Brothers and Sisters in the Faith

As (ELCA) Lutherans, we believe that basically anybody who believes in Jesus Christ is part of The One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, per Article VIII of the Augsburg Confession.

...the Church properly is the congregation of saints and true believers...

This would include Baptists, Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Calvinists, Methodists, Anglicans, and so on...Presumably, anyway, given the way we handle ecumenical affairs...

And yet, we also say, per Article VII,

The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered.

But, as Lutherans, we would say that all of the above do not, in fact, teach the Gospel or administer the Sacraments rightly.  So are Baptists, Catholics, EOs, Calvinists, Methodists, Anglicans, and on and on part of the Church, or not?  Are some people in those denominations "secret Lutherans," perhaps unawares, and thus part of the Church?  Which Karl was it - Rahner or Barth - who had the "secret Christian" theory? 

It's late, so maybe I'm seeing a contradiction that really isn't there.  But given the intellectually rigorous nature of seminary studies these days...hahaha...I'm gonna need someone to explain this to me.

How Come Lutherans Don't Write Prayers Like This?

The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm achieved salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him. He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak. ~ Isaiah 59:15b-17

I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.

I bind to myself today
The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism,
The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial,
The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension,
The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.

I bind to myself today
The virtue of the love of seraphim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the hope of resurrection unto reward,
In prayers of Patriarchs,
In predictions of Prophets,
In preaching of Apostles,
In faith of Confessors,
In purity of holy Virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I bind to myself today
The power of Heaven,
The light of the sun,
The brightness of the moon,
The splendour of fire,
The flashing of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of sea,
The stability of earth,
The compactness of rocks.

I bind to myself today
God’s Power to guide me,
God’s Might to uphold me,
God’s Wisdom to teach me,
God’s Eye to watch over me,
God’s Ear to hear me,
God’s Word to give me speech,
God’s Hand to guide me,
God’s Way to lie before me,
God’s Shield to shelter me,
God’s Host to secure me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against everyone who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
Whether few or with many.

I invoke today all these virtues
Against every hostile merciless power
Which may assail my body and my soul,
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the black laws of heathenism,
Against the false laws of heresy,
Against the deceits of idolatry,
Against the spells of women, and smiths, and druids,
Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.
Christ, protect me today
Against every poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against death-wound,
That I may receive abundant reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in the fort,
Christ in the chariot seat,
Christ on the deck,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.

~ St. Patrick's Breastplate

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ~ Ephesians 6:10-17

Why I ♥ Lent

Lent.  40 days, plus Sundays.  46 days from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday.

On Monday, I realized one of the main reasons that I love it so much.

Lent is tailor-made for the introvert.  It is the 12.6% of the year where we are expected to be quiet.  And thoughtful.  When it is perfectly acceptable to walk into church 10 minutes early and sit - silently - in prayer or meditation.  And perfectly acceptable to walk out at the end of the service quietly, and without speaking to others. When, in fact, if you are not doing these things, you're sort of the odd man out.

When it is okay to say, "You know, I've been working on just bringing things down a notch, trying to spend more time praying, adopting a simpler lifestyle, spending some time alone with God."  If you say that in the middle of the summer, people stare at you like you're a freak.  If you say it in Lent, everyone nods, and then feels guilty about not doing it themselves. :-)

In Jonathon Rauch's epic (at least among introverts) essay, "Caring for Your Introvert," he writes,

Extroverts are energized by people, and wilt or fade when alone. They often seem bored by themselves, in both senses of the expression. Leave an extrovert alone for two minutes and he will reach for his cell phone. In contrast, after an hour or two of being socially "on," we introverts need to turn off and recharge. My own formula is roughly two hours alone for every hour of socializing. This isn't antisocial. It isn't a sign of depression. It does not call for medication. For introverts, to be alone with our thoughts is as restorative as sleeping, as nourishing as eating. Our motto: "I'm okay, you're okay—in small doses."

He also draws on the experience of our introverted 30th President:

Extroverts therefore dominate public life. This is a pity. If we introverts ran the world, it would no doubt be a calmer, saner, more peaceful sort of place. As Coolidge is supposed to have said, "Don't you know that four fifths of all our troubles in this life would disappear if we would just sit down and keep still?"

So, it's easy to see why introverts would be drawn to Lent.  The only time of the year when social pressure pushes us in our natural direction.  For a heavily Americanized Lutheranism increasingly focused on "what people want," stirring up discontent to encourage political action, happy-clappy "Jesus is my boyfriend" music, a reminder that we are also called to be quiet before our Lord is appropriate. 

