Summer Matins #182

Smoky Mountain Reflections #182

            I am going to use my reflection this month to talk about worship. This summer we will be offering a third worship opportunity during the Sunday school hour at 10:00. From a practical stand point this offers our congregation and our visiting summer guest more flexibility with a third worship time on Sundays. The service will be a bit shorter to avoid conflict with the two other services. We will use the Matins setting, two of the readings and two of the hymns from the divine service being used that day as well as the same sermon, the Lords supper will not be available at this service.

            So what is the Matins service. Early in the third century daily prayer offices became a regular part of the churches prayer and worship life. Matins grew out of this tradition. Matins means “of the morning” as it was the service that was used to begin the day at first light. The format of the service while ancient most of the elements in its current form is about 1200 years old.

            One of my favorite parts of this service aside from the fact that its music and words are beautiful renderings of God’s holy word is the “Te Deum”. Canticles sung in this manner are an acquired taste but once you learn the tune you start focusing on what it confesses. The Te Deum is an ancient canticle which is believed to have been sung by many of the martyrs of the early church as they marched to their death. The two final stanzas are a little newer being only about 1500 years old and the musical setting is only about 1100 years old. It is in essence, the creed set to music. We will also sing one of my favorite hymns in the place of the Te Deum for part of the summer 941 “We Praise You and Acknowledge You” The tune used for this hymn is quite contemporary less than 100 years old and the Lyrics were composed by a living, breathing, preaching LCMS pastor Stephen P. Starke in 1999.               

            So if you want to give this third service a try this summer, feel free to join us. 

In Christ alone

Pastor Portier

                                              

Sola

                                      Smoky Mountain Reflections #181

We as Lutherans often speak of the three Solas of the reformation, it is even on the cover of our directory this year; Scripture alone, Grace alone and Faith alone. We can traditionally expand this into The Five Solas of the Protestant Reformation: Sola scriptura, Sola fide, Sola gratia, Solus Christus and Soli Deo Gloria.

“Lutherans Engage”, the quarterly magazine for the mission efforts of the LCMS, had an article about   “CLET” The Center for Lutheran Studies in English. This Center is an important place for the training of leaders and pastors for the French speaking mission work in 6 West African countries. This is one of many mission efforts of our church body all over the globe. A sign at the entrance of the center shows a painting of Martin Luther,  the Luther Rose and  the 5 Solas of the reformation.

So, what are these 5 Solas? They are Latin for some important principles.

-        Sola scriptura: Scripture alone is the source and norm for all Christian teaching.

-        Sola fide: Faith alone is what connects the believer to salvation through Christ.

-        Sola gratia: Grace alone, salvation is a gift and no works of man can save.

-        Solus Christus: Salvation through Christ alone.

-        Soli Deo Gloria: Glory to God alone.

The last two Solas are 20^th century additions to the first three. Why all this talk of Solas?  Well, you may

remember I warned of the troubles that come with anniversaries a couple months ago, past generations have warned against the distraction of anniversaries. Here is yet another example of such an issue.

            PBS ran a reformation series as well as a number of other news outlets running articles and new pieces over the past few months on this topic. They must all be singing from the same song sheet reducing the Historic three Solas to two and replacing Grace with ….get ready for it…”the priesthood of all believers”.  Talk about cherry picking. Notice they kept Scripture and Faith alone because we can (falsely) take credit for our understanding of scripture and our faith. I say falsely because the Holy Spirit gets credit for both. But to replace Grace alone, which is really hard to take credit for with a completely different topic, reveals that they are trying to pigeon hole Luther into their revolutionary narrative. To do so, would make him the genesis for all sorts of terrible things in history that he and scripture would condemn.

            Luther only promoted and discussed “the priesthood of all believers” in the context of a response to the abuses of the Pope and the Roman Catholic priesthood. But Luther never argues that “the priesthood of all believers” in anyway replaces the Office of the Holy Ministry that God gave as a gift to His church. God’s church is a priesthood to the whole world and He instituted the means through which His Grace was to be delivered to His church.  His Under Shepherds, serving in the office, deliver His gifts of Word and Sacrament to His people.

