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In View of Our Weaknesses

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We see that great princes stumble and that the best bishops often show themselves as the most foolish.

Then what? Should nothing at all be done, and should all managing be shunned entirely? Not at all. Rather let everyone diligently and faithfully do his duty which has been committed to him by God. But let him beware of relying on his own strength or his own wisdom and of considering himself such a great man that everything should be directed in accordance with what he counsels. For it is incurable and damnable rashness and arrogance on my part when I claim to be such a person and such an extraordinary man that I can manage the state, the home, and the church wisely and properly. But if you are a judge, a bishop, or a prince, you should not feel ashamed to fall on your knees and say: “Lord God, Thou hast appointed me as prince, judge, head of the household, and pastor of the church. Therefore guide and teach me, give me counsel, wisdom, and strength to attend successfully to the office committed to me.”

…

Hence everyone should learn to acknowledge his weakness humbly and to ask GOD for wisdom and counsel. For men are not summoned to govern because they should arrogate to themselves perfect knowledge of everything, but because they should be taught and learn what God is and what He does through the government and the rulers, who are the instruments of God’s works through which God rules the people. Then they become truly wise and successful in governing. But if they follow their own counsels and their own thoughts, they do nothing properly. No, then they disturb and confuse everything. Therefore one must take refuge in prayer, set forth the difficulty of the office to God, and say: “Our Father who art in heaven, etc., give me the wisdom that sits by Thy throne” (Wisd. of Sol. 9:4)

But above all a ruler in the church should pray in this manner: “Lord God, Thou has appointed me in the church as bishop and pastor. Thou seest how unfit I am to attend to such a great and difficult office, and if it had not been for Thy help, I would long since have ruined everything. Therefore I call upon Thee. Of course, I want to put my mouth and heart to use. I shall teach the people, and I myself shall learn and shall meditate diligently on Thy Word. Use me as Thy instrument. Only do not forsake me; for if I am alone, I shall easily destroy everything.” The sects and the sectarians do the opposite, for they ascribe to themselves the wisdom and the ability to rule and to teach. Therefore they burst rashly into the church, do not pray, and do not believe that the administration either of the church or of the state is a gift of God; but they force themselves in as teachers and leaders. Therefore it eventually happens that they confuse and hinder what has been profitable built by others.

…

But you could find many who do not acknowledge this higher power and wisdom in governing. If any obstacles are put in their way, they suppose that they will set things right more properly if they employ greater severity in their punishments, so that their subjects are held in check by the fear of the punishments and are driven to obey even against their will. Surely there is need of discipline — and rather stern discipline at that — especially in the matter of these morals of ours; but it is completely certain that you will never achieve anything without prayer. For governing is a divine power, and for this reason God calls all magistrates gods (cf. Ps. 82:6), not because of the creation but because of the administration which belongs to God alone. Consequently, he who is in authority is an incarnate god, so to speak. But if they force their way into the government of the church, the state, or the household rashly and without due preparation, exclude God, do not pray, and do not seek advice from God but want to rule everything with their own counsels and strength, then it will eventually happen in the management of household affairs that an honorable and chaste wife will become a harlot of the worst kind and that the children will degenerate and come into the power of the executioner. In the civil government the state will be thrown into confusion by insurrections, wars, and countless other perils. In the church heresies, Epicurean contempt for the Word, desecration of the sacraments, etc., will arise. Why? Because such a head of a household, prince, or pastor does not recognize GOD as the Author of all counsel and government but by his presumption and arrogance destroys himself and others over whom he rules.

