A sense of place: the many horizons of Martin E. Marty

Christian Century, Oct 23, 2002 by Wendy Murray Zoba

The point is about foundations, about Jesus. He preaches from Romans 1:17, the text Luther hated, then loved: "I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the righteousness of God." Luther said, "I hate that God." Pastor Marty explains that at first Luther hated the verse, but it rescued Luther from "his extremely disturbed conscience." Luther realized God's righteousness was not the active kind that destroys people in condemnation, but "the passive righteousness that is a gift. What God is, God exchanges for us; what we were, God takes upon himself in the suffering of Christ." He calls it "a joyful exchange" and likens it to dipping one's hand in the baptismal fount upon entering the sanctuary. "You dip your hand, make the sign of the cross, and leave all sins at the door," he says, for--Marty would also say, following Luther--our lives are hid in Christ and we are clothed in the righteousness that God himself drapes over us like a robe.

Luther said the most important words of the sacrament of communion are "for you." And so we stand, draped in God's righteous robe, our hands ready to receive the bread and the cup from the historical historian, the editor and writer, the professor, the friend, the pastor who says, "The body of Christ for you."

What is an historical historian? The one who tells us who we are based upon what ground we stand on. It involves footprints. And feet. And dirt. And sky. The place in between and its legitimate players. It means seeing beneath the surfaces. What is the sacrament? The presence of God from the rear, the astonishing recognition of trust that he is near, so we need not fear the darkness, nor the land, nor the sky, nor the empty space awaiting the human step. What is the hand of a priest on the head of a small child? The affirmation of that trust, and the recognition that there is blessedness in that hand, there is promise. It is a joyful exchange, a minister with a child, an historian with the world where a hidden God is at work.

Wendy Murray Zoba's latest book, Sacred Journeys, was recently published by Tyndale.