By Pastor Marshall

Stretching across the New Testament is the call to deny yourself (Matthew 16.24; Mark 8.34; Luke 9.23) – as well as to control yourself and die to yourself (1 Corinthians 7:5, 37, 9.25; 2 Corinthians 5.14; Galatians 5.23; 2 Timothy 1.7; 2 Peter 1.6; Galatians 6.14; Romans 6.6; Colossians 3.5; 1 Peter 2.24; Luke 14.26; John 12.25; 2 Timothy 3.2-4; Revelation 3.17). This is because we have “no greater enemy” than ourselves (Luther’s Works 42.48). And so we must be reined in. The Old Testament says the same – albeit more indirectly (Psalms 39.5, 62.9, 90.5, 94.11, 102.11, 26, 103.14, 144.4; Isaiah 40.17, 41.24). And Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), who believed we needed a self to relate to God and our neighbors, thought we also had to sacrifice it once we got it (Christian Discourses [KW 17:53, 84, 91, 127, 129, 132] 1848). So, he wrote, the Christian must “fight for himself with himself within himself” (KW 5:143).

Because this task is so strange and arduous, we need to know more about it. First we learn that it excludes loving, enjoying, pampering, enriching and fulfilling the self. Knowing ourselves, however, is acceptable provided it’s primarily about our sinfulness (Mark 7.20-23) – as is self-defense, if it’s about guarding our faith (1 Peter 3.15; LW 23:330).

What is included begins with persistent thanksgiving (Ephesians 5.20; 1 Thessalonians 5.18). It’s to replace our complaining – even though what troubles us doesn’t go away. It’s just that self-denial opens our eyes to the neglected good we have (LW 3:343). And that makes thanksgiving more liberating than delusional.

Secondly self-denial furthers our labor (Luke 10:2). It undercuts idleness and leisure (Luke 12:19; 2 Thessalonians 3:11; Jeremiah 48:10; Amos 6:1; LW 7:221; 8:261) and all that holds us back. It makes us worker bees – not queen bees. From this flows the prized but elusive humility all Christians are required to have (Luke 18:14; James 4:6).

Finally the joy that attends to self-denial conquers our sadness (LW 8:329). This joy is – like Christian peace – quite beyond us (Philippians 4:7). It’s far more than superficial happiness. It’s rather about keeping depression from derailing our work (Philippians 4:11; Hebrew 12:12). So Luther rightly says we’re neither “elated by praise nor cast down by insults” – because adversity and good fortune are “alike to us” (LW 27:102; 4:149).

Now, even though we don’t ever practice this denial perfectly, we still keep at it because of all the blessings it alone is able to deliver (John 6:68).

(reprinted from The Messenger, June 2008)

For Christians Only

By The Rev. Ronald F. Marshall

First Lutheran Church of West Seattle, WA

February 2005

         1. Only Christians Go to Heaven. The Bible says there is salvation in "no other name" than that of Christ Jesus (Acts 4.12). It teaches that if we don't believe in Christ and obey him, "God's wrath rests upon us" (John 3.36). This wrath brings the horrors of "eternal destruction and exclusion from the presence of the Lord" (2 Thessalonians 1.9; Matthew 25.46) in a "place of torment" (Luke 16.28). In this "outer darkness" there will be "weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 25.30). It surely won’t be a place to go to party with all our rebellious and carefree friends.

         Only belief in Christ can save us from this torment because he alone brings us the grace of God the Father (John 14.6). So if we love Christ Jesus, the Father will then love us and save us (John 14.21). This is because Jesus dies for us (John 10.17) and offers up his life as a sacrifice for sin to the Father (Ephesians 5.2). No one else can do this for us (1 Timothy 2.5; Hebrews 9.26). He is the pure sacrifice (1 Peter 1.19). His death pays the penalty for our sin (2 Corinthians 5.20; Colossians 2.14) and makes peace with God (Romans 5.1; Colossians 1.20). When we accept this sacrifice and entrust our well-being to Christ our Lord (Romans 3.25, 6.22, 10.9), we are saved. Otherwise, we are lost (1 John 5.10-12). So salvation comes only "through faith" (Ephesians 2.8).

