"Judge Not": What Does This REALLY Mean?

"But there is one more thing that we should be said about this text, because it is often used against Christians (or anyone, really) who would say that there's a right and a wrong in the world. ... Or especially thinking about the Supreme Court decision on Friday, when we say that marriage is for family, a man and a woman bound up together until death, we hear that same response, the words of Jesus quoted back to us, "Judge not, lest ye be judged."  Or this question, "Who are you to judge my love?" 

Now I think it is a bit ironic this weekend that the 'judge not' folks are rejoicing in the judgment of five people called judges.  But when Jesus forbids judging, He does not intend to destroy the law.  He's not smashing the Ten Commandments, like Moses in the wilderness.  He's not declaring an end of right and wrong. 

And the answer, by the way, to the question, "Who are you to judge?" is: "I'm a human being."  It's the fundamental act of human society, of ethics, to judge the things that we love, the things that we want, and the things that we do, to see if they are good or if they are bad. ... Making a judgment about what I love and what I want is the fundamental act of humanity, and the more we forget this, then the more lawless and dangerous our culture will become. 

But look, when Jesus says "Judge not," what He is doing is reserving the final judgment for Himself.  Jesus knows that if we are the judge, there are only two judgments that are possible: either the prideful judgment of ourselves and each other, that we're all good, which is the dangerous delusion leading to hell--self-justification and self-righteousness; or the despairing judgment that we are sinners beyond the hope of redemption.  Those are the only two options when man is judge.  But when Jesus is judge, there is a third, and a correct, and blessed option.  He judges us guilty of our sin--all of them--but then, by His blood, by His death, by His resurrection, by His lovingkindness, and by His mercy, He judges us--He judges you--to be innocent, clean, guiltless, righteous, and holy.  So we judge not, because Jesus, who died and rose again, is our judge in mercy and kindness."

Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller

Full sermon audio can be found here--it is well worth the listen, as this was the end of the sermon.

New Year Update

I know it is a little belated, seeing as we are already a week into the new year, but better late than never.

Intro and Warning

Briefly, for those new here, my name is Sarah.  I'm 23, I'll be 24 in May of this year (2013).  I'm married to a pretty awesome guy, and we are expecting our first child on our first anniversary--28 April 2013.  I am a political consultant and campaign strategist in the beautiful foothills of Colorado, a state to which I am native.  I'm very geeky and nerdy (old school Sci-Fi, Tolkein, Stargate, X-Files, etc.), I love to read and write and learn new things, I'm a rocker chick when it comes to music (although I'm a classically trained pianist and have a great affinity for classical music as well), I love to swing and ballroom dance when I can, and theology is my passion.

When it comes to theology, I am a cradle Lutheran. I was baptized when I was two weeks old, and confirmed in the Lutheran church. I am extremely conservative and confessional when it comes to my theology.  Succinctly put, I am a Quia-subscribing, UAC-confessing, Evangelical Catholic, thoroughly catechized, confessional, orthodox, Christ-centered, cross-focused, catholic and apostolic, Word and Sacrament, Law and Gospel, traditional and liturgical Lutheran.

For those new to this blog, here is a warning (and reminder to those who aren't new): this blog is rated "L" for Lutheran.

I'm an equal opportunity theological offender, and have no problem taking on any topic or any denomination (including my own).  Mostly, I'm in the business of heresy-hunting and attempting to bring folks around to orthodoxy, although I admit that my methods probably don't exactly make those I wouldn't consider to be orthodox want to listen.

Perhaps better put, I'm a terrible Christian--I readily and openly admit that I stink at evangelism, which is kind of what we are commanded to do: go and make disciples of all nations.  That's because, in my analytical mind, I can't imagine wanting anyone to join something as broken, heretical and unorthodox as much of American Christendom has become--so I will leave that work to those better equipped and without my process of thinking.  What I can do, what I feel I must do, is "evangelize" to those already claiming the name Christian, but who don't seem to understand what it means.  More than that, I want to equip those who are orthodox to be able to give an answer for the hope that lies within them to the world--to Christians and non-Christians alike.

