SOME THOUGHTS ON THE GOSPEL FOR THE 5TH SUNDAY IN LENT, MARCH 29, 2009

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE GOSPEL

FOR THE 5^TH SUNDAY IN LENT, MARCH 29, 2009

Dick Smith, Bismarck

PREACHING TO THE CAPTIVE WILL

The Gospel: John 12:20-33

When Christian History is written about this period of time I believe it will be known as a period of darkness. It will be seen as a time when man has placed himself above Scripture interpreting it to his own liking. Instead of Scripture interpreting man, man has usurped Scripture’s place and now has proceeded to control Scripture.

No where is this more evident than in organized institutional religion’s fixation with morality. Christ is now used as a tool to justify moral conduct as the sum and substance of Christianity. Scriptural passages are ripped from their context, twisted around, and reshaped in order to support preconceived notions about the proper kind of conduct. Conduct has become the determining factor, so much so that it has become common to hear it said, “It doesn’t really matter what you believe as long as you are sincere. And how do you know that you are sincere; because you can feel it here (the heart). The message of CHRIST for the sinner has been pushed off the stage for the sake of moral conduct.

The passage before us from John chapter 12 exposes the falsity of so much of contemporary preaching. Verse 25 drives to the heart of the matter. It reads, “He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” This is spoken in the larger context of his response to Philip and Andrew. “And Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified.’ (That hour of glorification is when he dies on the cross.) ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If any one serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; in any one serves me, the Father will honor him.”

IT’S A MATTER OF DEATH AND NEW LIFE. To serve Christ, to follow Christ, is NOT a matter of self effort, or human endeavor. IT is a matter of dying with Christ and having a new life. When Jesus began his ministry, he announced that thekingdom of God was in their midst. (That is, Christ embodies the Kingdom and is in their midst.) Then he says “repent and believe in the Gospel.” “Repent” means to die and “believe” is another word for “faith,” which means “the real presence of Christ in you as a redeeming reality” (Regin Prenter, “Spiritus Creator,” (page 193; 50).

It's deceptively easy to interpret “hating one’s life” and “dying with Christ” as a psychological phenomenon so that one is to feel hurtful toward him or herself. The idea that one is to inflict pain upon one’s existence as a religious act is so popular that it blurs and contorts the message here.

It’s not a matter of twisting our emotions so that they produce some kind of spiritual change. Rather it simply the announcement to us of what is.

Paul makes his very clear in his Letter to the Romans where he introduces the matter of death and new life in chapter 6. He brings in this central issue as a progression of his thought about God’s grace. He says God’s grace cannot be out sinned! Sin all the more and God’s love is all the greater. This then leads to the next question. Shall we then keep on struggling to keep the Law which can only lead to more sinning? After all, God’s grace can’t be out sinned. His answer is, “God forbid.” Struggling to keep the Law is OVER and done with, because, he announces, we are all DEAD, having DIED in our baptism. The life now is CHRIST HIMSELF IN US.

This is not a matter of some kind of emotional rejection of our life, some kind of self hatred, some kind of self flagellation, some kind of physical lashing of our bodies. All of those things would be self administered. The dying Jesus is talking about is something that happens to us and not by us. It is administered to us by God himself in our baptism.

Since it is from God to us it is a matter of announcement to us. It is his action that is to be proclaimed to us as a fact. So our brother Paul continues, in Chapter 6 of Romans, after his answer, “God forbid,” with these words. “OR ARE YOU IGNORANT (the Greek, often translated in English: “or do you not know….’) that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his DEATH. We are BURIED therefore by baptism into his death so that as Christ was RAISED from the dead WE TOO MIGHT LIVE A NEW LIFE.

