What Does It Mean to Become a Lord?

Last Sunday was Palm Sunday, the last Sunday before Easter and therefore the beginning of Holy Week, which includes Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Last Sunday, many Christians heard the gospel account of how Christ rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, Matthew 21:1-9, combined with a reading from Paul's letter to the Philippians 2:5-11.

Coincidentally, last Saturday saw the third nationwide "No Kings" protest that gathered an estimated 8 million Americans across a wide political spectrum in over 3000 local events in "red" and "blue" areas across all fifty States to register their dissatisfaction with the way President Trump runs the country.

This coincidence provides an excellent opportunity to reflect on Luther's teachings on how political power should be exercised in this world.

In his sermon on Matthew 21:1-9 contained in his Church Postil, Luther pointed out that Scripture presents Christ in two ways--first, and most importantly, as a gift and blessing; second, as an example. By believing in Christ as gift we are saved. As those who are saved by his gift, we begin to follow his example.

1 Peter 2:21 and 4:1 are verses that capture this twofold meaning of Christ beautifully and clearly: Christ saving death for us is also an example we should follow in a life lived in humble service of others. In his disputations against the Antinomians (and elsewhere), Luther acknowledged that this twofold meaning of Christ had already been grasped by Augustine of Hippo.

Using this two-fold presentation of Christ in Scripture as gift and example as his outline, Luther's sermon on Matthew 21:1-9 starts by teaching Christ as gift that is to be received by faith that realizes that he came into this world--and went to Jerusalem--in humility, as a gentle King, to save and serve his wayward subjects, not to crush and condemn them. This faith also trusts that Christ comes to save the very individual who believes. He comes to save you. This gospel connects the Advent Season and Holy Week.

As Luther noted, Christ--especially as he enters Jerusalem and as he dies on the cross in humility and poverty--does not conform to the category of "(al)mighty king" that exists in fallen human reason. When fallen reason hears the word "king," it expects that a "real" king shows up with a terrifying army, is adorned in gold and silver, and is able to impose his will on his subjects and even his enemies by force and without any restraint. Christ was a great disappointment for fallen reason in this regard.

From Christ as saving gift to our faith, Luther then shifts to Christ as example of our love:

Faith brings and gives Christ to you with all his possessions. Love gives you to your neighbor with all your possessions. These two things constitute a true and complete Christian life; then follow suffering and persecution for such faith and love, and out of these grows hope in patience.

Love is a big word. It's the summary of the whole law. Love is the chief law that establishes the genuine wellbeing and advantage of the neighbor as the purpose and limitation of keeping every divine and human law--including the Ten Commandments--as Luther explained in his sermon on Romans 13:8-10.

In his sermon on Matthew 21, Luther declines the invitation to break this chief law back down into individual commandments. Love is all about meeting the needs of the neighbor, as Luther explains when noting that the "good works" we are to do to our neighbors have no name:

They have no name, so that there may be no distinction made and they be not divided, that you might do some and leave others undone. You shall give yourself up to him altogether, with all you have, the same as Christ did not simply pray or fast for you. Prayer and fasting are not the works he did for you, but he gave himself up wholly to you, with praying, fasting, all works and suffering, so that there is nothing in him that is not yours and was not done for you. Thus it is not your good work that you give alms or that you pray, but that you offer yourself to your neighbor and serve him, wherever he needs you and every way you can, be it with alms, prayer, work, fasting, counsel, comfort, instruction, admonition, punishment, apologizing, clothing, food, and lastly with suffering and dying for him.

Christ is the example for this life that is lived as a fruit of faith that saves because it embraces Christ as saving gift. The Golden Rule (found, for instance, in Matthew 7:12) encapsulates Christ's life and the life of those who believe in him. It provides yet another summary of the moral law, according to Luther: Do onto others whatever you want them to do to you.

Luther expressed the mutual and self-giving service that is love as follows:

A man is to live, speak, act, hear, suffer and die for the good of his wife and child, the wife for the husband, the children for the parents, the servants for their masters, the masters for their servants, the government for its subjects, the subjects for the government, each one for his fellow man, even for his enemies, so that one is the other's hand, mouth, eye, foot, even heart and mind. This is a truly Christian and good work, which can and shall be done at all times, in all places, toward all people.

Luther therefore took seriously that the Golden Rule applies to all in all their relations as neighbors in this world. It's therefore not just some nice idea we can maybe experiment with in our private relations or just in our family or in our congregation among fellow believers. No, selfless service of the neighbor according to the Golden Rule is something that's supposed to permeate our jobs and even how the government relates to the governed in the political realm!

