An Article for My Hometown Newspaper: The Sioux City Journal

Thoughts of Siouxland roots remain close during world travels

By Rev. Matthew C. Harrison | Posted: Tuesday, March 31, 2009

It hits me more often as I press past life’s midpoint. I can hardly believe the journey life has taken, from Sioux City to Sri Lanka days after the tsunami, to East Africa, Sumatra, Central America, the Baltic, India and many other places.

I was sitting in a rural home not so long ago. We were discussing challenges in that place. ESPN (basketball) was on the TV. There were familiar Bible verses on “kitsch” plaster plaques hanging on walls. The small rural town is declining, children are moving to other places chasing jobs, commodity prices are in flux. Grandma slowly entered. “She’s rather upset. She’s had to give up her home and move in with us," I was told. It was all remarkably familiar, but for one thing. I was in a very remote village called Marsabit on the Kenyan-Ethiopian border. Like so many other journeys, the 17-hour-drive back to Nairobi through a barren and beautiful Kenyan desert (complete with three flat tires) provided long periods of silent reflection about where I was, and, moreover, where I’m from.

Were there space I could recount instance after instance where I have come face to face with the values I learned in my parents’ home on South Cornelia, a block from Glenn Avenue, or at Washington Grade School, East Junior and High Schools, or a hundred other places around Sioux land. Wherever I go, my thoughts are cast back to Sioux City. Walking through the Nairobi slums or standing on the Straits of Mozambique in Madagascar, or on a street corner in Chennai, I’ve suddenly found myself thinking, “I’m a Sioux City kid.” And I will always be thankful for it. It was in Sioux City that I learned the values of family, work, community, civic responsibility, and faith.

I regularly come face to face with people who at first glance would seem radically different from the average person from Northwest Iowa. In many ways they are very different. I work with organizations, which strive to give tangible expression to basic human values. I regularly see AIDS orphans scavenging garbage for a few cents' worth of plastic, or women making clothing, or disabled persons with little no medical or social assistance, striving to live honorable lives in the midst of grave suffering and disadvantage. And it’s not all a matter of giving, not by a long shot. I’ve received. I’ve been the recipient of tribal hospitality among Woodlands Cree in Ontario and Massai tribesmen on the edge of the Great Rift Valley in Kenya. In both the giving and getting I come face to face with the blessings of where I’m from. From Washington Elementary to Morningside College, the education received opened an endless world of challenge and opportunity. In the giving and receiving I see more clearly than ever what a blessing Sioux City was to me, and continues to be to so very many.

I had little inkling of what was being handed on to me as I detasseled seed corn, or “walked beans” in relatives’ fields near Sioux City. Little could I have realized the incomparable blessing of learning to work and find meaning in simple and honorable vocations. We made the weekly trek on Highway 20 east to Lawton, to that great oak table in my grandparents’ farm house for great helpings of Iowa’s finest rural produce, and rural intangibles, which have been the mainstay of life since. What I am is the result of family and community, distilled on century farms, passed on from immigrant great-grandparents. It all happened over time in a place called Sioux City.

I contemplate regularly, especially as they are now passing from this life, the countless decent and service-minded people who helped make possible for me, and my family, a life of joy, and joy in service. I could mention so many. Walt Fiegel (East High), exuded honor, purpose, decency and humor with every high-pitched bark on the football field. Farrel Hanson (Boy Scout Troop 208 at Morningside Presbyterian) taught us to respect others, to love our community and find joy in service. He had that magic ability to set firm boundaries for young men, and yet allow the freedom to grow and explore, and fail occasionally. I shall never forget that glorious grin which came over his face as he shook hands with each boy who advanced in rank, or earned another merit badge. Redeemer Lutheran gave me Christ and the faith that real religion involves service of neighbor. Jobs at Johnson Hardware, Morningside Country Club, and Missouri Valley Steel, all of them together with family, taught me something of a life worth living.

I’m proud to be from Sioux City, and more thankful for it every day. The further removed I am from Sioux City, the closer it comes to me.

Reverend Matthew C. Harrison (a 1980 graduate of East High School and a 1984 graduate of Morningside College) is the executive director of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod’s World Relief and Human Care, a multimillion-dollar domestic and international aid organization of the nation’s second largest Lutheran denomination. He and his wife Kathy (Schimm) and their two sons live in St. Louis. Harrison will preach at the Missouri Synod’s Easter Sunrise Service at 6 a.m. at Sioux City's Eppley Auditorium. 

Walther's First Synod Address 1848: No Power But the Word

Here's a wonderful excerpt from CFW Walther's first Synod Address. The Synod was formed in 1847, and had its first regular convention in 1848. The power of the Synod, the very secret of its strength and vitality, was the conviction that only the Word of God rules in Synod life. This theme is constant in the first hundred years of the church's life. And it is particularly taken up again by President Pfotenhauer. This essay by Walther and many others (most translated for the first time) are forthcoming in a collection which is being readied for print. It's been a real journey of faith to edit and translate these essays. Do we still believe the Word has and is such power? 

Matt Harrison

...There can be no doubt, venerable brethren in office and respected delegates, that we are not renouncing any right belonging to us if we as servants of the Church and as members of an ecclesiastical synod claim no other power than the power of the Word. For in the Church where Christ alone rules, there dare and can be no other power to which all must submit. To be sure, there are matters that the Word of God does not regulate, but which must be arranged in the Church. But all such matters are not to be arranged by any power above the congregation, but the congregation, that is, pastors and hearers, arranges them, free of every compulsion, as it is necessary and appears salutary.

