Sorry, atheists. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

I know that I recently resolved to not let the weight of society dilute the joy of the Advent-Christmas-Epiphany seasons upon us, and it's not.  But something still needs to be said, however, in defense of just that:  the Advent-Christmas-Epiphany seasons.

Of course, for society, it is largely Christmas, with the other two all blurred into one.  And of course it begins December 1 or thereabouts, and ends December 25, which shows a lot of ignorance toward the actual season of Christmas (which actually runs December 25-Jan 5), along with the other two.  But also for society, people largely avoid using the "C" word (Christmas), for the bland, vaguely celebratory, largely non-descript "Happy Holidays."  As a kid, I recall it being used on occasion, and as society has pushed back more and more against the religious nature of Christmas, it has become mainstream.

Recently, however, I was somewhat surprised to find that there are pastors who advocate using that bland, vanilla greeting if and when a person's religious views are unknown.  I could not disagree more.  In fact, the more I pondered it, the closer I came to breaking my resolve on keeping the joy in the Advent-Christmas cycle!  Quite simply, there is nothing at all - NOTHING - that should diminish or cover the Christian's celebration AND pronouncements of the Christmas season.  As the angel said, "it is good news of great joy..."  And honestly, those who would be offended by the word Christmas, quite simply need to be offended.  I look at it this way:  in a society that has largely purged the religious nature of the holiday itself (and it is a religious holiday - without Christ there is absolutely NO Christmas), hearing the words "Merry Christmas" could be the only exposure a person gets to the good news of Christ.    Without that, there is nothing to celebrate.  Considering part of my job is to make Christ known, I will do so whenever and wherever I can, which includes pointing to "Jesus as the reason for the season."  When someone wishes me "happy holidays," I answer right back, "and a very merry Christmas to you!"

There are a lot of theories about how the "date" of Christmas came about.  Based on the information from the Bible itself, it is likely more springtime or summer, based on the shepherds in the fields by night.  Some have claimed that the date was set to counter the pagan "winter solstice."  Others claim that the pagans co-opted a celebration from the Christian date of Christmas.  The history of Christmas is wild and varied.  In fact, for the first few centuries, the church didn't even observe it.  Regardless of it's origins, it is a date set aside to commemorate the birth of the Messiah, or the Christ (hence the name itself, Christ-Mass).  It is equally true that the "traditions" of Christmas have developed over the centuries as well.  Things we assume as "tradition" may not have been so for as long as we think.  Take the Christmas tree, for example:  It is generally assumed that it's origins go back to Martin Luther, the German reformer in the 16th century.  That means that the Christmas tree has only been a symbol of the season for approximately 1/4 of the time that Christians have had opportunity to celebrate it!  There are those who would also claim the use of greens as a part of those origins that would date back to even the time before Christ.  Or take "jolly old St. Nick:"  A real saint and friend of children but also a very religious figure.  (see this older entry on St. Nicholas).  The modern day "Santa Claus" is really a product of mid-20th century Coca Cola advertising, and has been morphed into much that doesn't fit the original icon - that of St. Nicholas.   But sadly, one other such "modern tradition" is the purging of Christ himself from Christmas in today's society.

That's an absolute travesty.  No Christ?  No Christmas.  Period.  The non-religious need to hear about Christ more than ever, considering that the numbers of those claiming no particular religious affiliation is growing, placing them largely in the category of either agnostic or atheist.  To remove Christ from Christmas is to eradicate the holiday itself.  And for me, to eradicate Christ would not make for a very happy holiday.  In fact, it would destroy the holiday and this time of year, no matter that this is not the likely time of year for the birth of the Messiah.  So that said, for us and for our household, we say "Merry Christmas."  No.  Matter.  What.  If you don't like it you had better have a good reason.  And if you have a good reason, it likely will not be good enough to change the habit here.  And if you have a good reason, you'd better also be prepared to hear my reasons for why you can't have Christmas without Christ.  So sorry, you pagans and non-religious types.  You can celebrate many things on your own, but don't you dare - you who don't believe in Christ - celebrate the day in which we commemorate his birth, that is, unless you actually want to believe.  And if you want to believe, you can join us or any church to learn more about the reasons why it is important that we say "Merry Christmas."

A Tale of Two Church Buildings

It was a chilly Saturday evening in October of 2003.  I was in my second call for just over two months, and was picking up supplies for a youth event the following Sunday afternoon.  At about 9 pm I was dropping the supplies off in the First Lutheran Church facility, and when I walked through the door, I instantly heard an alarm going off.  Putting things down, I began to search for the source of the alarm.  In the basement of the then nearly 100 year old building (1907), at one end, there was a carbon monoxide alarm going off.  That in itself was not the most alarming thing, but rather that there was a strong odor of something hot and burning.  As I inspected further, I could see no visible evidence of a fire of any kind, not thinking at all that the boiler of the church building had fired and could be the culprit.  With no further discoveries made, the decision was eventually reached to call the fire department.  Upon arrival, they traced it immediately to the boiler room, where the blast of heat when the door opened nearly knocked them backwards.  The paint had burned from the sides of the nearly new boiler, the cast iron fittings were glowing red hot, and the papers hanging on the wooden wall of the boiler room had already charred to ash.

