An Open Letter on Sexuality

Dear homosexual, gay or lesbian, bisexual, queer, or anyone who may feel judged by me on issues of sexuality (heterosexuals too):

I'm writing this to let you know that I love you. Really. There's a lot of hate going around, and sometimes, the things I say might offend you.

You are not a sin. Your sexuality is a part of your identity? Well, you are fearfully and wonderfully made. Your identity is not a sin. You are not hated.

I love you.

Your attractions, your feelings, your body chemistry - that's you. God loves you. I love you.

I love you enough to risk our relationship.

I love you enough that while I remind you that you are God's creation, and it's you that I love, I still can't call something other than what it is.

Sexuality is not a sin, but our use of sexuality can be. I love you enough to stand up and say that God's plan for sex is within marriage, and God's plan for marriage is heterosexual.

I love you enough to get called intolerant, or a bigot. I love you enough to be called out-of-touch, or stupid, even by heterosexual couples who don't get married (it's not a sexuality issue. It's a use-of-sex issue. Sex outside of marraige is sin). I love you enough to say that legally, your relationships should probably have equal rights for taxes and such, while at the same time saying that I can't bless your relationship as a marriage, and I can't condone sexual activity outside of marriage. I love you enough to offend you, to be called a hypocrite, to be hated by you, or pitited by you.

I won't love you so little as to lie to you and say it's OK. I won't pretend, just so our relationship is easier. You are valuable. Your love is valuable. You are called to the same standard as every human, by God. That must be hard for you, and I don't know what it's like for you. But I do know that I love you, and that I'm here, if you'll have me here. I can't make it better - no one can. Jesus is with us, even when life makes no sense, and there is suffering - perhaps especially there.

I love you and want to be in community with you. I want to laugh with you, share with you, and encourage you. I love you too much to lie to you. I love you too much to put myself first, and say things that aren't true just so you or someone else won't think bad thoughts about me. I love you enough to proclaim God's Law and God's Gospel, to stand alongside you when we both fail, to come alongside you when God forgives us, and to struggle through this life with you.

I love you enough to proclaim to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins in Jesus Christ, and enough to ask you to seek Him. I love you enough to ask you to remind me of my sin, and to proclaim to me the forgiveness in Christ.

If I call something you do a sin, it's never because I don't love you. If I didn't love you, it would be easier for me to just let it go. I don't love my sin. I don't love your sin. I don't love any sin (or, at least I don't want to) - and you, yourself, are not a sin. Remember that.

Remember that I love you.

Remember that God loves you.

About the ELCM: Are We Confessional?

This post inaugurates a as-yet-undetermined in number series on some of the beliefs of the Evangelical Lutheran Conference and Ministerium of North America. It has come to my attention that due to the relatively small size of the ELCM and the structure of the website, it might be hard for people to "zero-in" on exactly where we are on various doctrines, and where we fall on the spectrum.

There was a recent inquiry about the nature of this blog, because I didn't put out anywhere whether I am "Confessional" or not. Now, this term can mean different things in different circles, so a little clarification is going to be necessary. In general, it refers to a person, group, or church body for which a confessional document (or documents) are considered binding. As a Lutheran, then, it refers to the Lutheran Confessions (the Book of Concord).

Not all Lutheran church bodies view the historic documents of faith the same way. Not all of them include the same things - not all Lutheran church bodies include the Formula of Concord, for example, because of the historical situation in which it was written.

Even when we are talking about the same set of documents, there's the question of whether these are binding confessions of faith, true expositions of Scripture among others, or just one way to think about things.

To complicate matters more, "subscribing" to the Confessions (agreeing that they are true) can be done in more than one way. This is called quia or quatenus subscription.  

• Quia, which is Latin for "because," is subscription to the Confessions "because the Confessions are a correct statement of the teachings of Scripture" - that is, they rightly interpret Scripture and teach what Scripture teaches, wholly and totally.

• Quatenus, which means "insofar as," replaces the "because" in the above phrase: "insofar as the Confessions are a correct statement of the teachings of Scripture" - so, then, the bits that are not, one hasn't agreed to.

Of course, then you get into the problem of which bits are, and which bits are not. Claiming that they are true among others, or just one way to think about things is functionally equivalent to quatenus subscription.

The ELCM takes the quia view of subscription: The Confessions in their entirety rightly set out what Scripture teaches. From the ELCM documentation, we hold to:

"The “Quia” View  which holds that all of the Documents of the Christian Book of Concord (Unaltered Augsburg Confession, Apology to the Augsburg Confession, Small Catechism of Luther, Large Catechism of Luther, Treatise on the Primacy of the Pope, Smalcald Articles of Luther, Solid Declaration, and Formula of Concord - Epitome) are a correct setting forth of the Doctrines of Holy Scripture."

