Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Seek, and Ye Will Find

So, what do you look for when you read the Scriptures?  What are you expecting to find?

That will shape what you see.  Let me give an example.  A friend noted the following portion of the epistle for Thanksgiving (Phil 4:8-9):

 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."

In this passage he saw exortation to works and virtue.  And, well, that is something he prizes and values.

That's not what I see.  Let's give a touch more context.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

What do I see in verses 8 and 9?

Christ.

Consider the context - there is rejoicing, there is prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.  Those are worship words.  There is the votum that we say after the sermon to this day.  This is all about worship, where Christ Jesus comes to us via Word and Sacrament and brings us joy and peace and forgiveness.


But let's consider just 8 and 9, thinking not on works, but on Christ.

Whatever is true... I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Whatever is honorable...It is the Father than honors Me.
Whatever is just... so that He would be Just and justifyer...

Do you see?  When you think of the Pure, the Lovely, the Commendable, do you not think of Christ?  If there is excellence, or worthy of praise (worthy is the Lamb!) - think on these things!

And of course there is the next verse.

What you have learned.  Emathete.  Disciple.  Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing....  That's Baptism.


What you have received.  I passed on to you what I received as of first importance, that on the night when He was betrayed...

What you have heard.  Faith comes by... hearing.

What you have seen.  He is the image of the invisible Father.


Practice these things - Baptism, the Supper, Preaching Christ... and the God of peace will be with you... Immanuel.

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So, what do you wish to see?

If you want to see in Philippians 4 a finger wagging admonishment to virtue, you can make that argument... if you want to say that if you practice virtue that this is the key to peace with God, that your works summon forth Christ.


If you want to see Christ, well, you see Christ and His righteousness, the very Prince of Peace, peace that surpasses all human understanding... and He comes to you in His preaching, in His Baptism, in His Supper.

I'm guessing which way Paul, who was determined to know nothing but Christ and Him Crucified, would lean. 
Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,  and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,  and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem."

Would that we actually believed this!

18 comments:

Rev. Paul L. Beisel said...

that's pretty subjective Eric. I see airplanes in the Bible. Does that mean that I am correct?

Rev. Eric J Brown said...

Does Jesus tell you to find airplanes?

Or does Jesus say, "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life."

If we are talking about hermeneutics, I think a hermeneutic of seeking Christ in the Scriptures is a pretty solid one.

Rev. Paul L. Beisel said...

What you see, what I see, that's not a wise approach to God's Word.

Rev. Eric J Brown said...

Best to let the Scriptures interpret Scripture, then. What does Jesus say the Scriptures are about?

Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem."

Rev. Paul L. Beisel said...

Eric, I'm not denying that the Scriptures are about Christ (though, given the context, I would contend that Christ is speaking to them specifically about the Scriptures that were already in existence, i.e., the Old Testament, but never mind that detail).

Your blog post pitted Jesus against works. Period. You made it an either-or. I actually think it is hilarious that you think you need to convince me that all Scripture is Christ. For heaven's sake, I was the one that taught you that as a vicar.

I'm just curious as to why you think it is necessary to pit Christ against works. You implied in your post that it was wrong of a person to see in that text an exhortation to new obedience. I'm just going off of what you wrote.

Rev. Eric J Brown said...

Works are a matter of Law. The Law is fine... but is the Law to predominate in how we read the Scriptures? Have we merely received a new and better Moses? Are you, as a preacher searching the Scriptures primarily (note, primarily) to find a way to make your people do better works?

If so, you end up blowing by Christ.

You've said the above is "subjective". Now analyze it. Are those "improper" connections to make? Have I done violence to the text? Is that not what it says?

Rev. Eric J Brown said...

I will always pit Christ against my works. My works are all damnable.

Now, if we talk about the work of Christ and indeed the works He does in me, that's something else entirely.

Now, how is it good and proper to take a text where it even twice says "in Christ" and then... speak of it Christlessly?

There is a wonder here greater than a mere exhortation to do something.

Rev. Paul L. Beisel said...

I agree that works/Law should not predominate in how we "read" the Scriptures. But there it is again--how "we read" the Scriptures. I don't like this "you see this but I see that" stuff. I'm just pissing against the wind. I don't object to your bringing Christ out of this text at all. But you can't speculate about "which way" Paul would lean. That is pure speculation. Paul had a lot to say about the new life of the Christian. And my point is, why, when a text is talking about the new life of a Christian, can we not just leave it at that? Let the text say what it says. It is understood that it is the life of Christ in and through the believer. That is a given. But I think it is more faithful to the text to just let the text say what it says.

Rev. Eric J Brown said...

"Let the text say what it says. It is understood that it is the life of Christ in and through the believer. That is a given."

... that is a given?

It's all understood... so, speak not to Christ?

The Gospel assumed is the Gospel... denied.

So it is more faithful to speak of a text that is about being "in Christ" in terms of virtue, rather than Christ?

Think about that which is True -- shall I look for that which is true anyway other than He Who IS THE TRUTH?

Now can you leave a text "talking about the new life of a Christian" and not talk about Christ - it is no longer *I* who live, but Christ who lives in me?

Why are we so afraid, when it comes to life and new obedience to speak to He who is THE LIFE, to He who is both actively and passively obedient?