         2. Only a Few Believers. How many believe this? Jesus hoped at least some would (Luke 18.8; 1 Peter 5.18). He knew it was "offensive" and that most would cast it aside (Matthew 11.6; John 6.61). This was largely because it was based on his gruesome, agonizing, repulsive death (John 3.14; 12.32). So only a "few" would end up believing (Matthew 7.14, 22.14). Just a "remnant" would take it to heart (Romans 9.27). And even they would only go kicking and screaming – if you will (Romans 9.16-18; Acts 9.3-9; 14.22; Romans 6.4). Even among those who say they are Christians, many actually are not – Luther estimated upwards to 90% are phonies (LW 23:398-400)! And this small number with its terrible consequences makes quite clear the "severity of God" (Romans 11.22; Hebrews 10.29). Oh, what a "fearful thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10.31). Indeed, God Almighty is to be feared (Matthew 10.28).

         3. Scared Away By Suffering. Christianity – when first believed – appears to be filled with joy (Luke 2.10 vs. Luke 12.49-53). But when we realize that suffering with Christ is also required (1 Peter 4.13; Romans 8.17; Matthew 16.24), we fall away (Matthew 13.21; Galatians 1.6). This suffering includes being vilified for Christian truths (2 Timothy 4.1-5; 1 Corinthians 1.18). Luther called this contestable, unpopular truth, aspra veritas or "rough truth" (LW 11:58) and even something "absurd" (LW 16:183). Most don't want the embarrassment of this. All we want from Christianity is a "belly sermon" that will "enrich" us in worldly terms (LW 23:5,11). So if Christianity were free of suffering, many more would sign-up. But it isn't, so only a few love Jesus with a "love undying" (Ephesians 6.23). These are called the foolish ones (1 Corinthians 4.10-13).

         True salvation only comes with "fear and trembling" (Philippians 2.12). So the "Christian life is nothing else than.... incessantly... purging out whatever pertains to the old Adam [who is] irascible, spiteful, envious, unchaste, greedy, lazy, proud... and unbelieving." Without this "earnest attack on the old man," our faith is "hollow" (The Book of Concord, p. 445; LW 26:269). This is because the freedom faith brings (2 Corinthians 3.17) doesn't belong to the flesh. It's only in our hearts – unseating the guilt for our sinfulness. So the battle must rage. The hammer of God's Law must strike us hard and repeatedly (Jeremiah 23.29; LW 26:310). For "the Law has dominion over the flesh, but the promise [of the Gospel] reigns sweetly in the conscience" (LW 26:301).

         4. Historic, Biblical Salvation Affirmed. In the Lutheran Confessions (1580) these Biblical teachings are affirmed. They teach that Christ will "give eternal life and everlasting joy" to those who believe in him, but "hell and eternal punishment" to those who don't (The Book of Concord, Tappert ed., p. 38, AC 17:3). Faith in Christ alone saves us from this doom. For he alone "has snatched us poor lost creatures from the jaws of hell... and restored us to the Father's favor and grace,.... not with silver and gold, but with his own precious blood," through which he has made "satisfaction" to God by paying what we "owed" (The Book of Concord, p. 414, LC 2:30-31).

         The Roman Catholics however aren't as clear about this. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, (1999), it says Jesus Christ "alone brings salvation" (§432), but under special circumstances one can be saved if he "does the will of God in accordance with his own understanding of it" (§1260). The same goes for the August 6, 2000 Papal Declaration Dominus Iesus. It says that the Church of Christ is not "one way of salvation alongside... other religions" (§21), but that in other religions "salvation in Christ is accessible by... grace" when Christ "enlightens them in a way which is accommodated to their spiritual and material situation" (§20). This is a too costly qualification!

         5. Overhauling Heaven. In the face of historic, Biblical salvation, there remain Christians today asking for a change. They want the church to say that all good people go to heaven whether they believe in Jesus or not. Some are even asking that everybody be allowed to go. This is because the wicked need mercy and purging too. Besides, being tortured for eternity is much too long. These views are carefully, clearly and briefly presented of late by Jacques Ellul in chapter 14 of What I Believe (1989), by Richard John Neuhaus in chapter 2 of Death on a Friday Afternoon: Meditations on the Last Words of Jesus from the Cross (2000), and by Bishop Kallistos Ware in chapter 12 of The Inner Kingdom (2000). This requested change is called Universalism [Universal Salvation? The Current Debate (2004), eds. Robin A. Perry & Christopher H. Partridge].

         It is clearly gentler and kinder. Damnation makes Christianity morally and intellectually untenable. The renowned Sir Bertrand Russell thought damnation was "a doctrine of cruelty" that discredited Christianity [Why I am Not a Christian (1957) p. 18]. Universalism makes more sense by being closer to how ordinary punishments work. Only the guilty are punished and for no longer than a lifetime. It also picks up on those few verses that seem to be universalistic (1 Corinthians 15.22; 1 Peter 4.6; 1 Timothy 2.4).