What, then, are men doing who claim a power in the Church beside the power of the Word? They are robbing the Church of Christ of the liberty that He has purchased with a price, with His divine blood, and are degrading this free Jerusalem, in which there are only kings, priests, and prophets, this kingdom of God, this heavenly kingdom of truth, to an organization under strict police rule in which everybody is compelled to be obedient to every human ordinance. They are seeking the royal crown of Christ, the only true King, and are making themselves kings over His kingdom; they are deposing Christ, the only true Master, from His chair and are setting themselves up as masters in His Church; they are striving to separate Christ, the only true Head, from His Church and are presumptuously trying to be heads of His spiritual body. They exalt themselves above the holy apostles and claim a power that God’s Word plainly denies them and which has been granted by God to no man, no creature, not even to an angel or archangel.

Can we, therefore, my brethren, be depressed because we in our American pastorates are endowed with no other power than the power of the Word and especially because no other power has been granted to this assembly? Most assuredly not. This very fact must arouse us to perform the duties of our office and to carry on our present labors with great joy; for in this manner, the Church also among us preserves its true character, its character of a kingdom of heaven. In this manner, Christ remains among us as what He is, the only Lord, the only Head, the only Master; and our office and labor preserves the true apostolic form. How could we lust for a power which Christ has denied us, which no apostle has claimed, and which would deprive our congregations of the character of a true church and of the true apostolic form?

Undoubtedly our congregations were free to follow this example and to invest the synod meeting in their name with a power beside the power of the Word. But it is a different question whether it would have been wise if they had done so. I say no, because under the prevailing circumstances, we can confidently hope for auspicious success of our work, or rather of God’s work, which we are promoting, if we use only the power of God. This is the second reason why we should and can carry on our work with joy, although we have no power but the power of the Word.

Translate by Paul Koehneke, CHI Quarterly 23, 1.

LCMS World Relief Medical Mercy Teams: Nearly 10,000 Served!

Here's a release on a recent LCMS World Relief and Human Care Mercy Medical Team. Since beginning these opportunities some two years ago, nearly 10,000 have been cared for, and mostly in contexts with local Lutheran doctors and nurses.

Matt Harrison

March 27, 2009 .................... LCMSNews -- No. 25 'Mercy' team brings care to 1,128 in Indonesia    By Kim Plummer Krull "Since the tsunami, I've been feeling ..." That's how nearly every Indonesian who visited clinics operated by the LCMS World Relief and Human Care (WR-HC) Mercy Medical Team (MMT) in Banda Aceh in February began the explanation of their symptoms. More than four years have passed since the tsunami, one of the deadliest disasters in modern history, and people in this hard-hit city "are still dealing with a lot of emotional and physical fallout," said Maggie Karner, WR-HC's director of Life and Health Ministries and one of the MMT program leaders. "We saw people who were stuck in the water, and nearly everyone we saw had lost loved ones," Karner said.  "We spent a lot of time listening to their stories, which, I think, for them, was just as important as treating their medical situations." Nine medical volunteers (all LCMS members) and four staff team leaders from WR-HC participated in the first MMT to travel to Indonesia.  The team treated 1,128 Indonesians Feb. 15-25 at clinics in the impoverished communities of Banda Aceh and Jakarta. "We got to go and be the hands and feet of Christ," said Janet Sandersen, a registered nurse and member of Messiah Lutheran Church, Longmont, Colo., who used vacation time to take part in her first short-term medical mission. Sandersen had been looking for a way to "give back" as a medical professional.  As a Christian, she also appreciated the opportunity to care for people "and show them that the outside world has not forgotten their plight." Many Indonesians who visited the clinics still live in barracks built as temporary housing after the tsunami.  Most suffer from problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and ailments stemming from poor sanitation and nutrition. But before discussing health concerns, the Indonesians wanted to talk about the life-changing disaster.  MMT volunteers met a woman who lost all her children in the waves.  The team's bus driver said he was the only survivor from his family of 11. "We heard about losses that we can't even fathom," Sandersen said. Despite the pervasive tragic shadow of the disaster, MMT members also saw hope. "When we talked, it was just like when we talk with patients here.  You see their expressions change and their eyes light up, knowing that someone is listening and cares," said Lauryl Smith, a pediatric nurse practitioner and registered nurse in Boston, Mass.  Her home congregation,Faith Lutheran Church, Oak Ridge, Tenn., raised the funds to cover her MMT expenses. Darin Storkson, WR-HC regional director for Asia, based in Jakarta since soon after the 2004 tsunami, laid the groundwork for the MMT visit, working with local church partners involved in confessional Lutheran renewal.  The clinics provided two opportunities -- to address medical needs in poor communities mostly overlooked by other relief agencies, and also to strengthen relationships with and build the capacity of those local partners. Helping Lutheran partners adds to the value of short-term medical mission trips, Karner said.  "Some people may question the good in parachuting into a community for two weeks," she said.  "But we see this as a way to serve people and also help establish the presence of the local churches while we assist them in serving their own community." This was the ninth MMT trip.  The treks are primarily designed for LCMS medical professionals.  Team members cover their own expenses, which, after a "good faith" estimate, run about $3,000. The next MMT leaves April 13 for Kenya, with a follow-up scheduled for July 3-12.  A second trip to Madagascar is set for Oct. 21-Nov. 1.  To learn more, contact Jacob Fiene, WR-HC manager of medical and material resources, (800) 248-1930, ext. 1278, or visitwww.lcms.org/mercyteams. Kim Plummer Krull is a freelance writer and a member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Des Peres, Mo. ****************************************

Red River Rescue Video

North Dakota Red River Flood

The Boston Globe has a tremendous collection of current photos on the Red River Flooding. Lord have mercy.

