Jan 7 - What do Lutherans believe? Part 5

More and more people are asking me to tell them more about who Lutherans are and what Lutherans believe. Here's the final piece of our five-part glimpse of what Lutherans believe. (Although I'm glad to keep going if y'all ask me more questions.) 

Today's piece is on baptism ...

"Can anyone withhold the water

for baptizing these people

who have received the Holy Spirit

just as we have?"

Acts 10:47

Some churches baptize infants. Many don't.

Some churches require full immersion. Others sprinkle.

What's right?

The Christian church historically and primarily baptized converts -- thus, adults.

Nevertheless, it was also a common, original, Christian practice to baptize whole households. This certainly included children and even the homestead's servants and their whole families. For example, under the banner of one bold person's faith -- like Crispus in Acts 18 and Stephanus in 1 Corinthians 1 -- many households were baptized and many individuals became part of the church community.

By the middle ages, the Western tradition evolved in two strong directions. First, it was commonly believed that baptism was required for salvation. Second, the practice was "adult" baptism -- meaning: the age of roughly thirteen and up.

When the plagues swept Europe and huge percentages of people were dying, traditional Western theology hit a major snag. If children couldn't be baptized and yet were dying in huge numbers, were they all doomed to hell? The church -- i.e. the Roman Catholic Church, pre-Reformation -- re-examined its theology, remembered scriptural instances of whole households being baptized, and began again to baptize children. Indeed, children were baptized again under the banner of another person's faith -- namely their parents.

Lutherans are part of this heritage.

Traditionally we believe that two things "make" a sacrament: an element (in this case water) and the Word (specifically Christ's command, which he gives for baptism at the end of Matthew, saying, "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit").

Believing that it's God's Word, God's promises, and God's actions that "makes" the baptism -- not some earthly element that "makes" the baptism, though it plays a role -- Lutherans generally believe that the amount of water does not matter. Water, therefore, is a sign, but it's God's Word and His promises that supply the power.

Other Reformation era Christians -- most significantly the Anabaptists -- returned, however, to adult baptism (an admittedly more common practice in the New Testament) and to full immersion baptism (which was certainly the way it was pictured in the stories of John the Baptist and in the detailed stories of the Apostles' actions, like the Acts 8 account of Philip baptizing the Ethiopian eunuch).

Literal battles with literal blood have been fought over which is right. (Sad!)

I will tell you what I believe is right ... But first let me tell you what I believe is wrong ... 

Many people -- and this more true in the Catholic and mainline traditions (of which many Lutherans are a part) -- believe that if someone is baptized, their eternal destiny is already and eternally decided. Taken to the extreme, they believe if a child is baptized as an infant, but never in his life goes to church, scoffs at the Christian faith, and lives a thoroughly agnostic life, he still goes to heaven because he's "a baptized child of God."

Not to negate God's option to save whomever he wishes, we must also acknowledge that this violates the interpretive key to our faith and theology, Romans 3:23-28 -- "since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by [God's] grace ... effective through faith ... apart from works prescribed by the law." Baptism is not part of that equation. Therefore, it's personal faith -- not a ritual -- that justifies.

With that in mind, here's what I believe and teach ... 

I believe that there are two parts to baptism. The first is God's part. The second is our part. On God's end -- and through baptism -- our Lord takes us, washes us, adopts us into his family, calls us his child, brings us into his family, and forgives our sin -- washing away, especially, the original sin that taints us all. On our end, we need to personally claim our faith and personally claim the benefits of baptism.

In churches that insist on "adult" baptism, both of these actions occur at the same time. While we are claiming our faith and proclaiming God's saving actions through baptism, God is simultaneously washing us and grafting us into his family. In churches that practice infant baptism, these actions are usually separated by twelve or fifteen years. Under the banner of their parent's faith, a child is baptized -- part one. At confirmation, the growing child affirms his baptism and confirms his faith -- part two. Some say that's not valid; it must happen simultaneously. I say, for God, a thousand years is like a day and a day is like a thousand years!

But here's the real key, both parts are important! But it's not a man-made ritual like confirmation that is required to confirm our faith. I believe that we can claim our own faith through our own confession and in in our own prayers. Furthermore, instead of publicly proclaiming our faith in front of a church of believers (confirmation), I'd rather a believer proclaimed her faith publicly to her friends who were lost.

What matters, first, is faith that is alive and active.

