Overheard

LCMS Pastor: "You know pastors need pastors, too. They need to hear absolution. That's why every few months I have the congregation absolve me at the beginning of the service instead of the other way around."

Amici, Lutherani, Quirites: Do you see why Gottesdienst needs to exist?

+HRC

Overcoming Sadness

This past Monday night, on the eve of the Gottesdienst conference, I sat around a table piled with food and booze alongside some fellow editors and other faithful pastors. There was much frivolity and laughter, babies and toddlers everywhere. Father Fritz Eckardt was there. He wasn’t lecturing, he was simply reflecting, talking, but we were all wishing we had notepads. He told us again of his struggles over ten years ago and even earlier. I’ve heard these stories dozens of times and never grow tired of them. I sit in his presence with no less awe and admiration than I do for the shut-in who haltingly tells of landing in Normandy in the midst of artillery fire and discovering hours later that at some point he had soiled his pants and didn’t know it.

In the midst of a particularly difficult and confused time, Father Eckardt made a profound discovery: the Psalter calmed and settled his mind. The peace that God’s Word in the Psalter gave him returned his sanity and enabled him to carry out his duties at home and parish. He said, “That is when I knew I had to memorize the Psalms.”

I knew this from him from conversations and from his writing. But it took on new tones for me. Part of that was because I have the same experience: the more I recite the Psalms the more I find them calming. Days without Matins feel as though they are about to spin out of control. But his words were still echoing in my mind the next day when Father Rick Stuckwisch said, “When I get in a funk, I find that singing, or even reading, the hymns of Paul Gerhardt calms my mind and comforts me.”

The stories aren’t the same. The struggles aren’t identical. Neither are the cures. But there is a common thread that shouldn’t be missed.

Fathers Eckardt and Stuckwisch are rightly recognized as two of our brightest, most articulate, and faithful pastors. Hundreds of us look to them for guidance and help, but like the vet who soiled himself at Normandy, their lives and ministries have had hardship and failings. Consider this, though: What happens when the vet tells you he soiled himself? Two things: it creates sympathy not derision, and it shows the character that overcomes rather than succumbs.

The vet was rightly scared and out of his mind, but he did his duty. Father Eckardt and Father Stuckwisch were rightly scared for their enemy is none other than the devil himself. They were suffering from terrible mental and spiritual anguish – as all who serve in the Office will at some point - but the Lord sustained them and brought them through with His Word. The Lord spoke to Father Eckardt, as He still does, in the Psalter, in tones and cadence that bring peace and comfort to his particular situation and personality. The hymns of Paul Gerhardt provide a parallel service to Father Stuckwisch. There, also, the Lord speaks comfort and order and purpose.

God, in His mercy, through the disciplines of daily, ordered prayer, gave custom-made and specific help in times of need to these two remarkable men. This does not mean that either man would not have been comforted by the other’s medicine. There is an objectivity to the Psalter and also to the Gerhardt hymns, but I suspect that the Psalter is better suited for Father Eckardt than it is for Father Stuckwisch, and that the hymns are better suited the other way around. Here is what we should all note: the help came, in both cases, through the purposeful habit of prayer. Ask, says the Lord, and you shall receive.

Again, they weren’t lecturing us when these things came up. But their examples are certainly instructive and encouraging. They are fathers in the faith and Office who have lived through and suffered more than others of us. What a joy it is to be with them when these things come out so naturally and unbidden! Pray the Psalter, brothers. Sing the Gerhardt hymns. Say your prayers – whether you feel like it or not. There is a promise there that has been demonstrated once again in these godly men. And if there is something akin to the Psalter or Gerhard hymns that has served you in a similar way please tell us about it in the comments.

Insisting on Adiaphora (or Not)

We do not insist on adiaphora.  That is to say, we do not insist upon what God has not required; nor do we forbid what God has not prohibited.  We are, after all, called "Gottesdienst Online," not "Adiaphora Online."  We are concerned with God's Service, not with any human pretense or presumption.  And, besides all that, as editors of a blog, we are not anyone's bishop; leastwise not here.  That's not who we are, nor what we do.

To be sure, we do advocate and urge some adiaphora over other alternatives, because, among the many things that God has left free, some practices are better and stronger than others.  We have our preferences, no doubt, and we also have our reasons for preferring some practices over others.  It is also the case that we editors of Gottesdienst do not agree among ourselves on every point; in part because different contexts and different circumstances suggest different approaches, and in part because we are different people with different gifts.  Sometimes, too, it happens that one or the other of us will change his mind.  For all of these reasons and more, we cherish the freedom for which Christ has set us free, because it is the freedom to repent, the freedom to learn and grow, and the freedom to serve and care for the Church on earth.

What God has left free, that is, what He has neither commanded nor forbidden, remains free and clear before Him.  We do not presume otherwise.  Such freedom belongs to the righteousness of faith in Christ, and it is a most precious gift and treasure of His Gospel.  To insist upon any work or sacrifice of the Law, as though by it to obtain the forgiveness of sins, justification and salvation, is flat-out false doctrine.  All the more so, then, to insist upon some adiaphorous practice as though it were necessary for salvation is surely twisted and wicked.  So, too, the requirement that something God has left free must either be done or not done, as though the power and efficacy of the Gospel itself depended upon it, is pernicious and quite wrong.  We dassn't do that.  And we don't.

