All those ceremonies!
All those extravagant, impractical, and unnecessary ceremonies.
All the bending and kneeling and adoring of Jesus.
All the weeping at His beautiful feet.
All the wetting and the washing of His feet.
All the drying of His feet with her hair.
All the kissing of His feet.
And, then, all that perfume, poured out upon His feet.
Pretentious? Presumptuous? Hypocritical? Legalistic?
No, but for this reason I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; for she loves much, and her love testifies to her faith in the Lord's forgiveness of her sins. She knows where to find and worship the Lord her God, because this Man, Christ Jesus, is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The Kingdom of God is at hand in Him. There is forgiveness and salvation found in no one else. Therefore, both faith and love lay hold of the one true God in the Body of the incarnate Son.
The Pharisee says, "How dare she!?" But Jesus says, "She loves Me!."
The crowd complains, "Who is this guy!?" But the woman says, "He is my Savior!" Except, she says it, she confesses her faith in Christ and expresses her love for Him, not with words in this case, but with her lavish actions of adoration and grateful devotion. With her ceremonies.
Our Confessions rightly point to this woman as an example of the true worship of God by faith: For it is in this way that God wants to be worshiped, that is, not by attempts to give Him anything, but by the faith that seeks forgiveness and salvation in Christ Jesus. Amen. But the Confessions also note, as the Lord Jesus expressly reveals, that the woman's faith and true worship are demonstrated and manifest in her love for Him. She is not saved by her ceremonies, but her ceremonies belong to her salvation by faith in Christ Jesus.
What she did was not practical, pragmatic, or productive. It wasn't necessary. She did not "have" to do it. But it did profess Christ Jesus, and, in professing Him, it was pedagogical in catechizing us. The Lord Himself receives her ceremonies of love, and commends them as evidence of her faith and life and salvation in Him; for they are but the overflowing of His great love for her, and the evidence of His faithfulness toward her.
Another woman, Mary of Bethany, closely follows the example of this woman and her ceremonies. If it had been somewhat spontaneous the first time, had it actually become some kind of ritual thereafter? There is no need or point to conjecture. We are not bound to do any of these things, nor could we do them, exactly, in the way those faithful women were able to do then. We may, and should, wash our Lord's feet in the feet of His disciples, that is, by works of love and gifts of charity for our neighbors. The same Lord is also present for us, to love us and serve us, to forgive us and save us, in His means of grace, in His Word and Sacrament, in His Body and His Blood. We love Him, because He first loves us. And so we worship and adore Him in the House and at the Table where His Body is found and given for us.
When that second woman had the audacity to anoint the beautiful feet of Jesus with costly perfume, and she was accused of extravagance and waste, the Lord praised her worship as befitting His Cross and Passion, and, He said, wherever in the world His Gospel is preached, what she did for Him would be remembered.
All those ceremonies.
Showing posts with label Faith and Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Faith and Life. Show all posts
Monday, June 17, 2013
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Is Article 21 Still Relevant to Lutherans?
By Larry Beane
Everyone has noticed how hard it is to turn our thoughts to God when everything is going well with us. We "have all we want" is a terrible saying when "all" does not include God. We find God an interruption." As St. Augustine says somewhere, "God wants to give us something, but cannot, because our hands are full - there's nowhere for Him to put it." Or as a friend of mine said, "We regard God as an airman regards his parachute; it's there for emergencies but he hopes he'll never have to use it." Now God, who has made us, knows what we are and that our happiness lies in Him.
~ C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
Perhaps the reason why so many modern men and women are having difficulty integrating their lives, and thereby finding meaning and satisfying relationships, is because they are confused about the roles which their work, their play, and their worship are playing in their lives.
~ Gordon Dahl (quoted in Leisure, Play, and Reflections on Recreation by David L. Jewell)
I think a lot of people have a tough time figuring out where to "put" God in their lives, how to integrate faith with their work and leisure time. We see this in the culture that surrounds us.
This newspaper article not only deals with liturgy - if only in passing - it invokes (in a certain sense) Article 21 of the Augsburg Confession (The Cult of the Saints). I'm obviously being a little tongue-in-cheek here, but only a little. In our culture, entertainment, rather than worship, is what drives architects and builders to fashion magnificent towering structures, and is also what impels people by the thousands to fill them.
