The Christian and Culture

Newsletter article for February 2005

by Rev. Paul Wolff

© 2005 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

It has become something of a commonplace for Christians in our culture to believe that in order to win converts we must be sensitive to the culture of the people we are witnessing to, instead of seeking to replace the godless worldly culture with a true worship of God. This would only be true if the process of winning converts would only involve trying to please people. Holy Scripture rejects this view. Saint Paul writes to the Galatians, “Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Gal. 1:10) If we seek to accommodate earthly culture in order to please people then we have made the people and their culture into false gods, which God condemns.

In the Old Testament God did not give the Israelite people the specific task of evangelism or making converts. God’s people were to give witness and testimony about God’s gracious kindness through their history and the blessings of life. There’s actually more directions from God about totally destroying the pagan idolaters who were inhabiting the land which God reserved for His people, Israel, than about converting other peoples. They weren’t told to destroy all pagan idolaters, just the ones living where God wanted His people to live. For those foreigners who saw God’s gracious dealing with Israel and wished to be a part of God’s people, God gave guidelines as to how this was to be done. In many cases foreigners were welcomed into the family of God, but they had to submit completely to God’s laws, including circumcision and the ceremonial and religious laws, and they had to completely forsake their previous way of life including all worship of other gods and even foreign dietary practices which conflicted with God’s Law.

In Deuteronomy 7:3 God forbade intermarriage with pagans because God knew that these spouses would tend to turn the people away from God, rather than vice versa. The Israelite people were a people holy to God and He wanted them to remain in His love (see John 15:9-10) and that is why He warned them not to accommodate the cultures of other people.

In Deuteronomy 7:7-11 God explains that He did not choose Israel because they were more numerous or more powerful than the other nations. The Israelite nation was small and weak in comparison with many of their neighbors. Actually when God chose them as His people there were only two of them: Abraham and Sarah; and they were already rather old at the time. This fact is also a good answer to those who question the validity of Scripture by saying, “What makes you think Christianity is the only true religion?” as if to say that “might makes right” or because two thirds of the world denies God this means that four billion to two billion – you lose. Four billion people can be wrong if they deny God’s Word.

One person who is faithful to God’s Word can stand against any number of those who deny God even if the odds are six billion people to one person. Jesus says, “If you hold to my teaching, you really are my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” Notice that Jesus doesn’t make any concessions to cultural considerations, unless you count faithfulness to His Word as a cultural consideration, but that would be God’s culture, rather than earthly culture. When God chose Israel as His people He looked after them and gave them prime land to live on, and He defeated their more powerful enemies, and protected them as long as they were obedient to Him and kept His law.

When the Israelites took over the land of Canaan God told them to destroy all cultural artifacts which went along with the false worship practices of the pagans. God’s people were instructed by God not to have respect for the cultures of the pagans. These cultural artifacts were not some quaint reminder of the olden days without any deeper meaning, they were an ongoing threat to the true faith and a stumbling block which would lead people to forsake God if not destroyed. When Israel did as God asked He was pleased and blessed them and gave them victory and protection. When Israel disobeyed God and saved some of these foreign cultural artifacts, God was angry and He punished the people for their rebellion.

When God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20 & Deut. 5) He specifically stated in the preamble to the First Commandment that the authority of these commands comes from the fact that the one who spoke them is “the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” This would be true and valid even for foreigners even if it were not specifically historically true for those who came from other nations originally. It would be true spiritually when the foreigners abandoned their cultures and were adopted by God and made a part of His people through His eternal covenant.

Even in the New Testament where Christ sends His Apostles to go to the “ends of the earth” to make disciples, and the ceremonial rules of the Old Testament have been fulfilled and completed in Christ himself, God’s people are not to make concessions to culture. Jesus commissions His disciples to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them … and teaching them….” Jesus commands His people to use the means of grace so that the Holy Spirit would change the worldly cultures into a Christian culture.

Peter writes, “once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God.” (1 Peter 2:10) Christianity has its own culture which supersedes all worldly cultures. Paul also writes to the Galatians, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Thus the cultural identities which we formerly had no longer apply to the Christian.

Should we be worried that we might offend people’s cultures? No, we should fear God rather than men. Are we going to offend? Evangelism always includes calling sinners to repentance. How can that not offend someone? St. Paul recognizes this reality when he writes to the Corinthian Church that the message of the crucified Christ is “a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.” (1 Cor. 1:23) Does this fact stop him from offending such people? Not at all. Only ten verses later in his letter Paul writes, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

Hermeneutics

Newsletter article for December 2004

© 2004 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

“There is no God.”

“I am a god.”

“God is tempting me.”

“Jesus be cursed.”

This may seem like a foolish question, but which of these phrases comes from the Bible? The quick and easy answer is that they all are found in the Bible, but the true answer is that in this form they are all taken out of context. Here are these same verses in their proper context:

“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” (Psalm 14:1)

“Will you then say, ‘I am a god,’ in the presence of those who kill you? You will be but a man, not a god, in the hands of those who slay you.” (Ezekiel 28:9)

“When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers.” (James 1:13-16)

“No one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, ‘Jesus be cursed,’ and no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.” (I Corinthians 12:3)

Hermeneutics is the study of the interpretation of texts such as the Holy Scriptures. As I have demonstrated above the proper interpretation is essential if a person is going to properly understand what the Bible has to teach. Otherwise if we have a false method of interpreting the Bible we can even make God’s Word say what we want it to say, despite what it really says.

Jesus calls the devil the “father of lies” (John 8:44) but even the devil lies in a sneaky way so that he makes his deadly lies seem attractive and true. When the devil was tempting Jesus (see Luke 4 or Matt. 4) he quoted Psalm 91:11-12 which reads, “He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” What the devil was trying to do was to get Jesus to commit suicide by jumping off of a tall building. His wicked reasoning went like this: “If God promised to protect you then you can’t be hurt, so make him prove it by jumping.” Jesus was not convinced by this fallacious argument. First of all, Jesus believed the teaching from Psalm 91 so he didn’t need to prove that God would save him. He already knew it by faith. Also, Jesus knew better than to say, “Well, if the Bible says it then it must be true.” Jesus knew the Bible better than that. He answered the devil by quoting another Bible verse which says “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” (Deut. 6:16) This demonstrates the hermeneutical principle which states, “Let Scripture interpret Scripture.” All scripture is true because it is God’s Word (2 Tim. 3:16) so just because one passage is accepted as true it doesn’t mean that you can reject another.

We saw this type of false hermeneutic at St. Timothy earlier this year when an unknown and still-unrepentant person made reference to Exodus 32:18 in a newsletter article which gave the false argument that because God wants us to sing then all singing must be God-pleasing. Well, anyone who is familiar with the story of Exodus 32 knows that God was not pleased with this singing, and He was so angry over their false praise that he was ready to destroy all the people of Israel (see v. 10) and start over with Moses. So just because singing is one way to properly praise God, it doesn’t mean that all singing properly praises God.

I have also heard someone try to tell me this year that because Scripture says to “Sing for joy to the Lord” (Ps. 95) it is all right to commit the idolatry of self-worship. Well, not exactly in those words, but that was the obvious intent of the argument in the same way that Satan also tried to tempt Jesus to disobey God by his misuse of Psalm 91. I was not swayed by this misuse of God’s Word, but I am extremely concerned that some people around here are misusing God’s Word in just such a way, and that other people are possibly being misled by such lies.

Hermeneutics by themselves are not pro-Christian or anti-Christian. They are tools which may help Christians understand God’s Word so that through it they may believe in Jesus and receive His salvation. A proper interpretation of God’s Word shows us Christ as our savior. An improper interpretation shows us something else which cannot save us. It is the great strength of Lutheran theology that we have the proper tools to understand the Scriptures “which are able to make you wise unto salvation” (2 Tim. 3:15), but even the best theology and the best teaching will do no good if we don’t use them, or don’t believe the truth of God’s Word. “Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers.” (James 1:16)

The Fruits of Pietism

Newsletter article for November 2004

© 2004 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

Pietism is an anti-Christian ideology which completely turns upside down the role of piety in Christian life. Proper Christian piety is what we do to practice and live out our faith. Pietism makes piety primary and faith secondary (actually pietism tries to turn faith itself into a good work, contrary to Eph. 2:8-9). Pietism makes works its goal rather than faith. Those who understand Lutheran doctrine, or the Biblical teachings on faith and good works, will understand that pietism emphasizes the Law over the Gospel.

