Weedon's Blog

The GREATEST Work Out Music

2009-11-30T16:26:00.004-06:00

has got to be Bach's Christmas Oratorio. Talk about music that gets the blood pumping! "Jauchzet, frohlocket, auf, preiset die Tage!" but the most joyous of all to me is the duet on "Herr, dein Mitleid, dein Erbarmen" - you bet it comforts and sets us free!!! Just listening I thought: this is what JOY sounds like, heavenly joy.

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

2009-11-30T16:19:00.001-06:00

The Church then follows Jesus in singing its songs and in performing its praises. It does not, however, sing its own song; it sings the song that it receives from Him. -- John Kleinig, *What's the Use of Praising God?* pp. 12, 13

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

2009-11-30T16:16:00.002-06:00

Thou dost not seek Him, He seeks thee; thou dost not find Him, He finds thee; thy faith comes of Him, not of thyself. -- Blessed Martin Luther, Sermon for Advent I, 1522 (Day by Day, p. 3)

Patristic Quote of the Day

2009-11-30T16:15:00.000-06:00

As to the tears He shed for Lazarus, they remove all suspicion that He was merely an appearance, since tears can flow only from a body that is real. On the other hand, when He said: 'Lazarus come forth,' and one who was already corrupting emerged alive from ths opening grave, He gave a clear indication of divinity. - Niceta of Remesiana, Instruction on the Faith

Reminder: St. Andrew's Day

2009-11-29T13:19:00.001-06:00

Tomorrow, St. Paul's will celebrate Vespers at 5:45 p.m. and Divine Service at 6:15 p.m., commemorating St. Andrew the Apostle. The Sunday nearest St. Andrew's day is always the first Sunday in Advent. Join us if you can!

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

2009-11-29T12:36:00.003-06:00

He [our Lord Jesus Christ] transposes our song of rejection and loss into His divine idiom, even as He also transposes His divine song of grace and acceptance into our human idiom. They do not, however, remain two separate songs that clash with each other. In Jesus they cohere; they combine to form a single song which speaks of a common experience of abandonment and acceptance, of suffering and celebration, of death and resurrection. The dissonances of earthly life have, as it were, been incorporated and resolved in His act of praise. -- John Kleinig, *What's the Use of Praising God?* p. 12

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

2009-11-29T12:33:00.003-06:00

His wretchedness and poverty are manifest, for He comes riding on an ass like a beggar having neither saddle nor spurs. But that He will take from us sin, strangle death, endow us with eternal holiness, eternal bliss, and eternal life, this cannot be seen. Wherefore thou must hear and believe. -- Blessed Martin Luther, Sermon for Advent I, 1533 (Day by Day, p. 1)

Patristic Quote of the Day

2009-11-29T12:30:00.001-06:00

The fact is that men who look for lofty wisdom are often puzzled by the simplest problems. They forget what the Apostle said, 'Be not highminded, but fear.' Seeking what is unlawful, they lose what is lawful. They pretend to weigh and grasp the very Author and Maker of heaven and earth. Yet, they are unable to perceive and grasp what God has made even with their senses. In the presence of the magnitude and multitude of God's works, their single and simple duty should be to adore. -- Niceta of Remesiana, Instruction in the Faith

The Music of Advent

2009-11-29T12:16:00.000-06:00

rocks. 'nuff said.

Treasury Users

2009-11-28T13:24:00.003-06:00

Tonight at sunset, Advent begins. The invitatory, antiphons and responsory for Advent are mostly found on page O-62 in the center of the book. Mostly, because when the time comes for the Great O Antiphons, they are printed with the daily propers.

Behold, the Lord comes to save us.
O come, let us worship Him!

Behold, the Lord shall come and all His saints with Him;
And in that day the light shall be great. Alleluia!

Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch.
This is the name by which He will be called: the Lord Is Our Righteousness.

In His days Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell securely.
This is the name by which He will be called: the Lord Is Our Righteousness.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
This is the name by which He will be called: the Lord Is Our Righteousness.

