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.

Feeling Good can Kill You!

Newsletter article for August 2004

© 2004 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

There is a war going on. Actually, there seem to be several wars going on all at the same time. The war that I would like to consider here has been labeled the “Culture War”. This war is being fought between Christianity and Culture. It is not a new battle. It has been fought since the beginning. Holy Scripture describes it as the “great tribulation” (Revelation 7:14).

Although the Culture War is being fought for the hearts and minds of all Christians, it is parents who are engaged in the most important battles. I say that this is the most important because in the culture wars it is the children who are most vulnerable, and it is also vitally important that our children stay on the Christian side of this war, rather than being recruited for the other side.

Why is this called a “war”? Saint Peter describes it in this way, “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.” (1 Peter 2:11) Scripture frequently describes antagonism between the world and faithful followers of God. The “world” are those who follow their sinful desires against God’s commands. Christians are those who, though they are also sinners, by the grace of God live by faith in Jesus and by His grace they do what God commands. The war is what happens when the world tries to turn Christians against God through temptation to sin.

Make no mistake, this really is a war. The worldly side in this culture war would like you to believe that it is something completely different, that is, something which is really harmless and benign, when in fact if the battle is lost it is very deadly. Saint Paul describes it in this way, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.…We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (1 Cor. 10:4-5)

The battles in this war can be most clearly seen in temptations to such sins as sexual immorality and the pleasures of illicit drugs. The world tempts us with such things by trying to get us to believe that such things are good for us because they make us feel good. There is a bit of truth to that, but as they say, “a half truth is a whole lie.” It is true that there is probably nothing that is more pleasurable than drugs such as heroin or cocaine, but the lie in this is shown by the fact that it is a one-time “high,” you can never feel that good again. After the initial pleasure then the person is hooked and driven by a powerful desire to feel that way again, but such a thing can never be attained, and as the person seeks to feel good he or she is destroying their body.

Another front in this culture war is fought concerning sexual sins. God has given us sexuality as a blessing for married couples so that they may “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (see Gen. 9:7). Jesus taught that the Holy Scriptures show us that God intended marriage to be as long as they both shall live (see Matt. 19:4-6), but the world says, “if it feels good, then what harm can it do?” The harm that these sins can do is seen in the betrayal of marital vows, or the betrayal of the physical intimacy between lovers, and also in sexually transmitted diseases, in broken families, and fatherless children and orphans.

In a way, these are relatively easy battles for Christian parents to fight. We can easily show our children that if you take drugs then you might wreck your health or die. We can easily show our children that if you commit adultery then your life will be changed in any of a number of ways, none of them worth the momentary pleasure of the sin. Our children may not listen to us, and still may fall into the temptations of these sins, but the consequences of these temptations are easily seen and can be easily taught. The real tough battles in the culture war are the spiritual battles. These are the temptations to sin against the First Commandment (“You shall have no other gods.”)

The difficulty with fighting spiritual battles is that the bad consequences are not seen. Unlike the physical consequences of other sins, the result of losing the spiritual battles cannot be seen by anyone in this life. No one knows what hellish things that others experience, so when people lose the spiritual battles it is hard to point that out to our children and say, “See, if you turn against God in this way then this will happen to you, too.” The worldly culture tempts us to sin against the first commandment in much the same way as it tempts us to sin against the other commandments. We are told, “Try it, you’ll like it. It feels good, and it won’t hurt you one little bit.” In a way, it can be very fun to follow false gods, but again there is a terrible price to pay in the end.

Parents have a difficult job in fighting the war between Christianity and culture. The best weapon we have is God’s Word. As we teach and live according to God’s Word, then we arm our children to fight and become victorious in the culture wars. One simple, useful, practical way to help our children is to use the word, “no.” If we learn to say “no” to our children at the right time then we can teach them to learn some self control to deny themselves some of the pleasures of life. This is important because if we are comfortable denying ourselves some worldly pleasures then we can be comfortable denying ourselves the destructive pleasures of sin. There are many ways that feeling good can kill you, but if we train ourselves and our children to say “no” to the pleasures of the flesh then with the help of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, we can be victorious in the culture war against Christianity.

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.)

