Reformed Evangelical Synod of America

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Gustav Dore - The Nativity

Here are Christmas Prayers and readings to help you observe the Holiday Season!

Christmas Prayers & Readings

The Incarnate Word

December 18

God most high, your only-begotten Son embraced the weakness of our flesh to give us the power to become your sons and daughters; your Eternal Word chose to dwell among us so that we might live in your presence. Grant us a spirit of wisdom to comprehend the richness of the glory you have offered to us, and how great the hope is to which we are called in Jesus Christ, your Word made flesh, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (ICEL)

Genesis 1:1 – 2:4a or Proverbs 8:1 – 9:12 or Jeremiah 31: 7-14

Psalm 147

1 John 1: 1-10

John 1: 1-18

The Annunciation of Saint John the Forerunner

December 19

Father, according to your plan your prophet John the Baptist prepared the way for the coming of your Son, the promised Messiah.  Through your Spirit free us from doubt and despair, and help us to imitate Zechariah and Elizabeth in following your will to the glory of your name.  We make our prayer through your Incarnate Word, Christ Jesus our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Isaiah 52: 7-10

Psalm 85

Revelation 11: 1-14

Luke 1: 5-25

The Annunciation of our Lord

to the Blessed Virgin Mary

December 20

God most high, you extended your gracious mercy to the whole human race through your Son when he took upon himself our flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary. You gave him to the world as your servant, whose delight was found in doing your will. Keep the Church, his body, faithful to your purpose, that all the ends of the earth may know your saving power. Amen.

Exodus 40: 1-38 or Isaiah 7: 10-14

Psalm 40 or 45

Hebrews 10: 4-10 or Galatians 4: 4-7

Luke 1: 26-38

The Visitation of the

Blessed Virgin Mary to Saint Elizabeth

December 21

Lord God, who are we that you should come to us? Yet you have visited your people and redeemed us through your Son. As we prepare to celebrate his birth, make our hearts leap for joy at the sound of your Word, and move us by your Spirit to bless your wonderful works. We make our prayer through him whose coming is certain, whose day draws near, your Son, our Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (ICEL)

1 Samuel 2: 1-10 or Zephaniah 3:14-18a or Zechariah 2: 10-13

Psalm 113

Romans 12: 9-16b

Luke 1: 39-57

The Nativity of Saint John the Forerunner

December 22

God of wisdom and truth, you raise up prophets in every age. Let your Spirit, who filled John from his mother’s womb, fill us with joy as we commemorate his birth. May the example of his life, the urgency of his preaching, and the power of his prayers make us ready to receive the one he announced. We make our prayer through him whose coming is certain, whose day draws near, your Son, our Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (ICEL)

Isaiah 40: 1-11

Psalm 141

Acts 13: 14b-26

Luke 1: 57-80

The Ancestors of our Lord

December 23

God of glory and mystery, here in our midst you disclose the secret hidden for countless generations. For you we wait; for you we listen. Upon hearing your voice, fill us with a spirit that is willing to follow and to embrace your will so that we may rejoice in your visitation and exalt in our redemption. We make our prayer through him whose coming is certain, whose day draws near, your Son, our Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (ICEL)

Genesis 4: 1-16

Psalm 90

Hebrews 11:1 – 12:2

Matthew 1: 1-17 or Luke 3: 23b-38

The Annunciation of our Lord to Saint Joseph

December 24

Eternal God, in the psalms of David, in the words of the prophets, and in the dream of Joseph your promise is spoken. At last, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, your Word takes flesh. Teach us to welcome Jesus, the promised Emmanuel, and to preach the good news of his coming that every age may know him as the source of salvation, redemption, and grace. We make our prayer through him whose coming is certain, whose day draws near, your Son, our Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (ICEL)

Micah 5: 2-5a

Psalm 89

Romans 4: 13-18

Matthew 1: 18-24

The Nativity of our Lord

December 25

Almighty God, you have given your only-begotten Son to take our nature upon himself, and to be born of a pure virgin: Grant that we, who have been born again and made your children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by your Holy Spirit. We make our prayer through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Or:

God of Abraham and Sarah, of David and his descendants, unwearied is your love for us and steadfast is your covenant; wonderful beyond words is the gift of the Savior, born of the Virgin Mary. Count us among the people in whom you delight, and by this night’s marriage of heaven and earth draw all generations into the embrace of your love. We make our prayer through Jesus Christ, your Word made flesh, who lives and reigns in the splendor of eternal light with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (ICEL)

Genesis 2: 4b-3:24 or Isaiah 9: 2-7

Psalm 96

Hebrews 1: 1-14 or Titus 2: 11-14

Luke 2: 1-15

East Face - Cross of Muiredach

Scripture Texts:

Daniel 12:1-3
Psalm 16
Hebrews 10: 11-25
Mark 13:1-13

O Come, O Come Emmanuel!  Ransom – or liberate – captive Israel!  We’ve sung this song for years during Advent.  It is the mournful song of a people needing divine deliverance. But what is the liberation these people seek? What is the “big deal”?

