‘Red Letter Literalists’ by Pastor Mark C. Chavez

Posted on August 11, 2009 by theoldadam

Red letter literalists

Mark C. Chavez, vice president  of Word Alone network

August 4, 2009

When I was a child I thought Bibles that had Jesus’ words printed in red in the New Testament were really neat. The red letter editions made it easier to find Jesus’ parables and other sayings. I was surprised as an adult to hear some Lutheran and mainline Protestant clergy and theologians disparage red letter edition Bibles and those who use them.

Those critics said that red letter edition Bibles made Jesus’ sayings appear more important than all the other words in the Bible. The critics rightly pointed out that the whole Bible is God’s Word, so the sharp distinction between Jesus’ red letter sayings and the rest of the Bible was said to be misleading.

The critics also derogatorily labeled those who used the red letter Bibles as “fundamentalists” and “literalists.”

I was reminded of the criticisms of “fundamentalists” and “literalists” this spring when I heard a Lutheran professor confidently and gleefully proclaim in an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America synod assembly, “Jesus never said a word about homosexuality.”

I had heard other ELCA clergy and theologians make similar assertions in assemblies and other settings over the years. This spring, as on previous occasions, people in the room chuckled in approval. The professor and those who agreed with him seemed so confident that he had made the definitive, irrefutable argument in the great debate about homosexual behavior.

As I heard the professor this spring, I realized that his approach to the Bible on the issue of homosexual behavior was no different from what was disparagingly said about the allegedly simplistic “fundamentalists” and “literalists.” He might as well have said, “There are no red letter words about homosexuality in the Bible.”

The assertion that Jesus never addressed homosexual behavior makes sense only if one separates Jesus’ quoted words in the New Testament from the rest of the words in the Bible. This approach raises many questions. If the Biblical words that do address homosexual behavior and consistently forbid it are not connected with Jesus’ words, then whose words are they? Just God the Father’s words? Or the Holy Spirit’s? If so, then what are we to make of an approach to the Bible that pits one person of the Trinity against another?

Or do those who assert Jesus never addressed homosexual behavior believe the biblical words that address homosexual behavior are just human words written by ancient authors who were trapped in homophobia or ignorance? Maybe they don’t believe the ELCA confession of faith that states all of Scripture is “the inspired Word of God.”

What does the professor and those who agree with his assertion believe about John’s Gospel, which says that Jesus is God’s Word made flesh in chapter 1? Do they believe Jesus is the eternal Divine Word made flesh or not?

The orthodox Christian confession of faith, including the ELCA constitution, is that Jesus “is the Word of God incarnate.” Therefore the red letter words of Jesus should always be connected with the black letter words in both the Old and New Testaments.

As I listened to the professor speak this spring, I was also struck by his literalistic approach to the Bible. Because Jesus didn’t literally speak about “homosexuality,” the professor asserted that Jesus had never said anything about it. It was one of the most literalistic readings of Scripture you would ever hear.

If Jesus expresses the positive standard for what people ought to do, it doesn’t mean that He says nothing about behaviors that are to be avoided.

Suppose in response to the rich young man (Matthew 19:18-19), Jesus had just said, “Honor your father and mother, and, you shall love your neighbor as yourself” and hadn’t prohibited murder, adultery, stealing and bearing false witness. It would be ludicrous to assert that therefore Jesus said nothing to the rich young man about murder, adultery, stealing or bearing false witness. The positive standard, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” carries with it a whole boat load of prohibited behaviors, whether they’re spelled out or not.

Jesus’ response to the question about divorce in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, when he quotes from Genesis, is just such a positive expression of what God intends for people. God’s intention for a sexual relationship is that a man and a woman are to marry for life. The positive standard is stated in the first book of the Bible. The later commandments that forbid all other sexual relationships follow from the positive standard.

The biblical words that proscribe homosexual behavior are words from the Holy Trinity. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are united. They speak and work in concert.

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Pastor Mark C. Chavez is vice president of  Word Alone network http://wordalone.org/index.shtml

Thank you, Pastor Chavez and Word Alone network for allowing us to use this article.

