How Clear and Solid the Doctrine

Corpus Christi Church, NYC

Monday Merton Musings, Nov. 21, 2011
How Clear and Solid the Doctrine

All quotes are from The Seven Storey Mountain, by Thomas Merton

• • •

In the days when Thomas Merton began his graduate studies, he also began to feel the desire to go to a church for worship on Sundays. After some deliberation (and procrastination), he decided to attend his first Mass.

He chose a little brick church on 121st St. in New York — Church of Corpus Christi.

“How bright the little building seemed. Indeed, it was quite new. The sun shone on the clean bricks. People were going in the wide open door, into the cool darkness and, all at once, all the churches of Italy and France came back to me. The richness and fulness of the atmosphere of Catholicism that I had not been able to avoid apprehending and loving as a child, came back to me with a rush; but now I was to enter into it full for the first time. So far, I had known nothing but the outward surface.”

Merton’s description of the congregants in attendance that day reflects his pre-Vatican II Catholic views of a primary difference between Catholics and Protestants:

“What a revelation it was, to discover so many ordinary people in a place together, more conscious of God than of one another; not there to show off their hats or their clothes, but to pray, or at least to fulfil a religious obligation, not a human one. For even those who might have been there for no better motive than that they were obliged to be, were at least free from any of the self-conscious and human constraint, which is never absent from a Protestant church where people are definitely gathered together as people, as neighbors, and always have at least half an eye for one another, if not all of both eyes.”

Corpus Christi Church, interior

After the Gospel reading, a young priest stood up to preach, and this was the part of Thomas Merton’s first experience at Mass that was to prove most revelatory for him. He found the sermon quite impressive.

“It was not long: but to me it was very interesting to hear this young man quietly telling the people in language that was plain, yet tinged with scholastic terminology, about a point in Catholic doctrine. How clear and solid the doctrine was: for behind those words you felt the full force not only of Scripture but of centuries of a unified and continuing and consistent tradition. And above all, it was a vital tradition: there was nothing studied or antique about it. These words, this terminology, this doctrine, and these convictions fell from the lips of the young priest as something that were most intimately part of his own life. What was more, I sensed that the people were familiar with it all, and that it was also, in due proportion, part of their life also: it was just as much integrated into their spiritual organism as the air they breathed or the food they ate worked in to their blood and flesh.”

It was a message on the Person of Christ, his divinity, and incarnation. “And His works were the works of God: His acts were the acts of God. He loved us: God, and walked among us: God, and died for us on the Cross, God of God, Light of Light, True God of True God.”

Merton testifies that this sermon was the part of the Mass that he most needed to hear that day.

When it came time for celebrating the eucharist, he became uncomfortable and left the sanctuary. But another ray of light had pierced his heart.

Even though the streets he walked were familiar, something had changed: “All I know is that I walked in a new world.”

Five Days of Thanksgiving (1)

For the next five days, we will devote one post each day to giving thanks.

No, we are not going all Osteen, “positive vibes only” on you.

It is just that, whenever I come to the final Sunday of the Church Year, and at the time when Americans celebrate the Thanksgiving feast, I am reminded of words that I first read in Francis Schaeffer’s fine book, True Spirituality, some thirty years ago:

A quiet disposition and a heart giving thanks is the real test of the extent to which we love and trust God at that moment.

I cannot escape the challenge of those words. They make me think. They cut me to the quick. They lead me to Christ, where I confess my ingratitude, seek his forgiveness, and request the gift of his Spirit so that I may practice a new obedience of thanksgiving and praise.