What turns a man so zealous for Judaism that he would kill and imprison anyone who called Jesus the “Messiah” into someone who risks his life time and again and suffers beatings, whippings, starvation, and imprisonment to proclaim this same Messiah Jesus of Nazareth?

What is such Good News that overcomes our own desire to seek our own well being and seek the glory of Jesus Christ? Why do we build our lives and our calendars around the coming of Christ? It pays to know… you and I will face the Day of Judgment together and its outcome will depend on whether we have entrusted ourselves to this same Messiah! It pays to know what it’s all about! Perhaps it will even inspire you and I to give ourselves entirely to Jesus Christ in gratitude for His Mercy! Wouldn’t that be amazing!

But Paul sees Jesus Christ as not just a wandering prophet from Galilee, not just as an enlightened Teacher or even a Prophet as Islam wants to say.

No Paul sees in Jesus God in the flesh, the fullness of God in human form (Col 2:9). Jesus is the One in whom all God’s promises for Israel and the world are coming true as guaranteed by Jesus’ Resurrection (2 Cor 1:20; Rom 1:3,4)

Consider the scriptures  we have read today in this light –

The prophet Daniel foretold a day of resurrection when some will rise to eternal joy and others to eternal shame. This word of prophecy came to a people enslaved… they had fallen under Gods’ Curse and send from their “Promised Land” as Deuteronomy 28 had warned them.

How can a people who were once blessed, people who received the Word of God , and now a people who were condemned to slavery and whose history is one fall from grace after another ever hope to rise to eternal joy?

It seemed as if God had given Israel a second chance – the nation was set free from exile – the Temple had been rebuilt and the sacrifices had returned to the Temple!

But something was missing.

There was still no real hope.

As Jesus walks that land, outwardly the people are blessed, but inwardly they are a people filled with hypocrisy, plagued by demons, and sick with sin.  The never ending stream of blood from the sacrifices may have made people technically “clean” to enter the Temple, but inwardly the pollution of sin remained untouched, uncleansed, not only under bondage to  the Romans, but in a spiritual bondage and slavery.

Jesus tells his disciples in Mark 13, that judgement is coming again. The Temple they consider as eternal as the world itself will be torn down to the ground (John 2:19-22). God’s true Temple – the Resurrected Christ – will become the focus of those who worship the God of the Bible “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23). Their hopes will be directed to Jesus not to the Temple.

In Jesus, the liberation that set sinners free, that cast out demons, that forgave sins, is now sealed once and for all by our Lord’s death and resurrection. In that act, Jesus seals the salvation of His people and as the judgment He promises Jerusalem comes – He encourages them to keep trusting, those who persevere to the end shall be saved.

As Hebrews says:

Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet. For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy.

And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is so. For he says,

“This is the new covenant I will make

with my people on that day, says the Lord:

I will put my laws in their hearts,

and I will write them on their minds.”

Then he says,

“I will never again remember

their sins and lawless deeds.”

And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices.

And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

This is what St. Paul was willing to die for! Because in meeting the Resurrected Jesus on the Damascus Road it was evident God’s promises really were coming true in Jesus.

Suddenly God’s covenant promises in the past from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob had taken on a reality in the Risen Jesus that made all the other promises of God an inevitable certainty because death itself had been conquered in Jesus Resurrection!

Our inability to find peace with God while locked in our own sins and incapable of living by God’s Law in our own strength are finally no longer a threat to you and a threat to me because the One who HAS been faithful to God in all things has become the mercy seat, the location of God’s forgiveness infallibly achieved, for all the world who come to Him in faith!

Yes, Paul saw, Christ was the goal for which those who lived under the Law yearned! He is the One whose saving crucifixion and death defying resurrection now brings every good and perfect gift promised by God and makes it available to all who entrust themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ!

Even more- the power of death is broken and Jesus  in His ascension is reigning and He is delivering His trusting, dependent people safe to the end.

Because the promises of God have been secured, because sin’s power, pollution, and penalty are conquered in Christ for all who entrust themselves to Him, because the alienation caused by sin between Jew and Gentile can finally be healed, because all humankind can, in Christ, be transformed, there is hope for all the world… a hope for peace in Christ before the Inheriting King comes in judgment not only in Jerusalem in AD 70  but in all the world at His Second Coming (Acts 17:30-31).