How does what Pastor Chavez describes square with your understanding of Holy Scripture?

Can we place issues that are not spoken of explicitly by Jesus into another level of understanding, even though there are certainly specific references to that issue made by other writers in the Bible?

 

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‘Life and Liturgy’ by Alden Swan

Posted on May 20, 2009 by theoldadam

I am picking up where I left off  a couple of weeks ago, talking about liturgical worship.   If you recall, I’ve gone through the entire Luthera n liturgy from the old “Red” 1958 Service Book and Hymnal, interspersed with a few other posts dealing with aspects of liturgical worship.  For those who may stumble across this post who haven’t read the whole thread, I was raised Lutheran, but have spent the last 30+ years in various non-liturgical churches, mainly in Vineyard churches, which are about as loose as you can get.  I began visiting Lutheran and Episcopalian churches over a year ago, and since last December I have regularly attended a large Episcopal Church.

I like it.  After years of “grab bag” worship, coming back to liturgy has been a Godsend, literally.  It has probably saved my spiritual life from near death – or at least a starved, tortured existence.  It’s not the mood, or the great music (St. Paul’s excels musically, which certainly doesn’t hurt).  Here are a few reasons why liturgical worship means so much to me:

Truth:  I’ve written on this before, but I realized some time ago that I was starving for truth; in most evangelical churches (using the term in its popular, narrow sense), truth is pretty much up for grabs.  You can object, but it’s true.  Week after week goes by singing worship songs that are often vague, existential and which focus on personal experience rather than on truth.  The Bible is read only as part of the pastor’s sermon, and it’s often doled out in fragments, often taken out of context, and often misused.  The Pastor’s point of view takes precedent over the plain truth of Scripture. No creeds are read; often, I wouldn’t know what a church believes just be attending on a Sunday morning.

With liturgical churches, all these issues are resolved.  You can’t possibly walk out of church not knowing who Jesus is. You may have other questions (which is good), but you’ll have the basics.

Intentionality: Nothing in a liturgical church is haphazard.  In fact, you’ve got nearly 2000 years of thought and intentionality behind what you’re doing, and it’s doctrinally rooted in history.  And, you’re not alone; you know that you are agreeing – in recitation of creeds, praying the Lord’s Prayer, and celebrating the Lord’s Supper – with Christians throughout space and time.  Liturgy has a very solid feel to it, as it should.

Interactive Theater: The liturgy is participatory, interactive theater.  The priest, pastor or rector are not anyone but people filling a certain role.  The pastors are for the most part interchangeable; they may change, but the liturgy remains the same.  The people as well participate, reenacting the Gospel story every Sunday.

I liken it to the old “Rocky Horror” events where people would come in costume and say the lines along with the movie.  You can go sit and watch the professionals do church for you, or you can choose to join in.  That’s really what the liturgy is – it’s a chance to join in, in acting out the Gospel.

Incarnational Theology: The liturgy – especially the Lord’s Supper (aka communion, or Eucharist) – is empty without an incarnational theology. Perhaps that’s why so many evangelicals (again, using the term narrowly) think of it as ritualistic or the recitation of empty words.  Incarnational theology is essentially non-dualistic; that is, God is really present. As NT Wright has written, the worship service is a place where heaven intersects earth in a very real way. The valley of dry bones becomes the body when church gathers, and communion is more than just a memorial.  We don’t wait “for God to show up,” we just know that we experience the Real Presence.

Another aspect of liturgy is that the church’s theology, too, is rooted in history and anchored in the liturgy. The church is not blown too and fro from Sunday to Sunday as the pastor gets a new revelation.  This certainly won’t keep the pastor from throwing in random stuff in his sermons, but at least in liturgical settings, the sermon is positionally subservient to the Scriptures.

Humility: Humility is built in the liturgy, especially in Lutheran versions.  Church is first and foremost the gathering of saved sinners.  We celebrate the Eucharist because we need it.   The liturgy reduces everyone to their status as sinners, and then raises them up.