            Luther sought not to rebel but to return the church to its roots. And the Solas of the reformation are sound principals for us to draw from. We are the beneficiaries of past generations’ pains and struggles for these truths. We, God’s people, hold that Scripture alone is the source and norm for all we believe and teach. We confess that these reveled truths of his Scripture make clear that it is through Grace alone that we can have Faith alone which saves through Christ alone and this is all to the Glory of God alone.

In Christ alone,

Pastor Portier        

#180 What Christianity is not

Smoky Mountain Reflections #180

            I grow so tired of listening to and reading condemnations of what Christianity is not by folks who blame Christianity for whatever straw man they just set ablaze.

            Christianity is not: hateful, spiteful, ignorant, mean spirited, intolerant, unreasonable, unkind, unfriendly, disrespectful, a political system, license to harm, mistreat, molest, or any other of the myriad of crazy things I have heard people say and write about Christianity. Anyone who thinks or says these things is either ignorant of what Holy Scripture teaches or just plain dishonest. Have Christians misrepresented who and what Christianity is in the past and still do today by doing many of the things listed above? YES! But God’s word does not say ‘read’ Christians to understand what Christianity is, it says to read God’s word.

            Christianity is not a system of faith that is bound to the civil laws and customs of ancient Israel.

            Christianity is not a system of faith that is bound to the ceremonial laws of ancient civilizations.

            Christianity is not a license to do sinful acts that Scripture records and condemns.

            Christianity is not Mormonism AKA the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

            Christianity is not the Jehovah’s witnesses.

            Christianity is not any group that does not agree and confess the historic creeds.

            Christianity is not like all other religions, a list of how to get to God rules.

Christianity is not one of many paths to the same place.

It is and claims to be the one and only exclusive narrow path to the one true God.

And that narrow path is Jesus! Who comes to us.

            So, what is Christianity? It is the house of living stones that tries and fails daily to live up to the exacting call to perfection of her Lord and Savior. And while we are poor reflections of what our Lord would have us to be, we struggle daily trying to be just that.

            Christianity is the body of Christ on earth seeking to love God and our neighbors as He would have us do it. We do the best we can (with His help) following His Holy Moral Law summarized in the Ten Commandments.

            Christianity is the body of Christ on earth seeking to share with the world the value of believing, teaching and confessing who and what the one and only Holy Triune God is, as revealed to us in His word. More importantly we share that he sent His only begotten Son into human flesh to redeem all mankind. God desires that none should perish.

            Christianity is the body of Christ on earth seeking to live lives of prayer with the one and only Holy Triune God, praying for help while loving God and neighbor, praying for all people, places and things around us both near and far, seeking His will in all things. He created everything and is the source of everything.  All pain, suffering and evil are the result of rebellion against Him.

            Christianity is the body of Christ on earth gathering around God’s gifts of Word, Baptism, Absolution and Holy Supper to receive the promises of forgivness and assurance of eternal salvation with and through the means He established in His word to deliver these gifts.

 In grateful response to God’s great kindness and gift of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ, Christianity is: loving, agreeable, informed, kind, tolerant, reasonable, friendly and respectful.  It is a system that promotes good citizenship in any political system, license to help, entreat, nurture, or any other of the myriad of wonderful things we as the body of Christ have done and promoted for two thousand years. Selflessness, putting God and our neighbor first, is what Holy Scripture teaches. I repeat - Have Christians misrepresented who and what Christianity is in the past and still do today by doing many of the bad things previously listed above? YES! But God’s word does not say ‘read’ Christians, to understand what Christianity is, it says to read God’s word.

