Xαρις και Eιρηνη is a blog written from the perspective of a Lutheran student studying for the pastoral ministry. It's title means Grace and Peace, a common greeting in St. Paul's letters and I think, a two-word summary of what Jesus Christ has won for me.
Ephesians 2:4-5
Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
Romans 5:1-3
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.
Colossians 4:5-6
Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Art.XV, 21
The Fathers had these reasons for maintaining the rites, and for these reasons we also judge it to be right that traditions [good customs] be maintained. And we [Lutherans] are greatly surprised that our adversaries, contrary to the entire Scriptures of the Apostles, contrary to the Old and New Testaments contend for another design of traditions, namely, that they may merit the remission of sins, grace, or justification.
11.27.2007
Annapolis Peace Talk
In honor of the Annapolis Peace Talk going on today, here is one essay that I wrote on our last essay-test for my Arab-Israeli Conflict history class. Since the conflict itself has effected or been affected by every major political issue in the Mid-East since WWI, I cannot sum up my personal position on the entire issue in so many words. The question that this essay sought to answer was simply to react to the Israeli Proclamation of Independence of 1948. That's what I have done.
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If you want to understand the mentality that dominates a nation – go to her important documents. Why is liberty such a buzzword in the United States? Why is the monarchy such a contentious issue in the United Kingdom? The answers can be found, or at least better understood, by consulting the Declaration of Independence or The Magna Carta respectively. Likewise, we can better understand the mentality of modern Israel by consulting her Proclamation of Independence. Like all movements inspired by nationalistic sentiment, I believe that here Israel, a product of political Zionism, understands her ideology to be representative of all ethnic Jews. She says, “Exiled from the Land of Israel the Jewish people remained faithful to it in all the countries of their dispersion, never ceasing to pray and hope for their return and the restoration of their national freedom.” But history proves otherwise. For instance, Jews of the 19th century were much more inclined to assimilate into the dominant culture than to pray and hope for their return to Israel. Reform Judaism, the largest branch of Judaism, was a direct result of the desire to assimilate. Zionism, on the other hand, promoted a type of national separation. One tenet of the Proclamation that seems to have fallen by the wayside since the founding of Israel has been her promise to “uphold the full social and political equality of all its citizens, without distinction of religion, race, or sex.” In his recent book, Peace Not Apartheid, Jimmy Carter addresses the state of Palestinians in Israeli-controlled territories. They are a suppressed minority, often cut off from each other by Israeli guard-posts or security walls. Occasionally unable to travel within designated areas, access necessary water, or even sell their crops, the Palestinians are viewed with fear, suspicion or contempt by Jewish Israelis. They cannot even bring a lawsuit to civil court against an Israeli, but may only be tried by an obviously-biased military court. While the Israeli government may argue that the Palestinians are not her citizens, that argument would be flawed by the fact that she is holding indefinitely the territories on which the Palestinians live. Israel has a right to fear for her safety. She has a right to protect her citizens. She has a right to throw subversive criminals in prison. But she does not have a right to categorically suppress a group of people based solely on their ethnic identity. Israel, of all nations, should have learned that lesson. Another principle presented in the Proclamation that seems to have been abandoned by Israel is her commitment to UN Resolution 181. “The State of Israel will be ready to co-operate with the organs and representatives of the United Nations in the implementation of the Resolution of the Assembly of November 29, 1947…” However, an integral part of that resolution was the definition of Israel’s borders – borders which she has not adhered to since 1948. Granted, in 1949 Israel signed an armistice agreement with all her Arab neighbors that extended her borders beyond the recognized UN resolution. But since that time, especially in the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel continues to push her borders outward, establishing settlements and military checkpoints that prohibit the native population from traveling freely or getting back to their seized homes. Perhaps the problem here is that thus far, Israel has been unable to reign in the spirit of Zionism that led to her founding. But we cannot judge too harshly. Israel has kept her Proclamation promises no more or less than the United States has provided life and liberty to each and every one of its citizens. But this does not justify ignorance or apathy for the international community or for Israelis themselves.
