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What About Holy Baptism?
What benefits does Baptism give?
It works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare. Which are these words and promises of God? Christ our Lord says in the last chapter of Mark: "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned" (Mark 16:16).
In and through Baptism, God cleanses us from all of our sins, snatches us from the power of Satan, and gives us everlasting life. It is all God's doing as He gives us His blessing. It is His promise. In Baptism, our Triune God imparts to each of us personally the gifts the Lord Jesus Christ won for the world through His life, suffering, death, and resurrection. Please see especially Gal. 3:27; Col. 1:13-14; 1 Peter 3:21; Titus 3:5-7 and 1 Cor. 6:11.
What About Holy Baptism?
How can water do such great things?
Certainly not just water, but the word of God in and with the water does these things, along with the faith which trusts this word of God in the water. For without God's Word the water is plain water and no Baptism. But with the word of God it is a Baptism, that is, a life-giving water, rich in grace, and a washing of the new birth in the Holy Spirit, as St. Paul says in Titus, chapter three: "He saved us through the wash-ing of rebirth and renewal in the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trust-worthy saying" (Titus 3:8).
Of course, simple water can't do such great things, but the water of Baptism is not simple water! Baptism is one very special way God delivers to us the blessings Christ won for us. Baptism is not something we do, but some-thing God does. Therefore, it is far more than a symbol. It is a sacred act in which God Himself is at work forgiving sins, giving new life in Christ and bestowing on us the Holy Spirit with all of His gifts. Baptism gives us the faith through which we receive these gifts. God the Holy Spirit works faith in the promises attached to Baptism.
What About Holy Baptism?
What does such baptizing with water indicate?
It indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever. Where is this written? St Paul writes in Romans chapter six: "We were therefore buried with Him through Baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life" (Rom. 6:4).
In Baptism we are buried with Christ, and in Baptism we are raised with Christ. His death and resurrection are made our own, and because of that fact, through our entire life, we are able to say, I am baptized!" Having been buried with Christ into His death we do not have to be afraid of the tomb in which we will rest one day. Christ has already been there. In Holy Baptism we have passed through His grave into His resurrection.
As Luther says in his Large Catechism, "If I am baptized, I have the promise that I shall be saved and have eternal life, both in soul and body.... No greater jewel can adorn our body and soul than Baptism.... Baptism is a trea-sure which God gives us and faith grasps, just as the Lord Christ upon the cross is not a human work, but a treasure comprehended and offered to us in the Word and received by faith"
What About Holy Baptism?
What does Baptism have to do with our daily life?
Everything! Our entire life is a life lived trusting in the promises of God, given to us in and through Holy Baptism. We are constantly returning to Baptism. In moments of temptation and suffering in our lives, when all seems to be crashing down on us, and in particular in those moments when our sin and the guilt of those sins haunt us, we are able, as Luther says, to "Pull out our Baptism and wave it under the devil's nose and say, 'I am baptized... I have God's bath. It is Christ's own blood.' It is a bath blessed and mixed with the blood of Chnst."'2 We can't return to the cross of Christ, nor should we attempt to imagine ourselves back there. No, we turn instead to the "here and now" reality of God's work in our lives. We return to our Baptism. For it was there and then that God buried us with Christ and raised us with Him to a new life.
In his Large Catechism, Luther says, "Every Christian has enough to study and to practice all his life. He always has enough to do to believe firmly what Baptism promises and brings victory over death and the devil, forgiveness of sins, God's grace, the entire Christ, and the Holy Spirit with His gifts." And: "If you live in repentance, therefore, you are walking in Baptism, which not only announces this new life, but also produces, begins, and promotes it. In Baptism we are given the grace, Spirit and power to suppress the old man, so that the new man may come forth and grow strong. Therefore, Baptism remains forever.... Repentance, therefore, is nothing else than a return and approach to Baptism:'
What About Holy Baptism?
Why are infants and young children baptized?
They are baptized for the same reason adults are baptized - because of the command and promise of God. What is promised in Baptism is given to all who receive it; there-fore, infants and young children also have the promise of God. They, too, are made children of God. They, too, are included in the words all nations" (Matt 28:19). Jesus specifically invites little children to come to Him (Luke l8: l5-l7). But most important, as sinners, infants need what Baptism gives.
