Crucifying Bad Theology

 “You can run on for a long time, but sooner or later God’s ‘ill cut you down.” Christ died even for us. Why does good theology matter? Is it because we have books like unChristian giving us statistics of a failing Church? Is it because we have authors like Kenda Dean exploring a moralistic therapeutic deistic culture? Absolutely. We need good theology if young people are abandoning the Church because the very thought of Christians equals bigoted hypocrites. We need good theology if all that matters about God is whether or not we are good people. More than that, we need good theology because it changes lives.

How does good theology change lives? Lutherans have had good theology since Martin Luther decided to deconstruct the core of the Church. If it doesn’t point us to the cross and the work of Christ, it doesn’t matter. Perhaps it is easy to take this for granted or to appeal to experience to “find God,” but good theology is life-changing precisely because it cannot be found and it does not rely on human experience. That’s not to say it doesn’t cause experience. Good theology is life-changing because it finds the lost and leads the blind. Good theology reconstructed in the redemption of the cross of Jesus Christ.

“You can run on for a long time, but sooner or later God’s ‘ill cut you down.” Christ died even for us. What does it mean to have good theology? Our academic and practical theologies have no separation. Good theology is put into praxis. Beyond that Good theology has the crucified God at its crux. Theology is nothing apart from the work of the cross. Our redemption lies within the crucifixion and our reconciliation is rooted in resurrection. The law tells us that God will cut sinners down; conjunctively, the Gospel tells us Christ died even for us.

Good theology matters because the gracious work of Christ is at its core. It is life-altering for people who’ve never known the grace of God or for people who have been blinded by bad theology (which does not point to the work of Christ through the cross). Guilt may be a more powerful motivator than grace, but it doesn’t make it good. Where, then, do we go from here? We go where God is found, where we are led, to the foot of the cross. If you’ve never known the grace of the cross of Jesus Christ or you’ve been trapped by the guilt and shame of piety that puts the role of justification in your hands; by the work of God alone, through the cross of Christ alone, grace is sufficient for you.   

  

Lenten Devotional 15: Exiles Restored; the Covenantal Promise

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Scripture reading: Ezra 8:21-36

The people of Jerusalem have been freed from their Babylonian captivity and their exile has come to an end (ch. 1) in accordance with the prophecy of Jeremiah (Jer. 30:3). Unlike the somewhat downtrodden conclusion to the books of the Kings, the book of Ezra brings us into the hope of the history of God’s people.

The Babylonians have fallen (6^th cent. BCE/BC) and the Jews are given a second chance in Jerusalem. Over a number of years and obstacles the temple of the Lord is rebuilt (ch. 3-ff.). The priest Ezra is called to lead the people of God back to Jerusalem (ch. 7). This is a new season for the Jewish people. Exile is behind them and the promise of the Lord is before them.

Much like we are doing for Lent, the people fasted and prayed to the Lord (8:21:23). In this, the people of God remember their reverence for the Lord and forsake their idolatrous past. The people (even the king) give “freewill” offerings to the Lord (vv. 24-30). This is not free will (as in the doctrine that says we are able to choose salvation because that is impossible). This is a freewill giving, which occurs through the prompting of reconciliation. The Gospel calls this grace, but contextually, this may have been done out of fear or reverence of God.

According to God’s covenantal promise, the people of Jerusalem return to their land from their Babylonian exile (vv. 31-36). As usual, the people of God forget to do something right, afterwards (ch. 9-10). But, where the humans fail, God keeps the covenant, and grace is sufficient.

This is our story, too. Though we are sinners (with our will bound to the condition) the work of God alone, nullifies our sin nature and its predisposition. We are met with the covenant of God, known to Christians as the Gospel, and known to all as grace. The law has been fulfilled and the exiled are restored by God’s mercy and grace, according to the covenant of the Lord.

O Gracious God, how you deliver your people – whether Jew, Gentile, slave, free, Christian, or those who cannot see – by the universal grace you have given to all that will save as many as you please. Though it is a mystery how your grace justifies, you have given us the faith to believe that you are the one true God and that we receive your grace through the work of the cross of Christ (in death and resurrection). In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

  

Lenten Devotional 13: God's Great Sinners; Human Nature and Grace

Monday, March 05, 2012

Scripture reading: 2 Samuel 11:1-27

Our story today, takes place during the Deuteronomistic History (DtH) that constructs the second half of the Primary History (Genesis-Kings). The books of Samuel are technically one book that was split into two over time. I’m not here to debate Martin Noth’s view of single authorship for the DtH (Joshua-Kings) but as with the JEDP theory for the Pentateuch (Genesis-Deuteronomy) the DtH has exilic implications.

King David (the second king of Israel) reigned for forty years (1 Chr. 29:27) 1010-970 BCE/BC. But the written account of his reign was composed in the 6^th century (Noth). I tell you these technical details because David was a great king and a great sinner. Similarly, Ancient Israel was a great kingdom and a nation of sinners. Sure, it’d be easier to say human, but it’s important to know how the Lord uses sinners.