Music is a powerful, powerful art. I think that's one of the reasons that the "Liturgy Wars," as they are sometimes called, tend to get all too personal for some people. And I don't think that's a bad thing. In the Wisconsin Synod, while often encountering people with strong convictions one way or the other, I've never met anyone who really treads on the other side's Christian freedom by prohibiting them from worshiping a certain way. The discussion is worthwhile and beneficial.
Contemporary worship has the advantage of being grounded in modern culture and being able to appeal to people who possibly weren't raised in the Christian church. Where our traditional songs may fail to relate because of antiquated phrases or exclusively Christian terminology, these songs can express the brilliant, simple truth of Scripture.
On the other hand, traditional hymns often perform a deep and emotional service for traditional Christians. They echo throughout our lives: When we are 85 years old and sitting in a nursing home, the young choir members will visit us at Christmas to remind us of the salvation won on our behalf. They'll sing hymns that we sang as youngsters in the Children's Service. In that way, they will remind us of that ribbon of God's grace which stretches from our birth to beyond our death. Savior of the Nations, Comeis an amazing hymn like that. It combines the church seasons of End Times and Advent, with this thought in mind: That just as Old Testament believers eagerly awaited the Messiah as their deliverer from sin - a hope that found fulfillment in that unsightly manger 2000 years ago, we New Testament believers eagerly await the second advent of the Messiah in glory. Just as the Old Testament believers did not lose hope over the course of 4000 to 6000 years, we will not lose hope either. We still confess, "He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end."
The hymn itself is, for me anyway, evidence that God is faithful and that his church will never perish. The lyrics were written by Ambrose of Milan, the bishop responsible for the conversion of St. Augustine (300s AD). They were translated into German by Martin Luther and put to our familiar music by Johann Walther (1500s). They were translated into English by William Reynolds, a professor at Gettysburg Lutheran Theological Seminary (mid-1800s). This hymn spans an 1800-year history of God's grace to the Church. Sing it with confidence.
This will probably be my last post until the Thanksgiving weekend is over, so I thought that I would give you something to reflect upon over the weekend. I wanted to do something original on the theme of Thanksgiving, but I became overwhelmed by the task. So, sit and reflect. Literally everything we have, everything,everything comes from our gracious God. What else can I say?
Professor Mark Paustian once took the Biblical picture of God as our Father and moved it into what for me was a particularly striking analogy. It's not difficult, but we just don't think about it often enough. Do you remember ever buying a gift for your parents at a very young age? Do you remember walking through the store, looking for the perfect item that you just knew your Dad would like? You probably never thought about it at the time, but the idea seems a little silly now. Where did the money come from - to buy that gift? That's right: your Dad. What can you give him that he can't pull off the shelf himself? That's right: basically nothing. As a matter of fact, you're wearing the clothes he bought for you as you peruse the shelves. You know you're totally dependent on him, even while you look for his gift. But will he still be happy to recieve that gift? Absolutely. The value of your gift doesn't really lie in the item itself. It lies in the reason that you bought the gift - it is evidence of your love for the one who loves you so much.
Everything we have comes from God. Everything, everything. Let's remember that fact throughout the year, day in and day out - whenever we're tempted to be selfish with time, talents, money, attitudes, etc. Let's remember that our God has spared us no need, not even a Savior, whom he gave us in his Son.
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Luther on The First Article
What do you mean by the words: I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth? Answer, “This is what I believe: That I am a creature of God; he has given to me (and continues to preserve) my body, soul, and life, my members, both great and small, all my senses, reason, and understanding, my food and drink, clothing and job, wife and children, land, house, home, etc. Besides all that, He causes all created things to serve the necessities of life: The sun, moon, and stars in the sky, day and night, air, fire, water, earth, and whatever it produces, birds and fish, animals, grain, all kinds of produce, and every other bodily and temporal blessing, good government, peace, and security.” So, we learn from this article that none of us has life by his own choice, nor can he preserve it, nor anything else that is mentioned here or even can be mentioned, however small and unimportant it might be - because all of it is included under the word “Creator.” We also confess that God the Father has not only given us everything that we have and see before our eyes, but daily preserves and defends us against all evil and misfortune, protects us from all sorts of dangers and calamity, and that He does all this out of pure love and goodness, without our having earned it, as a loving Father who cares for us.
