Living in the Living Savior

The first of this month of March I began to serve what we, in our circles, call a vacancy. That's not a Biblical term. It is simply a way of saying that the congregation is searching for a full time, permanent pastor and in the meantime another pastor--or in our case two--is called by the Lord through the congregation to serve them with the Word of God and the Sacraments. That's where I am. I'm one of a team of two pastors serving Living Savior Lutheran Church in this 'vacancy'.

I love the name of this congregation--Living Savior. I love it because it points directly to Jesus. When the LORD confronted Moses on Mount Horeb to send him to lead Israel out of captivity, Moses asked, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"

God said to Moses, "I am who I am . This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "

The name means not only that the Lord exists, but that He is present and active in the lives of His chosen people. He is the Living One, the Eternal One who is sending Moses in answer to their prayers. That is His name. This name became known among them by four letters, YHWH. In Hebrew the vowels are implied, but were not originally written in the text until after the time of Christ.

Anyway, to make a well known story short, they began to regard this Name as being so unique and holy that they would not even speak it. Instead, they substituted their word for LORD or Master whenever they saw it written in the sacred texts. In many English translations we see all the letters of the name capitalized as LORD. This is a way of indicating that the Name YHWH is in the original Hebrew, a name unspoken by the pious Israelites, because they feared to take the Name of the LORD in vain.

When Jesus, the Word of God, came among us, He laid claim to this Name. The Apostle John records many instances of this in his Gospel. For instance, confronted by the Pharisees about His age and His claims, Jesus replied, "Before Abraham was, I AM!" Of course, they all knew what He meant. That's why they tried to stone Him to death. He was making himself equal to the LORD.

This LORD tells us directly why He has come among us. In that same Gospel we hear Him speaking of Himself as the sheep gate through whom His sheep pass on their way to abundant and full life. He says, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

We who call ourselves by His Name (we translate it as Living Savior), are now asking ourselves what it means to go through Him to live. What is this abundant life that this Living One, this Living Savior, brings? And how is He leading us to live it?

We have some clues. We have much to learn. One of the vital clues is to be found in the writings of the Apostles. Peter, for instance, speaks of us Christians as living stones built upon THE Living Stone. Paul picks up this understanding when he asks the question, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." In this instance the words 'your body' are plural. That is, Paul is not talking about a single person, but rather about the entire body of believers gathered by and filled with the Holy Spirit.

So we Living Savior people are asking ourselves what this means for us. How is the Living Spirit of the Living Savior living in us leading us to live? As we grow together and prepare to go together out into our part of the world, we will keep asking such questions. I am quite assured that our Living Savior will answer them. We need only to listen and to follow.