I don't get it...

I don't get it.  Really, I don't get Lutherans.  Or, perhaps, I should say the general representation of Lutherans I encounter online.

Today I read this comment on a post about Lutheranism being the confessing church.  It is on a website I don't much read for the disparity of confession and the ... well ... proclivity toward legalism in many of the posts.  Plus, to put it bluntly, the comments are often filled with less than charitable words/behavior.

I also do not get Safari or many things MAC.  The reason I ended up at the website is that when I started to Google something, the website autofilled the search window.  How odd! was my first thought, given that I seriously am rarely there.  These days, given how easily distressed I can become, I have actually only taken a look-see at a post mentioned by someone whom I consider to be ... well ... a confessing Lutheran.

When the autofill happened, I decided to hit the "enter" button and scan the post titles.  Of course the one about the Confessions caught my eye.  Even knowing that the action would most likely be less than positive for me, I read the comments after finishing the post.  Here is the first one:

The creeds, catechisms and Augsburg Confession are interesting and accessible. The rest of the Book of Concord seems pretty boring and technical to average laypeople IMO. Why should we feel guilty if we prefer to spend limited spare time reading the Bible instead?

I respect those who have a specialized interest in studying the BoC.

Here, I shall be judgmental:  To me, I read the last sentence as a specious afterthought to soften the disregard for the Christian Book of Concord (BOC).  I had that thought before I read any of the other commenter's remarks further down.  What he wrote did not disabuse me of my reaction.  For example, he added later:

Point well taken. I do consult the confessions when I have a question. I just don’t curl up by the fireplace with a copy of The Solid Declaration. :)
His response was to this comment about his comment:

I don’t know that you should “feel guilty.” Do you? Another thought… we don’t pit spending time reading the Scriptures against reading our confessions. This isn’t an either/or. Instead, do both! Why not? As you read the Scriptures you might have a question such as “What does this mean?” and why not go through our confessions to see if our Lutheran fathers provided an answer?

The bottom line is as Lutherans we need to know what our confessions state. So read the Book of Concord to see what it means to be a Lutheran. In fact, if you have the time, find a BoC reading group and read it with others. That makes reading the BoC much less boring, for those who find it tedious, I think.

So, I am thinking, with great sadness and true perplexity, Why is it that people even use the word "boring" or "tedious" when referring to the pure exposition of the Word of God? To doctrine!

Yes, I wept.  

Yes, I am distressed.  

Yes, I totally, utterly, and completely don't get it.

If I set aside what it says about me that I actually would curl up beside a fire with the Formula Solid Declaration, I see the same notion of having to sell Jesus to others, to make Christ crucified entertaining and engaging that drove me to great distress in the mainline evangelical church.  I also had the completely uncharitable thought, in reading several of the comments, I wonder just how many of my Lutheran brothers and sisters are actually reading the Bible, since they are evidently not reading the BOC.

I mean, I get a lot of ... comments ... about my ... passion ... for the Living Word and my ... obsession ... with the Psalter.  I will hear people talk about not being interested in the Psalter or not understanding it or not thinking it of much importance.  Not a one of those stances do I find palatable.  

Now, if someone said he was afraid of the Psalter, well that I would understand.  I have, after all, limited the portions of the Bible in which I long linger because I am afraid that all I will read is Law instead of the Gospel I know lies within the Words.  And oft I read with fear because I encounter, on an ever increasing basis things that are completely new to me but are actually not.  I have forgotten the passages I once knew by heart and their context/connection with the whole.  Fear that turns to the sorrow of loss. But fear is never a reason I hear for not reading the Bible.  And, to my defense, I do read the Bible rather a lot.  As well as the Confessions.  

I do read the Bible because I am, at heart, a scholar.  I do read the Bible because, I am, at my core a reader.  But I also read the Bible because I am a Christian.  How else can I know God if I am not ever in His Word?  That is the should I learned when I became a Christian.  Back in those days, every good little evangelical was a Bible-toting evangelical.  Only, for me, the Bible went everywhere with me because it was my life.  And I didn't even know the half of that truth!

Jesus Freak.  Yep, that's what I heard others in my single's Sunday school class call me.  The Jesus Freak who reads the bible.  Yep, at a Bible Church.  SIGH.  I've always been on the outside looking in, not really getting those around me.

This comment, from a pastor, was one that gave me the most pause:

Lutherans have a curious idea, which is probably not shared in the same way by other faith-groups. It comes from Luther, namely, the idea of the “Word of God.”

