Spirituality of the Cross
The Hidden Life
The Hidden Life
- The Lutheran evangelical theology of the cross offers a theology of suffering, but more than that, it offers a practical, realistic and spiritually-dynamic paradigm for the Christian life.
- The theology of the cross is not asceticism.
- Bearing one's cross has to do precisely with the suffering that we do not choose for ourselves, the trials and difficulties that are imposed on us from the outside, that we have no control over whatsoever.
- Bearing the cross often has to do more with the petty, ordinary obstacles and frustrations of everyday life.
- Ironically, what in many traditions would be a sign of spiritual failure -- doubting one's election, feeling God's absence --- for Luther is a sign of the greatest sanctity, reserved (thankfully) for the spiritual giants.
- To believe in God's Word of promise, despite one's feelings, is faith. That is why all trials, both major and small, are occasions for the exercise of faith.
- "We live by faith, and not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7
- In the darkness, when we cannot see, we can only listen for God's voice, whereupon we can draw closer to the hidden God.
- When we are in desperate need, we pray with an intensity, a heartfelt passion, that is particularly genuine and authentic. Crying out to God in the depths of one's need is an act of faith and an occasion in which the hidden God who answers prayers draws closer.
- For now, it must be remembered that God is hidden -- that is, He cannot be seen or experienced -- in the crosses we bear, He is nevertheless genuinely present, a real presence grasped by faith.
- Luther speaks much of how our 'old man' is in conflict with our 'new man'. The baptized, converted sinner is given a new spiritual nature, a new life in Christ through the indwelling Holy Spirit.
- Only at death, when the flesh passes away, will this conflict be resolved, with the regenerated nature attaining full perfection when it enters eternal life. But in the meantime, the new man is hidden.
- God sees Christians through the prism of the cross: Our sins and failures are hidden by the blood of Christ; our ordinary lives are hidden, and we are robed by Christ's righteousness. When God looks at a Christian, He sees Jesus.
- God's Spirit is at work in the lives of every Christian, mysteriously changing the heart, acting with Word and Sacrament, ministering in trials and tribulations, creating someone who will stand before God in heaven as holy.
- But this process cannot be evident to the naked eye, nor can it be measured and tracked, nor is the Christian himself necessarily conscious of how far he has come.
