorted listeners to "live for today."  Ancient hedonism played to the same theme:  "Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we may die."  Didn't Jesus say:  "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble"?  Wait!  Jesus is discussing worry and anxiety over the future.  No sense doing that.  There's enough to focus upon today. We'll deal with tomorrow, tomorrow.

Hezekiah's response to news that Babylon will carry away the riches of Judah is troubling.  Excited that emissaries from this far off power came to inquire about his health and bring him a present, the king opened up the vaults, the armory and all the storehouse of the land to these distant visitors.  Nothing in his palace was kept secret from them.  Isaiah inquires about the visitors and then delivers bad news.  The Babylonians will return and take everything they have seen.  Even some of Hezekiah's sons would become eunuchs in service to the king of Babylon.  Hezekiah's response?  "The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good."  For he thought, "There will be peace and security in my days" (Isaiah 39:8).

All of God's Word is good.  The law as well as the gospel.  It is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Hezekiah confesses the truth.  The words of the prophets are good, even in pronouncing judgment.  When judgment leads to repentance forgiveness flows freely.  Yet, forgiveness does not free one from temporal, earthly consequences for their actions. Hezekiah understands that as the consequences for his actions are detailed. The solace that he takes from the judgment is selfish.  "There will be peace and security in my days" (Isaiah 39:8).

Is Hezekiah really much different than you and me?  Many people believe history began the day that they were born and ends the day that they die.  Nothing else matters.  What happened before is boring and what comes after doesn't matter..  Sing another chorus of "Let's Live for Today!"  Hedonism is alive and well in Western Civilization.  As long as we have peace and security today, do we care about the world we leave behind for our children, grandchildren and posterity?

The Christian faith operates with an eternal perspective.  Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.  He spoke the first word at creation and will have the final word on Judgment Day.  The in-between times are His too.  Christians live knowing how the end will work out.  In Jesus we win.  That is most comforting.  The troubles of today will give way to joy hereafter. The struggle is worthwhile for the labor in Jesus' name is never worthless.

There is a poignant scene in "Saving Private Ryan."  The eight men sent to save Private Ryan are under heavy attack by enemy tanks and infantry.  The lieutenant played by Tom Hanks sits with his back to a bridge, stunned and mortally wounded. He shoots at a German tank with his .45 M1911 handgun, one shot at a time. The tank rolls towards him.  Suddenly two P-51 Mustangs appear overhead.  Their rockets take out the tank.  Private Ryan lives though several of the men sent to find him die.We remain the Church Militant until the final trumpet sounds and the dead in Christ are raised. The battle rages on though the final outcome is certain.

It matters what happens today - and tomorrow. What we teach today is lived tomorrow.  Our values are being passed. It matters more than we realize. This side of heaven results are elusive. We shall see clearly from eternity. Live with the eternal perspective in mind.  Jesus did.  That's why he was willing to suffer, die and take the consequences for my foolishness.  He wanted you to be His forever, redeemed, forgiven, justified, sanctified and glorified.

Lord, keep us from being a Hezekiah taking solace that our children and grandchildren will suffer the consequences for our foolishness while we pass our time in peace and security.  Grant us knowledge, wisdom and understanding to pass on all that you have given us for our instruction, both law and gospel.  Turn us from arrogance that presumes to know everything and grant that we may live as those who are humble, contrite and tremble at Your Word.  May Your Word may be proclaimed boldly, faithfully and courageously by us and our posterity.  Hear us for Jesus' sake!  Amen.

An Ordination & Installation Sermon

Benjamin Tyler Holt was ordained and installed as pastor of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Golconda, IL on Sunday, August 5, 2012.  The following sermon was proclaimed.


In the name of the Father, Son + and Holy Spirit, Amen.  The text for our consideration is these words from Paul’s first letter to Timothy the fourth chapter.  Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching.  Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers (v. 16).  This is the Word of the Lord.  Thanks be to God.

Dear brother in Christ, Tyler Holt.  Are you sure you really want to go through with this?  You have purchased a house and are in the process of making it a home, but do you really want to enter the Office of the Holy Ministry?  There is still time to back out and pursue a different career.  Yes, it would change the plans for the good people of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church but the Lord will take care of them. He will take care of you and the rest of us too.  Are you sure you want to continue?