I know I have a tendency to be snarky and perhaps too blunt, but please understand this comes from a place of earnest and the willingness to stake my life on my faith--I'm not doing it just to be obnoxious, I promise.

New Year, New Posts

With those formalities out of the way, I wanted to lay out a bit of a plan for this blog over the next year.

• Every Monday, I try to put out a "heresy of the week" post.  Some weeks, I do more than one heresy because of how related they are--and some weeks, I don't always get to it on Mondays.  This seems to be my most consistent topic for posting, which is good--and I plan to keep that up.
• While I have a huge backlog of posts to make on the subjects, I also do "Bible study notes" and "sermon notes" posts when I can (part of my goal this year is to get caught up and be more regular about those posts).
• One of my other goals this year, besides being more consistent in posting here, is to finally get back into consistent study of Koine Greek.  In fact, I've decided that for Lent, in addition to giving something up (haven't decided that that will be yet), I will be attempting to establish two new habits, one of which will be to spend 15-60 minutes a day on Greek.  As I'm doing that, it is my hope to be posting on that topic as a means of helping me to be accountable (maybe a "Greek Word of the Week" post?).
• Currently in the queue, I have posts in progress on the Power and Primacy of the Pope (or, why Lutherans believe that the Office of the Pope is an antichrist), the role of the Pope in the Two Kingdoms, and the proper role of women in the church.  Hopefully I'll have those all finished and up in the next week or two, but no promises.  As always, I'll have more posts on various topics as I get the idea for them and/or as time permits.  This aren't going to be quite as consistent as other posts.

Of course... all of this may fall to the wayside after my baby is born, at least for the first few months.  But having a plan will hopefully help me keep on track before 28 April (or thereabouts) and once I get over the sleep deprivation and lack of free time that I know comes with the first few months of baby--it may be wildly optimistic of me to think I'll actually have time for this at all after the baby is born, but I'll keep that optimism for now.

Sermon Notes: "Defending John, Preaching Jesus"

Third Sunday in Advent (Gaudete Sunday)
"Defending John, Preaching Jesus"
Text: Matthew 11:2-10
Hope Lutheran Church, Aurora, CO
Pastor Brian Wolfmueller

"Lord Jesus Christ, we implore You to hear our prayers and to lighten the darkness of our hearts by Your gracious visitation; for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen." (Collect for the Third Sunday in Advent)

If you want to listen to the whole thing, click the link above.  Below are the notes I took while listening for an overview:

• Feels like the world is falling apart
• Things have always been bad for the people of God because of sin
• We live in a work of darkness, sin, and death--inside and outside of us
• Gaudete Sunday, Rejoice!
• Appropriate that we discuss trials and darkness because the collect for today says, "...lighten the darkness of our hearts by Your gracious visitation."
• We know that we and the world are not how we are/it is supposed to be, so we wait for the world to come

• Advent is the season of preparation, which is why we read about Saint John the Baptist (preparer)
• John leaping in the womb at the presence of Jesus was his first sermon
• John was famous through the ancient world
• John was so popular that the Pharisees sent a delegation to find out if he was the Messiah--John did what he did best, by preaching Jesus to them
• John's greatest sermon: "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."
• After Herod died, his kingdom was divided in three among his three sons
• Herod Antipon became the ruler in Israel/Judea
• The story of Herod's family was a disaster (Herod Antipon married his niece and brother's wife, Herodias)
• Herod Antipon had Saint John the Baptist arrested for preaching against his marriage to Herodias
• Herodias' daughter, Salome, danced for Herod Antipon, who was so pleased he said he would grant her anything, up to half his kingdom
• After consulting with her mother, she asked for the head of John the Baptist
• Interesting and surprising that our first glimpse of John the Baptist is when he is in prison, at his weakest and lowest
• We always want a hero--someone who never doubts, but such a man does not exist
• We see the sin of those mentioned in the Bible from Adam to Saint Paul so that we can know salvation is purely the work of God, not the work of any man
• We see John's doubt here when he send his disciples to Jesus
• There was surprise in the crowds at John's doubt--so upsetting, Jesus defends John to the crowds
• Just because you doubt does not take away your faith
• In the Treaties on the Power and Primacy of the Pope, Phillip Melanchthon said that worship is faith fighting back despair
• Even in his despair, John knows who to go to--Jesus.  We should know this too.

