Philippians emphasizes the Christian experience of joy even in the midst of trials and through this we learn that thanksgiving is the result of rejoicing in the Lord. While St. Paul teaches us that this rejoicing is "in the Lord," our sinful nature has a different approach. We do not look at the Lord who is behind the gift, but we are preoccupied with the gifts themselves. This, however, won't do. Think of how children often treat gifts. They are easily discarded after the stimulation from the latest toy runs dry. Gifts are often quickly forgotten or become the objects of boredom. Think of how we view our gifts as falling short. When we look at our spouses apart from Christ, they are entirely inadequate. If we wanted to we could easily find grounds for utter discontentment in them even though they are gifts from God in heaven. Our income and job is always inadequate when we forget the Lord's promises that He will always provide for us (and through our jobs we complain about, the Lord does indeed provide). Our vocations seem inadequate and other vocations always seem greener on the other side of the fence. Our homes, cars and clothing are never new enough. Our sin ruins everything and we aren't really thankful when all we want is to replace what we've been given to enjoy. Stare at the gift itself and this is the surest way of losing all contentment, joy and thanksgiving! The leper who came back to Christ in Luke 17, however,  is our teacher. We must return to Christ to know thanksgiving. Christ is the One exception to the rule when it comes to gazing at a gift; we are to gaze upon The Gift: our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and all that His salvation means to us. "Even angels long to look into these things (1st Peter 1:12)." When we know Christ, we learn the "secret" in the face of "any and every circumstance" as St. Paul says. Contentment, joy, and thanksgiving is ours when we know the Giver behind the gifts. 1st Timothy 4:4-5: "For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer." We see what we have in our lives as holy when we see these as coming from the Lord. In Christ we are thankful for our spouses because the Lord has given them to us; they are from heaven! In Christ, we are thankful for how the Lord provides for us regardless of the hardships. In Christ, we are thankful that He actually works through us in holy vocation. In Christ, we are thankful that our possessions are signs of the fulfillment of His promise to provide. But in going further, we are thankful that Christ is our righteousness since He fulfilled God's law for us; we are thankful that in Christ our sin was nailed to the cross and we are covered by His blood; we are thankful that in Christ who rose we shall live past death; we are thankful that we are joined to Christ through Word and Sacrament; we are thankful that in having been joined to Christ we have received the Holy Spirit; we are thankful that having received the Holy Spirit we are made thankful; and we are thankful that we are children of God, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ (Rm 8:17). We are thankful that we have nothing to fear since the Father has given us the kingdom (Lk 12:32), and we are thankful not only for earthly provision, but for the "inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you (1st Peter 1:4)." Indeed in Christ, we have so much to be thankful for. We now know the secret. It is Christ and in Him we are content so that now thanksgiving flows. In Christ, Dr. Espinosa

You are invited to our Thanksgiving Eve Service on Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011 at 7 pm. While we worship at Crean Lutheran High School (LC-MS) on Sundays, we are conducting this special mid-week service at the Espinosa residence in Lake Forest, CA. If you would like to attend, please phone Pastor Espinosa at 949-379-0883.

We hope to see you there!