Today’s sermon was particularly interesting, using the text from Acts 10 where God tells Peter that nothing is unclean if God has declared it clean.  The Jewish Christians had forgotten that they were not the host of the banquet, but were merely guests as well, and God has every right to invite whoever he wants. The reminder to us was that we, too, are guests. This sums up the liturgical attitude well, I think.

Corporate: The liturgy acknowledges the existence of the Church Universal, and the corporate nature of the local body.  The fact that people stand, sit and kneel together and recite prayers together acknowledges in practice what we believe theologically.  The “do your own thing” worship totally contradicts the concept of corporate worship.

It’s Out of This World: High-church worship has an obvious other-worldliness to it, with the vestments, music, and ritual.  I personally am tired of going to churches where people don’t even bother to comb their hair.  I expect Heaven to look different than the mall… why shouldn’t church look different, too?

The Eye of the Storm: Lately I’ve come to think of Sunday as the true eye of the storm; it is not retreating from the storm, but taking refuge in the one and only safe place to be renewed and refreshed, to be sent back out.

In the evangelical world, it is common to ask things like, “how was church today,” and in the typical evangelical church context, the question makes sense. However, when I’m asked that now, it strikes me as quite odd, for “church” is no longer about anything that changes from week to week.  Church is always good, because the liturgy is good; that doesn’t change.  The sermon or music could be “off,” but that doesn’t impact “church.”  It’s always good.  (I will make an exception, as I’ve visited churches who play around with the liturgy to try to make it more contemporary or “relevant.”)

I am not saying that liturgical worship is the only way to worship God; that would be ridiculous. However, if I were to correct the defects and gaps that I see in many chuches, I would add in many of the elements which have been a part of Christian worship for hundreds and hundreds of years.  I suspect the inclusion of a few of these elments could revitalize the evangelical church.

                                                                                      – Alden Swan

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How do you feel about the use of liturgy in a worship service?

Check out Alden’s blog at  http://aldenswan.com/

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Good Friday

Posted on April 10, 2009 by theoldadam
(from the Lutheran Church of the Master’s monthly publication, ‘The Mast’)

A common service for Good Friday is Tenebrae (Lati n for “shadows”, or “darkness”).

Sometimes this term is applied generally to all church services on the last three days of  Holy week. More specifically, however, it is used of the Service of Darkness or Service of Shadows, usually held in the evening of Good Friday.

Again, there are varieties of this service, but it is usually characterized by a series of Scripture readings and meditation done in stages while lights and/or candles are gradually extinguished to symbolize the growing darkness not only of Jesus’ death  but of hopelessness in the world without God.

The service ends in darkness, sometimes with a final candle, the Christ candle, carried out of the sanctuary, symbolizing the death of Jesus.

The worshippers then leave in silence to await the Easter celebration.

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Good Friday services have fallen on hard times in many churches these days. Many churches do not have services on Good Friday.

Those that do have seen a large drop off in attendance.  This is true for the congregation of which I am a member.

Why would you think that is?

What good can come from a service such as this?

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9 Things to ‘Give up’ During Lent

Posted on February 21, 2009 by theoldadam

“May God grant us the wisdom to know ourselves; the courage to admit our sins; and the grace to receive God’s never failing mercy and forgiveness.”

1) COMPLAINING  –  there is much to be thankful for.

2) WORRY – there are things to be concerned about, but nothing to worry about.

3) DISCOURAGEMENT – God is for you, not against you.

4) BITTERNESS – it’s like poisoning yourself. How smart is that?

5) HATRED – forgive and watch your future come alive!

6) GOSSIPING – speak well of your neighbor, you might just see him/her return the favor. 

7) BLAMING – be part of the solution, not the problem.

8) STAYING AWAY FROM CHURCH – provide your family with a firm foundation of faith, learn about the message of God’s love from the Bible and share problems, make friends, and be renewed in hope and thank God for another week of life. And it’s free!

…and the final thing to ‘Give Up’ during Lent? 

9) GIVING UP – hang in there!! Even with all it’s problems, life is a good and gracious gift!

    by Pastor Mark Anderson of Lutheran Church of the Master, Corona del Mar, CA    949 759-1031     Lutheran Church of the Master Corona del Mar, CA

Can you think of anything else to ‘Give Up’ during Lent?     