In Christ

Pastor Portier

SMR #179

Smoky Mountain Reflections #179

            As we enter the Lenten season I thought I would talk a little about numbers, our church body and how the demographics of our nation are affecting our church. Most of the information in this reflection comes from an article in the Lutheran Witness back in November titled Numerical Decline in the LCMS by Dr. Ryan MacPherson.

            First, the LCMS currently has 6101 congregations with a membership of just over two million souls. On any given Sunday, a little over 36% of our baptized membership attends church. Our church body has seen a significant decline in membership since our peak in 1965. We are however, one of many conservative church bodies who have suffered much less than the more liberal church bodies who have declined even faster. For example the Episcopal and the Presbyterian Church USA, two church bodies that were once twice our size in membership, are now smaller than we are.  There are a number of factors that affect this but a declining Lutheran birth rate and a reduced retention rate of baptized infants are a few of them.

            Historically and even now God’s church is scoffed at, rejected and persecuted. There is little we can do to combat the ethos of the world we live in but we can and should continue to press on seeking to increase His church members while not being disappointed if that does not happen. We must live our lives in accordance with God’s will and seek to share His Gospel whenever we are able. While we can’t change the world, it is helpful to understand what is behind our dwindling numbers so that we can take some steps, with God’s help, to make God pleasing changes that can help the church remain healthy and grow both in spirit and number.

            One of the main factors for our decline was mentioned by President Harrison a few years ago and though scoffed at, the statistics bear out his assertion. It is our birth rate, at 4% in 1956 (4 births for every 100 baptized members) that declined to 2% in the 1970’s and is now just over 1%. Dr. MacPherson suggests that there are seven factors that contribute to this steady four decade decline; delayed marriage,  birth control,   infertility, divorce, student debt, doctrinal change and vocational confusion.

            Dr. MacPherson recommends three things that we might do to help in rebuilding our baptized and confirmed membership;

1.     Revive the teaching of biblical and confessional Lutheran understanding of family vocations.

An emphasis on multi- generational ministry; giving young parents good role models and mentors to help them become better parents and spouses.

2.     Foster inter-generational models of ministry. Our culture persistently mocks elders and drives youth to their peers for advice. Having events or activities that include the whole family, youth, parents, and grandparents can create a 4^th commandment friendly environment.

3.     Provide economic and moral support to young families. People are more likely to have and raise more Godly children if they feel the economic or social burden will not be too much and that their community will support them in that endeavor.    

There is actually one belief system that believed and taught celibacy for all its members. They believed that others would have children for them to raise.  That system did not work very well though and they officially closed their covenant book in 1957. Today they have only two official members and soon the Shakers will be no more.

It has always been the health and support of families that provided a biblical model for healthy congregations. While we here at Saint Paul in Sevierville have seen a steady average 5% increase in membership and attendance over the past 23 years, most of that growth has been retirees transferring to the area.  But our congregation has baptized 48 people into God’s church and I have been blessed to conduct 29 of those baptisms over the past 10 years.  Wonderfully, 17 of those were children. We can and should be thankful for whatever role we are called to play in God’s church or in our families, loving and serving our neighbors always looking for ways in support and encourage strong healthy families which can be a key factor in a strong healthy congregation.   

