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"A Prayer at Yankee Stadium" Presented by Various Pastoral Conferences, LCMS Rev. Dr. David H. Benke, President May 2002 Page 1 I 2 Greetings in the Name of our Lord Jesus! The Wyoming District Pastoral Conference, in October 2001, not a month after the terrible events of 9/11/01, published a document entitled "Wyoming District Pastors' Conference Memorial." I take exception to its contents and submit for the consideration of all interested sisters and brothers the following. For the convenience of all I have placed it in chronological order and in point by point format, including the questions themselves as asked by the Wyoming District Pastoral Conference (and those other Pastoral Conferences that have since signed on with Wyoming). We are at a time of crisis in our beloved Synod. Theological discussion and dialog, the hallmark of a healthy confessional Lutheran church body, have been replaced by the filing of charges ABSENT conversation. This produces a crisis of confidence, a crisis of trust, a crisis of faith. ONLY discernment of Holy Scriptures done in a spirit of mutual understanding can overcome this dire problem. Furthermore, I am convinced by my examination of Holy Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions that a tremendously positive attitude toward witness in the world is to be encouraged among us in the Missouri Synod. That is what I pray will be clear in what follows. It is in that spirit that I write these words, for the leaders of our denomination – my colleagues on the Council of Presidents and educational, pastoral and lay servants of the Word throughout the denomination. 1) Why are there discrepancies between the statement/prayer of President Benke as reported in President Kieschnick's statement and what President Benke actually said at "A Prayer for America"? The answer to this question is contained in my "Response to Charges," published on January 4, 2002, as follows: "…I made a pledge very early on to take seriously those who differed with me. So in the area of specific wording, to whoever has had problems and criticisms, I am sorry that I didn't get the words out more clearly or accurately or completely. Although it was never intentional, I know that my words have offended some in my denomination, and for that offense I apologize, sincerely, and ask for forgiveness. I want to share with everyone, but most especially those who have filed charges against me seeking to remove me from the pastoral roster of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, a passage about prayer that has brought me comfort and strength since childhood. I have shared and taught it with fellow travelers in Christ who pray for many decades. 'In the same way the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. And we know that in all things God works for the good for those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.' (Romans 8:26-28) Most undoubtedly my personal weakness was manifest at the podium in Yankee Stadium on September 23. Just as undoubtedly, in my weakness I had help - the power of the Spirit's intercession caused my prayer to work for good, in Christ! …Now, to conclude the day. There were a couple of cameras on us during the whole afternoon, but we had no information about the coverage. I thought the program might have been carried on a local channel, with a few minutes covered on the national news. When we left the Stadium, the first message on my cell phone was from California, with the sound of people jumping around and yelling, "It's Benke on TV, and he's praying!!" (They were happy people, by the way.) This let me know that the coverage was more than local. So when I returned home late that night I wrote out from recollection what I thought I had prayed and put it out on an email that eventually ended up at the Office of the President of the LCMS. Several weeks later I got information about the actual wording and some differences. By that time, the person who had been putting our letters and information on our website had resigned, and it wasn't until nearly Thanksgiving that we regained the office ability to change things on the website. By this time, what had been questions in a few people's minds about the wording discrepancies in the prayer had escalated to some kind of conspiracy theory. There never has been any reason much less attempt to deceive people about the wording of this prayer – even if you assume the worst, how could I argue against the videotape? If you want reasons for the delay in the prayer wording posting, think of me on September 11 through 23, and then walk that out for three additional months." The date of the initial document presented by the Wyoming District Pastoral Conference of the LCMS so closely follows September 23 that it would have only taken a simple telephone call to ascertain this information. Any delays in coordinating the response formats thereafter had to do with the exact same problem – the deluge of local need weighed against finding the time to make the wording adjustments in a website format. My reply to the response is why this avenue of basic communication was not taken? What is left in the minds of many readers of the question is a further question – is there something Benke and Kieschnick are trying to hide? That question totally befogs the issue, and it is only raised because a simple telephone call was not made. 2) What evidence is there, as stated in President Kieschnick's statement, that the prayer service at Yankee Stadium was "led by Christians?" Furthermore, why was it reported in the said statement that "at least one Muslim" was involved, when several Muslim clerics, several Jewish rabbis, a Sikh, and a Hindu were involved? Response to this question falls to the President of the LCMS. However, the leadership of the "service" is not the issue. The issue is who sponsored the event? Who called the event into being? In what realm of Martin Luther's Two Kingdoms did this event take place? The answer to those questions is as follows: a) The mayor called the event into being. b) The City of New York sponsored the event, in conjunction with its civic and religious leadership c) The event took place in God's Kingdom of the Left Hand, the Kingdom of Power. Here is a brief statement of that theological position. It is applicable in this case. a) Christians are citizens of two kingdoms. On the one hand, they belong to God's Kingdom of Grace, the church, and on the other hand they belong to God's Kingdom of Power, the civil government. Every Christian is at the same time a part of his local Christian Church and a part of his local civic community. b) The Christian is a part of the church to grow in faith and life through Word and Sacrament. Within the civic community the Christian exercises his vocation in which he is called by God to witness, serve, and do good works for others. c) Satan, the enemy of God works in both kingdoms. Within the Church, the Kingdom of Grace, he seeks to introduce the darkness of error and distortion into the light of God's truth. Within the civic community, the Kingdom of Power, he seeks to restrict the witness of the Christian so that the light of God's truth is not introduced into the darkness of error and distortion. In this way the devil, within both kingdoms, hinders the work of God to offer salvation to all people. d) It is the responsibility of the Christian to walk carefully concerning his relationships with others. In the church, he cannot form relationships that will potentially bring darkness into the light of truth. In the civic community, he dare not avoid relationships that will potentially bring the light of truth into the darkness. So he must very carefully discern the "Two Kingdoms," because as God's reforming instrument Dr. Martin Luther warned, "Satan is always seeking to stew and brew the two kingdoms together." e) Historically, wherever the two-kingdoms have been brewed together, the church either becomes polluted by inclusion or purified by isolation. Either direction is a distortion of God's will and purpose for his people. 3) How do we "witness" through prayer to those whom we should first lead to repentance before praying with them? Can they pray with us if they do not believe in Jesus Christ as we only have access to the Father through Him? Further, if we ask them to pray with us, when they cannot, are we giving them false comfort and assurance? We "witness" through prayer to those in whose midst we pray by praying "In the Precious Name of Jesus." This is a fundamental and sound Christian witness. "They," meaning those who do not know Jesus as Lord and Savior but have already been redeemed by God's saving activity in the sense of objective reconciliation (II Corinthians 5:19), can first of all:
This happens to be exactly what happened with former Muslim and Hindu practitioners at St. Peter's Lutheran Church after September 23, 2001. "They" have been and are being brought into membership in the Body of Christ through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. The question is a prime example of what Luther called above the "stewing and brewing" of the Two Kingdoms. The question mixes them up, to great disadvantage. It was NOT my task to promote Christianity at Yankee Stadium, nor was it the task of Muslims to promote Islam, nor Jews to promote Judaism. It was my task to do what I had been asked to do without restriction – pray as a representative of the Lutheran segment of the population of New York City for the healing power of God for all in the Name of the Lord Jesus! I was not there as an evangelist, nor should I have been. I was there as a witness in the precious name of Jesus. Page 1 I 2 |
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