Because this is true, because it is such Good News, the Apostles and Martyrs declared it without regard for their safety.  On the Celtic Cross of Muiredach,  Christ as standing as He was in Stephen’s vision (Acts 7) because they considered themselves ALL MARTYRS, to the cause of Christ in one way or another, whether the red martyrdom of those who shed their blood, or the white martyrdom of those who daily offered themselves as living sacrifices unto God (Romans 12:1,2).

When we finally understand why the Good News is called the Good News, we are free to risk trusting Jesus Christ with our lives! We can trust Him and give our lives to him because  He is the one who has conquered death and will conquer all our enemies, even death itself! While we fear giving our lives up to His Lordship,  it’s His resurrection, His forgiveness, His promise of eternal salvation that enables us to finally be free to serve Him in joy and gratitude.

What is the least that we can do in light of this Good News? The author of the Book of Hebrews has no problems speaking to people who risked becoming outcasts in their own communities – Jews living in pagan environments whose only economic lifeline is the local synagogue – and tells them this:

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

In light of Jesus’ coming, the people who cried O Come, O Come Emmanuel found the One who finally set them free to hope in God  and free to live as God’s Children by Divine Adoption (John 1:12-13;Gal 4:4-7).

His Coming guaranteed that the covenant keeping God had drawn near in His grace…but not just for His ancient people Israel but for all who would draw near to God through Him!

What does the coming of Christ into the world mean to you? Why was it important?

Most importantly, how is the Christ who fulfilled the Law of God and who fulfills all the promises of God the answer to your deepest longings?

The First Thanksgiving

Another Thanksgiving Day has been celebrated and, overall, we have focused on how much we have and what we are thankful for. As one of America’s leading theologians and pastors, Jonathan Edwards’ Thanksgiving Day sermon in 1739 focused on what we should give in light of what Jesus Christ has given us.

His scripture text for that day was Luke 8:2-3 (ESV):

and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.

Usually we don’t hear Thanksgiving Day sermons about demons or demon possessed people! Anything to interrupt our self-absorption is not too popular. The only things we want to contemplate on such a day are food, football, and the Black Friday bargains we hope to gain. Though the day is one designed to evoke thanksgiving to God, it is usually just a day about feeling satisfied in our own accomplishments and position in the world (see what Jesus said about that in Luke 12:16-21).

Edwards’ point is that Thanksgiving Day must move our focus beyond ourselves – as if we have “arrived”! – to the gifts of Jesus Christ to us, and how we ought to respond in gratitude for His gifts.

Perhaps we shouldn’t ask “Did you have a Happy Thanksgiving?” Perhaps we should be asking “How did your Thanksgiving to Jesus Christ overflow to serve Him and those He has called us to reach in His Name?”

You can read more about Edwards’ sermon here.

Edwards’ Sermon notes for this Thanksgiving Sermon at Yale

Today a group of prominent Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant leaders took the microphone at the National Press Club to discuss the unveiling of “The Manhattan Declaration”, a document outlining the commitment of many Christian believers in America to the notions of the sanctify of life, family, and faith which are under attack from various circles.

With the United States Senate set to take up debate on the hotly contested topic of health care reform, the Manhattan Declaration comes at an opportune time to remind legislators and citizens alike that many Christian believers cannot conscience what the United States is becoming.

The Declaration itself, which is available online, is a relatively succinct and eminently cogent manifest of conservative Christian beliefs; one that is sure to draw instant criticism from the leaders of the political and cultural institutions of the country and, sadly, from other Christian leaders as well.

In its two-thousand year history, Christianity has been its most faithful when faced with secular opposition, and the contemporary era gives no less of an opportunity for believers to stand up for the teachings of the Scripture with confidence and joy. Unfortunately, much of the Church in North America has sold itself out to “social justice”, so-called, at the expense of what is supposed to be her first love, the truth as revealed in Jesus Christ.

When the Church turns its back from the defense of life, endorses unbiblical concepts as ‘enlightened’ progress, and conforms herself more to society at large than to Christ, she, in effect, abandons the faith once delivered and surrenders herself into the ready embrace of the Antichrist. All too often, such ecclesiastical bodies become almost indistinguishable from the society surrounding them, and, in the process, subverts the Gospel, reducing it to a ‘lowest common denominator’ belief system or, more accurately, a form of humanism with an object of affection.

Christianity, while always seeking for reconciliation, compassion, and love among all peoples, is also a religion that teaches (and has taught for two-thousand years) in accordance with a high moral and ethical code, one that is rooted in recognizing that human beings are fallen, sinful creatures whose very reason has been corrupted as a result of our own perverse selfishness. Freedom thus means, for the believer, a deliverance from that corruption in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Christ’s redemptive act and His transforming power alone are the only true basis upon which humane society can even be envisioned, let alone implemented.

