Showing posts with label Doctrine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Doctrine. Show all posts

Nov 8, 2010

Six confirmed on Reformation Sunday 2010

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Six young people were confirmed at our mission on Oct. 31, 2010. Here is the list of their names and confirmation verses:
  • Jeison Manuel Arellano Farías, Philippians 4:7
  • Jimmy Orlando Pérez Chinchilla, Joshua 1:9
  • Angie Yoximar Pérez Chinchilla, John 10:27-28
  • Yhonny Alexander Torres Ortega, Philippians 4:13
  • Pedro José Santana Reimi, Psalm 50:15
  • Karelis Santana Reimi, Psalm 51:10
This is the message that I had for them:

Today, Reformation Sunday, is a day of confession in two ways.

First, the confession of our sins. Every Sunday we begin the Divine Servie with the general confession of sins and receive absolution before the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. This is the day of first communion for six of you.

These six have been instructed according to the Small Catechism of Martin Luther, so they understand the importance of confession and repentance of all immorality and false belief before receiving the true body and true blood of Jesus Christ in, with, and under the bread and wine. Because he does not believe the words “given for you” or “shed for you for the forgiveness of sins,” or doubts them, is not worthy, nor is ready to receive Christ's body and blood. As St. Paul says, “Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself” (1 Corinthians 11:28-29).

By confession, we also mean public confession of the faith. In today's text (John 8:31-36), our Lord tells us, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” The freedom Christ speaks of is freedom from sin. The truth of Christ, that is to say, His sacrifice on the cross, frees us from slavery to sin and Satan. Christ paid the price for the sins of the whole world on the cross, and so we are justified by faith in Him, and not by our own works. However, to remain true disciples of Christ, we must abide in His Word.

In holy baptism we received the complete assurance of eternal life in Christ and began the life of faith, we were born again of the Holy Spirit. Baptism was our first confession of faith by the work of the Holy Spirit. As it says in Mark 16:16, “He who believes and is baptized, will be saved; but he does not believe, will be condemned.” In baptism we receive the gift of saving faith.

But, it is possible to lose the benefits of baptism, if we do not abide in the Word of God. We have this Word in the Holy Scriptures, the source and rule of our faith. The Scriptures, written by the apostles and the prophets, and inspired by the Holy Spirit, tell us all that we need to know for our salvation. In the Bible, God speaks to every one of us.

But abiding in the Word is not just a matter of listening, reading and reflecting inwardly. The Word at times demands a verbal response.

For it also is the work of the Holy Spirit when we say “I believe” in the Word of God. As St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:3, “No one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.”

Also, when Simon Peter said, “You are the Christ, the son of the living God,” our Lord replied, “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah; for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father, Who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17).

On the day of their wedding, a bride and groom promise each other to love and live together until death. But, for them to fulfill this commitment, it will be necessary, at times, to reaffirm these vows in the years to come, in times of joy or grief. What do you think, should it be sufficient for a man and wife to say to each other, “I love you” on their wedding day and never again? For a man to kiss his wife on the wedding day and never again? Of course not!

In the same way, the promise of salvation and faith that we receive in baptism is for always. But a times we must reaffirm our trust in the Word of God, not just to reinforce our own faith, but to testify of Christ's truth to the world.

That is why on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg, Germany, calling the church back to the basic truths of the Holy Scriptures: justification by faith alone, salvation by grace alone and the Scriptures as the only infallible rule of faith. Later, Luther, a simple German monk, stood before Charles V, in his day emperor of all Europe and as King of Spain, ruler of the Spanish colonies in the New World, including Venezuela, and representatives of the Roman church and the empire and confessed this faith.

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Karelis, Pedro, Jeison, Yhonny, Angie, Jimmy.
They said to him, “Recant the teachings of justification by faith alone, salvation by grace alone and the Scriptures as the only rule of faith under pain of death.” And Luther replied, "Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason - I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicteyd each other - my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen."

In your confirmation today, six of you will publicly confess the faith in which you were baptized. Let us thank God that we live in a country where there is freedom of conscience, so that you do not confess under pain of death at this very moment. However, as you have abided in the Word of God until this moment, you must testify to its truth with your lips. Also, today we remember Luther and others who risked their lives for the pure doctrine of the Bible and express our solidarity with believers in countries where Christians are persecuted.

May God bless you richly on this Reformation Day, and this day of your first communion. Amen.
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Jun 27, 2010

Anyi Vanesa baptized

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Anyi Vanesa Garrido Santana was baptized Saturday, June 19, 2010, on her brother José Ignacio's second birthday.

Over the years I had assisted in the baptisms of children and adults, but this was the first time that I said the words of baptismal regeneration, "I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit" and applied the water. It was a most moving moment, as I had explained to all involved that in her baptism, God Himself called Anyi by name and adopted her as His child through faith in Jesus Christ.

To me it was a marvelous thing how the appointed lessons in the one-year lectionary for June highlighted this event. On June 6, I preached on Luke 16:19-31, the parable of Lazarus the beggar at the rich man's gate. In truth, we do not deserve anything good from God. In His eyes, we are all dirty, disgusting beggars like Lazarus in our Lord's parable. We are sinners who deserve eternal punishment in hell. By nature, we are enemies and rebels against God. However, as the epistle for that day (1 John 4:16-21) said, God is love and in His love sent His only Son to be the Savior of the world. Christ suffered and died on the cross, so that we might have the promise of eternal life with God. Therefore, we will have no fear on Judgment Day, for we will be saved by grace.
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On June 13, I preached on Luke 14:15-24, the parable of the great banquet, symbolizing the invitation to eternal life, which begins not in the remote future, as the Pharisee believed, but right now as we are born again of water and the Spirit. That is why Jesus emphasized the immediacy and urgency of the Gospel.

The text for June 20, Luke 15:11-32, the parable of the prodigal son, was most appropriate both for the baptism of Anyi and for Father's Day, for it spoke of a father's unmerited love for his sons and his desire to save the one that was lost.

Dr.David P. Scaer, chairman of the systematic theology department at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana, calls "(the) popular slogan "Word and sacrament," a phrase so much a part of Lutheran theology that it enjoys a stellar ranking of the second magnitude,slightly below the three solas" (faith alone, grace alone, Scripture alone). My years of observation and study in Venezuela have confirmed the truth of this for me, especially if you tack another word, "ministry", onto "Word and sacrament." Nowadays, "ministry" is loosely used to mean almost any kind of good work, but the one true ministry of the church is the public preaching of the Word and the administration of the sacraments.

In an article published in the January-April edition of Concordia Theological Quarterly, Dr. Scaer explains that although baptism is in itself a one-time act, "The continued effective force of baptism becomes visible and audible in the assembly of the worshipping Christian congregation. The believers assemble as the baptized, and the rite of baptism is repeated and reflected in the church's liturgy. The triune invocation derives its authority from the One who instituted baptism, and again the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Ghost becomes the possession of the baptized. Sins are confessed as a repetition of the denouncing of Satan's kingdom and are forgiven again in the name of the Triune God to whom the believer belongs by baptism. The faith's requirements are repeated in the credal recitation. True worship of the church is the commemoration of baptism."

Dr. Scaer continues to say that, "Preaching should not be viewed as a separate function but rather it represents to the believer that same Christ in whose death and life he
shared through baptism. Preaching directs unbelievers to baptism to find Christ and believers back to baptism to reestablish their faith in Him. The organic unity between baptism and preaching must be preserved." In the Great Commission, the command to "teach them all the things that I have commanded you" does not precede, but follows the command to baptize and make disciples of all nations (implying that it is the sacrament of baptism that makes disciples).

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Since in baptism we receive the gift of new life in Christ, once and for always, it does not make sense that this sacrament should be denied to infants. However, since the command to teach follows the command to baptize, the church, the community of believers, has the responsibility for the continued instruction in the faith of those who have been baptized.

