A 2006 poll...
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A 2006 poll by Baylor University revealed that 2 in 5 Americans have a distant God, one not engaged in their lives. Isolated as we have become, the words of the great French existentialist philosopher Albert Camus seem appropriate in our context: "We no longer love life" (The Rebel, p. 305). Several observations by Martin Luther point out how Good Friday and the First Lesson afford a remedy to our meaningless isolation. Our sin and suffering are borne by God who has come to be among us. He is intimately wrapped up in our lives (even their seedy sides): "This is a very great consolation, that God is afflicted when we are afflicted" (Luther's Works, Vol. 17, p. 358).
Our isolating sin does not want us to believe this comfort, and yet we are driven back to an awareness of Christ's identification with us: "Our nature is opposed to the function and power of Christ's passion.... We must clearly transfer our sins from ourselves to Christ... Hence you must say: 'I see my sin in Christ, therefore my sin is not mine but another's. I see it in Christ' " (Ibid., p. 223).
This awareness makes life worth living, something worth loving: "For no trouble and suffering is so great that we cannot bear it provided we have this comfort that we have a gracious God; then let our troubles assume any form... Those who have some experiences are good people to confess to. Christ therefore understands us right away and knows how to help us. For he has also experienced trouble. And this is a most certain comfort" (quoted in Paul Althaus, The Theology of Martin Luther, pp. 204-205).
Our isolating sin does not want us to believe this comfort, and yet we are driven back to an awareness of Christ's identification with us: "Our nature is opposed to the function and power of Christ's passion.... We must clearly transfer our sins from ourselves to Christ... Hence you must say: 'I see my sin in Christ, therefore my sin is not mine but another's. I see it in Christ' " (Ibid., p. 223).
This awareness makes life worth living, something worth loving: "For no trouble and suffering is so great that we cannot bear it provided we have this comfort that we have a gracious God; then let our troubles assume any form... Those who have some experiences are good people to confess to. Christ therefore understands us right away and knows how to help us. For he has also experienced trouble. And this is a most certain comfort" (quoted in Paul Althaus, The Theology of Martin Luther, pp. 204-205).