A prophet as great and powerful as Isaiah had second thoughts.  He saw the glory of the Lord fill the temple.  He heard the eternal cry of the seraphim: Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty!  Heaven and earth are full of His glory (Isaiah 6:3).  Isaiah’s sins overwhelmed him. He knew that he was a man of unclean lips and came from a people who were just like him.  You see, good people of Our Redeemer, this man who stands before you today is just like you and me.  He is a sinner through and through.  Like us, he was born into it and is well-practiced in its art.  Some of us who are older may know a few tricks that he doesn’t understand yet.  In time, he will.

Every time that an heir of Adam comes into contact with the Lord, they have a deep feeling of inadequacy.  Their sins are brought to the fore and they know intimately that they have no right to be in the presence of the Holy One of Israel.  Just when Isaiah thought it was over a seraph goes to the brazier and removes a burning coal with tongs.  The seraph flies directly to Isaiah and touches his lips with the glowing coal.  Remarkable words are heard.  “Behold this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, your sin atoned for” (Isaiah 6:7).  Immediately Isaiah is transformed. Oh, he is still a sinner, but now a forgiven one. This makes all the difference. When God cleanses your sin, He remembers it no more.  He frees you to be His child and heir.  He even sends some as pastors to to other sinners.  They speak of Jesus and how He made satisfaction for their sins and not only theirs but also the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:1).

Members and visitors to Our Redeemer, expect your pastor to bring you the good news of Jesus Christ.  May your pastor determine to preach Christ crucified for you and all people (1 Corinthians 2:2). The Lord’s forgiveness prepared Isaiah for prophetic service.  The same Lord promises to be the strength and sufficiency for Pastor Holt too.  Isaiah quickly responds with a resounding yes to the call of the Lord.  Scripture is silent on what he thought as the Lord presented to him the conditions of the call.  Conditions were not good.  Isaiah would preach and it would fall on deaf ears.  People would see but never perceive what was being said.  Their eyes would grow weary and they would be bored with the prophet’s message.  The congregation would dwindle till only a tenth of the faithful remained.  The prophet was to take heart because in that remnant was the holy seed that is Jesus.

Pastoral ministry in this second decade of the twenty-first century is filled with challenges.  This is increasingly an age where people’s ears grow heavy and their eyes are blinded to the truth.  Isaiah’s call was clear.  He was to bring God’s Word to them, persistently and faithfully.  The results were not in his hands, just as the results of Pastor Holt’s ministry are in God’s hands too.  You see it is a terrible sign of judgment when the Lord’s Word is faithfully proclaimed but it falls on apathetic people who really couldn’t care one way or the other. Too many of our contemporaries are just like the folks to whom Isaiah preached.  Sadly they seldom enter church, even for Christmas or Easter. The saddest is that many of them were baptized and confirmed.  They tasted and saw that the Lord was good but their hearts are no longer sure or comforted by the Divine Word.  Like the parable of the sower the seed has fallen on hard paths, or is being choked by weeds or withers because it is not well rooted.  What are you to do?

Listen again to the words of the text.  “Devote yourself to the public reading of the Scripture to exhortation, to teaching.  Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.  Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching.  Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Timothy 4:13, 15-16).  We know from Holy Scripture that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17).  Pastor Holt, sow the seed!  Liberally and freely spread it abroad.  The next time it may take root and bear fruit, thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.  Immerse yourself and your people in the Holy Scriptures.  Use them to open every meeting, include the Lord’s Word in every visitation.  Use every opportunity to preach the Word faithfully, in season and out of season.  With great patience realize that the Lord is at work even when it seems nothing is happening.  Jesus does not lie when He says, “Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it” (Luke 11:28).

A pastor’s work is essentially simple.  He is literally to hand over God’s gifts to you, the people of God.  He is to instruct both young and old in the Christian faith.  He baptizes those in need of this blessed sacrament of initiation into the Church. He hears your confession of sins that you may be absolved. He prepares people that they may receive the body and blood of Jesus to their eternal good and temporal forgiveness.  He is to be a man of the Word and to persist in these things.  Why?  It is a matter of your salvation and his.

The ultimate task of a pastor is to prepare people for heaven and the life of the world to come.  Our time on this earth is around four score years; sometimes longer, sometimes shorter.  For a believer in Jesus life in this world is the closest they will come to hell.  For an unbeliever, life in this world is the closest they will come to heaven.  God would have all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth who is Jesus Christ.  Pastor Holt, give ‘em Jesus who is our light and our life.  Persist in this for by it you will save both yourself and your hearers, Amen.