By His word, God created all that is seen and unseen. By His word, our Lord Christ called a dead man from the tomb (John 11:4344). The unborn child, John the Baptist, leaped in his mother's womb when he heard the word of God (Luke 1:4144). Why is there any doubt that in and through the Word and the promise of Baptism, God works a similar gift of faith in the infant? If we misunderstand Baptism to be our work, then we will always cast doubt on it. When we recognize that it is not our work, but God's gracious promise and work, we realize that infants are to be baptized and receive the treasures offered in and through Baptism.
Sadly, there are individuals and church bodies that deny Baptism to young children and infants. They do not believe that these little ones need what Holy Baptism gives. They do not believe what the Bible teaches so clearly, namely, that God saves us through Baptism. As a result of these false teachings, they deny both to themselves and to others the power, blessing, and comfort of Holy Bap-tism. That is tragic, for it is a most serious offense against God to deny what He plainly declares in His Word: "The promise is for you and your children" (Acts 2:39) and "Baptism now saves you" (1 Peter 3:21).
What About Holy Baptism?
Conclusion
"We see what a great and excellent thing Baptism is, which snatches us from the jaws of the devil and makes God our own, overcomes and takes away sin and daily strengthens the new man. It always remains until we pass from this present misery to eternal glory" (Large Catechism).
The meaning, power, and promise of Holy Baptism rest entirely on the One who lived perfectly in our place and who suffered and died as the sacrificial ransom for the sins of the world. He rose victorious over death and the grave. In Holy Baptism, we receive all the blessings of Christ's atoning sacrifice. Thank God for His gift of Holy Baptism!
1. The words in italics are from Luther's Small Catechism.
2. WA 47:651,10-19,32-36.
Proclaim Liberty
Leviticus 25: 10 Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each one of you is to return to his family property and each to his own clan. 11 The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines. 12 For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you; eat only what is taken directly from the fields. 13 "'In this Year of Jubilee everyone is to return to his own property. 14 "'If you sell land to one of your countrymen or buy any from him, do not take advantage of each other. 15 You are to buy from your countryman on the basis of the number of years since the Jubilee. And he is to sell to you on the basis of the number of years left for harvesting crops. 16 When the years are many, you are to increase the price, and when the years are few, you are to decrease the price, because what he is really selling you is the number of crops. 17 Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God. I am the LORD your God. 18 "'Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land. 19 Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live there in safety.
Prayers:
Freedom and Good News
Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because 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, 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. 8 "For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity. In my faithfulness I will reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them. 9 Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the LORD has blessed."
Jeremiah 34: 8 The word came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom for the slaves. 9 Everyone was to free his Hebrew slaves, both male and female; no one was to hold a fellow Jew in bondage. 10 So all the officials and people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would free their male and female slaves and no longer hold them in bondage. They agreed, and set them free. 11 But afterward they changed their minds and took back the slaves they had freed and enslaved them again. 12 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 13 "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your forefathers when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. I said, 14 'Every seventh year each of you must free any fellow Hebrew who has sold himself to you. After he has served you six years, you must let him go free.' Your fathers, however, did not listen to me or pay attention to me. 15 Recently you repented and did what is right in my sight: Each of you proclaimed freedom to his countrymen. You even made a covenant before me in the house that bears my Name. 16 But now you have turned around and profaned my name; each of you has taken back the male and female slaves you had set free to go where they wished. You have forced them to become your slaves again. 17 "Therefore, this is what the LORD says: You have not obeyed me; you have not proclaimed freedom for your fellow countrymen. So I now proclaim 'freedom' for you, declares the LORD--' freedom' to fall by the sword, plague and famine. I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 The men who have violated my covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces.
Luke 4: 14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. 16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." 22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. "Isn't this Joseph's son?" they asked.
Prayers:
The Foot Race
I Corinthians 9: 19 Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. 24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
Galatians 1: 15 But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus. 18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 I saw none of the other apostles--only James, the Lord's brother. 20 I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie. 21 Later I went to Syria and Cilicia. 22 I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only heard the report: "The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy." 24 And they praised God because of me. 2:1 Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. 2 I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain. 3 Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. 4 This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. 5 We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you.
Hebrews 11: 32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37 They were stoned ; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated-- 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. 39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40 God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Prayers:
The "Big" Seven
Revelation 1: 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. 19 "Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. 20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
2:1 "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
8 "To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. 9 I know your afflictions and your poverty--yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.
12 "To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. 13 I know where you live--where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city--where Satan lives. 14 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. 15 Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. 17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.