In Christ Pastor Portier

smr #178

Smoky Mountain Reflections #178

            Presidents, Civil rights pioneers, candy hearts, Love, Festivals..….
            These are the things that most of us think of when we think of in this early part of the year.  But there is a much more important date that is usually in February and can rarely be in March. It is not Mardi Gras which can happen on any Tuesday between February the 3^rd to March the 9^th, but if that was your guess then you are only one day off.            Ash Wednesday is the day that always follows Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday, the feast before the fast. This year Ash Wednesday will be on March the 1^st.  It would be easy to focus our thoughts on George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, or Saint Valentine, or even the festivals and festivities that prevail in most western Christian cultures prior to Ash Wednesday.  But we should always have our focus centered on Christ, and the church along with traditional practice and observances which are associated with Ash Wednesday can be of great help in this endeavor.               On the Western Christian calendar, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent and occurs forty-six days (forty days not counting Sundays) before Easter. It is a moveable feast, falling on a different date each year because it is dependent on the date of Easter. It can occur as early as 4 February or as late as 10 March.
            Ash Wednesday gets its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of the faithful as a sign of repentance.  This comes from the biblical practice of putting ashes or dust on your head when you are grieving, morning or have been emotionally wounded. The ashes used are the Palms from the previous year's Palm Sunday which are burned. It is our practice to combine these ashes with Oil. This paste is used by the pastor to make the sign of the cross, upon the forehead.  He then recites the words: "thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return" from the curse of Genesis 3:19.
            These traditions are meaningless if we do not attach them to biblical truth to give them meaning, and they can become idolatrous if we lose our focus on their purpose. So, let’s examine how these activities communicate Christ and the Gospel.  First we can understand how ashes communicate death and grief, by combining them with oil which is biblically used for blessing, a cross is put on our foreheads the beginning of a time of reflection and fasting.  We then go out with this mark showing that we are redeemed by Christ selfless act on the cross.  This time of lent is for denying ourselves and reflecting on the great price Christ paid on Good Friday.             This often brings us to the question of fasting and how it is a part of this tradition.  Ash Wednesday is the beginning of a time of prayer and fasting but how do we apply this tradition to our lives?  This 40-day period reflects the 40 days Christ fasted in the wilderness in preparation for his earthly ministry.  The Sundays are not counted as they are little Easter breaks in the fast.  We are not very good as saying no to ourselves and fasting is a powerful act of denying oneself.  Fasting in the traditional sense means to deny one’s self food or water or pleasure.  Let me precede what follows with a warning; No one should ever endanger their lives by not taking in adequate nutrition or fluids.            We can tap into the practice of fasting for physical and spiritual benefit.  While the medical community confirms that regular fasting has physical benefits, I will focus on the spiritual benefits.  Denying oneself food and drink can be done in a way that keeps one adequately nourished however remaining hungry.  We can use these physical cravings to continually remind us that we are in the season of lent and can say a quick prayer, “Lord help me overcome my desires and keep me mindful of the cost of your redemption!”  There are however many personal desires that we can use today as a personal fast.  Giving up something we regularly crave; a favorite food, sweets, a favorite beverage, a favorite form of entertainment, video games, TV, Golf, a favorite craft or hobby, anything that we regularly spend time or resources on ourselves.  We can then take that time and those resources and give them to God, in more prayer, more scripture reading, or the funds we would have spent on food or entertainment being given to; church, missions, or some other ministry that serves others, therefore denying ourselves even the benefit of those things after the fast is over.            Two very important points to remember when we fast; First we do not fast to earn anything from God because we cannot earn what Christ has fully paid for, our motives should always be Christ centered therefore seeking his will not our own.  Secondly should keep our fast to ourselves making no big deal of the fact that we are doing something to express our gratitude to God.  We do not want to put on a show of piety in order to receive a reward of honor and compassion from others.            So, as you consider what or if you might give up something during this coming Lenten season, remember as you endeavor to do so this coming Ash Wednesday to seek Gods help in do it in the most God pleasing a way possible.              Enjoy your celebration of Presidents birthdays, Civil rights pioneers, candy hearts, love and the festivities that precede Ash Wednesday, but keep central to your life He whose suffering and death Ash Wednesday exist to proclaim.                 
 
In Christ Pastor Portier
          
             

            

Smoky Mountain Reflections #177

            Five hundred years: a lot can happen in five hundred years. In ten months it will have been five hundred years since Martin Luther posted his famous 95 theses. What has any of that history got to do with anything we are doing in East Tennessee in 2017? Well, our daily walk through God’s word and our practice of faith, are directly affected by this historic reality. All of what we believe, teach, and confess from scripture is neatly wrapped for us in Luther’s small catechism, a short 35-page work that summarizes the basics of the Christian faith. Many other questions were further clarified for us in the Book of Concord which contains the small catechism, along with 9 other works, and was published in 1580. So God’s truth is clarified for us in these works and guides how we apply it today.

