Territorial Bloggings

The Triune God is hardly “ordinary” — however, as a great posting by Wildboar (aka Vicar Parks) over at Sceleratissimus Lutheranus shows, He is most definitely (and comfortingly) “The God of the Ordinary.”

As with much (most?) good theology, this is a disarmingly simple, but undeniably powerful, observation. It is also immensely comforting. Much of contemporary American Evangelicalism is focused on the might & power of God (ala the praise song Our God is a Mighty God). This is understandable, given American Evangelicalism’s roots in Reformed/Calvinistic theology, with its emphasis on the Sovereignty of God. What is unfortunate about this emphasis, however, is the fact that (among other things) it tends to downplay the obvious fact that our God is an every-day God.

Martin Luther has been accused of being a bit, shall we say, too earthy for genteel, contemporary tastes. His was a raw (some have said profane and/or vulgar) & polemical style of discourse. He was quite brutal & often even scatological in his descriptive denunciations. It must be noted, however, that he was also undeniably correct & insightful in observing & emphasizing the fact that the Triune God is nothing if not an approachable, personal, and relevant — i.e., every-day — God who, through His incarnation intimately knows & understands what it means to be human.

God knows what it is to be human!

To face daily temptations of the flesh. To struggle. To have faith. To depend on the Father. To call upon the Holy Ghost. To be human.

Our God is not separated from our day-to-day struggle to exist on this earth. Not only did our God become human in order to know us, teach us, and ultimately to save us, but He uses “ordinary” means to provide for us and our daily needs. This is why I hold the Doctrine of Vocation so dear, and find it so comforting — God uses clearly imperfect & flawed instruments to execute His perfect Will regarding all that is encompassed by giving us our “daily bread.”

Our sinful flesh is put off by this ordinariness. Why? Ultimately, because of our own sinful lust for being gods. We cannot countenance that we are not above/beyond the mere ordinary, thus we want our god(s) to be beyond the ordinary. The Triune God is unique in His embrace & use of the ordinary, and for this we rejoice!

Ordinary earthly elements joined with the Word. This is the formula whereby ordinary means deliver extraordinary results. A simple truth. May God always protect us from our sinful desire to grab the glory for ourselves by trying to make the simple complex!

-ghp