Faith in Faith, or Faith in Jesus Christ?

Pastor’s Window on February, 2007

Faith in Faith, or Faith in Jesus Christ?

The great heritage of the 16th Century Reformation is the conviction that we are saved through faith alone (sola fide) without works of the Law. But the different reformers interpreted the “faith alone” axiom in different ways. This was made clear at the recent Symposia series at the seminary in Fort Wayne by Episcopal professor, Dr. Phillip Cary, in a paper entitled, “Sola Fide: Luther and Calvin” (30th Annual Symposium on the Lutheran Confessions, Concordia Theological Seminary, January 17, 2007).

Dr. Cary compares Luther and Calvin in their approach to sola fide (keep in mind, Cary is an Episcopal, i.e. a Calvinist, not a Lutheran). Both teach justification by faith alone, and that faith is belief in the Gospel promise. So far, so good. But Calvin views faith subjectively, from the perspective of the one who is doing the believing, thus the question for Calvin becomes, “do I really believe, and do I believe enough?” Luther, on the other hand, views faith objectively (outside of the self), which is to say that he does not focus on his own faith, but on the truth of the promises of Christ in which he believes. Thus the question for Luther is, “Is Christ lying to me?” That question is answered not by looking inward at our own faith, but by focusing again on the objectively true promises of Christ revealed in His Word (including the sacramental Word).

Cary illustrates this difference by offering up two syllogisms (logical arguments comprised of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion). First is the general Protestant syllogism as represented by Calvin:

Major Premise: Whoever believes in Christ is saved.
Minor Premise: I believe in Christ.
Conclusion: I am saved.

At first, it may seem that there is nothing wrong with this argument. But upon closer examination, we can see from this syllogism that all depends on my faith in Christ if I am to be saved. This makes faith into a work. But compare this with the Lutheran syllogism:

Major Premise: Christ told me, “I baptize you in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
Minor Premise: Christ never lies, but only tells the truth.
Conclusion: I am baptized! (i.e. I have new life in Christ!)

Thus for Luther, faith is in the truth of the promise, not in faith itself. Faith is not a work, but a gift given in Baptism and the Word.

Why is this important? According to Calvin’s argument, faith is the one work we have to do in order to be saved. Thus the Gospel of the free grace of God in Christ Jesus is destroyed, because now it depends on my work of believing. This is the great tragedy of general Protestantism. When Luther says that we are saved sola fide, he means that our attention is directed to the objectively true promise of Christ, given us in Baptism and in the preaching of the Gospel, as well as the Supper. The question for Luther is not whether we believe enough, or even truly believe, but whether or not Christ was telling the truth. Since Christ cannot lie, but always tells the truth, we know that we are saved by Him! We don’t look to our own faith for reassurance, but to Christ alone!

Dr. Cary points out that this is the fundamental difference between the doctrine of the Reformed and that of the Lutherans. On this critical point, Dr. Cary agrees with Luther. If the importance of this difference is not lost on an Episcopal Calvinist, it should not be lost on us, who are the heirs of Dr. Luther’s doctrine. Doctrine is important, and in this case it makes all the difference between a theology of works and a theology in which we are saved by Christ alone.

Pastor Krenz

4th Sunday after the Epiphany

Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany (C)
January 28, 2007
Text: Luke 4:31-44

Jesus is able to do what only God can do, like heal the sick and drive out demons with His powerful Word. His divine actions are an epiphany, a manifestation of His glory, a glimpse into the personal union of the divine and human natures of the God who took on flesh for our sakes and has made His dwelling among us (John 1:14). In the Gospel lesson this morning, Jesus manifests His mission, the very purpose for which He came into the flesh: He came to loose the chains that bind us, to free us from our bondage to sin, death, and the devil. And He does this by means of His powerful Word.

