I love the lectures from The Teaching Company. When I hear the theme music play at the introduction to each one, I feel like one of Pavlov’s dogs. OK, maybe I don’t drool, but certainly get a little rush of anticipation. I’m a nerdy church lady, that’s for sure.
The last one I listened to covered the debate between Zwingli and Luther over the meaning of The Lord’s Supper. Fascinating stuff. No, really. Not only the content of what they were arguing over, but just the fact that anyone cared enough to get into such an intense discussion about it. This was a really big deal to them.
I suspect that when our churches were founded, stuff like that really mattered. But I wonder how many of our members today have any idea what is contained in our constitution, in the Augsburg Confession, Book of Concord or even the Small Catechism? Has the knowledge of what our faith is based on been lost? Does anyone even give a rip anymore what it means to be Lutheran?
It brings to mind that story of the newlywed who served ham for her first Sunday dinner. The husband noticed the ends of the ham had been cut off and he asked why. "That's the way my mother always did it," the bride replied with a shrug. He asked his wife's mother the same question and got the same answer, "That's the way my mother did it." Finally he asked the grandma, who replied, "That's the only way I could get it into the pan."
How much of what we do in church now is done because that’s what we’ve always done?
I find it fascinating the amount of debate that went on in the pews 140 years ago... Things like the description of corporate absolution were a big deal amongst the clergy, and it also seemed to resonate far beyond the pulpit. Or perhaps its just overly optimistic accounts of history...
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