receiving when the answers aren't there

These are exciting days and there is never any lack for surprise in the ministry.

A year or two ago there was a good old Lutheran in town who visited our church. I had not seen him in many many years so it was good to see him. Two Sundays in a row he visited the service. We have the Lord's Supper at every service so I asked him with some surprise why he did not come to the altar. Oh, it was because he always likes to read the Christian Questions with their Answers from the catechism before he comes up and he forgot to bring his catechism. I was impressed. Here is someone who appears to take the faith seriously.

Then again I was surprised and disappointed. He did not see or hear that the liturgy prepares him to come up to the altar with the same faith - confession of sins and absolution, hearing the Scripture and the preaching of the Gospel, hearing the words of Institution, trusting in Christ, etc. He did not recognize that the faith the catechism teaches is the same faith that is given to us in the liturgy of Word and Sacrament.

Included in the Christian Questions with their Answers is the Words of Institution: "... 'Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.'"

He was obviously trying to send me another message. However his actions in not coming to the altar speaks volumes about the value of the Lord's Supper to him and this gives much room for pause. If we hope to take seriously the faith, we will not neglect opportunities like weekly Communion to receive God's mercy in Christ. We may think we can live two or three weeks without God's gifts and forgiveness, without nourishment in faith in Christ. Our sins never take such long breaks. The early Christians did not wait too long, they received the Eucharist daily.

partaking and not partaking

It is not surprising that a secularly minded culture might not grasp the importance of Ascension Day. Matters raised on this Feast are always beyond reason as is the custom. Even the disciples are chided by Jesus for their "unbelief and hardness of heart" because they did not believe those who had seen Jesus when they told them he was risen from the dead.

When, annually, the Feast of the Ascension is downplayed within Christianity something else is at work. Understandably, some have moved the feast to Sunday so that those who do not come on the Feast day itself might still receive its benefits. On the other hand even Sundays might not help with some.

In my own Lutheran faith tradition each year, around Ascension the bureaucracy buzzes with distractions. Whether intentionally or not, the effect or message seems to be the same, don't put too much attention on the Ascension. I am still looking at church history and the different hymnals to try and figure this one out. There is something about Ascension that makes us nervous.

In the Biblical narrative and the life of Jesus the importance of this day is quite obvious. There is actually much going on in this part of God's plan of salvation that tells us about Jesus, the Holy Trinity and the life of the Church after Jesus' departure.

Each year I am surprised by our general (lack of) reaction to the Feast of the Ascension. And each year I try to figure out our reticence. Then I come to the Proper Preface where the chant continues, "...who after his resurrection appeared openly to all his disciples and in their sight was taken up to heaven that he might make us partakers of his divine nature." Here I am surprised again. Surprised that the Lord's work is not hindered by Lutheran reticence as it was not hindered by the unbelief and hardness of heart of his own disciples. Jesus' ascension in the body has something to do with us. This is a great time to partake of the blessed Eucharist. I am not surprised by those with faith in reason. On Ascension Day, I am surprised by non-partaking people of faith.

May 1 & 2

The Feast of Sts. Philip and James, Apostles (May 1) in the Western Church goes back to the 6th century. All three hymnals of MS since the 1940s place this feast on May 1. The 1962 Missal commemorates the feast on May 11. This combined celebration is of Western commemoration, the Eastern Church commemorating the two apostles separately.

Jesus tells Philip, after He institutes the Last Supper, that he who sees Jesus sees the Father. He then speaks of the coming Ascension, "Because I go to the Father." (John 14)

The commemoration on May 2 is that of St. Athanasius, Bishop, Confessor, Doctor. Against Arius, Athanasius defended the divinity of Jesus in the 4th century. "We preach not ourselves, but Jesus Christ our Lord; and ourselves your servants through Jesus." (2 Cor. 4:5-14)

The medieval church took Paul's reference in Ephesians 2 about the church being "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone" as a basis for equating the honor of apostles' days with that of Sundays.

Easter ministry

This is a big "if" but "if" opposition to the pastoral ministry (aka "anti-clericalism") is a sub-theme or in a sub-strata of Lutheranism "then" we have difficulty with the Gospel readings on the Sundays following Easter.

liberal use of the liturgy

The word "liberal" here is not to make a specific political, social, or economic statement. Nor is the word "liberal" being placed together with the word "liturgy" here to advance lifestyles that are apart from the divine order in creation. Finally, this is not about changing the liturgy or advancing new forms of ministry.

What is said by using these words together, "liberal use of the liturgy"? The liberal use of the liturgy is another way of saying liturgical renewal, that is renewal in learning, using and advancing the liturgy. This is of interest to those who know that a service in the hymnal is not the liturgy and a given hymnal is not the liturgy but the use of the hymnal among Lutherans, for example, is the preferred and expected tool of those who are in liturgical renewal. Another example of liturgical renewal is a church building where the altar has a central and visible role as the place where the sacrament is offered and distributed. There are many other aspects of liturgical renewal among us. In short, liturgical renewal is clearly distinct and separate from efforts to provide and/or produce religious forms of entertainment.

