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FEEDBACKMAY 20182018Read or listen online at wels.net/bible3.PILATE’S MOTIVE?I’m thinking that perhaps Dr. Eggertwas rushing to conclusions in his article [Jan.] about Pilate’s motive withhis question “What is truth?” since noinflections or emotions come throughthe printed word. Couldn’t he just aswell have been expressing frustrationwith the difficulty of knowing what thetruth is if all you have to go by is humanopinion? Let’s put the best construction on the motives of people in theBible too!Ruth KovacinyDeForest, WisconsinWHAT IS TRUTH?The March issue of Forward in Christhad two articles that together made animportant point. The third installmentof “What is truth?” by Arthur Eggertaddressing scientific truth and “Areyou religiously incorrect?” by MarkSchroeder illustrate how human thinking is influenced by assumptions, logic,and social pressure. The dogmatic aspects of intellectual disciplines (and religions, as well) are greatly steered bysocially-fueled notions of “correctness.”As a geologist, I was trained in thescientific method in the third type(observational science) categorizedin “What is truth?” In geology, 50 yearsago dogma mandated that continentaldrift was heresy. Now, seafloor spreading is dogma—like a lowly German6May 20181. Deuteronomy 14 & 152. Dt. 16 & 173. Dt. 18 & 194. Dt. 20 & 215. Dt. 22 & 236. Dt. 24 & 257. Dt. 268. Dt. 27:1–28:149. Dt. 28:15-6810. Dt. 29 & 3011. Dt. 31monk, a grad student can upset thecart. Pressure to hold to establisheddogma is produced by typical drivers,such as obtaining research grant moneyor worshiping of the hierarchy. Currently, global warming dogma is forcing out dissenters of this theory—simply by control of funding.Yet, despite the “itching ears” and“vending tables,” God’s truth will prevail—and that is the one dogma thatreally matters anyway.Steve WaltzHouston, Texas12. Dt. 32:1-4713. Dt. 32:48–34:1214. Mark 10:1-1615. Mk. 10:17-3116. Mk. 10:32-5217. Mk. 11:1-1918. Mk. 11:20-3319. Mk. 12:1-2720. Mk. 12:28-4421. Mk. 13:1-2322. Mk. 13:24-3723. Mk. 14:1-2524. Mk. 14:26-5225. Mk. 14:53-7226. Mk. 15:1-2127. Mk. 15:22-4128. Mk. 15:42–16:829. Mk. 16:9-2030. Judges 1:1–2:531. Jdg. 2:6–3:6CORRECTION:In the “Obituaries” [p. 25, April],Doris Kurth’s birthplace was listedas Middlebury, Ind. She actually wasborn in White Butte, S.D. We apologize for the error.Send your letters to Feedback, Forward in Christ,N16W23377 Stone Ridge Dr, Waukesha WI 53188;fic@wels.net. Letters between 100 and 200 wordsare preferred. Include full name and address. Lettersare edited for clarity, conciseness, and relevance.Not all letters received can be acknowledged orused. Writers’ views are not necessarily those ofWELS or Forward in Christ.SONGS OF THE HEARTI have written before on the subjectof our hymns, and the recent article(“God’s love: Our song forever” [March])in Forward in Christ did not provideany optimism. It ended with “sing thesame one several weeks in a row togive them a chance to learn it.” Please,let my singing be primarily worshipful rather than an education.I make my final appeal from Scripture.“Speaking to yourselves in psalms andhymns and spiritual sings, singing andmake melody in your heart to the Lord”(Ephesians 5:19 KJV). Songs of theheart we tend to know by heart.Gilbert HoltzFishers, New YorkPENTECOST: The festival of thechurch year in which we commemorate the special outpouringof the Holy Spirit 50 days afterEaster (Acts 2). In the Old Testament, Pentecost commemoratedthe harvest and was one of thethree great festivals celebratedannually, along with Passover andTabernacles (Exodus 23:14-17;Leviticus 23).