The Modern Prodigal Son and the Loving Father

Newsletter article for September 2003

© 2003 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

Imagine if the only Bible verse the prodigal son knew or believed was Romans 12:15 where it says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice.” One day the son told his father that he was going out with his friends, and the father said, “Just be home before midnight.” The next day when the father woke up his son still wasn’t home. When the boy finally rolled in at noon with a big smile on his face he embraced his father and said, “Father, don’t be mad. You are going to be happy for me because I am happy. I had the time of my life last night. I spent the night with my friends drinking beer and smoking marijuana and we spent all our money on prostitutes. I have never had as much fun in my whole life and I want you to be happy as I am happy.”

What do you think the father would say to this prodigal son? If he truly loves his son he would never say, “Well, as long as you are happy then go and do as you please.” If he truly loves his son he would rather say, “How can I be happy for you? I told you to come home before midnight so that you wouldn’t get hurt destroying your body with alcohol and drugs, and so that you wouldn’t get infected with syphilis and AIDS and die a horrible prolonged death. Not only did you NOT do the one thing that I told you to do, you did everything I didn’t want you to do. You are grounded forever.”

Obviously the story of the prodigal son that Jesus told in Luke 15 didn’t end this way. In Jesus’ story the young man recognized his sin, repented, and came crawling back humbled to his father to beg for mercy. In return, the father welcomed him back joyfully as his son. In my modern version above, there is no redemption because there is no repentance. Without repentance the sinner will continue to willfully disobey what is good and proper and safe until he destroys himself and those around him also.

This illustrates one of the tasks that we have in our lives as Christians. Our obedience to God is not limited to simply how we live our own lives. We can’t be like Lot living in Sodom (see Genesis 19) thinking that all is well because we are obedient. We sometimes need to be like Jeremiah in Jerusalem (see Jeremiah 19) calling the sinners to repentance. We are to be witnesses to the world in all that we do, but that doesn’t always mean giving a cheerful message of the good news of the Gospel. Consider the prodigal son in my illustration above. If you came to him with a message of God’s love, forgiveness, and eternal salvation he would not pay any attention to you. Concerning love – he would say that it isn’t worth the trouble, and besides he gets more enjoyment out of a bottle of wine anyway. Concerning forgiveness – the prodigal would say that he doesn’t need it because in his mind he isn’t doing anything wrong. Concerning heaven – he would say he doesn’t need heaven because he already has as much fun as he can handle. Before this lawless person can enjoy the benefits of the Gospel he needs to know and understand the law.

Fortunately for him (and for us) God doesn’t immediately “ground us forever.” That remains an option, and He would be well within His rights and power to do so, but God is patient with us. God calls sinners to repent, and He usually gives them a little time to come around and see things His way. That is what we are here for. We are to help sinners to see the error of their ways so that they can appreciate and accept the wonderful message of the Gospel. Once the sinner sees the consequences of his sins then he may be ready to receive forgiveness, and we should always be ready to forgive even the worst sinners.

We live in a world which is increasingly like the prodigal son that I described at the opening of this essay. Our society is increasingly more tolerant of sin and depravity and much less tolerant of righteousness and God’s Law. This makes the task of the Christian much less popular. We will find ourselves tested in our faith much more often. This is not a comfortable place to be, but it is where God wants His faithful people to be for the sake of the heathen. God has given us His Word to prepare us and strengthen us so that we can be where we need to be to lead others to their salvation, but we need to be careful that we do not fall into the temptations which enslave the world.

The True Story of a Terrorist Turned Christian

Newsletter article for November 2001
© 2001 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff
Since the unbelievable attacks on the United States on September 11 many people have been struggling with their emotions about this incredibly evil turn of events. The Bible has much to say about the presence of evil in the world, about its cause, consequences and (thankfully) its solution. The following story is completely true, and shows us how to view the situation in a completely Christian way.

There once was a man named Saul. He was born in the Middle-East and grew up in a privileged family. He was well educated and well respected among his peers. Even as a young man, Saul quickly moved up the social ladder. He was kind of a zealot, but he lived in a place and time where zealotry was appreciated and rewarded. He had studied religion (of sorts) and was convinced he was right, and he didn’t care who suffered because of it.

Saul grew up learning about a god who only made commands, demands, and requirements of his people, but this god had no mercy. The way that Saul learned about his god made him impossible to please, but Saul tried to please him, and so Saul wanted to be like his god—merciless, demanding, and unyielding.

