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Archives For September 2011

No Love Lost

September 28, 2011 — Leave a comment

“Who has taken counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traders are the honorable of the earth? The Lord of hosts has purposed it, to bring to dishonor the pride of all glory, to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth.” (Is. 23:8-9)

Pastor Leithart has pointed out that merchants are a kind of nobility, princes in the land. They ought to be servants of kingdoms, a sort of royalty that bring glory into cities. But where there is greed and pride, God will bring it down. Here at this table, we have been given the calling of being Kings and Priests to our God. And this includes a calling to be merchants, to be princes in our work, in our vocations, in our labors. We are given here an economics of the city of God. It is built on the self-giving of the Son of God, the love of God for the world. In the cross, all the coercive powers of the world were proven powerless, and all of our guilt for being complicit with their ways of manipulating markets and showing partiality to the rich and powerful has been taken away. We are forgiven, and here slaves and masters, male and female, parents and children, rich and poor, are all alike, are all equal and called to love and serve one another. This is our economy, the law of love that governs our city. Here we swear allegiance to our King and to one another, promising to bear one another’s burdens, promising to work hard for one another, promising even to lay our lives down for each other gladly. And just as Jesus became the Lord of all Glory in His death and resurrection, we have been rescued from all futility, and here God promises that as you lay your lives down for one another, as we give of our time and resources, it will all become fruitful. None of your love will be lost. Every dirty dish, every diaper, every glass of water, every prayer, every invention, every discovery, every honest day’s work, every meal, every sacrifice, every gift in love: When done in faith, when done before the Lord, it all goes down into the ground like a seed, and the God of the harvest promises fruit. This is Christian economics. So come, eat and drink this promise of God. You are princes, merchants of the Kingdom God, forgiven and free, and you are called to this glory.

 

In Bible - Isaiah, Eucharistic Meditations
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The God of Jacob is our Fortress

September 28, 2011 — 2 Comments

Psalm 46 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed, though the mountains be cast into the sea. Though the waters roar and are troubled, and though the mountains shake with its swelling.” And this is all because there is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place, the tablernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her at the break of dawn.” The psalmist says that the nations rage, the kingdoms are shaken and this is because God Himself speaks and shouts and thunders causing the earth to melt. But the Lord of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge.

Therefore, what shall we fear? The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Do you fear losing your job, losing your loved ones? Do you fear sickness? Pain? Death? Do you fear war? Do you fear natural disaster? Do you worry for your children? But the Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God. This is one of the glorious marks of the people of God. In the midst of the storm, in the midst of pain, in the midst of tumult, there is a river that makes glad the city of God. That river is the Spirit of God making God with Us, reminding us, comforting us, defending us. And this is one of the great marks of the Spirit down through the ages. How could Jesus forgive the soldiers that crucified Him? How could the martyrs melting in the flames sing songs of praise with their final gasps of air? How have missionaries and saints down through the ages laughed in the face of calamity? How have they smiled at their enemies? How have they endured persecution and hunger and mistreatment and misfortune? There is a river that makes glad the city of God. The Lord of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. We are safe. We are secure. We cannot be moved. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in every trouble. This is the city of God, this is the holy place, the dwelling of the Most High, and here we defy every evil power. We defy all guilt and accusation. We defy every sickness, every lie, all oppression, and all the works of the Devil. We are safe in the fortress of God Almighty. The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. So cast away your sins of worry and fear, anxiety and unbelief. Throw it all down and walk in the light of the truth.

 

 

In Bible - Psalms, Exhortations
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The Augustinian Project

September 22, 2011 — Leave a comment

What the Church needs is a renewal of the Augustinian project. We need to disentangle the American story from the Christian story and to insist on the preeminence of the latter.

-Peter Leithart, Against Christianity, 64.

In Against Christianity
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Charge to Deacons

September 19, 2011 — Leave a comment

Related to the sermon I preached yesterday on diaconal ministry, below is the charge that we give to new deacons when they are ordained at Trinity:

Charge to Deacons: (Name), you have received of the Lord Jesus to serve his church as a deacon, according to the word of the Apostles, that the elders and pastors may give themselves to the ministry of word and prayer. You are called to work with the pastors and elders as heralds of Christ’s kingdom. You are to proclaim the gospel in word and deed, to serve the community in which we live, bringing to the Church the needs and hopes of all the people. You are to work with your fellow members in searching out the poor and weak, the sick and lonely and those who are oppressed and powerless, reaching into the forgotten corners of the world that the love of God may be made visible. As a deacon, you are to share in the pastoral ministry of the Church and in leading God’s people in worship. You are to read the Word and bring the needs of the world before the Church in intercession. You are to labor to lead the lost to faith and bring them to baptism. You are called to assist in administering the sacraments, to distribute communion, and to minister to the sick and housebound. Therefore, we charge you before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom; lead the people of God in true religion, which the apostle James says is to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.  Be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, be servant unto all, that in losing your life you may indeed find it.  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto you are also called; for those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

In Church Polity, Justice & Mercy, Theology - Ecclesiology
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14th Sunday in Trinity: Diaconal Ministry: Acts 6:1-7

September 19, 2011 — Leave a comment

Introduction
In the last few years, God has granted us growing awareness and opportunities to minister to those in need. While all believers are called to this kind of love (e.g. Js. 2:15-17, 1 Jn. 3:17), the biblical pattern is that deacons are to lead this charge, assessing the gifts, strengths, and assets of the body of Christ and coordinating the relief of those in need.

