Luther at the Movies

Today is the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as it is called by Rome, and the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, as it is called by Constantinople.

Mary is truly the God-bearer who fed, taught, and nurtured the Word made flesh; sought him out at the Temple as he astounded the scribes and Pharisees; feared for his life as his teaching was distorted by evil men; shared in his sufferings as flesh of her flesh and blood of her blood hung from the cross; persevered in the hope of his vindication; waited in the upper room and shared in the first outpouring of the Holy Spirit; and remained in the company of his disciples as the gospel was taken to the nations. She is the first and greatest disciple.

Scripture attests that Mary, having no other children after Our Lord, was entrusted into the care of his beloved disciple. Now, by grace through faith, we too are his beloved disciples and are entrusted with Mary as our mother, to care for her name. No one would deny she is in heaven and sees God face to face. Whether she was spared death or having died she was spared the decay that is natural to the dead is a matter of pious speculation. I do not fault anyone for believing so. But Christian consciences should not be bound to such speculation.

Nevertheless, I would enjoin all Christians, especially all Lutherans, to remember Mary today, to keep her holy name on your lips, and to reflect on her holy life as the perfect model of total dedication to her son.

Now, I can imagine some jackanapes turning red in the face, barely able to restrain himself: “Herr Doktor: Wouldn’t it be wiser to remain silent where the Scriptures are silent? Even to engage in such speculation is to tread a slippery slope to Rome or Constantinople, with its elaborate legends about Mary and the saints.”

To which I would reply: “Perhaps, you would like to say to Christ, ‘I always believed your mother was a miserable sinner like me and lies rotting in the ground today.’ ”

“But,” our addlepate continues, “that is an argument from mere sentiment, not biblical theology.”

“SILENCE, IMAGINARY INTERLOCUTOR! Silence, before some intemperate Christian is compelled to grind you into a fine paste and use you for a dentrifice (preferably with extra whitening properties)! Or better yet, strangle you with a length of piano wire until your tongue pendulates with such ferocity that your head is confiscated by government officials as a source of alternative energy!”

Not that I would think of doing such a thing …

I have said what I have said. Take from it what you will.

And now … breakfast.