Friday, April 2, 2010

Guest Post

Human Experience, or God’s Word of Promise?

A Lutheran thought for Good Friday.

I am part of group of Lutheran pastors throughout the country, from all of the synods, who share a common devotional practice. We use a resource for daily scripture reading and prayer titled “For All the Saints.” (Learn more about this incredible resource at www.alpb.org/for_all_the_saints.htm. The first reading for this morning filled me with a thought that seemed appropriate for this blog.

The text is Lamentations 3:1-33. It is obvious why it is chosen for Good Friday. While it was written by the prophet Jeremiah as a prayer of grief, after the fall of Jerusalem, its words also speak to Christ’s suffering on the cross. In particular, it helps us feel the sense Christ had of being the victim of God’s wrath against the sin of the world. “I am one who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath.” Lam. 3:1 Phrases like “I have become the laughingstock of my people” apply directly to the crucifixion.

Verses 1 – 20 are a relentless description of the experience of suffering – especially that kind of suffering where we feel that God has abandoned us, and we have no hope. “my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is.” (3:17). But suddenly, at verse 21, the mood turns around: “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope; the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (3:21-23).

What makes this passage so Lutheran is how places our human experience directly against God’s Word, especially God’s promises. On the cross, Jesus experienced in an intense way something that most of us have known – the feeling that we are lost, the experience of pain, betrayal, and loss of hope. At these times, if we only look at our experience of suffering, we will lose faith, leave church, abandon God, and lose our salvation. This is just what Satan desires. Luther taught us that scripture teaches us to NOT trust our experience, but to trust God’s Word. Judas trusted his experience of guilt and shame for betraying Jesus, and killed himself in despair. Peter felt equally guilt, but must have believed Jesus’ words promising forgiveness.

So, when we are faced with suffering, faithful Christians do not “trust their feelings” or “believe their experience.” Faithful Christians trust God’s promise, given in scripture. That trust opens the doors to God’s mercy and salvation.

This brings me to one of the things that has so deeply troubled me about the ongoing debates in the ELCA concerning scripture. Many voices are going against all genuine Lutheran teaching, and saying that we need to use our personal experiences to help us interpret scripture, even overturn the plain words of scripture. But once we let our own experiences be our guide, all hope is lost. Because our earthly experience is one of sin, failure, guilt, and ultimately, death. The Bible calls us to turn this around, and look at our experiences in the light of God’s promises. Then, even though we experience great loss, we can be like the author of Lamentations, and see the new hope that is beyond our experience, God’s promise of redemption, forgiveness, and eternal life.


Jay Thorson

1 comment:

  1. Making God in our own image...

    My morning devotion from "Tabletalk" from Ligonier and R.C Sproul further builds on Pastor Jays comments for me....

    "Many voices are going against all genuine Lutheran teaching, and saying that we need to use our PERSONAL EXPERIENCES (emphasis mine) to help us interpret scripture, even overturn the plain words of scripture. But once we let our own experiences be our guide, all hope is lost. Because our earthly experience is one of sin, failure, guilt, and ultimately, death. The Bible calls us to turn this around, and look at our experiences in the light of God’s promises."

    Tabletalk says, "we live in a pluralistic society that wants to make God in its own image. Therefore, we must never forget that we do not name God; He names Himself. Only through standing firm upon the Lord's own self-revelation and calling upon Him as He has revealed Himself can we guard the faith once delivered to us."

    Jude 3 says: "....I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints."

    NIV notes say, "the FAITH- Here used of the body of truth held by believers everywhere----the gospel and all its implications. This truth was under attack and had to be defended. The truth has finality and is not subject to change."

    One of the most common ways our culture (and in many cases, the ELCA) tries to name God is by taking the attributes of God THEY like, ignore the ones that do not please THEM and end up creating an idol......"I like to think of God as...."

    Tabletalk ends with, "As Christians, we are likewise susceptible to this great error, so we should never try to emphasize one of His attributes at the expense of the others, be it holiness, love, wrath, mercy, justice, goodness, immanence or something else."

    Jodi Schulteis

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