In the course of practicing his religion, Saul took the job of making sure all of his countrymen were diligent in their obedience to their god. He was ruthless in carrying out this task. He particularly focused on Christian people, who he saw as a threat to the worshipping of his god. Saul attacked civilians, including men, women, and children, and put them in prison and he even had some of them killed for their disobedience to the laws of worship. Saul did not even respect national boundaries. He pursued his victims across borders into different countries. Saul was a nasty, evil man who only brought fear, terror, and destruction, wherever he went, and left hatred and death in his wake. You would think that God (the real God) would have been extremely angry at Saul and many people would ask the question, “Why didn’t God kill Saul?” That is a good question, but the answer is even better. God didn’t kill him because God had a better plan.

We know Saul today as Saul of Tarsus, but he is also known as Saint Paul. Now you might complain that nothing I have said so far would qualify this man as a saint, and you would be correct. Up to this point, Saul was an evil terrorist who was working against God and His plan to spread the Gospel and bring salvation to the world. You might think that it would take a miracle to change a terrorist into a saint, and you would be absolutely correct, but God specializes in miracles, and that is exactly what happened.

Saul was on his way to Damascus, Syria to terrorize the Christians living there. As he traveled Jesus met him on the road and knocked him to the ground, and temporarily blinded him to get his attention. Jesus asked him, “Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Saul replied, “I don’t even know who you are.” Jesus responded, “I know. That’s the problem. I am Jesus of Nazareth, who you are persecuting.” Jesus told Saul to go to Damascus and wait there and he would be told what to do. Now Saul was frightened. He had thought he was serving God by bringing terror to Christians, but now he began to realize just how horribly wrong he was. He believed he only deserved to die because of his vicious, hateful, evil crimes, and he was correct. However Jesus didn’t kill him.

After a few days to let Saul think about what he had done, He sent Ananias to Saul to teach him about Jesus. Ananias wasn’t too happy about the mission. He had heard about the evil things that Saul had done to Christians, and he was afraid. God told him to go anyway, and because Ananias trusted in Jesus he went to Saul, even though he was afraid he was going to suffer because of it.

The first thing Ananias did was to say to Saul, “Brother Saul, receive your sight.” Immediately something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. Then he told Saul about Jesus. He told Saul that God is not only a God of rules and laws and fierce power and judgment, but God is a God of mercy, love, and forgiveness. Jesus is both God and man, and he shows us how much God loves us. Because of our sins, we all terrorized the Son of God to the point that He was unfairly murdered, but instead of paying us back in the same way, Jesus still loves us and forgives us and wants us to love him back. Saul was amazed by this message. He had never known that God was so kind and loving, but he knew it was true because he had met Jesus, and despite his vicious crimes, he was still alive. From that moment on, Saul dedicated his life to serving Jesus, and the change was nothing short of miraculous.

Instead of persecuting others, Saul was persecuted. Instead of imprisoning others, Saul was imprisoned. Instead of beating and torturing others, Saul was beaten, whipped, abused, and even had rocks thrown at him in an attempt to kill him. Yet through all this, Saul remained faithful to Christ and continued to preach and teach about Christ’s love and did not return the hatred with hatred. Saul endured much suffering to bring the good news of salvation to many people. He preached about the love of Jesus to everyone who would hear him, and also to some who would not listen.

Saul had learned about the true God and it changed his life in every way. God was a God of love and mercy and forgiveness, and Saul wanted to be just like God. God had spared his miserable life when he did not deserve to be saved, and Saul wanted everyone else to know how wonderful God is, but whereas early in his life when Saul didn’t care who suffered in the practice of his religion, after Saul knew Jesus it was Saul who endured suffering, and because of his witness and testimony many people also came to know the love of Jesus and were saved.

Jesus tells us to “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44) Why and how should we do this? The life of St. Paul shows us exactly why and how. Jesus changed Paul’s life and because of it many more people learned about Jesus and were saved. God wants all people to be saved and there is no one who is so bad that Jesus cannot forgive them. The life of Paul shows that. If God can forgive a terrorist, then He can forgive anyone, especially you and me. Pray for your enemies, that God would show them the truth, and they would know His love, change their hateful ways, and be saved.

For further information on St. Paul’s life read the following: Acts 7:54-8:1, Acts 9:1-31, Acts 22:1-21, Galatians 1:11-24, First Timothy 1:12-17, Second Corinthians 11:22-33. Second Corinthians 12:1-10.