Luther on Second Article
Now, if you are asked, “What do you believe about Jesus Christ?” Answer briefly: I believe that Jesus Christ, true Son of God, is my Lord. He has redeemed me from sin, from the devil, from death, and all evil. Before, I had no Lord or King. I was captive under the power of the devil, condemned to death, entangled in sin and spiritual blindness. When we were created by God the Father, and had received from him all kinds of blessings, the devil came and led us into rebellion, sin, death, and evil, so that we fell under His wrath and displeasure and were doomed to eternal damnation, which we certainly earned and deserved. There was no guidance, help, or comfort until the eternal Son of God in his incomprehensible goodness had compassion on our miserable, wretched state and came from heaven to help us. Those tyrants and jailers are all expelled now, and in their place has come Jesus Christ, the Lord of life, righteousness, salvation, and every other blessing, and he has delivered us from the jaws of hell. He has won us, made us free, and brought us once more into the favor and grace of God the Father, and has taken us to be his own, that he may govern us by His righteousness, wisdom, power, and life.
Luther on Third Article
Neither you nor I could ever know anything about Christ, believe in him or obtain him as our Savior, unless it were offered to us and instilled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Gospel. The work is done and accomplished: Christ has won the treasure of salvation for us by his suffering, death, resurrection, etc. But if Christ’s work remained hidden so that no one knew about it, then it would all be in vain. In order that this treasure would not lie buried therefore, but appropriated and enjoyed, God has caused the Word to go out and be proclaimed. In this Word he gives the Holy Spirit to bring this treasure home and impart it to us. Therefore sanctification is nothing more than bringing us to Christ to receive this good, which we could not attain by ourselves. Here we have everything in richest measure; for in all three articles God has revealed himself and opened the deep places of his fatherly heart and of His pure, unspeakable love. He has created us with this very goal: that he might redeem and sanctify us, and in addition to giving us everything in heaven and on earth, he has even given us his Son and the Holy Spirit, through which he reconciles us to himself.
This week's Music Monday features a song by the Decemberists called Sixteen Military Wives. The Decemberists, I'm guessing, are one of those bands that a person either likes or hates. The lead singer has a haunting voice - something that becomes more evident in other songs. They typically refuse to conform to conventional instruments and chord progressions, preferring to go their own way. They're obviously smart, but enjoy having fun as well. Anyway, I'm a fan.
While this video is obviously political, it's not so strongly put or arrogant as to be a waste of time. To me, the lyrics are mostly trying to contrast the "profiteers" of war (e.g. politicians, newsmen, celebrities) with those who really pay the price (soldiers, their families and wives). What I like most about the video itself is the juxtaposition of the UN with a high school classroom.
"Fifteen celebrity minds Leading their fifteen sordid, wretched, checkered lives Will they find their solution in time? Using fifteen pristine moderate liberal minds?"
The City of Mankato can buy an Egg McMuffin - on me!
I admit it! Today I had my very first encounter with the law. (Sort of.) It came in the form of a parking ticket at what I thought was Bethany Lutheran College. Turns out I was actually parked on a street belonging to the City of Mankato, and I didn't see the "No Parking" sign. It all ended in a $5.00 donation to the city government. I earned it, yes I did. But in honor of this momentous occasion, I present the following video:
Today I judged a gradeschool forensics tournament for local WELS schools. The experience led me to realize that I'm a push-over when it comes to judging. (On American Idol, I would be Paula Abdul.) Those kids work so hard to memorize their pieces and work up the bravery to stand before me to be judged - I really sympathize with them. I remember what that was like...
