In sermon 2 (#9), Luther is describing what Jesus means when he tells Nicodemus he must be born again. “My teaching is not concerning what you must do or not do, but concerning what you must become...It is not the hand and foot or their actions that must be changed, but the person.” Our lives must erupt from the core of our being, the heart, rather than from efforts we religiously perform intended to win heaven when we die. If we are living our lives today in order to gain a wonderful eternity, this is works righteousness. It is selfish and self-serving. Living from the core of our being, with Christ born in us as that core, our actions can only be in response to the care and love we have for the person in need today – forget after we die, the need of our neighbor is today.
Luther makes an interesting comment in sermon 2 (#12) when he says “the Law cannot aid man to become holy in the sight of God nor save him from sin and everlasting wrath.” So if this is the case, why do so many Christians promote the publishing of the Ten Commandments in public places? What is the purpose? Is it to ‘attract’ people to Christianity? Has the Law ever attracted anyone to itself? If we are trying to train people to become better people on their own effort, wouldn’t it be better to encourage publishing something more positive, as in “this is how to become a better person.” Love your neighbor. Take care of people who are weak and unable to care for themselves. Help someone today. Be kind. Give a compliment today. Etc.
Luther’s explanation for Nicodemus’ response about being born again, about going back into a mother’s womb, doesn’t pay compliments to people who promote literal interpretations of the words of the Bible, “by doing so, they testify to their own blindness and ignorance in these divine matters” (#16). I’ve recently been told that some in the Christian community strenuously object to applying the imagination to God’s word, and we should not to go beyond the words we read in Scripture. If we limit ourselves to only what the eye can see, our only tools for interpretation are human reason and logic. To do this is to make the Bible a history book rather than a guide to our lives today and it shuts off the waterfall of living water that is available. We must let the Word speak and the Spirit guide, and not limit the ink and letters on the page to what reason can explain.
One thing I find limiting in Luther’s theology is his understanding that heaven, the kingdom of God, and eternal life are the same thing. As well informed as he was, He didn’t have the wealth of information we have today in Bible scholarship to know the concept of eternal life in the first century was not a synonym for the place we go after we die. Eternal life is the quality of life only God can give us, both now as well as after we pass from this life. The focus is on the present day in which we are living, and the abundant life God desires for us. The kingdom of God refers to the place where God reigns, and God does not only reign in heaven. Hopefully, we ask God to reign in us, and we become the place God lives and reigns. We are the kingdom of God, or at least, potentially --- and when it happens, we are born again.
Peace in Christ - PWM
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Follow-up to John 3:1-15 – Luther's ideas
In his sermon, Luther talks about the severity of change that a new birth brings. “The nature of the soul must change and it must become an enemy of the body, desiring that the body may die, so that it (the soul) may enter into a new life. That this will be, we are to believe, but not to know how. It is the work of God, and he has not commanded us to fathom it” (1st sermon, #15, p. 416). I wonder how Luther would address the definition used by George Barna to define “born-again” Christians as “people who said they had made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that was still important in their life today and who also indicated they believed that when they die they will go to Heaven because they had confessed their sins and had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior.” To call oneself born again and to be born again presents the same conundrum as when one calls herself a “Christian.” Does one truly follow Christ in all things or just in the convenient things?
(This is the stained glass window in the sanctuary of St. Matthew by the Lake Lutheran Church, Benton, KY.)
In sermon 2 (#9), Luther is describing what Jesus means when he tells Nicodemus he must be born again. “My teaching is not concerning what you must do or not do, but concerning what you must become...It is not the hand and foot or their actions that must be changed, but the person.” Our lives must erupt from the core of our being, the heart, rather than from efforts we religiously perform intended to win heaven when we die. If we are living our lives today in order to gain a wonderful eternity, this is works righteousness. It is selfish and self-serving. Living from the core of our being, with Christ born in us as that core, our actions can only be in response to the care and love we have for the person in need today – forget after we die, the need of our neighbor is today.