Although pietists claim to be fervent Christians, and claim to do everything in the name of Christ, pietism is truly anti-Christian because it steals away the true comfort Christians have in the all-sufficient work of Christ and replaces it with an emphasis on personal acts or feelings to provide a false sense of satisfaction. There may be some temporary sense of comfort in pietistic acts, but that only works as long as we can keep it going. The problem with basing our faith on feelings is the same problem with illicit drugs. A first time drug user will feel an incredible “high” with a relatively small amount of the drug, but each subsequent experience requires more of the drug to feel good, and the user will find himself or herself dismayed that the original good feelings cannot be reproduced. When true healing comes it feels a lot like suffering and pain and death rather than anything approaching peace and comfort. So it is that pietists become “addicted” to good works which aren’t really good works in the Biblical sense because pietists intend to serve their own feelings rather than serving their neighbor in a truly God–pleasing way.

Pietists do not see Holy Scripture as the sole source and authority of doctrine and the Christian life. Personal experiences or feelings are valued more. Pietists are more likely to believe the false teaching that God speaks to them personally apart from the Holy Scriptures. This all too easily plays into the hands of the devil, who is eager to substitute his lies for the truth of God’s word. Remember that the devil got Eve to doubt God’s word by saying, “Did God really say…?” Pietists may encourage Bible study, but since personal feelings are valued more than the truth – individual interpretations easily lead to false teachings, false belief, and heresy. Even Bible studies led by a trained pastor will be seen as an exercise in finding consensus rather than an exercise in learning the truth of God’s word.

Because pietism is based upon subjective feelings, pietists will rationalize sin as long as they feel they are doing something which is pleasing to God. It won’t matter to a pietist that a particular sin is condemned by God in Holy Scripture because as long as it feels right the feelings matter more to them than an objective command, even if it comes from God. So the pietist will be very bold in his or her sins.

In the Bible there is perhaps no greater example of a pietist rationalizing his sin than King David. There have been few people (if any) who have had so much trust in God to put their lives on the line as much as David, and fewer people who have received so much earthly blessings as a result of such faith. But when David committed adultery with Uriah’s wife and then when the cover-up failed had Uriah murdered, it must have seemed to David that despite the unbelievable wickedness of those sins they were the right things to do because they felt like the right things to do at the time. It made David feel good to spend intimate time with Bathsheba, and then it felt good to have her husband killed because at least that was better (in David’s eyes) than publicly admitting the betrayal and being stoned to death for committing this crime. However, even the faithful David’s feelings betrayed him. He forgot for a few brief, but tragic, moments that he was a sinner and that his feelings were corrupted by sin. He realized this later when he repented and he confessed in Psalm 51 that he was “sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”

There is no lasting comfort in pietism. If we trust in our feelings we will sooner or later be betrayed by them also. Our feelings are inherently selfish, and if we place ourselves above all things then there will be no room in our lives for God and His word. There is true comfort in God’s word. Even if we find ourselves suffering like for doing good, like the addict who has forsaken the feel-good drugs, we can be assured of God’s forgiveness and salvation.

God’s word is a sure thing because it shows us what Jesus has done for us, and not what we need to do. Jesus told the Pharisees, “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” (John 5:39-40) The Scriptures do deliver eternal life because they show us Jesus. “Whoever believes in [Jesus] will have eternal life.” (John 3:16) Christ’s life and death and resurrection is the source of all our comfort, and the motivation for all our good works, because He did this all for our sakes so that we can be comforted by our salvation no matter whether we feel good about ourselves or not.

Reconciliation

Newsletter article for June 2004

© 2004 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

Reconciliation is a word which has weighed heavy on my mind lately. Perhaps it has been on your mind, too. It means to become friends again. Obviously this assumes that something has happened between friends which has broken their friendship or even in an extreme case has made them enemies. The opposite of reconciliation is estrangement or alienation. The ultimate cause of estrangement is sin, and because we are all sinners estrangement is not all that strange to us. Since estrangement is familiar to us then reconciliation also ought to be familiar to us, but people’s sinful pride gets in the way of that far too often.

In my consideration of the word “reconciliation” I did what I often do, I went to the Holy Scriptures to see how God uses this word. This is a good habit to get into. I learned this from a good friend. Jesus himself had the habit of going to the Holy Scriptures to deal with events in His life. He did it to teach. He did it to answer questions (both honest questions, and evil ones intended to entrap him). He did it to withstand temptation. He did it when He was dying, and He did it after he was resurrected from the dead. Jesus was familiar with the Bible because He was familiar with God. If we wish to be a member of God’s family then we also ought to be familiar with the Bible.

When you use your concordance (or computer Bible word search) it is important to keep in mind a few simple rules of Bible interpretation. Jesus was a very good interpreter of the Bible. He was the best, and although this also is one way in which no one can fully measure up to Jesus, it is not hard to properly interpret the Bible. The people who make it hard are the ones who don’t believe God’s word. It is actually quite simple. Proper Bible interpretation all comes down to the answer to this simple question: “What does the Bible say?” It really is that easy. The hard part comes when, in our sinfulness, we don’t like what the Bible says and we try to make it say what we want it to say instead of what it really says. We saw that a couple months ago in an unauthorized article in this newsletter which quoted Bible verses about praise, but did it in a way which ignored the context of the verses and really said something opposite to what the those passages really teach about the true praise of God. The rules of Bible interpretation are simple, but they are absolutely important.

I found nine occurrences of the word “reconcile” in its various forms in the NIV Bible. Several of the passages (Matt. 5:23-24; Luke 12:58-59; Acts 7:26; and 1 Cor. 7:11) encourage or command people to become friends again with each other. As I said above, this is to be expected in a sinful world in which our pride is a great sin. There are many other Bible passages which show reconciliation and how it should be handled such as Matt. 18:15-17 and Genesis 45:4-7, but for this essay I am simply focusing on the passages which use a form of the word “reconcile.” The passages which are most helpful to us estranged sinners are the other passages which describe our reconciliation with God. You may find these in your Bible at: Romans 5:10-11; Rom. 11:15; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21; Ephesians 2:14-18; and Colossians 1:15-23. You may not think that the verses which tell us how we are reconciled with God would be more valuable to us in reconciling with one another, but that would be wrong. God’s ways are not the same as the world’s ways, and Christians especially need to be reconciled with God before we are reconciled with one another.

We are all estranged from God because of our sinfulness. Remember how Adam and Eve were kicked out of God’s garden paradise after they sinned against God’s command (Genesis 3). The estrangement of sin is severe, and there is nothing we can do about it. Romans 5:10-11 reminds us that our sin makes us God’s enemies, but we are reconciled to God through the death of His Son, Jesus. It is Jesus who has made us friends again with God. He has endured the punishment for our sins so God is no longer angry over them, and he has also forgiven us for causing him to suffer. The effect of Christ’s reconciliation is that we can have access to God’s heavenly paradise where we shall live in peace and happiness forever.

Because of Christ’s reconciliation, St. Paul told the believers in Corinth (2 Cor. 5:16-21) that we now regard no one from a worldly point of view. If Christ went to the cross and the grave in order to make us friends again with God the Father, then our estrangements here on earth are petty and small by comparison. They may not seem small, but we may quickly learn from experience that things aren’t always what they seem. If we look at our estrangements from God’s point of view they all are small and easily overcome. The key is forgiveness. Here again we learn forgiveness from Jesus. We learn in the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (Matt. 18:21-35) that Jesus has forgiven us so much, that if we treasure His forgiveness then it is relatively easy to forgive the little things which keep us apart.

Reconciliation is easy for Christians because Jesus enables us to do it all the time. Reconciliation is impossible for unbelievers because they reject the forgiveness of their sins through Jesus Christ, and so therefore they reject the forgiveness of one another. Christians rely on God’s forgiveness every day of their lives so reconciliation is quite familiar. I pray that God would lead all sinners at St. Timothy to repentance so that they may joyfully receive Christ’s forgiveness, and having received this treasure they may also share that forgiveness and reconciliation with one another. I include myself in this, but it would be a tragedy for me to be the only one to repent. I repent of my sins daily, but I am not here to be the only one who receives Christ’s forgiveness and reconciliation. I am here to lead Christ’s sheep to the green pastures of His paradise. Christ has taught me that the way to paradise comes only through faith in His forgiveness and reconciliation. Read the Scripture passages which I have referenced above. May Christ lead you to repentance of all your sins, and receive the blessings of His forgiveness and reconciliation.

The Passion of Christ

Newsletter article for April 2004

© 2004 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

Christ’s “Passion” refers to His suffering. The work of Christ has long been identified with His suffering because that is what the Holy Scriptures tell is the work of Christ. Isaiah 53:5 tells us that “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” If you have seen the new movie “The Passion of the Christ” you will note that this Scripture verse opens the movie and gives the necessary context in which to view it.

There are many ways to wrongly consider the Christ’s passion. Even before the new movie was released some Jewish groups were complaining that it would incite people to punish the Jews for their role in the death of Christ. This has happened in history, and it is absolutely a wrong interpretation of the sufferings of Christ to single out the Jews (or anyone else) as the ones who brought about some great injustice. It is equally wrong for those same Jews (and all others) to view the passion of Christ without believing that they were responsible for the death of Christ, and being responsible for Christ’s suffering and death also receive the benefits of that death.

