Practice of being rooted in the Gospel.

Giere, S.D.

  Articulates the Gospel in a way that is
  heard as Gospel. Is publically Lutheran
  and Gospel-centered.

The first pastoral practice, and the one that centers all others, is the practice of "being rooted in the gospel." (1) We at Wartburg Theological Seminary suggest that this is marked in two specific ways: (1) that the pastoral leader "articulates the Gospel in a way that is heard as Gospel," and (2) that the gospel-rooted pastoral leadership within and for which Wartburg forms its students "is publicly Lutheran and Gospel-centered." This article exegetes four particular foci of this pastoral practice: the Gospel itself, the notion of being rooted, that the Gospel is meant to be articulated, and the public nature of the Gospel.

The Gospel

It may be counterintuitive to begin a discussion of the Gospel in the chaos that arises between the death of King Saul and the enthronement of David as king of Israel, but I ask that you buckle up and hold on for a wee bit.

As with all political power vacuums (something we are not unfamiliar with in global politics of recent history) there is more than enough struggle, betrayal, murder, and misfortune to go around. Who shall succeed Saul as king? In 2 Samuel 4 the story of the power vacuum left in the wake of Sauls death gets particularly crazed and bloody. The crescendo of this narrative comes with the beheading of Sauls son Ishbaal at the hands of Rechab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite. Bringing the head of Ishbaal to David in triumph, the killers proclaim, "Here is the head of Ishbaal, son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life; the Lord has avenged my lord the king this day on Saul and on his offspring" (2 Sam 4:8b).

David responds to their righteous claim: "As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life out of every adversity, when the one who told me, 'See, Saul is dead', thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him at Ziklag--this was the reward I gave him for his [good] news." (2)

In short, the message Rechab and Baa-nah thought would be welcomed as good news was not received by David as such. In the last great act of David before ascending the throne of Israel, he rewards Rechab and Baanah, just as he had the young Amalekite at Ziklag, with death. (3) Is it not the case that in the name of righteousness we do that which is really destructive and evil? And is it not frequently the case that at the heart of this is mistaking and misrepresenting that which is not good news for good news?

This story functions as a type of our individual stories and of the church's story. When we try to understand good news--the Gospel--from the standpoint of our own power, prestige, prominence, or righteousness, we are bound to fail. We replace Christ s righteousness with our own. We depose the Gospel of Jesus Christ and enthrone some warped "good" news of our own.

  Luther is instructive here:
  There is only one article and one rule of
  theology, and this is true faith or trust
  in Christ. Whoever doesn't hold this article
  and this rule is no theologian. All other
  articles flow into and out of this one;
  without it the others are meaningless. The
  devil has tried from the very beginning to
  deride this article and to put his own wisdom
  in its place. However, this article has a good
  savor for all who are afflicted, downcast,
  troubled, and tempted, and these are the ones
  who understand the gospel. (4)

The good news proper is the work and righteousness of Jesus Christ. The content of the gospel is its speaker, the eternal Word incarnate, crucified, and risen, who is keen to eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners. And, as Luther says, the "afflicted, downcast, troubled, and tempted" are best able to understand the Gospel, for it is they who understand our true helplessness and need for both the balm and the transformative power of the Gospel, the truly good news of Jesus Christ.

Consider how Paul speaks of the content of proclamation in the Corinthian correspondence.

  For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim
  Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as servants
  for Jesus' sake. For it is the God who said,
  'Let light shine out of darkness,' who has
  shown in our hearts to give the light of the
  knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
  Christ (2 Cor 4:5-6 RSV).

The good news is not to be equated with just any good news. There are many things that we might categorize as good. We know, however, that what we classify as good is not always truly good (cf. Luke 18:19). Recall Davids reception of Rechab and Baanah. Recall Pauls injunction that we "do not proclaim ourselves." Rather, it is Christ that we proclaim, for it is only Christ and his righteousness that is the power of Gods justifying love toward sinners. The gospel, then, is this incarnate good news that the one who created light by speaking it into existence and the one whose glory is the source of all that is holy is the one who died for the sake of the world and whose resurrection has taken away deaths sting. In the Gospel we come to know the "glory of God in the face of Christ."