God Was There Upon His Throne

2009-11-28T10:19:00.004-06:00

Savior of the nations, come,
Virgin's Son make here Your home!
Marvel now, O heav'n and earth
That the Lord chose such a birth.

Not by human flesh and blood,
By the Spirit of our God
Was the Word of God made flesh -
Woman's offspring, pure and fresh.

Here a maid was found with child,
Yet remained a virgin mild.
In her womb this truth was shown:
God was there upon His throne.

Then stepped forth the Lord of all
From His pure and kingly hall;
God of God, yet fully man,
His heroic course began.

God the Father was His Source,
Back to God He ran His course,
Into hell His road went down,
Back then to His throne and crown.

For You are the Father's Son
Who in flesh the vict'ry won.
By Your mighty pow'r make whole
All our ills of flesh and soul.

From the manger newborn light
Shines in glory through the night.
Darkness there no more resides;
In this light faith now abides.

Glory to the Father sing,
Glory to the Son, our King,
Glory to the Spirit be
Now and through eternity.
LSB 332 - St. Ambrose of Milan, Blessed Martin Luther

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

2009-11-28T10:11:00.001-06:00

He [our Lord Jesus Christ] became our brother, so that He could sing the praises of God to us here on earth and include us in that song of praise. We may therefore join with Him in His song. He is our true praise leader. -- John Kleinig, *What's the Use of Praising God?" p. 11

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

2009-11-28T10:08:00.002-06:00

O my Savior, You came into the world to save sinners; receive me and enter my heart. You have long ago, even before I was born, chosen my soul for Your dwelling. You prepared it for this purpose in Holy Baptism, when I was washed with Your precious blood and purified from all pollutions of the flesh. But I have departed from You, I have again defiled my soul with many grievous sins. By my ungodly conduct I have often broken my baptismal covenant. I now return to You. I open the door of my heart again to You. I long for You with great earnestness. As the deer pants for the streams of water, so my soul longs and pants for You, my God and Savior. May it please you to come and enter my heart. I vow eternal faithfulness to You. Unite Yourself with me, that nothing may separate us. Let Your Spirit from now on be joined to my spirit, and lead me always in a straight path, that I may always follow You, cling to You, and through You obtain eternal salvation. -- Starck's Prayer Book, Advent Prayer (pp. 48,49)

Patristic Quote of the Day

2009-11-28T10:03:00.002-06:00

In your hour of death, brother, should you lose hope of obtaining a just reward in heavenly glory, be bold in faith to remember that He is the door, and through Him, once you are raised from the dead, you will enter the mysteries of heaven, join the company of angels, and hear the longed-for words: 'Well done, good and faithful servant; because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will set thee over many; enter the joy of thy master, take possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.' - Niceta of Remesiana, Names and Titles of Our Savior

Advent I Homily (2009)

2009-11-28T09:45:00.003-06:00

[Jeremiah 23:5-8 / Romans 13:11-14 / Matthew 21:1-9]

Palm Sunday at the start of Advent? It never fails to strike as strange those who forget that it is Advent we are beginning today, not Christmas. The world sees no need for Advent - for repentance and preparation - also the world that lives inside of our hearts. It wants to plunge full blast into the joy of the angels and the shepherds and the wise men, not to mention Frosty, Santa and Little Suzy Snowflake.

But the Church in her wisdom puts on the brakes and says, “Not so fast.” If the joy of Christmas is going to be all that God intends it to be for His people - a joy vast, deep, divine - it must be received in hearts that are stilled and quiet, in hearts that are sorry for sin and long to be freed from it. In hearts that understand our Lord’s three-fold coming and pray with longing “Come, Lord Jesus!” Only such hearts are able to receive the fullness of the joy that lies in the Christmas Feast - a joy far brighter than tinsel and infinitely more satisfying than an endless round of parties and gluttony and drunkenness - looking for life in all the wrong places.

So on to Jerusalem! On to the One who rides in on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. See with your eyes. But believe with your ears. That is the key. What you see will offend you. What you hear will astonish and delight you.

