Daily And Richly

Why does the Pastor forgive our sins?  What is absolution?

Because that is his job.  A pastor, as a minister of the Gospel, is responsible to proclaim forgiveness full and free for repentant sinners because of Jesus.  The pastor does not have the right to deny forgiveness to those who confess and repent of their sins.  To not proclaim this forgiveness after we have all confessed our sin is to deny it by omission.  It does us no good to admit we are sinners and in need of grace if there is no grace for us to receive.  The forgiveness given to us by the Pastor completes this introductory rite to worship by giving us a profound picture of Christian faith:  Man is a sinner (the Law), but Christ is our Savior (the Gospel).  Our hearts are so prone to forget this and get back on the treadmill of trying to please God and earn his favor that is crucial to have this reminder at the beginning of every worship service that forgiveness is both full and free in Christ.  Everything we do in worship confesses something.  The confession of sin is where we admit our (ongoing) need for Christ and His grace, and in the absolution, the Pastor confesses the goodness of God in delighting to show mercy, assuring us that the “broken and contrite heart I will not cast out.”  The absolution is given for the comfort of sinners burdened with a guilty conscience.  This ought to include all Christians, if they believe the words of God’s law and understand how far we fall short of the life that God calls us to live.  We like to talk about our “personal relationship with God,” but we must always remember that healthy relationships are impossible without forgiveness.  When we fail to fear, love, and trust in God as we ought, this is an expression of unbelief.  Since faith is the foundation of our relationship with God, we need to have this doubt between us dealt with.  When we are absolved of our sins, God is proclaiming that our unbelief does not stand in the way of His unconditional love for us, in order that our faith might be strengthened.  We will explore Absolution and the Pastor’s role in it more next week.

From the Small Catechism:  On the Third Article of the Creed:  I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers, and at the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ everlasting life. This is most certainly true.

Singing the Wondrous Story

Our Pastor gave me a hymn to sing for last Sunday's hymn of the day.  I was instantly taken by it.  It says everything a good sermon would need to say about the Gospel text of the day.  The text of the day was the parable of the Good Samaritan.  This story is far too often wielded as a moralistic club, where the Pastor beats you up for not being caring enough and showing enough compassion to random hurting strangers or enemies (as if we were capable of really doing enough good in such a needy world).

This hymn illustrates a good law/gospel exploration of the major themes of the story.  You can't sing these words and not be comforted by the reassurance of God's great compassion for us in sending Jesus.  This song is nothing other than good news.  LCMS Lutherans, let us be a church that is distinguished for our singing of songs that preach the Gospel!

The hymn text is written by a pastor in our district, Rev. John G. Fleischmann, and the title is "My Neighbor."  It is posted here with his permission.  Following is a bit more humorous take on the telling of this parable.

Unclean and battered, torn by sin

By things I do, my thoughts within,

I lie there bloodied on life's road

With death and sin my only load.

Across that road the world passed by

Turning a deaf ear to my cry,

No help they give, they could not save

And so they left me for my grave.

And, what of me, when I saw need?  

Did I my Savior's bidding heed?

Too often on the other side

I've walked away because of pride.

Sin bleeds from me and stops my breath, 

In Adam all I know is death;

My works are rage, my offerings vain,

From dust I came in dust remain.

But in my need my Savior died,

Not passing on the other side.

Rebreathed His Spirit in my dust,

Bound up my wounds, declared me just.

Now safe within His Church I'm free;

Blood, Water, Spirit plead for me,

The Ark of God, the Inn of Grace

Where I behold my Father's face.

May I in Christ my neighbor know

Binding his wounds serves Christ below.

Your love for him make plain through me,

That he may, too, your Glory see.

You loved me when I could not love,

For my sin barred me from above.

In Christ my love is now set free,

O praise and bless the Trinity.

Reasons 1b: Law and Gospel continued...

Enter Law and Gospel. This is a method pioneered by Martin Luther, and systematized by later Lutheran theologians, most notably C. F. W. Walther. In a book of lectures by Walther, he sets forth the basic tenants of his method in several theses, the first of which are:

1: The doctrinal contents of the entire Holy Scriptures, both the Old and the New Testament, are made up of two doctrines differing fundamentally from each other, viz., the Law and the Gospel.

