St. Mark's Lutheran » authority

When every earthly prop gives way…the problem of authority

Parson Brown — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 20:42:41 +0000

Young Luther (and by young I’m talking 37, one of my personal quibbles with Luther scholars is that I don’t think they comprehend age very well, a man of 37, especially in an age of shorter lifespans, was bordering on old, not young, even today we’d say he’s approaching middle age, anyway), Young Luther in the Freedom of a Christian would pine for theodidacti, those taught by God. Old Luther (and by that I mean 42 year old) would get grumpy and complain that the peasants were revolting. Little gripes about the “true gospel” and other complaints about people just not following it would creep in until very late life ugly stuff about Jews. It is a famous question among Lutheran theologians – are you a young Luther or an old Luther gal? What that really means is: what are you views on authority? Are you looking to God alone, or have you been mugged by reality? Are you willing to live with the chaos of people not getting the lesson right, or do you want things settled even if it takes a good strong hand not from the right hand of the Father?

Two things bring that to mind that I want to ponder here. First is Rod Dreher with his typical wind-y post but with a tough core question – Aren’t we all Protestants now?.

No, what’s startling and troubling to me about this is not that American Catholics fail to live up to the demands of their faith, but that in very large numbers, they reject the binding Authority of the Church on their consciences. I don’t see any other way to read this. For them, the Church doesn’t command, because it doesn’t have the authority to command; the Church only suggests.

The second thing is a typography of younger “leavers” of the church from Barna Group. It is extracted from a larger book you can find following the link, but the typography breaks 18 to 29 year old’s into three groups in relation to the church. 3 out of 10 stay in the church they were brought up in. 2 out of 10 they label exiles which means they have left the church for cause (i.e. the church did or continued to do something they couldn’t stomach but they “still like Jesus”). 4 out of 10 are nomads which means they have just wandered away from the church without any real passion or judgment about it. And 1 out of 9 (there must be a remainder who never had contact at all) they label prodigals which means they have outright rejected the church and its teachings.

Both of those items to me point to a question or a problem with the foundations of authority or epistemology (how do you know? How do you know you know?). Barna’s typology reflects Dreher’s question. All the groups – I’d say even most on the stay pile – are just going to what already mirrors their own outlook. The only authority or maybe I should say the trump authority is my reason and gut. As a more young Luther guy, I’m not terribly upset about that. I’m part of a tradition that trumpets being convinced by “scripture and plain reason” and which says “it is neither safe nor wise to act against conscience”. (Luther @ Worms).

It’s the scripture part that is troubling. Read Matthew 16:19 then Matthew 18:18 then John 20:23. Those are all the “keys” passages about binding and loosing sins. To whom was that authority given? The Lutheran answer is to the church. The church (or local congregation) when it calls a pastor gives those keys to the pastor for public use. That is why you would see me say things like “by virtue of my office…I forgive you your sins”. Well and good, the church has the authority to forgive and to bind. But that is in general not how we act. If I were to stand up and say – “you there, hiding in the corner, I know that you are cheating on your wife, I’m binding that sin until you make good and change” – what do you think the response would be? {@!?$&!} But isn’t that what those keys passages say?

And the pastor doesn’t get off scot-free. The episcopal way would be to say the pastor is under a bishop or needs to be with a fellow pastor, but that never struck me a making sense. That just passes the problem up until you find a Pope. The pastor is bound and loosed by the congregation, think the body of Elders. A Walther way of explaining it is that in each congregation you have the incarnation of the full church. The full powers of the church are inherent in each congregation.

But all of that flies in the face of 9/10th of 18-29 year olds and probably a similar number of the those older. They just aren’t as free to walk. Read Isaiah 22:22 and Revelation 3:7. Who holds the key in the final analysis? Jesus. Who did Jesus give the key to? Whether you answer Peter (Roman Catholics), the apostles (Eastern Orthodox), the church (Protestants), if you believe scripture is a true witness, then the church is authoritative in morals. How do we live or receive that statement? Especially as a Lutheran?

I’ll continue this in the next post.

By what authority…?