What matters, second, is our obedience. God's spokesman Elijah once told Naaman to wash in the Jordan if he wanted to be cleansed of his leprousy. Naaman was insulted, he wanted a bigger sign. Indeed, he wanted to cleansed on his own terms. It was only after he submitted that he was healed. Why are we to be baptized? Simply because Jesus said to be! It's an act of submission, and it is always in our obedience that our sin-sick souls are healed.  

Confession ... 

I am not a traditional, American, twentieth or twenty-first Lutheran in my baptismal theology.

• I do believe in infant baptism, but only as part one of a two-step process.
• I do not however believe that baptism is a "magic bullet." 
• I also don't practice cheap confirmations where you "graduate" with your class, regardless of how listless our attention is.
• I believe, according to scripture, that we are justified by God's grace, effective through our faith. Therefore, I believe that we need to claim our faith.

But here's the really good news ...

• I believe God is constantly stirring our hearts, constantly pinging our conscience, constantly interweaving our steps with his path, constantly knocking on our doors, constantly inspiring the faith that we need to claim.

Faith is not our work; it is God's proactive desire for you and me.

In Christ's Love,

a rebelious Lutheran

who goes back again

to our first two principles:

Word and Grace!

Jan 6 - What do Lutherans believe? Part 4

More and more people are asking me to tell them more about who Lutherans are and what Lutherans believe. Here's a continuing five-part glimpse of what Lutherans believe. Today we turn to history ...

Jesus said,

"Blessed rather are those

who hear the word of God

and obey it!"

Luke 11:28

I told the first piece of Lutheran history in part one. It is Luther turning to God's Word and discovering God's grace.

The Reformation started in October 31, 1517. Luther didn't originally want to split from the Roman Catholic church; therefore, a decade of debates commenced. Church leaders increasingly tried to silence Luther and debate. Luther kept trying to draw church teachings back to the scriptures. What tipped the balance was a brand new invention, called the printing press. With the ability to put the scriptures in people's hand -- many of the people saw what scripture itself taught and sided with the Reformers (Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and others).

Luther didn't want a church named after him -- we are followers of Christ, after all. Nevertheless, his teachings and his name spread across northern Europe -- mainly Germany and the Scandanavian countries.

Each country added a piece of their own culture to the Lutheran traditions. Additionally, differing degrees of personal piety began to flavor the Lutheran personality too. For example, Denmark was famous for having Lutherans who were either "Happy Danes" (they reveled -- respectfully -- in the freedom of God's grace) or "Sad Danes" (very austere and pietistic, reading scripture in an equally sincere but totally different way).

Lutheran's filled North America through migration.

• The earliest Lutherans tended to be Germans settling up and down the east coast in the mid-1700s to the early-1800s. After many, many generations, they made up what predominately became known as the Lutheran Church in America (LCA). This band of Lutherans gradually migrated westward and fanned across the country from Eastern seaboard.
• The second wave of Lutherans were predominately Scandavians who settled in the mid-west and upper mid-west who settled in the mid-1800s. Joining with German Lutherans who were also settling these areas, they formed the American Lutheran Church (ALC). They too fanned out from these locations.
• The third significant wave, which came at about the same time as the second wave, were Germans who sailed up the Missippippi, settled around St. Louis, and became known as the Missouri Synod (LCMS). They too fanned out across America.

For Lutherans, the nineteenth century was generally small regional clusters of congregation, divided along ethnic line. In fact, many -- if not most congregations -- still worshiped in their own ethnic languages. 

The twentieth century, however, was a period of increasing Lutheran unity. Ethnic barriers were dissolving, and travel and communication permitted wider affiliation, Lutherans were beginning to band together in larger and larger groups.

Dozens of Lutheran denominations still exist (most either ethnic, regional, or theological in their identity -- there's even a small charismatic Lutheran "denomination"! click here to see! ). By the late 1970s, however, there were really just three major Lutheran bodies -- LCA, ALC, and LCMS -- and all had about two and a half million members.

The LCA was probably the most urban and more liberal (though theologically liberal in a still more traditional era). LCMS was surely the most conservative -- i.e. the most conserving of old Lutheran traditions and old traditional scriptural views. For a while, the more centerist ALC and the LCMS flirted with a merger. This would have been a larger, more traditional Lutheran body. That never quite came to pass.