Jesus comes riding into town. He comes as the King foretold by the prophet. But such a King! Where is his army, his royal troops? They are unseen! Where is His Kingdom? It is unseen! Where is His pomp, His splendor, His glory? All unseen! What meets the eye is the rag-tag prophet from Nazareth, so poor that He has to ride on a borrowed burro, and hailed only by the rowdy crowd of pilgrims making their way into the City for the Feast. The great, the high, the noble - they look down their noses in disdain. They order Jesus to silence His rabble. And what is this King riding to? His coronation, His enthronement? No and yes. No, because He is heading for His death. The ignoble criminal’s death - being nailed to a cross. Yes, because the cross is His throne, from which He reigns and rules as King of all. But this cannot be seen. This can only be believed. And so on to the all important words of the prophet:

“Behold your King!” Behold means close your eyes and open your ears. The words will belie the sight, but the words will be true, no matter what the eyes see. Behold! That is, see with the vision of faith. Faith which is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. And what are we to behold? The King? No. Your King.

He rides on a beast of burden. That was not by accident. No steed of war. A plodding, faithful donkey to show you that He comes to bear your burdens. He comes to shoulder your sorrows. What is too heavy for you, what crushes the life and joy out of you, this King lifts off you. He bears your burdens Himself. Makes your sorrows His - all of them. Makes your sin His - all of it, upon His cross. Makes your hell His - that horrid loneliness He suffered in your place, crying out for you “Eli, eli, lama sabanchthani.”. Makes your death His - and dies it to destroy it. Thus the greatest Burden Bearer of them all is carried by the beast of burden to His appointment with death and destruction. He bears all that is yours in order to give you all that is His! His life, risen from the dead. YOURS. His pardon, secured by His risen flesh. YOURS. His Kingdom, His Father’s house, His feast that never ends. YOURS. Behold, that is the sort of King you have!

Your King brought you this in your Baptism. Made you there His own. Poured over your life His promises, His blessings. Your King brings you still these gifts in His words, to renew your mind and fill you with His Spirit. And, yes, in the Sacrament of the Altar, your King still comes. Comes riding into town - into your life, into your mouth - this time not on a donkey but hidden beneath the bread that is His true Body and the wine that is His true Blood. He comes to you still. Your King. And so you greet Him still in the old way. “Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” As that day in Jerusalem, so here today, same King, same song, same gifts, same salvation.

Don’t you be saying in your heart: “Oh, that’s just a bunch of religious mumbo-jumbo.” Nothing could be further from the truth. The King really does come to you, gift bearing!. Many in Jerusalem didn’t have the eyes to see it because they wouldn’t listen to what the Word of God announced about Him. Even though He didn’t look like much of King, God’s Word said and so He was. Today, many is the person who sits in the pew and listens to the sermon with mild interest and curiosity, wondering if the pastor is going to amuse them today. Many is the person who approaches the Table of Christ because its the done thing, you know, not too often and not too seldom. A little bit of food and maybe a nice prayer to Jesus and that’s all it seems to be. But how deadly wrong. The sermon is not to entertain and amuse you but to bring the King to you. The Burden-bearing, Gift-giving King who comes in His Word as it is spoken. Not pastor’s thoughts for the week, but Jesus’ pardon and peace, forgiveness and unending life. Likewise in the Word as it is read and prayed. Likewise in the Supper. The Eucharist is not celebrated to satisfy your religious sensibilities - but to bring the King to you, in His true body and blood, with all His gifts of forgiveness and life, entering you, filling you with His presence, His peace and His joy.

So don’t judge what happens in this room by what you see with your eyes. Go by what the Word says. And lo, it will be for you the Royal Banqueting Hall. Your inner eyes will be opened and your heart, and you will see that Your King comes to you today.