LW, AE vol. 5, p. 122-124

The Purpose of God’s Gifts

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Hence the purpose of God’s gifts is not the pleasure or the tyranny of those who have the gifts, but the lawful use should be directed toward the glory of God and the welfare and benefit of the neighbor. But although people receive God’s blessing, sovereignty, priesthood, power, strength, and intelligence, and have the efficient, formal, and material cause, they are not concerned about the final cause. But why are you a king? Why are you a prince, a priest, a father, or a mother? “In order that I may be blessed in this life,” you will say, “in order that I may indulge in pleasures, in order that I may gratify my lusts. I am learned and rich in order that I may get a great name and glory among men.” But then the rule of which you boast is completely done away with, because God does not want His blessings poured out for any other purpose than for His own glory, for the praise of Him who bestows them, and for the welfare of the church. The government is held in honor in order that it may benefit the state. Husband and wife are joined together in order that they may bring children into the world and rear them for the benefit of the home and the state. But the world cuts off the final cause in all the gifts of God.

LW, AE vol. 5, p. 112

The Means of Grace

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Without an appearance of angels, and strengthened by the Word alone, the martyrs met death for the sake of the name of Christ. Why should we, too, not be satisfied with the same thing? Baptism is a sufficiently manifest and clear appearance. So are the Eucharist, the Keys, the ministry of the Word. They are equal to — yes, they even surpass — all the appearances of all angels, in comparison with which Abraham had only droplets and crumbs.

LW, AE vol. 4, p. 126

A Context for Love and Mercy

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There are so many differing opinions and beliefs. It occurs in the political realm, and also in the theological realm. It must be a consequence of Babel. I’d like to describe something that might be agreeable to people who usually disagree with my own opinions and beliefs. It’s about love and mercy.

Generally, everyone would be in favor of love and mercy, especially at those times when we might be the recipient of them. Even the most legalistic Muslim would joyfully receive mercy from his god rather than damnation for his sins, would he not? It seems to me that all liberals, all conservatives, and the squishy-squashy people in the middle; all Christians, all pagans, and all those conflicted atheists are in favor of love and mercy, in some form, at some time.

The point I’d like them all to consider is that love and mercy don’t exist in a vacuum. Imagine pure anarchy: the lack of rule or law. How could anyone show love or mercy in a context like that? Mercy is unnecessary, because it would be impossible to do wrong. Love is undefined, because there would be no expectations on inter-personal relationships.

In order for mercy to exist among us, there must be the possibility of earning certain, definite punishments. In order for love to exist, there must be some kind of inter-personal behavior considered to be the norm, to make loving behavior distinguishable.

Someone might argue that love and mercy are just nonsense syllables until each of us assigns our own meanings to them. That is nonsense, and is easily demonstrated as false by simply communicating with one another, in any number of languages. No, there is some kind of mutual understanding we have of these two words, and that understanding requires that the things they represent have a context of laws and norms.

I’d like to write more about this later. For now, here is an exercise for the reader. Ask yourself: “What laws and norms exist to provide a context for love and mercy, from where have they come, and how are they enforced?”

Religiously Scrupulous

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A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, …

So begins the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. Having read about the formation of that amendment, as well as some of the Federalist Papers, I know that the militia was an important priority for the Founders and their generation. It was so important that Congress was given the authority to regulate the militias of the various states, and citizens were obligated by law to report for an annual muster. In the course of setting out these requirements, there was a debate about conscientious objectors. A frequently-used term was “the religiously scrupulous,” designating who were exempted from both the muster and a financial levy toward the common defense. After some discussion, the Founders wisely recognized that protecting the free exercise of religion preempts the need for a well-regulated militia.

Now it is reported that the Senate version of the nationalized health care bill requires everyone with public health insurance to pay monthly into a fund that will pay the cost of abortions. Apparently, the drafters and supporters of this bill consider the free exercise of religion to be less important than the “right” to health insurance coverage, even for abortions. (Though I don’t find that right in the Bill of Rights.) There seems to have been a shift. Whereas the Founders prioritized religious scruples before other important things, our current leadership has chosen new priorities that are not found in the Constitution, and promoted them above the First Amendment.

If you are a Christian in more than name, now is a good time to pray and to exercise your responsibility as a Christian in the kingdom of the Left. That is certainly easier than being prosecuted later under unjust laws for abiding by your religious scruples.

