I find it truly strange that God's Truth can come out of the mouth of someone who does not know Him, and yet I know that God's work is not limited only to Christians, in that He accomplishes much through the lives of all of His creation.

Someone today, when I couldn't really respond to his question about dinner last night, carefully framed a thought for me to consider.  He said that the little he understood about Jesus Christ was that He was a giver.  That He wanted nothing from people, only to give to them.

Funny, just Monday night I was explaining Kleinig's writing on how Lutheran spirituality is a spirituality of reception.  That thought reveals much...and contradicts much with what I have learned in the rest of Protestantism.  Pizza Man's sister had not heard it put that way before, so we talked about it for a while.

Here, a non-Christian, was reminding me that the very heart of my faith was one of reception.

He gently asked me if such was the case, would not giving to others be joyful to me, rather than my...well...mixed emotions about the dinner.  How could I argue with that?  He does not even know Jesus, but he spoke Truth to me.

I spent much of the day working on finishing the Advent booklet and reading the Lutheran Service Book.  The reason for the latter is that Bettina, who rather graciously agreed to serve as an editor, thought the reference for a hymn was actually a reference for the blessing.  So, I spent all this time looking for the blessing because I did not even look at the reference she mentioned first.  I do not mind, however, for I read through all the prayers, many of which gave me pause.

Prior to stepping foot in Pastor's church nearly a year ago, I never would have considered Liturgy anything I would support, much less cherish.  Nor did I think I would cradle a hymnal against my body as I cried to God in praise and thankfulness for the riches He has given His Church for thousands of years, a sufficiency unto all circumstances, a wealth beyond measure.

This afternoon, I made the next audio file of  the Book of Concord; it was on Luther's teaching of the Third Commandment.  This is one of my favorite bits because he teaches about the Living Word.  In fact, one of the best lines in the whole of Lutheran doctrine is in this section of the Large Catechism:  God's Word is the Sanctuary above all sanctuaries. (LC, Part I, 91)

When I read this, I kept thinking about the Liturgy, how it is the Word of God from beginning to end, in either straight quotations of scripture or songs based wholly on the Word.  So, in a sense, the sanctuary is not the bricks and mortar on Kingsley Avenue, but it is the Liturgy spoken, chanted, sung, and prayed there.

Luther teaches the Word sanctifies.  Whenever God's Word is taught, preached, heard, read, or meditated upon, then the person, day and work are sanctified.  This is not because of the outward work, but because of the Word, which makes saints of us all.  (LC, Part I, 92)

In short, skipping far too much of some rather good teaching, then to keep the Lord's Day holy is to keep the Word of God (cherish it, speak it, study it, teach it, pray it, hide it in our hearts, etc.).  Luther stresses the Sabbath was for the Children of Israel, an outward manner bound beneath the Law to help and instruct them...an ordinance Christ fulfilled for us.  But God does desire for us to rest, to rest from our labors and in His Word.

Once again, there were many references to having God's Word in our mouths, on our tongues, falling from our lips, and filling our ears.  Over and over again, in the Psalms and elsewhere in Scripture, I find references to this, instruction and encouragement on speaking, singing, and listening to His Word.  Reading such makes me feel a bit less greedy about having people read the bible to me, being able to read aloud with others, and asking Pastor for recordings.

I have long cherished the bible.  In fact, when I first read the Spirituality of the Cross, it was Veith's section on the power of the Living Word that first made me feel as if I might be wrong about just how strange Lutherans were.  It is the reverence the Word of God that first spoke to me in the Book of Concord.  It is the surfeit of Scripture in the Liturgy that comforted me.  It is the intimacy and relevancy of His Word I found in learning to pray the Psalter that called me.  But it was Pastor's reading of Philippians in one sitting, his pouring out of the Living Word upon me, that opened my eyes to how it truly is the Sanctuary of all sanctuaries.

What I experience then, felt then, glimpsed then, is why I put a repeat performance as one of my prize suggestions.  It is why I asked Bettina to be the "leader" in the Liturgy during our devotions yesterday and split the scripture readings with me.  To hear it, live, is powerful and humbling, fulfilling something deep within.

The second part of Luther's observation is that it is God's Word which sanctifies the Lord's Day, which makes it holy...sanctifies us, makes us holy.  Again...a life of reception...again works carry no weight.  Not working on the Lord's Day gains you nothing other than a break, physical rest.  It does not make you holy.  But the Word of God can and does make us holy.  It is our life, our strength, and our shield against the one who would destroy us.

Keeping the Living Word is keeping the Lord's Day.