         Finally it also honors the first covenant God made with the Jews, thereby providing for their salvation apart from belief in Jesus as Lord and God (pace John 20.28). The American Catholic Bishops have submitted a draft statement on this point, declaring an end to any plea for "the conversion of the Jews," simply because in Judaism they "already dwell in a saving covenant with God" ["Reflections on Covenant and Mission ," Origins (September 5, 2002) pp. 220, 221].

         6. Using Wrong Presuppositions. Opening up heaven to more than Christians is certainly kind-hearted and open-minded. But that doesn’t justify it. Universalism errs the way it begins. It assumes kindness and generosity are supreme. But for Christianity this is not so. Other qualities matter more. Distress is one (Romans 8.18). So are punishments (Hebrews 12.10), suffering (Romans 5.3), loss (Matthew 16.23), trials (1 Peter 1.6), tribulation (Acts 14.22) and sorrow (John 16.20). This surprising view is derived from the centrality of Christ's crucifixion (John 12.32; 1 Corinthians 2.2). Following that conviction, the true "treasury of Christ" is not the absence of conflict and pain but the "impositions and obligations of punishments" (LW 31:227).

         Without these prior, superior qualities in place, Christian love – that is kindness and generosity – degenerates into "stupid affection" (LW 13:153). So faith and truth must always be placed high above love in Christianity (LW 26:103; 27:38; 23:330; 1:122). Illustrative of this most contentious point, note the lack of affection for the young rich man in Mark 10.22-23, for the damned rich man in Luke 16.24-31, for the lying Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5.1-13, and for idolaters in Deuteronomy 13.8.

         7. An Old Heresy. Universalism is not new. Early on Origen of Alexandria (185-254) in his famous treatise On First Principles, argued for Universalism only to be condemned in 553 because of it in Constantinople at the Fifth Ecumenical Council. He believed in Universalism because “from [the original indestructible unity of God and all spiritual essence] it necessarily follows that the created spirit after fall, error, and sin must ever return to its origin, to being in God" [A. von Harnack, History of Dogma (1900) II:346]. This necessary restoration of all people to God is because there are no deep and durable fissures in the world that would keep the condemned from enjoying God's blessings forever. So for Origen this indestructible unity must result in Universalism.

         This idea comes more from Neoplatonic philosophy than from Biblical testimony. In the Bible we see the fissure between light and darkness (Luke 1.79) replicated permanently in that "great fixed chasm" between heaven and hell (Luke 16.26). For this reason Origen's view is wrong albeit wistful. It is not true that "in the end all the spirits in heaven and earth, nay, even the demons, are purified and brought back to God." But Origen knew the church would never go along with this. So he called it an "esoteric" doctrine and concluded: "For the common man it is sufficient to know that the sinner is punished," albeit only for a short while (Harnack, II:378). Origen may then well have agreed with Christian Gottlieb Barth (1799-1862): "Anyone who does not believe in the universal restoration is an ox, but anyone who teaches it is an ass" [Jaroslav Pelikan, The Melody of Theology (1988) p. 4.].

         Well before Origen, God's people also challenged his fairness. In Ezekiel 18.25 we read: "Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' Hear now, O house of Israel : Is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just?'" Similar lines are in Romans 3.5 and 9.14 with the same results. We don't know enough nor are we good enough to improve upon God's ways among us.

         8. Not All Are Saved in the Bible. Universalists argue that Acts 4.12 is about physical healings and not eternal salvation. They say that the word "salvation" can also mean healing. They also note that Acts 4.12 builds on the healing of the lame man in Acts 3.7. So the whole passage is "far removed from whether there is any 'saving' revelation of God outside Jesus" [John A. T. Robinson, Truth Is Two-Eyed (1979) p. 105]. But this is not so for two reasons. First there is still the exaltation of Christ even if it is only a physical healing. And secondly the two – healing and saving – actually go together: the lame man was healed because of his faith in Christ (Acts 3.13-21, 4.4).

         Universalists also point to Bible verses that say all will be saved, or all Israel at least will be saved (Romans 11.26). But this is not true. You cannot pass over faith when it comes to salvation. So, as Luther pointed out, these passages only mean that "God gives both [the ungodly and the godly] the light of the sun,.... but He does not save the faithless" (LW 28:262; 25:431). There is no salvation without faith in Christ, for "God himself cannot give heaven to him who does not believe" (LW 32:76). So regarding the salvation of the Jews, that too must come only through faith in Christ Jesus. For "the Old and New Covenants are not two... equal, parallel paths to salvation" [Roy H. Schoeman, Salvation is From the Jews (2003) p. 353].