So here and now, at the closing of the year, amidst the abundance of harvest, Lord, we give you thanks…

  • for all we have experienced,
  • for all we have learned,
  • for all the times we’ve fallen and gotten back up,
  • for seasons of health and vitality, and for your presence with us in our sick beds,
  • for all the people we have met and who have welcomed us into their lives,
  • for all the music that has evoked deep feelings in our hearts,
  • for the moments our stomachs hurt from laughing so hard,
  • for the little epiphanies and surprises that made us smile,
  • for the memories of those who’ve gone before us and laid the foundations for our lives,
  • for seasons when we wept and wondered at God’s absence
  • for creation’s endless capacity for eliciting wonder in our hearts and minds,
  • for those who spoke honestly to us, even when they had to say hard words of warning or rebuke,
  • for each breath, each heartbeat, each step,
  • for strength to serve others and bring some benefit to their lives,
  • for our families and those dearest to us, in whose bonds we find our identity and place in the world
  • for seasons of plenty to make us glad, and seasons of want to make us trust,
  • for the communities and nations of the world in which we live and find order for our lives,
  • for the happy fellowship of friends and times of solitude,
  • for the moments of silence and refreshment — for sabbath.

Above all, we thank you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that in you we live and move and have our being. With deepest gratitude, we thank you for the gift of life, the possibilities of new life, and the sure and certain hope of eternal life in Christ. We thank you for our baptism and for death to the old life and resurrection into newness of life. We thank you for the Church, the family of God, who despite all her schisms, heresies, and failures, will be our family forever. We thank you for the Word of God through which you speak Christ to us, and the Table at which you feed us with Christ. We thank you for the gift of your Spirit who empowers us for new obedience. We thank you for calling us to our various vocations through which we may give your love to our neighbors and to the world. We thank you for our neighbors, and even for our enemies, because they give us opportunity to extend your grace, hospitality, and love, and they often teach us better than our own religious practices. We thank you for all the resources you have entrusted to our care, and for providing ways of learning and serving that we may discharge our trust.

Amen.

 

A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath Day.

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
to declare your steadfast love in the morning,
and your faithfulness by night,
to the music of the lute and the harp,
to the melody of the lyre.
For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work;
at the works of your hands I sing for joy.

• from Psalm 92, NRSV

My Debt to Evangelicalism

Just because I left evangelicalism as a church system and culture several years ago and was willing to hang around in the wilderness rather than go back doesn’t mean I’m an ingrate. People can move on without blowing up the bridge behind them and calling the whole sojourn in one’s former land a total waste. Though I might have chosen a different route from the beginning had I known what I know now, the plain fact is that I did not know it then. The learning only comes through the journey. Finding a good path often requires trying a number of paths that may lead one places he doesn’t want to go.

A lot of our clinicians in home health care use GPS systems to help them find their way around. Many swear by them. I think GPS’s are great too, especially for those who work at night. But I have never wanted one. We get written directions, and usually they suffice. I can read a map. I have a decent sense of direction. But even when all those things fail, I have this old-fashioned notion (some call it a “guy thing”) that I should try to figure it out. That way, even if I make mistakes (which I inevitably do), it is better for me to make them and try the wrong routes, because in the process I will become more familiar with my surroundings and when I do find the right way it will be more ingrained in my mind. I’ll find it much easier to remember the way next time. The journey itself teaches the way.

Most of my spiritual journey as an adult has been on roads paved by American evangelicalism, through the evangelical countryside, towns and cities. I finally decided it was not where I should settle down. That decision should not lead anyone to infer that I didn’t have a lot of great experiences there, meet a lot of wonderful people, and learn many important lessons. It was most definitely not a wasted trip. There is a lot I’m thankful for.

So today, I want to pause for a few moments to reflect on some of those things I’m grateful for in my journey through that land.

Continue reading “My Debt to Evangelicalism”

iMonk Classic: The Playwright’s Son

Classic iMonk Post
by Michael Spencer
From November, 2005

Once upon a time there was a playwright. While this playwright was the best who ever lived, his passion was not for his plays, but for his son, the greatest actor of his time. The son loved to act, and to bring joy, truth and meaning to audiences of every age and all kind. His gifts were immense, and his talent untapped. This son had played many parts, but had never played a part that truly demonstrated his true talents and potential.

Both the playwright and his son were convinced that, if the right play could ever be created, this young actor could change the world forever.

So the playwright devoted himself to the writing of the greatest play ever conceived, a play that would somehow tell the story of the world, and yet be the story of every person. Yet, above all, this play would finally and undoubtedly reveal the playwright’s son as the greatest actor of the age.