While civil government has its place, the civil governments of North America (as well as other parts of the world) have taken steps to marginalize those who hold to the central moral and ethical teachings of the Scriptures; steps which then trample on the rights and freedoms of individual believers and upon religious assemblies.

As committed Christian believers who recognize the calling of the Scripture as witnessed through countless generations of the faithful, the Reformed Evangelical Synod of America must speak out against the continued erosion of the fundamental right to life, which has been so seriously eroded away by the blight of Abortion… and which stands to be further minimized by the continued policies of the civil government which allow for and even encourage (fiscally) the destruction of human life. We cannot remain silent about God’s plan for the family, which forms our opposition to any and all personal relationships which are not in keeping with the Word of God, nor can we remain silent about the very real threats to men and women of conscience to speak their minds freely based on their faith without being accused of promoting hatred and facing civil, revenue, or criminal penalties for exercising not simply their right to free speech, but their God given responsibility to speak out on behalf of the truth.

It is with great confidence and solemnity that the ministers and members of the Reformed Evangelical Synod of America join those who endorse “The Manhattan Declaration”, and affirms her commitment to preach the truth about God’s plan for his people, regardless of the cost.

This headline has been in the making for years, like a movie star’s obituary awaiting the breaking news of an expected, but suddenly swift demise: New Lutheran body to form after gay pastor vote

Faithful Lutherans within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America who had remained in hopes of a turn around have encountered the proverbial straw that promises to break the “camel’s back”. They can no longer let their patience accommodate this new perversity. Yet leaving is not as easy as outsiders think it might be as others within the mainline have found. Lutherans in the ELCA have an irenic bent not always shared by American Lutheranism’s “Fighting Fundamentalists”, the LCMS and WELS. They are desperately seeking a home for their commitment to their irenic evangelical Lutheranism.

Their conciliatory nature in the past means that they have been able to forge agreements like “A Formula of Agreement Between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Reformed Church in America, and the United Church of Christ” that dared to say that Lutherans and Reformed might actually coexist and minister together as reformational Christians. This is a habit of  tolerance is not unprecedented but it has earned them their share of derision over the years as the modern day Melancthons and “Crypto Calvinists” when they only spoke for peace (Ps. 120:7).

Happy reunions with those who’ve spent their days in criticism for one alleged confessional betrayal or another are envisioned by some at this juncture. As a practical reality, those will not be likely for many. Women’s ordination is a barrier for those committed to that practice that will only be accommodated by the formation of a new Lutheran jurisdiction.

Another path may be possible for some, and it is not unprecedented. In the mid-1800’s  Lutherans who felt their similarities with other brethren of like precious Reformational faith outweighed their differences formed the Evangelical Synod of North America. While we are a small body, we welcome those irenic Lutheran brethren who wish to pursue that path. Our commitment to the diaconal ministry of men and women while retaining a male pastorate, our irenic and broadly reformational “Articles”, and our commitment to historic faith and contemporary mission may be the new irenic home some need to find a new place of ministry and service within the evangelical, reformed, and catholic tradition.

We rejoice with Father Rob, pastor of the RESA Mission in Johnson County, Indiana and his wonderful wife Mrs. Kristen Lyons on the safe delivery of their daughter Clare Lyons on October 26th, 2009 at approximately 9:30 AM.

May the Lord bless them with His grace.

A photo slideshow is available here…

This Lord’s Day we will Celebrate Reformation Sunday, though as you know Reformation Day is always October 31^st, the evening before All Saints Day.

On October 31^st, 1517 things came to a head in Europe. If you think the TV Evangelists and phoney faith healers are bad today, in Luther’s Day the Vatican was financing a building project by for all practical purposes selling salvation. Johann Tetzel had a saying with which he coaxed the money out of people’s purses – “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory and into heaven springs.”

Luther wrote against them (Thesis 21): “Therefore those preachers of indulgences are in error, who say that by the pope’s indulgences a man is freed from every penalty, and saved;”

Again in thesis 37: “Every true Christian, whether living or dead, has part in all the blessings of Christ and the Church; and this is granted him by God, even without letters of pardon.”

Thesis 52: “The assurance of salvation by letters of pardon is vain, even though the commissary, nay, even though the pope himself, were to stake his soul upon it.”

54: “Injury is done the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or a longer time is spent on pardons than on this Word.”

62: “The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God.”

79: “To say that the cross, emblazoned with the papal arms, which is set up [by the preachers of indulgences], is of equal worth with the Cross of Christ, is blasphemy.”