2: Only he is an orthodox teacher who not only presents all the articles of faith in accordance with Scripture, but also rightly distinguishes from each other the Law and the Gospel.

3: Rightly distinguishing the Law and the Gospel is the most difficult and highest art of Christians in general and of theologians in particular. It is taught only by the Holy Spirit in the school of experience.

4: The true knowledge of the distinction between the Law and the Gospel is not only a glorious light, affording the correct understanding of the entire Holy Scriptures, but without this knowledge Scripture is and remains a sealed book.

So all of scripture is Law or Gospel. The question then becomes, what is the law, and what is the gospel? For the purposes of this hermeneutic, some brief categorical descriptions would include:

Law: What God demands from us, Gospel: What God gives to us. Law: Our duty towards God and our neighbor, Gospel: Jesus Christ crucified for sinners.

That last one is crucial: "Gospel" is quickly becoming a junk drawer word due to "innovators" trying to bring a fresh perspective to a competitive free market religious culture. But at its core, the good new is that Jesus died for you, because you were a sinner.

How is this used in interpreting scripture?

Well, the best way to learn this is to read "Law and Gospel" by Walther, and allow him to give you point by point examples of how to rightly distinguish the two. The point is this: Without Christ crucified, there is no good news. If the death of Christ isn't given the last word, than all the sermon leaves you with is an obligation. This becomes problematic because even as disciples of Jesus we continue to sin (except John Wesley, of course!). Most evangelical sermons deliver what I like to call a "gospel sandwich." They preach the law to show you that you are a sinner, the preach the forgiveness purchased by Christ, but then once you have been offered freedom, they finish with a spiritual or practical to-do list. No matter how simple they try to make it, at least one of two rules will always apply: 1. It is impossible. At some point, you will fail to do what the preacher demands. 2: It is not enough. Could you succeed perfectly in following the suggestions of the preacher, you would still not have come anywhere close to removing sin in your life. Only Jesus can, by dying for you and nailing your sins to the cross. So leave it at that, and don't pile on guilt trips to repentant sinners, given them heavy burdens and calling it "sanctification" or "discipleship."

For a more specific example, look at the Ten Commandments. This passage of scripture, like all passages, contains simultaneously, in the same words, both the Law of God and the Gospel. How is this passage Law? It defines and summarizes our duties and obligations to God and neighbor. It gives us a brief exposition on what it means to love God with all your heart and soul and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. Therefore, this passage teaches us that you are NOT loving your neighbor IF your are stealing from him. This, by the way, was actually gracious of God to let us know. A little "gospel preview" there. However, every one of us is, at some point, a thief. "But I've never stolen!" you tell yourself. Ah, but look at the New Testament: "Anyone, therefore, who knows the good he ought to do, and doesn't do it, sins." Ok… so even if you haven't taken something that belongs to your neighbor, if a neighbor has ever been in need and you have failed to supply him when you were able to, then you have taken from him what you were morally obligated to give. Or, using the "love your neighbor as yourself" line, you have failed to help him in the manner that you would have needed were you in his shoes. Unlawful withholding is stealing in the same way that unlawful taking is.

Therefore, far from serving as a practical tip for living in peace and harmony, the commandment truly reveals how we are, in and of ourselves, utterly incapable of it.

How on earth could this possibly be good news?

First of all, look at the sequence of the commandments. The first thing God says is, "I am the Lord YOUR God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt…" etc…

He doesn't say, do things and I will be your God, he says He IS your God period. God's acceptance of His people is not dependent on their ability to live righteously. What is it dependent on then? It is dependent on the ability of somebody else to live righteously, and that person is Jesus.

So the second way that this is good news is that it begins to paint a picture of Jesus for us. Jesus never stole from anybody, and he always gave to those in need as he was able, no matter what and with no exceptions. So what if Jesus is a nice guy? Well, first of all, if Jesus was a sinner, his death couldn't possibly save you. Secondly, knowing what Jesus is like is crucial because he is the visible image of the invisible God. Therefore he paints for us a picture of who God is. And the nature and character of God is the foundation of the gospel from the beginning: If Jesus loves all and does good to all, that means God does. And if the almighty, omnipotent, all powerful creator of the universe has this kind of benevolence and good will towards his creatures, this gives us hope no matter how screwed up and sinful we are.