In Christ,

Dr. Espinosa

It's important to appreciate that Matthew 25 belongs to that corpus of Scriptures that describe judgment. The sheep and the goats context uses specifically the word "separate" while other texts use "judgment." The idea of judgment is used in two different ways: 1) It is a word of differentiation and making distinctions while calling attention to one's status. In this sense Christians are judged. They are judged "not guilty" by God, "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1)." This differentiation and separation is seen in Matthew 25. Christians are judged and recognized as sheep and are gathered to the right side of the Lord Jesus Christ; 2) The word is synonymous with condemnation. In this different sense, Christians are not condemned and they live in the glorious Gospel that proclaims that God's wrath against sin fell on Christ when He hung on Calvary's cross. For those who believe in Christ, any talk of "their" condemnation is past as Jesus took it. So those who are in Christ are judged and not judged depending on how the word is used. To be in this dual status as a child of the Living God filled with the Spirit, filled with the glorious imprint of the Gospel upon one's newly created soul (if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, 2 Cor. 5:17) is to have a new life pour forth. Thus not only is our justification depicted in Matthew 25:31-46 in that we are gathered at the right side of Christ (an imputed position reminding us that we are called, gathered, and enlightened by grace alone), but we are also described in terms of an active righteousness (still and also Christ's for us). God recognizes Christians through faith in the heart; and this faith produces truly good works giving evidence to the world that we belong to the living God. Matthew 25:31-46 puts forth a specific list of works that share Christ's compassion especially for the poor and towards those who suffer: 1) feed the hungry; 2) give drink to the thirsty; 3) provide shelter to the stranger; 4) give clothes to the naked; 5) care for the sick; and 6) visit those in prison. The works themselves do not become our focus. Luther reminds us, "Yet these works are not the means of [our] justification before God; [the Christian] does them out of disinterested love to the service of God, looking to no other end than to do what is well-pleasing to Him whom he desires to obey most dutifully in all things." (On Christian Liberty) I think Luther's description about works helps us to understand the sanctified amnesia described in Matthew 25. The Christians don't know what Jesus is talking about: "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?" (Matthew 25:37-39) Some might hypothesize that the Christians here are saying that they never actually saw the Incarnate Christ while living as Christians in the world, but why would this be the meaning when it takes no exceptional understanding that Christ connects Himself with the people He created? No, the holy amnesia is from the "disinterested" perspective about works that Christians hold. Never are truly good works done for the sake of the works. We are disinterested in such works, because such works deny the Gospel. Rather, the desire of the Christian in doing truly good works is Jesus. The works never become our preoccupation, because Jesus is our preoccupation. We are preoccupied with the glorious truth of the Gospel that 1) Jesus feeds us His very body; 2) that Jesus gives us His blood to drink; 3) that we are sheltered in His Holy Church; 4) that we are clothed with His perfect righteousness; 5) that He came to us while we were sick and dying and healed us by His sacrificial wounds for us; and 6) that Jesus ultimately came to release us from the prison of sin, death and the power of the devil. For these reasons, we will be surprised (shocked?) that while being completely enveloped by joy and awe at the sight of our glorious Savior, that He will mention our good works. This is the reaction of the one who puts no stock in them, but puts all stock in Christ even as they were very interested in the people He called us love, love flowing from faith. But that any attention should be called to our poor works is indeed a deep surprise. Still, this is what will happen; this prophecy will be fulfilled. That is the thing about the judgment that belongs to the Christian: when we are judged we are justified on account of Christ and we are also sanctified for the same reason! In Christ, Dr. Espinosa

The challenge of Matthew 25 is that our future judgment seems to boil down to what we have done. This seems to counter so much of God's Word and create a seeming contradiction in the Word. The Matthew 25 pattern, however, is actually quite consistent with the rest of Scripture. Ephesians 2:8-10 is a good example of this consistency. We are saved by grace through faith alone apart from works. This is true. It is also true that such a life will experience verse 10 as well: "For we are [God's] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Luther put it this way: "Works infallibly follow justifying faith, since faith is not idle." (Plass, What Luther Says, 493). Works simply prove that faith is living. We are absolutely saved through faith alone and this faith when lived out produces so many signs that it is living. The parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30) demonstrate this principle. The servants (Christians) receive from the master (Jesus) their "talents." We must understand that while talents were monetary units that here in the parable they symbolize "everything entrusted to us in such a way that it benefits God's kingdom." (The Lutheran Study Bible, see the summary note of 25:14-30, 1639). Everything we have is a gift from God and when we receive faith to know this and know this well, everything changes for us. Life is quite simply viewed differently; we use God's lenses and gain God's perspective. St. Paul wrote: "Now there is great gain in godliness and contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world (1st Timothy 6:6-7)." This attitude of faith makes us less concerned about self-serving goals because we no longer go along with the colossal false assumption of humanity that what we have (what we employ/use) belongs to us. It doesn't. The wise servants knew this and their faith in Christ led them to treat what they had as belonging to God and it is meant to be of service to others, especially those in need. God gives to bless; we must use His resources to bless. This is what faith does with the things of the world. The "worthless" servant (Matthew 25:30) was so designated because He had no faith in Christ and his life testified to this sad state. He sat on God's gifts and the text reveals why: He did not know the only wise God which the Gospel reveals: the gracious God, the generous God, the forgiving God, the compassionate God...the God we know in Christ, but He viewed God as "hard" (v 24). When God is viewed this way, we do not know Him as the gift-giver so that what we see in this world is for us, only us and we lose our way and our lives become worthless. But Christ came to redeem our worthless lives by giving all He had -- even His royal blood -- to save us from our self-serving sin. In Him, you are forgiven and in Him you see just how much you have been given. In Christ, you quite simply cannot just sit on His gifts. You invest them, you share them, you spread them, and what happens next is God's work. Even through hardship, He keeps you supplied and at the end He will say to you who are clothed with Christ's righteousness: "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master (Matthew 25:21)." In Christ, Dr. Espinosa

