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![[Gottesblog] "The Onus of Preaching and Hearing" – Larry Beane](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/332069/G_logo_1500_f5mj7a_300x300.jpg){kind=logo}
Tuesday Apr 20, 2021
Tuesday Apr 20, 2021
The Onus of Preaching and Hearing
“People don’t have to be taught how to listen to the sermon. Preachers have to be taught how to preach sermons that people want to listen to. The onus is on the Shepherd, not the sheep.”— RECENT COMMENTER ON GOTTESBLOG
In terms of the sermon, the author of the above quote places the “onus,” that is, the burden, on the preacher of the Word, and on not the hearer.
He posits that the sermon should be one “that people want to listen to.” He paints a picture of the hearer of the Word as a passive vessel waiting to be wowed. This assessment is a helpful and accurate snapshot of our culture, in which the consumer of entertainment waits for the performer to do or say something worth the listener’s time and attention. And in our cultural milieu, the very worst thing a preacher can be is “boring.”
Pastors must compete with 24-hour high-octane entertainment on demand, in which his hearers are accustomed to thumbing the remote and looking for better options if the current channel is not stimulating enough. Our culture is awash with special effects, naked girls, car crashes, rock music, and hi-def visual and audio. By contrast, preaching is a rather lackluster affair in the eyes of the world: just a guy talking.
This is why many pastors and congregations have gone to great lengths to make the sermon, and the entire service, something “that people want to listen to.” They ditch the liturgy for drum kits and guitars. The sermon incorporates video clips of Hollywood movies, the pastor makes emotional faces and uses his voice for effect, with dynamic and dramatic gestures, perhaps ambulating around or speaking casually along the lines of a TED talk. Dancing girls and skits are also sometimes used to hold people’s jaded attention.
Certainly, there is an onus on the preacher: not necessarily to preach sermons that “people want to listen to,” but rather to faithfully preach the Word of God, in season and out of season, both Law and Gospel, delivering from the Good Shepherd that Word with which the sheep need to be fed, and to do so with fidelity to Biblical doctrine and the order of salvation. And yes, pastors are to be “able to teach.” They are to know their theology. They are to be able to proclaim the Word of God with alacrity and precision. They are to understand the texts upon which they preach. They are also to know their hearers, knowing what is going on in their lives as well as in the community and the culture at large.
This is indeed a great onus upon the pastor, which is why the Holy Spirit has called your pastor to serve you. The typical LCMS pastor has been rigorously trained and has been certified for service. And every man has his own strengths and weaknesses. One person’s favorite preacher may not be someone else’s cup of tea. Some people may have very short attention spans and/or know very little about the Scriptures. Such people might need more milk and catechesis. Others may wish the sermons were longer, more theological, and meatier, as such people are themselves apt theologians. The onus is on the preacher to navigate this diversity among his hearers and to find a way to preach to all - with the Spirit’s guidance - in a way as to deliver the Word effectively. This is no mean task, and the pastor is himself a human being, subject to unseen stresses, illnesses, burdens, mental lapses, physical pain, etc., and so he may be better one Sunday than another.
But the commenter above was responding to a pastor who was himself responding to the specific question of how to be a better hearer of the Word, specifically, “What could the people in the pew, the hearers, do help the pastor in the pulpit and study get some traction on how to become a better preacher?” And in that sense, there is also an onus on the hearer, just as there is an onus on the preacher. And even as our table of duties does not place the onus entirely on one party or the other, but all people: parents and children, employers and employees, preachers and hearers, holders of each and every vocation, have their own corresponding onuses.
The pastor projects the Word using his own mind and voice, delivering the explication of the Word of God (the Word is itself supernatural and beyond his control). Once it leaves his mouth, he can no longer control it. The reception of the Word is indeed the onus not of the shepherd, but of the sheep. The hearer of the Word is to, well, hear the Word. It enters his ear and mind and penetrates to the heart and soul. It is up to the hearer to receive it, to welcome it, not to push it to the margins in favor of a daydream or something more interesting going on in the church or outside the window.
Indeed, we followers of Jesus are “disciples.” It means that we are “students.” And the vocation of student is difficult. I have been a teacher now for 17 years. I always tell my students that their job is harder than mine. I know, because I have been a student much longer than I have been a teacher. Being a student is not like being a vacuum cleaner bag that passively waits to be filled by a mechanical suction action from the outside. Being a student is hard work: mentally and even physically. Learning is an active endeavor.
If you are a student, you have the onus to listen and learn from those who teach. It may involve taking notes. It may involve asking questions of the professor in the hallway or during office hours. It may involve going to the library or doing online research. It certainly means showing up at lectures and paying attention. And every prof is different. Some are funny and have a schtick. Some are dry and monotone. Some have speech impediments or accents. Some may have a tough time translating the ideas into layman’s terms. But it is still the student’s job, his onus, to figure out a way to learn the material. It is not his job to sit passively and wait to be spoon fed or entertained.
And it goes without saying that students, like teachers, have bad days and good days. They may be under stress, in pain, lacking sleep, tending to their children, or just not mentally there that day. They may have difficulty hearing or concentrating. That too is the onus of the person struggling to be a better hearer of the Word, just as the preachers deal with the real world invading the Holy Nave.
Finally, though there is an onus, an obligation, placed on both preachers and hearers, maybe a better way to frame the situation is to speak of the privilege and the blessing that both have. Preachers have the greatest job in the world: to be Christ’s instruments to deliver forgiveness, life, and salvation to people who need Good News. We get to lead worship and deliver the Gospel to people as part of our day-to-day work. We get to study the Scriptures and pray as part of our vocation. There is nothing that could be a greater joy - though indeed, the work has its unpleasant and even brutal aspects to it as well. But let us focus on the joy of the calling we have been given.