18 "To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. 19 I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first. 20 Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. 21 I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22 So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds. 24 Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan's so-called deep secrets (I will not impose any other burden on you): 25 Only hold on to what you have until I come. 26 To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations-- 27 'He will rule them with an iron scepter; he will dash them to pieces like pottery' -- just as I have received authority from my Father. 28 I will also give him the morning star. 29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
3:1 "To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. 4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5 He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
7 "To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars--I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. 10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12 Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
14 "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. 19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. 21 To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.
Prayers:
Jim and Linda Puttler, 1972
Battling Irreligion in the Army
By Charles Royster
Chaplains had one of the toughest jobs in the Continental Army. Everyone agreed: profanity, drunkenness, neglect of the Sabbath, and disrespect for the clergy were widespread among Continental soldiers. This contrasted sharply with the high moral ground upon which the war was being fought, and Christian Revolutionaries deplored the contrast.
Devout soldiers and chaplains were also troubled by the false bravado toward death, which they interpreted as sinful hardening. At one New York prison camp where the mortality rate was particularly steep, a visitor found men "preparing to lay down for the night...most of them, laughing and bantering each other with apparent pleasantry about which of them would be dead the next morning. One would say, 'I am much stouter than you, and I will have your blanket.' 'No,' would be the reply, 'I am much heartier than you and stand the best chance of seeing you carried out feet foremost.'"
Historian Charles Royster has said, "To be a good chaplain was even more difficult than to be a good company grade officer." Royster, professor of history at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, is author of "A Revolutionary People at War: The Continental Army and American Character, 1775-1783" (University of North Carolina, 1979). In one chapter, from which this article is excerpted with permission, he talks about the challenging work of Revolutionary War chaplains.
The conscientious chaplain had two main duties: "divine service"--two Sunday sermons, as well as prayers and addresses on special occasions--and private worship or consolation with soldiers, especially the sick and the dying. In their hospital visits, the chaplains did almost as much good for the soldiers as the doctors could and much more than the officers. Chaplain Ebenezer David said, "I have ever found the chaplains' visits taken well by the sick."
The journals and memoirs of doctors, officers, and enlisted men record few visits by junior officers to their sick men. Captain Alexander Graydon probably spoke for many of them when he explained why he had avoided the imprisoned Continentals in New York City, who faced a choice between pestilence and enlistment in the British army: "I once, and once only, ventured to penetrate into these abodes of human misery and despair. But to what purpose [should I] repeat my visit when I had neither relief to administer nor comfort to bestow? What could I say to the unhappy victims who appealed to me for assistance or sought my advice as to the alternative of death or apostasy?...I rather chose to turn my eye from a scene I could not meliorate, to put from me a calamity which mocked my power of alleviation."
Many chaplains probably followed a similar course, but others visited the sick daily, joked or prayed with them, and listened to monologues like that of a "very sick youth from Massachusetts," who asked Ammi Robbins "to save him if possible, said he was not fit to die, says, 'I cannot die. Do, sir, pray for me. Will you not send for my mother? If she were here to nurse me, I could get well. O my mother! How I wish I could see her! She was opposed to my enlisting, I am now very sorry. Do let her know I am sorry.'" Robbins said he "endeavored to point him to the only source of peace, prayed, and left him," and then commented, "he cannot live long."
Chaplains also helped do generals' work in sermons and addresses. Commanders required soldiers to attend divine service; one punishment for absence was digging up stumps. State militia Colonel Benjamin Cleaveland, a former Continental Army officer, wanted prisoners of war as well as soldiers to attend services; so the loyalist Lieutenant Anthony Allaire heard "a Presbyterian sermon, truly adapted to their principles and the times--or rather, stuffed as full of republicanism as their camp is of horse thieves."
A commander might suggest the text for a sermon and urge a chaplain to "dwell a little more on politics" if he was one of the few who failed to do so. After Chaplain Benjamin Boardman had preached on Jehoshaphat's prayer for God's help against invaders, Colonel Samuel Wyllys thanked him and "said it was the best sermon he had ever heard upon the occasion and troubles of the day."
The surviving sermons strive to attain a very demanding ideal: to nourish and justify the hopes for America's future that made soldiers fight the British, to foster individual courage in the face of both suffering and combat, to celebrate the unity of courageous men in a just cause, to awaken soldiers' watchfulness for the signs of their own salvation, and to encourage the orderly conduct of a disciplined soldier and an upright Christian.