Now, wait a minute, does that mean we think more of the Confessions, these man-made documents, than we do of Scripture? Of course not. That's the Lutheran distinction between norma normans and norma normata -  and we'll get to that next.

So yes, the ELCM is a Confessional Lutheran body - we are happy to give our assent to the tradition of faith, to those correct teachings which have been handed down, and to stand up and say: this we confess and believe, for this is what Holy Scripture teaches.

A Short Sermon for Quasimodogeniti

Hallelujah, Christ is risen!

This Sunday is the second Sunday of Easter. The season of celebration, the season of the Resurrection. Traditionally, it is called “Quasimodogeniti,” because of the old Latin antiphon for today: Quasi modo geniti infantes, Halleluja, rationabile, sine dolo lac concupiscite. This is from 1 Peter 2:2; it is the first half of the verse that tells us “as newborn babes, long for the spiritual milk which is without guile, that ye may grow thereby unto salvation[.]”

Even in the Church’s celebration of today is the command to grow unto salvation. The Easter season is a time that our joy rings out, and we think of our present and coming resurrection along with Christ. This Sunday in particular has been a time to think on our new birth in Baptism. We are made new along with Christ! Because He lives, we live! Hallelujah!

The Gospel for today is the same in the traditional, one-year lectionary as in the Revised Common Lectionary: John 20:19-31.

¹⁹ When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. ²⁰ And when he had said this, he showed unto them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were glad, when they saw the Lord. ²¹ Jesus therefore said to them again, Peace be unto you: as the Father hath sent me, even so send I you. ²² And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit: ²³ whose soever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them; whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. ²⁴ But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵ The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe. ²⁶ And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. ²⁷ Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and see my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and put it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. ²⁸ Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. ²⁹ Jesus saith unto him, Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. ³⁰ Many other signs therefore did Jesus in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book: ³¹ but these are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye may have life in his name.

There’s a familiar story here: good old “doubting Thomas.” A lot of things can be said about Thomas, and we can learn a lot from him. We can learn the value of faith without proof, if we’re careful to understand the difference and we don’t pretend that it makes faith irrational. We can learn about confessing Christ as God – Thomas’ “My Lord and my God” is a clear confession of the identity of Jesus as one with the Father, given the first-century context and nature of how he says it in the original. We can learn about how Jesus comes to us in our weakness, and condescends to help our unbelief. We can even ask the question if Thomas got a share in the Holy Spirit, since he wasn’t there when Jesus breathed on the other disciples in verse 22-23.

In fact, those first few verses, up to and including 22 and 23 are full of interesting things: John’s account of the Holy Spirit coming, the greeting “Peace be with you,” the fact that the other disciples got the proof of hands and side, and the power to forgive and retain sins – and that’s a whole lot in itself.

However, what struck me most this week was the last two verses. John gives us a glimpse into his writing process, and tells us what’s up. Jesus did many more things than we hear about. The Gospels aren’t biographies: they’ve got a purpose. John even comes out and tells us what that purpose is: that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and in believing, have life in His name.

To believe that Jesus is the Christ. Is John just trying to convince us? Is this Gospel an exercise in persuasive writing? Hardly. The fact is, we use the word “believe” for some things that aren’t belief. 

“What’s the weather like?” “Well, I believe it will rain this evening.” No, no I don’t. I am of that opinion, or maybe, I have reason to think it will rain, because there are clouds on the horizon, or I can tell by the breeze, or I heard the weatherman say so. I don’t believe it, though, not the way the Scriptures talk about belief. 

Belief isn’t some middle thing between knowledge and opinion – that’s kind of how we treat it these days, ever since Immanuel Kant defined it that way. If belief is just a slightly more certain opinion, a slightly less certain knowledge, then it’s just what I choose based on persuasion. If that’s the case, then picking a religion is just about which one I find convincing.

That’s not the belief of Scripture – that’s not the belief that comes from the Gospel. The faith that comes from the Gospel is a response. It’s a recognition that God is speaking to us, and that this is our answer. This is why John wrote, this is why we read the Gospel, this is why we proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ – because it is a message that demands an answer.

This Gospel tells us of Jesus Christ, and it demands from us a response. It requires that we answer the question that the very existence of Jesus and His Resurrection pose to us. Faith comes from the power of God in the Gospel, the Gospel which is the power of God unto salvation. What we believe, our faith, that’s a gift, given to us by God, which comes about through hearing and receiving His Word. 