When do cultural phenomena cross that thin line from just having a little good clean fun, having an innocent distraction from the worries of the workplace, to being rank idolatry? The question is especially poignant when popular culture intersects with Christ in the Church's worship and in the hearts and minds of believers? In this sense, does Article 21 still have something to say to us Lutherans - especially here in America?
Article 21 is indeed about something good (the veneration of the saints) being corrupted into something bad (the worship of the saints). At its core, Article 21 is really a practical application of Commandment 1. And for modern Lutherans, I wonder if we make a good connection with Article 21 any more, or do we see it just as a hammer with which to bash our Roman Catholic brethren over the heads. For though we might not pray to the Blessed Virgin or ask St. Anthony to help us find our car keys, I think we Lutherans (being poor miserable sinners) also must be careful that we don't "drop the ball" when it comes to raising veneration of creatures and creaturely luxuries - and even innocent distractions - to the status of worship.
And this phenomenon is not just a New Orleans thing - though we in this particularly Roman Catholic region of America often make explicit use of Christian terminology applied to sports - sometimes even blasphemously.
At its heart, Article 21 is about (as Luther said somewhere) letting "God be God," and not crossing lines that should not be crossed. There is indeed much by way of pastoral wisdom to ponder on this topic.
Everyone has noticed how hard it is to turn our thoughts to God when everything is going well with us. We "have all we want" is a terrible saying when "all" does not include God. We find God an interruption." As St. Augustine says somewhere, "God wants to give us something, but cannot, because our hands are full - there's nowhere for Him to put it." Or as a friend of mine said, "We regard God as an airman regards his parachute; it's there for emergencies but he hopes he'll never have to use it." Now God, who has made us, knows what we are and that our happiness lies in Him.
~ C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
Perhaps the reason why so many modern men and women are having difficulty integrating their lives, and thereby finding meaning and satisfying relationships, is because they are confused about the roles which their work, their play, and their worship are playing in their lives.
~ Gordon Dahl (quoted in Leisure, Play, and Reflections on Recreation by David L. Jewell)
I think a lot of people have a tough time figuring out where to "put" God in their lives, how to integrate faith with their work and leisure time. We see this in the culture that surrounds us.
This newspaper article not only deals with liturgy - if only in passing - it invokes (in a certain sense) Article 21 of the Augsburg Confession (The Cult of the Saints). I'm obviously being a little tongue-in-cheek here, but only a little. In our culture, entertainment, rather than worship, is what drives architects and builders to fashion magnificent towering structures, and is also what impels people by the thousands to fill them.
When do cultural phenomena cross that thin line from just having a little good clean fun, having an innocent distraction from the worries of the workplace, to being rank idolatry? The question is especially poignant when popular culture intersects with Christ in the Church's worship and in the hearts and minds of believers? In this sense, does Article 21 still have something to say to us Lutherans - especially here in America?
Article 21 is indeed about something good (the veneration of the saints) being corrupted into something bad (the worship of the saints). At its core, Article 21 is really a practical application of Commandment 1. And for modern Lutherans, I wonder if we make a good connection with Article 21 any more, or do we see it just as a hammer with which to bash our Roman Catholic brethren over the heads. For though we might not pray to the Blessed Virgin or ask St. Anthony to help us find our car keys, I think we Lutherans (being poor miserable sinners) also must be careful that we don't "drop the ball" when it comes to raising veneration of creatures and creaturely luxuries - and even innocent distractions - to the status of worship.
And this phenomenon is not just a New Orleans thing - though we in this particularly Roman Catholic region of America often make explicit use of Christian terminology applied to sports - sometimes even blasphemously.
At its heart, Article 21 is about (as Luther said somewhere) letting "God be God," and not crossing lines that should not be crossed. There is indeed much by way of pastoral wisdom to ponder on this topic.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
The Baptism and Chalice of Christ
For those pastors and congregations using the Three-Year Lectionary, the Holy Gospel appointed for this Sunday (Lent 5, Series B) is from the 10th chapter of St. Mark. It is a pivotal point in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The immediate context includes His Word concerning marriage and divorce; His encounter with the rich young man (John Mark); and His healing of blind Bartimaeus at Jericho. And at the center of this significant chapter, in this Sunday's Holy Gospel, is the Lord's clear forthtelling of His Cross and Passion, His response to the bold request of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, and His preaching of His sacrificial servanthood as the ransom for us all.
