1 00:00:04,804 --> 00:00:09,576 Welcome back from lunch. Good to see everyone is making their way back in. I'm Kevin Golden, 2 00:00:10,210 --> 00:00:14,748 Associate Professor of Exegetical Theology here at Concordia Seminary, also the Dean 3 00:00:14,748 --> 00:00:20,387 of Theological Research and Publication. Very glad to see all of you are here for this wonderful 4 00:00:20,387 --> 00:00:27,627 symposium. One piece of housekeeping before I introduce our next speaker, and that is, 5 00:00:27,627 --> 00:00:33,099 we noticed during the first session this morning that there is a bit of din coming from the foyer 6 00:00:33,099 --> 00:00:39,572 at times. So just to let you know, Wyneken room 101. We're in Wyneken building right now, 7 00:00:39,839 --> 00:00:44,544 but if you want to have a conversation with somebody else, rather than doing it in the 8 00:00:44,544 --> 00:00:50,250 foyer while a session's in place, please step into room 101 to make sure that we're able to 9 00:00:50,250 --> 00:00:55,822 hear everything that's taking place within here. I would especially say that for the guy that I'm 10 00:00:55,822 --> 00:01:02,429 going to introduce, I want everyone to hear him. All right. Now, he hardly needs to be introduced. 11 00:01:02,796 --> 00:01:08,501 Dr. Leo Sanchez has been a member of the faculty here for 20 years this summer. It will be 20 years, 12 00:01:08,535 --> 00:01:16,276 right? For the past 18 years, he's been serving as the Director of the Center for Hispanic Studies. 13 00:01:17,043 --> 00:01:24,084 He holds an endowed chair, the Krause Chair in Hispanic Theology. Is that the correct title for 14 00:01:24,084 --> 00:01:30,490 that Leo? Yeah, Hispanic Ministry. All right. And I can say as having been previously pastor for 15 00:01:30,490 --> 00:01:36,696 Werner Krause, who he and his wife endowed that chair, they were rather proud to have Leo holding 16 00:01:36,696 --> 00:01:45,772 that chair and serving so faithfully in that regard. I've known Leo for 25 years now. We met 17 00:01:45,772 --> 00:01:53,146 each other in the fall of 1999 when both of us were enrolling in the PhD program here. He had 18 00:01:53,146 --> 00:01:58,351 just graduated from our sister seminary in Fort Wayne. I had just graduated from here and we were 19 00:01:58,351 --> 00:02:07,427 both doing PhD work. And he impressed me immediately as somebody who was surprisingly passionate about 20 00:02:07,427 --> 00:02:14,234 Spirit Christology. Already at that point, and that has become one of the things that he is well known 21 00:02:14,234 --> 00:02:21,040 for, Spirit Christology. He has lectured on that. He has written books on that that have had a 22 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:26,246 worldwide influence all the way down to New Zealand just this past year, I know, presenting on that. 23 00:02:26,613 --> 00:02:34,154 But that's hardly the extent of the influence he has had positively within Christ Church. But that's 24 00:02:34,154 --> 00:02:38,258 enough for me. Let's hear from the man himself, Dr. Leo Sanchez. 25 00:03:03,616 --> 00:03:09,055 Many thanks. Kevin Golden, the man of gold. Give it up for the man of gold. 26 00:03:15,328 --> 00:03:24,304 Bienvenidos. Welcome. We are happy to celebrate with you our 18th annual lecture in Hispanic Latino 27 00:03:24,304 --> 00:03:31,144 Theology and Missions in conjunction with the Multi-Ethnic Symposium and this year's focus on 28 00:03:31,144 --> 00:03:39,252 the theme of Catholicity. Hosted by the Center for Hispanic Studies at Concordia Seminary, the 29 00:03:39,252 --> 00:03:44,891 purpose of the annual lecture is to invite reflection on the theological and missional 30 00:03:44,891 --> 00:03:52,665 contributions of Hispanics, particularly in the United States to the church at large, with special 31 00:03:52,665 --> 00:03:59,172 attention to the Lutheran Church's engagement with these contributions from her own biblical 32 00:03:59,172 --> 00:04:07,347 and confessional tradition. Today I have the privilege to serve as the lecturer. It's my second 33 00:04:07,347 --> 00:04:15,755 time doing so in the short history of the lectures and it is fitting to do so in some small way, also 34 00:04:15,755 --> 00:04:22,528 to give thanks to God for my 18 years of service as director of the Center for Hispanic Studies, 35 00:04:22,528 --> 00:04:29,769 which comes to an end this year so that I can rest from a long administrative appointment and 36 00:04:31,070 --> 00:04:38,611 also focus on teaching, research, and writing. I would like to publicly thank my colleague, Dr. 37 00:04:38,711 --> 00:04:46,085 Ely Prieto, for taking on the directorship of the Center and wish him God's richest blessings in all 38 00:04:46,085 --> 00:04:53,092 of his endeavors. I will continue to serve at the seminary and I look forward to my continued 39 00:04:53,092 --> 00:04:58,965 involvement with the Center, the annual lecture, and other initiatives in Hispanic ministries over 40 00:04:58,965 --> 00:05:05,938 the years. But I do want to say thank you to all of you who have partnered with and enriched the 41 00:05:05,938 --> 00:05:14,714 Center and its work over the years. Thank you to all of you, including district leaders, instructors, 42 00:05:14,714 --> 00:05:22,155 and of course our own students, many of whom I have seen wandering around today. We appreciate 43 00:05:22,155 --> 00:05:39,572 you all. Thank you. Muchas gracias. And now on to the lecture. So my overall goal in this 44 00:05:39,572 --> 00:05:54,821 presentation is to explore, to test the usefulness of the language of Catholicity as a theological 45 00:05:54,821 --> 00:06:03,730 lens for helping the church reflect on her identity and mission in relation to migrant 46 00:06:03,730 --> 00:06:11,537 neighbors. But I think we will gather lessons here more broadly for the church's relationship 47 00:06:11,537 --> 00:06:21,581 to people who come from a plurality of ethnicities, cultures, and language groups. Now what drives my 48 00:06:21,581 --> 00:06:32,258 interests in this topic? First, we live in an age of migration. We live at a time where we have the 49 00:06:32,258 --> 00:06:40,967 largest numbers of people on the move in history. Also, the presence of migrant neighbors among us, 50 00:06:42,101 --> 00:06:49,108 like family members, co-workers, classmates, members of our churches, also drives my interest 51 00:06:49,108 --> 00:06:58,551 in this subject. The theology of migration is a growing field of study in its own right. There are 52 00:06:58,885 --> 00:07:07,193 now several approaches, theological approaches, to migration. At a more personal level, my work 53 00:07:07,193 --> 00:07:13,366 with Center for Hispanic Studies students, also students from the Ethnic Immigrant Institute of 54 00:07:13,366 --> 00:07:20,573 Theology, students from the Cross-Cultural Ministry Center, over the years, many of them first 55 00:07:20,573 --> 00:07:27,847 generation immigrants to the United States. So working with them for 20 years or so, that begins 56 00:07:27,847 --> 00:07:34,353 to also shape your perspective. And my own immigrant experience to the Americas. We migrated from 