The REDEEMER REPORT NEWSLETTER OF VOLUME I, ISSUE 7 REDEEMER LUTHERAN CHURCH, IOLA, WI MARCH 2015 Excerpt from The Righteous Cry Out, and the Lord Hears: Reading the Psalms Privately and Corporately by Vicar Michael G. Lilienthal In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul encourages his readers to be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, (Eph. 5:18-19) and in his letter to the Colossians he says, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord (Col. 3:16). Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs are all poetic compositions designed specifically to be sung, and yet Paul suggests a different use for them here. The Christians in Ephesus and Colosse were to speak to one another and to teach and admonish one another in this musical poetry. One may almost picture a utopian sort of culture in which people sing to one another and play divine music, lifting up each other s spirits and encouraging a blissful, happy life. If understood in this way, Ephesus and Colosse might become pictures of heaven. There is another understanding of the pronoun here in these two verses translated one another, that it would be better translated yourselves. In this case, rather than a community in which people sing to one another in heavenly delight, the songs are sung more privately, to one s own soul to encourage oneself. This provides the image of the individual, who, in the trials and troubles, the joys and pleasures of life, finds a blessed expression in private conversation with God. Consider the two-way communication found in the Psalms: if prayer is man speaking to God, then that is in the Psalms; if Scripture is God speaking to man, then that is found in the Psalms. Nowhere else but in the Lord s Prayer are both directions of such communication encompassed in one. And the individual speaking and singing to God is unified with the Church at large, for, When we sing our psalms and our hymns in our Christian worship, all of us sing together, and we by no means chant the instructive and the admonitory words only to our fellow singers, nor do they chant them to us, we all say them first and foremost to our own selves (R.C.H. Lenski, Commentary on Colossians, 177-178). This singing, speaking, teaching, and admonishing with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs is therefore designed as both a corporate and a private affair. We as Christians, as members of Christ s body, will partake in the worship of Christ s body, receiving the Word God gives to all his people, and responding with all God s people to him in prayer. We will also, in the quiet hours when we sit alone, when we walk alone, when we work alone, find in the Psalms a way in which we may privately speak to God, whether it be with sorrow, rage, or joy. If you wish to read more of Vicar Lilienthal s thesis, a copy will be made available by request. The, Finding Christ in the Psalms, will continue to meet Thursdays at 6:00 p.m.
Instruction Regarding the Lord s Supper Prepared by Vicar Michael Lilienthal for the Voters Meeting, 2/22/15 We, as confessional Lutherans, believe, teach, and confess that in the Lord s Supper the Body and Blood of Christ are truly present, and are distributed to those who eat in the Supper of the Lord (AC X:1, Triglot 47). This we firmly believe because Jesus himself says of the bread, This is my body (Mark 14:22), and of the wine, This is my blood (Mark 14:24). In a miraculous way, the Lord s Supper is at the same time both Christ s true body and blood and the very bread and wine. St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:16: The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Paul calls the Sacrament both the cup and the blood of Christ, and the bread and the body of Christ. We cannot with our human reason understand how this can be, but by faith we believe it. What causes this miracle to occur is the Word of God and the proper use of the sacrament, as Jesus said, Do this in remembrance of me (Luke 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:24), and Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me (1 Cor. 11:25). The one appointed by the congregation to distribute the Sacrament will repeat the words Christ spoke at the institution of the Holy Supper: Our Lord Jesus Christ, the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread and when he had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to His disciples saying: Take, eat; this is My body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of Me. In the same way also He took the cup after supper, gave thanks, and gave it to them saying: Drink of it all of you; this cup is the New Testament in My blood, which is shed for you and for many, for the remission of sins. This do as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me P a g e 2 (ELH p. 78-79). Speaking or chanting these words indicates that those present intend to celebrate this Sacrament as Christ commanded. Therefore God blesses it so that, as the bread and wine are distributed and received, they are in fact the very body and blood of Christ. In our Lutheran Confessions, the truth of it is stated thus: [The true churches] confess that in this Sacrament there are two things, a heavenly and an earthly. Accordingly, they hold and teach that with the bread and wine the body and blood of Christ are truly and essentially present, offered, and received. And although they believe in no transubstantiation, that is, an essential transformation of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, nor hold that the body and blood of Christ are...permanently united [with the bread and wine] apart from the use of the Sacrament, yet they concede that through the sacramental union the bread is the body of Christ, etc. For apart from the use, when the bread is laid aside and preserved in the