When you have welcomed Him, and known Him to be the kind of King that Zechariah and the Evangelist describe, then you are on your way toward appreciating what Christmas joy is all about. When you long for Him to enter your heart and make it new, to fill your life with His endless life, when you hunger and thirst for His presence, and ache for Him to set you free you everything that leads away from Him, from all the sadness of sin, then Advent has begun to do its job and the Lord is answering your prayer to rescue you from the threatening perils of your sins and save you by His mighty deliverance, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be all glory now and ever and unto the ages of ages! Amen.

Love Caused

2009-11-27T17:48:00.002-06:00

Love caused Your incarnation;
Love brought You down to me.
Your thirst for my salvation
Procured my liberty.
Oh, love beyond all telling
That led You to embrace
In love, all love excelling,
Our lost and fallen race.
--LSB 334:4

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

2009-11-27T17:46:00.000-06:00

The praises of the church then are full of wonder and amazement at the great mystery of the incarnation, by which the whole fullness of the deity dwells bodily in Jesus, so that we human can come to fullness of life in and through Him. -- John Kleinig, *What's the Use of Praising God?" p. 10

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

2009-11-27T17:44:00.002-06:00

He distributes a true, perfect righteousness to the subjects of His kingdom, He has given His life as a sacrifice, taken our sins upon Himself, so that by His confession He might make us righteous, Is. 53:11. -- Blessed Johann Gerhard, Homily for Advent I

Patristic Quote of the Day

2009-11-27T17:30:00.003-06:00

His [name] is called Justice, because through faith in His name sinners are made just; and Redemption, because He paid the price in His blood to buy us back, we who had been so long lost. - Niceta of Remesiana, The Names and Titles of Our Savior

Advent Poem

2009-11-27T08:24:00.000-06:00

Advent / the season

purple bleeding into blue
Harvey S. Mozolak

Advent
little Lent
Christmas
out of season Passion
the wood slats will have to be closer
to hold him from falling
from the wood
straw will do for thorns
nails rough Joseph hands
for now
a kneeling Mary
yet without another son
the tears the same
the spear already cast

Thanksgiving Day Homily 2009

2009-11-25T17:29:00.002-06:00

[Deuteronomy 8:1-10 / 1 Timothy 2:1-4 / Luke 17:11-19]

“The Church lives in thanksgiving” wrote Alexander Schmemann. “It is the air she breathes.” Which is to say the Church lives from the abundance of the gifts. God’s gifts, showering down around her, without ceasing. Unlike the world that is blind to the gifts, the Church sees them, celebrates them, joys in them. Such a God we have! Giving to stagger the imagination. And so the perpetual thanksgiving which is merely the confession of perpetual divine giving.

Moses leads the way in today’s first reading with the reminder to the Israelites of God’s provision for their journey. The Lord always leads His people from here to there. But along the way, He takes thought of how to train them that their life isn’t kept up by bread alone, by the earthly goodies He delights to give them; that they live instead from every Word that He speaks to them. His Word, after all, is the cause of all the goodies of the creation they delight in. And He has commanded the creation to provide sustenance for this earthly journey - and even when things got a bit more settled for the Israelites, as they are for us, a good land: brooks, fountains, valleys, wheat and barley, and other crops. A land where you can eat without scarcity, don’t forget - he warns - that you’re still a people on pilgrimage - this isn’t home - and remember to bless the Lord for the good land He has given you as you journey on with Him. So with them, and so with us.

And with Luther the reminder that the good gift of daily bread is so much more than the loaf. It’s all that goes into the loaf - the good weather, the government, family and friends, health, and on and on. All gifts. All showered down from the Lord. And the Church seeing such gifts raises to God her thanks - not one day a year, but continually “at all times and in all places.”

St. Paul swings in with the second reading reminding us to give thanks above all for this - that the good God we serve is our Savior, He wants everyone to be saved and everyone to come to the knowledge of the truth. What truth is that? The truth of the gifts confessed in the second article of the Creed. The truth about the greatest of all gifts: the eternal Son into our flesh as shall soon celebrate during Advent and Christmas: “To you is born this day a Savior, Christ the Lord. TO YOU.” The truth about the Son who shouldered our sin to Calvary’s tree, wiping it out with His own blood as we shall celebrate at Lent: “He made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” The truth about the Son ripping a hole right through death and transforming it forever into a peaceful sleep with a joyous and certain wakening as we celebrate at Easter: “Whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” Gifts all - and He wants them for all. How can we ever thank Him enough? We get included in all that.

