The other morning while driving to work I listened to an interview of singer/songwriter Leslie Feist.  During the course of the interview, Feist made the comment that any romance that ends, for what ever reason, doesn’t end well.

What she said reminded me of an article by Lutheran theologian Gerhard Forde on justification by faith that I recently read.  In the article, Forde deals mainly with the voice of the law in Romans 1-3.  From Romans 1:18 (“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men,”) to Romans 3:10-11 (“There is no one who is righteous, not even one; there is no one who has understanding, there is no one who seeks God,”) it is clear that humanity has no hope for reconciliation with God apart from Christ.

In one way or another, we are all under the law, a law which no one is able to satisfy (Romans 2:12).  Whether we like it or not, we are caught in a bad and abusive relationship with the law.  The law is like the oppressive partner who can never find satisfaction in the deeds of the other.

And there is no remedy for our unrighteousness according to the law apart from Christ.  In other words, the relationship will always be ugly so long as we try to make it right on our own.  As Forde says, “Who shall deliver us?  How can the voice of the law be stilled?  And the only answer to that… is Christ.  Christ is the end of the law, that those who have faith may be justified.”

Through faith we are justified for Christ’s sake and our bad romance with the law is broken (please note that this does not mean that the law is discarded).

I read and am reflecting on this short and beautiful section of the Large Catechism today.

“Therefore, every Christian has enough in Baptism to learn and to do all his life.  For he has always enough to do by believing firmly what Baptism promises and brings: victory over death and the devil (Romans 6:3-6),

["Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.  We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin."]

“forgiveness of sin (Acts 2:38),

["And Peter said to them, 'Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'"]

“God’s grace (Titus 3:5-6),

["he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration wand renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior."]

“the entire Christ, and the Holy Spirit with His gifts (1 Corinthians 6:11).”

["And such were some of you.  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."]

          “30. Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31. but 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 20:30-31

Today we will be starting a brief overview of the message and structure of the Gospel of John which was written “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ.” While this overview will not be exhaustive, it will help us to see how the whole of John teaches that Jesus is the Christ and why this is so important.

The Gospel opens up with a beautiful 18 verse prologue introducing Jesus Christ as “The Word” who “was with with God in the beginning” and “through whom all things were made (1:3).” “In Him”, Jesus, was life, and the life was the light of men (1:4). He, Jesus, the light comes into the world but is not received (1:11). But to those who do receive him, who believed his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God, he gives the right to become children of God (1:12-13). Thus from the very beginning Jesus is one who exists eternally with God the Father and who comes into the world, into the darkness so that his people, whom He created, and can have eternal life. Further, these people who will be receiving eternal life have it, not by their own will, but by the will and mercy of God as they are become children of God.

In the prologue, John the Baptist is introduced to us as “a man sent from God to bear witness to the light” that is to bear witness to Jesus (1:6-7). In verses 18-34 of chapter one John points to Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (1:29) and as “the Son of God who baptizes with the Holy Spirit (1:33 and 34).

In John 2 Jesus performs the first of his “signs” manifesting his glory as He turns water into wine (2:11). The effect is that “His disciples believed in him.” Immediately after, the account of Jesus cleansing the temple and testifying there that he is in his father’s house and that he would raise again from the dead – though he was not understood. In John 3 Jesus again makes it clear that He has come to save the world and that whoever believes in him should have eternal life (3:16). In John 4 Jesus reveals himself the Messiah and as the one who can give eternal life. Afterwards Jesus performs his second “sign” by healing an official’s son with the effect that the official, and all his household believed. (4:53).

In John 5 Jesus heals an invalid by a pool and intentionally stirs up trouble with the Pharisees by ordering the healed man to pick up his mat and carry it on the sabbath – violating rabbinical law. Jesus proceeds to utilize the resulting conflict to claim equality with God (5:17-18) and to inform everyone that “Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will (5:21).” Jesus continues, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” Jesus does not allow, even for a minute, us to believe that he is merely a good teacher, a kind man, or a prophet. Jesus claims to be God’s Divine Son who has come so that we might believe in Him and have eternal life. He has come that we might believe that He is our Savior and that outside of him there is no salvation.

My daughter received some Disney board books for Christmas.  The story of Pinocchio reads as follows.

“Geppetto made a puppet boy.

“The boy came to life.

“The puppet was named Pinocchio.

“Pinocchio saved Geppetto.

“Pinocchio became a real boy!”

That’s it in its entirety.  There is nothing in there about Pinocchio’s propensity for telling lies or his inclination to go against his “conscience” Jiminy Cricket.  There is nothing there about his smoking and drinking on Pleasure Island.

Now of course I realize that this is a book for very young children, but the edits in this version of the story are pretty absurd especially since they show a picture of Pinocchio with donkey ears and tail but give no explanation.  All we have is a Pinocchio’s creation, his saving of Geppetto (who only needed saving because he was looking for his lost son) and the grace of becoming a real boy granted to Pinocchio at the end of the story.