Moral Issues

Newsletter article for September 2001

© 2001 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

There has been much discussion this past summer about morality and what is life all about, specifically the morality of certain medical research. President Bush did much to bring this issue to prominence with his nationally televised speech about new rules for embryo and stem-cell research.

Issues of morality and moral discussions are often equated with religion, but very often these moral discussions have little, or nothing, to do with religion, faith, or God. The trouble with this is that whenever a discussion on morality excludes God, it is inherently immoral. Morality and ethics deal with what is right and what is wrong. Since the ultimate authority on right and wrong is God, you can’t talk about what is ethical or moral without talking about what God says is right or wrong.

God’s authority to determine right and wrong is undisputed in all cases (except by people who wish to deny the truth). God created and is still in control of everything that exists, and He is Holy, so God can do no wrong.

The main issue being debated and discussed recently deals with the Fifth Commandment where God tells us, “You shall not murder.” This commandment tells us that God values human life and forbids us from treating life with contempt. In most cases this is pretty clear cut, but not all cases are easy to determine what is good, right and proper to do. We all know that it is wrong to kill innocent people, and it is right to try to save the life of innocent people. The difficulty comes when these two truths conflict and people cannot agree on what is murder and who is a person.

I cannot say whether or not what President Bush did was ethical or right. I probably would have done things differently, but I am not President (yet). I do believe that he did the best he could to prevent the murder of innocent people (embryos) while trying to further the research which may (or may not) extend the lives of people with serious diseases, although sometimes doing your best is not the same as doing what is right.

Holy Scripture is quite clear that human life begins at conception. In Psalm 51:5 David says, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” Here David was not just using hyperbole, or exaggeration, to express his guilt over his sins, he was using a truth about life to express the extent of human sinfulness. Also the time when John worshipped Jesus before they both were born (Luke 1:44) shows that a person’s individuality begins long before birth. Science, too, teaches this because it is at conception that a person becomes a distinct individual, and genetically unique. Although some scientists ignore this fact, that doesn’t mean much in this debate because science and morality are very different disciplines and scientists are generally not known for their depth of thinking on ethics or morality.

It is good that our nation is having this discussion about ethics and what is the right way to deal with life issues. As Christians we should make the most of this opportunity to tell others about what God says about such things. We should join in the discussion whenever we can, not to argue, but to witness God’s love, and share God’s Word. We can use this as an opportunity to share our faith and tell people how great and wonderful our God is, while encouraging others to respect the life that God gives and try to be a nation of people who live and work by high moral and ethical standards in all we do. We should want to do this because it pleases God and He surely will bless us if we do what is right by Him.

Lenten Blessings to You from God

Newsletter article for March 2001

© 2001 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Lent is a time where some Christians fast or give up something cherished (usually a food) in order to grow in their Spiritual life. Others may use this time as a convenient time to go on a diet and lose some excess weight. The temptation in either case is to rely on the strength of our own willpower and determination to see us through the tough times to the end. If we succumb to the temptation it is obviously sinful because if we succeed in our fast then we will take the credit for ourselves, rather than praising God for His grace and strength.

If we truly wish to grow Spiritually then we may wish to heed the message of 2 Tim. 3:16 (above). God does want us to train ourselves in righteousness and good works, but the tool He has given us to use is not our own strength of will, but Holy Scripture. The Holy Scriptures are not primarily a rule book, above all they tell us about how God has saved us from our sins through the obedient life and innocent death of Jesus Christ. However, the Holy Bible does also teach us the things that God wants us to do in our lives (summarized by the Ten Commandments). Scripture also rebukes us or reprimands us when we disobey God’s commands, and it corrects our erring ways. Then Scripture can also train us in righteousness by illuminating the right path that God wishes us to walk (Psalm 119:105).

It is enough for our salvation to hear God’s word and believe it. Jesus said, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.” (Mark 16:16) But God also wants our lives to be filled with His blessings, and free from the consequences of sin. Our lives will never be completely free from sin, but God wants to fill our lives with His love so that we may be a blessing to others and also lead them to eternal salvation in Christ. One day when someone tried to exalt His mother for having given birth to Him, Jesus replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” (Luke 11:28)

Since God’s Word is so important for not only bringing us eternal salvation in Christ, but also for guiding our actions along a God-pleasing path, then perhaps it would be beneficial to you this Lenten season to devote some time each day to studying God’s Word. The potential benefits are much greater than if you just relied on self-determination to go without a cherished food item. However, if you also wish to have a fast this Lent, then perhaps you will also be strengthened in this task through God’s Word, and the work of the Holy Spirit through His Word. Then when you are finished you will almost certainly be strengthened in your faith and you will give greater praise and glory to God.

