Thursday, February 24, 2022

The power of yes. . .

The principle of the Great Reformation and its practice is largely a yes rather than a no.  Though it is easy to get lost in the polemics of Luther and his opponents, this was not a battle about what could not be allowed but what must be present.  Many Lutherans conveniently forget that Luther and his cohort were perfectly willing to keep the papacy, the bishops in place, and nearly everything else that modern day Lutherans find so objectionable -- if only the Gospel (God's yes! in Christ) were allowed to be preached!  

Institutional Lutheranism has managed to construct a Lutheranism that has a clear and secure identity in opposition to things.  Of course, Lutherans were opposed to the Sacrifice of the Mass, the abuse of penance, to purgatory and the treasury of merits, and to everything else that kept the Gospel from being THE Word proclaimed.  Works that supplanted or supplemented Christ's work were opposed not because works are bad but because they obscured the Gospel.  This Gospel is not some principle of love (as it has now become) but the concrete incarnation, obedient life, life-giving death, and triumphant resurrection of our Lord.  Scripture is sola not because we say it is so but because it is the only the voice of this Gospel that sets the prisoner free, gives sight to the blind, gives the lame to run, allows the deaf to hear, opens the mouth of the mute, and raises the dead.  It does so by the forgiveness of sins and the new birth of water and the Spirit.  It was and is and has always been about God's yes.

So when Lutherans (and anyone else) reads our Confessions, you either read a set of objections or you read the triumph of God's yes put into a conservative principle.  This is exactly what happens when it comes to the Mass.  We say yes before rushing to a no or until we have no choice but to say no to the received practices of the day -- ritual, church usages, liturgical forms, pious practices, ceremonies, church year, lectionary, tabernacles, elevation, vestments -- you name it!  The Reformation principle here applied shows a conserving spirit that was a conundrum to Rome (and still is) and a betrayal to the radical reformers who insisted that no was the ONLY word that could be said to the state of things in Christendom.  

Modern day Lutherans have sinned against our founding in two ways.  We have grown so comfortable with an institutional Lutheranism that we work to preserve a structure instead the Gospel itself.  In my own Synod, diversity of beliefs and practices become the cause of bylaws and procedures instead of what we believe, teach, and confess.  In the ELCA, the Gospel is redefined into a principle that rules Scripture and everything -- there is no no to anything (except that violates the woke ideals of culture)!  On the one hand, some Lutherans thing that what God has not explicitly allowed means it is forbidden, others think that what God has not forbidden is probably allowed (depending upon what it is) and still others think that even what God has forbidden has been overcome by our freedom in Christ (the triumph of love!).  The yes that we tend to talk about is not God's but ours -- the yes of our agreement to doctrinal propositions or the yes of our hearts to their own desires.  When will we remember that it is God's yes that matters?

Where is that careful spirit of Augustana and its claim to catholicity of doctrine and practice?  Where is that reverence for Scripture that defers preference and desire and everything to what God has done for us in Christ?  Where is the trust that the Law also reveals the perfect as well as constraining the error?  

If Lutheranism is to have a future, it will have to muddle through its twists and turns back to what we once stood for and were willing to die for -- the Gospel.  This is not some minimalist Gospel that merely affirms our own wants or lusts but the true Gospel that meets the sinner in despair and raises that sinner up with the power of Yes!  The cross is that yes.  Where sin ruined, God rescued.  Where death put an end, God made a new beginning.  If we fail to see this, we will make rule after rule that no one will follow or we will make Lutheranism a faint echo of self.  I have great hope but it is being tested by an institutional Lutheranism so entrenched that not even its own Confessions may move it and by a modernistic Lutheranism so free that God no longer matters.

8 comments:

gamarquart said...

Thank you, thank God, and may God bless you for your defense of the Gospel.
I have maintained for 60 years that 90% of Lutheran pastors do not understand the Gospel.
What makes any change practically impossible is the fact that without recognizing that our Confessions are not infallible, the Gospel cannot be restored in the Lutheran Church. I believe they are the best of any creed published by any church, and that the blessed Martin Luther was the best theologian since the Church Fathers. Nevertheless, both are not perfect.
The imperfections in the Confessions prevent us from proclaiming the Gospel in its full purity.
Among them are:
The teaching that when we drink the blood of our Lord in the Eucharist, we receive the forgiveness of sins. No Scriptural support for this belief. We should come to a common understanding of “Forgiveness” in accordance with the pure Gospel.
The teaching that David lost faith and the Holy Spirit when he sinned with Bathsheba. This reflects a general misunderstanding of the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit and teaches the erroneous doctrine of venial and mortals sins.
The teaching that, according to Jeremiah 31, God wrote His Law in our hearts; specifically the Ten Commandments (Apology). This is a misinterpretation of the word, Torah, which means far more than the Ten Commandments.
Luther’s explanation of the Second Petition of the Lord’s Prayer,
Thy kingdom come.
What does this mean?--Answer.
The kingdom of God comes indeed without our prayer, of itself; but we pray in this petition that it may come unto us also.
How is this done?--Answer.
When our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead a godly life here in time and yonder in eternity.
This denies the fact that all baptized Christians are members of the Kingdom of God, and reflects an erroneous teaching of the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit.
When Luther wrote the Smalcald Articles, he wrote the following in the Section “Of the False Repentance of the Papists”: “40] And in Christians this repentance continues until death, …” This is a problem among English speaking Lutherans only, because in the English version of the Smalcald Articles, as quoted above, the German word “währt” is mistranslated as “continues”; it should be “is valid”, thus completely changing the meaning.
There are others. What they all have in common is that they limit God’s grace as proclaimed in the pure Gospel
Peace and Joy!
George A. Marquart