This element of ANNOUNCEMENT is clearly evident in the Letter to the Colossians where Paul writes “...you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him… (2:12). “For you ARE DEAD…”(3:3) reads the King James Version. Now I ask you, can the announcement be any more direct, any clearer, any more incisive? It’s not a matter of inner emotions, it’s not a matter of a certain kind of religious attitude, it’s not a matter of a prayerful posture. It’s not about you and me at all. It’s about God and what he has done in our baptism! IT’S about CHRIST and how HE IS the NEW LIFE in us. That passage in Colossians that begins, “For you ARE DEAD” continues, “and your life is now hid with CHRIST in God. When CHRIST, WHO IS OUR LIFE, appears you will also appear with him in glory” (3:3-4)!

The grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies and bears much fruit. CHRIST in us bears much fruit in and through us. Where Christ is, there we, as his servants, will be also, because he is our life. We have no choice. THANKS BE TO GOD!

©Richard J. Smith

A "Cruciform" Vocabulary: Law

In theological conversations one quickly discovers that--like Jesus and Nicodemus--theologians of the cross and practitioners of theologies of glory talk past one another because the vocabulary they use does not carry the same meaning for the "cruciform"--those shaped by the cross--as it does for glory-seekers. While each one uses the same words, the meanings are not the same or even similar. "Law," "Repentance," "Gospel," etc. and other terms, while common to both the cruciform and the glory-seekers, are invested with particular definitions suited to their respective theologies. This series of posts--A "Cruciform" Vocabulary" will lay out some of the common terms and their distinctive use for theologians of the cross.

THE LAW

This difference in meaning is particular apparent when considering "Law." Both the cruciform and the glory-seekers invest the law according to the direction of their theologies. Consequently, they come to very different understandings of the law's character, content, function, and user. Today, I'll take up the contrast in the character of the law between theologians of the cross and practitioners of theologies of glory.

The Law's Character:

for the glory-seeker, the law is eternal

In theologies of glory the law has an "ontology;" that is, a "being-ness" of its very own. It is the "entity" of God's will. As such, the law is divine and and transcends the boundary between earth and heaven. Glory-seekers are confident that they will indeed "glorify" God and "advance" in righteousness by submitting their wills to God's will as it is expressed in the law. Usually, this advance is considered to "higher" as in "toward" heaven or getting "closer" to God. In some theologies of glory the law becomes a "ladder" by which glory-seekers demonstrate their righteousness and worthiness to enter heaven once they've achieved some certain level along the way; or, the glory-seeker uses obedience to the law as visual proof of their salvation in Christ.

Theologies of glory are always trying to get "beyond" the cross and to its meaning, to peer "behind" it in order to see its purpose, and/or to get "past" the cross and on to the really important stuff. Because of all this talk "about" the cross, glory-seekers have all sorts of theories about what Jesus "really" did when he died on it. Practitioners of glory theology are confident that the real work of the cross was done--not on it--but somewhere else. Of course, they can cite scripture as "proof" of all of their "theories" but--because theologies of glory can't hold Christ as the "living heart" of the scripture--these citations only demonstrate a distortion of scripture to suit their respective theologies. So for them, the real work of the cross gets done in heaven where God lives or in hell where the Devil lives because Jesus' death on the cross either satisfies God's wrath against sin so He can now show mercy upon humanity or Jesus' death was paid as a ransom to the Devil so that all humanity would be set free from the Devil's rightful claim upon them as sinners. Either way, humanity's disobedience to the law must be "atoned" for and by his death Jesus accomplishes our "atonement."

Do you see what this does? It makes the law supreme over Jesus. In these theologies of glory our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is NOT the way, the truth, and the life--the law IS. For glory-seekers Jesus must die so that the law will finally work.

for the cruciform, the law has an end

Theologians of the cross know that the law has its end in Jesus Christ. For the cruciform the law has no ontology or being-ness of its own. While it is indeed an expression of God's will, it is incorporated within the very "being" of God's creatures. However, because this creation is now broken by sin and humans are in bondage to sin, the law--for now--is no longer incorporated within their being. For now, the law is "instantiated," that is, it is given expression in the demands made upon sinners. These demands come as creation expresses its need for a "lord." They come as our neighbor expresses a need for a "good" neighbor. And, they come from our God who would have us be co-workers in establishing the trustworthiness of creation even in the midst of its disorder and broken-ness. The law is NOT eternal, nor is it necessarily divine, nor does it transcend the boundary between earth and heaven. The cruciform know that the law is not a measure of righteousness and that obedience to the law does not advance one upon the ladder to heaven, nor does it make visible their salvation in Christ.

