Colleagues,
First off–a long Segue to Sinai–“too long.”
Last week’s post (ThTh 514) presented the two “Why Jesus?” articles I’d sent to our ELCA national magazine together with the comments and correctives that came back to me from the editor responsible for issues of “People and Faith” at The LUTHERAN. I wondered: was that editor’s message already a letter of rejection? But an e-mail a few days ago made that perfectly clear–“Perhaps this magazine isn’t the best medium for your message.” The reasons given were not cheering. So that’s the end of my affair with The LUTHERAN. Well, for now it is,
FYI, Here’s the original proposal that got this all started:
To the Editor, The LUTHERAN,
Here’s an offer. A Series on OUR FAITH. A 12-segment proposal. A “second opinion” to the current series appearing under that caption.
Title: Real Help from Luther’s Small and Large Catechisms for Today
- How to talk about God.
- Adam, Eve and All of Us–Our Chronic God-problem
- Why Jesus? Why Jesus at all?
- Can Anyone Ever ALWAYS Be Right?
- Why is “Faith” Such a Big Deal?
- What is This Thing Called “Ministry”?
- What’s Christian About Christian Ethics?
- Creation, Darwin, Intelligent Design–Luther’s Counsel for How We Might Cope.
- Just how Spooky is the Holy Spirit?
- “One, holy, catholic and apostolic church.” What does this mean?
- Providence or Promise? It Makes a Difference Where you Start for Christian Prayer.
- How Many Sacraments are There? How Best to Use Them.If there is some (apocalyptic) reason for a 13th issue, then this coda:
- Where Will it All End–a Bang, a Whimper or Something Else?
The “People and Faith” area-editor responded and asked for a sample of what I had in mind with the “Why Jesus?” title. I sent in two versions–how St. Paul answers the question, how Luther does. Neither made the cut.
My month-after-month drumbeat–on what OUR FAITH is and what it isn’t–has made me a pest at the magazine office. But, truth to tell, I got snookered into this by Steve Hitchcock out in California. Before I’d ever gotten around to reading the January issue of The LUTHERAN, where the first column of the OUR FAITH series began, Steve tore out that OUR FAITH page of the January issue and snail-mailed it to me with this paste-on comment: “Do they do this on purpose just to give you a heart attack?”
So I read it. Didn’t have a coronary, but did what I’d learned to do from the days of the Wars of Missouri. When an “other gospel” surfaces–especially under the Lutheran label–say something. Not yet having un-learned that lesson–probably never will, it’s deeply imprinted–I sent a letter to the editor p roposing what might be a more Lutheran statement confessing OUR FAITH on that first topic: “Jesus’ Justice Agenda.” After subsequent issues of that column–January to April–I’ve done it again. One of those “op ed” proposals did get onto the LUTHERAN’s web page, and a print-page notice told readers where to find it. It was deemed too long for print-page presentation in the magazine as an Op Ed piece. One person did tell me that he read it on the web. Maybe there were more.
To clear the desk, now that I’ve gotten my “Dear John” letter, I’ll paste here below the last “second opinion” submitted to the editor, an “op ed” to the OUR FAITH column in the April 2008 issue on “Mosaic Law.” I don’t expect it to show up in the May issue. It too is “too long.” Peace and Joy!
Ed Schroeder
Finally: Mosaic Law: Two Views Both Claiming to be Lutheran
To the Editor, The LUTHERAN
To say it point-blank:
This month’s column on “Mosaic Law” presents the basic substance of the theology of the Pontifical Confutation of 1530. That official Roman document refuted the Augsburg Confession, anathematized its core substance on law and gospel–and on justice and righteousness. Lutherans do not promote Confutation theology. Martin Luther could never have said anything like this column says about Mosaic Law. Neither did St. Paul. Neither did Jesus.
Sure, the writer’s prose is winsome, reasonable, compelling. So were the words of the Roman Catholic Confutation. That’s why lots and lots of folks said “no, thanks” to the Augsburgers in the 16th century. Yes, the Confutation’s theology did speak to the hearts of people, did draw a vast following. But its message was an “other” Gospel. That’s what the Augsburgers confessed. So which of the two, the Augsburgers or the Confutators, should be mentoring us about OUR FAITH in The LUTHERAN? That’s surely a no-brainer.
Here are some thoughts–sentence-for-sentence–on the “Mosaic Law” article:
First sentence from this month’s column: Through learning righteousness and justice, God’s people become an example
Every society develops laws and traditions that seek to provide and enforce whatever is seen to be in its best interests.
The society that formed from those who followed Moses out of Egypt on a journey to a promised land is no exception. They developed laws, established traditions and set norms for social boundaries and relationships in ways that told the story of who they were and whose they were.
They saw themselves as a chosen people-brought from bondage to freedom by a mighty God with whom they already were in covenant relationship through Abraham and Sarah. This God was seasoning them to be a blessing to all nations.
