The Brood of Vipers Fleeing the Wrath to Come

Luke 3:7-9 (ESV)
He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? [8] Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. [9] Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

And yet the crowds came. Crowds came to hear the word of God. Crowds came to be baptized by a man who called them a brood of vipers. It did not matter who had warned them to flee the wrath to come. They knew they needed to flee it. John could preach the law! And he did so in away that would be considered abusive today. Snakes, stones, trees ready for the hatchet. And he said nothing untrue. Just less than politically correct.
The wrath to come. Do we talk of that anymore? God’s wrath. It isn’t feared anymore. It needs to be. The Gospel is meaningless without it. have we nothing to flee, we remain broods of vipers. A tangled ball of orgy crazed vipers, wiggling with eyes excited by evil. Perhaps you’ve seen such a thing. Everytime I read this I picture the sight of the Garter Snakes along the banks of the Crow Wing River, in a mess of mating frenzy. They weren’t vipers, but they did everything I wanted when a handful of them made my mom scream with fright. Tell you the truth she had such a paranoia, I had to overcome the contagiousness of it to reach my hand into that ball. It wasn’t a pretty picture. Still to this day I can see their beady eyes. They gave me the willies.
That is us. And just as a brood of vipers once discovered in ones back yard is instantly destroyed, so sinners have something to fear as we infest God’s garden. A brood of vipers hypnotized by the serpent, and bent on death. What can we expect but wrath? What more can we expect than a cobra in the garden dispatched with a rock to the head, by Rally. Rally tended the gardens on the mission station in Kanye, Botswana, when I was a kid. He had good aim.
Yes there is wrath to come. And we do well to remember that without repentance, we are cordwood for the fire. But God, who raises up from the stones (read block heads, a pejorative for gentile) children for Abraham, he works repentance in all of us vipers whom he warns of the wrath to come should we only have ears to hear.

All Flesh Will See the Salvation of God

Luke 3:4-6 (ESV)
As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
[5] Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall become straight,
and the rough places shall become level ways,
[6] and all flesh shall see the salvation of God."


“And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” Now there is one for the universalist to hang his hat on, if there weren’t so many other verses where weeping and the gnashing of teeth are mentioned. That all flesh shall see salvation does not mean all flesh shall taste it.
However John the Baptist is preparing the way of the Lord, who will usher in the resurrection. He does it by first himself rising from the dead. With that the resurrection has occurred, proleptically as they like to say. The resurrection strictly speaking though is that which we confess in the apostles creed that happens at the end of time. This has occurred in Christ, the eschaton is upon us. This is what the Jewish Christians of the first century realized. The end is at hand. It leaves little room for millennialism. That sort of tripe Chiliasm as the Jewsih myths were called, came later as the eschaton remained aloof. Yet we know it will come, and then the quick and the dead will rise. The quick and the dead. Those who have faith, and those who don’t. Those who trust inour Lord and those who don’t. Finally all will see. Finally all will see Jesus Christ, the salvation of God. All flesh. But only believers will be given eternal life, the rest an eternity that can not be said to be life.

Repentance and Forgiveness

Luke 3:1-3 (ESV)
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, [2] during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. [3] And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Proclaiming a Baptism of Repentance for the Forgiveness of Sins. The two go hand in hand, forgiveness and repentance, or repentance and forgiveness. Even the acceptance of forgiveness is an act of repentance. It is a realization that you need forgiveness. John the Baptist, the son of Zechariah is doing this. He is proclaiming it, which in this instance means that he is doing it and explaining that when he does it one is doing an act of repentance and thereby receiving the forgiveness of sins. Wherever there is repentance there is also forgiveness. One should not though, that John’s baptism isn’t the same as that which Jesus does. Jesus gives more. John is doing this merely to prepare the way for Jesus. Jesus is the way.

Bo Giertz, En Själasörjar

What follows is a working draft of what will be my translator's preface to "Then Fell The Lord's Fire" By Bo Giertz. If all continues as planned this book should be out this August. I'll accept any and all donations to help offset the cost of publication at this time...

