Kilcrease, 2013. Chapter 13, “The Mystery of the Work of Christ, part 4”

Chapter 13, “The Mystery of the Work of Christ, part 4”

In this final chapter, Kilcrease talks about Christ’s descent to inferos and his work in the prophetic office. The Formula of Concord sees Christ’s descent into hell as the start of his exaltation. In 1 Peter 3;18-22 the descent happens after Jesus is made alive again, hence after the humiliation is ended. It is to be noted that the victor’s parade is made through the conquered territory. The descent into hell is considered central enough that it appears in the Apostles’ Creed, which has Roman roots, as does 1 Peter. Another feature of note is that Jesus proclaims his victory in prison, a place where the condemned await further punishment. This does not offer a chance at repentance or release. Rather, it confirms the condemnatory nature of hell. Jesus, the victor, descends to proclaim the finality of hell.

Kilcrease now turns to speak of Jesus as the final prophet. This is the end of his reversal of the Adamic curse, for here he restores the voice of God which was rejected in Eden. It is through the Word that God created and sustains all. It is the living Word of God, Jesus, the prophet, who brings restoration over against the devil and his false words.

Final Comments

Kilcrease's book was full of interesting ideas. He has an extensive bibliography and does interact with an impressive number of authors. He also engages in some significant exegesis, and generally engages the Scripture well. With that said, I must confess the book was difficult and frustrating to read. There were many typographic and grammatical errors. Spelling inconsistencies, especially in foreign language phrases, caused me to wonder if Kilcrease understood what he was attempting to quote. This is an area where I tend to be critical, as a classicist. Yet any competent editorial assistance would have clarified the meaning of much of the book. I also found that there were many statements of logical necessity. Not all followed necessarily from the stated data. This cast doubt on the strength of the overall argument. Finally, I found myself confused about the basic point of the book. The thesis did not jump out at me, nor could I find one emerging as I read. All in all, a disappointing experience.

Pieper, 1968.

Chapter B12, “The Integrity of the Biblical Text”

Pieper observes that through a long and complex textual history the Bible text has remained very consistent. With or without vowel points the Hebrew text traditions are stable. In the New Testament, even despite purposeful corruptions, the text is consistent. Pieper discusses various ways the New Testament would become corrupted, including accidental errors, attempts at grammatical or stylistic improvements, glosses, clarifications, and attempts at harmonization. Despite this, and even the noteworthy disputes over the textus receptus versus the modern scholarly editions, the various traditions can be used together quite easily. Pieper discusses at length the debates over 1 John 5:7-8 and observes that the doctrines are well preserved in other passages of Scripture, as well as in quotations from the Fathers.

The more we study the New Testament text the more reliable it appears.

Bonhoeffer, 1937. Chapter 5, “Discipleship and the Individual”

Chapter 5, “Discipleship and the Individual”

Beginning from Luke 14;26, bonhoeffer describes Jesus’ call. He maintains that Jesus’ call to deny our families indicates we come to Jesus as individuals. We are called individually, not in community, so we are isolated in order to fix our eyes solely on Jesus. This makes a radical change in life and cuts the ties to this world. We need Jesus as our mediator and cannot look to anything in our world as a substitute. Our relationship with God the Father and with other people, then, is mediated by Jesus.

Bonhoeffer admits that not all people leave all their goods behind. he alleges Abraham as a rare and unusual case, because he left everything behind when God called him.

Do we live out the Christian life alone? Bonhoeffer says we don’t as we are given the church as our visible brotherhood.

I continue to get a mixed signal from Bonhoeffer. It seems here we are to leave all community, yet at the same time embrace the community of the Church. One wonders what he thinks serves as a means to call people to faith in Christ.

Kilcrease, 2013, Chapter 12, “The Mystery of the Work of Christ, Part 3”

Chapter 12, “The Mystery of the Work of Christ, Part 3”

Because Jesus is the king of all, Kilcrease says, he is able to lay down his authority and serve as a priest, the servant of all, who enables people to receive forgiveness and approach God. The Messianic promises of the Old Testament could well indicate both a king and priest. Jesus serves as both.

As priest, Jesus is the one who brings sacrifice, giving his very life to bring praise to God, atonement for our sins, and to confirm the gospel, welcoming all who believe into fellowship and worship. Kilcrease describes these three functions in detail, first Jesus bringing praise, then Jesus as the atoning sacrifice, finally Jesus as the one who enables his people to worship God.

Kilcrease especially deals with objections to Jesus’ substitutionary atonement. many of the objections are dealt with in considerable detail. He also gives a good amount of detail as he discusses Jesus as the one who gives us covenantal access to God in worship. The arguments are detailed and likely worthy of further study.

Sermon for 5/18/14 Acts 6

Sermon: “Caring for the Saints”

Be careful! Don’t worry!

How do we balance these elements in our lives?

