1963 Thanksgiving Proclamation of John F. Kennedy

This is a bit late but since I referenced in my Thanksgiving Day sermon that I have been taking to reading presidential Thanksgiving Proclamations and this one in particular, I thought I would provide for those of you who are interested.  Indeed this is a poignant proclamation since President Kennedy was assassinated before he was able to celebrate Thanksgiving that year.  

Thanksgiving Day, 1963

By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

Over three centuries ago, our forefathers in Virginia and in Massachusetts, far from home in a lonely wilderness, set aside a time of thanksgiving. On the appointed day, they gave reverent thanks for their safety, for the health of their children, for the fertility of their fields, for the love which bound them together and for the faith which united them with their God.

So too when the colonies achieved their independence, our first President in the first year of his first Administration proclaimed November 26, 1789, as "a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God" and called upon the people of the new republic to "beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions... to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue . . . and generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best."

And so too, in the midst of America's tragic civil war, President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November 1863 as a day to renew our gratitude for America's "fruitful fields," for our "national strength and vigor," and for all our "singular deliverances and blessings."

Much time has passed since the first colonists came to rocky shores and dark forests of an unknown continent, much time since President Washington led a young people into the experience of nationhood, much time since President Lincoln saw the American nation through the ordeal of fraternal war--and in these years our population, our plenty and our power have all grown apace. Today we are a nation of nearly two hundred million souls, stretching from coast to coast, on into the Pacific and north toward the Arctic, a nation enjoying the fruits of an ever-expanding agriculture and industry and achieving standards of living unknown in previous history. We give our humble thanks for this.

Yet, as our power has grown, so has our peril. Today we give our thanks, most of all, for the ideals of honor and faith we inherit from our forefathers--for the decency of purpose, steadfastness of resolve and strength of will, for the courage and the humility, which they possessed and which we must seek every day to emulate. As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.

Let us therefore proclaim our gratitude to Providence for manifold blessings--let us be humbly thankful for inherited ideals--and let us resolve to share those blessings and those ideals with our fellow human beings throughout the world.

Now, Therefore, I, John F. Kennedy, President of the United States of America, in consonance with the joint resolution of the Congress approved December 26, 1941, 55 Stat. 862 (5 U.S.C. 87b), designating the fourth Thursday of November in each year as Thanksgiving Day, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 28, 1963, as a day of national thanksgiving.

On that day let us gather in sanctuaries dedicated to worship and in homes blessed by family affection to express our gratitude for the glorious gifts of God; and let us earnestly and humbly pray that He will continue to guide and sustain us in the great unfinished tasks of achieving peace, justice, and understanding among all men and nations and of ending misery and suffering wherever they exist.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

DONE at the City of Washington this fourth day of November, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and eighty-eighth.

JOHN F. KENNEDY

By the President:
DEAN RUSK,Secretary of State

The Latest in the Saga of the James Ossuary and the Church Year

It is clear from the reading of The Acts of the Apostles that James is the leading figure in the Jerusalem Church.  Paul appeals to James and the Council in Jerusalem for answering controversial issues. The discovery of the Ossuary (bone box) of James is a monumental discovery.  Apparently it was too monumental for some and for some unknown reason the owner of the James Ossuary was charged with forgery. The authenticity of the James Ossuary was immediately disregarded by almost all of the media. However, after years of on going controversy and prosecution, the antiques dealer, Robert Deutsch, was acquitted of all six charges in 2011. He is now suing the Israeli government for $3 million! 

So what does the James Ossuary have to do with the new Church Year? With the coming of the new Church Year we have moved from the C series in the lectionary to the A series.  This means that the vast majority of our Gospel Lessons come from The Gospel According to Matthew.

In preparation for the coming Church Year and Christmas, I have gone through the entire Gospel of Matthew several times in the last few weeks.  As a result, I am becoming more and more convinced that much of the information contained in Matthew (especially the genealogy and the birth of Jesus from Joseph's view point) comes from James, the brother of Jesus.

It is incredibly amazing to learn that we may have the actual ossuary of James especially this year as we read the account of the life of Jesus from the Gospel that seems likely to be directly connected to him.

The Church Year 2013-2014

The majority of Christians follow a worship calendar known as The Church Year. Unfortunately it is foreign to many American Protestants who have forgotten or rejected their connection to the Church throughout history.

The Church Year follows a rhythm of focusing half of the year on the life on Christ and half a year on the life of the Church (or Christian growth). This discipline is helpful in keeping individual pastors or churches from becoming one dimensional in their spiritual lives. It is also helpful for Christians throughout the world to express their unity through their weekly sharing of the same lessons from God’s Word.