Of course, all classic Disney movies are in some sense a moral tale (Pinocchio is promised that he will become a real boy if he proves himself to be brave, truthful and unselfish).  But thinking from a theologically Lutheran perspective, if this were a story of grace it would have failed miserably.  Removing Pinocchio’s sin completely from the story makes the grace un-grace.  There is no law and therefore there is no consequence and so there is no need for saving even if one were able, as Pinocchio is, to save one’s self.

We need the law.  We need it to expose and convict us of our sin.  We need it to point out the fact that we need saving and redemption.  We need it to show us that we need Jesus Christ.

When the question, “Who chooses” is related to salvation two different answers present themselves to most theologians – the ones being (or not being) saved or the one doing the saving. Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians writes, “He chose us in him (Jesus) before the foundation of the world” and “He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.” Ephesians 1:4-5. Notice that God is the one doing the choosing in salvation. Concerning the natural fallen state of humankind Paul writes, and we believe, “you were dead in sin.”

Those outside of Christ remain dead in sin. They cannot believe. They cannot produce good fruit. They cannot obey the 10 Commandments, no they cannot even obey the first one. They are dead and remain dead by their own sin.

But as Ephesians 2:5 says, “But God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our sins, made us alive together with Christ.” The Christian teaching is that Christ has made full satisfaction for all of our sins through his sinless life and atoning death. He has won new life for all through His victory over death in the resurrection. He now gives the benefits of his sinless life, sacrificial death and resurrection to us through His Holy Word which creates faith in our hearts, and through the waters of Baptism. In these waters God joins us to the death and resurrection of Jesus as Paul declares in Romans 6:3-5. As Christians we are called to daily repentance in which we confess our sin and look to Jesus for forgiveness. Even this repentance is a gift from God as His Holy Spirit works in our lives convicting us of sin and pointing us to Jesus.

I’ll be honest.  I’m not Tim Tebow’s biggest fan.  I’m not entirely sure why not except that I think to many people are making a bigger deal than necessary about him.  It probably also has to do with the fact that he led a comeback against my Vikings.  But the more the Broncos win the more I have to swallow my pride and say that Tebow at least has something to do with it.

The practice of Tebowing (suddenly bowing in prayer even when others are doing something else entirely) has come under scrutiny as of late.  Honestly, I don’t really have a deep opinion on it except that my personality is such that I will not suddenly start tebowing.

Interestingly, the other day I was reading in Luther’s Large Catechism and came across this gem from the section on the second commandment.

“Likewise, children should continue to cross themselves when anything monstrous or terrible is seen or heard.  They can shou, “Lord God, protect us!” “Help, dear Lord Jesus!” and such.  Also, if anyone meets with unexpected good fortune, however trivial, he says, “God be praised and thanked!” or “God has bestowed this on me!” and so on…” (Emphasis added.)

I don’t really have anything to add to that.  Just thought I would point it out to further fuel the discussion.

However, if anyone can find or make an awesome picture of Martin Luther tebowing that would be great.

You better watch out,
You better not cry,
Better not pout,
I’m telling you why:
Santa Claus is coming to town.
He’s making a list,
And checking it twice;
Gonna find out
Who’s naughty and nice.
Santa Claus is coming to town.
He sees you when you’re sleeping.
He knows when you’re awake.
He knows if you’ve been bad or good,
So be good for goodness sake!

What seems to most to be a simple and jolly Christmas carol is in reality terrifying.  The song, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, portrays an omnipotent being who keeps a watch over everyone at all hours tallying up their naughty and nice deeds.  The song beckons children to be good lest they find themselves on the naughty list.  And so anxious children everywhere fret over their deeds of the previous months.

Unfortunately, as the false Santa from Tim Allen’s movie The Santa Clause 2 says, every kid is naughty and they all deserve coal.

Of course, the false Santa in The Santa Clause 2 is the bad guy, but theologically speaking he has it right.  No one deserves to be on the nice list.  There really should be no anxiety or doubt about where one is in Santa’s book because no one is righteous, no not one.  We know which list we are on and it is not the nice one.

This is how it also is with God.  As Romans 3 says we are not righteous and nobody does good.  However, unlike the Santa Claus universe, we are not left up to our own devices to somehow make it on the nice list.  Our deeds are not placed upon a scale balancing back and forth as we anxiously wait.  Instead Christ does what we cannot do and he earns our salvation for us.  No amount of wickedness or naughtiness can budge the scale when the cross is on the other side.

Through our baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection we are declared to be righteous and holy through.  Our names are written into the book of life not according to any merit of our own, but because of Christ’s merit.  While many live as though their salvation were dependent upon the judgment of a Santa-like God weighing their good and bad deeds, because of Christ we are freed from all doubt and anxiety.