A woman clothed with the sun

We also celebrated Luz Maria's
birthday on May 5.

This year, the church calendar’s “forgotten festival” of Ascension fell on Thursday, May 9, while Mother’s Day fell on Sunday, May 12. But we had our Mother’s Day party with the preschool children on Thursday and celebrated the Ascension on Sunday. The preschool children received their lesson on the Ascension on Monday, May 13.The previous Monday, May 6, the children learned about the miracle of motherhood in general, and the miracles of motherhood recorded in the Bible. That is to say, the birth of every child is a miracle, because God forms a new person in the womb (Psalm 139:13-16). But also there are several stories in the Scriptures in which God grants the gift of a child to sterile women, including some past the age of childbearing (Sarah, wife of Abraham, Genesis 18:1-15; Rachel, wife of Jacob, Genesis 30:22-24; Samson’s unnamed mother, Judges 13; Hannah, mother of Samuel, the prophet, 1 Samuel 1; and Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, Luke 1:1-25). Finally, we have the great mystery of the Incarnation, the God Himself born of Mary, a virgin, by the power of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38; 2:1-7). I expanded on the theme of both human life and motherhood as gifts for the opening devotion of our Mother’s Day party on Thursday, with a discussion of Lois and Eunice, the grandmother and mother of Timothy, faithful women who assumed the responsibility of teaching Timothy the Scriptures from his childhood (2 Timothy 1:5; 3:15).

The gift of motherhood.

Of course, that Sunday we remembered all mothers in the prayer of the church. Furthermore, instead of the straightforward Ascension narrative in Acts 1:1-11, I read the more symbolic account in Revelation 12:1-6. It is clear in John’s vision that the “Child caught up to God and His throne” is Jesus, and the dragon is “that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world”. But, who is the “woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head, a garland of twelve stars”? She is not sim ply Mary; the twelve stars indicate that, in the first verses, she represents the Old Testament people of God, with the twelve sons of Jacob as their patriarchs. In the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55), Mary not only names herself the Lord’s maidservant, but says that with the conception of Jesus, God has remembered His servant, Israel, “as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his seed, forever.”

Celebration Mother's Day.

The “war in heaven” described in Revelation 12:7-12, does not represent the primeval rebellion of Satan and his angels, but the victory of Christ on the cross. For the Devil loses his power to accuse us of our sin in the court of heaven (as in the book of Job).
But the woman remains on earth, where she is pursued by the dragon and his angels for a short time (until Christ returns in glory). Here she symbolizes the New Testament people of God, with the twelve apostles as the patriarchs. 

So in the Revelation account, we have the complete cycle of the earthly ministry of Jesus, from the Incarnation to the AscLension, followed by the age of the church and its mission to proclaim the Gospel to all nations. God the Son leaves to one side the fullness of His divine power, but honors motherhood and our human nature by being born of a woman, then exalts humanity further by ascending not only as true God, but as true man.

Trinity of Friedensau.

Conviction rather than convenience

My grandparents on their wedding day.

My grandparent' s grave.

In 1974, I attended the centennial anniversary celebration of Trinity Lutheran Church of Friedensau, Nebraska. Recently I was invited to the 150th anniversary on Sunday, June 9, 2024, by the current pastor, José Flores. I thanked Pastor Flores for the invitation, but said I would not be able to attend due the difficulties of travel to and from Venezuela.

What does this small congregation in rural Nebraska mean to me and my family? Henry F. Schabacker, my great-grandfather, served the church as pastor from the late 1890s to the late 1920s, the longest tenure of any pastor to date. He and his wife, Frederika, lived in the first parsonage, and raised 10 children at Friedensau.

One of their daughters, Theodora Amanda, married a young man from Texas who was the teacher in the parochial school and the church organist, despite being paralyzed on one side of his body by polio. His name was David Julius Ernst. My grandparents also raised 10 children at Friedensau and their earthly remains are buried side by side in the church cemetery. Alfred H. Ernst, my father’s older brother, was one of the featured speakers at the centennial. At the time, he was the pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Lincoln, Nebraska. I do not remember his speech word for word, but according to a local newspaper clipping, “Rev. Ernst praised the church for the record it had made during the past century as it had produced 12 pastors, 27 parish teachers and one parish worker. He said the church had strengthened the faith so that it became a conviction rather than a convenience.”

Spanish Bible from LHF.

During my interesting correspondence with Pastor Flores, he told me how he had been the director of Russian Lutheran Hour Ministries shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union. “ On Christmas 1992 I stood on Red Square in Moscow singing Christian carols with other Christians for the first time in 75 years,” he wrote. While in Russia, Pastor Flores met Dr. Matthew Heise,who spent 12 years as Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod missionary in former Soviet-bloc countries like Russia, Ukraine, and Georgia. I replied that I also had corresponded with Dr. Heise, who is now the executive director of the 

Lutheran Heritage Foundation (LHF) and the author of a book about Lutheran churches under Soviet rule. The LHF has greatly helped our mission and the Lutheran Church of Venezuela by supplying us with Spanish Bibles, translations of the Small Catechism, and other Spanish-language materials. Although we no longer receive printed copies of the LHF magazine "Buenas Noticias" ("Good News") on a regular basis, Luz Maria and I keep our back copies as supplements for Bible studies. 