There is a custom in Venezuela, and I have witnessed this myself, called "postura de agua." In many parts of Venezuela today as in times gone by, the Catholic priest will visit a village once a year to celebrate Mass and perform marriages and baptisms. However, many people grew impatient with waiting for the priest to show up either to formalize sexual unions or perform baptisms. So the concept of "postura de agua" arose. The man of the house does an abbreviated version of the baptismal rite and immediately after splashing water on the baby "in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost," they immediately - and I mean immediately roll out the beer and finger-food for a big party. There is no sense of the beginning of a new life in Christ and the need to continue nurturing the child in faith and prayer. However, it is not the ritual itself or the phonetic formula, "In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost" that gives baptism its power, but the Holy Spirit acting through the Word (the proclamation of forgiveness of sins in Christ) and the water (as the visible element of the sacrament), creating faith in the baptized and strengthening the faith already inspired in those who bring the child forward for adoption in the family of God, that is, the church.

Change can be painless

We have changed our hour of Sunday service from 4 p.m. to 10 a.m. Originally it was set at 4 in the afternoon because I had the responsibility of assisting with the morning service at Corpus Christi Lutheran Church in Barinas. Now I do not have that duty and we long have a problem with the later hour. That is, at 4 p.m. the tropical sun is situated at just the right angle to shine under the roof of our covered patio. No one wanted to sit in the direct sunlight (you wouldn't, either). We tried various means of providing shade, but nothing really worked. So we changed the hour to 10 in the morning and no one seems to mind at all.

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History of La Caramuca

On June 16, 2010, the preschool children had the privilege of hearing Lorenzo Medina talk about the history of La Caramuca. Mr. Medina was president of the town council from 1982 to 1992. While the city of Barinas is more than 400 years old, La Caramuca emerged as a community in 1948. The first deeds to the land were written in the late 1800s, but until the 1940s the entire area was the private property of one or two families. From 1948 to 1974 there were only 16 houses in La Caramuca, now home to around 5,000 people. Mr. Medina also spoke of various local legends and landmarks, including la Casa de las Piedras (House of Stone), a geological oddity that I have not seen, but would like to.
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Feb 20, 2010

Ashes of a consuming fire

Imposition of ashes

Recently I received by e-mail my electronic copy of Logia, a journal of Lutheran theology. Logia dedicates each quarterly issue to a central theme and advertises its editorial schedule well in advance. So I had been waiting more than a year for the Epipany 2010 issue on Lutheranism in Latin America.

There was a lot of good stuff in the magazine, but what I would like to note is a comment by Dr. Douglas R. Groll, professor emeritus of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. He described Culto Cristiano, the hymnal whose order of service we follow, as "a fine mid-century Lutheran hymnal considered by many non-Lutherans to be the best Spanish language hymnal of the last century." I share his opinion, but I mention this only to praise Culto Cristiano before criticizing it. But it is only a small criticism.

Culto Cristiano (from Concordia Publishing House) was originally published before the revival of interest among Lutherans in the imposition of ashes to mark the start of Lent. The imposition of ashes basically consists of the pastor using ashes to mark the foreheads of the penitent with a cross while repeating a paraphrase of Genesis, chapter 3, verse 19: "Remember, you are dust and to dust you will return." Dust and ashes are often used interchangeably in the Scriptures as images of mortality (as in Genesis 18:27 or Job 30:19). The ashes also signify repentance as the practice of wearing sackcloth and sprinkling oneself with ashes to express sorrow and/or repentance of sin also dates back to Biblical times.
Of course, the cross symbolizes the hope of forgiveness and redemption in Christ.
Ashes
Ash Wednesday is named for the rite of imposition of ashes, which seems to have originated in the 12th Century. During the Reformation, Lutherans retained Ash Wednesday as the beginning the 46 days of Lent, but the imposition of ashes ritual fell into disuse, for reasons that are not entirely clear. It certainly is rather odd to celebrate "Ash Wednesday" without the ashes, so perhaps it is not surprising that there has been a revival of the ritual in Lutheran circles, including the Lutheran Church of Venezuela.

But there is no recommended form for this ceremony in Culto Cristiano, so there is no standard practice. For our first Ash Wednesday service in La Caramuca, I led our group in the order of public confession and absolution, followed by the imposition of ashes, then by the order of evening prayer. Fortunately, the lessons provided by the lectionary served very well, for instance, Psalm 51:1-13.

I delivered a brief meditation in which I compared the light of God's holiness to the tropical sun at midday. Standing in that intense light for any length of time without covering might mean death by heat stroke or dehydration, but the light of God's holiness is much more intense than the midday sun. Without the protective covering of Christ's righteousness, it would burn us to ashes. The ashes in the form of a cross remind us that because of Christ's suffering and death on the cross, we may walk in God's pure light, free from the powers of darkness.

With the preschool children, I tried a different approach. I showed them a jar of soil, a jar of ashes left after we burned some leaves and a whole leaf from one of our trees. As long This might take a long time, if the leaf was just covered by other leaves, or a very short time if the leaves were burned. So in some countries, dead bodies are buried in the ground and slowly return to dust, while in other countries the bodies are burned and quickly become ash. Either way it's ashes to ashes, dust to dust. But in Christ we have the promise that one day we all will be restored to life, body and soul. So instead of just dumping human bodies in a landfill, or burning them, we honor the deceased with a burial service that expresses the hope that the body planted in the earth will one day rise again to eternal life.

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Aug 8, 2009

The Reformation always has crossed cultural lines

The ecclesiastical calendar developed for the new Lutheran Service Book has some interesting additions. For instance, July 30 has been designated a day of commemoration for the English Lutheran martyr, Robert Barnes. I thought of Barnes on that day, and also of two Spanish-speaking heroes of the Reformation, Casiodoro de Reina and Juan de Frias. It is good to remember such people because:

  • Their stories show the Reformation was an international movement that crossed boundaries of culture and language.
  • The Reformation was an ecumenical movement in the true sense of calling all Christians away from false doctrine and back to the Holy Scriptures.
  • We are reminded that martyrdom is not something that only happened in the first century A.D., but continues to this day.
  • And, indeed, religious liberty and the ability to read and study the Bible for ourselves are gifts for which some paid the highest price.

Let's start with the remarkable life of Robert Barnes and I will continue with the others in future posts.

Robert Barnes was born in Norfolk, England, in 1495. As a young man, Barnes joined the Augustinian Order as a friar and became prior of the Augustinian monastery in Cambridge, England, and, in 1523 earned his doctorate in divinity from the University of Cambridge. He also studied at the University of Louvain in Belgium from 1514 to 1521, where he may have had his initial exposure to the works of Luther and Erasmus (one of the Belgian university's distinguished alumni).

While at Cambridge, Barnes become a prominent member of a group of scholars that would gather after-hours at the White Horse Inn for Bible reading and lively discussion of the writings of Martin Luther.

David Knowles writes in his book, The Religious Orders in England that:

From 1520 onwards the opinions and writings of Luther were being diffused at Cambridge by a group of exceptionally gifted young men who were to be the leaders of opinion ten and fifteen years later and who were almost all, in one way or another, to suffer for their opinions...their meeting-place, the White Horse tavern, passed into legend as the cradle of one, at least, of the schools of English Reform.
Other regulars at the White Horse Inn included:

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  • Thomas Cranmer, future Archbishop of Canterbury and primary author of the original Anglican Book of Common Prayer. He was burned at the stake in 1556.
  • Hugh Latimer, future Bishop of Worcester. A farmer's son who became one of the most popular preachers of his day, Latimer was burned at the stake in 1555. As the flames rose, he called out to Nicholas Ridley, former Bishop of London, who was being burned with him, "Be of good cheer, Master Ridley, and play the man, for we shall this day light such a candle in England as I trust by God's grace shall never be put out."
  • Miles Coverdale, who in 1535 produced the first complete English translation of the Bible to be printed in England. He was twice exiled from England.
  • William Tyndale, who in 1526 produced the first full printed edition of the New Testament in English. Tyndale also translated about half of the Old Testament before his death, and much of his work was later incorporated into the King James Bible of 1611. Tyndale was strangled to death, then his body burned in 1536.

On Christmas Eve 1525, Robert Barnes preached a sermon at the Church of St. Edward, King and Martyr, that would be called the "first sermon of the English Reformation." The sermon was based on Philippians 4:4-7 and quoted from one of Luther's postils. However, Carl R. Trueman, in his book, "Luther's Legacy: Salvation and English Reformers 1525.1556", suggests that the sermon may not have been that radical in terms of doctrine (the original sermon text was lost). Rather, it was because Barnes openly criticized the corruption of the English church hierarchy that he was arrested and imprisoned in 1526.