Isaiah made it clear long ago that the Christ was to suffer and die for our sinfulness and through that punishment we would receive forgiveness and eternal life. Pressure from Jewish groups moved Mel Gibson to remove from the subtitles the quote from Matthew 27:25 where the crowd tells Pilate, “Let his blood be on us and on our children.” That is an ironic statement because although the crowd meant it as a self-curse, it is a blessing which all of God’s people can apply to themselves as John writes in 1 John 1:7 “The blood of Jesus, [God’s] son, purifies us from all sin.”

Although Martin Luther never saw Mel Gibson’s movie (or any other movie, for that matter), he did write a short essay in 1519 entitled, “A Meditation on Christ’s Passion”. In this essay Luther notes, “They contemplate Christ’s passion aright who view it with a terror-stricken heart and a despairing conscience. This terror must be felt as you witness the stern wrath and the unchanging earnestness with which God looks upon sin and sinners, so much so that he was unwilling to release sinners even for his only and dearest Son without his payment of the severest penalty for them.”

If we take Isaiah’s prophesy seriously (and we should) then we understand that Jesus suffered so much because of our sins. Because we love Jesus we ought to be horrified that our sinfulness and the disobedience of our sin caused our beloved Savior to suffer. If you can watch the scene in the movie where the soldiers are taking such pleasure and enjoyment in beating Jesus into a bloody pulp and not understand that it is you who is doing that every time you take some guilty pleasure in some sin, then you are also not correctly considering Christ’s passion. The movie shows this pretty well how the devil was taking pleasure in the murderous hatred of the soldiers. Satan tempts us all to sin by making sin seem fun even though the least of our sins caused Jesus immense pain.

Christians know, however, that the “terror” and “despair” in our hearts that we must feel for our guilt and sin is not an end in themselves. That would also be a wrong way to view the sufferings of Christ. Judas is the example which shows us that it is not enough to simply be sorry that we have done wrong. Faith trusts that although we are terribly guilty in the death of Jesus, He loves us and will forgive all the sins of those who trust in Him for salvation. Our sorrow over our guilt should cause us to fervently repent of all our sins, and look to Jesus to forgive us for all the pain we caused Him. Luther explained this wonderfully when he wrote:

You cast your sins from yourself and onto Christ when you firmly believe that his wounds and sufferings are your sins, to be borne and paid for by him, as we read in Isaiah 53 [:6], “The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” St. Peter says, “in his body has he borne our sins on the wood of the cross” [I Pet. 2:24]. St. Paul says, “God has made him a sinner for us, so that through him we would be made just” [2 Cor. 5:21]. You must stake everything on these and similar verses. The more your conscience torments you, the more tenaciously must you cling to them. If you do not do that, but presume to still your conscience with your contrition and penance, you will never obtain peace of mind, but will have to despair in the end. If we allow sin to remain in our conscience and try to deal with it there, or if we look at sin in our heart, it will be much too strong for us and will live on forever. But if we behold it resting on Christ and [see it] overcome by his resurrection, and then boldly believe this, even it is dead and nullified. Sin cannot remain on Christ, since it is swallowed up by his resurrection. Now you see no wounds, no pain in him, and no sign of sin. Thus St. Paul declares that “Christ died for our sin and rose for our justification” [Rom. 4:25]. That is to say, in his suffering Christ makes our sin known and thus destroys it, but through his resurrection he justifies us and delivers us from all sin, if we believe this.

Any Christian who views a reenactment of the passion of Christ will have to feel ambivalent (i.e. have mixed feelings) about it. On the one hand we are sad that we caused Jesus to suffer and die because of the guilt of our sins, but on the other hand, we are glad that Jesus endured the pain and death so that he could rescue us from an eternity of such suffering.

Another thing to remember if you go to view the movie is that what you are seeing is not the crucifixion of Jesus. It is a movie with actors and fake blood. This ought to be obvious to everyone who goes, but these days you can never be too careful. You are not necessarily closer to Jesus if you view this reenactment of His death. Many people have seen the movie, and still do not believe in Jesus, and are still on their way to damnation. Many other people, who have never seen the movie still repent of their sins and trust in Christ and receive forgiveness and eternal life. Remember the words Jesus told Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

(All Luther quotes from Vol. 42 of Luther’s works, p. 7-13. Philadelphia: Fortress Press; translation by Martin Bertram.)

Do Not Tell Anyone

Newsletter article for March 2004

© 2004, 2009 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

Jesus “warned His disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ.” (Matthew 16:20) This seems a strange admonition, especially to us who live in an age where mission statements are quite a persistent fad. (The newsletter in which this article was originally published contained the congregation’s flawed mission statement.) Mission statements can be useful to give businesses a sense of purpose and direction, but it does tend to emphasize the wrong thing where the church is concerned. If we are to be a true church of Jesus Christ then we need to truly understand the teachings of Jesus in the many passages which He forbids evangelism.

In a quick search of the Scriptures I found about ten Bible verses where Jesus tells people not to tell anyone about Him. A few of these cases are easily understandable, but most deserve a little more study. In Mark 3:12 Jesus warned the demons not to tell who He was. This is very understandable because to the demons Jesus is only their judge and tormentor. There is no salvation for the demons, and though they brought their suffering and torment on themselves Jesus doesn’t want their witness to be what leads people to Him. Jesus doesn’t want to threaten people in order to draw them to Him. It is true that God is the one who judges and condemns the unbelievers, but God is primarily a God of mercy and love and He draws people to Himself through love and forgiveness. No one is going to be saved through coercion or force, but through faith in the forgiveness we receive through Jesus Christ. So the demons are silenced.

But why, then, does Jesus treat His disciples like the demons in Matt. 16? Peter had just confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and Jesus had told him that this confession came from God the Father Himself! Why then does Jesus treat Peter and the rest of the disciples no better than demons? The answer comes in what follows in Matt. 16. Jesus goes on to describe what it means that He is the Christ. The Christ is the one who must suffer and die at the hands of sinners. Peter, full of love for his friend, and having just witnessed the power of Jesus in the feeding of the four thousand people, said, “This shall never happen to you.” Upon hearing this Jesus comes right out and calls Peter “Satan” because these are the words of Satan. Only the devil and His followers don’t want Jesus to suffer and die on the cross. Those who love Jesus are actually relying on it. The suffering and death of Jesus is our only hope for salvation. If Jesus had listened to Peter (and to Satan when he said the same thing in Matt. 4:8-9) then there would be no salvation for any of us and the devil would have succeeded in destroying all whom God loves.

This passage helps us to understand why Jesus would tell His disciples not to tell anyone who He is. He forbids them from telling this because they have a false idea of who He is. They know that Jesus is the Christ, but they refuse recognize a “weak” Christ who permits himself to suffer and die at the hands of sinners. Because His innocent suffering and death is the very purpose for His being here, Jesus forbids them from telling others so that they are not led astray by some false impression of Jesus. Jesus sends them out only when the disciples have finished their training, have seen Him dead on the cross, seen Him alive after His resurrection, AND then on Pentecost received the Holy Spirit who Jesus said will “teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26). Only then does Jesus send them out on the mission.

In the other cases where Jesus tells folks not to say anything it is usually because they exhibit a more subtle denial of Jesus. Some people say that when Jesus told people not to tell anyone about Him that He really wanted people to tell about Him. We can easily dismiss that as being false because that would make Jesus a manipulative liar. Although people then (and now) did frequently disregard His word and tell anyway, Jesus didn’t really want them to tell. Although Jesus was (and is) very generous in using His power to heal, He doesn’t want people to see Him only as a healer or miracle worker. Whether Jesus heals you or not is, in the end, irrelevant to your salvation. No one is in heaven today because Jesus is a miracle worker. Every person in heaven today is there because Jesus saved them from their sins through His obedient, innocent suffering and death.

People need to know what Jesus has done for their salvation, and that is exactly why God has provided pastors and teachers and evangelists. Without someone to tell us the good news of our forgiveness and salvation in Christ we would not be saved (Romans 10). God does equip and send these people throughout the world so that people everywhere can hear the message and be saved through faith. St. Paul tells us in Ephesians 4, “It was [Christ] who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers” so that the body of Christ could be built up and God’s people prepared for doing His good works. Not all people are called to be pastors, teachers, or evangelists. Paul notes in I Corinthians 12:29 that not all people have these God-given callings. Scripture is very clear that not everyone is a minister, despite what you may have heard elsewhere. Peter encourages his readers (I Peter 3:15) to “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have,” but he was writing to Christians who were being persecuted for their belief in Christ. The gift of Martyrdom is another gift that God does not give to everyone, but only to those whom He equips for that task also.