Thirdly, this law does, through Jesus, give to us what it without Jesus demands from us. Without Jesus, the law demands we not sin and convicts us when we do. But with Jesus, whose sinless life is credited to us as a free gift, this law becomes promise that God fulfills in, with, and through us. (In, with, and through… remember that for later points on the "Why I became a Lutheran" series…) The commandment to not steal is fulfilled IN us when Christ, through the Holy Spirit, comes to live in us and fill us with His righteousness. It is fulfilled with us as, when tempted to steal, Christ is there with us fighting the battle of temptation for us. And the command is fulfilled through us as, through the power of the Holy Spirit and faith in Christ, we not only refrain from stealing, but become unexplainably generous and giving as Christ works to make us more like Himself: Eagerly desiring to give mercy to all.

When scripture is seen through this lens, everything becomes good news. Every demand God makes on us is seen through the completed work of Christ on the cross. But instead of nullifying the commandment and using the work of Christ to make the law unnecessary, what we end up with is incentive to obey the law, comfort for our many and obvious failing to obey the law, and strength and power to grow in grace as we are continually transformed more and more into a person that is like Christ and behaves like Christ more naturally.

The law and the gospel, by this method are both proclaimed in their fullness. The big challenge is to rightly distinguish the two. Calling one the other leads to the bondage of either legalism or license.

This is a way of understanding the Bible that challenges without demanding, directs without condemning, and glorifies what God has done for us instead of what we are doing for God.

Law and Gospel: Preaching to the Left and to the Right: Sermons that make you love your Savior

Nobody preaches perfectly. Nobody has a perfect theology. Nobody understands God perfectly. This can be a source of frustration for those of us seeking truth. We long for fullness of understanding. Unfortunately, we have to live in that barbarous and torturous realm known as reality. Imperfect theology and flawed understandings of God. And when it comes to imperfect preaching, there is a trend I have noticed in America among most preachers: They tend to preach either to the left or the right of the gospel.

What do I mean by that? I am borrowing political language here, because it seems that "right" preaching churches usually end up politically right as well, and vice versa. The right and left in this illustration? Law and grace. Most preachers I have heard tend to err on emphasizing either one of these to the distortion of the other. Let's look at some examples.

Law preachers preach to the right. They preach the law of God as the definitive mark of the Christian living. We are Christian because we do this, and we don't do that. What WE DO makes us holy. Not only is this untrue, but it doesn't work either. As Robert Capon has said: “Jesus came to raise the dead. He did not come to teach the teachable; He did not come to improve the improvable; He did not come to reform the reformable. None of those things works.”

The law cannot impart eternal life. As I understand from scripture, the law brings one thing: death. And that is exactly the culture of right preaching churches: There is NO spiritual vitality. These tend to include legalist and fundamentalist churches. The KJV only crowd, bible belt Baptists, and even some more recent denominations like Calvary Chapel. The proclivity to the political right is extremely strong here. Pro-life, anti-gay marriage, intelligent design, and young earth creationism uber alles. Focus on the family and the right to bear arms.

Law sermons tend to make you feel bad about yourself. The tag line? "Jesus came and took the whoopin that you had comin, because you are just so rotten. So knock it off! Can't you see what you did to Him? Stop it already." The crucifixion of Jesus is the emphasized part of their gospel, often to the exclusion of His resurrection, ascension, and future coming.

Also in this category are many of these "fundamentalists 2.0" churches who teach the law with a smile. This is heard as: "We obey the Bible because it is helpful,” or, “Jesus loves you and [everybody else] has a wonderful plan for your life.” (“Wonderful” here potentially meaning getting eaten by lions.) These churches are apt to give you, as Pastor Tim says, "5 principles to help prevent hangnails." Our faith is all about giving you your best life now, a better marriage, perfect kids by Friday, and purpose for your life. Most of these churches could operate just fine if Jesus never even came! The ethos is that or moralistic therapeutic deism, and results from teaching the law of God by itself.

