Beware the Pretentiously Pious: A Meditation on Mark 12, for the 24th Sunday after Pentecost

And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of

the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love

salutations in the marketplaces, And the chief seats

in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts:

Which devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence

make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation.

There may be nothing more irritating in the all the world, than a pretentiously pious longwinded prayer.  They come in many forms in various Christian traditions, from the generally Evangelical prayers that ramble on with a never ending use of the word “just” (as in, “Lord, we just want to…”) to high liturgical prayers that are more like a droning recitation of political objectives, seminary courses, or world history.  But what may make them so grindingly obnoxious is that while they use language that pretends to address God, they are really all about highlighting the one who is praying.  From the manipulative opening, “Now everyone repeat after me…” to the coercive ending, “And all God’s people said, AMEN!”  these prayers reveal far more about the sinful heart of the one speaking them, than they do about the God to whom they are ostensibly addressed.

Pretentious piety goes well beyond prayer, though.  It is found in the vestments of clergy who want to be singled out and elevated in improper ways—from infinitely intricate adornments whose origins are lost in the Middle Ages, to expensive business suits belonging more in board rooms than sanctuaries, to designer t-shirts, Hawaiian shirts, polo shirts, or any other hipster garb that belongs in bistros, coffee houses, or bars.  It shows up in affectations of every kind, from those which drape the pastor, to that which drapes the sanctuary, and even to that which drapes the laity.

Have you ever heard the argument, “I’m wearing my best for God today?”  Really?  If so, why aren’t those expensive, intricate, or hipster clothes left at the altar during the offering, so they may be given to others in need of good clothing?  Are you a lady whose dress is chosen really for the attraction of men or for looking superior to other women?  Are you a man whose dress is really for the attraction of women, or for looking superior to other men?  Do you dress rebelliously in immodest or derelict attire, with the real intention of showing yourself better, cooler, or more righteous than those around you?

In truth, the pride of our fallen nature inspires us all to pretentious piety—shows of godliness that really aren’t oriented to God, but rather to propping up ourselves and our image.  We make pompous claims about everything from the associations we keep to the titles we claim, each with a dark and sinister motivation of bolstering our own claims to deity over our fellow man.  It is a darkness in ourselves we cannot escape in this life, an inclination toward evil that clings to our fallen nature with ghoulish tenacity.

Lest we be tempted to think this sin is of little consequence, we have our Lord’s clear condemnation pronounced upon us:  for these shall receive greater damnation.  To all the pompous windbags, all the pious sounding/acting/praying/dressing/prancing twits who presume to take the good things of God and turn them into religious self justification for their own pride and wickedness, let the Law of God from Christ’s own lips sink deep into your sin-soaked heart.  Not just hell, which is bad enough, but greater damnation is yours, because your pride and selfishness is not content to simply pervert the things of men, but you pervert even the holy things of God.

As the Word Made Flesh so often does, He preaches the holiness of His Law with all its weight and severity.  We know that no matter how pious we may make ourselves to look before our neighbors, before God Almighty who sees through every pretention we stand condemned by our sinful hearts.  The sin is not in prayer, or vestments, or suits, or t-shirts, or anything else in all creation which our Lord created good.  The sin is in us, as we corrupt every good thing we touch with our hands and our minds.  It is we who are fallen, we who cannot escape the deadly poison of sin coursing through our fallen nature, and we who are so desperately in need of salvation from the lowest depths of hell we have justly earned.

Thanks be to God, that He has not left us to die in these our sins.  For the same Jesus who speaks the terror of His Holy Law, also bears in His very person not only our sins, but the just punishment due to us all.  For you and for me, for the pretentiously pious who have been given the holy things of God and yet twist them to our own pride, Christ has suffered and died, taking the lowest dregs of eternal hell upon His immaculate Body that we might not perish eternally.  There in His Holy Cross, our Savior bears the weight of our eternal curse, and stands between His fallen creation and the righteous wrath of the Father.  And having taken all that wrath of sin and hell for every soul that shall ever live, He turns to us and offers us His peace, forgiveness, life, and salvation:  the free gift of His Grace by faith in Him alone, which calls to us with a sweetness unsurpassed by human lips.  This Word of Gospel is the cure for our sin, our inspiration to rise each day toward holiness, to show forth a selfless love which reflects His love, and a humility which reflects His humility.  Where the Law left us broken and sorrowful in the knowledge of our sin, the Gospel lifts us from our penitent contrition into new and eternal lives of faith and repentance, born from above by His Water and Spirit.

