“The Word,” a Martin Luther Quote

In his Second Sermon upon his return to Wittenberg, in response to the radical “reforms” of Karlstadt, Martin Luther said:

Once, when Paul came to Athens (Acts 17 [:16–32]), a mighty city, he found in the temple many ancient altars, and he went from one to the other and looked at them all, but he did not kick down a single one of them with his foot.  Rather he stood up in the middle of the market place and said they were nothing but idolatrous things and begged the people to forsake them; yet he did not destroy one of them by force.  When the Word took hold of their hearts, they forsook them of their own accord, and in consequence the thing fell of itself.  Likewise, if I had seen them holding mass, I would have preached to them and admonished them.  Had they heeded my admonition, I would have won them; if not, I would nevertheless not have torn them from it by the hair or employed any force, but simply allowed the Word to act and prayed for them.  For the Word created heaven and earth and all things [Ps. 33:6]; the Word must do this thing, and not we poor sinners.

In short, I will preach it, teach it, write it, but I will constrain no man by force, for faith must come freely without compulsion.  Take myself as an example.  I opposed indulgences and all the papists, but never with force.  I simply taught, preached, and wrote God’s Word; otherwise I did nothing.  And while I slept [cf. Mark 4:26–29], or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends Philipp and Amsdorf, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that no prince or emperor ever inflicted such losses upon it.  I did nothing; the Word did everything.  Had I desired to foment trouble, I could have brought great bloodshed upon Germany; indeed, I could have started such a game that even the emperor would not have been safe.  But what would it have been?  Mere fool’s play.  I did nothing; I let the Word do its work.  What do you suppose is Satan’s thought when one tries to do the thing by kicking up a row?  He sits back in hell and thinks:  Oh, what a fine game the poor fools are up to now!  But when we spread the Word alone and let it alone do the work, that distresses him.  For it is almighty, and takes captive the hearts, and when the hearts are captured the work will fall of itself.

— The Second Sermon, March 10, 1522, Monday after Invocavit.  [Luther, M. (1999, c1959).  Vol. 51: Luther's works, vol. 51: Sermons I.  (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann, Ed.).  Luther's Works (51:III-78).  Philadelphia: Fortress Press].  Emphasis added.

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”  (Luke 21:33).  Foolish pastors refuse to trust the Word of God, and instead trust the methods of the so-called church Growth Movement.  The church Growth Movement is a foundation of sand.  Instead, we should build on the Rock.  (Matthew 7:24-27).  The Word of the Lord is the Rock that endures forever.

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The Adventures of Lloyd Lutheran

Lloyd Lutheran has a large tumor where it obviously does not belong.  He is in the Doctor’s office being examined.

Doctor:  “I’m sorry to report, but it looks like you have a malignant ‘church growth.’  What have you been eating?”

Lloyd Lutheran:  “Rick Warren sold me some magic beans.  He told me they would cause my church to grow.”

Doctor:  “I’m sorry, but this is the wrong kind of growth.  Only the Word of God can grow the true Church.”

Lloyd Lutheran:  “What does this mean Doc?”

Doctor:  “You need emergency surgery to remove your ‘church growth,’ otherwise you will be dead in six months.  We will need the word of God which is sharper than any known scalpel, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”  (Hebrews 4:12).

Lloyd Lutheran:  “Is it going to hurt?”

Doctor:  “Yes.”

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“Success” by WELS President Schroeder

WELS President Mark Schroeder recently had an article in the February 2009 edition of Forward in Christ entitled: “How Do You Define Success?”  Here are some excerpts from that excellent article:

By most standards, his ministry was not much of a success…

From almost the beginning, he was embroiled in public controversies and disagreements with his coworkers and fellow believers.  He never stayed long in any one congregation.  No matter where he went, there were those who had no use for him and who did all they could to make his life and work miserable.  Often he would leave for his next congregation quickly, painfully aware that not everyone appreciated his efforts.

