Modern Lutheran Theology
Volume One
Alexandra Glynn
Foreword by Mika Kallunki
Modern Lutheran Theology
Volume One
Copyright © 2017 Alexandra Glynn. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.
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paperback isbn: 978-1-5326-0409-6
hardcover isbn: 978-1-5326-0411-9
ebook isbn: 978-1-5326-0410-2
Manufactured in the U.S.A. June 15, 2017
The King James Version (KJV) is used throughout these writings. Where there is a slight divergence, it is my own translation idea.
Foreword
The best way to be exposed to the theology of the Laestadian Lutherans is through their sermons. So below is a transcribed sermon given in 2014 on Luke 7:36–50.
Jesus had been invited to a meal at the home of a Pharisee. Luke tells earlier how Jesus was also invited to publicans’ and tax collectors’ homes for a meal. The connection to a meal was an indication of great friendship and hospitality. A little earlier in the same chapter Luke told how John the Baptist came, and since he didn’t eat bread or drink wine, they said that he had an evil spirit in him. Jesus went on to say that the son of man has come, he eats and drinks, and you say, what is this eater and drinker, a friend of publicans and sinners? Jesus did not reject the invitations that were given to him. Whoever invited him to a meal, whether a publican or a tax collector or a Pharisee, Jesus accepted the invitation.
This gospel text brings before us a woman and a man. One is a sinner and an evil woman, and the other is a respected, well-mannered Pharisee. It would seem from the situation described here that it was a “man’s club” that had gathered together, to use a current saying. In other words, usually only men were gathered at these meals; women had no reason to be there. But something extraordinary happened, very exceptional: a woman came into the company of men.
To understand this text it is good to know the background to give light into what is taking place in this room where they have gathered. The tables were not like what we have. The tables were low to the ground; there were three tables formed into a U-shape and you laid down on your side and the food was served in the middle. So they were gathered at the home of a Pharisee. Jesus may have been teaching in the synagogue of this locality and the Pharisees politely invited him to their home.
We have heard much about the Pharisees in the Bible. What kind of image do you have of a Pharisee? First you may have heard, as from the mouths of children, that they are hypocrites, and self-righteous, those Pharisees. And Jesus does even speak of this. Jesus tells that the teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit on the throne of Moses, but then he reminds us to do as they say and respect their teachings. Jesus did not say: do not listen to the Pharisees. He said: listen to them, but he continued: do not do according to their works, for they talk in one way and act in another way. They give great and heavy burdens, and they give them to others to carry, but they themselves will not lift a finger to help.
The Pharisees were a religious group of the Jews. Laymen and lower clergy were also involved, and they were like an opposition party to the Sadducees. They emphasized abiding by the law and traditions, the rules from their forefathers; they said that the law applies in all areas of your life, but in their own regulations they denied hypocrisy. They said that in no way can you be a hypocrite. And they were serious in their faith.
When we think of this way of thinking of the Pharisees, hypocrisy, do we find it in our time? Maybe I have at this time the temptation to point my finger at other people, at other awakening movements, at different churches and organizations. I point my finger and say that they surely are Pharisees. Truly it is so. But do we dare to, as relating to this gospel portion, look closer? May there also be found in our midst the thoughts of the Pharisees? Self-righteousness, mercilessness, hardheartedness? Do we dare take a step closer? In you and in me, are these ways found in me? This is where this gospel text brings us. How does the way of the Pharisees look here in this story? The Pharisee, who invited Jesus, saw what the woman did. “If this man were a prophet he would know what kind of woman is touching him. The woman is a sinner.” The Pharisees were astonished, everyone knew these things; rumors had spread throughout the village that she is such a woman, a prostitute. Stay away from her, do not let her come near. Is there something familiar about this? Are you ever in a situation where you are astonished about something, astonished about some person, you look the other way, you avoid certain people? When somebody comes to you or me to tell us, “Have you heard about so and so? Have you heard what he has done or has not done?” How do you react? The temptation to judge what others have done lives deeply within us all. The temptation is to measure different sins, small and large ones. Have you ever been in a situation where someone has come to tell a juicy story? Have we stopped and asked the person who told the story to us if they have approached that person directly? Do we ask them, “Why did you come talk to me? Have you talked personally to this person?” The gospel of Matthew encourages us, in the eighteenth chapter, to act according to the church law of Christ. Maybe we don’t start spreading rumors, but we nicely say that we are concerned about her, we need to care for her. There is a fault even in a tone of love if we do wrongly, if we go around to our friends, our brothers, our sisters, with these stories and we don’t go straight to the person, we don’t ask what kinds of burdens they are under in their travels, if we only listen to rumors. God’s word, his commandments, remind even us children of God: “Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Jesus himself says very seriously in another connection: “If you see a sliver in your brother’s eye, but you don’t notice that in your own eye is a log, how can you say to your brother, ‘I will take the sliver from your eye,’ when in your own eye is a log? You hypocrites, take the log from your own eye first, then you can see to take the sliver from your brother’s eye.” This word of God is directed to you and me. Nobody is outside these words.
In this gospel text, in its central theme, there is also greeting and not greeting. Greeting someone is a tradition in many cultures. Greeting is important for acknowledging the other. The duty of the slave was to wash the feet of the guests. Kissing one’s cheek also was a tradition, or one might kiss the hand of an important guest. Also, olive oil was used to anoint the head of a distinguished guest. We have the tradition of shaking hands, which is a very beautiful tradition and suitable in our culture. Hugging has also become more common, nodding your head, saying, “Hi.” How was it for this evil woman? Regardless of how others viewed her?
This woman came behind Jesus, came and cried. What does this crying relate? We could say that they were tears of regret, but maybe there was more. There could have been more . . . they could have been tears of joy, that she had heard, seen Jesus speaking and had believed that here is her Lord and Savior, that here is her Lord and Savior who does not drive her away. So many had driven her away, so many
