This Side of the Pulpit » Entries tagged with "Lutheranism"
Kneeling as Christians (or Genuflecting)
“When menaced by the power of evil, as (Christians) kneel, they are upright before the world, while as sons and daughters, they kneel before the Father. Before God’s glory we Christians kneel and acknowledge his divinity; by that posture we also express our confidence that he will prevail… (Pope Benedict XVI) H/T http://www.ncregister.com/blog/pat-archbold/sspx-in-heretics-out#ixzz1sOgtMPl4 … Read entire article »
Filed under: Theology
Rubrics: Maximal and Minimal
I’ve gone on a rubric kick the last week as I contemplated (now preparing for) ministry at Grace Lutheran Church. They are higher church than Redeemer, and so I have some studying and homework to do. For instance, at Grace the Pastors genuflect during the confession, at the Words of Institution etc.. They use a lavabo and incense as well. All things I do not use here. What’s funny about this is that the Lutheran blogosphere is in a tizzy about rubrics and ceremony even as I am doing this homework and study. They are debating how much and how far and “is it necessary” and all. What I want to do is learn. We don’t have a good published official ceremony and only the mere suggestion of rubrics in our hymnal … Read entire article »
Filed under: Theology
The Philosophy of Lutheran Sermons
Lutheran sermons don’t just teach you what the Bible means. Lutheran sermons are not intended to give you simple information. They are not for instruction purposes. Oh sure, we do instruct and explain the word of God. We tell you what the parables mean, and who the central players are, and what some of the background of the text is. But this isn’t the primary purpose of the Lutheran sermon, just like the primary purpose of Scripture is not to give information*. The primary purpose of the Lutheran sermon is to confront you with the word of God. The Lutheran sermon is experiential–or existential of that other word gives you heartburn. The Lutheran sermon is an experience of being shown, or exposed to, or receiving the Spirit of Christ. It is hearing … Read entire article »
Filed under: Theology
National Lutheran Pastor’s Wives Day
Ok. Actually the commemoration of Katherina Von Bora, the wife of Martin Luther. Legend has it she was the author of the “What does this mean?” portions of the catechism, as Martin would ask himself that aloud, and Katie told him. Like a good pastor’s wife, full of wisdom. They would also write and direct children’s Christmas programs for their kids at home, since that sort of thing didn’t happen at church. Give thanks for Katherina today, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Theology
Children Sermons and Other Innovations
I’m back. At least for today. And I’m on a rant. Sorry. What follows is a theological post for my interested clergy friends, liturgically-minded lay people, and Confessional Police/Brute Squad: On a friend’s Facebook page there was a brief discussion about children’s sermons, with my friend merely stating that they are allowed and most of his interlocutors denouncing him and children’s sermons as being “against the confessions.” What their argument reduced to was that they are often bad and cheesy and saccharine and an “innovation” which our Lutheran Confessions deny that we make or do. And that latter bit is the biggest problem. There’s hard-telling how much we do as modern LCMS Lutherans that isn’t innovation. The Old Testament reading? Innovated since the 16th century. Our vestments? They wore different things then. The … Read entire article »
Filed under: Theology
LCMS Convention
The LCMS Convention is well underway (I’m behind the game on this). Already our byzantine church polity has been replaced with a less byzantine church polity, and more is underway. After all these re-structuring changes are complete, the normal order of business will be followed, i.e., electing the President and other resolutions. I cannot get excited or bothered by much of this. Re-structuring is probably necessary; our constitution is an unwieldy amalgamation of rules and conflicts. But restructuring will not change the Synod that much. Likewise the question of who is president. A more liberal president will ignore the conservatives, and a conservative president will ignore the liberals. It’s all politics, after all, and no one wants to preside over the real change that must happen in our synod. What’s that, you … Read entire article »
Filed under: Theology
Another Class Finished
I finished my adult education class last night. The majority of the time we spent reading The Spirituality of the Cross: The Way of the First Evangelicals, a quite excellent book outlining what Confessional Lutheranism looks and feels like. I have some minor quibbles with the book as far as his take on Lutheranism and Lutheran doctrine, but all in all, if one wants to get a feel for what the LCMS is/could have been, it’s pretty good. What worked well about the class is that I intentionally structured it as an information class, not necessarily as a catechetical/membership class. It made the non-Lutheran participants more comfortable and took the pressure off “buying it” and placed it on understanding it. What didn’t work so well is that now the class is finished, … Read entire article »
Evangelical (Catholic)…Really!
Someone wrote an essay once–I wish I could remember who and credit him–which asked this question: “Pastors hear people complain that our worship at times is ‘too Catholic.’ Why do we never hear people complain that it is ‘too Protestant’ or ‘not Catholic enough’?” We need to remember that the Lutheran Reformation is just that: a reformation, not a renovation or rebuild. The Lutherans sought to fix what was in error and keep the rest. Indeed, the Confessions argue at many times, Lutherans are not innovators and are truly of a piece with the Catholic Church–only without the medieval errors and such. This is the foundational identity of the Lutheran Church, what our pastors are supposed to believe, teach and confess…and what our congregations are supposed to believe, teach and confess. Yet that’s … Read entire article »
Filed under: Theology
Catholics, Lutherans and Unity: What Cardinal Ratzinger Said
This post is a little more academically-oriented than my usual fare. As such, I ask more questions that usual If you’re interested in Catholic/Lutheran dialog keep reading. If not, please come back tomorrow I just finished reading an interview of (then) Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI. It is entitled “Luther and the unity of the churches: an interview with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger.” I’m not sure where it was published, as I just stumbled upon it and the article didn’t include publication information. If you know, please leave a comment so I can correct it. Pope Benedict made some fascinating observations. I’d always heard that he was a Luther scholar, and it is evident in this interview. In these days when he has opened a path for … Read entire article »
Filed under: The World
This Week’s Plan
The month of insanity is almost behind us. It began with Oktoberfest and Redeemer’s 75th Anniversary; included our District Conference, at which I was the preacher at worship and coordinator of our guest presenter; continued with our Stewardship Sunday; Soccer games; out-of-town guests (parishioners who study at Concordia, Seward); and Reformation Sunday with our annual Voter’s Meeting. The last even went pretty well. Voter’s Meetings can be a mixed bag, but our outgoing President ran it well, the officers elected, the budget adopted and nary a dissenting opinion or any other kind of unpleasantries. Thanks be to God. This week I plan on visiting the last few shut-ins for the month, working on my Lutheranism class which starts next Tuesday, beginning study of Romans for my next Bible Study topic and, if … Read entire article »
Filed under: Personal
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