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Psalm 98
I don’t know that we have lived up to the great heritage of Christianity. I know we haven’t. And it is troubling. To hate evil and to love righteousness. To fight for righteousness and to fight against evil. That’s what we are, in part, called to do, that’s what many Christians have done facing great opposition both from the world and from the church herself. But I am not sure about us. Continue reading “The Gospel and Justice”
Luke 6:26-37
I didn’t know they tracked this kind of statistic, but it really doesn’t surprise me, because they have stats for all kinds of people. Apparently the number of hate groups in the US rose to its highest level in 20 years in 2018, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. This civil rights organization has labeled 1,020 active groups as espousing hate. Included on the list are white supremacists, black nationalists, neo-Nazis, neo-confederates, Also included are Catholic Family Ministries, the Conservative Republicans of Texas, the Ku Klux Klan, American Nazi Party. There are 24 right here in Indiana. “We monitor hate groups and other extremists throughout the United States and expose their activities to the public, the media and law enforcement,” they say. Fighting hate, seeking justice, teaching tolerance. Continue reading “Your Kind of Love Is Different”
1 Corinthians 12:12-21, 26-27
“United we stand, divided we fall.” This phrase has been used by poets and revolutionaries, by presidents and politicians. If you’ll recall, Jesus said something similar. When accused of being in league with the devil, Jesus counted that ridiculous accusation by pointing to his own driving out of demons and saying, “If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” Rather than division, the Bible rejoices in cooperation and unity. On many occasions, Paul urged the members of the churches to “keep the unity of the Spirit…” and to love because love “binds them all together in perfect unity.” Jesus also prayed for unity. In his high-priestly prayer, he asked his Father in heaven to give unity to his disciples. He said, “May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” God tells us that unity is a good thing and that it will bring blessings. It’s no coincidence then, that among the songs the Israelites would sing whenever they would come together for the great feasts, like the Passover, was Psalm 133. “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity. For there (in that unity) the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.” Continue reading “One Body in Christ”
Polycarp of Smyrna
1 John 3:16-20
Today the church remembers Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna. He is known as a disciple of John the Evangelist and an early martyr of the faith. Polycarp is an important historical link between the apostolic age and the early church. First, he confessed the orthodox Jesus. This fights against the theory that the Christology we confess today was a late fabrication by certain strains of Christianity in a power struggle against competing groups. Second, he quotes or alludes to many books of the New Testament cannon providing us historical evidence of the vetting process of the early church. Finally, he serves as a link to John the Evangelist, an apostle of Christ. Polycarp lived into the 150s AD. This means that mid-second-century Christians could be sure that the church’s teaching was orthodox and apostolic because they had a living link to the apostles. This is extremely helpful for the Christian apologist today in the defense of the authenticity of the New Testament testimony of Christ. Continue reading “Polycarp of Smyrna”
Matthew 20:1-16
All the workers in the vineyard were standing in the unemployment line the day the owner hired them. Any of you who’ve been unemployed know what that is like—the uncertainty, the anxiety, the seemingly loss of identity, the hardships it can cause a family. Continue reading “When God’s Not Fair”
Luke 11:37-52
This past month, CBS brought together a group of fairly famous individuals to compete for a $250,000 prize. CBS aired it so that viewers could waste time with some mindless entertainment. The program was called “Celebrity Big Brother”. The goal of the show is to avoid getting evicted by a majority vote of the other houseguests. Along the way they hold grudges, make and break alliances, pretend to be friends, cry in a diary room, compete at mental and physical challenges, stab each other in the back, kick each other out of the house, and then all smile and celebrate after the winner is crowned. What caught my eye (and DVR) this time around was that I knew who some of these people were. For most of them, they had some sort of life challenge in the past. Some examples: one individual had a public battle with cancer, one was fired from the White House staff, one was a key witness in “the OJ trial”, one had been through an ugly divorce, one wasted a career in the NFL for other activities, and another man had tarnished his reputation as a gold medalist because of a scandal he was part of at the Summer Olympics in Brazil. They had some “woes” in life. And then there was another guy. He had some “Whoas” too. Except they weren’t like cancer, divorce, or a public scandal. It was his famous phrase from an early 90s sitcom. When something caught his attention on the program, he with a look of amazement would cry “Whoa!” in a unique high pitch sort of way. And it would bring laughs to the audience. This phrase has stuck with him ever since. In fact, it’s stuck with him to the point where now 25 years later he refuses to say it. Continue reading “Whoa!”
Thank you to Pastor Kiecker for this meditation upon these readings for the commemoration of Martin Luther, who fell asleep in Christ on this day in 1546.
2 Kings 24:18-25:21; 1 Corinthians 15:20-34; Psalm 120
“So Judah went into captivity, away from her land.”