When Chaplain Ammi Robbins preached on the escape of Lot from Sodom, one listener said that his preaching "was all life and engagedness." Chaplain Israel Evans, preaching to the New York Line and Lafayette's Light Infantry, said, "Could my influence reach as far as my wishes are extended--could I appear before the inhabitants of the United States in all the irresistible majesty of ancient elocution; could I wield the thunder of Demosthenes, and arrest the lightning of Pericles--how should the nerves of opposition to our country be withered, and every American be fired into a patriot or a soldier."
For the most part, Evans's goals as a chaplain, like those of other chaplains, were the kinds of inspiration Americans expected their generals to achieve. And just as Revolutionaries at home felt dissatisfied with generals, so commanders and soldiers found chaplains wanting. Although Washington kept his own religious views private and rarely referred to God or to Christ, he set great store by religious exercises and able chaplains for the army. He too complained of chaplains' neglect of their duties and was rumored to have a low opinion of many of them.
When we compare the demands made on chaplains with those made on other officers, and when we study the recorded services of individual chaplains, we can hardly conclude that they were singularly derelict. We can suspect that chaplains bore a large part of the Continental Army's displeasure when soldiers and officers found that war life was not as consistently inspiring, orderly, or tolerable as they wished.
Despite the most blatant contradictory facts, ministers had to remain spokesmen for the promise. On Thanksgiving Day, 1777, private Joseph Martin's unit, which had not been paid since August, heard a sermon they could not properly attend to because they wanted a "fine Thanksgiving dinner" but had received "half a gill [about two ounces] of rice and a tablespoonful of vinegar!!"
The preacher's text "upon the happy occasion" was John the Baptist's advice to soldiers, which ministers treated as an injunction to discipline--"Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely" [Luke 3:14]. For some reason, the preacher left out the next clause; it would have been, Martin later said, "too apropos." But as soon as the service ended, a hundred soldiers shouted, "And be content with your wages!"
Many chaplains, like many officers, responded to this stress by neglecting their duty. Others, by word and example, led the Revolutionaries' efforts to reconcile deeds with dreams.
"I pray," Chaplain Hezekiah Smith wrote to his wife, "that my preaching may be attended with power." The new recruits of 1780 were coming into "Continental Village" at Peekskill, New York. General John Nixon's brigade had been so scattered during the summer that religious services had stopped. Now they would resume. Like his eloquent sermons against profanity and on Arnold's treason, Smith's prayer represented the renewed hope for the army's achievement of ideal conduct following yet another failure.
This was the conscientious chaplain's most important and difficult task: making an ideal seem attainable to men who were failing short of its demands. After hearing a sermon by Smith in 1775, Lieutenant Benjamin Craft said, "He preached exceedingly well, and I wish I had a heart to profit by what I heard."
Copyright (c) 1996 Christianity Today, Inc./CHRISTIAN HISTORY Magazine
Issue 50--May 1996, Vol. XV, No. 2, Page 32
Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day.
What would you do?
Draw out every cent, of course!!!!
Each of us has such a bank. Its name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow". You must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and success! The clock is running. Make the most of today. To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade. To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a pre-mature baby. To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper. To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet. To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train. To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident. To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics. Treasure every moment that you have! And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time. And remember that time waits for no one.
Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their heart to us. Show your friends how much you care.....
I've learned that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them.
I've learned that no matter how much I care, some people just don't care back.
I've learned that it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.
I've learned that it's not what you have in your life, but who you have in your life that counts.
I've learned that you can do something in an instant that will give you a heartache for life.
I've learned that no matter how thin you slice it, there are always two sides.
I've learned that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.
I've learned that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.
I've learned that there are people who love you dearly, but just don't know how to show it.
I've learned that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.
I've learned that just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to, doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have.
I've learned that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.
I've learned that no matter how good a friend someone is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.
I've learned that no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.
I've learned that just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other. And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.
I've learned that we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.
I've learned that you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.
I've learned that there are many ways of falling and staying in love.
I've learned that no matter how many friends you have, if you are their pillar, you will feel lonely and lost at the times you need them most.
I've learned that the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon.
I've learned that although the word "love" can have many different meanings, it loses value when overly used.
I've learned that love is not for me to keep, but to pass on to the next person I see.
I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.
I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love that human touch - holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.
