Dear friends in Christ,
We continue our survey of Church History from the book of Professor E.A.W. Krauss from our St. Louis seminary of a century ago. This month we continue our look how God richly used His servant, C.F.W. Walther to solidify a confessional Lutheran church body in America. This month we read of Walther in his church.
44.3. [Part 7] Dr. C. Ferd. W. Walther
[Walther’s Work]
We … go, in spirit, to the end of the life of this witness of Christ and briefly survey what became of the humble beginnings of that small church organization; and, in particular, what good the Lutheran Church experienced from the Lord by Walther’s service.
It may be useful to do this in connection with the statistical notice in the American Calendar for German Lutherans for 1888. In its “Ecclesiastical Review” of the events of 1887, the blessed departure of Dr. Walther on 07 May 1887 at 5.30 in the evening is, of course, prominently noted. The golden pastoral Jubilee that, by God’s grace, Walther had still been able to celebrate on 16 January of that year had also been previously mentioned.
Until his end, Walther remained the pastor of the joint Lutheran congregation in St. Louis. He was chosen as pastor of the Lutheran congregation in St. Louis on 08 February 1841 after his older brother, Otto Hermann, fell asleep in Christ on 21 January. He gave his inaugural sermon on Jubilate Sunday [The Third Sunday After Easter]. After a great struggle, he brought rest to the congregation from the restless separatist spirits. After a plan for the congregation and for elders was outlined and discussed, his preaching and doctrinal discussion in the congregational assemblies had so inwardly strengthened the congregation that, even though it was still very poor, it joyfully proceeded in building a church. The leadership of the Episcopal church (Christ Church), in whose basement they worshipped, began causing them problems, so the 325 souls began building and (Old) Trinity Church was consecrated on 04 December 1842, the Second Sunday in Advent. By 1849 the congregation had grown to 944 souls. In that year, Walther was called as professor and president of the seminary for preachers that moved to St. Louis from Altenburg, MO.
The congregation decided it could only grant him a peaceful release from his call if, at the same time, he could still remain its pastor. It was agreed that he would preach as pastor 13 times a year, attend the meetings of the congregation and its leaders and have oversight of the congregation.
This resolution essentially stayed in place for many years. Later, when one Lutheran congregation after another was formed in St. Louis, Walther took turns preaching in four different churches on the appointed Sunday and Festival Days. When Walther died there were nine larger and smaller congregations.
Sermon collections were published both during Walther’s lifetime and afterwards. They give sufficient testimony as to what kind of preacher Walther was. I only point out one thing here. As head of Concordia Seminary, he certainly was careful when he preached so that even here he would be an example to the future shepherds of the congregations. Never, not even once, did his sermons offend by using an improper expression. His speech was always precise but never forced; his speech effective, but not showy.... Blessed Dr. Walther also put in effort and hard work into his sermons, but he used them chiefly for the correct purpose: to proclaim, both in a very definitive and clear way for all and also in a very arousing and urgent way, the whole counsel of God for our salvation, so that even the unwise might become wise and the fools be shown the right path. His goal was to make the various truths of the Christian faith and life understandable, powerful and comforting to all hearers. In every sermon one notices: the man speaks in the name of and by God’s command; he knows that his testimony is truth, that it is spirit and life. He does not preach himself but Christ, the Crucified and Risen. He does not seek his own glory but, from his whole heart and soul and with all his strength, the glory of Christ and the eternal salvation of his hearers. The address with which Walther welcomed new members coming into the congregation made it to them that he cared about this. The heartfelt, fervent prayers with which he used to open the assemblies of the voting members of the parish also testify of this.
So far Professor Krauss
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NOTES ON THE LITURGY
I’d like to compare the structure of the liturgy of the Divine Service to a two-peaked mountain, one of whose peak is the sermon, the second the Sacrament of the Altar, without which I cannot complete a Divine Service. In the Divine Service we climb ever higher than heaven itself. That is my thought. Take it and consider it. Let it evoke in you an ever deeper and greater love of the Sacrament. Let it give you such a longing that you cannot be without the Sacrament, that the Sacrament would be your greatest earthly happiness, that after receiving it your entire life would be nothing but a communion in the cup of thanksgiving.