Matt Harrison

"People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives."

Teddy R. 

Photo from the Harvard Roosevelt Collection. 

Malaria

Malaria kills millions, particularly children. LCMS World Relief is looking forward to gearing up soon to assist Luther World Relief (Baltimore) in the fight against Malaria, particularly in Africa, and with our Lutheran partners and friends. Check out the World Health Organization site on the nature and effects of the disease.

Matt H.

"What is not intensive, is not extensive."

"If the church in our times is to be what it can be, and what it should be for the salvation of the world, so shall it be a very small minority. It will have no power unless it is small. What is not intensive, is not extensive."

Loehe
Korrespondanzblatt 1853, p. 111

Translation M.H.

The Annunciation

On this day we preach about this article of faith, that our Lord Jesus Christ is true God and true man in one perosn conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a Virgin. It is an article of faith that provides unique comfort against the devil, yes, even over against all angels, as s stated in Hebrews 2:16: "He took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham." He did not become God and an angel, but God and man. He does not assume the nature of angels, but that of Abraham's seed, a human being, flesh and blood. That is why he is called Immanuel, God with us; not just because he is around and with us, living among us and helping us. That would be well and good,but he became like us, of our nature. He assumed flesh and blood and bone like us, of our nature. He assumed flesh and bone like us, yet without sin, which is our lot. The devil hates to hear this joyful tiding, that our flesh and blood is God's Son, yes, God himself who reigns in heaven over everything. Formerly, each Sunday, we used to sing Nicea's confession of faith, formulated at the Council of Nicea, in the words: Et homo factus est, "And he became man," and everyone fell to his knees. That was an excellent, commendable custom and it might well still be practiced, so that we might thank God from the heart that Christ assumed human nature and bestowed such a great and high honor upon us, allowing his Son to become man.

It almost seems as though God is at enmity with the world. Present conditions are so shameful all around us in the world as God allows murderous mobs and rabble, so much violence and so much misfortune to prevail, so that we might think God is only Lord and God of angels and that he has forgotten about mankind. But here in our text we see that he befriends us human like no other creatures, in the very closest relationship, and, in turn, we humans have a closer relationship with God than with any creature. Sun and moon are not as close to us as is God, for he comes to us in our own flesh and blood. God not only rules over us, not only lives in us, but personally became a human being.

This is the grace we celebrate today, thanking God that he has cleansed our sinful conception and birth through his holy conception and birth, and removed the curse from us and blessed us.

Luther
Sermon for the Day of Annunciation to Mary
St. Mary's 1532
Klug House Postil III.292-93

A Little "Left Hand Kingdom" Wit from Teddy

"When you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, 'Certainly I can!' Then get busy and find out how to do it." 

Wyneken Sermon 1841

There are only two published sermons by F.C.D. Wyneken, LCMS President 1850-1864. He preached from notes rather than a manuscript, and also tended to preach very long sermons (up to a hour and a half!). Both sermons will appear in English translation in "At Home in the House of My Fathers." Here's an excerpt of a sermon preached at St. Paul's in Ft. Wayne in 1841, shortly after the congregation had gone through significant upheaval. Overall, it's a rather odd sermon (and not nearly as Lutheran as one preached on the same topic and text some years later, as the Missouri Synod was set to split into four districts - 1855), but valuable non-the-less.  

Matt Harrison

Sermon on I Corinthians 1:10, held on February 14, 1841

In Ft. Wayne

“Let there be no divisions among you”[1]

By Friedrich Wyneken

Translated by Matthew C. Harrison

How often has righteousness not called out: Chop down the tree which prevents the land from being fruitful! [Luke 3:9] – And behold; now with the redeemed you can praise the patience and long-suffering of your Lord gloriously shown to you in his grace and mercy! Behold! Now you are a glorious tree of righteousness, planted along the streams. The tears of the saints of God, and the sweet dew of their prayers and sighs have watered your roots, and made your leaves green! You are an example the grace of your Lord. You are the fruit of their work of love, their prayers of love, and their tears of love. Do you now wish to be a poison fruit for the church itself? 

Would you, now grown green like a palm, become a harmful thorn bush whose dreaded spikes drive away from your shadow the weak and downtrodden who seek shelter and refreshment? Would you drive away those who seek from you the love and care which you yourselves have received for so long? Shall fire now consume the bush and cause the souls of your church to perish? Would you pride-fully disdain and refuse to bear with and together help those who are and do nothing worse than what you were and did? Would you leave and despise the church because it has so many weak and sick people within it? Shouldn’t the love of your Savior, the love of your brethren and their constant loving care, which has been shown you, drive you to exercise love and care? Shouldn’t this cause you to also seek to bear the weak, care for the sick, and to heal the wounded?

Will you not face the full judgment of the Righteous Judge, who himself here below spoke to the miserable and forlorn according to he his own shepherd’s heart in Ezekiel 34:17[-23]:

As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and male goats. Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet? And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have muddied with your feet? Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you push with side and shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep.“ Fear the one who humbles the proud, and who has promised his almighty gracious presence to the miserable and weak.

You must remain. Duty demands it, since you have experienced love...

---

[1] Predigt ueber 1 Cor. 1:10, gehalten am 14 Februar, 1841, zu Fort Wayne. “Lasset nicht Spaltungen unter Euch sein.” Lutherische Kirchenzeitung Und allgemeines Schulblatt. Pittsburg, den 1 April, 1841.

