Saturday, March 18, 2017

Lenten Discipline versus "It is Finished"--which leads to sanctification?

The only time I've heard of a true Lenten discipline was when a friend of mine read Forde's "On Being a Theologian of the Cross" for Lent. He had started it two previous times but couldn't finish it, because of its devastating diagnosis of the human condition. He found that the Good News is the Best News Ever once we are confronted with and apprehend the libidinal, recidivistic nature in all of us. Then the proclamation from the Cross of "It is finished" rings like the bells on our wedding day with the hope of everlasting love.

Forde's book dealt with Luther's Heidelberg Disputation of 1518 which is simply daunting, yet breathtaking.  It is both the greatest insult to human freedom, to our thought that we can change, to our desire to control our lives to make them good;  and the Best News Ever--Christ has done it all--there is nothing left to be done.  According to Luther, sanctification comes when we experience thankfulness for the love that God has bestowed upon us while we were yet and are yet a sinner.  Luther said that we were and will be unto our death "simul justus y pecator"--simultaneously "justified" and "sinner." As we recognize again and again that this is true, we actually become more and more thankful to God for his acceptance of us in our sinful condition.  This leads to sanctification over time--to an ever deepening understanding of our own fallenness which leads to empathy and love for others who are "sinners like us" (remember the Chase/Akroyd flick).  Indeed, we are all sinners--we are all together in this "thing called life." (Prince)

At a recent Mockingbird Conference, a former seminary student of Paul Zahl's introduced him by telling a story about the first day in a class that Zahl was teaching.  The class was entitled "Spiritual Formation 101," so it was filled with students eager to learn how to become more spiritual, how to become more holy, how to become closer to God, and (whether they acknowledged it or not) they were seeking favor with God.

Zahl's student said that Zahl started the class by saying: "It is finished."  You would have thought that Zahl had uttered an expletive-laced diatribe, the response from the students was one of such offense.  They were offended, because it is hard for human ambition to die--particularly for those who think they are sacrificing to do "God's will."  Needless to say, I wish I had been there to see it.  Like those students, Zahl and Luther had the same effect on me.  Like the students, Forde's book had the same effect on my friend who had to force himself to read Forde's book as a Lenten discipline.

But my friend and I both agree that this theology saved our lives.  In fact, at the Mockingbird Conference, person after person told stories of how this theology changed their lives.

After Paul spoke Friday nite, a woman sitting by herself got up during the Q&A and asked: "I've been in church all my life, why have I never heard this before?"  Debbie and I went to dinner with her afterwards.  Her husband had passed away this past summer, and she was devastated and didn't know where to turn.  She found Mockingbird online, and it gave her a way forward.  She drove several hours to be at the conference.  It gave us such joy to hear her story--how the pure, unadulterated Gospel had given her a reason and the sustenance to live.

We then had lunch with a couple of sisters in their early to mid-20s from Houston.  We happened to have a couple of extra seats at our table for lunch, and the restaurant was packed.  The older sister teaches at UofH, and she had found Mockingbird online.  So, she and her younger sister had driven the four hours from Houston for the conference.

During Sarah Condon's talk, she talked of coming very closing to quitting seminary when she became frustrated with the primary focus being that of social justice and social programs, as opposed to Christ.  Then a friend suggested she attend the Mockingbird conference.  She did and stayed in seminary and now is an Episcopal priest.  Now, because of this message, she's one of the best young preachers in the country (maybe one of the best regardless of age).

Finally, the gentleman who started holding a Mockingbird conference in Tyler, Texas, told a similar story of suffering a setback in his life, not knowing where to turn, and then finding Mockingbird.

The founder of Mockingbird, David Zahl, chose this title for his ministry, because a Mockingbird sings the same song over and over and over again.  That's the job of Christians--to tell the "old, old story of Jesus and His love" over and over and over again. 

This is the power to save.  This is the power to sanctify.  This Best News Ever has saved people for millennia--it certainly saved me.

One final note.  When Paul Zahl spoke, he said that his 40 years of parrish ministry had taught him that everyone has some deep down hurt, some deep down issue which, if unremedied, can plague us for our entire lives.  He queried: "What's the greatest movie ever?"  Matt Magill responded:  "Citizen Kane."  That movie illustrates what Zahl is saying.  Paul went on to say something to the effect that he has heartburn towards God, because so many, many people go through life with their issue unremedied.  A woman queried:  "What happens when you find your issue?"  Zahl:  "Just finding it is about 75% of the work. It will resolve itself thereafter."

I found my deep down issue in the early 2000s.  God, thru Paul Zahl's teaching and preaching, brought me face-to-face with my issue.  Then, through PZ's preaching and teaching, God gave me great liberty from this issue.  Not that I will ever be truly free from it, but I'm so much better.

So, what gives me heartburn about God is that, like the lady from Houston, I wonder why this message of God's radical grace to inveterate sinners is so seldom preached.  It's this message which brings liberty and life.  

I'll close with this.  From the Cross, Christ said:  "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."  Christ was forgiving those who hoisted him up on the Cross.  He was forgiving the religious leaders, the political leaders, and the crowd--the crowd filled with people like me and you--who chose to kill Jesus over Barabas.  My hope for my readers is that this sounds like the Best News Ever and that you get to hear it more and more and more.  And that this will dredge up whatever deep down issue has been plaguing you and give you abundant life.

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