Parson Brown — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 13:09:02 +0000

Full Text of Sermon

This is sermon is one of those all or nothing affairs. Its football season, so I’ll use a football analogy. Sometimes you are handing the ball to the running back on a dive play. Its going to get roughly 3 yards and move the chains. Most sermons move the chains. Teaching is moving the chains. Sometimes the dive play opens up and you get a 20 yard scamper. Sometimes in sermons you don’t just teach but can inspire as well. And then there are the go routes. You tell your fastest receiver to go. You hold the ball as long as you can without being sacked, and then you throw it as far down the field as you can hoping that speedy guy runs under it. It is all or nothing with a side possibility of a turnover.

Jesus took his chances. He was always asking ‘who do you say I am?’ It’s an all or nothing question. The specific topic is stewardship. Churches need tithes and offerings to operate. But stewardship is a secondary question. If you haven’t committed to an answer to the authority the church works under, then stewardship is just dues. So stewardship sermons ask that primary question. Who do you say the crucified one is?

Follow the thread (Man and Woman in Christ)

Parson Brown — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 21:12:44 +0000

This is Mollie Z. Hemingway, a journalist and LCMS member of an Orthodox Lutheran stripe, critiquing a NYTimes magazine piece on Priscilla Shirer who is an evangelical “preacher” who attempts to live out complementarian or what used to be called headship in marriage. If you understand that last part, preaching and headship are like squaring a circle. You can read the article to see how they solve it or ask me about it.

I hate to question Mrs. Hemingway’s journalism, but she seems a little rough on the article. Yes, there are the verbal ticks like using the word despite where a believer might use because. Yes, the author reduces incredibly complex theological concepts to the litmus tests of ‘does he change diapers?’ The only thing I would add is: think of the audience. Who reads the NY Times Magazine? To me, the article was amazingly fair for such a topic; much more fair than I would have expected. (My expectations would have been of a ‘look at what the rubes are doing’ variety.) To me, an upper east side woman could read that article and come away with a changed attitude toward complementarian teaching. I would not think it would change their personal minds to live that way, but it might become an ‘acceptable’ thought or practice. And that is a major battle. If the typical reader of the NY Times magazine all of sudden didn’t fear or belittle the teaching, the large guns of the culture not make it so radio-active.

The only other quibble is that I would wager the opposite as Ms. Hemingway on the number of people living this view of marriage. She holds that more than just evangelicals embrace it. That might be true on paper, but when was the last time any of them heard it preached or taught? (FYI, I attempted here on May 9,2010 on a Mother’s Day sermon that task, so you can’t call me a coward, maybe a fool.) This is a very counter-cultural view that I’d have questions about even evangelicals following.

The Advice Generation Gap

Parson Brown — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:11:16 +0000

There are a lot of religious ghosts in this article.

The article is a short cute story about “kids these days” and how they don’t value the oldsters advice like they used to. The 4th commandment (5th if you go by the Reformed count) is Honor your Father and Mother. Luther’s explanation, like all his explanations, enlarges the domain. Father and Mother are the stand-ins for any authority figure. The trick is of course what does honor mean? Do exactly and everything they say? Or do the Democrats of four years ago with “protest is the highest form of patriotism” have a claim to honor? In either case a certain respect for experience would seem to be needed. And the church, that entity that likens itself to a mother, is in many ways the real oldster on the block. Some of its advice goes back 4000 years.

Now read this clip…

“Age is no longer the qualifier for being the go-to person for advice,” says Jason Dorsey, 32, a cross-generational consultant who helps companies understand Generation Y. “Yes, if I go into a hardware store, I want advice from someone over age 60, because he could build my house with a screwdriver. But if I walk into an Apple store, I want the young person with blue hair and stretched earlobes, because he can talk to my computer.”

In short, “if we want to learn how to tie a tie, change a diaper, mix a drink, or cook a lobster, we can go on YouTube and find a video,” says Mr. Dorsey. “We don’t call mom and dad.” …Now an actuarial analyst in Atlanta, Mr. Borg says he often challenges advice he receives from older people. For instance, they’ve counseled him to buy a house because prices are low. “Older people think renting is throwing away money,” he says. “But I think owning a home is throwing away financial freedom. I couldn’t pick up and move to a new city. I couldn’t go back to Japan to see my old friends. I’d be tied to the house.”

