When Jesus instituted this meal, he did so with the full knowledge that he was at the end of his ministry. He was leaving, and as he left he promised that this was a good thing because he would send the comforter, the Holy Spirit to be with them and lead them into all truth. One of the central ways that the Holy Spirit leads us into all truth is here at this table. The Lord’s Supper is itself the proclamation of the Lord’s death; it is evangelism; it is the gospel. But someone might say; that’s funny, it doesn’t look like a highly effective marketing tool. But this is the glory of the Spirit, the Spirit often works silently, mysteriously, and it’s glorious because the Spirit does what is impossible. As Jesus leaves, he says it is better that he go because he will send them the Spirit. In order to be led into all truth, you must be led by the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of Jesus. And all of this is proof that it’s the Spirit doing the work. Churches that have everything quickly fall into many temptations to rely on particular people, buildings, traditions, whatever. But churches that lose pastors, churches that have very diverse congregants, churches that have to meet at odd hours or in odd places, those kind of churches know (or should know) in their bones that if they make any kind of impact at all, if anything they do brings glory God and builds his kingdom in a significant way, it was a miracle, something only wrought by the Holy Spirit. And so here we are, doing the impossible. We are proclaiming right now with bread and wine that Jesus died and rose again. That he ascended into heaven and reigns over Greer, South Carolina as her rightful King. And we are doing so in faith believing that Greer will come streaming into the Kingdom one way or another. Since we know that is utterly impossible, we are all the more confident that it is the very sort of thing, our God will delight to do. So I’m leaving, and Craig is coming on. And some of you have challenges in your families, in your work, in your finances, whatever. Good. If it was all easy and straightforward you’d have to wonder if the Holy Spirit is leading you. But if the skies look stormy, if you see death and suffering in your future, if you feel surrounded, if you know you need mercy and grace, then come. This bread and this wine are for you. This meal is for people who need the impossible. And this meal is full assurance that the most impossible thing in the world has already occurred: your sins have been forgiven. And if that impossibility has become reality, how will He not also give you all these things. How will he not also give you faithful children, how will he not also provide for your needs and perfect your marriage? How will he not also establish this church for many generations? So come in faith, believing the promises of God.
Archives For June 2008
Opening Prayer: Almighty and Gracious God, we are your house, your temple, your dwelling place. Therefore we ask that you would fill us with your glory-spirit. Come and dwell with us now, and impress your image upon us through your Word, Amen!
Introduction
We come at last to the end of the book of Exodus. The chapter opens confirming that the erection of the tabernacle is in fact a new creation, the beginning of a new world: the tabernacle is set up on the first day of the first month (40:2).
The New World
The fact that the text repeats the day on which the tabernacle was raised means it’s important for us to catch (40:2, 17). We noted the similarities between the Moses and Noah previously (Ex. 33-34), and the beginning of Moses’ life had an explicit correlation to the story of the flood in the word “ark” (cf. Ex. 2:3). But this chronological placement on the first day of the first month is the same point at which Noah removed the covering on the ark and saw that the earth was dry (Gen. 8:13). This also reminds us of the Passover, in that the Passover was to be celebrated beginning on the 10th day of the first month. This means that the tabernacle is finished exactly one year after Israel left Egypt (cf. 40:17), getting ready for their first anniversary celebration of Passover. This temporal placement emphasizes all the great contrasts between Pharaoh and Yahweh. This is a new world.
Filling the House
After the tent is constructed, the furniture is brought in starting from the center and working outward (40:3-7). Everything gets anointed and consecrated (40:9-15); this once again emphasizes the continuity between the tabernacle and Aaron and his sons. Notice that what God commands runs parallel to what Moses does and what happens: God command Moses to arrange the tabernacle (vv. 3-8), and commands Moses to anoint/wash everything (vv. 9-15). Then Moses arranges everything (vv. 18-33), and God’s glory cloud comes and fills the tabernacle to lead Israel (vv. 34-38). In other words, the anointing/washing of the tabernacle and its utensils (and people!) corresponds to the spirit-glory of the Lord filling the tabernacle. This has a clear NT antecedent in the close association between baptism and the Holy Spirit (e.g. Acts 2:38, 1 Cor. 12:13). When we anoint in obedience to God’s commands, God’s Spirit confirms by filling.