He never viewed himself as a particularly gifted preacher; he often stated that he was not up to the task in terms of his speaking skills.  He looked at his own personal failures and remarked to himself and others that he was not worthy to be doing this work.  He struggled continually with some kind of ailment that made his life and work difficult.  He never mentioned what it was…

In the end, he died alone, and the world did not much notice.

His was not a very successful ministry—unless you measure “success” in ministry by other standards.  This pastor and missionary who might be judged as a failure by any human standards was the apostle Paul.

Paul would agree that his personal abilities and accomplishments were few and far between.  But he did not—nor should we—measure the success of his ministry in those terms.  This was the man who recognized that the words he preached were not his words; they were the words of God himself.  He recognized that the power of his message was not in himself but in the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  His was a ministry of the cross, proclaiming that God’s way of saving people through the cross, while foolish to the world, was nothing less than the wisdom and power and love of God.

Paul’s purpose was not to meet the “felt needs” of people but to lead them to see their real need: the need for forgiveness and redemption.  His mission was not to make the church grow in terms of numbers; his mission was to pummel hardened sinners with God’s law in all its condemning force and then follow with the precious news of forgiveness in Jesus.  He knew that his role was to plant the seed of the gospel in hearts; others would water it and watch the Holy Spirit make it grow and flourish after he was gone.  His confidence rested in knowing that it was God and God alone who would make it grow.

What kind of pastor do you want to serve as the shepherd of your congregation?  A powerful and dynamic speaker who draws people by the sheer force of his personality?  Someone with fantastic organizational skills?  Someone who is up on all the latest techniques for connecting with people?  Someone who seems to be “successful”?  Or would you prefer someone like the apostle Paul: always preaching Christ, always pointing to the cross, always demonstrating a love for souls by faithful proclamation of law and gospel?

Success, I suppose, all depends on how you define it.

True success is measured by the word of God, and by that standard alone, President Schroeder’s article is a success.

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The Porpoise Driven Life II

The above video is a spoof from Wretched Radio (formerly Way of the Master Radio).  This video is a new version.  To see the original, click here:  Porpoise Driven Life.

John 14:6

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”

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WELS Leadership to Review Practices

Here is an excerpt “From the office of WELS President Mark Schroeder” regarding the new COP resolution on doctrine and practice:
January 19, 2009 A.D.

The Conference of Presidents (COP) held its quarterly face-to-face meeting last week.  Here’s a recap of the most important matters discussed.

• Doctrine and Practice

One of the most important roles of the COP is to oversee doctrine (what we believe and teach) and practice (what we do in applying our beliefs).  When it met, the COP had a lengthy discussion about the importance of retaining our unity in both areas.

Some congregations, in a desire to reach as many people as possible with the gospel, have been considering some new and different approaches and methods, especially in the areas of worship and outreach.  Cautions and concerns have been voiced about some of these trends.  Expressing the commitment to maintain our synod’s faithfulness to the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions, the COP concluded that “the underpinnings of ‘non-traditional’ type of worship cannot be ignored” and that we need to be careful to “walk the ‘narrow Lutheran road’ between legalism—and ignoring and failing to admonish where practices are contrary to or dangerous to the principles of gospel proclamation and the efficacy of the means of grace.”

As a result of this concern, the COP resolved that “an ad hoc committee be convened in consultation with the [COP] doctrine committee that can . . . address this issue and produce a study document that can be shared with circuits and also congregations for study and careful evaluation of practices in worship, sacraments, outreach, organization, music selection, etc.”

****

Please continue to remember the members of the Conference of Presidents in your prayers.  They are God-given leaders who have been entrusted with weighty responsibilities in helping our synod to carry out its mission and to remain faithful to God’s Word and the Lutheran Confessions.

Serving in Christ,
Mark Schroeder

Any practice that runs contrary to the principles of gospel proclamation and the efficacy of the means of grace is a grave threat to our spiritual lives.  In these difficult times, please pray also for President Schroeder, the entire WELS, and the one holy Christian and apostolic Church.  We need God’s help.

