Saturday, I went fishing with a couple guys and we caught quite a few fish. It was just good to be sitting beside the pond with a cold beer and talking farming or hunting with the guys again. Then Saturday night Nate and Kari came down and JoAnna came home. So we hung out as a family.
Sunday I got up early enough to help with both services, including sunrise service out at the country church. I also learned a very important lesson. Always make sure the second service is serving breakfast. St. Johns, the first service had breakfast so Pastor and I ate there. Then we went to second service in town and did that service. It did not effect the parts I helped with, but during Pastor's sermon, I could not quit burping. So the lesson is always eat after the second service when you are all done. Then Sunday afternoon I headed back to school. We had Monday off from classes, but I had papers to write. Last week I had a test and two papers so they both kept me extra busy on top of the normal stuff.
This last weekend was pretty fun. A bunch of guys hung out in the community kitchen playing pool, cards, board games, and video games. There were a few adult beverages included and the board game that I was playing with some guys came to an end when one of the adult beverages was spilled on the board. The game was Settlers of Catan, an awesome board game if you have not played it before. It was just a really fun night of hanging out with a lot of guys I do not hang out with on a regular basis.
This week was supposed to be busy getting a start on the next round of papers, sermon, and tests to make sure I do not leave them all for the last minute again. However, so far I have been pretty unproductive this week, besides getting all my regular work and homework done for classes this week. But tomorrow I do not have any classes and I do not think much is going on this weekend. I would like to try to get some golf in, but I do not know for sure. I did play tennis for the first time this spring and beat the guy I was playing. He is on the tennis team, so I felt good beating him but I did not play the best and would like to get at least one more round in before I go play with the whole team.
Also, I got a new suit today. A group of lawyers here is St. Louis rounded up two hundred used suits and donated them to us seminary guys. We had to email our sizes in, and then were allowed to go in and try them on until we found one that fit us. I found two that fit me pretty well. The first fit perfect other than the pants being just a tad short. The second one fit literally perfect, like it was made for me, but had a little hole right in the middle of the back of the suit coat. Luckily, I was able to pick the first one, because of the awesome lady who is volunteering to alter them for us. She is able to take the hem out of the pants and lengthen them for me. So I now own a very nice dark grey with white "texture lines" suit. I do not know how else to explain it. They said they will try to do it again next fall for us.
My first thought for the day comes from Kolb's Confessions class. This morning we were talking about the third article of the Formula of Concord. Kolb made the comment that God is our creator and re-creator. He further clarified what he meant. God the Father created us by His Word. However, after the fall we are now fall creatures of original sin and sinful nature. This sin is not just an illness, wound, disadvantage, or weakness. We were not just healed by Christ's death and resurrection. In our baptism, we died! We actually died to the wage of sin through the same death of Christ. We were made alive to Christ. We were resurrected to never die again. God is our re-creator who gave us this new life to Christ, the resurrection from our death in baptism. He created us, and resurrected us. I thought it was a pretty cool way to put it that God is our creator and re-creator.
My second thought for the day comes from Calvin Reformation. Now this is a point Calvin made, so its wrong of course(partly kidding), but it helps clarify how we Lutherans see it. Calvin has three uses for the law. I am only going to explain the first one. It is the pedagogical use. He says that the law shows that God is righteous and shows us who we are. (Kind of sounds like Luther's mirror idea). Calvin says that the law accuses us of our sins, condemns us to hell and destroys us as children of God. However, this is where Calvin goes astray. Calvin goes on to say that the law moves us to see God's grace. So when the law condemns us, and we feel the despair of our sin, the law moves us to see God's saving grace. Now in class I asked about this because we as Lutheran's see the law as a way to see the full magnitude of the Gospel. The fact that the law drives us down so far into despair and we realize how terrible an filthy of sinners we are, the Gospel then seems that much bigger that God would save us horrible fallen creatures. However, that is not what Calvin is saying. Calvin is saying that the law is actually pointing us to the Gospel. See we believe that the law does accuse us, condemn us, and leaves us in despair. And it ends right there, leaving us in that pit of despair knowing we are condemned. If someone has never heard the Gospel before and you give them the law, it should drive them to feel complete despair and helplessness. For us that is the end of the law, that abandonment, forsaken, completely alone feeling is the end of the law. No hope, no joy, no grace. The law by itself has no grace or mercy, because it is to be followed perfect, we have not done that, so we fail and are left for dead. However, this is where the grace of the Gospel comes in and shows us we are not alone, abandoned, or forsaken. So I do not want this to sound like Lutherans only give the law and leave people hanging. However, we disagree with Calvin and clearly separate law form Gospel. Calvin sort of combines the two by added just a touch of Gospel that comes at the end of the law, but that is not true. This also fits in perfect with what we are talking about in Homiletics class. The law before we know the Gospel does condemn us. Then after one knows the Gospel, knows that Christ has saved that person from all accusations, all condemnation, and all despair; they can now hear the law as God's will. The law, to someone who is alive to Christ and has the Gospel in their heart, is simply how God wants us to live. It is His way of living that He expects us to keep, not because it saves us, but because we have been saved and now have life in Christ that allows us to try to live according to His law. And again, this takes us right back to my point in class. Once we know the Gospel, the law does indeed show us how filthy, terrible, rotten and sinful people we are. Deliberately disobeying and rejecting God and His ways daily through our sinful nature, and yet we are the ones He saved. We are the ones through the death and resurrection of Christ that are now the forgiven, baptized children of God. The law shows us the full price God paid, and the full glory of the Gospel we have as His redeemed children. All praise Him who did not leave us condemned and forsaken by the law which we broke, but claimed us as His redeemed, forgiven children.
Dear Heavenly Father,
You are our creator and re-creator. You have given us new life through our baptism which made us dead to sin and alive to Christ. Let us live our new life to Christ by striving to live by Your law, not because we have to but because it is how You desire us to live. Let our Easter songs of joy, that shout the full glory of Your amazing and saving Gospel, never end or fade, but be sang ever louder as we daily remember what an amazing God we have. Amen.
Since I had to memorize the Small Catechism for a test, and I realized even most of us seminary guys had to go back and refresh it in our minds, I am going to add one part of Luther's Small Catechism at the end of each post. Today I will do the first three commandments since they are so short.
AS THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY SHOULD TEACH THEM IN A SIMPLE WAY TO HIS HOUSEHOLD.
The First Commandment: You shall have no other gods.What does this mean? We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.
The Second Commandment: You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not curse, swear, use satanic arts, lie, or deceive by His name, but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.
The Third Commandment: Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.
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