Filling the House
The use of the word “house” is a key term throughout the book of Exodus: Jacob is recorded as having come down into Egypt with his sons’ “houses” (Ex. 1:1), the midwives are blessed and given “houses” for their faithfulness (1:21), blood is put on the doorposts of the “houses” of Israel in the Passover (12:7), Egypt is called the “house” of slavery (20:2), and of course much of the second half of the book is concerned with building the “house” of Yahweh. Interestingly, the tabernacle is never explicitly called the “house” of Yahweh. Israel is supposed to bring offerings to his “house” (23:19, 34:26), but the word “house” is otherwise only used to describe certain materials used to build the tabernacle, as an architectural term often translated as “inside” or “holder” (e.g. 25:11, 25:27, 26:29, etc.). The tabernacle clearly is a “house,” but Exodus closes, the “house” having been completed, explicitly insisting that the people Israel are the “house” (40:38). All the concern with the tabernacle is really concern with Israel. The “arrangement of the furniture” is really a concern for Israel’s heart, her whole-hearted worship and service of the Lord.
Applications & Conclusions
Two things: How is the furniture of your heart arranged? How is your family’s house put together? This works both as an exhortation and as an encouragement. The exhortation is to pattern your lives after the true tabernacle, the Lord Jesus: pursue beauty and glory in your homes. But the encouragement is that if the tabernacle is in your midst then God promises to accomplish that re-creation in you and in your family. God promises to give you the wisdom of the Hebrew midwives, the wisdom of Bezalel and Aholiab. He promises to give you the Spirit of wisdom.
The Holy Spirit was sent into the tabernacle to lead the children of Israel in all their travels, in all their journeys. It was not Moses who lead them in all their journeys; he had been driven out of the tabernacle. It was the Spirit who lead them. This is God’s pattern: first Moses then the Spirit, first Jesus then the Spirit. There is something bound into the character of God that delights in teaching people to walk in faith and live by the Spirit.
In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen!
Closing Prayer: Gracious Father, we call upon you to give us that Spirit that you poured out on Bezalel and Aholiab that we might make our homes and our hearts holy and beautiful. Teach us to order our ways after your ways. Make us love the things that you love and hate the things that you hate. Grant that your Spirit might continually remake us. We give you thanks for what you have already done and trust you for the rest.
In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen!
The Lord be with you.
And with your spirit.
I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord: he that believes in my, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosever lives and believes in me, shall never die.
Hymn: Jesus Priceless Treasure
Let us pray: O God, whose beloved Son did take little children into his arms and bless them: Give us grace, we beseech you, to entrust this child Anastacia Ruth Sumpter to your never-failing care and love, and bring us all to your heavenly kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Psalm: 116:5-19: Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; Yes, our God is merciful. The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. Return to your rest, O my soul, for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you. For You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, And my feet from falling. I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living. I believed, therefore I spoke, “I am greatly afflicted.” I said in my haste, “All men are liars.” What shall I render to the LORD for all His benefits toward me? I will take up the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows to the LORD now in the presence of all His people. Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints. O LORD, truly I am Your servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant; You have loosed my bonds. I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows to the LORD now in the presence of all His people, in the courts of the LORD’s house, in the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD!
1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 51-58: But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death…. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed — in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Funeral Meditation
Somehow it seems rather fitting that the first funeral I perform should be one for my own daughter. There’s nothing quite like death that concentrates the mind and makes priorities obvious and clear. As we commit Anastacia to the earth in sure confidence of God’s care over her and her resurrection at the Last Day, I want to consider three things.
First, our family has prayed that God would prepare us to serve his people both here and those that we will serve in the future. There is no doubt that this is part of that preparation for us. Related to this has been our prayer over the last six months since we knew that Anastacia had died, that we would learn the lessons that God would have us to learn through this time. I have no doubt that there are many such lessons, but one of them has certainly been related to the calling of ministry. And this is not really limited to pastors either. The calling of all Christians is to bear crosses, to lose their lives in order to find them, to lay their lives down for their neighbors, families, friends, and even their enemies. The call of Christian ministry is a call to die. We came here to South Carolina to die, and we have. And in God’s great kindness he has also raised us back up to serve again. We are all called to consider our lives as living sacrifices; we are to think of our lives as a slow motion death for everyone around us in gratitude and thankfulness to God.