Pastor Wilhelm Loehe—Selected Writings on the Church Year and Christian Life pg. 57
The church’s song is not a form of amusement. It is the way she gives voice on earth to the eternal praise, which continually resounds, in the very courts of heaven. Christians have discovered through the ages that psalms, hymns and liturgy linger in the heart when sung than when spoken. With these songs on our lips, we move from public prayer in the church to private prayer at home and then to daily work. The surroundings change; the song remains the same. And thus our life together, our life alone, and our life in the world becomes one great liturgy; from the Father through the Son in the Spirit and then back again.
Pastor Harold Senkbeil—Dying to Live: The Power of Forgiveness, CPH
WITNESSING
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9 (ESV)
Must we [like the Jehovah’s Witnesses] go to the doors of people and openly push the Gospel on them so that we ourselves can come into heaven? No, that would be the wrong motivation to do mission work. St. Peter gives the correct motive for speaking about God. Before the Jewish council in Jerusalem that wanted to forbid him to preach, Peter said: “For we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” [Acts 4:20 (ESV)] Peter and the other disciples could do nothing else than to speak of their wonderful experiences that they had with Jesus. This urged them to confess their faith openly. To great and too powerful was the miracle of their own redemption for them not to speak of it.
When we consider what is given to us, how can we then be silent? The preaching of Christ must go out into the world. This not only happens by pastors and full-time missionaries. Each Christian has the right to announce the message of Christ. In fact, not only the right but also the duty. All of us are sent into the world to preach the word in our place in life. Peter wrote in his first Epistle: But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. [1 Peter 2:9 (ESV)] Let us speak! The word which penetrated our hearts will now again go out into the world through our mouths.
Lord, preserve us in the faith through the word of reconciliation and let us gladly confess it before the world. Amen.
[By Pastor Joerg Kubitschek in God Is For Us 19 February 2019]
TRINITY SUNDAY IS 16 June THIS YEAR.
On this Sunday we boldly and proudly proclaim this main doctrine of Christianity—that there is one God but three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Please be sure to review this creed this week leading up to Trinity Sunday that you may boldly and with knowledge and feeling confess it on 16 June.
The Athanasian Creed
Whoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the catholic faith.
Whoever does not keep it whole and undefiled will without doubt perish eternally.
And the catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the substance.
For the Father is one person, the Son is another, and the Holy Spirit is another.
But the Godhead of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is one: the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.
Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit:
the Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, the Holy Spirit uncreated;
the Father infinite, the Son infinite, the Holy Spirit infinite;
the Father eternal, the Son eternal, the Holy Spirit eternal.
And yet there are not three Eternals, but one Eternal,
just as there are not three Uncreated or three
Infinites, but one Uncreated and one Infinite.
In the same way, the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, the Holy Spirit almighty; and yet there are not three Almighties, but one Almighty.
So the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God;
and yet there are not three Gods, but one God.
So the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord;
and yet there are not three Lords, but one Lord.
Just as we are compelled by the Christian truth to acknowledge each distinct person as God and Lord, so also are we prohibited by the catholic religion to say that there are three Gods or Lords.
The Father is not made nor created nor begotten by anyone.
The Son is neither made nor created, but begotten of the Father alone.
The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son, neither made nor created nor begotten, but proceeding.
Thus, there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits.
And in this Trinity none is before or after another; none is greater or less than another;
but the whole three persons are coeternal with each other and coequal, so that in all things, as has been stated above, the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity is to be worshiped.
Therefore, whoever desires to be saved must think thus about the Trinity.
But it is also necessary for everlasting salvation that one faithfully believe the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, it is the right faith that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is at the same time both God and man.
He is God, begotten from the substance of the Father before all ages; and He is man, born from the substance of His mother in this age: perfect God and perfect man, composed of a rational soul and human flesh;
equal to the Father with respect to His divinity, less than the Father with respect to His humanity.
Although He is God and man, He is not two, but one Christ:
one, however, not by the conversion of the divinity into flesh, but by the assumption of the humanity into God;
one altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person.