“Word of God” is found, without error or confusion, in the Scriptures, since all the canonical books were authored by the Holy Spirit. But “Word of God” is also found elsewhere, first and foremost in the sacraments and confession/absolution (when they are properly administered), second in creeds and confessions (because they agree with Scripture), third in preaching (insofar as the preaching agrees with Scripture), fourth in the prayers and hymns of the church (insofar as such prayers and hymns agree with Scripture), etc., etc.

This means that, for Lutherans, the next best thing to attending divine worship is to read the Scriptures for themselves at home; and the next best thing after that is to study the creeds and confessions of the church. Luther said that he studied the “catechism” every day. In all cases, the “Word of God” is at work to enlighten the hearts and minds of the believer.

The difference between Scripture and confessions is a matter of how the Word is presented. The Word is presented in a variety of ways in Scripture: history, personal letters, visions, psalms, proverbs, prophetic discourse, etc. This makes for fascinating, even entertaining reading.

It is no accident that persons with the least amount of religious education are drawn to the most “entertaining” sections, e.g., the book of Revelation, Ezekiel, Daniel, etc–but what they obtain from such reading is often not very helpful to their personal faith or life. Sometimes it is even harmful and bizarre (check out all the apocalyptic titles in your bookstore).

The Word is presented in only one way in the creeds and confessions: didactic and logical. There is no history, proverbs, visions, prophecies, etc. But everything there is useful for faith and life. All of the confessions are useful for training your mind to resist the confusions that are so prominent in other faith-groups and traditions. Another way to say this is: the church has kept pace with heresy in two millenia of Christian history, by providing creeds, catechisms, and confessions that counteract the confusions of heretics and the heterodox. This is a logical result of Luther’s notion of the “Word of God.” So . . .

If you want to be confused by heresies and the heterodox, then go ahead and ignore the Confessions, or give them just a cursory reading. But . . .

If, on the other hand, you want to understand the Word of God in its truth and purity–i.e., what Jesus is saying to us today–then you should study the confessions as much as you study the Scriptures. And this is a necessary practice for pastors; a recommended practice for laymen.

I am too weary to write an in-depth response to this pastor's comments.   I would say that I take issue with the Confessions being merely a recommended practice for laymen.  I mean, seriously, this seems to contradict the Longer Preface to the Large Catechism, if nothing else.  And I would proffer that final paragraph makes moot part of his own comment and the blog post itself, by putting the Confessional on the optional reading pile for laymen.

I would note, too, that I find it a bit odd that, in tackling understanding what the Word of God means to Lutherans, the pastor does not actually discuss how the Lutherans believe, teach, and confess that the Word of God has, and is able to do, all that God is and can do (BOC, LC, IV, 18).  The Living Word is powerful, performative, and effective.  It is life given to us.

And I would note that I find the absence of the Holy Spirit as the One who does the working of the Word of God in our lives, through the means outlined and through our own reading, leaving the reader with an incomplete presentation of the main topic.

However, I savored the part here:

The difference between Scripture and confessions is a matter of how the Word is presented. The Word is presented in a variety of ways in Scripture: history, personal letters, visions, psalms, proverbs, prophetic discourse, etc. This makes for fascinating, even entertaining reading.

It is no accident that persons with the least amount of religious education are drawn to the most “entertaining” sections, e.g., the book of Revelation, Ezekiel, Daniel, etc–but what they obtain from such reading is often not very helpful to their personal faith or life. Sometimes it is even harmful and bizarre (check out all the apocalyptic titles in your bookstore).

The Word is presented in only one way in the creeds and confessions: didactic and logical. There is no history, proverbs, visions, prophecies, etc. But everything there is useful for faith and life. All of the confessions are useful for training your mind to resist the confusions that are so prominent in other faith-groups and traditions. Another way to say this is: the church has kept pace with heresy in two millenia of Christian history, by providing creeds, catechisms, and confessions that counteract the confusions of heretics and the heterodox. This is a logical result of Luther’s notion of the “Word of God.” So . . .

If you want to be confused by heresies and the heterodox, then go ahead and ignore the Confessions, or give them just a cursory reading. But . . .

If, on the other hand, you want to understand the Word of God in its truth and purity–i.e., what Jesus is saying to us today–then you should study the confessions as much as you study the Scriptures. 

A good argument, to me, save for the fact that the position that the Confessions are devoid of history.  There is history woven through out them.  References that are not fully clear without knowing history.  And, to me, I would not solely use the words didactic and practical to describe the Confessions.  They are personal, as well as practical.  They are engaging and full of colorful language.  They have wit as well as wisdom.  Yes, at times the authors' tone verges (trods heavily) upon the didactic, upon the manner of a teacher patronizing the student, but they are not about moral instruction as an ulterior motive.  They do not fit the definition of didacticism.  They are instructive and practical ... and personal and illuminating, full of Christ crucified for you and the Holy Spirit working for you. 

