Reflection #157

Smoky Mountain Reflections #157

            Sometimes information can be interesting and fun, though relatively useless. For example, the word “excellent” has had many slang renderings over the years. In 1375 it was “gay”, in 1794 “dandy”, while “neat” and “swell” date back to 1810. In 1896 it was “fly”, in 1920 “wicked”, then “solid”, “groovy” and “cool” came out in the 1930’s. In the 1970’s we had “bomb” and “rad”, and in the 1990’s “beast” and “chronic” came to denote excellence. I come from a time when “killer” and “awesome” were the words of choice, but I find myself uninformed as to the current slang rendering of “excellent”.

            Sometimes information is interesting, puzzling, or frightening. For example, we spend on average 2.66 hours per day on leisure and sport activities while at the same time watching an average of 2.77 hours of television. It seems TV watching is overlapping into other activities, which means we have a nation of multi-taskers doing lots of things (poorly) at the same time instead of one thing at a time with focus and care. If you are considering parenthood, it is estimated that it will cost you $245,340.00 to get your child to the age of 17.  Any parent knows though that a quarter of a million is a small price to pay for the privilege of being a parent, even with its ups and downs.

            Finally, information can also be helpful as we seek to understand our neighbor so that we might speak the truth in love to them and share the Gospel. Just that phrase “share the gospel” causes some of us to shrink in fear, but that need not be the case. Helpful information can strengthen our resolve, making it easier to share that sweet Gospel with others. So, here is some helpful information about our nation, our community, and our church. While there has been an increase in the “nones” (those who do not claim any faith) and while there has been a 2.2% decrease in membership of the mainline churches (from 1991-2012), not all of the information is bleak. Conservative Bible teaching churches have seen a 0.6% increase according to General Social Survey Data from that period. These may seem like small numbers, but remember that these small percentages represent millions of people. While it is sad that 18% of Christians are abandoning the faith, it is encouraging to know that 82% are holding to God’s promises. There is also an interesting link between successful marriages and regular (weekly) church attendance.

            Enough on the national figures though--let’s look at some data on our own community. Our neighborhood here in Sevier County is similar to most of the nation; half of our neighbors have a church home but less than 20% of our neighbors regularly (weekly) attend church. That means that 4 out of every 5 people you live and work around are spiritually starving but our community is well above the national average when it comes to Faith in Christ. We are below the national average when it comes to pro-choice and pro-homosexual-marriage views but 49.3% of our neighbors still believe abortion should be legal and 33.5% believe same gender couples should be allowed to marry.

So, how is this helpful in sharing your faith? Well, now you know what sort of people you may be speaking with so that when you speak the truth in love you can ask a few questions and be ready with some good answers. What is your faith background? Do you have a church home?  What do you believe? Invite your neighbor to tell you about their faith. You would be surprised how willing people are to talk about what they believe. If you discover that your neighbor is part of that 20% figure (an active member of a Trinitarian Christian Church), then you can encourage each other in the faith while learning about your differences. If you discover them to be something other than a saved Trinitarian Christian who is regularly being fed in church, you then have a great opportunity to share the light with someone who is in darkness. If they are not interested, then politely offer to answer or find answers to any faith questions they might have in the future, and respect their request, change the subject and of course keep them in your prayers.

Have a blessed Lenten season,

In Christ,

Pastor Portier

Smoky Mountain Reflections #156

Smoky Mountain Reflections #156

            How does your view of Christ affect your application of who He is and what he came to do for you and your life? A simple biblical answer would be that Christ came into human flesh, suffered, died, rose from the dead to redeem all people and will come again to gather His resurrected saints to Himself in His new heavens and earth for all eternity. While this is true and should be preached and taught at every opportunity, how does one apply it to daily life?

            Daily drowning the old Adam by remembering our baptism and thanking God for this gift is a very good place to start, but then we have to get through the rest of the day. Keeping Jesus first in all that we say and do is easier said than done. Doing everything to the glory of God is and will be a constant struggle with that drowned old Adam. I would like to propose that as we struggle, staggering from ditch to ditch, struggling just to get up with God’s help, only to fall again, we still press on. We are not fatalists, but we are realistic and we acknowledge that as sinners we will often disappoint and hurt each other. We should however still strive every day, with God’s help, to disappoint and hurt a little less…..maybe even love God and our neighbor in the way He would have us do it. 