As you study God’s Word here is something from the Formula of Concord (Article XI § 12) which may be good to keep in mind: “All Scripture, inspired by God should minister not to security and impenitence but ‘to reproof, correction, and improvement.’ Furthermore, everything in the Word of God is written down for us, not for the purpose of thereby driving us to despair but in order that ‘by steadfastness, by the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.’ From this it is beyond all doubt that the true understanding or the right use of the teaching of God’s eternal foreknowledge will in no way cause or support either impenitence or despair. So, too, Scripture presents this doctrine in no other way than to direct us thereby to the Word, to admonish us to repent, to urge us to godliness, to strengthen our faith and to assure us of our salvation.”

May God bless your Lenten devotions.

Confession and Absolution

Newsletter article for March 1999

© 1999 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

The Church season of Lent which we are now observing is a special season which prepares our hearts and minds for the celebration of Easter. We do this by looking into our own hearts and recognizing our sinfulness. We cannot properly celebrate Easter until we recognize that Good Friday and Easter are for us. The death of Jesus makes no sense until you realize that Jesus didn’t belong up there on the cross. It should be you and me up on our own crosses suffering for our own sins. The resurrection of Jesus also makes no sense unless we believe that just as Jesus died so that His death takes the place of our death, in the same way His resurrection to life proves that He will also give us the victory over death so that we may live forever.

Six weeks of thinking about sin probably doesn’t fit anyone’s definition of a good time. Some may say that the season of Lent is too long. They are missing the point. We should look into our hearts every day and confess our sins to God every day, or even more frequently if we are struggling with a particular temptation. Although it is hard to admit our sins, even when we talk to God in private, it is a great blessing to be able to confess our sins to God.

God is a gracious God. He wants us to admit our sinfulness and confess our sins to Him. He knows our sins better than even we know ourselves. He knows all the sins that we have forgotten about, or that we were not aware that we were doing wrong. There is no hiding from God the fact that we are guilty, and deserving of punishment. But God doesn’t tell us to confess so that he can punish us. He tells us to confess our sins so that He can forgive us.

Absolution (or forgiveness) is an even greater blessing from God than confession. It seems easy enough in our worship to confess our sins and hear the words from the pastor that God forgives our sins. Perhaps it is too easy, because if we overlook all that it took for God to be able to tell the pastor that he can pronounce the words of forgiveness, we might possibly think that God simply overlooks our guilt and doesn’t care if we sin against Him. However, Holy Scripture tells us that God is a righteous and just God and He hates sin. He cannot let even one little sin go unpunished.

This would be extremely bad news for all of us except that God also loves us and wants to save us from our sins. That is why He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, to be born as one of us and take our place on the cross. The suffering and torture that Jesus endured for our sins is indescribable, but His love for each one of us is even more awesome. It is only because Jesus loved us enough to suffer and die to take the punishment for our sins that He has given us the authority to forgive one another’s sins.

May God bless you during this Lenten season as you prepare your heart for the celebration of Christ’s victory over sin. May the Holy Spirit give you the courage to admit your sinfulness before God. May the Holy Spirit give you the faith to trust in Jesus to rescue you completely from your sins. And may Christ

Jesus, our Lord, strengthen you with the assurance of salvation every time you hear His words, “Your sins are forgiven.”

The Church is a Hospital to Heal Sin Sick Souls

Newsletter article for May 1998

© 1998 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

After further thought about last month’s article on crime, and discussions with people about it, I believe I made certain assumptions in the article which if you didn’t catch them would give you the wrong idea. Crime is not the problem. Crime is only a symptom of the problem.

Sin is the real problem. Sin is the cause of all crime. Sin is the cause of broken relationships and broken families. Sin is the cause of racism. Sin is what makes people distrust one another. Sin causes envy and obsessive jealousy which destroys people. If we want to get rid of the symptoms of crime, violence, and hatred, we need to address the cause, not just the symptoms.