In addition to liturgical renewal, "liberal use of the liturgy" may refer to "liberal" use of time to advance the gathering of people in prayer. For example, this may mean additional weekday services in Advent and Lent. Outside of the celebration of Christmas, another example of this are the services of Holy Week. Using time to hear the Word of God and receive the Sacrament, from Palm Sunday to Easter Day, including the opportunities of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday, are of spiritual discipline and benefit. There is another opportunity with the Feast of the Ascension. These are all opportunities for renewal in Christ. Renewal in Christ is the best understanding of liturgical renewal and the liberal use of the liturgy.

Seeing more than what's in our heart

I am not sure if it is a cultural thing or not to focus continuously on matters of personal anfechtung or angst. The faith gets reduced to a matter of an individual personal struggle within (with stress on "individual", "personal", "struggle", "within"). Those who can manifest such struggles have the truest faith while others are left to wonder why they do not have enough faith. In recent years, de-pression seems to be a popular topic in the media outlets and elsewhere, usually though without any spiritual answers offered.

Theologically, this tension or contrast is often described in terms of sin and forgiveness or grace, or in the training I received, "Law and Gospel." In short, we are sinners, unable to save ourselves. God in His mercy freely saves us for Jesus' sake (the cross). Pastors are called on to preach sin and salvation in Christ.

Generally speaking, who can criticise a principle such as this? It seems simple, clear and straight forward enough. I am the sinner and Jesus is the Savior. All of Christianity embraces this truth in one degree or another. There is certainly not anything unbiblical about these basic teachings.

What then is the difficulty? Laetare is probably as good an example as any. "Laetare" means rejoice. In this age of de-pression, austerity, etc., one is almost made to feel guilty for reading or hearing the psalmist say, "I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: we shall go into the house of the Lord." We know there are many forces at work here. Even those of us who go into the house of the Lord do not always do so with gladness. Still, we ought not feel guilty or be made to feel guilty if attending church brings us spiritual benefit. With all of the emphasis on sin I hear lately, maybe it's a good thing that Laetare sneaks into Lent as Gaudete had done with Advent.

We get the point - Jesus is the Savior from sin. This is no small thing. The Cross is no small event. But neither is the Incarnation. Here is where the Creed is helpful. The Creed does not pit the Cross and the Incarnation against each other as I have often heard discussed in recent years. The Creed confesses all of the merciful and saving works of God in Christ from the Incarnation to the Ascension. All of what Christ does for us is central to the work of our salvation. The Creed helps saves us from ourselves and our own notions.

Back to Law / Gospel. There is no way any paradigm can be forced onto a given text. For example, in the healing of the blind man (John 9) the blind man says, "Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him." We can relate to the first part about being sinners, no problem there. What about the second part, isn't the blind man commending doing good things to ensure God's hearing? If we look at the text via a principle the blind man is certainly advancing a theological error. On the other hand, if God can heal a blind man and create faith through hearing of the Word, certainly He can lead sinners to worship Him and do His will, albeit imperfectly. So we hear the blind man charged with being "completely born in sins" and cast out. What does Jesus have to say about this? He finds the blind man and asks him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?" How does it all turn out in the end? The blind man says, "Lord, I believe!" The Evangelist records, "And he worshiped Him."

A couple of observations, not every text is going to say to me that I am a sinner and Jesus is my Savior. Nor is it always easy for the preacher to make that connection with every text or put a principle onto a text. The text also shows us other things about God and man that are not always necessarily interior or based in angst and anfechtung. For example, Jesus is more concerned that the once blind man (and we) "believe in the Son of God." The man now seeing, sees a man externally and sees Him as the Son of God and worships Him. There are both external and internal aspects of the faith. This is indeed what we confess in the Creed, "I believe . . . all things visible and invisible . . . and in one Lord Jesus Christ . . . God of God, Light of Light . . ."

A final observation - in an age of de-pression and austerity, when sin and law are overemphasized, it is better to see things like the blind man did. Then Laetare is not as difficult a thing as it may first appear. Lent may seem to be a more somber time. There is some truth to that. Still, the Scripture for our hearing is here as it is throughout the year, and sometimes it manifests itself more richly, or He manifests Himself more clearly, to us than we may at first expect. If Lent is all about our feelings, then there is no reason to receive the gifts of God. Rather Lent is all about the one of whom the once blind man said, "If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing."

Laetare

a fun look at dates of the calendar

The date for Oculi, tomorrow, is 3/3/13. We are well into Lent now and looking ahead to Easter, which falls this year on 3/31/13. Many 3s, and some 1s. We know what it means when 3 and 1 are together. Tomorrow, Oculi mei semper ad Dóminum - Mine eyes are ever towards the Lord. Easter Sunday, Resurrexi, et adhuc tecum sum - I arose, and am still with Thee. 3 and 1 together, also a good numerical reminder of the togetherness of Lent and Easter.