Volume III, No. 3 Syndouloi Nov. 13, 2001
The Periodical of the Pre-Sem Club Fellowservants of
Christ
While this article may seem old, having
been written not long after Sept. 11, I think it is important to read now so we
can take a step back and assess the progress or regression that has happened
not only in our country but all over the world since the attacks on America and
since the war in Afghanistan began. Jonathan Brandenburg submitted the
following:
What do we need to do now? To
answer my own question, I say this: pray.
After such a tragic incident, that is the only thing to do that makes
sense to me. However, we might ask:
what do we pray for? Well, pray for the
victims’ families, for the rescuers, and for the terrorists and their families.
Jesus’ command still holds true in Matthew
5:44: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” This attack has sent American people’s
hearts to vengeance and hate, and for us Christians, it is easy just to go
along with this general feeling.
However, I truly feel we are called to a higher standard.
We,
as Christians, are supposed to turn the other cheek. We are supposed to pray
for our worst enemies. I understand this is a very hard concept for us as
Christians to grasp, and even harder to put into practice. However, there is much sense behind this
method.
The first and foremost command for us in
life is to spread the Gospel of Christ crucified and His resurrection, and in
order to do that we are to love all...not only our friends, but also our
enemies. Therefore, by praying for our
enemies we are doing something that is good and right in the sight of Christ,
and living our faith and theology within our life.
Jesus never said this would be easy, but He
described this as “taking up your cross” and if we think that challenge is
easy...well, we should think again.
In Romans 12:2 Paul writes, “Do not conform any longer to the
pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then
you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing
and perfect will.” So after saying
that, ask yourself the old cliché, but honestly ask this time... “What would
Jesus do in our situation?” Truly, what
is the “good, pleasing and perfect will” of Jesus? Is it revenge and wrath upon our enemies? Or is it praying for peace and the action of
love toward all the children of God?
Well, I guess that is up to you.
Last week, Jeff Hemmer’s article for the Sower
sparked much more controversy than I ever would have thought possible. If you
don’t know it by now, Jeff wrote a satirical editorial that was taken by many
to be his true state of thought. Of course the key words to the article were
“Deception is nasty. Especially when you’re being the one deceived.” But maybe
those so enraged by all that they had read didn’t make it that far.
Jeff’s
commentary says that people of the LCMS (or at least those who are on campus)
need to be aware of how they act in regard to people of other denominations.
And it’s a valid point to be made. We shouldn’t make fun of other people for
their faith or treat them as though they were outsiders in the Kingdom of God.
Much of what Jeff wrote was misunderstood
because many people think such discrimination isn’t a problem. At least with
some of the non-LCMS or Catholic students with whom I’ve spoken, they don’t
feel like they are uniquely being targeted, or that if they are made fun of,
only a very small minority of the people here does such things.
However, many of us hold those
kinds of sentiments in the back of our minds on a much smaller scale, but those
sentiments can be positive and shouldn’t be completely ignored.
Granted I don’t know everything
about every religion and I don’t know everything about what it means to be
LCMS, but I do know that from what little I have learned, the LCMS in its
theology does a great job stripping theology down to what it’s really about:
the Gospel. Because we are able to do that, I find that I have a unique
appreciation for the LCMS and its theology. It isn’t right to simply throw
hands up in the air and say that we agree with other Christian denominations
and should therefore just all be of one large group.
Denominations don’t need to mean divisions
in a bad sense, to which Jeff and others often allude. No human will ever be able
to grasp the Idea and Total Truth that is God, but through the Holy Spirit we
can all come to some understanding. The LCMS is responsible for contributing
one perspective of that understanding, just as other denominations contribute
other perspectives which help us to apprehend God’s majesty. We should live in
our heritage, which might not be exactly what Jeff meant, but maybe it should
have been. The Book of Concord expounds Scripture beautifully. I’m not
willing to lose that, but at the same time I don’t want to promote division in
the Body of Christ.
After all, when those people who were
annoyed by what Jeff wrote finally stop and think about their own reactions to
his words, they might be surprised. They didn’t like Jeff because it sounded
like he was trying to build walls around himself, but they acted out of
ignorance and emotion, thinking that they were right and he was wrong.
Hmmm, that’s funny that was the viewpoint that they were upset with in the first place. Deception is nasty indeed.
· Are you tired of
always looking in your mailbox and finding absolutely nothing? Then write an
article for Syndoloi! This is meant to be a forum for everyone to be
able to write whatever they want and for others to read what has been written,
but it only happens with your help, so skip a homework assignment and let
others know what you’re thinking!
· If you have any
questions about the Pre-Sem Club or program contact either: Pres. Ryan Oakes,
8676; V. Pres. Chris Ahlman, 8519; Sec./Treas. Josh Sullivan, 8544; Editor,
Michael Hanel, 8633; or Sponsor, Prof. Block, 7442.
· The next meeting is Wed..
Nov.14 at 9pm in the Pre-Sem Room,
Founders 203. If you haven’t caught on, our meetings are weekly on Wed.
nights. These one-hour meetings usually consist of free pop and cookies, a speaker or Bible study, and prayer. If you,
or someone you know, would like to lead one of our weekly meetings, please
contact Ryan Oakes or Chris Ahlman.
· If you know someone
who did not get a copy of Syndouloi,
but would like one, please send a note to the Editor or call him. One need not
be in the Pre-Sem program to participate in or just watch this exchange of
ideas.
Since we’re on the subject of what makes us who we are and since I promoted it in my editorial, I would like to take this time to recommend people to actually read the Book of Concord.
I know many will think that it is a stupid idea, so I’ll relax my standard and simply ask that as you have some free time over Thanksgiving or Christmas go home and read the Large Catechism by Luther.
I read it this past summer and was amazed and awed by the things that I read. Perhaps many of you went through Luther’s Small Catechism in confirmation, as it was intended to aid in the instruction of younger people in the church.
The Large Catechism, on the other hand was meant to instruct the older people in the church. They both cover a lot of the same material, but the Large Catechism is larger and goes into a lot more detail.
In a Bible study, a friend and I have been talking about prayer and we’ve been reading through Luther’s treatment of the Lord’s Prayer in the Large Catechism.
If you’ve started to tire of reciting the Lord’s Prayer or think that it has lost its meaning, maybe you should take time out of life and read what Luther wrote about it.
The Prayer of Jabez may be exciting to some, but after reading through some of the Large Catechism, maybe you can understand that real blessings really do come from God.