His Word is powerful. He speaks it with authority. He speaks with all the authority of Almighty God, for that is who He is. But He is also man, a man among men, who speaks in the language of men, that men might have access to that powerful Word. It was while Jesus was teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath that all the people “were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority” (Luke 4:32; ESV). He did not teach as their scribes and teachers of the Law, who prattled on endlessly about the minutiae of man-made regulations but could never declare, “Thus says the Lord!” Perhaps Jesus’ listeners couldn’t quite put their finger on it, but something big was happening to them as Jesus taught. Of course, as Christians in possession of the New Testament, we know exactly what was happening. Jesus’ Word is the very Word of God, and it was busy doing what it said as the vehicle of the Holy Spirit, working faith and regeneration in the hearts of sinners. That is, it was doing exactly what it does to us every time we encounter it, creating and sustaining faith by the miraculous working of the Spirit, strengthening us for our daily struggle against the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh, creating us anew each day as we crucify the old sinful self so that the new man in us can emerge. In other words, Jesus’ Word frees us from sin. It is the Holy Absolution by which we live and move and have our being as Christians. And that’s what the Word of Jesus Christ was doing to His listeners, and that is why they were amazed. It was freeing them from their sins. Jesus was loosing their chains of bondage.

The devil and his evil angels knew and still know that that is why Jesus came: to loose us from our bondage to sin, our bondage to death, and our bondage to the devil himself. They know that, and it causes them to shudder. They know that Jesus has come to destroy them and the power they have over us. So when Jesus encounters a man with the spirit of an unclean demon, that demon cannot help but cry out in mortal fear, “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One of God” (v. 34). The demons cannot long delude themselves about who Jesus is, or what He is about to do to them. Their destruction will have to wait until the Last Day, but the Lord of life will not allow them to torment His people any longer. Jesus silences the demon and exorcises him. “Be silent and come out of him!” (v. 35). Your reign of terror is coming to an end. The battle will be won on Calvary. The decisive deathblow to the devil and his evil minions is dealt in the crucifixion of Jesus, when God dies to free His people. Jesus submits Himself to the bondage of hell, that you might go free. The devil may strike His heal, but Jesus will crush his head (Gen. 3:15). When Jesus cast out demons during His earthly ministry, He was pointing forward to that Good Friday when He would clench His death grip around Satan’s neck, to bind Satan until that Great and Final Day when He will cast him out permanently into the Lake of Fire which has been prepared for every rebellious angel.

Jesus binds Satan so that we can be freed from bondage to him. Satan is bound like a dog who is tethered to a tree. He cannot harm us as long as we do not go near him. He is tied. It is only if we are stupid enough to go into his sphere of influence that he can bite us. But as long as we are in Christ, “He can harm us none. He’s judged; the deed is done” (LSB 656:3). He can no longer hold us captive, for he himself is in captivity, on death row, awaiting the execution of his sentence.

Jesus frees us from sin and He frees us from Satan. “(W)ith authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” (Luke 4:36). So also, He frees us from death. The healings He performed during His earthly ministry point us to the reality of our spiritual healing, and ultimately the healing of our bodies made new in the resurrection. It was after Jesus had left the synagogue in which He had exorcised the demon from the man, that He came into the house of Simon Peter’s mother-in-law. She lay sick with a high fever. Peter and his loved ones were pleading with Jesus on his mother-in-law’s behalf. “Please Jesus, You have healed so many others, please now heal our beloved matriarch.” So “he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her” much the way He rebuked the demon and it also left. But there is no rest for the weary. “(I)mmediately she rose and began to serve them” (v. 39). But what a picture of the way things work in Jesus’ Kingdom! He frees us from sin, death, and the devil, without any merit or worthiness in us, freely, by His own work of atonement, and our response of faith is to arise and serve Him and His people. Jesus always gives us salvation first. Then, as the response of faith and thanksgiving, we serve Him and our neighbor. We love, because He first loved us (1 John 4:19) with the love we heard about in the Epistle lesson (1 Cor. 13).

Jesus came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many (Matt. 20:28). There are many other sick who need His healing. Using Peter’s mother-in-law’s house as a base of operations, He continued to heal all those who were sick with various diseases, laying His hands on every one of them and healing them. He was freeing them from their bondage to death and disease. So also He was freeing those in bondage to the unclean spirits, casting out demons and forbidding them to speak. They, also, recognized who they were dealing with, crying out, “You are the Son of God!” (Luke 4:41). Jesus cast every one of them out. They have no power in Jesus’ Kingdom.

All that healing and casting out takes its toll on a man. Jesus is a man, after all. Remember, that’s why He came, to unite Himself to fallen humanity in order to free us from bondage. So when daybreak came, He went out to a lonely place to pray and commune with His Father. That’s what we all need to do when we’re wearied from our struggles with the devil and with our frail flesh. Even there, the people sought Him out. But He reminded them that He is the Healer of all people. He must take His powerful Word to every town and village, and to all the world. “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose” (v. 43). So we come full circle. We find Him once again where we found Him at the beginning of this Gospel lesson, teaching in the synagogues throughout Judea (v. 44). The Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Good News that He has come to release those who are captive to sin, captive to death, captive to the devil, is for all people.

