Lord give us your Spirit that we might believe and trust in you in the midst of the chaos and struggle of life and above all things.
When Martin Luther began the Reformation by nailing the 95 Theses to the door at the Wittenberg Castle church he was beginning what he conceived of as a conservative movement. It was a call to the church to return to its roots in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and salvation by grace. The results were anything but conservative and sparked a period of dynamic change resulting from war, turmoil and chaos. The Word of God, however, is always radical and transforming.
Times of chaos often result in tremendous periods of dynamic transition and progress. It is written in the opening verses of the book of Genesis that the “ruach,” the spirit of God, moved over the face of the waters. This word “waters” can, also, be translated as “the deep,” “the void,”or “the chaos.” If we understand the word as “chaos” then the creative force of God’s Spirit calls creation and order out of this “chaos.” The word of God changes everything.
Luther sought in the years following the start of the Reformation and in the resulting chaos of war, theological and physical, to bring order and direction to the chaos. He organized the German language and helped to establish a fixed grammar for it. He established economic principles for the function of the market and the community. He taught and established regular education for youth, including the creation of the Small Catechism for teaching theology, God talk, in the home. He prepared students to become pastors and put the Bible into the hands of the people in their own vernacular. Needless to say Luther was a busy man. But he understood that order was necessary in life and he saw that as the role of civil authority; to maintain order and suppress chaos so that people could hear the promise of the Gospel unfettered from fear and threat of destruction.
We are presently living in a country where chaos has once again been on the rise. Ever since 9/11 chaos has been present in our public and private consciousness in a way not known since WWII. This chaos can be used by some to promote fear. This chaos can be used by some as an excuse to diminish rights long secured to us as citizens of this great country by those who first drafted the Constitution and public order by which we direct ourselves as a nation. At the same time people can refuse to be accountable to any group or anyone except self leaving in their wake decay, confusion and, yes, more chaos.
What is from God does not lead to chaos except to bring judgment but always there is God’s grace and hope. The disorder of the Garden of Eden leads to judgment and expulsion but with the blessing of clothing. Cain receives the mark of God as protection after God’s judgment for the chaotic act of killing Abel. The flood of Noah gave way to new order and life with the promise of breeding pairs and a rainbow as a covenant sign of God’s promise. The chaos of the wandering in the wilderness gave way to the people of Israel ordering their lives under the law of God.
God’s will leads to order, not necessarily by force but by God’s will and our faithfulness. As a last resort it uses the force of law to restrain those who persist in destruction and the neglect and harm of neighbor. It treats all people equally before the law, all fall short of the glory of God. In the present confusion and chaos that now surrounds us, we have the opportunity to speak and act on God’s word of truth and reformation to the world.
Faithfulness to God means taking the risk to reach out and love one’s neighbor in a hope of creating a new order in life instead of accepting the belief that enmity can never be changed into friendship and enemies can never become friends and partners. Chaos always gives way to the kingdom of God in our life and death.
“And though this world, with devils filled,
Should threaten to undo us;
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us.” M.Luther
When Martin Luther began the Reformation by nailing the 95 Theses to the door at the Wittenberg Castle church he was beginning what he conceived of as a conservative movement. It was a call to the church to return to its roots in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and salvation by grace. The results were anything but conservative and sparked a period of dynamic change resulting from war, turmoil and chaos. The Word of God, however, is always radical and transforming.
Times of chaos often result in tremendous periods of dynamic transition and progress. It is written in the opening verses of the book of Genesis that the “ruach,” the spirit of God, moved over the face of the waters. This word “waters” can, also, be translated as “the deep,” “the void,”or “the chaos.” If we understand the word as “chaos” then the creative force of God’s Spirit calls creation and order out of this “chaos.” The word of God changes everything.
Luther sought in the years following the start of the Reformation and in the resulting chaos of war, theological and physical, to bring order and direction to the chaos. He organized the German language and helped to establish a fixed grammar for it. He established economic principles for the function of the market and the community. He taught and established regular education for youth, including the creation of the Small Catechism for teaching theology, God talk, in the home. He prepared students to become pastors and put the Bible into the hands of the people in their own vernacular. Needless to say Luther was a busy man. But he understood that order was necessary in life and he saw that as the role of civil authority; to maintain order and suppress chaos so that people could hear the promise of the Gospel unfettered from fear and threat of destruction.
We are presently living in a country where chaos has once again been on the rise. Ever since 9/11 chaos has been present in our public and private consciousness in a way not known since WWII. This chaos can be used by some to promote fear. This chaos can be used by some as an excuse to diminish rights long secured to us as citizens of this great country by those who first drafted the Constitution and public order by which we direct ourselves as a nation. At the same time people can refuse to be accountable to any group or anyone except self leaving in their wake decay, confusion and, yes, more chaos.
What is from God does not lead to chaos except to bring judgment but always there is God’s grace and hope. The disorder of the Garden of Eden leads to judgment and expulsion but with the blessing of clothing. Cain receives the mark of God as protection after God’s judgment for the chaotic act of killing Abel. The flood of Noah gave way to new order and life with the promise of breeding pairs and a rainbow as a covenant sign of God’s promise. The chaos of the wandering in the wilderness gave way to the people of Israel ordering their lives under the law of God.
God’s will leads to order, not necessarily by force but by God’s will and our faithfulness. As a last resort it uses the force of law to restrain those who persist in destruction and the neglect and harm of neighbor. It treats all people equally before the law, all fall short of the glory of God. In the present confusion and chaos that now surrounds us, we have the opportunity to speak and act on God’s word of truth and reformation to the world.
Faithfulness to God means taking the risk to reach out and love one’s neighbor in a hope of creating a new order in life instead of accepting the belief that enmity can never be changed into friendship and enemies can never become friends and partners. Chaos always gives way to the kingdom of God in our life and death.
“And though this world, with devils filled,
Should threaten to undo us;
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us.” M.Luther
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