Thursday, November 3, 2016

Pope Visits Sweden to Commemorate the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation

In the News
On Monday, the 499th anniversary of German monk Martin Luther's posting of 95 theses on the door of the Catholic cathedral in Wittenberg, Pope Francis co-hosted an ecumenical prayer service in Sweden with leaders of the Lutheran Church. The service launches a year of celebration leading up to the quincentenary of the Protestant Reformation.
The visit by Pope Francis was particularly remarkable, since Luther's resistance to papal authority, the sale of indulgences to purchase pardon for sins, and protest against excesses and abuses within the church led to his excommunication as a heretic, the church split known as the Protestant Reformation, and decades of brutal religious wars in Europe.
While Swedish society is primarily secular, the state church is Lutheran. Since the 1500s, Catholics in Sweden suffered persecution, discrimination and even death.
In the past, Pope Francis has painted Luther as "an intelligent man" who rightly called for reform of a corrupt, worldly church that "was not a role model [but stained by] ... greed and lust for power."
At the celebration this week, the pope stated that "the Reformation helped give greater centrality to sacred Scripture in the church's life."
"We must look with love and honesty at our past, recognizing error and seeking forgiveness," he said, calling on Catholics and Lutherans to "mend" history.
While Catholic-Lutheran relations have been particularly marked by periods of tension and hostility in the past, Christians of all persuasions face the challenge of how to relate to those with whom they disagree.
One of the principal issues dividing Lutherans and Roman Catholics was resolved in 1999, when the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the Catholic Church's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) co-signed a Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, which states in part:
In faith we together hold the conviction that justification is the work of the triune God. The Father sent his Son into the world to save sinners. The foundation and presupposition of justification is the incarnation, death and resurrection of Christ. Justification thus means that Christ himself is our righteousness, in which we share through the Holy Spirit in accord with the will of the Father. Together we confess: By grace alone, in faith in Christ's saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping and calling us to good works.
Relations between Roman Catholics and Lutherans took further large strides this year with the adoption of "Declaration on the Way" by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), which outlines 32 "Statements of Agreement" between Lutherans and Catholics regarding church, ministry and the Eucharist.
Auxiliary Bishop Denis J. Madden of Baltimore, the Catholic co-chairman of the joint task force of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs and the ELCA that developed the declaration, said he hoped the bishops would endorse it as well.
"Though we have not yet arrived, we have claimed that we are, in fact, on the way to unity," ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton said after the assembly voted overwhelmingly to approve the document. "After 500 years of division and 50 years of dialogue, ... this 'Declaration on the Way' helps us to realize more fully our unity in Christ with our Catholic partners, but it also serves to embolden our commitment to unity with all Christians."
Lutherans and Roman Catholics are still divided on other issues, such as the nature of the Universal Church, the authority of the pope, the role of women in church leadership, and the nature of the Eucharist (Communion).
Rev. Martin Junge, general secretary of the LWF, told reporters that "people feel lack of unity the heaviest around the [Lord's] table." For centuries, Christians have been barred from partaking of the Eucharist in Catholic churches (though TWW team member Heidi Mann says she's received it, simply by going forward; in her experience, priests don't stop and ask what a visitor's denomination is). But by official position, it is Catholic barring of Lutherans; Lutherans (in the LWF anyway -- not Missouri Synod and a few other conservative branches of Lutheranism) practice "open Communion."
In a joint statement issued in Lund, Sweden, this week, the Roman Catholic Church and the LWF acknowledged that this has been a source of pain especially for family members "who share their whole lives, but cannot share God's redeeming presence at the Eucharistic table. We long for this wound in the body of Christ to be healed" by bringing members of both churches together at the Lord's table, "no longer strangers."
Pope Francis said that while theological differences still exist, the two churches can join forces to serve the poor and refugees, and to fight persecution of Christians. A hallmark of this pope's legacy is his effort to build bridges to other parts of the Christian family, such as the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as to people of other faiths, such as Islam and Judaism.
Rev. Jens-Martin Kruse of the Lutheran Church in Rome described the pope's approach as "walking ecumenism." In the act of "walking together," Kruse said, "we find that we have ... more in communion than we thought before."
Teresa Jodar, a resident of Stockholm who attended the celebration earlier this week, agreed. "I am a Catholic," she said. "The Reformation ... was a sad separation. But we are celebrating taking a step closer. It is wonderful that we can work together instead of thinking about all of the differences that separate us."
More on this story can be found at these links:
The Big Questions
1. What has been your experience (if any) interacting with Christians from other denominations? What benefits or negative consequences could occur for people who seek interdenominational or interfaith relationships?
2. How have relations between the Roman Catholic Church and Protestant churches changed in your lifetime? Do you see the overtures for better relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church (and other Protestant groups) as a positive or a negative development? How did you arrive at your viewpoint?
3. What factors would you say most influence your own attitudes about ecumenical dialogue and relations? Rank in order of significance: a) Personal experience (positive or negative) with people in a different branch of the family tree of Christ. b) Views of church leaders. c) Local church or denominational culture. d) Personal and/or corporate Bible study. e) Other (specify).
4. How open are you to ecumenical dialogue, joint worship and/or cooperative service and mission projects? To what extent are you open to interfaith dialogue, and if not, why not? Worship experiences? Cooperation in service projects? Under what conditions do you think such ventures would be possible and potentially positive? When might they be impossible or potentially negative, and why might that be the case?
5. Can the church be true to its identity and faith and work with people or groups that don't share the same identity or faith? If not, why not? If so, how do we balance a commitment to biblical truth (as we understand it) with a call to unity in the church?
Confronting the News With Scripture and HopeHere are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
Psalm 133:1How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity! (For context, read 133:1-3.)
This psalm exalts the virtue and pleasure that belong to people who are joined together by God's grace. In the context verses, this common life is compared to two liquids: oil and dew.