Therefore, in the late 1980s the door was open for the ALC to merge with the LCA. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) was formed. Spirit of Joy was part of this merger; indeed, our congregation was being formed at about that time.

This merger, however, didn't go as smoothly as anyone hoped. Two distinct ministerial identities were spliced together -- one more hierarchical in structure (LCA), one more congregational in authority (ALC). One group was more urban (LCA) and sought more inter-denominational affiliation. No one opposed this in principle -- every believe in Christian unity -- but in practice, many faithful Lutherans rejected some of the theological compromises that other denominations required of us for unity.

As culture changed, more theological compromises were made. As the denomination voted more and more with culture rather than traditional scriptural authority, a fatal crack erupted in this increasingly fractuous denomination. In 2009, a significant exodus began from the ELCA. Hundreds of congregations -- and tens of thousands of individual members -- left this body and its congregations.

Spirit of Joy (along with six other Charlotte area congregations) are now part of Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC). The distinguishing characteristics of LCMC are:

1. traditional scriptural authority (which is shared with most Christians, including most Lutherans, around the world), 
2. love and grace (that's the second of Luther's key principals -- he turned to the Word and discovered God's grace),
3. and a passionate call to missions! (LCMC maintains an intentionally small national structure. They don't want our offering sponsoring a hierarchal organization; they want to propel us hands-on into local missions. This has given Spirit of Joy greater focus and renewed energy. A full ten percent of our regular giving now go directly to missions. In addition, we have dozens of additional outreaches that individual members choose to support, including angel tree donations, food bank donations, mission trips, etc.)

That's our history. Now, some look at history and yawn. I invite you to look back over this and look for God. Where has he shown up in the past? And where have we gotten in the way? And what does this tell us for moving forward as a people of God?

In Christ's Love,

a guy who likes

to learn from history

so I don't have to repeat

the bad parts

Jan 5 - What do Lutherans believe? Part 3

More and more people are asking me to tell them more about who Lutherans are and what Lutherans believe. Here's a continuing five-part glimpse of what Lutherans believe. 

Yesterday we introduced the logic of the liturgy. Today we give you an additional glimpse of the power that can come from this ordered pattern of worship ... 

Glory to God in the highest, 

and on earth peace, 

good will toward men. 

Luke 2:14 

Many people tell me, "I can't memorize scripture." 

"No!" I say, "You're wrong. Let me prove it." 

Then I start quoting parts of our worship service. Immediately they begin filling in blanks. We know scripture because the logic of the liturgy is praise of God using his own words (scripture). This gradually sews God's truths (scripture) deep into our hearts. 

Did you realize that the liturgy is absolutely saturated with scripture?! Here are a few examples ... 

At confession we often say 1 John 1:8-9 -- "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 

If we're doing a more traditional service, we cry in the The Kyrie, "Lord, have mercy." This echoes a growing chorus of cries in the Gospel of Matthew as people came to Jesus, praying for hope, help, and healing (see 15:22, 17:15, 20:30). 

Depending on the hymn of praise we sing, we often echo the angels proclaiming the good news of Christ -- which was for them at Christmas and for us is all the time: "Glory to God in the Highest and peace to his people on earth." (Luke 2:14). 

Around the Gospel readings, we often sing Peter's words in John 6:60-69. At a time when many followers were turning away from Jesus and his challenging teachings, our Lord turned to the twelve and asked if they would turn away too. Peter answer, "Lord, to whom shall we go (indeed, where else can we go)? You (and you alone) have the words of eternal life." 

Often when the offering is being carried forward, we sing Psalm 51:10-12, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." 

With the "Words of Institution" -- "on the night in which he was betrayed" -- we echo all four Gospels and quote 1 Corinthians 11:23-27. 

Finally Our benediction is Numbers 6:24-26 -- "The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you ..."

This is just a fraction of the scriptures we use in our regular liturgies. 

Furthermore ... most of the songs we sing are saturated with scripture too. 

Therefore, don't tell me you can't memorize scripture! Rather, just start singing a song you know from church, and then go searching for where these words are in scripture! 

In Christ's Love, 

a guy who been singing 

today Matthew 6:33 

(Seek ye first, the kingdom of God) 

and the second verse 7:7 

(knock and the door shall be 

opened unto you. Allelu, Alleluia!) 

Jan 4 - What do Lutherans believe? Part 2

More and more people are asking me to tell them more about who Lutherans are and what Lutherans believe.

