The Real Wittenberg Door

John 10:9 (ESV)

“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.”

Well the 500^th anniversary of the start of the Reformation is now just two years away.  498 years ago Dr. Martin Luther, troubled by the church’s practice of selling indulgences, wrote a document called “The Ninety-five Theses.”  To make a long story short, these indulgences were pieces of paper that promised forgiveness of sins to the person who purchased it.  Luther strongly objected to the idea that the forgiveness could be bought or sold.  Having written his theses Luther is said to have then posted them on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg.  He did this in order to invite other church theologians to debate the whole issue of indulgences.    In the coming months Luther’s theses were translated into German, reprinted and spread all over the German states.  They proved to be the spark that started the protestant reformation. 

Right now Germany is getting ready to celebrate this anniversary.  Luther sites around Germany and in particular in Wittenberg are in the process of being renovated and renewed.  The expectation is that over the next two years Christian and in particular Lutheran pilgrims will be coming from all over the world to visit these sites.  We here at Trinity are planning to sponsor one such tour next summer for the members of Trinity and our partners in the US.  One sight I am sure many will hope to see is that famous door of the church in Wittenberg.  What they will find however is that the original doors from Luther’s day no longer exist.  They were long ago destroyed by fire and/or war.  In their place are beautiful bronze doors that have all 95 of Luther’s Theses engraved upon them. 

Now I know there are many who lament that the original door is long gone.  I, however think it’s okay that it’s gone.  Because that door is not what the reformation is all about.  The real Wittenberg door of the reformation, the one I believe Martin Luther would want us to focus on is the one described in the words of Jesus from John 10:9.  Jesus points to Himself saying, “I am the door.  If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.”  Jesus is the true door of the reformation, not the one in Wittenberg. Faith in Him alone as the only assurance of salvation is the heart of what Luther sought to preach and teach. Jesus is the heart of the Bible and it’s message.

All the other doors which you and I might try are either fakes or are closed to us.  The forgiveness for sale in the indulgences was a lie.  You and I cannot afford the cost of our sin.  Promising to change, to do better, while laudable, does not in any way make up for your sins or mine. You and I by our efforts cannot undo our guilt.  The fact that we might be a nicer person than our neighbor does not open heaven’s door any wider for you or me.  I remember once trying to get into a church building through what I thought was the front door.  I was told the church would be unlocked.  So I pushed and I pulled and I knocked. The door wouldn’t open. No one answered.  It was really frustrating.  It was also embarrassing when I learned that it wasn’t even a door.  It was just decoration. There was no getting in that way.  The real door was on the other side of the building.

It’s the same with salvation.  You can push and pull on the other doors.  You’ll just get frustrated.  They won’t open.  There is only one door – faith in Jesus. It’s a cross shaped door.  Our Lord was nailed to that door.  Nails were driven through His hands and feet that our sinful debt might be paid in full by Him.  Because He died on that cross and rose again, that door is wide open.  That’s what Jesus did so that your sins and mine might all be forgiven.  Because of Him that forgiveness is free to all who believe in Him.  This is the Gospel message at the heart of the reformation – In Jesus God has opened a doorway to life and salvation that no one can shut.  “I am the door.”  Jesus promises, “If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.”    Yes the original doors from 1517 are long gone.  However the real Wittenberg door still stands.  His name is Jesus.  Because of Him, the way to salvation stands wide open to all.  Jesus invites you to enter through Him.

Reflections on 35 Years of Marriage

“Isaac knew his wife and then he loved her”

Genesis 24:67

As of May 17 of this year Linda and I have been married for 35 years.  Now I know this is a few months late to present this blog but that’s because we waited till now to celebrate that anniversary.  On the days when you see and read this blog Linda and I will be in Italy on a week’s vacation, celebrating our 35 years together.  So I thought it appropriate to take a couple of moments to reflect on God’s blessings in our life together as husband and wife.

The Bible verse I choose for this blog – a portion of Genesis 24:67 – is the text Pastor David Koch preached on at our wedding in Milwaukee.  “Isaac knew his wife and then he loved her.”  Pastor kind of shocked us that day.  He told us that he was sure we thought we loved each other and that he was equally sure that we didn’t… not yet.  He was pretty sure, he told us, that at that point we really had no idea what it meant to love each other but that we would spend a life time together learning.  That’s why he used this text. First Isaac knew his wife… and then he loved her. 

