Lutheran

Yesterday I introduced Simul Deus et Satanas or "Simultaneously Satan and God" as a phrase to describe our lives in relationship to our neighbors. So, how does this work?

In the Lutheran world, when we talk about God's provision, we point not only to the miraculous sort of stuff where food comes out of nowhere, but we also talk about how God works through each of us to provide for our neighbor. This extends to the farmer who grows the food, the trucker to transports it, and the stocker in the grocery store who puts it on the shelf. It also branches out to those who work in the medical field, the housing industry, politics, and just about any other job that, in some way, does something good for other people (for more on this, here are the articles and the 27-Hour Service from the week the fshbwl covered Jesus feeding of the 5,000).

To add to this, whenever one of us fulfills any of our vocations (a role at home, in the workplace, in our community or at church) as God would intend, we're literally doing God's work in that place because God is providing for someone else through us (even if we don't realize or believe that God's hand is there). That's the root of Simul Deus.

So what about et Satanas? This comes in when we don't faithfully provide for someone else. Maybe it's because we don't value our work and slack off. Or maybe it's because we over-consume resources rather than using only what we need. Or it could be that we woard what we have because, "We earned it!" while being ignorant to the reality that, "God provided it." Whatever the case, in this situation, we're no longer being the hands of God working to faithfully provide for people, rather, we're battling against God's kingdom and being the hands of Satan ... something we all do at different points in our lives.

There we have it, Simul Deus et Satanas.

Thoughts?

Okay, so tossing some Latin into the title post isn't the most catchy thing in the world, after all, outside of theology and language freaks, who really cares about Latin anyway? But this past weekend I had a rather interesting thought (or at least an interesting to me thought) that ends up with a Latin phrase so, here we go ...

For those of us in the Lutheran world, we regularly use the phrase, Simul Iustus et Peccator, which literally means, "At Once Justified and Sinner", but is typically rendered, "Simultaneously Sinner and Saint". The basic idea is that we, as people, based upon our own merits and actions are always, in this life, sinners. However, because of the work of Christ on the cross and the grace he gives through the faith he provides, those of us who trust in him are also forgiven and therefore saints.

Well, while I was at a dress rehearsal for this seasons, "Up With People", and I was watching all those obnoxiously happy folks running around all over the place doing all kinds of good and encouraging people to do all kinds of good, I began to analyze them theologically (note, I already admitted that I'm a theology geek).

The thing I noticed was that, their being good had no "place" in the Simul Iustus et Peccator framework. After all, if we're all sinners in this life and depend on God to be saints, then all of their "do-gooding" has no value. At the same time, as we see the works that they accomplish, and we see the lines of communication opened, and as we see people of all tribes, nations, and tongues singing together (yes, the Revelation imagery is intentional), we can see that they're doing something that gives us a glimpse of heaven hear on earth, or as we've talked about on the fshbwl, they're undoing the effects of sin. So, where does something like "Up With People" fit?

Well, since the Latin phrase that we have only works when dealing with our being right before God, I think it's time we added a second Latin phrase that is useful when talking about our being right before our neighbor (this would fit in with moral atheists and where all religions are the same). So, my suggestion: Simul Deus et Satanas or "Simultaneously Satan and God"

But since this post is getting long, I'll explain my reasoning tomorrow.

While I've never paid much attention to Garrison Keillor, whenever I heard of him in the past, I always assumed that he was sort of your traditional Lutheran type. Most likely this is because what I heard of him was always coming off the lips of old Lutherans expressing their love for a man who makes even the staunchest of old Lutheran, our traditions, our singing, and all the other cliches sound fun.

Then I was given one of Keillor's columns (by an old Lutheran) a couple of weeks ago. The old Lutheran in question decided to share after a Bible study discussion about my tech side. He'd read it the day before and was reminded of it during the conversation. When he gave it to me, I wasn't sure what to expect. When he pointed out the bit that made him think of me, I was even more uncertain of where this was going. It read:

Everybody in my coffee shop seemed to be in their 20s, locked into laptops, clicking and dragging, jumping to new links, sending IMs while text-messaging with the left hand, and the sheer volume of communication was impressive to behold ... I imagine them walking around with GPS chips that notify them when a friend is in the vicinity, and their GPSes guide them to each other in clipped electronic lady voices and they sit down side by side in a coffee shop and text-message each other while clicking their e-mail and hopping and skipping around Facebook to see who has posted pictures of their weekend.

With that limited information I wasn't really sure where to go with the article, after all, many of the people I encounter in the church world are fearful and therefore hostile to this emerging culture that is obviously disconnected from real people because they spend so much time online. Given my old Lutheran stereotype of Keillor, I couldn't help but think that this was just another version of the rant I'd heard so many times before. Then I read the whole article and found these words:

The young are towing a barnful of credit-card debt and they mumble and talk that weird stuttery talk of y'know like so anyway like awesome or whatever, and they don't know how to do arithmetic by hand or use a dictionary, but they have a great attitude. They're OK about themselves. They're really into their friends. Wassup? That's wassup. They're totally connected. Like a colony of ants. I sat in their vicinity for a few days and tapped at my novel and got into a halcyon mood and then duty called and I came back to the miasma. I am good and depressed again, but hey, I'm OK with it.

I have to say, it was impressive to hear somebody speak of a generation that they don't totally understand and, rather than ripping into them for not being "like us", taking a moment to say, "There's plenty I don't get, but here's something good."

Of course, the excitement was somewhat dampened when I looked up more info on Keillor and discovered that he's an ex-Lutheran and a democrat who's endorsed Obama, but that doesn't change the generation gap, only the stereotype.