Theology of the Cross

Sermon 2023.07.23

I was listening to the radio this week and I heard a program about life after death. The person speaking had a near death experience and was telling how joyous and wonderful it was. Then I thought about the record breaking heat all over the planet, and the conflicts threatening life itself. If we are so sure that life after death is so much better, why bother living at all? 

St. Paul writes in Romans, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”

Creation is suffering at this present moment. Creation is groaning as it waits for the children of God to step up and live according to the Spirit. This is not the time to give up and check out early.

As children of God we believe in a state of affairs that has not yet come into existence. We are striving for a world that we do not yet know. Paul says that we are waiting for a Spiritual adoption of our bodies as opposed to to be slaves and debtors to the flesh. We are currently dealing with the historical outcomes of living according to the flesh. We don’t need to go down that road anymore. When we live according to the Spirit we live according to the shared character of human beings and all creatures. 

So how do we live according to the Spirit? 

We have to put off the pursuit of “Glory” and instead pursue the “Cross.”

There is a very important document for Lutherans. It is called the Heidelberg Disputation in which Luther participated in a debate. In his initial arguments Luther lays out two kinds of theologies: the Theology of the Cross, and the Theology of Glory. 

Luther took issue with the pride and arrogance of so many claiming to know the mind of God, and with precision what it took to be righteous. He called this the “Theology of Glory.” It was focused on invisible things, abstract ideas, that couldn’t really be verified with everyday experience but relied on convoluted and sophisticated philosophical arguments. 

In contrast to the theology of Glory, Luther proposed a Theology of the Cross. A theology of Cross focused on ordinary human experience to understand the nature of God. What could be more ordinary and basic than suffering and death? So the cross, where Jesus suffered and died, is the focal point of the Christian life. It is something that everyone can relate to, and something that we all must face unequivocally in our lives. 

Hear Luther’s words for yourself, “Now it is not sufficient for anyone, and it does him no good to recognize God in his glory and majesty, unless he recognizes him in the humility and shame of the cross. Thus God destroys the wisdom and of the wise as Isaiah says, “Truly thou art a God who hidest thyself.”

One the one hand Luther tells us to be weary of supposed good deeds, that they lead only to more misery. On the other hand we have a situation in which we are living that may not be sustainable much longer unless we do something. So what can we do?

Then there is the parable of the wheat and the tares or weeds. The real key here to keep in mind is that it is God’s job, not ours to judge and separate the wheat from the tares at the end of the age. It is not our job to do this now. How do we let go of this responsibility? All we have to do is focus on not worrying so much. 

This is one of those moments where Jesus puts us in a double bind. This parable suggests that there are good people and bad people. In this parable Jesus says that there are evil people, placed in the world by the devil. What a thing to say! But that’s just half of it. This is a double bind. The second half is that we are to coexist with evil people. We are to do nothing in terms of isolating and rooting out. Why? Jesus said in the parable that it would do too much damage to the good children, the good would be uprooted with the bad and they all would die. Jesus is very clear: let the weeds alone, do no harm to them, God will sort out who is good and who is bad at the end of the age. MLK said that the arc of the universe is long but it bends toward justice. All we have to do is be wheat.

So the one who has faith endures to the end trusting that God will judge between the good and the bad. Faith is a profound act of humility. Our time on earth is short, and there will be generations after us, and after those generations there will still be God. So says Isaiah 44.

Isaiah 44:6-8

44:6 Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.

44:7 Who is like me? Let them proclaim it, let them declare and set it forth before me. Who has announced from of old the things to come? Let them tell us what is yet to be.

44:8 Do not fear, or be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? You are my witnesses! Is there any god besides me? There is no other rock; I know not one.

Do not fear, or be afraid. We are but wheat in God’s field. Amen.