In last month’s article I in no way meant to suggest that there are somehow two or more societies within American society. Nor did I intend to suggest that black society is somehow responsible for all the problems of crime. There is no such thing as a white society in our country which is removed from, and unaffected by, a separate black society. My assumption is that we are all in this together. What hurts (or helps) one part of our one society, hurts (or helps) all the other parts. White people cannot say, “It’s a black problem, it doesn’t affect me.” Black people cannot say, “It’s a white problem, it doesn’t affect me.” If there is a relaxed attitude about crime and violence in America, it certainly didn’t originate among the African American segments of society, but as the newspaper article I cited pointed out — the black segments of our society are suffering a disproportionate amount of the tragic consequences. My point is that this hurts us all.

The trouble with sin is that it is an incurable disease, and we are all infected. Sin is not limited to any national borders, or racial differences, or gender differences. Sin is much worse than AIDS or cancer, or any other disease, because the mortality rate is 100%. Every day of our lives is a battle against sin. The question is, how can we fight against sin?

Sin cannot be overcome by attacking the symptoms. We cannot become less sinful by sinning less. It sounds like a paradox, but only if we think of sin as only something we do, and not something that infects us. A person with AIDS cannot be cured by simply avoiding sickness. Even if we somehow could stop sinning (an impossible task) the disease would remain.

The danger with treating only the symptoms of sin is that if you are even a little bit successful in keeping yourself away from committing sins, you might convince yourself that you had overcome the disease. This is called “self righteousness.” If you convince yourself that you are healed from sin, or at least that you do not need the cure, then you won’t look for the cure, or you will reject it when it comes.

The only cure for sin is Jesus. He is the only way that we have any hope of surviving this disease called sin. Jesus cured our disease when He died on the cross. Unfortunately, we must wait to see the full benefits of the cure. The good news is that the cure (Jesus) gives us life that lasts forever. The bad news is that we must still struggle against sin and its consequences as long as we live. However, even this bad news is tempered by the fact that we are not alone in this struggle. Even in this life, Christ himself gives us the power to love one another and do the good works that God wants us to do.

The Church plays a strong role in helping us overcome the problems that sin causes. If sin is our disease then the Church is the hospital where we go for treatment. The “medicine” which God gives us for healing are called the “means of grace.” They are God’s Word, and the sacraments. Church is where we hear the good news about Jesus, and where our faith in Jesus is strengthened through personal contact with Him in the sacraments. Just like in the Old Testament where the people who were bitten by the snakes had to look up to the bronze snake on the pole in order to be healed, so we need to look to Jesus for the healing of our sin-sick souls. The focus of our worship at St. Timothy is always on what Jesus has done to save us. When we meet together to worship Jesus we are strengthened for our battle against sin. Those who do not attend worship regularly are at a disadvantage.

Where can a person find strength in Christ, if not at Church? Some may say that they can worship Jesus just as well at home or at the golf course, but do they? That’s like me saying that my car can get over 30 miles per gallon. It can, but I’ve only done it once in two years. If I drive on the assumption that I am currently getting 30 mpg then I will soon run out of gas.

My friends, if we wish to get rid of the problems which plague our society, then we must treat the cause, not the symptoms. Although we all contribute to the problem of sin in the world, Christ’s cure is much more powerful than all our diseases. Christ has rescued us from the deadly infection of sin. We should not be content to stand by and watch others be consumed by this disease when we know the cure, but we need to keep ourselves strong through faith in Christ. If you do not make it a habit to strengthen your faith through regular worship and prayer, then you are depriving yourself of a strong weapon to help you survive your battle against sin. We should also encourage one another to attend worship regularly so that we can help build them up too, as St. Paul gave encouragement to the church in Rome, “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 15:5-6)

Since Sin is a spiritual problem and a spiritual disease, next month I intend to discuss what it means to have a spiritual life, and what Christian Spirituality is about.

Throw Open the Jail Doors

Newsletter article for April 1998

© 1998 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

Well, not quite yet. If nothing changes in our society, then it would be tragic to throw open the jail doors and free the prisoners. Our country has the largest population of imprisoned convicts in the developed world, and I have no doubt that virtually all of them deserve to be where they are, and many more besides. However, this is a tremendous waste and cannot continue. Something must change. I read an article in the paper about a study which projected that if current trends continue by ’10 over 50% of black men ages 18 to 39 will live in jail.

