Pious Lutheran

The Preaching of St John the Baptist , Giovanni Battista Gaulli, circa 1690 The Word Gathers the Church in the Wilderness The world apart from Christ is a barren desert The wilderness is prepared through repentance Christ is the fruitful vine growing in the desert into whom we are grafted This world, apart from Christ, is a barren, fruitless, wilderness; a desert if you will. In a way however, Satan imposes a mirage in front of you, suggesting that this world is able to satisfy your every desire. Christianity tears down that illusion, revealing the ugly truth hidden behind the mirage, in order to transform this barren landscape into a fruitful field. Christianity reveals the sin sickness infecting our souls, in order to sow God’s Word and reap a bountiful harvest of faith. So it is that the Word gathers the church in the wilderness. This is stunningly illustrated in the book of Exodus. While the Israelites were in Egypt they were slaves to the Egyptians, although they were surrounded b...

 Saint Ambrose barring Emperor Theodosius from Milan Cathedral , Samuel Freeman, 1832 Christians are the salt and light of the earth. Christians reflect the light of Christ and do good works When others see our good works they are drawn to God and glorify Him. Today we remember and give thanks to God for St. Ambrose of Milan, Pastor and Hymnwriter. St. Ambrose was born to a noble Roman Christian family. In 372, at the age of 32, he was named governor of a Roman province where Milan was the capital. Two years later however the bishop died, and there was some controversy over who would be the next bishop.  The controversy largely circled around the heresy of Arianism, the belief that Jesus is not fully God. The bishop who had just died, who had been bishop for 20 years, was an Arian who had usurped the bishopric from the previous faithful bishop who had been exiled in chains. The christians rejoiced when that wicked bishop died, since they were no longer under bondage to his fal...

The sound of a door opening and closing, of keys being hung on a hook, of large footsteps drawing near. When my son David hears those sounds, before he even sees my face I hear him call out “daddy!” as he gets up and runs to the door to greet me. He knows the signs of my coming, and with joy he looks forward to my arrival, at least for now.  But those signs of father coming home aren’t always met with joy. One winter afternoon while my dad was at an auction, I was throwing a ball around in the kitchen when it knocked an antique cookie jar off the soffit. My mom walked in the room and told me I’ll have to explain it to dad when he got home. So when the signs of his coming appeared, my only reaction was fear because I knew I was in trouble. Likewise the signs of the Son of Man coming again are everywhere! There are wars and rumors of wars with North Korea, Russia, the Islamic State. Our world is polluted with trash both on land, sea, and air. Mass killings are regularly in the n...