It is profoundly significant that our Lord describes His forthcoming Cross and Passion, the culmination of His earthly life, in terms of the Holy Sacraments: It is the Baptism with which He is baptized, and the Chalice which He drinks. Not only that, but the faith and life of His disciples is a matter of being baptized with His Baptism and of drinking His Chalice. It is by the sharing of these Sacraments of His Cross and Passion that His disciples live with Him in the glory of His Kingdom. Only, what is death for Him, and judgment and the wrath of God, is forgiveness and life and salvation for His disciples. Everything crescendos, for Him and for us, in Holy Baptism and the Holy Communion. St. Paul also says as much in his discussion of Holy Baptism in Romans 6, and in his discussion of the Holy Communion in 1 Corinthians 10 and 11.
Such sacramental emphases have served as an important key to my reading and preaching of the Gospel. Indeed, it has seemed obvious to me that the Church's faith and life are founded on the Sacrament of Holy Baptism and centered in the Sacrament of the Altar. For these are the very things that define our Lord's own life and ministry, even unto His death upon the Cross. Of course, the Sacraments would be nothing apart from His Cross and Resurrection, but, the fact is, they could not be more intimately united than they are with that great Victory of Christ, our Paschal Lamb who sets us free. We are baptized into His death, and we eat the Feast of His sacrifice — His body given, His blood poured out — proclaiming His death until He comes.
From time to time, I have wondered and worried whether this sacramental understanding of the Scriptures, and of the Christian faith and life, were simply my own perspective or idiosyncrasy. If so, that would not be a good thing; for true theology is not overly clever, unique or peculiar, but consistent with the teaching and confession of the Church catholic. There is always the danger that what seems very clear to one or another of us, may have more to do with our own imperfect perceptions than with the sure and certain Word of Christ. Thus, we do not stand alone in our reading and preaching of the Scriptures, but we abide within the House that our wise Lord Jesus Christ has built upon the Rock. Attempting to stand upon the Rock outside of that House will only get us swept away by the storms of life that rage against us.
With those concerns in mind, I have been encouraged, as well as edified, by my reading of the early church fathers. For there, too, I have found (or, rather, received) a beautifully consistent sacramental emphasis, over and over again, in one father after another, from the "Apostolic Fathers" to the great champions of the first three ecumenical councils (Nicaea, Constantinople, and Ephesus). Not systematic treatises on the doctrine of the Sacraments, but a decisively and distinctively sacramental view of faith and life. For the fathers, it is clear, Holy Baptism and the Holy Communion are not simply practiced as a given in the life of the Church; but, as such, they actually serve to shape and define the Christian's life in the world. Perhaps the following examples and broad summaries will illustrate what I mean.
For St. Ignatius of Antioch and St. Polycarp of Smyrna (early second century), participation in the Sacrament of the Altar is a real participation in the fruits of Christ's Passion; which means the theology of the Cross. Eating and drinking the crucified body and shed blood of Christ, the Lord, conforms one's own body to bear the cross and to suffer for the sake of holy love. The culmination of the Christian life and discipleship, therefore, is expressed and experienced especially in martyrdom, as Ignatius anticipates for himself in writing his seven letters, and as Polycarp demonstrates in his own heroic martyrdom. And for those who are not put to death in this way, even so, their bodies are offered as a living sacrifice of love within their own proper vocations. Either way, the Christian who lives and dies by faith in Christ becomes a kind of holy wheat, ground into eucharistic bread, and fills up the chalice of suffering.