We have a nasty habit of turning things upside down. This is true when it comes to the concept of "blessedness." How do we arrive to this state? Point blank and to get to the two main ways of answering the question: 1) We achieve blessedness; or 2) God bestows blessedness. We know our preference and we prove our choice at the popular level whenever we speak about saints. The common idea is that saints earn their status; they qualify for sainthood. The implication is that if you do "x, y, z" sacrificial and "above and beyond the call of duty" - works, then brace yourself: you will be rewarded and have bestowed upon you the title "saint." This is utterly contrary to the teaching of God's Word. God disagrees with the popular idea. While St. Paul wrote to the Christian in Ephesus (Christians with all kinds of problems and sins which confronted their lives; a lot like you and me), the apostle to the Gentiles began his letter: "To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:1)." These living breathing sinners were also living breathing saints. God made them so. 1st Corinthians 1:30 teaches us how. In this Scripture God identifies Jesus Christ as not only our righteousness (therefore our justification, our forgiveness), but Jesus is also our sanctification (the basis for our holiness). To put it simply: Jesus makes us saints by virtue of our connection to Him! Interestingly enough, when St. Peter confessed who Jesus was -- the Christ, the Son of the Living God -- Jesus told Peter that flesh and blood had not revealed this to him (so much for our achieving blessedness), but the Father in heaven did (Matthew 16:17). All of this is necessary background for the vastly popular beautitudes (Matthew 5:1-12). These nine (9) blessed statements are not -- I repeat not -- requirements (new laws) for achieving blessedness. They are not presciptive, but descriptive. When God makes saints by grace through faith in Jesus Christ apart from the works of the law, those saints (holy ones) show (by God's grace and by the Holy Spirit) holy lives. For example, moved by the Spirit, saints are the blessed ones who mourn and who thirst for righteousness. They mourn over their own sin, confessing it to God, but they also thirst for the righteousness that is Christ's (in both the passive and active sense). All of this, however, is God's work. He is in the saint-making business. We aren't! Thank God! Otherwise we would botch it up! Let us therefore rest in His work for us: that in Jesus Christ -- having been incorporated into Him -- we are now holy; that is, His holiness is imparted to us. Blessed are you! In Christ, Dr. Espinosa