Were a researcher to come into a cross-section of churches in the LCMS and spend time observing the daily lives of those parishioners, creating categories for all the ways people spend their time, I would not be surprised to find reading the BOC as not statistically important, as grouped into an "other" category, and reading the Bible to be a category ranked far, far down the chart as a way folk spend their time.

Perhaps the best construction is that folk will say that life gets in the way.  I would answer that is as specious a reason for having a major focus time spent during the Christmas holidays being the stress of cooking, cleaning, shopping, traveling, parties, and hosting guests, rather than studying, celebrating, and communing with Jesus.  The Word of God is life.  And it is what will sustain you throughout all the other things that come your way.

The number one reason I value my aging iPod Touch is the Kindle app. Through technology, I can easily carry about with me the NASB 1977 translation of the Bible and the Book of Concord.  Because the Lutheran Service Book is not an app or digital format, I have typed out all the liturgy for the offices of prayer so that I am, too, never without them.  

I was and remain utterly gobsmacked and giddy over my deluxe (translate that more durable) personal pocket edition of the Book of Concord.  I can take the tomb with me anywhere, fitting in pocket, person, or satchel. 

I can take with me ... from bathroom floor to hospital bed to the infernal line at the post office ... the Living Word and the sweet, sweet Gospel that is for me.  

People will ask you, "If your house was on fire and you could only grab what you could carry in your arms or you could only save 5 items or only had 5 minutes to save things, what would you take?"  Me? Well, Amos, of course!  Amos, my copies of my NASB 1997 bibles, my copies of the BOC, Walther's The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel, my crucifixes, my wrinkled (and so proof that it was wet) baptismal napkin, my computer (so I could still write, read, watch, and listen to things), and the antique box in which I keep all the letters from my best friend.  I have a beautiful house filled with beautiful antiques. I would dearly and deeply miss the old things, the things of lives gone before me, that have been my lifelong companions.  But I would grab none of them.  Not the antiques.  Not the photos.  Not the GREEN clothing and GREEN chair.  Not even the glass hummingbirds or the silly and sweet ladybug doodads folk have given me.  Right up there with the devastating and inconsolable loss of Amos would be the devastating and inconsolable loss of my battered, chewed upon, stained, highlighted, and sticky-noted 1st edition copy of the Reader's Edition of the Christian Book of Concord (the one with Luther's "Exhortation to Confession and Absolution" snuck in after the Large Catechism.  

Yes, I absolutely don't get it.  Get the need for that post I read.  Get the sentiments behind the comments.  Get the excuses I hear from others about not knowing/reading/studying the Confessions.  Get the little time others spend actually reading the Bible.  Get the little interest and inexplicable appreciation of and lack of craving to pray the Psalter.

There are many good things in the LCMS world, chief among them many would say Issues, Etc. radio and other programs.  Many would say the studies and devotions and texts on the Bible.  All of those—and more—pale in comparison to the Bible and the BOC.  I read another post about family devotions and a large percentage of the comments were folk saying they struggled to find devotional material, struggled to have something to use for the family study of the Bible and doctrine.  The comments drove me nuts (yes, that was a short trip), for I do not get those chasing after devotional books and guides.  We have the Bible.  We have the pure doctrine.  Get them out.  Read.  You will learn.  

You. Will. Learn.

The Living Word is perfect for all.

The Holy Spirit is a perfect teacher for all.

The Word will not return void, will never fail to accomplish God's purpose for its going forth.

That's a promise.

Read aloud the Living Word.  Pray aloud the Living Word.  Doing so will change you, sustain you, enlighten you.  That's also a promise.  And, incidentally, it is also what we believe, teach, and confess.  Here are just a few places where we do so in the BOC.  Here is some of what we believe, teach, and confess about the comfort and consolation of the Gospel.  Here is what we teach about the fact that we cannot love or fear or trust God without the gift of faith.  Here is what we believe, teach, and confess about the work of Jesus Christ in forgiveness, salvation, righteousness, justification, redemption, mediation. Here is what we believe, teach, and confess about the work of the Holy Spirit in salvation, forgiveness, sustenance, healing, instruction, and sanctification.

Hello, my name is Myrtle.  I am a confessing Lutheran.  The doctrine is my refuge because it is the Word of God for me.  Even when I am confused and ashamed and anxious.  Because that weak and weary, struggling believer is expected in the Church.  And because I am made better by the Living Word worked within me.  

Even when I am confused and ashamed and anxious.

Lord, I believe.  Help my unbelief!