DE TRINITATE
Headlines:
From the Senior
Leadership Council Report
New Resources:
New Book by the Senior
CD of 2007 Society Hymn Festival
Spanish-Language Materials
Chapter News
From the Vicar
Masthead
From the Senior
I begin writing this on the snowy afternoon of Ash Wednesday between services at noon and at night. A major winter storm in the Midwest has hit the Chicago area, but some hardy folks came to the noon service and some even hardier folks are likely to come out tonight. I preached at noon about the Lenten disciplines of almsgiving, prayer, and fasting (Matthew 6). I'm beginning my own Lenten fast which, this year, is combined with a detoxification diet that was recommended by my chiropractor to cleanse my body of toxins left from chemotherapy that may be contributing to residual neuropathy in my fingers and toes. Of course, I understand that a diet undertaken for my own purposes is not the same as a spiritual fast. But the combination of the Lenten discipline and the detox diet may make this the most serious Lent I've ever undertaken in my life. (I know, I should keep my piety a secret. But grant me this indulgence so that I can use it as a springboard to what I want to say in this column about fasting.)
Lutherans don't know much about fasting. I don't recall that it occurred to anyone that something about fasting might be included in the Rule of our Society, as it is in the rules of other religious orders. There's only one line about fasting in the Small Catechism, in the section on preparing to receive Holy Communion. Luther rates fasting "a good discipline," but having faith in the words "given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins" is a worthier preparation. This is damning by faint praise. Luther had a lot of bad experiences with fasting when he was a monk and he thought the church had spent more time teaching the people about distinctions between foods than about faith in Jesus Christ. But I checked out Luther's commentary on the Sermon on the Mount to see his take on Matthew 6:16–18, and I was surprised to see that he recommended both a civil fast and a spiritual fast. He thought it would be good for the emperor or the princes to order a fast of one or two days a week on which there would be no buying or selling of meat "so that everything is not gobbled up as it is now, until finally hard times come and nothing is available." He also thought there should be a spiritual fast of several days, distributed over the seasons of the year; thus, before Easter, Pentecost, Christmas, and in the fall, like the old Roman ember days. "For certain seasons have to be distinguished and set aside as fasts and festivals for the sake of the common herd, to preach and commemorate the principal events and deeds of Christ." (See Luther's Works, American Edition, Vol. 21, p. 159—the same volume that contains his splendid commentary on the Magnificat.)
To get a good theology of asceticism in general and fasting in particular we need to go back to writings of the church fathers, which I can't unpack in the space here. But for a practice of fasting, we have the example of Jesus in the Gospel reading for the First Sunday in Lent (Matthew 4:1–11). After all, we're undertaking this whole forty-day fast of Lent in imitation of Jesus' forty days of fasting in the wilderness after his baptism, where he was driven by the Holy Spirit, to prepare for his ministry. In undertaking this discipline, he replicated Israel's sojourn in the wilderness for forty years and Elijah's forty-day fast.
But then, when he was completely famished, the tempter struck. Note that the first temptation in Matthew and Luke concerns food. The tempter dangled food before our first parents and they went for it. What weapons did Jesus have with which to do battle against the devil when a similar lure was offered? We might be tempted to say, "the word of God." But that would be only partially true. The devil also knew God's word, as we see in both temptation stories (Eve and Adam; Christ), and could quote Scripture as well as any fundamentalist preacher. One must have something in addition to the word of God: a disposition to rely on it. It's not coincidental that in response to the first temptation to turn stone into bread, Jesus cites the verse from Deuteronomy: "One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."
What gives one the disposition to rely on the word of God rather than on one's own ability? Here's the thing we have missed in our exegesis of this text: Jesus' fasting. This is what makes all the difference between our primal parents and Christ. It is not just that Adam and Eve were satisfied and Christ was hungry when temptation came. There are many poor and hungry people who have given in to many temptations. But this was a spiritual fast. Its purpose is the humiliation of the flesh so that it learns it has no rights of its own.
