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Archives For November 2012

Looking for Jesus

November 27, 2012 — Leave a comment

Advent and Christmas are upon us, beginning this Sunday. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Church Calendar, it might be helpful to think of it as a traditional devotional guide. Many of you follow various Bible reading plans or use devotional guides or attend Bible studies to work through various passages of Scripture. While the church year has sometimes been abused and become a form of slavery (as has private devotions or family worship), in its best sense, the church calendar is just the collected devotional habits of the saints of God for the last 2000 years. We read particular passages of Scripture, sing particular psalms and hymns, and meditate on particular elements of the gospel of Jesus Christ at this time of the year. When done in faith, honestly looking to God, this can be a great blessing.

Of course our culture is gearing up for their version of Christmas already (and it’s pretty cool to live in a place and time where we have the opportunity to lavish such gifts on one another), but we are generous and sacrificial first and foremost because God has come for us in Jesus. So I would encourage you to talk to your families/roommates/parish groups about how you might use the coming weeks to focus your heart and life on your Savior and King. Below are links to several different devotional guides, a new book by Douglas Wilson, as well as some other ideas for celebrating Advent in your homes. Continue Reading…

In Advent, Christmas, Church Calendar, Creation, Culture, Preaching, Sola Scriptura, TRC

Shining Faces

November 27, 2012 — Leave a comment

In our sermon text today, we noted that the tabernacle and the priests were anointed with oil for their dedication. In the New Testament, all Christians are ordained to the new priesthood through the water of baptism and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. But in James 5 it says that if anyone is sick, he should call for the elders of the church to come pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord (Js. 5:14-15). The elders of Trinity take this seriously, and this is why from time to time we gather with individuals and families and anoint them with oil and lay hands on them and pray for their healing. One of the things that we regularly say when we perform this is to remind the individual or family that this anointing should remind them and is a prayer to God to remember their baptism, to remember His promises to them in Jesus. It’s a way to enact prayer before God with actions, we are asking the Holy Spirit to heal, to empower, to transform a difficult trial, a sickness into an occasion for great glory. We want Jesus to shine out in power, just like the oil makes your face shine. Continue Reading…

In Bible - Exodus, Bible - James, Eucharistic Meditations, Prayer, Theology - Sacraments, TRC

Pleading with Joy

November 27, 2012 — 1 Comment

This is the last Sunday in Trinity Season. This is the close of the second half of the Church year in which we celebrate the work of the Spirit since Pentecost in the history of the Church. We remember the powerful work of the Spirit in the ordinary things of life and in ordinary people who are transformed into extraordinary saints by the grace of God. But next week we begin Advent, when we celebrate the fact that we serve the God who comes, the God who arrives, the God who intervenes dramatically at times. We serve God in the ordinary things, in the dishes and the homework, but we are not merely on autopilot to the end of history. The same Spirit that bids the sun rise every morning, the same Spirit that upholds every atom in our body, is the Spirit that hovers over the world and thunders the creative Word of God. The Spirit comes and transforms. The Spirit comes and gives life. The Spirit comes and raises the dead. Trinity Season reminds us that God is eternally good, eternally glorious, and He reigns over all things perfectly forever, growing us up in millions of little, ordinary things. Trinity Season teaches us to bow our heads and kneel before His majesty and wisdom, to receive from His hand all things and bless His holy name. But Advent reminds us to stand up on our chairs and cry out to God. Advent teaches us to sing, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel. Continue Reading…

In Advent, Church Calendar, Prayer, Worship

How the Reformation became a Revolution

November 26, 2012 — Leave a comment

The Reformation would not have happened if ordinary people had not convinced themselves that they were actors in a cosmic drama plotted by God: that in the Bible he had left them a record of his plans and directions as to how to carry them out. Their revolution was not simply a search for personal salvation.

-Diarmaid MacCulloch, The Reformation, 550.

In Bible, History - Reformation, Sola Scriptura, Why I Won't Convert

It’s Sexy to Talk Like a Revolutionary

November 19, 2012 — 3 Comments

A while back Doug Wilson posted some great thoughts on Jamie Smith’s book Desiring the Kingdom.

Doug writes:

His thesis, on paper, seems great. Worship shapes desire, and we should measure our success in the church and in the academy by how well we do in forming particular kinds of people — people who love Christ and one another. Education is about formation, not information. All this is great.

But the problem is:

In short, Smith wants worship to shape and form folks, but the formation he has in view involves disparagement of free markets, accepting the Word from feminine mouths and the sacraments from feminine hands, and sniffing at believing efforts to beat back the sodomization of America, then whatever kind of worship service he wants, we should not want it. If that is what is cooking, why should we want to eat? Continue Reading…

In Against Christianity, Books, Creation, Culture, Worship

Cute Mormon Secularists

November 14, 2012 — 6 Comments

So my wife and I schlepped our way through one of the more recent offerings in the “romantic comedy” genre last night. Turned the first one off out of pure boredom (despite the reputations of the actors). The one we actually watched was only slightly better, but the fact that casual sex was presented in both, within 2-3 minutes of the start of the movie was actually pretty amusing.

It was like a college kid pulling out his black rimmed glasses at a hipster conference to show his street creds. It was like a mom sheepishly laughing and explaining away her two year old flopping and doing the angry ninja dance on the floor in front of a house guest. It was like a politician well, doing what politicians always do.