In 1528 Barnes escaped from England and lived for a time in exile on the European continent. He journeyed to Wittenberg, Germany, where he met Martin Luther face to face. Thus began a friendship that would last the rest of Barnes' life.

In "Martyrs and martyrdom in England, c. 1400-1700", Thomas S. Freeman and Thomas Frederick Mayer write:

(In Wittenberg) he flourished; he became intimate with Luther himself, as well as with Melanchthon and Bugenhagen, and from this point on, his theology became thoroughly and unambiguously Lutheran.

In 1531, Barnes was allowed to return to England, thanks to the influence of Thomas Cro

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mwell, chief advisor to King Henry VIII. This was not an act of kindness, as Cromwell had a political goal of building an alliance between England and Lutheran Germany against the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, and Cromwell wanted to exploit Barnes' German connections. In 1535 Barnes was given the thankless task of seeking Luther's approval of the King's divorce from his first wife, the Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon (who, incidentally, was the Emperor's aunt).

Contrary to a popular misconception, there was no clean break between Rome and the Church of England during Henry VIII's lifetime. Henry had no profound theological differences with Rome. Rather, he was solely obsessed with justifying the abandonment of his 24-year marriage to Catherine, who he blamed for his lack of a male heir. In 1521 the King published a book intended to refute Luther's teaching on the sacraments and for that was honored by the Pope with the title, "Defender of the Faith."

Nevertheless, when the Pope would not grant an "annulment" of the King's marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Henry apparently thought Luther might provide him with some kind of moral justification (which would provide the foundation for a German-English alliance). But to no avail; Luther and the Pope were of one mind on this matter.

Robert Barnes was again pressed into diplomatic service in 1539 to secure a politically advantageous marriage between Henry VIII and German noblewoman Anne of Cleves. This effort was more successful at first; the King actually went through with the ceremony. But since neither the King nor Anne of Cleves found each other physically attractive in the slightest degree, the marriage was never consummated and was quickly dissolved.

Moreover, in 1538 King Henry rejected a German proposal for an Anglican statement of faith ba

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sed on the Augsburg Confession. In 1539, Parliament approved the Six Articles of Religion, which reaffirmed Roman teaching on six key points:

  1. Transubstantiation;
  2. Withholding of the cup from the laity during communion;
  3. Clerical celibacy;
  4. Observance of vows of chastity;
  5. Private masses;
  6. The necessity of private confession.

During his period of favor with the King, Barnes had the opportunity to continue presenting Lutheran doctrine to English listeners, sometimes in personal audiences with the King himself, and to promote Tyndale's translation of the New Testament. Barnes' written works include "Sententiae", a Latin summary of the main doctrines of the Augsburg Confession, and a history of the rise of the Papacy, considered to be the first treatment of the topic from a Protestant perspective.

However, the events of 1538-1539 ended any plans for an alliance between England and Germany. Because of this, Thomas Cromwell's enemies were able to turn the King against Cromwell, who was beheaded on July 28, 1540. Robert Barnes was burned at the stake two days later, on July 30, 1540.

King Henry continued to regard himself as a good Catholic through the end of his life. His idea that he, and not the Pope, was the head of the English church was really not consistent with Roman teaching. But he was able to separate his religious identity from what he considered a political matter. Henry's attitude perhaps was not much different than some prominent Roman Catholic politicians today in regard to abortion in the United States. But it was not just a political matter as decades of religious strife would show.

The very manner in which Robert Barnes was executed illustrates the terrible confusion between secular and spiritual matters that existed under Henry VIII. Barnes was burned alive with two other men who had violated the Six Articles statute (this was the punishment for heretics, or religious dissidents). At the same time, three Roman Catholics were hanged, beheaded and quartered for treason (political dissent) for refusing to sign an oath affirming that the King's authority was greater than the Pope's.

But before he died, Barnes wrote a final confession of his faith. Luther had this document published under a German title with his own foreword. Luther spoke of Barnes as “our good, pious table companion and guest of our home, this holy martyr, Saint Robertus.”

One additional observation: We are instructed as Christians to respect and obey the civil authorities, whether just or unjust (Romans 13:1-7), except when the commands of human government directly conflict with the will of God (Acts 4:19-20, 5:29). Since the kingdom of God is not of this world, we should avoid confusing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a particular political platform or ideology. But when the secular government lays claim to religious authority, even in the name of Christ, it becomes more and more difficult to remain untouched by political controversy. Robert Barnes and all of the men mentioned above were for years torn between their passion for the truth of God's Word and their keen sense of loyalty to king and country. Those who died a martyr's death in the end took their stand on God's Word and gave testimony to their faith in eternal life in Christ. May God grant that we all would have both the wisdom and courage to do the same under similar circumstances.


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Jul 20, 2009

Giving thanks for a successful semester

Sandro's diplomaOn July 5, the first Sunday in July this year (and also Independence Day in Venezuela) Sandro Perez requested a special prayer of thanksgiving for the completion of another semester of school. Our summer break has begun and the new semester begins in mid September. Sandro, who suffered a couple of bouts with dengue fever this past year, will start seventh grade. This is an important moment for Sandro, because many children in our community drop out of school after sixth grade (the maximum amount of education required by law).

Angie Perez and Noel Marquina also will enter seventh grade next semester. Sandro and Noel have been confirmed, while Angi is preparing for her confirmation this fall. She and Sandro are not related; Perez is a name like Smith, Jones or Johnson in the United States. The Venezuelan equivalent of "John Smith" would be "Pedro Perez".

We also prayed for the health of Angi s brother, Jimmy Perez, who was ill to the point of coughing up blood, but who now is recuperating and for the nations of the world to peacefully resolve their problems. Amid our everyday concerns, all eyes have been glued to the television for news of -- well, not so much the aftermath of Michael Jackson's death, although the pop star's funeral was enough of a spectacle to merit extensive coverage. People here are more concerned with the civil unrest in Honduras and what it means for all of Latin America.
Later in the week Luz Maria went to town with Sandro and some of the other children receiving scholarships from Children's Christian Concern Society of Topeka, Kansas, to help them buy school uniforms with their scholarship money. Almost all Venezuelan schools, public or private, require school uniforms. The children in our preschool wear a uniform that consists of a red shirt and blue slacks.

On Wednesday, July 15, we had a graduation ceremony for 12 children who will be leaving our preschool and starting first grade next semester. The group included Luz Maria's granddaughter, Oriana Montoya, who will celebrate her seventh birthday in December. Oriana was born just six months before my arrival in Venezuela in 2003, so strange as it seems to say, I have known her nearly all her life.
Oriana receives her diploma
The other graduates were:

  • Kelvis Artahona
  • Yerika Galindez
  • Kemberling Altuve
  • Gianny Roa
  • Jeiximar Arellano
  • Yorman Poveda
  • Maikel Caraballo
  • Jhon Piñero
  • Ana Garcia
  • Gaudis Rangel

Only Gaudis was not able to attend the graduation. The rest were there with their families. I opened by reading from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 18, verses 1-10. Then, since the children learned the Lord's Prayer this semester, I led them in singing a version of it set to music. I liked this song from the first time I heard it. Ruth Witte, wife of Pastor Henry Witte, a former missionary to Venezuela, sang it to a group of vacation Bible school children at Roca de Eternidad (Rock of Ages) Lutheran Church in Quebrada Seca, Monagas.

Padre nuestro, que estás en los cielos,
Santificado, santificado sea Tu nombre.

Venga a nos, Tu reino, Señor, hágase tu santa voluntad.
En el cielo y la tierra, haremos Tu santo voluntad.

Danos hoy, dánoslo Señor, nuestro pan, el pan de cada día,
Y perdona nuestras deudas, así nosotros perdonamos.

No nos dejes caer en tentación; antes bien, líbranos del mal.
No nos dejes caer en tentación, líbranos del mal.

Porque tuyo es el reino, Señor, el poder y toda la gloria,
Por los siglos de los siglos, para siempre, aleluya, amén.

I cannot sing like Ruthie Witte, nor can I play the cuatro (four-stringed guitar). But the children sang from memory and with impressive volume and enthusiasm, which was the main idea.