We are at a turning point of The Church Year today. The Church Year ends with our focus on the return of Christ at the end of the age. Today all around the world Christians are rejoicing in the blessed anticipation of seeing their Savior return with all of His angels to bring a culmination to all of the promises of Holy Scripture.

Next Sunday we begin anew our annual celebration of Advent with its dual focus on both the first and second coming of Christ. We will again hear the cry of John the Baptist. We will join Isaiah in joyful anticipation. We will overhear Gabriel’s grace filled greeting to Mary as she learns that she will be the mother of our Savior and Lord.

About 50 years ago the series of lessons read on Sunday was reformed to include more Scripture than had previously been read in the churches. The old one year lectionary was replaced with a three year cycle of lessons that reflect the Church Year more broadly from all four Gospels. Today we conclude Series C in this cycle which as you may have noticed draws most of the Gospel lessons from St. Luke. Next Sunday we begin Series A. The Gospel According to St. Matthew will provide most of our Gospel lessons for the coming Church Year.

A summary of the Church Year is found on page x in Lutheran Service Book. The lessons appointed for Series A are found on page xiv. Since Easter is the key day around which the Church Year pivots, the Epiphany Season is lengthened this year because Easter is later, falling on April 20, 2014. The dates of Easter until the year 2050 are found on page xxiii.

While you are exploring the introductory pages of Lutheran Service Book, turn to page xxiv and review the glossary of worship terminology. The Church has used most of the terms defined on those pages for over a thousand years. Sports fans and hobbyists, professionals and specialists become familiar with the distinctive vocabulary for their chosen interests. Christians who seek to be more than just casual observers will also want to explore the richness of our historic vocabulary of worship and worship practices.

Pastor Quardokus

A Stirring Advent and Christmas!

The message of Advent and Christmas is always stirring. It stirs our souls to know God’s amazing love and sacrifice in sending His only-begotten Son to be Savior and King. Amid all the hustle and bustle of the season let your heart be stirred by the loving power of God’s Holy Spirit working in your life through Word and Sacrament. Allow this Advent season to prepare you to kneel at the manger in stirring reverence and awe before such a gift.

First Sunday in Advent, Dec. 1
The Stirring Coming of the King; Matthew 21:1-11

First Midweek Advent Service, Wed. Dec. 4, 7:00 p.m.
God’s Stirring Mighty Power to Save; Psalm 80:1-2

Second Sunday in Advent, Dec. 8;
John the Baptist’s Stirring Work; Matthew 3:1-12

Second Midweek Advent Service, Wed. Dec. 11, 7:00 p.m.
The Holy Spirit Stirring Hearts to Hope; Romans 5:1-5

Third Sunday in Advent, Dec 15;
Jesus’ Stirring, Healing Touch; Matthew 11:2–15

Third Midweek Advent Service, Wed. Dec 18, 1:00 & 7:00 p.m.
Children’s Advent-Christmas Service

Fourth Sunday in Advent, Dec. 22,
The Angel’s Stirring Message to Joseph; Matthew 1:18–25

Christmas Eve, Dec 24, 5:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m.
A Stirring Birth in Bethlehem; Luke 2:1-7

Christmas Day, Dec 25, 9:30 a.m.
The Angel’s Stirring Message to Shepherds; Luke 2:8-14

Sunday after Christmas, Dec 29.
God’s Stirring Protection; Matthew 2:13-23

New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31; 7:00 p.m.
Jesus’ Stirring Name; Luke 2:21

Epiphany (observed), Jan 5, 2014
The Stirring Star Leads to the New Born King; Matthew 2:1-12

Christmas Angels

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:10-11

The shepherds were literally in the dark!  They were abiding in the fields by NIGHT when the Christmas angels came to them.

 Indeed this is how it always is.  We live in a sin darkened world separated from the true light of God’s grace and mercy in Christ.  We only can learn of the light and life of Christ if God sends to us His angels with the message of Salvation.

Our contemporary world is a time of great irony. We are the most connected people in all of history.  Facebook, Twitter, Vine, Youtube, email, and texting occupy our generation in ways that our parents and grandparents could have never imagined. We learn of births and deaths, tragedies and triumphs at almost the speed of light.  Our friends and family (and possibly the government?) can track our every action and learn of our every thought. 

