God's Word to the Church in Crisis
Notes
Transcript
The Annotated Luther, Volume 5: Christian Life in the World How Christians Can Fight with a Good Conscience
In the first place, because it is certain that the Turk has no right or command to begin war and to attack lands that are not his, his war is nothing but an outrage and robbery with which God is punishing the world, as he sometimes does through wicked scoundrels and sometimes through godly people. The Turk does not fight from necessity or to protect his land in peace, as a decent ruler does; but, like a robber or a highwayman, he seeks to plunder and ravage other lands which are doing, and have done, nothing to him. He is God’s rod and the Devil’s servant [Isa. 10:5]; there is no doubt about that.
It seems that, unless you are living in a bubble, you cannot help but notice that we are living in “interesting times.” Since March, we have been placed under what amounts to house arrest, as a previously unknown virus rampaged through communities, caused politicians to look less like salesmen and more like potentates, and led people to enter into contentions over such simple things as toiletries, bread, and face masks.
Then, just as it seemed that we were about to exit the shadow of this COVID-19 pestilence, the deaths of Ahmaud Arberry, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd led to protest marches and civil unrest, which led to the increased presence of militarized police forces to control what was either uncontrolled mob violence or orchestrated violent agitation that sought to destabilize entire communities.
The Annotated Luther, Volume 5: Christian Life in the World How Christians Can Fight with a Good Conscience
Since the Turk is the rod of the wrath of the Lord our God and the servant of the raging Devil, the first thing to be done is to smite the Devil, his lord, and take the rod out of God’s hand, so that the Turk may be found only in his own strength, all by himself, without the Devil’s help and without God’s hand. This should be done by Sir [Herr] Christian, that is, by the pious, holy, precious group of Christians. They are the people who have been armed for this war and they know how to use those weapons. For if the Turk’s god, the Devil, is not defeated first, there is reason to fear that the Turk will not be so easy to beat. Now the Devil is a spirit who cannot be beaten with armor, muskets, horses, and men, and God’s wrath cannot be allayed by them, as it is written in Psalm 33[:17f.; 147:10], “His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man; but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.” Christian weapons and power must do it.
We who name the name of Christ don’t like to think about this, but the 1st Article of the Apostles’ Creed includes within its parameters the notion that God stands behind the calamities that press us out of our hubris. The devil may be in the details, but God sits on the throne. It seems to be contrary to our common notions about the goodness of God, so perhaps I should let God speak for Himself:
When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
We would excise those words in verse 13 from the Scriptures, but there they are, in the same. The times would come when Israel and Judah could either rail against God’s authority, accept it numbly, or trust that, in all things, God is good, and does good. As we try to make sense of current events, some try to figure out what God is doing, as if His will could be teased out like bird entrails. They go the wrong way, because they ask the wrong question, thinking that God is a rogue lion that needs to be captured and tamed, instead of being the Creator and Savior of all, and especially of those who trust in Him.
Truly, you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior. All of them are put to shame and confounded; the makers of idols go in confusion together. But Israel is saved by the Lord with everlasting salvation; you shall not be put to shame or confounded to all eternity.
God does hide Himself from those who seek to control or exclude Him, but He reveals Himself to those who trust in Him, and preserves them in accordance with His gracious will which He has declared in the Gospel of Christ.
This trust is not an abstract issue or a theoretical construct. It is the foundation upon which we are build our lives as Christians. The Word of the Lord shows us God’s purpose that HE wills to reveal, and commends us to trust in His goodness regarding the things that He has kept to Himself. Above all, His Word gives us what we need, as people who do not know everything, cannot see all things, and only know what is truly good by the Wisdom of God. God reveals to us that we have adversaries who serve under Satan, God exposes his efforts to deceive and destroy us, and God equips us to stand in the midst of Satan’s fiery attacks. Above all, through the Church, God provides for our spiritual, social and material needs as we walk in our vocations in service to one another:
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
All around us, voices are calling for us to take sides, to declare our loyalties. When we call for justice, some want to interpret that as supporting their side in a conflict that pits neighbor against neighbor and offers nothing but destruction to all.
Christians live in these communities that have been first ravaged by the medical and economic impact of the pandemic, and then have become the stages for live dramas of sorrow, rage and retribution. We hear the anger, the fear, and the certainty that each has as it declares that “justice is on our side.”