What value is there in hearing this? What’s the ‘moral’ of the story? What can be gleaned and learned, lest we find ourselves in the same place? After all, they say that those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it. Continue reading “Commemoration of Martin Luther”
Psalm 103
God doesn’t want your best. Don’t think it. Don’t believe it. Don’t say it. God doesn’t want your best. He’s not your Little League coach. There is too much at stake here. And your best stinks. It’s not that good. Oh, relatively speaking I suppose there is some truth to this. We can compare ourselves to others. We can rank each other. My putting is the best at the office golf outing. The best student. The best BBQ. Fine. Seems a little childish for God talk though. God doesn’t want your best. Your best stinks. Continue reading “Don’t Do Your Best”
1 Corinthians 15:12-20
This is what it all comes down to: whether or not one man rose from the dead. Christianity is not about morality, though to be moral is good. It’s not about virtue, though to be virtuous is beneficial. It’s not about the golden rule, though the golden rule is beautiful. Continue reading “A Faith that’s Not in Vain”
Today the Lutheran Church commemorates Philip Melanchthon, Luther’s colleague in Wittenberg. I debated whether or not I should even add that last part, “Luther’s colleague in Wittenberg.” Melanchthon was more than that. And yet, fair or not, this is how we know him. To be honest, too, I think that appendage, “Luther’s colleague,” is not a diminishment of his work or genius. Rather, that was a very important choice he made, and that in very dangerous times. Philip chose to work with Europe’s greatest theological outlaw and stuck with him, through the darkest of times, and often when Luther made it rather difficult personally—great as he was, the great reformer was not the easiest colleague or friend.
Philip Melanchthon has been called “praeceptor Germaniae,” the teacher of Germany. It’s a title he earned. He shaped higher education in Germany like few others in its history. He shaped the curriculum in Wittenberg, which shaped generations of pastors, lawyers, teachers, and a host of other professions. Melanchthon, beyond a doubt, was a brilliant and influential man.
My students seldom get this reference anymore, but Melanchthon was a Doogie Howser of sorts. He progressed quickly through his education. He graduated young with about every degree he ever received. He was a prodigy, and sometimes suffered for that, being denied admission to at least one program because there was a fear he might become too arrogant progressing so quickly so young. He earned all the letters after his name, though. His mind was a gift from God and he was gifted with a work ethic to match it.
Frail in build, Melanchthon had powerful ideas. Unlike Luther, though, he did not have a powerful personality. He was an intellectual, and a public intellectual, but he didn’t have the demeanor of a prophet. He was thoughtful to the point of being tentative. And that is fine. And the church needs such men. It wasn’t his fault he was cast in Luther’s role after Luther’s death. It was thrust upon him, perhaps unfairly. He was who he was, and his demeanor served him well in many ways, even if it wasn’t suited for the prophet’s task and for the challenges piled upon him with Luther’s death and the great Interim Crisis (which is a post for another day and the main focus of my books An Uncompromising Gospel and The Devil behind the Surplice).
Melanchthon’s great-uncle was the renowned scholar Johannes Reuchlin, famed for his work with Hebrew and the trouble that got him into. Reuchlin had overseen Melanchthon’s education. And yet the relationship between the two soured because of Melanchthon’s loyalty to his colleague and friend, Martin Luther. Melanchthon refused to take a position elsewhere when things heated up with Luther’s Reformation, as we refer to it now. He was committed to Wittenberg, and more importantly to the Scriptures and justification by grace through faith for the sake of Christ. In fact, Melanchthon supplied much of the language we use now to express that as clearly as possible.
Today we give thanks for the life and thought and confession of Philip Melanchthon. Those of you who know me and my work know that I work especially with the life and thought of Matthias Flacius Illyricus, a student of Melanchthon’s who later became an opponent. I’ll admit to sharing much in common with both the demeanor and the theological emphases of Matthias Flacius. I will also say, though, that through my work with Flacius I have grown in my appreciation for Melanchthon. This was a man who sacrificed for the Lutheran Reformation. This was a man who put his time and health into the study of God’s Word and into the instruction of its preachers. This was a man, too, who bore a heavy cross especially after Luther’s death. Like all of us, he struggled under it. And yet, I pray, like all of us, he kept his eyes on Christ, even as he wavered. We do well, then, to give thanks for him and to learn from him, especially from works like the Augsburg Confession and its Apology, his 1521 Loci Communes, and other theological treasures. This was a man who knew Christ and knew Paul, and in that faith, rooted in Christ and shaped by Paul’s beautiful teaching about Christ, he departed, weary from years of theological struggle. God grant us all the same!
If you want a short and accessible little book on Philip Melanchthon, I highly recommend Meeting Melanchthon by my friend and Melanchthon scholar, Scott Keith
Wade Johnston
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You can listen to our latest episode here. You can find our latest installment in the Wingin’ It series on Luther here.
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