            I think that the ways in which we tend to apply Jesus and His gifts can be characterized in several ways. This month, let’s look at five of them with the help of metaphors. The first four can be seen as misapplications, while the final one may be a helpful way to understand and apply Jesus’ love to our lives. As I play a little with these metaphors, I would like to thank my classmate Pastor Bryan Wolfmeuller of Hope Lutheran Church in Aurora Colorado who used most of these on his Table Talk Radio program and planted the seeds for this article. The metaphors I’ll use for commonly held views of Jesus are those of a dating service, a bank, a school, a drug store, and a courtroom.

So let’s play with these metaphors a little, shall we?

Dating service: Many see their relationship with Jesus as being similar to one between a boyfriend and girlfriend. The songs these people like to sing have a sort of longing to see Him and touch Him and feel His presence in some way. Their prayers express the same sort of things. When they talk about Jesus they do not talk about what He did for them on the cross or what He does for them in Word and Sacrament, but instead about how He makes them feel. Consequently, these individuals see their church as a place where they can get connected with their boyfriend and snuggle a little bit. Do not misunderstand me; I am not saying that as the bride of Christ we should not seek to be nurtured and comforted by Christ who is our bridegroom, using the means he has instituted, I am simply saying that focusing on the good feeling misses the point of the love and forgivness which provides that feeling.       

Bank: Some see their relationship with Jesus as being similar to one between a banker and an account holder. These people like to talk about how they and their church have stored up in the “bank of good works” all that is needed. These sinners feel comfort that in God’s eyes they are each “good persons”. When all of the good and bad are measured on the scale, they say, the good will outweigh the bad or at least they hope it will, and the pearly gates will be opened wide. The Roman Catholic Church will still today sell you an indulgence to make a withdrawal from this “bank”! But if we look at the Bible, in James 2:10, we find that to break even one of God’s laws is to break them all. So in essence, we are all bankrupt in God’s sight. The scale of righteousness does not measure good and bad on a curve; it only has two possible readings: 100% guilty and condemned, or, through Christ, 100% redeemed.

School: At this “campus”, well-meaning Christians claim to be able to prove that God exists. While every area of scientific endeavor provides good information to shed light on God and His presence, it all boils down to this: without the Holy Spirt making the clear connection between God and His creation, the sinner sees only what he wants to see. While any well-educated Christian can make a rock-solid, rhetorically sound argument for God and His existence in any field of study, only the Holy Spirit can crack the stone of a hardened heart so that faith can take root and grow.      

Drug Store: This view often takes root when a church stops talking about sin, the cross, and forgiveness, and turns Jesus into what is essentially a vitamin, putting all of their focus on how being a Christian will make one wiser, happier, healthier, and wealthier. Besides ignoring Christ’s primary purpose for coming into human flesh and dwelling among us, namely, our salvation, it cheapens His example of how we should live and turns it into a recipe for success instead of a principal by which to live. But the worst thing about this approach is that it sets people up for failure; when being a Christian does not produce what the false prophets promise, they do not give up on the false prophet…they give up on God.

Courtroom: While all metaphors have their weaknesses, this one can still do a very good job of properly showing how Christ’s gift of salvation applies to our lives. We are all guilty and sitting in the defendant’s seat, as the prosecuting attorney (Satan) correctly proclaims our guilt. However, our defense attorney (the Holy Spirit), calls Christ to the stand and asks Him to speak in our defense. Christ says to the Father on the throne of righteousness (the Judge in this courtroom scene): “Justice has been served in this case; what the accuser says is true on all accounts, but he left out one detail: I have already suffered and died for those crimes. Therefore, that defendant is mine; a redeemed child of the triune God.” Amen.

Have a blessed February full of candy hearts and friendly smiles!

In Christ,

Pastor Portier        

Reflection # 155

Smoky Mountain Reflections #155

            Happy New Year!

            As we get this year started I would like to encourage you all to not make a New Year’s resolution. Instead, be about the business of serving God and neighbor because of your gratitude for His great gift of salvation and because your neighbor needs to be loved by you for God.

            I would like to propose that you do this in three simple ways: Engage, Discern, and Speak.

            First let’s engage. Live the life you have been blessed with in a productive proactive way that has you interacting with your family, coworkers or fellow students, friends and neighbors. Do not make this a project; instead make it a life style choice.  Choose to eat meals at the family table whenever possible, not in front of the TV. Choose to have face to face conversations instead of electronic ones whenever possible. Choose to make a deliberate effort to look for opportunities to spend a little time actually talking to your neighbor. When you are communicating electronically, choose to make an extra effort to be kind and thankful when texting, tweeting, e-mailing or talking on the phone. You cannot share your faith in your home at work or at school or in your neighborhood if you are not having regular conversations with people. So unplug from that regular one way radio, tv or ipod, use and have some two way conversations. You may even find out through such conversations that there is some way that you can be of service to your neighbor.     