Just an observation: As a kid, you really hang your life on that judge's sheet. It's so important, so final, so unquestionable. You think of yourself for days in terms of that sheet. I had no idea back then that it was just some schmo like me behind the desk. I wonder what else in our lives we blow out of proportion like that. Of course, when our judgment comes it won't be some schmo behind the desk, but Jesus. Still, we do need to realize that when we are His, he sympathizes with us. Sometimes we need to laugh it off when we make mistakes or forget our lines. Yes, it is serious - but He won't let us pay for it. He already has paid for it.
Before the invention of the printing press, books of the Bible were copied by hand, tediously... letter... by... letter. For the most part, the scribes knew the nature of their work. That is, they greatly respected the texts and did their best to make sure that nothing was lost, nothing was added. From the first God-breathed written copies of the texts until the 1500's, it was the faithful hands and weary eyes of Jewish scribes and Christian monks that preserved God's revelation over generations.
Now, the Christian church was blessed by a very apt translator in the 6th century AD. A man known as Jerome, a scholarly Christian who was familiar with both Hebrew and Greek, took the Old and New Testaments and translated them both into Latin for a wider audience. His translation was called the Vulgate, and it became the standard text for the church right up to the Lutheran Reformation.
If you know your history, combine these three things: (1) the Diaspora (literally scattering) of the Jews throughout the world after the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, (2) a standardized Bible text not in the original languages, and (3) the eventual fall of the Roman Empire, which thus begins the period known for a reason as The Dark Ages. That's right! You've got a perfect recipe for the disappearance of the Hebrew language!
Beginning in the 7th century, Jewish scholars knew that their sacred language had all but lost it's grip. Rabbis continued to study the Old Testament in Hebrew, but nobody spoke it daily and questions started being raised. The biggest problem was that Ancient Hebrew had no vowels. Can you imagine what problems that would cause?* So, relying on oral tradition, context, other texts, etc., these Jewish scholars began filling-in the Old Testament with vowels. They put them underneath and above the consonants themselves, careful not to mess with the original text. One of the most important, prominent, and dedicated families of these scholars were the Ben-Asher family. The last in a long line of scholars, Aaron Ben-Asher is the man responsible for the version of the Old Testament that we know as Aleppo Codex. His work is considered the height of that era of scholarship.
Because of the intense years of study and correction that went into the Aleppo Codex, it became the standard reference among Jewish copyists for adding vowels and textual notes. Famous medieval Jewish scholar Maimonides said of the Aleppo Codex, "In these matters we relied upon the codex, now in Egypt, which contains the twenty-four books of Scripture and which had been in Jerusalem for several years. It was used as the standard text in the correction of books. Everyone relied on it, because it had been corrected by Ben Asher himself who worked on its details closely for many years and corrected it many times whenever it was being copied." (Emanuel Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible [Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2001], p. 46).
The Codex is thought to have been written around 920 A.D. in Palestine, somewhere around the city of Tiberias. Sometime in the 11th century it was handed over to the Jewish community in Jerusalem, presumably after it was bought from descendants of Aaron Ben-Asher. From there, either by invading Seljuks in 1079 or Crusaders in 1099, it was looted from Jerusalem and ended up in Cairo. By 1400, it had been brought to the synagoge in Aleppo, Syria.
And by 1517, Martin Luther had nailed his 95 thesis to the door of the Wittenberg Church. The Reformation was underway, along with the Rennaissance, and along with these movements came a renewed interest in the classics and Biblical languages. Hebrew was being resurrected for study in the Christian church as well as Judaism. Reliable sources were sought evermore fervently, and the Aleppo Codex was one of them. The problem is, nobody was admitting to having it.
The rabbis in Aleppo, Syria did have the Codex. It had been theirs since the it was brought there in the 14th century. But somewere in time they had grown supersticious. They kept it hidden away; they wouldn't let any scholars access or take photos of it because they believed that their sole possession of the Codex would lead to a sort of divine protection. God would protect the Aleppo community for the sake of this precious item, wouldn't he? Afterall, it was the most reliable (and only complete) copy of the entire Old Testament in the original Hebrew. It also ranked as the #1 oldest copy known at that time.