En själasörjar, or as the word has come into use within English speaking Lutheran circles from German, a Seelsorger, it describes the sainted Bishop Bo Giertz. He was more than a seelsorger; he was what his office of Bishop demanded he be, a seelsorger’s seelsorger. The word roughly translated would be a soul worrier, one who worries over souls. The closest English equivalent is the antiquated “curate” and it just doesn’t carry the weight. If one thing could be said of Bo Giertz it is this, he cared for souls. And he cared for the souls of the pastors, especially the cadre in his diocese, and in caring for them, he cared for the people of his diocese.
His bishopric was not an easy one. He had only wanted to be a parish pastor. His memoirs paint his days at the small country parish of Torpa, as being some of the happiest years in his career. He enjoyed this work, and took it seriously. But a man of his capabilities could not be left alone to study, and write, and care for a small parish. His book known in English as “The Hammer of God” catapulted his popularity with the people, and he was elected bishop. He never stopped being a Pastor, never stopped being a seelsorger. He never gave up his commitment to God’s word and the Lutheran Confessions. And this made it a bit hard for him as bishop when the Church of Sweden chose to ordain women. He knew this compromise with God’s word, was that a compromise, to be followed by more. It was a choice to let culture rather than God’s word determine right and wrong. He paid dearly for his convictions, but he remained steadfast, and though his reputation was routinely smeared in the press, his heart never hardened to stone, but remained a heart of flesh. He kept his pastoral bearings, he remained anchored in the word.
For this, he is still loved in Sweden and abroad. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing a few who served in his diocese when he was bishop, who had the honor to be in his cadre of confessional curates. Nothing but love and respect. To this day, the people of Sweden remember him as the most influential Swedish theologian of the Twentieth Century. And that is no small thing when one considers names of other Swedish theologians in the Twentieth Century: Gustaf Aulen, Anders Nygren, Gustaf Wingren, Bengt Hägglund, to name but a few. Noticeably most of these men served in academia. The bishops of the twentieth century are largely forgotten, with perhaps the exception of Bishop Söderblom. Many of them were infamous in their day, celebrated as radical, in large part following the antics of Pike, and Spong, who like them will be forgotten by the world they loved at the expense of the church, seeking power and opportunity and using it for self aggrandizement. But not Bishop Giertz. With every passing year his influence grows wider, his memory more cherished, the church remembers and honors her heroes.
His influence grows wider, it is a curious thing so little of his work is known in English. “The Hammer of God” is celebrated by many. But it is almost all that is known of his works, which precious few, such as “Liturgy and Spiritual Awakening,” were ever translated to English and that in piecemeal fashion. Only recently has that begun to change, as his devotional “To Live with Christ” has become available, to be followed by his novel “The Knights of Rhodes”, and his more dogmatic book “Christ’s Church.”
This collection of ordination addresses and essays on pastoral theology and practice first found publication in Norway, where due to its proximity to Sweden, the bishop has many admirers. As the book gained popularity there, demand grew for it to be published in Sweden also. Permissions were gained, and the book was published in Sweden in 1996, two years before the Bishops death, by the Församlingsförlaget in Gothenburg, with help from Samfundet Pro Fide et Christianismor ock Stiftelsen Bo Giertz’s 90 årsfund to offset the cost of publication. It must be said that these organizations have given the world of Lutheranism and incredible gift. There are some books that just demand to be translated, and this is one. Here in these pages, the bishop’s crosier continues his work of caring for his church and her pastors. In a day when burnout and fatigue are so common among even seasoned pastors, and young pastors new encounter early disillusionment, this book brings healing and comfort for the seelsorger’s soul, and truly practical advice. Here the Lord’s Fire Falls to kindle new joy and new resolve in the life of the Lord’s servants. Here a pastor will find law and gospel applied to him. Here a pastor will find the bread he needs to sustain him in his work. Many pastors are known to read “The Hammer of God” on a yearly basis; many will find these sermons worth the same devotion. I know I have.
Your Brother in Christ,
Bror Erickson
First Tuesday after Pentecost 2012