What do Mr. Dorsey and Mr. Borg both have in common? They’ve both replaced mom and dad or lets just say family with something more nebulous or distributed. YouTube and financial freedom. Is that form of freedom really the way to thrive? The church says no, honor your father and mother. And that is the only commandment with a promise – that is will go well with you and you will live a long life.

The advice of the church runs smack into the conceits of 20 – 30 year olds. Now that is always the case. The church is always confronting sin and stubborness. But, this is a generation that does not take advice. Just because the church has been around 2000 years, its teachings have born out time and again, and your parents say its good for you does not mean that the kids will listen. The mode of teaching has to be more experimental. The church does not put down its claim to authority, but it probably needs to wear it very lightly, and make arguments for it where it didn’t in the past testing its own virtue of patience and hope.

A question of authority – 1 Sam 13:5-18

Parson Brown — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:45:56 +0000

Text: 1 Sam 13:5-18

Being king is a big job. Saul just never seemed up to the task. His dad, a wealthy land owner, had tasked him with the donkeys and apparently wasn’t too concerned if he went missing for quite a few days. At his corronation they have to dig him out from hidding amongst the baggage (1 Sam 10:22-23). Right after the corronation people are already uncertain (1 Sam 10:27). The kingdom must be renewed shortly after the first battle (1 Sam 11:14). The prophet Samuel tells Israel – you made a mistake, but now you are stuck with it (1 Sam 12:19). And in the first real military test the Israelites are running (1 Same 13:6-7). Poor Saul had been told to wait for Samuel (the adult guidance?) for the pre-battle offerings, but Samuel took his time and Saul for once takes charge. What is the response? Not your responsibility – that will be the end of your kingdom (1 Sam 13:13-14). Saul never really seemed to understand his role. He ran and hid when courage was required, and he usurped the authority when it wasn’t his.

Are we not often like that? I think the phrase is “the grass is always greener on the other side”. We are given vocations and the living out of those vocations (job, family roles, church roles, political positions, etc.) is a call to justice and truth, a call to recognize and act on the correct and appropriate authority. Instead, we too often seek to run from those roles because they are hard. They require us sometimes to wait on God. They require us to act outside of our comfort and have faith that God works in our weakness. Jesus is our great example of living out his vocation. Jesus was the messiah, the son of God. Part of that vocation was the suffering servant – being perfectly obeidient to the Father’s will. Jesus lived out his vocation all the way through the cross. Because of that – uniquely – Jesus deserves and has been given all authority. We can’t do that, but Jesus did it for us. That cross covers our errors.

Let’s go to the other side – Father’s Day – Mark 4:35-41

Parson Brown — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:52:19 +0000

Full Text

A hat tip needs to be sent to the Lutheran Hour Ministries and their Men’s Network for some of the ideas in this sermon.

Part of being the parson is being immersed in the Scriptures every day. And maybe even more importantly is the interaction with the Scriptures at a detailed level. For most of my life I have had a reading plan and would spend at least 15 minutes a day reading the Scriptures, but often that was rushed or just done at a devotional level looking for what stuck me at the moment. Even worse was some of that 15 minutes was spent reading the footnotes instead of the Word. When you start looking at what the Scriptures say about Jesus and the Christian Life at a more intimate level, you start to see the disconnects with popular understanding and the Christ presented by the Scripture. Even good pious saints with sound theology think in ‘words about God’ terms (my pejoritive God-talk terms) instead of the Word of God. Too much of the former drains the vitality from the latter. The person of Jesus Christ is who we as preachers preach each week, or should. That person is much more dynamic and alive than our God-talk language. The ways to meet that Living Jesus are in the living Word. Pick up the Gospel according to Mark and start reading. If you haven’t done it for a while get the New Living Translation (NLT) which is wonderful modern English that you can actually read like a story. If you want a more ‘word for word’ translation the ESV is what we read from on Sundays or the NIV are both fine if less readable. Don’t worry about the study notes. Just read that Gospel as you would a book. If necessary get a small pocket edition. It will open you eyes to a Jesus who is constantly challenging his followers, constantly saying things like ‘let’s go to the other side…’ as an invitation to an adventure, or constantly correcting our clouded visions of reality.