Although the article was a little vague on the exact details of what this means (you can thank either the newspaper joint operating agreement for shoddy journalism, or the subject of this article—perhaps someone currently living in jail would have made a better journalist), this is an astonishing claim, which, even if it means that 50% of young black men will be imprisoned at some point in their lives (and not all at once), and even if it never comes true, the fact that this is the direction in which we may be headed is already a tragedy.

Why is there so much crime in the United States? There are probably many reasons, but the main reason is that we allow it. This may sound simplistic, and although it is simple, that doesn’t mean it cannot fully explain the current situation. We (as a society, not necessarily individually) allow a large amount of crime in this country, otherwise it wouldn’t occur. This much is simple. The complexity comes in determining why we allow so much crime and violence.

The “Village”

There is an African proverb which says that it takes a village to raise a child. This is roughly the secular equivalent to John 13:34 where Jesus says, “As I have loved you, so must you love one another.” Parents are primarily responsible for the discipline and education of their children, however, parents cannot look after their children 24 hours a day. This does not mean that the child is unaccountable to anyone during time spent away from parents. Due to our sinful nature a child left to himself or herself will fall into temptation and sin. Jesus tells us in Matthew 15:19, “Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, (and) slander.” The enforcement of the law is used to curb these sins when they come out of the heart and into the open. The prevalence of these sins and the breakdown of the family are all signs that the “village” is not doing its job.

You don’t have to be old to remember a time when society was like a “village”. Although there were huge divisions in society because of racism fifty years ago, within those divisions people looked out for one another. It was safe to walk down your street day or night, and you could leave your doors unlocked without reasonable fear that some godless person would come to swipe your belongings or take your life. People looked out for one another. They felt safe, and for the most part they were safe (though there always was and there always will be crime).

Some might accuse me of wanting to return to the past, but that is not the case. You can never return to the past, besides there is much about the past that we don’t want to repeat. I am talking about the future. Just because we can learn from the past doesn’t mean we have to repeat the mistakes of the past. God gave His people the Law so that they would know how to treat one another properly. But so many people in our society have forgotten about God, or have turned away from Him that much the same thing can be said about America that God told Jonah about Nineveh, “Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left.”

America’s Split Personality

America has something of a split personality. It is at the same time the most Christian nation on earth, and also one of the most pagan . Because of all the Christians praying for God’s blessings on our nation, God has made us the most prosperous nation on earth. But because of all the non-Christians who despise God and His laws we suffer from violence, crime, and a multitude of “natural” disasters.

For a long time I was puzzled as to why we won such an overwhelming victory in the Gulf War when our society has so much injustice. Yes, the victory was incomplete, but it was overwhelming. But I believe that the answer can be found in the parable of the Wheat and the Weeds (Tares) in Matthew 13. The farmer tells his workers not to pull up the weeds because they might destroy the wheat in the process. This shows that God has mercy on all people for the sake of the faithful. I see the war as a fight between good and evil. Not that we are always good and Iraq is evil, but we were right in fighting to stop an aggressive lawbreaker. The victory in the war might tell us that God will help us win victory over evil in our society, even though we cannot eliminate evil. If we stand up for what is right here at home then we can live at peace in our homes. Only then can we empty many of our prisons and put the people to constructive work, knowing that we will not tolerate godless behavior.

Jesus has Opened the Jail

Isaiah gave this prophesy about Jesus, “The Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.” Now, we know that the prison that it refers to is the prison of hell, and that we are the captives who have been freed from prison. Since we are enjoying the earthly benefits of obedience to God we should not keep it to ourselves, but we should share the blessings with other people.

Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.” Since we have been rescued and redeemed by Christ, we are no longer like the folks in Nineveh who don’t know their right hand from their left. Instead we are “the light of the world.” The light leads people out of darkness. In our actions and in our words we should live as witnesses to the truth of God’s word.

In practice this means not letting the lawbreakers rule by fear and intimidation. We should stand up for what is right. St. Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” May God’s people always look to Him for strength and protection in everything.

What is Lent all About?

Newsletter article for March 1998

© 1998 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

We are now in the church season of Lent until Easter. I’m sure that each of us observes Lent to a different degree, from not at all, to religiously keeping a fast of one sort or another. Whether or not you observe Lent I think that we all could be well served by learning (or reviewing) what Lent is all about, and some of the reasons for what we do to observe this church season.