Give 'em Jesus

A sermon on John 6:28-29 for the Southern Illinois District Day of Spiritual Renewal at Metro East Lutheran High School, Edwardsville, IL, August 7, 2012.

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.  The text for our consideration this morning is the Holy Gospel that was read a few minutes ago, especially these verses.  Then they said to Him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”  Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you may believe in Him whom He has sent” (John 6:28-29).  So far our text.

These were certainly heady days for the followers of Jesus.  Some five thousand of them, not counting the women and children enjoyed a bountiful feast with twelve baskets left over.  All of this came from but five barley loaves and two small fish.  The crowd was ecstatic.  They were ready to make Jesus king by force.  They saw Jesus as the greatest social welfare program ever conceived.  If He repeated this miracle daily they would never again hunger or labor for food.  Hadn’t Moses done something similar after the Exodus?

Here is Jesus performing a similar, yet even greater miracle.  Make Him king and all your troubles would be solved.  The despised Romans would be overthrown and an earthly kingdom restored to Israel.  Jesus is a great King above all power, thrones and dominions.  No president, premier or prime minister is greater than He. The problem was that Jesus is not this kind of King the people expected.  He is superior.  His realm is more than this world.  He reigns supreme over all things visible and invisible everywhere.

Who can blame the people for wanting to coronate Jesus as their social welfare program and monarch rolled into one?  Who needs food stamps, grocery stores or restaurants when Jesus distributes fish and loaves ready to eat?  Who needs armed forces when Jesus can summon twelve legions of angels at a moment’s notice?  When Jesus makes things by speaking, who needs manufacturing, distributors or retailers?  Like every human since Adam, people seek the correct button to push, lever to pull, switch to flip, key to unlock the heavenly storerooms to benefit life on earth.  They earnestly ask Jesus to tell them this secret of the ages.  “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?

Jesus clarifies the situation.  He reminds the crowd that they are seeking him because they had full bellies the night before.  He turns their question around.  What must you do to the do the works of God?  Nothing.  God’s Work is this that you believe in the one whom He has sent.  Neither your work nor mine merits God’s gifts either to you or your students.  Sin permeates every human so thoroughly that it cannot be overcome by an exertion of the will.  We cannot assist the Lord in atoning for sin.   Your work or mine merits nothing good before the Lord of heaven and earth.

What we cannot do, God does.  It is by grace that you are saved through faith and this not of yourselves. It is not of works lest anyone should boast.  He saved us, not because of righteous deeds we have done in the flesh but according to His mercy through the washing of rebirth and renewal of the Holy Spirit whom He poured out richly upon you through Jesus Christ. Being justified by grace through faith you are now an heir of heaven.  Rejoice!  This is God’s work for you.  This faith that is necessary for salvation is God’s gift that begins, centers and ends in Jesus.  He is the one thing needful.

Do you realize how precious and valuable this work of God is for you?  What we could never do being weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His Son in the likeness of human flesh.  Jesus persisted. He overcame sin, death and all the works of the devil.  Satan’s ugly accusations are washed away in baptismal waters.

Give your students Jesus, God’s Son our Savior who atoned for the sins of the world. Teach the reality of God’s work for them in baptism and hearing His Word. The evil one loves to rant against you and them.  He says that you deserve nothing from God.  You can reply:  “You are right. I deserve nothing but punishment and death.  But I have a God who loves me and gave Himself for me.  The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in Jesus Christ. His righteousness is my glorious crown.  Clothed in God’s armor, I am ready to face your charges. Jesus died for every sin of humanity. In Him I am a forgiven, redeemed and deeply loved.  He promises that nothing in all creation can separate me from His love.”

We receive these gifts from the Lord because of God’s work in Jesus Christ.  As George Gershwin wrote: “Who could ask for anything more?”  The flesh does. It is seldom content.  Jealousy and envy cause many to resent what others have that they don’t. Ever notice at a parade, convention or an event with door prizes how quickly the freebies are taken?  Doesn’t your heart yearn to be one of the winners? The real danger is mistaking the trinkets for the substance.  The crowd thrilled to bread and fish but missed their greater need for a Savior from themselves, sin and death.  They wanted food from Jesus but were not excited about His exposure of their real needs.  Jesus doesn’t pander to the crowd to keep them happy.  He patiently instructs them regarding the deeper issues of faith and life.