Theologians of the cross do not try to get beyond the cross to discover some sort of meaning hidden there. To the cruciform the cross is to them just what is was to Jesus: an instrument of death, their death like it was his death. The "work" of the cross is not accomplished in Heaven or in Hell; the work of the cross is to put sinners to death so that God can raise up saints to walk in newness of life. Sinners die because the cross exposes them for who they are--inveterate theologians of glory who put the law above Christ and the only "cure" for this bondage is their death. Saints walk in newness of life--a life hidden for the time being with Christ in God--a newness of life only seen by the eyes of faith as the new creation breaks in upon the old in the person of its Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This "death of sinners" and "saints raised to new life" is accomplished by God's Word at the pulpit, the baptismal font, and the altar of the Lord's Table.

THOUGHTS ON THE GOSPEL FOR THE 4th SUNDAY IN LENT

PREACHING TO THE CAPTIVE WILL

by Dick Smith

March 22, 2009

Gospel: John 3:14-21

Chapter three begins with Nicodemus coming to Jesus by night.  Vs. 10, begins an answer Jesus makes to him that goes on for a number of verses.  Since Greek had no quotation marks the context was used to determine when the statement ended.  Here however it is not easily discerned.  As a result the scholars have drawn two different conclusions.  One says that Jesus’ comment ends with verse 15.  The other holds that Jesus’ comment runs all the way through verse 22.

This immediately raises the question, did Jesus speak the Mini Gospel (John 3:16) to Nicodemus or is John making a statement that runs from verse 16 through verse 21?  It’s your call.  However you see it.

From the very outset of the conversation with Nicodemus Jesus has asserted that the relationship between God and man is one accomplished totally by God.  He begins with the necessity of being born from above. Nicodemus immediately tries to take it out of God’s hands and put it in man’s.  Jesus responds by taking it out of man’s hands and keeping it in God’s hands.  Water and the Spirit are references to baptism that John brings up again and again in the Gospel.  Our brother Paul sees water baptism as the pivotal point in God’s relationship to us. (See Romans 6:3ff.  And lest one think that this refers to some kind of adult only knowledgable baptism, note that Paul addresses his readers with the idea that they may not even understand what happened to them in their baptism.  He writes, “Or are you IGNORANT (the Greek.  Often translated into English as, “Do you not know…”) that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were buried therefore by baptism into his death that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father we too might live a new life.”  There is the death and new life, “being born from above,” that Jesus speaks to Nicodemus.

Jesus continues in his drive to proclaim that it’s all about God and his action and not about anything man can do.  He does this by pointing out that the Holy Spirit moves where he wills not according to our will. Further he points out that it isn’t about man climbing up to God but about the Son of man coming down to earth.  And what that means is centered on the cross where he will be lifted up and there glorified.  IT is in the cross where salvation is won.  Eternal life is for the ones believing. 

This then leads to the mini gospel, as I call it, the passage that has been called the golden thread of Scripture that runs through it From Genesis to Revelation. “For God so loved the world…everlasting life” (John 3:16). It is about saving not about condemning, John writes.  (You see “my take” on the quotation.  I think Jesus’ comments conclude with verse 15.) Condemnation is associated with unbelief. 

The judgment is “that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil”(verse 19).  This means that human kind is in rebellion against God.  This counters the argument that there are “seekers after God.”  Certainly there are self proclaimed “seekers” but what they don’t see is in their seeking they are moving away from God.  As our brother Paul wrote, “’None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands, NO ONE SEEKS FOR GOD.  All have turned aside, together they have gone wrong; no one does good, NOT EVEN ONE.’” (Romans 3:10b-12).