Later on, Vicar Alonso Franco arrived from Barinas to lead the children in more songs to the accompaniment of a guitar. He was delayed by rain and road construction, but that really did not matter. Alonso has begun teaching the guitar to a group of boys in La Caramuca on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I have given up trying to learn guitar chords for the time being so these guys will have the chance to practice with our guitar.

After saying a prayer for the coming semester, for the children passing on to first grade and for those returning to our preschool, the graduation ceremony continued with the awarding of diplomas, and, of course, cake and refreshments.

Homilectics and hermeneutics


Dr. Douglas Rutt in CaracasFrom June 29 to July 3, 2009, I attended a seminar in homilectics in Caracas, taught Dr. Douglas Rutt of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana. Actually, the course combined the study of homilectics (preaching) and hermeneutics (Biblical interpretation) as the two are closely related. It is a course generally taught to second-year students at the Fort Wayne seminary. Our thanks to Dr. Rutt for his willingness to travel to Venezuela to teach this course.

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Apr 17, 2009

Pilgrimage to Paradise

Holy Week retreat
During Holy Week 2009, we accompanied 12 preadolescents, from six to 13 years of age, to El Paraiso Lutheran Church in Barquisimeto for a three-day retreat. We left Wednesday morning, April 8, and returned Saturday afternoon, April 11.

Five of the children were from La Caramuca and the rest were from Corpus Christi Lutheran Church in Barinas. With the children from Barquisimeto, there was a total attendance of 37 preadolescents. In addition there were six adolescents and 19 adults, including representatives from La Caramuca and Barinas.

Bus ready to leaveBarquisimeto lies north of the city of Barinas, a journey of about three hours. Thanks to donations from our supporters in the United States, we were able to rent a bus.

The capital of Lara state, Barquisimeto is the fourth-largest city in Venezuela with a population of more than 800,000 people. It is home to a professional baseball team, the Lara Cardinals, and professional basketball and soccer teams, both known as the Lara Guaros. (The term guaro refers to a species of bird similar to a parrot. It also is used as a slang term for a person born in Lara and some surrounding areas). The large public soccer stadium in Barquisimeto was built specifically for several matches in the Copa America, an international soccer tournament that Venezuela hosted for the first time in 2007.

Boarding the busBarquisimeto is known as the location of several universities, a flourishing musical and cultural life and for the manufacture of musical instruments.

The city also is home to two Lutheran Church of Venezuela congregations, Cristo es Amor (Christ is Love) and El Paraiso, plus two new Lutheran mission stations. None of these congregations are served by their own pastor. Rather a national missionary, a young man named Miguelangel Perez, has been assigned to serve them all. This year he has the help of two vicars, Isaac Machado and Angel Eliezer Mendoza. All four groups in Barquisimeto were represented at the retreat.

"El Paraiso" means "Paradise", but the name of the church has no Biblical significance. Rather, the church was named for El Paraiso de Cabudare, the "urbanizacion" or suburb, where it is located. Nevertheless, it is an apt name because the church grounds are landscaped and immaculately maintained, with stately trees and a collection of rare and beautiful flowering plants (rare and beautiful even for Venezuela). These all are well cared for by an older fellow who lives on the grounds.

There is a freestanding worship sanctuary, a large parish hall with kitchen, showers and guest bedrooms (where we all stayed), and a separate office building. This is quite an elaborate setup compared to what we are used to in Barinas.

Arts and craftsThere were devotions every morning, and throughout the day Bible studies and games for the children. Everything was aimed at explaining the events of Holy Week, starting with Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, His suffering and death on the Cross, and ultimately the hope of the Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Of course, on Thursday and Friday evenings there were Maundy Thursday and Good Friday worship services. In Venezuela Maundy Thursday is simply called "Jueves Santo" or "Holy Thursday". "Maundy" is a peculiarly English word of uncertain origin. One popular explanation is that it derives by way of Old French and Middle English from the the first word of the Latin translation of John 13:34, "Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos". This passage is part of Jesus' words to his disciples after washing their feet after the Thursday Passover meal, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love another as I have loved you".

However, other scholars say that the archaic English word "maund" originated with the Latin "mendicare" (to beg), and the name Maundy Thursday developed from a medieval custom whereby the English royalty handed out alms to the poor on this day. "Maund" also is the root of "maunder", a word sometimes still used in modern English. It means either a) to talk in a rambling, foolish, or meaningless way; or b)to move, go, or act in an aimless, confused manner (after the manner of a beggar or homeless person)".

Yovanny (right) and friendAt any rate, the Thursday service was a communion service and Isaac Machado preached a sermon, based on Mark 14:12-25, about the significance of the sacrament. It perhaps was a little long and involved for the younger listeners, but he made all the right points, especially in regard to closed communion.

Closed communion means the practice of restricting participation in the sacrament to those who have confessed and received absolution for their sins, and who have confessed a common belief about the nature of the sacrament. This is based on a reading of Scripture passages such as 1 Corinthians 11:27-29:

"Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body."

Two Marias and a thirdThus it is an act of Christian love and responsibility to prevent those living in sin, including the sin of false belief, to participate in that would bring further judgment upon them.

St. Paul also writes in 1 Corinthians 11:26, "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes". For Lutherans, this means that those who commune at the same altar are thereby declaring publicly that they are united in the doctrine of the Apostles (Acts 2:42, 1 Corinthians 10:17).

So in Lutheran churches participation in the sacrament normally is limited to confirmed members of a Lutheran congregation, or, in other words, those who have publicly confessed the belief that in the Lord's Supper we receive the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the bread and wine, that along with the bodily eating and drinking we receive forgiveness of sins, life and salvation.

But the practice of closed communion was not invented by Lutherans and limited to Lutherans. Justin Martyr wrote this about early church practice in the second century A.D.:

"And this food is called among us Eukaristia [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined."

Some form of closed communion remains the rule in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox churches, and conservative Presbyterian, Baptist and even Mennonite churches around the world. Nevetheless, since the 18th Century, many Protestant denominations have absorbed the rationalistic idea that no belief, if sincerely held, can be considered a sin. More recently, the worldwide neo-Pentecostalist movement has mounted a renewed attack on the teaching that the Holy Spirit works through visible, exterior means.

Thus the widespread practice of "open communion", in which anyone, even those who have not received Christian baptism, may participate in the Lord's Supper. This is particularly true in Venezuela where "Protestantism" and "Pentecostalism" have come to mean almost the same thing. (Of course there are "charismatic" Catholics in Venezuela, too, but most people who become involved in this type of error wind up leaving the Catholic Church.)

Francisco Mania leads physical recreationOur Holy Thursday service concluded with the stripping of paraments from the altar in anticipation of the Good Friday "Tenebrae" service.

Seven candles were placed on the bare altar and Miguelangel, Angel Eliezer and I took turns reading the seven last words of Christ from the Cross. We extinguished one candle after the reading of each lesson.

Miguelangel let me be the "officiant" at the Good Friday service, which meant a couple of things. First, I got to wear the black vestments (coal-black alb and a black stole with silver-gray trim). It was quite a striking variation on the regular theme and I felt bad that the church only had one set of the vestments. Miguelangel and Angel Eliezer simply wore their black clerical-collar shirts with black trousers and shoes. It would have been quite a statement if we all three at least had worn black albs. I continually am impressed by how the ancient liturgical practices of the church teach the basic truths of the Bible in both visible and audible ways (much better than PowerPoint presentations).

The second thing was that I read the seventh lesson and, after the seventh candle had been solemnly carried out of the church, slammed the Bible shut as the church was plunged into total darkness. After some time, the seventh candle, representing the promise of Christ's victory, was returned to the altar where it remained burning for the rest of the night.

Angel Eliezer preached the Good Friday sermon on John 19:28-37. He had asked my advice on it, as he was struggling with how to explain why Christ had to die on the Cross for our sins. He was working with the idea of penal substitution, that Christ suffered and died for our sins so that the demands of God's justice might be met while making it possible for us to receive God's mercy. But he was not sure if he could make the congregation, especially the younger members, understand the legal concept of why things that happened so many centuries in the past would have a profound impact on their lives today.