Second, I, like many of you, have prayed and continue to pray for Holy Trinity Church, that God would be pleased to establish it for many generations, and that God would equip the saints here for ministry. I believe that Ana’s death is part of this process of establishing Holy Trinity here in Greer and equipping the saints here to minister for many generations. As the apostle says, except a seed be planted in the ground and die it cannot bear fruit. We fully intend for Ana’s grave here to be a memorial to and for the saints of Holy Trinity. It is our prayer that Ana’s death and grave, as little as they are, would nevertheless be a reminder to you of our love for you and our hope that God will continue to do great things through you in the church. A pastor leaving is always a sort of death for a church, and it can be an opportunity for doubts and insecurity. But we hope that you will trust in the God of resurrection with us, and that you will look forward in faith to the more glorious future that God has ahead you. May Ana remind you of that from time to time.
Finally, I want to point out that we named our daughter Anastacia Ruth. Anastacia means “resurrection,” and we thought this was fitting for several reasons. First, she and Tovia were born on Resurrection Sunday, March 23rd, Easter – of all days. Second, all the appearances are that the placenta they shared just wasn’t sufficient for the two of them. One of them had to die in order that the other might have life. This is also related to why we gave her the name Ruth. Ruth means “friend,” and she was a friend to Tovia for a number of weeks and truly a great friend in her death. Third, we certainly do believe that we will meet Anastacia again at the resurrection. Her name is meant to convey our sure faith in Christ who will raise her up with all those who have died in the Lord.
We give great thanks for the privilege it was to have had some brief care of Ana, and for her short life. We realize that all of the children God gives us are foster children. They are ours to care for on behalf of their Father in heaven and their Mother, the Christian Church here on earth. May God teach us wisdom as we mourn. May God teach us to hate sin and death more and more. And may God grant us grace to live knowing that because of the resurrection, our labor is not in vain. But Christ will come and establish the work of our hands.
In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen!
The Lord be with you.
And with your spirit.
Let us pray: (singing) Our Father who art in heaven…
Grant us, O God, with all who have died in the hope of the resurrection, to have our consummation and bliss in your eternal and everlasting glory, and, with Anastacia and all your saints, to receive the crown of life which you promise to all who share in the victory of your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Hymn: For All the Saints
In sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, we commend to Almighty God our sister, Anastacia Ruth, and we commit her body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The Lord bless her and keep her, the Lord make his face to shine upon her and be gracious unto her, the Lord lift up his countenance upon her and give her peace. Amen.
Almighty God, Father of mercies and giver of comfort; deal graciously, we pray you, with all those who mourn, that, casting every care on you, they may know the consolation of your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
Hymn: Nunc Dimittis: Master let your servant depart in peace…
May Almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, bless you and keep you, now and for evermore. Amen.
“Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; For God has already accepted your works. Let your garments always be white, and let your head lack no oil. Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.” (Eccl. 9:7-10)
This is one of the great summary statements of the calling of the Christian life. Your calling as a Christian is to live like heaven. Work hard, love your wife, eat your dinner with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart. Dress sharp, look your best for those around you, and do it all not with some kind of pride or arrogance, but because God is good, because God has already accepted your works, because God looks at you and your family and all the work still to be done and says, you are my new creation in Christ, you are my beloved son and daughter in whom I’m well pleased. And this is why you are invited here week after week so that you will not forget who you are and how you are required to live. You are the beloved sons and daughters of the king, and therefore he invites you to his feast week after week, and he calls you to go out into your homes, work places, and neighborhoods and live like the royalty that you are. You are the nobility of God, and he invites you here to rejoice with bread and wine at this table and sends you out to do the same in all of life. If it’s pizza paper plates, eat it like sons and daughters of the king. If you drive a beater car, drive it with joy in your heart. If your family is pretty rough around the edges, love them, serve them, and speak to them and about them, like they are the best people in all the world. We do all of this not because we’re blind or apathetic, but because we are called to live by faith, imitating the God who calls those things which are not yet existent as though they were. Therefore come and rejoice as though everything was right in the world because it is and it will be.
Opening Prayer: Kind Father, we come before you once again and ask you for your Spirit to be with us now. We know that the Spirit pours out your wisdom and knowledge and understanding. And we confess that we need those things desperately. We live in a day and in a culture that has rejected your wisdom and delights in incoherence and confusions. Open our eyes to see, give us clear thinking minds, and enable us to walk before you faithfully. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen!
Introduction
Today we come to the completion of the construction of the tabernacle and the making of the priestly garments. Just as the first creation was concluded with the blessing of God, so too this new creation of Israel concludes with the blessing of God.
