A Reflection on How Theology does matter...eventually

It is quite common in certain circles these days to say that as long as we act together, we can believe whatever we want. And we don't have to agree on all our beliefs in order to work together. That is certainly true...until it's not.

Use the example of the local food pantry in our town, Joseph's Coat. Anyone can contribute to Joseph's Coat, and they will accept donations from anyone who wants to help. The same is true for the goods and services they provide; there is no litmus test of belief, sanity, or soberness in order to receive help from Joseph's Coat.

Because of that openness at Joseph's Coat almost every Christian congregation in the town helps out in one way or another. Even congregations that have dissension and anger towards other congregations can both be partners with Joseph's Coat. And it can be tempting to assume because such congregations can work together on Joseph's Coat that they must be pretty much the same, based on a limited sample of evidence. But, of course, all of the congregations are different. and about the only thing they actually do agree on is that Joseph's Coat is important.

This is where things get interesting: is the fact that so many congregations that disagree in so many ways can work together on a project like Joseph's Coat a trend towards the future or a statistical anomaly? Because here is the thing: Joseph's Coat would close were it not for the donations of the congregations. And, if all the people who believe in Joseph's Coat were to leave their congregations and make their community at Joseph's Coat a "congregation" of sorts; what would they do besides helping others? The minute they try to worship or teach all their differences would arise, and they'd have to go back to the very congregations they left. We need everybody to be free. And since everybody is free, we'll probably all be different.

"For freedom, Christ has set you free." Paul the Apostle wrote that in his letter to folks in Galatia, and that line has huge ramifications for why we need difference and diversity in our congregations and in our world. Freedom is different, depending on your context. But Christ is always pushing us to more and more freedom, not less and less. And one result of that freedom is that we will be different, as our contexts are different.

In my context, I am free to own a gun, but I am not free to drive as fast as I want in my Camaro (warning: bonus picture of my car below). In Germany, those freedoms are just the opposite. I can die by Smith and Wesson, they can die by Porsche.

Contrary to popular belief, beliefs do matter, and they will probably never go away. We will always strive for more and more freedom...that's why Christ set us free.

May your tables be full and your conversations be true.

Sinners and Saints

What does it mean to you to be a “Lutheran?” For that matter, what does it matter to you to be a Christian? How can we begin to claim and articulate our identity as Christians, and as Lutheran Christians in today’s world?

There’s a lot to being a Christian, and Jesus the Christ (from which we get the name “Christian”) is core to our identity in this regard. But many people make Christianity more than Jesus the Christ. Many make the Bible or the Church or Morality or Liturgy our identity as being a Christian. But all Christians—at some level—seem to find God best revealed and/or expressed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ of God.

It’s when we start getting into the details of how we understand and live out the love of God in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit that we get down to our identity as “Lutheran.” For example, as Lutherans one thing we believe is that no one person is more holy than another, not even Martin Luther. All people are both saint and sinner at the same time, and because of this reality, no one of us can claim to be holier than any other. Not all Christians believe this, but if you do, you might be a Lutheran…

And you might be Lutheran if…you believe Holy Communion is the most important part of worship, but it’s OK to miss worship every now and then.

You might be a Lutheran if you think that thinking about your faith is not something trivial, but actually one of the better uses of living your faith.

You might be a Lutheran if you believe that God’s law is important, but God’s grace is even more important.

You might be a Lutheran if you see the Bible as God’s word telling us about the Word of God in Jesus Christ.

You might be a Lutheran if every time you talk about church, worship, the Bible, Sunday School, Confirmation, or music you like both the high-brow and the low-brow stuff. And you like to switch.

You might be a Lutheran if you know that cottage cheese can be added to Jell-O in order to make it “special.”

You might be a Lutheran if everything in your life is highly ambiguous, murky, and potentially filled with dread, but yet, you still get up in the morning and go about the business God has for you. With coffee. Lots of coffee.

If you’re Lutheran, although you don’t believe in luck…it never hurts to have good luck.

If you’re a Lutheran, paradox is true for just about everything except God’s love, Jesus’ death, and the Spirit’s empowerment of your life. And that’s enough for you. Most days.

May your tables be full and your conversations be true.

A Papal Visit

The Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, Francis I, begins his visit to the United States today. This is big religious news. Many people wonder why it is news?

First, the Pope is, technically, a Head of State. Vatican City is its own political entity, even though it is nestled tightly in the middle of Rome, Italy's largest city. So in this case the Pope might not be more different than any Prime Minister or President of any other country. The Pope is charged with making political statements. (Many people in our country get confused about this issue, and think the Pope should stay out of politics. But really, how many heads of state do you know of that stay out of politics? The Pope is a politician.)

Secondly, the Pope represents about 120 million Americans, roughly a third of us, in some way as a spiritual guide. He is the head of the Roman Catholic Church, although, as with all leaders, his followers have varying levels of commitment. There are quite a few Roman Catholics who do not care, in fact, may not even know, that the Pope is making a visit here. On the other hand, there are quite a few Roman Catholics who are pumped up to have the leader of their faith visit here. The travails of leadership...

For me, the Pope will get me to read a few more articles on the web about his speeches and his ideas and proposals for his people. I have a lot to do while the Pope is here, and I don't think I'll have time to fit him into my schedule. (Unless one of the papal emissaries wishes to come to Blair and teach Confirmation for me so I could go hear the Pope.) I am glad he's here, to keep things honest so to speak, but his visit is not going to change my routine at all.