DEVOTIONJesus’ victory is a given“Why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Luke 1:43Joel C. SeifertI think of the young women and menwho’ve stood before me and made confirmation promises that were boldlyspoken and quickly broken. I write thisarticle the day after another schoolshooting claimed 17 lives, and I fearthe despair and anger that Satan is sowing in the world my own children aregrowing up in. I get afraid.JESUS’ VICTORY IS A GIVENSo, Elizabeth’s words amaze me andbring peace to my heart. The virginMary was pregnant with Jesus whenshe visited her cousin. Mary faceddangers. Certainly, those around herconsidered her guilty of adultery, asin punishable by death. The worldwould be opposed to this child; Herodwould order the deaths of dozens ofchildren in hopes of killing her baby.The child she was carrying was onethe great dragon would do anythingto destroy.If Elizabeth was afraid for Mary, youcouldn’t hear it in her words: “But whyam I so favored, that the mother of myLord should come to me? . . . Blessedis she who has believed that the Lordwould fulfill his promises to her!” (Luke1:43-45). I suppose it was simple. Elizabeth was too old to have a child, butGod promised she would. It was morethan dangerous at her age; it was impossible. But there she was, runningher hand over her growing belly. Thatsame God also promised that a Saviorwould come through Israel. Yes, the nation was broken. And, yes, there weredangers for Mary. But God promised.So, it would happen.The dangers to our children’s faithand safety are real. Many churches areconfirming another group of eighthgraders this month; the seniors receiving diplomas in a few weeks will headto college in the fall. And Jesus makesa promise: No one can snatch his sheepPHOTO: LIGHTSTOCKout of his hand. The world and thedevil will attack them with lies; theseyoung Christians can and will wanderfrom their faith at times. But Jesus haspaid for every sin they’ll fall into. Jesuswill bring his people home. His victoryis a given.selves. . . . Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.Live in harmony with one another”(vv. 10-16). It’s a beautiful picture ofwhat those faithful women must havedone for each other during thosedangerous days.Jesus makes a promise:No one can snatch hissheep out of his hand.And it’s a reminder of the privilege wehave during these dangerous days too.We won’t stop the devil from beingthe devil, and the world won’t ceasebeing filled with evil. But we can showChrist’s love to one another. We canencourage one another. We can weepand rejoice with one another, not infear but out of Christian love.JESUS GIVES US TO ONE ANOTHERSo, God keeps giving. On May 31, theChristian church celebrates the Festival of the Visitation. We rememberthe three-month period during Mary’spregnancy when she stayed with Elizabeth and Zechariah (Luke 1:39-56).One of the chosen readings for thatfestival is Romans chapter 12. Consider a few encouragements from thatpassage: “Be devoted to one another inlove. Honor one another above your-The Festival of the Visitation falls atthe same time as many graduationsand confirmations. Consider takingtime this month to choose a youngerChristian or two whom you might seekto befriend, encourage, and pray forin the years to come.Contributing editor Joel Seifert is pastorat Beautiful Savior, Marietta, Georgia.May 20187

FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESKFinding the real cureIn February, our nation endured thetrauma of yet another mass shooting.By the time you are reading this, itwould not be surprising if anothersimilar terrible incident has occurredin a different school or public place.When these terrible tragedies occur,the questions immediately come.What could have been done to prevent this? What can be done to prevent similar atrocities in the future?The public debate invariably centerson two solutions. One suggests tighterregulations and laws on the sale andpossession of guns. The other arguesthat the solution to the problem is increased efforts to provide security inschools and other public venues, tobetter enforce the laws already on thebooks, and to give more attention tomental health diagnosis and treatment.It’s the messageof Christ thatleads people toturn from sinfuldesires and tofollow him.But none of these solutions providean answer. That’s because they don’taddress the real problem. These solutions attempt to treat the symptomsof a deeper problem rather than providing the cure for the disease.We know what the root cause is. Fromthe time