When the flesh is satisfied it's hard to devote oneself to a life of service that calls for self-renunciation. We experience all too often the truth that "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." We know that God wants us to keep his commandments, but we find this too hard, too hazardous, too wearisome, and the voice of the Spirit is squelched within us. The Spirit within us assents when Jesus calls us to love our enemies and do good to those who hate us, but the flesh is too strong and we are prevented from living the Christ-like life. So the flesh must be subdued with every available weapon: among them, almsgiving, prayer, and fasting—the disciplines of Lent. We resist our acquisitive disposition by giving our money to the poor and not just to our favorite causes. We stay in communication with God by meditating on God's word and opening ourselves to God's will. We deprive the flesh of its desires by withholding what it craves. Detox diets cleanse the bodies. Fasting cleanses the soul.
As Israel lived in the wilderness for forty years, learning to live not by bread alone but by the word and commandments of God before entering the promised land with all its temptations to forsake the Lord who brought her out of bondage in the land of Egypt, so Jesus went into the wilderness for forty days to exercise the Spirit of God within him and prepare to do combat with the ancient foe. Jesus' specific temptations are not our temptations, because we do not have the mission of the Son of God. But we have been baptized into Christ and ordained to stand in his stead in the ministry of Word and Sacrament. We have received his Spirit. And we must use the weapons of the Spirit to subdue the flesh in order to withstand the temptations that come to us precisely because we are in Christ. As C. S. Lewis demonstrated in The Screwtape Letters, the tempter is interested in seducing Christians, not pagans.
If we take the temptations of Christ as a model for dealing with our own temptations, then we must exercise a spiritual discipline that disposes us to be secure in the word of God for our lives. We must be secure enough in that word to know that not every word is applicable to us; and we must know that the bottom line is whom we will worship and serve. Even pastors must deal with this issue, because in the name of worshiping and serving God we can end up serving ourselves, our careers, and our vested interests. If Lent helps us to deal with these issues, it will be a great time of spiritual renewal.
Frank C. Senn, STS, Senior
P.S. Some hardy souls did venture through the fierce weather to get their ashes and begin their penitence. They did not receive Holy Communion because I have implemented at Immanuel the Byzantine distinction that we do not celebrate the Eucharist on a fast day. (You don't eat and fast at the same time.) They will come to the feast of the Lord's Supper on the Lord's Day. For further background of the distinction between feasts and fasts and other "light from the east," I recommend Robert Taft, SJ, Beyond East and West: Problems in Liturgical Understanding (The Pastoral Press, 1984).
Leadership Council Report
The deans and officers of the Society met at Camp St. Christopher on Seabrook Island, S.C., January 29–31 to do the business of the Society. The Senior led the retreatants and their spouses in the daily prayer of the church (using the Pfatteicher book of the same name) and the Holy Eucharist (using the Book of Common Prayer available in the camp chapel). The major work of the retreat was to review and amend three documents: The Procedures for the Ecclesiastical Ballot, Pastoral Guidance Concerning the Language of Worship, and Pastoral Guidance Concerning the Blessing of Same-Sex Unions. These documents will be made available to the Society as soon as their principal authors have had an opportunity to implement the suggestions of the Leadership Council and share the results once again with the council members. The documents will then be discussed and received in chapter retreats. The "pastoral guidance" documents will be statements of what we want to say to each other by way of encouragement and admonition. They are not documents that will be addressed to Lutheran church bodies.