Pastor Koch was so very right.  What we called love at that point in our lives was really the romantic feelings we had for one another.  Loving each other was something we would learn to do as we lived life together as husband and wife. That day we thought we knew each other.  Little did we know how little we really knew!  We have spent a life time getting to know one another. As we have raised children, moved around the country (and now the world) struggled to make ends meet, celebrated birthdays and Christmases, argued with each other, forgave each other, stuck with each other on some difficult days, cried at our parents funerals, celebrated our kids graduations and weddings, held our grandchildren – that’s how we got to know one another.  That’s how we learned what love really is. 

It’s not a feeling.  Too many confuse romantic feelings with love.  Don’t get me wrong.  Those feelings are wonderful.  But you can’t live forever on a honeymoon. If that’s the basis of your marriage, it won’t last.  Far too many get divorced because they don’t “feel” that way anymore.  So they go searching for the “new relationship high” with another person.  Love is what happens as you celebrate, as you are patient, as you are forgiven and as you forgive each other… as you stick with and care for your spouse on the days when you feel like doing just the opposite.

Over time you discover what I have discovered – that God has really blessed me in Linda. For example she knows now to be patient when I am ranting and raving.  She has learned I just need to think some issue through out loud. We love so many of the same things – a nice walk, to travel, to be and play with our grandchildren , to go out for a nice dinner.  I bring Linda out of her shell.  She keeps me from making a fool of myself.   She knew instinctively what our kids needed as children. My gift was when they were teens.  Linda has learned that I love surprises.  I have finally learned that she really does hate them.  She’s good at buying clothes for me.  I have learned to let her buy clothes for herself.

The best part though is Linda’s faith. I could point to the notes in her Bible or how she loves to listen to Christian music on her I-pad.  But what really stands out to me is how throughout our marriage she has been open to going wherever God would lead us.  During most of the calls I received as a Pastor, Linda, by her own choice, almost never went with me to visit the congregations.  She prayed and helped me wrestle through each call but each time, for her it was in God’s hands.  So we have moved from Nebraska to Texas to Wisconsin back to Texas and now to Germany.  In each place God has blessed us in ways we could not have imagined.  We have raised 4 children, seen three of them so far get married and been blessed with five of the most beautiful grandchildren.  Through all of that I have continued to know more and more about my wife… and learned what it means to love her and to be loved by her. 

Happy anniversary Linda!  I love you and thank God for you. I pray God gives us many more years of getting to know and learning to love each other. 

Are You Connected?

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Colossians 3:16

Oops… sorry I wasn’t paying attention.  I just had to get a couple of texts sent and emails completed. – just got to stay connected.  You won’t believe this by I had a colleague who hated using email.  Send DJ  an email and you may or may not get answer.  Most likely, you won’t.  When he was one of my Associate Pastors this was the one thing that people complained about.   They believed that he was either disorganized, or disrespectful, or wasn’t a good communicator or didn’t care.  Now, I want you to know that I agreed that he should answer their email. Again and again, I told him, “There’s an easy way for you to save yourself a lot of grief – Answer your emails!”  Why did he hate email?  Well it wasn’t any of the things that people thought it was.  He isn’t lazy.  He wasn’t trying to be disrespectful. DJ just really prefers getting on the phone and calling you… or even better coming to see you to talk face to face. 

And you know what?  He’s right!  All these gadgets and all the social media we use – they are good for sharing information but not for connecting with people…. Not for developing significant relationships.  In fact I am coming to believe they are a huge obstacle to making real connections with people. I wonder how many reading or listening to this have found themselves sitting a table or in a room with family or friends but nobody is talking to each other.  Why? Because they are all on their cell phones or I-pads sending texts, answering emails or googling something.  I wonder how many of us here have ever tried to deal with a serious subject through email, only to have people misunderstand your intent and become angry.  How many of us have taken a couple of minutes to send email or a text, only have those few minutes become a half hour or even an hour wasted?    In this age of short tweets and text messages, have we lost the ability to have a deep conversation with someone?

