The faith of our heritage in the language of our children.

 MAPS FOR THE JOURNEY

This month we continue a series on important parts of our constitution.                              

"Chapter 2 CONFESSIONS OF FAITH....

C2.04 This congregation accepts the Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds as true declarations of the faith of this congregation.
C2.05 This congregation accepts the Unaltered Augsburg Confession as the true witness to the Gospel, acknowledging as one with it in faith and doctrine all churches that likewise accept the teachings of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession.
C2.06 This congregation accepts the other confessional writings in the Book of Concord, namely, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, the Smalcald Articles and the Treatise, the Small Catechism, the Large Catechism, and the Formula of Concord, as further valid interpretations of the faith of the Church.
C2.07 This congregation confesses the Gospel, recorded in the Holy Scriptures and confessed in the ecumenical creeds and Lutheran confessional writings, as the power of God to create and sustain the Church for God's mission in the world."

We're deep into vacation time now. Do you remember B.GPS. time? That's when we didn't have GPS's on our dashboards, but instead relied on maps and written directions (or, if you are not a man, asking someone). It's a big world out there and just taking off into the great unknown could be fun and exciting, but also dangerous and time-consuming and boring for those who wanted to get somewhere.

The Bible is the most important document for Christians, for Lutherans and for our congregation. And charging off unaided into its wilderness of 66 different books, written by different authors, in 66 different situations would, no doubt, be fun and exciting. We would learn a lot and, given enough time, we would probably get pretty close to what God wants to say to us.

But we have maps! The maps can help us understand the terrain. These maps have been written by people who have been over the terrain many times before and have looked at older maps to guide them. They know where the blind alleys are, where the most important vistas are, where the dangerous parts are. If we want to know the Bible, we will want to take advantage of these maps. At the same time, we can never forget that the map is NOT the terrain. It only shows the ways we are to go. And so the maps should encourage us to get out there and walk around. On a rare occasion, the map may be wrong or, at least, it might be able to be improved to reflect the reality of the terrain. But in most cases, we will find that the maps are good guides into the Bible. 

What are these maps for Christians? One set of maps is the so-called "ecumenical creeds," i.e. the Apostles', Nicene and Athanasian Creeds. These reflect the consensus of most Christians in the early centuries of the church and reflect the best attempt to summarize the teaching of the Bible about the identity of Jesus (true God and true Human) and of God (Three-in-One, almighty, creator, etc.), among other things.

Lutherans (and our congregational constitution) use some other maps as well. These maps were drawn in 16th century Germany to deal with another question, viz. "How are we saved? How is our relationship with God restored?" These maps attempt to describe "Justification by grace alone through faith alone for the sake of Christ alone" (i.e. the Gospel) as the key to understanding the rest of the Bible and recommend that everything the church says, believes and does reflect that central teaching of the Bible. We have assembled them in The Book of Concord (the birthday of which I share along with the Augsburg Confession, i.e. June 25!). Some Lutheran churches around the world prioritize the Small Catechism and the Augsburg Confession and these are probably the clearest and most easily understood Bible maps in the set. But all are important, even if you might need another map to understand some of the more complicated maps.

So, happy vacationing! Don't forget your GPS or your map if you're headed out of town. And happy Bible exploring! As you do so, take along these trusty maps to guide you: the ecumenical creeds and the Book of Concord. I'd be happy to help you procure your own paper copies of these maps. You can also find public domain versions (the English is a bit archaic) online at www.bookofconcord.org May the Gospel empower you for God's mission to make Jesus-disciples of all the world's ethnicities (Mt 28:19)! - Pastor Dean