God’s word is alive and powerful! It is sharper than any double-edged sword. His word can cut through our spirits and souls and through our joints and marrow, until it discovers the desires and thoughts of our hearts. – Hebrews 4:12 (CEV)
It is college admission essay writing week in my house. It is not that I have to do anything with that. After all, I am not the one applying to colleges. At the same time, I do have a role in this. I have the role of reminding – “Hey, you are the one that wants to do this. You should probably work on it now and not wait until right before it is due.” Unfortunately, that is a reminder that can be needed more than once, so it becomes a bit of a nagging refrain. The other role I have is offering. “It is your essay so do what you want, but I know a thing or two about essay writing so if you would like my feedback I am available.” This offer is taken up much more quickly, and I do it gladly to give my support for something important.
My two roles, reminding and offering, function something like a demand and a promise. The reminding I do is setting forth an expectation that something needs done, and there are consequences if it is not done. In this case the consequence for delaying is greater stress in the long run. The offering, on the other hand, is a promise. “Because this is important to you, I will support you in helping you put forth your best.” I am not required to do this, but I offer it gladly as a parent wanting to support my child.
This dynamic of demand and promise is a helpful analogy of the Lutheran understanding of the Word of God. In Lutheran theology, God’s Word comes to us in two forms: law and gospel. The law is God’s demand. When we hear scripture, we find that God has expectations of us. God wants us to live a certain way and gives commands to show us how to do this. God demands that we follow these commands. Yet we are unable to do so, and this gap between what is demanded of us and what we actually do is what we call sin. Sin is our falling short of the demands God makes. At the same time, God also makes a promise to us. That promise is that Christ is Lord, and that in Christ our sin is forgiven and we are made right with God. We call this promise the gospel. It is the good news that Christ is God’s yes to us. The gospel is something that God is not required to do, but does because God loves us and wants to overcome the separation of sin. God offers this reconciliation gladly.
As we come to Reformation Sunday this coming Sunday, it is good to remember this basic Lutheran understanding of how the Word of God speaks to us and affects us personally. God’s Word is not a static thing, but rather part of God’s personal relationship with us. It speaks to us of our relationship with God. As he hear the bible read, listen for how God’s Word comes to us in these two ways. Listen for the demand of the law that is made of us, and listen for the promise of the gospel of what God does for us.