Sins and/or Ills

At Lessons and Carols the other night, we sang the LSB version of a Gerhardt Christmas hymn:

Children, from the sins that grieve you,
you are freed.

It struck me because TLH says,

Brethren, from all ills that grieve you,
you are freed.

It's like what Matthew tells us (chapter 8).  While Isaiah says, "He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows," Matthew quotes it as "He took up our infirmities and bore our sicknesses."

Even though the sicknesses wouldn't be here but for sin,
even though sin is the cause of illness and death,
sometimes it nice to know that Jesus isn't "just" the cure for our sinfulness, but is also the one who bore the brokenness of our bodies, our snotty noses, our achy joints, our headaches, our mental shortcomings, and our physical weakness.  And because He took those infirmities to the cross, that gives us a cure.  The cure.

"From all ills that grieve you
you are freed.
All you need
I will surely give you."

Broken Day

Pie-filling spilled over on Saturday night.  The oven was smoking.
Maggie and I have snotty, coughy colds.

First item of business Sunday morning?  Stepping in a big pile of kitty-barf.  Squish!

Then I caught myself right before I walked out the door to church.  Dinner in the crockpot, ready to cook while we were gone.  But it was turned off.  Flipped the switch on -- whew!

Came home from church to find dinner cooked (whew!) but the house cold.  Twelve degrees lower than the thermostat was set.  Arranged for the repairman to arrive first thing Monday morning.  I couldn't manage to start a fire in the fireplace, but Gary fixed it when he came home from church.  I couldn't bake for heat, as the oven hadn't been fixed from the pie-spill.  A friend loaned us her space heater.  Blankets, fire, two space heaters, all the body heat contained to one room -- we didn't turn into popsicles.

Adjusting blankets in the evening, we managed to knock over a pint of cranberry juice.  Not cranberry cocktail, all nice and watered down.  100% cranberry juice.  I used a lot of Resolve, and the stain did come out.  Woo hoo!

Repairman arrived this morning.  Weird breakdown, but the part was available somewhere locally.  He had it fixed by 9:30.  We can now [again] feel a noticeable temperature-difference when entering the garage from the house.  Honest and knowledgeable tradesmen are gold.

Helpful Girls

I need to watch my whining around my daughters.  I express any dissatisfaction over what needs to be accomplished and how unable I am ... and somebody shows up to tackle projects. 

On the one hand, I feel guilty.
On the other hand, I feel oh-so-relieved and grateful!

That Scary Part of Amos 5

Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!
For what good is the day of the Lord to you?
It will be darkness, and not light.
Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light?
Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?   (Amos 5:18-20)

When Pastor read those verses, I hated it.  
Where's the hope?
So, you're waiting for the day of the Lord?  
Sounds like Amos is saying, "Tough noogies.  Ain't you gonna be surprised?  It's going to be terrible!"

But what about the pillar of cloud (Ex 14:20)?  It was darkness to the one side, but light to the other.  That pillar was protection for the people of God; it separated them from those who would harm them. 

They Slumbered and Slept

Interesting what we find back-to-back in Matthew.
Chapter 25 -- the parable of the wise and foolish virgins.  They slept.  They were supposed to watch for the coming of the Bridegroom.  But they couldn't.
Chapter 26 -- the Garden of Gethsemane.  Peter, James, and John were told to watch and pray.  But they couldn't.  Instead, they slumbered.

The Opposite of "Rejoice"

Pastor is always talking about rejoicing, even in the midst of trouble. 

So. Hard. To. Understand.

In my mind, the opposite of "rejoice" is "grieve."
You know -- if you're not happy, then you're sad.

So when you run across a passage like 1 Thessalonians 1:6 ("You received the word in much affliction, with joy in the Holy Spirit"), it messes with my mind.  So I asked a simple question:  "What is the opposite of rejoice?" 

The answer?  "Despair."

Grieving and suffering and hurting and sorrow are NOT the opposite of joy.  Despair is.  Hopelessness is.  Giving-up-on-God's-mercy is the opposite of "rejoice."

Now things are beginning to make sense.

The Malefactors Crucified with Jesus

It's Luke that tells about the two criminals crucified with Jesus (23:39-43).  Luke -- who was connected to the apostle Paul. 

Paul -- who blasphemed at the cross.  Paul -- who scoffed at Jesus' prayer for those who were putting Him to death.

Paul --  who came to believe that he deserved torture and death for his sin.  Paul -- who learned to beg for Jesus' mercy.

No wonder the story is in Luke.  That story of the two criminals probably really resonated with Paul.

Apologetics

Those who like apologetics tend to think of faith as having an intellectual foundation.  They use reason to "prove" why the Bible is true.  But because of this intellectual foundation, they have little regard for the sacraments, which are supernatural, and which cannot be explained by way of reason and evidence.

Today's Laugh

We all could use a little more calmness in our lives, right?
On that note, here's a message from a friend:

"Here's some simple advice from the Dr Phil show.  He said that the way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you've started and never finished.