No one is ever convinced to become a Christian – we encounter the living God in the proclamation of His Word. He stands before us and demands an answer – He offers us an answer to our problem. He stands before us, saying “you, a sinner, stand condemned, yet I have died for you, and you are raised with me.” Salvation is of God alone. He asks the question, and provides the answer.

This is why it is written: that we may believe. That we may have life. God’s “Yes” to us in Christ is the answer to the very question that He poses to us. And this “Yes” transforms us – we are reborn and made new. We are newly created in Christ, we have been raised with Him, and that reality is now. 

We are now resurrected with Christ, and He is present with us, in bread and wine, and in the power of God in our lives. In that very Word that transforms us. In that Word that makes new our lives, our relationships, our desires. God’s Word proclaimed doesn’t just tell us a story of what happened – it makes it real, here and now, it does what it says. It creates faith.

He is risen – and we are raised with Him. Glory be to Him.

Easter Monday

Hallelujah, Christ is risen!

Today is still Easter - in fact, it's going to be Easter for 40 days. We are in a seaon of celebration, a festival season, and we celebrate the new life that we have in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The traditional Gospel reading for Easter Monday is Luke 24:13-35, the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus. The Resurrected One Himself teaches them on the way out of the Scriptures. Their hearts burn at His proclamation. Everything in the Scriptures points to Christ.

Every word of proclamation is the proclamation of Christ. He is the center of the Scriptures, and the key to their understanding. But, when Moses and the Prophets have spoken about Christ, and how He will suffer and be glorified, will yet someone dare to call themselves a Christian, who has not searched what the Scriptures have to say about Christ...? (Paraphrased from the Venerable Bede)

As Christians we must search the Scriptures, we must live in the proclamation of Christ.

And yet, it was in the breaking of the bread that they knew Him. The proclamation is essential to Christianity, and so are the Sacraments. One without the other is only half of what God has in store for us. He has promised to work through His means: Word proclaimed, Baptism, the Lord's Supper. These three are how Christ is with us now, and how we experience being in Christ.

May we then seek Him where He is to be found, and rejoice in the finding.

Grant, O Lord who bestows restoration upon the world in the Paschal Feast, a continuation of Your heavenly gift to Your people, for perfect freedom and life eternal. Bless, that we might put into good effect the desires You grant us; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Ghost: ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Spy Wednesday

Surprise, I'm not writing about April Fools' Day! It's the Wednesday of Holy Week, and there's actually a name for today.

Those reading the traditional lectionary will get Luke's account of the Passion today. Tomorrow, we celebrate the institution of the Lord's Supper on Maundy Thursday...so what happens right before that? Judas decides to betray Jesus.

That's the name, at least in English: Judas spied an opportunity, and took it. He was out for gain, out to force Jesus into doing what he thought should be done, out for every chance he could get. An opportunitst par excellence. We're like that too, looking for every angle, every benefit, every chance we get - thanks be to God that we have One who saves us from this.

Thanks be to the One who saves us from the rightful punishment of our sins, to the One who is resurrected and in Whom we live!

A couple of traditional collects (prayers) for today:

Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God: that we, who for our evil deeds are continually afflicted, may mercifully be relieved by the Passion of Thine only-begotten Son; who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost: ever one God, world without end. Amen.

O God, who willed Thy Son to submit for our sake to the yoke of the Cross, so that Thou mightst drive from us the power of the enemy: grant us, Thy servants, to attain the grace of the resurrection. Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord,  who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost: ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Tuesday of Holy Week

The historic lectionary reads Mark's account of the Last Supper, the Garden, and the Crucifixion for today. The passion narratives are read, over and over. This whole week, we hear from all of the Evangelists about the Passion. Different views of the same event, with different things pointed out.

Sometimes, we might think, "just be dead already, so we can get to the Resurrection."

The thing about that is, though, is that there's no Resurrection without the Crucifixion. There's no Easter without the Passion. There's no Easter Sunday without Good Friday - in fact, no Sunday at all, as we remember the events of Easter in a smaller form every Sunday.

We are fast approaching the Paschal Triduum - the Holy Three Days, from the Vigil of Good Friday to the Evening Prayer of Easter Sunday. The three days around which the entire Christian calendar, the entire Christian experience, turns. All of what we hold dear as Christians, all that we are in Christ, is in the tension of death and Resurrection.

Christ is risen, yes. We are not awaiting His death and Resurrection, but remembering. Remembering what He has done for us, and what that means. Remembering His promise. Remembering that we die with Him in Baptism, that we have died to our old selves, and have been made new.

