gold in my mouth

while this might seem weird, i just got a gold cap at the dentist yesterday. it was for a broken molar on the back bottom left. it feels soooooo good. not cause it is gold, but because it is so smooth. and for the first time in a long time my mouth feels normal.

having a little thing like that bug me reminds me of martin luther arguing for care of neighbor by chiding his congregation about how attentive they are when they have a cut on their hand or foot, how they protect it, bandage it, relieve it from labor that may damage it, and so on, while not being concerned with one's neighbor.

and brother martin's very effective preaching reminds me of a note i recently found from my campus pastor, martin wells, now a bishop in eastern washington and idaho. when i left for seminary, he (and susan briehl, his wife, partner in ministry, and another of my campus pastors) gave me a copy of helmut thielicke's book a little exercise for young theologians. although rereading the book offers its own rewards, rereading the letters from susan and martin were really rich. because of what they said, yes, but even more because of what it means to look back and see the power of those whom one has depended on for growing up in the faith.

reflecting his efforts to preach well, he said "it is not enough to move from law to gospel. i continue to struggle with their interrelationship and the reality that they must be held together for authentic gospel proclamation. the gospel is only real good news faced with the real reality of sin. how to preach sin creatively--so gospel is not lost in the shouting--is my challenge."

luther knew how to do this; he started with the obvious in how we take care of as best we can our own aches and pains, broken teeth and cut fingers. then, as if by a simple turn of the question, luther shows how such care of ourselves can be both the sin of selfishness and a practical model of how to love the neighbor.

i used to think of this primarily as a preaching challenge, but now sitting most sundays in the pews with my kids, i realize that it is also and importantly a work of hearing the whole word of god, law and gospel, so that my living of the faith is a living of really good news--news that has faced the terror of sin and evil, and walked through it to hope and new life. gold in my mouth may feel good, but its very attractiveness can distract from putting gold to work in god's world, for the sake of its suffering ones. that kind of faith is at the heart of living faith as a way of life.

anon, and +peace