Which is to say it is for you. He is here today, teaching you in this congregation with His powerful Word, pronouncing His Holy Absolution, and freeing you from your own bondage to all manner of sin, to death, and to the devil Himself. He is casting Satan out of your midst. Satan is bound, and cannot touch you. He is delivering you this morning from the sin which so easily entangles you, whatever that happens to be; alcoholism, drug abuse, sexual indiscretion, pornography, offensive and idle language, laziness at work and at home, lack of love, whatever it is… Jesus has come to free you from that and to forgive your for that, and to heal the disease of original sin which binds you to the Old Adam. Today Jesus says to you, “I forgive you all your sins, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. You are free. Depart in peace.” So we depart rejoicing, as those who have been cleansed by the blood of Christ, and united to His resurrection, with the sure and certain promise of eternal life. Jesus has removed our chains by Himself being bound to the cross. He has removed our diseases by taking them into His own body. And in so doing, He has crushed the head of Satan. So we arise and immediately begin serving Him and one another. By His powerful Word, Jesus has emancipated us from our unholy slavery. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery (Gal. 5:1). A new day has dawned for us. We have a new Master who loves us and gives Himself up for us. All praise and thanks be to Him. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son (+), and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My Apologies

I'm sorry it has been so long since I last posted. If there is anyone out there who reads this blog with any frequency, I promise to blog again soon. I was away last week at the Symposia in Fort Wayne, the best I've attended yet! Then this week I have been playing catch-up, trying to do two weeks worth of work in one. Needless to say, blogging has not been the priority. And to top it all off, the sermon for the 21st never made it into final draft form before it was preached, so I didn't have that to post. But this Sunday's sermon will soon be up, and I will attempt to be more faithful. Thanks for reading.

Second Sunday after the Epiphany

Second Sunday after the Epiphany (C)
January 14, 2007
Text: John 2:1-11

“(A)s the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you” (Is. 62:5; ESV). That’s the Promise you have as those who live in the age of the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ. That’s the Promise you have as New Testament people who have been baptized into His righteousness and into His death and resurrection. That’s the Promise we hold on to by faith in the Word made flesh, who was with God from the beginning, and is Himself God. He rejoices over you. He loves to fill you with His mercy and with every joy. He loves to forgive your sins. He loves to protect you and provide for your every need. He loves to fill your cup to overflowing with the choicest wine. He loves to love you. He dotes on you. He woos you as a Bridegroom woos His bride.

But it doesn’t always seem like it. Not in this world. Not in this fallen flesh. Not with war and famine and disease and violence and heartache and all the bad things that come as a consequence of our sin. And not in this rebellious body of sin which is enslaved to transgression and every form of evil. As the Baptized Church of God, we may be the Bride of Christ, but we often have to say to our Bridegroom, “I’m tired, I hurt, it doesn’t seem like You love me anymore, it doesn’t seem as though You’re putting my best interests in first place. And after all, why should You? I’ve offended You time and time again. I have not loved You with my whole heart. I have set my heart on other Bridegrooms. I have been adulterous.” Sometimes Jesus’ answer to us hurts us all the more. Sometimes it seems as though Jesus says to us what He said to Mary at the wedding in Cana, “Woman, what does this have to do with me?” (John 2:4). Sometimes it seems as if Jesus thinks our concerns are trivial. It certainly must have seemed that way to Mary.

But the real miracle of Cana is that Mary believes anyway! She does not let the rebuke faze her. She knows Jesus too well. She knows He cannot help but have compassion. The couple has no wine. Jesus is not One to sit back and watch while there is a need. Mary does not despair. Confidently, she says to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you” (v. 5). Mary believes, and we do, too. We know Jesus too well. We may be tempted to doubt, but our God-given faith knows the truth that Jesus will never let us down. He will always provide in time of need. He will always provide infinitely more than we could ever think or ask. Nor do we usually know how He will provide. That is sometimes a source of frustration for us. But the “how” doesn’t really matter, anyway. We simply say, along with Mary, “Do whatever He tells you,” and let Him worry about the “how.”

