I hope you have good memories of your speaking to the Lutherans in Galveston. I very much appreciated your comments and candor...
...about the emerging church we are all apart of--like it or not!
Since January I have purchased your book, "A Generous Orthodoxy" and shared the grid of the "seven Jesuses I have known" with one of our adult classes. They, too found your thoughts relevant and as our discussion unfolded, we were able to identify what we called, "The Lutheran Jesus"---or the 8th Jesus in your list.
For lack of a better definition, we called this Jesus, the "resident" Jesus. Resident because Jesus resides in the world through the Word and Sacraments of the Church and "resides" in the church through its work and faith.
I affirmed those thoughts with the words of a song I learned in Sunday School (age 3-4) and let me say that I'm 51 now...
Come into my heart, Come into my heart,
Come into my heart, Lord Jesus--
Come in today, Come in to stay,
Come into my heart, Lord Jesus.
The "resident" Jesus addresses the world's problem, which is according to Luther, we are "simul justus et peccator"--both at the same time saint and sinner. The "resident" Jesus comes to us to as the "model of the godly life," according to our post-communion prayer.
Back in the days of Jon Lovitz's time on Saturday Night Live, he did a skit called, "Get to Know Me" and it was a series of letters and correspondence of people whose lives had changed because "they got to know him!" For us, then we are able to focus on the saint part of our lives and minimize the sinner within as we come in contact with the "resident" Jesus and "get to know him," for as we get to know Jesus, we know God and God knows us as he and the Father are one. So, our contact with the "resident" Jesus through the Word and Sacraments give us clarity and power to take on our portion of the model of the Godly life!
The class awaits your comments to these thoughts. May the work of Jesus that is born witness to this Holy Week and Easter be a blessing to us all.
Answer: Thanks! I think that’s a great contribution. I’ve always loved the rich understanding Lutherans have of the phrase “the Word of God.” Somehow, the resident Jesus is the resident Word. Thank God for the Lutheran insights into Jesus and the gospel!