Can the Church Think Again?

At the recent Lutheran breakfast at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature, John Cobb spoke on this intriguing question. He reminded us that the great philosophers for most of the last two millennia were Christians, but that such thinking has now become a secular, academic discipline. His question has the snide implication that the church right now is not thinking or at least not thinking great thoughts. He reminded all of us would-be scholars that research is not necessarily thinking, at least not as he defined it. His stirring speech was short on specific proposals, but he noted that we live in a culture of Mammon (the "patriotic" thing to do last fall was to shop!) and militarism and wondered out loud who from the church might raise a question about those issues for public discussion.
The essays in this issue made me think as I edited them and I hope they will do the same for you. These six distinct thinkers are raising important issues for us to consider--and to consider sharing with those in our charge and with the larger public which is our ultimate mission. Can we answer Cobb's question with an initial "Yes"?

Heidi Neumark preached at the installation service for ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson at Rockefeller Chapel in Chicago on October 6, 2001. She paired Jerusalem in 587 BCE and New York on September 11, 2001, great cities that fell to everyone's consternation. Her own ministry is among victims of the latter attack and among victims of the daily ravages of injustice. She told the new bishop that we all would be watching his feet--where he walked and visited, where he led or was led. She dreamed of a day when pastors would clamor to be sent to Ground Zero--in North Dakota and in the South Bronx. Second Isaiah pointed toward feet heading toward the waste places of Jerusalem and said to his audience (and to us): "Follow those feet." She saw the dust on a slain firefighter's boots as dust that bore a message of saving love, dust from Calvary. She urged Bishop Hanson to lead us to the Ground Zeroes of the world. Jesus came and now comes in the shape of our own vulnerability. We only need to follow his feet.

Anita R. Warner demonstrates how in the passion account according to Matthew Jesus fulfills all righteousness. Among other things, her essay gives a good orientation to the social location and structural outline of Matthew, important data for preachers in this year of Matthew. Righteousness in Matthew is the obedience of the Son of God, that shows forth the kingdom of heaven. Every one of Jesus' thirty-six sayings about the kingdom can be understood to be fulfilled in Matthew's passion narrative. Jesus fulfilled all righteousness by first teaching about God's righteousness and then by enacting his own teachings on righteousness in his passion. Despite the strong anti-Jewish rhetoric in Matthew, Gentiles and Jews alike are objects of the church's mission for the post-resurrection Matthean community. Matthew's theology is characterized by the forgiveness of sins achieved through the righteousness of God's beloved Son. Matthew's gospel shows that Jesus, the hope of Israel, is the savior of the nations

Lawrence A. Williams reports on the Africanization of Christianity in post-colonial Africa. Some African leaders see Western Christendom's presence in Africa as wholly imperialistic while others are willing to incorporate elements of Christianity into the fabric of African religious and cultural life. Some indigenous churches developed worship services that were accompanied by dancing and drumming and attracted a large number of traditional chiefs because of their acceptance of polygamy. Bishop Ambrose Moyo has argued that Lutheranism needs to be Africanized. Africans struggle to find a consistent and coherent approach to the issue of polygamy, but point out that many Americans themselves practice serial polygamy. Another Lutheran bishop, David L. Windibiziri, at the other end of the theological spectrum, sees two major threats to mainline evangelical Christianity in Nigeria: Islam and the rapid rise of indigenous Christianity. According to Osadolor Imasogie, Africans will not come to a valid understanding of Christ until Christ is presented from within their world views. Today evangelical Christianity, Africanization, and indigenization are being played out, with the move towards indigenization gaining the lead.

Mark Thomsen discusses two models for relating to the ethnic and religious other. In Deuteronomy Moses declares that if the danger of religious pollution arises, the "other" must be systematically eliminated. Thomsen calls this the "sword-fire-hammer" model, and it is also practiced by the Maccabees and affirmed in some of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The other model, associated with the book of Jonah, Ruth, and Jesus, could be called the non-violent, love your enemy model. Ruth is an honored Moabite in Israel, whereas Deuteronomy stated that no Moabite may enter the temple for ten generations. Jesus totally rejected the sword-fire-hammer model with his advice to turn the other cheek. Others in this train include Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gandhi. This non-violent, love your enemy model is still being raised up from death by the Abba and by the Spirit of Jesus.

Andrew M. Weyermann explores the relationship between preaching and the rest of the worship service. The fatal flaw of moralism is that the hearers are exhorted to be and do on their own what they can be and do only in response to God's grace. Prayer at its best asks God to be in everything; it does not simply ask God for something. The liturgy places the sermon into the context of the faith of the church, and the sermon applies the word and deed of the liturgy to daily life. Preaching the Eucharist is reminding the hearers of what will happen when they encounter the Risen Christ at the Lord's table. The heart of the gospel is the proclamation of God's deed in raising the crucified Christ from the dead. Integrating a sermon with the worship service may transform what might have been a moralistic lecture into a means of grace evoking a lively response of faith from the people.

Ronald F. Marshall proposes that we reinstate Canon II from the Seventh Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (787 CE), which stipulates that everyone who is raised to the rank of the episcopate shall know the Psalter by heart. If this would create "Psalmic Bishops," the author hopes for rabbinic or teaching bishops as well. All this is good-natured rumination on what it will mean to us to have bishops in apostolic succession. But if, as the critics of CCM have been wont to say, bishops are by no means more exalted than regular clergy, then it would behoove all of us to memorize all 150 (or 151 if you work from the Septuagint). I think I'll start with Psalm 23. Deep in my memory is the knowledge that Luther found four hours a day to pray. Where did he find the time? I wonder if Luther ever attended a committee meeting. I know he was not pestered by e-mail.

The letter of Peter urges us to be ready to make our defense to anyone who demands from us an accounting of the hope that is in us (1 Pet 3:15). We live in a time and in a country desperately in need of hope. Has anyone ever offered us a penny for our thoughts, or demanded from us an accounting of the thoughts that are in us? Or can we just think out loud without being asked?

Ralph W. Klein, Editor