Increasing in Favor with God and Man

Luke 2:52 (ESV)
And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

So Jesus grew up as other boys do. He wasn’t all knowing but had to learn as we do. His growth was like that of other men. But with each passing day, he also grew in favor with God and man. He was respected.
I shy away from the word sanctification in these contexts. I think it is too often misunderstood, and Wesley did the world a disfavor by implying that sanctification was something you earn. But I think there is something to the concept if we take salvation out of it. And that is the problem with the term sanctification in this context. One cannot be saved if one is not sanctified. The New Testament uses the term interchangeably with justification in places. It has a slightly different meaning, but in the end it is salvation that is at stake, and Jesus accomplished that for us on the cross.
Yet one can and does grow and increase in favor with God and Man. Jesus did. And so can we. Of course the first thing one has to do here is get his priorities straight. First God then men. When our focus is on increasing in favor with God, then men will follow. People can gain favor with men for all sorts of unsavory business. One only need to listen to the talk in a men’s locker room to figure that out. Men respect other men for the stupidest of reasons. And even knowing that too often we find ourselves trying to impress other men with stupid antics. Men have been known to respect other men for their ability to consume beer, or bed various women, for instance. This is not the kind of favor with men, Christians should try to gain. This sort of favor with men comes at the expense of favor with God, who in his infinite mercy is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The truth is if he wasn’t that none of us would have any favor with God. It is just as true that men think they gain favor with God, for the stupidest of reasons, such as one’s ability to avoid a bar or conversation with anyone outside the church he or she goes to. Or their ability to be shocked and “scandalized” by the behavior of their fellow man, and even Christian. This too gains favor with a certain sort of idiot, but not necessarily with God, who again is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. We Christians might try that approach, being slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. We could practice that. I think it might be called forgiveness.
If first we seek God’s favor, if first we seek the Kingdom of God, all these other things will be added, including the favor of men. It won’t be all men mind you, but it will be the men who matter. Anyone can win the favor of a fool. But to win favor with men who know what it means to be men, that is something different, and this follows when one increases in the favor of God.
Increasing in the favor of God, it comes when we first seek his kingdom. The old saying is that theologians are created by meditation, prayer and suffering. And the truth is we are all theologians. Suffering will be given on behalf of the world. We don’t need to self impose it. It comes in the life of family, sickness, work etc. But it is prayer and meditation I think are most often lacking. Meditation can take on a few different forms, but it has to do with dedictating yourself to the apostolic teaching. In one way or another meditation is about studying God’s word. if God’s word is not being studied than meditation is not happening. So it happens at divine service when we here a sermon, or when we read devotions, or just read the Bible itself. Prayer, but follows on the heals of meditation, the two are almost synonymous. In doing this we increase in our faith and love, the favor of God, we grow stronger. It requires work, and one might be selective regarding the trough one feeds from when it comes to interpretation of God’s word. There are ungodly interpretations of God’s word.

His Mother Treasured These Things

Luke 2:51 (ESV)
And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.

And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. I suppose if I were Roman Catholic I might make this out to be some sort of hagiography concerning Mary displaying how righteous she was. No doubt it displays that. Though I have to tell you, I wish the Roman Catholics would talk as much about her son as they do her sex life. Listening to Catholic radio the other day I was about nauseated as they went on and on about how Joseph and Mary had a chaste marriage. One of them look up chaste please? One does not have to practice abstinence to be chaste. In fact, if what they claim of Mary is true, I’d question her chastity. And there is nothing about her marital relations with Joseph that would have profaned her womb. All this does is make people feel less holy for engaging in an act with their spouse that God intends for them to engage in. He told someone somewhere to be fruitful and multiply, he was very well aware of what that meant. Mary’s womb is not the Ark of the Covenant. In any case, I can’t remember who the apologist was, but someone should make him aware that the Ark of the Covenant contained a bit more than the Ten Commandments. I digress I suppose. She was a Godly woman and Joseph was a Godly man, and they had Godly relations just as every chaste couple who heed the advice of Paul in 1 Cor. Do when they don’t cut each other off from the goods. True chastity demands married couples have sexual intercourse. This is what the institution is about. Marriage preserves chastity by confining sex to a God pleasing relationship.
However, I think the true purpose of this little note, was not hagiography, but to indicate from whom Luke was receiving this material. Luke is citing his source. His mother treasured these things up, as only a mother can. Her witness gives reliability to what Luke is writing. It is being documented by someone who has seen the events themselves. It really doesn’t matter how much time has passed. The mom remembers these things. It isn’t a whole lot. After Jesus is born there isn’t a whole lot about his childhood that matters. What does has been recorded.
Jesus was submissive to his parents. He listened to them. There is something to be learned there. Perhaps I’ll try to figure that out some other day…

Peace I Leave With You

John 14:25-31 (ESV)
"These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. [26] But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. [27] Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [28] You heard me say to you, 'I am going away, and I will come to you.' If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. [29] And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. [30] I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, [31] but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.