Although the task of evangelism is not something that God gives to all Christians, there is one “task” that God does give to all His people. Jesus says in John 6:29, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one He has sent.” This is not a work as we understand works. Saving faith is a gift of God (Eph. 2:8-9). It isn’t miracles which save us. It isn’t good works that save us, except for the works that Jesus did on our behalf in His life and death. All Christians believe that Jesus is our only savior from the punishment for our sin, as Jesus tells us, “Whoever believes in [God’s Son] is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:18)

Are you upset that your pastor has treated you like the devil? If he did this because you had a false impression about Jesus and His work or ministry then take heart and understand that Jesus did the same thing to the disciples whom He loved. The pastor should understand that, like Peter, not all of God’s children have a proper understanding of what Jesus is all about, and, like Peter, it sometimes takes some harsh words to teach God’s people. It took him a while, but Peter repented and allowed Jesus to teach him. Peter became a great Apostle and missionary because Jesus prepared him for the mission and didn’t allow him to go until he was properly equipped for the mission. “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” not just because there is so much unbelief in the world (though that is a major cause), but also because there must be the proper training involved, and not all Christians are called by God for this service. Whatever your role in the body of Christ trust in Christ and in His forgiveness and salvation. That is all that really matters. That is who Christ is.

Doing the Right Thing is Not Enough

Newsletter article for February 2004

© 2004 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

Saul was the first King of Israel, but he was also the last one of his family to be a king. If you recall the Bible story God became displeased with Saul and chose the boy David to succeed Saul as King of Israel. Do you remember what Saul did to displease God? If we think we are pleasing God by what we are doing then we ought to consider King Saul and try to avoid the trap that he fell into.

There are actually a couple of events in I Samuel 13-15 that are significant, but it is the first one I want to recall here. What Saul did which led God to look for the next king outside of Saul’s sons, was to offer a burnt offering to God. Now, if you know anything about Old Testament history and worship practices this doesn’t seem such a bad thing at all. It doesn’t seem like Saul was worshipping a false God. People made burnt offerings to God all the time. Many of these were actually required by law and the Bible records many more rebukes for those who did not make an offering to God, than for those who did, but Saul is one exception.

The situation was that the Philistines were gathering to attack the Israelites and Saul and the soldiers of Israel were looking to get some encouragement and strength from God through His prophet, Samuel. Samuel told Saul to meet him in seven days time at Gilgal where Samuel would offer sacrifices to God and ask the Lord to give them success against their enemies. On the seventh day Samuel was nowhere to be found and the soldiers began to lose heart and to scatter off to someplace safe before the Philistines attacked. When Saul saw his men leaving he thought that he needed to do something to keep the men together so he offered the sacrifice himself and did not wait any longer for Samuel. But just when Saul had finished making the offering Samuel arrived and was greatly displeased with Saul’s impatience. He proclaimed that because he did not keep God’s command his kingdom would not endure and God would seek a man after His own heart to lead His people.

This may seem to us to be a little harsh, but as in all the things God does it is completely appropriate. There are a couple things wrong with Saul’s actions. First, although it was a good thing for Saul to prepare to make a sacrificial offering to God, it was inappropriate for him to actually make the sacrifice. This was the role of the priest, or in this case, the prophet, Samuel. In and of itself, this probably would not have brought down such a severe rebuke from God, but the second incident in I Samuel 15 shows that the first simply revealed a greater lack of faith in God. Although Saul seemed to be making an offering to God, he really wasn’t. God’s instructions through the prophet Samuel told him to wait, and Saul did not. With his men leaving Saul decided that he couldn’t wait for God to give the men encouragement, so he did it himself. This was idolatry. Saul put himself in the place of God.

It wasn’t Saul’s actions which were so wicked (although he certainly disobeyed God), but his lack of faith in God made his sin inexcusable. Compare this with the worst sins of David, Saul’s successor. David committed adultery with the wife of one of his best soldiers. He tried to cover up the sin, and when that failed he had the woman’s husband murdered. This was nearly as great a rejection of God as Saul’s sin, and a much greater sin against others (Uriah and Bathsheba), yet David didn’t lose faith in God. There were some tragic and lingering consequences to David’s sins, but he was forgiven. There were twenty-one of David’s descendants who ruled as king from Solomon to Zedekiah, but Saul’s family died out with his great-grandchildren, and few of them enjoyed a long life.

I am sure that to many people this seems a bit backward. To our earthly eyes the sins of adultery and murder are virtually unforgivable, while the sins of impatience and improper worship seem relatively inconsequential, but then we often place our own concerns above God’s concerns. Such is the way of all sinful flesh. God looks at things a little differently. First of all the sins against God (first table of the commandments) are much worse than our sins against others (second table) for the simple fact that God is GOD, and everyone else is not. But God also can see into people’s hearts. God knows who has faith in Him and who hates Him. For those who have faith (like David) God can forgive the worst sins (adultery, lies, conspiracy, murder, misuse of authority, etc.), but for those who do not have faith (like Saul) even the seemingly good things he does (worshipping God, having compassion on an enemy, etc.) are unforgivable.

Judas also did a good work in the garden of Gethsemane when he kissed Jesus. Psalm 2 tells us, “Kiss the son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way.” Kissing is a sign of affection, and how can that be wrong when we show affection to our Lord? But Judas did not kiss Jesus to show affection, instead he used it as a sign to Jesus’ enemies so they could come and arrest him. What should have been a good work Judas turned into an opportunity for the enemies of Jesus to grab him so they could kill him. Judas lacked faith in Jesus, and so despite any good that he had done, he despaired of his life and took a shortcut to destruction despite the fact that his salvation was so near.

There are those who would tell you that if your worship is not full of feeling you should work harder to make it so, but this was Saul’s wrong solution to the problem. It is the wrong solution because the fact that you make yourself feel happy or excited about something doesn’t make it God-pleasing. Saul and his soldiers were quite satisfied with his solution to restore morale to the soldiers, but God was angry about it. You can do all sorts of things to make yourself feel good about your sins, but this is only a temporary distraction and not a proper way to deal with sin. People do it all the time. The devil encourages it, because as long as people feel good about their sins without truly repenting, they are lost and belong to him. God doesn’t necessarily want you to feel good, and He never wants you to feel good about sin. God wants you to recognize your sin, come to true (i.e. painful) repentance, and be saved.

You cannot measure your faith by your good works. If you could then Saul might have been a more righteous person than David. But God looks at us according to our faith in Him. Jesus Himself was praised as the Son of David for more than just the fact that David was His ancestor. Jesus came to rescue us from the sinful self-centeredness which makes all our good deeds tainted by wickedness. Only Jesus can sanctify us and make us holy. Only Jesus can give us hope and peace and satisfaction, and none of this comes from ourselves. If our happiness, peace, hope, or general good feelings come from within us then they cannot save us, and like King Saul they will likely turn us against God and lead us to our destruction.

Martin Luther

Newsletter article for October 2003

© 2003 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

By the time this newsletter reaches your home you should be able to go to your local movie theater and see the latest movie which depicts the life of the great reformer, Martin Luther. The movie is simply titled, “Luther”. With every new look at the life of Martin Luther we Lutherans have the opportunity to reacquaint ourselves with what it means to be Lutheran. However, this does not come without dangers. Not every depiction of the life and teachings of Martin Luther is good and beneficial. Some depictions of Luther’s teachings or the significance of his work are distorted and others simply contain flat-out lies. An example of this was a recent PBS television documentary on Luther. This documentary, while doing a pretty good job of accurately presenting the factual information of Luther’s life, didn’t have a clue about the true significance of Martin Luther. But then of all the scholars who were interviewed in that documentary, none of them were Lutheran, and all of them had some other agenda which led them to misunderstand or purposely distort the meaning of the Reformation.

I would encourage all who read this article to go and see the movie “Luther,” but I would also hope that you would go with open eyes. I have heard good reviews from Lutherans who have previewed the movie, so I am hopeful that it will be an honest look at both the man and his teachings, and I am looking forward to seeing it myself. However, recent events in the church (worldwide) have reminded me of the validity of the doctrine of original sin and have left me wary of trusting in the unquestioned goodness of all that calls itself Lutheran or even Christian. Further examination is always required, but I am always hopeful, and I am eager to be impressed.

It should come as no surprise that there is now a renewed interest in Martin Luther. At the end of the millennium several historians came up with lists of the most influential people in the second millennium since Christ, and Martin Luther was at or near the top in all of these lists. It is also probably true that each list put Luther at the top for different reasons, which begs the question, “What is Luther all about?”

In the past year I have come across a little book which gives the best explanation of what it means to be a Lutheran in modern society. The book is Here We Stand by Hermann Sasse (pronounced SAH-say). There has been a growing rediscovery of Hermann Sasse lately because the issues with which the LCMS is currently struggling are the very same sorts of things that Sasse had to deal with in Germany in the early 20^th century. I myself have been astonished by the current relevance of essays that Sasse wrote some 70 years ago. I suppose I should not have been astonished because it was nearly 3,000 years ago that King Solomon wrote that “There is nothing new under the sun.”