Broken by His Law and yet inspired by His Gospel, we take courage and comfort with the Psalmist of 146, singing forever to our Savior and our God:

Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul.

While I live will I praise the LORD:

I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.

Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom

there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth;

in that very day his thoughts perish.

Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help,

Whose hope is in the LORD his God:

Amen.

Who are these in white robes? A Meditation on Revelation 7 for All Saints Day

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great

multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and

kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne,

and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms

in their hands…

These are they which came out of great tribulation, and

have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood

of the Lamb.

At various times in my life, I have found it too easy to be absorbed in my own temporary problems.  For whatever reason, it seems a perennial mark of the whole human race to think that they—whatever group of individuals, in whatever time or place they find themselves—are the focus of all meaning in the universe.  If my day goes badly, the coffee is missing, the beer is poor, I missed my breakfast, had a cold or flu, or whatever it was that captured my attention, my temptation is to call out to God and ask how such calamities should befall me, and then beg His divine intervention to save me from the troubles which beset me.  Somehow, in my little brain I see the issues of my life as paramount in the world around me, and the key to understanding the whole scope of the world’s current tumult. 

But of course, this is insanity.  It refuses to see the greater swath of the current moment across all time and space, or to see the current moment in the broad sweep of history.  It fails to note that I am one small person amongst billions in the world at this very moment, and amongst uncounted masses who have populated the earth from its beginning to its end.  When taken together in the context of what is happening to people across all the continents and nations of the world, what is the significance of my particular cup of coffee?  When measured against the whole host of nations which have ever risen or fallen, what is the significance of my car problems, or traffic patterns, or my property value, or my fraternal associations, or my retirement account?  The twisted reality of my sinful nature causes me to always see the world and all creation through my own distorted lens.  I, like every fallen human being to populate this world, tend to see myself at the center of creation, and the summit of God’s interest.  In fact, my selfishness and pride have a deep root in my fallen nature, and reveal that I am more inclined to worship myself than the only true God.

On a more positive note, however, our personal calamities have a way of cutting through our delusions.  When we are sick, or persecuted, or slandered, or oppressed by forces we cannot resist, we are brought to know the limits of ourselves.  When we are throwing up in the bathroom, wasting away from disease or chronic malady, scorned by friends and enemies, we must see ourselves as we really are:  broken, finite, fallen, and dying.  Ultimately we are reminded that we did not come into the world by our own will or power, and nor shall we by our own will or power remain.  We are not in control of the world, or the great rolling river of history.  We are not the center of the cosmos, and we are not the measure of whether things are going well or poorly in it.  We are but brief wisps of smoke in the maelstrom of time as it passes upon this globe, like the flowers which bud and fade by season.

This would of itself be enough to drive anyone to despair.  If we are but a short burst upon the stage, what point is there to life at all?  Why bother building homes, or cities, or civilizations, or even propagating the human race, if we know that all our efforts are shortly fated to destruction?  It is a word of eternal law to us, that the holiness and righteousness of God’s eternity is incompatible with our sinful, prideful, selfish delusions of grandeur, and the judgment of that law upon us is cast in the inescapable script of death.  To escape our delusions of self deity and self importance, only to find ourselves stripped bare, facing death and eternal judgment before the only true God, is no solace.  Neither the delusion of our own making, nor the holy law of God’s own speaking, is a comfort to suffering and dying people; one drives off the cliff of eternity blindly, while the other is pushed over the cliff against its will, but both find that the only inexorable end of our sinful condition is death.