I've learned that I still have a lot to learn.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator, and I wanted to paint another one.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you feed a stray cat, and I thought it was good to be kind to animals.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make my favorite cake for me, and I knew that little things are special things.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I heard you say a prayer, and I believed there is a God I could always talk to.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I felt you kiss me goodnight, and I felt loved.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw tears come from your eyes, and I learned that sometimes things hurt, but it's all right to cry.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw that you cared and I wanted to be everything that I could be.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I looked . . . . and wanted to say thanks for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn't looking.
According to an Associated Press account, in September 1994 Cindy Hartman of Conway, Arkansas, walked into her house to answer the phone and was confronted by a burglar. He ripped the phone cord out of the wall and ordered her into a closet.
Hartman dropped to her knees and asked the burglar if she could pray for him. "I want you to know that God loves you and I forgive you,'' she said.
The burglar apologized for what he had done. Then he yelled out the door to a woman in a pickup truck: "We've got to unload all of this. This is a Christian home and a Christian family. We can't do this to them."
As Hartman remained on her knees, the burglar returned furniture he had taken from her home. Then he took the bullets out of his gun, handed the gun to Hartman, and walked out the door.
Praying for our enemies is incredibly disarming.
"Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." - Mark 10: 15
As they prepared to eat dinner at a restaurant, Kim Kane's six-year-old son asked if he could say grace. As they bowed their heads he said, "God is good, God is great. Thank you for the food, and I would even thank you more if mom gets us ice cream for desssert. And Liberty and justice for all!!! Amen!"
Along with the laughter from the other customers nearby Kim heard a woman remark, "That's what's wrong with this country. Kids today don't even know how to pray. Asking God for ice cream! Why, I never!"
Hearing this, her son burst into tears and asked, "Did I do it wrong? Is God mad at me?" As Kim held him and assured him that he had done a terrific job and God was certainly not mad at him, an elderly gentleman approached the table.
"He winked at my son and said, "I happen to know that God thought that was a great prayer." "Really?" my son asked. "Cross my heart." Then in theatrical whisper he added (indicating the woman whose remark had started the whole thing), "Too bad she never asks God for ice cream. A little ice cream is good for the soul sometimes."
Naturally, Kim bought her kids ice cream at the end of the meal. What happened next came as a complete surprise.
"My son stared at his for a moment and then did something I will remember the rest of my life," Kim explains. "He picked up his sundae and without a word walked over and placed it in front of the woman. With a big smile he told her, "Here, this is for you. Ice cream is good for the soul sometimes and my soul is good already."
Our house was directly across the street from the clinic entrance of John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. We lived downstairs and rented the upstairs rooms to out patients at the clinic.
One summer evening as I was fixing supper, there was a knock at the door. I opened it to see a truly awful looking man.
"Why, he's hardly taller than my eight-year-old," I thought as I stared at the stooped, shriveled body. But the appalling thing was his face lopsided from swelling, red and raw.
Yet his voice was pleasant as he said, "Good evening. I've come to see if you've a room for just one night. I came for a treatment this morning from the eastern shore, and here's no bus till morning." He told me he'd been hunting for a room since noon but with no success, no one seemed to have a room.
"I guess it's my face... I know it looks terrible, but my doctor says with a few more treatments . . ."
For a moment I hesitated, but his next words convinced me.
"I could sleep in this rocking chair on the porch. My bus leaves early in the morning."
I told him we would find him a bed, but to rest on the porch. I went inside and finished getting supper. When we were ready, I asked the old man if he would join us.
"No thank you. I have plenty." And he held up a brown paper bag.
When I had finished the dishes, I went out on the porch to talk with him a few minutes. It didn't take long time to see that this old man had an oversized heart crowded into that tiny body. He told me he fished for a living to support his daughter, her five children, and her husband, who was hopelessly crippled from a back injury.
He didn't tell it by way of complaint; in fact, every other sentence was preface with a thanks to God for a blessing. He was grateful that no pain accompanied his disease, which was apparently a form of skin cancer. He thanked God for giving him the strength to keep going.
At bedtime, we put a camp cot in the children's room for him. When I got up in the morning, the bed linens were neatly folded and the little man was out on the porch.
He refused breakfast, but just before he left for his us, haltingly, as if asking a great favor, he said, "Could I please come back and stay the next time I have a treatment? I won't put you out a bit. I can sleep fine in a chair." He pause a moment and then added, "Your children made me feel at home. Grownups are bothered by my face, but children don't seem to mind."
