The Returning

Issues, Etc. is officially back! I admit that I am listening online right now. I am glad the show is back. I am glad "Christ-centered, cross-focused talk radio" has returned to the mass-communication devices. I am still concerned.

It is no secret that this whole debacle has been, well, just that--a debacle. It is no secret that the removal of Issues, Etc. from KFUO has galvanized the whole LCMS. Okay, it has galvanized the people paying attention. Blogs, websites, protests, the whole shebang. It makes me concerned. Unified in our Disunity is being touted as our banner. We are ostracizing ourselves. It makes me think of the "Divided We Fail" campaign put out by the AARP with the hybrid donkey/elephant animal.

I don't know what to do with it (not the weird AARP animal). There are those who teach the LCMS should be bold, exciting, and new; bowing to the desires of the mainstream American Christianity, whatever that may be. There are those who teach that we should do it the way we've always done it, whatever that may be, and end up being old and tired and everyone else is evil. There are those who teach we should be faithful to the Word of God (a novel idea), and we should teach people what that means. Yet here we are, squabbling over right and left and finances and shutting people down, while a world is still dying and the harvest is still white and in the field.

I guess there are two things to say: Lord, have mercy; Come, Lord Jesus.

The Shirt

While dining at a local establishment, I noticed a man wearing a black t-shirt which had a logo on the front similar to this one (the church was white instead). The wording above it said, "Don't go to church." I knew there had to be more to the story, so I waited to see the back of the shirt. The back of the shirt read, "Be the church." Beneath that it gave a website: http://www.jhchurch.org/. I did check out the website later. It is, as you may have guessed, Jefferson Hills "don't mention we're Lutheran" Church. Caveat emptor--don't go there if you're eating. It's rather like eating spaghetti and watching CSI at the same time--only if you have a strong stomach.

The shirt was a true t-shirt marketing ploy. Have a shocking statement on the front, explain it on the back, and give them a place to go for more information. In that case, it worked and didn't work. I went to the website, but I will never explore them any farther.

As my husband and I ate, the man and his dining companions left, they walked past our table. A lady at the table across from us also noticed the shirt and stated, "The church is the people." Unfortunately, at that point, "I am the Church" irksomely ran through my head. My husband's voice cut through the campy cerebreoredundogram, or as the Germans call it "ear worm", and he reminded me that the shirt (and the lady) was wrong.

A small portion from Luther's Small Catechism:
"The holy Christian Church is the communion of saints, that is, the whole number of believers in Christ; for all believers, and only believers are members of this Church." and "This holy Christian Church is to be found wherever the Gospel is in use; for according to God's promise His Word shall not be preached in vain."

Where do we find the Gospel? In word and sacrament. Where do we find word and sacrament? In church. So how can a person be the church if they're not in church?

Assessment: the t-shirt marketing ploy was a false advertisement.

It IS Political

So they eliminated "Issues, Etc." from KFUO for financial reasons. Now a new "Issues, Etc." will be on the air elsewhere (KSIV 1320 in St. Louis). There are some ponderings as to whether the same line-up of guests will be on the show. True, nobody ever was told not to go on a radio program because it hadn't made enough money. If they had cancelled Don Imus for not making enough dough, would guests go on still if he started a new show? I can understand not going on because of his basketball comments. That's politically understandable.

Problem is with "Issues, Etc.," even IF the reason had been truly monetary, it is no longer. It has been dragged into the (church) political arena. I'm guessing that even those guests who were not in favor of its cancellation may not want to place themselves in a political spotlight because in this world, a vote FOR someone is equal to a vote AGAINST.

Bear in mind, I am not evaluating, I am merely stating.

Please Don't at My Funeral

I don't plan my funeral every day--I don't usually think about it. There was a funeral for a church member today, but I was not in attendance, as I did not know the man and had met his wife only once. I did attend a funeral a week or two ago, only because I sang in the special choir our director had put together since the deceased had sung in choir for many years.
I should learn to ask certain questions before agreeing to such things, however. Namely, "Does it involve singing 'Beautiful Savior'?" If the answer is yes, count me out. If you like "Beautiful Savior," I'm sorry. The words are wimpy and the tune is rather boring. I asked Pastor Starke if they had to put it in LSB; he said they did. I don't like it. At all. (Especially when sung flat and slightly off key by high school men--but that's another story for another day.)
This got me thinking of what I don't want at my funeral. Let me state the obvious: NO "Beautiful Savior"--not even the slightest hint of it. I also don't want "How Great Thou Art" or "Amazing Grace". I cannot stand the former; the latter is overused, as is "I Know That My Redeemer Lives". At least with "I Know That My Redeemer Lives," one is getting closer to the point of the funeral.
Speaking of the point, another thing I don't want is a pastor who cannot preach to the point. I remember sitting through funeral sermon after funeral sermon with my husband's former colleague saying, "You'll never do __ with grandma/grandpa/mom/dad." Yeah, and meanwhile the family is going through gobs of tissues and never hears the hope of the Resurrection. If the pastor does that at my funeral, I hope someone would have the guts to stand up and say, "Sir, we would see Jesus!"
No, at my funeral, I want people to hear about Christ. His death and resurrection. All the hymns should reflect that. I'm thinking "O God O Lord of Heaven and Earth," "For All the Saints," and other hymns that get to the heart of faith. I want a sermon that preaches Jesus. Anything less will not do.
Save the nice comments, sappy thoughts, and reflection for the potato salad.

