Thursday, August 15, 2013

A Brave Old World

In spite of what people might think, it's not a brave new world - it's a brave old world.

While there may be much indignation or hand-wringing (or even fear) over the fact that the ELCA just elected a woman to be their presiding bishop - eh, it's the same old same old.  Were our problems with their theological positions and practice any less a week ago than they are today?  Not really.

Or even the issues of social decay that we see going on around us.  I know some people are starting to get really worried about the legalization of polygamy - um, well, you know, the Church has been in lands where polygamy was legal, and Christ the crucified was still preached.

The fact that we as individuals may not have faced a particular circumstance or setting doesn't change the Scriptural truth that really, there is nothing new under the sun.  And built upon the Rock, the Church shall stand.

Really.

No, seriously - even if there is something that really, really bothers you about society or the world today, something that is totally scary... is not Christ still risen from the dead?  Do we not still rightly confess the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life of the world to come?

What we see today is just "situation normal" for the world.  And if we see it more clearly now, maybe perhaps instead of saying, "Oh, it's so much worse" - perhaps we should repent of our ego which had prevented us from seeing and understanding that the world is always messed up and off... even if we happened to have sort of liked or enjoyed how it had been messed up then much more than we do now.

Our response remains the same.  We don't blame our neighbors - rather we see troubles, confess our own sins, receive forgiveness, proclaim Christ... and carry on.

Thus has always been life for the Christian in a sinful world - even if the prevalent sins are more annoying to us right now.

1 comment:

Steve Martin said...

Amen.

It began in the Garden and the downward spiral continues.

But our lives and the life of the world are not progressing. But are being brought to an end.

So we hoist the sails of the gospel and sail straight into it, amidst all the objections and unbelief.

Thanks, Rev.