I suggested using a medical metaphor, speaking of sin as a disease transmitted from generation to generation, and invariably fatal if left untreated. Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice so that His pure blood might cleanse our tainted blood. This might make sense to the children as during the week they had studied the Passover tradition and the importance of blood sacrifice in ancient Judaism. Angel Eliezer liked this suggestion and decided he would use the specific example of HIV/AIDS, since it is a big social problem in Venezuela and everyone would understand the analogy. HIV/AIDS is transmitted through the blood, often from generation to generation, poisons relationships between people, destroys trust, and is always fatal if not treated with expensive medicine. I had not thought of that, although we have talked to the children in La Caramuca about HIV/AIDS.

After the Good Friday service, the electric lights throughout the church's compound were shut off for about a half hour. As we sat in the darkness, some of the adults whispered the most difficult questions about divine truth and justice that they received from unbelieving friends and neighbors. Such as:

  • If God is all-powerful,all-knowing and good, why does He allow evil to exist?
  • If God made Adam and Eve so that they were capable of sinning, did not God make a flawed creation?
  • With all the different religions and philosophies in the world, how can one be sure what is the truth?

The difficulties arise because, in fact, there are some things only God can know and only God can judge. Who deserves to live and who deserves to die? Actually, according to Scripture we all deserve to die and only by God's grace do we still draw breath. Yet the Bible also assures us that God formed us all in our mothers' womb (Isaiah 44:24) and because all human life is precious in God's sight, Christ died for all that all might have eternal life (John 3:16).

Pedro and SandraBut what is the worse fate, to die at 18 in a terrible car accident with so much unrealized potential? Or to live to middle age and see so many youthful dreams turn out to be either false hopes or if realized, not really what you envisioned? Or to live to nearly 100 and, even you are fortunate enough to stay reasonably healthy and financially secure, see the world of your childhood fade completely into memory?

God only knows. But God promises that as long as we are still here on this earth He has a purpose for our lives (Jeremiah 29:11), that all things work for the good of them that trust Him (Romans 8:28) and that if we trust God, we will never be tested beyond our endurance (1 Corinthians 10:13).

How could an all-powerful, all-knowing God have made a world in which our choices have consequences for ourselves and others? Could He not have made a world in which we could put our hands on a hot stove and not be burned? Or throw ourselves off a cliff and not break our bones? Did not Satan once ask that of Jesus?

We have only the reply that Job received: Let God be God and trust that His will is holy and good. Aside from these Biblical assurances, what hope do we have? Even if we deny God, we still are left with a world full of pain and suffering and no expectation of ultimate justice or redemption.

But in Christ, all Biblical promises are made good, and in Christ we may see that in this world of suffering, God Himself suffered more than we will ever be called on to suffer. And, since the teaching of the Bible all point to Christ on the cross, in God's Word we may find certainty amid the babel of religions and philosophies, all of which boil to down to finding salvation or enlightenment in ourselves rather than saving work of Christ (Ephesians 4:14).

I thought of these things as I prepared my Easter Sunday sermon on John 20:1-18. This is the glorious Easter story as told by John, but it also illustrates that all the evidence in the world does not compel faith. For the synoptic Gospels record that Jesus told His disciples three times that He would die on the Cross and rise on the third day: once after the confession of Peter (Matthew 16:21; Mark 8:31; Lucas 9:22), again after the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:22; MarK 9:31; Luke 9:44-45); and a third time (Matthew 20:18-19; Mark 10:33; Luke 18:31-33).

Despite this, what was Mary Magdalene's reaction upon seeing the open tomb of Jesus? She ran back to the other disciples and said, "They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we (she and the other women) do not know where they have laid Him". Then Peter and John went to the tomb and examined the discarded (yet neatly arranged) linens that had covered the dead man's body. But they still did not completely understand what had happened.

After Peter and John left, Mary Magdalene had a vision of two angels in the tomb, then encountered the risen Christ Himself. But she still asked Jesus, standing right in front of her, where they had taken her Lord's body. Only when the Lord spoke did she recognize Him. But if they had paid more attention to His words in the first place, they could have spared themselves much fear and doubt.

Our faith is based on evidence, not wishful thinking. Palestine is a real place on the map, not an imaginary country. Jerusalem is a real city that still exists today, as do the towns of Bethlehem and Nazareth. Pontius Pilate, Caesar Augustus, Tiberias, King Herod and his sons, and Quirenius the governor of Syria were real historical figures. There is much testimony outside of the New Testament to indicate that something extraordinary happened in Palestine 2,000 years ago. At the very least, the Roman and Jewish authorities had an extraordinarily hard time explaining an empty tomb.

Yet it is not the evidence interpreted by human reason that leads to savng faith, but rather the Holy Spirit working through Word and sacrament. May God bless you with the certainty of this faith.

Look to the Cross

Dec 10, 2008

Baptisms, confirmations and impending ordination

Maria Brito with her family and Ted KreyWell, more baptisms and confirmations.

Maria de los Angeles Brito was baptized in La Caramuca, Saturday, Novermber 29, 2008. Maria actually lives in Barinas and attends Corpus Christi Lutheran Church, but her father wanted to attend her baptism and was not able to do so on Sunday, November 30. So Maria was baptized by Pastor Ted Krey on his last official visit to Barinas and we had our second service of Holy Communion for the newly confirmed in our mission. I am happy to report that Sandro Pérez was once again released from the hospital and was able to attend.

Moisés, Olgret and Ricardo RiveroThe following day there were three baptisms and four confirmations at Corpus Christi. The children baptized were Moisés, Olgret and Ricardo Rivero. Confirmands were Maria Brito, Maria Eugenia Vera, Yelitza Pérez and Luís Eduardo Jimenez. Since Eduardo Flores personally instructed these four young people, it was a great way for him to end his year of vicarage in Barinas.

Eduardo and I will be in Caracas this week, preparing for our ordinations on Saturday, December 13. I have received and accepted a call from the Lutheran Church of Venezuela to serve as a missionary in western Venezuela. I will be based in La Caramuca (and authorized to preach and administer the sacraments there, but also will have the privilege and responsibility of searching for new locations to plant churches (we already have made some contacts in the neighboring state of Apure, for example).Yelitza Perez, Maria Vera, Maria Brito, Eduardo Flores and Luis Eduardo Jimenez)

Eduardo and our fellow “seminarista” Sergio Maita will be ordained and installed as instructors at the “mini-seminary” that has been established in Caracas. Sergio has completed his vicarage at Cristo Rey (Christ the King) Lutheran Church in the eastern city of Maturin. In addition to teaching new seminaristas (there are six prospects so far for this next year), Eduardo and Sergio will take turns serving the congregations of La Paz (Peace) and La Santa Trinidad (Holy Trinity) in Caracas. Neither of these congregations have full-time pastors.

Pastor Abel García, director of the Juan de Frias Theological Institute, will be moving from the city of Barcelona, Venezuela, to Caracas in order to supervise the seminary.

The Juan de Frias Theological Institute was founded by Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod missionaries 45 years ago and based on the concept of theological education by extension (TEE). This concept, TEE, was pioneered by Presbyterians in Guatemala in 1963 as a way of meeting some of the challenges of training pastors within a Latin American cultural context.

After some apparent initial success, the TEE model became widely promoted throughout Latin America by many denominations. But, in Venezuela at least, after 45 years that as a total replacement for a seminary education, TEE leaves something to be desired.

The New Testament does not mandate any specific method for training pastors. We have the example of Jesus teaching the Scriptures in the typical manner of a Jewish rabbi, and selecting 12 men from among those who listened to His teachings. To these men He gave special training for three years before commissioning them as apostles (there were, of course, only 11 by that time, Judas Iscariot having dropped out of the program in a spectacular fashion). So according to the model of our Lord Himself, there should be several years of preparation and examination before one is qualified to receive a call into the public ministry.

This preparation does not involve only “book learning”. We read later in the New Testament that although Saul of Tarsus was highly educated by both Jewish and Greco-Roman standards, approximately 17 years passed between the time of his conversion and when he was ready to embark on his first missionary journey as the Apostle Paul (Galations 1:16-2:1). Preparation for the public ministry is a matter of character formation as well as intellectual development.

Finally, we may note the importance of Biblical instruction starting in early childhood for Paul's protege, Timothy. Before receiving Paul's special training, Timothy was taught the basic doctrines of the Holy Scriptures by his mother and grandmother (2 Timothy 1:5, 3:14-16).