         God therefore doesn't save groups of people all together at once. He saves people individually because of their faith in Christ Jesus. Just as we must die by ourselves – no one can do that for us, of course – no one else can believe for us either (LW 51:70; 45:108). So there are no exemptions or substitutions for individual believers believing. Jesus, remember, praised the faith of an individual over that of an entire nation: "Not even in Israel have I found such faith" (Matthew 8.10).

         9. All Religions Aren't Equal. We should not expect what Robley E. Whitson has called in his book, The Coming Convergence of World Religions (1971, 1992). The differences between Christianity and other religions matters to Christians. Acts 14.15 tells followers of other gods to "turn from those vain things to a living God."

         What makes these other ways useless and vain? It’s that they cannot give us everlasting life. Nothing more. For they may still have limited, moral value for Christians. Indeed, "we find in the religions an echo of God's activity in all expressions of life because God has not left himself without a witness among the nations (Acts 14.16-17), which means that the reality of God and his revelation lie behind the religions of humanity as anonymous mystery and hidden power" [Carl E. Braaten, No Other Gospel: Christianity Among the World's Religions (1992) pp. 67-68]. So Christians, for instance, are authorized to work with other religions on matters of "world peace, human rights, cultural enrichment, religious tolerance and care for the earth" (Braaten, p. 99).

         Studying, then, the exotic naturalistic religions photographed and described in Wade Davis' stunning book, Light at the Edge of the World: A Journey Through the Realm of Vanishing Cultures (2001) has its place. So does Martin Luther's help in getting Theodor Bibliander's 1543 Latin translation of the Koran published along with his preface for it even when he condemned Islam itself (Word & World, Spring 1996). Studying other religions doesn't mean there's salvation to be found in them. Nevertheless it remains better to know them than not. For ignorance isn’t bliss (1 Peter 2.15).

         10. Boasting in Christ. Just because there's no salvation outside of Christianity, it doesn't mean Christians should be arrogant about it and ridicule other religions. Humility instead is to mark our lives – not pomposity (1 Peter 5.5). "Do nothing from... conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves" (Philippians 2.3). Buddhists, for instance, may be more devout than Christians. They may take their religion more seriously. That should be acknowledged if true. Jesus seemed to do so, urging "making friends" even with the unrighteous ones (Luke 19.6).

         Even so we must never be embarrassed or ashamed of Christ (Luke 9.26). He is the Lord and Savior. He is the only mediator (1 Timothy 2.5) and advocate we have (1 John 2.1). So in him we are to boast – though never of ourselves too for believing in him (Galatians 6.14). Whatever arrogance, then, we may have, it cannot be for ourselves. It must rather be an "arrogance of the Holy Spirit" (LW 24:118). This is an arrogance that gives all the glory to God (1 Corinthians 10.31). It is right for Christians to do just that.

         11. Praying for Unbelievers. We shouldn't castigate unbelievers. We shouldn't ever gloat over their condemnation and coming misery. "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles" (Proverbs 24.17). Instead we should pray for their redemption. We should pray that they may be saved even "contrary to nature" (Romans 11.24).

         Even though we know only a few will be saved and that it all depends on God's mercy, we should nevertheless pray for unbelievers (James 5.l6). But isn't this against God's will? No. He expects us to have mercy on others as God himself has had mercy on us (Ephesians 4.32). St. Paul even was ready to give his salvation away to the damned that they might be saved instead of him (Romans 9.3). So our prayer should be: “Have mercy on those who do the devil's bidding. Crush their hearts and bring them to repentance and faith in your dear Son, Christ Jesus, that they may know the joy of your salvation. Nevertheless, thy will be done (Matthew 26.39). Amen.”

         This prayer is not limited to men, the wealthy and politically free (Galatians 3.28). Neither is it limited to certain ethnic groups (Acts 10.35; Matthew 28.19). Christ after all truly died for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2.2; 1 Peter 2.24).

         12. Shaming the Wise. Believing in the unique salvation of Christ Jesus is not based on plausibility (1 Corinthians 2.4). It isn't for the wise whom God has shamed with his offensive word (1 Corinthians 1.27). It isn't a coherent philosophy of life (Colossians 2.8). It’s rather based on heavenly (Philippians 3.20) standards of possibility (Luke 1.37; 18.27) and goodness (John 6.27). Intellectual respectability isn’t the right measurement.