The brand new boiler had dry fired.  With no water inside, and no makeup water being added, it didn't take long for these conditions to develop.  Later we were told that the building itself was moments away from igniting under these conditions, and therefore likely would have burned to the ground.  There were some who were so thankful that I had decided to drop the supplies off that night, rather than wait until the following day, thus discovering the problem and "saving the building."

Now in the aftermath of all this, what became increasingly clear was that there were some, albeit not  all, who clearly worshiped the building more than the God to whom the building had been erected and to whose glory it was dedicated.  For years after, I believed that it might have actually been the best thing for the congregation itself if that beautiful building had indeed burned to the ground, despite what would have been a tragic loss of so much early 20th century architecture and stained glass. 

Fast forward to this week.  I see the exact scenario playing out once again in Paris.  While I have no doubt that those parishioners who might regularly attend mass there are devout in their worship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, what I have come to see is that a world in general, which is increasingly hostile toward the triune God that the cathedral was erected to worship. clearly loves the building more than God.  In fact too often people love the building but hate the God who is worshiped there.  It's sad that we lament the loss of such a grand cathedral, despite that it will indeed be rebuilt and repaired, while we give no thought at all to the loss of Christian value, virtue, morality, guidance, and worship in western society.

There were many signs in the aftermath of this fire to suggest that God is still in control, despite that western society in general rejects Him.  That so many holy relics survived, and even much of the interior, while scarred and damaged, can be repaired is itself a miracle.  It is a reminder to us that what Isaiah the prophet said long ago:  "the grass withers, the flowers fade.  But the Word of our God remains forever."  There is plenty of evidence to suggest that it would be appropriate, to paraphrase Grundvig's great hymn, to also say "steeples fall, and stained glass fades, but God's Word will endure forever."

I pray that this great cathedral is not rebuilt simply as a monument to the folly of humankind, but that it's glory once again points solely to the glory of the triune God, rather than the glorified self, which so often takes over in our world.  I fear the latter, but I pray for the former.  In all things, may God be glorified.  May we all not only see, but live out the salvation that comes to us through faith in Christ Jesus our Lord.  May the events we recall this Holy week be more than just words on a page, and may they be seen in all that we say and do.

Ash Wednesday

Many years ago, as we approached Ash Wednesday, someone commented to a member about the day, "is that where you go to church and get that sh*t smeared on your forehead?"  It is truly sad that this is the sum total of the person-in-question's knowledge of what this day is.  Seems to me that if we had a better collective understanding of the day itself, it would go a long way toward helping to heal the divide among certain segments of our population.

The day itself:  a day of penitence and fasting, derives from the most ancient of practices in the Old Testament (thereby providing yet another direct link between the Old and New Testaments, making the Old VERY relevant today still).  Ashes were also a sign of humility and repentance out of the Old Testament, thereby providing the symbolic meaning for us today, which goes from symbolic to the reality of the individual penitent who has received the imposition of ashes.  Ash, or dust, drives home the reality for us that we are all mortal and finite.  As the first human parents are told in the garden, "remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return."  (Genesis 3:19).   We all return to dust upon death, as the sum total of our physical existence breaks down, becomes food for other organisms, and returns to the dust from which it came.  in other words, the very foundation of Ash Wednesday is found in human existence:  birth, sin, and death itself.

Abraham's own view and humility before God includes him recounting, "I am nothing but dust and ashes."  (Genesis 18:27)  The placement of ashes upon the head of a person was associated with a sign of repentance and humility in the face of sin and suffering (cf. 2 Samuel 13:19).  Job, upon recognizing his own place before God (that God was God and he was not), replied, "Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know....  ...Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."  (Job 42:3, 6)  The prophet Jeremiah, among others, calls for a return to God, in humility and repentance for having turned away from him, with the call to "put on sackcloth and roll in ashes; mourn with bitter wailing as for an only son."  (Jeremiah 6:26).

So within this framework of humility and repentance before God, dating back to the very beginning, we too mark the beginning of the season of Lent with this day:  Ash Wednesday.  It is the season that recalls our own unworthiness before God because of sin, culminating with God's solution as a part of His divine plan:  The coming of, the ministry of, the passion and death of, and the resurrection of the Messiah.  Tying us into this eternal reminder, the palms from the previous year's Holy Week are burned to create the ashes that remind us of our own mortality and unworthiness before God.

Whether you observe this day or not:  May you recall these things, for they are true of us all.  May we all recognize our own mortality and unworthiness before God, and may it inspire us to once again return to God, our maker and redeemer.   May we recognize the absolute and sovereign truth of God's Word, which includes the very essence of what human existence entails:  our mortality and unworthiness to be in God's presence.  May we recognize again the great gift of God in the mercy and grace extended to us in spite of our mortality and unworthiness, that comes to us through Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.