We also know, based upon God’s Word, that He is also present, because we are. Jesus told His Apostles before His return to the Father, “and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20). One of those Apostles, John, eventually found himself in exile on the Isle of Patmos. One Lord’s Day, as he worshipped, he heard a voice calling him to record in a book what he was about to witness, and send that book to seven churches. We know that book as Revelation, a book filled with visions that strike fear and confusion into many, but was written to be a blessing. One of the words that should give us joy is found in the first chapter, in John’s description of the One who commanded him to write:
Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
Before we get lost in His appearance, let us take note of his position, in the midst of seven golden lampstands, and the contents of His hands, seven stars. Nevertheless, His appearance is truly overwhelming, but his words are comforting to John:
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
Jesus Christ has never left His Church to go through its time of service alone. In every generation, He has kept His promise that He would never leave us nor forsake us (Heb 13:5). Even today, we have both His Word of promise and His gifts of Word and Sacrament to encourage and comfort us:
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
God has also given us an explicit Word regarding how we are to stand during times like these. In the Epistle to the Ephesians, we see “the scope of God’s eternal plan for all humanity—for Jews and Gentiles alike. This is the mystery of God, hidden for ages but now made known in Jesus Christ. The first three chapters focus on what Christians should believe, unfolding the glorious riches of God’s grace in Christ. Dead sinners are made alive and gain eternal salvation “by grace … through faith” (2:8). The last three chapters explain the implications of God’s grace for the church, for individuals, and for families. This second section comes to a climax with a command to stand with the armor of God against the devil.”
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ephesians.
We are, truly, blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ, chosen in Him before the foundation of the world, and holy and blameless before Him. We whom the world sees as abandoned and without hope are actually adopted children who have been granted to know the mystery of His will. While they run to and fro, following every wind of teaching from the various religious, political and socio-economic purveyors of temporary fixes to a transcendent problem, we stand our ground upon the foundation that is built upon the Rock.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
Our strength in times of confusion, fear, and weakness is not found in picking a side under the sun, but by our union in the Son of God. His Word settles us in the midst of instability. His Church provides the comfort that enables us to stand, for which cause He tells us to stay connected rather than be scattered in order to nurse our wounds alone:
Like the Roman soldier from whom Paul drew his illustration in Ephesians 6:10-20, the strength of the Christian is not in his high tech, but in his connection to the group. What Paul writes applies to every Christian, in every circumstance, in every place.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
The spiritual forces of evil do not create, they use. They use our fleshly passions, they use our fear, they use our desire to be in charge, in control, to be the winners. They ply their lies through those desires, passions, and feelings to lead us down the same road that the serpent led Adam in the Garden. Whether it’s the fear of death, the desire to make someone pay, anything that offers us an alternative to the certainty of God’s abiding love for His creation, the objective righteousness of God, or the riches of His mercy and grace, Satan and his forces will try to take our focus astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Co 11:3). God’s Commandments become recast by the devil as being cloaking obstacles to our happiness, instead of the lamp to our feet and the light to our path. Instead of being empowered by the Spirit of power and love and self-control (2 Tim 1:7), we become fueled by our emotions, our sense of self-righteous indignation, and our need to worship idols in place of the true and living God(Gal 5:19-21; 1 Cor 12:2).
Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
The current civil unrest in many communities over the past week has put into stark relief the difference between the Kingdom of God and the kingdoms of men. After spending months debating what it means to “love your neighbor as yourself,” and going to every source but God for the answer, we then found people coming to conclusions about other people who were made in the image of God just as they were, other people who were sinners in need of the grace, mercy, and peace of God that is in Christ Jesus just as they are, other people who are just like them, no matter what their appearance, vocation, or law enforcement status might be.
At the end of the day, we are not multitudes of atomized individuals pursuing our own agendas; we are sheep of one Shepherd. Some of us have already found our place in the sheepfold, while others are still scattered and stumbling about.
I have no right to write you off, regardless of who you are or what you may have done, nor do you have any right to write me off, just because I might not be what you think the proper image of a vessel of God’s mercy. There is only one solution that reverses every curse, that breaks every stronghold, that makes all things right. Jesus Christ, and His Gospel, alone shine the true light that enlightens everyone. It alone brings the love of God into every sin darkened heart and situation. There is no true justice that ignores the righteous decrees of God, and leaves no room for the grace of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Often imitated, but it never can be duplicated, because there is no other name given under heaven among men whereby we must be saved.
Therefore, God’s directive to His people is simple - pray, with all manner of prayer and supplication in the Spirit. It is the fervent, effective prayer of the righteous that avails much. It is the prayer of faith that saves the sick, and if they have sins, they will be forgiven. It is prayer, in Christ’s name, that has the promise of God that He will hear from heaven, forgive our sin, and heal our land.
A health official said, regarding the measures being taken to lower the risk to life of his community, “We may not know whether we have done too much, but we will certainly know if we have not done enough.” If that is true regarding the various actions taken against a virus that had no promise of success attached to them, how much more should we look at our prayers and intercessions during this time, and say, “We might not know whether we have prayed enough, but we shall certainly know whether we have not prayed much, if at all. Who knows, whether God is patiently waiting for His people to call upon Him, so that he shall send showers of refreshing, a fresh outpouring of His Spirit, an increase of fruitfulness in our ministry, and a harvest of redeemed people? When it happens, it will happen because we stopped debating, stopped virtue signalling, stopped accusing, and started praying and bearing witness, to the praise of His glorious grace.