St. Mark's Lutheran » Two Kingdoms

Religion and Truth in a Pluralistic Culture

Parson Brown — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 13:21:31 +0000

This short write up is well worth the 3 mins on Pope Benedict’s conception of interfaith or ecumenical interaction. Its starting point in an event that just took place in Assisi. 25 years ago the previous pope was at the same place involved in prayer with “Buddhists chant[ing] to the accompaniment of gongs and drums, Zoroastrians tend[ing] a sacred fire, and an American Indian medicine man in traditional headdress smok[ing] a peace pipe and call[ing] down the blessings of the “Great Spirit.” Benedict has a different view, even if the picture nearby might not say speak that.

The great religious question of our age is inclusivity vs. exclusivity. Were all those people praying to the same God, or was it an example of syncretistic worship on the level of ancient Israel’s “high places”? (1 Kings 12:27-32) Do all roads go up the same mountain, or is Jesus Christ the way, the truth and the life? (John 14:6) Let’s make it real clear. We read it in worship a couple of Sundays ago. Isaiah 45:5 – “I am the Lord, there is no other, beside me there is no other.” If the bible counts as your scripture, you can’t hold the “all roads view”. And holding worship services with people chanting, tending and smoking to other dieties hopelessly confuses things. It is no wonder people might just assume that there is no truth in any of them. Then Cardinal Ratzinger said as much:

The cardinal later wrote that “multireligious prayer” of the kind offered there “almost inevitably leads to false interpretations, to indifference as to the content of what is believed or not believed, and thus to the dissolution of real faith.”

Such prayer should occur only rarely, Cardinal Ratzinger wrote, and to “make clear that there is no such thing . . . as a common concept of God or belief in God, that difference not merely exists in the realm of changing images and concepts” but in the substance of what different religions claim.

It is the now Pope Benedict’s next step that is almost uniquely Lutheran.

As he told a European ambassador last week, social justice is based on norms accessible to all, derived not from divine revelation but from “reason and nature”—that is, from “universally applicable principles that are as real as the physical elements of the natural environment.”

He is using Catholic natural law language there. A Lutheran would appeal to two concepts: a theology of two kingdoms and the fundamental law and gospel distinction. We are able to work together in social justice areas because social justice is part of the law or part of the kingdom of the law. The law is universally written on all hearts. (Romans 2:14-15) And the law is good and wise. There is a righteousness that comes from the law – a civil righteousness. But the civil righteousness is not the saving truth of the gospel. In worship – we are separate. Because all roads don’t lead to the same place. Because we proclaim Christ crucified, risen and ascended as Lord. He is Lord, there is no other. Confusing law and gospel only leads to loss of faith.

Sentences to Ponder

Parson Brown — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 15:57:23 +0000

Our litany of prayers on Sunday usually includes a line, “for all those in need…for all those in prison.” That line, even though as Christians we are supposed to care about prisoners (Matt 25:36), I’m sure is a stumbling block. The typical middle class response to prison is something like Paul’s line, “but if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing.” (Rom 13:4).

Now here is the sentence to ponder. From David Brooks…

“The average corrections officer [in California] makes $70,000 a year in base salary and $100,000 with overtime (California spends more on its prison system than on its schools).”

Now that line would typically get used as a club by the political left to argue for higher education spending and by the political right as a club about prisoners getting bread and water only. Maybe both sides should take it, instead of as a chance for talking points, as a chance to repent. The society matters. Any society that is producing that many people that need to be locked up has something wrong at its core. The people matter. Lock’em up and throw away the key isn’t a valid answer.

Joseph Bottom has been Listening to the Lectionary…

Parson Brown — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:38:10 +0000

Here is an essay by the above mentioned Joseph Bottom at First Things. Warning, it is deep and political and not a simple read. Truly about First Things as an American.