"So I looked around the house to see all the things I started and hadn't finished.  Soon, I finished off a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of Zinfandel, a package of Oreos, the remainder of my old Prozac prescription, the rest of the cheesecake, a bag of Doritos, and a box of chocolates.

"You have no idea how freaking good I feel."

Just to clarify, for people who have no

sense of humor (and I know you're

 out there!) this is a JOKE.  Okay?
Everybody knows that you can't be
drinking liquor and popping Prozacs.

Going to Church "All the Time"

During certain bits of the church year, we have daily services.  Even though I cook supper and vacuum and go to work on those days, even though we're in the Divine Service for only an hour or two each day, during the rest of the year it seems like those are seasons when we have church "all the time." 

And when people become ill or elderly, and when they can make it to church only once every month or so, they look back on those years when they attended church weekly as "when I could be at church all the time." 

Sometimes I think the book of Revelation paints heaven as one long never-ending church service.  But maybe "all the time" doesn't mean that we never do anything else.

A Divorce for Mary and Joseph

Should he divorce her?
Or should he go through with the marriage?

I heard it again!  Many people think that Joseph was trying to decide whether to divorce Mary or stick with her.

No.  From his point of view, she had been unfaithful to him.  She was carrying another man's baby.  She obviously wanted to be with that other guy.  He could let her marry the baby's father, let her go, divorce her. 

His choice wasn't so much between marriage and divorce.  His choice was more between a quiet, legal divorce or calling her out for her adultery, having her stoned.  Being a just man, a man who believed in mercy, a man who offered forgiveness, he did not want her killed for her adulterous affair.  He would spare her life, even if it meant that his own character would be besmirched as one who didn't wait long enough after the wedding ceremony for the coming-together night. 

The angel came to Joseph in a dream. 

Two thousand years earlier, another Joseph dreamed.  That Joseph had an experience where an accusation of adultery was made against an innocent person.  Both the angel and the Bible story corroborated Mary's story.  That's when StayingMarried became an option for Joseph.

But Didn't They Ask the Same Question?

Zachariah to Gabriel: "How shall I know this?  For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years."

Mary to Gabriel:  "How can this be, since I do not know a man?"

Every year, the same question comes up.  How come Zechariah gets in trouble for saying the same thing Mary said?  It's often been said that Zechariah's question came from unbelief and doubt, whereas Mary responded in faith.  But where did we get that idea, anyway?

Well, the story does tell us, point-blank --
The faith of the heart.  Luke 1:20 tells us that Zechariah "did not believe."  Verse 38 says that Mary responded in faith: "according to your word."

More about the difference --
Zachariah was in the temple, confessing sins and praying for the Messiah.  An angel comes from the Lord and announces that the Lord has heard Zechariah's prayer.  Even though he was right smackdab in the middle of praying for the things the angel announced, still Zachariah said "no" when he heard the message.
According to church tradition, Mary was going about her daily chores when the angel came to her. 




Also, notice there is a difference in the questions --
Zachariah asks, "How shall I know?" while Mary asks, "How can this be?"  Those may sound like the same question to us.  But the answer to Zechariah's question is, "Uh, excuse me.  I'm an angel.  I've been sent by the Lord.  And I just TOLD you, for pity's sake.  And what I told you was from the prophet Malachi.  That's how you shall know.  And besides, good golly, don't you remember the stories in the Scriptures where an old man and a barren woman had a baby?  This has happened before, you know."

Mary on the other hand doesn't ask how to know.  She asks how this can be.  She needs to "test the spirits" (1 John 4:1).  "You're going to have a baby."  "But I haven't known a man."  The angel proceeds to explain that the child will be conceived by the Holy Spirit.  And Mary concludes that this angel speaks in harmony with Isaiah's prophecy. 
Furthermore, Mary leaves Nazareth and heads to Elizabeth's place.  And what does she find?  Elizabeth is pregnant.  Just as the angel said.  Hmmm -- this sounds like a pretty reliable messenger.  She hangs around three more months.  Baby arrives.  Hmmm -- it's a boy.  Just as Gabriel had told her.  This angel agrees with scripture, and what he says comes to pass. 

So let's have no more of this, "But they said the same thing.  Why is one punished for it and the other is not?"

How's My Faith-Walk Coming Along?

In the story of the Emmaus disciples (Luke 24), the disciples are listening to Jesus preach to them all that the Old Testament taught about the Messiah.  When He blessed and broke and gave them the bread, they realized this fellow was Jesus.  And He disappeared from sight.  Then they said, "Whoa.  Hey!  Yeah.  Our heart burned within us as He taught us!"  And they skeedaddled back to Jerusalem to tell the others.  

Did you notice?  When they were listening to Jesus, their eyes and ears and minds and hearts were captivated by HIM.  They weren't evaluating their feelings.  They weren't thinking about their faith.  They paid no attention whatsoever to their response to His preaching ...

because all they cared about was Him.

Report on Hair Length

7 months ... and it is no longer "boy hair"

Today's Laugh

It's so dry in Texas that
the Baptists are starting to baptize by sprinkling,
the Methodists are using wet-wipes,
the Presbyterians are giving out rain-checks,
and the Episcopalians, Catholics, and Lutherans are praying for the wine to turn back into water.

