Sunday, April 21, 2013

Concerning Baptism and the Exorcism of Evil

To me, the scariest movie ever made to this day is The Exorcist. It still scares the living hell out of me, and it's because of the fantasy element. It’s the exorcism. It’s the Devil. It’s not a guy breaking into your house trying to torture you or cut your whatever off. Those kinds of movies don’t do it for me, and I don’t call them horror. -Cassandra Peterson
The word “exorcism” scares people. That fear probably, in many instances, has to do with a fear of dæmons and all things evil. Many people have a deeply imbedded theology about the Devil. This theology can be terrifying for people, especially when they feel they are left alone with nowhere to turn for help in the face of insurmountable despair, sin, and death—that, they know, deep in the marrow of their bones, ultimately come from none other than the Prince of Darkness himself. When many people hear “exorcism,” they think of stories (oftentimes portrayed spectacularly in movies and television for big bucks) about helpless people possessed by dæmons who are forced to commit acts of indescribable wickedness, all against their own wills. People realize they are captive to sin, and cannot free themselves, and it scares them.

In the original order for evangelical service of baptism, there was a brief “order” of exorcism—“I adjure thee, thou unclear spirit, by the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost that thou come out of and depart from this servant of Jesus Christ, Elisabeth. Amen” (LW 53:108). This one sentence belies so much about the nature of evil in the lives of the faithful—both in the 16th-century and today!

The power of these words, when we recognize their full profundity, robs the Devil of all his power. All this happens in the Name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit—not on account of any authority or power of the baptizer or the baptized, but on account of God. This command to the unclean spirit to depart is rooted in the sure faith of God’s promise to claim us in the waters of baptism. No longer are we subject to the tyrant of this world of darkness where sin and death are wielded like clubs and swords against the consciences of terrified people. And what’s more, God claims us with what appear for all intents and purposes to be mere words and simple water. The power of the Devil is wrested from his hands and drowned in the waters of baptism by words, rooted and uttered in sure faith in Christ and his promise.


An exorcism
In today’s gospel from John 10, Jesus tells us “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.” In the waters of baptism, God knows us and claims us, and makes us sheep of Christ. We become members of one body with one another and with Jesus, just as Christ and the Father are one. In the waters of baptism, we hear God’s promise to us to keep us from eternal damnation, that we are given into the care of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The promise is strengthened still more when we hear the words, from Jesus’ very mouth, that he gives them eternal life, and they will never die. Jesus says, of us his sheep—“No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand.” We are in Christ. We belong to him. And we belong to the Father—and nothing and nobody can snatch us away!

Exorcism happens in our services of baptism today when the baptizer asks the initiate: “Do you renounce the devil and all the forces that defy God? Do you renounce the powers of this world that rebel against God? Do you renounce the ways of sin that draw you from God?” The initiate responds: “I renounce them.” (Would that we added “and I ask God to help me!”) This is our exorcism—baptism!

It’s for this reason—because God promises through water and the Holy Spirit to give us new birth, cleanse us from sin, and raise us to eternal life—that we need not fear dæmon possession. Because of baptism and the promise God makes to us in it, we need not fear the word “exorcism.” All God’s children have been exorcised by their baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection and made alive by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Because of that, there is no room for any other unclean, evil spirit to reside. We belong to God, and God’s not about to share us with the Devil.

-DS

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Thoughts on Doubting Thomas's Faith

“But the proper place to explain all these different points is not in the brief children’s sermon, but rather the longer sermons throughout the whole year, especially at the times appointed for dealing at length with such articles as Christ’s birth, passion, resurrection, ascension, etc. Indeed, the entire gospel that we preach depends on the proper understanding of this article. Upon it all our salvation and blessedness are based, and it is so rich and broad that we can never learn it fully. (LC II.32-3)
In some traditions, the second Sunday of Easter is known as St. Thomas Sunday because the assigned gospel text for the day is from John 20 where Thomas, upon hearing of Christ’s resurrection, confesses: “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” It seems to me that a responsible preacher can’t not address the issue of doubt, especially in the face of something as miraculous as a resurrection from death. What is it that we say when we proclaim—“Christ is risen! Alleluia!” And what do pastors say to those who say these words, but don’t really believe them?

Luther, in dealing with the second article of the creed, naturally and characteristically grounds salvation in faith. But the issue is not so much that we possess this faith or magic it up somehow on our own. For just as Christ appears to Thomas in the John’s gospel when he can’t of his own doing believe, the “only and eternal Son of God, in his unfathomable goodness, had mercy on us because of our misery and distress and came from heaven to help us.” This is not so much our faith, but rather God’s faithfulness in Christ.

