August  2010

Here’s an important question for your thoughtful consideration. Why are you a member of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod? What is so distinctive about a Confessional Lutheran Church such as Immanuel Augsburg when compared to many of the other denominations in our community, as well as throughout our nation and around the world? The answer is really quite simple. Our Christian identity rests fully dependent upon the inerrant and unchanging Word of God. When Jesus, that very Word made flesh, promised to “be with us always, even to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20), He would make His presence known among us through His Church where we partake of His immeasurable grace in Word and Sacrament.  

Sadly, the centrality of what God gives to us in Word and Sacrament is completely ignored by many churches today. Our present day culture is largely dominated by those rapidly growing churches where the faithful preaching of God’s Word (Law and Gospel) has fallen prey to a “feel good” theology where salvation rests in the subjective experiences of the worshipper. BEWARE! Salvation is not about what we’re feeling. Salvation is not a product of what we do. It’s about what Christ did for us upon the cross. Christ would come into the world because those who were trapped in their sins could do nothing! We could never come to Him. As sinners, we stood dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1), those iniquities in which we were first conceived (Psalm 51:5). That’s you and me. That’s all of us, without exception. Holy Scripture makes it clear, for “all had sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Holy Scripture also makes something else quite clear. It is the responsibility of every pastor to preach Christ crucified and Christ risen, and nothing else, “lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power” (1 Corinthians 1:17a). Any preacher that fails to emphasize the life, death and resurrection of our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ when he takes to the pulpit does a great disservice to the congregation. Our total dependency upon the atoning work of Jesus Christ for our eternal salvation cannot be minimized, and it must never be ignored. We may watch with awe as some other congregations grow rapidly in size. Worshippers may delight in those messages that are chock full of amusing anecdotes, whimsical tales and motivational instruction. However, absent of Word and Sacrament, what is being received amounts to little more than spiritual “junk food”. We need a steady diet of what only Christ can and does provide. Jesus Himself would remind us that “apart from me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5b).

Relying solely upon the Word of God, we gather in His presence where He awaits us with His gifts. As baptized children of God, we take our delight in His Word and Sacrament. We need know nothing else, for nothing else is required. Knowing that we have been saved by grace alone through faith alone (Ephesians 2:9), we raise our voices in hymns of praise and prayers of thanksgiving for His great mercy. To enter into His presence each week and honor Him in our distinctly Lutheran manner is only right and indicative of our unchanging God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who remains the same yesterday, today and forever.

Pastor Bruce