Members of the Wartburg Seminary community have been writing short daily devotions during the Lenten season, and I have really enjoyed the opportunity to start my morning with these meaningful reflections. Last week, two of my colleagues, Dr. Samantha Gilmore [our preaching professor], and the Rev. Dr. Troy Troftgruben [our New Testament professor] each wrote a really beautiful devotion that I read and re-read multiple times. I wanted to share them; I hope you enjoy them, too.
| From Dr. Samantha Gilmore: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and reburied; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.” Matthew 13:44-46 “You are the treasure.” When I heard these words, I understood Mary’s question to the angel Gabriel for the first time because it had become my own: “How can this be?” It was a question not of doubt but of wonderment in response to such astonishing words “You are the treasure.” These words were spoken to me from the pulpit by one of my professors in seminary, the Rev. Dr. Paul Rorem. Preaching on parables about what “the kingdom of heaven is like” in Matthew 13, Rorem explained that we tend to think of ourselves as the treasure hunter in these parables. We are the ones who “go and sell all that we have” to buy the field that holds the treasure we have found. We are the ones who “sold all we have” to buy the “one pearl of great value” we have found. Whatever degree of effort we put into embodying the treasure hunter in these parables, however, we inevitably fail. We don’t know in what field to look. We don’t even know what the treasure is. Even when we think we have found it, moreover, we never seem to be able to hold on to it. Rorem then showed us another way to read these parables, one that revealed their good news. In truth, we are not the treasure hunter at all. God is. “You are the treasure.” God in Christ came down to “the field of this world” to search for God’s treasure. God was ready to give everything for “one pearl of great value.” For you. This is one of those sermons that won’t leave me alone. Not because I am so good at accepting my true role in these parables but precisely because I am not. It is usually in the middle of a strenuous treasure hunt when I am anxiously and tearfully knee-deep in the dirt, when I have gone searching for all the wrong reasons, and when I have lost sight of what I am even looking for, that Rorem’s voice resounds in my ears. He tells me that in Christ, God has claimed this field I’ve been mucking around in. He tells me that I’ve been buried in this dirt. But in Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, I am being raised up to be treasured forever. “You are the treasure.” I look up, and with my tear-stained face and my dirt-stained hands, ask, “How can this be?” He responds, “For nothing will be impossible with God.” May my soul magnify the Lord forever. |
| From the Rev. Dr. Troy Troftgruben “For this reason the promise depends on faith, in order that it may rest on grace, so that it may be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham.” Romans 4:16 (NRSVue) In Romans 4, Paul connects the notion of justification by grace through faith to Abraham. Paul uses Abraham as a leading example of what faith looks like: “being fully convinced that God was able to do what [God] had promised” (Rom 4:21). Abraham’s example makes me ponder how faith, for Paul, was more than merely intellectual affirmation – something like saying, “I believe walruses are nice.” (I have never met a walrus. And I’m OK with that.) For Paul, faith wasn’t an abstract, theoretical belief. It was more of a conviction, a trust on which life depends – something more like saying, “I believe this bungee rope will hold” before jumping. The word “faith” (Greek pistis) in the New Testament is a multi-faceted word. It may mean “faith, trust, confidence, belief, commitment, loyalty, conviction.” While we parse out these English words, the many nuances remained for Paul and his hearers. When Paul says, “the promise depends on faith,” his hearers heard all these nuances. For Paul, Abraham was a classic example of faith, not because he sat back and watched, but because he lived into faith in a way that changed the course of his life. Because he trusted God, Abraham packed up everything and moved. Because he believed God, Abraham planned on descendants. Because he had faith in God, Abraham believed the impossible was possible. We Protestants sometimes forget faith is more than an abstract idea. It’s an orientation to a new way of life, centered in trusting God. Faith is also a gift of God—not something we muster up on our own. This makes faith a bit like an invitation to a life rightly oriented to God. While God has done the hard work in Christ, the Holy Spirit invites us to live in step, “being fully convinced that God [is] able to do” what God has promised us. Lent is a season that invites us to live more genuinely into faith. Like Abraham did. One step at a time. |
Happy Lutheran 