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IE Honors WELS President Schroeder

On Friday, November 14, 2008, the nationally renowned Lutheran talk radio program Issues, Etc.™ chose a quote on this blog for their segment Blog of the Week, specifically the November 10 post: “WELS President: Church Growth Q & A.”  The quoted response from President Mark Schroeder is excellent.  Here is the Issues, Etc. clip:

The other blog chosen is a fan made Issues, Etc. video posted on Watt’s What.  Please click here to see that post.

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WELS President: Church Growth Q & A

This question and answer recently appeared on the WELS Q & A website.  Normally the questions are answered anonymously, but this question was answered and signed by WELS President Mark Schroeder:

Q:  I have one grandfather that was an LCMS minister and another was a WELS minister.  I understand the history of their division and I accept the need.  What I fear there is a trend in WELS to follow the same route as LCMS.  In the desire to increase church attendance many WELS congregations are not making a solid doctrinal stand.  Law and Gospel are still present but one must look for it.  Do these same concerns exist at our seminaries and synod offices?

A:  Thank you for your concern about the centrality of Law and Gospel in our preaching and teaching.  God has promised that his Church will endure until Jesus returns again, but he has made no promises that individual church bodies or synods will always be blessed with the pure doctrine.  That is why the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:2 are such an important reminder for our synod:  “Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel which I preached to you and on which you have taken your stand.  By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.  Otherwise, you will have believed in vain.”  In other words, our synod and its congregations will need to be vigilant in holding on to the truth of Scripture and careful to preach solid Law and Gospel boldly and consistently.

I assure you that I share these concerns, and I know that our seminary faculty would say the same.  As we face declining numbers in worship and in church membership, we will want to avoid the temptation to resort to methods or “quick fixes” which rely on something other than the means of grace, which alone can bring people to know their Savior and through which the Holy Spirit will work.  All efforts to increase church attendance and membership need to be carefully evaluated in the light of God’s Word, not on the basis of “what works.”  If we water down the message of Law and Gospel, if we change the message to a generic message that simply tells people what they want to hear (instead of what they need to hear), we will eventually have no gospel message left.  We may fill churches, but the danger is that those churches will be filled with people whose true spiritual needs—the call to repentance and the assurance of full forgiveness in Christ—will not be met.

Please keep our synod, its congregations, and its pastors in your prayers as we address these important matters.  Thank you for your concern.

In Christ,
Mark Schroeder, WELS president
[e-mail:  mark.schroeder[at]sab.wels[dot]net]

The watering down of Law and Gospel in our preaching and teaching is an extremely serious matter.  In these difficult times, please pray also for President Schroeder, all laymen, and the one true Christian Church.  We need God’s help.

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Reformation Sunday 2008 Sermon

On Reformation Sunday 2008 A.D., Pastor Glende preached a sermon about the future of our congregation.  We are 140 years old, and celebrated this milestone with a sermon series about our past, present, and future.  Reformation Sunday’s sermon was about our future.

During the sermon, Pastor asked us to write on two pieces of paper:

• On the first piece of paper, we were supposed to write one thing we would change about our congregation.  So I wrote that our church needed “more Gospel/Jesus.”

• On the second piece of paper we were supposed to write the name of a person we would like to come to our church and an idea for getting them to attend.  So I wrote the name of a friend & “tradition.”  (By “tradition” I meant to say respectful reverent worship of God).  Most of the people in this area and in my circle are Roman Catholic, and while they have expressed sympathy for the Gospel of Jesus Christ they have also expressed deep offense at the way we handle the Lord’s Supper.

Here is the sermon, it is 19 minutes long:

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The Porpoise Driven Life

Here is a video spoof from Way of the Master Radio.

Matthew 11:7

Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John:  “What did you go out into the desert to see?  A reed swayed by the wind?”

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