A Shorter Reflection on Reformation + Another Bonus Reflection

Reflection #1

Lutherans & many others celebrated TUE 10/31 as Reformation Day. On SUN 10/29, our church, like many others, focused our attention--not on Martin Luther--but on the Rock of our Salvation, namely Jesus Christ. Luther may have set things in motion 500 years ago, but his actions & writings were inspired by the Lord. Martin Luther was blessed by the Lord to be a blessing for others. Lutherans don't hold up Martin Luther as our object of worship. We hold up his & our rock of salvation.

Here are some more highlights from our worship servicer @ Grace Lutheran in Norfolk last Sunday.

From Psalm 46

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging . . . The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress . . . 'Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among nations, I will be exalted in the earth.' The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress."

MY COMMENT:  It is a great source of comfort to know that despite all the sadness & tragedies & obstacles that we face in this world, we have a God whom we can fall on for help & salvation. This holds true both for this life & the next. It all depends on God, not us. It is impossible for us to be "mighty fortresses." Praise God that He becomes a mighty fortress for us.

A Mighty Fortress" *

This hymn, written by Martin Luther, is rightly called the Battle Hymn of the Reformation.

(St. 1) "A mighty fortress is our God, A sword and shield victorious;
He breaks the cruel oppressor's rod And wins salvation glorious.
The old satanic foe Has sworn to work us woe.
With craft and dreadful might He arms himself to fight.
On earth he has no equal.

(St. 2) "No strength of ours can match his might. We would be lost, rejected. 
But now a champion comes to fight, Whom God Himself elected.
You ask who this may be? The Lord of hosts is He.
Christ Jesus mighty Lord, God's only Son, adored. He holds the field victorious."
* LSB (CPH) #657)

MY COMMENT:  Satan is the "satanic foe" that Luther identifies as one who is much too powerful for us to defeat on our own. Therefore, our heavenly Father sent His only Son to fight the battle for us. "To God Be the Glory."

Reflection #2

• After 5 years in Chicago, Lois & I moved to Lincoln, NE. We looked forward to our first Halloween, since our landlords in Chicago wouldn't let us hand out treats. They also insisted that we keep the front door locked & all lights off. They had good reasons. They feared the dangers that we were too naive to fear. We were pretty naive after growing up in a rural part of the country.
• For that 1st Halloween back in Nebraska, we made a huge batch of caramel popcorn--something you couldn't get away with handing out today--& separated it into individual baggies to hand out. We sat back & waited for the doorbell to ring.
• And waited & waited & waited. We saw a plethora of little, costumed trick-or-treaters wandering about in our neighborhood. [Uni Place for those who know Lincoln.]
• We watched as gang after gang of of them walk by our apartment building.Really?
• It turns out that we had neglected a very important detail. We had failed to turn our front porch light on. It took us about an hour into our perplexing evening before we figured it out.
• The front porch lights were turned on in most of the other homes & apartments in our neighborhood. Trick-or-treaters were stopping at these places.
• We turned on the front porch light. We started getting trick-or-treaters to ring our doorbell.
• We ate a lot of leftover, homemade, carmel corn. [Every cloud has a silver lining.]