of the world’s first murder,when Cain took the life of his brotherAbel, the cause of such behavior isthe sinful and wicked human heartthat neither knows God nor desires toserve him. It’s sin in the human heartthat separates a person from God andis the fountain from which flow theevil and wicked deeds that plague ourfallen world. It is sin that moves a person to devalue and disregard the lifeof everyone—from the child in thewomb to the elderly in a nursing home.It is the sin-darkened heart that contemplates and causes harm to others—from hurtful words to deadly shootings.It is sin that has shown itself throughout history in man’s inhumanity to man.So, the solution to the problem of gunviolence and mass shootings is not really to be found in political argumentsor governmental actions. If the root8May 2018cause of this problem is sin—and it is—then the only solution is to be foundin the cure and remedy for sin: the saving and transforming gospel of Christ.Sad to say, the pure gospel of forgivenessand salvation in Christ is all too oftennot seen as the solution we so desperately need. Even Christian churchestoday have set aside the one true remedyand have focused their attention on thesymptoms. Like Martha, they have forgotten the one thing that is needed(cf. Luke 10:38-42) and instead havereplaced it with misguided efforts tofight for social justice and to root outpoverty and oppression. When thechurch abandons its mission to preachthe gospel, sin-darkened hearts are notchanged; life continues to be devalued;and love for others is replaced by selfinterest, self-promotion, and everykind of evil.I am thankful to belong to a Christianchurch that, by the grace of God, iscommitted to a mission that says, “Wepreach Christ crucified!” God hasgraciously preserved his saving truthamong us, and in doing that he hasgiven us the only effective remedyagainst the corruption within each ofus. It’s the gospel that motivates us todo God’s will, not our own. It’s the goodnews that alone changes the heart ofthe young adult who feels marginalizedand alone. It’s the message of Christthat leads people to turn from sinfuldesires and to follow him.The gospel alone is the cure. By grace,we have that gospel. With God’s help,we proclaim it and teach it as faithfully as we can—not to change society, but to watch its power changehearts and lives.

QUESTION & ANSWERLight for our pathThere have been news stories of Pope Francis wanting his churchto change the translation of “Lead us not into temptation” inthe Lord’s Prayer to something like “Do not let us fall intotemptation.” What does our church body think about this?James F. PopeThere is no need to change the translation of that petition in the Lord’s Prayer.There is a need to understand better whatJesus meant with those words. Your question provides an opportunity for that.AN ACCURATE TRANSLATIONThere is no mistranslation involved in theSixth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer. “Leadus not into temptation” (Matthew 6:13) isan accurate translation of the Greek. Theverb can mean “lead,” “bring in,” or “carryin.” As the Address of the prayer indicates,we make that petition of our Father inheaven. The traditional wording of theLord’s Prayer—asking God not to lead usinto temptation—is accurate.Most Bible translations render the Greekin similar ways. There are a few exceptions,including “And do not cause us to betempted” (Expanded Bible) and “Keep usfrom being tempted” (ContemporaryEnglish Version). Those translations driftaway from a strict literal translation.A CONSISTENT MEANINGAs far as explaining the petition, I certainlycannot improve on Martin Luther’s explanation in his Small Catechism: “God surelytempts no one to sin, but we pray in thispetition that God would guard and keepus, so that the devil, the world, and ourflesh may not deceive us or lead us intofalse belief, despair, and other great andshameful sins; and though we are temptedby them, we pray that we may overcomeand win the victory.”Luther offered similar thoughts in his LargeCatechism: “This, then is leading us notinto temptation, to wit, when he gives uspower and strength to resist, the temptation, however, not being taken away or removed. For while we live in the flesh andhave the devil about us, no one can escapetemptation and allurements; and it cannotILLUSTRATION: SHUTTERSTOCKbe otherwise than that we must enduretrials, yea, be engulfed in them; but wepray for this, that we may not fall andbe drowned in them.”Luther’s thoughts point to James 1:13-15:“When tempted, no one should say, ‘God istempting me.’ For God cannot be temptedby evil, nor does he tempt anyone; buteach person is tempted when they aredragged away by their own evil desire andenticed. Then, after desire has conceived,it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is fullgrown, gives birth to death.”Scripture clearly teaches that God doesnot tempt anyone to sin. Scripture plainlyidentifies Satan as “the tempter” (Matthew4:3). When we use the prayer Jesus taughtus, we do what he first told his disciples inthe Garden of Gethsemane: “Watch andpray so that you will not fall into temptation” (Mark 14:38).A MEANINGFUL PETITIONBecause you and I wage daily spiritualwarfare against evil, we have reason tospeak the words of the Sixth Petition ona regular basis—not in a mechanical waybut in a meaningful way. We do that whenwe recognize our own frailty and seekGod’s strength to withstand temptations.We do that when we recognize who isthe tempter and who is our Friend.The wording of the Sixth Petition is likeother parts of Scripture in that we needto “let Scripture interpret Scripture.” Oftenit’s a matter of taking into account all ofwhat Scripture says on a topic.Contributing editor James Pope, professor atMartin Luther College, New Ulm, Minnesota,is a member at St. John, New Ulm.James Pope also answers questions online atwels.net/questions. Submit your questionsthere or to fic@wels.net.May 20189

Jesus told his disciples,“You will be my witnesses,” and then heascended into heaven.They had a reason forbeing, as do all disciplesof Jesus.Jonathan R. HeinIn philosophy it is called one’s raisond’être, literally “reason for being.” It isthe activity that justifies a thing’s existence. To put it another way, if something is not fulfilling its raison d’être,it may as well not exist.Consider the piano sitting in the cornerof a living room. You must have somejustification for it being there. Maybesomeone is taking lessons. Perhaps, atChristmas, your family gathers aroundit to sing favorite hymns. Maybe no onein your home plays piano. You keep itaround simply because it reminds youof your grandparents, to whom it usedto belong. In that case, the piano’s raison d’être is to serve as a memento. Thepoint is, something justifies allowingthat piano to take up space. If not, youwould have gotten rid of it.OUR REASON FOR BEINGSo, what is the raison d’être of yourcongregation? What is the “reason forbeing” of our synod? What is the activity that justifies our existence?Now make it personal. What do yousee as your individual purpose for existence? What is the thing that if youaren’t doing it, you might as well notbe alive?The answer to those questions is connected to one of the great celebrationsof the church—the Festival of the Ascension. When Jesus ascended and satdown on the throne of heaven, it wasnot like me plopping into my reclinerafter a long day. Jesus did not ascend torelax. He ascended as he took up thefull use of his divine power. Now hedirects all things for the good of thechurch as it carries out its mission.10May 2018

And what is that exactly? Shortly beforeJesus ascended, he told his disciples,“You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,and in all Judea and Samaria, and to theends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). That wastheir “reason to be.” If they were notgoing to be witnesses, there was noreason for them to be alive anymore.Two millennia later, the believer’s raison d’être has not changed. It is themost universal of Christian callings.Not every Christian will be called byGod to be a spouse or a parent. Notevery Christian will be called to servepublicly as a pastor, teacher, staff minister, or missionary. Not every Christian will serve as a Sunday schoolteacher or on the church council. Butall of us are called to be witnesses asopportunities present themselves. Weknow those opportunities will present themselves, for Jesus does notlie. “You will be my witnesses.”OUR UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS“But I’m not qualified,” some will object. Nonsense! Jesus did not say, “Youwill be my theologians.” Witnesses!Jesus is not asking us to do somethingcomplicated. You do not need a master of divinity degree to witness. Awitness simply shares what he or shehas seen and heard. A witness sharesexperiential information.For example, I understand that thewings of an airplane create lift, but Ido not have a good grasp on exactlyhow that works. However, I have observed planes flying. I have experienced it, as I have flown