Here is a challenge to Lutheran preachers. Have we forgotten thesis XVIII of Walther's series?
In the fourteenth place, the Word of God is not rightly divided when the universal corruption of mankind is described in such a manner as to create the impression that even true believers are still under the spell of ruling sins and are sinning purposefully?
Have we forgotten what this means?
"A pilgrim travelling on a lonely road, when attacked by a highway man, escapes from him at the first opportunity. He does not want to be overcome and slain. Christians are pilgrims through this world on their way to heaven. The devil, like a highway robber, assaults them, and they go down before him because of their weakness, not because they meant to go down. To a true Christian his fall is forgiven because he turns to God in daily repentance with tears or at least heartfelt sighings for pardon. If a person allows sin to rule him, this is a sure a sign that he is not a Christian, but a hypocrite, no matter how pious he pretends to be...."
"You ought to form the resolution that, when the particular time for a pericope containing these texts arrives [these texts being Romans 8:13,13; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:5,6], you will expound them to your hearers and tell them that, as God lives, they will be damned if they live in this or that sin. If you only tell them that Christians remain sinners until they die, you will frequently be misunderstood. Some will lull themselves to sleep with the reflection that they are poor and frail human beings, but that they have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ - however, a lip faith." [Law & Gospel, pp. 320, 322]
Brothers, we betray our holy commission whenever we imply to our people that they may continue under grace while they willingly remain servants of sin. Our gracious Lord desires to "forgive us our sins" AND "to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
I take that thesis to mean that we pastors should not preach to our members *as if* they were crass unbelievers, that is, in the same way we would preach to the unregenerate. I have made the mistake of preaching the Law in such a way that I spoke as if everyone sitting in the pews was living in unrepentant sin. That is simply not true, and I think that the thesis from Walther gets to that.
ReplyDeleteI think, though, he means something more than that if you read the explanation he gives to the thesis. He wants us to beware of saying: "well, we're all sinners" in such a way as to imply that saving faith and mortal sin may coexist together.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. That is definitely true. That kind of preaching definitely devalues the atonement. "How can we who have died to sin go on living in it?"
ReplyDeleteI think there is a pitfall on both sides. We don't want to preach in such a way as to insinuate that our hearers are all unregenerate. They are the baptized. And that is the basis on which we can say: "Therefore..."
On the other hand, we don't want to preach in such a way as to suggest that it is okay for Christians to continue in sin without repentance.
Yes, Brother Weedon, this truth has been forgotten and neglected in much preaching today. The Internet is filled with such sermons that effectively comfort those who sin by assuring them simply that, but of course, they are always sinners and Christ forgives them and they should just come take Holy Communion.
ReplyDeleteThis very truth sparked the now long-running campaign I've been running to underscore and highlight that so-called "liturgical preaching" puts more emphasis on the liturgy and means of grace, and commits the grave error of leaving people with the impression that a life of Christian holiness has next to nothing with a person's actual behavior.
Case in point: the Lutheran convert and his buddies who several years ago were mocking the very thought that there was anything amiss with them "enjoying" the vile pornographic/slasher lyrics of rap stars.
What was their reason for thinking they could indulge the flesh in such a manner? "We are sinners our whole lives, but Jesus forgives us."
It's that simple, really, and that tragic.
When we do not in fact exhort our hears to lives of personal holiness, not simply to make them realize they are sinners, but to make them realize that their is a calling to new life in Christ, we are failing as preachers.