Anonymous said...

George, just a friendly note: riding hobby horses on the internet for years on end that no one rallies around should tell a sound mind something after awhile.

Pay attention:

At the institution of the Supper, Christ said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sin. Do this for the remembrance of me.’”

You can go two directions from here.

One, recall 1 John 1:17 and call it a day.

Two, recall that Christ’s death and shed blood was for the forgiveness of sins. The forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God are only to be obtained in the righteousness of Christ. How do we obtain this righteousness? Through faith alone. Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Whose righteousness? Abraham’s? No, Christ’s righteousness, won for all on the cross through the shedding of his blood. Do all possess this forgiveness and righteousness? No, only those who are in Christ through faith. How are we to be in Christ? By believing in him and his promises. What does Christ give us in the Sacrament? The promise of his body and blood for our forgiveness. Does drinking the blood forgive me? No, the body and blood are tokens, signs, and seals of the new testament of the forgiveness of sins for you through the obedient suffering and death of the Son of God. These treasures are to be received by faith in Christ’s words, “given for you for the forgiveness of sins.” And as Luther correctly states, “He who believes these words has what they say, namely, the forgiveness of sins.”

gamarquart said...

Steve, thank you for your comment.
Here is what Luther teaches in the Small Catechism:
What does Baptism give or profit?--Answer.
It works forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare.
Which are such words and promises of God? Answer.
Christ, our Lord, says in the last chapter of Mark: He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
And about the Eucharist:
“What is the benefit of such eating and drinking?
That is shown us in these words: Given, and shed for you, for the remission of sins; namely, that in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us through these words. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.”
Obviously, Luther is absolutely right about the benefit of Baptism. Therefore, Baptism, having worked forgiveness and salvation once and for all, our Lord now tells us to receive “more” forgiveness of sins, life and salvation? It is ironic that, just before partaking of the Eucharist, our sins have been forgiven in the Absolution, so there are only a few hundred left to forgive from the time of the Absolution to the time of the Consumption.
But the real argument is that the meaning of the sentence in English, and in Greek, speaks of the shedding of blood, not the drinking of blood that results in forgiveness. No respectable grammarian in any language will agree that it mentions forgiveness connected to drinking.
Luther inherited his belief about forgiveness in the Eucharist from the Roman Catholic Church. He was able to identify most of this churches’ errors, but not all. This one clung too firmly. That is why he had to resort to the word “namely” (nämlich). Beware of this word, or ones like “that is”, or “in other words.” Anything that comes after it is likely to be the opposite of what the written text intends. This is my experience with a large number of priests, pastors, and theologians on several subjects, who know they cannot let the written word speak for itself, because it does not agree with their position.
Your argument about Abraham does not apply here. Why? Because, Scripture says, “The just shall live by faith.” The Eucharist consists of physical substances; therefore, not a subject of faith, but of sight.
Messianic Jews do not believe that we receive forgiveness in the Eucharist. In fact, their beliefs retain the Eucharist as part of the Passover Meal, just as our Lord celebrated it.
Peace and Joy!
George A. Marquart

Anonymous said...

Dear George, your wrestling with the texts is admirable, but you are grappling with straw men and misunderstandings of Luther.

In response to your statement, “Therefore, Baptism, having worked forgiveness and salvation once and for all, our Lord now tells us to receive “more” forgiveness of sins, life and salvation?” I would ask you to consider why Christ directs us to pray, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Yes, through Baptism we are clothed with Christ’s righteousness and adopted into Christ, but this is an alien righteousness. Our sinful nature remains, and we are directed by our Lord himself to continue to pray for forgiveness. Remaining in unrepentant sin grieves the Holy Spirit and such hardening may result in the loss of the Spirit, life, and salvation.

In response to your statement, “But the real argument is that the meaning of the sentence in English, and in Greek, speaks of the shedding of blood, not the drinking of blood that results in forgiveness,” I would say that you conveniently leave out the rest of Luther, “How can bodily eating and drinking do such great things? It is not the eating and drinking, indeed, that does them, but the words which stand here, namely: Given, and shed for you, for the remission of sins. Which words are, beside the bodily eating and drinking, the chief thing in the Sacrament; and he that believes these words has what they say and express, namely, the forgiveness of sins.”