The Spanish Lutheran Hour ("Cristo Para Todas Las Naciones" or CPTLN) also was of great service while it maintained operations in Venezuela. In addition to broadcasting, CPTLN maintained a large printing operation. Until CPTLN Venezuela closed its doors in 2014, we received and distributed 300 CPTLN tracts per month.

High school students distribute first aid supplies

In anticipation of their high school graduation in July, Eduar Garrido and his classmates have completed a project to distribute first aid supplies to educational institutions in our area. On May 23, they visited our preschool for this purpose. Eduar is a communicant member of our mission congregation and a past recipient of scholarships from LeadaChild, one of our sponsoring organizations. The other students are Cindy Escalona, Yandry Gómez, Tatiana Niño, Franyelis Martínez, Reinaldo Ramírez and Luisana Yañez.

Rainy days and Sundays

As I grew up in a Midwestern U.S. farming community, I learned to expect a special prayer for spring rain on Rogate Sunday, the fifth Sunday after Easter. This seemed just common sense, since April to May was the time for tillage and planting of spring crops. Many years later I learned this was a vestige of a tradition dating back to 470 A.D. Days of penitence and prayer, including a procession outside the church, were historically observed on April 25 (St. Mark’s Day on the historic church calendar), and on the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before the Feast of the Ascension of our Lord.

These were called Rogation Days and, like Rogate Sunday, the name is derived from the Latin verb rogare, which means to ask or pray. The appointed Gospel reading for the last Sunday before Ascension is John 16:23-30, in which Jesus tells His disciples (verse 23), “In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.” There are two Greek words translated as “ask” in the passage. The first, ἐρωτάω, in context, means “to ask a question”, while the second, αἰτέω, means “to petition or request”. “In that day”, after Jesus has ascended to the Father, the Holy Spirit will answer our questions of faith through the inspired Scriptures while we may petition the Father for all of our material and spiritual needs in the name of Jesus. See my May 22, 2022 sermon.

The farmer’s prayer typically is for just enough rain at just the right time to assure a bountiful harvest. In Venezuela the Rogate Sunday petition often is to hold off a little on the rain. Venezuela is located just north of the Equator, so daily temperatures vary only slightly throughout the year. As a rule, it is cooler in the mountains (many mountain towns have both the altitude and daily high temperature posted on the city limit sign) and hotter in the lowlands. However, there is a dry season (which usually runs from mid-December to mid-April) and a rainy season (usually, from late April to mid-November). Average yearly rainfall amounts in the lowlands and plains range from a semiarid 430 millimeters (17 inches) in the western part of the Caribbean coastal areas to more than 1,000 millimeters (39 inches) in the Orinoco Delta. We live on the western plains, where there difference between the dry and rainy seasons is especially sharp. During the rainy season, the prairie turns into a network of wetlands and the cowboys who work the region’s large ranches often wear rubber-soled boots.

April and May of this year have proved true to form for us, with many days of torrential rain and strong winds. More frequent, prolonged power outages probably are a result of this and we are grateful for our solar panels and a pedal-powered emergency backup system, courtesy of K-Tor.

Mother’s Day and the gift of life

In Venezuela, Mother’s Day is a secular holiday celebrated on the second Sunday in May, as it is in the United States. This year’s date, May 8, coincided with the third Sunday after Easter. The appointed Gospel reading, John 16:16-22, was quite appropriate for the occasion.

Jesus says in verses 20-22, in reference to His death, resurrection and ascension: “ Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”

Many prophetic texts of the Old Testament also compare the tribulations that the people of God must endure before the arrival of the Messiah to the pain followed by joy of childbirth: Micah 4:9-10; Jeremiah 13:21; Isaiah 21:2-3; 26:16-21; 66:7-14). Read the sermon text in English here.

Friday, May 27, was the day after the actual Ascension Day (40 days after Easter, but we celebrated the Ascension on Sunday, May 29). That is when we began, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, a series of consultations with pregnant women of the community, offering them moral support and advice. An opening devotion is my responsiblity, and I began with prayer on meditation on classic pro-natalist texts. That is to say, texts which explain that children are a blessing from God, life begins at conception and all human life is precious to God at all states of development.

The Lord says to the prophet in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Likewise, Psalm 139:13-14, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”

Our lives belong to God by the order of creation. As He directly formed Adam from the dust of the earth and breathed life into him, He gives the gift of life to all people using human parents as His instruments. That is why the first of all commandments in Scripture is “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it, have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:27). Marriage was instituted by God before the fall of Adam and Eve into sin, and procreation was to result from God’s blessing.

Every new life also belongs to God by the order of redemption, because Christ died for the sins of all human beings. St. Paul writes in Galatians 1:15, “But when God who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone.” Before the Lord appeared to the former persecutor of Christians on the road to Damascus, He had ordained his birth and influenced his entire life, his education, his intellectual development in such a manner as to enable him later to become a chosen instrument.