Jesus’ question, “Woman, what does this have to do with me?,” is really not a rebuff at all. The truth is, it has everything to do with Jesus, and Jesus knows it. Jesus can’t help but provide where there is a need. He can’t help rejoicing over His Bride, His beloved. He comes to the rescue because that is who He is, the Rescuer. He provides because He is the Provider. He is, along with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the One God in Three Persons, the Creator of all things in Heaven and on earth. He provides the grapes that become wine. Even today, He continues to be the Maker of wine. Without Him, no wine is made, because it is He who causes the rain to fall and the grapes to grow and the juices to flow and ferment and the cup to be filled. Here in Cana He does it directly. He speaks and the water is turned into wine. And so He provides for a merry wedding. The couple has their wine. The jars are overflowing with goodness. The guests are satisfied. Jesus’ presence sanctifies the wedding and the merry making. And most importantly, the disciples see it, and believe.

“This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him” (v. 11). Here we have another epiphany, a manifestation or revelation of the Lord’s glory. Here once again Jesus is revealed as God in the flesh come to deliver His people. And this is ultimately the whole purpose of the sign. Notice that John calls this miracle a “sign,” not just a miracle. It is a sign because it signifies something. It is a visible Word of God, we might even call it a sacrament, for it certainly fits the definition. This miracle is a sign of the bigger picture of salvation. At the wedding in Cana, our Lord gives the wedding gift of choice wine overflowing in stone jars for the joy of those at the wedding feast. On the cross, our Lord gives us, His Holy Bride, the wedding gift of the choice wine of His blood, which He pours out to overflowing, for our joy at the Feast of His Holy Supper.

This wine will not run out. We will never have to complain to our Lord, “We have no wine.” The chalice of His grace is always full. Our cup overflows with His goodness and mercy. We drink from it again today. And along with us, the whole Christian Church drinks. Our brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the whole world drink this day from the bottomless chalice. So also those who have gone before. Angels and archangels and all the company of heaven raise a toast to the Lord of glory who was manifest and Cana and on the cross. The forgiveness of sins is poured into our mouths. We are intoxicated, not by the impure and foolish drunkenness of alcohol, but by the love and joy of the Lord.

That is our Bridegroom. That’s Him wooing us and doting over us. That’s Him filling us with His mercy and every joy, forgiving our sins, and whispering the Word of His grace into our ears. That’s our Lord taking delight in His beloved Bride. He really does give us everything we need, even though it is often not in a way we expect. He does not think our needs are trivial. He loves us even though we have been adulterous and unlovable. Sometimes it does not seem that way. But that is because of our human short-sightedness. Sometimes He says to us, “What does that have to do with me?” But He does this in order to test us. At such times we are like Mary. We don’t despair. We simply believe. “Do everything He tells you.” He knows best. And He will not leave you lacking. Don’t let appearances deceive you. What you know to be only water, He can surely make into wine. What you know to be only bread and wine, He can surely make into His very Body and Blood, as He has promised. What you know to be every kind of suffering in this life, He can surely make into good.

You have the Promise. You live in the age of the Messiah. You are New Testament people. You are the Baptized people of God. God delights in You as a Bridegroom delights in His Bride. You are called, “My Delight is in Her” (Is. 62:4) as the Prophet says. For God delights in You. He loves to love you. And so also, you now love to love Him. You have learned to love Him from Jesus. You have been freed to love Him by Jesus. He has freed you from your bondage to sin and rebellion, from your slavery to the sinful flesh. He freed you by dying to sin, once, for all. He died for your sin. You have been Baptized into His death. You also have died to sin. So also you have been Baptized into His life. His resurrection is yours. So you are free. Your waters of bitterness have been turned into the wine of joy in the Lord. You have a new relationship to God.