For St. Irenaeus of Lyons (late second century), the Sacrament of the Altar demonstrates and testifies to the goodness of God's Creation, since He gives to us the very Body and Blood of His incarnate Son by way of the created gifts of bread and wine. As such, participation in the Holy Communion is a sharing in the bodily reality of the Incarnation. This Sacrament transforms the Christian's mortal flesh and blood into the image and likeness of Christ, in preparation for and anticipation of the Resurrection of the body to the life everlasting. In the meantime, along with giving thanks (eucharistia) for God's good gifts of Creation, the Christian already lives by faith and love precisely in and with his body, within his vocations in the world, serving his neighbors according to their own bodily needs. This charity of the body is one of the key things that sets the orthodox Christians apart from the various gnostic sects.
Likewise, for St. Justin Martyr (mid-second century) and Tertullian of Carthage (early third century), the remarkable love of the Christians for one another and for their neighbors — the community and charity of the Church — is rooted in and inseparable from the gathering of the Christians for the Divine Service of the Word and Sacrament. It is in that liturgical context that alms are gathered; and as the deacons distribute the body and blood of Christ to the faithful in the congregation, so do they distribute the Church's charity to the poor and needy in the world.
Tertullian eloquently emphasizes that the soul is neither cleansed nor redeemed apart from the body. For the body is washed in the waters of Holy Baptism, and it is fed with the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus in the Sacrament of the Altar. Thus, the life of the Christian in the body is significant; it is in and with the body that faith and love are exercised.
For both Tertullian and Origen of Alexandria (also third century), the sacramental oath of Baptism defines the Christian life in contrast to the idolatry of the world and its temptations. For the renunciation of the devil, all his works and all his ways, and the confession of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, completely redefine the Christian's relationship to the entire world in which he lives. These rites and ceremonies of Holy Baptism testify to a clear distinction between faith and unbelief, between life and death. There simply is no middle ground between darkness and light, no place for any compromise on the part of a Christian. His participation in the Baptism and Cup of Christ necessarily rule out a participation in the demonic rites and ceremonies of the pagans.
By the same token, St. Cyprian of Carthage (mid-third century) warns that, for those who have renounced the faith by sacrificing to idols and participating in the altars of demons, it is not only wrong but dangerous and deadly to participate in the Holy Communion apart from repentance. There is a very tangible and practical seriousness about all of this, and therefore an equally serious practice of pastoral care for those who have fallen, that they may be healed and restored. And restoration to the Church means, specifically, restoration to the Holy Communion.
Cyprian understands that a common sharing in the Body and Blood of Christ constitutes the unity of His Church. It is, indeed, the Holy Communion of all His saints in His one Body, by their participation in these holy things of His Body and His Blood. Even the elements of the Sacrament signify this: As the bread is made from many grains of wheat, and the wine produced from many grapes, and these are gathered from hither and yon into one Meal of Christ, so are His disciples called and gathered from all nations into His one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
For St. Athanasius of Alexandria, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, the Cappadocian Fathers, and St. Cyril of Alexandria (in the fourth and fifth centuries), the Incarnation of the Son of God by the Word and Spirit of God — and especially His conception in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary — is foundational for the parallel mystery of His Holy Communion. Therein bread and wine, again by the Word and Spirit of God, become the selfsame body and blood of Christ that were conceived and born of St. Mary, in which He also suffered and died under Pontious Pilate. Likewise, the reception of this Body and Blood of the incarnate Lord Jesus Christ, crucified and risen for us men and our salvation, tranforms our mortal flesh and blood through communion with Him, and so also vivifies our bodies for life with Him, both here in time and hereafter in the Resurrection.
One of the Cappadocian Fathers, St. Basil the Great (mid-fourth century), beautifully explains that the Church's theology is confessed and practiced and manifested in her doxology. That very point is particularly obvious in Basil's eucharistic rite, which celebrates by way of thanksgiving his confession of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Specifically, the saving work of the Holy Trinity continuously culminates for us Christians in the Sacrament of the Altar, wherein the Holy Spirit reveals the incarnate Son of the Father to us, and whereby we are brought to the Father through Christ in the Spirit. Thus, where others theorize and speculate, Basil prays and praises and gives thanks, and he receives the Holy Communion.
It is not only implicit in Basil's eucharistic rite, but explicit in his great treatise On the Holy Spirit. There he persistently maintains that the foundation for all Christian prayer and doxology is the form and confession of Holy Baptism, as taught and given to us by Christ. That is to say, we are to pray in accordance with that great confession of the faith into which we have been baptized: in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Having brought us through the water by His Name, the Lord is our strength and our song, for He has become our salvation.
