Luther Theological Conference: First Sermon Posted

The first Sermon from the 2008 Luther Theological Conference at Brookings is up:
"Disciplined Christians--a sermon reflecting preaching to the bound will."
You can read it at the link below.

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcxw5gn_7wqgmknfh

Leave Comments, please.

How do "I" go about preaching to the bound will?

1) by remembering Forde's admonitions "preaching is First Order Discourse" and "preaching is DOING the text to the hearer." I understanding the first as being in the form: "I say unto YOU." I understand the second to mean that preaching is the "active" word working on the passive hearer, literally--as Forde often commented--doing the "electing" deed itself.

2) this means that certain types of sermons do not work well in this genre: motivational, explanatory, even exegetical. They all require some form of assent on the part of the hearer.

3) I think the type of sermon that works in this genre is one that works to "expose" both the bondage that is there and the reality that Christ has already dealt with it.

4) preaching to the bound will has "moments" which are like the punchline of a good joke: when it is delivered, all that was said before is reinterpreted in the new light of the punchline and it "catches" people.

5) Both humor and story serve to "soften" the hearer so that they are susceptible to being "caught." I remember Forde's sermon "Caught in the Act." When I preach an "expose'" sermon, I like to think of it as "catching" my hearers in the act of being who they are--sinners, dead in their sin yet alive in Christ.

Consequently, this sermon "Disciplined Christians"--a title exposing discipleship as the "discipline" of the mortal which we cannot escape, has three "catch" points where I sink the hook:

1) Now don’t tell me you haven’t stored up your neighbor’s faults, hoarding them for some occasional, late-at-night fondling. Exposing that our neighbor's faults are of much more use to us when we keep them close--sort of festering--than to get them out in the open and clear them up.

2) Do you hear that? What do you say to Jesus? "Me? I'm supposed to forgive them? Not me, Jesus. I'm not that kind of person. I'll die before I forgive them!" "Forgive!" Jesus commands. "But Jesus, I can't. It'll be the death of me." "I know, says Jesus, "It was the death of me, too. I died for such forgiveness." Exposing that "forgiveness equals death," a death we're not ready to experience but one which Christ has already undergone.

3) Your neighbor’s fault, your neighbor’s sin has been the occasion, not of his expulsion, but of your being graced. Exposing the whole passage in a new light: Christian discipline--for which this Mt 18 passage--is often cited--is not just neighborly confrontation but Christ confronting you with death and new life.

Conclusions:

1) Some people at the conference found the first "hook" offensive" in that "fondler" is a loaded word in today's context.

2) Most at the conference found the second "hook" to be the most effective, even recommending that the sermon end there.

3) Even I found the third "hook" the weakest--not for its content, but for its presentation. The language and deliver could be revised to "set the hook" harder.

Okay, what say you?

2008 Luther Theological Conference: "Preaching to the Bound Will"

What fun we had!
Five preachers, five sermons, and a roomful of bound wills.
Were any set free?
Well... I can tell you this: The Word of God was preached, what the Holy Spirit did to those wills is the Holy Spirit's business.
Five preachers, five sermons, five different styles and presentations, and a roomful of critics.
What did they say?
Stay tuned. As I get permission to post the sermons, I'll put them up and YOU can make your critique in the comments.

Disputationes: Towards Theological Sanity

Dennis continues to drive the discussion forward on "Semantic Realism."
Disputationes: Towards Theological Sanity

Meanwhile, the "Emerging Church" gets more attention even as it swirls in the cesspool of "in curvatus se." To view this theologically insanity and its critics follow these links:

The Emergent "Church"/Cult Documentary on PBS
(a "Gee Whiz, something new in Christianity" attititude)

Emergent Church movement PBS Religion and Ethic...