Luther on Living a Holy Life

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But the holy orders and true religious institutions established by God are these three: the office of priest, the estate of marriage, the civil government. [See Large Catechism, 4th Commandment, 158, and the Augsburg Confession, Article XVI] All who are engaged in the clerical office or ministry of the Word are in a holy, proper, good, and God-pleasing order and estate, such as those who preach, administer sacraments, supervise the common chest, sextons and messengers or servants who serve such persons. These are engaged in works which are altogether holy in God’s sight.

Again, all fathers and mothers who regulate their household wisely and bring up their children to the service of God are engaged in pure holiness, in a holy work and a holy order. Similarly, when children and servants show obedience to their elders and masters, here too is pure holiness, and whoever is thus engaged is a living saint on earth.

Moreover, princes and lords, judges, civil officers, state officials, notaries, male and female servants and all who serve such persons, and further, all their obedient subjects — all are engaged in pure holiness and leading a holy life before God. For these three religious institutions or orders are found in God’s Word and commandment; and whatever is contained in God’s Word must be holy, for God’s Word is holy and sanctifies everything connected with it and involved in it.

Above these three institutions and orders is the common order of Christian love, in which one serves not only the three orders, but also serves every needy person in general with all kinds of benevolent deeds, such as feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, forgiving enemies, praying for all men on earth, suffering all kinds of evil on earth, etc. Behold, all of these are called good and holy works. However, none of these orders is a means of salvation. There remains only one way above them all, viz. faith in Jesus Christ.

For to be holy and to be saved are two entirely different things. We are saved through Christ alone; but we become holy both through this faith and through these divine foundations and orders. Even the godless may have much about them that is holy without being saved thereby. For God wishes us to perform such works to his praise and glory. And all who are saved in the faith of Christ surely do these works and maintain these orders.

(AE 37:364-365)

Note that neither the three broad categories (churchly, domestic, and civil) that Luther describes, nor the examples he gives, are meant to be mutually exclusive. Our church Treasurer supervises the common chest, but also holds other churchly responsibilities, as well as responsibilities in the other categories.

Government: Not Evil, but Fallen

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I was just looking at reports of today’s rally on the west lawn of the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. One attendee was quoted as saying that it now seems the government has become evil.

I’m glad to see eyes opening to the possibility of evil, even in our own country. Yes, it can happen here. At the same time, I caution anyone who cares to read this against thinking that any government is evil in a civil sense. Governments are gifts from God, to benefit the lives of their citizens in this fallen world. The American system of government is no exception, and neither is the current (or any prior) slate of elected officials.

Government can become twisted in service to evil, until it seems to be inextricably bound to it. Certain 20th Century examples spring to mind, and perhaps present-day Persia. Yet even there, the government as such has certain divinely-assigned responsibilities, which make it a blessing to its people, and even to neighboring nations.

While a government is not intrinsically evil, it is certainly part of this fallen world. That means that it can make mistakes, like the rest of us. The difference is that when I make a mistake, it affects fewer people. I just finished reading a history of the Great Depression called The Forgotten Man, by Amity Schlaes. The disregard of F.D.R. and many of his advisors for the tremendous negative influence of government mistakes is astounding. That disregard was probably induced by the politics of the crisis, but I would rather have a President willing to be denied reelection as the cost of doing the smallest possible harm to others. The governing philosophy of Coolidge might have helped Americans much more, though they would have missed the hollow comforts in F.D.R.’s fireside chats.

Please do not think that government is evil, even when it has done evil. In a spiritual sense, it is no more evil than you or I am evil. (We are all condemned sinners in a world destined for destruction.) Christians who have the forgiveness of sins can appreciate that Christ’s redemption has also provided us a sanctified use of the government. Christians can serve as elected or appointed officials, as bureaucratic employees or soldiers. Whether we do or not, we must also hold our fallen government accountable, so that it does less harm, and promotes the only kind of justice for which God has made it responsible. That’s not “social justice” or “media justice” (which are really different kinds of injustice), but the punishment and suppression of evils that threaten the lives and property of its citizens.