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What does somebody have to do to become a Christian?

Posted on February 12, 2009 by theoldadam

‘Nothing.’

“Oh come on! You just can’t do…nothing! “

“You need to receive the gift, answer the call, make your decision, accept Jesus…right?!”

Wrong.

We are CALLED and CHOSEN. Anyways that’s what the Bible says.

The words “accept Jesus”  “make a decision for Christ” are not in the Bible.

But the words “CALLED” and “CHOSEN”…are.

What does a baby do when it is adopted?  Nothing. But drool over itself maybe.

St. Paul goes to great lengths in the Book of Romans to explain this, much to our chagrin.

Romans 9 is not an easy read for us enlightened, actualized, independent, rugged American types. We do want to tell the “Molder” how to shape the clay. We do want to talk back to God. We do want to call the shots and express our wills. But God will have none of it.   He actually still does call the shots.   All of them.

In his explanation of the third article of the Apostle’s Creed (in his Small Catechism), Luther lays this out quite nicely:

“I believe that by my own understanding or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to him, but instead the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, made me holy,and kept me in true faith, just as he calls , gathers, enlightens, and makes holy the whole Christian church on earth…”

You mean we actually do nothing to become a Christian?

That’s right…and the word is NOTHING. 

If there was just one thing that we needed to do of our own accord, then we have a new gospel of works.

It might only be ONE WORK…but that is ONE WORK TOO MANY!

I have to admit, the first time I heard this, I didn’t believe it.  Maybe I still don’t. But thanks be to God He gives me the faith to believe it.

Do you believe it?

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Tithing…Is it Biblical?

Posted on February 3, 2009 by theoldadam

Well, that’s a stupid question. Or is it?  We know that ‘the ‘tithe’ is in the Bible, but what of it?  Do people of God need to be doing it?

This might be a touchy subject right now with all the hand wringing over the economy, but since everyone (it seems) has money on their minds right now, or at least that is the main problem being addressed by the government, I thought I’d get your opinion on ‘the tithe’.

Is giving ten percent of your income to the church, the essence of the ‘tithe’?

In what ways can you justify not giving 10 percent of your income?

Thanks!

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Godly Dreams?

Posted on January 30, 2009 by theoldadam

 In the Bible, God speakes to His people in dreams (Genesis 46:2) .

But, also in the Bible God tells us not to not trust in what is seen and heard in our dreams, but rather in His Word. (Jeremiah 23: 25-28 )

So what are we to make of it when we believe that God has shown us something in a dream?

Could the visions, or small voices that come to us in the night, really be from God?

Are we to act on the basis of what we see in those dreams?

For example;  a young Christian woman has a dream where she moves to Uganda to set up a missionary outpost and also works with orphaned giraffes. Should she sell the studebaker and wing her way to Kampala? 

You keep having the same dream over and over where you are worshipping at a little Baptist church in a small town in Vermont.  You are quite happy there, and become the world’s seventh (notice the number 7?) largest distributor of maple chips. You have this dream at least once a week. Is it God? Could it be God?

Are these only manifestations of your unconscious mind, solely concoctions of events and images burned into your immagination, only to reappear in a dream?

Could these nightly visions be from the devil?

Have you ever acted upon the basis of something that came to you in a dream?

How did it turn out?

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How can God possibly use an imperfect text?

Posted on July 28, 2008 by theoldadam

If God uses His imperfect people (earthen vessels) to get his saving message of grace through faith in Jesus across to those that need it, and if God uses water (in baptism) that is less than perfectly pure, and if God uses the man-made elements of bread and wine to give His forgiveness of sins, life and salvation to those at the communion rail, and if God lowered Himself to the form of a mere mortal to accomplish His saving work for mankind, then how is it that the book that He has decided to use to tell the people what He expects of them and of His great love and forgiveness for them, how is it that such a book must be free of imperfections and the devices of man?

How is it that the Bible needs to be in a different category than the other ‘apparently less than divine’ tools which God uses to accomplish His purposes?

