This is my article published in the Feb. 16, 2011 edition of Luther Seminary's Concord (Vol. 40, Issue 5).
Moral deliberation is something we do all the time, whether we realize it or not, so I was glad to see that as the topic for this year’s Mid-Winter Convocation. I was also glad to hear, in several different lectures, the speakers say the Bible does not function primarily as our Christian moral compass. I think it a disservice to the Bible to simplify its purpose like that. As Willimon pointed out, we proclaim Jesus the Christ before we proclaim moral and ethical declaration, and the purpose of preaching is to put Jesus among the people. It is God’s work above ours, so we do our part by getting Jesus out there, and then let him take over and finish the job.
It is the age old question of why we preach, and what ministry is for. Are we raising up good citizens, or children of God? Not that we cannot or should not be both, but sometimes we get the order reversed. As good Lutherans we know that works do not save us, and through Christ we are God’s before we are good.
Not that moral and ethical deliberation should be laid aside: we still believe we Christians are morally and ethically bound, and the Bible can inform that. The many workshops dealt with those sorts of issues, and how we work with one another when we do not agree on moral and ethical interpretations of Biblical passages. I think we are all too human to ever come to agreements about everything, but as Willimon reminded us, God specializes in taking the wrong people and making saints out of them. “It is a miracle, people, please don’t give up!” We are all still dependent on a gracious God to receive the sinner, no matter how good we are (or think we are).
So we come to seminary so we can learn more about moral and ethical deliberation and how many ways we are not as good at it as we might like to think. We have all heard some kind of call, though, and committed two or more years of our lives to this work. Willimon mentioned Matthew 28:18-20, popularly known as the Great Commission. In verse 20, Jesus reminds us, “remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age,” or, as Willimon translates it: “I will stalk you forever.” Willimon said, “to be a preacher means being stalked by the living Christ.” It is only fair to extend that to those of us who will not preach in a pulpit in front of a congregation but will proclaim the Word in other ways in our various callings (though I suspect most of us will formally preach at least once). It was not promised to always be easy, but go forth, dear community members, and do not fear. You are not alone, Jesus is stalking you.