Miss Timnite

Samson was off to visit his heartthrob.  He killed a lion on the way.  When he returned for his wedding, he found the beehive in the lion's carcass.  And that's where he came up with the riddle.  When the Philistines couldn't solve the riddle, they threatened Samson's wife.  "Hey, you better find out the answer, Miss Timnite.  If you don't, we'll kill you and your family."

You know the story.  She whined.  She pouted.  She begged.  She wore down her husband, and he told the answer to the riddle.  She ratted him out.  And havoc ensued.

But catch what happens in the next chapter (Judges 15:6).  The Philistines turn on her anyway, and burn her and her father's house with fire, precisely what they'd threatened at the wedding.

That girl was doomed.  If she didn't tell, the Philistines would've killed her.  When she did tell, they ended up taking out their anger at her and executed her even though earlier she had complied with their demands.

That's how it is with the devil.  "Do this and I'll leave you be."  "Do this and I'll give you something good."  You do.  And he turns on you.  What a liar and enticer!

Champagne Vinaigrette

We fell in love with a salad dressing from the California Pizza Kitchen.  After hunting up a variety of recipe-fakes, the following concoction has been whipped up many times over the last couple of months:

¼ cup white wine vinegar *

¼ cup raw olive oil

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard**

1 lime or ½ lemon, juiced (1 to 1½ Tbsp)

1½ Tbsp honey

1 clove garlic or ½ a shallot, lightly minced

½ tsp salt

½ tsp fresh ground pepper

Put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth and somewhat emulsified.  Stores nicely in the refrigerator, unlike my other oil-and-vinegar dressings which separate and where the oil solidifies.  This isn't as healthy as my usual homemade dressings, but it's so yummy it makes me want to melt into the floor with joy.

* The recipe is supposed to use champagne vinegar.  Several recipes suggested letting leftover champagne sit out for several days to become vinegary.  Ummm ... we seldom have champagne, so it's a little hard to make champagne vinegar from the leftovers.  Conveniently, Aldi offered white wine vinegar as a special purchase not long ago, and I nabbed several bottles.

** I usually use plain old hotdog mustard any time a recipe calls for whatever-type mustard.  Aldi also ran a mustard extravaganza recently, so I bought my first jar of Dijon.  The Dijon definitely makes a difference in this recipe.

Nicene or Apostles'?

It's probably bad to have a favorite when both are holy words from God.

But I sure do like the Nicene Creed better.

1)  Longer section on the atonement.  Why is it that my mind tends to wander so easily at "was crucified, died, and was buried"?  But "was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried" is simply enough extra length that a brief moment of distraction doesn't mean I miss the whole section. 

2)  The necessity of God's word:  "according to the Scriptures" and "who spoke by the prophets."

3)  Not just that the resurrection and the life-everlasting will come, but that we long for it.

4)  "Light of light."  Beautiful words during these short days of winter, and also as we approach Easter and the Vigil.

5)  "For us."  Twice.
God became man "for us men."
Jesus was crucified "for us."
Even though the events of Jesus' life (as listed in the Apostles' Creed) are indeed for us, it's the Nicene Creed which states "for us"  right out there, blunt and obvious and clear and unavoidable.

Miscarriage

"Jesus wept."

Lora remembers her children in heaven and talks about the comfort of Jesus' tears and the comfort of the resurrection of the body. 

Lord, have mercy upon us.

Fix-It Time

The washer was having its fits.  The water would drain out, but the tub wouldn't spin.  Clothes were too wet.  I researched likely causes for the problem, took the washer apart, and found lots of rust inside the outer-shell.  After plenty of sanding and spray-painting, no more bits of loose metal could get jammed in the lid-latch-detector.  And the washer works!  Yee haw!

This week I finally tired of crackly phone lines and purchased a new phone.  Now I can hear conservations through the phone.  Nice!

Problems with a flickering light.  Turned out not to be the light fixture or the wiring, as I'd thought.  It was merely a faulty bulb.  Replaced that, and we now have our under-cupboard, above-counter light again, after two years without.  And it's over the cutting board -- important place, so you know whether you're chopping veggies or fingers.

Ugly equipment on the bathtub-plug lever, ever since we moved in.  Also, the plug had a slow leak.  Thursday night the metal busted altogether.  I took it apart, went to the hardware store, and installed the new pieces.  Woo hoo!  Fixed that too.

I've been unable to play CD's or DVD's on my computer.  That also meant I had no way to transfer the scanned old-timey photos onto my computer.  I bought a new CD-drive and tried to install it.  I couldn't; I bought one with the wrong plugs.  But Nathan came over, found that we could switch around the old-fashioned plugs and the newer ones.  He installed the new CD-player.  Everything is hooked up and works!  How's that for new-and-different?!

I'm feeling mighty self-satisfied
and pretty durn powerful because
of the repairs I accomplished!

And pretty thankful for the places
where Gary and Nathan took over
and finished what I attempted!