By the way... this window to the left is the means of grace window of Grace Lutheran Church, Clarksville, TN, and at 8 feet in diameter it shines over the altar to challenge us to believe in this Word and Sacrament every Sunday...I continue to be impressed by the good people of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. We may not show this goodness in visible ways but I have met hundreds of Pastors and thousands upon thousands of lay folks over my 30 years as a Pastor and there are few whom I would classify as bad eggs. Of course, I have disagreed with many, had arguments with many, and been angry at many but I believe their hearts are genuinely desirous of what is good for our Church. I have spent the weekend with some 700 people in our church body and this goodness has been reaffirmed over and over again.
That said, I wonder why it is that as Lutherans struggle so with confidence in our confessional identity and evangelical catholic practice. I think part of it is the culture of our ethnic heritage (as Garrison Keillor jokes about Lutheran timidity and penchant for downsizing). Some of it is that we attend conferences and meetings with those who do not shy from trumpeting their horns and we, who have been too well taught to keep silent and not to trust in our works, don't have anything to say in response. This subtle peer pressure means that we always tend to believe they are more effective than we are.
But there is more... and that is that our methods are not glamorous or self-serving -- our methods are Christ's methods -- the Word and the Sacraments. We do not control these, we do not update these to meet the times, we do not transform these to make them more successful... all we do is trust in them... that when we speak His Word, His Spirit works to accomplish the purpose for which He sends it... that when we apply water in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that water kills and gives life, destroys and gives new birth to one who wears Christ's righteousness, and bears the mark of belonging to the Lamb (not to mention his/her name is written in the Book of Life... that when we set apart bread and wine according to His Word, heaven's meal is glimpsed and tasted and the food we need most of all is given to us today "for the forgiveness of sins" and as the fellowship meal of those who belong to His Body, the Church. What is required of us is trust... trust in the means of grace... trust in Christ...
What we need to do as Lutherans is to trust in the means of grace -- not to look for better ideas or methods from those who do not share this confidence in the efficacy of the Word and Sacraments. What we need to do as Lutherans is to place these means of grace center stage in all we are and in all we do. Pastors need to lift up the Word and Sacraments over and over again until the people of God hear it and hold on to it as the life-giving hope and promise of God that will not abandon them or leave them as orphans in our world of terror, sin, and death. What we need to do as Lutheran congregations is to pour enough resources into the Sunday morning experience of the Word and Sacrament that good music serves this Word, good architecture and art draws our visual attention to this Word, good common sense directs how we make our way through the hymnal (especially for those new to us), good welcome is given to those who walk through our doors new to our churches, good preparation is given to making sure that the fullest resources of the liturgy and hymns are woven together into a seamless fabric of ordinary, pericope, sermon, and service, and good motivation is given to those in the pews to invite people, share the Gospel with people, love their neighbors, and care for the poor and needy in Christ's name...
I believe that the overwhelming majority of Pastors and parishes have a good heart in the Lord and for the Lord... but what we lack is confidence in the means of grace... the kind of confidence that will enable us to shift our dollars and time from the pursuit of methods and paradigms and programs of others into the pastoral and congregational ministry rooted in, shaped by, and directed back to the means of grace... We need to resist the temptation to look over into the neighbor's yard as our library of resources and we need to resist the peer pressure of those who hold similar positions in non-Lutheran churches. Can we learn from others, of course, BUT... what we learn must be filtered through the Lutheran lens of Word and Sacrament, Law and Gospel, Confessional and catholic identity, faithful and evangelical practice that reflects this faith and trust in Christ and in His means of grace.... Well... enough pontificating for one morning...
1 comment:
We need to point to these other groups, denominations and churches whose "success" we lust after, and remind ourselves of something. Though they were not Lutheran, they had their own sort of orthodoxy and liturgy. They left it, and if we look closely, their models are beginning to show cracks. The "seeker sensitive" has become "emergent," and who knows where it will go from there? Being contemporary means we will be out of date in no time.
When it comes to Word and Sacrament, change is not a good thing. We cannot make Christ other than what He is. We cannot change the ways in which He comes to us, either.
Thank you pastor Peters for your words.
Post a Comment