Christians can also take comfort that we are citizens of a better and perfect government. It’s a monarchy, but only subjects of this King are ever truly free. Thanks to the blood and death of our risen Lord, we will enjoy this freedom for eternity. All earthly governments will go the way of Rome, into mere history. Our Lord and King lives forever.

The Church Militant Lives in the Kingdom of the Left

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The Church Militant lives in the Kingdom of the Left. That is, the Church of Christ on earth, consisting of all who believe and trust that He is their Savior, exists within the framework of secular and worldly laws and rulers that encompass life on earth. Christians live beside non-Christians, under the same laws.

Individually, Christians have as much interest in laws and justice as everyone else does. The mission of the Church is different. It revolves around the message of the Gospel. When we believe that message, that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, gave His perfect life upon the cross as the sole, sufficient payment for the guilt of the whole world, then God has made us members of the Church, and we possess all of His gifts. On the other hand, the faith that receives this greatest of all gifts in a completely passive way, does not remain passive in our life as Christians.

Christian faith must be active, and that activity takes place in the Kingdom of the Left, within that framework of laws and justice that defines civil society. The activity of our faith is directed by a conscience informed by Holy Scripture. That’s one of the reasons we teach the Ten Commandments in our catechesis: to inform and guide our actions of faith.

When we study the Ten Commandments, they teach us that the Kingdom of the Left — our government — exists as a gift from God, having certain responsibilities that represent His blessings upon us when they are fulfilled. For example, the Fourth Commandment describes not only our responsibility to figures of authority, but implies that they exist to serve our well-being. The Fifth Commandment shows that human life is to be protected, even by our government, when it is not fulfilling its greater responsibility in the Fourth Commandment. The Sixth Commandment reveals that God would also have government protect and encourage lifelong marriage, obviously between one man and one woman. That relationship provides the context for the basic meaning of the Fourth Commandment, “your father and your mother,” so that the institution of marriage is fundamental to civil society itself. The Seventh, Ninth and Tenth Commandments show that God would have government enforce the respect of private property, which is the fruit of our labor. The Eighth shows that God hold government responsible for protecting the good name of its citizens.

God blesses every citizen, Christian or not, when government fulfills these responsibilities. What’s more, Christians are then better able to live our their active faith in love toward their neighbors. Yet before any of those commandments, God commanded that we have only one God, and that we sanctify His name and His Word in their proper and daily uses. If this is forbidden or suppressed in the Kingdom of the Left, then Christians must disobey the errant earthly authority in order to obey the greater authority of God. Certainly, this will result in hardship or even death, especially when the earthly authority is not interested in justice or the other responsibilities that God has given it. It is for that reason that the Bill of Rights is such a blessing to the Church, in particular the First Amendment, guaranteeing the freedoms of speech, assembly, and religion. Of slightly less interest to Christians is the Second and subsequent amendments, which also exist to provide citizens the means to protect their individual freedoms in the rest.

These days, people seem more concerned about the “establishment clause” of the first amendment, prohibiting the government from establishing a national religion — or a state religion, as the Supreme Court has further interpreted it. However, just as important as the “establishment clause” is the “free exercise clause,” which forbids the national (or state) government from prohibiting the free exercise of an individual’s religion. The clause assumes that the religion in question does not threaten the freedoms of other citizens. Especially in this area, Christians in the Church Militant should be concerned and involved in the American government, because it applies directly to the activity and scruples of faith.

For an application of this concern, see Gene Edward Veith’s blog post about how the federal Equal Opportunity Commission is requiring Roman Catholic institutions to pay for birth control in their health insurance plans. You may be tempted to consider it “someone else’s problem” if you’re not Roman Catholic, but that would be unwise. A government willing to ignore the free exercise clause in the case of Roman Catholics will not hesitate to ignore it in the case of Lutherans, Reformed, Evangelicals, Orthodox, etc.

Chesterton: A Thinking, Christian Citizen

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Part of a Christian’s duty on earth is to uphold his government by encouraging justice, the rule of law in civil society, and the protection of his fellow citizens from evildoers both inside and outside his nation. To that end, God has provided individual gifts like memory, reason, and strength. The Christian worldview is fully compatible with the right use of reason, and even demands that use when circumstances make it necessary. Here is an example.