And the same goes for hearers of the Word as well. What a privilege and a blessing to gather around altar, font, and pulpit, where the Lord comes to you supernaturally, out of love, to deliver to you forgiveness, life, and salvation. What a joy to sit and hear the Word of God proclaimed from the pulpit and taught in the classroom. And what a blessing it is that the Holy Spirit sent you a preacher and a teacher! No, he is not perfect. He may have mannerisms that you don’t like. Maybe his voice is raspy or could be louder. But what a privilege that the Lord has sent him to your parish to deliver eternal life to you!
Perhaps this is one meaning of what our Lord said: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden (onus) is light.”
At any rate, that is a better frame of mind to hear God’s Word than crossing one’s arms, sitting passively, and hearing - instead of the Word of God - rather the voice of Kurt Cobain singing, “Here we are now. Entertain us.”
Saturday Apr 17, 2021
Saturday Apr 17, 2021
Take the Vaccine!
“Q: Would Jesus get a Covid vaccine?— A MEME POSTED BY "THE CHRISTIAN LEFT"
A: Since Jesus is the ‘Great Physician,’ the answer is a resounding ‘Yes.’ Jesus would get the Covid vaccine. In fact, He’s open a vaccination center and have the disciples vaccinate as many people as possible, starting with the poor, the sick, refugees, and Samaritans.”
The above meme was posted by a Facebook group called “The Christian Left.” An interesting discussion followed, including some speculation about whether or not our incarnate Lord would be capable of being sickened by the virus, and whether or not His omniscience would make it impossible for Him to be a carrier.
But as the group’s name suggests, the real intent is to get Jesus to bless a Leftist political position, given that the vaccine has become a highly divisive political football. The Christian Left decided to dust off the old “What Would Jesus Do?” bracelet and practice some Christological speculation and eisegesis.
I decided to weigh in:
The real Jesus does even better: He offers the Medicine of Immortality. Even if the vaccine works, you still die. The mortality rate is 100%. Our Lord comes to us to give us eternal life: “Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:54).
His disciples are still distributing this Medicine today. In fact, we never stopped.
You don’t have to speculate about what Jesus would do. Just look at what he does.
This point should be received universally among Christians, no matter where one stands on the Covid vaccine. The reference to the “Medicine of Immortality” comes from St. Ignatius of Antioch’s Epistle to the Ephesians, chapter 20.
The moderator of the group replied:
Just curious. Does this mean that you are for or against people getting vaccines.
The fact of the matter is that I didn’t mention the Covid vaccine at all. I wanted to point to the greater and more eternal ramifications of what it means that Jesus is the Great Physician. He doesn’t just inoculate us against a narrow strain of Coronavirus, rather He cures us from death itself. For that is what our Great Physician does.
I replied:
I am for people getting the vaccine of the Word of God and His holy, life-giving sacraments. I have committed my life to offering this vaccine “for the life of the world.” But I only offer it. I preach and teach. I would not compel people even if I had the power of the state. Jesus calls, He does not compel. I would love all to receive the Medicine of Immortality, but not all take our Lord up on this vaccine.
My interlocutor replied by deleting everything that I wrote and blocking me from posting to the site.
He later posted this:
Anti-vaxxers are not welcome on The Christian Left. Please exit the page. Thanks.
Of course, I said nothing about the Covid vaccine, pro or con. I simply pointed out that our Lord Jesus Christ offers something infinitely greater than temporary medical care on this side of the grave. Rather, He offers us His Word and Sacraments as the antidote to death itself. Our discourse has become so politicized that not only are healthcare discussions completely spoiled by poltical partisanship, so too is even discussing Jesus and salvation itself.
My interlocutor stopped up his ears because of his perception that I would not give a “loyalty oath” one way or the other regarding the Covid vaccination. And that was enough to cancel our Lord’s own words about the vaccination He offers, : an eternal vaccination that prevents everlasting death, and cures us from the very thing that results in 100% of us dying: sin.
A Facebook friend named David Clapper, who I assume is a Lutheran layman, commented on my Facebook page with a wise and astute citation from Dr. Luther’s Large Catechism, applying the label “medicine” to Holy Baptism - and I am grateful for his reminder of this poignant quote:
For consider, if there were somewhere a physician who understood the art of saving men from dying, or, even though they died, of restoring them speedily to life, so that they would thereafter live forever, how the world would pour in money like snow and rain, so that because of the throng of the rich no one could find access! But here in Baptism there is brought free to every one’s door such a treasure and medicine as utterly destroys death and preserves all men alive. (LC IV:43)
So no matter what one believes about the Covid vaccine and whether one should receive it or not, and regardless of whether one is politically Left, Right, or something else, anyone who describes himself by the adjective “Christian” should agree that the greatest vaccine of all is Christ and His free gift of eternal life. And we Lutherans - along with the other historic communions within the Church that predate the Reformation, all believe, teach, and confess that our Lord carries out His healing as our Great Physician by offering a vaccination that comes to us packaged sacramentally.
Take the vaccine!
Tuesday Apr 13, 2021
Tuesday Apr 13, 2021
Racism has become a household word, dividing our country, our churches, and our families and friends. In this episode, Larry Beane and I discuss the postmodern roots of the modern race and culture debates, and how they are influencing the voice of the church. In Part 2, we look at what the Bible says about racism and what it has to say about the modern usage of the charge "Racist."