         So rather than discussing God's salvation and assessing it, we are to hear it and keep it (Luke 11.28). Any intervening interpretative or evaluative stage in between the hearing and obeying is ruled out. We are to take the message in like an infant does her mother’s milk (LW 16:93). No discussion, critique or revision. Just take it straight. In this simple, primitive faith is power to be come children of God (John 1.12) – to be born from above (John 3.3). It turns us into new creations (2 Corinthians 5.17). It makes us faithful unto death (Revelation 2.10). Bickering about Christianity puts an end to this new creation. And so we know why Jesus says he's not for the wise and understanding (Matthew 11:25-27). If you can't take him in with a childlike mind, you'll never believe in him (Matthew 18.3). This trust is the life of the Spirit in Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 2.13).

         There is so much more about Christianity besides damnation that is offensive. The list is nearly endless: Keep the old faith (Jude l.3), A message without human origin (Galatians 1.12), I'd rather be dead (Philippians 1.23), Virginal conception (Luke 1.35), Homosexual behavior is wrong (Romans 1.27), I don't live my life (Galatians 2.20), Be heavenly-minded (Colossians 3.2), Christ is better than anything (Philippians 3.8), Blood relations aren't family (Mark 3.35), Rejoice always (Philippians 4.4), Serving only God (Luke 4.8), I can do all things (Philippians 4.13), Pray constantly (1 Thessalonians 5.17), Even lustful looks are adultery (Matthew 5.28), Awards are bad (John 5.44), Rejoice when hated (Luke 6.23), Care nothing about food or clothes (Matthew 6.25), You must drink Jesus' blood (John 6.53), The tough way is best (Matthew 7.14), The dead live (Luke 7.15), Pleasures are bad (Luke 8.14), The sighted must be blinded (John 9.39), Let the dead bury themselves (Luke 9.60), Threatened by wolves (Luke 10.3), Healing makes things worse (Luke 11.26), Don't cry until bloodied (Hebrews 12.4), Divided families are good (Luke 12.51), Hate yourself (John 12.25), Renounce everything (Luke 14.33), Human praise is bad (Luke 16.15), Pick up serpents (Mark 16.18), Deny yourself (Matthew 16.24), We are worthless (Luke 17.10), Keep praying even when ignored (Luke 18.1), Face your abuser alone (Matthew 18.15), Only God is good (Luke 18.19), Marriage is only for one man and one woman (Matthew 19.5), Divorce is bad (Matthew 19.9), Believe without evidence (John 20.29), The world is evil (1 John 5.19), Many are called but few are chosen (Matthew 22.14), etc.

         So Luther was correct drawing his amazing conclusion: "Since God is a just judge, we must love and laud his justice and rejoice in God even when he miserably destroys the wicked in body and soul, for in all this his lofty and unspeakable justice shines forth. Thus even hell is no less full of good, the supreme good, than is heaven. The justice of God is God himself and God is the highest good. Therefore, even as his mercy, so must his justice or judgment be loved, praised, and glorified above all things" (LW 42:156).

         13. Only Jesus Knows His Own. The fact that only Christians go to heaven doesn't mean we know who they are. So Christians can't declare who's in and who's out. Christ will make that judgment in the end (John 5.22). Jesus knows his own and they know him (John 10.27). Until the end the weeds grow up with the wheat and who's whom will not be settled until the end (Matthew 13.41-43). None of us can perceive that intimate relationship between Christ and redeemed sinners (1 Corinthians 2.11-12).

         For a while we think we might know them by the fruits of their lives (Matthew 7.16). But things change. People drift away from salvation (Hebrews 2.1). Others come back into it (Luke 15.17). Only God sees into our hearts and knows our final disposition (1 Samuel 16.7; Matthew 15.8). He is the final judge – not us.

         Many haven't been able to endure this uncertainty about each other. So schemes have been devise. One of the most famous was that "good works" were "indispensable as a sign of election" [Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, trans. Talcott Parsons (1920, 1958) p. 115]. So people worked hard in order to prosper and thereby prove their salvation – which of course was supposedly granted freely to them through Christ Jesus. But because this scheme jumped-the-gun and usurped Christ's place as judge, it was a failure even though many relied on it anyway – and still do.

         14. Making Faith Possible. Why does God make it so difficult for us to believe? Why are we expected to believe that so many are damned to hell? Doesn't damnation destroy faith? No. It's actually the opposite.