Why Doctrine Matters...

I should have included this in yesterday's Sermon Notes post.  I made this several months ago after another Sermon from my Pastor talking about false doctrine meaning spiritual death for folks--I couldn't help but think of this analogy.  Pictures of many, many individuals could go on here, but I figured since I named a whole heresy after him, Joel Osteen was prime target number one.  Maybe I'll make more at some point with other pictures.  Got suggestions?  Post in the comments.  Enjoy!

Yes, I made it in Paint.

Sermon Notes: "It's more important for us to love each other, we shouldn't worry about Doctrine..."

Reformation Sunday
"God for Us"
Text: Matthew 11:12-15

We so often here something to the effect of, "It's more important for us to love each other, we shouldn't worry about Doctrine..." today in modern Christianity.  The problem?  That's Satan speaking.

DOCTRINE IS IMPORTANT!

It is the Devil's hobby to tempt humans to sin.  His real work is in false doctrine.  He aims for the heart of the church--our doctrine, our Gospel.

Modern Christianity (especially non-denominational and/or mega-churches) often forget about doctrine and teachings--sometimes even saying that it is bad to be so divisive.  They want to focus on "deeds, not creeds".  Sadly, these are age-old heresies that Satan has used since the death of Christ to drive others away from the Gospel (which saves) and into the Law (which condemns).  If Satan takes our Gospel, he has won and he has us in his grasp.

Sadly, we live in an age of doctrinal indifference in all church bodies--Lutheranism is not exempt from this.  It is the same old struggle, the church's struggle.  Our fight for the Gospel--our fight for truth and salvation--is the history of the church.  In fact, every book of the Bible (some more obviously than others) was written to correct doctrinal error.

None of this is special to our modern times or even the Reformation.  The church has had false teachers from the beginning.  The church has had many "reformers" along the way.  So what made Luther different?  While other "reformers" were crying out against the sins of individuals in Rome, Luther was focused on false doctrine and false teaching.  While others were grasping at mere feathers, Luther grabbed "the goose by the neck, and set a knife to the throat." (from Table Talk)

The Reformation was a time of great theological controversy.  The chief question of the day was, "How is a man to gain salvation?"  Luther's answer was in Christ alone, through no work of our own, through Faith Alone given to us by Grace Alone as given to us in Scripture Alone.  Works are a mere result of faith, not what give us faith, nor can they earn us any form of merit.

Luther stood not only against Rome, but all false teaching in all churches (especially Arminian, Calvinist, Radical Reformed and Zwinglian).  Those divisions were largely (at the time) over the Lord's Supper.  Luther wrote more about the Lord's Supper than any other doctrinal topic because he knew that the Lord's Supper is the Gospel.

The Reformation was not about Luther, but about Jesus, about restoring the Gospel to primacy in the church.

There are probably more false teachings  and teachers now than ever before.  The sum total of modern theology seems to be: "God is a nice guy who wants us to be happy."  But the Scriptures say more--much, much more.  The Scriptures teach Christ crucified.  The Scriptures teach the Gospel.

At the end, Pastor read a beautifully dramatic rendition of "A Mighty Fortress", a hymn we had already sung in the service.  The words are truly incredible.

1 A mighty fortress is our God,
A trusty shield and weapon;
He helps us free from ev'ry need
That hath us now o'ertaken.
The old evil foe
Now means deadly woe;
Deep guile and great might
Are his dread arms in fight;
On earth is not his equal.

2 With might of ours can naught be done,
Soon were our loss effected;
But for us fights the Valiant One,
Whom God Himself elected.
Ask ye, Who is this?
Jesus Christ it is.
Of Sabaoth Lord,
And there's none other God;
He holds the field forever.

