This summer I've been listening to a lot of music. This is in part because I've discovered you can interlibrary loan just about anything on CD, so I get on "linkcat" and call up titles. But it's also because there is just so much good music out there.
Read a review in the latest Sojourners about the "anti-folk" movement, and discovered there is Christian music out there that is more my genre than the typical stuff you might hear on your local Christian radio station. My first discovery was Sufjan Stevens. I had gotten his Illinoise a while back and loved it. Now discovered that his record label, Asthmatic Kitty, has, for example, this new album by Half-handed Cloud that is, well, just fascinating.
So, in addition to Jonathan Rundman, you can now add this record label to your list. While you're at it, try Iron & Whine, Innocence Mission, Calexico. You'll soon be able to tell that my musical tastes have switched over, at least in part, to great music that is also listenable for small children, softer more melodic.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Friday, July 28, 2006
Welcome to all readers of The Lutheran
On page 10 of the August issue (print version) of The Lutheran magazine, Lutheran Confessions is featured in an article on Lutheran blogs. If you're visiting here after reading that column, welcome! If you're a regular here, welcome!
If you've visited this blog as a result of reading The Lutheran, could you mention that here in the comments? Thanks.
If you've visited this blog as a result of reading The Lutheran, could you mention that here in the comments? Thanks.
Recognition of Sin and the Holiness of the Church
I think key to Luther's thought is that the church is holy in its "recognition" of its sinfulness. Not necessarily its sinfulness itself, but the recognition of it. I believe this is one reason why the reformers (but unfortunately not their
epigones) retained individual confession and forgiveness (penance) as a
quasi-sacrament, because the holiness of the church is dependent on its
recognition of sin.
Of course, we are "made" holy in the absolution, the declarative "you
are forgiven for Jesus' sake", so in another sense it is not purely the
recognition that makes holy, but the parallel (and identical) move to
absolve (the more Catholic minded would then go on to debate how much
"follow-up" would need to occur after the absolution is necessary, the
"I intend to do better").
I think some Roman Catholic theologians (and even a few Lutheran ones) need the church to "not sin" at least from a dogmatic perspective because it is the only way to protect the magisterium and the "infallibility" of the pope when he speaks ex
cathedra. The sinlessness of the church is a doctrinal point for
Catholics is not unlike the fundamentalist doctrine of Biblical inerrancy.
Both are truth claims of a foundationalist sort, or at least that is my
read, and both are claims not so much based in reality, but rather in
defense of a dogmatic point. So, the bible is inerrant because it is
handed to us by God (and we need this to be true for the book also to be true), never mind its origins as a book written by human hands. Or, the church is sinless because this is the only way the tradition can truly be the living voice of God through the ages, never mind that certain specific popes, churches, bishops, over the centuries
have been notorious sinners and poor theologians.
If we re-visit the comparison between the Christological doctrine of
Christ as maximus peccator (greatest sinner) and relate that to ecclesiology, I think we gain some key insights. In fact, I think it is always useful to compare
doctrines in this way. Christ is not a sinner in se, but rather, takes
the sin of the whole world on himself, for the sake of the world. So
Christ is "the greatest sinner" only in the sense that he stands as
proxy, he stands in for and takes on all sin. In this way, he is the
holy one.
The church is holy inasmuch as it participates in this reality. So, it
is holy when it a) recognizes its sin, and the once for all taking on of
this sin by Christ, and b) recognizes its participation in this divine
taking on of sin for the sake of the world. In other words, the church
can appear as sinner, can even bear the sins of the world, and bear with
one another, because of its newfound role as participants in the life of
Christ, who is maximus peccator.
I'm thinking specifically of some Pauline passages, like "we have become
the rubbish of the world, the dregs of all things" (1 Cor. 4:13). Or
again 2 Cor. 6:8, "in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute.
We are treated as imposters, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are
well known, as dying, and see--we are alive."
epigones) retained individual confession and forgiveness (penance) as a
quasi-sacrament, because the holiness of the church is dependent on its
recognition of sin.
Of course, we are "made" holy in the absolution, the declarative "you
are forgiven for Jesus' sake", so in another sense it is not purely the
recognition that makes holy, but the parallel (and identical) move to
absolve (the more Catholic minded would then go on to debate how much
"follow-up" would need to occur after the absolution is necessary, the
"I intend to do better").
I think some Roman Catholic theologians (and even a few Lutheran ones) need the church to "not sin" at least from a dogmatic perspective because it is the only way to protect the magisterium and the "infallibility" of the pope when he speaks ex
cathedra. The sinlessness of the church is a doctrinal point for
Catholics is not unlike the fundamentalist doctrine of Biblical inerrancy.
Both are truth claims of a foundationalist sort, or at least that is my
read, and both are claims not so much based in reality, but rather in
defense of a dogmatic point. So, the bible is inerrant because it is
handed to us by God (and we need this to be true for the book also to be true), never mind its origins as a book written by human hands. Or, the church is sinless because this is the only way the tradition can truly be the living voice of God through the ages, never mind that certain specific popes, churches, bishops, over the centuries
have been notorious sinners and poor theologians.