In other words, it was preachy. It was like, hey this is a romantic comedy, and psssst, *wink*wink*, don’t worry, we believe in sex. Hey guys, hey guys: we’re cool too. It was so totally Mormon. It was like Maxim and Cosmo sent their best reps in white short-sleeve shirts and bland ties on bicycles to my front door. And they both had elder name tags pinned to their nerdy shirts. Continue Reading…

In Against Christianity, Bible - Proverbs, Creation, Culture, ethics, Family, Marriage Bed, Movies

Priest as New Creation

November 12, 2012 — 2 Comments

In Exodus 39, the priestly garments are made with the echoing refrain: “… as the Lord commanded Moses.”

It’s no accident that this refrain is repeated 7 times, mimicking the seven days of creation:

Day 1: Light & Darkness: 39:1: Holy garments for service

Day 2: Firmament: 39:2-5: Ephod

Day 3: Dry Land, Seas, Seed bearing plants: 39:6-7: Onyx stones for the shoulders w/ the names of the children of Israel

Day 4: Rulers in the Firmament: Sun, Moon, & Stars: 39:8-21: Breastplate with 12 precious stones bearing the names of the sons of Israel

Day 5: Birds & Fish: 39:22-26: Robe

Day 6: Man & land animals: 39:37-29: Coats, hats, pants, and sash of linen

Day 7: Holy Sabbath: 39:30-31: Gold crown bearing the inscription: Holiness to the Lord Continue Reading…

In Bible - 1 Peter, Bible - Exodus, Theology - Ecclesiology, Worship

Remaking the World: 24th Sunday in Trinity: Exodus 37-38

November 11, 2012 — 1 Comment

Introduction
As we have noted previously, the construction of the tabernacle is intended to enact the re-creation of the world (e.g. Ex. 25-31). It is to follow the “pattern” which God showed Moses on the mountain (Ex. 25:9, 40, Acts 7:44). That pattern is ultimately the presence of God on the mountain come down to dwell among the people (Ex. 33:7-9, 40:34-38). In other words, the way Moses’ face shone after being in the presence of God on the mountain is a picture of what God wants to do with all of Israel and ultimately the whole world. The pattern of the tabernacle is meant rub off on Israel. But a big part of the story in Exodus is the actual construction of the tabernacle. That work is meant to be a transformative process too.

As the Lord Commanded
Remember that 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. After the fall at with the golden calf, the following description of the actual work of Bezalel in Ex. 36-39 proves that the “new covenant” is in force and that God’s word does not return void. In the first creation account, “God spoke and it was done.” Likewise, here, God has spoken and now it is being done, “all that the Lord had commanded Moses” (38:22). 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 leading Israel in 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). Continue Reading…

In Bible - 1 Corinthians, Bible - 1 Peter, Bible - Exodus, Bible - Matthew, Creation, Culture, Sermon Outlines, TRC, Wisdom

Fundy Politics

November 8, 2012 — 7 Comments

I’m not much of a political pundit. I suppose this is because I’m a child of my generation, born wedged at the end of Generation X and at the beginning of Generation Y (according to the venerable Wikipedia). I’m an old Millenial or a baby GenXer, one way or the other. I have skepticism and disillusionment deep in my bones, and I would say apathy is a nice way of describing the sort of mountain I have to overcome most days. I have a deep distrust of the political establishment, little to no hope that anything that takes place inside the District’s beltway amounts to more than paper shuffling (at best) and various schemes to make money, have sex with page boys, and abuse power (at worst).

I didn’t vote for Romney or Obama because they both smell like corporate and political BS from a mile a way. I could kind of get excited by someone like Ron Paul since he said extremely reasonable things and didn’t make ridiculous promises couched in meaningless rhetorical fluff. But he has his problems too.

At the end of the day, I’m a Bible thumping fundy. I don’t mean in the “don’t drink/don’t smoke” variety. In fact as a Bible believing Christian, I think the legalization of marijuana is a good thing because if God had wanted governments to criminalize mind-altering drugs, He would have said so and He didn’t. I happen to believe that smoking dope is something like drunkenness and so there’s that, but I don’t think it should be against the law to drink a bottle of Jack Daniels and puke your guts out the next morning. The Biblical name for that is stupid, but it ain’t against the law to be stupid. Now, if you run someone over in your 4×4 while three sheets to the wind, you ought to have the book thrown at you. I drink and smoke and play cards and dance like a fool with my wife and kids. So I’m not talking about that kind of fundy. Continue Reading…

In Against Christianity, Bible - Romans, Culture, Economics, ethics, Justice & Mercy, Marriage Bed, Politics

Trampling Death Beneath Our Feet

November 5, 2012 — 1 Comment

Since a few folks have asked for a copy, here’s the prayer I offered at Mike Rench’s memorial service this last Friday:

Christ is Risen from the dead, trampling over death by death. O Death, where is your sting! O Hell, where is your victory! But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Our Gracious God and Father, Creator of the Universe, sustainer of all things, Lord and Giver of all life: you are all good. You are all gracious. You are all wonderful.

We are gathered here this day to worship you, to bless your name, to lift high the cross of Jesus over the grave of our dear brother Michael Eugene Rench. We do not lift a cross as some kind of sentimental ritual, some sort of traditional way of marking the dead. No, we lift the cross over our brother in triumph. We lift the cross up as the sign of our victory in our Lord Jesus. We lift up the cross as a sign to the world that death has not won, and we trample death beneath our feet.

And so Father, we call out to you, in the name of the One who overcame death, in the name of the One who went down into death and has disarmed it. We call out to you in the name of Jesus, the Lord of Life and the Lord of the Grave, in the Name of Him who holds the keys of death and hades in his hand. Continue Reading…

In Bible - 1 Corinthians, Funeral Meditation, Prayer, TRC