All you Biblical scholars may notice that nowhere in the Scriptures is Lent mentioned. Nor are any of the seasons of the church calendar mentioned. The observance of Lent is considered Adiaphora. Adiaphora are practices which are neither commanded nor forbidden by God. This means that the faithful Christian can, with clear conscience, either observe Lent, or not. However, Lent has been celebrated in the Christian Church for over 1,500 years. Even Martin Luther, the great reformer, did not abolish the observance of this season, but he did clean up the practice to return the focus to Christ, where it should be in all we do in the church.

Let me begin at the end. Easter marks the end of Lent. It also is the reason for Lent, just as the death and resurrection of Jesus is the reason why we put our faith in Him as our savior. Lent is meant to be a time of preparation. For the six weeks of Lent we prepare for the Easter celebration.

The Lenten season is also a time of contrition (sorrow over sins), repentance (asking God for mercy and forgiveness), and contemplation of our sinfulness. Now, six weeks of thinking about sin may seem to some to be a very depressing exercise, that is kind of the point, isn’t it? What I mean is that the best way we can appreciate just how absolutely tremendously fabulously awesome, wonderful, and amazing Easter is for us, is if we first realize just how much we had to gain from Christ’s death and resurrection. We do this in Lent by focusing on our own unworthiness.

The season of Lent does not portray a flattering portrait of human beings, even Christian people. Instead it portrays a painfully accurate portrait of our guilt and sin. Only when we realize just how much it cost Jesus to rescue billions and billions of disobedient sinners, then we can appreciate the vastness of His infinite love, and with thankful hearts sing His praises on Easter morning.

One of the ancient traditions of Lent is the tradition of fasting. This tradition is most often associated with the Roman Catholic Church because in the past the Pope commanded that all Christians must observe Lenten fasts. This practice is not so common in the Lutheran Church because this is one of the reforms that Martin Luther brought to the church. Based on Romans 14, which speaks about eating (or not eating) certain kinds of food, and the book of Galatians, which speaks against burdening Christians with additional laws and practices, Luther showed that it is wrong to add requirements about different practices in the church. The Ten Commandments still stand and we must obey them, but beyond that, we cannot command Christians to do what God did not command, nor can we forbid Christians from doing what God has not forbidden.

The result of this is that while Luther abolished the requirement of fasting during Lent, he did not condemn the practice altogether. He also spoke about how fasting can be good training in self discipline and self control. When I listen to people talking about fasting for Lent, I think sometimes they think they must give up things which are bad for them anyway, like smoking, overeating, over-drinking, and things like that. While I agree that it is good to stop doing things which harm our health and bodies, that isn’t the purpose of a fast. If we are sinning or hurting ourselves we should stop that for good, not just for the six weeks of Lent. A fast should be a temporary thing where we give up something which we like, but only for a limited time. This is a good exercise because as we deny ourselves something we like (but which doesn’t harm us) we are training ourselves to control our actions. Then after our fast is over, we may be stronger, and better able to stop doing the things which hurt ourselves, or are sinful.

If we do give up something we like, such as meat, or chocolate, or sweets, or alcohol, we may find that it is a struggle to hold to our fast. When we are struggling with the temptation to break our fast, we can also appreciate just what an accomplishment it was for Jesus to go His whole life without sinning even once. In times of weakness and temptation we can also learn to turn to God in prayer, and ask Him to give us the strength we need to resist temptation and do what is right.

We should also remember what Jesus said about fasting in Matthew 6:16-18. Jesus says that fasting should be a private thing, between you and God. You shouldn’t make a show of your fasting in order to elicit sympathy from your friends, or to get their admiration for your strength of will. Instead keep it secret, and humbly accept whatever reward God sees fit to give you (if any).

It is most important to remember whether we fast for Lent, or don’t fast, neither practice makes us better in God’s sight. We are still sinners, whether we can successfully keep a fast, or not. We still need Jesus to forgive us our sins every day. We still must keep our eyes focused on the cross of Jesus, for that is our only hope for salvation. We still trust in the victory of Easter, because that is where Christ has proven His love, and has shown us that He has rescued us from sin and death.

When you come and worship here at St. Timothy this Lent, you may hear quite a bit about sin and guilt. The purpose is not to depress you, or make you feel bad, although it may do that momentarily. The purpose is to help you understand just how much God loves you, and just what a wonderful thing we celebrate on Easter.

May Christ bless you this Lenten season.