57 00:07:34,353 --> 00:07:42,595 Chile to Panama, and then from Panama to the United States. As Bob Rossin used to say, I'm working my 58 00:07:42,595 --> 00:07:57,376 way up north. I don't know what's next. And then Catholicity. So there are things on the migration 59 00:07:57,376 --> 00:08:05,785 side that drive my interest, but also on the Catholicity side. First, I'm intrigued by this idea that 60 00:08:05,785 --> 00:08:16,095 Catholicity is unexplored among Lutherans. Often, perhaps, we tend to default to the unity or the 61 00:08:16,095 --> 00:08:20,766 oneness of the church, what we have in common, which is a good thing too. But how do we deal 62 00:08:20,766 --> 00:08:33,513 positively with plurality in some legitimate way? Also, I think maybe Catholicity is a helpful term 63 00:08:33,513 --> 00:08:40,987 for thinking through things like diversity and inclusion and difference and other. Many of these 64 00:08:40,987 --> 00:08:49,228 terms have become contested. You're entering a minefield sometimes when we talk in this way. I 65 00:08:49,228 --> 00:08:56,802 wonder if Catholicity is a way to get at the one and the many unity and plurality. But that would 66 00:08:56,802 --> 00:09:08,614 require some work on how we appropriate Catholicity in a theological way. Also, there's been a lot of 67 00:09:08,614 --> 00:09:15,321 productive research on Catholicity in relationship to other churches, other cultures, and so on, 68 00:09:15,521 --> 00:09:23,496 coming especially from the Roman Catholic Church and how the Roman Catholic Church sees herself in 69 00:09:23,496 --> 00:09:29,502 relationship to others, whether that is other Christians or people of other religions, people of 70 00:09:29,502 --> 00:09:39,545 other cultures, and so on. So there's a lot that drives my interest in this. Now, among the factors 71 00:09:39,545 --> 00:09:46,786 driving my interest in the potential usefulness of Catholicity for theological reflection, I 72 00:09:46,786 --> 00:09:56,028 mentioned more specifically that Catholicity is an important theme in contemporary reflection on 73 00:09:56,028 --> 00:10:02,735 migration, especially among theologians in the Catholic tradition. And this includes Hispanic 74 00:10:02,735 --> 00:10:11,344 Latino theologians as well. Two interrelated insights arise from this research. So we're entering 75 00:10:11,344 --> 00:10:17,617 into a little bit of dialogue here with Roman Catholicism on this question. Insight number one, 76 00:10:18,384 --> 00:10:25,591 an important dimension of Catholicity is not only that the Church believes the one faith universally 77 00:10:25,591 --> 00:10:33,299 or everywhere in the sense of geographical extension across time, that's part of it, 78 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:45,044 but also that the one Church embraces people of all cultures, ethnicities, and languages. We may 79 00:10:45,044 --> 00:10:52,718 call this embracing quality of Catholicity the Church's character as a hospitable people in an 80 00:10:52,718 --> 00:11:03,996 inhospitable world. Or is the Church saying to a hurting, broken, sinful world, mi casa es su casa. 81 00:11:05,598 --> 00:11:10,636 Now here's another insight that comes from this research on Catholicity and migration on the 82 00:11:10,636 --> 00:11:19,879 Catholic side. That global migration and people on the move, or migrants, can serve as a locus 83 00:11:20,813 --> 00:11:28,521 for theological reflection about the Church, her identity, and mission in the world. By locus, 84 00:11:28,754 --> 00:11:37,563 that's a Latin term, I mean a place from which we can reflect in light of God's Word on his purposes 85 00:11:37,563 --> 00:11:46,906 for the Church. A locus could be a reality, a human experience like migration, could be a people like 86 00:11:46,906 --> 00:11:55,481 migrants, refugees, from which or through which we can articulate in part, and again in light of 87 00:11:55,481 --> 00:12:01,620 God's Word, what it might mean for the Church to be the Church in the world, especially in an age 88 00:12:01,620 --> 00:12:12,331 of migration as we think about how we relate to migrant neighbors. So again, an important 89 00:12:12,331 --> 00:12:19,505 dimension of Catholicity is that vertical one, the one faith, this horizontal dimension that 90 00:12:19,505 --> 00:12:26,245 Larry was speaking about earlier, the extension of the one faith universally, but then also adds 91 00:12:26,245 --> 00:12:34,220 another horizontal aspect to it, which is hospitality. And that migrants could teach the 92 00:12:34,220 --> 00:12:39,024 Church something about her own identity and mission in the world, in light of God's Word. 93 00:12:42,628 --> 00:12:52,738 So our thesis is the following. Although these two insights I just shared, the one about the 94 00:12:52,738 --> 00:13:01,213 Church's Catholicity as her hospitable quality, and the one about the migrant neighbor who 95 00:13:01,213 --> 00:13:08,320 invites reflection on what it means to be Church, although these two insights at first seem to 96 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:16,061 revise traditional Lutheran notions of Catholicity and the locus of theological reflection, I would 97 00:13:16,061 --> 00:13:22,301 like to argue that the Lutheran tradition has theological sources that can help us adopt these 98 00:13:22,301 --> 00:13:30,943 insights critically and use them constructively to articulate at least part of a Lutheran 99 00:13:30,943 --> 00:13:40,286 ecclesiology in and perhaps for our age of migration. Now, what do I mean by traditional Lutheran 100 00:13:40,286 --> 00:13:45,457 notions of Catholicity and of the locus of theological reflection? Here's what I mean. 101 00:13:46,458 --> 00:13:53,766 On the Catholicity side, it's the insight that the fullness of the one faith is extended 102 00:13:53,766 --> 00:13:59,505 universally or geographically throughout time. I think this sort of brings together Larry's 103 00:13:59,505 --> 00:14:06,078 earlier vertical and horizontal dimensions of Catholicity. Although Larry would argue 104 00:14:06,078 --> 00:14:12,084 that the horizontal has not always been, you know, articulated or highlighted enough. 105 00:14:16,422 --> 00:14:24,530 On the locus of theology side, a good insight, a critical insight in the Lutheran tradition is that 106 00:14:24,530 --> 00:14:32,638 the proper locus or place from which the theology is the Holy Scriptures, informed also by the Lutheran 107 00:14:32,638 --> 00:14:41,614 Confession. So this is also important. So if we're going to reflect on neighbors like migrants and 108 00:14:41,614 --> 00:14:48,387 what they can teach us, it will have to be done in light of Scripture. So it's just an important 109 00:14:48,387 --> 00:14:55,895 clarification here that we're not contesting these insights either on the Catholicity or locus side 110 00:14:55,895 --> 00:15:04,470 of things here, but rather we might say complementing the vertical aspect of Catholicity with the 111 00:15:04,470 --> 00:15:12,344 horizontal one and to the sense of mission extension, I like to add the sense of embracing 112 00:15:12,344 --> 00:15:21,253 quality. And we're also reflecting on immigrant neighbors, of course, but always in light of Scripture. 