As Christ became a neighbor to all and loved all--friends and enemies alike--by giving himself to all, so we too are to become a neighbor to all and give ourselves and all we have to all. All means all. And while we will only be able to make a beginning when it comes to living this life of complete self-giving here on earth, we are nonetheless to make a beginning in the power of the Holy Spirit--that is, as a fruit of our faith in Christ the gift--for the good of all our neighbors.

So, then, what does it mean to become a real lord? What does government look like that pleases God?

Well, as Luther explained in the explanation of the Second Article of the Creed in his Small and Large Catechisms, Christ became a Lord by leading the kind of life described above: a life of radical service all the way to the cross for his wayward subjects. He gave us his all. He gave himself. Not to gain great advantages for himself. But to win, through his vicarious life and death, eternal life for sinners. He truly lived the Golden Rule--as a gift first but then also as an example for all who have received him as a gift by faith. That is how he became our Lord--by freeing his wayward subjects and giving himself as a ransom for them.

This is the example governments are supposed to follow. Because the Golden Rule summarizes the natural law that is written in the hearts of all people (Romans 2:15), all governments should follow this rule and be of service to their people. Luther fleshed this out in his lecture on Psalm 82 where he outlined key virtues of God-pleasing government that correspond to the positive aspects of the Ten Commandments--promoting the proclamation of God's Word (the first three commandments) and providing for the lives of the citizens, especially the poor, by material assistance, just laws, and by protecting them against outside enemies (the other seven commandments). You can read more about these virtues--and many related topics--in my book on God's Masks.

But, as Christ explained to his disciples in Matthew 20:25-26--after he announced his death and resurrection in Jerusalem for a third time and before he humbly entered Jerusalem on a donkey--"The rulers of the Gentiles subjugate their peoples and those who are great exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you: whoever desires to be great among you, let him be your servant. . . . Just as a Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

In his 1523 treatise on government, Luther used this contrast between how it is (for the most part) "in the world" and how Christians in positions of authority should act--the contrast between subjugation and Christ-like service--to instruct Christians who exercise governmental authority on how they should act when holding governmental offices.

Luther explained that violent subjugation of people under the rulers of the Gentiles is caused by the fact that those rulers think that "they are entitled to have others serve them and to rule those who serve them with violence." As Luther warned the rulers of his day--they all claimed to be good Christians--if they continued to mistreat their people like animals, God would cause those people to rise up in rebellion against them. In other words, ruling like those who think they are entitled to the service and submission of others (as a one-way street) may be quite short-lived and not sustainable in the long run. In his 1533 lecture on Psalm 127, Luther categorized those individuals as tyrants--that is, as individuals who think that their power over others and over life itself is so great that they can--by hook or crook--make all things turn out to their own advantage, as if they were God.

We can all think of people who impact our lives with their "my way or the highway" attitude, whether that's in our families, in our congregations, at work, or in the political sphere. Whatever the current level of their "success" might be, God is not pleased with them. Their success will therefore not last (Ps. 37:35-36).

In his 1523 treatise, Luther portrays an attitude of Christ-like (and therefore selfless) service of the neighbor as the God-pleasing alternative to the self-serving tyrannical rule we so often see in the world:

Those who want to be Christian officials in the world must truly abandon the opinion that they should be dictatorial as an official and act violently. For cursed and condemned is every life that is lived and pursued for one's own profit and benefit. Cursed are all works that are not done in love. But works are done in love if they are not done for your own pleasure, benefit, honor, convenience, or salvation, but for the benefit, honor, and salvation of others.

A few paragraphs later, Luther pointed to Christ's own example according to Philippians 2:

A government official must consider the citizens under him and properly prepare his heart. He does so when his every thought aims to be useful to those citizens and to be at their service. It would not be right for him to think: "The land and the people are mine. It will do as I please." Instead, he should think: "I belong to the land and the people. I should do what is good and useful for them. I should not seek a glamorous lifestyle. Instead, I should seek to protect and defend my subjects with a beneficial peace."

The government official should take a good look at Christ and say to himself: "Look, Christ, the supreme prince, came and served me. He did not seek to gain power over me; or how he could gain possessions and honor from me. Instead, he beheld my misery and undertook everything so that I might have power, possessions and honor in him and by him. So I will do likewise: I will not seek my advantage from the citizens. Rather, I will seek their advantage and will serve them accordingly in my office by protecting them, by listening to them, and defending them. The only goal of my government will be to benefit them, not me."

In this way, a government official would put power and government out of his heart and take on the needs of the citizens, treating their needs as his own. This is what Christ did for us (Philippians 2:3-8). And these are the actual works of Christian love.

Christ as gift and example--for for those in governmental offices this means to use public office not as an unbridled enrichment scheme for oneself and some well-connected elites but as an enrichment scheme that works for all citizens.