Official Statement of Reverend Executive Director Matthew C. Harrison, B.A., M.Div., S.T.M.

"Life is a grand blessing, crosses and all. Can't wait for tomorrow."

Reverend Matthew C. Harrison, B.A., M.Div., S.T.M.

ELCA News Service: Three Theologians Respond

March 20, 2009  

Lutheran Theologians Respond to ELCA Task Force Documents
09-069-MRC

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Three theologians of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) responded unfavorably to
content in two documents released by the Task Force for ELCA
Studies on Sexuality.
     The task force released Feb. 19 a proposed social statement
on human sexuality and a report recommending a process to
consider changes to ministry policies that could make it possible
for Lutherans in committed same-gender relationships to serve as
ELCA associates in ministry, deaconesses, diaconal ministers and
ordained ministers. Recommendations for both documents will be
considered at the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, the church's
chief legislative body, Aug. 17-23 in Minneapolis.
     According to the Rev. Carl E. Braaten, the ELCA is at a
crossroads.  Braaten, Sun City West, Ariz., is co-founder and
director of the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology.
He's also professor emeritus of systematic theology, Lutheran
School of Theology at Chicago, one of eight ELCA seminaries.
     The social statement "professes not to know the difference
between right and wrong on crucial matters of human sexuality,"
he said.  The task force has made "a proposal to the church that
takes one side of a controversial issue on which it does not
expect that a consensus will emerge soon or ever."
     If the ELCA assembly is to adopt the social statement and
approve the task force's recommendation, Braaten said, "That
would constitute a radical departure from the overwhelming
consensus that has prevailed in historic Christianity through 20
centuries."  He said many pastors and congregations will choose
not to leave the ELCA but "remain and protest as a confessing
movement."
     According to Dr. Robert D. Benne, the social statement
avoids making "normative judgments about homosexual conduct by
neglecting the testimony of the Bible and the Christian moral
tradition on that issue."  Benne is professor emeritus and
director of the Center for Religion and Society, Roanoke College,
Salem, Va.  Roanoke is one of 28 colleges and universities of the
ELCA.
     "I believe it is incontestable that the Scriptures and the
moral teaching of the Christian church throughout the ages -- and
presently that of the ecumenical church -- proscribe homosexual
relations of any sort," Benne said.
     "I am not satisfied with appeals to sincerity and tolerance,
especially since I think Christian teaching is clear.  And I am
certainly not satisfied with those appeals when the
recommendations of the task force lead to no teachings at all on
the subject, but yet lead to sharp changes in practice," he said.
     "There definitely is a sense in which we can live with our
differences when it comes to public policy," Benne said.  "But
the sexuality issues under discussion have to do with the
teaching and practice of the church.  They strike much closer to
the core of Christian life and teaching -- what does it mean to
love the neighbor in sexual matters?"
     The Rev. Paul R. Hinlicky, Roanoke's Tice Professor in
Lutheran Studies, said he's contemplating a "divorce."  "Not from
my wife of 35 years, but from my denomination."  He wrote for The
Lutheran Forum that the ELCA "has come up with a different plan
for a new future," putting "our covenant itself to a vote in
August."
     "The historic Christian tradition and the Lutheran
Confessions have recognized marriage as a covenant between a man
and a woman," said Hinlicky.  But they appear in the proposed
social statement "as memories of the way we used to be."  He
noted that some in the larger Christian community conclude that
marriage is "also the appropriate term to use in describing
similar benefits, protection, and support same-gender couples
entering into lifelong monogamous relationships."
     "The real voice of the people of God across the world and
through the ages seems to matter not at all," said Hinlicky, "any
more than Holy Scripture as parsed by the Lutheran Confessions.
Surely, this church's congregations, if given an honest and
secret ballot would overwhelmingly reject the manipulation of
language and meaning involved in calling marriage anything other
than that relation in Scripture and Confession."
- - -
     The task force's report and recommendation on ministry
policies and social statement are available at
http://www.ELCA.org/faithfuljourney on the ELCA Web site.

Robert Benne's comments are available at
http://tinyurl.com/cjtxwu

Carl Braaten's comments are at
http://tinyurl.com/d22hg8 and

Paul Hinlicky's comments are at
http://tinyurl.com/cz4jar
on the Internet.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog

Loehe's home in Fuerth

Here's an interesting collection of recent photos of the home where Loehe was born, baptized and lived as a child in Fuerth. Photos show the condition of the house in March of 2008. 

Matt

Chesterton on Enjoying God's Good Creation

The main point of Christianity was this: that Nature is not our mother: Nature is our sister. We can be proud of her beauty, since we have the same father; but she has no authority over us; we have to admire, but not to imitate. This gives to the typically Christian pleasure in this earth a strange touch of lightness that is almost frivolity. Nature was a solemn mother to the worshippers of Isis and Cybele. Nature was a solemn mother to Wordsworth or to Emerson. But Nature is not solemn to Francis of Assisi or to George Herbert. To St. Francis, Nature is a sister, and even a younger sister: a little, dancing sister, to be laughed at as well as loved.

Orthodoxy

Bonhoeffer: Sectarianism and the Exclusion of the Weak and Insignificant

Bonhoeffer's words have something to say also about congregations which are small, in the city, in challenged and declining areas, about pastors and church workers who are struggling. And how we deal with them as a whole will say much about a church body.

