FatherDMJ Rocks

December 17, 2004 · Filed Under theology

FatherDMJ has posted a series of very good LiveJournal entries of late, two of which I’m commenting on here.

First, he has posted his most recent Advent sermon, and it is chock full o’ Lutheran goodness. Brief quotes include:

Try to proclaim the exclusive message of Jesus Christ to the world of 2004 and watch the cheeks turn from jolly red to angry red. The world works hard to change the focus of December 25th. The world uses phrases like “happy holidays” or “seasons greetings” to neuter our Lord’s Name from the day. Their foolishness shows their total arrogance and ignorance.

The fruits of Satan’s work are seen everywhere you look, especially as Christmas draws near. The world is quick to take Christ’s holy Name out of Christmas, to be sensitive to those who don’t believe or don’t care about the true meaning of Christmas. Radio stations play more winter themed or generic holiday themed songs than songs that mention the birth of the Savior of the world. The preaching of Christ and the celebration of the birth according to the flesh are now an offense to the world.

Saint Paul writes to the Corinthians, we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. Around the world, many people who vainly worship false gods try to show, by right or might, the foolishness of God. The Church suffers much at their hands, even in our country where Christmas is pushed into the background against all sorts of secular notions. Yet the preaching of Christ continues to all the poor in spirit who have taken up their cross and follow in His footsteps. So often we forget that a Christian is expected to suffer. Some Christians proclaim this to be foolishness. Yet you who suffer for Christ and His Gospel are blessed through all the offenses heaped upon you.

This is good stuff. It lays bare two things that really bother me — one, the corruption of the Advent & Christmas seasons, and second, the “prosperity gospel”.

I was going to say that the commercialization of Christmas bothers me, but I’m not sure that that is quite accurate enough. Secularization is a little closer, but I think corruption works the best. Gift giving is nice, and generally harmless enough. And you have to be able to advertise & sell things. It can be (and is) overdone, but I’m not sure that this is the root problem.

The corruption, to which FatherDMJ alludes in the paragraphs above, shows itself in the utter disdain & discarding of Advent, and the desire to “neuter” and/or “sanitize” Christmas. And generic, American “Methobapticostalism” has enabled this to happen. Oh, sure, many on the “religious right” decry the absurdities of the shift towards a politically-correct mulit-culti “Holiday Season.” Ironically, though, many fail to see how they’ve enabled such a thing to happen.

Now, I’m quite sure I’m overgeneralizing here, if only because this is a relatively recent thought/idea that I’ve had; however, I’m going to offer it up here anyway. (And this is where I tie in the aforementioned distaste I have for the “prosperity gospel” and its purveyors…).

Many American “evangelicals” are enamored of “prosperity gospel” preachers like Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer (to name but two of the most distasteful, IMO). These folks, via their Law-driven ramblings, appeal to folks by stating that if you would only choose to work harder & try harder & ask, ask, ask, God would give you whatever material things your heart desires. And if you aren’t getting what you desire, then you must not be working, trying, or asking hard enough. Oh, and by the way, giving some of your money to the preacher is a good way to help prime the pump, don’tcha know! (Geneva & Rome are much closer together than either side would care to acknowledge!)

Now (and here’s where things get tenuous, ’cause I’m thinking out loud & haven’t done much research and/or serious thought yet…), if a measure of faithfulness is the size/level of your “prosperity”, what does it mean if, in order to “get Christ back in Christmas” you have to take a financial hit? I think you might be reluctant to suffer the results of true, doctrinal convictions. I think you might be willing to soft-sell the core meaning of Christmas, let the jolly fat guy in the red suit come to the fore, and keep some cash flow going.

And make no mistake about it, there will be some “Christian” preacher out there who is more than willing to cut whatever doctrinal corners, to make whatever doctrinal “adjustments”, necessary for letting/making you feel like you are still following the right path & doing the right thing.

But it just ain’t so.

FatherDMJ is right — it’s all about the cross, and the cross is offensive. Satan hates it. His minions hate it. Satan will do whatever he can to try and get folks to lose focus of it.

This is running quite long, so I’ll wrap it up with a brief mention of the second recent posting that FatherDMJ’s made that I like. It’s titled A few words about the Mass, and it comes on the heels of an article that I just read in The Motley Magpie on the importance of the Mass. This subject strikes me as being one of significance. Thus, I’ll hold further comment until I have had sufficient time to collect my thoughts, and I’ll post on it at a later time.

-ghp

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Tags: faith, lutheran, methobapticostal, preaching