This is simple. This is profound. And yet, it is so very, very difficult in this world. Why? Because we all seek what benefits us by nature because our fallen nature has blinded us to the Golden Rule written into our hearts, as Luther explained in the sermon on Romans 13 I mentioned above.

It's easy enough--and certainly true enough--to demand a servant lifestyle of those "up there." But how about a servant mindset in all things in our own lives? Luther talked about this discrepancy in his exposition of Psalm 45 on Christ's straight scepter in contrast to the crooked scepters of the kingdoms of this world. Indeed, even in those reborn by the gift of Christ, this fallen nature still gets mightily in the way of seeing--and doing--what should be done, according to Christ's example.

This is why Luther noted that those who exercise the power of government for the good of others--especially the poor, the widows, and orphans--are "a rare thing in heaven." And while these rare office holders are selflessly serving others to the best of their ability, the cross--hatred, envy, slander, etc.--will be their daily companion. But rare or not, this is what government officials should do. This is how all should live--as everybody's servant.

But how can we do so, given the difficulties I noted before? As Luther never ceased to reiterate, this life of radical service of the neighbor that follows Christ's example must, for as long as we live on earth, begin and remain grounded in Christ's gift of forgiveness, life, and salvation that Christ won for all when he, who is by nature the God and Lord of all, became our Lord by leading a life of service and dying a death of shame and humiliation in our place. As Luther explained in his seminal 1520 treatise on Christian freedom, becoming the humble servant of all in love presupposes becoming a free lord of all by faith in Christ.

Now, some who read this will accuse me of "confusing the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world" or of "trying to rule the world by the gospel." People who say this will often say that there should be this sharp divide between "the kingdom of God" and "the kingdom of the world." While there is peace and love and grace and mercy for Christ's sake in the kingdom of God or the church, there can only be conflict and hatred and strict justice in the kingdom of the world or the sphere of the government.

These individuals may also say that Christians should not try to improve how the world is run. Because the world is, well, the world--fallen, corrupt, irredeemable, a cruel, messy struggle for the survival of the fittest. When Christians act "in the world," they should act as the world acts: If you don't beat your "neighbor," he will beat you. Or if they are too timid to do the dirty work themselves, Christians should join forces with those who are prepared to act in the most worldly and corrupt way so long as they promise to give the Christians the spoils of their worldly actions--worldly power, access, influence, and control over "the culture." While their worldly allies rake in billions of ill-gotten gains.

But when we're with family members or fellow Christians, then we should practice the fruits of the Spirit such as love, mercy, and patience. Trying to practice those fruits outside of the privacy of those limited relations with family, friends, and fellow believers--beyond giving some strictly voluntary alms to the "unfortunate people out there"--is not only naive. It would be a confusion of the two kingdoms, according to those people. Because it would give unbelievers the wrong impression of a loving God, while they are still under God's wrath!

I think this characterization completely misses the mark of Luther's theology. Indeed, if Christ had adopted this attitude, he never would have become man, lived among sinners, or died for us--while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). In other words, there would be no gospel at all. And if God the Father, our Creator, had adopted this attitude, there would be no life at all because there would be no rain or sun for any of us (Matthew 5:45).

While Luther constantly battled against a confusion of the two kingdom, he never advocated for the kind of division advocated by some who invoke his name today. As I point out in my book on God's Masks, referenced above, Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) called those who advocated for this division in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s "pseudo-Lutherans." And while I think Luther is the more faithful theologian of the two, I do think Bonhoeffer was right on this key point.

It's also true that Luther, in the 1523 treatise on government cited above, warned against governing the world by the gospel. But what did he mean? Certainly not that those Christians who hold governmental offices may act like ruthless, unabashedly self-interested savages. Instead, he meant that those who hold governmental office must resist evil when serving their neighbors in their office, although the gospel--i.e., Matthew 5:39--commands them not to resist evil. In other words, the world--fallen as it is--cannot be ruled by not resisting evil in our interactions with our neighbors. Here, we--parents, pastors, government officials, neighbors in general--must resist evil to serve and protect our neighbors.

But, as Luther explained in his 1523 treatise--as well as in his sermons on the Sermon on the Mount and elsewhere--we must resist evil for the good of our neighbor, while our heart is willing to suffer all evil in our own lives and possessions, according to Christ's example. As discussed above, those who wish to exercise governmental power as Christians, should put power and authority out of their hearts. Instead of using their high offices to serve themselves, they should serve their neighbors. This is how they should empty their hearts, according to Christ's own example set forth in Philippians 2. And as they do that, suffering and the cross will not be far from them.