It’s evident that in posting these theses in Latin on the castle church door, Luther had hoped for serious discussion. But in light of the outrages of the day and a new communications tool called the “printing press”, Luther ended up seeing far more than a discussion… he got a REFORMATION.

Luther’s questions go straight to the heart of the matter – just WHO IS LORD ? What is the CHURCH about?

Luther was not a lone voice in the church… the Holy Spirit was making many restless for the Good News to be faithfully preached and lived.  They yearned for the masses for whom Christianity as simply a routine exercise in Church Attendance to be brought to new life.

There was a growing unrest in many throughout the West to say “it’s time to get back to the Biblical Faith with Jesus Christ at the center.”  It’s funny how many people craved that and yet how entrenched forces who wanted control of money and power fought that.

You see, if people can be kept blind and compliant like a herd of cattle or a flock of sheep, they can be milked or sheared at will to keep the people at the top rich and at ease. Luther in his 86^th thesis asked: “”Why does not the pope, whose wealth is to-day greater than the riches of the richest, build just this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of poor believers?””

Luther began quoting the scriptures such as Romans 3:19-28 which we read today to remind the people and the Church that Jesus Christ is the one who saves – as sinners none of us may earn salvation and none of us may sell it!

Naturally he received a great deal of hatred for telling the “people in charge” that, well, they had the message of God wrong.  They had missed God’s Good News!

It reminds you about what happened to Our Lord in John 8:31-36…

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?”

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who keeps on committing sin is the slave of sin.”The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

Jesus started talking about being set free by the Truth, and what was their immediate reaction – and these were the people who believed in Him!?

Their reaction: “Wait a minute!  We’re the children of Abraham and have never been slaves!”

Never been slaves? Are you kidding? What about that 400 years in Egypt, those 70 years in Exile, and now when the Roman soldiers told them to jump, they asked “how high”? How easily they deceived themselves! How easily we deceive OURSELVES! Ha!

Jesus doesn’t let that one pass. He tells them “Whoever commits sin is the slave of sin” – I’m sure they knew that included them! Jesus was going to give His disciples something they had never known as the Sons of Adam – the gift of being In Christ and being able, through Him, to have a clean conscience and a NEW HEART (Jer 31:31-34)

There is no hope for slaves of sin to stay in God’s house. God’s Son will remain in the house, He is the Adopted One, the One who will never be cast out and forever be blessed by God – if we are made free by this Son, Jesus, then the problem of our slavery will never be an issue again.

If we will simply admit our need for Jesus Christ to be set free from the hold that sin and Satan wish to have upon us to dominate and destroy us, then we will find freedom, then we need never fear the abandonment of God, then we need never live as orphans in God’s World again… Jesus Christ, the Truth of God, the one who suffered as a sacrifice for sinners become for us the place where God Himself offers atonement. We don’t go to a Temple, we go to Jesus. He receives us, forgives us, and gives us new life through the Holy Spirit. He sets us free.

Though Reformation Day recalls people in the past who were in need of Reformation, and we read about the Jewish People of Jesus’ day who needed their own Reformation, the truth is that we in America are slaves… we are slaves to debt, we are slaves to materialism, we are slaves to our addictions, we are slaves to an out of control government,  and we are slaves to sin.

This message that Jesus can set people free in every generation is our only hope … don’t be fooled because you grew up American thinking you lived in the “land of the free” and the “home of the brave”. We are every bit as enslaved as these Jewish people who protested so loudly that they’d never been slaves.

It’s Reformation Day – it’s not a day to gloat over our illustrious past. Churches that celebrate Reformation Day in the US these days are, by and large, rapidly dying out and very ineffective at spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ! Sure, God gave us a great start.

But what are we doing with the Good News and the Word of God today?

If we are not taking the message of Jesus Christ to the streets, if we are not living out the Good News in Word and Deed, if we are not winning people to Christ and seeing Jesus Christ set them free, we are still in bondage ourselves!

This Reformation Day, we need to make sure we ourselves are not slaves.

This Reformation Day, we need to return in repentance and trust to Jesus Christ the one who died for sinners and who is able to, as Psalm 51 says, “Create in us a clean heart!”

This Reformation Day, our renewed love for Jesus Christ and the freedom He gives should drive us to our knees to pray for the ongoing Reformation of ourselves, our homes, our churches, our nation and for the Gospel to spread to the farthest part of the earth.

I bid you a blessed Reformation Day… but I likewise must remind one and all that we ourselves must daily be renewed by the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ and empowered by His Spirit, lest we too fail to live in the fullness of His blessing!

Sermon Audio is available here.