The wedding guests at Cana were amazed at the good wine poured out for them in the latter days of the week-long feast. We are amazed at the good wine poured out for us in the latter days of our earthly pilgrimage. And like those first disciples, seeing this sign, we believe. We recognize Jesus as the Lord of glory. We drink the wine that the Old Testament saints and the prophets of old longed for. We drink the wine of His grace. The Lord provides for the wedding feast of His Bride. We now come to His altar to drink deeply the wine of His gladness. And He rejoices over us this day as a Bridegroom rejoices over His Bride. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son (+), and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions

The Rev. Paul McCain at Cyberbrethren (http://cyberbrethren.typepad.com/cyberbrethren/) has announced that the updated second edition of Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions, is now available for orders and shipping. You can order by calling CPH at 800-325-3040, or logging on to the website, www.cph.org. Here's a quote from McCain's announcement:

The special six-month re-introductory price on Concordia is $20, plus shipping and handling. That price supersedes any other discounts normally extended. The list price on the book is $29.99. Start spreading the news! Oh, yes, by the way...by April we will also have a beautiful soft-cover bonded leather edition and a gorgeous premium edition in full grain leather with a slip case!

My hope is that this sells well. I'm not posting this announcement because I have any interest in marketing, but because I believe the solution to what ails our hurting church body is a renewed commitment on the part of both clergy and laity to the confession of biblical doctrine as it is so beautifully and purely expressed in the Lutheran Confessions. Biblical and confessional literacy is imperative.

The Baptism of Our Lord

The Baptism of our Lord (C)
January 7, 2007
Text: Luke 3:15-22

At the Baptism of our Lord, heaven itself is opened wide for us. It is an epiphany, a revelation of the Holy Trinity as the Father speaks, declaring Jesus to be the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus in the form of a dove. So also it is a revelation that heaven is forever “opened to all humanity through the flesh of Christ by the Spirit of Christ.”[1] Here the Father and the Holy Spirit are at one with the Son as He begins His earthly ministry. The Trinity is revealed as God for us in the person of Jesus Christ. And Jesus, who is true man, is revealed as God the Son, and anointed as our Messiah, our Prophet, Priest, and King, by the Holy Spirit.

From this Baptism of our Lord our own Baptism into the Lord derives its whole significance. Thus our whole identity as Christians flows out of this Baptism of Jesus by John in the Jordan River.[2] Our sinless Lord humbles Himself to be baptized with the Baptism of repentance and the forgiveness of sins. He is baptized for us, in our place. Our sins are placed upon the head of this sacrificial Lamb of God. He takes the sins of the whole world into Himself in this inaugural event of His ministry. He is baptized into the wrath that we deserve. But in so being baptized, He sanctifies the waters of the Jordan and all waters so that you and I can be baptized into His perfect righteousness, and into His death and resurrection. It is the great exchange that determines our standing before God. Jesus takes all of our sin and shame upon Himself in His baptism, so that in our baptisms we receive His perfect righteousness. The exchange will be made complete in Jesus’ bloody Baptism on the cross. When God looks at Jesus on the cross, He sees the sin of the world, and punishes Jesus as the object of His holy wrath. So now when God looks at us, He sees the sinless perfection of Jesus, and rewards us with eternal life as the objects of His holy love.

The ministry of John the Baptist was marked by anticipation. All “the people were in expectation” (v. 15; ESV). They were waiting for the promised Messiah. John came preaching repentance. Messianic hopes were high. The people wondered whether John might be the Christ. “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (v. 16). The Messiah is at hand, but it is not John. “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). He is here in your midst. “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Prepare. Repent and be baptized. So Jesus also submits to John’s Baptism. It is necessary, to fulfill all righteousness (Matt. 3:15). Which is to say that it is necessary for you for Jesus to be baptized into your repentance and for your forgiveness. It is necessary for Him to be baptized to give your repentance significance and to cleanse the baptismal waters, that they might cleanse you.

As the Lord was baptized into you, you were baptized into Him. You were baptized into those waters that were cleansed for you, the waters that are included in His command and combined with His Word. You were baptized into Jesus and into the Name which He bears, the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. That Divine Name, the Christian family Name, was placed upon you. And your names were engraved on the palms of His hands with crucifixion nails. God adopted you as His own children. You received the Gift of His Spirit. There is power in the water and the Word. It is God’s power. “It works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this.”[3] “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16). So as you step into those baptismal waters, or have them sprinkled or poured over your head, the Spirit also descends on you and God declares, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22).

He is pleased with you because you are clothed with His Son. “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 2:27). You are clothed with His righteousness. You are clothed with His death and with His resurrection. You are reborn into Jesus Christ and His Spirit. It is totally God’s action. It is totally by grace. “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying” (Titus 3:5-8; NIV, quoted in the Small Catechism). So also His death and resurrection have become your own. “St. Paul writes in Romans chapter six: ‘We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.’ (Rom. 6:4)” (Small Catechism).