113 00:15:21,420 --> 00:15:32,398 So this will be important to do as we proceed. So I mentioned that Catholic theology has reflected 114 00:15:32,398 --> 00:15:38,871 on this embracing Catholicity of the church, especially towards migrants. Here's an example 115 00:15:38,871 --> 00:15:47,079 from Italian theologian Gioachino Campese, a big name in the theology of Catholicity and migration. 116 00:15:47,746 --> 00:15:53,919 He says, Catholicity is not interpreted today in a traditional way, that is in terms of the expansion 117 00:15:53,919 --> 00:15:59,358 and omnipresence of the Christian church, but first and foremost as an essential quality of a church 118 00:15:59,358 --> 00:16:08,300 that is always radically open to any human being and group without distinction. Couple observations here. 119 00:16:08,300 --> 00:16:15,941 Note the shift from the sense of Catholicity as expansion of the one faith, which is not against, 120 00:16:17,576 --> 00:16:22,448 but towards that other dimension of Catholicity as openness to all humanity. 121 00:16:23,449 --> 00:16:31,457 Catholic church likes to speak a lot about the church's openness to all humanity. I'll say more about this 122 00:16:31,457 --> 00:16:38,864 in a little bit. Note also that the horizontal dimension is not an optional quality of the church. 123 00:16:39,498 --> 00:16:46,438 It is essential. He even uses the term essential quality. It is not supplementary. It's not an addition 124 00:16:46,438 --> 00:16:53,846 that is nice to have but one can do without, like nice decoration on an already perfect building. 125 00:16:54,613 --> 00:17:02,221 Rather the embracing quality or character of Catholicity is complementary to the sense of Catholicity 126 00:17:02,221 --> 00:17:11,463 as the universal extension of the fullness of the faith. One completes the other, you might say, 127 00:17:12,297 --> 00:17:20,506 because all people are welcome into the church, that's the embracing quality, so that the one faith is shared 128 00:17:20,506 --> 00:17:30,015 with and among the many, that's the missional trajectory quality, and the many then over time enrich 129 00:17:31,083 --> 00:17:37,423 the expression of the one faith with the diversity of their gifts, whether that's cultural or linguistic 130 00:17:37,423 --> 00:17:44,096 or pastoral or missional or so on. And I think that probably gets more to the element of wholeness. 131 00:17:47,566 --> 00:17:56,175 We're making stuff up as we go, guys. We're wrestling with the language, right? What's the right language here? 132 00:17:57,242 --> 00:18:05,050 Campese continues, the migrants with the rich diversity and urgent need of inclusion continue to remind 133 00:18:05,050 --> 00:18:13,258 the whole church of the fundamental importance of Catholicity, that is at the same time a gift, 134 00:18:13,258 --> 00:18:21,400 a mission, and a hope. The Christian community, of course, never completely realizes the ideal of Catholicity, 135 00:18:21,500 --> 00:18:27,506 but it needs to constantly renew its full commitment to it, especially when migrants present themselves 136 00:18:27,506 --> 00:18:36,849 on the threshold of our churches. So in this statement, we see an example of how migrants can offer the church 137 00:18:36,849 --> 00:18:44,590 a lens for theological reflection, and we might say pastoral reflection as well. They remind the whole church 138 00:18:44,590 --> 00:18:51,063 of their Catholic identity and commitment, especially as a community that embraces neighbors with 139 00:18:51,063 --> 00:19:01,173 quote, an urgent need of inclusion. Notice also this language of Catholicity as a gift, a mission, and a hope. 140 00:19:02,074 --> 00:19:10,682 Here Campese is basically summarizing a standard way in which, in the language of the Vatican II Council, 141 00:19:11,150 --> 00:19:18,290 which is the last council of the Roman Catholic Church, went from 1962 through 1965 over four sessions, 142 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:26,298 speaks of the church's identity and relationship to the world as an inclusive communion. 143 00:19:27,599 --> 00:19:35,374 The key image of Vatican II, or perhaps a key image of Vatican II's view of the church is that the church is a sign, 144 00:19:35,541 --> 00:19:43,415 it's a divinely instituted sign in the world of God's will for the communion of all peoples among themselves 145 00:19:43,415 --> 00:19:48,220 and of all peoples with God. In other words, if you want to see the place where this is happening, 146 00:19:48,587 --> 00:19:55,194 here is the sign that God has established where this happens. The communion of all peoples among themselves 147 00:19:55,194 --> 00:20:02,134 and of all people with God, that is the sign of the church in the world. And the church is also the instrument 148 00:20:02,134 --> 00:20:10,676 through which God's mission, which brings this unity about, we might say. The church is also the end goal. 149 00:20:10,809 --> 00:20:20,319 This is the Revelation 7 thing. The church is also the end goal of this unity, which we will see finally fulfill the last day. 150 00:20:25,224 --> 00:20:37,502 Now consider how this section of instruction from the Vatican argues that immigration and migrants 151 00:20:37,502 --> 00:20:45,444 remind the church in light of scripture of her identity, mission, and goal as God's visible sign of the communion 152 00:20:45,444 --> 00:20:50,182 of the human family with each other and of the human family with God. 153 00:20:50,182 --> 00:20:59,825 As an example, so this is a John Paul II's pontificate. This was a document approved in 2004. 154 00:21:01,660 --> 00:21:10,902 And it reads in part, foreigners are also a visible sign and an effective reminder of that universality, 155 00:21:10,969 --> 00:21:16,975 which is a constituent element of the Catholic Church. A vision of Isaiah announced this. 156 00:21:16,975 --> 00:21:22,581 In the days to come, the mountain of the temple of Yahweh shall tower above the mountains. 157 00:21:23,282 --> 00:21:31,023 All the nations will stream to it. In the Gospel, our Lord himself prophesied that people from east and west, 158 00:21:31,223 --> 00:21:35,861 from north and south, will come to take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. 159 00:21:36,662 --> 00:21:41,166 And the apocalypse is a huge number from every nation, race, tribe, and language. 160 00:21:41,166 --> 00:21:49,441 The church is now toiling on its way to this final goal. Today's migrations can remind us of this huge number 161 00:21:49,441 --> 00:22:00,585 and be seen as a call and prefiguration, it anticipates the final meeting of all humanity with God and in God. 162 00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:05,657 So again, you see here the connection between Catholicity and migration. 