Strangely enough, as we try to understand what it means to be Lutheran we should first of all keep one thing in mind: to be Lutheran has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with Martin Luther. The best possible Lutheran cares not one little bit about Martin Luther. Luther himself was not interested in Martin Luther, but rather he was interested in Jesus Christ. Of course as a Christian we cannot ignore Luther because there have been only a precious few people since Biblical times who have taught the truth of the Bible so purely and clearly as he did. To be a Lutheran is all about what the Bible teaches about Jesus Christ, and not at all about who Martin Luther was. However, there are those who seek to undermine the teachings of Luther, and because they cannot find fault with his theology (because he taught the truth of God’s Word) they instead attack or undermine the man.

In Here We Stand, Sasse notes that there are at least three ways in which the Lutheran Reformation is misunderstood, or misrepresented. The first is that Luther is depicted as a great “Hero of the Reformation” who led his followers to a new age of Renaissance. This is a false depiction for several reasons. At the time of the Reformation Luther was, and remained, a pastor, Biblical scholar, and teacher. Sasse notes that early in the history of the reformation Luther “slipped into the background,” and his role after 1530 was “not nearly as important as that which Calvin played to the close of his life.” Luther also never wanted his followers to be known by his name. He preferred the name, “Evangelical” but eventually that term came to apply to others, and the term “Lutheran” stuck. What is more, of the eight confessional documents which make up the Book of Concord, which is what really defines what it means to be Lutheran, only three of them were even written by Martin Luther (the Small and Large catechisms, and the Smalcald Articles), and the Formula of Concord was written some fifteen years after Luther’s death.

The second way the Lutheran Reformation is misrepresented is what Sasse calls the “culture-historical interpretation of the Reformation.” This describes the impact that the reformation had on Western society, and claims that the main importance of Luther is that he began to release the human potential of Europeans from the oppression of the Medieval way of thinking. This is still a popular view in some circles, but anyone with even a limited knowledge of Luther knows that this is way off base. If this were true then Luther would have encouraged the peasants in their revolt rather than vehemently denouncing them. (The peasant revolt is reportedly depicted in the movie, and is one of the main reasons that the movie received a PG-13 rating.) This is the point of view of the PBS documentary which was released this summer. This suggested that Luther began something, but it was incomplete, and left to others to finish. Or to use a sports metaphor, Luther, it is implied, picked up the ball, but others ran with it, and so Luther is seen as incomplete and obsolete. In reality, Luther was not concerned about the advancement of human civilization, instead he was concerned about the salvation of man and taught what the Bible teaches about the complete moral depravity of sinful man which everyone must recognize before they can receive the salvation which only Jesus can give.

The third way the Reformation is misrepresented is that it is seen as essentially a German nationalistic event. There is a grain of truth to this because there was the beginning of a unification of Germany behind Luther. His translation of the Scriptures into German not only was the focus of shared German pride, but it literally created a unified, common German language out of several differing dialects. But again, Luther was not interested in what it meant to be German. He was only interested in what it meant to be a Christian. Lutheran teachings are not culture bound, but universal because God’s Word is universal.

The true meaning of the Reformation is that it is an event in the history of the Christian church. It is all about doctrine, and not about the man. To be Lutheran is to trust that the Holy Scriptures are God’s Word which is the only thing which shows us how we may be saved from our sins.

I hope you will keep this in mind as you go to see the new movie. This is how a movie about Luther should be judged: Is it more about Luther, or more about Christ? Do you come away with more of an admiration of Luther, or is your Christian faith strengthened? It is again strange to say it, but it is true, if the movie is too much about Luther then it doesn’t fairly represent the man. He relentlessly pointed people to Christ for their hope and salvation, and any accurate representation of Luther will do the same. I pray that this is true, and if so then I also pray that this movie also becomes wildly popular in our society.

Gospel Reductionism

Newsletter article for February 2003

© 2003 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

When is the Gospel a bad thing? This ought to be a trick question, but more and more the Gospel is being used to rationalize all kinds of things which God describes as sin in His Word. In this article I wish to teach you a new phrase which I think faithful Lutheran Christians will (regretfully) soon be hearing more often. The term is “Gospel Reductionism” and in learning what it means you will learn that the answer to the question above is that the Gospel is a bad thing only when it is misused.

The term “Gospel Reductionism” refers to a method of Biblical interpretation which ignores God’s Law and places the sole authority in the Gospel for theology and practice. I believe that this idea is peculiar to Lutheranism because only Lutheran theology has made such a sharp distinction between the Biblical doctrines of Law and Gospel. Lutherans have long known that in Christian preaching and teaching the Gospel must predominate, because although God’s Law and Gospel work together for our salvation, only the Gospel really can save us. The trouble with Gospel Reductionism is that it goes a step or two further, and is in reality a new teaching.

Now, when I say it is a new teaching I don’t mean that it is “new and improved.” In theology “new” is ALWAYS a bad thing. Any “new” teaching is false teaching because it is man-made, and not from God. The Holy Scriptures warn God’s people about the false teachings of men (see Mark 7:6-7) and it warns that the time will come when people will not put up with good, sound doctrine, but instead will gather around them teachers who will tell them only what they want to hear (2 Timothy 4:3-5). There is something about Gospel Reductionism which is attractive to many pastors, teachers and lay-people in the LCMS. I believe that I myself may have been influenced by it in ways I am only beginning to understand. As I write this I have been studying this for about a month, and I know it is not Biblical, and therefore wrong, but I caught myself giving a reductionistic answer in a recent Sunday Bible study, and I had to correct myself when I realized what I was doing.

The trouble with Gospel Reductionism is that it makes the Gospel the only authoritative part of Scripture. This wouldn’t be so bad except that God gave us His Word as both Law and Gospel. Both teachings are authoritative as God’s Word, but the reductionists dismiss the Law as something useless, or even harmful. What is more, the reductionists also broaden their definition of the Gospel to include anything which might possibly be construed as beneficial — even things the Bible says is harmful and sinful. The proponents of Gospel Reductionism claim that they are faithful to God and to the Gospel, but in truth they are faithful to neither. God gave us both Law and Gospel so that we might be saved, and if we ignore either one of those teachings then we disobey God and are in danger of being eternally lost.

There is a tension between Law and Gospel which must be maintained always in our teachings. If we lost the Gospel then we would either despair of salvation because God’s Law accuses and condemns our sin, or we would become complacent and self-righteous thinking that we could gain salvation by obeying the Law in some minimal way. On the other hand, if we don’t acknowledge the authority of the Law then we won’t see a need for a savior and so Jesus becomes meaningless to us and we will grow to despise Him.

You can identify Gospel Reductionists these days because they are the ones complaining most often about “legalism” in the Synod. True “Legalism” is a valid danger and concern, and we ought to avoid it. Legalism is the result of a kind of “Law Reductionism” where the Gospel is dismissed as authoritative in place of the Law. However the Gospel Reductionists cry “legalism” about any application of the Law, including many good God-given ways of disciplining sinners and calling them to repentance. This is actually quite clever (in a Satanic sort of way) if you can get away with it. If you don’t acknowledge God’s Law (or even a part of it) then you can do whatever you want to do and nobody can say anything contrary because that would be considered legalistic or irrelevant. The trouble with this is that although you might be able to get away with this for a little while, you won’t get very far trying to convince God about the benefits of this, and everyone will have to answer to God some day.

Lutherans have a great blessing in our traditional doctrine of the dynamic working of God’s Law and Gospel. If we would ever truly put our trust in God’s Word and use it the way He intended then there would be no stopping the Lutheran Church, though many would try. Many well-intentioned people have been led astray by this “Gospel Reductionism.” People have been complacent in their sins because they do not acknowledge the Law of God and His Word which calls on them to repent. God’s Law is a good thing, but although no one likes to be reminded of sin, it is a necessary part of the Christian life. Only in using the Law properly can we truly appreciate the salvation we have in Jesus.

Why Doctrine Matters

Newsletter article for September 2002

© 2002 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

“Be careful to obey all these regulations I am giving you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord your God.” Deuteronomy 12:28

God is not a fundamentalist. There are not a set of fundamental teachings which God values over any other. God’s teachings are ALL important, and God required the Israelites of the Old Testament to obey all of His laws, even the ceremonial laws. For the selfish person who thinks that he is the center of the universe, this may sound harsh and uncompromising, but God had a good reason for His uncompromising stance. As He said above, if we keep God’s regulations as He wants us to then things will always go well with us and with our children. God’s purpose in giving us His Word is so that things will always go well with us. God isn’t being mean or nasty (He isn’t capable of being mean), instead God tells us this for our benefit because He loves us.

God knows what is best for us. He created us, after all, and God wants what is best for us. God knows that if we follow His plan, as He created us to do, then things will work according to His plan and we will be happy. God also is the only one who can save us when we sin against His commands, and that is also why He wants us to love and worship Him above all else.