Yet we also live in a time when we have become the most disconnected from God in living memory.  People claim to be spiritual but not religious.  They claim to know God but not want to be associated with His people, the Church. Our comedians and entertainers are proud of their foul and vulgar language. Those who claim to speak for God distort or destroy His commandments. God’s plan for marriage is gleefully corrupted before the altars of once faithful churches.  Even many preachers who claim to still believe the Bible have turned the Gospel into a rule book. They have made it into an owner’s manual for life rather than the divine message of God’s abiding love for sinners and the work of Christ for our salvation.

Yet this is no surprise to us who know the Bible. Advent and Christmas are a time of celebrating God’s love and mercy coming into darkened hearts and minds. To make this happen God sends angels just as He sent the Christmas angels to the shepherds.

The Advent/Christmas story is full of angels.  Indeed all of the scripture is abounding in angels.  Angels are messengers. Many of the angels in the Bible are the divine messengers of God.  Many are human messengers of sin and grace.

The Old Testament prophets were angels foretelling the time as Isaiah says: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” (Isaiah 9:2). John the Baptist was a human messenger, an angel in God’s plan, who prepared the way of the Lord.  Divine angels appeared to Mary, Joseph, Zechariah, and shepherds. An angel in the form of a star guided the wise men from the far off eastern realms. Without God’s human and divine angels no one would know: “unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

Yet there is still work for angels.  On many days as I watch the news or read facebook or follow twitter or go to the movies or learn of repugnant laws and court rulings, I am reminded of the darkness around us.  Oh that God would send angels.

Wait, He has sent angels and He still sends angels.  Even today He sends faithful messengers of sin and grace who proclaim repentance and forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ. These angels not only include pastors and teachers.  These angels include you!

God has placed in your life people who dwell in the darkness of sin.  They will never know the light and love of God’s grace unless God’s messenger brings them the message. Paraphrasing Mordecai’s words to Esther, God may have placed you where you are to be a Christmas angel for your loved ones.

Pastor Quardokus

The Ascension of our Lord

Christians love to celebrate the events of Jesus’ life here on earth. December 25^th cannot pass by without the people of the world knowing that something special is being remembered and celebrated.  Reports of Palm Sunday and Good Friday observances from around the world are evident every year. Even the secular media acknowledges the importance of Easter to the Christian people.

Yet it is a sad commentary on the state of the Church in our country—even among Lutherans—that Ascension Day can pass by without anyone taking notice.  I count it a privilege to be with you today in God’s house celebrating the completion of Christ’s mission on earth and His triumph over sin, death and the devil.

Since the time of the Reformation, Lutherans have recognized the importance of Christ’s ascension into heaven.  It is commemorated in the art work displayed in many Lutheran Churches. In those houses of worship, Sunday after Sunday the faithful see Jesus being received into the clouds of heaven while the disciples watch in awe.

The following hymn summarizes so well the meaning of The Ascension of our Lord for all believers. Please read each stanza and reflect upon its meaning for our daily lives here on earth.

On Christ’s Ascension I Now Build

By: Josua Wegelin, 1636

On Christ’s ascension I now build

The hope of my ascension;

This hope alone has always stilled

All doubt and apprehension;

For where the head is, there as well

I know his members are to dwell

When Christ will come and call them.

Since Christ returned to claim his throne,

Great gifts for me obtaining,

My heart will rest in him alone,

No other rest remaining;

For where my treasure went before,

There all my thoughts will ever soar

To still their deepest yearning.

Oh, grant, dear Lord, this grace to me,

Recalling your ascension,

That I may serve you faithfully,

Adorning your redemption;

And then, when all my days will cease,

Let me depart in joy and peace

In answer to my pleading.

Hymn # 150 from Lutheran Worship

Etlich Christlich lider

Tune: Nun Freut Euch

1st Published in: 1524

Bach composed the cantata based on this hymn in his second year in Leipzig for the Feast of Ascension. It was first performed on May 10, 1725. You can hear Bach’s cantata on Youtube  “Auf ChristiHimmelfahrt allein, BWV 128.”

Auf Christi Himmelfahrt allein

ich meine Nachfahrt gründe

und allen Zweifel, Angst und Pein

hiermit stets überwinde.

Denn weil das Haupt im Himmel ist,

wird seine Glieder Jesus Christ

zur rechten Zeit nachholen.

Pastor Quardokus

Te Deum

The Te Deum is an early Christian hymn of praise. It dates from before the year 400 and has been used in Matins for many centuries. Luther particularly loved the Te Deum.  He saw it as a grand confession of faith and may have translated it already at the time when he produced his Catechisms in 1529. The title is a translation of  its opening in Latin, Te Deum laudamus, "Thee, O God, we praise". 