Eugenics is an old name for the “applied science” of influencing the human gene pool for the benefit of the future human race. It was quite popular in some circles toward the beginning of the 20th Century. Well-known advocates were Adolph Hitler and Margaret Sanger. (In case you don’t know, Margaret Sanger is the founder of Planned Parenthood, a leader in the abortions-for-profit industry.)

G. K. Chesterton wrote a book against Eugenics, which I found available in audio as a Librivox recording. (BTW, the listing I browsed placed the Communist Manifesto just after Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. There’s a contrast for you.) What Chesterton wrote is well worth reading. You may think that Eugenics is no longer an issue in the 21st Century. If so, then find a copy of the movie Gattaca and watch it. In fact, what Chesterton wrote is also quite applicable to today’s public discourse about government and its role in providing health insurance for citizens. You can find the whole book at Project Gutenberg.

Here is Chesterton’s note to the reader.

I publish these essays at the present time for a particular reason connected with the present situation; a reason which I should like briefly to emphasise and make clear.

Though most of the conclusions, especially towards the end, are conceived with reference to recent events, the actual bulk of preliminary notes about the science of Eugenics were written before the war. It was a time when this theme was the topic of the hour; when eugenic babies (not visibly very distinguishable from other babies) sprawled all over the illustrated papers; when the evolutionary fancy of Nietzsche was the new cry among the intellectuals; and when Mr. Bernard Shaw and others were considering the idea that to breed a man like a cart-horse was the true way to attain that higher civilisation, of intellectual magnanimity and sympathetic insight, which may be found in cart-horses. It may therefore appear that I took the opinion too controversially, and it seems to me that I sometimes took it too seriously. But the criticism of Eugenics soon expanded of itself into a more general criticism of a modern craze for scientific officialism and strict social organisation.

And then the hour came when I felt, not without relief, that I might well fling all my notes into the fire. The fire was a very big one, and was burning up bigger things than such pedantic quackeries. And, anyhow, the issue itself was being settled in a very different style. Scientific officialism and organisation in the State which had specialised in them, had gone to war with the older culture of Christendom. Either Prussianism would win and the protest would be hopeless, or Prussianism would lose and the protest would be needless. As the war advanced from poison gas to piracy against neutrals, it grew more and more plain that the scientifically organised State was not increasing in popularity. Whatever happened, no Englishmen would ever again go nosing round the stinks of that low laboratory. So I thought all I had written irrelevant, and put it out of my mind.

I am greatly grieved to say that it is not irrelevant. It has gradually grown apparent, to my astounded gaze, that the ruling classes in England are still proceeding on the assumption that Prussia is a pattern for the whole world. If parts of my book are nearly nine years old, most of their principles and proceedings are a great deal older. They can offer us nothing but the same stuffy science, the same bullying bureaucracy and the same terrorism by tenth-rate professors that have led the German Empire to its recent conspicuous triumph. For that reason, three years after the war with Prussia, I collect and publish these papers.

G.K.C.

Below is his first not-so-long chapter, answering the question, “What is Eugenics?”

Continue reading “Chesterton: A Thinking, Christian Citizen” →

Christian Anderson Speaks to the Present

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Fed up with church politics? Then here’s something you should appreciate. I may have blogged about this before, but re-reading it impresses upon me the importance of what this ELS church father wrote. Please read the whole thing at ??????? (diatheke). It contains wisdom for every Lutheran church body today, even districts, circuits, and congregations. This is from the end of that post:

Since the Church Council had gradually become such a strong influence in the Synod, when its power was taken into service of the liberal element, it was something which was not easy to resist. Woe to the poor pastor who dared to oppose this Council and come into its disfavor! And because this institution had so long been highly respected by the majority of the members of the Synod, the culprit could not count on much support.

“We see this same danger asserting itself in other synods, even if the vehicles of power may be called by different names.”