Counseling Under the Cross: Martin Luther on Suffering, Sorrow, and Hope in Christ

Transcription

1 Counseling Under the Cross: Martin Luther on Suffering, Sorrow, and Hope in Christ By Robert W. Kellemen, Ph.D. President, RPM Ministries, Presentation Summary Martin Luther is known as a great Reformer, but Luther was also an accomplished pastoral biblical counselor skilled in applying the gospel to our suffering, sin, and sanctification in Christ. In this session, we learn from Martin Luther how to counsel under the cross how to apply the hope of the gospel to the suffering of life in our fallen world.

2 1 Counseling Under the Cross: Martin Luther on Suffering, Sorrow, and Hope in Christ Introduction: Martin Luther the Pastoral Biblical Counselor Ø October 31, 1517: Compelled by intense pastoral concern 1. Luther the Pastor-Shepherd-Counselor Inspired Luther the Reformer a. Luther s Reformation Motivation b. Luther s Pastoral Heart 2. Luther Reformed Pastoral Counseling: Under the Word and Under the Cross a. Luther Reformed the Pastoral Counseling of His Day: The Fourteen Consolations b. Luther, Suffering, Sin, Sanctification, and the Sufficiency of Scripture: Sola Scriptura Preach the Gospel to Yourself Daily 1) You have the Apostle Paul who shows to you a garden, or paradise, which is full of comfort, when he says: Whatever was written, was written for our instruction, so that through patience and the consolation of the Scriptures we might have hope (Romans 15:4). Here he attributes to Holy Scripture the function of comforting. Who may dare to seek or ask for comfort anywhere else? 1 2) Comfort yourself with the Word of God, the pre-eminent consolation. 2 3) It is thus very true that we shall find consolation only through the Scriptures, which in the days of evil call us to the contemplation of our blessings, either present or to come. 3 4) Nothing helps more powerfully against the devil, the world, the flesh, and all evil thoughts than occupying oneself with God s Word, having conversations about it, and contemplating it. 4 5) I have learned by experience how one should act under temptation, namely, when any one is afflicted with sadness. Let him first lay hold of the comfort of the divine Word. 5 6) Therefore, whenever any one is assailed by temptation of any sort whatever, the very best that he can do in the case is either to read something in the Holy Scriptures, or think about the Word of God, and apply it to his heart. 6 7) If you now attempt, in this spiritual conflict, to protect yourself by the help of man without the Word of God, you simply enter upon the conflict with that mighty spirit, the devil, naked and unprotected. Such an endeavor would be worse than David against Goliath without God s supernatural power helping David. You may, therefore, if you so please,

3 oppose your power to the might of the devil. It will then be very easily seen what an utterly unequal conflict it is, if one does not have at hand in the beginning the Word of God. 7 8) Christ heals people by means of his precious Word, as he also declares in the 50th chapter of Isaiah (verse 4): The Lord hath given me a learned tongue, that I should know how to speak a word in season to the weary. St. Paul also teaches likewise, in Romans xv 14, that we should obtain and strengthen hope from the comfort of the Holy Scriptures, which the devil endeavors to tear out of people s hearts in times of temptations. Accordingly, as there is no better nor more powerful remedy in temptations than to diligently read and heed the Word of God. 8 9) Let us learn, therefore, in great and horrible terrors, when our conscience feels nothing but sin and judges that God is angry with us, and that Christ has turned His face from us, not to follow the sense and feeling of our own heart, but to stick to the Word of God. 9 Preach the Gospel to One Another Daily 1) No man should be alone when he opposes Satan. The church and the ministry of the Word were instituted for this purpose, that hands may be joined together and one may help another. If the prayer of one doesn t help, the prayer of another will. 10 2) Those who are tempted by doubt and despair I should console in this fashion. First, by warning them to beware of solitude and to converse constantly with others about the Psalms and Scriptures. 11 3) For one has to instruct consciences that the comfort of the gospel is directed to each individual particularly; therefore, as you people who understand these matters know, the gospel has to be applied through the Word to each individual particularly, so that each individual in his conscience is tossed about by the questions whether this great grace, which Christ offers to all men, belongs to him too. 12 4) So we also labor by the Word of God that we may set at liberty those that are entangled, and bring them to the pure doctrine of faith, and hold them there. 13 Applying the Gospel to Suffering and Sanctification: Martin Luther the Soul Care Giver I. Sustaining and the Trial of Faith: Luther s Pastoral Theology of Sustaining 2 A. Luther s Soul Care Diagnosis of Level 1 Suffering: What Happens to Us The Trial Ø The World Is Fallen and It Often Falls on Us! B. Luther s Soul Care Diagnosis of Level 2 Suffering: What Happens In Us The Trial of Faith (Anfechtung) Ø The World Is a Mess and It Messes with Our Minds!

4 3 1. Understanding Satan s Scheme: Satan Seeks to Crop the Christ of the Cross Out of Our Picture We desperately need counseling under the cross because Satan seeks to crop the Christ of the cross out of our picture so we ll flee from the Father and entrust ourselves to anyone but God. 2. Prescribing Christ s Gospel Remedy: Clinging to a Biblical Perspective Ø Cling to a Coram Deo Perspective Ø Cling to a Christ of the Cross Perspective When life is bad, we defeat satanic doubts about God s goodness by facing our suffering face-to-face with God in the face of Christ. II. Gospel-Centered Comfort for Suffering: Luther s Sustaining Pastoral Care Ø The Luther Application Is Not: Just Preach At People! Ø The Luther Pastoral Care Application Is: Compassionately Journeying with Sufferers Entering Their Earthly Story (2 Corinthians 1:3-9) A. Personal Suffering: I Have Wrestled with Suffering 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, 8-9 B. Participation in Suffering: I Suffer with You 2 Corinthians 1:4-7 C. Permission to Grieve in Suffering: I Respect Your Struggle in Suffering III. Healing and Christ s Gospel Medicine for Suffering: Luther s Pastoral Theology of Healing A. Introduction: Sustaining and Healing Ø Sustaining Ø Healing

5 4 B. The Spiritual Significance of Suffering: Luther s Theology of Healing Ø C.S. Lewis on the Purpose of Pain/Suffering Ø Martin Luther on the Purpose of Pain/Suffering Ø Medicine for What? Ø Medicine to Accomplish What? God s good heart always produces good purposes in our suffering; He sometimes chooses to cure us; He always chooses to mature us. God Uses Suffering to Form and Transform Us IV. Gospel-Centered Encouragement to Grow through Suffering: Luther s Healing Pastoral Care A. Paint Gospel-Centered Images of Who God Is in Christ B. Paint Heroic Images of the Christian s Identity in Christ When suffering tempts us to despair; we prescribe Christ s gospel medicine of healing hope Christ-centered images of Who God is and who the Christian is. Conclusion: So What? What Now? 1Luther, LW, Vol. 49, p Tappert, Luther: Letters of Spiritual Counsel, p. 63, emphasis added. 3Luther, LW, Vol. 42, p Luther, The Large Catechism, p. 187, in Krey, Luther s Spirituality. 5Nebe, Luther As Spiritual Adviser, pp Nebe, Luther As Spiritual Adviser, p Luther, Commentary on Romans, pp Nebe, Luther As Spiritual Adviser, p Luther, Commentary on Galatians, pp. 333, Luther, LW, Vol. 54, p Tappert, Luther: Letters of Spiritual Counsel, p Luther, LW, Vol. 50, p Luther, Commentary on Galatians, pp. 333, 126.