From Sunday to Monday… From glimpses of Transfiguration glory to the Russian invasion of Ukraine… How do they relate?
In 1530 Protestant reformers wrote about church and state. “Now inasmuch as the power of the church or of the bishops bestows eternal benefits and is used and exercised only through the office of preaching, it does not interfere at all with public order and secular authority. For secular authority deals with matters altogether different from the gospel. Secular power does not protect the soul but, using the sword and physical penalties, it protects the body and goods against external violence.” (Augsburg Confession, XXVIII)
That’s worth careful rereading. The “power of the church” is the Gospel which is preached in hopes of persuading people about God’s forgiving love. The focus is eternal. The state uses “the sword and physical penalties” to forcefully protect physical life here-and-now.
Church and state are distinct ways God cares for all people. When government misuses its temporal power, as Russia does in Ukraine, the church’s message of eternal glory persuades us that righteousness will ultimately prevail. “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:10)
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