1. “When Necessary, Use Words”?
Verbum Dei Theology for Right Now
a Workshop of the ELCAYMNet Practice Discipleship Initiative
with Hans Wiersma, Augsburg College, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Slide 1

2. Crypt of St. Francis
Assisi, Italy
Slide 2

3. The original St. Francesco Mission (aka Mission Dolores) after the 1906 Quake
Slide 3

4. The Simpsons
“Homer the Heretic”
Slide 4

5. Slide 5

6. Slide 6

7. “Preach the Gospel at all times;
if necessary, use words”
Where have you encountered this saying?
What does the saying mean?
Slide 7

8. Slide 8

9. This will
probably get
more play if I
say it’s by St.
Francis.
Slide 9

10. “No brother should preach contrary
to the form and regulations of the
holy Church unless he has been
permitted by his minister …
However, all the brothers should
preach with their deeds.”
—Rule of St. Francis, 1221 version
Slide 10

11. Preach the
Gospel at all
times.
If necessary, use
words?
Slide 11

12. What is better?
That I should
spend my time
in prayer or that
I should go
around
preaching?
Slide 12

13. Does it make a
difference to you
knowing that the
“if necessary, use
words” quotation
is not mine?
Why or why not?”
Slide 13

14. Slide 14

15. Slide 15

16. Slide 16

17. Slide 17

18. Slide 18

19. What do you know about the
“Rise of the Nones”?
What do you think are the
reasons why the “Nones” are on
the rise?
Slide 19

20. 1. Backlash 3. Less
against need for
political community
agenda locales
2. Later 4. More
starts for health,
marriage wealth,
and family security
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21. Slide 21

22. “[The Internet is] a religion destroyer as much as
anything else we’ve ever seen—open access to
information, the ability to prove your pastors
wrong, the overwhelming number of atheists
who make their case online…how is that not a
force to be reckoned with?”
—Hemant Mehta
Slide 22

23. To “outsiders,” the Church is:
1. an organized religion with a
political agenda
2. judgmental and negative
3. dominated by males and an
oppressor of females
4. homophobic
5. arrogantly claims that all
other religions are wrong
6. full of fundamentalists who
take the whole Bible
literally
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24. Slide 24

25. Slide 25

26. Slide 26

27. Quiz
Time!
Slide 27

28. Question 1: According to the Augsburg Confession
(art. V, German text), in order that we might obtain
justifying faith, what did God do?
a. Institutum est ministerium docendi Evangelii et
porrigendi Sacramenta.
b. Gott hat das Predigtamt eingesetzt, das
Evangelium und die Sakramente gegeben.
c. God instituted the office of preaching, giving the
gospel and the sacraments (English translation).
d. Du, du, liegst mir in Herzen; du, du, liegst mir in
Sinn…
Slide 28

29. Question 1: According to the Augsburg Confession
(art. V, German text), in order that we might obtain
justifying faith, what did God do?
a. Institutum est ministerium docendi Evangelii et
porrigendi Sacramenta.
b. Gott hat das Predigtamt eingesetzt, das
Evangelium und die Sakramente gegeben.
c. God instituted the office of preaching, giving the
gospel and the sacraments (English translation).
d. Du, du, liegst mir in Herzen; du, du, liegst mir in
Sinn…
Slide 29

30. FOR DISCUSSION
Do we need to rethink what the preaching
“office” is?
Can “giving the gospel” mean more than Words
only, in much the same way that the Sacraments
are more than words only?
Slide 30

31. Question 2: According to the Augsburg Confession
(Art. 6), the faith produced by giving the Gospel is…
a. not yet fully formed.
b. needs to be proven by doing good works.
c. should yield good fruit or is bound to produce
good fruits.
d. irrational, foolish.
Slide 31

32. Question 2: According to the Augsburg Confession
(Art. 6), the faith produced by giving the Gospel is…
a. not yet fully formed.
b. needs to be proven by doing good works.
c. should yield good fruit or is bound to produce
good fruits.
d. irrational, foolish.
Slide 32

33. FOR DISCUSSION
What is the difference between a faith that
“should” produce good fruit and a faith that is
“bound” to produce good fruit?
(Note: Augsburg Confession, Article Six, makes
clear that “good fruit” means “good works.”)
Slide 33

34. Question 3: According to Luther’s Large Catechism,
“the reason we take such care to preach on the
catechism frequently” is
a. to impress it upon our young people
b. so that it may penetrate deeply into their minds
c. so that it may remain fixed in their memories
d. Wait. What? We’re supposed to preach on the
Catechism frequently?
Slide 34

35. Question 3: According to Luther’s Large Catechism,
“the reason we take such care to preach on the
catechism frequently” is
a. to impress it upon our young people
b. so that it may penetrate deeply into their minds
c. so that it may remain fixed in their memories
d. Wait. What? We’re supposed to preach on the
Catechism frequently?
Slide 35

36. FOR DISCUSSION
a.Isn’t it time to proclaim clearly that the
Catechism is concerned with more than just
what one thinks or says but also what one does?
b.Can the same be said of the Catechism’s other
sections (Creed, Prayer, Sacraments)?
c.Have we truncated the original Lutheran vision
for the preaching office and for teaching the
gospel?
Slide 36

37. Question 4: According to Luther’s Small Catechism,
what are believers redeemed and set free for?
a. To become Franciscans.
b. To belong to Christ.
c. To live in Christ’s Kingdom.
d. To serve Christ (in ever-lasting righteousness,
innocence, and blessedness).
Slide 37

38. Question 4: According to Luther’s Small Catechism,
what are believers redeemed and set free for?
a. To become Franciscans.
b. To belong to Christ.
c. To live in Christ’s Kingdom.
d. To serve Christ (in ever-lasting righteousness,
innocence, and blessedness).
Slide 38

39. FOR DISCUSSION
a.Has the Lutheran teaching of justification by
faith (or any other teaching of justification)
emphasized what believers are saved from or
what believers are saved for?
b.What kind of changes would you like to see in
our pulpits so that the hearers of Lutheran
sermons will be taught about “freedom from” as
well as “freedom for”?
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40. Slide 40

41. Verbum Dei =
Word of God.
What Does
This Mean???
Slide 41

42. THESIS ONE
We can learn much from the fake St Francis
Quotation. AND we can learn much from the real
St. Francis.
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43. THESIS TWO
If the Lutheran understanding is that good fruit
(good works) are bound to follow the faith that
results from preaching, perhaps we can also say
that “actions that preach” follow “words that
preach.”
Furthermore, there is also a way to understand
that words that preach follow actions that
preach.
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44. THESIS THREE
We have a great resource for how to live lives
that “preach”: it’s called the Small Catechism
(esp. the Ten Commandments section).
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45. THESIS FOUR
Not only should we enhance our understanding
of the preached Word, we should also enhance
our understanding of the preaching office.
Slide 45

46. Be Doers of the Word
and not merely hearers.
—James 1:22
Slide 46

47. Be Hearers of the Word
and not merely doers.
—a Lutheran Take on James 1:22
Slide 47