And besides, it makes the introverts feel at home for 46 days.  :-)

Communion Practice

From Luther's Large Catechism:

Now, what is the Sacrament of the Altar?
Answer: It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, in and under the bread and wine which we Christians are commanded by the Word of Christ to eat and to drink.

Question: How do most Lutheran churches distribute the elements of the Sacrament of the Altar?  Especially, at the moment, I'm wondering about the wine, Our Lord's Precious Blood. 

Because here's my thing.  I'm good with a Common Cup, and with intinction.  But here's a few questions for the "individual shot glasses" situation.  Let's start with the "glass glasses." 

The altar guild picks them up on Monday morning to wash them, yes?

What's in them?

They're empty, you say?  They've been drunk from?

Are you sure about that?  Completely empty?  Not a single drop left?

Well...there's probably a drop...maybe two...in each glass.

A drop of what?  Wine, right?

And...what happens to it?  Tossed in the sink with dishsoap? 

Great, no problem.  If it's wine.

But is it "just" wine?  Or is it the Blood of Christ? 

And if it's the Blood of Christ, are we really comfortable just scrubbing it out and rinsing it down the drain?

...

On to the "plastic shot glasses."  A lot of churches, I think especially those that commune large numbers of people, use these for convenience's sake.  300 shot glasses is a lot to wash, no?  So we use plastic.  Sure.  Makes sense.  Go through the line, drink the wine...I mean, Blood...and at the final station you...toss it in a basket lined with a plastic bag.  After which it will be thrown away.  In that same dumpster as the leftover coffee cups and sticky donut napkins.

That empty shot glass.

Well, almost empty.



Is it weird that I think about these things?

The Obligatory Charlie Sheen Post

I honestly feel nothing but compassion for Charlie Sheen.  It's clear to anybody with eyes...or ears...or the slightest amount of common sense, that the man has huge problems.  Look, there are plenty of people who are addicted to alcohol, drugs, and sex.  There are plenty of people who are just obnoxious cads.  (I went to high school with several of them.)  But watching Sheen lately (not even really intentionally, just the random stuff you can't avoid), you can tell he's gone beyond obnoxious loser, and into full-on "'round the bend" territory, wildly careening on black ice towards a hell of a train wreck. 

Kudos to his dad, Martin Sheen (who changed his last name from Estevez to Sheen in honor of Bishop Fulton Sheen), for saying that he intends to love his son, no matter what. 

Honestly, I don't know how anyone can see a picture of him, or hear the bizzare rants issuing from his mouth, and not just drop to their knees in prayer for the poor guy.  Yeah, he's made some rotten decisions, and done some terrible things, and hurt a lot of people.  But then, haven't we all?  I'm not trying to excuse or paper over any of that.  And not that there aren't millions of people out there with problems as bad or worse as Charlie Sheen's.  But there's something particularly horrific about having your issues play out in public, that for some reason, drives me to pray for him all the more.  (I felt the same way about Michael Jackson. )

Given the devoted-if-somewhat-rebellious-and-highly-liberal Catholicism of Martin, one presumes Charlie is baptized.  And the thing is, I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  So I'm praying tonight that Jesus would intervene powerfully in the life of Charlie Sheen, right now, and begin the process of bringing him back to the abundant life He desires for His children.

Connections

Everyone knows the Armor of God, from Ephesians 6:10-17, right? 

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Cool.  I love it.  Imagine how cool it was when I was reading Isaiah, looking for something about "truth," and I came across this in Isaiah 59:15b-17:

The Lord looked and displeased that there was no justice.  He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm achieved salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him.  He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.

And all of a sudden, I'm like, "Hey, wait a second, I've heard this somewhere..."  So.  Flippin.  Cool.

Low Self-Esteem Day

I don't know what my deal is lately, but I need some encouragement.  I'm in one of those places where I feel very professionally competent, like I can do anything I want, things are going well on internship, I've made some decisions about after-internship, etc..., but I just feel really unloveable. 
 
I feel like the more I do professionally, the less I'm worth personally.  I want to have someone to come home to at the end of the day, to make dinner with and for, to cuddle up with on the couch while I read a good book, someone hold my hand when I'm scared.  I want to have someone to give all the love in my heart - to be the one that hugs him when life sucks, or who would turn her life upside down for him. 

I can do anything I want - I'm smart, gifted, talented, blessed with so many abilities.  I can work hard, and make awesome things happen.  But I can't make someone - anyone - love me.  Which is what I really want.  And I feel stupid for even saying that. 

Because I should "be a good Christian," and "fall in love with Jesus," and "accept my gift of singleness" or whatever.  But I'm obviously not a "good Christian," because "good Christian women" know how to bat their eyelashes properly or something, and encourage godly young men to marry them.  Which I've clearly failed at.