A few days ago, I wrote a long explanation to a friend, realizing that it would be good to share with all of you -- and hopefully lots of future new members.

Here's the second in a five-part glimpse of what Lutherans believe ...

So those who welcomed [Peter's] message

[that Pentecost day] were baptized,

and that day about three thousand persons were added. 

They devoted themselves to the

apostles' teaching and fellowship,

to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Acts 2:41-42

The second piece of Lutheranism that throws some non-Lutherans is the liturgy.

The liturgy, you need to know, is not a Lutheran peculiarity. It's been around since the early church, and is used (generally in an even more "high church" format) by Episcopaleans and Catholics and to varying degrees by some "high church" versions of Presbyterians and Methodists.

More importantly, the liturgy is primarily an intentional order of service. (Every church has a pattern. In most non-liturgical traditions, it's predominantly word-focused with: three songs, a prayer, and the sermon.) We opt for a more ancient order which includes four major parts:

        1

Gathering -- which included confession ("we take a bath before entering the presence of the king") and praise (usually songs of praise and thanksgiving).

        2

Word -- for us this is many things: 

• It is scripture reading.
• It is proclamation and interpretation (both to the kids and then to the adults).
• It is also our response to God and his Word (which is both our offerings and more songs of praise).

        3

Meal -- Many of us remember when churches used to do communion once a month or even once a quarter. In researching the early church, however, it's been found that the first Christians gathered almost daily, but Sunday always meant communion.

The original argument against the switch to weekly communion was, "It won't be special." The opposite has occurred. Those who communion weekly tend to hunger for this sacrament more and find that worship is complete without it.

I used to visit an old homebound man. Every time I'd call, I'd say, "John, do you want me to bring communion." He'd pause for a long moment -- for effect -- saying, "Let's see, have I sinned since last time you were here? ... ... ... Yep! Better bring the communion" -- i.e. better bring the bread of salvation and the cup of forgiveness.

We need Christ's presence, God's forgiveness, and the reuniting of community around the family table every week.

        4

Sending -- I know some churches that place these words over the back door: "The worship is over, now the service begins." Hopefully worship has filled us, but worship was never meant to be the end product; our worship is supposed to refill us and propel us forward as we head back out into a hurting world.

        Conclusion

There's one more wonderful and crucial piece to the liturgy that we'll reflect upon tomorrow, but go back for a second to the section on the Word.

• God speaks to us
• and then we respond to him (with our offerings and with our praise).

How is God calling you to respond more fully to him? on Sundays in worship? and right now, reflecting on worship?

In Christ's Love,

a guy who's pausing a moment

to praise

Jan 3 - What do Lutherans believe? Part 1

More and more people are asking me to tell them more about who Lutherans are and what Lutherans believe.

A few days ago, I wrote a long explanation to a friend, realizing that it would be good to share with all of you -- and hopefully lots of future new members.

Here's a five-part glimpse of what Lutherans believe ...

since all have sinned

and fall short of the glory of God;

they are now justified by his grace as a gift

... effective through faith ...

apart from works prescribed by the law.

Romans 3:23-28

Martin Luther grew up in a time when God was painted as angry and vengeful, looking for any excuse to cast us into purgatory or hell.

Luther was literally tormented by this horror. He was in a shell. To use our modern terminology, he was beyond clinically depressed. He would spend hours every day in the confessional booth and then stay awake at night worrying about what he might have forgotten to confess.

His father confessor got tired of this. (Wouldn't you?!) So he finally sent this cowering monk away from a life of contemplation and assigned him to a practical ministry -- teaching.

In the age just before the printing press, this was Luther's first extended exposure to scripture. And when he turned to Paul's letter to the Romans, he discovered God's amazing grace. And the Reformation started! This unmerited gift of love and redemption set this tortured monk -- and much of the Western world -- free.  

Think about this: Grace turned Martin Luther from terribly fearful (cowering for hours a day in the confessional booth) to triumphantly fearless (standing up even to the threat of death from "the Roman Empire.")

Based on Martin Luther's experience, I summarize the core of Lutheran belief, as Word and Grace. Luther turned to the Word and discovered Grace.

At Spirit of Joy, that's what being Lutheran means ... and that's what we always and absolutely strive to do:

Turn to the Word

and discover God's grace.

In Christ's Love,

a happy Lutheran

(I turn to the Word daily

and I always see God's Grace!)