235 Years Ago

Why do we celebrate a National Day of Thanksgiving in America? The answer was first given 235 years ago, in 1777, by the Continental Congress. This is what they wrote: 

“Congress recommends a day of … thanksgiving and praise so that the people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts … and join … their prayers that it may please God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, to forgive our sins and … to enlarge His kingdom which consists in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.”

Continental Congress 1777

written by Samuel Adams and Richard Henry Lee

excerpt quoted from “Thanksgiving in America” by David Barton

Reading God’s Mind

A Christian may say “Thus says the LORD” whenever he quotes God’s Word or faithfully confesses it. After all, Holy Scripture is the living voice of the living God. It is faithful and true. It is what God has revealed of Himself to us and for us. And every bit of it centers in Christ crucified for sinners, as Saint John writes: “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31).

But a Christian may not say “Thus says the LORD” when he speculates what God might be thinking. For outside of God’s self-revelation in Holy Scripture, no one knows the mind of God.

Sadly, many well-intentioned Christians fall into this error.

A natural disaster devastates a region. Is this some sort of specific punishment from God. The best we can answer is: Maybe! No one can definitively say Yes or No, because God has not revealed His mind on this matter.

So-and-so gets cancer. Is this some sort of specific punishment from God. The best we can answer is: Maybe! No one can definitively say Yes or No, because God has not revealed His mind on this matter.

An ungodly leader is elected or sinful legislation goes into effect. Is this some sort of specific punishment from God? Again, the best we can answer is: Maybe! No one can definitively say Yes or No, because God has not revealed His mind on this matter.

In all three cases, the question of whether or not this might be some sort of specific punishment from God is the wrong question. For such a question attempts to delve into the unrevealed mind of God.

There are plenty of fire and brimstone Christians out there who are quick to label events as God’s judgment against the specific sins of a person or group. But there are also plenty of Christians out there (many in my own denomination) who are quick to deny that God might be judging the specific sins of a person or group. In both cases, stop speaking for God where God Himself has not spoken. “Have you not seen a false vision and uttered a lying divination, whenever you have said, ‘Declares the LORD,’ although I have not spoken?” (Ezekiel 13:7).

Instead of speculating, let us be faithful to Christ and His Word of truth. Faithfully confessing it. Rightly distinguishing and applying Law and Gospel. Saying what He has given us to say. No more and no less. “Let him who has My word speak My word faithfully” (Jeremiah 23:28).

After all, only the faithful proclamation of “Thus says the Lord” will not return to Him empty, but will accomplish His purpose and succeed in the thing for which He sends it (Isaiah 55:11).

For All the Saints

The festival of All Saints is one of my favorites of the year. It ranks up there with Good Friday and Easter Sunday in my book. To date, I have lost all four of my grandparents, two uncles, one aunt, and one cousin to the wages of sin. I have said goodbye to a good high school friend who died in a farm accident. And I have buried many beloved brothers and sisters in Christ in my vocation as pastor.

And yet, behind the sadness and tears of death is the comfort and joy of eternal life in Jesus Christ. I am thankful that each and every family member who is now six feet under was first baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection and, as far as I know, remained faithful to death. The same is true of the beloved saints I have buried from Mount Calvary, Saint Michael, and Divine Shepherd. They (like me) weren’t always faithful to God. But He was always faithful to them (and me) in Jesus Christ.

That is what makes All Saints such a beautiful festival. It’s all about Christ. Forgiveness, life, and salvation. The blood the Lamb. White robes. Palm branches. A multitude that no one can number. Tears wiped away forever. And songs continually being sung to the Triune God.

I cannot wait until tomorrow morning and our annual celebration of All Saints’ Day. The hymns. The liturgy. And Jesus Christ at the center of it all with His Word and Supper.

Below is a foretaste of the opening hymn, which will be accompanied by organ and trumpet, and sung joyously by a pastor and congregation who have been washed clean in the blood of the Lamb:

For all the saints who from their labors rest,

Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,

Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress, and their Might;

Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well-fought fight;

Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Oh, may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,

Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old

And win with them the victor’s crown of gold!

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Oh, blest communion, fellowship divine!

We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;

Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

And when the fight is fierce, the warfare long,

Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,

And hearts are brave again and arms are strong.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

The golden evening brightens in the west;

Soon, soon to faithful warriors cometh rest;

Sweet is the calm of Paradise the blest.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

But, lo, there breaks a yet more glorious day:

The saints triumphant rise in bright array;

The King of Glory passes on His way.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,

Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,

Singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost:

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Lutheran Service Book

Commemoration of the Faithful Departed

We remember with thanksgiving those members of Divine Shepherd Lutheran Church who have gone before us this past year to the Church Triumphant in heaven. They were created and preserved by God the Father to offer Him praise and thanksgiving forever. They were redeemed by God the Son, who took their sins upon Himself, suffered and died in their place, and rose again for their justification. And they were sanctified by God the Holy Spirit, who clothed them with Christ’s righteousness in Holy Baptism, strengthened them through Christ’s Word, and fed them with Christ’s body and blood at His table. We thank the Triune God for summoning them to His nearer presence so they may continue in joyful service of Him forever.

+ Earline Joyce Davis +

• Born: September 13, 1925
• Baptized: December 4, 1930
• Confirmed: May 18, 1941
• Asleep in Christ: November 19, 2011

+ Elaine Mary Bambule +

• Born: August 18, 1938
• Baptized: September 11, 1938
• Confirmed: April 6, 1952
• Asleep in Christ: December 11, 2011

+ Kenneth James Wilson +

• Born: February 24, 1943
• Baptized: May 9, 1943
• Confirmed: June 9, 1957
• Asleep in Christ: February 12, 2012

+ Patricia Ann Brieschke +

• Born: October 27, 1931
• Baptized: November 22, 1931
• Confirmed: May 1960
• Asleep in Christ: March 27, 2012

+ Doris Anne Gohr +

• Born: September 17, 1936
• Baptized: date unknown
• Confirmed: date unknown
• Asleep in Christ: May 16, 2012

Merciful Father, whose dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, rose victoriously over death and the grave, we remember with thanksgiving Your faithful people who have trusted in Christ, whose tears are gone, and whose sorrows You have turned to joy. We humbly implore You to strengthen us in the confident hope of the resurrection of the dead and of the life of the world to come; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

All Saints’ Day

Almighty and everlasting God, You knit together Your faithful people of all times and places into one holy communion, the mystical body of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Grant us so to follow Your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living that, together with them, we may come to the unspeakable joys You have prepared for those who love You; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Lutheran Service Book