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!” Galatians 1:6-9

These are some very strong words from St. Paul. Here he proclaims eternal damnation to anyone to teaches a gospel other than what he preached to the church in Galatia. This would again seem the height of arrogance, except that what Paul taught the Galatians was the Word of God. Paul wasn’t teaching something that he invented, or some new educational theory. He was preaching the Gospel of Christ as Jesus had told him to preach. The false teachers in Galatia were perverting the Gospel and were evidently leading people away from Jesus. That is why Paul declared that anyone who preaches a different Gospel would be damned, because there is no salvation except that which comes from Jesus.

“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.” 1 John 4:1-3

Not every teaching that claims to be from God actually does come from God. This is why John gives this warning, but he also tells us how to test the doctrine to know that it has come from God. Those who speak God’s word truthfully must acknowledge Jesus as Lord and God. Similarly, no messenger from God would deny God’s Word either, even in the smallest degree.

“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 1 Timothy 4:3-4

These verses do much to describe the situation in our world today. Even in the Christian Church, there are a seeming multitude of denominations and each one teaches something different. This certainly cannot please Christ because each different denomination gives credibility to some false teaching which can lead people away from the truth, and lead them to put their faith in something which cannot save them. Only Jesus can save us from our sins.

“Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’" John
8:31-32

Worthy of Salvation

Newsletter article for April 2002

© 2002 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

Who is worthy of Salvation?

There once was a king who had a very special daughter. She was his only child and the king loved her very much. When the girl reached maturity the king was determined to find a husband for her who would love her with his whole heart and would be a good and wise ruler over the kingdom. The king issued a decree that he was looking for a man who would be the most worthy to be the king’s son-in-law and heir.

This news was greeted with great joy and hope and anticipation. The princess was very beautiful and kind, and her father was extremely wealthy and powerful. Whoever was chosen to marry the princess would not only get the most desirable woman in the kingdom, but would also inherit the richest kingdom in the world.

The king was very protective of his daughter and would only settle for the best for her. In order to ensure that he would find the most worthy prince to be his heir the king had a magic sword called the Sword of Truth. If anyone told a lie in the presence of this sword it would immediately kill him. This way the king would be sure that the man who married his daughter would be most worthy of her.

After a time the king held court in the great hall in order to interview all of the potential suitors for his daughter. The first man to stand before him was the son of a very wealthy nobleman. He was handsome and charming and well-liked by all who knew him. As he stood before the king he was sweating a little as the king asked him, “What makes you worthy to marry my daughter, the princess?” The young man hesitated and then said, “I love your daughter and I only want what is best for the kingdom.” Apparently none of this was true because before he drew his next breath the sword of truth flew out of the hands of the king and impaled the man right through his heart.

The next young man chose his words very carefully. “I choose your daughter to be my wife,” he told the king.

The king was furious. “Don’t make fun of me!”

“I’m not.” The man replied. “I believe I am worthy because I choose your daughter to be my wife.”

Despite his foolish words he was telling the truth because the sword of truth made no move in his direction. However the king was indignant. “You must think I am a fool, and I would be if I considered you worthy simply because you chose my daughter. Open your eyes! Every man in the kingdom would choose my daughter if they could. Look behind you, many of them are here now! She is the most desirable woman in the world because of her beauty, her wealth, her power, and her loving heart.” At this the king sent the man home until he would come to his senses.

The next suitor came and with a humble and sincere bow he declared to the king, “I would give your daughter everything I have.”

The king was beginning to get tired of this nonsense, so he laughed. “Do you have any idea who I am? I am the ruler of the richest kingdom in the world. I could buy you and sell you hundreds of times. Do you consider my daughter some sort of beggar who can be bought for a pittance?” With these words the king sent the man to prison until he would repent of his arrogance.

And so it continued for quite some time. The finest men in the kingdom all came and made their claim as to why they were worthy to wed the king’s daughter, but each plea was rejected by the king. In addition many came who were not nearly the finest men in all the kingdom, trying to trick their way to winning the greatest prize in the kingdom. These were either slain by the Sword of Truth, or imprisoned or banished by the king.

Finally, a man came before the king dressed as a common laborer. He didn’t appear to be wealthy, nor of noble birth or heritage. The king looked down on this poor man and asked in a stern voice, “Do you think you are worthy to be my son-in-law and heir?”

The poor man trembled. “Have mercy on me, lord. Forgive my simple clothing, but it is the best that I have. I am not a rich man. I do not intend to insult your majesty or your lovely daughter by my appearance here. It is true that I am not worthy of such a fine woman as your daughter. I cannot give her the fine things that she deserves. My language isn’t as refined as that of a nobleman, and I suppose I appear to you to be vulgar. There is absolutely no reason why you should give me your daughter to be my wife, and I would completely understand if you quickly send me on my way. I can only say that if you choose me by your grace and kindness then I would love your daughter and treasure her and make her know that she is the most valuable thing in the world to me, because she is.

The king looked at this humble man. He had hardly looked up at the king the whole time he was in the great hall. Then the king spoke. “You are right to say that you are not worthy of my daughter. And of all the noble men who have come seeking my daughter’s hand, you are the first to admit that you are not worthy, but they were not worthy either. You were wise to appeal to my grace and kindness because it is by reason of my good grace that I accept your petition to marry my daughter. You are not worthy of my daughter, but I will make you worthy. You will be a good husband to my daughter, a good son-in-law to me, and a good ruler of my kingdom when the time comes. I will see to it myself.”

And this is how it happened that the poor man became the king’s heir. It wasn’t because he was worthy, but because of the king’s kindness and grace.

Stand Up for Jesus

Newsletter article for February 2002

© 2002 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

Jesus said, “I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God.” (Luke 12:8-9)

It is in times of crisis that it is important to stand up and be counted for what you truly believe in. Unfortunately there more than enough crises to go around. There are always several international crises to choose from, although they don’t always impact us directly. There are national, state, and local problems which often affect us negatively. There are family problems, work problems, social problems, and even personal problems which cause us concern and possibly worry.

Jesus tells us several times in Matthew 6, “Do not worry.” God, our Father, provides us with all we need, so we are always well taken care of, and we don’t need to worry about anything. This lack of worry, however, only comes from a strong faith that trusts that God will take care of us and provide for all our needs. This faith also helps us to accept the fact that although God always provides for our needs, He may not always provide for our wants and desires.

St. Timothy has had to deal with several situations lately which might be cause for worry. With the public school system moving toward a chaotic-like state, it has decreased our school enrollment the past couple years. Our congregation has supported the school (as it should), but our current resources are quite limited. Our financial troubles have forced us to determine what is most important for us to be doing, and cutting back on things that, while still important, are not vital to the operation of the Church and School. We have been forced to examine our priorities, but isn’t that just like human nature — people don’t change their priorities until they have no other choice (and sometimes, not even then).

Well, we are human, but with all our troubles we can take comfort in a couple of things. First, we are still God’s people, and Jesus tells us “Do not worry” and “Trust in Me.” As long as we listen to Jesus and put Him first in what we do, then He will bless us. Along the way we may have to learn some hard lessons, but in the end we will be better for them. We have learned, for example, that Christian churches probably ought not to get involved in raffles, but instead should focus on the Bible verse at the top of this page and concentrate on proclaiming Christ as Lord.

Second, it may sound strange, but we can take comfort in our financial troubles. It is not a pleasure by any means to struggle to pay bills, or to lay-off staff, but we can be thankful to God that our troubles are only financial. There are troubles that are much worse. Despite our troubles we still belong to God. We have pulled together to prayerfully resolve our problems, while at the same time we have remembered that Christ wants us to confess Him alone as Lord, and that to everyone who does this, He will also claim as His children. This is a wonderful blessing. There are many churches which are much better off than us financially, but are beset by troubles which are much more difficult to overcome. Our troubles are not small, but in many ways they have drawn us closer together, and made us rely more on God for help and direction. It is my prayer that we will work even harder to remain faithful to Christ and do the work of God’s people, which is, above all, to share the Gospel with those who don’t know Christ, and make disciples through baptizing and teaching God’s Word.

The Will of God is always best and shall be done forever;
And they who trust in Him are blest, He will forsake them never.
He helps indeed in time of need, He chastens with forbearing;
They who depend on God, their friend, shall not be left despairing.
“The Will of God is Always Best” The Lutheran Hymnal #517

Who Will Take the Son?

Author Unknown

(The first part of this story was forwarded to me in an e-mail message, and I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to share it with all who get this newsletter. The second part of this story is a brief theological commentary on the story.)

Newsletter Article for April 2001

Commentary © 2001 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Rafael.

They would often sit together and admire the great works of art.

When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.

About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands. He said, “Sir, you don’t know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly. He often talked about you, and your love for art.” The young man held out his package. “I know this isn’t much. I’m not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this.”