 If God made good moral and intellectual sense he would be easily known and understood. No risk would be required to believe in him – no venturing out into what is unseen and only "hoped for" (Hebrews 11.1). But faith requires such a risk. So God’s appearances upset us to test us. Can we believe? His love looks like hate (Matthew 15.26-28). His wisdom looks foolish and his power puny (1 Corinthians 1.23-25). In this way he makes "room for faith." He creates a risk. Then we can "believe him merciful when he saves so few." After all, "if I could comprehend how... God can be merciful and just who displays so much wrath and iniquity, there would be no need of faith" (LW 33:62-63).

         15. Untying the Knots. Christians value simple explanations and straightforward statements (Galatains 2.14; 1 Corinthians 14.8; 2 Corinthians 4.2; Ephesians 4.14; 2 Peter 1.20, 3.16). We think beating-around-the-bush is bad. So why is this essay on heaven and hell so involved? Couldn't it have been shorter and simpler? I think not.

         Our situation is like that of the Cambridge University philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951). He thought philosophy should be simple – all the while knowing that it simply couldn't be. So he concluded: "Why is philosophy so complicated? It ought, after all, to be completely simple. – Philosophy unties the knots in our thinking, which we have tangled up in an absurd way; but to do that, it must make movements which are just as complicated as the knots.... The complexity of philosophy is not in its matter, but in our tangled understanding" [Philosophical Remarks (1964, 1975) p. 52].

         If it were not for all our knotty confusions, we could have simply sung these verses of Luther's hymn on Christ [Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) No. 79] and left it at that:

To his disciples spoke the Lord,

"Go out to ev'ry nation,

And bring to them the living Word

And this my invitation:

Let ev'ryone abandon sin

And come in true contrition

To be baptized, and thereby win

Full pardon and remission,

And heav'nly bliss inherit."

But woe to those who cast aside

This grace so freely given;

They shall in sin and shame abide

And to despair be driven.

For born in sin, their works must fail,

Their striving saves them never;

Their pious acts do not avail,

And they are lost forever,

                                 Eternal death their portion.                                  

IN WOBEGON BOY GARRISON KEILLOR makes fun of what he calls "dark Lutherans." They are the unforgiving, unhappy ones. They were "strict about dress...and about the Sabbath: after church, you remained in a devotional mode for the rest of the day, sitting in a room with shades pulled, perusing a commentary on Habakkuk and Obadiah." After all, they chided, "Do you care so little for Him who shed His life's blood for you that you cannot spare one day out of seven to think of Him and of Him only?"

The gift to be righteous is the gift to say no,

And depart from the place you should not go,

Renouncing the company of unclean souls,

And thus we are added to the saintly rolls.

 

The punishments of Hell.... are the most exquisite pains of soul and body..., arising from the fear and sense of the most just wrath and vengeance of God against sins, the most sad consciousness of which they carry about with them, the baseness of which is manifest, and of which, likewise, no remission afterwards, and, therefore, no mitigation or end can be hoped for. Whence, in misery, they will execrate, with horrible lamentation and wailing, their former impiety, by which they carelessly neglected the commandments of the Lord, the admonitions of their brethren, and all the means of attaining salvation; but in vain. For in perpetual anguish, with dreadful trembling, in shame, confusion, and ignominy, in inextinguishable fire, in weeping and gnashing of teeth, amidst that which is eternal and terrible, torn away from the grace and favor of God, they must quake among the devils, and be tortured without end to eternity (Schmid 658).

 

our joy cannot be full until we see Christ's name hallowed perfectly, all false doctrine and sects abolished, all tyrants and persecutors of Christ's kingdom subdued; not until we see the will and designs of all godless people and the devil checked and God's will alone prevailing; not until the cares of the belly or hunger and thirst no longer assail us, sin no longer oppresses us, temptation no longer weakens the heart, and death no longer holds us captive. But this will not take place until the life to come... In this life... we have only a droplet of this joy... Progress is slow and cannot be perfect either in faith or in life. Again and again we fall into the mire and are weighed down with sadness and a heavy conscience, which prevent our joy from being perfect or make it so slight that we can hardly feel this incipient joy (LW 24:399-401).

 

Before Christ's coming, the world had more different kinds of idolatries than a dog has fleas.... Accordingly the Romans gathered together all the false gods from out of the whole world and built a church which they called the Pantheon, or the church of all gods.... When, however, the real God, Jesus Christ, came, they would not tolerate him.... Then the strife and discord began. Then all the gods went quite mad, together with their servants, the Romans, who slew the apostles and martyrs and all who dared call on the name of this Christ (LW 34:213).