Next do a little discerning. Spend time in God’s word so that you can clearly tell right from wrong. In an age where we are always speaking about the infamous gray area, where we are unsure what is right or wrong, take the time to get a sound Biblical answer to such questions when you come across them. Read His word. With digital versions of scripture abounding it is easy to find text that addresses your question. Pray for guidance. If we diligently seek His will in all things He will not let us down. Get fed regularly, with daily devotions, regular fellowship, Bible study, and of course fed by Word and Sacrament fellowship weekly. Also add regular rest, to be still and know that He is God.

            Finally speak up, Have the courage to speak the truth in love when you are having all those conversations and you find someone God has called you to love has a hard question to deal with. Take the time to help them find a good Biblical answer to whatever that sticky problem may be. If you find yourself unable to help with such an answer I offer myself as your own personal pastoral advisor, ready to help you find good answers to life’s tough questions.

            So Engage, Discern, and Speak in 2015 and the Lord will be at your side all the way

Blessed New Year

In Christ

Pastor Portier 

#154 Insanity

Smoky Mountain Reflections #154

            You have heard it said before, and maybe you yourself have even quoted this familiar adage: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. The question I would like to ponder this month is: “Does that apply to what we do as God’s church?”. Is it possible that the repetition of the action is not really the issue? Maybe we should examine what our expectations are instead of simply adjusting the ways that we try to meet them.

          Some would argue that worship styles should follow a marketing strategy (read: man-centered). While others would argue that there is only one kind of worship: historic (stubborn opposition to any change is also

man-centered). The church historically has incorporated new things that enrich the worship experience while respecting the beautiful gifts from the past. For our worship to be Christ-centered, we must, in all aspects, seek first God’s will, not our own. What is our motive? Even though we may be lobbying for the right thing, if our motive is “I want my way”, it is a sinful motive. I would argue that what we do in worship is a direct public confession of what we believe and by its very nature outreach. Therefore, what we do should be driven not by what we may think is the best method (e.g., new and dynamic vs. ancient and transcendent), but rather driven and motivated by what God’s word says and how best to convey that truth in worship.

            There really is no debate about what Christ calls His bride (the church) to do; to go and make disciples. How we go about making disciples, however, is what causes debate among Trinitarian Christians. A good Armenian Baptist would point out the need for an altar call, while a solid “double-predestinarian” Calvinist would ponder the futility of outreach while still agreeing that outreach is necessary.  
         

        Evaluation of  things like worship attendance, demographic trends in the congregation and the community, and evaluating the cost effectiveness of any activity the church does or participates in can and should be part of good stewardship of God’s time and resources. But the most important question is how does this worship proclaim and confess Christ?  Is this activity in accord with God’s will? Results can inform our actions and decisions but should not be what drive us. Likewise repetition and comfort are great tools for teaching the faith and discipling (as we are called to do), but empty mindless or vain repetition and ‘my personal comfort’ should also not be what drive us.

In my humble opinion: Our primary motivation for any change, in all things, should be love for God and neighbor.  Using love for God and neighbor as our motivation for any change respects the mystery of what takes place in worship and confesses faith in the truth of God’s love for us and ours for Him. We confess our faith in worship in these ways: First, by using God’s own words in our worship wherever and whenever possible.  Second, by always evaluating and considering proposed additions or changes to the church’s practices, and using only those that confess Christ as well as or better than what they are replacing while expressing the creative power of God through His people. Lastly, keeping Christ central by keeping His Gospel and the administration of His sacraments central. The ancient historic liturgy does these things best because it uses God’s own words, while respecting and accepting the work of God’s people over millennia  (which also confesses the ancient and apostolic nature of Christ’s creedal church). These things are and have been very helpful throughout history in keeping the focus on Christ, His Gospel, and His sacraments.

If the church follows these principals, much of what is done in worship and other activities will be repetitive, .… even if it uses some new musical forms or new liturgical arrangements that look and sound nothing like the historic liturgy, new teaching methods, new technologies, it still uses God’s words wherever and whenever possible. Confessing and teaching the faith in every worship service is what the church does and should do. In a market-centered world, you look to give people what they want, but what God tells us to do is to give them what they need. The ‘other-worldly’ and ‘counter-cultural’ nature of truly divine worship, being confronted with our sinful nature and a bleeding dying Savior, is not and will never be palatable to an unrepentant sinner. But the Holy Spirit works in ways that are not our ways, so we press on, living out our faith and speaking the truth in love to our neighbors, over and over again. We go to His house and receive His gifts the way the church has for millennia… over and over again. Concerning the results, we leave them to the God of creation, in accordance with God’s word through St. Paul speaking to the church at Corinth: “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase” (emphasis added).