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Tuesday Apr 13, 2021
Tuesday Apr 13, 2021
The Disruption
There is an online TV series called The Chosen that is about the life of our Lord and His disciples. I decided to watch it and write not so much a formal review as a response of my impression of it. I fully expected it to be bad, given Hollywood and Christian filmmaking in general. But I was pleasantly surprised.
Most confessional Lutherans probably won’t like it - at least not at first glance - but I actually do. I’m well beyond the age of trying to fit in. It is one of the few benefits of getting old.
We Lutherans are often sticklers for historical accuracy, and in many ways, this series accurately conveys the first century Greco-Roman world: the geography, level of technology, the various groups of people and stations in life, etc. Some of my friends who are experts in military uniforms and period fabrics might disagree with me, but from my perspective as a lay observer, the screenplay is convincing and humanizes our typical mental view of the Roman world of marble statues with broken off arms and no irises in the eyes. The ancient Roman world was, in fact, colorful and vibrant, and first century urban life featured roads, shopping complexes, apartments and houses, sports arenas, schools, theaters, marketplaces, brothels, soldiers, government bureaucrats, and families with children. Some people even had running water thanks to Roman technology. Video is a medium that can “colorize” our distant, sanitized, bloodless, and dehumanized mental picture of the ancient world.
But there are non-historical details as well: Jews being portrayed as a multi-racial people (from northern-European-looking whites to African blacks), and women serving in social roles that they would not have had in the first century. While the Roman Empire was certainly multicultural, it is certainly being overplayed in The Chosen. Some of this may be a concession to the modern “woke” sensibilities - a common reality in modern filmmaking that is certainly annoying to me. However, to put a better construction on it, it may also be simple artistic license to appeal to modern viewers who come from a more multicultural way of life than Judea and Samaria of the first century - not to mention being biblically and culturally illiterate.
And this is key to understanding the series. It is not a documentary. It is not a bio-pic. It is, rather, art - and art does not always deal in literalism.
For example, the oldest icon that we have of Jesus is shown above. It is Christ the Pantocrator from St. Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai. It dates back to the mid sixth century, and is likely a copy of earlier icons that are no longer extant. This particular icon is, like the depiction of our Lord and his environs in The Chosen, both a matter of historical accuracy and of artistic license.
Upon first glance, the icon looks like a photograph. It depicts Jesus in a way that has become common in attempts at realism in illustrating our Lord: a youngish middle-eastern man with dark skin and eyes, bearded, and with a full head of hair. The details of this icon - and others like it - bear a similarity to the man on the Shroud of Turin.
But there is also an artistic deviation from the actual Jesus of history, namely the asymmetrical facial features of our Lord. This is an artistic rendering of the two natures of Christ. Nobody looking at this icon is going to believe that Jesus literally had two different sets of facial features. Moreover, He has a halo over His head, and is holding a book - anachronistically not a scroll, but rather a codex: a modern book with covers and leaves. The icon is an artist’s attempt to convey something about Jesus through the visual arts.
Christian art often makes use of such license, be it iconography or statuary, paintings or stained glass windows. Even passion plays from the middle ages that are still performed today may or may not reflect exact details. The Stations of the Cross that adorn both Roman Catholic churches and very old Lutheran churches take such artistic license in both depiction and narrative. The keys in St. Peter’s hands in medieval statuary are not made to look like first century implements.
When I say that Lutherans are sticklers for historical accuracy, that’s not always true. We tend to like anachronistic woodcuts of biblical illustrations from the 1500s and 1600s showing biblical characters dressed like German nobles and peasants, looking out over medieval castles that bear no resemblance to the clothing and the domiciles of first century Jews.
Some dour Lutherans - of which there are more than a few among the confessional and liturgical crowd - even prefer the old black and white Luther movie with its wooden, melodramatic acting than the more human and colorful Luther film of more recent vintage - even though we all know that the world did not suddenly become colorized in the late 1960s.
And what Lutheran is going to complain of an altarpiece depicting Luther and Melanchthon standing at the cross as our Lord bleeds into a chalice? This is the kind of artistic license The Chosen takes in its depiction of our Lord and His disciples.
So, we do have a tradition within Christianity and within Lutheranism for historical inaccuracy and anachronism for the sake of art.
All of that said, the dramatic portions of The Chosen that reflect actual events from the Gospels are portrayed accurately. Unlike some portrayals of Jesus (in movies and plays) there is no attempt to rewrite biblical text, nor any attempt to portray Jesus as a political figure or hippy libertine. The perspective of the screenwriters is that the Bible is true, that Jesus is both God and Man, and that the Gospels relate actual historical events that were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The main writer is Dallas Jenkins, a believing neo-Evangelical Christian. Jesus is portrayed by Jonathan Roumie, a believing Roman Catholic.
Some of our confessional brethren may grouse that the project wasn’t done by Lutherans, and I would encourage them to get going and start a film company. Unlike Jesus Christ Superstar, this production is done by people who actually believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
The pattern of the episodes is pretty standard. They begin with a flashback - whether to earlier in the character’s life, or to an episode in the Old Testament. Then the story begins in earnest. There are fictionalized backstories that are used to lead up to the biblical material. Obviously, these are not biblical narratives, but are actually quite believable as mini-narratives to fill in the gaps left by Scripture. There is a danger of people thinking that the fictional parts are biblical, which is why at the beginning of the series, the pilot episode explains this, and encourages people to read the Gospel accounts for themselves.
