The Lutheran Hour

"How to Build a Fire"

#74-37
Presented on The Lutheran Hour on May 27, 2007
Guest Speaker: Rev. Mark Muenchow
Copyright 2025 Lutheran Hour Ministries

Text: Acts 2:1-4

Some of my fondest and strongest memories of my childhood go back to the days when our family would go on our family vacations. I was one of five children of a Lutheran pastor and my mother did not work outside of the home. That meant that our family did not have lot of expendable extra income for vacations so we usually would do a lot of camping out and staying with family friends or relatives on our vacations. For those of you who have ever camped out with your family, you know what kind of interesting experiences you can have when you jam everyone together in a tent out in the wilderness. We had quite a system set out for getting the campsite all shipshape once we pulled into the campground in the family station wagon. Each of the five Muenchow children would set about their various assigned tasks. Once we were settled in and had eaten some supper the time would come for the favorite activity of building a nice campfire. We would sit around the fire roasting marshmallows, talking, singing, and of course, tending the fire.

Getting the fire started and keeping the fire going was not without its challenges, especially if it had rained recently and the wood that we gathered for the fire was a little soggy.

I recently saw this humorous listing on a Boy Scout web page of how to properly start a campfire. It laid out the following steps:

Step 1. Split dead limb into fragments and shave one fragment into slivers.

Step 2. Remove splinter from, and bandage, left thumb.

Step 3. Chop other fragments into smaller fragments.

Step 4. Bandage left foot.

Step 5. Make a structure of slivers (including those embedded in the hand).

Step 6. Light match.

Step 7. Light another match after first one goes out.

Step 8. Repeat the phrase “A Scout is cheerful” three times and light a third match after the second match goes out.

Step 9. Apply match to slivers, add wood fragments, and blow gently into base of flames.

Step 10. Apply burn ointment to your nose.

Step 11. When fire is burning, collect more wood.

Step 12. When fire is burning well, add all remaining firewood.

And finally,

Step 13. After thunderstorm has passed, completely dousing your fire, repeat steps 1 through 12.

That is a humorous, yet all too true, look at the challenges of starting a campfire. It did make me think about the image of the Day of Pentecost and the tongues of fire over the heads of all those disciples in Jerusalem. It also made me think that we can learn some important lessons from building a fire as a sort of modern day parable of how the Holy Spirit ignites the fire of faith in our hearts. For fire to burn, it requires three elements:

* Fuel – material that will burn

* Heat – enough heat to bring the fuel to ignition

* Air – to provide oxygen for the burning process

We can look at each of these three elements to see how God gives each of us the Spiritual fire of faith.

First there is the “Fuel – the material that will burn.” In our parable of the fire this is the Bible, God’s precious, life-giving Word to us. The Bible brings to us the story of just how much God loves us and how much He was willing to sacrifice for us. It is a wonderful story of a life- changing gift, an undeserved gift, a costly gift. That life-changing gift is the gift of eternal life, and it is indeed an undeserved gift. We, as sinful human beings, cannot earn that gift of salvation nor do we deserve it. It is truly a “gift,” offered freely to each of us. But what comes freely to us came at a great cost for Jesus. It cost Him His life – His perfect, sinless life – in exchange for our imperfect, sin-marred lives. That exchange took place on the cross, where Christ took upon Himself the punishment we deserved and in exchange gave us forgiveness, healing, and life. Even though this gift was so costly for Christ, He willingly gave His all for us. When Jesus rose victorious from the dead on Easter, He defeated sin. He defeated death. He defeated the devil. His Easter resurrection gives us forgiveness, life, and the freedom to live for Him. This is the message of God’s Word and this is why God’s Word is the fuel for our spiritual fire.