If we re-visit the comparison between the Christological doctrine of
Christ as maximus peccator (greatest sinner) and relate that to ecclesiology, I think we gain some key insights. In fact, I think it is always useful to compare
doctrines in this way. Christ is not a sinner in se, but rather, takes
the sin of the whole world on himself, for the sake of the world. So
Christ is "the greatest sinner" only in the sense that he stands as
proxy, he stands in for and takes on all sin. In this way, he is the
holy one.
The church is holy inasmuch as it participates in this reality. So, it
is holy when it a) recognizes its sin, and the once for all taking on of
this sin by Christ, and b) recognizes its participation in this divine
taking on of sin for the sake of the world. In other words, the church
can appear as sinner, can even bear the sins of the world, and bear with
one another, because of its newfound role as participants in the life of
Christ, who is maximus peccator.
I'm thinking specifically of some Pauline passages, like "we have become
the rubbish of the world, the dregs of all things" (1 Cor. 4:13). Or
again 2 Cor. 6:8, "in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute.
We are treated as imposters, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are
well known, as dying, and see--we are alive."
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
August Pastor's Newsletter article
Continuing Education
You may have noticed that once every three months or so, I go on a trip to meet with other pastors and study. I have the opportunity to do this because I received a grant from the Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton, NJ. The program they fund, called the Pastor-Theologian program, is designed to encourage pastors to continue their theological study while in the parish. Towards that end, they design a common syllabus for us to study, assign us books to read, and require that we write a 20 page paper in order to continue in the program from year to year. The goal is to help us keep our theological “chops” fresh. CTI covers all the costs of my transportation and stay while attending the conferences, buys my books for me, etc. It is actually a great gift to this congregation, because this part of my continuing education does not come as a bill to the church.
It makes a lot of sense that CTI would encourage pastors to consider themselves to be “pastor-theologians.” Many of you probably assume that part of my job as pastor is to be a kind of resident theologian and scholar in the community. You rely on me to do some teaching and preaching, to have a good grounding in Scripture and the Christian tradition, so that when you come with questions regarding the faith, I can be prepared with an answer, or will know where to look with you to explore the question. Furthermore, to stay engaged in theology has a very positive impact (I hope) on my preaching, it keeps the language and reflections fresh, and true to the gospel that has been given to us.
Our pastor-theologian group meets quarterly to engage in some joint theological reflection (send me an e-mail or call if you’d like to see the syllabus). It’s really a fun group to gather with. We’re all kind of “theology nerds”, I’ll confess, so when we get together, a lot of our meal time and social time, as well as our meetings, are given to discussions of “weighty” theological matters. This shouldn’t surprise anyone who loves their job. You know that after work, if you have supper with fellow teachers, or fellow construction workers or nurses, you may discuss some of the more intricate, difficult, or compelling issues from your work.
Not only that, but you’ll probably use some specialized language that the rest of us don’t typically use. I had no idea what a PICC line was until I had been visiting people in hospital for a while. I didn’t know what a trowel was until I had worked with cement. I didn’t know what “case weather” was until I came to the Koshkonong prairie. The same is true of theology- you learn the words as you go. Incarnation, salvation, these you may have picked up from preaching or other church contexts. But ecclesiology, pneumatology, perichoresis? These are words I didn’t learn until I had been immersed in the study of theology for some time. Most of you have a vocabulary like this that you’ve learned over time that you find useful as shorthand, words and things you study that help you on your way as you work.
You don’t tend to use this specialized vocabulary when speaking to people who aren’t in your profession. It would be annoying if I used all this kind of language in my preaching, for example, or in casual conversation. But that doesn’t mean that learning these themes and terms isn’t important. It just means that what is expected of all of us who learn is that we will learn our specialty, and learn it well, but also learn to translate it, to communicate it to those outside our small group who have specialized in it.
The same might be said of the life of a Christian. All Christians in the contemporary world are given a difficult assignment. We are called to “translate” the gospel into the worlds we live in. We hear the message of Jesus Christ, the good news of salvation, in a variety of ways. In preaching, through receiving the sacrament of Holy Communion, witnessing a baptism, singing hymns, reading the Bible, praying, or observing acts of loving service. But this is not the end of the Christian journey. Instead, after we have heard and received this message, it is our job, each one of us, to communicate this message in the context of our daily lives. At the end of worship, you hear, “Go in peace. Serve the Lord.” In the freedom of the Spirit, you are called to exactly that, serving the Lord in your work, family life, waking and sleeping.
We will be of no use if we don’t learn the special language of the gospel. If we don’t learn the special language of the Christian faith (what some call the catechism), if we aren’t engaged in continuing study, if we aren’t being continually educated as Christians, then we will have nothing to translate to a waiting world. On the other hand, if we get too immersed in the special insider language and don’t work at translating it, we will be no earthly good either. The Christian calling is to do both, to learn the language of the faith well- justification, saved by grace through faith, Trinity, truth- but then also to translate it, to make it speak where we live and work, with our children and parents, with our co-workers, even to our pets and the whole of creation.