But the third reading - the forgetful lepers - challenges us with how easy it is to fall into the ways of unbelief. That is to measure the gifts and to say to God: “Fill it up right to that line. Yes, very good. That’s enough. That will do. Don’t need any more, thank you very much.” So the nine went off with the little healing, no doubt quite grateful to the end of their days to the Rabbi who had miraculously healed them. But the Rabbi stood there asking: “Where are the nine?” He had more gifts to give! But no one came back for the rest, to give glory to God except the foreigner. The foreigner, the Samaritan, he comes back for the more and gets it: “Your faith has saved you.” The Lord always has more. That’s His way. He has more for you than you can ever imagine. Gifts abounding. So never walk away from Him and say: “I’ve had enough.” I was baptized, what do I need the Word for? I’ve received Communion, why do I need absolution? I’ve been to Church this week. Why do I need to read my Bible at home? Oh, we’re guilty of telling way too often: “That’s enough.” Unbelief!

The way of faith, instead, is ever return, glorifying Him for what He has given, and you will find that He always has even more to give, and that leads to more thanksgiving from you. He wants it to be an endless cycle and the very joy of your life. He wants finally to give you nothing less than Himself, and He is, as Dr. Luther put it so unforgettably, an “eternal fountain that gushes forth abundantly nothing but what is good.” And so you gush forth constant thanksgiving for all the gifts of your Lord to you.

Today as you gather around the table, some of His gifts before, others of His gifts around you, the greatest of His gifts within you - lift your voice and glorify the God who gives - freely and without measure - and you will know the joy of the Church’s very life. She lives in thanksgiving. It is the air she breathes. “We praise You and acknowledge You, O God, to be the Lord.” Amen.

The Feast

2009-11-25T15:15:00.003-06:00

Tomorrow we'll be serving:

Appetizers:

Baby Bella Mushrooms - stuffed (sausage, bacon, cheddar, burgundy wine, stems, garlic - all blended together - and topped with parmesan and agiago)
Cheese ball, Brie, and Other Cheeses
Almond Crackers, Regular Crackers
Summer Sausage

Main Meal:

Brined Turkey, Quick Roasted
Gravy (but no dressing this time round)
Mashed Potatoes
Mashed Cauliflower
Light Rolls (for Lauren and Dean and whoever else)
Mock Cornbread (for Cindi and me)
Popovers (for Bekah and David and whoever else)
Sweet Potato Casserole
Five Onion Graten
Cranberry Sauce

Desserts:
Pecan Pie
Dutch Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Low-carb Pumpkin Pie in Almond Crust
Cherry Pie
Truffles (Darlene, you naughty soul! We adore them)
Marzipan (some of those dipped in chocolate too...)

And last, but not least, we'll be serving a WIN at Liverpool to ME. At least, we had BETTER be.

New Lutheran Quote of the Day

2009-11-25T07:03:00.000-06:00

The theophany of God in His human body creates a new choir, in which people combine with the angels in the performance of doxology. -- John Kleinig, *What's the Use of Praising God?" p. 9

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

2009-11-25T06:54:00.001-06:00

The Word of God sanctifies everything, inasmuch as it is holy, yes, holiness, truth, and wisdom itself. And the life that is governed by the Word is the true, righteous, wise, and eternal life. But if it lacks the Word, it also lacks truth, light, and wisdom before God, and all its doings are works of darkness. -- Luther on Genesis 26

Patristic Quote of the Day

2009-11-25T06:47:00.002-06:00

What does it mean to fall off from God, except to depart from Him? Moreover, if a man is separated from God, he is necessarily united to the Devil. -- St. Caesarius of Arles, Homily 79