Even in Fundy 2.0 churches, after you have tried and failed to apply successfully all the "life principles" you have been learning, despair and resignation are the inevitable results. Your life will never be as fulfilling or holy as the people on the platform, and God isn’t pleased.

On the other end of the spectrum, however, we have churches who preach to the left. It is all about grace. These have slogans like "Open hearts, open minds, open wallets". They tend to be very socially active, and the singular thrust of their messages is: "God is love so let's spread a little Jesus around." Sounds pretty good right? Left preaching churches are typically in mainline denominations and progressive on gender issues. They are accepting of more people than just about anyone else, and they require very little of you. The message? Jesus came to give us love so that we can give more love to more people! Then he gave us his power to carry it out more effectively. *cue Beatles theme song: "All you need is love..." Indeed, loving is held as the essence of the Christian life. Good or thoughtful deeds are considered inherently Christian.

The problem with this? The reason we do not love isn't typically addressed: We are self centered, self exalting, God belittling sinners who are incapable of altruism. Jesus gives us His Spirit to love after we repent. But who wants to clean out all the skeletons in the closet of their life? It's much easier to give a hug and a bowl of soup. After all, Jesus wouldn't send anyone to Hell would he? He's too nice, like the fairies at Disneyland.

To their credit, these churches are known for compassion. They will stand up for anybody who needs it. They were the first to accept African Americans and women into their seminaries, and the first to ordain homosexuals. They shelter illegal immigrants and have the oldest buildings in urban areas. Their worship tends toward high church, and their denominations are constantly loosing churches who break off in groups seeking for a less progressive approach.

These communities tend to be more warm and welcoming, though they seldom have anybody under 50. They use the gender-neutral Bible translations that the Right leaning churches always rally against. Where as right-preaching churches tend to emphasize the crucifixion above all else, these churches could get by fine without much mention of it at all. Jesus was a good moral teacher and example. He opened His arms to the poorest of the poor, and so our purpose in life ought to be to eliminate poverty at all costs. They go on many crusades, but rarely for people's souls. “Thou shalt be politically correct” has been added to their ten commandments, I believe.

This category even includes the "liberalism 2.0" churches, such as "emerging" churches, were people paint pictures on the platform during the singing. The ethos seems to say, “Who cares what the church believed for 2000 years? They are obviously wrong. Let’s throw all their baggage out and finally be the first generation to actually get it right.”

Sermons in these churches tend to make you feel good about yourself and good about living. They make you want to go climb Mount Everest and join the peace core. They tend to focus on the life of Jesus more than the rest of scripture combined, emphasizing the ways he helped people. You leave these Churches feeling pretty confident that God has to love you just because He's so nice, and you're not that bad a person anyways. After all, you did volunteer at the soup kitchen last month, right? Surely that's got to count for something.

Now I have been blessed tremendously by outstanding preaching and teaching in both of these kinds of churches. I sometimes resent how these different approaches have drastically polarized the body of Christ. But I am convinced that there is a better way. We ought not to preach guilt and condemnation as a motivation to good works. Who has that ever really helped, anyways? Likewise, as fallible humans, we often need more than simply a little encouragement to stir ourselves up to love and good works. The answer is not found in either the law of God or the Grace of God, but in the right use of BOTH law and grace.

Law without grace spells doom for all, no matter how hard you try. Grace without law denies justice and lowers the greatness of God to the point that his involvement in our lives is marginally important. But if both are present and handled rightly, then the results should reflect the parable of Jesus in Luke 7:41-43:

“Then Jesus told him this story: ‘A man loaned money to two people -- 500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, cancelling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?’

Simon answered, ‘I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.’

‘That’s right,’ Jesus said.”

The law reveals to us the magnitude of our debt. Grace reveals to us the even surpassing greatness of God’s forgiveness. When both are used in right relationship to each other, the result is not a message that makes you feel bad or good about yourself. Instead, we feel good about our Savior. The highest aim of good preaching, in my opinion, should be to stir up love for Jesus.