|
| Systematic Snags | | Date Created: Jun 08, 2004, 10:40 PM |
I've been preaching through the Gospels now for 8 years. Starting with the Gospel According to St. Mark in 1996, then St. John, and now finally making my way through St. Matthew's Gospel, I have been astonished at the paridigm-breaking power of Jesus' own words. Most memorable and troubling for me, both in my own personal life and in my preaching, has been the way Jesus statements are often so "different" than what we 21st-century American Evangelicals have been conditioned to expect. Perhaps that is why so many modern preachers in the Reformation tradition gravitate towards topical sermons that springboard off isolated Pauline texts. But that makes me wonder if we have really understood Paul and the rest of the New Testament when we are unable to assimilate our Lord's own words into our little systems apart from wild hermeneutical gymnastics. Take one example, Matthew 6:14-15:For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Of course, this astonishing saying follows immediately after the model prayer Jesus gives his disciples. Isn’t it fascinating and instructive that of all the conditions that Jesus might have appended to any of these petitions, he did so at this point only--"and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" (v. 12). The most jarring incongruency is for an unforgiving man to ask God to forgive him. For a stubborn, arrogant, unbending, rigid man to ask God to be patient, humble, bending, and flexible with him. And Jesus says that it's more than simply an incongruency. It won't happen. You don't forgive others, you won't be forgiven. Now, here's the rub. Where is this in our soteriological system? How come it never finds its way into our compact little ordos? There's no need for anyone to cry "Pelagian!" or "Romanist!" There's no need to import "merit" into this. And I'll be the first to admit that I don't know exactly how to alter our system. But I do know this: our comfortable concatenated systems often keep us from feeling and acting on the force of Jesus' words. And we pastors don't help matters much. After we've dutifully informed our congregations of all the theological and systematic qualifications, they are often left with the "comforting" knowledge that Jesus really didn't mean what he said. Ah, yes, it's really okay after all that I've never forgiven the people on the other side of the church because of X. I've had a conversion experience, and that's my assurance of forgiveness, not my behavior toward my brothers and sisters in the church. Well, we'll see, won't we. |
|