Matt H


The existence of any Christian communal life essentially depends on whether or not it succeeds at the right time in promoting the ability to distinguish between a human ideal and God’s reality, between spiritual and emotional community. The life and death of a Christian community is decided by its ability to reach sober clarity on these points as soon as possible. In other words, a life together under the Word will stay healthy only when it does not form itself into a movement, an order, a society, a collegium pietatis, but instead understands itself as being part of the one, holy, universal Christian church, sharing through its deeds and suffering in the hardships and struggles and promise of the whole church. Every principle of selection, and every division connected with it that is not necessitated quite objectively by common work, local conditions, or family connections is of the greatest danger to a Christian community. Self-centeredness always insinuates itself in any process of intellectual or spiritual selectivity, destroying the spiritual power of the community and robbing the community of its effectiveness for the church, thus driving it to sectarianism. The exclusion of the weak and insignificant, the seemingly useless people, from everyday Christian life in community may actually mean the exclusion of Christ; for in the poor sister or brother, Christ is knocking at the door. We must, therefore, be very careful on this point.


Bonhoeffer, Life Together (Fortress) p. 46.
.

...a splinter by comparison.

A Christian holds tight to the Word and thinks as follows: Though despised and persecuted, I still am baptized, possess the gospel, believe on Christ; and I count my baptism, the gospel, and Christ in my heart to be so great that the whole world is but a splinter by comparison.

Luther
House Postil
Festival of Christ's Nativity, December 26, 1532
Klug III.234

This is pure bass, unalloyed joy

I was cruising around YouTube for Bela Fleck stuff, and ran across this delightful bass duet (two guys, one bass). Bass virtuosos Victor Wooten and Edgar Meyer outdo themselves, but not each other.

You gotta see this. It'll bring a big smile to your face.

And finally, Bella Fleck and Meyer together.

Matt H

Bach on the Banjo: "A Folk Musician Out of Control"

Some years ago, as a pastor in Ft. Wayne, I had a Japanese field worker from the Ft. Wayne seminary. He and his wife had sung in a Bach choir in Japan. Manabu became a Christian and then a Lutheran via Bach. Bela Fleck, virtuoso Banjoist, has now recorded his take on Bach. He really does remain the "fifth evangelist." Bach on the Banjo? To quote Fleck, "All I know is that I like it." 

Matt H

"At Home in the House of My Fathers"

I'll soon publish (privately) a large collection of translations of the addresses, letters, sermons and reports of the first five presidents of the Synod: Walther, Wyneken, Schwan, Pieper and Pfotenhauer. It's the result of a personal odyssey to better know and understand the history and doctrine of the LCMS (my pastime into the late evening hours at home over the past year or two). Several friends have assisted along the way. We plan to include the Trip Report of Walther and Wyneken, who were asked by the Synod to go to Germany in 1851-52 to strengthen the ties with Loehe, and with as many other faithful Lutherans as possible. It's wonderful primary source material, full of deep conviction on the mission of the church. It's been humbling to work on it. The visit to Neuendettelsau came at an extraordinary moment. Loehe was heavily involved in a struggle against unionism in the Bavarian church (to the very point of his own expulsion from his office), and Walther supported  him completely and concretely in this, so much so that he and Wyneken refused to have the Bavarian church take a general collection for the Ft. Wayne and St. Louis seminaries (something suggested by Harless, and to which the Queen was willing to consent). The High Consistory was attacking Loehe and his compatriots. Walther and Wyneken stood with Loehe and left the money on the table. 

Unfortunately, the visit, while bringing some improvement, did not bring complete unity. A letter by Loehe to Grossmann (founder of the Iowa Synod) described the visit and Loehe's views on Walther's "Church and Ministry." Walther wrote the book during this time in Germany, spending weeks at Erlangen working on it. Loehe's letter illustrates areas where he agreed with Walther, but also his fundamental disagreement with Luther and Walther. It also illustrates his approach to the Lutheran Confessions, an approach Walther rightly found wanting. It really is a sad story, but the original documents provide insights. Loehe and Walther were each two of the most powerful forces for the advancement of confessional Lutheranism in the 19th century. And as Sasse repeatedly stated, today we still live from the revival of Lutheranism then. There is also a revival going on today. We must step boldly into the future, but clearly understanding our own past. The photos are of the young Loehe, and Friedrich Wyneken. Much much more to come!

Matt H

Neuendettelsau

July 1, 1853

G.M. Grossmann [1823-1897], Saginaw

My Dear Brother,

Your last, longer letter has not been answered, because it is still circulating, and your letter of May 9^th has just arrived and now urges me to give you a new answer. I hope that what I will write will also be the opinion of our other friends. I was thinking of about giving my opinion in the “Communications” on the American church [amerikanischen Mitteilungen], rendering my judgment [Votum] on Walther’s book [Church and Ministry] via an open letter to you, and then sending you a number of copies for you to use as you see fit. Perhaps I will let that [plan] be for now, until I hear from you how things stand. I will, however, simply give you my opinion.

1. I can pretty well say for certain that Walther in his book has correctly presented the opinion of Luther and those theologians who follow him on this point. If have nothing to contest in the book on this account. The Waltherian work in the book is nothing remarkable. He has said nothing that has not also been said by others. But it is a very good and contemporary summary, a worthwhile contribution to instruction oneself on the current questions. The excerpts are not as plentiful as I might have imagined, but they are more than adequate to demonstrate Walther’s agreement, or much rather the agreement of his book, with Luther.

