Grace, mercy, and peace be yours, from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

It is a rare thing in this day and age that a certain date or time should retain much importance for very long. Ask your son or daughter about December 7^th . . . or any 7 year old about September 11^th.

478 years ago, a group of pastors, princes, mayors, city councilmen, and other lay people, stood before the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and articulated the points of the faith about which there had arisen dispute after that pesky monk went and vandalized a church door.

The Augsburg Confession remains, even yet today, a vital, and, vibrant document, that we, and all the faithful, should be proud to hold high, and confess to be true. Why? Because a bunch of really smart guys wrote it all down and some really important guys signed it? No, certainly not. For our faith is not founded upon the musings of men or angels, but upon the Word of God alone. It is Scripture that is the sole source of Doctrine. With these confessions of the Lutheran Church, we can weigh and measure preaching teaching and teaching, BECAUSE they fully are in agreement with that sole Rule and Norm of doctrine. And there is only one Doctrine . . . the Gospel . . . and it is to the Gospel that our faith clings . . . to Christ, His work, His substitution for us, His death and resurrection, to which we cling in this world, that in the end, Our Father would call us home with Him forever. The Gospel is the object of our faith . . . which begs the question: what is it that you believe?

How is it that you articulate your faith, those things that you believe about God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit? Children, (or first-year seminarians) likely sum it up “Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so.” A good and faithful response. Any Christian, who has suffered the sinful effects of maturity . . . like, questioning authority, the influences of friends, families, and unwholesome books and associations . . . has long since become dissatisfied with what many see as a child’s trite response. So, it is a more thorough articulation of the faith for which you cry.

But who shall teach you, who shall be your schoolmaster as you dig into the meat of scripture, laying back the petals of the perfect rose that is Salvation by Grace? Shall you sit in your room, doors locked, mood set, Bible open, hoping that miraculous revelation will bring you to complete understanding? May the Lord preserve us from such self-righteous pietism, and grant to us faithful confessors, preachers, and teachers of the faith that the World may know the great and wondrous works of the Lord.

And so He has. From the beginnings of time God has appointed His representatives in the World to proclaim His word, to teach His people, and has preserved His Church. From the days of exile for the nation of Israel, to the rise of the early church, all the way through the Reformation and even yet today, it has been Christ’s church, and will remain so, even in the face of cultural, doctrinal, and physical threats.

Today we are confronted by no fewer challenges to the truth of the Gospel. Subtle erosion of the truth in the name of tolerance, or acceptance of false teaching because of the sincerity of one’s belief, compromises the one true faith in our Lord. Instead, we must hold high the banner of the truth, dig deeply into our heritage rather than shy away from it, and remember that we are a people of unclean lips, and we live amidst a people of unclean lips.

Should they not know? Do they not deserve the assurance and comfort that salvation by Grace affords? You have been rescued from sin, death, and the devil . . . freed from God’s wrath toward our corrupt sinful selves, you are alive because of God’s Grace. This is the true flame of the church, this is the one Doctrine of Salvation, and this is the day that the Lord has made, that it might be yours anew all the days of your life. Lord’s day after Lord’s day, God’s great gifts of salvation and liberation, flow freely in His Means of Grace. Your ears and mouths are filled with the Grace of God that brings you peace, making you ambassadors and witness to the very blessings of God.

478 years ago those princes and pastors made a bold confession of faith before their ruler. Yes, it caused division in the church, but it was not they who rent to body of Christ, but it was false teaching, false piety, and the lies of faith in self over faith in Christ that had oppressed the people of God. These men, at Augsburg, held fast to the One True Faith and did not waver, even a breath, that we are saved by Grace through Faith, not by works of satisfaction, our own preparations, our own purpose driven lives, or how ablaze we might be for the lost.

So that we might confess Christ and Him crucified, we come here to hear His Gospel, to receive His gifts, and to eat and drink His Body and Blood, for “As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” This is the confession of Christ, for it is the confession of the one Doctrine of Salvation, that by His death salvation is freely won and given to all.

This is the great treasure of the Augsburg Confession, that great article on Justification:

. . . that we cannot obtain forgiveness of sin and righteousness before God by our own merits, works, or satisfactions, but that we receive forgiveness of sin and become righteous before God by grace, for Christ’s sake, through faith, . . .