We face a similar temptation.  Some people have convinced themselves that church should be fun and games, like an endless Vacation Bible School or carnival.  The reality is so little of life is like that.  Children need a Savior for the very real lives they lead.  It is not easy growing up in a single parent home, or in a family with “aunts” or “uncles” who move in and out not to be seen again. Video games and television make poor babysitters.  Children feel guilty when mom and dad split. Give’em Jesus.  Your students need to know that they are forgiven and loved by the Son of God who gave Himself for them.

The whole counsel of God is given to address life now and for eternity.  Contrition, repentance, forgiveness and faith lie at the center of the Christian life. These spiritual disciplines are adaptable to all stages of life.  Teach your students the Holy Scriptures.  They are profitable for correction, for reproof for training in righteousness that they may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.  These things are written that they may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God and by believing they may life in His name.  

Give your children Jesus.  People do not live on bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4).  Jesus is the bread of life that came down from heaven and gives life to the world.  The forgiveness of sins is at the heart of the Gospel.  The Lord Jesus broke down the barrier of hostility between heaven and earth and between pupils in your classes.  Teach your children to confess their sins and to leave them with Jesus.  God’s work is to bring them to faith so that they believe in the One God has sent into the world, Amen.

Convention Greetings

On July 27 I brought greetings to the convention of the International Lutheran Laymen's League on behalf of President Harrison and my role as LCMS Liaison to the LLL Board of Directors.

I am privileged to bring you greetings this afternoon from President Matthew Harrison and the six thousand plus congregations of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod.  He regrets not being with you today, but after thirty-five LCMS District conventions with some twenty-five in June and July, he has been busy.  The mayor of Saskatoon mentioned his American “cousins” in his welcome this morning. I am one of those returned home.  My grandmother was born in Blind River, Ontario.  I have several generations of French-Canadian ancestry in m family tree. My family roots go further back in Canada than in the United States.

Since 1917 the International Lutheran Laymen’s League has been a vital partner with the Synod as one of its two auxiliaries.  Bringing Christ to the nations and the nations to the church remains the mission of Lutheran Hour Ministries through its signature broadcast under its dynamic speaker Greg Seltz.

From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised.  What was said of the British Empire at its zenith can be said of the Holy Christian Church and Lutheran Hour Ministries.  The sun never sets on the work of the International LLL. Lutheran Hour Ministries serves worldwide with offices on six continents. The twenty-first century is shaping up to be the one where the global south receives the Gospel with joy and gladness.  The southern hemisphere shows tremendous potential for the Christian church in the coming decades. Walk the streets of Saskatoon and visit its stores and eateries.  The world is coming to Canada too.

North America remains a challenging mission field.  No county in the United States has shown growth regarding the percentage of Christians to population in the last twenty years.  Apathy and apostasy are real barriers to the Gospel.  Cafeteria style spirituality where individuals select parts of various beliefs that appeals to them undermine the church’s catechetical efforts.  Still, the words of Jesus remain true.  He builds His church and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it.  The Holy Spirit brings people to faith where and when He will in those who hear the Gospel.

Lutheran Hour Ministries is an evangelistic arm of the Synod. The materials are excellent and award winning.  Encourage your pastors to take a new look at LHM publications and productions as tools for local ministry.  From its inception the Church has grown from faith to faith, person to person, an individual at a time repenting of their sins and being born from above through baptismal waters. LHM materials can be a catalyst for this to begin and for a person to be assimilated into the church.

It is easy to lament the decline of Christianity, and well we should.  However, this is not a time to wring our hands, weep and abandon the faith as irrelevant.  Jesus, the great I AM is always relevant, always practical, always appropriate for any situation or circumstance.  Neither the Church nor its auxiliaries will benefit from jettisoning the faith once delivered to the saints.  No, the preaching of the Word, the clear, consistent proclamation of the truth is needed more than ever.  The grass withers and the flowers fall but the Word of the Lord endures forever.  This is the Word that has been preached to you.  Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life.  He is the name above all names and the only name under heaven by which we must be saved.  The LCMS, the LCC and LLL/LHM will never go wrong in bringing Christ to the nations and the nations to the church.  From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised.  So shall it be eternally.  Thank you for your partnership in His mission. May the Lord bless our work together in His name.

