Opening blog

May our writings and our heartfelt meditations be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen. (Adapted from Ps. 19:14.) I pray the words that arise from the discussions in this blog will glorify our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In 2008, I read Martin Luther’s sermons based on the gospel texts in his Church Postil. A postil is a short homily or commentary on a passage of Scripture. He prepared these sermons to instruct clergy who were not as well versed in biblical exegesis, and offered them for preaching in churches in the land. He wrote many of them in his early years, and then they were edited under his supervision until 1544. I took notes on each sermon's commentary and then composed a prayer for each homily based on the main themes that resonated with me at the time. The members of the congregation I serve could pick up a new prayer each Sunday for personal use. I tried to keep the prayers in line with Luther’s explanations so that the congregation could gain a sense of Luther’s understanding of the texts. During this process, I learned a great deal about Luther and his understanding of Scripture. Many of his interpretations confirmed and enhanced what I think the Spirit has been trying to teach me over the last ten years. And yet, I didn’t always agree with everything he said. He was a special servant and messenger of God, sent as an instrument to be used by God in a mighty way, but that didn’t make him infallible. Just because I don’t agree with him on some points means nothing more than that I see some things from a different viewpoint at this time in my spiritual journey. This year, I plan to review the texts and his sermons again, one each week, and make comments on them to engage our friend, Martin Luther, in a 21st century table top discussion of sorts. His view will initiate and inform our conversation with the Word. I hope you will join me in this amiable dialogue, and maybe we all can learn and grow in our understanding of how to live as Christians following Christ. The method to my madness is to begin our discussion with the sermons Luther wrote on the Gospel of John. I am leading a Bible study on Monday afternoons (3:30 pm – 5:00 pm), so if you live close enough, come and join us! The church address and phone number will be placed somewhere for easy access - I just haven't figured out where yet. I will try to write my blog within 24 hours after that session. I will list the texts for discussion each month, and provide a link to the sermon so you can read it in advance, or refer to it in the event some part of our discussion stirs you to understand the context in which he interpreted the Scripture. (Give me a day or two to figure out how to link to the sermons.) After I go through the gospels in the Church Postil, I may blog Luther’s epistle postils (say that 7 times fast!), or I may take another route to blogging other gospel texts. That’s over a year in the future, so I’ll play that by ear. I know you will feel free to support or disagree with Luther’s comments or my own comments, as well as to add what other influential people of the faith considered when explaining these texts. Disagreement doesn’t mean we are right and it doesn’t mean the other person is ‘wrong.’ I like the image of two people describing the same house to each other. They may disagree in the way they see it, only to find out they are standing on opposites sides of the house. It only means we see from different perspectives. It’s not our ‘right thinking’ that saves us, we are saved by the grace of God in Jesus Christ. Finally, I hope we use this opportunity to glorify God in our writings, and pray for greater love and trust in our Lord as we share our witness of God’s goodness in Jesus, the Christ. Peace in Christ - Paul DATE: Sermon Text: January 12, 2009 John 1:1-14 January 19, 2009 John 1:19-28 January 26, 2009 John 2:1-11 February 2, 2009 John 3:1-15 February 9, 2009 John 3:16-21 February 16, 2009 John 4:45-54 February 23, 2009 John 6:1-15 St. Matthew by the Lake Lutheran Church 3966 U.S. Hwy 641 North Benton, KY 42025 270-527-1856