The Greenhouse for Faith: What We Grow Here is Meant to be Planted in the World

There are four pillars that will be used in this greenhouse: Christ, Word, Faith, and Grace that help us understand the God who is our foundation. We talked in the previous session about how we come to know about God in Christ.

The second pillar is the Word. When we talk about the Word we are primarily talking about three things: the Word of God as Christ, the Word of God as the proclamation of scripture and preaching in the church, and the Word of God as scripture.

• The Word always goes back to Christ. When we talk about the Word of God we are first and foremost talking about the Word of God as John’s gospel relates it:
  • In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1
  • The Word who was with God, who was in the beginning and who was God is Christ. Christ is active in creation, throughout the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and continues to be active throughout our world.
• The Word also goes back to scripture and proclamation. The Christ we talk about will also reflect the Christ we come to know through scripture and the preaching of the church.
  • Proclamation: We believe that God is active in the world and in the church, and particularly we believe that when a person from the community or the pastor both read and proclaim about scripture that God is active in that space. It is not that the pastor has the perfect words to say or that they are infallible, instead it is a trust and expectation that God and God’s Spirit are active in that time.
  • Scripture: Luther’s image of scripture being the manger where the Christ child is laid. Scripture is the source of where we come to know about God. We don’t believe that all scripture is equally valued, but instead it is that which presents Christ is the center of scripture. Christ is the key that unlocks everything else.

Reading scripture can be challenging. One of the challenges is the way we often approach scripture: We often go to scripture seeking answers, but scripture wants to give us wisdom. Scripture invites us to learn a way of life, a way of encountering the world, and an invitation to follow the God who we come to know in Christ.

A tool for reading scripture: Law and Gospel. This is one tool in the toolbox of how we approach scripture, but it is a good way to start. Scripture encounters us as Law: that which condemns us, shows us where we have fallen short and need God’s grace and ultimately should drive us back to God and help us reorient our lives on God. Scripture also encounters us as Gospel: that which sets us free, forgives us, renews us, and tells us about what God has done for us.

Questions for reflection:

• Think of one of the passages from scripture you are familiar with. Identify both the Law and Gospel in that passage and share your thoughts.
• Think of scripture that is problematic or hard to interpret. How does looking at this scripture through Jesus’s teachings change your interpretation?