For as the rational soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ, who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead, ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father, God Almighty, from whence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
At His coming all people will rise again with their bodies and give an account concerning their own deeds.
And those who have done good will enter into eternal life, and those who have done evil into eternal fire.
This is the catholic faith; whoever does not believe it faithfully and firmly cannot be saved.
Who is St. Athanasius after whom the Athanasian Creed is named?
“Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” 2 Timothy 4:2
Athanasius must have appreciated these words of encouragement that Saint Paul had forwarded to Timothy, for his ministry seemed to be out of season as often as it was in season. While serving as leader of the church at Alexandria, Egypt, for almost half of the fourth century, Athanasius was exiled five different times and almost murdered twice. This happened all because he insisted on teaching what the apostolic church had always taught: that Jesus Christ is true God.
The fourth century brought major change in the church. For the first time, Christianity was legalized and became the dominant religion of the Roman Empire. This new status, however, brought with it unexpected problems. Beginning with Constantine, each Roman emperor took such a personal interest in the church that often its teachings reflected the ideas of whoever was in power at the time. And if an emperor was not an orthodox believer, only the brave or foolhardy would try to defend true apostolic doctrine. At times, heresy flourished.
Athanasius was one such “fool.” The emperor at the time followed the teachings of a certain Arius, an Egyptian priest who taught that Jesus was a creation of God and not fully divine, that the Son was neither true God nor eternal. Athanasius was one of the few who spoke out. The title of one of his works, written in exile, tells the story: “Alone against the World.”
No matter who was emperor, Athanasius continued to preach and teach Jesus Christ as true God, who came into the world as a man to suffer and die to pay the price of our redemption. Athanasius wrote that Jesus “did not come to make a display of his glory. He came to heal. . . . For this is his glory, this the miracle of his divinity, that he changed our sufferings for his happiness. For being life, he died that we may be made alive.”
Athanasius was faithfully alive in Jesus. His faith lives on in his writings, which were widely circulated and are still greatly prized. Centuries later, a monk advised, “If you find a book by Athanasius and have no paper on which to copy it, write it on your shirt.”
The faith of Saint Athanasius is reflected in the Athanasian Creed, named in his honor, though he did not write it. Traditionally spoken in the church on Trinity Sunday, this creed reflects the faith that Athanasius defended throughout and with his life. It states, in part, “But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one: the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.” The last-written of the three major ecumenical creeds, it patiently and carefully confesses the doctrine of the Trinity, which is at the heart of orthodox Christian belief. An example of courageous faith for all times, Athanasius died peacefully in 373, finally restored to his church office at Alexandria.
Prayer: Strengthen us, Lord, so that we keep our confession whole and undefiled. Help us to worship the Trinity faithfully and firmly, holding the right faith to the end. In the name of Jesus, our incarnate Savior. Amen.
Devotional reading and prayer are from Saints and Angels All Around, pages 24–26 © 1996 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
During the Sundays after Trinity, we will review each week during the Divine Service a portion of Luther’s Small Catechism. You are encouraged to use the catechism reading at home as part of your daily devotions. This way we will all become familiar once again with the basic teachings of our holy Christian faith. You are also invited to join us for a study of the catechism each Sunday morning at 9.45.
The following is a portion of Luther’s comments on Psalm 4. Notice he points out that the basic doctrine in the catechism is interwoven throughout the psalm. It does us well when we read Scripture to look for it in the passages we read.
Psalm 4 is a psalm of comfort, and at the same time a psalm of prayer and instruction that teaches us to trust in God when things go wrong. It rebukes the ungodly, who concern themselves over vain gods and fleshly comfort, yet will not bear to wait confidently for God, who is the highest comfort. God surprises us by how He deals with His saints. At first, He abandons them and tries their faith and patience. On the other hand are the ungodly who want to have a full and secure belly. If anyone talks to them about faith and patience, they mock and despise Him and say, “Can this fool tell us what is good? Yes, you be patient until a roast chicken flies into your mouth. Trust in that and you will starve!”