2. As certain as this is the case, it is also certain that recognized Lutheran theologians have maintained that the holy office is not merely the spiritual priesthood in function, but a unique vocation within the spiritual priesthood, like that of the governing authorities etc. These theologians have had no such general effect as some of Walther’s authorities (he also quotes more obscure witnesses), because it was not possible. But they were precisely the champions of the church against pietism and its consequences.  But no one has regarded them as unqualified members of the Lutheran church because of the points in which they deviated from the Lutheran view [der lutherischen Meinung]. They also had their predecessors all the way back to the time of the Reformation.

3. Both sides have appealed to the Lutheran confessions. Even though there is at least one passage that is written in the Waltherian (individual Lutheran view)[1], nevertheless the simple meaning, especially of some of the passages of the Augsburg Confession, does not give us any necessity to explain them according to one or two passages [in the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope]. The doctrine of the symbols appears to me not to be finished [fertig]. If it were, I do not conceive how both sides could appeal to them, which has been the case for a long time.

4. Were it otherwise; were the individual-Lutheran [individuell-lutherischen] view fully and purely expressed in the symbols, only people like me didn’t see it, it is indeed certain that people of my type would not have been tolerated in the Lutheran church. Nor would it have been so that the individual-Lutheran doctrine nowhere had a practical consequence. There were several doctrines of that kind, but there was no implementation [of consequences]. But there were external hindrances in much greater measure, and whatever was hindered, these examples show that contradictions or oppositions were tolerated. And they were not regarded as a reason for separation.

5. Furthermore, the question is not what Luther, the theologians and the symbols say, rather what do the scriptures say? It is from the scriptures that my doubts arise, and not only mine, regarding the individual-Lutheran doctrine. While Walther and Wyneken were here an article appeared in “Der Lutheraner” which censures not merely us poor pastors, but also the Erlangen theologians, because we do not first listen to Lutheran doctrine, and then the scriptures.[2]  In my case I first listen to the teachers (I have not read anything in Walther’s book that I had not known before), then the scriptures. But the scriptures have caused me concern. [And this] is regardless of the fact that the censure establishes a principal that does not hold.

6. With this I have not said that there are not many things in Walther’s thesis that are not scriptural, namely the fundamental view of the visible and invisible church. I am pleased about the book. I laud and praise it therefore, but I believe that the clouding of the doctrine of the church, which happened already at the time of Cyprian, was not cleared up by Luther’s extreme position [extreme Darstellung]. It still awaits clarification. What I have written is a small contribution to which new ones are added continually in Germany. Finally, God will give clarity. It would be foolishness, since obviously the Lutheran presentation has shown itself as impractical and not completely defensible, if I would join a side which is more complete than Luther (Walther’s book itself contains some passages which cannot be resolved to support Walther’s point of view, as some may) – and has no eye for that which is lacking, and regards it as blindness and weakness when one sees some mistake and deficiency. Not only the Aphorisms,[3] but also my point of view (and that of others) is still in flux. My virtue is not to resolve [these issues]. Walther will die. And all his successors will finally have to admit that something is still missing.

7. What I wrote in the Festblatt while Walther was here, is still my opinion. What Walther presents from conversations with me is up to him. I have conceded nothing to him in the moment of the peace treaty between him and me, nothing but the theological ability and rational consistency of the Lutheran system. But I stated then, as now, that the foundation in scripture is lacking. He did not put any weight on these foundations because he could not rightly regard his exegetical authorities against me as secure. As true as it is that my opinion has not be resolved yet, it is mistaken to believe therefore that I have joined the opposite side or am joining them. My center has not changed one bit, but my periphery has not been completed...

Wilhelm Loehe

---

[1] By “individual Lutheran view” Loehe means the doctrine of the office, which begins with the rights and responsibilities of the spiritual priesthood, transferred to the pastor via the call. MH

[2] Loehe is referring to Walther’s second report from Germany, which appeared in Der Lutheraner, vol. 8, no. 7 (November 25, 1851), pp. 54-55, and is included in Walther’s “Trip Report” in this collection. Walther wrote to Loehe on June 5, 1852. “You most respected pastor, will have seen some things in the Lutheraner, from the time when we were absent, which may have troubled you. This material was included in the Lutheraner to my great astonishment and contrary to my will from a private letter which was sent here. I hope because of your great love that this too, as so much in the past, you will be able to forget.” (Suelflow, p. 106). MH

[3] At the “beginning of 1849” Loehe published “Aphorisms over the New Testament Offices and Their Relation to the Church. Toward the question of the church’s constitution.” (Gesammelte Werke 5/1, p. 255-330. “Church and Office, New Aphorisms” was published after May 31^st, 1851. Gesammelt Werke 5/1, 525-588.

Nothing in us but sin, injustice and stupidity

...Human nature is proud and always wants to be in control, pulling its own water bucket from the well, wants to have the honor of laying the first stone, of being Number One. That's why this is a majestic message of divine wisdom: we must believe that our righteousness, salvation, and comfort lie outside of ourselves, namely that we are righteous before God, acceptable to him, holy and wise, [in Christ] even though there is nothing within us but sin, injustice and stupidity.

Twenty-Second Sunday After Trinity

Preached at St. Mary's, Wittenberg 1530

The Sermons of Martin Luther, House Postil III.135

The Atlantic Times

The Atlantic Times: A Monthly Newspaper from Germany, is available to US and Canadian addresses for free. The paper is politically liberal, but has many interesting social, cultural and international news pieces from a German/European point of view (yet with an eye on the U.S.) . Uwe Siemon-Netto writes quite often and always delightfully. In a recent article he described living through the bombing raid of December 4th, 1943 which hit Leipzig. I look forward to it arriving in my mailbox every month! You can too! Just follow the link above. Keep writing UWE! 