This is why we read the Passion narratives over and over. To remind us that we, too, are dead, just as we remember that we too are made alive by God in Christ. We are Christ-ians, little Christs. We live in that tension, where we are both dead and made alive. Where we remain sinner and saint. Where we live in Christ.

Monday of Holy Week

A traditional reading fro the Monday of Holy Week is John 12:1-36. This includes several pericopes, but there's a really interesting one from verse 20 on. This is something we don't hear much about, so it is also striking. I will reproduce here vs 20-33:

Now there were certain Greeks among those that went up to worship at the feast:

these therefore came to Philip, who was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.

Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: Andrew cometh, and Philip, and they tell Jesus.

And Jesus answereth them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone; but if it die, it beareth much fruit.

He that loveth his life loseth it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will the Father honor.

Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour.

Father, glorify thy name. There came therefore a voice out of heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.

The multitude therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it had thundered: others said, An angel hath spoken to him.

Jesus answered and said, This voice hath not come for my sake, but for your sakes.

Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself.

But this he said, signifying by what manner of death he should die.

So there's material here for pages and pages, but I want to focus on two things: one, the Greeks, and two the voice from heaven.

These Greeks are not Greek-speaking Jews, but actual Gentiles. In contrast to the Jews who are encountering Jesus after the triumphal entry, these Gentiles are not the ones Jesus has spent most of His time dealing with. The crowd that just welcomed Jesus will turn on him, this we know already. They are looking for a political Messiah, and when He disappoints, they will kill Him for it. And these Gentiles, these God-fearers who aren't even allowed to worship as the Jews, say "Sir, we would see Jesus." 

And look at this response! Jesus responds with His death. He tells them, and His disciples present, that He is here to die. For the whole world! Those Gentiles, those non-Jews! Those that the people of Jerusalem want Jesus to lead them against! Jesus is already letting them down as a political figure, and pointing to His sacrifice for the whole of creation. 

And what's the response to this? God the Father speaks from heaven, telling us that it glorifies His name that salvation is for all. It's not just for the folks we like. It's not just for the people who are like us, who have the same tastes, the same skin color, the same practices, or the same culture. It's for everyone, it's for the whole of creation - for God glorifies His Name. That's the same name from the traditional reading yesterday in Philippians 2: the name of Jesus, at which every knee shall bow and every tongue confess.

Every human is made with a purpose, and that purpose is bound up in God. Every life makes this same statement, and the proclamation of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the right response to what He has done in us. We say, along with the world:

"Sir, we would see Jesus."

Jesus, lifted up on the cross, drawing all to Himself.

"Sir, we would see Jesus."

Jesus, in the proclaimed Word.

"Sir, we would see Jesus."

Jesus in the bread and wine of the Eucharist.

"Sir, we would see Jesus."

Jesus, in us, working in our lives, and through us to others.

"Sir, we would see Jesus."

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday – the day we proclaim the triumph of the Lord. The day that the crowds celebrate a coming Messiah, who isn’t quite what they expect. The day that we can’t quite decide if we are celebrating a triumph, or nodding smugly, knowing that this One is come to die.

Well, it’s actually both. Jesus’ triumphal entry is a proclamation of His Lordship as Prince of Peace. He didn’t come to be a political leader, to draw Israel into war with Rome or create a new, strong nation. He didn’t stand up for His rights, or talk about being a citizen of a country with pride. As an earthly king, He failed – but as the Lord of creation, He redeems it to Himself.

As someone recently pointed out to me, all of the events of Holy Week are carefully orchestrated to make sure the crucifixion happens. Jesus isn’t an accidental victim, but an intentional one. He’s out to get killed, because it’s that death and resurrection that redeems.

But this is Palm Sunday – it isn’t time for the Passion, it isn’t time to talk about death. Not yet. Right now, we see celebration. An acknowledgement of the Lordship. Not the political Lordship, because this One comes to die – but rather the cosmic Lordship, the Lord of creation. It is for this reason that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. The celebration of the triumphal entry is something we can take part in because we know it is a proclamation of who Jesus really is. He is the One who comes in the Name of the Lord, and He is the Lord of creation. It’s true, He is come to die, and it’s also true that it is the Lord of creation who comes to die.

Sing hosanna, then, to the Lord of Hosts, who gave Himself for us. The Gift is the Giver Himself. Let us proclaim His majesty!

Meditations: Invocavit

The past Sunday was the first Sunday in Lent. Not of Lent, as the Sundays don't count toward the forty days, but in Lent. It's known as Invocavit,  from the Latin antiphon, which comes from Psalm 91: Invocavit me, et ego exaudium eum.

Historically for Lutherans, Invocavit is a big deal, due to a series of sermons Luther preached in 1522, with the result of calming the Reformation into a nonviolent movement. More on that another time, though.