Continue reading “iMonk Classic: The Playwright’s Son”

Saturday Ramblings 11.19.11

Welcome to the Thanksgiving Week edition of Saturday Ramblings. This is your chief turkey rambling toward mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes (with marshmallows, of course), dressing, corn, and green beans with those crunchy things on top. (Save the green beans–just give me an extra helping of the crunchy things!) So, as we all do our tummy-stretching exercises in preparation for Thursday, shall will take a walk down the ramblin’ road?

First of all, thank you for all who expressed your care for me following my post on Thursday. And thanks for the offer to pitch in a dollar or two toward my financial needs, but I cannot accept that. There are others who work so hard to keep iMonk going and they are not getting paid. If, however, you want to contribute toward our ongoing expenses, we would be most grateful. You can do that by clicking on the “Donate” button to the right. Thank you, every one.

Seems California’s Crystal Cathedral will soon become the Catholic Diocese of Orange County. A bankruptcy judge chose the Diocese’s offer over that of Chapman University. So will the Hour of Power become the Surfing See?

Before you go to the voting booth to cast your ballot for a presidential candidate in your state’s upcoming primary, you will be able to pray about it when The Response comes a-callin’ in your hometown. Unless of course you live in a blue state, for which no prayer can help your liberal ways.

Continue reading “Saturday Ramblings 11.19.11”

Ten Reasons to Love Luther

How the Lutheran Tradition Answers Many Post-Evangelical Concerns (5/conclusion)

Thanks for participating in this week of reflections on various elements of Lutheran teaching that I believe answer specific concerns about contemporary American evangelicalism. There are others, and I’m sure we will discuss them in future posts. But we will conclude for now with a few thoughts on the one thing that first got my attention about the Lutheran way and began drawing me toward it —

I fell in love with Martin Luther.

Of all my spiritual “heroes” or “mentors” from church history, he stands tallest. Few before or since ever stood at such a pivotal point of time in history and provided the kind of faithful voice that changed the course of the world so dramatically. Certainly he lived in one of the most epochal seasons of Western civilization — an age which saw both a Renaissance and a Reformation, leading to the inauguration of the modern world. And yes, there were other thinkers, scientists, explorers, religious leaders, and rulers who had tremendous influence in those days. But of all the Reformers, of all the saints in the history of the church (save the Apostle Paul) who have attracted me and in whom I have seen Christ and the Gospel most magnified, I count Luther most worthy of admiration.

I won’t write a biography here, but simply give ten bullet points with brief comments to tell you why.

1. For Luther, it was all about Christ.
Martin Luther found his life, forgiveness, salvation, and peace in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. The heart of the Small Catechism is found in these words about Jesus:

I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won [delivered] me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, in order that I may be [wholly] His own, and live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, even as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.

In one of his hymns, he wrote,

Thus spoke the Son, “Hold thou to me,
From now on thou wilt make it.
I gave my very life for thee
And for thee I will stake it.
For I am thine and thou art mine,
And where I am our lives entwine,
The Old Fiend cannot shake it.”

Luther and Jesus, forever entwined.

Continue reading “Ten Reasons to Love Luther”

How the Lutheran Tradition Answers Many Post-Evangelical Concerns (4)

This week I have been giving some examples to show how concerns I have had over the years about evangelicalism are answered by the traditional teachings of historic Lutheranism. We will finish this series up with two final posts.

In the first, I want to discuss an emphasis that Martin Luther and his heirs have stressed, which I think is one of their greatest contributions to Christian theology.

In the last post, I will talk a bit about Luther himself.

Today’s subject is introduced by an important quote from Luther, which came early in the Reformer’s career.

He deserves to be called a theologian, however, who comprehends the visible and manifest things of God seen through suffering and the cross.