163 00:22:05,657 --> 00:22:14,466 Again, migrations and migrants worldwide and across time remind the church of her Catholic identity as a gift, 164 00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:21,440 because God has made the church a universal sign for bringing all people to communion with Him. 165 00:22:22,874 --> 00:22:30,015 Migrations and migrants worldwide and across time remind the church of her Catholicity as a call or mission 166 00:22:30,015 --> 00:22:39,658 that she has inherited from God because she is the instrument, the effective instrument through which communion happens 167 00:22:39,658 --> 00:22:48,200 by gathering all peoples into her life. And finally, migrations and migrants universally and across time 168 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:58,110 remind the church of her goal, her telos, her fulfillment, because she is also the fruit of such communion 169 00:22:58,110 --> 00:23:05,217 at the last day in the vision of Revelation 7. And from a Catholic perspective, Roman Catholic, 170 00:23:05,384 --> 00:23:10,322 well, this happens most fully when you're in communion with the Catholic Church. 171 00:23:11,423 --> 00:23:18,130 With Vatican II, the Catholic Church recognizes that this also can happen in other churches, 172 00:23:18,130 --> 00:23:25,437 even if they're separated brethren in some way. So even through Lutherans, you might say, and Lutheran churches, 173 00:23:25,437 --> 00:23:35,447 God brings about this work. So to recap some of what we have said thus far, 174 00:23:36,481 --> 00:23:44,923 we see today in the literature two complementary senses of Catholicity in theological accounts of the church. 175 00:23:47,259 --> 00:23:53,865 To be Catholic means to be universal, to be ubiquitous, omnipresence, you might say, extending. 176 00:23:53,865 --> 00:24:00,539 It's what the church believes throughout the whole earth. And what the church believes is also the fullness of the faith. 177 00:24:00,639 --> 00:24:06,945 So you have that dimension of the vertical and the spreading throughout the whole earth, the horizontal. 178 00:24:08,814 --> 00:24:15,821 Under the horizontal, the one church is inclusive of all peoples, cultures, ethnicities, and languages. 179 00:24:15,821 --> 00:24:22,661 That's also part of what you see in the literature. But also you have this other dimension. 180 00:24:22,661 --> 00:24:27,632 It is embracing as well, extending and embracing. 181 00:24:29,601 --> 00:24:35,040 And a big point that comes up in the literature is there is no unity without Catholicity, 182 00:24:35,140 --> 00:24:37,509 just as there is no Catholicity without unity. 183 00:24:41,346 --> 00:24:52,624 Now Larry in his presentation early on sort of set me up a little bit here on the problem of thinking about unity 184 00:24:52,624 --> 00:24:59,498 without Catholicity. We could do both. We could think Catholicity and have diversity for the sake of diversity, 185 00:24:59,631 --> 00:25:04,302 but no common purpose, no common faith. This is obviously a problem. 186 00:25:05,003 --> 00:25:12,043 But you can also have unity without Catholicity, in which case you have this sort of homogeneity. 187 00:25:13,545 --> 00:25:21,486 And that doesn't take full account of how we are enriched by all of God's people in the unity of the faith. 188 00:25:21,486 --> 00:25:29,995 So to give you just an example of this, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Center for Hispanic Studies back in 2012, 189 00:25:31,396 --> 00:25:38,770 the Concordia Journal put out a special issue highlighting Hispanic contributions to Lutheran theology and mission. 190 00:25:40,505 --> 00:25:49,881 And a pastor called the Continuing Ed office protesting that an issue highlighting such contributions was divisive 191 00:25:49,881 --> 00:26:03,061 and had no place in the church. I had a conversation with him where he told me that he threw the whole issue in the garbage can 192 00:26:04,329 --> 00:26:09,868 without even reading it and instructed his elders not to read it. 193 00:26:11,369 --> 00:26:21,346 It occurred to me that he had a view of unity that did not allow for an embracing Catholicity. 194 00:26:22,647 --> 00:26:35,193 He wanted unity but without legitimate diversity or plurality of gifts, including pastoral, missional, theological contributions to our coming life together. 195 00:26:39,998 --> 00:26:52,477 As a church of many nations, he saw Catholicity, you might say, as a threat rather than something that enriches the expression of the one faith. 196 00:26:55,146 --> 00:27:01,353 He was very passionate too. It hurts me to the bottom of my soul that we have this divisive view. 197 00:27:02,721 --> 00:27:11,763 And I told him, when you throw that in the garbage can, what you're saying is that your brothers and sisters in Christ who are Hispanic, 198 00:27:12,030 --> 00:27:16,968 they don't have anything to offer or contribute to the life of the church. 199 00:27:17,736 --> 00:27:22,073 And that hurts me to the bottom of my soul. I use his own language. 200 00:27:23,942 --> 00:27:28,980 So the point is that unity and Catholicity ought to be seen as complementary, right? 201 00:27:31,349 --> 00:27:46,698 We might say that Catholicity in that case did not function as a mark of the church in its embracing character or quality. 202 00:27:47,565 --> 00:27:56,174 Or as we put it earlier, Catholicity was seen as supplementary and not complementary to the fullness of the one faith. 203 00:27:57,976 --> 00:28:03,782 So in line with the creeds, we want to argue that Catholicity is a mark of the church just as oneness. 204 00:28:03,982 --> 00:28:06,785 And yes, they do all relate to each other in some way. 205 00:28:08,086 --> 00:28:11,389 And a full account of ecclesiology, I think, will have to deal with that too. 206 00:28:11,456 --> 00:28:15,894 Everything relates to apostolicity and holiness as well. 207 00:28:16,961 --> 00:28:20,065 But there are these two complementary dimensions of the church's life. 208 00:28:20,298 --> 00:28:25,403 In scripture, you see that, for example, in the book of Acts, you have the spirit breathing out. 209 00:28:25,403 --> 00:28:30,341 And the Spirit breathing in, the Spirit goes out to people who do not belong. 210 00:28:30,542 --> 00:28:37,182 They don't seem to belong like Greek-speaking Jewish widows, Samaritans, and Ethiopian eunuch. 211 00:28:37,315 --> 00:28:38,817 You know, are they fully in or out? 212 00:28:40,251 --> 00:28:49,360 And then the spirit also gathers them into the one church as the one church extends from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria and to the ends of the earth. 213 00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:52,864 So you have that breathing in, breathing out quality. 214 00:28:55,567 --> 00:29:02,841 And this is why we talk about how the one church is Catholic from the start, you might say, in God's plan of salvation. 215 00:29:04,242 --> 00:29:06,377 It is part of the DNA of the church. 216 00:29:06,478 --> 00:29:11,049 This is the fancy Latin language of esa and not bene es. 217 00:29:11,082 --> 00:29:13,451 It's not simply for the well-being of the church, it's Catholic. 218 00:29:13,985 --> 00:29:15,820 It's part of the very being of the church. 219 00:29:16,454 --> 00:29:20,625 It's not an add-on, but it's who we are. 220 00:29:21,259 --> 00:29:31,069 Or as Carmen Nanko Fernandez, a Roman Catholic, Hispanic theologian, says in an article where she speaks to her own Catholic church, 221 00:29:32,137 --> 00:29:38,676 she reminds them, we are not your diversity, we are the church. 