Book Review: The Theology of Martin Luther by Paul Althaus

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This is a long read (400+ pages), but you end up with a very good understanding of Luther's theology. Althaus cites Luther so much, both in the text and in footnotes, that it reads almost as a primary source. Imagine giving someone the task of reading all of Luther's Works and then distilling that into 450 pages. Althaus is more than up to the task.

I found the chapter on the community of saints to be particularly interesting along with being needed at the present time. The church catholic should focus on the community of saints and on the corporate nature of worship and faith. Luther's words on this prove helpful.

The common thread throughout this work is, not surprisingly, justification through faith. There are some very interesting tangents and corrolaries that at first don't seem like they have much to do with sola fide, but in the end are directly related. Luther's christology is one example.

Unfortunately, I discovered that Althaus was a supporter of Hitler. That opens up a whole 'nother can of worms. I'm not sure what to do with that information, but it certainly needs addressed.

Palm Sunday vs Passion Sunday

It's the time of year for my annual lectionary rant. There are very few events in the New Testament that we can place chronologically. Outside of Holy Week and Pentecost, I can't think of any off-hand. We know that Jesus entered Jerusalem on a Sunday around Passover. We know he was crucified on Friday and that he rose the next Sunday. Yet the lectionary conflates Palm Sunday with Good Friday. I hate that.

The entry into Jerusalem is prophetic, glorious, and inspiring. It is usually relegated to a short march around the church waving palms and saying "Hosannas." Then the congregation enters to All Glory Laud and Honor and that's the end of it. From then on out it's about the events of Good Friday.

Then Good Friday service comes around and the readings are about . . . Good Friday. Yet we just heard this in its entirety on Sunday. Why the redundancy?

The only reason I can think of is that the expert developers of the lectionary were aware that Good Friday services were sparsely populated. Hearing the Passion is certainly important. So they made sure to put it on Palm Sunday so more people would hear it. This is a cop-out of an excuse. Admittedly, I haven't seen an official excuse offered.

It's time we returned the readings to their chronologically appointed days. Palm Sunday is for Hosannas and Blessed is He's. Good Friday is for the Passion. On top of this, everyone should be involved in a movement to get people to church on Good Friday (that is -- people who are church goers). Good Friday services are rightly solemn, but many times unnecessarily boring. Let's keep the solemn but work on the boring. Perhaps even a reintroduction of the Stations of the Cross (egads! But the Reformation!?)?

Here are some other blogs that pick up the topic -- and probably do a better job of it:

Rev Out Loud
Unlikely Conversation: A Lectionary Blog
Old Worship New

Church-time Distractions

I wrote this for the newsletter of the church I serve as Music Director for. Feel free to steal it. Giving credit, hopefully!

I used to love to go to the movies. Even bad ones. There was something magical about a movie that removed me from my everyday routine and placed me in a magical world. Even though I was aware of sitting in a theatre staring at a screen, the magic of Hollywood was enough to allow me to forget about reality and immerse myself in another world. Movies easily convince the audience to believe in the unbelivable. Dramatic theorists call this the “willing suspension of disbelief.” While being aware that the actions taking place on the screen are at the least improbable, I let it slide for the time being in order to remain in the other-world of the movie. That’s the magic of it.

Church is magical as well. When in church, we remove ourselves from everyday life and place ourselves in a sacred space AND time. Worship service in itself is something out of the ordinary. Whether it takes place in a church or on the beach, the time set aside for worship is magical. Christianity also has its own version of the willing suspension of disbelief. Tell any passerby on the street that you are going to die and rise up again in three days and they will likely keep on walking. This feeling, however, when applied to Christianity, would be more accurately titled a “willing affirmation of faith.” It isn’t a belief in the unbelievable as much as it is a faith in the unprovable. This magical feeling of being in the presence of God and communing with fellow congregants is an important function of the church service.

The question arises, “Why did you USED to love going to the movies?” The magical feeling of the movies is a tight rope act. The slightest nudge in either direction throws you out of the magical world and back into the everyday world. It became too difficult to go to the movies without having that magical feeling interrupted by rowdy teenagers, talkative adults, and ringing cell phones.

Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday gave me a chance to sit with my family in the congregation. The difference between work and worship is a different topic, but along with all the positive aspects of worshipping from the pew instead of the organ bench, I noticed that our congregation is not very good at preventing these distractions from the sacred feeling of church. I was downright embarrassed when (insert your organist's name) started her prelude and I couldn’t hear the organ over the conversations in the pews. The service starts with the Prelude. It is at that point, if not before, that we turn our minds and hearts to worship. The conversations were not, however, limited to just the Prelude. When I was still playing at St. Matthews Episcopal, an interim rector made a point of having the following saying printed at the very top of every bulletin:

Before the service, talk to God.
During the service, let God talk to you.
After the service, talk to each other.

I challenge the membership of (insert your church name here) to follow this simple saying. I don’t think we should expect better behavior from a movie audience than from a worship service congregation.