Matt H

Here's a Favorite Mercy Journey

Here's a place but a few minutes from home. It's a real "mercy journey" for our family. 

"I myself who have spent a good part of my life in sorrow and gloom, now seek and find pleasure wherever I can. Praise God, we now have sufficient understanding [of the word of God] to be able to rejoice with a good conscience and to use God's gifts with thanksgiving, for he created them for this purpose and is pleased when we use them." (Luther, Letters of Spiritual Counsel, p. 92)

Matt H 

Tribulation serves a purpose

"Wait upon the Lord! Be of good cheer! (Psalm 27:14) Were there no such thing as tribulation to try Christian faith, what would become of secure, indolent, self-indulgent Christians? Surely, the same as has befallen the papacy! Inasmuch as tribulation serves the same purpose as rhubarb, myrrh, aloes, or an antidote against all the worms, poison, decay, and dung of this body of death, it ought not to be despised. We must not willfully seek or select afflictions, but we must accept those which God sees fit to visit upon us, for he knows which are suitable and salutary for us and how many and how heavy they should be. Therefore, be steadfast!"

Luther
To Anthony Lauterbach, March 10, 1542
Letters of Spiritual Counsel, p. 165.

"Even though life may not be smooth and perfect, God is merciful."

Luther
Table Talk, November 25, 1538
WA, TR, IV, no. 4143

"Ye visited me not."

"I was sick and ye visited me not." These words of Christ bind each of us to the other. No one may forsake his neighbor when he is in trouble. Everyone is under obligation to help and support his neighbor as he would himself like to be helped.

Luther on Epidemic and Famine
To John Hess, November 1527
Letters of Spiritual Counsel, p. 230

Ich kann nicht sagen...

Ich kann freilich nicht sagen, ob es besser werden wird, wenn es anders wird; aber so viel kann ich sagen, es muss anders werden, wenn es gut werden soll!

AMD's Collection of Sayings

"Mercy ought break the fetters"

...Mortals are bound to each other by a chain of misery. But mercy ought to break the fetters.

Luther
To Francis Burkhard
August 22, 1536
Letters of Spiritual Counsel, p. 183

The Deer Lake Band

Stumbled across a wonderful Wikipedia article on the remote Cree Indian village where Kathy and I spent a year as lay missionaries in 1984-85. The little cabin on the right was our place. The "enclosed" porch was built after our stay. The photo of the chief in 1910 is from Wikipedia. Chief Fiddler is the direct ancestor of many of the friends we made that year. What a year it was! Deer Lake is about 100 miles past the "end of the Road" to the south at Red Lake, Ontario. I wrote about the experience in "Christ Have Mercy" (CPH). Some day I hope to write a memoir of sorts of the whole year. We lived in a very small, old cabin, with no electricity and no plumbing. We had "running water," indeed; that is, as fast as I could carry it. I still recall one day in February when it was perfectly calm outside and 55 degrees BELOW zero. I learned to survive in extreme cold, learned to fish with a net UNDER the ice, learned to snare rabbits, make snowshoes, and a million other things. It was an honor to be invited to share Christ in that place and to be loved in return by the people. Good memories.

Click HERE.

Matt H

Books

Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.

Lobel

The Coming Evangelical Collapse

Here's a very interesting article about the future of American evangelicalism and the American church in general. A lot of food for thought. It also points to the great challenges and opportunities for the LCMS.

Click Here.

Pastor H

"I see in my own eyes planks large enough to build several hog troughs."

Luther
Fourth Sunday After Trinity 1932
Klug Postils p. 266

Luther on Christian Mercy

Now everyone knows quite well that the term "merciful" [i.e. 'Be ye merciful as your Father in heaven is merciful.' Luke 6] describes a person who is ready to sympathize with his fellowman, a person who is kind and friendly toward his fellowman and is so genuinely concerned about his needs and misfortunes of soul and body, reputation and property, that he tries to think of ways in which he might be able to help his fellow man, and prove his concern by his deeds, doing them joyfully and gladly. That is what 'being merciful' means. But he pointedly says, 'as your Father also is merciful.' With this assertion Jesus distinguishes between the mercy of a Christian and the mercy of non-Christians and wicked people who live in their midst. Sinners and tax collectors, who are mentioned shortly before this gospel, also practice mercy toward one another. They love one another, do friendly favors for one another, lend to one another; but they always do it with the expectation that this favor will be returned. That is a hoodlum's mercy, done with the hope of having the favor - or an even great one - returned... A Christian mercy, however, is modeled after the mercy of our heavenly Father... You are a briar bush; you've scratched me up badly, but I refuse to become a briar bush because of your actions. I shall, instead, do nothing but good for you when you are in need. In addition to that, I shall ask God to forgive you and to transform you from a brier bush into a beautiful, fruitful vine. That is the meaning of 'Be ye merciful as your Father is merciful.' He repays his greatest enemies and the most wicked rogues with the highest possible good.

Luther
Fourth Sunday after Trinity
1532
Klug, House Postils pp. 261-262

Speak Up!

In Germany, they came first for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Catholic. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.