Since a Pope (Leo X) ex-communicated my hero Martin Luther, I'm not a huge supporter of the idea of "pope." I understand that every group can use a leader, but I'm not too big on the way power has coalesced into the papal office over the past centuries. The doctrine of papal infallibility ratified in 1870 at Vatican I is a complete mystery to me. Why would anyone want to be infallible at any level? What's the point? I find great consolation that the actual men elected Pope have never used the doctrine. I am sure the Popes, like most of us, find such a idea inconceivable in conjunction with a doctrine of free will.

This particular Pope seems a bit more in tune with our world. Although as a scientist, he drives all the people who do not believe in science nuts. (I don't really understand how people cannot "believe" in science. I understand you don't want all decisions made by science, but it's not like gravity or electro-magnetism is going to go away anytime soon. Deal with it.) This Pope seems to respect women a bit more than others; he really wants to see people act differently in respect to our climate; and he does not seem afraid to put forth bold proposals in order to make his points. He also seems very personable, and that goes a long way these days...just ask his predecessor, Benedict XVI who had the personality of Roquefort cheese.

No matter how good or bad this Pope this, he cannot live my life for me or for anyone else. My faith rests in the relationship God has established with me in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. No matter how life goes for me, that faith cannot be taken. It might be lost, misplaced, or forgotten, but it can't be taken because it is not mine. It's for me, but it's not by me. Faith is the regal relationship I have with God, and nobody, not even the Pope, can change that.

My your tables be full and your conversations be true.

Theology and Culture

I am a Lutheran Christian. To remind how us how English grammar works, in that sentence "Lutheran" (an adjective) modifies the word "Christian" (object). In other words, there are other kinds of Christians besides Lutheran ones. But I am not of those types.

I have lots of friends that are other types of Christians. Some have denominational labels, such as my Missouri Synod Lutheran friends, or even my Roman Catholic friends. Some of my Christian friends define themselves by political labels, such as Progressive Christians or Conservative Christians. Others use their self identity to understand their Christianity, such as my Gay Christian friends or my Social Justice Christian friends. And--of course, you can mix and match as many adjectives as you can find, such as my United Church of Christ, Gay, Low-Church, Social Activist Christian friend. But I am just a Lutheran, although to be fair I am mostly affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America branch of Lutheran. The ELCA is a denomination of Christianity.   

And according to recent studies my denomination is the least diversified denomination in the United States. We are almost exclusively white, middle class, and well-educated. And many people in my denomination are worried about this. They seeks ways to integrate other people of color into our whiteness. They seek ways to incorporate people of poverty into our middle class-ness. But what we don't seek, and what I think makes a huge difference in why are are so white and middle class, is ways to be un-educated. Our focus on education naturally leads to places of power, wealth, and exclusivity. In other words, as long as we remain committed to education we will probably remain middle class, and mostly white.

But here's the thing: to be a "Lutheran" Christian is to be committed to education, especially academic education. Martin Luther was a college professor. He held a doctorate in Philosophy and Theology. His writing on Christianity is some the densest theological work in the history of Christianity. And to grasp his understanding of Christianity, and how to best live in the love of God in Christ Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit, often requires some serious thought. Just going out and helping your neighbor by serving in a soup kitchen will not help you understand Martin Luther, but it will help you work on your Christian love.

The theology of Lutheran Christians takes a while to "get." One of my professors of Luther used to say, "You can't be Lutheran usually until you're 30. You haven't suffered enough." And he wasn't talking about suffering the pain of discrimination, or racism or sexism. He was talking the suffering that comes from trusting all that you are to a God who dies. And although there is a promised future after death, for Lutheran Christians that doesn't mean you get it automatically.

That doesn't always work for people who are starving. Or people who are subjected to harassment. Or people who are killed for being a darker skin. To say that "God is probably going to help you, at least, that's what God promised" is not always the most comforting or motivating of words.

So, to my bothers and sisters in Lutheranism, keep the faith (and as Lutheran, of course, by that we mean the "regal relationship" (Joseph Sittler) granted us by God in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. Nothing is simple in our tradition.). We might not ever be the most diverse group of Christians, but that doesn't mean we can't try and help other Christians out in their struggles. Sola gratia.

May your tables be full and your conversations be true.

PS: Here's a sermon for you in a Lutheran Christian style. 

Starting Over

The people left Jesus. Literally walked away from, John says in his gospel. Your teaching is too hard they complained. So they left him.

And it's here where Jesus, wondering if anybody was going to stay with him at all, asked his most loyal disciples if they too wanted to bail? Peter says, "Lord, where could go? You have the words of eternal life?" And from that moment on we have Christianity...

Believing about Jesus is not the same as believing in the God whom Jesus worshiped, indeed, the God whom Jesus is. It has to do with commitment, with passion, with desire. To believe Jesus is God is to accept some pretty difficult things to accept, to trust in God's undying love in spite of the available evidence or lack thereof. To live with Jesus to to live in a mystery, within an opaque shadow of hope and dreams, filled with suffering, and oftentimes despair. Living with Jesus, the Christ of God, is not for the faint of heart. There is sometimes too much failure to comprehend, and yet we strike another match and move on...

So we have this song 


And if you want, you can also listen to a sermon I gave on this topic recently.





May your tables be full and your conversations be true.