I hope that my participation in continuing education is a role model for this. I enjoy setting aside time for study and reflection, but always with an eye to translating it into what I preach and teach. In the same way, I hope each adult in this congregation will participate in continuing education as a Christian. Set aside some time to attend a class, or read a recommended book on the faith, or the Scripture. You can do this, can’t you? Continue to learn the Christian faith, so that your faith grows up into the maturity Christ has called us to in the Spirit. Do your homework
You may have noticed that once every three months or so, I go on a trip to meet with other pastors and study. I have the opportunity to do this because I received a grant from the Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton, NJ. The program they fund, called the Pastor-Theologian program, is designed to encourage pastors to continue their theological study while in the parish. Towards that end, they design a common syllabus for us to study, assign us books to read, and require that we write a 20 page paper in order to continue in the program from year to year. The goal is to help us keep our theological “chops” fresh. CTI covers all the costs of my transportation and stay while attending the conferences, buys my books for me, etc. It is actually a great gift to this congregation, because this part of my continuing education does not come as a bill to the church.
It makes a lot of sense that CTI would encourage pastors to consider themselves to be “pastor-theologians.” Many of you probably assume that part of my job as pastor is to be a kind of resident theologian and scholar in the community. You rely on me to do some teaching and preaching, to have a good grounding in Scripture and the Christian tradition, so that when you come with questions regarding the faith, I can be prepared with an answer, or will know where to look with you to explore the question. Furthermore, to stay engaged in theology has a very positive impact (I hope) on my preaching, it keeps the language and reflections fresh, and true to the gospel that has been given to us.
Our pastor-theologian group meets quarterly to engage in some joint theological reflection (send me an e-mail or call if you’d like to see the syllabus). It’s really a fun group to gather with. We’re all kind of “theology nerds”, I’ll confess, so when we get together, a lot of our meal time and social time, as well as our meetings, are given to discussions of “weighty” theological matters. This shouldn’t surprise anyone who loves their job. You know that after work, if you have supper with fellow teachers, or fellow construction workers or nurses, you may discuss some of the more intricate, difficult, or compelling issues from your work.
Not only that, but you’ll probably use some specialized language that the rest of us don’t typically use. I had no idea what a PICC line was until I had been visiting people in hospital for a while. I didn’t know what a trowel was until I had worked with cement. I didn’t know what “case weather” was until I came to the Koshkonong prairie. The same is true of theology- you learn the words as you go. Incarnation, salvation, these you may have picked up from preaching or other church contexts. But ecclesiology, pneumatology, perichoresis? These are words I didn’t learn until I had been immersed in the study of theology for some time. Most of you have a vocabulary like this that you’ve learned over time that you find useful as shorthand, words and things you study that help you on your way as you work.
You don’t tend to use this specialized vocabulary when speaking to people who aren’t in your profession. It would be annoying if I used all this kind of language in my preaching, for example, or in casual conversation. But that doesn’t mean that learning these themes and terms isn’t important. It just means that what is expected of all of us who learn is that we will learn our specialty, and learn it well, but also learn to translate it, to communicate it to those outside our small group who have specialized in it.
The same might be said of the life of a Christian. All Christians in the contemporary world are given a difficult assignment. We are called to “translate” the gospel into the worlds we live in. We hear the message of Jesus Christ, the good news of salvation, in a variety of ways. In preaching, through receiving the sacrament of Holy Communion, witnessing a baptism, singing hymns, reading the Bible, praying, or observing acts of loving service. But this is not the end of the Christian journey. Instead, after we have heard and received this message, it is our job, each one of us, to communicate this message in the context of our daily lives. At the end of worship, you hear, “Go in peace. Serve the Lord.” In the freedom of the Spirit, you are called to exactly that, serving the Lord in your work, family life, waking and sleeping.
We will be of no use if we don’t learn the special language of the gospel. If we don’t learn the special language of the Christian faith (what some call the catechism), if we aren’t engaged in continuing study, if we aren’t being continually educated as Christians, then we will have nothing to translate to a waiting world. On the other hand, if we get too immersed in the special insider language and don’t work at translating it, we will be no earthly good either. The Christian calling is to do both, to learn the language of the faith well- justification, saved by grace through faith, Trinity, truth- but then also to translate it, to make it speak where we live and work, with our children and parents, with our co-workers, even to our pets and the whole of creation.
I hope that my participation in continuing education is a role model for this. I enjoy setting aside time for study and reflection, but always with an eye to translating it into what I preach and teach. In the same way, I hope each adult in this congregation will participate in continuing education as a Christian. Set aside some time to attend a class, or read a recommended book on the faith, or the Scripture. You can do this, can’t you? Continue to learn the Christian faith, so that your faith grows up into the maturity Christ has called us to in the Spirit. Do your homework
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