Have a reflective Advent, a blessed Christmas, and a wonderful new year.

In Christ,

Pastor Portier

#153

Smoky Mountain Reflections #153

As we prepare to go the the polls in Tennessee, there are four amendment initiatives on the ballot. All four are important and every citizen should take a few minutes to read, understand, and make an informed decision. This goes for any ballot you cast; take the time to make an informed decision. Vote in accordance with your ‘educated’ conscience; do not just pick the candidates with an R or a D in front of their names.

Any proposed amendment that is put on the ballot in Tennessee is not a simple yes-or-no referendum for which a simple majority vote decides the issue. In order for an amendment to be added to the Tennessee State Constitution, it must get a number of “yes” votes equal to 50% of the votes cast in the Governor’s race plus one. A majority vote is not enough. If someone votes in the Governor’s race and leaves the amendment slots blank, that, in essence, counts as a “no” vote.  For example, if 10 people vote for a Governor, but with regard to an amendment, 5 vote yes and 1 votes no, the amendment fails.

While the other amendments are also important, they do not have the potential to save lives that Amendment 1 has. If it passes, Tennessee will again be allowed to make common sense regulations about abortion. The states that surround us have common sense regulations that protect their citizens, if we had similar regulations, the number of abortions in Tennessee would fall. This amendment would not affect the freedom of a woman to choose, but because it would reduce the number of abortions chosen, it would negatively impact the abortion industry’s bottom line. Because of this, the industry is spending lots of money to spread lies and negative propaganda about this amendment.     

Lie number 1: “The Amendment will ban abortions in Tennessee.” FALSE! Absolutely nothing in the amendment would ban any abortion. Furthermore, nothing in the amendment would empower the legislature to make laws that violate the U.S. Supreme Court’s abortion rulings.

Lie number 2: “The Amendment needs to contain exceptions for incest and rape, or to save the life of the mother.” FALSE! No provision is needed since the amendment does not ban any abortions.

Lie number 3: “This Amendment will put us out of step with other states.” FALSE! Two-thirds of our sister states recognize no state constitutional right to abortion.

Because surrounding states have regulations and we do not, Tennessee has become an abortion destination. Tennessee is the only state in the southeastern United States that does not have at least an abortion-related informed consent law or a law requiring a waiting period (period of reflection). As a result, 25% of the abortions that take place in our state are women from surrounding states, making Tennessee number 3 in the nation for out-of-state abortions. I don’t know about you, but that isn’t what I want my state known for. Vote “Yes on 1” and make Tennessee a safer place to live.

In Christ,

Pastor Robert Portier

Saint Paul Lutheran Church 

#152

Smoky Mountain Reflections #152

Greetings in Christ. As you all know I like to keep my Reflections articles clear and Christ-centered while addressing current issues in our community. This November we will all be asked to do our civic duty and make informed decisions on leaders and issues that affect our day-to-day lives. I would like to help you make an informed decision on Amendment 1 to our state’s constitution because Christians and the church should speak loudly on the issue of protecting innocent life.

Whom we elect and how we vote on other issues are also important, but this amendment should be particularly important to every Christian who loves life. Therefore, we should all vote “Yes on 1”. The facts about abortion in Tennessee are quite clear. Before 2000, the Tennessee Legislature passed a series of sensible laws regulating abortion, including a waiting period and informed consent laws, creating an environment where innocent human life was protected as much as legally possible. That changed dramatically in the year 2000 when the Tennessee state Supreme Court “found” a right to abortion in the state constitution. This decision struck down abortion regulations, in effect, prohibiting any restriction on abortion in Tennessee.

Justice Mickey Barker, who disagreed with the court’s decision, said, “Plainly stated, the effect of the Court’s holding today is to remove from the people all power, except by constitutional amendment, to enact reasonable regulations of abortion.” In response to the court’s overreaching action, state legislators adopted

Senate Joint Resolution 127 (on the ballot as Amendment 1). This resolution will allow Tennesseans to vote this November to amend the state constitution making it “neutral” on abortion and allowing the people of Tennessee to  once again enact common sense abortion regulations regarding licensing, hospital admitting privileges for clinic doctors, waiting periods, and simple health inspections of abortion clinics.