plenty oftimes myself. So, while I am not qualified to give a lecture on aeronautics, Iam plenty qualified to say, “If you needto travel a long way, flying is the wayto go!” It’s experiential information.So maybe you cannot recite all thebooks of the Bible. Perhaps you can’texplain the meaning of every one ofJesus’ parables. That does not disqualify you from witnessing. You knowJesus died for your sins. You knowthat he rose again. Since you knowthose things, you have experiencedPHOTO: LIGHTSTOCKpeace, certain that hell is not in yourfuture and that the gate to Paradisestands wide open. Witness about that.You might not be able to give the catechism explanation of what it meansto pray “in Jesus’ name.” But you knowyou can pray. Moreover, you have experienced the comfort of being able tocarry your problems to Christ throughprayer. Witness to that. e world we livein is dark. It needsbelievers to be light.Do you remember when your childwas baptized? You observed Godclaim that child as his own throughwater and the Word. You did not understand the nature of faith that theSpirit created in your child. Even onewho has his master of divinity degreedoesn’t understand that! But you experienced the joy of knowing yourchild was safely wrapped in spiritualarmor. Tell others about that joy!THE WORLD NEEDSOUR WITNESS“You will be my witnesses.” Why hasJesus made this every believer’s “reason for being”? Because witnessing iswhat the world needs most. The worldwe live in is dark. It needs believers tobe light. The world is rotting. It needsbelievers to be salt. This world is nothing but death. It needs believers toshare the One who is life.The world desperately needs witnessesof the power of the gospel. If you arenot witnessing—to your children, yourfriends, your neighbors—then, frankly,why are you breathing? If your congregation is not witnessing—to the faithful and the straying and the lost in yourcommunity—then why does it exist?Martin Luther said it well:We have no other reason for living on earth than to be of help toothers. If this were not the case, itwould be best for God to kill usand let us die as soon as we arebaptized and have begun to believe. But He permits us to livehere in order that we may bringothers to faith, just as He broughtus. Luther’s Works 30:11, emphasisadded.Luther well knew that Christians canglorify Christ in many ways acrossmultiple vocations. But it would bea gross perversion of the doctrine ofvocation to say, “Because I serve Godas a faithful teacher, farmer, or physician, I don’t need to be a witness tomy next-door neighbor.” That’s usingour vocation to justify refusing toshare our faith.Chances are that at times—maybe oftentimes—we have lived as though our“reason for being” has been somethingother than witnessing. Ascension helpsthere too. Do you think Jesus wouldhave ascended if your salvation were incomplete? Unthinkable! Jesus ascendedonly because he knew he had madeatonement for every last sin, includingthe sin of failing to witness—of denyingour “reason for being.” When the Fatherlooks at you, he sees people who arebold in proclaiming his truth.The faith that embraces Christ’s promise of forgiveness then also embracesChrist’s promise of function. “You willbe my witnesses.” He ascended and satdown on the throne of God to make itso! He orchestrates our lives so that wemight have the privilege of witnessing. . . the joy of playing a role in his saving work. Moreover, he gives us thepower to do what he has asked. Moreon that next month.Jonathan Hein, director of WELS Congregational Counseling, is a member atTrinity, Waukesha, Wisconsin.This is the first article in a two-part serieson the necessity of Christian witnessing.Learn about WELS’ membership trendson p. 23.May 201811

Our treasure:the gospelTHE GOSPEL PRESERVES THE CHURCHThe gospel is God’s power.While opposed by many, itstill brings sinners to faithin Jesus.John A. BraunTwo worlds collided. Jesus was clear aboutthat: “You will be hated by everyone becauseof me” (Matthew 10:22). His disciples latersuffered because their world, built on Jesus,collided with the world that opposed Jesus.In the conflict they had one weapon. It alsoprovided the strength, comfort, and courageto be faithful to Jesus.That weapon? The gospel.The apostle Pau

Daily Devotions for Women Written for Christian women by Christian women, this collection of 365 devotions encourages mothers, daughters, sisters, and others to ponder and apply God’s Word each day of the year. The devotional also includes a Bible reading plan, lead