Nightline: Emergent Church
(with "The Spirit Garage" an ELCA endeavor)

Let's Talk Post-Modernism and the Emergent Church
(I loved the quote beneath this video)

Brian Mclaren And The Dangers Of The Emergent Church
( a "Wretched" expose)

Emergent Urge
(deeply biting satire, I love the caption: "Preaching is an act of violence to the Wills of those who must sit and take it"

But even though the "Emergent Church" has its critics, do the critics practice "semantic realism?" Perhaps they too practice theological insanity.

Are you looking for something more?

Here's a great on-line community for people exploring and confessing the Lutheran faith.
The Wittenberg Trail

Disputationes: Full Response to the ELCA Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality

Dennis has published a comprehensive evaluation of ELCA Draft on Human Sexuality: "How Not To Derive 'OUGHT' from 'IS'

Disputationes: Full Response to the ELCA Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality

Here Dr. Bielfeldt examines the draft both philosophically (the "ought vs. is) and theologically (the confusion of law and gospel)

Go!
Do some theology!

Augsburg Lutheran Churches Convention

What a gathering of theologians of the cross we had at the annual convention--"More Than Conquerors"--of the Augsburg Lutheran Churches held at Lutheran Church of the Risen Lord in Odessa, Texas last month! Thank you Pastor Michael Mueller for hosting the convention and for publishing news of the event in the congregation's newsletter with all the convention coverage.

ALC convention Summary

ALCW convention Summary

Additional Pictures at the ALC convention

One of the bible studies at the convention: "Jesus the Overcomer"

Lutheran Church of the Risen Lord

The Augsburg Lutheran Churches

Question, Week #1--July 29th

The Question this week #1--July 29th is

"How does one proclaim Law & Gospel under the conditions of 1) Semantic Realism; 2)Theological Realism; & 3) Theophysical Causation?"

Let's have some responses!
Come on in, join the fray!

Wittenberg Theological Method

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior!

You are welcome to this site where theology will be done following the Wittenberg theological method. Martin Luther (1483-1546), priest and professor at Wittenberg University, proposed the preaching of a radical gospel: Salvation is in Christ and Christ Alone. This "categorical preaching" of Jesus Christ gathered a school of theologians which has persisted through the years as a thin tradition of faith in Christ amidst the broad stream of religious Christianity.

The Wittenberg theological method's distinctive features serve as reflection upon yesterday's proclamation and preparation for tomorrow's--that is, the method serves to get Christ and Christ Alone proclaimed as the sole savior of the world. These distinctive features are:

1. God confronts human beings in Law and Gospel
2. Believers are simultaneously justified and sinful at the same time
3. The true theology is a theology of the cross, not a theology of glory
4. The infinite is mediated or carried by the finite

(George Forell "Why Recall Luther Today?" 1983)

These distinctive features rest on some presuppositions regarding God and theological language. As proposed by Dr. Dennis Bielfeldt of the Institute of Lutheran Theology, the suppositions are:

1. Semantic Realism--Theological language has truth conditions
2. Theological Realism--God exists apart from human consciousness
3. Theophysical Causation--God is a causal force in the universe.

(Bielfeldt, "WordAlone--fundamentalis? No, fundamentals!" 2006)

Under the condition of Semantic Realism, "understanding" means a person's coming to a knowledge of the truth conditions which apply to a given situation. Understanding and using theological language, then, means acknowledging and knowing that theological statements are true or false depending upon conditions which are external to the person and the person's internal state of affairs. The truth of these statements is not dependent upon the person's thinking, doing, or feeling.

Under the condition of Theological Realism, God exists apart from human consciousness in such a way that God is independent of human experience. God has "being" external to the human being. Human "enthusiasm" for an ideal of thinking, doing, or feeling, does not equate to the reality of God.

Under the condition of Theophysical Causation, God is a causal force in the universe in such a way the God's being has "agency"--that is, God creatively influences the universe's states of existance and as an active agent in the universe brings about natural events in their myriad bounty.

In the course of this blog's discussions, a theology following the Wittenberg Theological Method will be worked out so that Christ and Christ Alone can be proclaimed categorically in this the 21st Century.

Come in!
Join the fray!