As we think about "being rooted in the Gospel," it is important to state clearly that the Gospel cannot be equated with any particular party or ideology or confession or denomination. It is the good news of Jesus Christ, which ontologically transcends every boundary and engages every here and now. It is the good news of Jesus Christ that unmasks our sin and idolatry and unrighteousness, that meets us in our affliction, despair, trouble, temptation, and fear of death, and gives freely of Christ s own righteousness and life.

Rooted

It matters where the good news is located, where it is rooted. Ultimately, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is rooted on this earth where Christ's cross was planted in the soil outside the walls of Jerusalem.

While the cross is akin to the image of the tree of life in the Garden of Eden (Gen 3:18; Rev 2:7; 22:14), I want to expand our image of this cruciform rootedness to something more akin to Ezekiels great cedar (Ezek 31:1 -18) or even more expansively to Yggdrasil, the great world-tree of Norse mythology. (5) In a real sense, with Christ's death on the cross, this "tree" rooted at Golgotha takes all the world into its branches, into Christ's outstretched arms, and its roots extend even to the depths of hell (1 Pet 3:19-20). There is nothing outside of the scope of this cruciform world-tree.

Recall the Christ Hymn in Colossians, especially the ubiquitous scope of its conclusion:

  He is the image of the invisible God,
  the firstborn of all creation; for in
  him all things in heaven and on earth
  were created, things visible and invisible,
  whether thrones or dominions or rulers or
  powers--all things have been created
  through him and for him. He himself is
  before all things, and in him all things
  hold together. He is the head of the body,
  the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn
  of the dead, so that he might come to have
  first place in everything. For in him all
  the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and
  through him God was pleased to reconcile
  to himself all things, whether on earth or in
  heaven, by making peace through the blood of
  his cross (Col 1:15-20).

The cross of Christ, then, is transformed from a means of execution into the world-tree whereby God reconciles all things on heaven and earth to God s self.

When thinking about "rootedness," then, we begin not with the pastoral practice of leaders but with the action of God in Christ for the whole world. For it is only in this cosmic reconciliation uniquely rooted in the cross of Christ that any imitative pastoral practice of "being rooted in the Gospel" can itself properly take root. Like Yggdrasil, (6) the cross of Christ frames the whole of reality for Christians. There is nothing outside of Christ s world-tree, and all reality--people, places, histories, the visible and invisible, earthly and heavenly--is framed and supported by God's all-encompassing act of reconciliation.

As the church considers formation for pastoral leadership in to days world where cultural, ethnic, socio-economic, and religious pluralisms are the reality--whether one serves in Bangalore, Baltimore, or Badger, Minnesota--where better to begin than with the Gospel itself and being rooted therein? It is in such a scriptural vision of the cruciform rootedness of the Gospel itself that pastoral leadership is essentially rooted.

Articulates

Human leadership, generally speaking, has great potential for both good and ill. Pastoral leadership is no exception. The apostle Paul at the beginning of his first letter to the Corinthians moves headlong into the divisions within the community around questions of leadership and allegiance with the formula, "I belong to ..." (1 Cor 1: 12). Pauls probing question cuts to the heart of the matter: "Has Christ been divided?" (1 Cor 1: 13a) The apostles view of leadership in the church, whether ancient Corinthian or contemporary, is rooted in the content and articulation of the Gospel. The question of baptism aside, he writes:

  For Christ did not send me to baptize
  but to proclaim the gospel, and not
  with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross
  of Christ might be emptied of its power.
  For the message of the cross is foolishness
  to those who are perishing, but to us who
  are being saved it is the power of God
  (1 Cor 1: 17-18).

The good news of Jesus Christ and him crucified is foolishness by any logical, rhetorical, reasonable measure outside of the power of God. To borrow a great word from Scots, the Gospel turns the world tapsalteerie. (7) With the action of God in Jesus Christ most clearly revealed in the all-encompassing cruciform world-tree, the world as we know it is turned upside down and the absurdity of the paradox becomes the rule. God s wisdom appears foolish and God s strength appears weak. Such is the "message of the cross," which cannot simply be conveyed with "eloquent" wisdom. The articulation of the Gospel cannot have as its primary purpose winning the admiration of hearers, for by nature the articulation of the Gospel--the wisdom of God--turns our world all tapsalteerie.

The nature of the proclamation of the Gospel and the Gospel itself are not at odds. Rather, the nature of the proclamation of the Gospel and the Gospel itself reshape our vision of ourselves, one another, and the whole world based on the very foolishness of God.