Priest as Tabernacle
The priestly garments are the same colors and fabrics as the tabernacle itself. The tabernacle curtains, veil, and screen are made of blue, purple, and scarlet threads (36:8, 35-37). So too are the garments of the priest (39:1), the ephod (39:2), the breastplate (39:8), the pomegranates on the hem (39:24), and the sash (39:29). Like the tabernacle, the priest also has precious metals worked into his uniform: gold threads woven into artistic designs on the ephod (39:3, 5). The word for “beat/hammered” (39:2) is related the word for the firmament (Gen. 1:6), and strikingly, the golden thread is said to be worked “in the midst” of the blue, “in the midst” of the purple, “in the midst” of the scarlet thread just as the firmament is said to be placed “in the midst of the waters” (Gen. 1:6). Like the curtains of the tabernacle, the shoulder straps are “coupled together” (39:4). The High Priest is a walking, miniature tabernacle. Remember that we noted previously that the High Priest’s garments are like armor: e.g. the breastplate, shoulder guards, and the robe which is like a coat of mail (39:23). If the High Priest is a warrior, then the tabernacle is a military fortress. Yahweh is teaching his people how to wage war.
New Creation
The phrase “as the Lord had commanded Moses” is repeated throughout chapters 39-40. It occurs 7 times in chapter 39 and 7 times in chapter. 40. This is surely a double emphasis on the completion of the work, and that this work is the completion of a new creation. The first seven instances of “as the Lord had commanded Moses” refer specifically to elements of the priestly garments, the second set of seven refer to elements of the tabernacle. This reinforces the idea that the priest is a walking tabernacle, and vice versa, we can say that the tabernacle is meant to represent man restored to fellowship with God, humanity walking with God in the garden. The tabernacle is a person filled with the glory-cloud-presence of God, and it pictures what God always intended to do to every individual. This is why Christ can be said to have come and “tabernacled” with us (Jn. 1:14). In Christ dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Col. 1:19). Lastly, the blessing of 39:43 is clearly an allusion to Gen. 1:31-2:3, and it means that the work is finished. And this is why we go out from here with the blessing of God week after week.
Conclusions & Applications
We serve the God who completes what he starts. He has begun a good work in you as individuals, as families, and as a congregation. But notice how God delights to finish the project: he does it by bringing us into the community where the completed project is present. The tabernacle was a picture of the completed project, a picture of people walking with God, drawing near without dying. Christ is the fulfillment of that picture, the true tabernacle of God to which we draw near and in whom we walk with God.
But God calls us to faith in the midst of life that always needs finishing. Maybe you feel the need for completion in your marriage, in your children, in your parents, in your work, in the church, in your friends, wherever. God calls those things which are not as though they were (Rom. 4:17). You serve the God whose word is more important than the way things look. You serve the God whose word always finishes what he starts. The New Covenant means that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it. Just as God created the world in the beginning, calling light out of darkness, Jesus is our sure confidence that God is in the process of remaking this world. And that includes our marriages, our children, our families, our neighborhoods, even the world. Therefore, imitate your God: let your words and actions be done in faith, acting as though God’s Word is sure and true even if the whole world looks the opposite.
In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen!
Concluding Prayer: Gracious Father, we ask you to give us faith in the midst of the many things that are unfinished. We know that you have been pleased to call us as though we are finished, and we rejoice in this grace and ask for more.
When we celebrate this meal, we do so in imitation of Jesus who having given thanks for the bread/cup gave it to his disciples to eat/drink. This is why it is our custom to have the elders serve one another and then distribute the elements to the rest of the congregation. With the wine, we offer the common cup and we also have the little cups available to those who prefer, but the idea is meant to be the same: we are one loaf and one cup. We are one body in Christ, and his blood flows through us. This is why we serve one another. Just as in a body, the different parts need each other; we confess and display that here. So the elder or deacon or other assistant may hand the bread or the wine to each row, but then maybe your wife hands you the bread or your son or daughter passes the wine to you. Maybe a member of another family passes you the tray of cups. This is as it should be. We are one body, one family made up of many parts held together and empowered to work together and serve one another through the working of the Holy Spirit. But our celebration here also pictures the promise of the gospel. The blessings of the new covenant are pictured in Ezekiel as water pouring out over the threshold of the temple, and as the prophet follows the flowing water it becomes ankle deep and then up to his waist and then it is too deep to wade through and it flows out and purifies the seas. This is what the gospel has been doing for the last two thousand years. And we are a witness of that fact sitting as we are on the other side of the world and two thousand years from that first upper room in Jerusalem. We are that body with the blood of Christ coursing through our veins; we are that river of blessing and forgiveness flowing out from the cross to the ends of the earth. You are God’s forgiven people, you are in the blood, you are his family. Come and rejoice.