How do we balance them in the Church?

Acts 6 -

 church growing as God’s Word works sovereignly

 grace and mercy being shown all around

 some being overlooked, neglected - sad state of affairs

Who is going to make sure the poor are fed?

Who will care for those who can’t care for themselves?

 apostles?

 prophets?

 evangelists?

 pastors and teachers?

All these people, who are God’s gifts to the body of Christ (Ephesians 4) are appointed for specific tasks.

 yes, do the same jobs as others, still part of the body of Christ

 no, do not spend the mass of time on certain tasks which can be done by others

Acts 6 - need to concentrate on Word of God and on prayer - this is what the apostles are specially called to

Who then? The poor and hungry are important!

 Various other servants within the Church

1) known by their godly character - people who are spiritual, who are immersed in the Word, who are able to care for the saints

2) identified by the church congregation as a whole

3) selected by the elders/apostles - the leadership

4) enabled for specific tasks

5) sometimes tasks branch over into teaching the Word, which may well be why all those selected are men, in consonance with Jesus’ call of only men to the apostolic task

What do they do?

 visit the saints in need

 care for those needs

 bring God’s cheer and comfort

 provide the relief needed by the saints

What isn’t it?

 social time

 gossip or other evil speech

 opportunity to bring man’s opinion

What is it?

 a visitation of God’s grace

 plan to read Scripture and pray

 chance to multiply the ability of called leaders by bringing important needs back to the leaders

 opportunity to guard the needs and the dignity of our brothers and sisters in Christ

Challenge - when the leadership of the church asks for help visiting the saints, those who are immersed in Scripture and ready to bring God’s grace to others will accept the call and minister Christ crucified to those in need. Pray and study to that end. Seek opportunities to bring distinctively Christian witness and ministry to our community.

It may change your life. Like Stephen, who laid down his life as a testimony of faith. There are countless others who laid down their lives in a similar way. More importantly, there are countless others who have laid down their lives for others, lived on to serve others for many years, and have been God’s instruments of change and growth in Christ for those they serve.

May the Lord bless us to be his instruments.

Sermon for 5/12/14 Authentic Devotion - Acts 2

Sermon: “Authentic Devotion” (Acts 2)

What is our devotion, affection, care? Where are our priorities?

 sometimes bad things

 often good things

    family

    community

    country

     church

What is the commitment, the devotion we see in the earliest Christians, those who were accused of turning the world upside down by their teaching?

1)  apostles’ doctrine - the Bible laid out, preached and taught systematically, both in church gatherings and in home and family

2)  fellowship - assembling with other believers

   Our fellowship is in Christ, not in our other interests.

   Church is all about the forgiveness we have in Christ. That is how we find life.

3)  breaking of bread - communion

    earliest Church - every first day of the week

    some parts of Medieval Christianity - every day available

    colonial America - shortage of pastors made communion rare

    If Jesus is giving out his forgiveness and grace to us by presenting himself to each of us individually, why would we not want to receive what he gives?

4)  prayers - taken over from the Jewish synagogue practices - morning, noon, end of day, praying a Psalm, reading a bit in the Bible and praying by agreeing with God about his priorities for our life and world

What was the result of the early Christians keeping their priorities in order? The Lord added to their number daily those who were believing. Do we want God to bring revival to our community? Devote ourselves to the Lord’s word and His work. He will work in our community by Word and Sacrament, by our faithful witness, and by drawing people to himself by the Holy Spirit. As we are devoted to Christ, he changes us and uses us to change the world.

You thought I disappeared!

You probably all thought I disappeared! I have not been able to post much recently. The posts I had written and scheduled ran out, and I have not always managed to catch my sermons on a recording to post. It's been a wild and woolly time. An explanation is in order, though it is more personal than what I normally put on my blog.

The upheaval began when my father, who lived some 350 miles away, was diagnosed with a terminal condition. We found that my mother was having more severe difficulties related to aging than we had thought as well. Between my wife, my brother, his wife, and myself, we have spent a good deal of time shuttling around the country. My brother and I were both able to be present when my father died about three weeks ago. We found that our mother was not caring for herself well. She requested to become a resident in an assisted living apartment. Meanwhile, my daughter, who has often been my right-hand man, has been ill much of the time for a number of months. The long and short of all these factors is that my family will be leaving the small city where we have lived and I have ministered for three years in order to move closer to where my mother is now living. We are busy wrapping up details from the school where we teach, in the church where I minister, and in the community, as well as putting things in boxes.

I plan to leave this blog on a sabbatical until probably the second week of June. There are quite a few things I have drafted but don't think I will be able to post. First things first.

So what's the long voyage looking like? We are looking forward to being able to care for our neighbors, especially our closest neighbors, those in our family. I hope to have opportunities to engage in ministry planting in the city to which we are moving. There are always neighbors to love and serve in the name of Jesus.

See you in June!