The Prophet's Call

The following was presented at the International Center of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod on  Tuesday, July 17, 2012.  The text is from Amos 7:7-15.


The prophet’s task has never been simple.  An eloquent expression of it flows from the pen of Martin Franzmann: 

“Preach you the Word and plant it home

To men who like or like it not,

The Word that shall endure and stand

When flowers and men shall be forgot” (LSB 586:1). 

Amos preached to men who liked it not.  His message was one of judgment on Israel and her idolatrous worship.  When Israel split, King Jeroboam established Bethel as a shrine to keep his people from making a pilgrimage south to Jerusalem.  The northern monarchy had no problem mixing church and state.  Golden calves were erected as symbols of the deity who led them out of Egypt.  The revolt against the Lord at Sinai was renewed in Bethel.

                The prophet saw a vision of the Lord holding a plumb line in His hand.  God was placing it in the midst of His people Israel.  The false worship sponsored by the house of Jeroboam will end.  The shrines and religious high places will become desolate, the land laid waste.  Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, protests.  He does not welcome such a prophecy in his presence.  He tattles on Amos to Jeroboam the king.  Before the king can issue a reply, Amaziah tells Amos to go back home and prophesy there.  Bethel is the king’s sanctuary and it is the temple of the kingdom.  Note carefully.  It is not God’s sanctuary nor His temple but that of the earthly ruler and his line.  Playing church is not being church.  God’s judgment falls on impostors and personal kingdom builders.

                Speaking truth to governmental leaders is never easy.  Ask President Harrison who made the good confession before Congress.  Politics and religion have clashed throughout history.  The state does not like to be told that it is in error or does not have the backing of the Almighty.  Nevertheless the Church must speak – boldly, confidently – assured that her Lord stands with those who are faithful to “the Word that shall endure and stand when flowers and men shall be forgot.”

                The evil foe is consistent with his attacks on the church throughout the ages.  If you can’t discredit the message, destroy the messenger.  Blame it on the delusions of a sinful, misguided prophet who really doesn’t know what he is saying.  Appeal to the glory of what man has built and accomplished.  Amos did not back down.  He quotes the Lord who said to him:  “Go, prophesy to My people Israel” (Amos 7:15).  Jesus commends Amos and all the faithful when He says:  Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you on My account.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven (Matthew 5:11-12).  As for the church today:

                        Preach you the Word and plant it home

And never faint, the Harvest Lord

Who gave the sower seed to sow

Will watch and tend His planted Word (LSB 586:6), Amen.

Astonishing Bravery

Alban Butler's "Lives of the Saints" is a two hundred and fifty year old chronicle detailing the life and often martyrdom of over 1600 saints from the early church.  July 3 is the date that Phocas is observed.  Here is Butler's moving summation.


When a cruel persecution, probably that of Dioclesian in 303, was suddenly raised in the Church, Phocas was immediately impeached as a Christian, and such was the notoriety of his pretended crime, that the formality of a trial was superseded by the persecutors, and executioners were despatched with an order to kill him on the spot wherever they should find him. Arriving near Sinope, they would not enter the town, but stopping at his house without knowing it, at his kind invitation they took up their lodging with him. Being charmed with his courteous entertainment, they at supper disclosed to him the errand upon which they were sent, and desired him to inform them where this Phocas could be most easily met with. The servant of God, without the least surprise, told them he was well acquainted with the man, and would give them certain intelligence of him next morning. After they were retired to bed he dug a grave, prepared everything for his burial and spent the night in disposing his soul for his last hour. When it was day he went to his guests, and told them Phocas was found, and in their power whenever they pleased to apprehend him. Glad at this news, they inquired where he was. “He is here present,” said the martyr,—“I myself am the man.” Struck at his undaunted resolution, and at the composure of his mind, they stood a considerable time as if they had been motionless, nor could they at first think of imbrning their hands in the blood of a person in whom they discovered so heroic a virtue, and by whom they had been so courteously entertained. He indirectly encouraged them saying, that as for himself, he looked upon such a death as the greatest of favors, and his highest advantage. At length, recovering themselves from their surprise. they struck off his head.

Butler, A. (1903). Vol. 3: The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints (18–19). New York: P. J. Kenedy.

Lord, grant us such courage and conviction to face our own death bravely!