sacramental vessel they do not hold that the body of Christ is present (FC, Th. Dec., VII:14-15, Triglot 977, italics added). This means that we believe that both bread and body, both wine and blood are present in the Lord s Supper, and that Christ s body and blood are present while the Sacrament is rightly used. However, outside of the proper use of the Sacrament, there is no body or blood of Christ connected with the bread or wine. That means that when the bread and wine are covered on the altar once again, and when they are removed to be placed back in the cupboards or any time they are not being distributed and received as the Sacrament of the Altar they are no longer Jesus body and blood, but once again are mere bread and wine. And more than this, we confess in the same place that the institution of this Sacrament made by Christ is efficacious in Christendom [the Church], and that it does not depend
upon the worthiness or unworthiness of the minister who offers the Sacrament, or of the one who receives it (FC, Th. Dec., VII:16, Triglot 977). As Paul writes, Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord (1 Cor. 11:27). This means that if someone is unworthy to receive the Sacrament, he does still receive it, and in fact receives it to his harm rather than his benefit. In the same way, even a minister who is in fact the worst unbeliever, if he speaks the Words of Institution and distributes the Sacrament correctly, everyone who receives what he gives truly receives the body and blood of Christ and the forgiveness of sins that comes with it. The Sacrament does not depend on the person who says the words; the Sacrament is effected, or caused, by the Word of God alone, no matter who speaks it. This Martin Luther writes in our Confessions: Even though a knave take or distribute the Sacrament, [it is] the true Sacrament, that is, the true body and blood of Christ, just as truly as he who [receives or] administers it in the most worthy manner. For it is not founded upon the holiness of men, but upon the Word of God (LC, Triglot 757, 16). So then, when the minister baptizes or celebrates Holy Communion, he does so in the name of the congregation, or, to go back one step farther, in the name of Christ (Kurth, Catechetical Helps, 143). Luther wrote that, as the congregation who possesses these holy things of God, we let our pastor say what Christ has ordained, not for himself as though it were for his person, but he is the mouth for all of us and we all speak the words with him from the heart and in faith, directed to the Lamb of God who is present for us and among us, and who according to his ordinance nourishes us with his body and blood (LW 38:209). February Birthdays Linda Martin... 3 rd Bill Hoks... 4 th Ron Ross... 11 th Gwen Gauerke... 21 st Rick Hutchison... 21 st Announcements Easter for Kids The voters have decided that Redeemer will host an event for children ages 5 to 11 in the It falls to the congregation to appoint community. It will be a one-day event on someone to consecrate and distribute the Saturday, March 28 th to share the good news sacrament on their behalf. All the holy of Easter. Volunteers who are willing to things of God, the Word and Sacrament, teach, provide snacks, and perform other were given to his people, to Christians in support roles will be necessary please general, and not to one specific class. The prayerfully consider participating. The signup congregation uses their Christian freedom to sheet is in the narthex. appoint one of them to take charge of what belongs to the church as a whole and to Weekly Devotions distribute it as a representative of them all. Vicar Lilienthal continues to produce weekly This role usually falls to the pastor of a devotional readings on the Redeemer blog congregation. Christ gave this power [to administer (found at www.redeemeriola.wordpress.com) the sacraments] to the Church. But In the series, Vicar studies the ways in now, the whole congregation cannot baptize which God feeds our faith in this life as a a child, or distribute the sacred elements. So preparation for the heavenly banquet in the the congregation chooses, calls, and installs a next. New devotions are to be published pastor. And to him the congregation transfers weekly each Thursday. the power which it received from Christ. P a g e 3
Lutheran Sentinel The Lutheran Sentinel, the official publication of our Evangelical Lutheran Synod, is available online at issuu.com/lutheransentinel. Each bi-monthly issue contains a message from our synod s president, Rev. John A. Moldstad, and various articles written by ELS clergy in addition to synod-wide news and announcements. We welcome your news, announcements, and other input. Anyone interested in contributing may contact Vicar by the 21 st of each month to have news included in the following month s Report. The Mission of Redeemer Lutheran Church is to: Reach out to all people who do not know the Good News of the forgiveness of sins, won for them by the perfect life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and freely offered them through God s grace. And, to strengthen and encourage those who walk in true faith through the lifegiving Word and Sacraments of God our heavenly Father. 125 North St. PO Box 95 Iola, WI 54945 (715) 445-3172 Vicar s Cell: (715) 412-1800 P a g e 4
APRIL 1 8 15 22 29 MARCH 2015 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY Second Sunday During Lent Third Sunday During Lent with Lord s Supper Fourth Sunday During Lent 10:15 AM Fellowship 10:20 AM Catechism Fifth Sunday During Lent with Lord s Supper Palm Sunday 2 3 9 10 16 17 23 24 6 PM Greek 6 PM Greek 1 PM Ladies Guild 6 PM Greek 6 PM Greek 4 11 18 30 31 1 2 25 5 12 19 26 Maundy Thursday Vespers with Lord s Supper 6 7 13 14 20 21 27 28 10 AM Easter For Kids 3 Good Friday Tenebrae Service 4 P a g e 5