Opening Prayer: Almighty and most merciful God, we ask that you would cause your Spirit to be poured out upon us once again. We are here as your new creation, and we ask that you would continue to renew us and remake us. Empower your word now that we might be built up into your house, fitted together as your temple and dwelling. Amen!
Introduction
We considered the tabernacle last week as the embodiment of Israel as the Warrior-bride of Yahweh. Bezalel and Aholiab are the fulfillment of the midwives, leading the wise-hearted women who are building the house of God as the armies of Yahweh (Ex. 38:8).
As the Lord Commanded
We noted lasted week that this is the second time we’ve read all these details. Ex. 25-31 was the record of the initial instructions given by God on the mountain, the seven speeches of the ‘new creation’ of Israel. This explanation of the actual work of Bezalel may seem superfluous, but it both proves that the new covenant is in force and that God’s word does not return void. As in the first creation account, ‘God spoke and it was done’, so too, here God has spoken, and now it is being done “all that the Lord had commanded Moses” (38:22). The new covenant with Israel is not merely ‘another try,’ it is what completes and fulfills all that the first covenant sought to perform. The entire list of what was carried out is given as a summary in 39:33-41 and in the order that it is carried out. Another way of looking at this recapitulation of the details of the tabernacle follows the original creation pattern of Gen. 1-2. Just as Gen. 1 is the creation of the world according to God’s spoken word in six days and Gen. 2 follows the creation of man, his situation in the garden, his naming of the animals and finally the creation of the woman, so too these two accounts of the details of the tabernacle accomplish similar goals. In Gen. 2, we see Adam imitating God and following his commands in naming the animals. In Ex. 36:8-39:31 we see Bezalel (chiefly) carrying out the commands of the Lord. Likewise, if the tabernacle is to be seen in feminine terms, the completion of the tabernacle is the creation of a new Eve from the side of Israel, the new Adam-son of God (cf. Ex. 4:22).
Blue, Purple, Scarlet and Engraving
Because the construction of the tabernacle includes a number of allusions to the original creation account, we should not shy away from looking for more. We have noticed by now that the colors blue, purple, and scarlet show up all throughout the tabernacle descriptions. The colors blue and purple are clearly royal and are associated with kings and nobility, and the color scarlet is literally the word for “worm” (cf. Ex. 16:20, Dt. 28:39, Ps. 22:7, Jon. 4:7). This is because a particular sort of worm was used to create a red/crimson dye in the ancient world. But all these colors are the same as the sky, and the fact that there is a sea-basin at the entrance of the tabernacle reminds us of the “waters above” (Gen. 1:6-7). The firmament is what joins heaven and earth, and this is what the tabernacle is designed to do. The tabernacle is the sky come down into the middle of their camp. The fashioning of the tabernacle is described as “engraving,” “designing,” and “weaving” (38:23). “Engraving” is a word that is associated with plowing, but it can also refer to remaining silent. The first use of this word was in Gen. 4:22 where the cultural achievements of the descendents of Cain are recorded. The building of the tabernacle is a reversal of that curse. The same word is used to describe how the names of Israel were to be engraved on the shoulder stones of the priest’s garment (Ex. 28:11). But it is also used a number of times to refer to remaining silent in times of crisis or tension as a strategy for deliverance as in Ex. 14:14 where the Lord promises to fight for Israel (cf. Gen. 34:5, Josh. 2:1, Jdg. 16:2, 1 Sam. 23:9). This is the deceptive warfare that the people of God are called to. Israel is this sort of warrior-bride. The word for “weaving” really only shows up one more time in the OT in Ps. 139:15 where David describes how God “knit” him together. This word may also be related to the word for “expanse/firmament” and would tie back to the idea of the tabernacle as the sky, the expanse/firmament which is symbolically what joins heaven and earth.
Conclusions and Applications
The charge last week was from 1 Corinthians 3 where Paul ties together the building of the temple of God with the wisdom of God. Paul says that God’s wisdom is foolishness to the world, and the world’s wisdom is foolishness with God. There Paul warns the Corinthians not to defile the temple of God through worldly wisdom. Every generation is tempted to live and build God’s house with worldly wisdom. We do this by thinking that real power is found in swords and guns and politics. We do this when we think that different traditions, teachers, denominations are a threat to God’s kingdom. We do this when we put our confidence in men (think numbers, money, buildings) rather than Christ.