            Those of us who support this common sense amendment have been called the Tennessee Taliban by deep pockets who have a financial interest in the abortion industry here. Out-of-state customers make up 25% of the abortions in Tennessee because there are no regulations protecting young women who have abortions here. Supporters of Amendment 1 desire not to oppress women but to protect them and help them make informed decisions instead of being coerced into making decisions that line the pockets of clinic owners.

            The text of Amendment 1 is fairly simple, and short enough to include here. “Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion. The people retain the right through their elected state representatives and state senators to enact, amend, or repeal statutes regarding abortion, including, but not limited to, circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest or when necessary to save the life of the mother.”

            As a resident of Tennessee, it pains me to know that we are an abortion destination. Please help to protect women, both born and unborn, and vote “Yes on 1” in November.

In Christ,

Pastor Robert Portier

Saint Paul Lutheran Chruch

Sevierville TN

#151

Smoky Mountain Reflections

August 2014 #151

            Why does it matter who does what a pastor does? Couldn’t any competent lay person fill his role? In order to explore this question, we first need to explore the meaning of a couple of words: “laity” and “expert”.

“Laity” is a term often used in religious circles to differentiate clergy (pastors) from everyone else. However, a broader understanding of the term will be helpful in answering this question.  The word “lay” derives from the Anglo-French “lai” (influenced by Latin and Greek) meaning basically, “of the people”, or “the people at large”. So by this general definition, everyone is a lay person, even pastors, depending on the context. A pastor is a lay person in relation to a pilot on an airplane, a cook in a kitchen, a lawyer in a court room, a doctor in a hospital, a sanitation engineer on the back of a garbage collection truck, and a milk maid delivering a pail of fresh milk. So, you get the point that laity is “everyone else” in relation to a group of experts with regard to a particular occupation that requires some level of training, if you want it done well.

“Expert” is a term rarely used in reference to pastors, and in some cases justifiably so. The requirements for becoming a pastor range widely, because the ways different groups define the role of pastor range widely. For the sake of this article, let’s go with the Augsburg Confession article 14 definition of “Order in the Church” as our definition of expert with regard to the pastoral office (which is so short I can quote it here). “Our churches teach that no one should publicly teach in the Church, or administer the Sacraments, without a rightly ordered call.” A rightly ordered call in normal cases assumes a proper amount of training, (to follow the apostolic model, about three and a half years at the foot of a master) combined with all the biblical qualifications for an “under-shepherd” found in scripture.

            The first reason that only pastors should do what pastors are trained and paid to do is the same practical reason that lay people should not do the work of any given expert; because the work of the pastoral office is what the pastor is paid and trained to do. This in no way means that any expert is more important than any lay person, it simply acknowledges that churches, communities, and families all have many parts, and for us to get the most out of these, God ordained structures in which we need to do our part, and let others do their parts.

            I am not against training up young men and women to serve in the church under proper supervision. However, if we encouraged children or inexperienced or untrained individuals to do some of the things that pastors and leaders should be doing (as is done in some churches in the name of maximum participation of the laity) then by the same reasoning, we should have those same inexperienced or untrained novices flying planes, practicing law, doing surgery, and administrating our government. I am not talking about this in a “bring your child to work” sense. I am talking about them performing the regular tasks on a regular basis, while the paid experts sit at a distance nodding and smiling, or they are alltogether absent. Please do not tell me that proper worship and right administration of word and sacrament is not life and death business, as practicing medicine or  the law or flying a plane are.  God’s word and sacrament deliver sinners, redeemed from eternal torment. That is serious business.

            Our society has come to have a low regard for those in positions of authority, and I think even more so for pastors. But I do not blame our society for this; because many who call themselves pastors are paid to do a job they are ill equipped to do, while watching those who pay them do the work instead. There are also many church bodies that set no qualifications for individuals taking on the role of pastor. As a result, the American melting pot has many people wearing the mantle of pastor who do not wear it well.

            To compare the occupation of pastor to that of medical doctor shows many similarities. Both occupations are regularly called upon to meet with people to evaluate a situation, present a prognosis, and prescribe effective care or management options based on that prognosis. A pastor or doctor should not try to do the jobs of the other people in the church or hospital. A doctor or pastor should be held responsible by those they serve to provide the best medical or spiritual care possible. And finally, we do not charge untrained quacks with malpractice; we remove them from the roll for the protection of the patients. In the same way, untrained, uncalled, non-ordained theological quacks should not only be corrected, they should be removed for the protection of the flock.

I pray that all your needs for experts in life are covered by well-trained, dedicated individuals.

In Christ,

Pastor Portier