Martin Niemoeller

Christ served up in the Word

In Christ there is pure joy, yes, everlasting joy; he is no longer sorrowful or fainthearted; he no longer sweats drops of blood as he did in the Garden; but in him there is true joy and gladness. And the same Christ, in whom comfort and joy are to be found, has become our food, served up in the Word and eaten by faith. For this reason if we are forsaken, cast down, oppressed, and assailed, we should hasten to Christ, and there revive and strengthen ourselves. If Christ, our food, is filled with gladness, joy, and life, we, too, shall be filled with the same. Come sorrow, depression, temptation, and whatever else, I ought joyfully lift up my heart and say, I look to Christ, in whom is neither sorrow nor dejection; my faith testifies that he suffered for me, that for me and my salvation he was crucified, died, descended into hell, rose from the dead and so on. Even though I still do not feel these things, but instead have listlessness and melancholy stirring within me, nevertheless, such listlessness and melancholy will not overpower me. For in Christ are everlasting comfort, joy, peace and gladness. These things are set forth for me in the Word. I have laid hold of him in faith; and there is where I put my trust. Though all the world is confusion and disorder, though death and worms consume me, I shall still rise again and live, just as Christ has risen and lives.

Luther

Preached at St. Mary's Wittenberg

Trinity II, 1535.

The House Postils, Klug, p. 245.

Unbending Flexibility

I am a man of fixed and unbending principles, the first of which is to be flexible at all times.

Dirksen

Change

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

Obama

"He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only institution which rejects progress is the cemetery."

H. Wilson

"Scripture is more than the feeling, the thinking, and the experience of all men."

The incident of the murder of a baptist pastor in the St. Louis area last Sunday, and the interview I did on Issues Etc., with Todd Wilken on the topic (see below) made me think of Luther's sermons on I Corinthian 15 (AE 28), as we head toward Easter. Matt H

"Therefore it is all important to heed St. Paul's admonition here, to adhere firmly to the Word which we received, to call this to mind constantly, and with it to fend off all questioning, subtle arguing, and disputing and not give way to the devil's suggestions, whether these be from without by his factions or from within by our own heart... Scripture is more than the feeling, the thinking, and the experiencing of all men.

For no one could ever have understood or thought that Christ would be alive on the third day. Within all the world's wisdom there was not an iota of knowledge regarding this. And yet we have the Word which declared Him alive while He was still lying in the grave. What this Word declared, so it had to happen, even though all the world's senses and reason and everything else contradict it. Thus it also happens to us. The dead repose under the ground, long decomposed or devoured by maggots and all sorts of other vermin, or they are turned to dust, or they lie dispersed everywhere; but in the Word which we believe and profess they are assuredly alive and risen. The world does not have this power and is unable to do this; but the Word has it and is able to do it. And thus it must come about, for it is God's own power and might." 

Martin Luther

AE 28.72-73

Majorities

"It's not worth an intelligent man's time to be in the majority. By definition there's already enough people for that." 

Hardy

LCMS President on Abortion

'Anti-Abortion' Is Only the Beginning

The very same week that Barack Obama was inaugurated in Washington as 44th president of the United States, a crowd estimated to be hundreds of thousands strong gathered in the nation's capital Jan. 22 to take part in this year's March for Life.

The march has been going on every year since the first anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion in this country.

 

Then, on Jan. 23, the day after this year's march, President Obama repealed the ban on federal funds for organizations that provide or promote abortions overseas.

 

It is more important than ever that Christians stand up for the sanctity of life as a gift from God. It was a privilege for me to take part in this year's march and to offer the opening prayer during pre-march activities. (The text of the prayer is online at www.lcms.org?14682.)

It also was gratifying to take part in the event with fellow Lutherans. Many of them, including those who joined me for pre-march worship at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Alexandria, Va., are veterans of these marches. (More information about the march and Lutheran participation is available at http://www.lcms.org?14704.)

We must continue to work and pray in support of life, not only embryonic life, but life at all stages.

In that regard, I have received communications from LCMS members who encourage our church body to broaden its traditional concern with protecting life at its beginning and earthly end. The encouragement is to provide a more comprehensive support for life from conception to the grave.

We in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod have long spoken out against abortion and euthanasia. We must continue to do so. I also believe it is time for our congregations, members, and leaders to speak strongly and vociferously regarding other matters that could be included under the umbrella of “pro-life” issues as well.

For example, LCMS congregations and leaders ought to encourage prevention of unintended pregnancies and provide support—physical, financial, emotional, and spiritual—for those who are dealing with a pregnancy out of wedlock in a way that demonstrates as much love and concern for the one who is carrying a child as for the unborn child itself.

For years, the LCMS has encouraged adoption, especially through our recognized social-service organizations. Some 33 years ago, my dear wife, Terry, and I worked with one such organization in adopting our son, who at that time was two years of age.

Supporting organizations that care for children through the provision of foster homes and adoptive parents will go a long way toward showing our care and concern for life outside as well as inside the womb. It also seems apparent to me that those who become pregnant out of wedlock and make the conscious decision not to terminate the pregnancy through abortion are in need of our support throughout their pregnancy. Also, keep in your loving concern, as does Christ, those who at another point in life made a decision to abort an unborn child and now grieve that they did.

What wonderful opportunities for our congregations to act in love toward their neighbors!

David was overwhelmed by the realization that God cares for us with loving concern at all stages of our lives.  “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be,” David writes in Psalm 139. “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!” (vv. 16-17).

What a precious gift of God life is.

It is important that we continue to show our support for unborn life in such tangible ways as taking part in the March for Life. It is equally important for us to emphasize in other ways that show our concern for others and our thanks to God for life—and His care for life—throughout its earthly duration.

Jerry Kieschnick

John 3:16-17

Lives Transformed through Christ, in Time ... for Eternity!

e-mail: president@lcms.org 

Web page: www.lcms.org/president