Here’s why I didn’t write a Minute yesterday. I had planned to watch Tuesday night’s presidential debate and then, come Wednesday morning, would offer some spiritual observation, something like “We’re blessed to live in a democracy,” dah, dah. Yes, we are blessed, but yesterday morning I was so discouraged I found no good words to put on paper.
This morning is different. There’s Law and there’s Gospel. The Gospel tells us what God through His Son does for us now and for our eternal salvation. There was no Gospel in the debate, nor would there have been even if the debate had been normal. That’s our American distinction between church and state. But oh, did the debate show God’s Law! God gave His “thou shalts” and “thou shalt nots” to promote order in society, to show us our sin, and guide us how to live. When we disregard God’s will, we experience unpleasant consequences. Welcome to today’s America!
For example, pundits criticized the words spoken in the debate. A spiritual analysis goes deeper. “On the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:36-37). It’s not just what politicians say, it’s words we all sometimes use. Wrote the church father Origen, “It is difficult even for the perfect to escape the fault of the word” (Homilies on Leviticus, 190).
In political debates as in much of daily life, you’re not going to hear Gospel, but you’ll often hear improper words that fall under the judgment of God’s Law. In the Church we get analysis that points us to the Gospel. “No human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison” (James 3:8). Who can “tame the tongue”? The Spirit of God who puts our natural inclinations to death and sweetens the water, the words that flow from the spring of our divinely recreated being. This is the result of daily repentance. Theological thinking goes from demonstrating the effects of the Law to the Church’s proclamation of the Gospel.
In class yesterday I told students the debate showed why they are at the Seminary and why our congregations are so important. It’s in our churches that Law and Gospel show people how to understand, believe and act in this dysfunctional world. Sad but true, this is a great teaching and learning time for the Church!
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