When Aaron was consecrated as a priest (Leviticus 8:12) he was anointed with a fragrant oil made of four spices, myrrh, cinnamon, cane and cassia, mixed with olive oil (Exodus 30:23-25, 30). The image is of very different substances, which, when combined, produced a rich, distinctive perfume unique to the priestly class. When God brings people together in unity from radically different backgrounds, anyone in the vicinity will notice that these people are different.
The unity of the people of God is like the fleeting morning dew, which may seem inconsequential, but which is essential to bring life to an arid land. While unity is a blessing to the people of God themselves, it is capable of blessing everyone who comes in contact with them as well.
Questions: Is it possible to be united as a church while members have significant disagreements? In church relations, how much agreement must be present between the parties for unity to exist? Are there any relationship qualities short of unity that are still godly ways to work with others for the kingdom of God?
How have you experienced the goodness and pleasure of living together in unity among God's people, in spite of differences? When have you seen a united church bring blessing and life to people beyond the walls of the church itself?
John 17:20-23[Jesus prayed,] "I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." (For context, read 17:11, 20-26)
We often experience conflict and division in the family of God, and unity seems elusive. Perhaps that is why, in the hours before he went to the cross, Jesus made it a top priority to pray for his followers to be one.
Questions: How does the unity of Jesus' followers reflect his glory and the glory of God the Father? What creates that oneness binding his followers together? What does disunity in the church communicate to the world? What can we do to foster unity in the church, when we have real, substantive differences and disagreements?
Acts 2:1, 4, 6, 11-12When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. ... All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. ... And ... each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. ... "speaking about God’s deeds of power." All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" (For context, read 2:1-12.)
After Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciples stayed together in Jerusalem, waiting for the gift of the Holy Spirit, which Jesus had promised to give them. They spent much time in prayer, and so they were still together on the day of Pentecost when they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak about God's mighty acts of deliverance.
Questions: What is the significance of the fact that they spoke in many languages, rather than just in one? If they had all spoken in their own native tongue of Aramean, what do you think would have happened to their faith community? What does this event on the Day of Pentecost tell us about how God can use our differences to bless the entire church?
1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 20-21
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body -- Jews or Greeks, slaves or free -- and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. … As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." (For context, read 12:4-7, 12-13, 20-27.)
While this passage deals specifically with the matter of spiritual gifts as God distributes them to individuals within the church for the common good, the principles of body life can also apply to how the church grows and manifests itself in various times and places. So it might be said that the church universal is undivided, and yet is expressed in various ways by different groups of people who are all members of the body of Christ.
Questions: Why are there so many different churches and denominations? What is good about the variety? What problems sometimes occur because of our differences?
Look at your body. Is there any organ or limb that you would part with easily? Look at the body of Christ. What do other churches or denominations add to the body that you value? What does your church or denomination add to the body that others need?
Ephesians 4:2-6… bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. (For context, read 4:1-16.)
Paul writes to his beloved congregation in Ephesus that they are called to a life of humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance and love, in order to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. This kind of life doesn't just happen; it takes deliberation, intentionality and every effort we can muster.
We can only live this way by helping one another. Later in the chapter, Paul says God gave people various gifts "to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ." (4:12-13). Believers are to exercise their gifts in such a way that others are built up, until we all grow up into the character of Christ.
On the seal of the United States of America are the words in Latin, E pluribus unum, which means "Out of many, one." Originally, the meaning was that out of many colonies or states came one nation. Later, the phrase was broadened to suggest what is regrettably too often an ideal rather than a reality: that out of many races, religions, ethnicities and languages came one people united by a common identity and vision.
Paul lists seven factors that unify those who follow Jesus: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism and one God and Father of all. Jesus said (in a different context) that no one can serve two masters (Matthew 6:24).
Questions: Recall a time when it was very difficult to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. What hindered unity in that instance? What do you think would happen if the people of God tried to organize around multiple bodies, spirits, hopes, lords, beliefs, baptisms or gods? How does God make "out of many, one"?
For Further Discussion
The 2012 document of the International Lutheran -- Roman Catholic Commission on Unity titled "From Conflict to Communion" states:
1) Catholics and Lutherans should always begin from the perspective of unity and not from the point of view of division in order to strengthen what is held in common even though the differences are more easily seen and experienced.
2) Lutherans and Catholics must let themselves continuously be transformed by the encounter with each other and by mutual witness of faith."
How might these principles apply to relationships your church or denomination has with others who do not belong to your particular "tribe" of faith?
Responding to the News
1. Consider visiting a service at another church, not of your present denomination, with the goal to better understand what is common and what is different. If you have already done this, consider visiting a house of worship outside the Christian faith with the same goal.
2. Brainstorm ways you and your church and denomination can collaborate with people from other churches and denominations in prayer, study and service. For example, you might covenant with a parish of a different denomination to pray for each other at each Sunday liturgy. You might gather with people of other denominations to study the Bible; to engage in a shared service project; or to learn about one another's important documents, key theological concepts, or important events in their history.  
3. Listen to or sing one of the following songs about the unity of the church as a prayer or statement of faith:
Prayer
O God, in the relationship of the persons of the Trinity we glimpse the kind of oneness to which you call us as believers. Teach us to treat one another with the same kind of love and respect that flow among Father, Son and Holy Spirit. May the unity you create among us reveal your oneness to people of every tongue and nation, to the glory of your name. Amen.
Copyright 2016 Communication R

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