Luther writes in his Large Catechism: “To be baptized in God’s name is to be baptized not by men but by God himself. Although it is performed by men’s hands, it is nevertheless truly God’s own act.”[4] It is God’s action for us and upon us in Christ. Christ baptizes us through the hands of men. “That is the promise. Christ is the baptizer whether He is seen or not. The Father blesses with His good Word. The Spirit makes the heart His temple. And that is why (in 1st Corinthians) St. Paul can’t even remember who he baptized, because in truth, he never baptized anyone. Christ did it all.”[5] It is a Trinitarian action, the Father declaring us His own forgiven children through the Baptism of Christ in the Spirit whom He gives us.

It is an action of crucifixion and resurrection. Being baptized into the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, our sinful flesh is put to death and the new man is raised to new life. Repentance is a daily dying and rising with Christ. It means taking up our crosses and following the Crucified One. It is the daily drowning and dying of the Old Adam in us, along with all sins and evil desires, and the daily rising of the new man to live before God in righteousness and purity forever. This, of course, happens in Baptism. Baptism is for our daily use as Christians. Our whole life is the baptismal life. It is a life of repentance and faith. It is a life lived by the promises of Christ given us in Baptism itself, the promise of forgiveness of sins, a rescuing from death, and the defeat of the devil along with all sin and evil. And it is the pledge and seal of the Holy Spirit who has made His dwelling in our hearts.

So also Baptism is the pledge and seal of the literal resurrection of our bodies from the dead on the Day when our Lord returns. Our physical bodies have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ along with our souls. The promise of salvation is for our bodies also, which will be made new in the resurrection. This is the culmination of our Baptism into Christ. Jesus’ Baptism in the Jordan pointed forward to His bloody Baptism on the cross for our forgiveness. Our Baptism into Jesus brings all the benefits of His bloody Baptism on the cross to us. The Father did not leave Jesus in the bonds of death. He raised Him from the dead. Now we who are in Christ, who have been clothed with Him in Baptism and are members of His Body, can be assured that He will raise us from the dead also. It is the Father’s final declaration of our innocence in Christ. It is the final declaration that all the debt of sin has been paid in full by Christ. It is the gracious granting of the Life of Christ to us who are in Christ. In the resurrection of Christ from the dead, the Father declared the sacrifice of the cross acceptable. He declared the whole world justified, righteous on account of Christ. And if He has declared us so, then we are so. The death sentence is no longer upon us. We are free. Heaven is wide open. Jesus has prepared a place for us there. And we who have followed Him in the way of death and the cross will also follow Him to the way of life in heaven, even as we have been marked by His Name: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son (+), and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

[1] Arthur A. Just, Jr., Luke 1:1-9:50, Concordia Commentary (St. Louis: Concordia, 1996.

[2] David H. Petersen, sermon on the Baptism of our Lord, Matt. 3:13-17, Jan. 11, 2004 (http://redeemer-fortwayne.org/displaySermon.php?sermon=195).

[3] Luther’s Small Catechism (St. Louis: Concordia, 1986).

[4] LC IV:10 (Tappert).

[5] Petersen.

Johann Sebastian Bach as Lutheran Theologian

I've been enjoying the most recent releases of Concordia Theological Quarterly. I'm glad they're making an effort to catch up, though I wish they'd spend a little more time proof reading. The July/October 2004 (Vol. 68, No. 3/4) has been an especially delightful read. I've already quoted from Evanson's article on Church and Ministry. Perhaps the most pleasurable reading in this edition is David Scaer's, "Johann Sebastian Bach as Lutheran Theologian." Any student of Dr. Scaer knows his love for Bach. In this article, his love for Bach is infectious. Readers who already love the music of Bach will fall in love ever deeper. Readers who perhaps are not familiar with Bach's music will be intrigued and want to dive in.

The theme of Scaer's article is encapsulated in an eloquent statement from the introduction: "Johann Sebastian Bach... was an ocean in whose music we are drowned in God's own majesty" (319). The premise here is that in Bach we have God's gift of a musical counterpart to His Word... Though not on a par with the Word in terms of being a means of grace, music is a vehicle to cary that means of grace through the ear to the very heart and soul of man. But Dr. Scaer can get the point across a lot better than I can, so here are a few snippets from his article.