It is profoundly significant that our Lord describes His forthcoming Cross and Passion, the culmination of His earthly life, in terms of the Holy Sacraments: It is the Baptism with which He is baptized, and the Chalice which He drinks. Not only that, but the faith and life of His disciples is a matter of being baptized with His Baptism and of drinking His Chalice. It is by the sharing of these Sacraments of His Cross and Passion that His disciples live with Him in the glory of His Kingdom. Only, what is death for Him, and judgment and the wrath of God, is forgiveness and life and salvation for His disciples. Everything crescendos, for Him and for us, in Holy Baptism and the Holy Communion. St. Paul also says as much in his discussion of Holy Baptism in Romans 6, and in his discussion of the Holy Communion in 1 Corinthians 10 and 11.
Such sacramental emphases have served as an important key to my reading and preaching of the Gospel. Indeed, it has seemed obvious to me that the Church's faith and life are founded on the Sacrament of Holy Baptism and centered in the Sacrament of the Altar. For these are the very things that define our Lord's own life and ministry, even unto His death upon the Cross. Of course, the Sacraments would be nothing apart from His Cross and Resurrection, but, the fact is, they could not be more intimately united than they are with that great Victory of Christ, our Paschal Lamb who sets us free. We are baptized into His death, and we eat the Feast of His sacrifice — His body given, His blood poured out — proclaiming His death until He comes.
From time to time, I have wondered and worried whether this sacramental understanding of the Scriptures, and of the Christian faith and life, were simply my own perspective or idiosyncrasy. If so, that would not be a good thing; for true theology is not overly clever, unique or peculiar, but consistent with the teaching and confession of the Church catholic. There is always the danger that what seems very clear to one or another of us, may have more to do with our own imperfect perceptions than with the sure and certain Word of Christ. Thus, we do not stand alone in our reading and preaching of the Scriptures, but we abide within the House that our wise Lord Jesus Christ has built upon the Rock. Attempting to stand upon the Rock outside of that House will only get us swept away by the storms of life that rage against us.
With those concerns in mind, I have been encouraged, as well as edified, by my reading of the early church fathers. For there, too, I have found (or, rather, received) a beautifully consistent sacramental emphasis, over and over again, in one father after another, from the "Apostolic Fathers" to the great champions of the first three ecumenical councils (Nicaea, Constantinople, and Ephesus). Not systematic treatises on the doctrine of the Sacraments, but a decisively and distinctively sacramental view of faith and life. For the fathers, it is clear, Holy Baptism and the Holy Communion are not simply practiced as a given in the life of the Church; but, as such, they actually serve to shape and define the Christian's life in the world. Perhaps the following examples and broad summaries will illustrate what I mean.
For St. Ignatius of Antioch and St. Polycarp of Smyrna (early second century), participation in the Sacrament of the Altar is a real participation in the fruits of Christ's Passion; which means the theology of the Cross. Eating and drinking the crucified body and shed blood of Christ, the Lord, conforms one's own body to bear the cross and to suffer for the sake of holy love. The culmination of the Christian life and discipleship, therefore, is expressed and experienced especially in martyrdom, as Ignatius anticipates for himself in writing his seven letters, and as Polycarp demonstrates in his own heroic martyrdom. And for those who are not put to death in this way, even so, their bodies are offered as a living sacrifice of love within their own proper vocations. Either way, the Christian who lives and dies by faith in Christ becomes a kind of holy wheat, ground into eucharistic bread, and fills up the chalice of suffering.
For St. Irenaeus of Lyons (late second century), the Sacrament of the Altar demonstrates and testifies to the goodness of God's Creation, since He gives to us the very Body and Blood of His incarnate Son by way of the created gifts of bread and wine. As such, participation in the Holy Communion is a sharing in the bodily reality of the Incarnation. This Sacrament transforms the Christian's mortal flesh and blood into the image and likeness of Christ, in preparation for and anticipation of the Resurrection of the body to the life everlasting. In the meantime, along with giving thanks (eucharistia) for God's good gifts of Creation, the Christian already lives by faith and love precisely in and with his body, within his vocations in the world, serving his neighbors according to their own bodily needs. This charity of the body is one of the key things that sets the orthodox Christians apart from the various gnostic sects.