What I'd like to point out about this week and the readings from this Sunday is about temptation. Traditionally, we read about Jesus being tempted on Invocavit - if you follow the revised common lectionary, you are in year B, so there's only one verse about it in Mark, you kind of got the Baptism of Christ again. In any case, we remember the temptation of Jesus on this Sunday as we remember His sufferings throughout Lent. He went through what we do - and we fail at it.

As a colleague of mine has remarked, any chance we get, we want to turn stones into bread, we want to get something for nothing. Jesus doesn't live from the sweat of others, He's not interested in what He can get at someone else's expense. We sure are, though.

And in the same way, anything that gives us the least advantage, a bit of wealth or power, a better reputation, some pleasure - we are right there to worship that, every chance we get. Jesus succeeds where we fail - He that kept the Law for us became a curse for us, that we might be redeemed.

It strikes me, when I look at these temptations, how thoroughly I, we all, fall prey to the same thing, even if it looks different today. We remember in Lent why we need a Saviour, and that we have one.

Meditations: Septuagesima

This last Sunday actually began the pre-lent period (the "gesimas"). This is the three weeks before Ash Wednesday in which we prepare for the time of repentance that is Lent. Many places do away with this, after all, Lent is hard enough, right? These are rough Sundays, too - it was Septuagesima, or Circumdederunt Sunday. That's "wrapped around" or "entangled", coming from Psalm 18:5 in Latin: The ropes of the grave entangled me. Not a very nice thought, but it does serve to remind us that we need to repent, and we are in need of a Saviour!

Historically, the Gospel for the past Sunday is Matthew 20:1-16, the parable of the workers in the vineyard. And what a Gospel it is! The Lord of creation hasn't decided to pay us according to our works, but to dispense with what is His own as He chooses. He has chosen us, apart from what we may have done or may not have done. Perhaps we are even decent people - not perfect, but decent. There's no way to be good enough, and there's no need to be good enough. We are taken as sinners, declared righteous, and then we are united to Christ. He becomes sin for us, that we might become righteous.

In this busy mid-week, after the last vestige of Epiphany is gone with Candlemas, after a groundhog prognisticates the weather, and before our thoughts even begin to turn to Lent and Easter, let us remember the insufficiency of our "good enough", of our "do this", of our "achieve that", and the great sufficiency of His "it is done." He has claimed us as His own, away from the powers of death, sin, and the grave, though they encircled us. We are His - and He may do what He chooses with what belongs to Him. May it be so.

VDMA

No longer under the radar

So if you used to read this blog, you know that I haven't posted in a very long time. There's a reason for that, and it's not just laziness.

About a year ago I moved from Munich, Germany, back to the United States. I was happy in academia, but wanted to pursue ordination and more direct ministry, instead of "just" teaching. We probably could have stayed in Germany, but  there were some other personal matters involved in the decision.

So, having been a member of the EKD, I entered into the colloquy process with the ELCA. Colloquy is a process by which a pastor from another tradition or Lutheran body becomes a pastor in a Lutheran body. And boy, is the ELCA different from the EKD. While I was comfortable in the EKD, if on the conservative end of things, in the ELCA, I was so far right on some issues that I could barely see the left-of-center leadership I was working with. Needless to say, this did not bode well for my colloquy.

I won't go into all the details, but it took me a year to accept the fact that it just wasn't a good fit - and five rounds of added requirements and rule changes to get the message that they thought so too. It was probably one of the worst years of my life, certainly one of the worst recently.

However, once I got it, I was able to take stock of what I felt called to do, and the situation around me, and I found a new home: the Evangelical Lutheran Conference and Ministerium in North America, the ELCM. I found a group that I'm 100% theologically in agreement with, and their polity is amazing. It's seriously by consensus - and stuff gets done! We are a moderate, centrist group, and I'm happy to be a part of things. I've been extended a call as healthcare chaplain and mission development pastor, and there is also a return, at least partially, to academia in the works. I've come a long way to be back where I started, but God has grown me a lot, and I've learned a lot about myself.

So what does that have to do with this blog? Well, I'm. I longer worried about what I say in here affecting my material security or future. I'm free to proclaim what I believe, faithfully.

So starting with this week, this blog is alive again. It's Septuagesima Sunday - a time of preparation for Lent, where we focus on our need for penance. A time where we are reminded, in the traditional Gospel for today, that God rewards as He chooses, and He gives to those He chooses (Matt 20:1-16). A time when we say, out of the depths have I cried out to thee, O Lord: Lord hear my voice - and know that He has indeed heard.