This approach to historical biblical fiction is taken by LCMS scholar and writer the Rev. Dr. Paul Meier - whose methodology is to write fiction that is plausible, and must not be contradictory of any biblical account. This fictionalized dialogue and made-up characters is a filmmaking device that was used in the great 1950s Cecil B. Demille biblical epics. These too were a double-edged sword, blending the Bible with speculation, but on the plus side, the great biblical narratives were in the public mind using the best movie-making technology of the time. I would argue that given the state of biblical illiteracy, we need to have biblical film - and there is no way to have a movie that doesn’t take some artistic liberties. Even Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ made ample use of fictionalized characters and plot to hold the biblical element together.
The Chosen is an introduction to Jesus for a generation that has not grown up attending Sunday School and VBS. It is a way to show people who Jesus is and what He did in His earthly sojourn - a visually pleasing artistic rendering that will hopefully interest people in learning more about the faith.
What I think is especially well done is showing Jesus as a disruptor.
”Disruption” is kind of a buzzword in the world of business and project management today. As technology rapidly changes, the way we work is constantly being disrupted - by things like the Internet, smartphones, and even the Covid pandemic. Rapidly shifting paradigms are foisted upon us quickly and in ways that are sometimes unpredictable. And in the world of business, it is sink or swim, change or be left behind.
The incarnation of our Lord was just such a disruption.
Jesus was not just one more apocalyptic preacher among many. Anyone and anyone who came into contact with Him had (and has) their lives turned upside down. This is, of course, revealed in the Gospels. But the true impact of this disruption is hard to visualize from reading the Gospel texts. We are constantly told that people are “amazed” and “marvel” at Him - but the impact of this amazement is hard to convey in simple Koine Greek words. The preaching, teaching, miracles, and ministry of Jesus were like bombs going off, sending shrapnel everywhere, completely turning everything upside down and inside out. And this impact was universally felt among His disciples, His detractors, the Pharisees, members of the Council, the Romans, the Jews, the Samaritans, the lepers, the multitudes gathered to hear Him speak, the angels, the demons, the sick and afflicted, the prideful, the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the mothers and fathers, the children, the family members of everyone who witnessed our Lord’s signs and wonders, in the synagogue, in the temple, in the marketplace, at the dinner table - everyone and everywhere our Lord touched became indelibly changed.
The Chosen does a magnificent job of this, humanizing the reactions of people who are seeing the miracle of the Incarnation in real time. The emotional responses of the people who are forgiven, healed, and brought into the kingdom are extremely believable and powerful.
The portrayal of our Lord is also well-done. He doesn’t come across as a 1970s stoner as in The Greatest Story Ever Told. He isn’t a confused and tragic figure like in Jesus Christ, Superstar. He isn’t wooden or aloof. But nor is he a buffoon or clown. He is deadly serious when teaching about the kingdom, but He also has a playful side, at ease with all kinds of people, and displaying a dry sense of humor. His compassion is not sappy or effeminate, but manly and entirely believable.
The disciples’ characters are delightfully complex - just as real people are. There is a backstory of Peter and Andrew resorting to desperate measures to raise money to pay the crippling Roman taxes - which leads to the Lord’s miracle of the massive catch of fish when Peter was about to lose everything. As part of this narrative, Matthew, the despised tax collector, who is portrayed as a bit autistic, with a bit of OCD - witnesses things that his logical mind cannot conceive, and he abruptly leaves his cushy job with the Romans - which also made Him hated by the Jews. Matthew is later seen with his old ledger, writing things down as He follows Jesus.
I do think the Mary Magdalene character is overplayed, as she is portrayed a little too closely to being one of the twelve, in my opinion. But season one has just ended, and at this point in the narrative, our Lord hasn’t even called all of His inner circle of disciples who will become apostles. We will have to see how her character is played out. In The Gospel of John, an otherwise well-done movie that uses the conversational NLT translation as the script itself, includes our Lord laying hands on Mary with the disciples after His resurrection.
One of the best characters is Nicodemus. His nighttime meeting with Jesus is beautifully portrayed, showing the complexity of Nicodemus’s position as “the teacher of Israel” who is so close to the kingdom. The John 3 dialogue is faithful to the text, while conveying the human element of the interplay between our Lord and the conflicted Nicodemus - whose life has been forever disrupted by Jesus.
This episode begins with a flashback to Moses and the bronze serpent, as our Lord refers back to this incident in His John 3 meeting with Nicodemus.
The incident of our Lord and the Samaritan woman at the well is also well-done. That episode begins with a fictionalized backstory of her life, and why she was alone at the well in the heat of the day and not in the morning with a group of other women to draw water. Again, it is a reasonable reconstruction of possible events.
As Christianity becomes further and further in the rear-view mirror in our culture and society, as the church is pressed to the margins and expelled from impolite society, as cancel culture spreads and the institutions of society become increasingly hostile to the Gospel, we do well to go on the counterattack, to place modern-day icons in the view of those who need to hear the Good News, indeed, those who need to come to know Jesus. The Chosen is one arrow in the quiver of the Church’s arsenal.
The first episode of season two was released on Easter Sunday. It begins with a flash-forward to John writing his Gospel and interviewing various disciples, as well as his adopted mother, Mary, as research for his Gospel. In this episode, we see a fictionalized account of John reflecting on the creation narrative and coming up with the prologue to his Gospel.
You can watch The Chosen free of charge by downloading the app. The project is being crowdsourced, and season two is underway. If you have the app and a streaming device, such as Roku, you can watch it on your TV. It is fitting that disruptive technology should play a part in the disruption of having our Lord Jesus Christ invade the living rooms and smart phones of those who don’t know Him.