Likewise, for St. Justin Martyr (mid-second century) and Tertullian of Carthage (early third century), the remarkable love of the Christians for one another and for their neighbors — the community and charity of the Church — is rooted in and inseparable from the gathering of the Christians for the Divine Service of the Word and Sacrament. It is in that liturgical context that alms are gathered; and as the deacons distribute the body and blood of Christ to the faithful in the congregation, so do they distribute the Church's charity to the poor and needy in the world.
Tertullian eloquently emphasizes that the soul is neither cleansed nor redeemed apart from the body. For the body is washed in the waters of Holy Baptism, and it is fed with the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus in the Sacrament of the Altar. Thus, the life of the Christian in the body is significant; it is in and with the body that faith and love are exercised.
For both Tertullian and Origen of Alexandria (also third century), the sacramental oath of Baptism defines the Christian life in contrast to the idolatry of the world and its temptations. For the renunciation of the devil, all his works and all his ways, and the confession of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, completely redefine the Christian's relationship to the entire world in which he lives. These rites and ceremonies of Holy Baptism testify to a clear distinction between faith and unbelief, between life and death. There simply is no middle ground between darkness and light, no place for any compromise on the part of a Christian. His participation in the Baptism and Cup of Christ necessarily rule out a participation in the demonic rites and ceremonies of the pagans.
By the same token, St. Cyprian of Carthage (mid-third century) warns that, for those who have renounced the faith by sacrificing to idols and participating in the altars of demons, it is not only wrong but dangerous and deadly to participate in the Holy Communion apart from repentance. There is a very tangible and practical seriousness about all of this, and therefore an equally serious practice of pastoral care for those who have fallen, that they may be healed and restored. And restoration to the Church means, specifically, restoration to the Holy Communion.
Cyprian understands that a common sharing in the Body and Blood of Christ constitutes the unity of His Church. It is, indeed, the Holy Communion of all His saints in His one Body, by their participation in these holy things of His Body and His Blood. Even the elements of the Sacrament signify this: As the bread is made from many grains of wheat, and the wine produced from many grapes, and these are gathered from hither and yon into one Meal of Christ, so are His disciples called and gathered from all nations into His one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
For St. Athanasius of Alexandria, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, the Cappadocian Fathers, and St. Cyril of Alexandria (in the fourth and fifth centuries), the Incarnation of the Son of God by the Word and Spirit of God — and especially His conception in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary — is foundational for the parallel mystery of His Holy Communion. Therein bread and wine, again by the Word and Spirit of God, become the selfsame body and blood of Christ that were conceived and born of St. Mary, in which He also suffered and died under Pontious Pilate. Likewise, the reception of this Body and Blood of the incarnate Lord Jesus Christ, crucified and risen for us men and our salvation, tranforms our mortal flesh and blood through communion with Him, and so also vivifies our bodies for life with Him, both here in time and hereafter in the Resurrection.
One of the Cappadocian Fathers, St. Basil the Great (mid-fourth century), beautifully explains that the Church's theology is confessed and practiced and manifested in her doxology. That very point is particularly obvious in Basil's eucharistic rite, which celebrates by way of thanksgiving his confession of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Specifically, the saving work of the Holy Trinity continuously culminates for us Christians in the Sacrament of the Altar, wherein the Holy Spirit reveals the incarnate Son of the Father to us, and whereby we are brought to the Father through Christ in the Spirit. Thus, where others theorize and speculate, Basil prays and praises and gives thanks, and he receives the Holy Communion.
It is not only implicit in Basil's eucharistic rite, but explicit in his great treatise On the Holy Spirit. There he persistently maintains that the foundation for all Christian prayer and doxology is the form and confession of Holy Baptism, as taught and given to us by Christ. That is to say, we are to pray in accordance with that great confession of the faith into which we have been baptized: in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Having brought us through the water by His Name, the Lord is our strength and our song, for He has become our salvation.
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