November 2014

Pastor’s Page: The Family Altar

“Here is one of the greatest and most important tasks today: that each layman models his home—be it a single person’s room, a suburban villa or a huge farm house—so that it becomes a Christian home, where the day’s schedule is given a clear Christian influence from home devotions and prayer, and the course of the year is given clear Christian influence from the Church Year’s seasons and the joy and seriousness of the great Holidays and Feasts.”

[Bo Giertz, Our Devotional Life]

As we sharpen our knives to carve the turkey, as we watch our peas hurriedly rush down the snowcaps of our mash potatoes into the awaiting pool of gravy, as we smell the aroma of the pumpkin cheesecake pie wafting it way through the house, as we countdown the days to the insanity we proverbially call “the holidays,” may we number our days and our years according to the sacred time of our Lord. And may we confess Him, this Christ of God, to be our gift and our life beyond this fleeting life of fading wreaths, dimming glory, and passing prestige.

When you sit on the deathbed of man two signs are vital to life, the pulse and the breath. As long as the lungs continue to fill with air and exhale breath, as long as the pulse still signals that blood is being sent throughout the body man continues to live. But when chest rests motionless and the pulse stops beating, mortal life has ceased. It’s no different with our spiritual life. It’s not a static possession, but something that continues within us by the habits of our daily life—otherwise it dies just like the body. Thus, the spirit has its heartbeat and the soul its breath. They are the use of God’s Word and sacraments, and the exercise of prayer. These are used to test if there is spiritual life in us. Just as the body shows its life in its heartbeat and the breath so the spiritual life shows itself in the attentive hearing of God’s Word, in the attendance of the communion of saints, and in the eating of the Sacrament of the Altar. Without these the spiritual life is in danger. Without these we are dead unto our Lord.

The spiritual life and the devotional belong together. The devotional life is not an extra nicety in the life of the Christian. It’s not an “app” you may choose to download on your spiritual smart-phone or you being very interested in “God things” or “church things.” The question of our church’s life, our spiritual life, has everything to with our devotional life. Without the inner daily devotional life, the church’s outer body becomes a mere skeleton, a carrying on of dead rubrics and rites. If the church is to have life her activities must be devotional in nature. Behind all the exertion of our bodies lays the work of the heart and the lungs. So it is with our churchly life. Behind all the bible studies and meetings, the women’s groups and the men’s groups, behind all that we do as church we also do as individuals given to the importance of prayer and the use of God’s Word. I dare say that it would be better to have ten faithful churchgoers then to have a huge number of people running around doing all sorts of activities in the church—but never actually go to church—to the divine service. The sad irony: you can be in church but never go to church.

So what is the devotional life? It’s to hold sacred God’s Word. It’s to gladly hear it and learn from it as it conforms you to itself and not the other way around. It’s the life that is directed by the Spirit of God guided by the Word of God that it may kindle in your heart that which it cannot create or possess of itself. Christianity is not opinions. Christianity is not moralism. Christianity is not a philosophy of life. All this may come forth from it. But it’s not its essence. The essence lies in the new life that is given by the Spirit of God and which is kindled and sustained in you through Word and Sacrament, through the hearing and meditation of God’s Word and the faithful reception of the Sacrament.

The devotional life, the family altar, is foremost formed at the communal altar of the communion of saints. It takes shape in the divine service and home devotions. The divine service is the most obvious form of devotional life. One should not miss it without good reason. Those first pondering the Christian faith, those well schooled in the Christian faith, are to be pointed to the preached-word, to the divine service. The ancient church along with experience teaches us that it is far easier to take in the nuanced language of the Bible within the divine service then trying to sit down and just read the Bible for yourself. Even prayer is easier within the Christian congregation. For “a person who doesn’t think that prayer ascends further than the ceiling when he is at home in his chamber, will learn that it rises higher and with greater ease under the church’s vaulted ceiling” [Bo Giertz]. This devotional life no doubt is waning in our time. Instead of succumbing to the times in which we live, to the lame and old hat excuses we give that pass by our lips with no repentant vow, we must recognize that our time is sacred time, given us by God, for a faithful life before Him and a fervent life of love alongside our neighbor. This begins at the altar that we share as the communion of saints and bleeds into the family altar of home devotions.      

The head of the household—should be the father, but to due to various circumstances may not be—is to say with Joshua, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” We are to take our baptismal vow toward our children seriously and see to it the one’s house and children have some semblance of a devotional life. This is just as much our duty as it is to put a roof over their head, food in their mouth, and clothing on their back. As with most things for children, it is best to develop a routine of home devotions when they are young. The length of time need not be long. We have plenty of resources, especially in our hymnal. We have a form of home devotions that comes out during the months of the catechetical year and we have Concordia Publishing House that continues to print various resources to aid families in carrying out this important endeavor. Though we often feel that with our hectic schedules its to much of a burden, nonetheless whatever the hardship may seem, it must be noted that home devotions, where the family of God is gathered around the treasures and promises of God, is of priceless worth. At the least, said devotions give both young and old familiarity with the sacred texts of Holy Scripture. It engenders unto them a love of the Word of God. When done together as a family it shows the young that it’s not simply for the young—something you only do in Sunday School, something to be discarded immediately after confirmation—but is important from cradle to grave. There are many forms and ways to carry out home devotions. Yet the important point is that the devotions find a firm and uninterrupted place in our daily life. Home devotions are no incidental matter for the Christian. And so it should be a matter of discussion among us all. How should we hold home devotions? How should we order our days and our deeds in the peace and comfort of Christ?

So in the midst of our mesmerizing plates of food at Thanksgiving, within the mountain of presents that surround the Christmas tree, in all the anxious running around for this and for that, may we sit still before our God and Father, who has given us not only all these temporal blessings, but the blessing of new life in the gift of His Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. May we come to a new appreciation for the family of Christ in this place, and how that should bleed and inform the lives of our own respective families outside the church proper. May we fight anew against all forms of spiritual laziness and the desire to postpone or even omit the times of our devotions as a family of God. For there are many forces that work hard against you at this time of accelerated consuming and buying. Unbeknownst to us, we will tire of this, or at most we will exchange the family altar, the communion saints gathered around Word and Sacrament, for a quick appearance on a crisp Christmas Eve, only to return to the fleeting happiness of this passing world. Remember, “the energetic man can go far—even where religion is concerned. There is only one thing they are not able to do; lead the lacerated soul forward to Christ’s peace and the forgiveness of sins. But this is why Christ established His Church and sent out His apostles. If this does not happen, the Church has not justified its existence” [Bo Giertz, Devotional Life]. So behind all our work for the Church and in the Church there shall be found a hidden, quite, and faithful devotional life. For as we pray in our homes so we pray in our church, we pray together, “Our Father,” we pray as one people with one hope, “Even so Lord Jesus, quickly come.”

Blessed Thanksgiving  

Pastor Raffa