I told him he was welcome to come again. And on his next trip he arrived a little after seven in the morning. As a gift, he brought a big fish and a quart of the largest oysters I had ever seen. He said he had shucked them that morning before he left so that they'd be nice and fresh I knew his bus left at 4:00 a.m. and I wondered what time he had to get up in order to do this for us.
In the years he came to stay overnight with us there was never a time that he did not bring us fish or oysters or vegetables from his garden. Other times we received packages in the mail, always by special delivery; fish and oysters packed in a box of fresh young spinach or kale, every leaf carefully washed. Knowing that he must walk three miles to mail these, and knowing how little money he had made the gifts doubly precious.
When I received these little remembrances, I often thought of a comment our next-door neighbor made after he left that first morning. "Did you keep that awful looking man last night? I turned him away! You can lose roomers by putting up such people!"
Maybe we did lose roomers once or twice. But oh! If only they could have known him, perhaps their illnesses would have been easier to bear. I know our family always will be grateful to have known him; from him we earned what it was to accept the bad without complaint and the good with gratitude to God.
Recently I was visiting a friend who has a greenhouse, As she showed me her flowers, we came to the most beautiful one of all, a golden chrysanthemum, bursting with blooms. But to my great surprise, it was growing in an old dented, rusty bucket.
I thought to myself, "If this were my plant, I'd put it in the loveliest container I had!"
My friend changed my mind. "I ran short of pots," she explained, "and knowing how beautiful this one would be, I thought it wouldn't mind starting out in this old pail. It's just for a little while, till I can put it out in the garden."
She must have wondered why I laughed so delightedly, but I was imagining just such a scene in heaven. "Here's an especially beautiful one," God might have said when he came to the soul of the sweet old fisherman. "He won't mind starting in this small body."
All this happened long ago -- and now, in God's garden, how tall this lovely soul must stand.
Telling the Good News about Jesus: our great privilege as Christians
Through faith, we become disciples of Jesus Christ and, as such, it is our privilege to tell the good news about Jesus. We share with others the message of the salvation that is ours. And who are the people with whom we are to share the faith? Well, they are certainly our family members: husbands, wives, children, grandchildren, parents, and so forth. But it does not stop there. That is only the beginning. It reaches out from there to our friends, to our fellow congregation members, to the people with whom we work, to our neighbors, and to the strangers we meet in our daily lives. Yes, this means actually talking to others about Jesus Christ and His great salvation.
Our privilege as Christians is to identify and recognize opportunities to tell others the good news about Jesus. And then, having recognized and identified those opportunities, ours is the privilege and responsibility of actually doing it-telling the good news about Jesus.
Telling the Good News about Jesus: our great privilege as Christians
Where does telling the good news about Jesus begin?
It begins with our personal thankfulness for the salvation that is ours in Jesus Christ. Each of us daily sins much and because of that, if left to ourselves, we deserve nothing but God's wrath and eternal damnation. And so does everyone in the world who has not come into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.
But thanks be to God, something miraculous happened in your life! So great is the Father's love for all humanity that He sent His precious Son into this world, to obey God perfectly, and to suffer and die for your sins and the sins of the whole world. Because of Jesus Christ, each and every one of your sins has been washed away. You are cleansed, pardoned, and given the peace that passes all human understanding.
Of all the blessings that God will ever give you in your life, without a doubt the greatest one of all is the forgiveness that is Yours in Jesus Christ, and with that forgiveness, the promise that when you die you will spend all eternity with the Lord in heaven. Thanks be to God for His mercy!
Telling the Good News about Jesus: our great privilege as Christians
What do we do with the good news of Jesus?
God has not given us this great salvation merely for us to content ourselves with it, and to stick it away and treasure it privately. He has given us this great salvation and then called each one of us to a life of being His witnesses. He gave us this great salvation to rejoice in, to live in and to share - yes, and to share with others! He wants us to bring many others into His church, where they, too, will receive the blessings of God's Word and Sacraments, where they, too, will be made part of God's people - part of His own dear children. And what is more, God has promised that as we do, He will bless. For this fact, too, we have every reason to thank and to praise the Lord.
