The Lord be with you
I have just finished the article “Righteousness, Mystical
Union, and Moral Formation in Christian Worship” by Gifford A. Grobien
published in Concordia Theological
Quarterly, volume 77:1-2, January/April 2013 (pages 141-163). Grobien is
Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology and Supervisor of the Doctor of
Ministry Program at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana.
A link to this article is found at the end of this review.
Christians know that God cares how we live. For example,
after Jesus absolved the woman caught in adultery he instructed here to “go and
sin no more” (John 8:11). When addressing the question about whether we should
sin all the more that God’s grace may abound even more in granting us
forgiveness, Paul responded “By no means!” (Romans 6:2). How we live is
important, not only to our neighbor, but to God.
Lutheranism has always agreed with this. In fact, Article 6
of the Augsburg Confession says “good works are necessary.” Of course, the
article is very clear that these good works do not, in any way, merit
salvation. They are a fruit of our freely given salvation.
Still, Lutheranism is often criticized for actually
discouraging good works and falsely accused of having no ethics. Grobien
addresses the critics as well as addresses the foundation of a Lutheran ethic.
He does so in the following sections of his article:
I. Law and Gospel in Contemporary
Lutheran Ethics
II. The Twofold Righteousness
III. Mystical Union
IV. Worship as Formation
V. Ethics and the Ten Commandments
As I read this article it became clear to me how sparse my reading
on the topic of ethics, especially among “contemporary” thinkers, truly is.
In section I, names like Biermann, Hauerwas, Murray, Tuomo Mannermaa, Schwarzwäller, Saarinen,
Joest, Bordeyne and Chauvet appear and Grobien responds to them, but they are
names I’m not familiar with. Sure, there were some names I know, like Forde, Elert
and Schleiermache, but they were in the minority.
It seems the following quote from the article sums up the
foundation for a Lutheran ethic, from Grobien’s point of view.
… Theologically, then, how a person is
viewed by God is fundamental to his personhood.
With
the righteous judgment of justification, a person receives standing before God,
a new persona, upon which righteous acts are built. The judgment grants a new
being, a new nature, which is the life of Christ in the person: “Not I, but
Christ in me,” as St Paul
says in his epistle to the Galatians. It is the new presence of Christ upon
which the new creation is founded. The judgment of justification and the
presence of Christ are complementary. The relation with God becomes
determinative of the kind of actions the person will produce. The judgment (Urteil) of God gives the person a true,
meaningful existence. “The person as source of [his] deeds is minted through a
judgment issued over [him], a judgment toward which [he]―in acceptance or
refusal―aims and shapes [himself].” It is no longer the person making an image
for and in himself, but God dwelling in and making the person after his image.
Thus union with Christ offers the new imprint, character, and nature, empowered
by the Holy Spirit with new faculties (SD II, 25; IV, 7–8). (152)
Such a new person is created, shaped, sustained, and
nurtured by the Means of Grace that are found in the worshiping community. So Grobien
writes:
Because the means of grace are the
means by which a person is justified, they are also the means by which the new
character and nature are given. Worship is the primary context for the granting
of new character and the strengthening of it. Worship strengthens and develops
the new character not through mere habituation or narrative qualification, but through
the operation of grace, which endows and develops a new way of being, a new
subjectivity. This formative character of worship centers on the word of God
and the sacraments, which are supported by the full activity of worship. (155)
“I am arguing, then, that Christian
worship ought to be recognized as a fundamental source for ethics” (156). (He
is not just speaking of the sermon, but the entire liturgical service.)
We fallen humans often tend to “put the cart before the
horse.” We do this, often, so we can take credit for God’s good work. Therefore
Grobien offers this caution:
Such ethical verification does not
mean that the presence of Christ is dependent upon the ethical. The presence of
Christ depends upon his words and promises. And this presence shapes an ethical
stance that receives, is formed by, and begins to act or attempts to act in
accordance with the presence of Christ. Christ’s presence brings about a new
creation, a change in the character of the gathered, faithful people, so that
their perspective, intentions, and actions will begin to be different from the
way they were prior to or apart from the presence of Christ. (157)
Some of us preachers shy away from “third use of the Law”
preaching because we do not want to give the impression we are saved by good
works. It is a legitimate concern. However, avoiding third use of the Law
preaching because it can be abused is something like avoiding medicine because
it can be misused. Our task is not to avoid questions about “how then shall we
live” but to approach them with a sound theology and ethic. This article is a
good step towards doing just that.
Blessings in Christ,
Pastor John Rickert
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