But thanks be to God, there is another Word He has spoken to us.  It is a Word He has been speaking since our fall into sin, and a Word He brought forth in the Person of His Son—a Word made flesh to dwell among us, to be the propitiation for our sins, and to restore to us eternal life in place of our death.  It is a Word of Gospel which declares the sinner forgiven for the sake of Jesus’ sacrificial death upon His Cross; a grace received only by faith in the Savior who has won it for us, and delivers it to us.  This Word of Gospel cuts through the delusions of our grandeur, and satisfies the curse of the law.  It restores to us a vision of life which endures forever, and which cannot be contained by death.  This Word is salvation and life, our rescue from the condemnation of time’s unyielding flow, by hiding our lives in the transcendent and eternal life of Jesus Christ.  It is a Word which makes us heirs of God’s Eternal Kingdom, and eternal citizens of His holy nation.

And it is a Word which calls together all people of every tribe and tongue, time and place, into one great throng of people saved by grace through faith in Christ alone.  It is a Word which calls, gathers, and enlightens Christ’s people into One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church which abides forever in Him as His very Body.  It is a Word which reaches down and enlivens dying sinners in the midst of their great tribulation, washing their sullied robes until they are white and spotless in the shed Blood of the Lamb.  It is a Word that endures forever, lavashing forgiveness and life upon His people, who by His Word and His grace shall also endure forever.

Rather than being victims of our own delusions, or despairing before the just judgment of death upon our sin, we are called and gathered by grace through faith in this Word of Gospel into forgiveness, life, and salvation.  By this Word of Gospel we lift our eyes and see this same great throng of every tribe and nation, their sins washed clean by Jesus’ vicarious sacrifice, and find ourselves standing among them.  Here is the patience, the peace, the victory, and the exultation of the saints—united across time and space to the eternal grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.  Here the Christian takes refuge in every storm, every persecution, and even our final struggle through the portal of death.  Here the Christian remains steadfast upon the Rock of his salvation, though nations, churches, and the whole world give way.  Here we sing with one voice to our one Savior an eternal song of praise.  Hear the Word of the Lord, and the never ending song of His saints—repent, believe, and live.  Amen.

If you continue in My Word, then you are My disciples indeed; A Meditation on John 8, for the Feast of the Reformation

As the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation quickly approaches (commonly dated from Luther’s posting of his 95 Theses in 1517) many questions continue to arise.  What was the point of the Reformation?  Why should we celebrate it?  Was it a good thing or a bad thing in the life of the Church?  Has it run its course?  How do we measure the Reformation relative to its fruits in history through the current day?

Because of the cloud of various Christian traditions which emerged from the Reformation and populate the modern Christians landscape, it is difficult to get a straight answer on any of these questions.  Even if we managed to summarize the answers in light of the three chief Reformers (Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin) we would find that even they had significant problems with each other’s teachings, and the various theological schools and synods which emerged from their influence were even more hostile to each other.  Division built upon division, until we have the tens of thousands of different Protestant Christian groups out there today, most of which in some way fall under the historical influence of Luther, Calvin, or Zwingli.  Rather than attempt to reflect on the meaning of the Reformation from Calvin’s inheritance of highly rational and systematized theology, or from Zwingli’s charismatic and enthusiast offerings, I’ll consider a perspective from Luther’s patrimony in which I reside.

For Luther, as evidenced by his own writings and the eventual compilation of the Lutheran Confessions by him and his fellow theologians, the central and abiding issue of the Reformation was the Word of God.  For Luther, the Word of God was everything—the means by which the Holy Spirit created saving faith and delivered grace to the sinner; the means by which we can know who God is and what He demands of us; the means by which we can know ourselves and our just sentence under God’s Holy Law; the means by which we may know Jesus as the only Way, Truth, and Life; the only means we can trust with infallibility, because it is breathed out by the only infallible God; the means by which disciples of Jesus Christ are made, sanctified, and glorified; the means of knowing the love of God and remaining in His gracious fellowship forever; the only necessary ground of theology, and the only reliable reference for the theologian; the only reliable canon or rule of faith against which all teachers and preachers and theologians are rightly judged; the only source of the abiding presence of Christ Jesus with His people, who is the very Word Made Flesh, the Logos of the Father.  For Luther, the Word of the Lord is the beginning, middle, and summit of the Christian life, and the only thing which abides forever:  His great and holy Law shining forth the reality of truth and righteousness, and His great and holy Gospel shining forth the forgiveness of sinners for Christ’s sake alone.