This is the article upon which the church stands or falls. So upon it we shall stand. We will climb over the rubble heaps of false theology and remain steadfast in God’s Word and graces, confessing along with Jeremiah and the prophets; as Jesus before Pilate; as the Fathers of the Reformation; that falsehood has had its day and that salvation is by Grace alone! By this same grace we will not succumb to the temptations of this world, but remain bold in our confession of Christ and Him crucified . . . bold, as we proclaim His death until He comes, bold, as we seek to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified, bold as we gather here to receive His gifts, we will remain bold in our confession as we know all our sins are forgiven . . . in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

There have been some misnomers out there that describe deaconesses as “nuns” or “mini-pastors.” This blog post hopes to develop a primer discussion of what a deaconess is and what she is not, and leave you to understand the important distinctions of both. In relation to what deaconesses are alongside any other offices, this will hopefully offer development of a healthy attitude, not only about deaconesses, but the Word of God demonstrated in these instruments of Christ’s mercy.

A DEACONESS IS NOT A NUN:

• A Deaconess reaches out into the community and congregation to the lost and suffering. She has no vows or oaths that she must take, apart from being in agreement and faithful to Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions (because it agrees with Scripture).

• A Deaconess is able to be married and carry on deaconess service. Again, no vows of celibacy or monasticism are required or encouraged. Likewise, a deaconess is not required or encouraged to be married, either, if she does not desire these things; so long as she acts in accordance with Scripture in propriety and obedience to the Sixth Commandment (which goes for all people, not just deaconesses!)

• A Deaconess knows the richness of our Lutheran theology, and is able to articulate and act, in mercy, on our confession of faith with grace and wisdom for the edification of the Church, especially to the ones who she has been charged to serve.

A DEACONESS IS NOT A PASTOR:

• The deaconess is consecrated (set apart for godly service), not ordained. Her service begins at the nave and door of the Church. While she does not preach or administer the Lord’s Supper, she can certainly prepare the Altar for the Sacrament prior to the Divine Service, but does not participate in the distribution of it.

• The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod upholds and respects God’s Biblical order of Creation. Woman was created as helper of man (Gen. 2:18). Deaconesses exemplify this and other expressions of God’s Word (Eph 5:25, 1 Timothy 3:12). This is to be understood as the inerrant Word of God truly freeing both men and women to be exactly who they are, in Christ Jesus, as the ultimate focus.

• Diaconal emphasis of service is on care, teaching and reaching out to women, children, and elderly

This primer hopefully brings clarity to some otherwise confused or misleading views. The most important aspect of deaconess service is giving all glory to God, and pointing others to our Savior, Jesus Christ. A deaconess serves as a “buffer”-many times between the world and the Altar and Font, where Jesus promises to be. While all children of God are called to bear witness to the Gospel and show where God is located, a deaconess is a leader and resource to those she serves, helping and encouraging all to works of mercy and compassion. Glory be to God for sending all laborers into His Harvest!

The third pillar of our seminary mission statement is that CTS exists to form servants in Jesus Christ who … care for all. Sinful humanity is radically self-centered.  But it was not always so.  In his pristine state, Adam understood the nature of love because he was in full communion with his Creator.  Only with self-serving disobedience did our race forget the essence of love.

By His incarnation, obedience, death, resurrection and ascension, Jesus Christ restores us to full communion with the Creator.  To be in God means, quite simply, to love.  Whom?  All people.  Even your enemies just as God in Christ loved His enemies and reconciled us to Himself.

But love is not merely an inner working of the heart.  Love always acts.  John 3:16 does not say that God so loved the world that He had nice warm emotions toward us.  Rather, it says that He gave His only-begotten Son.  Though the sacrifice of Christ to atone for sin was once-for-all, God is still giving His Son to mankind.  Only now, He is doing so by the working of the Holy Spirit through the Holy Church.

Christians help those who suffer.  We do not, like Buddhists, wish it away.  We work it away.  And when we cannot, we trust in the Creator to make us anew when the new creation is fully revealed.