Look for These Resources
NEW BOOK BY THE SENIOR
Our Senior's new book, Lutheran Identity: A Classical Understanding, is in press at Fortress and should be available soon. It is in the Lutheran Voices series of books aimed at pastors and lay people and is dedicated "To my colleagues in The Society of the Holy Trinity, a pastoral oratory and ministerium, who are renewing a sense of Lutheran identity for the sake of the vows they took in ordination to the Holy Ministry of Word and Sacrament." Chapters include: 1) From Reform Movement to Evangelical Catholic Church, 2) The Canon of Scripture, 3) The Ecumenical Creeds, 4) The Lutheran Confessions, 5) Common Liturgy, and 6) Witness in Society.CDs OF 2007 SOCIETY HYMN FESTIVAL
CDs of the Tenth Anniversary Hymn Festival of the Society are available from David Wendel, STS, for a donation of $10 per CD to cover costs (postage included). Make checks payable to "Saint Luke's Lutheran Church," and mail to the church, 5265 N. Union Blvd., Colorado Springs, CO 80918. For questions, contact Pr. Wendel at pr-wendel@saintlukes-cs.org, or 719-598-4397.SPANISH-LANGUAGE MATERIALS
Spanish-language worship and outreach materials are available through the Bilingual Ministry Resource Center in Joliet, Ill. Keith Forni, STS, directs the center, which exists to fortify the ministry of Lutheran congregations serving in contexts where both Spanish and English are in use. A recent "Encuentro" (one-day conference) of the center included a presentation by Dr. Maxwell Johnson of the University of Notre Dame on "The Virgin of Guadalupe: A Lutheran Perspective" and interaction with Lutheran Hispanic-Latino pastors affiliated with the Midwest Lutheran "Cofradia," a Spanish-language ministerium led by Pr. Pedro Suarez of Madison, Wis. A resource packet, including Spanish lectionary samples, is available at no cost to readers of De Trinitate by contacting Keith Forni at kforni@aol.com or by calling 815-722-4800.
Chapter News
CALIFORNIA CHAPTER
Dean, Richard O. Johnson, california@societyholytrinity.org
The California Chapter's Lenten retreat was held February 25–26 in Citrus Heights, Calif. Joy Schroeder, STS, was the teaching theologian on the topic "Full of Grace: Lutherans and the Blessed Virgin Mary." Josh Elliott-McGuffie, STS, served as chaplain. The nine chapter members were joined by nearly as many visitors.
The chapter's next retreat is in May at St. Andrew's Abbey, Valyermo, Calif.
GREAT RIVERS CHAPTER
Dean, Timothy D. Hubert, greatrivers@societyholytrinity.org
The Great Rivers Chapter met February 3–5 at the Toddhall Retreat Center in Columbia, Ill. Advertised as "forty hours before forty days," we had three presentations: 1) The Salem Witch Trials, by Tim Hubert, STS, 2) The Temptations of Jesus in Matthew 4, by the Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Gibbs, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, and 3) Confession and Absolution in the Confessions, by the Rev. Dr. Kent Burreson, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. Additionally, holy oils were blessed by Bishop Warren Freiheit, Central/Southern Illinois Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Our chaplain was Jim Lehmann, STS. Six chapter members were joined by two visitors, one of whom will join the Society at our general retreat in October.
May 2–3 the chapter is supporting and encouraging a retreat for and by the laity, also at Toddhall Retreat Center.
May 5–6 the chapter will gather again at Toddhall.
GUADALUPE RIVER CHAPTER-IN-FORMATION
Contact, Ralph Reitmeyer, RWReit@aol.com
The next retreat of the Guadalupe River—Texas chapter-in-formation will be held March 31 to April 1 at the Cedarbrake Retreat Center near Belton, Tex. Our presenter for this retreat will be Pr. Jody Winston, speaking on "Wiped Away: The Marks of the Church in America Today." Almost five hundred years ago, Martin Luther proposed several different ways to identify where the church exists. This retreat looks at how well these marks stand up to today's challenges.
IOWA CHAPTER
Dean, David A. Aanonson, pastor@ctklutheranic.org
The Iowa Chapter met in retreat on February 25–26 at American Martyrs Retreat House in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Pastor David Doely led us in a discussion of the Heidelberg Disputations. Ken Kimball, STS, served as chaplain.
METRO NEW YORK CHAPTER
Dean, Rodney L. Eberhardt, srpastorstlukes@verizon.net
The Metro New York Chapter met in retreat on February 25–26, focussing on Christianity in Asia. The presenter was Dr. Gari Ledyard of Columbia University, retired.
May 19–20 will be the annual business and recreation retreat. There are plans to hold a workshop for worship assistants sometime in the month of June.
MINNESOTA CHAPTER
Dean, Luther M. Mathsen, minnesota@societyholytrinity.org
The Minnesota Chapter met in retreat February 25–26 at Christ the King House in Buffalo, Minn. Holy Communion was celebrated and the daily offices prayed, accompanied by mutual consolation, private absolution, edifying conversation, and bountiful food and drink. Our chaplain for 2008 is John Ragan, STS. The retreat presenter was Eugen Lehrke, STS. With Dr. Steven Paulson's December presentation in mind, Pr. Lehrke gave us additional theological perspective to consider in rebuttal of the idea that Dr. Paulson advanced among us, namely that Corporate Confession and Forgiveness, with direct and unqualified absolution, is an essential part of the Lutheran Sunday liturgy. Minnesota enjoyed continued spirited discussion on this topic!