Like the good tree that produces good fruit and the evil tree that produces evil fruit, (Luke 6:43-44) so with faith and unbelief. The one believing comes to the light because his deeds are like that of the good tree producing good fruit.  “His deeds have been wrought in God” (John 3:21).    The one unbelieving produces evil fruit like that of the evil tree and thus avoids the light because he does not want his deeds exposed.

Believing or Faith is “the real presence of Christ in us as redeeming reality…” (R. Prenter, “Spiritus Creator,” page 50).   So faith is not the person’s.  It is not “MY faith.”  Rather the faith present in you is CHRIST himself.  One could say it is “CHRIST’S FAITH.”  That is how our brother Paul states it in Galatians 2:20.  “I don’t live any longer.  It is CHRIST who lives in me!  And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by THE FAITH OF THE SON OF GOD who loved me and gave himself for me.”

The “light” here spoken of is CHRIST.  In chapter one of John, it reads, “in him was life and the life was the light of men…The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world.” 

This is the plight of the human.  He is turned in upon himself, Luther wrote.  He sees himself apart from God.  He sees Christ outside of himself.  He is against himself within because he fails to understand his condition, both as a sinner and as one in whom the light lives.  He can search forever but will only drive himself further away from God. 

The preaching of CHRIST is putting the faith of CHRIST into the person (“Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the preaching of CHRIST” (Romans 10)). The Holy Spirit will work or not work in the hearer according to his good pleasure. 

So for the human person it comes down to preaching CHRIST and the rest is the work or not work of the Holy Spirit. 

As Jesus pointed out to Nicodemus it’s NOT in man’s hands but in God’s hand alone. 

Thanks be to God through JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD!

                                                                                  © Richard J. Smith   

Relating a Lutheran Theology of Nature to the Internal Clarity of Scripture

It may come as a surprise that the notion of the internal clarity of scripture arises only at the end of a treatment claiming to be a Prologomena to a Robust Lutheran Theology. Should it not be placed at the beginning? Should we not start with a statement of the general reliability of Scripture in terms of a special revelation, and then proceed to a consideration of the divine and its relationship to us? Should be not begin in time-honored fashion with what we can know, and then move forward to being, to what there is?

However, leaving consideration of the internal clarity of scripture to the end was done purposefully, because we are interested primarily in understanding this doctrine ontologically and not epistemically; we are interested in the being of the doctrine of the internal clarity of scripture, and not primarily in an epistemological method by which we are putatively given reliable means on the basis of which we can be confident in the truth of Scripture.

My interest with retrieving the notion of the internal clarity of Scripture is three-fold: 1) The doctrine is crucial for Lutheran theology because it protects against willful and capricious interpretations of Scripture, 2) It is a doctrine that all Lutherans should be able in principle to affirm, 3) It is a notion that, properly understood, creates parallels between understanding God's action and presence with respect to both the Book of Nature and the Book of Scripture. I wish to treat this last point briefly.

Just as it may be externally obscure to us that God is at work in the universe, and yet Lutherans may affirm that God is at work in nature, so may it be externally obscure to us that God is at work creating and sustaing his Word within cannonical Scripture, and yet God is clearly Triunely present in His Holy Scriptures. The Triune God is present in His world even though humans often do not see it. One might say even that there is an internal clarity to God's work in nature. God is ontologically present at the center of Nature although humans often have trouble discerning it to be so. Correspondingly, Christ is present at the center of Scripture although humans have trouble oftentimes seeing this to be true.

What is important here is to understand God in His Trinitarian nature. Just as it is true that God creates and sustains the universe, incarnates Himself in the world, and bears testimony to that incarnation and the identity of God as Creator Father, Incarnate Word, and Loving Spirit, so too is it true that God the Son is present as Word in and through the Biblical text attesting to the Father, and attested to by the Spirit. Just as the Trinitarian God stands over and against Himself in Word and Spirit in nature, so too does the same Trinitarian God stand over and against Himself in witness to the Word in and through the text.