a pastor’s reflections on how the Triune God uses prayer, meditation on the Scriptures and the troubles of life to help us fight the devil and receive all of the gifts of Jesus
Sometimes you find a book.
And at other times, it seems as if the book finds you.
Let’s say you’re interested in a topic, curious about the latest best seller, you can’t wait for your favorite author’s newest title, a friend raves about the novel that they read while on vacation, or you just received the assigned reading list from the first semester syllabus. With purpose you make your way to the library, bookstore, or the internet in search of the book.
Success! You find the book.
But, along the way, something else happens.
An unrelated book on the shelf catches your eye and causes you to pause. The title dressed in an intriguing dust cover waves you over. The author introduces himself on the inside flap, he tells you a little bit about what he’s been up to in the table of contents, gives the backstory in the preface, and then tells you the rest of the story in … chapter 1, chapter 2, 3, 4, 5.
And like a long lunch with an old friend, you lose track of the time.
Sometimes you find a book.
And at other times, it seems as if the book finds you.
In the Fall of 1988, John W. Doberstein’s Minister’s Prayer Book found me in one of the aisles at Concordia Theological Seminary’s bookstore. I remember him wearing a blue dust jacket. He had a slim frame, and compared to the other husky books from the first semester seminary reading list, he presented himself in a modest and quiet way.
But as the proverb says, “still waters run deep”.
In many private sittings, after he opened himself up, the unassuming little book had many wise words to say – especially about the spiritual formation of a pastor. He also knew a lot of friends, most of whom are now with their Lord, who had written many words about the life of a minister as a confessor, pastor, intercessor, teacher and preacher.
In those first days at the seminary, Doberstein introduced me to three texts that have formed, or perhaps, a better way of saying it might be, that have “cruci-formed” my life as a pastor.
The first text was from Martin Luther’s Preface to Volume 1 of his German Works on page 287. The working title of the essay was Oratio. Meditatio. Tentatio: A Right Way to Study Theology. The full Latin phrase is oratio, meditatio, tentatio faciunt theologum. Translated, it simply means …
prayer, meditation on the Scriptures and the daily trouble(s) of life form the theologian.
Luther’s oratio, meditatio, and tentatio was a three themed strand that weaved its way through Psalm 119. The finished work was a tapestry that portrayed how the Word of God and the God of the Word forms (or again you could say “cruci-forms”) the Christian.
You can read a copy of Luther’s devotional here.
The second text was a letter that Martin Luther sent to his barber to teach him how to pray using the chief parts of the Catechism: the 10 Commandments, the Apostle’s Creed, the Lord’s Prayer.
It was in Appendix I and warmly titled, A Simple Way to Pray for Master Peter, the Barber. For the past 35 years I have been trying to follow Luther’s pattern of using the ABC’s of the Christian faith to frame a simple life of prayer.
The third insight was Doberstein’s multiple references to the Lutheran Confessions, specifically the Preface to Luther’s Small and Large Catechism. Doberstein had a way of highlighting key words and phrases from the Lutheran Confessions that kept cycling through my mind.
Words and phrases like …
“a reconciled God”, “terrified consciences”, “the daily exercise of the faith”, “making use of Christ”, “receiving and the ongoing reception of the forgiveness of sins”.
These phrases have helped me understand that the Christian life is “receptive”. Luther called it “vita passiva” – the life that receives.
In essence, Lutheran spirituality and the “cruci-formed” life begins with the Triune God who acts. He gives Himself completely to us.
“… here we see that God gives Himself entire to us, with all that He has and is able to do, to aid and direct us in keeping the Ten Commandments – the Father, all creatures; the Son, His entire work; and the Holy Ghost, all His gifts.”
Martin Luther, The Large Catechism, Apostle’s Creed, paragraph 69
The Triune God gives. We receive.
And then, after receiving all of the gifts that only the Triune God can give, we confidently and actively respond with a bold confession of Christ and with fervent love toward the neighbor.
The words that I share with you may or might not be profound, or beautifully written, or what you originally went looking for. They certainly aren’t anything new. Lutheran pastors have been thinking about, writing, preaching and practicing “the receptive life” (vita passiva) for centuries.
I do pray that whatever words I share may be honest and helpful.
Let’s see them as a pastor’s reflections on how the Triune God uses prayer (oratio), meditation (meditatio) on the Scriptures and the daily troubles (tentatio) of life to help you fight the devil and receive all of the gifts of Jesus.
These reflections might not have been what you went looking for, but maybe, in some sacred way, they are just what you need.
Come what may, we do belong to Jesus!