Finally, we have St. Luke’s account of the Visitation, when Mary, who had conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, came to the house of Elizabeth, pregnant with John the Baptist. “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is it granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy” (Luke 1:42-44). The evangelist says that it was the Holy Spirit that moved Elizabeth to prophecy that Mary’s child, already growing in her womb, would be delivered as a healthy baby and would deliver the entire world from sin. And her unborn child shared in her joy.

O Author of life, who did not reject our first parents in their disobedience, but gave them the hope of salvation in Eve’s Offspring. Turn the hearts of all who believe they hold the power of life and death, and who trust in the choices of the sinful heart over the promises of God. Bring them into the knowledge of what is good, that they may know the profound value of all human life, which You have created and redeemed, and the everlasting truth of salvation in the Offspring who has crushed Satan’s head forever; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.

The Good News of the Ascension

Ascension Sunday 2015

First, the good news about Ascension Lutheran Church of San Felix de Guayana, Venezuela. One of the largest and oldest congregations in the Lutheran Church of Venezuela, it had been threatened with expropriation of its property by local government authorities. However, it seems that the alcalde (mayor) has reversed this position and has assured the congregation that there will be no such action. We thank God for this and also we thank the many persons who joined in prayer for Ascension Lutheran Church. Please continue to pray for all of us here as reports of harassment and intimidation against religious groups increase.

We celebrated the event for which Ascension Lutheran Church is named on Sunday, May 17, 2015. I made a  a comparison between the Old Testament reading (2 Kings 2: 9-15) and our gospel (Mark 16: 14-20).  The book of 2 Kings reads: "And when they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, Ask what you want me to do for you before I am taken from you. And Elisha said, I pray that a double portion of your spirit be upon me. "

We confess in the Nicene Creed that we believe in the Holy Spirit, who spoke through the prophets. All the prophets spoke by the Holy Spirit. So all the books of the Old Testament are written testimony of the prophets and, therefore, are inspired by the Holy Spirit and are the Word of God.

It was the will of God to replace Elijah with Elisha as the prophet of God sent to Israel, and for Elijah to leave this world in a miraculous way. Elisha received Elijah's mantle and the Holy Spirit to preach the Word to Israel, that is, the office of the prophet Elijah.

Christ ascended into heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father. To be seated at the right of the king at that time meant that someone was charged with all the authority of the king. Many times Jesus told His disciples that He would return to the Father who sent Him to send them the Holy Spirit in His name and that of the Father.

As Elijah was the teacher and Elisha his disciple, Christ was the Master and the apostles were His disciples. Elias gave up his job to Elisha, Christ gave His authority to His church to preach the gospel in all parts of the world. This is the good news of the Ascension.

As the last words of Mark's Gospel say, "Go ye into all the world; preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” And then, “After the Lord had spoken unto them, was received up into heaven, and sat at the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with the following signs. "

Also, it says in Acts 1: 1-11, "In the first book, Theophilus, I talked about all that Jesus began to do and teach, Until the day in which, having given commandment through the Holy Spirit to those apostles whom He had chosen, He was taken up; To which, having shown Himself alive by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the kingdom of God. And when they were together, he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard from me. "

Of what did Jesus speak when he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem until the day when the Holy Spirit came? This is a prophecy of Pentecost, which we will celebrate next Sunday. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the whole church.

The disciples were gathered in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost and suddenly came the sound of a strong wind and flames of fire over the heads of them and all spoke several languages. These were the signs that the church had received the Holy Spirit.

From that day forward, the apostles testified of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, so, the books of the New Testament, as the written testimony of the apostles, are inspired by the Holy Spirit also. In our Bible today we have all the revelation, all the testimony of Christ by the Holy Spirit.

Christ has promised us to return in the clouds, as He ascended into the clouds, to judge the living and the dead. However, the hour of judgment has not yet arrived. Between Ascension and the Second Coming of Christ, the church has the mission to call the world to repentance of their sins and proclaim the good news of forgiveness in Jesus Christ. Now is the time of grace, when a person can hear the Word of God from the church, and reject it or not. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Between Ascension and the Second Coming is the time of the church. And the Lord has told us, this is a time of testing. The Lord told us there will be signs in the heavens and the earth, for example, earthquakes in Nepal and other parts of the world. What does these things mean for us? Not to calculate the time of the Second Coming of Christ. The Bible prophesied signs in heaven and earth to assure us that all things are in God's hands. We should not be frightened, but we trust in the good will of God. As Psalm 27 says, "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?" Amid all the disasters and the difficulties of this world we must trust in God.

When Christ returns in glory, there will be the final judgment and the victory of the church forever. Therefore, in this Ascension Sunday we look forward to Pentecost and to the Second Coming of Christ that is our hope. We thank God for this hope and peace that passes all understanding. Amen.

To read my complete Ascension Sunday sermon, please click here.

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