It is our understanding of God’s mercy toward sinners that moves us to serve our neighbor in his physical and temporal needs.  We follow the example of our Lord Jesus, the apostles and all Christendom.  He has sent us first to proclaim the forgiveness of sins but also to heal.  For in the Kingdom of God, all things are renewed, soul and body.

It is precisely this understanding of God’s living mercy that has guided Concordia Theological Seminary – Fort Wayne to place so much emphasis upon our deaconess program.  Not to say that only professional church women can serve and help the neighbor.  But to invest our resources in godly women, and men, who will make the presence of Christ known, not in words only, but through their lives and deeds is our goal.  To the glory of God.

The Church gives thanks for the life and work of Rev. Jaroslav Vajda, who died in the Lord last Saturday, May 10. Vajda’s work as hymnwriter is known throughout The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (and beyond). Of his more than 200 hymns (original and translated), the following are found in Lutheran Service Book:

369 Where Shepherds Lately Knelt
371 Let Our Gladness Banish Sadness
445 When You Woke that Thursday Morning
484 Make Songs of Joy
491 Up Through Endless Ranks of Angels
593 See This Wonder in the Making
896 Now Greet the Swiftly Changing Year
910 Now the Silence
922 Go, My Children, with My Blessing
945 Your Heart, O God, Is Grieved

In most times and places, there probably isn’t much consideration about the authors of hymn texts and composers of hymn tunes and settings. And those writers probably prefer it that way, anyhow, since a good hymn points to Christ, rather than highlighting those who created the words and music. But when we do pause to consider those skilled lyricists and musicians such as Rev. Vajda, we can be thankful for their work of putting words and tunes into our mouths and lives.

Concordia Publishing House has a fitting tribute on their website HERE.

Brueggemann articulates rightly of American Christianity that “serious religious use of the lament psalms has been minimal because we have believed that faith does not mean to acknowledge or embrace negativity [1].” This, as Lutherans, we know all too well; that a de-emphasis on reality and over-emphasis on happiness, praise, and blessings sometimes skews the sinful condition we are in, and distances us from the contemplative life that leads believers to repentance and holy absolution. Many times we breeze past the sorrow to the inevitable cure too quickly. Why does the Church avoid these laments? Moreover, not just the Church, but society underscores and hands over human laments as if they can or must be fixed. Secular help (i.e., counselors, social services, clubs and oganizations) while basically good, and can make life easier, most times their foundation’s mission shuns the Gospel or claims that it is one of many ways to salvation. They do not have the cure and true reconciliation to our laments. Yet it seems as though people are getting filtered through these avenues first nowadays, before going to their pastors and the church.

In a commentary on Psalm 39, Luther states in a paradigmatic shift, “This is what happened to Christ…silencing himself from the good (Ps. 39:2), and becoming sorrowful for the unteachable and jealous souls.[2]” Who are these souls? Take a look in the mirror. Even though we may believe we constantly turn away as if WE can take Jesus’ place and save ourselves. Other examples of Christ’s anguish is His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane [Luke 22:39-46] and his cries on the cross. Consequently Jesus utters “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me [Mt 27:46]” on the cross, just as the Psalter had uttered in Psalm 22:1. Yet this was His own lament for all the world and himself! Jesus Christ, who is fully God and fully man was scorned, afflicted and humiliated for us, became sin in our stead, and fully atoned for us in His death and resurrection.

We cannot pretend that laments are somehow a ‘good thing’. Pain and suffering exists and that is exactly what it is. However, our prayers of lament, as in the Psalms, are conversations that acknowledge the truth about sin, and our relationship to God. The reality is that there is no earthly or temporary quick fix that will make sin, death and the devil go away. The testing and trials can and will happen. May these things turn us to Jesus Christ, the only One who truly understands and still paid for all of our sins at the cross. If your heart is heavy with sorrow, know that Jesus laments with you, and has taken your sorrow unto himself. Be encouraged to read the Psalms and all of Scripture; so you may realize that you are not alone. May you come to know that you can take all your laments to our Triune God, and receive the continuous and mysterious Words of consolation (Ps 34:18) through your Christ-sent pastor (Mt 28:20) and the Church, the only place that can give it.