Varia - Thoughts on a Sunday
1. President Harrison originally declared that the LC-MS Concordia plans were not covered by the ACA Mandate. His interest, therefore, is wider than his own church body. His actions are reminiscent of church people going on crusade.
2. The Epistle lesson from my church was Ephesians 6:10-20. Paul wrote that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." From this I conclude that the enemies of the church are not necessarily Kathleen Sebelius, the Affordable Care Act, the Democratic Party, or even the President of the United States, Barack Obama.
"Our struggle (Paul said) is not against flesh and blood..." Mein Reich ist nicht von dieser Welt.
3. The Gospel lesson,(and the sermon text) was Mark 7:1-8; 14,15, 21-23. The problem of the Pharisees was that they wanted to tangibilize the intangible. Religion does not consist of making the opinions of humans and political platforms and human agendas into obligatory actions, nor does the condemnation of human programs and political platforms and human agendas make a church body faithful to its calling.
4. I do not possess the secret knowledge that the honorable Ohio Deaconess claims to possess. I have read (in translation) "Erkenntnis und Propaganda," Signale der Neuen Zeit, 25 ausgewahlte Reden von Dr. Joseph Goebbels (Munich: Zentralverlaqg der NSDAP., NSDAP., 1934), pp. 28-52. Perhaps if I could read more I could achieve the exalted state of understanding in which she lives.
5. While it is certain that: 1) the Hyde Amendment has failed 2) SCOTUS has ruled that the ACA is not unconstitutional, it is not certain that: 1) the religious freedom cases will prevail in court, and 2) that the Republican nominee for POTUS will win the election, and 3) the incumbent President will be voted out of office.
6. Should the election and the court cases go against those who protest that religious freedoms are being threatened, what might these persons and institutions have to say?
Norman Teigen, Layman
Evangelical Lutheran Synod