Now, then, the righteousness of love for the neighbor, and of good order, peace, and harmony within family, church, and state, is another matter.  There the Law must do its duty to serve and protect in the midst of sin and death.  Not only because we live, for now, in a fallen world, but also because we live, by God's grace, in His well-ordered creation.  Although the Lord holds all things in His hand, and He governs all things by His Word, He has given man dominion over the works of His hands, as demonstrated, for example, by Adam's naming of all the animals.  And whereas God has left so many of the details and specifics of life on earth free and unscripted, He has given fathers of various kinds to exercise wisdom and judgment, and so also to establish rules, for the benefit of those under their paternal care.  Fathers are not free to contradict or disobey the Word of the Lord, but under His authority they are free to establish and enforce rules of conduct according to the particular context and circumstances of their own "family," whether that be a single household, a village or city, a state or the entire country.

St. Paul relates the paternal management of household and family to the work of pastors and bishops, who are called and ordained to be spiritual fathers of the household and family of God (1 Timothy 3:4-5).  That apostolic word informs and supports our Lutheran confession that "it is lawful for bishops, or pastors, to make ordinances so that things will be done orderly in the Church" (AC XXVIII.53).

As spiritual fathers, pastors and bishops not only can, but should make decisions and even insist upon particular practices that God has not universally commanded or forbidden; certainly not as though to "merit grace or make satisfaction for sins" (AC XXVIII.54), but for the benefit of the Church on earth in her life together.  Some of those decisions will be unique to each congregation, and that is the nature of pastoral care.  But many others will also connect and relate to the larger fellowship of the Church.  Which means that pastors ought to act in consultation and harmony with one another in caring for, leading and guiding their respective parishes.  Bishops with fraternal oversight of the pastors in their own proximity, "diligently joined in unity of doctrine, faith, sacraments, prayer, works of love, and such" (SA II.IV.9), may also serve to promote the harmony of the Church's life together.

The truth is, because God has left so many of the specific details "free," there must be some insistence upon adiaphora if there is to be any sort of "community."  Rules of conduct held in common within each particular household and family, as well as broader rules of mutual engagement within the larger fellowship of the Church, enable brothers and sisters in Christ, and brother pastors and sister congregations, to live and work together in faith, hope, and charity, each person and each parish according to his, her, or its particular place. The freedom of faith in the Gospel does not prohibit but permits and makes possible such rules or "rubrics" of familial life.  The Church on earth necessarily makes these decisions, as she always has and always will, in one way or another.  Some forms of ecclesiastical polity and governance work better than others, and that may vary according to time and place, but there must be some such polity and governance in place.  Ideally, at ground level, the pastors will care for their own respective congregations in the way that responsible, God-fearing and law-abiding fathers care for their own families, within the context of the communities in which they live.

The Gottesdienst editors, as pastors, do engage in such paternal care of their respective congregations.  But, collectively, as "Gottesdienst Online," we do not insist on adiaphora.  What we do is to advocate and urge the use of godly ceremonies, because such practices contribute to the catechesis and confession of the Word of Christ; they honor the means of grace and the ministry of the Gospel; and they adorn the Church with beauty and glory.  Along with that, we also defend the freedom to do that which is truly free in faith and love.

What we insist upon is the doing of what God has commanded, and the not doing of what God has forbidden.  Thus, along with our Lutheran Confessions, we deplore and decry frivolity, irreverence, anarchy and chaos, spectacles of worldly entertainment, and whatever else contradicts or undermines the Word of Christ (FC SD X.1, 7, 9).  Such things are not adiaphora, but are contrary to the Word of God, and are thus forbidden by God.  Permitting such practices to continue without comment within the fellowship of the Church would be irresponsible and wrong.  So we speak in opposition to frivolity and irreverence, even as we defend and recommend the practice of godly ceremonies that promote dignity and reverence.

Poll on Confession

One of the hallmarks of the late 20th century Confessional movement (or traditional Lutheran movement, or sacramental Lutheran movement, or you pick a title) has been the recovery of the Fifth Chief Part of the catechism. Father Peter Bender's Concordia Catechetical Academy and curriculum have played a pivotal role in this for me and my parish, and for countless others.  Pastor by pastor, parish by parish, the gift Luther said we should be glad to run 100 miles to receive is slowly being reintroduced to Lutheranism.

And yet it's easy to get discouraged, perhaps especially after hearing of the successes of one of those (few) pastors who actually has a bunch of people show up to confess their sins and receive absolution. I think that for most of us the progress is quite slow indeed.

Like many others, my basic plan on reintroducing Confession & Absolution has been to use the CCA materials and insist on "all catechumens are absolved" before coming to the Lord's Table; and then also to teach the adults and, of course, to lead by example.

But setting aside those new confirmands who receive this gift as a matter of course on the way to confirmation day, and also setting aside those pastoral counseling sessions that inevitably turn in to Confession & Absolution, how many parishioners actually stop by for Confession? Not many. A few, but not many.

So in the interest of preparing the new crop of pastors out this spring for realistic expectations - see poll at right.

+HRC

Gottesdienst Endorses LCMS Logo

The inter-web has somehow conspired to use our technical incompetence against us. So the post is gone, but the comments remain.

Here is the gist of the original: Gottesdienst loves the new Marian emphasis of the LC-MS as shown above in the non-crossing cross. Finally, the synod is coming our way, de-emphasing the death of the Christ (for how could that thing above be an instrument of death or sacrifice?) while promoting the co-redremptrix, and spending money wisely.

But inquiring minds want to know, if the old burgundy was based upon Ralph Bohlman's living room and his wife's favorite color, from whence cometh this Marian hue?