Grace Notes 2024-07-17

I wish to continue our discussion from last week as I wrote about the neglected doctrine (teaching) of ‘Original Sin’. And with help from our chief Confession (the Augsburg Confession) we were reminded that from birth we “are full of evil lust and inclination.” This is true for all of us!

Nowhere do we learn from Scripture or from life’s experience that we all have the exact same lusts and inclinations. And yet it is clear that we all have various desires, proclivities, and appetites that measured against the truth of God’s Word are shown to be out of step with God’s Will.

It may very well be that certain kinds of disordered passions are more common than others. But the fact that any one person’s sinful appetites share good company with a high percentage of the population does not make it right. Conversely, a more peculiar lust not shared by the majority does not make it worse! It simply by definition is ‘abnormal’.

As baptized believers we do not discern God’s righteous standard by whether the range of our inclinations and activities are normal. Rather, we look to God’s Law. That is, to His commandments, teaching, and guidance. Many things that seem normal to us nonetheless reflect our fallen, sinful nature.

We should not stigmatize people because they are abnormal. Some abnormalities have nothing to do with morality or being right or wrong. Left-handedness, for example, is not a case of being right or wrong, rather it simply means that you share a trait with about 10% of the population.

At the same time, while being sensitive to the challenges faced by those fitting outside the ‘norm’, we should not be surprised that an abnormal desire or activity can also, along with normal desires and actions, be at variance with God’s Law. God created all things good. But with sin the hierarchy of goods became disordered including our passions. They became inordinate. And we became incompetent in deciding upon good and evil.

Since You Asked…

What is the significance of sharing the peace?

“The peace which enables people to live in unity and in the spirit of mutual forgiveness comes only from Christ whose word has been proclaimed. … The peace is a sign that those who participate in it open themselves to the healing and reconciling power of God’s love and offer themselves to be agents of that love in the world. … The personal exchange of the peace should be as unpatterned as possible, but its meaning and significance should be kept clear. It is not the occasion merely for conviviality. The choice of gesture, whether a handshake, holding hands, or an embrace, should be left to the persons themselves.”  (from “Manual on the Liturgy” companion to the LBW, from Augsburg Pub.)