222 00:29:39,544 --> 00:29:42,380 We are not your diversity, we are the church. 223 00:29:42,514 --> 00:29:44,082 Thank you, sorry, whatever that was. 224 00:29:47,886 --> 00:29:55,460 So Catholicity hints at some notion of legitimate plurality, diversity in the one church. 225 00:29:56,194 --> 00:29:59,964 But what is that? What is that? How do we think about it? 226 00:30:00,765 --> 00:30:04,269 And Carmen Nanko Fernandez is helpful about this. 227 00:30:04,569 --> 00:30:09,574 She says, for example, diversity is not just difference in some absolute sense, 228 00:30:09,574 --> 00:30:12,844 because then that will create sort of a ghetto mentality. 229 00:30:12,844 --> 00:30:16,614 It wouldn't foster solidarity with others. 230 00:30:18,716 --> 00:30:24,222 Also, diversity is not just differentiated oneness, 231 00:30:26,524 --> 00:30:30,829 which doesn't really account for genuine diversity of gifts. 232 00:30:31,763 --> 00:30:36,835 This is a problem of homogeneity, you know, where you maybe acknowledge this plurality, 233 00:30:39,437 --> 00:30:44,309 but it's difficult to see how that plurality enriches our oneness. 234 00:30:44,742 --> 00:30:53,885 How do we move beyond just acknowledging to actually thinking positively about enriching our unity? 235 00:30:59,157 --> 00:31:06,164 And eventually, what she says is that maybe one way to think about diversity in a legitimate way 236 00:31:06,164 --> 00:31:10,635 is to think in terms of how, even though we embody particularity, 237 00:31:11,069 --> 00:31:13,605 we do it in the context of multiple relationships, 238 00:31:14,606 --> 00:31:19,177 and with multiple gifts, experiences, and so on, 239 00:31:19,344 --> 00:31:27,485 which enrich then our one faith and its application. 240 00:31:29,220 --> 00:31:37,829 So the big point here is that difference doesn't always have to be seen as something negative. 241 00:31:39,264 --> 00:31:40,765 Sometimes it seems like we talk that way. 242 00:31:41,032 --> 00:31:47,405 We'll say things like, our oneness in Christ, despite our differences. 243 00:31:47,805 --> 00:31:52,410 So right away, differences is sort of on the negative side of things. 244 00:31:52,577 --> 00:31:55,313 Or even in the midst of our plurality, we're one. 245 00:31:55,313 --> 00:32:00,051 So the implication is always that difference and plurality is bad. 246 00:32:00,718 --> 00:32:03,154 And of course there are bad forms of this, right? 247 00:32:03,621 --> 00:32:09,294 But is there a way in which we can think of diversity or plurality positively? 248 00:32:10,995 --> 00:32:16,467 And I think maybe catholicity is a church way of getting at that somehow. 249 00:32:18,036 --> 00:32:21,839 So it's not just different in some difference, in some absolute sense. 250 00:32:21,839 --> 00:32:29,614 It's not just a commonality that does not account for legitimate plurality. 251 00:32:31,015 --> 00:32:37,422 But we have to think maybe more in terms of what Carmen Nanko Fernandez says is multiple belongings, 252 00:32:38,389 --> 00:32:42,794 where we are in multiple relationships with multiple gifts, 253 00:32:44,462 --> 00:32:46,998 contributing to the life of the church together. 254 00:32:46,998 --> 00:32:55,974 All right, so having looked at Catholic insights on catholicity as an embracing quality of the church, 255 00:32:56,174 --> 00:33:01,179 and migration as a lens to remind the church of her identity and mission in the world, 256 00:33:01,679 --> 00:33:05,516 we can now bring in a Lutheran contribution to these insights. 257 00:33:05,616 --> 00:33:16,828 So our first question is, does the Lutheran tradition have room for thinking about an embracing catholicity as a mark of the church? 258 00:33:26,537 --> 00:33:30,375 Well, Luther does speak of the marks of the church, 259 00:33:32,643 --> 00:33:37,281 and he speaks of seven marks at one point that are well known to many of us. 260 00:33:37,348 --> 00:33:41,019 The word of God, the sacraments of baptism and the altar, 261 00:33:42,186 --> 00:33:46,824 the office of the keys and the pastoral ministry, prayer and bearing the cross. 262 00:33:49,827 --> 00:33:52,296 And so word and sacrament is big. 263 00:33:52,563 --> 00:33:57,068 In fact, when we think of the definition of the church in the Oxford Confession, 264 00:33:57,168 --> 00:34:02,473 we think primarily of the external marks of the gospel and the administration of the sacraments. 265 00:34:03,074 --> 00:34:07,745 But you also have this broader conception of the marks of the church, 266 00:34:07,745 --> 00:34:12,884 that is to say, the signs by which one can identify the church in the world. 267 00:34:14,585 --> 00:34:20,825 Luther then adds other things to these, which we might call perhaps the fruits of the gospel in the life of the church, 268 00:34:21,025 --> 00:34:23,027 as she relates to various neighbors. 269 00:34:24,195 --> 00:34:29,901 There are other outward signs that identify the Christian church as her members fulfill the second table of the law, 270 00:34:30,201 --> 00:34:37,308 such as when we bear no one a grudge, entertain no anger, hatred, envy or vengefulness toward our neighbors, 271 00:34:37,308 --> 00:34:43,181 but gladly forgive them, lend to them, help them and counsel them. 272 00:34:44,182 --> 00:34:52,023 These other outward signs suggest to me an embracing hospitable quality. 273 00:34:52,857 --> 00:34:58,896 They have a sense of a generous and even a sacrificial aspect to them. 274 00:34:59,897 --> 00:35:08,272 Might these help us to conceive this embracing hospitable sense of Catholicity? 275 00:35:09,340 --> 00:35:14,946 Is that what these other outward signs and marks of the church might be referring to? 276 00:35:17,982 --> 00:35:24,255 So there is that language in the Lutheran tradition that suggests that a mark of the church 277 00:35:24,255 --> 00:35:29,794 is embracing general sacrificial hospitable quality in the world. 278 00:35:31,696 --> 00:35:40,304 Now a second question is, does the Lutheran tradition have room for thinking about migration, more specifically, 279 00:35:40,972 --> 00:35:46,410 as a sign that can teach the church something about her identity and mission? 280 00:35:49,514 --> 00:35:57,088 And perhaps before we can answer that, with respect to migration specifically, we might say, or we might ask, 281 00:35:57,255 --> 00:36:02,860 do Lutherans have a theology of signs? I'm looking for a doctoral student to take on this project, by the way. 282 00:36:03,361 --> 00:36:13,070 If you're interested, talk to me afterwards. Because Lutherans use this language, signs by which one can recognize the church in the world, 283 00:36:13,070 --> 00:36:21,012 and signs by which God communicates different kinds of meaning and by which God accomplishes different things in the world. 284 00:36:21,179 --> 00:36:26,117 It's a rich, I think, Lutheran theology of signs that has yet to be explored. 