This is why, among the various texts often reflected upon for the Feast of the Reformation, we hear Jesus speaking in John 8:

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye

continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and

were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye

shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily,

verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the

servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the

house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son

therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Should the Reformation exist to perpetuate schisms and sects?  Absolutely not—there is but one Jesus, and His Body should be one in His one Holy Word!  Should we celebrate the Reformation as a successful ongoing rebellion against Rome, or any other authority in the Church?  No, not at all—all authority in heaven and earth belong to Jesus, and by His Word alone should we submit to every rightful earthly authority.  Should we live into the dark prophecy of Roman theologians at the time of the Reformation, who declared that every man would become his own pope, forming his own church with his own Bible and as many followers as his charisma could woo together?  God forbid—for Jesus alone is the one head of the Church, into which all the faithful are knit, and to Whom are all teachers accountable!  The Reformation is not, at least in the way Luther and his fellow confessors envisioned it, a selfish plea for rebellion, sectarianism, licentiousness of mind or body, or anarchy.  It was an appeal to the Word of God as central and foundational to everything, since by the Word of God alone are we saved, brought to faith and repentance and newness of life in Christ Jesus our Savior.  There, in and by the Word of God, we find the truth which sets us free from sin, death, hell, and the power of the devil.  This is the enduring point worth celebrating in the Reformation, and which continues to shape and form the Church of Jesus Christ in every age.  It is not unique to the 16^th century, but has echoed in every generation as those who live in the Word of God call others to that same forgiveness, life, and salvation.  It is the same plea of Moses and the Prophets, the Apostles and the Martyrs, and the Confessors of every time and place who stand against the lies of the devil and fallen world, shining forth the light of Christ’s Word into every dark corner of creation.  It is the eternally abiding truth that only by Christ’s Word are His disciples alive in Him, and only by His Word does Christ set them free indeed.

And so, wherever you are, dear Christian, in fellowships great or small, of traditions ancient or modern, of languages common or arcane, in lands near or distant, that same Word calls to you with the same demands of the Law and the same great promises of the Gospel.  The Reformation is no more worth celebrating than any other time, place, or personage in all of history—but the white hot flame of God’s Word which kindled the Reformation, reaches out to kindle your heart, as well.  Be you Roman or Anglican, Eastern or Western, Lutheran or Presbyterian or Baptist, or whatever other name your fellowship has been called, it is the same Word which calls us all together in Christ, and the same Word by which our faithfulness is measured.  There alone do the faithful abide forever, living free in Christ Jesus their Savior, knowing their brothers and sisters by the same Holy Spirit which has worked the same faith by the same Word in each repentant heart.

Do not be dismayed by the fractious and sectarian scars left on the Body of Christ by those who love their peculiar bureaucracies and privileges.  Likewise, do not trust in denominations and synods and names given by men for your salvation.  Rather, hear the Word of the Lord Jesus Christ call you to faith and repentance, that by His grace you might live in Him forever, forgiven and free.  For if the Son who abides forever sets you free, you are free indeed.  Amen.

Who Then Can Be Saved? A Meditation on Mark 10

 

And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his

disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into

the kingdom of God! And the disciples were

astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and

saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust

in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!  It is

easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for

a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And

they were astonished out of measure, saying among

themselves, Who then can be saved? And Jesus

looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but

not with God: for with God all things are possible.