As it turns out, God did not protect Aleppo. In 1948, when the British declared that they would pull their military out of Palestine and that a Jewish state would be founded there, riots broke out all over the Arab world. Aleppo was not spared. The synagoge where the Codex resided was torched in the riots. After that fire, nobody knew the fate of the Aleppo Codex for roughly a decade. Witnesses claimed to have seen the Codex being rescued by rabbis, however, which turned out to be the truth. Eventually the Israeli government was able to convince the rabbis to surrender it. Or at least two-thirds of it.
Until that time, the Codex had been whole. Nobody could account for the missing third. Even the rabbis who rescued the Codex claimed to have no idea. Some think it was burned in the riots, but there's reason to doubt it. For one thing, none of the existing pages show any trace of fire damage. On the other hand, no part of the missing the third ever showed up again - until 1982. That year, a Jewish family that had moved from Aleppo to Brooklyn returned one page of the Codex to the Israeli government.
That incident, combined with the testimony of Sam Sabbagh, now leaves many with the impression that the rest of the Codex is still out there - possibly scattered over the face of the earth in little pieces. Sabbagh was young man in Aleppo at the time of the riots, and he happened to be in the synagoge the day after it was burned. He saw part of the Codex on the ground, and he took a piece off for himself.
"I saw the pages scattered on the floor and damaged by the fire. I could have taken the whole remaining part but my hands shook with fear and the horror of what I had seen. I thought they were going to butcher us all like the Turks massacred the Armenians. I only took the little piece that was separate." (Haaretz)
The Israeli government had been informed about Sabbagh's fragment back in 1987, but he refused to part while he lived, agreeing only to donate it posthumously. He carried it around with him in a plastic pouch, believing it to bring him good luck, for about six decades. It was only this year that the fragment was returned to Israel to join the rest of the Codex.
Once the oldest known and most important document in Ancient Hebrew studies, the Aleppo Codex has been replaced in age by fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls. It has also arguably been replaced in importance by the Leningrad Codex, which was "discovered" later (albeit roughly the same age) and became the standard reference for modern scholars due to the denial of access to the Aleppo Codex by the Aleppo rabbis. Still, the Aleppo Codex is a very important document and we Christians can hope and pray that it soon be surrendered, if there is anyone out there holding on to the rest of it
*Take any three-consonant word (which is the length of most verb-roots in Hebrew) and remove the vowels. Now see how many words you can make by filling in vowels. The word CATS, for example, can become CUTS, CITES, CITIES, COOTIES, COTS, etc.
Theologische Tuesday - The Chief Article of the Smalcald Articles
This year I had the honor of being published for the first time! My Symbolics professor decided that he would like to print an essay that I wrote for our final exam in The Lutheran Educator. Here's another essay from that test:
The Smalcald Articles & Their Chief Article (Essay #1) When Dr. Luther called part two, article one of the Smalcald Articles "the first and chief article," he wasn't beating around the theological bush. Essentially, the article is a short presentation of justification by Jesus Christ, won for us on account of his grace and imparted to us through faith. It's hard to contend with Luther's labeling this article the 'chief article' of the Smalcald Articles: When we take the time to read through the rest of them, we find that they all point back to the first. As Dr. Luther himself said, "On this article stands all that we teach and practice against the pope, the devil and the world." Immediately after his brief presentation of the chief article, Dr. Luther launches into an attack on what he sees as the chief abomination against it in his day, the Roman Catholic Mass. The Mass was troubling to him for the same reason it is troubling to us: It stood (and continues to stand) at the center of a false gospel which is no real Gospel at all. As Dr. Luther observed, the Mass was 'idolatry' for its followers, who thought that by observing it they could earn their way into heaven. "They are well aware that if the Mass falls, the papacy falls." (SA, II: 2) Dr. Luther saw the Mass as the tool of Satan and the papacy to keep people blind to the gift of Gospel. As long as the Mass existed, the people would have a means by which to continue their work-righteous idolatry. But the Mass was not the only idolatry that the Smalcald Articles attacked. No, in the third part of the Articles, Dr. Luther "laid down the Law" in a less-than-metaphorical sense. One of