topical: Vicar of Christ/Paper Pope
The Word became flesh … and never left!
It’s hard to believe, but today is the thirty-sixth – count ‘em, thirty-six – Reformation Day of my career called and ordained! Looking back, I think I’ve missed only one. Twenty-nine years ago. For me, this day is one of the holiest we commemorate. Not Christmas; not Easter. But Reformation Day! The only one holier being Good Friday. And Reformation Day runs a close second. It’s days like this that have a way of stripping away everything that’s unproductive, everything that’s ineffective. Stripping away all that distracts and gets in the way. On days like this, there are no poinsettias. No lilies. No ghosts of holy days past, of holy days yet to be. Instead, there’s, just, the gospel. Pure. Unadulterated. There’s, simply, good news! Good Friday and Reformation Day are the two days of the church year when we’re given the chance to stand at the foot of the cross and look Christ right in the eyes! Given the opportunity to get a glimpse into the very heart, the very soul, of god! When things like grace and mercy become more than words and take on substance and shape! And, like I said, this, for me, is number thirty-six!
And those thirty-six have come and gone, pretty much, as you might expect. There were new insights, deeper appreciations; but not a whole lot that took me by surprise. It’s been the usual repertoire of themes. Grace. Faith. Cross. All the melodies and refrains that have made us who, made us what, we are. This time, thought, I realized there’s been one thing I’ve never talked about. The pope! Bottom line, that’s the main difference between Protestants and Roman Catholics. So today, that’s what we’ll focus on. The Holy Father! The Bishop of Rome! The Vicar of Christ! Not with the usual anti-Catholic vitriol! In a sense of good or bad, right or wrong.
The word that sparked my thinking was ‘vicar.’ It’s a word with roots in Latin that means ‘substitute’. Not in the sense of replacing, but of filling in. When I was out, last Sunday, home sick, Fred served as my substitute, as my replacement. He was my vicar! He filled in. He took over. At least, until I was able to be back. That’s what it means for the Bishop of Rome to be the Vicar of Christ. When Christ is absent, the Holy Father takes his place. He holds the fort. He takes over. He acts, so to speak, as a vice-Christ.
That’s the Roman Catholic version of pope. According to Karl Barth, most protestants have a pope, as well. A paper one! Someone – something – that fills in while Christ is away. Of course, I’m talking about the bible. The same way that Rome talks about the Holy Father, protestants here in America talk about the bible! Inerrant! Infallible! Absolute! Unquestioned! At least, until Jesus returns! But like I said, the pope isn’t the problem any more than the bible! The problem is that we believe Jesus is nowhere to be seen! The problem is that we believe he isn’t here! That’s he’s somewhere else! You only need a substitute when the original isn’t there! I’m grateful that Fred does what he does. That Gretchen does what she does! Bu this morning, they aren’t needed! I’m here! And it’s the same with any other vicar – paper or otherwise!
When Jesus is here – not up high, not far away – we don’t need anything, anyone else! Not a bishop. No a book. Jesus is all we need! Yes, the Reformation – at least, our little part of it – is about grace, charity, love! And yes, the Reformation is about believing! And to be sure, it’s about the cross! But along with all of that, the Reformation – at least our part of it – is, also, about a god who god never, ever, leaves us! Who never, ever, goes away! What Luther takes literally – letter-for-letter, word-for-word – are the promises! “Where two or three are gathered, I’m there!” “Lo, I am with you always!” “The Lord is with you!” The center of the church’s universe is Christ! Period! Everything revolves around him. And if he’s gone, if he’s missing, well, it all falls apart! No matter who, what, you put in his place!
The good news of the Reformation – at least, of our part of it – is that Jesus isn’t going anywhere! From Luther’s perspective, all that stuff about ascending into heaven, about being seated at the right hand, about coming again to judge … They’re metaphors! Figures of speech! That’s why we Lutherans don’t spend a lot of time talking about end times and second comings. For the good doctor, Christ is right here! Among us! Between us! Christ is here … in every drop of water! Christ is here … in every pinch of bread, in every sip of wine! Christ is here … in every syllable we speak! In every word we sing! Here in each breath! Here in every heartbeat! Christ comes to us and never leaves! Christ comes to us and stays with us! Because that’s what love does! Think about it. What sense does it make. To come only to leave? To leave only to return? We don’t need a vicar! We don’t need a substitute! A bishop of Rome! A holy bible! We have Christ! Or rather, Christ has us!
We aren’t a bible church. Not that we don’t need a bible. But the only thing – the only thing – inerrant and infallible, in this place, is god’s amazing grace! It’s not a mistake that god loves us! And it’s not a failing that we are forgiven! That’s just the way it works. Here. In this place. Popular religion, for some reason, has it that Christ isn’t here. Popular religion has it that he’s gone away. That we’ve been left on our own. Except, of course, for the bishops and the bibles. Bishops who take his place while he’s away. Bibles who fill in while he’s not here.
But that’s not what we believe. That’s not who we are. Christ can never – Christ can never – get closer to us than he is in this place! Than he is at this moment! “The grace, the love, the communion is with us!” That’s the good news of this holy day! “The grace, the love, the communion is with us!” No ifs! No ands! No buts! “The grace, the love, the communion is with us!” With us now! With us forever!