August / September 2007

Dear Mt. Olive Family and Friends!

People have been quoting him for 500 years. What he said made sense - and makes sense to this very day. Some folks have an entire library filled with his writings. Thousands of churches around the world, including ours, are named after him.

So when Dr. Martin Luther wrote the following, we take note at the insight God had given him and ponder the validity for 21^st century American Christianity:

“For you should know that God’s word and grace is like a passing shower of rain which does not return where it has once been. It has been with the Jews, but when it’s gone it’s gone, and now they have nothing. Paul brought it to the Greeks; but again when it’s gone it’s gone, and now they have the Turk. Rome and the Latins also had it; but when it’s gone, it’s gone, and now they have the pope. And you Germans need not think that you will have it forever, for ingratitude and contempt will not make it stay.”

“A passing shower of rain.” We can appreciate the picture. For a while the precious rain comes down and soaks into the parched soil. But then it stops, and lawns turn brown and fields produce little or nothing.

Can it be that “God’s word and grace” are no longer being showered upon America from heaven’s clouds? Is it possible that America’s “ingratitude and contempt” have forced shut the spigots of heaven?

Elsewhere in this newsletter you’ll read that less than 20% of Americans regularly attend church, and that that number is steadily declining. At the same time we note with joy that countries like China are experiencing so many conversions to Christianity that accurate numbers are not even available. Could it be that the “shower” has left American shores for more receptive soil? Has America’s “ingratitude and contempt” reduced heaven’s shower to a few sprinkles here and there?

I’d have to say that all the evidence indicates that the USA is heading for a severe spiritual drought such as never before experienced in our land. The “ingratitude and contempt” of which Luther writes is not only obvious out there in our society, but clearly evident right here within the American church. We’ve come to expect that God’s grace would always be showered upon our land from shore to shore, but it doesn’t take a divine meteorologist to point to the map and say, “Folks, we’re about to experience some very, very serious trouble.”

Is it too late? I really don’t know. What I do know is that we need to stop pretending that everything’s okay. American Christians need to repent – all of us – for our “ingratitude” for God’s amazing grace, and our “contempt” of God’s holy Law.

Remember how God promised Abraham that he would spare Sodom and Gomorrah if only ten righteous could be found living there? Recall how not even ten believers could be located within the two cities? The point? Our gracious Lord would have spared two evil cities for the sake of only ten men, women, or children who still loved Him, but there were not even ten.

If heaven’s passing shower is to linger a little longer over America, then we Christians must stand up and be counted. We must! For the sake of our children and grandchildren, we must! For the sake of future generations, we must! If our Christian faith means anything at all to us, we must! Divine rain is about to stop, and once it does, it will not come again.

Our newly-elected synod president, Mark Schroeder, in noting the challenges facing the WELS, wrote in his first official letter to all our pastors:

“In times of financial problems, our first tendency has been to declare that we need to have a scriptural study of stewardship. I would make an alternate suggestion to you today: This fall, don’t begin with a study of stewardship. Rather, lead your people in a study of something more basic: What is the Church? What is its mission? What does it mean that I am a member of that church, and what is my role? How can I work with fellow believers to carry out that mission?”

He’s right! I thought I had done that - but I know it needs to be addressed again. All God’s people need to understand how intricately we are connected, and how vital each one of us is to each other and to the faith of our nation. That becomes even more clearly defined within each church body, and still more critical within each congregation.

Just what is my responsibility as a Christian? What are my obligations to the body of Christ of which I am a member by faith? What is my responsibility to my Mt. Olive brothers and sisters?

If God would spare two cities if only ten believers could be found in them, what does that say about the value of each Christian in the grand scheme of things? Do I recognize and appreciate the role God has given me to fulfill?

Today’s American Christians - to a large extent - are looking for a church that requires little commitment, that provides Sunday morning entertainment, that winks at sin, that tolerates anything, and that stands for nothing. And, sad to say, there are a fair number of churches - big ones and getting bigger - that fit the bill.

But these are neither the Christians nor the churches of the New Testament. These are not the “righteous” that God was looking for in the ten of Sodom and Gomorrah days. Nor are these the kind of faithful for whom the Lord will keep the rains of grace falling from heaven.

Only God knows what will happen to the Christian church in America in the years to come. But this much I know: If American Christians continue to treat the Lord and His Word with “ingratitude and contempt,” the day will come - and very soon - when the rain of divine grace and blessing will stop and God will give us over to a spiritual drought and famine never before experienced in our nation.

Fellow Christians, it’s time for us to pray. It’s time for us to get back into the Sacred Scriptures and study God’s Word of truth. It’s time for us to really do what we love to sing: Stand up, stand up for Jesus! It’s time for us to relearn what it means to be the Church and what we as the Church mean to our fellow members. It’s time to thank God for the rains of grace, and then turn our thanksgiving into thanksliving!

There is no greater privilege than to know and trust Jesus as Savior and Lord, and to bask in His forgiveness day after day. Cherish what you are and what you have!

And then, dear people, let’s recognize the enormous responsibility that comes with our high calling, and be about our Father’s business. We are the Church, and the future of our entire nation is hanging on us!

Lord, give us of Your Spirit and of Your power. Help us to remain faithful to You and to be the kind of Church You desire. Please, Lord, for the sake of Your people, do not turn off the rain of grace, but continue to shower us with Your gospel of peace. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Pastor Carl R. Henkel