 

On the other hand, by the same authority, I declare unto the impenitent and unbelieving, that so long as they continue in their impenitence, God hath not for-given their sins, and will assuredly visit their iniquities upon them, if they turn not from their evil ways, and come to true repentance and faith in Christ, ere the day of grace be ended (Common Service Book 243; cf., Service Book and Hymnal 252).

 

worthy communicants... are those timid, perturbed Christians, weak in faith, who are heartily terrified because of their many and great sins, who consider themselves unworthy of this noble treasure and the benefits of Christ because of their great impurity, and who perceive their weakness in faith, deplore it, and heartily wish that they might serve God with a stronger and more cheerful faith and a purer obedience (SD 7.69).

 

We feel that a Christmas album ought to be raw, urgent, and honest, like the event it celebrates. Christ has entered the world! Our natural response is not everybody settle down, mellow out, and hand me my slippers. It is more like spontaneous cries of joy and song. If you're looking for fake strings and pretty voices, you have bought the wrong album, my friend.

 

Forde, Gerhard, "The God Who Kills" in Logia 7:69-70 (Reformation 1998).

Deathly Evangelism

by Pastor Marshall 

http://www.users.aol.com/SemplerRef/deathly.html

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A common complaint in the modern, industrialized world is that the church is boring – and Christianity along with it. Church is thought to be too sober and predictable to be of any interest. All that happens there is humdrum – the incessant asking for money and the tired singing of old songs about loving God and the neighbor.

People therefore have quit going to church in droves.[i] And those who remain have panicked – fearing that the church will die if something drastic is not done – and quickly at that. So many stupid, desperate measures are being tried. The church, for instance, has become a comedy hour in some places – promising a good belly laugh for all those who venture out on Sunday mornings and into the pews.[ii] Other places have offered innovative and entertaining music – rock and rap for the new, younger generations, in whose hands the future of the church is erroneously believed to dwell.[iii] Still others have turned the church into a social agency, dabbling in a dizzying array of political campaigns.[iv] All of these strategies, and more like them, have whittled away at Sunday morning boredom. And in many cases they have even succeeded – but at too great a cost.

All these efforts therefore are doomed because of the high price they pay for their successes. All of them send us down blind alleys – in spite of their many and varied successes. When we are convinced of this and dump them out-right, it doesn’t mean we’re left with boredom forever. No, there are other, better solutions. For from the beginning, the church has been dedicated to fight against boredom. And that struggle has been part of its essential identity. So from the beginning it has encouraged urgency, eagerness and zeal,[v] in its fight against mediocrity, idleness and lukewarmness.[vi] And these efforts have come by way of the word of God which is “sharper than any two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12; Jeremiah 23:29). When this divine word cuts us up – as one might well imagine – boredom then is out the door.

The church, however, doesn’t always utilize this solution of its own. It instead caves in and betrays its essential identity, heeding instead something like Othello’s command to “keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them.”[vii] By so doing, it welcomes boredom back in. And it does this without any struggle or shame. The avoidance of conflict, confrontation and contestation, is what’s behind all of this. We give up the cutting word because we’re always looking for the course of least resistance. And this results in deadening the church. Against this Martin Luther warned: “If the Gospel is not attacked it completely rusts and has no occasion or reason to make its power and influence manifest.”[viii] So when the church is boring it’s because a rusty Christianity has set in.

Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) called this sort of Christianity one that has lost its spring or tension:

Ah, there is so much in the ordinary course of life that will lull a person to sleep, teach him to say “peace and no danger.” Therefore we go to God’s house to be awakened from sleep and to be pulled out of the spell. But when in turn there is at times so much in God’s house that will lull us to sleep! Even that which in itself is awakening – thoughts, reflections, ideas – can completely lose meaning through the force of habit and monotony, just as a spring can lose the tension by which alone it really is what it is.[ix]

These spring-loaded ideas come from God’s holy word. They awaken us by cutting us – “piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow,” that the “thoughts and intentions of the heart” might be uncovered (Hebrews 4:12).[x]

This cutting is therefore deep and dangerous. And it’s what makes Christianity “dangerous and difficult” [periculosum et asperum] – both traits being essential features of its very nature (LW 12:217-219, 394-395; 51:205). This word thereby humbles us “to the utmost,” as Luther says.[xi] It destroys all knowledge “that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.” It “breaks through and wounds. It takes away every ground of trust and ascribes redemption solely to the blood of Christ; it pricks and wounds the soul” (LW 12:216, 225). This work is so central to Christianity that Revelation 1:16 has a sword coming right out of the mouth of the resurrected Lord Jesus.