Telling the Good News about Jesus: our great privilege as Christians
The first president of our church, Dr. C.F.W Walther made this extremely important point:
"Another major duty of a Synod that wants to be and remain an Evangelical Lutheran Synod is that it not seek its own glory; but only the glory of God, being intent not so much on its own growth, but rather on the growth of Christ's kingdom and the salvation of souls. You see, dear brethren, we are assembled here not for our own sake. We are in the faith, and by this faith we hope to be saved! But there are still many millions who have no faith! This is why we are here-so that we might bring salvation to as many people as we possibly can, so that the sad situation in Christendom and the corruption of the poor, blind heathen might be remedied. Only for this reason does our gracious God allow Christians to live on earth, that they might bring others to the saving faith. Otherwise God would immediately take a Christian to heaven as soon as he is converted."1
Telling the Good News about Jesus: our great privilege as Christians
Isn't evangelism just the pastor's job?
Evangelism is one of the pastor's important duties, but evangelism is not only the pastor's responsibility. Every Christian, through Baptism, is given the privilege of declaring the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).
Whenever we speak the Gospel, it is an actual communication of the forgiveness of sins. Telling the good news about Jesus to another person is not merely a casual conversation, nor is it merely expressing pious wishes. When we share with others the good news of Jesus, we are actually conveying to them the forgiveness of sins, for that is what the Gospel is all about. When the Gospel is presented, God the Holy Spirit is present to work faith in the hearts of those who hear it.
Pastors and lay people work together in the great task of making disciples of all nations, as together they tell the good news of Jesus. Together they work to make their congregations places where visitors feel welcome and places that have as a priority reaching out boldly with the Gospel. Hand in hand, pastors and congregations tell the good news about Jesus!
Telling the Good News about Jesus: our great privilege as Christians
What is the starting place for telling the good news about Jesus?
It begins with our love for others. Love always takes an interest in the good of our neighbor, our friend, our family member, without trying to figure out what we will receive in return. God's love is poured out into our hearts and overflows into the lives of others. God doesn't need our good works, but our neighbors, our friends, and our family members certainly do.
Once we recognize how great is our own personal salvation and the enormous love of the Father's heart in saving us, we recognize that this love can remove barriers that stand in the way of our outreach to others. Barriers include apathy on our part and antagonism on the part of those with whom we speak. When we tell the good news of Jesus, following up that witness with love and kindness, there is something here that makes people pause and consider just what it is that makes Christians unique. It can lead people to ask, "What do you have? I need it!"
How do we respond to our neighbor's question? We answer by telling the good news about Jesus. We explain that because of sin we are separated from God, but God loves us so much that He sent a Savior into this world to bring us back to Himself. The Bible says, "Always be ready to answer anyone who asks you to explain the hope you have, but be gentle and respectful" (1 Peter 3:15). Telling the saving Gospel is the greatest service any Christian can perform for a neighbor, or family member, or even the most casual stranger.
Telling the Good News about Jesus: our great privilege as Christians
Isn't it rude for me to impose my beliefs on another person?
Telling the good news about Jesus is certainly not rude, though the way we go about it might be. That we must avoid. The best way to tell the good news about Jesus is to do so gently and kindly. Telling the good news about Jesus is not "imposing our beliefs on another person:' We need to shake ourselves free from the myth of our day that all beliefs are equally true, and one is no better than the other. We do respect the beliefs of others, but we can't give them "equal time" when it comes to the question of where that person is going to spend all eternity.
Telling the good news of Jesus is more than merely "sharing my opinions:" It is actually giving another person the Word of Life - the powerful, faith-creating Word of God by which God brings that person into His kingdom. So, telling the good news of Jesus is not rude, it is the most wonderful gift you could give to another human being.
Telling the Good News about Jesus: our great privilege as Christians
What can be done to prepare ourselves to tell others about Jesus?
To witness about Jesus we need to be strongly in the Word and Sacraments. In so doing, we are kept by the Lord in constant contact with the power and strength for witnessing, our Lord Jesus Himself. Receiving forgiveness and peace, we then are able to share it with others.
Turning to the Lord in prayer is the next thing we do when we wish to tell the good news about Jesus. Just imagine how much better we will be able to recognize opportunities to tell the good news about Jesus when we ask our heavenly Father to show them to us and then pray for the courage to speak. When we ask for open doors to tell the good news, we will be amazed to notice how doors are open and just waiting for us to walk through, telling the good news about Jesus!
Suggested Resources
Excellent resources having to do with our church's emphasis on telling the good news about Jesus may be found on the Internet at:
www.lcms.org.