Just the other day I was reading the introduction to The New York Times Guide To Essential Knowledge (Third Edition, 2011) and the author of this introduction was waxing eloquently about his worldview and how all intelligent and up-to-date folks would agree with him: "Most of us, born in the 20th century and adjusting to the 21st, have learned to distrust monism, whether religious or secular, because it inclines toward absolutism. And the absolutist, we have also learned, is not content to accumulate inert facts (viii)." Excuse me?! But this position not only offers an absolutist argument, namely that his pluralism is true and that absolutism is false (he seemed absolutely sure about this), but what is this about not being content to accumulate inert facts? The last time I checked pluralism struggles with a few "inert facts" of its own. None of this, however, does away with that which is true. For example, eastern cultures may clash with western cultures on many fronts, but does this eliminate the actual atomic number of zinc? I may struggle with my own set of inert facts, but will my vacillations impact whether or not the combination of potassium and oxygen produces a chemical reaction? Is 2 + 2 = 4 as true on the surface of the moon as it is here in sunny Southern California (though it happens not to be sunny today...still the cloud cover has not eliminated mathematical truth)? The Angels did in fact not go to the World Series this year (unfortunately for us in South Orange County). But "inert facts" facts did not change this truth. But we want our cake and to eat it too in our culture. We want to pick and choose our custom made "truth," while so often rejecting what is actually true. There are true things. This is true; this we know. Jesus did not merely claim to teach what is true (universally and axiomatically), but He revealed Himself as the Truth. This seems a little ethereal, so let me put it in more concrete terms: Truth has many real qualities. For example, it gives certainly and confidence, it provides reliability, it opposes falsehood, it is identifiable and knowable, and most importantly -- in accord with biblical revelation -- it is God. "So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, 'If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:31-32).'" That is, true things can be experienced. In human history past, Christ came. In human history today, His Word comes which is to say Christ comes again to you and in you. To receive Him is to receive Truth: the truth that God loves you, the truth that God forgives you all of your sins. How do you know? Because truth corresponds to reality and this reality we know: Christ lived for you, Christ died for you, and Christ rose for you. This is the Gospel. This is true. In Christ, Dr. Espinosa

It is revealing to consider just how often Jesus was critically confronted by enemies. When you take in the Scriptural witness, today's skepticism towards Him is not at all inconsistent with the biblical pattern. The Sadducees and Pharisees as the Sanhedrin (Matthew 21:23), the disciples of the Pharisees (Matthew 22:16), the Sadducees by themselves (Matthew 22:23), and the Pharisees by themselves (Matthew 22:34), etc. were all putting Jesus to the test. Furthermore, when we reach the 22nd chapter of Matthew, we are reading about the Tuesday of Holy Week. Sometimes we encounter the popular impression that as Jesus' public ministry progressed He gradually gathered a parade of fans; most certainly He became increasingly well-liked and received. No, not quite. In fact, the opposite is the case. We have to face the fact that by nature we really aren't fond of Jesus. In fact, by nature -- if I am writing what is true -- we hate Christ. We want nothing of Him. The enemies of Christ listed in chapters 21 and 22 of St. Matthew are our representatives. Our sinful flesh stinks as much as theirs did. But as long as Christ is rejected, we cast the worst harm on ourselves. The great irony is that people claim to cherish love. Some will do absolutely anything for it, and yet when we reject the Savior who is love -- not simply the example of love, or the energy for loving -- but love en-fleshed. He is love in His person. To reject Christ is to reject love. The Pharisees therefore chose a fascinating test for Christ in asking Him what the greatest commandment was (it was a test designed for controversy and accusation since the Pharisees held to 613 laws), but they just didn't anticipate what Jesus was going to say: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 22:37-40)." Who could argue with this answer? Is it not the epitome of true religion? To be absolutely committed to God in the heart, to totally desire Him in the soul, and to completely train our thoughts on Him in our mind, and then to demonstrate that these are real by then loving our neighbor as ourselves which makes our confessed love for God real and tangible! What greater fulfilling of the law could there be? And this is why we hate Jesus (before our conversion to Him of course, and according to our sinful nature even after our conversion): He applies upon us the acid test that reveals that we have failed. Who loves God this way? Not us. And yet the status of these commands are indisputable; they are the irrevocable will of God and they must be kept! It is incumbent on poor sinners therefore to run to Jesus if they would ever be counted as keeping these greatest commandments. Only Jesus loves God this way, and only Jesus loves US this way. When the Gospel reveals that His fulfilling of the law is counted FOR YOU (yes, we mustn't neglect Christ's active obedience as an essential component of the Gospel), then and only then do we see God on our side; as having hope, as viewing God no longer as our enemy we run from or criticize, but as God whose Christ gives love...loving for us and loving us, so that to know Christ is to know love, but if there is no Christ, then needless to say there is no love. In Christ, Dr. Espinosa