3 Though devils all the world should fill,
All eager to devour us.
We tremble not, we fear no ill,
They shall not overpow'r us.
This world's prince may still
Scowl fierce as he will,
He can harm us none,
He's judged; the deed is done;
One little word can fell him.

4 The Word they still shall let remain
Nor any thanks have for it;
He's by our side upon the plain
With His good gifts and Spirit.
And take they our life,
Goods, fame, child, and wife,
Let these all be gone,
Our vict'ry has been won;
The Kingdom ours remaineth.

(My favorite part of Reformation Sunday are all the wonderful hymns we get to sing, including one of my all-time favorites, "Thy Strong Word".)

Sermon Notes: Law and Gospel and the Two Kingdoms

This week's sermon came from our Gospel reading Matthew 9:1-8 (with references to our Old Testament reading from Exodus 20:1-8, 12-18).

Pastor prefaced the sermon with a note on politics, or more specifically, the two kingdoms and the role of law (the 10 Commandments, or our interpretation of Natural Law) in Christians deciding how to vote.

I won't recount the entire sermon, since the audio is online so you can listen for yourself, but I wanted to make a few observations about Two Kingdoms Theology in general (some of which comes from a previous Bible Study) as well as some of the points Pastor made both in the sermon and our discussion of it in Bible Study following service regarding the Christian's role in politics and voting (as well as the rest of the Sermon--since we can't have the Law without the Gospel!).

Regarding "Two Kingdoms Theology"

Two Kingdoms Theology refers to the Lutheran teaching of the proper distinction between the Left-hand Kingdom (or the Kingdom of Man) and the Right-hand Kingdom (or the Kingdom of God).  I personally consider Romans 13 to be the original separation of Church and State document.  By this, I don't mean that they are completely severed from each other at all, but as another Pastor reminded me, it shows the proper distinction of the Kingdoms, and more importantly, the proper role of a Christian in both Kingdoms.  

I also mean by "separation of Church and State" that a) theocracies are a BIG no-no (basically, preachers are preachers and rulers are rulers, the two roles should not be combined--that is, no blurring of the clear lines between the two Kingdoms); b) that the Left-hand Kingdom is meant to not interfere with the Right-hand Kingdom (First Amendment, anyone?); and c) Christians are called to be involved in government, not using government to advance Christianity, but rather, to advance Natural Law (which we'll get to in a minute).

For a better illustration, here are some of the differences between the two Kingdoms:

Left-hand Kingdom	Right-hand Kingdom
Kingdom of the Man (State)	Kingdom of God (Church)
Law	Gospel
Sword: Internal* and External**	Word, no swords
Power	Grace
Exists for Order	Exists for Mercy
External Righteousness	Internal Righteousness
Realm of Morals	Realm of Faith
Ruled by Reason	Ruled by Scripture

 *Internal Sword = police, etc.

**External Sword = military

Now, from the Christian (and particularly Lutheran) perspective, Natural Law is exemplified in the second table of the Ten Commandments.  The first table deals with the Right-hand Kingdom, or our faith in God, and the second table deals with the Left-hand Kingdom, or Natural Law and interaction with our neighbor.

From that perspective, here is how the Commandments shape up as compared to Natural Law (my own analysis based somewhat on Pastor's Voter's Guide to the 10 Commandments):

Commandment	Natural Law
4th Commandment: Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.	Establishes earthly authority  (not just parents, but “masters”: teachers, bosses, rulers, etc.; also places emphasis on a stable family unit)
5th Commandment: Thou shalt not murder.	“Do not encroach on other persons.” (keep in mind that “murder” ≠ “kill” -- that is, self-defense and justified wars do not fall under the “murder” category; also places emphasis on the government respecting all life)
6th Commandment: Thou shalt not commit adultery.	“Do all you have agreed to do.” (especially since from a state perspective, marriage is essentially contract law, and adultery would be a violation of your contract)
7th Commandment: Thou shalt not steal.	“Do not encroach on [other persons or] their property.” (economic issues and theft fall under this commandment--something interesting we discussed was that socialism would also fall under this commandment)
8th Commandment: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.	“Do all you have agreed to do.” (again, contract law—also addresses slander)
9th Commandment: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house.	“Do not encroach on [other persons or] their property.” (eminent domain)
10th Commandment: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, not his maidservant, not his cattle, nor anything that is they neighbor’s.	“Do not encroach on [other persons or] their property.” (cross-applies to the 7th commandment and theft of personal property/items)

