January 2010 – A Shepherd's Story

Let the Children Come

January 23, 2010January 23, 2010 Rev. Johann CaauweLeave a comment

As I was getting ready for bed this evening, I turned to today’s selection from the book of devotions I am reading this year, called To Live with Christ by Bo Giertz. The devotions are arranged by the church year, not the calendar year. But it seems like it could have been written specifically for today, the 37th anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade decision.

Friday after the Second Sunday in Epiphany
“Let the children come to Me; do not hinder them.” Mark 10:14

This was a severe reprimand to the disciples. They thought children should wait until they were able to understand what the sermon was all about. That would be soon enough. But the parents wanted the right thing for their children.

Being a parent is one of the greatest gifts God can give. It’s also one of the greatest tasks you could ever undertake. Having a child together allows parents to share in God’s creative work. We couldn’t live here on earth or be God’s children eternally if the parents of countless generations before us had not labored with their own children and even given their lives for their children. Now it may be our turn to bring life into the world. We cannot take this task lightly.

God put us here in an immense generational context. Of course, not everyone is called to be a parent. Not everyone gets married and is gifted with children. But if you get the chance, you can’t deny children their right to live. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? You can’t exchange the life of one child as payment for the luxuries you want to provide another. Jesus says, “Let the children come to Me.” It’s awe-inspiring. The first condition for being able to be a child of God and share all the joy that is the meaning of life, now and in eternity, is that there are people on earth who are willing to take upon themselves the task of parenting.”

One wonders just how many little children have been hindered, not just those who have been killed by abortion, but those who have never had the chance to “come to Jesus” because of a negative attitude toward God’s gift of life, marriage, sex, and children, which pervades our culture and society, of which Roe v. Wade is just one part. Kyrie eleison.

[Quote from: Bo Giertz, To Live with Christ. Concordia Publishing House: St. Louis, 2008. pp. 121,122.]

Prolixity

January 20, 2010January 20, 2010 Rev. Johann Caauwe2 Comments

I’ve been reading Martin Chemnitz’ Examination of the Council of Trent. It’s a four volume analysis of the 16th Century council which solidified Roman Catholic doctrine and condemned Lutheran doctrine following the Reformation.

I had to laugh when in the section I was reading today, Chemnitz says that there is plenty more to say about the issue at hand, and he would say more, “if I were not afraid of prolixity” (Vol. 1, p. 595). I laughed (after looking up the word) because this work is already so comprehensive and thorough, that I can’t even imagine what it could say. But Chemnitz could go on and on.

I am completely impressed by the scholarship of these giants. I have another set of books that Chemnitz contributed to, which is a series of text studies based on a harmony of the gospels put together by Chemnitz, Johann Gerhard, and Polycarp Leyser. The books I have were printed in the 1860s. They cover the Gospels for the historic church year. Some of these studies are as long as 75 pages. Talk about serious exegesis!

So, on the one hand, it’s kind of funny for Chemnitz to talk about sparing words for the sake of brevity. He is anything but brief. And sometimes it’s hard to wade through pages and pages that cover every single aspect of a particular topic. But on the other hand, I admire their use of words. I feel as though even our best scholars today couldn’t come close to their understanding and depth of scholarship. Yet it makes me want to read more, study harder, and think more clearly about the things I study. I may not be able to produce the kind of work that these men created. I struggle to complete each sermon, and I have to push to be able to get a few words onto a blog every once in a while. But if nothing else, a little more careful study will give me a better grasp of the center of all this study—Christ Jesus. And that’s good enough for me.

Now Rise

January 10, 2010 Rev. Johann CaauweLeave a comment

Over the past several years I have really appreciated the hymn “To Jordan’s River Came our Lord” (CW 89) as the Hymn of the Day for the Baptism of our Lord. In particular, there’s just something about climbing into the pulpit while singing these words:

Now rise, faint hearts: be resolute!
This man is Christ, our substitute!
He was baptized in Jordan’s stream,
Proclaimed Redeemer, Lord supreme.

2009 Reading List

January 9, 2010 Rev. Johann Caauwe5 Comments

Here is a list of books that I have read in 2009. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get the order correct. There’s also the chance that I’ve missed something, because I didn’t keep a running list during the year.

I would have to say that the best book I read this year (besides, the Bible and the Lutheran Confessions), was Deutschlander’s book on the Theology of the Cross. The runner-up would have to be Vieth’s book on Vocation. If anyone is interested in what I thought about any of the above books, leave a comment or send me an email.

I still have a tall stack of books I am planning to read. Hopefully I’ll chip away at that pile during 2010. Right now I’m working on finishing up the first volume of Martin Chemnitz’ Examination of the Council of Trent. I know that somewhere in the stack is actually a couple of fiction books. It’s been a while. If anyone wants to follow what I’m reading, I’ve started keeping track on a web site called Goodreads. Or share what you’ve been reading by leaving a comment or signing up for Goodreads yourself.

Christmas to Epiphany

January 4, 2010 Rev. Johann CaauweLeave a comment

Well, I somehow made it through another Advent/Christmas season, with all its extra services (13 since the first Sunday in Advent). I just have one more: an Epiphany Vespers service on Wednesday night.

But with the Christmas season winding down and Epiphany about to start, I’m not sure whether I’m glad it’s all over or wishing it hadn’t gone so fast. I am relieved to have the crazy schedule behind me. But at the same time, school starts back up again tomorrow, and so I’ll be back to that crazy schedule again, too. So while I won’t have multiple services each week for a while, I’ll be back to 3 catechism classes, 2 BIC classes during the week, and school chapel on Friday.

But I don’t mind the thought of getting back to that schedule. It’s Christmas I’m going to miss. It seems as though these 12 days are just not enough to get to the heart of what happened here. Incarnation. God made flesh. For us and for our salvation… It seems that you could spend a lifetime just dealing with these deep matters.

But it’s time to move on. To Epiphany. This morning I played through several of the Epiphany hymns and realized just how much I have to look forward to in the next few weeks. How Lovely Shines the Morning Star. To Jordan’s River Came our Lord. Hail to the Lord’s Anointed. And so on…

I would have been tempted to just stick with the Christmas hymns. Just the Luther and Gerhardt hymns alone would be enough for a lifetime, I think. But I guess it’s a good thing the church year keeps moving us along. So we don’t get stuck on just one thing. We’ll find that God has much more to reveal to us in his Son that “just” his incarnation. More than we ever could have imagined.

Blessings to you as we move on to another Epiphany.

Christmas Medley

January 2, 2010January 2, 2010 Rev. Johann Caauwe2 Comments

For those of you who haven’t seen this on Facebook or YouTube, here is a little video of the kids singing a few Christmas songs. We got a new video camera for Christmas, and it’s perfect for exactly this kind of thing. Hope you enjoy, especially Isaiah and Lydia’s “Dueling Christmas Carols.”