The manifest and visible things of God are placed in opposition to the invisible, namely, his human nature, weakness, foolishness. The Apostle in 1 Cor. 1:25 calls them the weakness and folly of God. Because men misused the knowledge of God through works, God wished again to be recognized in suffering, and to condemn “wisdom concerning invisible things” by means of “wisdom concerning visible things”, so that those who did not honor God as manifested in his works should honor him as he is hidden in his suffering (absconditum in passionibus). As the Apostle says in 1 Cor. 1:21, “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.” Now it is not sufficient for anyone, and it does him no good to recognize God in his glory and majesty, unless he recognizes him in the humility and shame of the cross. Thus God destroys the wisdom of the wise, as Isa. 45:15 says, “Truly, thou art a God who hidest thyself.”

So, also, in John 14:8, where Philip spoke according to the theology of glory: “Show us the Father.” Christ forthwith set aside his flighty thought about seeing God elsewhere and led him to himself, saying, “Philip, he who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). For this reason true theology and recognition of God are in the crucified Christ, as it is also stated in John 10 (John 14:6), “No one comes to the Father, but by me;” “I am the door” (John 10:9), and so forth.

• Martin Luther, Heidelberg Disputation (1518), Thesis 20

This is one of points Luther debated in a meeting of the Augustinian Order in 1518, the year after he had posted his 95 Theses. In the editor’s introduction to this disputation in the Book of Concord it is noted that these points represent an important development in Luther’s thought and show his “growing realization that the theology of late Medieval Roman Catholicism was fundamentally and essentially at odds with Biblical theology.”

At the heart of his argument was that the Church had been overtaken by a “Theology of Glory,” whereas God has revealed himself and brought us salvation through a “Theology of the Cross.”

Continue reading “How the Lutheran Tradition Answers Many Post-Evangelical Concerns (4)”

The Invasion Of Life

So last Wednesday night I had to ask Chaplain Mike to take my Thursday posts as I had no internet service, and I didn’t feel well enough to drive to a coffee shop, even if I could find one at nine o’clock that was still open and would stay open for two or three hours. This was just another in a long series of fun and games I’ve been going through for some months now. It was just another circumstance that added to my level of …

Stress.

I’ve shared with you about my health here. I’m getting better. My doctor told me that my heart is solid; that, in his words, I “cannot die of a heart attack for the next 40 to 50 years.” The chest pains I’ve been having? They could be caused by muscle spasms. The periods of incredible weakness? That is stumping him, unless both are caused by …

Stress.

Then there was the situation with my computer. I would be writing, oh, an iMonk essay, and my computer would refuse to allow me to type any more words. It would freeze for minutes when I wanted to switch to a different window. It finally got to the point where to write an essay for iMonk became an exercise of faith similar to that which Joshua faced when walking around Jericho. But you all stepped up and provided enough for me to get a new computer to keep this site going, thus relieving that aspect of my …

Stress.

As I write this a little before midnight on Wednesday night, I have been texting back and forth with my sister. She had first called to let me know our mom was rushed to the hospital with chest pains and symptoms of dehydration. I’ve been trying to find out what is going on. Mom is still in ER, and Dad lost his cell phone, so I’m not sure I will hear anymore tonight. But that hasn’t lessened any of the …

Continue reading “The Invasion Of Life”

Discussing the Sheep and the Goats

Giotto, Last Judgment, Scrovegni Chapel

It is time for us to consider another parable and teach one another as we study and meditate on its meaning.

This week’s Gospel text from Matthew contains one of Jesus’ most familiar parables: The Sheep and the Goats (Matt. 25:31-46). I’m sure most of you have heard this parable many times, and perhaps have studied it, discussed it, taught it, or preached it in church or a Bible study.

I, for one, am convinced that our common understanding of this parable is mistaken. I have become convinced by another view that a number of Bible scholars hold, but which some of you may not have considered before.

But I don’t want to discuss my view today, at least not at this point. I’d like to hear you tell about what you hear when you listen to Jesus speak these words.

In Matthew’s Gospel, these are crucial words, for they are presented as his last parable before the account of his Passion. The story of the sheep and the goats is Jesus’ final official teaching before he embarks on the final leg of his journey to the Cross.