285 00:36:27,185 --> 00:36:38,829 But just to get into it just a little bit, if you look at the Apology 13 on the number and use of the sacraments, 286 00:36:38,829 --> 00:36:45,937 here you have the language of two kinds of signs. Yes, you can add this to your Lutheran toolbox. 287 00:36:46,137 --> 00:36:50,474 Two kinds of righteousness, a 2K-R, and now you have the two kinds of signs, a 2KS. 288 00:36:54,979 --> 00:37:03,120 If we define the sacraments as rites which have the command of God and to which the promise of grace has been added, 289 00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:07,325 it is easy to determine what the sacraments are, properly speaking. 290 00:37:08,159 --> 00:37:15,566 For humanly instituted rites are no sacraments, properly speaking, because human beings do not have authority to promise grace. 291 00:37:16,801 --> 00:37:27,678 Therefore, signs instituted without the command of God are not sure signs of grace, even though they perhaps serve to teach and admonish the common folk. 292 00:37:27,678 --> 00:37:35,353 So notice the two kinds of signs. You have signs of grace through which God communicates and delivers effectively the forgiveness of sins. 293 00:37:35,753 --> 00:37:37,855 And that's what makes a sacrament a sacrament. 294 00:37:39,056 --> 00:37:46,397 But here's what piques my interest is these other kinds of signs that the Apology is talking about here, 295 00:37:47,031 --> 00:37:53,704 which are not like the sacraments but nevertheless can serve to teach and admonish. 296 00:37:53,704 --> 00:38:00,344 So the idea that you could have a sign that can have a pedagogical function, 297 00:38:00,544 --> 00:38:05,216 it can teach you something in light of God's Word about your identity and mission, 298 00:38:05,816 --> 00:38:10,288 is something that I think one could articulate and develop. 299 00:38:14,225 --> 00:38:24,201 This approximates the insight that you could have signs, human rites or practices or experiences, 300 00:38:24,201 --> 00:38:34,178 that in light of Scripture can help us to reflect, learn how to live or not to live as the church in the world. 301 00:38:34,178 --> 00:38:42,453 And as a form of pedagogy that such a sign could have the effect of admonishing and could have the effect of teaching, 302 00:38:42,953 --> 00:38:45,923 this almost sounds like the uses of the law. 303 00:38:48,492 --> 00:38:55,933 So think for example of a crucifix. A crucifix is not something that we have in churches because we have a command from God to have a crucifix. 304 00:38:56,567 --> 00:39:02,473 Nor does a crucifix communicate a forgiveness of sins like the sacraments would. 305 00:39:03,240 --> 00:39:12,683 A crucifix would be like one of these outward signs which could nevertheless perhaps serve to teach and admonish. 306 00:39:13,884 --> 00:39:17,321 And doesn't a crucifix do that at times? It could. 307 00:39:19,223 --> 00:39:25,629 A crucifix can remind you that it is our sins who put Christ on the cross. 308 00:39:25,963 --> 00:39:28,499 That's the second use of the law, convicting. 309 00:39:28,499 --> 00:39:35,639 A crucifix can also call us to bear the cross as we serve our neighbors in their suffering. 310 00:39:35,740 --> 00:39:39,844 That's more of a third use, the guidance of the law as God's will for our lives. 311 00:39:41,078 --> 00:39:50,020 What if the dire situation of migrants could remind the church to repent for hostility to migrants? 312 00:39:51,188 --> 00:39:52,456 There you have the admonishment. 313 00:39:52,456 --> 00:40:03,401 What if the situation of migrants could be a place from which we learn to embrace hospitality towards them in our ministry and mercy work? 314 00:40:03,901 --> 00:40:16,313 Then you have something like a pedagogical use of the sign of migration along guiding people in applying God's will to their lives at this time of migration. 315 00:40:17,314 --> 00:40:26,357 Now our next question is whether there is a source in the Lutheran tradition that more directly looks at migration and migrants in light of scripture 316 00:40:26,357 --> 00:40:34,598 as a pedagogical sign to teach the church about her Catholic identity and mission in an age of migration. 317 00:40:35,566 --> 00:40:43,441 And for that I am suggesting Luther's lectures on Genesis written between 1535 and 1545 318 00:40:43,441 --> 00:40:54,485 where he talks about Abraham's hospitality and what it teaches us about being the church in the world. 319 00:40:55,853 --> 00:41:10,067 Now the context here, what brings this reflection on exiles about for Luther is that you have many who are fleeing into the lands of Prince Frederick the Magnanimous. 320 00:41:10,067 --> 00:41:16,941 Many of them fleeing seeking refuge, mostly because of religious persecution. 321 00:41:18,142 --> 00:41:23,981 But also other people fleeing because of different misfortunes in life. 322 00:41:24,748 --> 00:41:32,756 And so because of this Luther has to reflect or begins to reflect about exiles and migrants coming into the land. 323 00:41:33,824 --> 00:41:36,327 And how would the church think about this? 324 00:41:36,327 --> 00:41:41,899 This leads him to think about migrants as exiles in light of scripture. 325 00:41:43,400 --> 00:41:45,402 Who is an exile for Luther? 326 00:41:46,136 --> 00:41:50,374 The strangers at Mount Ra, who Abraham welcomed. 327 00:41:50,741 --> 00:41:53,277 Abraham himself was a stranger. 328 00:41:54,245 --> 00:41:59,683 A migrant Adam and the whole Old Testament church in Israel, they too migrated from place to place. 329 00:42:00,684 --> 00:42:06,257 New Testament saints were persecuted and especially Protestants in Luther's day. 330 00:42:06,323 --> 00:42:10,594 He even includes other migrants who seek refuge for other reasons. 331 00:42:12,062 --> 00:42:17,434 The focus for Luther is mostly religious persecution but he includes other migrants as well. 332 00:42:18,002 --> 00:42:29,813 And his question is, what can the church learn about herself from exiles in light of God's Word and particularly from Abraham? 333 00:42:31,115 --> 00:42:37,588 Abraham who is a classic example of hospitality in Christian texts even prior to Luther's time. 334 00:42:37,755 --> 00:42:46,830 So Luther here speaking up on a patristic tradition where Abraham is presented to the church as an embodiment of the church's life and mission in the world. 335 00:42:47,665 --> 00:42:55,072 And what do we learn from Abraham which informs then how we act as a church in a world of migrants? 336 00:42:56,040 --> 00:42:58,242 Luther mentions a number of things. 337 00:42:58,576 --> 00:43:04,582 Through Father Abraham for example we learn about the struggles of exiles. 338 00:43:05,583 --> 00:43:10,688 Because Abraham often endured the rigorous of the weather in the open country and under the sky. 339 00:43:10,821 --> 00:43:17,861 He was often troubled by hunger, often by thirst for the term exile includes countless hardships and perils. 340 00:43:19,430 --> 00:43:25,903 And then from Abraham we learn to be empathetic to exiles in their struggles, needs and hopes. 341 00:43:27,004 --> 00:43:35,346 It was his own experience as a migrant says Luther that enabled Abraham to be gentle, kind and generous towards other exiles and strangers. 