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I am basically a ‘Theologian of Glory’

Posted on July 19, 2008 by theoldadam

I know there is a lot (not enough) of talk about the “theology of the cross” vs. the “theology of glory”, and those of us who think we understand this ‘Christian faith’ thing have come down on the side of the cross…but that is not really who I am, and what I believe.

I basically am a theologian of glory. I am constantly thinking about myself and my ‘situation’.  I enjoy and am pleased with all the “progression” and “victories” in my life, while I bemoan the losses and the pain. I blast the Almighty for His unwillingness to fix all the problems in my life and the lives of my family members. Instead of thanking God for all of my pain and adversity, I am angry with Him.

Do I even want to try and understand the reasons, or believe that “all things work together for good for those who love God and are called for His purposes” ?   Not really. I am too busy with my own purposes to give any time to His purposes.

I am basically a “theologian of glory”. The only way I could ever be a “theologian of the cross”, is if He were to make me one. And thanks be to God, that He does make me one. He puts that “theologian of glory” to death everytime He gives Himself to me in the law, and the gospel. He makes me a “theologian of the cross” everytime He gives Himself to me in His supper. He makes me a “theologian of the cross” everytime I return to my baptism, which carries me through life the way a mother safely carries her baby in her loving arms.

I am a “theologian of glory”, who is basically content to stay that way. But that is not the way that my Lord would have it. He is not content that I stay that way. He has commanded me not to stay that way, and invited me to receive unto myself the “theology of the cross”… the pain, the suffering, the sorrow and lonliness of death…and then the joy of the resurrection and new life.

He knows full well that I basically do not want any part of His cross. Once again (as it has always  been and ever will be) our Lord has taken care of everything. “This is my body…this is my blood…do this,  and I will work my love and forgiveness in you. I will create in you a clean heart, against all your struggling and complaining.”(my paraphrasing)  That is how our Lord makes us into “theologians of the cross”…he takes us there, and then He dies for us, and then He enjoins us in that death for our own good.

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‘Do’… or ‘Done’ ?

Posted on July 18, 2008 by theoldadam

 If Christian faith says ‘done’, and if Christian religion says ‘do’, then which one would require a guide?

HLP-050442.jpg

But if you’re going to join the ‘done’ crowd (not much of a crowd, to look around at the American Christian landscape), you won’t need a guide. For done means… done. “It is finished” , actually means …it is finished.

“Oh, that’s just your justification.” Now you just cant’t live any way you want.”  I beg your pardon, I actually can live any way I want.

“Not as a Christian, you can’t!”

Sorry…wrong answer. You certainly can live any way you want as a Christian, and indeed you already do. (live anyway you want)

Each of us lives our lives exactly as he or she desires. We haven’t suddenly stopped our ‘sinful activity’ for a more righteous way of going about our daily lives.

You might have stopped (or cut down) cursing after you became a Christian, and that is a good thing, but you still commit a smorgasbord of sins in your daily walk with Christ.

“So what? What does that have to do with the price of eggs in Alaska, Mrs. Calabash?”

Just this… you want to walk and live in the Spirit of God? Then you don’t need a roadmap, the Spirit is the One who is driving. You want to take the wheel… then you’ll need a map, a compass, and a fuel gage. The Holy Spirit can crawl in the backseat and take a nap, while you focus on your endeavor.

If the Spirit of God cannot motivate you to live as God desires, then no guidebook will do the trick.

I’ve said this before, here on this blog and elsewhere, ‘you already know what to do’.

You know exactly what to do …you (and I) just flat out refuse to do it.

But the One who did do it…still does it!

He still works His love and forgiveness in us. He still still comes to us, does He not, in His Word and sacrament. He is not relegated to some act He did …way back there. He is not locked onto the pages of a book, with ink long ago dried.

Either the Word of God is living and active (as the book of Hebrews says)…or It is not.

If It is not, then you’d better get a hold of that guidebook for living, and you’d better get busy!

 

                              – Steve Martin

“Can we throw out the map, then? NO! There are clearly delineated thornbushes on the map that we ought stay out of. And we need to keep the map and refer to it often to realize that we are lost (because of  our unwillingness to trust the map maker), lest we delude ourselves that we are headed in the right direction.     

                          

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