We come across these hard sayings like, “I’ve not come to bring peace but division (Luke 12:51)” or the refrain “the first will be last and the last first (Luke 13:30)”, and they shake us a bit. All political orders are built on the law. And the law is good. We understand the law. The law gives us sure ground to stand upon. But when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away (1 Cor 13:10). And the perfect has come in Jesus Christ. The perfect is the gospel of grace. Just like those sayings, the gospel is counter-intuitive. That’s why it needs repeating. It is also why any institution or political order, as good as the law is, must make room for something other than itself. It is very hard for any institution or order to admit to another sovereign. Primarily because we make them up, and we aren’t too good at it ourselves.

Warning – This Man Has No Ecclesiology

Parson Brown — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 03:23:30 +0000

Here is a fun site to check in on every once in a while. Three women with a bunch of kids. Our three are put to shame. The particular post is trying to think about where church ends and politics begins. That is where the title of this post comes from. It is a reference to a Lutheran inside joke and a theologian by the name of Forde. (Ask me and I’ll explain further).

As Lutheran’s we belive in the “one, holy, catholic and apostolic church”. Big problem there is it is an article of faith. We can’t see it. Even if we could see it here and now (i.e. Rome’s claims were right), we still couldn’t see it as the una sancta is in all times and all places, many of which have gone to their reward.

Confessionally we also profess the local congregation. AC7 – where the gospel is preached the sacraments administered.

Is there anything that is “church” between those two things – the one holy and the local congregation. There are many in the LCMS who have spent a great deal of time and energy trying to say yes.

Of course saying no doesn’t relieve someone of being civil to bureaucrats, but it does remove that slightly ill feeling of doing secular things in holy spaces. I think Rebekah’s theses are on the right track. These political assemblies called churches are really political entities (in the left hand kingdom in fancy Lutheran speak). Those in them deserve civil respect. The respect you would give a judge or the police. Which is much more than they often get. But these “churches” are not repositories of the gospel. They do not speak for the one holy. They can, but that take decades or centuries to sort out and then other voices join them.

A bunch of things become clearer when we see these intermediate bodies as law oriented bodies for the sake of the gospel. You want the gospel? Go to your congregation and expect the one holy we see in Revelation. You want to effectively manage the civil affairs? Send your best people and trust that they are doing the best they can. But don’t confuse their work for the church or the gospel. Doing so is claiming the same thing as Rome, and bluntly if anyone is going to claim that, the guy in Rome has a better case.

Burden of Leaders – Laws of the Left Hand Kingdom/The Kingdom of the Law

Parson Brown — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:55:07 +0000

Text: Deuteronomy 16:18-20, Deuteronomy 17:14-20

One of the great confusions of the day is that between the Kingdom of Grace and the Kingdom of the Law. God is in control of both of them. That is the biblical witness, but He chooses to operate differently in each. In the Kingdom of Grace God operates and rules directly. Jesus is present in the Word and in the Sacraments of the church which He rules through that same Word and those sacraments offering His grace to all believers.

In the Kindgom of the Law God operates at a remove. He allows freedom within rules. Some of those rules are the physical rules of the universe. We can discover what those are and they put boundaries and safety on our existence. In a more biblical way think of what God asked Job – were you there when I streched a plumb line over the universe or who keeps the sea in its boundaries? It is pretty hard to transgress the law of gravity, but other “laws” are still binding but can be transgressed. Some of those laws are the expectations placed on those who have power in the Kingdom of the Law. Rulers have been given the authority for a purpose – to rule justly and ensure order. When Israel takes the land the judges and officers are to rule justly, not pervert justice, don’t show partiality, don’t take bribes. Those that are set like a king receive that power and authority not to ‘multiply silver and gold for himslef.’ They should instead have the book of the law at their side in their own hand. [Imagine copying the entire Torah yourself. It would ensure at least one reading.] The judgement on those given authority is surely harsher.