And when you remember that you are not looking at a photograph, but rather an icon - you will avoid the temptation to become fixated on anachronisms while overlooking the core narrative.
Let us pray that this series will lead people to the Word and to gathering with the Church, to Holy Baptism and the Holy Eucharist, to hearing the Gospel proclaimed in the Church! May this “moving icon” likewise show forth His two natures, His disruption of Satan and his doomed dominion over this fallen world, and may it show forth our Lord’s ministry of forgiveness, life, and salvation!
Here is a link to Season One’s trailer - with instructions for streaming to your television. And here is a link to Season Two’s trailer.
Tuesday Apr 06, 2021
Tuesday Apr 06, 2021
Preaching is central to the pastoral task. Both the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions bear witness to this. Even the vows for ordination make this plain. But do we as pastors give it the pride of place that we ought? In this episode, Dave Petersen (pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, IN, and Departmental Editor of Gottesdienst: The Journal of Lutheran Liturgy) takes a look at how pastors should make preaching great again. The first step is to admit that we could do better, that we have become lax in our preparation as well as our execution of this central duty. He uncovers the presuppositional and tangible obstacles pastors face in preaching and then gives some practical steps to take to overcome them.
Here are names of the books mentioned in this episode:
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Thursday Mar 25, 2021
Thursday Mar 25, 2021
On the Name "Lutheran."
“I ask that my name be left silent and people not call themselves Lutheran, but rather Christians. Who is Luther? The doctrine is not mine. I have been crucified for no one. St. Paul in 1 Cor. 3:4-5 would not suffer that the Christians should call themselves of Paul or of Peter, but Christian. How should I, a poor stinking bag of worms, become so that the children of Christ are named with my unholy name? It should not be dear friends. Let us extinguish all factious names and be called Christians whose doctrine we have. The pope’s men rightly have a factious name because they are not satisfied with the doctrine and name of Christ and want to be with the pope, who is their master. I have not been and will not be a master. Along with the church I have the one general teaching of Christ who alone is our master. Matt. 23:8.”— MARTIN LUTHER, 1522, *ADMONITION AGAINST INSURRECTION*
The name “Lutheran” was coined as a pejorative by the papal theologian Johann Eck some time between 1520 and 1522. It was also used by Pope Hadrian VI, the successor to Leo X. The intent was to give the impression that “Lutheranism” was a heresy named after Luther - the way “Arianism” was named after Arius, and “Montanism” was named after Montanus, etc.
The above quote, in response to this use of the term “Lutheran,” registers Dr. Luther’s vehement objection.
The word “Lutheran” never appears in our Book of Concord. The word “Evangelical”, used as an adjective to describe either our churches or our faith, appears eight times. The word “catholic” appears thirteen times (not counting its use in the ecumenical creeds). In fact, the Lutheran Church is referred to as “the true and genuine catholic Church” in the signature block of the Treatise.
And yet, with all of the above duly noted, Charles Porterfield Krauth points out, citing Gerhard, that “in the ancient Church the Arians styled those who held the true faith as Athanasians.” Of course, the popular name of the Quicunque Vult - the Athanasian Creed - uses this term “Athanasian” in this way, as Athanasius did not write it and was long dead by the time it was written. The Third Ecumenical Creed reflects the “Athanasian” faith - that is, the Orthodox, Catholic, Nicene faith - over and against the Arian faith.
We do not call ourselves Lutherans, but are so styled by our enemies, and we permit it as a token of our consent with the pure teaching of the word which Luther set forth. We suffer ourselves to bear his name, not as of one who has invented a new faith, but of one who has restored the old, and purified the Church [emphasis original].
Moreover, not all Lutheran churches in the world are called “Lutheran.” Krauth points out that:
In Poland and Hungary, the official title of our communion is ‘CHURCH OF THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION,’ and this is the name which, on the title-page of the Form [sic] of Concord, and repeatedly within it, is given to our churches.
This way of describing themselves remains true among Lutheran bodies in modern Poland and Slovakia - though neither of these church bodies is in fellowship with the LCMS.
So should we continue to use the name today?
Our confession has been known around the world as “Lutheran” for nearly five centuries. It is a kind of shorthand that identifies us as churches of the Augsburg Confession, and serves to separate us from the Reformed and Anabaptist wings of the Reformation. The name has stuck to us the way that taunts from the enemy often do in wartime, as with the British taunt of “Yankee Doodle” to mock the “Yankee” army, and with the Yankee taunt of “Rebel” to mock the Confederate “Rebels” less than a century later. Though these names were put upon them by their opponents, sometimes the name sticks - and what was intended as a banner of shame becomes a banner of solidarity.
There is a contemporary trend to eschew the name “Lutheran” in LCMS churches - although I have never seen an example of such a congregation replacing “Lutheran” with “Church of the Augsburg Confession.” In every case that I have seen, removing “Lutheran” is a distancing of the congregation from the confessional label out of fear of alienating potential new members. Perhaps it is seen as stodgy and incongruous with a more modern “spiritual but not religious” culture. Rather than adopting a historical description of our confession as an alternative to “Lutheran,”, such as “Evangelical” or “Catholic,” the move seems to be one of disassociating of oneself from the idea of being a “Lutheran” church.
I have never seen a liturgical, traditional, and confessional congregation drop the name Lutheran.
