Lutheran Answers is a multimedia endeavor that seeks to honestly answer people's questions about Christianity from the historic Lutheran perspective. Newsletters specifically seek to be insightful, fun, and easy to read.
T-Minus 2 Weeks to New Episodes!
Just 0 Days Until New EpisodesHappy Advent 2, Reader! I hope you had a wonderful day at church (if you went today). Today at Christus Victor we had a Chrismon service where all the children decorated the tree with various icons and symbols, and we heard scripture readings and explanations of them. I'll get to the reflection in a bit, but first I wanted to let you know about our Patreon! One of the things I've been hearing from everyone is that Patreon is the easiest way for you to support Lutheran Answers! So I went ahead and got one set up. There are various tiers available that have a range of benefits from early episode access to merch discounts, a group chat and more! Feel free to go check it out. Advent 2 Reflection“
Surely the day is coming, burning like an oven; all the proud, yes, all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming will burn them up, says the Lord of Hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. You will go out and grow up like calves from the stall. And you will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I do this, says the Lord of Hosts. Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, the statutes and judgments which I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. See, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreaded day of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.
Advent is the season before Christmas. It's a preparatory season in which we ready our hearts and minds for the coming of Christ Jesus. People look at me like I'm crazy whenever I bring this up, but I think Advent would make Christmas that much more joyous if we celebrated it in a Lenten fashion - with fear and trembling. So I had a bit of a chuckle when today's lectionary reading for the OT included this bit from Malachi. The day of the Lord (the day God comes to the earth) is like a burning oven, and the proud and evildoers (hint: that's everyone) will be like stubble thrown into the oven. Consumed, burned up, no more. Seems like an odd choice for Christmas, but I don't think it's an odd choice for Advent. I think it's very fitting. I think we should all, during this advent season, be shaking, running in fear. The Lord God, The Fear of Isaac (Gen. 31:42), is coming to earth to meet mankind. Man, who lives in constant sin, whose every thought is evil, who lives at enmity with God, who is dead in sin. The Lord God, Perfect and Holy, Judge of the Universe and King of Creation, is coming down to walk among those He Himself calls His enemies (Rm. 5:10). We should all be afraid. We should be praying that the mountains fall down on us and crush us, for it is preferable for sinful man to be buried and destroyed under the rubble of the earth than for us dead men to fall into the hands of the Living God. Natural man fears the arrival of God, for it is the arrival of his judgement, condemnation, and death. And Yet, How Does Our God Come To Us?As a baby - completely innocent, absolutely harmless, entrusting Himself entirely to the care of His most blessed mother and his father. “
The rainbow will appear in the cloud, and I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.
He comes to us not in judgement and condemnation, bringing us deserved eternal death, but in Mercy and Love, bringing with Himself life - and life everlasting. So complete and effective is His work of Salvation, that God looks down upon us from heaven and sees only His promise to be merciful towards us: "There was a rainbow around the throne [...]" (Revelation 4:3). He has structured His throne such that He must look through His covenant of Grace to look upon us! In the Incarnation, God did not pour out His judgement and wrath upon us, but rather He poured out His judgement and wrath upon Jesus in our place, that He might pour out His mercy, grace, and peace upon us! Blessed be the name of the Lord! Make no mistake: We are sinful creatures, all of us. We all deserve to be thrown into the furnace, to be burned up like stubble and reduced to ash. But we serve a merciful and loving God. He is not content to let us die. |
Lutheran Answers
Lutheran Answers is a multimedia endeavor that seeks to honestly answer people's questions about Christianity from the historic Lutheran perspective. Newsletters specifically seek to be insightful, fun, and easy to read.
Lutheran Answers Your Questions, Answered Thoughts on Catechesis. This summer quarter at ALTS we're studying catechesis with Pr. Jon Holst. Catechesis is a fancy (Greek: κατήχησις) word for teaching people the Christian faith. In the early days of the Christian church, when Christianity was still illegal in the Roman Empire, new converts to Christianity not only needed to be taught the Christian faith, but thoroughly vetted for their intention - as there were many Jewish and Roman spies who...
23 November 23 Psalm 136 “ Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever. — Psalm 136:1-3 This is such a wonderful Psalm, especially today. I'm sure I could spend time (and much digital ink) on the common refrain, "His Love Endures Forever." Instead, though, I would like to meditate on some of the pieces of this Psalm and how they apply to us directly. Verses...
Lutheran Answers November 12th, 2023 Weekly Reflection How often in life do we find ourselves confronted by the evils of this world in a very personal way? Sure, there is the obvious evil like Hamas, school shooters, and other nightly headlines. But what about the personal evils? What do you do when a coworker has decided that they don't like you and are going to go out of their way to get you demoted or fired? What do you do when someone in your social circle has decided that they're going...