— Reported by Pari Bailey, STS, Minnesota Chapter
NORTHERN ILLINOIS CHAPTER
Dean, Keith L. Forni, northernillinois@societyholytrinity.org
The Northern Illinois Chapter gathered at the Portiuncula Center for Prayer in Frankfort, Ill., for its annual Presentation Day 24-hour retreat, February 4–5. Frank Senn, STS Senior, taught on "Feasting and Fasting" through the history of the church and led lively discussion about this and other Lenten disciplines. The ten pastors attending were refreshed by this time together in the word and fellowship, strengthened for the early arrival of the Lenten journey. Jeff Zell, STS, participated—the latest of several Indiana Society members and inquirers to join in a Northern Illinois Chapter retreat. Northern Indiana Lutheran pastors are warmly welcomed to take part in upcoming retreats, even as an Indiana chapter is being explored.
Wolf Knappe, STS, will address the church's witness during the Nazi Germany era at an overnight retreat to be held April 7–8 at the Lutheran Outdoor Ministry Center in Oregon, Ill., in commemoration of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Teacher and Martyr. Last year's retreat at this location was the chapter's largest, with 16 retreatants. A similar, strong turnout is anticipated this spring.
Our next retreat is a day retreat on May 15 at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, South Bend, Ind.
PASSAVANT CHAPTER
Dean, Kevin Anderson, pastoranderson@alltel.net
The Passavant Chapter of the Society met in retreat at Saint Paul of the Cross Retreat Center on the south side of Pittsburgh on February 19–20. Bob Hawk, STS, our teaching theologian, led us in discussion on "The Eucharistic Sacrifice: A Lutheran Perspective." Brian Evans, STS, served as our chaplain; Dennis Roser, STS, our confessor.
The next retreat for the Passavant Chapter is May 27–28. Bob Gago, STS, will be chaplain; Tim Alleman, STS, confessor; and Joyce Dix-Weiers, STS, teaching theologian.
SANGRE DE CRISTO CHAPTER
Dean, David M. Wendel, pr-wendel@saintlukes-cs.org
The spring retreat of the chapter will be a joint retreat with the Guadalupe River chapter-in-formation, May 8–9, at the Franciscan Retreat Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Senior Frank Senn will be the teaching theologian and will lead us in a study of the historic development of the eucharistic prayer and its use within the Lutheran tradition. All are welcome to join us for this retreat. Interested persons may contact the dean at the e-mail address above, or call 719-598-4397.
SUSQUEHANNA CHAPTER
Dean, Patrick Rooney, pastorrooney@christlutheranyork.com
The Susquehanna Chapter held a one-day retreat February 25 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church, Camp Hill, Pa. Our topic was "The Lenten Disciplines." Dean Paddy Rooney reflected on the spiritual disciplines as a whole; Stevens Shipman, STS, offered a reflection on fasting, Paula Murray, STS, on almsgiving, and Vicar Michael on prayer. We ended with Corporate Confession and Forgiveness.
On May 5–6 we will gather at Precious Blood Spiritual Center, Columbia, Pa., with retired Bishop Carol Hendrix, who will lead us in a study of Bonhoeffer's Life Together. Details for the retreat can be obtained from the dean at the e-mail address above.
UPSTATE NEW YORK CHAPTER The Upstate New York Chapter will hold its next retreat April 17–18 at the Stella Maris Retreat Center, Skaneateles, N.Y., where we will discuss what it means "for the sacrament to be administered rightly" in relation to the Holy Eucharist. We also continue to discuss the Seven Marks of the Church in preparation for the general retreat in October. Our attentions are now focused on the future direction of the Society and its purpose for clergy and parish in our synod. We also are seeking guidance in prayer and supplication to the Father on how to attract and share our ministerium with other clergy in our area.