Cultural Depravity

2019 has begun with a bang.  Perhaps it should come as no surprise, considering the direction this nation and the western world has been headed for 40 or more years, that we are now advocating for infanticide, killing babies up to the moment of birth, and even calling for gerontricide.  In addition, the ELCA darling, Nadia Bolz Weber is now leading thousands of young men and women astray with her complete lack of sexual morals, advocating for an "anything goes" sexuality, including the legitimate and proper viewing of pornography.  It all comes as no surprise.  It is also all completely wrong.  When it comes to the Christian worldview, it is heresy.  At least that is what it once was called.

I'm thankful that according to her own testimony, she only got 170 purity rings from across the country sent to her to create her now completed "golden calf:"  (a sculpture of a vagina - you cannot make this stuff up as to it's complete and utter depravity).  That's still 170 young men and women who have been led astray by her heresy.  It's not a golden calf in the traditional sense, however.  She doesn't see it as worshiping a false idol, but in fact, that is exactly what she and many like her are doing:  they are elevating sex above God.  Sex is the most important thing now.  The worst thing is that she cannot or will not see it.  She is guilty of the very thing she maintains the church has been guilty of:  being obsessed with sex.  Author and columnist Rod Dreher summarizes her in this fashion: "Still, Scripture and 2,000 years of tradition are a more solid basis upon which to construct one’s Christian sexual morality than the juvenile enthusiasm of a potty-mouthed pulpit-pounder who is staring at menopause bearing down on her like a freight train." To quote another pastor:  "She says what the world wants to hear and calls it 'Christian.'"  

These dreadful acts are bringing about the slow, asphyxiating destruction of yet another world culture:  our own.  While she is one of the lead voices in bringing about her so-called "sexual revolution," she's certainly not alone, nor are her ideas the only ones killing society.  (I haven't even touched on the horrendous and appalling liberal ideologies leading to the killing of the unborn - but a sermon on it can be found here).  The final act of an immoral society is tolerating and condoning immoral behavior and canonizing it as the “new normal,” and celebrating this new normal as a great moral victory and advancement.  This society champions its’ tolerance, but only for those who accept this new normal.  In fact, traditional morals and virtue are demonized as a result, showing just how intolerant the so-called champions of "tolerance" really are.  History is replete with examples of such societies collapsing soon thereafter.  You may recall the fall of the Roman Empire, and the old catchphrase "Nero fiddled while Rome burned?"  Today, it is changed to "Nadia diddled while the world burned."

Here's the real rub:  Her claims that the church has been obsessed with sex throughout it's history AND that traditional Christian morality has done great harm simply doesn't bear out under scrutiny of history itself.  Yes, there have always been deviant and immoral behaviors among nations.  Rome is again an example.  But an examination of the orthodox Christian behaviors regarding sexual practice, accompanied by historic understandings of Biblical prohibitions against immorality did NOT lead to "great harm" being done throughout the centuries.  In fact, it, like the 90's "True Love Waits" campaigns among young adults, aided populations immensely in protecting them from the unwanted natural consequences of sex.  And while childbearing is the natural consequence, the simple fact is that deviancy and promiscuity leads to all manner of things that would be outside of the consequences:  such as moral, mental, physical and spiritual injury, as well as disease.  And the world has always been out to reject such morality, as the recent observation of "Valentine's day" should inform us (follow the link for a synopsis of how the REAL Valentine was killed for attempting to uphold traditional virtue and morality).  The Christian faith has always been about rejecting the ways of the world and the cultures around us and following a very different moral code found in the Bible, rather than following the world's.

In our Bible studies this past week, a couple of passages jumped out at me.  From 2 Peter 2:

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.  And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.  And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. 
...They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you.  They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 
...For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error.  They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.  (excerpts)

She is exactly what this and many passages like it are referring to.  She has been enslaved and mastered by her sexual appetite and deviancy, as much of the world has.  As the pastor above was quoted as saying, "she tells the world what they want to hear, and calls it Christianity."  It is not.  And how exactly can we know that hers is a false teaching, making her a false teacher and prophet?  The council at Jerusalem is also one of many places which spells this out, when the new Gentile converts were still held to, among other things, abstention from sexual immorality, as clearly defined throughout the Bible (Acts 15:19-21).

The church has been the beacon of moral restraint and virtue for nearly 2000 years.  Suddenly today, we have men and women who somehow think they are smarter than or know more than those who were the eyewitnesses of all that took place in and around Jerusalem then.  The church must, once again, stand over and against a culturally and morally depraved society and world, and most definitely NOT give her a pass on all of her deviancy (her own denomination has not once censured her for straying from even it's own policies, and in fact has voices applauding her). But until people return to the virtue and morality that has indeed made countries great throughout time, i.e.  they have a real change of heart and believe all this from within (and not just because of societal laws), the problem will only continue to get worse. It will also continue to embolden heretics like Nadia Bolz Weber in continuing to spew their hateful and worldly capitulation.  While her own synod will not speak against her, I am one going on record calling out her teachings for what they are:  heresy.  May we all work hard to stand against those like her, in not only believing what we proclaim, but living it through our actions as well.