The chosen king sent his soldiers off to battle, but stayed home, which was not customary (v. 1). In his folly, David steals another man’s wife, and produces an ancient episode of Jerry Springer (vv. 2-5). Being the godly king he is, David attempts to conceal his deceptive affairs and let the woman’s husband deal with the aftermath (vv. 6-13). But, our biblical Springer show gets worse. When the first plan to deceive Uriah fails, all the king’s men set him up to die by order of the king (vv. 14-24). And everyone lived happily ever after… (vv. 25-27) or did they?

After our story, the child of David and Bathsheba’s affair dies, the Lord is not pleased with the sinful king, promising trouble for Israel, David realizes his sin against the Lord, and the Lord spares David and Israel (12:1-24). In juxtaposition, the people of Israel and Judah were sinful, they recognized their sin, and the Lord put an end to exile.

We are human and humans are sinners, but the Lord is gracious to sinners; whether we are kings, Israelites in exile, or the people of today who perpetually make mistakes. God chose humans to fulfill the covenant. Humans and sinners we may be, but God reconciles us in the work of grace. This is the Gospel of the Lord: redemption for sinners, those called human. I am a great sinner, we all are great sinners (it’s our nature) and Christ died for us all.

Lord, God, with David, you made a sinner the king of your people, and by your mercy the king and the people we reconciled. With Jesus, you became our king (the king of your people) and in your mercy you atoned for our sin, by taking it all upon your cross. On this day, we remember that we are humans and sinners, and that you were the one who died for us. Praise to you O Christ. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Eucharist: from Cheese Crackers and Sobe to the Real Presence

From cheese crackers and Sobe to the Real Presence of the body and blood of Christ; Holy Communion has lived in tension for this believer. Several years ago, without any knowledge of the scriptural backing, I held to a symbolic understanding of the Eucharist. Eventually, this symbolism (technically known as memorialism) got blended with the concept of Sacramental Living (the sacramental doctrine of the Salvation Army). Then, Lutheranism came along and messed with my Sobe and cheese crackers.

Traditionally, the Real Presence (Luther's philosophy on the Eucharist) holds that the sacrament of the Eucharist is the real body and blood of Jesus Christ. The physical substance of the bread and wine have not changed (that would be the Roman Catholic interpretation known as transubstantiation). Rather, the bread and the wine – when joined with the words of Christ (Matt. 26:26-28) and the Word who is Christ – administer and proclaim the forgiveness of sins.

Arguably, my Sobe and cheese crackers were conjoined with the Real Presence of the body and blood of Jesus Christ; in spite of the fact that this was unknown to me at the time. Furthermore, “If the Word be joined to the element, it becomes a Sacrament” (Augustine). However, I would not advocate the use of Sobe and cheese crackers, unless, it is all one has available. Martin Luther said it best, “No matter whether you are worthy or unworthy, you have here His body and blood by virtue of these words which are added to the bread and wine.”

Until recently, I wasn’t totally sold on the Real Presence – the idea sort of freaked me out. Yet, as I listened to the controversy and chaos that many have experienced with this sacrament; I realized, only the Real Presence of Christ (in the Eucharist) could give us the words to proclaim forgiveness over controversy and absolve its recipients. In turn, it sanctifies those who partake, with “a food of souls,” and redeems this sacrament from the chaos of relativism, legalism, and reductionism. Symbolism and Sacramental Living remember the cross event; meanwhile, the Real Presence partakes in the gifts of the cross event – grace and forgiveness.    

Ironically written to the sounds of Kid Rock’s “I am the Bullgod.”

Sacraments: the Line between Life and Legalism

The line between life and legalism is truly thin; so thin, that the sacraments (baptism and Eucharist) have definitions that alienate people. At heart, sacraments are a sign of God’s grace. In practice, sacraments tend to be the forts of battle. Why are the works of God’s overflowing grace – acts of sanctification, by way of, repentance – battle grounds bathed in the blood of controversy? Perhaps, it is because these external gifts, intended to connect us to the divine, have been diluted by false aspirations towards an internal righteousness.

In praxis, goals of personal piety, meant to climb the ladder of holiness, alienate us from the divine work of the sacraments. This fortress of holiness comes in many forms: some churches possess such elitist views that only they administer the true sacrament and if one is not, "one of them," the sacrament is closed off to “the outsider.” Other churches shroud the sacraments in guilt – maintaining that one’s mindset or heart condition can deny one’s ability to receive the sacraments – causing believers to dwell in a foxhole of fear.   

In order to tow the line and avoid legalism, many believers have given way to vague, ambiguous, empty, relativistic, and apathetic expressions of the sacraments. Thus, sacraments become symbolic – they become symbolic of everything they are meant to forgive – and silence the divine declaration of absolution.

In response, “a sacrament does not rely on the condition of the minister or the recipient; it is the work of Christ” (Kellogg, Intimate Doctrine, “Sacraments (part one)”). Sacraments are works of Christ – of God alone – and declare our absolution: they forgive our sin, they pardon us from trying to climb the ladder of holiness, they release us from the fortresses of fear and holiness, and they proclaim God’s infinite mercy given – without merit – to our world. Sacraments are a gift of life, given to us by God, in Christ. May we receive the gift of life, given through the sacraments, and cease the murdering acts of this life through the malice of pietistic and relativistic legalism.