Scripture Readings:

Jeremiah 31:31-34
Psalm 46
Romans 3:19-28
John 8:31-36

Collect:

Gracious Father, we pray for your holy catholic Church. Fill it with all truth, in all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in anything it is amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in want, provide for it; and where it is divided, reunite it in all truth. This we ask for the sake of him who died and rose again, and ever lives to make intercession for us, Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.

Dear Friends in Christ,

Yesterday the Vatican announced a new program to receive Anglican parishes en masse into the Roman fold.

This all seems so odd.

Archbishop Thomas Cranmer offered himself to the fires of martyrdom rather than recant the Reformational faith. The papal representatives of his day were glad to oblige.

How can those who today call themselves “Anglicans” receive such a warm reception from Rome, sans flames of course? Do they sense any loss in the process? If not, why did they call themselves Anglicans to begin with?

Of course, many things have changed since those days. Rome has toyed with the idea of justification by faith enough to mollify liberal Protestants without actually saying it was ever wrong. The Papacy has, in Vatican II, conceded many points to the Reformation Faith which Roman traditionalists rue to this day. And while many priests themselves have run up huge legal settlements for their frolics, the Church itself still nominally hails virtue as a virtue – that’s more than can be said for degenerate Protestantism. But Rome’s penchant for elevating it’s own selective reading of church tradition as the voice of God equal to scripture, it’s estimation of itself as THE Church Catholic to the exclusion of all others, and it’s demand for unquestioned loyalty still undermine the foundation of historic Anglicanism – Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Scripture Alone, Christ Alone, and the Glory of God alone.

If these have not changed, then the answer must lie in the fact that today’s Anglicans have changed.

Anglicanism began as the church of the whole people of Great Britain. It was a public faith intended to disciple a nation and leave no soul without a spiritual shepherd. Over time, it became the church mainly of the elite and not the people. Especially in the United States, the Episcopal Church was known as the “Republican Party at Prayer”. In the practical working lexicon of American Religion, the word “Anglican” almost became the synonym of “Anglophile”. It is only in the Global South where Anglicanism is perhaps disassociated from the implications of privilege, pecksniffery, and the love of all things British with Christianity included somewhere at the bottom of a long list of cultural peculiarities  if absolutely necessary, that is.

The fact that individuals either in the Anglican Communion or on it’s fringes in the “continuing churches” would gladly make this move shows how far Anglicanism has come and signals the need for a drastic reforging of the Anglican Identity in the West. Anglicans who understand the biblical, theological, and cultural significance of their brand of Reformed, Evangelical and Protestant Catholicism, and who wish to see it prosper in the coming days must make a break with image of Anglicans as elitist snobs. Anglicans must reassert their fundamental theological contributions to the Christian faith and must be known for their love for all souls, rich and poor alike. It may even signal the need to eschew the names “Anglican” and “Episcopal” if people are to focus on their contemporary mission. It definitely means tomorrow’s Anglican (by whatever name) is known for their work with the poor, the addicted, and the lost as the Baptist, Methodist, and Gospel Mission is known for that vocation today.

The Book of Common Prayer in tomorrow’s Anglicanism must not be the worship guide reserved for the service which only the aged attend. Vernacular versions of the BCP in contemporary (though not insipid) language with their lectionaries and catechisms must become the engine of corporate discipleship for coming generations once again. The goal of this revived Anglicanism is not to reintroduce Afternoon Tea in the New World but instead – as Cranmer aimed – to disciple whole families and nations into Christ, to live in His abundant grace. Because the demise of Anglicanism began with the renunciation of it’s Articles of Religion, a revived Anglicanism must likewise revive its confessional commitments along evangelical lines and enforce subscription to them and catechize in light of them.

But not all Anglicans have changed.

There are some Anglicans for  whom the words “evangelical catholic” are neither a conundrum or a paradox when used to describe their confessional, Prayer Book Protestantism. And today, they feel even more disenfranchised by yesterday’s developments. Increasingly their new found home, whether  in the ACNA or a ‘continuing church,’ strikes them as less “reformed” and “evangelical” than they might have wished.

If this describes you, you are welcome to join us here. By the grace of God, we remain committed to the Biblical Faith witnessed to by the Apostles, Prophets, Martyrs, and Reformers.

In these  trying times, may God give you clear direction.

In these challenging days, may the collapsing foundations all around us cause us to rebuild on He who alone is eternity’s sure foundation,  Jesus Christ (Matthew 7:24-27).

Please contact us if we may be of service!