It also is important to consider that the original 12 apostles were devout Jews, too. Jews in the first century A.D., like Jews today, placed a great deal of importance on religious education. So, despite being “simple” fishermen and tradesmen, they did not start from a position of ignorance when Jesus chose them as his disciples.

The modern, North American system of recruiting young men for the seminary presupposes this kind of religious upbringing. The grooming of a pastoral candidate from early childhood on can greatly speed up the process of pastoral formation. In addition, a shared faith motivates a family to make the sacrifices necessary to support the prospective pastor for four years of college plus four years in the seminary.

Beyond the family, Missouri Synod Lutherans historically have recognized the importance of undergirding seminary training with formal Christian education at all levels. This is why the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod developed the second-largest network of private preschools, elementary schools and colleges in the United States (surpassed only by the Roman Catholic Church).

One problem throughout much of Latin America is these preconditions for seminary training often do not exist (although there are Lutheran seminaries in the larger, more prosperous countries of Brazil and Argentina). In Venezuela, second- or third-generation Lutherans are rare birds. Members of the Lutheran Church of Venezuela often are the only members of their extended families who are practicing Christians of any sort. So the young man who wants to become a pastor may not have a role model within the family to emulate, plus the family may not be keen on the idea of the young man being taken out of the workforce for eight years only to receive wages considerably less than what he could expect in a secular profession that required an equal amount of education.

Likewise, in Venezuela even the Roman Catholic Church does not support the vast network of parochial schools that one sees in the United States.

Then there is in Latin America the wide cultural gap between those who have received some form of higher education and those who have not. This gap exists to some extent in the United States between those who have gone from high school to four-year liberal arts colleges and classmates who ended their formal education with a high school diploma or maybe two years at a technical college or business school, but the difference in Venezuela and other Latin American countries is much more pronounced. Young people who have left their rural village or urban slum for the university may find it very difficult to reassimilate into their old community.

The TEE alternative is to offer theological training to people already recognized as leaders within their communities without requiring them to change their place of residence or abandon their means of earning a living. The students are given printed materials to study on their own time and meet periodically with an instructor to discuss and review what should have been learned. The student can take as many courses as desired and advance at his or her own pace. Involvement with a local congregation is supposed to provide the opportunity for practical application of the knowledge acquired.

Over the past 45 years, the Juan de Frias Theological Institute has offered theological education by extension to all interested parties, with the proviso that one must complete the more basic courses before continuing to a more advanced level. This approach has proved successful in providing laypeople with the basic grounding in Christian doctrine that they may not have received as children or teenagers.

As a method of training pastors, TEE has proved to have a number of shortcomings:

  1. It assumes an extraordinary degree of self-discipline on the part of the pastoral candidate, assuming that he will devote himself to daily study for an indefinite period while working to support himself and his family, and assuming leadership responsibilities within a local congregation. The result is a high drop-out rate as students become discouraged by these demands. I should also note that in Venezuela it is, in the first place, quite difficult to find a) a job that b) pays enough to support a family while c) allowing one enough free time for night courses and church activities.
  2. The Lutheran Church of Venezuela is struggling to fill its existing pulpits in the face of an urgent need for pastors to plant new churches. Doors are open that probably will not remain so permanently. Yet training pastors solely by TEE has proven extremely time-consuming. The historical average for achieving the training needed for the pastoral ministry by means of Juan de Frias TEE courses is 13 years.
  3. The TEE approach does not promote a sense of dedication to the pastoral office. Jesus told Peter, Andrew and the rest to leave their fishermen's nets and follow Him to the ends of the earth, if need be. He also said that heeding His call might well mean leaving family and friends behind (Mark 10:28-31, Lucas 9:59-62). He did not say, “Stay in Capernaum where you can witness to the people with whom you feel most comfortable when you have the time.” According to a Lutheran understanding of mission, not every Christian is called to be a missionary, but all pastors are called to be missionaries wherever the Lord may lead them. It is the responsibility of the whole church to send pastors to preach and (the sacraments, even into the poorest and most remote areas.

While not an inherent flaw in the strategy of theological education by extension, another problem the Lutheran Church of Venezuela must consider is this: LCMS World Missions withdrew nearly all of its ordained missionaries from Venezuela in 2003. Theodore Krey, the last LCMS-sponsored theological educator in Venezuela, will leave in January 2009. The Lutheran Church of Venezuela lacks the financial resources to support theological educators whose only task is to travel regularly to the far corners of the country to teach theological extension courses as the LCMS missionaries did.

Starting in 2006, the Juan de Frias Theological Institute has attempted to balance its TEE offerings with a program of resident or semi-resident study in a central location for pastoral candidates. Eventually this program will be supplemented by regional centers for theological education which will not only serve to teach basic doctrine to the laity, but also recruit pastoral candidates. One of our goals is to establish La Caramuca Lutheran Mission as one of these regional centers.

Asignacion vicariaticoI began taking Juan de Frias courses during my first year in Venezuela as I realized my continued presence in Venezuela would require at least the capacity to teach Bible classes in Spanish. At first I did not seek the responsibilities of the pastoral office, but eventually I realized that our mission in La Caramuca would require the attention of a resident pastor and that I was the most likely candidate for the position. So it was a great blessing when I was invited by the national church to participate in the pastoral study program in 2007. The program requires a five-year commitment: one year of intensive, resident study; a year of vicarage; and three more years of attending seminars in Caracas and other locations.

This program has allowed me to study for the ministry without interrupting the development of our Lutheran school in western Venezuela.

Over the past five and a half years in Venezuela, I have had the privilege of receiving instruction from the following visiting profesors:

  • Dr. Douglas Rutt and Dr. David Coles of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana.
  • José Pfaffenzeller, Concordia Seminary, Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • Dr. Rudy Blank, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.
  • Mark Braden, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, Cleghorn, Wisconsin, and a Greek tutor at the Fort Wayne seminary.
  • Paul Brink and Henry Witte, both former missionaries to Venezuela currently serving Latino missions in Iowa.
I am grateful to these people and also to Phil Bickel, another former missionary pastor to Venezuela, and Dale Saville, agricultural missionary in eastern Venezuela, who awakened my interest in mission work as a second career and in Venezuela as a mission field.

May 20, 2008

Trinity Sunday 2008

Early morningHoly, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in Three Persons, blessèd Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy! all the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.

Holy, holy, holy! though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.

Early morning 02Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in Three Persons, blessèd Trinity!

This hymn, based on Revelation 4:8 and Isaiah 6:3, was written especially for Trinity Sunday by Reginald Heber sometime in the early 1800s (most of his hymns were published after his death). Heber also wrote the classic missionary anthem, From Greenland's Icy Mountains.

Heber could have lived out a comfortable and cultured life as an Anglican country parson. He wrote both religious and secular poetry, and his literary talent was praised by William Thackeray and Alfred Lord Tennyson. However, in 1823, then 40 years old, Heber accepted a call to serve as a missionary to India.

After three years of ceaseless traveling and intense work, Heber died suddenly while visiting Trichinopoly, India on April 3, 1826. His death evidently was the result of a seizure brought on by working too hard in India's tropical climate. According to one account, he had baptized 42 people on the day he died. According to another, he had spent the day preaching against the evils of the caste system to a large, outdoor crowd. Heber's body was buried at St. John’s Church, Trichinopoly, Tamil Nadu, India, a very long way from his native Cheshire, England.

This Trinity Sunday, May 18, 2008, we sang the Spanish translation of “Holy, holy, holy” by Juan B. Cabrera:

Red flower¡Santo! ¡Santo! ¡Santo! Señor omnipotente,
Siempre el labio mio loores te dará.
¡Santo! ¡Santo! ¡Santo! te adoro reverente
Dios en tres personas, bendita Trinidad.

¡Santo! ¡Santo! ¡Santo! la inmensa muchedumbre
De ángeles que cumplen tu santa voluntad,
Ante ti se postra, bañada de tu lumbre,
Ante ti que has sido, que eres y serás.

¡Santo! ¡Santo! ¡Santo! por más que estés velado,
E imposible sea tu gloria contemplar;
Santo tú eres sólo, y nada hay a tu lado
En poder perfecto, pureza y caridad.