Rev. Eric J Brown said...

Of Paul... the point of "you see but I see" isn't an appeal for an individual reading... I'm saying there it is a wrong and flawed reading that does not bring forth Christ and Him Crucified as the center of the text constantly - especially in the writings of Paul, who himself says that he is determined to know nothing among you but Christ and Him Crucified.

If you read Paul and do not see Christ and Him Crucified, you are not reading Paul rightly.

Rev. Paul L. Beisel said...

And, my dear friend Eric, my question would be, why are we so afraid to speak about good works? You perceive a fear of speaking too much about Christ crucified. But here's what I see--a fear to speak about good works and virtue in its proper place. You implied that your friend was wrong to use a text that would appear to be kind've a third-use-of-the-law type of text ("practice these things...") to exhort his hearers to a holy life. Maybe his hearers needed to hear these words.

Luther, in many places, will say: "This text treats of faith..." or "This text treats of good works and holy living." he has no problem talking about either one in its proper place without having to mix them up.

Rev. Paul L. Beisel said...

By the way, happy Thanksgiving!

Rev. Eric J Brown said...

"You implied that your friend was wrong to use a text that would appear to be kind've a third-use-of-the-law type of text ("practice these things...") to exhort his hearers to a holy life. Maybe his hearers needed to hear these words."

Right here drives to the another problem.

One does not preach 1st use, or 2nd use, or 3rd use. One preaches Law. I'm all about preaching the Law. But here's some things:

1. We don't determine the "use" of the Law. That's the Holy Spirit. Any statement of Law can be used by the Holy Spirit in any number of ways -- I don't control that. This becomes problematic, especially when people aim for a watered down "3rd use" that doesn't really kill or condemn. Where it's just good advice or just an exhortation.

To exhort the sinner is to reveal his sin, his in ability, and to kill as well. Lex Semper Accusat -- even when the Spirit also does provide guidance there by.

If one is trying to preach "3rd use", if one sees the Law as just that friendly exhortation to virtue that folks need, that's selling short the Law, that's not recognizing it's power. That's the Pharisee move - and Christ calls them workers of Lawlessness.

2. The Law always is always fulfilled in Christ. If I hear the Law and see my lack, am I not then to think of Christ and His fullness and goodness?

If I hear "Remember the Sabbath day", am I only to think on my action, or will I not also remember the rest of Christ in the tomb?

Thus, if I hear of anything that is good - I will think of Christ. If I hear of anything that is true or pure - I will think of Christ.

When I speak of Christ, I speak of good works.

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It is odd - I say, "It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me" and you then ask why I am afraid to speak of Good Works.

Do you not know of Good Works when you hear of them?

Rev. Eric J Brown said...

It's not that I fear speaking of good works, it's that I cringe when I don't hear one speak of Christ.

A Jew or Muslim may speak of Good Works. A Buddhist or Sikh can teach worldly virtue - Confucius is great on filial piety.

But they cannot preach Christ and Him Crucified.

Where's Christ? In all our preaching, where is Christ?

Rev. Paul L. Beisel said...

Eric, do you not think I would likewise cringe if that were the case? See, we're talking past each other. you're assuming that I am talking about preaching good works without any mention of Christ. Or, at least, that is what it seems you are assuming. I would never think of doing that. But you can't say it all at once, right? Everything has its place. "let everything be done decently and in order."

And, do you honestly believe that I would deny that "lex semper accusat"? I don't even know why we are talking about this. I'm sure you preach plenty of Law, and hopefully you are certain that I preach plenty of Christ. Maybe between the two of us, we could have a pretty good sermon.

In your friend's sermon, you gave a very small snippet of what he talked about. It is hard to evaluate his sermon without also seeing the whole thing in context. Are you saying that nowhere in that sermon was Christ proclaimed? If that were the case, then I would say that your friend has a major problem. But suppose the rest of his sermon was very Christo-centric, but he decided to spend a little bit of time talking about Christian works and virtue. Would you object to that?

Maybe we should send each other copies of our sermons, so that we would understand each other's comments in context.

Rev. Eric J Brown said...

First - it wasn't a sermon. It was that this text is just and exhortation to virtue. I contend that it is more.

And Ambrose (say, that's a good name for a kid) agrees: "When we speak of wisdom, we are speaking about Christ. When we speak about virtue, we are speaking about Christ. When we speak about justice, we are speaking about Christ. When we are speaking about truth and life and redemption, we are speaking about Christ."

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I am not saying that you do not preach Christ -- the danger is this. We live in a time when too many preachers are scared of social decay (as though this world is ever going to do anything but decay), and find in virtue and the law an panacea for this.

I just think it's sad that when I see a passage that drips with Christ... oh no, no, this is finger wagging and telling people to be good... rather than to receive the one who is good.

Rev. Eric J Brown said...

Or a simple thought I had, because I did have service this morning. Lex orandi, lex credandi.

Where in the liturgy, in the Common Service does it speak to my good works? Would we say that the liturgy is afraid to address it? Or rather, is the concern something greater -- Christ and His redemption.

Rev. Eric J Brown said...

Oh, and Paul - I don't have to SEND you my sermons... they are on this very blog, chief =o)