Here’s the text, from the NRSV:

31 ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” 37Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” 40And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,* you did it to me.” 41Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” 44Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” 45Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’

Have at it. Let’s teach one another.

How the Lutheran Tradition Answers Many Post-Evangelical Concerns (3)

Note: I was honored to see that Gene Edward Veith has linked to these posts. You can follow the responses and discussion at Cranach: The Blog of Veith.

• • •

This is now the third in a series of posts detailing some of the ways I have found that the Lutheran tradition provides solid teachings and practices which counter weaknesses in revivalistic evangelical Christianity. I’ve mentioned a few of those ways and explicated others more fully. Here’s what we’ve looked at so far:

  • The Lutheran tradition provides a solid historic tradition with roots.
  • The Lutheran tradition gives priority to Word and Table liturgical worship.
  • The Lutheran tradition places a strong emphasis on pastoral ministry.
  • The Lutheran tradition has a healthy emphasis on the vocational callings of all believers.
  • The Lutheran tradition is centered on Christ and the Gospel.
  • The Lutheran tradition keeps proper distinctions between Law and Gospel.

The next commitment of Lutheranism that addresses what I perceive as evangelicalism’s insufficiencies is that of sacramental theology and worship. When push comes to shove, this is probably the primary difference between revivalistic evangelicals and churches in the historic traditions. This perspective is the one thing evangelicals have the hardest time accepting, and yet what I have found is that the sacramental view magnifies God’s grace and promotes childlike faith much more than anything I experienced under non-sacramental teaching.

Jesus Christ is the living and abiding Word of God. By the power of the Spirit, this very Word of God, which is Jesus Christ, is read in the Scriptures , proclaimed in preaching, announced in the forgiveness of sins, eaten and drunk in the Holy Communion, and encountered in the bodily presence o f the Christian community. By the power of the Spirit active in Holy Baptism, this Word washes a people to be Christ’s own Body in the world. We have called this gift of Word and Sacrament by the name “the means of grace.” The living heart of all these means is the presence of Jesus Christ through the power of the Spirit as the gift of the Father.

• THE USE OF THE MEANS OF GRACE
A Statement on the Practice of Word and Sacrament, ELCA 1997

Lutherans accept two Sacraments as the means by which God penetrates the lives of people with his grace. Those who take a sacramental view of these practices believe they are God’s works toward people, not the works of people pointing to God.

  • In baptism, God makes us his people, by “the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).
  • At the Lord’s Table, we experience the real presence of Jesus Christ, and his body and blood nourish us with God’s mercy and forgiveness in our union with him and one another. Our risen Lord is “made known to us” when we gather at his Table together (Luke 24:35).

The sacramental perspective takes God’s presence and action in the midst of his creation seriously. Some expressions of faith are essentially world-denying and more akin to forms of Platonism or gnosticism that make radical distinctions between the material and spiritual worlds. From this perspective, God works and we grow “spiritually,” and this world is one we are “passing through” on our way to an ethereal heaven. The Lutheran tradition, on the other hand, rejoices that God is present and working throughout his creation, and that he especially works in and through simple elements like water, bread, wine, paper and ink to communicate his truth and love to his people. He meets us here, and he is leading us to a renewed creation.

Sacramental theology takes the Incarnation seriously. Jesus the Eternal Word, “became flesh and lived among us” (John 1:14). Sharing fully in our humanity and the experiences of life in this world, God visited his creation personally, spoke, broke bread with us, wept, touched broken bodies, and even died himself to identify with and redeem all who are in bondage to sin, evil, and death. The Spirit he sent now works through the Word and the Sacraments in the midst of his gathered people to apply the benefits of his saving work.

There is much to learn about the Sacraments, but the primary shift for me, coming from the evangelical world, was simple. It involved coming to understand them as God’s works, not mine.

I no longer see baptism as something I do to profess my faith in Christ. I see it as something done to me through which God acts savingly. I no longer see Communion merely as something I do to remember Jesus. I see it as his Table, to which he invites me and at which he feeds me.

These practices are the means by which God’s grace in Christ is communicated to me, for in them his promises are made real in my life.