Dean, Troy A. Mulvaine, upstate.newyork@societyholytrinity.org
From the Vicar
When Lutheran pastors get up on a Sunday morning to preside in the Liturgy and to proclaim the Lord's Word, their encounters with that Word in the previous week are not easily seen. But our lives are often cut, bleeding, and bruised because of them. The wounds from the encounters, though, undergird our presiding and preaching, and are vital to the Sunday work. Those wounds occur because the Lord's Word is churning our lives, confronting our natural self-absorption, breaking it down, and restoring us to the Life streaming from the Holy Trinity.
Martin Luther was broken into the distinctive insight that this churning is necessary for the world's people to be rescued from that self-absorption. He recognized that we are born, already soaking in sin. This sin is the natural desire to be like the Lord God, to have all of life revolving around us. We are led to think we can manage it, but that is an illusion. Its grip on us is so strong that only the Word's churning can rescue the people imbedded and trapped in it.
Luther commented that the Holy Spirit frees the Lord's people on a daily basis through the forgiveness of their sin. He described this churning as the "abolishing, purging, and mortifying of sin." He went on to spell out how the Church's seven marks (Baptism, Scriptures, Supper, Forgiveness, Prayer, Ministry, Cross) surface as the result of such churning.
A consequence of this insight is that the Church is not automatically found in places like Constantinople, Rome, Canterbury, Chicago, St. Louis, or Milwaukee, nor is it automatically found in the significant persons who live in such places. Instead, the Church is found where the Lord's Word is churning in the lives of his baptized people and setting them within the context of the seven marks.
The churning of the Lord's Word is what causes the template of these marks to throb with the Life of the Holy Trinity. If we resist or pull away from that churning, the marks begin to take on a life of their own, once again reflecting humanity's self-absorption. Confession and Forgiveness becomes more of our activity rather than the Lord's. The Supper becomes the property of specific church structures rather than the Lord's.
It is difficult to step into such churning. In a bizarre way, ministry becomes easier if we just have to rely on our personalities and abilities. But this is a cruel and destructive suggestion from the unholy trio of sin, Satan, and death. Their attractive suggestion only snaps us back to our natural self-absorption.
During this Lenten season, we are nerved to step into the Lord's churning on a daily basis. Baptized into the Son's dying and rising, we were prepared in seminaries, ordained in Lutheran structures, and called to Lutheran parishes to proclaim, serve, and teach the Life and Ways of the Holy Trinity. Such a Life surfaces faithfully and authentically in the Church's marks when the Word is churning our lives.
Those marks reflect the Church's teaching. They provide the context for the learning and understanding of all the Lord's people. The churning of the Word cuts, bruises, and bleeds our lives, but so does the Cross when it is traced over our bodies from Baptism to death. It is the churning of the Lord's Word, my colleagues, that empowers and sustains the Church's ministry, it is always the churning of the Word.
Carl A Voges, STS, Vicar
DE TRINITATE
News and reflection from the Society of the Holy Trinity
Volume 11, Number 1, Lent 2008
Editor: Constance R. Seddon
Editorial office:
6239 Rosebury Ave., 1E, St. Louis, MO 63105
(314) 721-8262 / editor@societyholytrinity.org
To be placed on the De Trinitate mailing list or to report a change of address,
please contact the Secretary, below.
Senior: Pr. Frank C. Senn
Immanuel Lutheran Church, 616 Lake Street, Evanston, IL 60201
(847) 864-4464 / senior@societyholytrinity.org
Vicar: Pr. Carl A. Voges,
129 Pond Ridge Road, Columbia, SC 29223
(803) 788-6656 or (803) 269-6656 / vicar@societyholytrinity.org
Secretary: Pr. John E. Priest
Immanuel Lutheran Church, 17 High Street, Delhi, NY 13753
(607) 746-2098 / secretary@societyholytrinity.org
Bursar: Pr. Mark A. Hoffman
St. Paul Lutheran Church, 324 North Street, Millersburg, PA 17061
(717) 692-2141 / bursar@societyholytrinity.org
Copyright © 2008 Society of the Holy Trinity. All rights reserved.
Posted -- 24 March 2008
Updated -- 15 June 2008