In Christ,

+Chuck Huckaby
Reformed Evangelical Synod of America

St. George's Dragon "Tamed" Embroidered Dragon with Cross

The story of St. George alternatively slaying or taming a dragon dates back centuries. While it is considered a legend in many ways, there is a strong historical foundation that explains the “dragon” in it’s original context and also explains well the nature of St. George’s conquering love. The historical St. George was a Roman soldier and a martyr for the cause of Christ.

Either version of the story relates to the Church’s classic struggle of spiritual combat against the powers of darkness. In Eastern Orthodoxy icons of St. George in battle with the dragon have been used to inspire the faithful in their own private war with sin and lawlessness for generations. At the present day, St. George’s Day celebrations in the UK recall the legend and allow participants to “act it out”

As Americans devoted to newness at any cost, we often fail to recognize the power of Classical Christian Symbols and understandings of history to inspire people in the present however. Many relics of the past, to be sure, must be reinterpreted in light of scripture because as Reformed and Evangelical Christians we do not consider St. George our patron in terms of things eternal. Like St. George, we have the Risen Christ alone as our heavenly patron and intercessor! But as the embedded You Tube video shows, modern people can be engaged through the historic symbolism of the Church when we are engaged by it ourselves.

Here you can see the band “Toto” singing their song “St. George and the Dragon”. It would indeed be cheesy to create a “Got Dragons Lately?” bumper sticker, though Christian attempts at relevance have not failed to stoop to that depth. This should be a reminder that if we live our lives in light of the Christian view of life and history, such living faith can’t help but grasp the imaginations of people who have their own dragons to slay yet today.

Enjoy the music. But look beyond it to our Lord whose own Conquering Love inspired “St. George the Martyr” in his original battle with the “Dragon”!

From Delusion To Discipleship

18th Lord’s Day after Trinity, Proper 25b

Numbers 12:1-15
Psalm 31
James 3:1-18
Mark 9:30-37

The call was unexpected. It was from an area code I did not recognize. I answered it to find a dear friend and mentor had suffered a massive heart attack and was not expected to survive. Later in the day, we learned that sometime today (10/11/2009) they will decide if he is brain dead and let his body die. When death greets us… will we be deluded or be a disciple?

Today, we read the second incident in Mark’s Gospel where Jesus predicts His death and resurrection. We have three incidents in Mark’s record of Jesus training His disciples and each time  – they just don’t get it!  Each time they are puzzled – even unbelieving – about what Jesus says. First Peter basically says “Jesus, you’re nuts!” This time they don’t want to risk a reprimand, but you can see what they’re doing – they’re arguing about who is going to be the top dog when Jesus’ kingdom comes. They seem to still expect Jesus to ascend quickly to an earthly throne and use the powers He has displayed in healing people and casting out demons to bring Israel’s enemies immediately to hell!

So when Jesus rebukes Peter for likely saying something just like that, now the disciples don’t say a word. Mark tells us that when Jesus talks about His death and resurrection, the disciples don’t understand what’s going on and are afraid. Those jobs they had lined up in their own minds as “Messiah’s Assistants”  suddenly seem jeopardized. After all, they figured that when Jesus whooped up, they were going to be exalted leaders like Daniel in Babylon or Joseph in Egypt. They figured they’d finally gotten in on something good and here’s Jesus messing up those dreams!

But this time, just like the last time, and just like the next time ( Mk 10:32-45), Jesus takes their confusion and tells them that they must move from their delusion to discipleship.

In a 12 Step Group you’ll say the “Serenity Prayer” that asks God to “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” That’s a prayer for people who can’t tell fantasy from reality because their sins and delusions have warped their ability to know what’s real.

Jesus’ disciples – just like us – are deluded about what’s going to happen because they have their lives already mapped out in their own heads. They are following Jesus but in their minds they are using Jesus because they have it all mapped out about what Jesus is going to do for them!

That’s why they’re fighting. They have competing ideas about which one of them Jesus is going to make the head man!

But it doesn’t work that way!

Jesus doesn’t call us because He’s putting Himself at our disposal! That’s a delusion! Instead He calls us to find our lives by following Him as He gives Himself. That’s discipleship!

As our Lord takes the disciples aside on this march to Jerusalem and to His death to tell them about God’s plan, these men cannot forget for one moment about what’s “in it for them” about being with Jesus!

As they are in their dream world expecting quick riches and power to come their way for their brief fling with following Jesus, Jesus again in Mark 9 tells them about His coming death instead. Before Jesus can be the “Son of Man” in victory in Dan 7, He must be the prophetic “Son of Man” portrayed in Ezekiel’s ministry who speaks to Israel’s sin and rebellion, who wanders and teaches like an exile to people who are still in exile though they think they are free (Ez 12:3). He’s speaking prophetic truth to people who are inventing their own prophecies and living in delusion (Ez 13:2). Jesus confronts those who erect idols in their hearts and teach their lies instead of God’s Word (Ez 14:3). Jesus will tell them what it means to be connected to God’s vine (John 15/Ezek 15). He speaks in parables and riddles (Ezek 17). He lets Jerusalem know their abominations (Ez 16) and groaned with anguish over their sin (Ezek 21/Luke 13:34). Jesus will be this “Son of Man” and He will be killed in God’s plan and in God’s plan rise to life!

