Oh Foolish Generation

Every generation considers itself to be the pinnacle of human achievement.

Those who have gone before are unsophisticated, bigoted and superstitious. I suppose we can't really blame them for not coming up to our level of wisdom.

In the opposite direction, we have the youth, whose self-absorption is unbelievable. When are they going to wise up and listen? We have such good advice to give, based on years of experience!

Yesterday at the book display of my church's publisher, I noticed a trend. There were a few books from Luther; one Bonhoeffer; one Julian of Norwich. All the other books were by living authors. So much for the wisdom of generations.

I think sometimes that my church is trying to reinvent Christianity.

Somewhat fewer than 95; Fit the First

I wrote these a while back, when I was inspired by an article in First Things by Philip Turner. Here are the first six -

1. Every Christian denomination has a gift with which it may bless the whole Church of God.

2. Other Christian denominations do a better job of presenting certain aspects of our common faith than Lutherans do. In some loci it is their gift to lead and ours to follow.

3. The proper approach to the gift God has given us is not to deny or downplay it in a false sense of humility,

4. nor to hold it as private property,

5. nor to revere it as the only good and true gift of God, as if our brothers and sisters with other gifts had nothing.

6. The Lutheran gift to the Church is theological depth.

Ancestor Worship

AMERICAN: So, tell me about the religious life of the Japanese people.

JAPANESE: Our traditional religion is called Shinto. We worship our ancestors.

AMERICAN: Oh, we Americans have the same thing. We call it perpetual care.

The Cross

"When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, 'Repent' [Matt. 4:17], he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance." - Martin Luther
"When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The Rich Young Ruler

One day, a RYR approached Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what must I do to be in solidarity with the poor and oppressed?"
Jesus answered, "What does your church, mosque, synagogue, or other benevolent association teach you?"
The RYR said, "I must read newspapers, write letters, and only buy cappuccinos at certified fair trade shops."
Then Jesus said, "Um . . . okay."
In joy the RYR cried, "All these I have done!"
And Jesus looked at the RYR in love and said, "Just one more thing."
"Yes?"
"You got a car?"

Accept none!

Solidarity is no substitute for repentance.
Tolerance is no substitute for forgiveness.
Justice is no substitute for redemption.
Scholarship is no substitute for theology.

At the feast

Yesterday I celebrated Communion in my parish. As I was distributing the Body of Christ along the rail I came upon a woman, a rock-ribbed Republican if ever there was one. "The Body of Christ, given for you." Immediately next to her was a man, one of the most liberal Democrats in the county. The Body of Christ was given for him, too.
As they got up from the rail, he helped her. She smiled at him.
We had a meeting after services to discuss the frequency of Holy Communion. They voted to have it only twice a month because if you have it too often, it isn't special.

Naturally,

Before you read this one, do keep in mind what I said about being wrong in helpful ways. I really don't know Buddhism very much at all. As you see, that won't stop me from discussing it with a certain amount of pigheadedness. Criticism I can take, but no nitpicking. I will delete you.
Buddhism is the highest level of thought attainable by natural theology. If you look at the world around you and notice all the tragedy and pain and injustice; then give up on the world as a horrible place, to be left as soon as possible; then you are an existentialist and you gave up too early.
A Buddhist will look at the same world with some hope. Things are this way. Perhaps they are supposed to be this way. Everything happens for a reason. Must be Bad Karma. Keep trying the best you can. If things don't get better in this life, perhaps there will be another and you can try again.
So the source of hope is mostly conjecture. Maybe there is some Holy Spirit movement here, bringing about some of the hope. There's also quite a bit of static interfering with the signal.
More hope is available. Much more.
The only way to move beyond natural theology is by revelation. For this, there is no substitute for the Holy Spirit.

Junkyard Jesus

"I don't like it here, Jesus," Peter said. "Why bring us to this old junkyard, anyway?"
"Look at it, Peter," Jesus encouraged. "What do you see?"
"Nothing. Just a bunch of old cars. Rusty, dead, worthless old cars."
Jesus called Nathanael over. "Look - isn't that a '66 Mustang?"
Nathanael liked to work on cars. He was instantly excited.
"Yeah. That's a classic!"
"Could you fix it up?"
"I don't know. It's pretty far gone. Would take a lot of work." But Nathanael knew it would be worth it. His eyes showed that every moment he would spend working on that old car would be sheer pleasure. The grease stains, even the unavoidable cuts on his hands would be worn as badges of honor.
"Now," Jesus spoke to the whole group, "somebody tell me what junk is." He didn't have to look directly at Philip when he asked. But Philip was always ready with the complete, technically correct definition.
"Junk is part or all of a mechanical contrivance which is somehow separated from its original intent," the disciple answered. These cars are junk because, although they were once used for the transportation of one or more individuals, they are no longer suitable for that purpose."
"Perfect," James grunted.
"However," Philip continued, "while the cars are junk, they are far from worthless. Junk is not the same as trash, because it is conceivable that junk may be recovered. In the right hands, such as those of our friend Nathanael here, junk cars can be restored."
Then Jesus began to teach them, saying, "Truly I tell you, you are junk. I found you here, in this junkyard of a world, not living up to your intended purpose. I could have left you to rust into trash. But I love you. So I have come into this world to recover you, and to restore you to your original purpose."
Judas had a vague feeling he'd just been insulted. The others only looked at Jesus blankly. Finally Peter's hand shot up.
"Yes?"
"Jesus, could we go now? These junkyards just aren't safe."