Of course, we can then argue how much of a role the government has in some of these issues.  Anyone who knows me politically knows I take a pretty extremely libertarian (or limited government) stance, especially when it comes to social issues, but that's a different discussion for a different blog.  But as you can see, the second table of the Ten Commandments works well with natural and common law (I used Richard Maybury's summary of common law above because it is that with which I am familiar and ridiculously succinct to boot at 17 total words).

Regarding Christians and Politics

A few brief notes from Pastor's sermon (these are the bullet points I wrote down, I've been taking sermon notes since confirmation):

• Many Pastors say that you must "Take your faith into the voting booth," but that is wrong
• It is not faith, but reason, by which we should vote because the Left-hand Kingdom is ruled by reason (the Right-hand Kingdom is ruled by faith)
• We should bring not the Apostle's Creed but the 10 Commandments into the voting booth
• We don't need to elect someone who is Orthodox, but someone who understands and values Natural Law
• Pagans and Christians should vote the same, because it is by reason and natural law that we should all cast our votes
• The 10 Commandments are the Christian's "Cliff Notes" of Natural Law
• Knowing the 10 Commandments makes us reasonable, keeping them makes us wise
• The State exists for order and the Law, the Church exists for mercy and the Gospel

Regarding the "Rest" of the Sermon

Now, before I go into the "rest" of the sermon, I wanted to briefly discuss Law and Gospel, since this is another fairly uniquely Lutheran thing--and is important to understand the distinction between to understand why this sermon was so well constructed.

The Law is what God demands of us, but because of Original Sin, we cannot fulfill.  The Gospel is the "good news" of God that forgives our sins and gives us what we cannot do on our own.  It is not simply Old vs. New Testament, nor is it always easy to distinguish in modern Christendom (sometimes even inside the Lutheran church).

I bring this up because, more obvious than usual, the Law and Gospel were very clearly defined in this sermon.  Our Left-hand Kingdom duty in politics is clearly covered the by Law.  But no good Lutheran sermon would be complete without the Gospel.  So today we had the story of the healing of the paralytic.  My notes:

• Jesus' words ("Take heart, My son; your sins are forgiven.") were likely shocking and offensive to the onlookers
• The man came for healing, not forgiveness of sins, why would a paralytic need forgiveness of sins?  Wouldn't he rather "need" his arms and legs healed?
• Jesus was questioned by the scribes, who thought Jesus was blaspheming
• Jesus poses an interesting question to the scribes: "Why do you think evil in your hearts?  For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'?"
• Both require higher power, but for us, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven' almost seem harder, not easier (luckily we have Jesus who does that for us), but it was the most important thing to say
• He forgives sins so that we may know the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive our sins
• Like many, the paralytic very well may have been consumed by thinking his disability was caused by his sin (which, in a way, it was--or specifically, his sin nature which brings death, disease and decay)
• Jesus wants all to know that nothing in life will prevent us from receiving forgiveness of our sin, even if we think we don't deserve it.
• Melancholy sometimes sets in when we think of the state of this world, especially politics (because it is the Law)--but the Gospel undoes this for us
• Christ tells us to take heart and be of good cheer--we are forgiven and He will come again

So, as you see, this brings it full-circle--the balance of Law and Gospel in another great sermon.  I spent a lot more time on the "politics" side of it than I did the actual sermon side--probably because I am surrounded by politics usually--so I would encourage you to listen to the sermon for yourself, since it brings a better balance than I did.