The second element needed to start a fire is “Heat – enough heat to bring the fuel to ignition.” To me this is the symbol of faith itself. The Spirit brings that spark of faith to us. For many, that gift of faith was given to us in our Baptism. For others it came through hearing the Word of God. Now normally we would say that fire and water don’t mix, but this is the wonder of Baptism. In Baptism the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts and our lives. He ignites the light of faith and unites the promises of God’s Word with a trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. As the fire of our faith grows, so does its warmth and light. When Jesus appeared to two disciples after he had risen from the dead, He stoked the fire of faith in their hearts by showing them the truth of how He had fulfilled the Scriptures. Luke 24:32 says: They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

And the third element that we must have for a fire is “Air – to provide oxygen for the burning process.” In our parable of the fire, the air is the Holy Spirit Himself. On the day of Pentecost, our text says: “…divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

What oxygen is for a fire, the Spirit is for the fire of our faith. Without oxygen there is no fire. Without the Spirit there is no fire of faith. It is interesting that on the Day of Pentecost, before the tongues of fire appeared over each disciple, there was the sound of a great and mighty wind. This is not the first time that the Spirit manifested, or showed Himself, in the wind. In fact, in the Old and New Testaments the word translated as “Spirit” can also be translated as “Wind.” Jesus Himself talks of how the Spirit brings that life-giving spiritual oxygen for our faith. Jesus said in John 14:25-26: “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

We certainly don’t want to cut off our supply of spiritual oxygen, so we pray and ask the Spirit to feed our spiritual fire of faith.

For a fire we indeed need all three elements: fuel, heat, and air. When one of these three things are removed, the fire stops burning. For example: water can cool the fuel below the ignition point, dirt can smother the fire by cutting off the oxygen supply, or you can run out of fuel and the fire will die out.

Since the Spirit is readily available for us, more plentiful than even the air around us, the best way for us to keep the fire stoked is to make sure that we have enough fuel. Again, for our spiritual fire that is the Word of God. With a campfire, you need three different kinds of wood or fuel for a successful campfire:

First:
* Tinder – small twigs, wood shavings, dry leaves, or grass. This should start to burn immediately when lighted.

Next:
* Kindling – small sticks of an inch diameter or less. These increase the heat and they last a little bit longer.

And finally:
* Logs – larger wood that keeps the fire going for a long time.

The “tinder” of our Spiritual fire can be the time each day we spend reading God’s Word in our own daily devotional time. Our spiritual “kindling” can be the time we spend going deeper into the Word through Bible study, especially as we gather to study with other Christians. This gives us more substantial fuel for our faith’s fire. Finally, the “logs” of the fire of our faith are gathering to worship. It is here in worship where the fire really burns brightly and intensely as the Spirit brings us together with other believers in Christ. The combined heat of gathered Christians helps the fire burn more intensely and more brightly. That is one of the great joys and blessings of gathering for worship: we share the warmth of expressing together our mutual love for Jesus. In worship, the Spirit feeds us through the hearing of the Word as it is read, as the message is preached, and as we sing the truths of Scripture in our songs and hymns.

Fire is a pretty amazing thing. It provides light. It provides warmth. It can even provide healing when it is used to purify water or cauterize a wound. This is a great picture of what we are called upon to do with the fire of faith given to each of us. We, too, can provide light as we share the message of Christ as the true Light of the World. We, too, can provide warmth as we share the love of Christ with others so they know how much He loves them. We, too, can provide cleansing and healing as we share the message of forgiveness and spiritual healing Christ has won for us all on the cross. Jesus called and encouraged His disciples to burn brightly with the fire of their faith in Acts 1:8. He said, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

He is calling us to also burn brightly with the fire of our faith as His disciples today. May the Holy Spirit continue to set our hearts on fire for the Lord and may we fuel that fire daily with the fuel of God’s Word.
In the name of Jesus and to His Glory. Amen.

LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for May 27, 2007
TOPIC: Tattoos and Piercings

ANNOUNCER: Now, Pastor Ken Klaus responds to questions from listeners. I’m Mark Eischer.

KLAUS: Hello, Mark.

ANNOUNCER: A listener writes, “I heard a pastor say he thought it was wrong for women to wear makeup and jewelry, especially earrings, which he said was an ancient symbol of slavery.”

KLAUS: And I bet that person wants to know if it’s OK for women to wear jewelry and earrings and makeup.

ANNOUNCER: Well, no, that’s not the question. The listener went on to say that he knows Christians who have tattoos of crosses and other Christian symbols.

KLAUS: And that’s the question: Should Christians have tattoos?

ANNOUNCER: Well, we’re getting there. He quoted Saint Paul who said, “Honor God with your bodies.” Could that passage be used to defend the practice of tattooing? And could you say that by getting a Christian tattoo, you are honoring God in a very permanent way?