But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.

Pentecost, A Christian holiday befitting the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t get much press. We get one last Sunday of Red before heading into the green. It’s not Christmas or Easter, those glorious events centering on Christ’s salvific acts accomplished on behalf of a world of sinners, receive much more attention. Of course, Pentecost it seems to me, always kicks off a period of fast. Not like lent, lent is almost a feast in the midst of a fast, the excitement builds up, expectation, it has it’s own fanfare, and so fits well with all the feasting that occurs between Christmas, Easter and the Ascension. But Pentecost and then Trinity. I’m kind of upset I won’t be here for Trinity. In Utah, that holiday has taken one special meaning and I do love it. The only holiday dedicated to a doctrine. It is the least postmodern of them all. But it gets less play then Pentecost. It is almost as if the satiated saints can’t gather up the strength and resolve to celebrate anymore. They need some rest.
“Peace I leave with you, peace I give you.” It is peace through Christ our Sabbath rest, who fulfilled the law for us with his death and resurrection. These were the words of Christ regarding his leaving and the coming of the Holy Spirit. Peace. Not world peace, not a worldly peace that never lasts. But peace A restful peace, a peace that lasts, a peace purchased the blood of Christ, and accomplished in the souls of believers by the work of the Holy Spirit, a Peace wrought between a Holy God and sinful men.
Earthly peace, it is always so tenuous, and uneasy. Like the peace of the Cold War, both sides looking across borders at the other side, watching them build up and prepare for war. Hoping it never comes, and realizing that not a whole lot needs to be done to set it all in motion. Earthly peace it seems never lasts. Sinful people get in the way. Greed, and malice, selfishness, and ambition take it all away in a matter of minutes. Hard work seems to go down the drain. Perhaps you want to throw in the towel and just give up. People you love and cherish do, and it feels like they have given up on you. Coworkers stabbing you in the back, undercutting your deals, people you thought were friends taking advantage of you. It goes on and on. Meanwhile you worry about the bills stacking up at home. The economy poor, burned out and you wonder. How’s that for earthly peace?
But the peace that Jesus offers through the Holy Spirit is a different peace, a peace that survives amidst earthly peace and earthly turmoil. It is a peace that comes with trust in God, who forgives your sins, and all your failings. Peace that comes with trust in God, and not in yourself, and your ability to do it all. It is a peace anchored in Christ, amidst the storms of life. It is a peace, knowing that it isn’t your work, but his work that is being done, that he is using you. This applies just as much to you as it does to any pastor, or Sunday School teacher. God is using you to accomplish his work. He does this when you are punching in for your nine to five, and he does so when you are sitting here in these pews. Yes, here too he is accomplishing his work, not only in you but through you. He is accomplishing his work through you every time that life giving waters held in that font are poured over the head of another soul. Every time a child in Sunday School learns of the love of Christ for sinners and the forgiveness of sins.
Pentecost, three thousand souls saved with one sermon. We might think the work was done if we saw that happen here. We would be wrong. The Holy Spirit’s work had only just begun, it was but a ground breaking event for the church to be built. The Holy Spirit would continue this work in and through the church, as the church continued to devote itself, to the apostle’s teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of the bread and prayers. The Holy Spirit would use them, as even now he uses you. Oh we would rejoice to see that happen. Perhaps sometimes that is my problem. I want to see it happen so badly. I make the mistake of thinking it depends on me, or it depends on you. That only leads to frustration, which leads to burnout and then throwing in the towel. Instead, I think we could learn something from the disciples who just waited patiently praying in the upper room, when the Holy Spirit used them to accomplish this miracle. Or those baptized that day, who just remained true to the word, calm and persistent amidst all the setbacks of Acts. Read the book once, it isn’t a pretty picture. The disciples are laughed at, the disciples are ridiculed, beaten and charged with inciting riots, stoned, wrecked at sea, and whipped. And yet the disciples push on. One might ask how? From whence came their strength? “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.” Was the promise Christ gave the church just there speaking of his ascension. And this peace he does give us, It is his peace, and it is found in his church, and in his word. Which is why the disciples devoted themselves to the apostolic teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers. Because there amidst all the hardships of this world, disappointments and setbacks in the work of the church, there is found strength to carry on, and peace, and comfort only the Holy Spirit can work in the hearts of sinful men, peace with God.
Now the peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.