When we preach sola fide we do not preach that the faith that we possess is our rubberstamp of God’s favor and ticket to heaven, but rather it is Christ’s faithfulness—a faithfulness that preaches how “he became a human creature, conceived and born without sin, of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin, so that he might become Lord over sin; moreover, he suffered, died, and was buried so that he might make satisfaction for me and pay what I owed, not with silver and gold but with his own precious blood.”

When Luther teaches that “upon it”—that is, this doctrine of faith alone and Christ alone—“all our salvation and blessedness are based, and it is so rich and broad that we can never learn it fully,” he is not making faith into our work that we must fully possess, but rather Christ’s work done already, once and for all—on the cross, “not with silver and gold but with his own precious blood.”

In this our Easter reality, the powers of sin, doubt, and death no longer hold sway over our lives—we are free from their crushing grasp, but this message is too great for some to fully understand or believe. But the greatness of God’s mercy, love, and grace is stronger still than our doubt. But there is still more good news and that is that the day is quickly and surely coming when Christ returns as glorious Lord of lords and King of kings, when we will see him face to face, when we like Thomas, despite our moments of doubt and dejection will see the loving face of Christ our Lord and will exclaim, not of our own strength but by the mercy and grace of God Almighty—“My Lord and my God!”

In that day, there will be no question in our minds, in our hearts, or in our souls that we are pleasing to God—not by our own doing, but because God, despite it all, showed us loving mercy, compassion, and most importantly, faithfulness even to the point of death for us. That day is coming. Whether we see that day in our earthly lives or whether we take our place among the departed dead, the truth of God’s living-giving promise to meet us again after death is stronger than even the seal of the grave. For Christ’s victory over death is unceasing, just as God’s promise to us to be faithful always knows no ending.

-DS

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

The Resurrected Church at Hope


I cannot help but become annoyed when I hear lectures about church growth or dying churches. What we often forget is that this is not our church. This is Christ’s church! The passion of the church has become more interested in the business of Jesus rather than the important mission of the church. This blog post will come across as a lot more reflective than our usual blog posts and in many ways a lot less academic. Why? Because I think it is important to get this information out into the world. I want people to recognize what is important, and I know this is a shot in the dark. I am also not naive enough to think that I can somehow change the church, even when I am ordained. We cannot single-handedly change the church! That aside...

I have been placed in a congregation that is centered in Reading, PA. This congregation is in the midst of an impoverished community, people do not live extravagantly, and the congregation suffers financially. These are woes, nonetheless, these people know how to do ministry. It has taken me all of eight months to figure out specifically what they are doing right! This church suffers financially because the congregation does not have much disposable income to give to the church. The pastor does not ask people to give until it hurts because the pastor does not thump the prosperity gospel. Yet, this is such a life-giving place... how? How do they do it? If everyone could figure out how to use a “dying” congregation to do real ministry we would see resurrection everywhere.
This congregation’s ministry is driven by a food pantry and an after school program. These two ministries have sustained the people of Hope Lutheran Church for years! That is not it! The pastor at this congregation also has a heart for ministry and a deep, passionate, whole love for God’s people. How often do we see pastors of various denominations burnt out and lifeless? How do we make the clergy come to life? We can see the need for resurrection!


Sometimes worship is bumpy, sometimes people get up in the middle or worship at the most inopportune times to go to the bathroom, sometimes kids get noisy, sometimes people drop huge chunks of consecrated bread on the ground, sometimes these things happen, but this is God’s house. This is holy ground! God loves the people that come in and go out of Hope! These things just don’t matter as much as ministry matters. We are the hands and feet of Jesus because the Holy Spirit lights a fire under our bums and we move. We feed the people of God (all the people) because they are hungry, we give clothing to the naked, we give encouragement to those who are down, why? Because this is what God calls us to do! We don’t do it because this is how we get to heaven, we just do it!

It seems like in this Easter season we all need to reflect on death and resurrection. We see churches dying, and this is an undeniable fact. Yet, the one who was resurrected and has done everything for us has the power to resurrect the church, its leaders, and its people! We don’t need to worry constantly about the huge ministries that we cannot seem to do. At Hope, we recently embarked on a young adults group at a local bar! Things as small as this can be wonderfully life-giving experiences! We, as wonderfully made creations of the Almighty, can gather to love one another! That is what the church is about: loving one another! Out of this is born a church that grows and thrives! That is who we are and that is who the Triune God is forming us into and calling us to be!

-LB