How much more clear can Luther be? Luther did not teach that drinking blood results in forgiveness. He says believe the words and you have forgiveness of sins. Have you ever read Chemnitz’s “The Lord’s Supper”? It’s basically hundreds of pages saying the same thing over and over. The Supper is the New Testament for the forgiveness of sins. The true body and blood are given us there to comfort us by bringing us into communion with the body and blood which were indeed broken and shed for our forgiveness. The Supper exists to strengthen and preserve us in this true faith unto life everlasting.

gamarquart said...

Steve:
You write, “How much more clear can Luther be? Luther did not teach that drinking blood results in forgiveness. He says believe the words and you have forgiveness of sins.”
You are saying that Luther taught that you can have the benefits of the sacrament without actually taking part in it? Just by believing the words?
I know that Luther often showed impatience because people did not understand “plain German.” Now I am becoming impatient with people who do not understand “plain English.”
Please read the words carefully, “What is the benefit of such eating and drinking?” Eating and drinking. OK?
Every word that follows describes a benefit of eating and drinking: “…that in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us through these words.” You may argue that “through these words” means that it has nothing to do with drinking, in spite of being the answer to the benefits of drinking. My response is that, not only are there no words without drinking, but whether through drinking or through words there is no forgiveness of sins in the Eucharist. The clear words of Scripture simply do not teach it. “Namely” or no “namely.”
Your question about the Fifth Petition is one that, I am sure many people have wrestled with. In part, I believe, we are told to pray for forgiveness, so that we would not forget that we are indeed sinful and need forgiveness. Another possibility is that the Greek may include the concept of continuity. In other words, acknowledging with thanks that our Lord has forgiven our past sins, we ask that He would “continue to forgive us our trespasses.” Inasmuch as the Fourth and Sixth Petitions deal with the future, this lands some credibility to this concept. You see, although there is no doubt about the forgiveness of sins past, future sins cannot be forgiven until they are committed.
I have maintained for many years, that we Lutherans should study the New Testament concept of “forgiveness” in detail, in order to resolve questions like this. Regardless of what you may think, I do not believe I have the answers to all questions.
Peace and Joy!
George A. Marquart

Anonymous said...

George,

I speak and read English rather well. I also come from a long line of Lutheran theologians.

Let’s read some plain English:

“What is the benefit of such eating and drinking? That is shown us in these words: Given, and shed for you, for the remission of sins; namely, that in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us through these words.”

“How can bodily eating and drinking do such great things? It is not the eating and drinking, indeed, that does them, but the words“

The words, are, of course, “This is my body given for you. This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” This is the Gospel. The Gospel announces the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation for all who believe. Of course there is eating and drinking. This is part of Christ’s institution and command. Words used by Lutherans to describe the body and blood in the sacrament include sign, seal, and treasure. In the LC, Luther says this treasure cannot be an unfruitful thing. They undoubtedly join us to Christ. They comfort us. Luther also said what difference whether the Gospel is presented to the mind, heart, or even the mouth.

gamarquart said...

Steve:
“This is My body given for you.” How do you get from these words to, “forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us through these words?”
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood,” How do you get from these words to, “forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us through these words?”
“shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” How do you get from these words to, “forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us through these words?”
Nowhere in the Sacrament does our Lord do anything more than state facts. These are important facts, facts which summarize God’s entire act of salvation. Nowhere does Scripture say that we there is a special blessing associated with the Eucharist. St. Paul summarizes it very simply, without any implications, “This is my body that is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
To understand the importance of these words, we have to understand their context. God’s people were supposed to have a meal once a year, on Passover, when they remembered how God saved them from slavery Egypt. Our Lord and His Apostles were doing this, when, taking the third cup of the prescribed ritual, the cup called “the cup of Redemption,” our Lord completed what had been a symbol in the Old Testament, to pronounce it a symbol of God’s redemption of all people.
And just as the Jews celebrated this meal “in memory” of their salvation from slavery in Egypt, so we celebrate it in memory of Him who saved us from sin and death.
Peace and Joy!
George A. Marquart

Anonymous said...

Good questions. The words of Christ may be “just facts” for Reformed Christians and Roman Catholics, but for Lutherans the Word is the power of God unto salvation. “Just facts” are “justifying words” that declare the repentant sinner righteous on account of Christ. This is because God only deals with us through the Word, through which the Holy Spirit operates. He who hears “This is my body, this is my blood shed for the forgiveness of your sins” is granted forgiveness and strengthened in faith by the Holy Spirit, and he who believes the Word receives or “has what it says,” the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. How can you have what is simply announced? Through faith alone. In fact, this is why Luther defined the Sacrament as the Gospel, since here is the very reality of salvation by grace through faith alone.