I have seen this phenomenon among “big box,” non-liturgical, and non-traditional churches. In this context, it is as though a child changes his last name because he is ashamed of his family, or especially doesn’t want to be associated with his father, or with other relatives who bear the same name. It certainly gives the impression that the name is sullied, and implies a sense of the desire to separate oneself from those who continue to be thus identified.
I know of one congregation that was recently renamed nearly a hundred years into its history, in which not only “Lutheran” was removed, but even the name of God was taken out of the non-committal, generic new name - which reflects merely the neighborhood where the church is located. Needless to say, this is not a congregation where Gottesdienst would be available to pick up in the narthex on the way out, though it was a formerly traditional congregation.
Another example is an LCMS congregation whose impressive website never mentions the word “Lutheran.” The “Who We Are” tab says that the congregation “is a place to belong as you change, and change as you follow Jesus. We want to help people realize all God has for them in a life-changing relationship with Jesus, give people a safe place to belong, and teach people what it means to follow Jesus.” Their values are: "Prayer, Applications of Scripture, Spiritual Growth, Integrity, Outreach, Families, Small Groups.” The list of values does not include the Cross, the Gospel, Holy Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, or the Resurrection. Their mission statement is equally bland and bereft of the cross, mentioning “change” and “relationship.” There are “Weekend Worship Experiences” and “Wednesday Experiences.”
Yet another example is a very old congregation that used to bear the name of one of the apostles followed by the name “Lutheran Church.” A few years ago, they made a big deal of their new generic name that has excised both the apostle’s name and the name “Lutheran.” Their website shows a huge stage as well as scenes of multitudes of laughing boomers drinking coffee in Starbuck’s style plastic cups. Their “About Us” includes their “Approach” which is fourfold: “Unconditional Acceptance, True to Life Approach, Inspiring Connections, and God Directed Journey. “ Neither Jesus nor the cross are mentioned, though they do mention “messages, music, and traditional practices like baptism and communion,” the latter of which is a twice a month affair. Under “What we believe,” there is a begrudging nod to both Lutheranism and the LCMS, as the congregation was “born out of the Lutheran (LCMS) tradition.” That kind of sounds like it is a spinoff of Lutheranism rather than an actual Lutheran church. They also acknowledge their history, beginning with the quote: “The only constant is change” and an invitation to learn more about the congregation’s history at “Legacy Hall.” Holy Communion is offered to “all who share in our profession of the Christian faith are encouraged to partake in Holy Communion, provided they
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Have received Christian Baptism (Acts 2:36-38),
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Recognize and confess their sinfulness (Proverbs 28:13; 1 John 1:8-9),
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Forgive others (Matthew 5:21-24; Matthew 6:12)
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Believe the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ are truly present, offered under forms of bread and wine (1 Corinthians 10:16; 1 Corinthians 11:27-29)
They also note that “Non-alcoholic wine is offered in the blue section of the communion trays and gluten-free wafers are also available at all communion stations for those with special needs.”
I recently ran across another LCMS parish that did not change its name, but its online presence omits the word “Lutheran” in its title and logos. This congregation’s self-description lists six “core values,” and not one of them nor their explanations mentions anything about Jesus. These “Core Values” are: “Acceptance… Compassionate Community… Spirit-Led Bible-Based Lutheran Church [that one is a surprise]… Worship… Transformation… Passing on the Passion.” At least they used the name “Lutheran” buried here in the fine print, but as for me, I think that I will indeed “pass on the passion.” They aren’t referring to the suffering and death of our Lord. The world has a very different connotation about “passion,” and it is usually a cheesy marketing word. Not only is Jesus missing from these “Core Values,” so is the Gospel.
This same congregation also lists six “Worship Values,” and they are: “Non-Judgemental [sic], Biblical Preaching, Good Music, Casual Dress, Fellowship, Fun.” I’m not sure how Law and Gospel (Biblical) preaching can happen without the judgment of the law being part of the equation, nor can I wrap my head around the “Worship Value” that worship is supposed to be “fun.” And how did something so pedestrian and banal as “Casual Dress” become one of the Six Chief Parts of Worship?
Most of the congregations that have dropped the name “Lutheran” have dropped the Lutheran liturgy, replacing it with some form of pop-culture entertainment worship, complete with a stage, drum kit, mixing boards, guitars, and emoting vocalist - calling to mind the popular non-denominational or charismatic worship that is big on ginning up emotion but light on the incarnational presence of Christ in Word and Sacrament. Many such churches that have excised the name “Lutheran” make it a point to celebrate the Sacrament of the Altar (such as it is) infrequently - not unlike those confessions that see it only as symbolic. It gives the impression that they are not only ashamed of their confessional subscription, but even of the Eucharist itself. At very least, it didn’t make the cut in the above Core Values or Worship Values.
One thing that I have noticed that binds all of these rejecters of the name Lutheran is that their worship does not call to mind our shared confession of Apology 24:1:
In our churches Mass is celebrated every Sunday and on other festivals when the sacrament is offered to those who wish for it after they have been examined and absolved. We keep traditional liturgical forms, such as the order of the lessons, prayers, vestments, etc. (Tappert translation)
Nor do they embody the spirit of the Augustana 24:1
Falsely are our churches accused of abolishing the Mass; for the Mass is retained among us, and celebrated with the highest reverence. (McCain translation)
So insofar as those who distance themselves from the name “Lutheran” - and thus distance themselves from the rest of the family who retain our old and venerable name - maybe it is a blessing that they are not readily identified as Lutheran. In removing the name Lutheran, they are mercifully relieving the rest of us of being lumped in with them, at least at first glance. Yes, indeed, there is always something to be thankful for.