This psalm belongs to the First Commandment. It teaches and urges us to hope in God and endure hardship and every need with patience, and it rebukes the faithless and impatient. Psalm 4 is included in the Third and Seventh Petitions, in which we pray that God’s will be done and that we be delivered from evil. It can also be in the Fourth Petition, when we ask for our daily bread, that is, for peace and all the necessities of life in the face of every earthly need.
Devotional reading is from Reading the Psalms with Luther, pages 20–21 © 2007 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved.
27 JUNE 1525: LUTHER’S WEDDING DAY: When Martin and Katharina were married at the parish church door in Wittenberg on June 27, 1525, he was age 42 and she age 26. Although they probably felt no romantic attraction for one another (Katharina actually proposed to Luther via his friend Nicholas von Amsdorf), their common devotion to a common Lord also gave them a deep commitment to each other.
Luther had a number of affectionate nicknames for his early-rising wife, like “Morningstar of Wittenberg.” He teased her by calling her “my lord.” Certainly Katharina deserved some such title, for their home, the renovated Black Cloister of the Augustinian Order in Wittenberg, would have given the ideal housewife of Proverbs 31 a run for her money. She not only ran the “extended” household, which at times numbered as many as twenty-five, but managed their own brewery, stables, fish pond, vegetable garden, and small farm as well.
On the other hand, he could, in genuine warmth, refer to her as “my rib.” In a marriage sermon based on Ephesians 5, Luther said a man should not consider his wife “a rag on which to wipe his feet; and, indeed, she was not created from a foot but from a rib in the center of man’s body, so that the man is to regard her not otherwise than his own body and flesh” (This Is Luther, 257).
She always called him “Doctor,” and used the polite form “Sie” rather than the familiar “Du.” Perhaps she was responding, tongue-in-cheek, to his “my lord.” More likely she held deep respect for one who, though her dear husband, was also uniquely singled out by the Lord to bring renewal to His church and one whom she had double reason to honor.
Devotional reading is adapted from Who Was Martin Luther?, pages 49–52 © 2017 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved.
FROM OUR MISSOURI SYNOD STEWARDSHIP DEPARTMENT:
Some disciples of John the Baptist were questioning him about the baptism and preaching of Jesus. Many disciples were going to Jesus instead of John the Baptist.
John the Baptist answers: “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven” (John 3:27).
John the Baptist says this to show that Jesus, His teaching, and His baptism are from heaven. God provides everything we have in body and soul.
We are taught this in the meaning of the Apostles’ Creed in the Small Catechism.
In the First Article of the Creed, we learn that God has made us and everything in the universe.
“He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life. He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil. All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.”
In the Second Article of the Creed, we learn that God sent His Son, Jesus, to humble Himself by taking the form of a servant.
In so doing, He “has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity.”
In the Third Article of the Creed, we learn that the fruits of what Jesus Christ, the Son of God, did are given to us through the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church.
“That I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ.”
Indeed, “a person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.”
But how easy is this for us to forget? How easy is it for us to think that what we have in life is because we have earned it?
How easy is it for us to forget that all our skills – the abilities of our hands and minds, the ethic to work diligently, and the desire to improve – is given to us from heaven, just as John the Baptist said?
How easy is it for us to forget that it is Christ alone, and the work of the Holy Spirit, that reveals His salvation to us, delivers it to us, and that none of this is our doing?
Sure, we have responsibility for coming to church, for delving into God’s Holy Word, and for praying without ceasing.
But even these responsibilities are given to us from heaven. These duties are not earned; they are given in response to what He has accomplished for us.
Everything we have, and everything we are – in both body and soul – are gifts from God in heaven.
Let us then respond in thanksgiving and give back to Him as He asks – with a first-fruits, generous proportion offering of what He has given to us.
Pentecost’s Promise
Jesus’ resurrection indeed glows with rays of love and hope. Pentecost’s Promise inspires every believer with confidence that God is with us, today and forever.
Our Creator’s consistency is remarkable. He formed the universe and planet for all people. His design’s unmatched grandeur and beauty is evident everywhere, as is His infinite kindness. For sure, breathing life’s breath in all living things proves a most compelling promise.