KLAUS: I’m getting confused here. The listener wants to know: Does the Bible passage refer to tattoos?

ANNOUNCER: Well, it’s confusing. On the one hand the Bible tells us our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, but the Book of Leviticus says the Israelites were not to practice tattooing.

KLAUS: Is that it?

ANNOUNCER: Yes, that’s it.

KLAUS: I’m going to try to summarize here. Is it wrong for women to wear jewelry and makeup? Is it wrong for Christians to get tattooed? Are there Bible passages which speak about these things?

ANNOUNCER: That’s a good summary.

KLAUS: OK. Well, let’s talk about Scripture passages which might be applicable.

ANNOUNCER: And our listener did suggest a couple.

KLAUS: Well, and I thank them for doing that, but I think there’s another passage, Mark, which might be better suited for this discussion.

ANNOUNCER: OK. Please, continue.

KLAUS: Well, I think the words of Paul in the fifth chapter of his letter to the church in Galatia. He said, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1). Mark, it is true that in Leviticus it says, “Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves.”

ANNOUNCER: That’s pretty clear-cut.

KLAUS: It is absolutely a clear-cut instruction. If we are living under the Old Covenant, and had to obey the ceremonial laws that helped to distinguish God’s chosen people from the pagan world that surrounded them, that passage would be the beginning and the ending of the discussion.

ANNOUNCER: But we’re not necessarily in that situation, are we?

KLAUS: We’re not even not necessarily, we’re not. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection is the fulfillment of those laws. Just as an aside, I should say, if we’re going to keep this one part of the ceremonial law, we would have to keep all of the others.

ANNOUNCER: And what would that mean?

KLAUS: Well, it would mean you’re probably going to grow a beard, Mark. And if you do, you’re not supposed to cut the edges of your beard according to those laws. And you better throw away that pork sausage you had for breakfast because you’re not supposed to have any of that stuff either. Or lobster… or…

ANNOUNCER: OK. OK. I understand.

KLAUS: What I’m trying to say is those laws are no longer in effect. They have been superceded in Christ.

ANNOUNCER: And, what about jewelry?

KLAUS: Same thing applies, Mark. The early church dealt with those matters at their very first convention. There it was decided not to burden people with all kinds of laws. Their final ruling was, “Be faithful, don’t eat meat sacrificed to idols, avoid sexual immorality.”

ANNOUNCER: Other than that, you can do pretty much what you want?

KLAUS: I don’t think I would go quite that far.

ANNOUNCER: But, I thought you said that we were…

KLAUS: And I did. And I mean it. Christians don’t live their lives in a vacuum. We’re free, but we’re not in a vacuum. As we lead our lives of freedom we want to think of others. For example, most states have local ordinances on tattooing: for example, age limitations. You don’t want to break those as a Christian. Children have a responsibility to listen to their parents and their wishes. Of course, we don’t want to do something that we know is deliberately going to bring embarrassment to the Savior.

ANNOUNCER: So you’re pretty much saying we shouldn’t do that.

KLAUS: No, I’m not. What I’m saying is we are free. Not free to do whatever we want; but free to do what Christ wants. We are not saved by obeying the law. We’re saved through faith in Jesus who kept the law perfectly for us. Out of love for the Lord and concern for your neighbor, let your conscience be your counselor in this area and a great many others. Let me sum up: Freedom in the Lord doesn’t give us a license to do wrong.

ANNOUNCER: Thank you, Pastor Klaus. And with that we come to the end of our broadcast for another week. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.

Music selections for this program:

“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by John Leavitt. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC

“Come Down, O Love Divine” arr. Henry Gerike. Used by permission

“Come, Holy Ghost, Our Souls Inspire” From With High Delight by the Children’s Choirs of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church (© 2002 St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Ft. Wayne)

“Creator Spirit, Heavenly Dove” arr. Carl Schalk. From Hymns for All Saints (© 2006 Concordia Publishing House)

“Holy Ghost, with Light Divine” by Healey Willan. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC

“Komm, heiliger Geist” by Dietrich Buxtehude. From Richard Heschke at the Hradetzky in Red Bank by Richard Heschke (© 1993 Arkay Records)