At some point, perhaps they will, as St. Paul put it in Galatians 5:12, go all the way and cut themselves off in more than name only.
Tuesday Mar 23, 2021
Tuesday Mar 23, 2021
In this Gottescast, The Gottesdienst Crowd discusses the rites and ceremonies of Passiontide. David Petersen (pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, IN, and author of the recurring column "Commentary on the War" in the Gottesdienst Journal) joins us for the discussion.
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Wednesday Mar 17, 2021
Wednesday Mar 17, 2021
On the Priesthood
Those who read theology from the first fifteen hundred years of the church will find the office of the ministry referred to as the “priesthood.” In fact, I theologically appropriated the title of this post from St. John Chrysostom, whose book is still studied in seminaries. The book is about the pastoral office, not about the priesthood of all believers.
Obviously, the words “priest” and “priesthood” are nuanced and require context.
For example, ministers of Pagan religions are often called priests. Mormons and Freemasons use the term “priesthood.” Within Christianity, laymen of both sexes are also called priests. To this day, not only Roman Catholic pastors, but also ministers in the Anglican and Orthodox communions are called priests.
Some Protestants - and even some Lutherans - argue that the Old Testament Church had priests, but in the New Testament, all believers are priests - thus drawing an equivalency between the clergy and the laity. The proof text of this neo-Marcionite understanding of the “priesthood of believers” is 1 Peter 2:9:
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
The Greek translated as “royal priesthood” is “βασίλειον ἱεράτευμα.”
The Old Testament people of God are described in our English translations not as a “royal priesthood,” but rather as a “kingdom of priests” - as in Exodus 19:6, in which God directs Moses:
and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”
However, what is often unnoticed or unspoken is the fact that the Septuagint renders the expression “kingdom of priests” as “βασίλειον ἱεράτευμα”!
So it isn’t like St. Peter has created a new category of lay-priests for the New Testament Church. Rather, He is quoting Moses in Exodus 19 and applying it to the saints of the New Testament. In other words, even in the Old Testament, where Aaronic and Levitical priests held a priesthood distinct from the laity, nevertheless, even in Israel, there was a priesthood of all believers. And yet this universal priesthood did not negate the priesthood of the called and ordained ministers who were set apart by their vocation of service.
St. Paul speaks of his service in the Holy Ministry to the Gentiles as “the priestly service (Greek: ἱερουργοῦντα) of the gospel of God” (Romans 15:16).
The most commonly used word to describe one in the Office of the Holy Ministry in our Book of Concord is “priest.” And this is not merely the acceptance of the term to describe the Roman clergy, as many people claim. The expression “our priests” - meaning Lutheran priests - is found in the Augsburg Confession in Articles 23 and 24, and in the Apology in Article 14.
Some people argue that the Lutherans stopped using the term “priest” by the time of the Formula of Concord. But this is simply not true. One of the voluminous examples can be found in a recent Gottesblogpost quoting a 1616 order from a margrave regarding the conduct of the liturgy by Lutheran priests.
Some of the objection to the term has to do with the association of priesthood with sacrifice. But there is certainly a sense in which all Christians - including the clergy - offer sacrifices. Of course, these are not propitious sacrifices, not the shedding of blood as an atonement. But these are sacrifices of thanksgiving and praise, what our Book of Concord refers to as Eucharistic sacrifices. In Romans 12:1, St. Paul speaks of Christians offering themselves as “living sacrifices.”
In Lutheran church bodies where the traditional order of clergy has been retained: bishop, priest, and deacon, the term “priest” is obviously more common. You will find this in the Scandinavian, African, Baltic, Indian, and Russian Lutheran churches. This nomenclature even appears in the LCMS Reporter in an article that mentions “Swedish Lutheran priests.” It should be noted that maintaining the traditional church order of bishops, priests, and deacons was the explicit preference of the reformers, and it is stated as such in the Book of Concord (Apology 14:24):
The Fourteenth Article, in which we say that in the Church the administration of the Sacraments and Word ought to be allowed no one unless he be rightly called, they receive, but with the proviso that we employ canonical ordination. Concerning this subject we have frequently testified in this assembly that it is our greatest wish to maintain church-polity and the grades in the Church [old church-regulations and the government of bishops], even though they have been made by human authority [provided the bishops allow our doctrine and receive our priests]. For we know that church discipline was instituted by the Fathers, in the manner laid down in the ancient canons, with a good and useful intention.
I find it a distracting innovation for some modern LCMS writers to refer to the laity as the “priesthood” and the clergy as something else. It is as though in the Lutheran confession, a man is defrocked from the priesthood upon ordination. These kinds of severances from our past - both post- and pre-Reformation - give the impression that we are sectarian, or at least that we align ourselves with the radical reformation rather than the catholic chain of continuity that links us back to the apostles and to our Lord Himself.
We should not try to exert a Lutheran distinction just for the sake of it, especially when the overwhelming theme of the Book of Concord is to make the case that we are Catholic Christians in continuity from the early Church and not an innovative heresy. We don’t make that case every well when we insist on shunning the traditional terminology that Book of Concord employs.
As is typical with our Symbols, the Apology delivers the right balance between distinguishing our theology from that of our Roman Catholic adversaries, while not throwing the baby out with the bathwater in the manner of our Protestant adversaries:
“They are accordingly called priests, not in order to make any sacrifices for the people as in the Law, so that by these they may merit remission of sins for the people; but they are called to teach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments to the people.— APOLOGY 13:9-13
Nor do we have another priesthood like the Levitical, as the Epistle to the Hebrews sufficiently teaches. But if ordination be understood as applying to the ministry of the Word, we are not unwilling to call ordination a sacrament. For the ministry of the Word has God’s command and glorious promises, Rom. 1:16: The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. Likewise, Is. 55:11: So shall My Word be that goeth forth out of My mouth; it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please.