We get these kingdoms mixed up all the time. We are always ‘looking for God’s will’ in the Kingdom of the Law while trying to take God’s authority in the Kingdom of Grace. Believers usually make the mistakes in looking for God’s direct involvement in the Kingdom of the Law when that is exactly where God has given us freedom. We want surety about choice of wife/husband or even something as mundane as monetary investments. God does not give surety in those places, but does counsel wisdom. Read Proverbs or Ecclesiastes. Wisdom is rarely followed, but it is something we can learn and follow.

And then there are the multitude of ways we confuse the Kingdom of Grace. We try to usurp God rule by turning grace into a law – works righteousness. Or trying to apply the Law to grace like this article by a Scientist. Here is the money quote…

So while scientific rationality does not require atheism, it is by no means irrational to use it as the basis for arguing against the existence of God, and thus to conclude that claimed miracles like the virgin birth are incompatible with our scientific understanding of nature.

Finally, it is worth pointing out that these issues are not purely academic. The current crisis in Iran has laid bare the striking inconsistency between a world built on reason and a world built on religious dogma.

Perhaps the most important contribution an honest assessment of the incompatibility between science and religious doctrine can provide is to make it starkly clear that in human affairs — as well as in the rest of the physical world — reason is the better guide.

Of course the Virgin birth is nonsensical to the Kingdom of the Law becuase it was God’s direct action as part of the plan of salvation. It was an act of the Kingdom of Grace. God rules both. Occasionally to further Grace the law is superceeded.

The only way we know this is by the grace of revelation. I completely argee with this scientist that in human affairs reason is the better guide. The path of wisdom is the best one in that Kingdom. In fact in human affairs that is the only path. For Christians to be looking for Special revelation beyond the dictates of Wisdom is a confusion of the Kingdoms. But just becuase Christians (or Iranian Imams) have tried to enlarge the kingdom of Grace beyond its borders doesn’t mean that the revealed truths of it don’t exist – like the virgin birth.

Confusion of the Kingdoms is one of our fundamental flaws, but those Kingdoms are part glory of how the universe operates both giving us freedom and salvation. They each have things to say to each other, but usually we are too busy trying to usurp each Kingdom’s unique rights.

Sermon – Memorial Day – Two Kingdoms

Parson Brown — Sun, 24 May 2009 21:47:38 +0000

Full Text

This is a sermon that I am probably too proud of. I have the feeling that is was a pastor’s sermon – that I was communicating with myself, but not too many others. But even with that, I still like it and here is why – it offers something for the head, the heart and the hands. It presented a common emotional question and answered it in both intellectual terms and emotional terms. It also managed to address a secular event and bring in a Christian framework. I think and feel that it was solid and balanced.

The theology was the two kingdoms. Jesus prays in the text for the Sermon (John 17:11-19) for his disciples “not to be taken from the world, but to be protected from the evil one.” The are not of the world, but they are sent to the world. Combined with the secular calendar Memorial Day and the Christian calendar Ascension Day, the question is why? Why if Jesus Christ is enthroned at the right hand of the Father do we still have days like Memorial Day? The temptation is always to theodicy, or explaining the ways of God to men. God is a big boy, he can explain himself. But he does explain how he works in this world most of the time – through us. In the Kingdom of Power or of the left, God works through means. What that mean is that the crooked timber of humanity provides the material of the Kingdom of Power. And that often results in evil as we go our own way. What we are assured of though is that the Kingdom of Grace, which is the Kingdom that Christians are citizens of, is only under God’s control and action. In Jesus Christ, God has done everything necessary for our salvation. So, we as Christians are in the Kingdom of Power, but we are not of it. We have a mission in it to proclaim the Kingdom of Grace – your sins have been forgiven in Jesus Christ.

The emotion is the just as we cause wars in the that kingdom of power, such as the carnage of the civil war, and carry their effects, so also did Jesus Christ. Jesus submitted to our justice, to the authority of the Kingdom of Power. God does not answer the why question, but he does ask us to have faith in him that He is in control and looking out for his Children. His deeds speak to why we should have that faith.