God is building his kingdom in this world, and he is building it with us. This kingdom began as a stone that will grow up into a mountain that will fill the whole world (Dan. 2:44-45). The fact that God is using us is already a sign that God’s wisdom is folly with the world. He’s using us with all our failings, all our weaknesses, and all our problems. But furthermore, God’s wisdom has determined that water and preaching and singing and eating and drinking is the means by which he will overrun the world with his grace. We are the armies of God. Israel carried out her warfare through building the tabernacle, and carrying out the work of the tabernacle (Ex. 38:8). Likewise, we are the victorious warrior-bride of God. Therefore believe this and live this.
In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen!
Closing Prayer: Almighty God, we ask that you would continue to build us up into your house and temple. We pray for our community and the people of Greer and Greenville, SC in particular that you would establish your kingdom here through the prayers, praises, and feasting of your people.
The fifth commandment requires that children honor their parents, and this command is reiterated by Paul in Ephesians when he says that children are to obey their parents in the Lord. This command must be understood in two directions: First, parents must love their children such that they are led to obey. Secondly, children must honor their parents such that they actually obey. And lest there be any confusion on what it means to obey, we must insist that obedience is immediate carrying out of instructions with joy. Children must obey their parents just as God requires all of his children to obey him. We are required to obey God right away, all the way, and cheerfully. Therefore, we ought not expect anything less of our children. Rolling eyes and then obeying is not obeying. Stomping feet while carrying out instructions is not obey. Doing half the job is not obeying. Parents must love their children enough to insist upon obedience. Proverbs says that a father who refuses to teach and discipline his son actually hates him. This is because he is allowing his children to grow up believing that obedience is optional. And this means that this child will grow up under the curse of God and the end of that road is death. A father who does not teach his child to stay out of the road hates his child. A father who lets his child put his fingers in electrical sockets hates his child. Likewise, a father who refuses to teach his child to obey hates his child. And this requirement of obedience does not end at some magic age. Whether you are fourteen or nineteen or twenty-six or fifty, the command is still in place to honor and obey your parents. Of course wise parents will not act like tyrants, but the command is still there. Children, obey. This means obeying right away, all the way, and cheerfully. Parents, love your children enough to require this; children, honor your father and mother enough to follow this. And we do this believing the promise that comes with this command: that we may have long lives and that it may go well with us in the land.
In the New Testament when the apostles try to develop a baptismal theology or explain what baptism means they repeatedly refer to the great events of redemptive history. Paul refers to the Exodus, crossing the Red Sea and the cloud that followed Israel into the wilderness as a picture of baptism in 1 Corinthians 10. Peter refers to the flood and Noah’s ark to describe baptism. But of course those monumental events are merely previews for the greatest redemptive event which we see in the death and resurrection of Jesus; so it’s not too surprising to see Paul referring to that in Romans 6 where he insists that everyone who has been baptized has been joined to that historic event, united to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now while it is certainly true that some people have turned this sacrament into a superstitious magic trick, the problem does not seem to be putting too much emphasis on this sacrament. The problem is not making a big deal about baptism per se, the problem is with making a big deal about the wrong things in baptism. The thing that the apostles point to over and over again is the power of God to deliver his people from all bondage and his sure covenant promises to his people in the face of all their enemies. The apostles say baptism is like being delivered from all the armies of Egypt charging you with hundreds of chariots in full battle array. They say baptism is like being brought safe and sound into an enormous boat while a storm rages outside drowning the wicked and destroying the world. Baptism, Paul says, is like being killed and stuffed into a grave and somehow – wonder of all wonders, even that can’t stop God. Baptism is all about the power and possibilities of God. It means that we serve the God who keeps his promises. We serve the God who is faithful to his covenant, and we serve the Triune God who delivers us and our children from all our enemies. The reason we make a big deal about baptism is because God has promised us big things. We don’t think there’s some magic in the water, and I certainly haven’t been given any superpowers. But God’s Word is sure and powerful, and his promises cannot be broken. Therefore, Kirk and Jennifer, as you bring your son, Jackson, for baptism, I charge you to do so with faith. Do it believing the promises of God. Do it believing that the same God who acted to save Noah and his family, the same God who acted to deliver Israel out Egypt, the same God who delivered our Lord Jesus from the grave, promises to save and deliver your son, Jackson from all his enemies and even death itself at the last day. Your response to these promises must be faith. Believe the Word of God and joyfully raise your son to believe the Word of God. Raise your son to be a fearless disciple of Jesus; raise him to look at floods and laugh. Raise him to see enemies surrounding him and smile. Raise him to face even death itself with full assurance of resurrection. God has spoken; therefore it is so.