Sometimes when Jesus speaks, He can stop everyone dead in their tracks.  In chapter 10 of Mark’s Gospel, a wealthy young man (sometimes called a rich young ruler) comes to Jesus, asking with sincerity what he must do to be saved.  Jesus begins by forcing him to think about why he is calling Jesus “good teacher,” since there is only one who is good… that being God alone.  Next he reminds the young man of the Law—something the young man claims to have kept from his youth.  Jesus tenderly helps him see where his covetousness and greed still cling to him unawares, as He tells the young man to sell everything he owns, take up the cross, and follow Him.  The young man goes away sorrowful, because his love of his possessions keep him from following Jesus into eternal life.

Immediately thereafter, Jesus helps his disciples understand the implications of what just happened, and His proclamation stops everyone cold:  how hard it is to enter the Kingdom of God!  Specifically, for those who trust in riches, it will be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for that man to enter God’s Kingdom.  Hearing Jesus’ Words, the disciples nearly despair as they ask in a panic:  Who then can be saved?

This is exactly what Jesus wanted His disciples to understand, and exactly where He wanted them to be.  They were at the end of their intellectual rope, and realized that people—everyone, including themselves—were in a very precarious state.  As they tried to answer for themselves the young man’s question, What must I do to inherit eternal life?, Jesus points out to them just how incapable they are of doing what is necessary to be saved.  To the young man, and to each of His disciples, the Words rang in their ears, It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle…  Without trying to turn this phrase into some kind of cute speculative reference to camels on their knees through a particular gate in Jerusalem, let’s just take it as the disciples did:  IT IS IMPOSSIBLE.

And that, dear Christian, is the point.  What must you do to inherit eternal life?  Keep the Commandments—every one of them, perfectly, in thought, word and deed, things done and left undone, for every second of your entire life.  Indeed, it would be easier for a camel to thread a needle than for you to pull that off.  We, being fallen into sin and death, can’t manage a single breath apart from the sin that courses through our veins, let alone a perfect and sinless life.  It is impossible for us to do what we need to do to be saved.  Once we understand that, we’re ready to hear what Jesus has to say next:  With men it is impossible, but not for God.  For with God, all things are possible.

What that rich young man needed is exactly what the disciples needed, and what we need today:  Jesus.  Only Jesus could live that perfect, sinless life.  Only Jesus as fully God and fully man could bear the curse of our sin on the Cross, die for the sins of the world, and satisfy an eternal justice.  Only Jesus could rise the third day, with the blessed Gospel of forgiveness, life, and peace on His divine lips.  Only Jesus could ascend to the right hand of God the Father Almighty to intercede between God and men, until His triumphal return at the end of time to judge both the quick and the dead.  With men the work of salvation is impossible, but not with Jesus.  For Jesus, all things are possible—even the salvation of sinners such as us.

Have you been searching the world for a good teacher that will give you the secret to eternal life?  First, you must remember who is truly good—and that is God alone.  Have you heard the Law declare unto what you must do to be saved, and think you have kept all His Law in perfection?  Test yourself honestly and you’ll know you have failed, finding that you still cling to hell by your greed, selfishness, pride, lust, and every other disordered passion, rather than to the righteousness of God.  Have you finally come to despair of your own works to save yourself, knowing that you cannot climb the ladder to heaven because you are dead in your trespasses and sin?  Ah, then your heart is prepared to hear the real answer to your question:

Who then can be saved?  No one by their own power, will, decision, holiness, love or might.

Who then can be saved?  Everyone, by the power, will, decision, holiness, love and might of Jesus Christ poured out for you upon His Holy Cross.

Who then can be saved?  You can, dear Christian, by grace through faith in Christ alone.  What was impossible for you, is not impossible for Him.  For it is the Father’s good will to give you His Kingdom, to forgive you your sins, and cleanse you from all unrighteousness—to give you a new birth from above by Water and Spirit, that you might live in Jesus by His grace through faith and repentance all your days in this world, and in the world to come, inherit eternal life.

Amen.