            Past generations have warned against the distraction of anniversaries causing people to lose focus on what is important. I remember being in middle school when our nation celebrated its Bicentennial, and it seemed that was all anyone ever talked about and it probably led to some important things being overlooked. I do not think we have a distraction to worry about but we need to be concerned about how this can and will affect our ability to share the Gospel. When people hear about Martin Luther in the coming year, as worldwide coverage of a 500^th anniversary starts making the news, your non-Lutheran neighbor might, for the first time, make a connection between the German Martin Luther and the American Martin Luther King Jr. Or they might say “Aren’t you Lutheran?” “What do Lutherans believe?” You have just had a soft ball tossed in your direction, so how do you respond?

Here are a few quick ways to answer those and other questions about your faith.

-        We believe the 66 books that make up the old and new testament to be the inspired word of God

-        All that we know believe and teach about God comes from those 66 books.

-        We believe in the 10 commandments, (know them in case people ask - Ex. 20 & Deut. 5)

-        We believe in the 3 historic creeds, (know them, for people may ask) Apostles, Nicene, Athanasian

-        We believe in and use the Lord’s Prayer (be ready to share it)

-        We believe that God connects us to Himself in the waters of Holy Baptism

-        We believe that the forgiveness Jesus bled and died for is delivered by His means

-        We believe that Christ gives us forgiveness in the Lord Supper

(These last three will cause much conversation, so if you bring them up, be ready to explain them)

            Now since the world has only about 80 million Lutherans and we are part of a small minority, less than 3.5 million people are in what is called the “International Lutheran Council” (ILC), it is helpful to know what sets us apart from other Lutherans. That would be how we apply the Bible and the confessions. How that plays out is ILC congregations is that only men are ordained to be pastors and we are uniformly pro-life. However, with the larger “Lutheran World Federation” (LWF), which has some 72 million members, pushing in recent years for gay rights, many of the Lutherans in the global south are shifting to or have already shifted to the ILC. So while there is a global shift going on we are still part of a very small minority.

            Historically speaking the church is used to being part of a persecuted minority, Seth, Noah, Abraham, the prophets, the exiled remnant, the early church, and martyred Christians for the past 2000 years know the same persecution that Able suffered at the hands of Cane. But we trust in God and press on.

Have a blessed new year in this quincentennial celebration year of the beginning of the rebirth of the Biblical, apostolic Christian church. And be ready to share your faith when given the opportunity.  

                

  

In Christ Pastor Portier

           

             

            

SMR 176 Thankfulness

Smoky Mountain Reflections #176

            Thankfulness, as we approach the 500^th anniversary year of the reformation I would like to ponder the question of gratitude as we wind up the calendar year this Advent season.

            So, what does it mean to be thankful? I think it is to acknowledge, a gift of God and to express gratitude for it. What does that look like? Here is a short list.

-       You live and breathe and are a being

o   Thank your creator by loving Him and your neighbor in accord with His word.

-       You have stuff.

o   Thank God by being a good steward of it.

-       You have technology.

o   Thank God by respecting the generations that did the work to provide it.

-       You have family & loved ones.

o   Thank God by caring for and cherishing all God given relationships.

-       You have creativity.

o   Thank God by using it.

-       You have freedom and peace

o   Thank God by expressing you gratitude to those who work to provide it.

-       You have a faith

o   Thank God by nurturing it with word and sacrament.

-       You have strife, struggle and suffering

o   Thank God by learning growing through it and trusting Him in it.

As I said this is a short list and as you can see all our thanks goes to the provider of everything but we express our gratitude not by feeling warm and fuzzy, but by saying thank you to God in prayer and deed to and through others.

Have a Blessed Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

  

In Christ Pastor Portier