Perfection fashioned humans as the Crown of Creation, caretakers living in freedom. One limitation was communicated. “Don’t eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” The warning’s intent was to keep us from the effects of disharmony, loneliness, inequity, immorality and wickedness. Human adherence to this command with every pass of the tree honored the God who had made it. Yet disobedience entered the world and with disobedience came death.
Sadly, we eat the forbidden fruit like our first parents did. Willfully disregarding the promises God gave, we fail to recognize the utter depravity in our nature. Rescue could not come from within us. Our deliverance had to be in our Savior, Jesus, given to us.
A promise of deliverance was given just as humans were banished from that temporal Paradise. Perfect Love couldn’t allow His Crown (humans) to live forever in horrible conditions of death. The history of God’s plan to rescue the world in Jesus is the purpose for which the universe was made.
No other God among gods entered human form to live among us, suffer the sacrifice of death to pay the price demanded of perfection gone wrong, fulfilling all prophesies and promises. Easter is documented proof that Jesus is God in flesh. His power over sin, death and the devil opened the way for us to live in the knowledge and doing of His will. That power comes to us by the Spirit.
Pentecost’s Promise gives comfort that God is with us always. Pentecost’s Promise gives us power from the Spirit of our Living God and the gift of faith to believe. We can now reflect His image, so others will know too. Does your life, and end of life planning, reflect Pentecost’s Promise?
Contact Robert Wirth, LCMS Foundation Gift Planner @ robert.wirth@lfnd.org or 716-863-4427 to learn how a trusted guide can encourage you to plan and direct your passion to give to loved ones and cherished ministries so others might know that the Promise of Pentecost is real.
Listen to KFUO.org, the broadcast arm of the LCMS, as we share Christ for you anytime, anywhere via worship services, Bible and theology studies, practical talk programs, and sacred music. You can find programs on demand at kfuo.org and wherever you get your podcasts! Find us on social: @KFUOradio on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
This week on KFUO.org, we remember all those who have fought for our freedom during this Memorial Day Holiday. Study the Truth in Genesis 29-31 on Sharper Iron with Rev. Jonathan Fisk and guest pastors (Tu-Fr at 8:00 a.m. CT), learn about service opportunities with the Lutheran Young Adult Corps Volunteer on The Coffee Hour (5/30 at 9:00 a.m. CT), and dig into John 16-20 on Thy Strong Word with Rev. AJ Espinosa and guest pastors (weekdays at 11:00 a.m. CT). Find these programs on demand at kfuo.org!
PREMIER CONFERENCE FOR LUTHERAN LAITY...You're invited to attend the Issues, Etc. "Making the Case" Conference Friday, June 7 and Saturday, June 8 at Concordia University Chicago. Topics include: Why the Public Square Needs Christianity, Joyfully Lutheran, The Lord's Supper, The Hippocratic Oath, Progressivism, Planned Parenthood, Liberal vs. Liberal Arts Education and Christian Hope. Speakers include: Matt Harrison, Ross Douthat, Hans Fiene, Matt Walsh, Carol Tobias, Jonathan Fisk, Wesley Smith, Tom Korcok and Will Weedon. Registration is $125 and includes three meals. Child care is free thanks to Lutheran Church Extension Fund's sponsorship. For more information, visit www.issuesetc.org or call (618) 223-8385.
Listen to KFUO.org, the broadcast arm of the LCMS, as we share Christ for you anytime, anywhere via worship services, Bible and theology studies, practical talk programs, and sacred music. You can find programs on demand at kfuo.org and wherever you get your podcasts! Find us on social: @KFUOradio on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
This week on KFUO.org, we move from the Gospel of John into the book of Numbers on Thy Strong Word with host Rev. AJ Espinosa and guest pastors (weekdays at 11:00 a.m. CT), study the Truth in Genesis 31-34 on Sharper Iron (weekdays at 8:00 a.m. CT), and hear God's Word in scripture and hymns during Daily Chapel broadcast live from the LCMS IC at 10:00 a.m. CT. Find your favorite programs on demand at kfuo.org!
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