342 00:43:36,113 --> 00:43:48,892 And finally from such experience Abraham learned this rule that he who receives a brother who is in exile because of the Word receives God himself in the person of such a brother. 343 00:43:49,660 --> 00:43:55,666 So the theological rationale for Luther is that Abraham is a type of a church. 344 00:43:55,666 --> 00:44:05,609 He embodies the church's identity as a pilgrim church in the world on her way to her final rest and home with God at the last day. 345 00:44:06,143 --> 00:44:09,913 But it's that pilgrimage that takes you through the hardships and struggles of life. 346 00:44:10,814 --> 00:44:20,357 And Abraham also embodies the church's Catholic character of an embracing hospitable people to strangers in an inhospitable world. 347 00:44:20,357 --> 00:44:28,699 The church is like a safe haven for the spiritual pilgrims as they face the struggles of life including persecution. 348 00:44:29,633 --> 00:44:34,405 And then Luther has this image where he says the church is the house of Abraham in the world. 349 00:44:39,410 --> 00:44:55,959 And then he speaks in such a way that Abraham is not only an individual moral example of hospitality but Abraham embodies what the church is meant to be about. 350 00:44:55,959 --> 00:45:14,511 And the language Luther uses, it is my sense that he raises this hospitality to the level of a mark of the church along those outward signs and marks that I mentioned earlier that Luther also includes in his discussion of marks of the church. 351 00:45:15,112 --> 00:45:21,418 I mean language like wherever the church is there is hospitality. Can't have one without the other. 352 00:45:21,418 --> 00:45:27,458 Or if we want to be Christians, let our homes be open to exiles. 353 00:45:28,659 --> 00:45:40,804 You know, if we want to be Christians, I mean this language raises hospitality to an aspect of the church's identity, a mark of the church in some sense. 354 00:45:41,438 --> 00:45:46,043 Perhaps in a secondary sense in that it flows out of the gospel or something like that. 355 00:45:48,345 --> 00:45:57,454 Is this disposition, you know, this quality, this embracing quality that leads us to say, mi casa es su casa, right? 356 00:45:57,955 --> 00:46:00,791 To live out this conviction in good works. 357 00:46:05,062 --> 00:46:06,029 All right. 358 00:46:08,165 --> 00:46:13,804 Luther then says there are two ways you can look at exiles. 359 00:46:14,938 --> 00:46:22,746 You can look at them through the eyes of Abraham in which case you look at them through the eyes of faith and the Holy Spirit. 360 00:46:23,981 --> 00:46:28,585 We begin to see them as gods, as Christ coming to us in his saints. 361 00:46:28,585 --> 00:46:33,757 And here he picks up on Matthew, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. 362 00:46:34,258 --> 00:46:38,195 Remember he's thinking primarily of those who are persecuted on account of Christ. 363 00:46:38,295 --> 00:46:40,497 So they're already brothers and sisters in Christ. 364 00:46:42,099 --> 00:46:46,770 More generally, however, God comes to us also in strangers as needy neighbors. 365 00:46:47,137 --> 00:46:52,810 So this is Lutheran the fifth commandment which applies not only to disciples but to all needy neighbors. 366 00:46:53,677 --> 00:46:55,045 So it's kind of a broader category. 367 00:46:56,180 --> 00:47:07,958 But regardless of that, the opposite is to look at exiles through the eyes of the flesh which then makes them an obstacle to our way of life. 368 00:47:13,197 --> 00:47:17,234 So then for Luther, Abraham is a type of the church in two ways. 369 00:47:17,334 --> 00:47:21,438 He's the father of faith which justifies before God. 370 00:47:21,438 --> 00:47:24,975 That's the Abraham that we typically talk about in the Lutheran church, right? 371 00:47:25,375 --> 00:47:30,614 That's the Abraham of Galatians and Romans whose faith was credited to him as righteousness. 372 00:47:31,415 --> 00:47:34,451 We are his spiritual children by faith and so on. 373 00:47:36,453 --> 00:47:42,826 But then here Luther adds another dimension. He's also the father of hospitality and good works. 374 00:47:43,293 --> 00:47:45,863 We also learn to be church from Abraham in this way. 375 00:47:46,363 --> 00:47:51,235 He says faith and love go hand in hand in Luther's description of Abraham's hospitality. 376 00:47:51,501 --> 00:47:57,641 He calls the church to see Abraham both as a father of faith and as a father of good works. 377 00:47:58,141 --> 00:48:02,646 A most beautiful example of love, gentleness, kindness, and all virtues. 378 00:48:03,747 --> 00:48:10,621 Even in Genesis 18, Luther presents Abraham not so much as a father of faith as a father of good works. 379 00:48:11,421 --> 00:48:16,627 He also points out that it is faith that makes him so eager and ready to be hospitable. 380 00:48:17,561 --> 00:48:25,502 So Abraham embodies the fullness of the faith which spreads universally from Israel to the Gentiles to the nations. 381 00:48:26,103 --> 00:48:38,749 But he also embodies the embracing dimensions of the Catholic faith in his hospitality to those with a dire need of belonging. 382 00:48:38,749 --> 00:48:49,626 So back to our first question. Does the Lutheran tradition have room for thinking about an embracing Catholicity as a mark of the church? 383 00:48:50,093 --> 00:48:51,561 And the answer is yes. 384 00:48:53,330 --> 00:49:04,174 And the second question. Does the Lutheran tradition have room for thinking about migration as a sign that can teach the church something about her identity and mission? 385 00:49:04,174 --> 00:49:09,546 And the answer is you know enough Spanish to be dangerous. 386 00:49:13,283 --> 00:49:15,319 But we embrace it. 387 00:49:18,889 --> 00:49:19,556 Okay. 388 00:49:22,025 --> 00:49:32,235 So we can now ask if there are maybe other sources in the Lutheran tradition that can help us expand on this embracing Catholicity of the church. 389 00:49:32,235 --> 00:49:34,938 And this inclusive inviting character. 390 00:49:35,605 --> 00:49:42,612 And I would argue here that another important source is Luther's distinction between the two kinds of love in the Heidelberg Disputation. 391 00:49:43,380 --> 00:49:49,386 So now you have two kinds of signs. The 2KS and now you have the two kinds of love, the 2KL. 392 00:49:51,655 --> 00:49:53,156 We can make this work. 393 00:49:55,993 --> 00:49:58,695 From Heidelberg Disputation from 1518. 394 00:49:59,696 --> 00:50:05,202 So here Luther distinguishes human love from divine love. Okay. 395 00:50:05,936 --> 00:50:09,840 And human love is like Facebook love. Like likes like. 396 00:50:10,974 --> 00:50:15,979 It's the love of affinity whereby we are naturally attracted to people like us. 397 00:50:17,180 --> 00:50:18,081 Facebook love. 398 00:50:18,882 --> 00:50:24,354 Humans love people with whom they share attributes they see or want to see in themselves. 399 00:50:24,554 --> 00:50:29,526 Attributes they already have, are attracted to, and see as pleasing. 