1. Walther, Essays for the Church. (CPH; 1992) 11:262.
What About Confession and Absolution?
Are we poor, miserable sinners?
Jesus' parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18:9-14 confronts each of us with an important question: Am I a poor, miserable sinner?
The Pharisee in the parable is not alone. We too are often unaware of our sinfulness, or don't want to admit it. How easy it is for us self-righteously to compare ourselves with others. Thanks be to God, that the second man, the tax collector, is not alone either! Jesus Christ is with him. When Jesus calls, sinners come. They receive His forgiveness, life, and salvation. And thus, we too say, "Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner," for Jesus is the friend of sinners. The precious gift of our Lord's absolution is what confession is all about.
In confession and absolution, Jesus Christ, who poured out his life-blood as the perfect and complete sacrifice for all sin, pours into our ears the life-giving promise of absolution, "My son, my daughter, go in peace, your sins are forgiven:" Trusting that promise, we say, "Amen. Yes, Lord, it is true." Thanks be to God!
What is confession?
Confession has two parts: First, that we confess our sins, and second, that we receive absolution, that is, forgiveness, from the pastor as from God Himself not doubting, but firmly believing that by it our sins are forgiven before God in heaven.1.
It is hard to say, "I was wrong. I am sorry, forgive me." God's Word makes it clear that the "wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). In confession and absolution, God's Word is having its way with us, moving us to confess the truth about ourselves and our need for His forgiveness.
Because of Jesus Christ, confession and absolution is a blessed, joyful, happy exchange! "For our sake He made Him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor. 5:21). When Jesus hung on the cross, He became sin-for us. He was the ransom for sin. God poured out His just wrath on Christ. Christ won peace between God and man. In confession, Christ takes the burden of our sin and gives us in exchange His complete forgiveness and love. Absolution is the ongoing work of Holy Baptism, in which our old, sinful nature in Adam is drowned and the new man in Christ arises. Through Holy Absolution we receive "the gift of God," which is forgiveness of sins and "eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 6:23).
What About Confession and Absolution?
What sins should we confess?
Before God we should plead guilty of all sins, even those we are not aware of as we do in the Lord's Prayer; but before the pastor we should confess only those sins which we know and feel in our hearts. Which are these? Consider your place in life according to the Ten Commandments: Are you a father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife, or worker? Have you been disobedient, unfaithful, or lazy? Have you been hot-tempered, rude, or quarrelsome? Have you hurt someone by your words or deeds? Have you stolen, been negligent wasted anything or done any harm?
Confessing our sins in the Divine Service, we hear the Lord's servant, our pastor, absolve our sins in the name of Christ. Privately, we go to the pastor for confession and absolution precisely for those sins we are most aware of and those sins that are particularly troubling to us. These we confess to our pastor and hear the words of Christ, ~ forgive you:'
By what authority does the church forgive sins?
The Office of the Keys is that special authority which Christ has given to His church on earth to forgive the sins of repentant sinners, but to withhold forgiveness from the unrepentant as long as they do not repent.
After His resurrection from the dead and before His ascension into heaven, our Lord Jesus Christ breathed on His apostles and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven" (John 20:22-23).
Sometimes visitors in a Lutheran service of worship are surprised to hear in the general confession and absolution our pastors saying:
"Upon this your confession, I, as a called and ordained servant of the Word, announce the grace of God to all of you, and in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
Our Lutheran Confessions help us to understand why our pastors speak this way:
"It is not the voice or word of the man who speaks it, but it is the Word of God, who forgives sin, for it is spoken in God's stead and by God's command" (AC XXV3).
Absolution is the Lord's life-giving, sure and certain word that does for us what no surgery, medicine, therapy, counseling, or advice can do for us. The Lord's word of absolution doesn't cover up or hide our sin. Nor does it give us only a temporary relief that soon fades away. Our Lord's word of absolution reconciles us to God the Holy Trinity.
Luther put matters well when he wrote, "It would be far too great for any human heart to dare to desire if God Himself had not commanded us to ask for it. But because He is God, He claims the honor of giving far more abundantly and liberally than anyone can comprehend like an eternal, inexhaustible fountain which, the more it gushes forth and overflows, the more it continues to give. He desires of us nothing more ardently than that we ask many and great things of Him; and, on the contrary, He is angered if we do not ask and demand confidently" (Large Catechism).