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READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:
Daniel 7:9-14
2 Peter 3:3-14
- St. Matthew 25:31-46
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Who speaks to us this evening, saying,
“The Lord said,
‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do,’”
Another verse is like this one, “Come let us reason
together” our Lord says in Isaiah 1:18. You may not be interested in God,
but He is interested in you. He is close, He is alive, and He is speaking. And,
in such an environment, everyone becomes a theologian.
The word “theologian” literally means “God worder” or
someone who uses words to talk about God. Many today mistake this for just
another academic discipline. That if you have the right words, you are the
better scholar with more books, more papers, and more peer reviews.
This mistake leads to lies, deceit, and immorality. That is
the sort of theology people complain about and call “Christian”, when
hypocrites are preaching for themselves and chasing after their own desires. A
true theologian is quite different, however
This will be our topic for this Advent season: what makes a
theologian. On the surface, we have already explained it. What makes a
theologian is that God speaks and a man hears Him and begins to live his life
according to what he has heard, for better or worse.
As always, however, we are interested in the whole truth. Thus,
we want what’s beneath the surface, for God not only speaks, but acts. And how
God acts, will also determine, how we act. In this truth, it has been said
among us that there are three things that make a true theologian. They are
Prayer, Meditation, and Trial.
For this evening, Prayer, or “oratio” is going to be
our topic and you may think that it will be a short night, because we already
know about prayer. If you follow any Christian on any media, they will talk
about prayer. How you must do it, how its necessary for a relationship, how its
required to be a Christian. Then they will tell you how they do it, not necessarily
how God does it.
How God does it is He speaks and then He acts and He details
all this in His Book, the Holy Scriptures. Dr. Luther says this, “the Holy
Scriptures constitute a book which turns the wisdom of all other books into
foolishness, because not one teaches about eternal life except this one alone. Therefore,
you should straightway despair of your reason and understanding. With them you
will not attain eternal life, but, on the contrary, your presumptuousness will
plunge you and others with you out of heaven (as happened to the devil) into
the abyss of hell. But kneel down in your little room [Matt. 6:6] and pray to
God with real humility and earnestness, that he through his dear Son may give
you his Holy Spirit, who will enlighten you, lead you, and give you
understanding.” (AE 34:285-286)
So firstly, prayer is speaking back to God what He has
already spoken to you. Prayer should be something that changes you. You should
not be heading to prayer thinking you can make it what you want or you can make
life what you want. Remember what the Lord said about Abraham: shall I
hide what I am about to do.
God’s Word is prayer and God’s Action is prayer. We don’t
have to make it up. Yet, God’s Word does not speak about us, but Jesus. Thus,
secondly, prayer is not us becoming our own teacher, but seeking the True
Teacher of the Scriptures, Himself: Jesus.
From Dr. Luther again:
“Thus you see how David keeps praying in Psalm 119:26, “Teach
me, Lord, instruct me, lead me, show me,” and many more words like these.
Although he well knew and daily heard and read the text of Moses and other
books besides, still he wants to lay hold of the real teacher of the Scriptures
Himself, so that he may not seize upon them pell-mell with his reason and
become his own teacher. For such practice gives rise to factious spirits who
allow themselves to nurture the delusion that the Scriptures are subject to
them and can be easily grasped with their reason, as if they were Markolf or
Aesop’s Fables, for which no Holy Spirit and no prayers are needed.” (AE
34:286)
The cross of Jesus is our theology and it teaches. Jesus
prays first, we listen and pray second. He gives His words and His prayers to
His Church and she repeats in devotion. From this comes the Church’s heart and
life in Liturgy. Her hymns and practices become the anchor for this new
life.
God’s Word and actions determine and order our thoughts,
words, and deeds. We do not get to rearrange things as we see fit and still
call them holy. we receive what God gives and how He gives it and conform to
that Image. We do not do the changing, rather we are changed by prayer.
You may not be interested in theology, but theology is
interested in you. In giving us prayer, Jesus directs our humanity towards
right doctrine. He takes our sinful nature, which prays to anyone and anything
other than the one true God, and gives us proper, true prayer.
“Lord, teach us to pray”, was the cry of the
Apostles. If they had to learn, you have to learn. You have to learn, because
part of prayer is praying against your own heart. You want
the heart of prayer, there it is. You must learn to pray against your heart of
sin, the devil, and the world.
We must also learn to live that life of repentance and that
takes special revelation and help from the Holy Spirit, as well. For Prayer is
not just many words, but many actions; a life lived in the Faith Given. And
faith chooses to live in Christ and in His Church.
Prayer, Oratio, is to lay hold of the real
Teacher of Scripture, Himself. True faith lays hold of Christ and leans on Him
alone. This, opponents of Scripture cannot understand. For by being given the
power of prayer, they believe they now can believe, they can choose good, and
they can live a righteous life, using God as their stepping stone.
A "true theologian" is someone who understands the
difference between law and gospel, discerns God's will through suffering and
the cross, and learns through prayer, meditation, and trial. He does not
attempt to find God through visible, created things rather only through the
suffering of Christ.
We should not expect prayer to be any different. In speaking
our prayers, we say them out loud, because we not only expect to be changed,
but we expect God to act. We speak His Words because they are the words of
Life. We speak them because we know they are better than our words and will
actually accomplish what they say.
Everyone cannot help but be a theologian for we all speak of
eternal things: justice, peace, righteousness. A true theologian understands
that these Godly things only come from the God Who wishes to give them through
His Son, Who teaches us, “Our Father, Who art in heaven…”