Die? Rise? The prophet Daniel talked in terms of many rising (Dan 12) on the Last Day. But one man rise? It was confusing. Jesus was sounding increasingly like the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53…but surely the time of suffering was past and the time of victory is at hand!
Jesus says “No”! Wake up! Stop serving yourselves, stop thinking your brief flings of obedience and devotion suffice. When you can realize that Jesus does not exist to prop up your delusion and you exist to find your life in Him, you can escape your delusion and learn to delight in discipleship!

The salvation that Jesus gives us in this world and the next is a salvation that sets us free from ourselves! The first time Jesus brought up this topic last week in our studies, Jesus told them He would set them free if they would turn from themselves and turn to Him, if they would stop grasping for the elusive promises of this life and trust Him for joy in following Him where He was going!

Now we learn the second crucial lesson about what it means to escape our delusion and become His disciples… It is the principle and practice of servant leadership.

Here’s the principle: To people like us who need to get over the delusion that Jesus exists to serve us and our agenda, we need to learn this lesson from Him – If you want to be the first among God’s people, be the servant of God’s people!

*Everybody wants to be known as a hero, but nobody wants to get shot at.

*Everybody wants to be known as a “Reformer” but nobody wants to get up to their neck in the manure that comes when you work with people.

*Everybody wants to be the one everybody looks up to, but nobody wants to do the work required of being a person people can rely on.

To people who wonder why God isn’t using them, why Jesus isn’t blessing them, why people aren’t taking them seriously in their Christian profession – Jesus says (and I say it in the most reverent way possible) “For Christ’s sake DO SOMETHING and get off your rear end!” Stop playing your mind games and cultivating your day dreams and DO SOMETHING! DO SOMETHING! DO SOMETHING FOR SOMEONE IN CHRIST’S NAME!

My friend Edwin Elliott said that when they ordain leaders in their church, they give them a broom. The last time I talked to him he was taking out the trash at the church.  Get out of your head and get into the world to do something for someone else in Jesus’ name.

Here’s the practice: So how does this work out in practice? We want it to mean that we are called to do something glamorous and well paid. If we are pastors we want it to mean that we are called to minister to stadiums full of adoring crowds. If we are church leaders we may want to consider our church “the best in town”.  We may find ourselves wanting to be noticed by people – to have our picture in the paper every week – to win a Nobel Prize for doing nothing.

But Jesus took a child and a set the child in their midst.  In that day, children were considered, weak, inferior, and a liability – the way pro abortionists talk about them when arguing for abortion as a way to cut the cost of the schools and the cost of government.

Jesus promised that if we welcomed weak, inferior, insignificant people and served them, THEN we would know what it means to serve as disciples and break free from our delusions and become disciples!

Here’s the promise: It’s hard to follow Jesus at times. We so desperately want – at times – to BE ANYWHERE ELSE but where God has put us. We so desperately want to be doing ANYTHING BUT the menial task God seems to have assigned us.

But Jesus has a promise for us in our misery.  He promises that when we serve and welcome the insignificant in His Name – in union with Jesus, empowered by Jesus, driven by the love of Jesus, trusting in Jesus to use us in our insignificance, when our following becomes the oneness with Jesus of repentance faith and eating His flesh and drinking His blood described in John 6 – then in that service Jesus will find their union with Christ and the Father deepened.

No it doesn’t mean that if you help someone in Jesus’ Name then suddenly that person becomes Jesus or is a Christian somehow because you helped them. But as we move out of our deluded self interest into the discipleship Jesus calls us too, we will know what it means to live as one with Jesus and the Father and the blessing of their nearness and what it means to rejoice in being the Father’s child.

Jesus promises that as we move out of our delusion into discipleship we shall find the joy of knowing Him and thereby enjoy all the blessings of the Father’s adoption (Gal 4:4-7) and come to  experience in and through our serving the nearness of the life of heaven (John 17:3).

If death should come and greet you today – and you should leave this world for your eternal reward – will you be found to be deluded, someone who played games with their life and played around with knowing Jesus, or will you be found to be a disciple who for the joy of Jesus’ promised nearness, had learned to be the one who lead by serving?

Audio version of this sermon preached at St. Andrews’ Church