Luther makes an interesting comment in sermon 2 (#12) when he says “the Law cannot aid man to become holy in the sight of God nor save him from sin and everlasting wrath.” So if this is the case, why do so many Christians promote the publishing of the Ten Commandments in public places? What is the purpose? Is it to ‘attract’ people to Christianity? Has the Law ever attracted anyone to itself? If we are trying to train people to become better people on their own effort, wouldn’t it be better to encourage publishing something more positive, as in “this is how to become a better person.” Love your neighbor. Take care of people who are weak and unable to care for themselves. Help someone today. Be kind. Give a compliment today. Etc.
Luther’s explanation for Nicodemus’ response about being born again, about going back into a mother’s womb, doesn’t pay compliments to people who promote literal interpretations of the words of the Bible, “by doing so, they testify to their own blindness and ignorance in these divine matters” (#16). I’ve recently been told that some in the Christian community strenuously object to applying the imagination to God’s word, and we should not to go beyond the words we read in Scripture. If we limit ourselves to only what the eye can see, our only tools for interpretation are human reason and logic. To do this is to make the Bible a history book rather than a guide to our lives today and it shuts off the waterfall of living water that is available. We must let the Word speak and the Spirit guide, and not limit the ink and letters on the page to what reason can explain.
One thing I find limiting in Luther’s theology is his understanding that heaven, the kingdom of God, and eternal life are the same thing. As well informed as he was, He didn’t have the wealth of information we have today in Bible scholarship to know the concept of eternal life in the first century was not a synonym for the place we go after we die. Eternal life is the quality of life only God can give us, both now as well as after we pass from this life. The focus is on the present day in which we are living, and the abundant life God desires for us. The kingdom of God refers to the place where God reigns, and God does not only reign in heaven. Hopefully, we ask God to reign in us, and we become the place God lives and reigns. We are the kingdom of God, or at least, potentially --- and when it happens, we are born again.
Peace in Christ - PWM
In sermon 2 (#9), Luther is describing what Jesus means when he tells Nicodemus he must be born again. “My teaching is not concerning what you must do or not do, but concerning what you must become...It is not the hand and foot or their actions that must be changed, but the person.” Our lives must erupt from the core of our being, the heart, rather than from efforts we religiously perform intended to win heaven when we die. If we are living our lives today in order to gain a wonderful eternity, this is works righteousness. It is selfish and self-serving. Living from the core of our being, with Christ born in us as that core, our actions can only be in response to the care and love we have for the person in need today – forget after we die, the need of our neighbor is today.
Luther makes an interesting comment in sermon 2 (#12) when he says “the Law cannot aid man to become holy in the sight of God nor save him from sin and everlasting wrath.” So if this is the case, why do so many Christians promote the publishing of the Ten Commandments in public places? What is the purpose? Is it to ‘attract’ people to Christianity? Has the Law ever attracted anyone to itself? If we are trying to train people to become better people on their own effort, wouldn’t it be better to encourage publishing something more positive, as in “this is how to become a better person.” Love your neighbor. Take care of people who are weak and unable to care for themselves. Help someone today. Be kind. Give a compliment today. Etc.
Luther’s explanation for Nicodemus’ response about being born again, about going back into a mother’s womb, doesn’t pay compliments to people who promote literal interpretations of the words of the Bible, “by doing so, they testify to their own blindness and ignorance in these divine matters” (#16). I’ve recently been told that some in the Christian community strenuously object to applying the imagination to God’s word, and we should not to go beyond the words we read in Scripture. If we limit ourselves to only what the eye can see, our only tools for interpretation are human reason and logic. To do this is to make the Bible a history book rather than a guide to our lives today and it shuts off the waterfall of living water that is available. We must let the Word speak and the Spirit guide, and not limit the ink and letters on the page to what reason can explain.
One thing I find limiting in Luther’s theology is his understanding that heaven, the kingdom of God, and eternal life are the same thing. As well informed as he was, He didn’t have the wealth of information we have today in Bible scholarship to know the concept of eternal life in the first century was not a synonym for the place we go after we die. Eternal life is the quality of life only God can give us, both now as well as after we pass from this life. The focus is on the present day in which we are living, and the abundant life God desires for us. The kingdom of God refers to the place where God reigns, and God does not only reign in heaven. Hopefully, we ask God to reign in us, and we become the place God lives and reigns. We are the kingdom of God, or at least, potentially --- and when it happens, we are born again.
Peace in Christ - PWM
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