The Text: In the early days of the church, a controversy arose around the “daily distribution” to the widows (Acts 6:1). This is a specific instance of the kind of community the church was seeking to be: having all things in common, making sure no one lacked, distributing to those in need, gathered around the word and sacraments (cf. Acts 2:41-47, 4:32-37, cf. 2 Cor. 8:8-15). Initially, the coordination and organization of this community life was performed by the apostles themselves (4:35-37, 5:2). But with the significant growth of the church, the apostles determined that a division of labor was necessary, and that other ministers ought to be appointed to “serve tables” (Acts 6:2). The root word for “deacon” is used three times here: the “distribution” is the “diaconal service” (6:1), “serving tables” is literally “deaconing tables” (6:2), and the “ministry of the word” is literally the “service/deaconing of the word” (6:4). This breadth of usage implies the unity of the “ministry,” more on that later. Seven men are chosen who have good reputations, who are full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, and that means they are competent and creative managers (6:3). The apostles determine that the church will be best served if they give themselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the word (6:4), and as a result of the ordination of the seven, “the word of God spread and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly” (6:7). Continue Reading…

In Bible - 2 Corinthians, Bible - Acts, Bible - Mark, Justice & Mercy, Sermon Outlines
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The Grace of Working with Your Hands

September 19, 2011 — Leave a comment

“But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; and indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more; that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.” (1 Thess. 4:18)

Paul writes the Thessalonians and says that they are doing a fantastic job of loving one another and in fact that love has been evidenced toward all the churches in Macedonia. The Thessalonians have carried on the model of the early chapters of Acts caring for one another’s needs, caring for orphans and widows, and making sure no one lacks anything. And Paul instructs the Thessalonians here how to continue in that love. And he says that centrally it is found in seeking a quiet life, minding your own business, and working hard. And says specifically that this is what they commanded them, and this is so that they may have a good testimony towards unbelievers and so that they might not lack anything. I just want to zero in on one of those principles that Paul reminds the Thessalonians of: working hard with our hands. Paul says that one of the foundational virtues of the Kingdom is hard work. Continue Reading…

In Bible - 1 Thessalonians, Bible - 2 Thessalonians, Eucharistic Meditations
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The Greater the Service, the Greater the Glory

September 19, 2011 — 1 Comment

Proverbs says that the glory of men is their strength. But since the first sin in the Garden of Eden it has been the tendency and the temptation of men to be lazy. Adam didn’t guard his wife, didn’t protect her from sin or the serpent; he didn’t work hard at what God had put in front of him. And in the curses following the Fall, God promised that His work would be even harder. There would be thorns and weeds, and he would have to work by the sweat of his brow and death would make his body weak and eventually die. But this does not change the fact that the glory of men is their strength, and if that was true in the Old Covenant, how much more so is this true in the New Covenant after the coming of the true man, the faithful Adam, Jesus Christ. And where Adam failed, Jesus succeeded. Where Adam gave in to the tempter, Jesus withstood. And then in addition to standing firm, Jesus went to the cross to display the greatest kind of strength there is, giving His life away for the world, giving His life away for His enemies. Jesus said that the greatest of all is the one who becomes the servant of all. The one who loses His life is the one who will find it. The one who seeks to save his life will lose it. But Jesus didn’t just say that, He lived it. He did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but made Himself of no reputation and took the form of a servant. And then He humbled Himself even to the point of death, even the shame and suffering of the cross. And that was the most glorious moment in the history of all time. That was the moment where the strength of God shone with the most glory. That was true strength, true glory because at the very moment when Jesus lost His life, He won life for the world. When Jesus became the servant of all, He was guaranteed to become the Lord of all. Continue Reading…

In Bible - 1 Peter, Bible - Philippians, Bible - Proverbs, Exhortations
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An Appendage of American Culture

September 16, 2011 — 1 Comment

American democracy … [has turned] the gospel into a support for the global spread of democracy and reducing the Church to a timid and tolerant participant in “democratic process.” This may not be surprising in itself, since politicians have often seen the Church as a means to a political end. What is disturbing is that the Church has accepted the liberal democratic story as her own, thereby permitting herself to become an appendage of American culture.

-Peter Leithart, Against Christianity, 62-63.

In Against Christianity
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Empire of Wickedness

September 15, 2011 — Leave a comment

To exult in a crucified Messiah had radical political implications. Every time Paul said that the criminal on the Roman cross was Lord and Christ, he was implying that the empire was in the grip of some enormity of wickedness and folly.

-Peter Leithart, Against Christianity, 61.

In Against Christianity
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The Dark Side of Genius

September 14, 2011 — 2 Comments

The figure of the Fool is widely misunderstood. He is neither a jester nor a clown nor an idiot. He is, instead, the dark side of genius. For if a genius has the ability to see and make connections beyond the normal range of vision, the fool is one who can see — and disconnect.

-Otto Scott, cited in Productive Christians in an Age of Guilt-Manipulators by David Chilton, 43.

In Bible - Proverbs, Wisdom
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