400 00:50:30,861 --> 00:50:37,134 Human love is attracted to people who are deemed to image divine attributes in a creaturely way. 401 00:50:38,135 --> 00:50:43,073 Attributes like goodness, wisdom, justice, truth. Those are the people we're attracted to. 402 00:50:44,641 --> 00:50:49,613 And Luther says there is something to this kind of love. It's kind of a friendship type of love. 403 00:50:50,147 --> 00:50:55,085 But that's as far as the philosophers and the scholastic theologians get. 404 00:50:56,853 --> 00:51:02,225 And part of the problem with this kind of love is that it tends to be utilitarian, right? 405 00:51:02,859 --> 00:51:08,398 We love people because they're attractive to us or we benefit from them in some way. 406 00:51:10,367 --> 00:51:15,639 And I wonder if sometimes we look at migrants through those eyes. 407 00:51:15,872 --> 00:51:25,916 Because often in the public debate and discourse about migrants, people argue for whether they're a liability or a benefit. 408 00:51:27,451 --> 00:51:32,823 So closed and open borders people are strange bad fellows on this one. They're all utilitarian. 409 00:51:34,958 --> 00:51:39,896 And migrants are often judged by the benefits or liabilities they bring to our way of life. 410 00:51:41,298 --> 00:51:48,572 Facebook love, human love. Luther says there's another kind of love, and this is Christ-like love. 411 00:51:49,239 --> 00:51:53,143 And this is the love of the cross, and it is a higher call. 412 00:51:54,678 --> 00:52:00,450 And it defines in many ways how the church is different from other people who practice love in the world. 413 00:52:00,450 --> 00:52:12,295 It is the way God loves us in Christ which the church is called to embody towards those neighbors who are not seen as attractive to us for various reasons. 414 00:52:12,662 --> 00:52:19,569 This is a cruciform love. So Larry was talking about Catholicity having a cruciform dimension. 415 00:52:20,270 --> 00:52:27,177 In the horizontal way of speaking, we can speak of a cruciform love, you know, this Christ-like love. 416 00:52:27,177 --> 00:52:34,484 It's almost a sacrificial love. It goes back to those marks of the church that we were talking about earlier, 417 00:52:35,352 --> 00:52:44,661 you know, where Luther talks about how we bear no one a grudge, entertain no anger, we gladly forgive, lend, help. 418 00:52:45,462 --> 00:52:48,832 Right? That's that sacrificial love. 419 00:52:48,832 --> 00:52:54,104 So embracing Catholicity I think has this cruciform dimension to it. 420 00:52:54,538 --> 00:52:57,807 It has a hospitality dimension, it has a cruciform dimension. 421 00:53:00,410 --> 00:53:06,316 This is the classic text of the distinction from the Heidelberg Disputation, thesis 28. 422 00:53:07,017 --> 00:53:11,288 Rather than seeking his own good, the love of God flows forth and bestows good. 423 00:53:12,255 --> 00:53:15,058 Therefore sinners are attractive because they are loved. 424 00:53:15,058 --> 00:53:18,695 They are not loved because they are attractive. 425 00:53:18,962 --> 00:53:21,498 See the difference between human and divine love. 426 00:53:22,165 --> 00:53:25,535 For this reason the love of man avoids sinners and evil persons. 427 00:53:26,069 --> 00:53:29,172 Thus Christ says, for I came not to call the righteous but sinners. 428 00:53:29,873 --> 00:53:37,714 This is the love of the cross, born of the cross which turns in the direction where it does not find good which it may enjoy. 429 00:53:38,248 --> 00:53:40,483 So it's not the utilitarian stuff. 430 00:53:41,084 --> 00:53:44,754 But where it may confer good upon the bad and needy person. 431 00:53:45,055 --> 00:53:48,158 What would cruciform hospitality look like? 432 00:53:48,558 --> 00:53:57,133 How would an embracing Catholicity that includes unattractive neighbors look like today? 433 00:53:58,368 --> 00:53:59,436 Something to think about. 434 00:54:01,404 --> 00:54:11,214 And a final question meant to expand or draw out potential implications from the embracing Catholicity that we've been talking about. 435 00:54:11,848 --> 00:54:16,653 Final question might be how do we deal with plurality, diversity in the church? 436 00:54:17,921 --> 00:54:23,059 We talked about how this is kind of a moving target and we struggle with the right language here. 437 00:54:24,427 --> 00:54:32,769 One possibility is to think in terms of having an intercultural way of life in which we partner with one another. 438 00:54:34,104 --> 00:54:40,043 As we think about what it means to be the church and as we carry out the church's mission in the world. 439 00:54:40,043 --> 00:54:50,820 I often distinguish between multicultural, cross-cultural and intercultural ways of thinking about being church in relationship to others. 440 00:54:51,788 --> 00:54:53,323 Within our own communion. 441 00:54:54,958 --> 00:55:04,768 And so the multicultural language I think is lacking in many ways because it simply acknowledges multiplicity but there is no relationship or connection. 442 00:55:05,702 --> 00:55:09,105 It's as two worlds standing by each other looking at each other. 443 00:55:10,273 --> 00:55:13,176 There's an awareness but there is no mutual enrichment. 444 00:55:13,977 --> 00:55:18,748 The cross-cultural language I like it more. You got the bridge image. 445 00:55:20,917 --> 00:55:31,995 But sometimes cross-cultural could mean that one culture brings all the gifts and benefits and it just pours all that as a legacy to the other group. 446 00:55:32,696 --> 00:55:37,534 And the other group maybe doesn't reciprocate or enriches the other. 447 00:55:37,534 --> 00:55:44,240 So cross-cultural could be good but it's often one sided which could lead to paternalism and dependency and things like that. 448 00:55:44,541 --> 00:55:48,411 So there is something to it but maybe doesn't go as far. 449 00:55:49,479 --> 00:55:53,183 Intercultural and the image I like here is the image of the soccer team. 450 00:55:54,084 --> 00:55:59,923 Maybe because I'm from the south where we play a lot of soccer and I don't mean south of St. Louis. 451 00:56:05,195 --> 00:56:13,236 Where all members contribute as collaborators bringing their distinctive gifts to serve the whole and enrich the whole. 452 00:56:16,406 --> 00:56:26,416 So this is again the horizontal dimensions of catholicity, have hospitality, has a cruciform aspect to them and has an aspect of partnership. 453 00:56:28,418 --> 00:56:37,093 So the hospitality doesn't end up being simply being generous but also I think interculturality moves towards learning from one another. 454 00:56:38,161 --> 00:56:55,311 In conclusion, Luther's reflections on Abraham's hospitality as a mark of the church is an example of a Lutheran interpretation of migration as a sign of the times in light of the gospel that teaches the church about her catholic identity in the world. 455 00:56:56,079 --> 00:57:09,325 Articulating a Lutheran ecclesiology under the pedagogical sign of migration encourages the Lutheran church to live out her catholic identity in an embracing, cruciform and intercultural way. 456 00:57:10,560 --> 00:57:18,435 And my prayer is that over time as we embody this and learn this and pray for this we can indeed say, mi casa es su casa. 457 00:57:18,902 --> 00:57:20,036 Thank you very much. 458 00:57:25,308 --> 00:57:28,244 Applause.