That’s sad because one of the keys to a healthy spiritual life… one of the characteristics of a healthy congregation is to have growing, personal relationships and connections with each other in Christ.  One of the ways in which we stay connected to our Savior Jesus is through our relationships with each other. Yes we can each read our Bibles and pray on our own.  But its together as the church that we speak and hear from one another the word of God… its together that we come to the Lord’s table to be nourished by His body and blood in the bread and wine… its together that we love and care for one another, celebrate with one another – that is how God keeps us connected to Himself.  That’s why Paul urges us in Colossians 3, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

Cell phones and I-pads and computers… email, text messages, and tweets are all wonderful gifts from God.  But they are no substitute for the care and love both given and received when people take the time to talk, to listen, to share together what’s happening in life and what’s going on in their hearts. I remember a father once telling me of watching TV one night with his son.  On the show they were watching a father who was upset because his son was so engrossed in a TV show he was watching that he wasn’t listening to his dad.  Finally the dad on the TV show said, “Turn that TV off and listen to me.”  The father who was sharing this with his son then told me, “You know I thought that was some really good advice.  So I did what the TV actor said. I got up, turned off the TV and started talking to my son.” Being connected is in many ways just that easy.  Put your phone down.  Turn off your I-pad. Take some time to go with a friend for coffee. Talk, visit, listen, get to know each other better… and in so doing get to know your savior better too.   

The Real War

Ephesians 6:10–12 (ESV)

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.   For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."

Russian planes bombing targets in Syria.  Refugees from Middle East Wars flooding Europe.  Iran putting troops on the ground in Syria.  Fighting in the Ukraine.  Tensions between the US and Russia… US and China… US and Iran… North and South Korean troops on High Alert.  ISIS beheading Christians.  America bombing ISIS targets.  Iran threatening to annihilate Israel.  The headlines just go on and on. Right now there just seems to be war everywhere. I cannot help but think of our Lord speaking about “wars and rumors of war...” in Matthew 24.  There doesn’t seem to be any end in sight to any of this.  These headlines, when you let them all sink in, are scary. What’s happening to the world?  What’s kind of world will it be for my grandchildren?

It’s easy to become obsessed with all of this and forget that these wars are simply a symptom… an outward manifestation of the real war that’s going on.  Without meaning to diminish any of the horrors that I just referred to, it’s important to remember that the real war is the one St. Paul describes in Ephesians 6:12.  “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”  Those headlines are scary but the real war is scarier.  Those headlines are of events still far removed from our lives but the real war is part of our daily lives.  This real war is not about territory, or oil, or political or military power, or even religion.  This real war is being fought against the real “Axis of Evil” – the devil, the sinful world and our own sinful flesh.  This real war is over heaven or hell. It’s a matter of eternal life or death for every single person in this world.  This war is fought every day in every temptation you face, in every struggle that challenges your faith, in the conflict that goes on in your heart between believing or not believing, in every choice that comes your way. 

How can we possibly fight such a war?  That’s why I love Dr. Luther’s famous hymn – “A Mighty Fortress is our God.”  This real war is what that hymn is all about.  Luther reminds us that we can’t possibly fight this war on our own – “The old evil foe now means deadly woe; Deep guile and great might are His dread arms in fight; on earth is not His equal.  With might of ours can naught be done soon were our loss effected.” 

How can we possibly hope to win out in this war?  Quite simply because “for us fights the valiant One, Whom God Himself elected.  Ask ye, Who is this? Jesus Christ it is, of Sabaoth Lord, and there’s none other God; He holds the field victorious.”  After all Jesus took on this war.  He fought in our place. He gave His life in our defense and He rose up victorious over our sin, death and the devil himself.  Therefore “though devils all the world should fill, all eager to devour us, we tremble not, we fear no ill; they shall not overpower us.  This world’s prince may still scowl fierce as he will, he can harm us none.  He’s judged; the deed is done; one little word can fell him.”   What is that one little word? Jesus.

What’s my point in all of this?  Be concerned about the events of this world.  Care for and pray for the victims of these terrible wars.  But don’t ever lose sight of the real war that’s going on. These wars between men are symptoms of that war. Identify the real enemy correctly.  It is not your neighbor or your spouse or the person who can’t stand you.  It’s not ISIS, or Syria or Russia.  Our real very dangerous enemies are the devil, the world and our sinful flesh.  Most important of all, follow and trust solely in the One who fights for us, the Valiant One who has already won this war – Jesus Christ.  Or as St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.”