This pricking and wounding, cutting and awakening, all happens by way of “contrast and antithesis [per contentionem et antithesin],” according to Luther (LW 33:287). This push and pull of ideas – or working out of salvation “in fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:13) – is what keeps Christianity lively. It’s what enables Christians to take up “the good fight of faith” (1 Timothy 6:12). It’s what suppresses the boredom that’s always “couching at the door” of our churches (Genesis 4:7).

In order to be antithetical, we must always imagine the cynical, skeptical objections to any of our affirmations. So when we praise Christ, for instance, we must always remember those who want to say against us that “Jesus be cursed” (1 Corinthians 12:3). We can’t therefore forget this crucible of contest if Christianity is to be free of boredom. Christianity, after all, is a word of life that makes sense only in the struggle against death – and all death-dealing words and arguments against it. “In the absence of dying and death,” Luther writes, Christianity “can do nothing, and no one can become aware that it… is stronger than sin and death” (LW 30:126). So by sheltering Christianity from opposition, we hurt it more than help it.

Kierkegaard builds on Luther’s antitheses with his dialectical method. It seeks to present Christianity as composed of “infinite wrestling”:[xii]

To endeavor to work directly is to work or to endeavor directly in immediate connection with a factually given state of things. The dialectical method is the reverse: in working also to work against oneself,… which is “the earnestness,” like the pressure on the plow that determines the depth of the furrow, whereas the direct endeavor is a glossing-over, which is finished more rapidly and also is much, much more rewarding – that is, it is worldliness and homogeneity (KW 22:9).

Kierkegaard’s dialectical method therefore helps us dig down into any Christian claim, that it might rightly be seen as opposing us. This isn’t very rewarding in worldly terms. It slows everything down. It pits us against the world and ourselves – making us contrarian and heterogeneous. It gives Christianity a bite –making it salty, if not downright brackish (Matthew 5:13; LW 31:35):

The existential dialectic bears qua dialectic the stamp of its origin as a philosophical term in the dramatic dialogue. It is, namely, a mutual confrontation of opposites in their logically developed consequences.[xiii]

This confrontation of opposites throws us into a cauldron where we rightly belong –the “great battle in the human heart.”[xiv] This is the war (Romans 7:23) wherein spirit and flesh (Galatians 5:17) “struggle with one another… as long as we live” (LW 35:377). Ignoring this battle falsifies Christianity and leaves the church a silly and boring place. It misses the profound truth that Christians “thrive best” when opposed (LW 45:347). Blinded by our penchant for conflict-avoidance, we lose our way and sell our “birthright” (Genesis 25:29-34).

But how does this conquering of boredom in the church actually happen by way of God’s cutting word? One way to see this at work is in sermons on John 14.1-6. Over the years I’ve heard at least two boring sermons on this text – one by Pastor Prestbye ( Kent Lutheran Church , Kent , WA) on July 19, 2003, and another by Pastor Richardson (St. Malachi Anglican Church, Hillsborough , Northern Ireland ) on April 20, 2008. In both these cases, the dialectical method wasn’t used and Luther’s antitheses were missing. In both sermons this was done by letting one Christian claim, from this text, stand by itself – namely, that Christ will return to take us back with him into heaven (John 14:3). This is a great promise, but it’s boring when it stands alone – sailing past us unopposed by any contest, debate or challenges. It just stands there all alone, for us to bask in – and in this serene process, we get bored with it. It’s too placid. It doesn’t grip us. Because of this undialectical approach, we’re even led to believe that this claim is intrinsically unimportant because it isn’t worthy of any struggle. As Luther once put it, the devil is only interested in gobbling up the plump sheep – those positions and people that are full of God’s holy words (LW 30:135). The skinny ones – the unimportant ones – he leaves to languish on their own. By letting this text slide by uncontested, we leave the impression it’s a skinny one, when in fact it’s a fat one.

            A dialectical approach, however, turns this impression around. It butts this claim about Jesus taking us to heaven (John 14:3), with the other one, in the same passage, about having first to prepare a place for us in heaven before we can go (John 14:2). But notice how this butting of Bible verses against each other slows everything down. Matters become complicated. Some won’t like this detour – due to this Biblical complication – because they can’t follow it. They can’t see where it’s headed and so it seems a waste. Furthermore it won’t let them make short shrift of the Bible verses. But neither will the details in John 14:1-6 itself. Those details require of us to pause and ponder – whether we like it or not. They’re in control – not us (Isaiah 55:11). This is the first way in which this text turns against us – ruining the original sweetness of the claim that Jesus will return and quickly whisk us off to heaven – without any complications.