, qualitatively different from God’s Exodus “deal” culminating with Moses at Sinai. At the very center these two “deals” are clean contrary. For example, the Sinai covenant has no forgiveness for commandment-breakers. It’s simply not there. In the Sinal contract you get your just deserts. Fairness, but no forgiveness. Whereas in the Abraham/David covenant forgiveness is at the center of the deal. Sinners do NOT get their “just deserts.” Instead of “fairness” they get “forgiveness.” Big, big difference.
These two covenants are so different that in NT times St. Paul (and Jesus too) will refer back to them in the OT as the “distinction between God’s law and God’s promise.” Two different covenants. So different that both Jesus (esp. in John’s gospel) and Paul (everywhere in his letters) will call it the difference between slavery and freedom, between death and life.
Israel had no “special stuff” to bless the nations with its preservation/retribution structures. The prophets’ constant drumbeat is “We blew it! We blew it!” as far as righteous and equitable behavior goes in Israelite society, century after century. Some of the other nations had patently better laws of society, and a better track-record. But Israel’s “special stuff” was that Abraham/David special stuff. THAT was the blessing–first of all for them!–and then on assignment for them to spread it around to “the nations.” Sure, they failed to do that. Not until Jesus came along did that “mercy” covenant get to the nations. It took a crucified/risen Messiah to fulfill the assignment made way back there to Abraham to be a “blessing to the nations.”]
An important spice in that seasoning was learning to treat one another with righteousness and justice.
Having learned to do it among themselves from laws given to them by God, the personification of righteousness and justice, it was hoped they could be an example to others.
The source of this seasoning is found in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, the Torah, particularly Exodus through Deuteronomy-sometimes referred to as the Mosaic law.
The Mosaic law, which includes the Ten Commandments, deals with many aspects of life together for God’s chosen community, including social responsibilities toward others. In Exodus 22-23, there are provisions for restitution when people lose their property and admonitions to not mistreat orphans and widows. The Hebrews were commanded to treat each other with justice and mercy, to not deceive one another in personal or business matters.
In Leviticus 19 the people are encouraged to leave part of their harvest for the poor and for the stranger, as well as commanded to treat the stranger as one who was born among them. Deuteronomy 15 goes so far as to say there “should” be no poor among the chosen people if the law is faithfully obeyed. Deuteronomy 24:22 captures a God-given motivation for treating everyone with justice, particularly the most vulnerable of society: “Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I am commanding you to do this.”
Worship and reverence of God were also addressed in the Mosaic law. Starting with the first five of the Ten Commandments, God let the people know that the God of creation, the God of the ancestors, the God of justice, is the same God who brought them out of slavery in Egypt and is now their God.
The Mosaic law details how the worship and praise of this high and holy God is to be conducted. There are elaborate rituals of sacrifice, thanksgiving, atonement, blessing, purification and consecration. What is eaten, what is worn, what is holy and unholy, and even family and social obligations all were tied to worship and reverence of God.
The covenant people were also encouraged through the Mosaic law to have a right relationship with the land they had been given. The land was always to be considered holy and not to be defiled. The soil was to be properly cared for and even given a sabbath so it would continue to produce to its potential. The people were to be righteously related to the land of promise as they were to be righteously related to one another.
has “mercy for sinners”–as mentioned earlier–and one covenant has no mercy (forgiveness), but just deserts for sinners. The word “promise” appears in both covenants, but the promises are different. E.g., the “promise of land” was conditional on Israel’s obeying the commandments. Which they did not do. So they lost the land. There is no “land” in the mercy-covenant promise. God’s gift of mercy and forgiveness heals and seals the fracture at the God-interface, no matter what land your feet are planted on.
There is no place for “land” in the covenant of God’s mercy and sinners trusting that mercy. So Jesus commissions his apostles to go to the “ends of the earth.” It’s not “bring them all back here to this ‘holy’ land,” but get Jesus’ own “Holy-ing” Spirit into folks in every land where it isn’t yet. No place on the planet is special any longer. The crucified and risen Messiah is the place where mercy-holiness has landed. Jesus replaces any notion of the Holy Land with himself. If there is to be any talk of land, then the “land” Christians are seeking is still up ahead (Hebrews 11), “a better country, a heavenly one.” None of us has been there yet. But we trust Jesus to get us there.]
Both people and land were part of God’s covenant promise to Abraham, which was constantly passed down to his descendants. It was a promise that included immeasurably abundant blessings for both people and land-if only the people were faithful to their part of the covenant.
–so very different from Moses/Sinai–come very different “blessings.” Land, especially, is no big deal any longer.]
The laws that governed them in all aspects of their life were to be a constant reminder that they were to be righteous in their relationship with God, justice-minded in their relationship with one another and with the stranger, and ecologically astute in their relationship with the land.
These are important ways in which they were to share blessings among themselves-and also to be a blessing to others.