The Te Deum follows the outline of the Apostles' Creed. It uses a poetic vision of the heavenly liturgy as a setting for our confession of faith. It names all those who praise and worship God.  This includes all the earth, the angels, the apostles, the prophets, the martyrs and indeed the entire Church throughout the world. Therefore the faithful already in heaven and we, still in the world, together acknowledge God and His plan of salvation made real in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The Te Deum then makes our statement of faith, telling of Christ and his birth, suffering and death,  resurrection and ascension to the right hand of God. It concludes with a prayer that we who have been redeemed with Jesus’ precious blood would be numbered with the saints forever in heaven. May God grant this to us all!

Pastor Quardokus

From Luther’s Works:

The Te Deum is one of the grandest hymns of Christendom. It combines a confession of faith with a song of praise and a prayer for help. Its beginnings go back to the first centuries of the Christian church. At one time it was credited to Ambrose and Augustine, supposedly improvised by them at Augustine’s baptism. Modern research, however, suggests that it was not “composed” by a single author, but rather grew from many traditional strands, though possibly it received its final form from Nicetas, bishop of Remesiana (in what is now Yugoslavia), a contemporary of Jerome. At any rate, the Te Deum was tremendously popular in the Middle Ages. It was regularly sung at Matins and at innumerable other occasions, such as the election of a pope, consecration of a bishop, coronation of a king, or the conclusion of a council. The saying went, “The church sings this hymn whenever she has been favored by God with a great blessing.”

Luther loved the Te Deum. In his book The Three Symbols or Creeds of the Christian Faith, 1538, he named the Te Deum in third place after the Apostles’ Creed and Athanasian Creed and said: “The third symbol is said to be of SS. Augustine and Ambrose, and is supposed to have been sung at the baptism of Augustine. Whether that is true or not—and it does no harm whether one believes it or not—it is nevertheless a fine symbol or creed (whoever the author) composed in the form of a chant, not only for the purpose of confessing the true faith, but also for praising and thanking God.”

In the same book he offered a prose translation of the Te Deum. But almost ten years earlier he had published a rimed paraphrase of the Te Deum. The earliest extant print of this version is in the Andrew Rauscher hymnal of 1531. Since Rauscher reprinted Klug’s 1529 hymnal, it was probably the first hymnal to publish Luther’s Te Deum.

Luther's Works, 53:171

If you travel to Grand Rapids, Michigan  you may wish to worship at Our Savior Lutheran Church.  A magnificent mural of an artist’s rendering of the Te Deum encircles the entire sanctuary!

Cantate Sunday

Cantate Sunday

The Fifth Sunday of Easter

Cantate is the name given to the Fifth Sunday of Easter. Cantate is the first word of the Introit “Cantate Domino novum canticum.” (Psalm 98:1) “Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.” Cantate as the name for this Sunday dates at least to the 12^th century for we know it was used by John of Salisbury, Bishop of Chartres who died in 1182.

The NEW song is the song of life rather than the old song of sin and death. Apart from God, all we experience is the old, the sinful, the dying but in Christ we now have everything made new. The Marvelous Thing done by God is the gift of His only begotten Son given for the salvation of sinners.  The Marvelous Thing: Jesus is risen from the dead and we too shall rise. SING TO THE LORD A NEW SONG!

Quasimodogeniti

My story of Quasimodogeniti. I remember my pastor mentioning Quasimodogeniti Sunday when I was growing up.  He taught the congregation all the Latin names for the Sundays of the Church Year and I have to confess that I am fond of them.  Quasimodogeniti is a somewhat startling and fun name to say but that’s not why I like this Sunday so much.  It’s because of the message of 1 Peter 2:2, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation.”

My love of this Sunday began in 1978.  I attended the Minnesota North District Convention.  It was my first convention as a pastor and I eagerly looked forward to it.  At the opening service, the First Vice-President of the District preached on 1 Peter 2:2.  It was one of the most inspiring and memorable sermons that I have ever heard.

Upon reflection I realized that one of the reasons that it was so remarkable to me is because it was the first sermon that I had heard in almost a year.  As a new pastor, I had preached every Sunday and it wasn’t until that day that I was able to sit and drink in the wonderful message of God’s word proclaimed by someone else.  

This experience drove home to me the importance of craving the pure spiritual milk of God’s word and growing in the faith.  When we are absent from church (even when we are doing our own Bible study), we lack the full impact of the Word of God on our lives.  When people claim that they can be Christians without going to church, they are deceiving themselves.  This is like saying that you can be a baby without craving milk!  Indeed it’s a true statement but a baby that doesn’t crave milk will be a week baby indeed.

Pastor Quardokus