This week enjoy a change from our usual liturgical pattern and instead reflect on a daily essay on devotional life.
Martin Luther’s Three Marks of a Theologian by Pastor Jeff Cloeter
Martin Luther described three marks of a theologian, three practices by which we seek and know God. They serve as a vital foundation for a life of devotion.
Prayer (Oratio): Before you search the Scriptures, ask for divine guidance. We approach Scripture trusting the Holy Spirit to reveal God’s true and faithful Word. Scripture is no more than a printed document or piece of literature unless God’s Spirit brings its meaning to life. Martin Luther says that before you even begin to read the Bible, you must “despair of your own mind and reason.” You are not reading Scripture like the tax code, simply searching for the right piece of information. You are reading Scripture to know God.
Examples:
“O Lord, enlighten me. Guide me. Give me understanding according to your Word. Teach me. Show me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
“O God, let your Word take hold of me. Speak yourself to me. Stir up my heart, that I may produce fruit that will last. For Jesus’ sake, Amen.”
“O Lord, let me stand before you. You are my beginning, middle, and end. Lead me by your Spirit. Help me. Be my strength. Gather my thoughts, O Lord, and keep me from wandering and weariness. Amen.”
Meditation (Meditatio): Meditation is more than Bible study. In meditation, we “read, mark, and inwardly digest the Word of God.” It has been said that we must “bathe in God’s Word.” After prayer, this requires reading, rereading, thinking on, and praying the Scriptures. St. Luke writes of Jesus’ mother Mary that she, “Kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.” (Luke 1: Mary in Luke 9:39: “sat at the Lord’s feet and listened” while “Martha was distracted with much serving.” So sit, listen, read, write, speak, and sing Scripture as a means of digesting the Word.
Examples:
· A slow, deliberate, and careful reading of Scripture (manageable lengths of text). Spend one month in a book of the Bible, settling on one chapter a day.
· Read. Reread. Read out loud. Repeat key verses. Write them down.
· Answer: What is this text saying? Try to repeat the substance in your own words. What is the main point? Search for the inner aim of the passage.
· Read Scripture with others.
· Memorizing key verses, writing them on the heart.
· Take key verses or words from a text and turn them into a prayer.
Temptation/Trial (Tentatio): The Word of God is not fully understood until it is lived. When God’s Word has worked on you, it will invariably find confrontation and conflict in life. Luther says, “You suffer and are tempted by reason of the very fact that you meditate on God’s Word. The devil will afflict you and make you a real doctor of theology and teach you to cling to God’s Word.” In the pummeling, pressing, and terrifying nature of trial, we are driven to God’s side in faithful trust.
What to do:
- Consider your own sin. “God, I acknowledge that I have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed; that I have not loved you with all my heart and soul, with all my mind and strength; and that I have not loved my neighbor as myself. Be forgiving to what I have been, help me to amend what I am, and of your mercy direct what I shall be, so that the love of goodness may ever be first in my heart, and that I may follow unto my life’s end in the footsteps of Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.
- Consider the temptation of the Evil One. Is the “face of the devil” evident in your life? Where do you see evil and wickedness? Where do you see temptation?
- Consider the challenges in your life. Where am I being challenged? Where do I find that I’m stressed, afraid, pressed, and pummeled? What might God be doing in this trial?
- Trial leads us back to prayer, the place where we started. It causes us to plead with earnestness and sincerity, “Our Father.” Trial is the place for faith.