Sad

It's sad when something like this happens. I had wondered what happened to Rev. Woodring. Now I know. He tells us to take a deep breath and that it will be okay. I don't think so. The comments run from shameful to way to go. I am at a loss as to what to say. I feel betrayed. I looked up to this man as a teacher of the faith, only to learn he doesn't buy it anymore. It seems that the LC MS has lost a good man brought about by our own infighting. What can we do from here, folks? Where can we go from here? It seems to me that something must be done.

Father's Day Church Sign

I must comment on the Father's Day Dumb Church Sign. (Celebrate Father's Day: duct tape something.) I confess, I didn't actually see it. Our pastor told us about it during announcements on Sunday.
Honestly , I think it's funny, and I would laugh if it was in Readers Digest or in the comics. Truth be told, I don't think it should be on a church sign. This is why I classify it as a dumb church sign.

LHM Mission

I am confused. Could anyone clarify how Lutheran Hour Ministries is doing a "Work and witness" project with the California-Nevada-Hawaii District of the LC-MS and have two members of their team be ELCA? One an ELCA pastor, no less.
I don't have a problem with mission work [humanitarian] trips that are pan-Lutheran. I am wondering about the witness part. How does that work? Lutheran is not Lutheran is not Lutheran. If we were all the same there would not be the different Lutheran synods; therefore, we must have diverging areas in our beliefs.
All I wish to do in this post is pose questions. If anyone can supply some answers, I'd appreciate it. I'm apprehensive about the answers which may come up. Maybe there's a simple explanation for it, and I'm over-analyzing it. Then again, maybe not.

Preaching to the Choir

I am not sure with what intent I wrote the following, but since I have no other outlet for it, here it is. . .

There is an old saying which talks of “preaching to the choir.” The point of course being that the preacher is speaking to those who agree with him. Historically, the choir was composed of priests or monks who were as well-versed in theology as the preacher, and therefore was on par with the preacher.

The choir’s function in the worship service has gone through many changes during the centuries. Even in the past two generations, its role has changed in the Lutheran Church. Not all that long ago, the choir’s function during worship was to sing a piece called a voluntary (often between the readings) during worship. Many churches still have their choir function in this manner.

Today the role of the choir has changed to be a leadership role. The choir teaches the congregation new hymns, leads them in parts of the liturgy—the Psalm, introit, canticles, or other sung parts of the liturgy, as well as providing special music during the offering or communion distribution to reinforce the themes of the Sunday.

Whether the choir which sings voluntaries or the choir leads congregational singing, the choir has a duty to present the theology of the church in their music. Regardless of the type of music sung—and there is much choral music out there today—the choir director, and ultimately the pastor, must make sure the theology of what is sung is in line with the church’s teachings.

Not all music is beneficial to be sung in worship. Obviously secular music has no place in the worship service (this includes church weddings, but that’s another topic entirely). What about that fantastic piece the choir director found at a choral reading session or heard on the radio? Publishing companies wish to sell music, and composers write music which will sell, hoping that churches will use them.

Here is where we come into some problems. This may be surprising, but not every Christian out there is Lutheran (gasp!). Not every composer is Lutheran either. A choral piece can have the text/theme/sound a choir director is looking for, but what is the message? Is it a communion piece which says everything about remembering Jesus while eating bread and drinking wine yet says nothing about His body and blood? This is not a good piece to sing in a church which confesses “in, with, and under the bread and wine.” What about a snappy chorus which speaks of the joy of “finding Jesus?” It cannot be used in a church which confesses that “I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus and come to Him.”

The greatest preaching can be completely undone with the music which surrounds the preaching. I experienced this very paradox one Sunday when the “Praise Team” led the congregation in a song which had strong decision theology language, followed by the pastor speaking of how we cannot come to Jesus by our human nature. Yet which were the people humming as they headed home—the song or the sermon?

Luther understood the power of song. He knew that music was easily memorized and internalized, and so he incorporated doctrine into the songs the people sung. Our choir members today need to be diligent in keeping that concept in worship.

If I’m preaching to the choir, I apologize. There are many congregations out there who have astute choir directors who doctrinally review all their music. There are other congregations out there whose choir directors do not have that ability. In these cases, it falls upon the pastor to make sure the texts of the songs fit the teachings. This does not mean that every choral piece has to be published by an approved publisher or one can sing only J.S. Bach. There are many good choral pieces, but the pastor and choir director must work in concert (pardon the pun) to make sure the words are in doctrinal order.

Congregation members and choir members too can become better at discerning bad theology and say something to their choir director or pastor when they see or hear lyrics which are in conflict with the church’s teaching. We need to make sure we sing what we preach.

Sink or Swim

Sometimes this seems to be the way American Christianity is. . .

I saw this cartoon the other day where a man is thrashing about in the ocean, and the lifeguard reading a magazine remarks casually to onlookers, "We're encouraging people to become involved in their own rescue."