If ordination be understood in this way, neither will we refuse to call the imposition of hands a sacrament. For the Church has the command to appoint ministers, which should be most pleasing to us, because we know that God approves this ministry, and is present in the ministry [that God will preach and work through men and those who have been chosen by men].
And it is of advantage, so far as can be done, to adorn the ministry of the Word with every kind of praise against fanatical men, who dream that the Holy Ghost is given not through the Word, but because of certain preparations of their own, if they sit unoccupied and silent in obscure places, waiting for illumination, as the Enthusiasts formerly taught, and the Anabaptists now teach.”
Tuesday Mar 16, 2021
Tuesday Mar 16, 2021
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Tuesday Mar 16, 2021
Tuesday Mar 16, 2021
Passiontide
The final stage in the journey of Lent toward Easter is Passiontide, which will begin this coming Sunday. Judica is the 5th Sunday in Lent, also called “Passion Sunday.” A review of the season, its special rubrics, and its significance follows.
During Passiontide the crosses and statues are veiled, and every instance of the Gloria Patri disappears. It is appropriate that even the Trinitarian doxologies of any hymns be omitted.
A question commonly asked is “Why do we drape and cover the crosses as we get closer to Good Friday, as our attention upon the last hours and the sufferings of Our Lord increases?” We do this in part to remember that we don’t deserve even to look upon the Holy Cross. We are not worthy of the Sacrifice. The crucifix has from the earliest days of Christendom been our greatest and most cherished symbol. So it is partially taken away from us for a short time, that we might learn the better to appreciate it when it returns. The crosses are not taken away completely. They are not removed; they are covered. We can see outlines of the crosses, but their beauty and details are fuzzy. This reminds us that in a way our grief itself prevents us from seeing clearly, until the Good Friday liturgy and, of course, Easter. It also reminds us of Our Lord’s actions in response to the violence of the people, in the Gospel for Judica Sunday: the Lord “Jesus hid Himself.” That is why it is customary to place these veils not before but during the Service directly after the reading of the Gospel.
The idea of removing the Gloria Patri is much the same. Jesus revealed for us the Holy Triune Name on the day of His Ascension: this is the fullest and complete revelation of God’s Name given to men. To take away the Gloria Patri for two weeks is a bit jarring. It is particularly awkward when we omit it at the end of the Nunc Dimittis. Because this removal is so stark, it has the counterintuitive effect of drawing our attention to it. All of this is that we would learn to mortify our own flesh and to depend ever more upon the grace of God in Christ. For never, even in our most somber of ceremonies, is the Church in doubt about the end. Jesus died but is not dead. Jesus lives. Easter is coming. We wait, as it were, with bated breath. The Alleluias (which we have not sung at all throughout Lent), the Gloria Patris, the crosses, the self-denied foods: all these shall return, and because they were removed for a short time, their return becomes all the more worthy of celebration. But even better than that, we shall have them all forever when our own resurrections occur at the Last Day.
Passiontide extends through Holy Week and the Triduum Sacrum (“three holy days”—which includes Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday). The single exception to these Passiontide rubrics is that at Maundy Thursday evening mass the Greater Gloria (Gloria in Excelsis) is sung.
Then comes the close of the Maundy Thursday evening Mass, which liturgically continues throughout the Triduum. For this reason it has no Benediction.
Immediately following the Benedicamus, therefore, the celebrant and attendants remove their Eucharistic Vestments, the Altar is stripped, and any remaining Sanctuary decorations are removed, while the congregation sings a Psalm (traditionally, Psalm 22, without Gloria). The only remaining items in the Sanctuary (chancel) are the immovable pieces of furniture, laid bare. The congregation departs in silence afterwards.
On Good Friday, all remains bare, although a minimal use of linens is acceptable and proper if the Sacrament is celebrated during this time; and indeed some parishes have an entire set of black paraments for this day. The presiding minister or celebrant and his attendants enter in silence and prostrate themselves before the entrance to the Sanctuary (chancel) while silently praying a psalm, such as Psalm 51. The silence is deep. The opening collect for Good Friday is appropriately a prayer for “this Thy family,” suggesting a funeral. During the Service even the customary introductions and responses are removed from the readings. The organ is not played; all singing is a capella. Silence is kept at various times throughout. The entire atmosphere is somber, as befits a solemn funeral. Afterwards the congregation departs in silence. The prevailing mood is one of utterly humble gratitude.
The intensity thus builds from Passion Sunday until the Great Vigil of Easter on Holy Saturday, when we finally arrive with the women at the empty tomb to observe, during the Service, the point at which Lent ends and Easter begins.
Throughout Passiontide, which leads intensely to its close, there are therefore additional modes of “fasting,” although we hasten to add that it is never appropriate to “fast” from the Blessed Sacrament, since we confess that even in our darkest moments Christ is always with us, especially when we arrive at the Altar. He is always there for us in His life-giving, sin-forgiving, holy Body and Blood.
At the very conclusion of Passiontide and of Lent itself, the lights are turned up and the announcement breaks forth, “Christ is risen!” to which comes the hearty reply, “He is risen indeed. Alleluia!” The special rubrics and detail of Passiontide serve to make this moment and all that follows the more heartfelt and festive.