A couple of weeks ago, a group of pastors gathered at a regional conference were confronted with the oft repeated axiom that Lutherans are \u2018moral quietists.\u2019 They\u2019re not seen as engaging in the critical works that society needs. Perhaps they\u2019re not demonstrably making a difference in bringing the housing crisis to an end. They\u2019re not doing enough for the homeless, the migrants, and other marginalized groups. Perhaps they\u2019re not fighting hard enough against the movements of social Marxism, on the one hand, or Darwinian-inspired racial bigotry on the other. We\u2019re told that the rest of the churches see us as politically and socially irrelevant. In their eyes our spirituality is weak, if not totally dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps you can begin to understand the panicked desire on the part of church leaders to do more to justify ourselves in the eyes of politicians, the press, and the academy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For my part, I\u2019ve become convinced that this accusation against our lack \u2018good works\u2019 is a clever plot on the part of the devil to make Lutherans doubt the validity of their saving faith. He wants us to compare our lives against the outspoken voices on social media or against the activists that appear in our news feeds and wonder if we\u2019ll endure as well as they will on the day of judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a pastor, I have a privileged view of the more private, spiritual aspects of peoples\u2019 lives. They come to me for advice or perhaps they ask me to help with prayers. One thing I\u2019ve learned is that our saints have taken seriously Jesus\u2019 command, \u201cDo not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret\u201d (Matthew 6:3). With utmost seriousness they keep the Lord\u2019s admonition, \u201cSo you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, \u2018We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty\u201d (Luke 17:10).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tutored in the ways of the the flesh\u2019s weakness and warned against pride, they\u2019re far more comfortable confessing their sins then they are cataloguing their accomplishments. Their worship isn\u2019t about heaping up their works for the world and God to see, but saying, \u201cGod, be merciful to me a sinner\u201d (Luke 18:13)! It is my joy and privilege as a pastor to declare God\u2019s judgment of \u201cjustified\u201d to them for Christ\u2019s sake alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The true worship of faith wrestling with despair discounts the reality of God-pleasing works being accomplished because they know their flesh has tainted their motives or their strength to do more has failed them. And yet, from their faith that tenaciously clings to Christ for salvation comes the most marvelous acts of selfless love I\u2019ve ever seen. No one will hear about it. They\u2019ll never post about it on social media and they\u2019ll keep themselves from talking about it with even their closest family and friends. If they do, they feel shame. Nevertheless, their works are real. They glorify God and help their neighbors in need. I\u2019m sure Christ\u2019s words will be fulfilled on the last day when they hear with prophesied surprise, \u201cI was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me\u201d (Matt. 26:35-36).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps part of the problem comes down to the works which actually matter to God are considered worse than useless in our society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Luther offers sage advice when commenting on Sarah\u2019s modest virtue in Genesis 18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis life is profitably divided into three orders: (1) life in the home; (2) life in the state; (3) life in the church. To whatever order you belong – whether you are a husband, an officer of the state, or a teacher of the church – look around you, and see whether you have done full justice to your calling and there is no need of asking to be pardoned for negligence, dissatisfaction, or impatience. But if you have conducted your affairs in such a manner that there is no need of saying: \u201cForgive us our trespasses,\u201d then by all means go out into the desert and occupy yourself with those showy and difficult works\u201d (LW 3:217).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s nothing embarrassing about thankless works in the home, in the state, or in the church\u2026 at least from God\u2019s perspective. Luther goes on to point out the many fine, admirable works commended to us by monasticism (both ancient\/religious and modern\/secular varieties) are worse than useless. They\u2019re spiritually harmful and wreck faith. Instead of letting love be defined by the humble keeping of the ten commandments in the home, in one\u2019s duty to the state, or in preaching, our flesh seeks out works better suited to our affections and feelings rather than obedience to God\u2019s Word. Living in seclusion might keep you from sinning against your neighbor, you think. But it robs you of the opportunity to life a quiet life in the home of obeying your elders or keeping the kids fed and put to bed on time. The world shouts that the wife\u2019s domestic estate is a prison. It has convinced women, young and old, that nothing worse can happen to them then to get stuck at home with kids. But what the world calls a prison, God calls the cradle of all love and good works. In the same way, a brother pastor can quickly become convinced that his humdrum preaching of Law and Gospel isn\u2019t solving any of his communities\u2019 social ills. He, therefore, gives himself over to the axiom \u2018deeds not creeds\u2019 and begins to multiply \u2018ministries\u2019 to justify himself to a socially conscious congregation or the surrounding activistic community. But what greater honor does Christ give than to the preaching of the Word which alone is able to save souls (Mark 16:15)?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No, we\u2019re not going to do the humble works of the ten commandments within the estates of the home, state, and church perfectly, which is why Luther says we shouldn\u2019t let ourselves get distracted with strange works valued by the fallen world. The ten commandments give each person more than enough to concern themselves with, no matter where God has him in life. God has commanded them and who are we to ignore him? So, in repentance, we daily pray \u201cforgive us our trespasses,\u201d and with quite diligence throw our backs back into our various callings as mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, workers, managers, teachers, and ministers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No one is going to see what you\u2019re doing. Maybe your kids will say \u2018Your a great Dad!\u2019 But maybe they won\u2019t. But since when has praise been the point?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even if you yourself can\u2019t see the good God is doing through your humble obedience to the ten commandments, then at least believe Christ\u2019s promise, \u201cYour Father who sees in secret will reward you\u201d (Matthew 6:4). His eyes are better than ours. God be praised and to him be the glory!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A couple of weeks ago, a group of pastors gathered at a regional conference were confronted with the oft repeated axiom that Lutherans are \u2018moral quietists.\u2019 They\u2019re not seen as engaging in the critical works that society needs. Perhaps they\u2019re not demonstrably making a difference in bringing the housing crisis to an end. They\u2019re not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-teach"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/church.immanuelroswell.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/church.immanuelroswell.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/church.immanuelroswell.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/church.immanuelroswell.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/church.immanuelroswell.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/church.immanuelroswell.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":187,"href":"http:\/\/church.immanuelroswell.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186\/revisions\/187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/church.immanuelroswell.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/church.immanuelroswell.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/church.immanuelroswell.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}