A natural outgrowth of "being rooted in the Gospel" is articulating the Gospel in ways that are heard as Gospel. In traditional and still relevant Lutheran terms, this is understood as discerning Law and Gospel. (8) Perhaps in Pauline terms this is discerning the work of God in Christ and him crucified ... discerning the foolishness and weakness of God in and for the world ... rightly discerning news of Ishbaal s head from that which is truly good, the good news of Jesus Christ.

Public

"Hide it under a bushel? No! I'm going to let it shine!"

On a cross-cultural immersion with students in Iceland, our group was invited to a children's church worship at Linda-kirkja in Kopavagur, a city that neighbors Reykjavik. While Pastor GuSmundur Karl Brynjarsson strummed his guitar, young and old alike sang "This Little Light of Mine."

It was of course in Icelandic, but there was no mistaking it. The tune, the actions, and most importantly the message ... the Light ... Christ himself translates (9) into any language and into any public.

In his classic work, The Living Wordy Gustaf Wingren works with a simple and profound thesis: "The Word [sic] exists to be made known; only when it is preached is its objective content fully disclosed." (10) Central to the practice of "being rooted in the Gospel" is the nature of the Word himself. This Word, eternal, incarnate, crucified, and risen, exists to be made known. Such is the missional heart of the church and, as such, of the pastoral leader.

The Word by which the world was spoken into existence, by which the world is sustained, by which the world is called to justice and peace, by which the world is saved is meant to be heralded, to be good news!All other pastoral practices flow from this foundational pastoral practice of "being rooted in the Gospel" with its own rootedness in the crucified Word which is meant to be heard.

For Discussion

1. Reflect upon your experience of proclamation within the church, whether as preacher or hearer. What did you hear as news of "Ishbaal s head"? What did you hear as "good news" of Jesus Christ?

2. Imagine the whole of reality and history encompassed by the roots and branches of Christ s cross. How could this vision impact your ministry and the ministry of the church?

Key words: Gospel, Word, preaching, practice, pastoral, Yggdrasil

(1.) I extend my gratitude to the Wart-burg students and alumni who have provided helpful insight and encouragement with this article: Jennifer Agee, Kalen Barkholtz, Amy Current, Mark Griffith, Seth Nelson, Scott Piper, and Gunnar Sigurjonsson.

(2.) In the Greek, 2 Sam 4:9b-10 (LXX 2 Kingdoms 4:9b-10) includes "good news" in both its verbal and nominal forms. "The Lord lives, who redeemed my life out of every adversity, for the one who told me that Saoul had died--and he was as one bringing good news [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] before me--and I seized and killed him at Sekelak, to whom I ought to have given reward for good tidings [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]" The New English Translation of the Septuagint A. Piertesma & B. G, Wright, eds. (Oxford: Oxford and International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies, 2007) ad loc.

(3.) The young Amalekite, of course, had at Saul's own request slain the king and brought the news of Saul's death together with the crown and armlet to David, cf. 2 Sam 1:1-16.

(4.) LW 54.157.

(5.) Snorri Sturlusons Prose Edda XV. With Robert W. Jenson, Ezekiel (BCTB; Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2009), 242, I point to the acknowledgement of this image of the world-tree in the great traditions of the world's religions as named by Waither Eichrodt, Ezekiel: A Commentary, C. Quin, trans. (OTL; Philadelphia: Westminster, 1970), 425.

(6.) On the parallels between Odin and Yggdrasil and Jesus Christ and the cross, see Kevin Crossley-Holland, The Norse Myths (New York: Pantheon, 1980), 187.

(7.) Roughly "topsy turvy," but thinking here in particular of Scots poet Robert Burns' (1759-1796) song "Green Grow the Rashes."

(8.) For example, C.F.W. Walther, The Proper Distinction between Law and Gospel, W.H.T. Dau, trans. (St Louis: Concordia, 1928); Herman G. Stuempfle Jr., Preaching Law and Gospel (Ramsey, N.J.: Sigler Press, 1990).

(9.) Lamin Sanneh, Translating the Message: The Missionary Impact on Culture (Maryknoll: Orbis, 1989).

(10.) Gusraf Wingren, The Living Word: A Theological Study of Preaching and the Church, trans. V.C. Pogue (Philadelphia: Muhlenberg, 1960). 13.

S. D. Giere

Assistant Professor of Homiletics Wartburg Theological Seminary