"Music is better described by its characteristics and its effects, rather than defined. Martin Luther said music was the handmaiden (Frau: wife) of theology, but it is not her only role... Music can convert ordinary words into a force that captures our intellects and involves us in causes for which we otherwise have no moral commitment. It enters our being through the emotions and, like an invading army, it transforms our intellect and will... Using biblical language, music makes it possible to love things with all our heart, soul, and mind... Music does not inform the intellect, but it can raise the intellect to heights of awareness and conciousness that raw thoughts by themselves cannot do... Cold theological statements become alive through music (320)... Music cannot create faith, but in addressing our emotions, it shapes our religious sensitivities and raises faith to levels beyond the reach of the spoken or the silently read word" (321).

The music of Bach has this power above other music because, like the Scriptures, it is complex in its simplicity. As an example, Scaer uses the St. Matthew Passion, "which, with the Mass in B-Minor, can be considered one of the greatest pieces of music ever written" (324). The "experience" of listening to the St. Matthew Passion "resembles hearing and rehearing the Scriptures. No one hearing of any section exhausts its meaning. There is no re-hearing of the sacred texts, because each hearing uncovers something not heard before. We know the general plot of this or that biblical account or story, but each time we confront something which was not previously comprehended.

"Similarly in listening to Bach, our intellects lose their self-confidence. What we thought we knew we really did not. Our minds are constantly adjusted and readjusted and frustration gives way to exhaustion and then to a heavenly pleasure, even in his secular works" (325). Quoting Paul W. Hofreiter, Scaer notes that Bach turned "still unmatched musical complexities... 'into a glorious representation of heavenly music. Measure for measure, from beat to beat, one phrase to another, one complementary contrapuntal passage to another, heaven and earth are joined. Perhaps in heaven time will not be swallowed up into eternity and there will be a time after all at least in terms of our music coming from the redeemed who are a part of the new creation" (326). In the music of J. S. Bach, we have a foretaste of the musical feast of the new creation.

Bach's musical and mathematical genius is enough to capture our attention. But what is most valuable about the music of Bach is its anchor in Lutheran orthodoxy. Bach is consumed by his theological world, something which is not true of Mozart or other comparable composers. Bach is "a Christian who knows himself as simul justus et peccator. Like Luther, Bach is the man caught between heaven and hell, with an awareness of his own wretchedness for which relief can only come from God in Christ.... Bach is trapped within a Lutheran definition of himself. He cannot deny this definition out which (sic) he produces his music. In contrast, Mozart is not tied to his world. Bach is, and so he cannot help being Bach. Even in his so-called secular music, he is never detached from what he composes and so he is encapsulated in what he writes... His music is his autobiography" (329).

But unlike modern musicians, music is not, for Bach, supremely a mode for narcissistic self-expression. It is rather an expression of theology. And in this theological expression, Bach takes us, as Scaer says, into the very depths of God's majesty. But his music is no theology of glory. It is always a theology of the cross. "For Bach God is never a theological abstraction, but always the God-Man, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Mary, a faith which is expressed in the Incarnatus est and the ensuing Crucifixus of his B Minor Mass. Encapsulated here is the misery of human agony that can be felt by all who have been brought down to the depths of sorrow. In the Mass this agony is experienced by the transcendent God who suffers under his own wrath so that his creatures may experience the joys of heaven" (329-30).

So for Bach, music is the wrapping paper for the Word concerning the crucified God, Jesus Christ. Bach is always wrapped up in a theology of the cross, which is distinctively Lutheran. This sets him apart from his peers of all times and places. Scaer continues with his comparison to Mozart. "For Luther, music was the handmaiden of theology. For Mozart it was his courtesan or lover, a favored mistress, with whom he was as free as she was to him. It was an 'open marriage' (337)... Bach is an entirely different creature" (338). His is no open marriage. He is bound to musical confession.

Scaer's closing paragraph is worth quoting in full: "Barth's dictum that when the angels play for God, they play Bach, but when they play for their own enjoyment, they play Mozart, is flawed. Angels never play for themselves and they never will. Those angels who did that kind of thing went to their doom. God's angels only play for him, because apart from him they have no existence. Neither do we" (339).

In the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, we have the stuff of which angels' music is made. Bach played for God, not for himself. And in his music, he simply repeats back to God what God has first spoken, the Word concerning the Christ.