IMG_6599¡Santo! ¡Santo! ¡Santo! la gloria de tu nombre
Vemos en tus obras en cielo, tierra y mar;
¡Santo! ¡Santo! ¡Santo! te adorará todo hombre,
Dios en tres personas, bendita Trinidad.

We were thankful that we made it into Barinas that day, even though the service started over a half hour late. The rainy season has begun and we experienced a torrential tropical downpour that morning. We tried calling a taxi to pick us up at the house, but since many streets turn into small rivers at this time, none of the taxi services wanted to venture far from the main routes. Luz María and I shared a single umbrella as we walked to the plaza, which takes about 15 minutes even at the best of times. At several points we had to wade through ankle- or even calf-deep water, plus due to a strong wind the umbrella offered only limited protection. So we both were rather damp by the time we found a cab near the plaza.

Most parts of Venezuela receive an average of 60 inches of rain annually, but receives the bulk of that precipitation from May through mid-December. The risk of automobile accidents during this time are very high. It was in mid-summer 2006 that Luz María's oldest daughter, Yepci, nearly died when the taxi she was riding into Barinas slipped off the road. There have been fatalities already this year. The Saturday before our Trinity Sunday service, six members of the same family all died in a bus accident.

So we were glad to arrive at Corpus Christi Lutheran Church, although we were late. Since Eduardo is attending meetings in Caracas, I was to direct the service myself, so it was not like they would start the party without us and we were the first to arrive anyway. I preached a sermon on Genesis 1:1-2:4 with special emphases on a) indications of the all three Persons of the Holy Trinity at work in the creation of the world, and b) how God ordained the holy estate of matrimony in His original design for human living.

Later the clouds cleared and we enjoyed bright sunlight for our afternoon Sunday school in La Caramuca. However, attendance was unexpectedly low, perhaps because many parents do not want their children leaving the house if there is the slight chances of the heavy rains. You do not have to worry about freezing to death in Venezuela (except up in the mountains), but it gets cool enough during the rainy season to become chilled, especially if you are soaked to the skin. I myself suffered a slight fever this past week.

Also this month we have experienced the longest power outages I have witnessed so far, 12 hours without electricity in one case. For what it's worth, it was not just La Caramuca that was affected, but much of the country, including Caracas. Someone described the situation in the capital city to me as "chaos" as nearly all traffic lights were down, among other things. Out here in the country, at least we have the advantage of not being totally dependent on electrical power. We have our LP gas stove for cooking, and if the gas runs out, we can (and have) built a cooking fire out back. Then there is the well from which we can draw water (we were able to clean it before the rains came this year). It was worrisome being without communications as the television, radio, Internet, land-line telephone and cell phone networks were all down.

Eduardo and I are taking turns leading an adult Bible study on Thursday evenings at Corpus Christi. I have started a study on the Epistle of St. James. In our first session we dealt with two questions. First, who was the author of the epistle, since he identifies himself only as "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ." There are two men named James listed among the original 12 apostles: James, the brother of John and son of Zebedee; and James, son of Alphaeus and Mary (Matthew 10:2-3).

But ancient tradition and internal evidence within the letter point to a third candidate: The man known as "James, the brother of our Lord." This James is described in the Book of Acts as the leader of the church in Jerusalem and Paul seems to identify him as an apostle in Galatians 1:19. But how was he made an apostle? Paul was not on the original list of apostles, either, but we all know the story of his vision on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). Mathias was not originally an apostle, but was chosen to replace Judas Iscariot in Acts 1. How and when was James, the brother of our Lord, made an apostle? One idea is that James, the brother of our Lord, and James, the son of Alphaeus and Mary, were really the same person. The Greek word, ἀδελφός (adelphos), usually meant "brother" in the biological sense, but also could have meant "cousin." According to this line of thought, Alphaeus may have been another name for Cleopas, who may have been an uncle of Jesus Christ. But this speculation seems contrary to the plain meaning of Mark 6:3 and Matthew 13:55, both passages which indicate the people of Nazareth considered both Jesus and James to be sons of Joseph the carpenter and his wife, Mary.

This question of whether the Epistle of James was really written by an apostle was probably why it was listed among the ἀντιλεγομένα (antilegomena, or "disputed books") as reported by Eusebius (263-339 A.D.) and Jerome (347-420 A.D.). The books of the New Testament were divided by these ancient writers into the ὁμολογουμένα (homologoumena, or books that were always acknowledged to be divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit, and the antilegomena, writings whose divine inspiration has at times been questioned. The homologoumena include the four gospels, the Book of Acts, all the epistles of St. Paul, 1 Peter and 1John. The books of the antilegomena include Hebrews, James, Jude, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, and Revelation. Doubts were entertained about these books because their apostolic authorship was uncertain and because some passages seemed hard to reconcile with the teachings of the homologoumena, especially the Epistle of James.

This concern over which New Testament books were really divinely inspired was prompted by the high tide of Gnosticism in the second through fourth centuries. The heretical Gnostics tried to introduce false "gospels" as representing the true teachings of Jesus. Some of these we still hear about today, such as the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Judas, or even the Gospel of Mary Magdalene.

These doubts arose again during the Reformation period, most famously in the mind of Martin Luther, but his Roman Catholic opponents, Cardinal Cajetan and Erasmus, also questioned whether James could be considered on the same level as other New Testament writings. For centuries the medieval Church had relied on Jerome's Latin translation of the Bible, which based its Old Testament on the Septuagint, the Greek translation which included writings, such as 1 and 2 Maccabees, which were not part of the original Hebrew Old Testament. Toward the end of the Middle Ages, there was a movement among scholars to recover the wisdom of the ancient world by studying, on a secular level, the writings of the Greeks and Romans, and on a religious level, the Old and New Testaments in their original languages. One thread of this movement led to the Renaissance and the other to the Reformation. When it became clear that the Septuagint contained writings that were not part of the original canon, the issue of what books were divinely inspired was opened again.

Thus, in the first edition of his German translation of the New Testament, published in 1522, Luther in his prefatory notes notoriously labeled the Epistle of James "a straw epistle" because, according to Luther, it did not make as clear presentation of the Gospel as Romans, Galatians or other epistles by St. Paul. But, notably, this comment was not included in any subsequent editions of Luther's German Bible.

Here is one of the troublesome passages, James 2:24: "You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only." How to reconcile this with Romans 4, which teaches justification through faith, apart from works of the law. James uses the same Old Testament illustration as Paul does in Romans -- Abraham -- even the same Greek word for "justify", δικαιόω (dikaioo).

Paul in Romans 4:3 writes, "Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness," citing Genesis 15:6. James says in 2:21, "Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son, Isaac, on the altar?" But he also cites Genesis 15:6 in verse 23: "And the Scripture was fulfilled, which says, Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness."

According to Genesis 15, the Lord promises the then-childless Abraham that he will become the father of a great nation, then tells him to look up in the sky and count the stars, for that will be number of his descendants. Verse 6 then says Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. James says it was this Scripture was fulfilled later when Abraham placed his only son, Isaac, on an altar of sacrifice. To put it another way, Abraham demonstrated his absolute faith in the promises of God by his willingness to sacrifice Isaac. But he received this faith earlier when God made a covenant with Abraham under a starry sky.

Paul and James use the same word in different senses. In Romans, "justification" means to be “rendered righteous”, restored to a right relationship with God, or to have peace with God, which is not accomplished by one's own works or merit, but by faith in the atoning death of Christ on the cross and the promise of eternal life in Him. The point in James, however, is that this faith is demonstrated in actions, not mere words. Faith that is simply a matter of words, not actions, is a dead faith, and therefore does not "justify" or “show to be righteous.”

The Greek word δικαιόω (dikaioo) is used in both these senses by Clement of Rome in his epistle to the church in Corinth. believed to be the earliest Christian document aside from the writings of the New Testament itself. In one part of his epistle, Clement (who died around 97 A.D.) writes:

"Let us be justified by deeds, not words."

Later he writes: "We who by His will have been called in Christ Jesus, are not justified by ourselves, or by our wisdom or understanding or piety or the deeds which we have wrought in holiness of heart, but through faith by Almighty God has justified all men from the beginning of the world."