I'm tired of waiting, I'm tired of worrying, I'm tired of faking "the joy of the single life" to cover over a fear - a knowledge - that no one will ever fall in love with me.  That I am inherently unloveable.  That there is something about me so profoundly screwed-up - mentally, emotionally, physically - that no one's ever going to want to hold my hand or hug me or kiss me or tell me they love me.  That this - loving somebody - is the one thing I am - and always will be - a complete failure at.  I need to resign myself to this, but I don't know how. 

Conspiracy Theories

In an article at Christianity Today, Christopher Hays explores "The Folly of Answering Fools," and basically says that when we get sucked into stupid debates with anti-Christians, we end up giving their arguments more credence, and more airtime, than they would get otherwise.  As the old saying goes, "Never wrestle with a pig.  You get dirty, and the pig likes it."  Or maybe, Hays seems to suggest, we just need to learn to engage differently - throw people off-track, if you will:

Another thought experiment: Imagine if a journalist called a Christian leader to ask about Brown's latest Rome-based conspiracy theory, and the leader said, "That's a pretty tame theory. The Bible's own conspiracy theory is much wilder. It says that God is plotting to overthrow every worldly power and establish his own rule once and for all. And the entire Christian church is in on it."

Hahaha.  This cracked me up.  I would love to say this to someone sometime.  Bottom line: Don't take people who don't know what they're talking about too seriously.  Truth will always win. 

Elections. Have. Consequences.

So far, I've said very little to anyone about the ongoing uh...hoo-hah in Wisconsin.  For starters, I don't know or understand labor unions - particularly public ones - very well, and I'm not well-versed enough in economic policy to engage the pros and cons of the proposed budget on the table.  So, this is not a statement about whether Governor Walker's proposal is good or bad, acceptable or unacceptable, helpful or unhelpful.  However, I do have two non-policy-related things to say:

The first is about teachers "skipping school" like bratty high-schoolers who don't want to take a test.  Hey, teachers: your job is to teach students.  Getting fake doctor's notes to "excuse" you from your job, and then forcing your students to skip school to provide support for your political opinions constitutes major derelict of duty.  Why did you decide to teach in the first place?  Have you seriously stopped to think about what it is that your students are learning from you right now?  They are learning that lying, shouting, screaming, cheating, and generally not attending to life's duties are acceptable means of achieving one's goals in life.  Where's your values education now, Teach?

The second is this: Elections. Have. Consequences.  I couldn't care less that the Democrats in Wisconsin don't want this legislation to pass. They are free to disagree vociferously, to state their case on the airwaves, the internets, and the editorial pages.  They are free to organize peaceful protest rallies in support of their cause, or to utilize legitimate means of blocking the passage of legislation - the filibuster, for example.  They are free to attempt to persuade their Republican colleagues (or the constituents of their Republican colleagues, who might, in turn, appeal to their representatives) to oppose the legislation. 

They are not free to simply not do their jobs.  For me, that's what this is about.  You were elected to serve in the Wisconsin State Legislature.  You were elected to cast your vote in the Legislature in accordance with a) your conscience, and b) the collective conscience of the district you represent.  You were not elected to cross state lines and hide out like a scared little girl because you know that you are going to lose the vote.  What about that says "mature adult" to you?  Do you teach your children take their toys and go home every time their friends want to play a different game?  Would you have thought it appropriate for the Steelers to simply not show up to the Super Bowl, and refuse to play the Packers, since they were likely to lose anyway?  How can you honestly get up in the morning, look yourself in the mirror of the fancy hotel room you're staying in, and be proud of what you're doing? 

My parishioners have recently decided that since it's "cold and flu season" (or, um, the end of it...), that we should no longer "pass the peace" in church.  I find this ridiculous, since a) how many centuries of "passing the peace" has the church endured?  Somehow the gates of hell and sickness have not yet prevailed... And b) Jesus touched people who were sick all the time, even though he risked catching their illness, as well as the social impropriety.  If we're putting our hands up in defense and saying, "whatever you've got, I don't want to get it," is that really loving one another?  I lost this battle at our council meeting last night.  If I'm to take a lesson from the Wisconsin Democrats, I could simply refuse to show up to church on Sunday morning.  Maybe I'll try that, see how it goes over.  Oh wait...I have a job to do. 
One of the things about being an adult is that you do your job and you play by the rules in your doing of it.  Absolutely no one is going to starve to death as result of this legislation in Wisconsin.  Democrats need to understand: the tide was against you this past election cycle - them's the breaks.  So you go to work, you do your job, you do your best to encourage good legislation, and at the end of the day, you take the vote.  You win some, you lose some, even some you think are really important.  Learning to handle this is part of being an adult. 

Bottom line, Dems: Grow up.