I was reading Luther's sermon on the rich man and Lazareth, found in the Lenker volumes. If you do not have them, skip a few Happy Meals and buy a set. If you have a set and do not read them on a regular basis, you are starving yourself. Luther believed in the preached Word and lived it, unlike the wolves of today.
The entire conflict in Lutherdom can be described in one phrase: faith versus unbelief.
The Olde Syn Conference and Ur-ELCA have all taught unbelief for the last 80 years. I date the change from the triumph of Knapp's Pietism in 1932 (Brief Statement) and Franklin D. Fry's anti-inerrancy stance in the ULCA.
The Great Depression also provided a cool excuse to throw doctrine overboard, since orthodoxy caused the economic collapse. Some of you are thinking, "Too much coffee!" but that was the excuse of the apostate Lutherans for promoting social activism and unionism.
What do all those entities have in common? Pietism. The Spener revolt, called Pietism, denounced orthodoxy in the name of love and practiced unionism in the name of Christian mercy. Lutherans were slow to unhitch from orthodoxy, but the leaven of Pietism, unpurged, made that inevitable. That leaven is the reason why they all work together now, as they did at the Change and Die! conference.
Not Liberals, But Unbelieving Apostates
The issue is not measuring doctrine on the Richter scale, as if WELS measured 9.0 and ELCA 1.0. The problem lies with unbelief itself. The Lutheran synods are led by unbelievers.
As Luther taught, a believer trusts in the Word alone and not in the schemes of man. He may have nothing and be nothing in the eyes of the world, like Lazarus, but his trust in God is pleasing and receives the ultimate blessing in eternal life.
In contrast, an unbeliever--like the rich man--may put on a big show. He may be a big leader in his church and pay for entire buildings in his name. But he is a wolf in sheep's clothing. He trusts in his own schemes and has no pity for anyone. He helps those who can help him in return. In the memorable parable, the rich man does not have a crumb for Lazarus or a moment to offer the poor beggar comfort in his suffering. Moreover, he glories in his status and looks down on Lazarus as deserving his lot in life.
Luther noted with his typical irony, that the clergy like to pretend they are the rich man. They kiss up to the unbelieving rich man, who uses them to cover his sins with ecclesiastical blessings. In turn, the clergy get to take on the luxuries of the rich man and pretend they are rich too. That is why the enormous gifts of the Daddy Warbucks disappear faster than a July frost. The clergy devour the money for themselves and leave a few husks for the undeserving poor clergy and teachers, who deserve their lot in life for not having their trotters in the trough.
One pastor said to me, "There are rich pastors and honest pastors. The honest ones are poor." And the pastor who said this is richer than all the Changers together. He trusts in the Gospel and gives way to the needs of others.
Afterlife
When we reach room temperature, wealth and honors mean nothing (and they should not in this life either). The rich man is in torment, just as Lazarus is in the bosom of Abraham. At this point in the parable, the man who had everything is begging for a drop of water on his tongue.
When I had nose surgery, after losing my voice, the hospital gave me a shot to dry up my mucous membranes. The shot was miraculously efficacious. My mouth and nose became drier than a Somo-nitz lecture. Mrs. Ichabod was drinking a can of flavored soda water, a favorite of ours. She offered me some: "For only $100 a sip," and laughed.
The rich man could not get the nursing care from Lazarus that he might have provided the beggar in life, so he bargained. Send him to my brothers, because someone rising from the dead will surely convert them and save them from this.
The response is one of the most powerful statements in the Bible for the efficacy of the Word alone: "They have Moses and prophets. Let them hear them." The Word is more powerful than someone rising from the dead and teaching them. This is especially poignant, coming from Christ Himself. He rose from the dead, and skeptical historians concede this truth without believing in Him. The entire world has the ultimate example, but they do not believe. They have the Word and the empty tomb. Unbelief is blind and harder than flint.
Unbelieving Pastors Today
The final stage of unbelief is the most obvious, when Shrinkers become obnoxious loud-mouth atheists or brag about doing weddings for Hindoos and non-believers and anyone who has the coin.
The stepping stones downward are not so obvious, but they are present. The evil tree bears evil fruit.
The Intrepids think they can put some salve and a bandage on Church and Change to heal it. UOJ cannot cure UOJ. That is why "The Cure" is so tepid in the Olde Syn Conference.
The Changers have been officially dissolved, spanked in public, doubtless at the insistence of the Synod President. (I am not sure. Signal intelligence is fussy on this matter.) Their false doctrine has not been rebuked and will never be rebuked.
The Conference of Pussycats and the SP do not trust the Word enough to use the rebuking power of the Holy Spirit. They realize that this would unravel their whole ball of yarn:
- Admitting Church Growth is false doctrine and a cancer.
- Conceding that UOJ is a pious fraud from Halle Pietism.
- Confessing Holy Mother Synod is imperfect.
- Losing access to the Daddy Warbucks who love synod acclaim and despise the poor.
- Worst of all - disciplining the false teachers, whose number is now Legion.