We are not saved by our own works, but good works are the inevitable fruit of a living faith. Therefore, Paul's Epistle to the Romans and the Epistle of James do not contradict, but complement each other. Luther realized this when, years after the "straw epistle" remark, he wrote:

"We say that justification is effective without works, not that faith is without works. For that faith which lacks fruit is not an efficacious but a feigned faith...It is one thing that faith justifies without works; it is another thing that faith exists without works." [LW 34: 175-176].

Thanks be to God that the doctrine of justification through faith alone has been preserved down through the centuries, and that also the 27 books of the New Testament all have stood the test of time and may be regarded as inspired by the Holy Spirit as our infallible norm of faith.

We have begun teaching the preschool children more about the Lord's Prayer. This week we showed them how "Our Father, who art in heaven," relates to the story of creation in Genesis. Then we practiced singing a metric version of the Lord's Prayer to help them memorize it. I heard this the first time I visited Venezuela and immediately was struck by its simplicity and beauty. When the children have learned the song well enough, I hope to make a recording of it.

Coro: Padre nuestro, que estás en los cielos,
Santificado, santificado sea tu nombre.

1. Venga a nos tu reino, Señor. Hágase tu santa voluntad.
En el cielo y la tierra haremos tu santa voluntad.

Coro

2. Danos hoy, dánoslo Señor, nuestro pan, el pan de cada día,
Y perdona nuestras deudas, así como nosotros perdonamos.

Coro

3. No nos dejes caer en tentación; antes bien líbranos del mal.
No nos dejes caer en tentación; líbranos del mal.

Coro

4. Porque tuyo es el reino, Señor, el poder y toda la gloria,
Por los siglos de los siglos, para siempre, aleluya, amén.

Apr 30, 2008

Learning the catechism

Karelis Santana

Luz María's granddaughter, Karelis Santana, surprised me by “reading” the 10 Commandments from the Small Catechism. Actually, she is seven years old and cannot read, but she knew the commandments by heart. That was in its way even more impressive.

We also were pleasantly surprised by Leandro Zapata, a boy between 10 and 12 years of age. Every week before beginning the Sunday school lesson I lead a brief service of evening prayer. This includes an invocation, the Lord's Prayer, Apostle's Creed, a Scripture lesson and meditation, a litany, individual prayers and songs. The children take turns saying prayers, and usually they give thanks for their parents, siblings, friends, etc. However, last Sunday, without any prompting Leandro prayed for “all the children in the street who are hungry.”

We have invited the parents of four families to the prayer service and hope that soon we will have a complete worship service and Sunday school on Sunday afternoons in La Caramuca.

One lesson that I recently read to the children, John 14:15-21, seemed particularly relevant to what they are studying:

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray to the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, for it neither sees Him or knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

“I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father and you in Me, and I in you. He that has My commandments, it is he that loves Me. And he that loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

Thus, I explained, we memorize God's commandments to keep them, not because we fear God's wrath, but because of the love God has shown us in sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins that we may live as children of God. Furthermore, God has sent us His Holy Spirit to give us the strength to live according to God's holy will and has promised eternal life to those who love Him. But those who reject God´s mercy in Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit will one day know the wrath of the one truly righteous and incorruptible Judge.

On Mondays, the preschool week begins with the singing of the Venezuelan national anthem. Following this, I lead the children (those old enough to follow, anyway) in the Lord's Prayer and read a simple Bible verse, for example, John 3:16 or Romans 8:28.

La boda en Barinas

On April 25, 2008, I had the privilege of reading several Scripture verses at the wedding of Lusveidis Pinzon and Luís Orellana at Corpus Christi Lutheran Church in Barinas. Pastor Ted Krey traveled from Caracas to perform the actual wedding rite, while my fellow vicar Eduardo Flores lead the congregational singing with his guitar. Two sisters, Angly and Zoivy Vargas, sang a duet. Rafael Flores, Eduardo's brother, and Isaac Machado, son of José and Elsy Machado, served as ushers. Both of these young men are studying for the ministry with Pastor Krey in Caracas.

Double doors

Lusveidis is a longtime member of the church and there were many people at the wedding. Fortunately, the church's seating capacity has been greatly expanded. Corpus Christi has undergone a lot of physical changes in this past year. The building was once a bar, and for the first few years that the congregation occupied the site, there would be drunks wandering in on Sunday morning (!) and trying to order spirits of a different sort. Now, however, it is looking more and more like a church, especially with the front entrance consisting of double doors inlaid with stained glass. Of course, there is also the new kitchen and bathroom facilities, meeting room for Sunday school and weekday classes, and the apartment where Eduardo lives.

First birthday for Edwar Jose

April 25 was also that the day that Luz María's youngest grandchild so far, Edwar José Garrida, marked his first year of life. Edwar's mother, Sarai, is carrying Edwar's sister, so soon there will be a total of seven grandchildren.

I have found that in writing sermons, many times the chosen text speaks to me as much as to anyone else. This was certainly case for Sunday, April 13, 2008. The Gospel text was John 10:1-10:

“Most assuredly I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.

“Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.

“Then Jesus said again, “Most assuredly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out, and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.”

The most obvious lesson in this passage is that there is only one way to heaven – through faith in Jesus as the incarnate Son of God who died on the Cross the sins of everyone and who rose again on the third day. This passage immediately precedes the perhaps more familiar verse where Jesus identifies Himself as the Good Shepherd. Typically in Palestine, a sheepfold is a corral surrounded by a high stone wall with a single door in and out. A watchman guards the door and only opens it for those he knows as the true shepherds of the sheep. The stone wall not only keeps out wolves and other four-legged predators, but also the two-legged kind who would also rob and kill the sheep.

Anyone who teaches that there is a way to heaven other than through Christ is a spiritual predator who does not have your best interests at heart. These are the thieves and robbers. Christ Himself, of course, is the true Shepherd, the one to whom the sheep belong. Then there are the watchmen or gatekeepers, who Martin Luther in one of his sermons identified as the Old Testament prophets, the Twelve Apostles and nowadays those of us who are entrusted with the public preaching of God's Word. Our solemn duty is not to allow anyone but Christ access to His flock. When we preach, we preach in His name and if the sheep do not hear His voice – that is to say, God's Word – in our preaching, they are right to flee from us. We must also encourage the sheep to study the Word and learn to recognize His voice.

Farm dog

Here is another way to look at it. I gather that it is not the custom in Palestine or most of the Middle East to use sheepdogs to herd the flocks. But to my more European way of thinking, this makes sense: We are the dogs of Christ. It is up to us to guard the flock from the false prophets, the teachers of false doctrine, even, with God's help, those enemies of God's people who are more than flesh and blood.

My sermon text for March 30, 2008, the second Sunday of Easter, was John 20:19-31. This passage is understood as the institution of the office of the public ministry, for Jesus breathes on his 11 chosen disciples and tells them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” The parallel passage in Mark 16:14-18 identifies this forgiving and retaining of sins with the preaching of the Gospel: “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned.” And likewise in Luke 24:46-47: “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

But of course, the most well-known parallel to this sermon text from John is Matthew 28:19-20, otherwise known as the Great Commission: “Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

I have found it very helpful to think of the Great Commission in this context, as it seems there is much confusion on this point. The command to preach, administer the sacraments and make disciples of all nations is indeed given to the church as a whole, but indirectly. The command was directly given to those whom Christ had called to be his apostles, and today it is given to those who the church has called to be pastors in Christ's name. This is why Article XIV of the Augsburg Confession declares, “no one should publicly teach in the Church or administer the Sacraments unless he be regularly called.”

The missionary task of the church is the establishment of congregations where believers may gather around the preaching of the Word and the administration of the sacraments, and where unbelievers may hear both Law and Gospel proclaimed. “Friendship evangelism” (laypeople showing Christian love toward their neighbors, talking about their faith and inviting friends and relatives to attend church with them) is the fruit of Word-and-sacrament ministry, but not the basis of missionary activity. Once formed, every congregation has the right and responsibility to call a pastor, therefore it is the responsibility of the church as a whole to provide qualified men to answer these calls.

When I first came to Venezuela, I had the idea of serving as some sort of support person for the national Lutheran clergy. Then I realized that what the Lutheran Church of Venezuela desperately needed was not so much support personnel as those who could be authorized to preach and teach. As I came to a clearer understanding of mission and ministry, I realized that God had led me to a place where I could do nothing else but seek ordination and a call to serve as a true missionary in La Caramuca.