the biggest abominations to be seen in the Roman Church was their misunderstanding of sin. Probably both as a result of her work-righteous teaching and a precursor to it, Rome had completely skewed the severity, the eternally damning nature of sin. They made false distinctions between venial and mortal sins. They required penance as though it were repentance, and as though a person could be saved by it. They absolved people in the name of their works, and thus ignored the free gift of the Gospel, the redemptive work of Christ. Just about every aspect of the church which had been founded for a noble purpose was now being used as a tool for work righteousness. The sacraments, once the Gospel in physical form, had instead become a means for the papacy to exert and forward its power. Excommunication was not used as a last call to repentance, but as a fearful tool which would exile anyone who might contradict the pope. Monastic vows were not intended as guide for a life devoted to Jesus, but as a legalistic way of earning salvation. The Gospel itself was presented as a "new Law." What Dr. Luther is trying to do in the Smalcald Articles is the same thing that every Christian, led by the Holy Spirit out of love for God, tries to do in their own lives. He was trying to get the eyes of the people off themselves and onto Christ. That is what makes the Smalcald Articles truly Christian - that they direct people to Christ. The "first and chief article" does it most directly of all the Articles, but they all do it.
Oops! I accidentally deleted a post that I wrote yesterday. I recommended the free, personalized internet radio called Pandora. Like I said, the site is free, but has some additional benefits if you sign up. One of my roommates introduced me to it to me a while back. I didn't like it then, but I checked back last night and it became immediately obvious that the site has much improved. Looking to expand your horizons within your music taste? Check it out.
We have a convocation schedule today at Martin Luther College for the sake of a special Veteran's Day ceremony. Today I will begin a long series of Music Mondays, which are an excuse for me (1) to show you some really cool music vidoes (2) without having to write anything substantial. The video is Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits, an old-school British rock band. I was introduced to this song by the TV program West Wing. I don't watch alot of television, but to this day the scene stands out as one of the best executed televison moments I have ever seen. Largely reliant on the context of the rest of the episode, I do not recommend this clip to those who someday may actually watch that amazing (canceled) show. In the meantime, here is the original Dire Straits version:
"There's so many different worlds So many different suns And we have just one world But we live in different ones."
Today is Veteran's Day. It's a day to think about the freedoms that we enjoy as members of this greatly blessed nation. More importantly, realizing that almost all earthly gifts come with a cost, it's a day to think about the men and women who won or defended those freedoms for us.
My contact with service-members is limited. The ones I talk to regularly have never (fortunately) been involved in serious combat - another blessing given to this great nation. While writing a paper on the Spanish Civil War earlier this semester, I ran across a statistic that the 20th century was the bloodiest century in human history. While I recognize the authority of governments to wage wars, I still think it's not too late to commit ourselves to the idea that the 21st century not take its place. That will require the participation of civilians and soldiers alike. Civilians to research, question, inquire and determine what exactly is just cause for a war, and soldiers to become committed to their decision. But it is ultimately soldiers who may be called upon to give the ultimate sacrifice.
If you know a soldier, buy them a drink sometime this week. Say "Thanks," or write them a letter if they're far away. I think I'm going to soon.
Well, here I am. This is my first post, and it presents me with a question: What will be the purpose of this blog? My idea for this blog is simply that to represent some of my daily musings, share ideas and give the reader a sense of what influences me. I hope to talk a little about history, art, and music. I'll talk about my family and friends. I'll talk about food, school and my favorite pair of shoes. And of course, the most important thing. I will talk about Jesus Christ and what he has done for me - and what he has done for you.
Some posts will be objective truth. Others will be subjective and a little more impressionistic. Some will simply be ideas submitted for your entertainment or evalutation. For the most part, I'll leave it to you to sort out.
My personal motto for this blog will be from Colossians 4:5-6, "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."