The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears.

He thanked the young man and offered to pay for the picture. “Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It’s a gift.”

The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected.

The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his paintings.

Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection. On the platform sat the painting of the son.

The auctioneer pounded his gavel. “We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?”

There was silence, then a voice in the back of the room shouted, “We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one.”

But the auctioneer persisted, “Will someone bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?”

Another voice shouted angrily, “We didn’t come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Goghs, the Rembrandts. Get on with the real bids!”

But still the auctioneer continued, “The son! The son! Who’ll take the son?”

Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son. “I’ll give $10 for the painting.” Being a poor man, it was all he could afford.

“We have $10, who will bid $20?”

“Give it to him for $10. Let’s see the masters.”

“$10 is the bid, won’t someone bid $20?” The crowd was becoming angry. They didn’t want the picture of the son. They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections. The auctioneer pounded the gavel.

“Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!”

A man sitting on the second row shouted, “Now let’s get on with the collection!”

The auctioneer laid down his gavel, “I’m sorry, the auction is over.”

“What about the paintings?”

“I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings. The man who took the son gets everything!”

God gave his son 2,000 years ago to die on a cruel cross. Much like the auctioneer, His message today is, “The son, the son, who’ll take the son?” Because you see, whoever takes the Son gets everything.

***********************************

Theological Analysis

by Rev. Paul Wolff

There is much to like in the story above. It is an uplifting story, and it has many things to remind us of Jesus, but as with all parables and analogies, it has its limits. So to better appreciate this wonderful story I would like to take this opportunity to mention a few things that I find useful, and note a couple of things where care and discernment must be used, just as in reading the Bible.

Among the many good points in this story is the main theme that “Whoever has the Son has everything.” This reminds me of the story of Mary and her sister Martha (Luke 10:38-42) where Jesus speaks of the “one thing needful” which is to let Jesus serve us because that is much more important than our serving Jesus. Jesus is the “One thing needed” so whoever has Jesus has everything he or she needs.

Another good image in this story is the riches that come with the painting of the son reminds us of the riches of heaven which God has promised to give us through Jesus.

I also like the part of the story where the son had given his life to save someone else. This reminds us of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us when He died on the cross to save us all from the punishment for our sins.

The reaction of the participants in the auction, and their contempt for the painting of the son reminds us that the world does not care for Jesus, but is only concerned about their own riches and welfare. This brings to mind the passage from John 1:10-13 which describes Jesus in this way, “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”

The purchase of the painting by the poor gardener is tricky, but it brings to mind the beatitudes in Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This also reminds us that when Jesus preached and taught it was the poor and despised “sinners” who most eagerly responded to His teachings of forgiveness and trust in God for salvation.

But as with all parables it has its limits to its meaning. I suppose that someone could read this story and conceivably think that because the gardener bought the painting that there must be something that we must do to obtain the riches that God has promised. To think that one must make the first move to God goes against what God says in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works so that no one can boast.” It will be to that person’s eternal regret who meets Jesus on judgment day and says something to the effect of, “Yo, dude, let me in, I paid my dues, now show me the money.” (see Luke 13:22-30) Jesus is not very likely to respond favorably to that person, especially since Jesus had to suffer and die to pay the price for our salvation. There is nothing left for us to pay, and Jesus gives it to us for free, as a gift.

It is also a little difficult that the gardener who worked for this rich man was so poor that he could only afford $10 for the painting. That may suggest to some that God doesn’t properly reward his people (until the end), or it may lead some to justify the underpayment of church workers. This would be a wrong interpretation of Scripture because I Tim. 5:18 says, “The worker deserves his wages” so we ought to do all we can to pay our pastor and teachers a generous wage. On the other hand, the poverty of the gardener could remind us that God never said that His people would be guaranteed wealth and prosperity in this life, only “daily bread.” Nevertheless, God’s daily bread is generous and sufficient for all our needs, and even more, and God will reward us.

I hope that you continue to find blessings in this story, and will use it to remind yourself to treasure Christ, because “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Lk. 12:34)

The Promise of the Rainbow

Newsletter article for August 2000

© 2000 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

In these late summer days if you go outside after a rainstorm there is a chance that you will see a rainbow in the sky. I believe that the rainbow is truly one of the wonders of God’s creation. I believe that with their brilliant spectrum of colors, rainbows are some of the most beautiful things on earth, and I still take as much delight in seeing a rainbow as I did when I was a child.

Rainbows are special, even if you discount the myth of finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I discovered the truth about this myth once during a plane trip to California. We were flying over the clouds and the sun was overhead and I looked down on the clouds and saw a complete rainbow. It wasn’t shaped like a bow, it was a complete, perfect circle. So if anyone hopes to find a pot of gold they will always be disappointed, because rainbows don’t have an end.

It is funny that I never thought about the origin of the word “rainbow” until I began to learn Hebrew. In the course of my studies I was reading the story of Noah and the aftermath of the great flood in Genesis 9:12-17 and I came across the Hebrew word qesheth. When I found the word in the lexicon it described a bow, which is a weapon that hunters or warriors use with arrows. Until this point I had never associated a rainbow with a weapon, but I could see how it made sense. The rainbow is curved just like a warrior’s bow, and since it comes after the rain, there you have a simple and ancient history of the origin of the term.

If you think about it, this helps us to understand the significance of the promise that God attached to the rainbow in Genesis 9. You may wish to read Genesis 6-9 if you are unfamiliar with the details of the story of the great flood. God, Himself, was acting as the great, righteous warrior in sending the flood to kill all His wicked enemies. The bow would be a symbol of God’s mighty vengeance on His enemies. God showed his wrath when He destroyed all the people on earth, but God also showed the power of His mercy when he saved Noah, his family, and the pairs of animals in the ark. But because God is primarily a merciful God, who prefers salvation and forgiveness to destruction, He used the rainbow as a sign of His promise never to destroy all life on earth as He did in the days of Noah. Destruction is always a last resort with God, only undertaken after all else has failed.

God tells us in Genesis 9:13, “I have set my bow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” The symbolism there is that God is hanging up his weapon in a place for all to see, so that all who see it will know that God is not our enemy. An unarmed God is a reassuring symbol for sinful people whom God wants to love Him. God’s pacific nature is shown in Isaiah’s prophesy (Isa. 42:3) where he prophesies about Jesus, “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.” Jesus himself reinforces this peaceful, forgiving attitude when He says in John 3:17, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”

Look for rainbows this month, and if you see one remember God’s promise to Noah. Remember that God is a merciful and loving God, and the rainbow is a sign that God loves us.

The Scandal of the Cross

Newsletter article for February 2000

© 2000 Rev. Paul A. Wolff

1 Corinthians 1:20-31 (NIV)
Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”

Haven't we had enough scandals lately? Surely if this is a true scandal, then it can't be very good, but what is so scandalous about the cross? These are probably the kinds of reactions you might have when you hear of the "scandal of the cross," but this is a true teaching from Holy Scripture which is given for our benefit. It is, however, a hard teaching, and as the Scripture passage above shows it is not appreciated by everyone.

Simply put, the "scandal of the cross" is that as Christians we put our faith in a man who was killed as a common criminal before he seemingly accomplished anything great in his life. We call ourselves "Christians" to honor Jesus as the Christ (the chosen one of God) even though the man himself seemed to be defeated, disgraced, disinherited, and worst of all, dead.

To those who don't believe in Jesus this sounds ridiculous (scandalous, even). They say, "Who would put their faith in such a disgraced savior, except children and fools?" Because of our sinful nature, if we had a choice, we would prefer a God who is more of a show-off. We want a God who not only is all-powerful, but who isn't hesitant to demonstrate his great power and maybe who will sweep us off of our feet and carry us with him to victory over our enemies. Or we want a God who will empower us to overcome our enemies and prove that we are on the right side, and they (poor chaps) are on the wrong side.

This is the seduction of those religions which promote the false messages such as "name it and claim it." Who can resist the allure of the idea that God is a "too rich by half" candyman who only gives out his goodies to those who ally themselves with him? Many times it is not enough for us to be on the winning team, but we must teach our enemies a lesson. Many people are willing to let God get a little of the glory as long as we get our share, too. These messages are very popular with many people (even some Christians) because we respond to what we want to hear, but that's not how God works.

The truth is scandalous. The truth is that there are no good people who deserve God's rich blessings. The truth is that each one of us deserves to be hanging on the cross instead of Jesus. It's scandalous. Who wants to hear that? No one, I'm sure. This is not a very uplifting message. This is not inspiring, nor is it empowering, nor is it self gratifying. And rather than dig a little deeper for the good part of the message, most turn away and go somewhere else to hear a less scandalous message, where someone will tell them "what their itching ears want to hear." (2 Timothy 4:3)

The scandal of the cross really is good news, for those who listen and believe. We are certainly unworthy of God's blessings, and His forgiveness, and the riches of heaven (or even the blessings this life for that matter), but remember that it is Jesus who hung on that cross. It wasn't me, and it wasn't you, and it won't be you or me in the future either. Jesus took our place when he hung on the cross, so that you or I won't have to suffer for our sins.

The further scandal is that not only the good, righteous, upstanding citizens get to enjoy the eternal blessings of paradise, but also the poor, the sinners, the criminals, and everyone who acknowledges their sin and trusts in Jesus to forgive them. In fact, only those who are sorry for their sins and trust in Jesus will receive the paradise promised by Jesus. But while the word "only" sounds restrictive, it isn't. It takes no effort to believe in Jesus, and everyone can do it. It is certainly a lot easier than hanging on a cross for eternity, and that's no scandal. It is because of God's grace that He provides this salvation to everyone, no matter how good or bad they are.

Jesus paid the price for our sins, and thank God that He did because none of us could afford the price. Our sins belong to Him now so if we love Him and trust in Him He will take them away to where they can't hurt us. It's scandalous to have to admit your guilt and sin, but there's no scandal in being forgiven. There is nothing to be ashamed of in being an adopted child of God.

What does 2000 Mean?

Newsletter article for December 1999

© 1999 Rev. Paul A. Wolff

Well, here we are only one month away from the new millennium, or are we 13 months away? What is a millennium anyway, and what is so special about this one (if anything)? Is 2000 going to be the end? Should I be afraid? If so, then what exactly should I be afraid of? If not, then what's all the fuss about?

Like the paragraph above, much of the discussion about the new millennium and/or Y2K leaves a person with more questions than answers, and more to fear than to have our fears relieved. At the risk of making this debate more confusing I will try to give a brief explanation of this millennium business that will help us approach the year two thousand with eagerness, rather than with fear.

First let's consider the number 2000. Remember that next year is properly called 2000 A.D. which means: The year of our Lord, 2000. Next year is the 2000th year since the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Few today know and fewer care that A.D. stands for Anno Domini, Latin for "the year of our Lord."

You may also have heard that 2000 is not really the first year of the new millennium but the last year of the second millennium. The argument goes that since there never was a year zero that 2001 is the first year of the third millennium. This is a reasonable argument, based on mathematics and the way we count whole numbers, beginning with one, rather than zero. But since 2000 counts the years since Christ's birth I now believe that we should count it differently. Think of your own birthday. You celebrate your first birthday after you have completed your first year of life. There is a "year zero" in your life. Therefore since we are counting the years since Christ's birth, December 25, 2000 will be His 2,000th birthday, and the beginning of the third millennium.

One concern people have is that when some people hear talk about the "end of the millennium" their brains mysteriously turn off after the first word of that phrase, and they only hear that this is the "end." This makes people anxious because they are not properly prepared for Christ to return, so they are afraid.

Jesus may return in 2000. He told St. John in Revelation 22:20, "I am coming soon." Jesus could return at any time, whether it is 1999, or 2000, or 2999, or 10999. The 1,000 years which Revelation 20 speaks about is symbolic of a long period of time. If it were a literal 1,000 years then Jesus would have returned in 1033, which was 1,000 years after He ascended to heaven. Since we are still waiting for His return in 1999 then Revelation 20 speaks symbolically of many, many years, because we know that God doesn't lie.

Jesus will return on the very day when God the Father determines it is the right time. He will not come back too soon, or too late. How will we know when Christ will return? We won't know in advance, because Jesus says, "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." (Matthew 24:36) But when that day comes we will not mistake it for anything else. Jesus says, "For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man." So everyone on earth and under the earth and on the sea and under the sea will all see Jesus returning at the same time. "For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed." (1 Corinthians 15:52)

Is this reason for fear? Yes and no. Yes, we have good reason to be afraid of the coming of Christ in His glory because He comes to judge all people. We all should fear this because we are sinners and have fallen short of God's standard of obedience (Romans 3:23). If Jesus wanted He could condemn every person who ever lived to an eternity of punishment for their sins. So yes, we have good reason to be afraid. But no, as Christians we have an even better reason to look forward to the final judgment with eager anticipation. Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:17 & 16 "God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." For "Whoever believes in [Jesus] shall not perish, but have eternal life." So we don't have to be afraid of the final judgment because Jesus promises to save everyone who trusts in Him as their savior from sin and death.

No matter what happens in the coming year, or in the coming 1,000 years we should not be like the unbelievers who are afraid of Christ's judgment. We love Christ because He has promised us that He has saved us from all our sin and He will not punish us for any of our sins. We don't have to worry that we will get caught on the wrong side when Jesus separates His faithful people from the unbelievers (Matthew 25). Jesus endured terrible suffering and death to make sure that we won't ever have to suffer for our sins. Since He Himself is the judge, He will personally make sure that none of His faithful people will be sent to punishment.

So we look forward to the last day when Jesus will fulfill all His promises to us, and bring us to eternal joy and happiness. Don't be dragged down by a sinful world that is fearful of the coming judgment, but trust in Christ Jesus to forgive all your sins so that you may eagerly look forward to meeting Jesus face to face, and eagerly receive His gracious judgment. All who love Jesus should pray that Jesus returns quickly to take us to the wonderful place which He has prepared for us. Meanwhile we should share the message of salvation with our family, friends, neighbors, and even with our enemies, so that they, too, may not fear the end, but may also know the forgiveness and salvation which comes to all who believe in Jesus Christ.

What is a “Sabaoth”?

Newsletter Article for May 1999

© 1999 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

One of the best things about having e-mail is that I can subscribe to various mailing lists. One of my favorites is called “A.Word.A.Day”. As the name suggests, it sends out a new word every day along with its definition, a guide to pronunciation (as needed), a sentence or small paragraph with an example of the word’s usage, and a quote for the day which usually has nothing to do with the word for the day. I find that this is an interesting and fun way to increase my vocabulary, or learn the origin or other trivia about words. Sometimes the words have a particular significance such as the certain Friday where the word of the day was “triskaidekaphobia” (you can look that up yourself).

I mention this only because this month’s article describes my word for the month. When we follow the Holy Communion liturgy in the Lutheran Hymnal we sing praise to God in the Sanctus and call Him “Lord God of Sabaoth”. The word “sabaoth” (Sab-ay-OTH) is also in a few of the hymns, but how many of us understand what it means? My favorite dictionary does not contain “sabaoth” but it does have “triskaidekaphobia”.

I suspect most people think that the word in the Sanctus is “Sabbath”. After all, God is the Lord of the Sabbath. He is the one who gave the Third Commandment: Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. However the words “Sabbath” and “sabaoth” are completely different despite sounding similar in English. Sabaoth is a Hebrew word which means “hosts” or “armies.” It is frequently used in the Old Testament to describe God as the “Lord of Hosts” (or “LORD Almighty” in the NIV translation).

The translation of sabaoth as “hosts” doesn’t really help us understand what this means. Usually we think of a host as someone who invites you to a party, and who provides lots of good food and drink, and doesn’t that sound like a lot of fun! However the “hosts” refer to a large number of people, or angels, and very often it is used to refer to armies. In 1 Samuel 17:45 the phrase “Lord Sabaoth” is paired with “God of the armies of Israel.” When Holy Scripture calls God the “Lord of Hosts” it is referring to His power and authority. God is the Lord over many armies in heaven and on earth.

The phrase “Lord sabaoth” is found throughout the Old Testament, but it is especially common in the prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Zechariah. The prophets were sent to call God’s people to repentance. Their messages warned the people about their disobedience to God and called them to trust in God and follow Him. By using the title “Lord of Armies” the prophets wanted to warn the disobedient people that if they didn’t turn from their sinful ways that God had the power and authority to punish them. This is what eventually happened when God used the pagan Babylonians to defeat disobedient Israel and carry off most of the survivors into captivity in Babylon.

However, the fact that God is in charge of armies is not only meant as a threat, but it is also meant to comfort God’s people. One of the reasons why people turn away from God is that they lose faith in God and start to believe that false gods can provide them with more protection or power or influence or security. It should reassure us that God is in charge of armies in heaven and on earth because God protects His people. He loves us and He uses His armies to protect His people from all harm and evil.

We shouldn’t necessarily view God’s power with trepidation. Even the aforementioned Babylonian captivity was only temporary. God watched over His people while they were in captivity and He brought them back to the land He had originally promised to Abraham and his descendants. Then when the Babylonians began to think too highly of themselves and didn’t give glory to God for giving them success and power, He sent an even nastier army to crush them.

We can take comfort in this when we understand that God will take care of punishing our enemies if they need punishing. Meanwhile, God calls us to love one another and trust in Him. He asks us to turn the other cheek if we are offended, and leave the revenge to Him. We certainly don’t want to be on the wrong side of God’s wrath, but we can take great comfort in the fact that He is the Lord of Sabaoth and all God’s armies serve Him for the good of us all.