A Prayer for Reformation Sunday 2012

October 28, 2012 — Leave a comment

Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You are God, and there is no other. You know from the beginning all the way to the end. And this is because You are the One telling the story. You are the Author and Perfector of this world. You are the One who spoke light out of darkness. You are the One spoke life out of the grave. You are the One who called to us in our sin and guilt. You are the One who spoke our names and woke us up and breathed Your Spirit into us. You are the One who breaks the spells of wicked men, the prognosticators and wizards of every generation. You are the One who raises up the beaten down. You are the One who raises up the broken and forgotten. You are the One who remembers the poor and the needy. You are the One, and there is no other.

Who do we have in heaven but you? To whom will we cry out except to you? There is no other god, no other lord. We have no other Master; we have no other King.

And so, Father, we come before you now, your children, your little ones, because we know that unless we come as children, we cannot come at all. And so we come with our wandering attention spans and hungry bellies and skinned knees. We come with our cheeks smeared, and we come with imaginations and hopes and stories that we long to know the endings to. We come in faith because our Older Brother is Jesus whom you crowned with glory and honor and majesty and dominion forever. You have given Him a Kingdom that will never end, a Kingdom that cannot be shaken, a Kingdom that cannot be destroyed, a Kingdom that will fill the earth, a Kingdom that will give water to the thirsty and bread to the hungry, a Kingdom full of justice and mercy for the orphan and the widow and the immigrant. Continue Reading…

In Church Calendar, Evangelism, Justice & Mercy, Prayer, TRC, Worship
permalink

The Rebirth of the Whole World

October 28, 2012 — Leave a comment

When we say that we are evangelicals, one of the things we are proclaiming is that we believe in reformations. The first reformers in the Protestant Reformation were called evangelicals, and so we align ourselves with them. But the larger point is that we believe that this is how God intents to get this project done. And this project is the restoration of all things, the renewal of all things, the rebirth of the whole world, the whole universe, the new creation. But all reformation begins in the heart; all renewal, all rebirth begins when the Holy Spirit changes a slave of sin into a free man, when the Holy Spirit breathes on a man made of dust and lights him up, making him a man made of Spirit.

One of the great glories of the Protestant Reformation was the insistence on the centrality of freedom. Christ came proclaiming liberty to the captives, and that wasn’t just a Sunday School slogan. The point was that if Jesus set somebody free, they were really free. When Jesus proclaims forgiveness, it echoes into economies and politics and science and technology and medicine. This is because the gospel is the proclamation of the Kingdom, and the Kingdom of Jesus is reformation for the world. Continue Reading…

In Church Calendar, Exhortations, History - Reformation
permalink

The Wrecking Ball of the Spirit

October 23, 2012 — Leave a comment

We gathered here for war. We have been summonsed by our King: You are His nobles, His princes, His lords and ladies; You are His hosts, His armies, His lieutenants and captains and infantry. You have been in the fray this week. You have faced enemies, you have faced giants and dragons and sins and pain. You may be coming off of a week of victories; you may be coming off of a week of failures. You may be coming off of a week of a few of both.

But the wonderful thing is that here, now, in this place as God calls us each by name and all of us by His own name, and we call upon Him as our God, our Lord, our Master, our King, as He invites us to lift up our hearts to Him, He lifts us up to Himself, the Spirit lifts us up into His very presence, and we are invited to wage war on sin and death and Satan and all evil in a way that far surpasses anything you might imagine, in a way that far surpasses what you’re able to do during the week. Continue Reading…

In Bible - Genesis, Bible - Joshua, Exhortations, Justice & Mercy, Prayer, Preaching, Worship
permalink

Asking for Car Accidents

October 22, 2012 — 1 Comment

I’m a casual person. Ask my wife. Ask my friends. I sort of have to decide to get worked up about stuff. I like hanging out. It’s pretty easy for me to get goofy, be silly, and go into clown mode. I like having fun. I like my people having fun too. I’m laid back. I want people to be comfortable, to be at ease, relaxed.

But turns out casual, relaxed, and laid back didn’t make the fruits of the Spirit list. There’s probably a bit of overlap in there. Peace is calm, collected, but peace can also be militant and bold. Joy can certainly include happiness and fun, but it doesn’t have to. Self-control and gentleness have their laid back sides, but that’s not all there is to them.

And then combine casual and laid back with sinful hearts, sinful habits, sinful tendencies, and there’s no shortage of laziness, cowardice, and disrespect wound through any number of situations. It’s easier, more comfortable not to confront someone in their sin. It’s simpler, less messy to not get off the couch and discipline the child who needs it. So it’s lazy and cowardly. But it’s also ultimately cruel.

Douglas Wilson taught me years ago that etiquette and manners are just love in the trifles, love in the little things. But informality can be oppressive. Casual can be tyrannical. Continue Reading…

In Bible - Proverbs, Culture, Education, Family, Grace, Justice & Mercy, Misc, Pastoral Theology, Wisdom
permalink

Justin Bieber Porn

October 19, 2012 — Leave a comment

Ok, Justin Bieber is actually some form of soft porn. Justin Bieber is the swimsuit issue in the grocery store checkout line. And yes, I realize that porn is a buzz word. It’s a bit over the top. I’ve taken to using it as a multi-purpose slur of various trends I’ve noticed here and there in the broader reformed, evangelical world. And some have wondered if I’m just blowing hot air. If it’s so elastic to include both Eastern Orthodox icons and Justin Bieber as well as pictures of nekked people, has the word ceased to mean anything?

Well let me try to assure you that I’m not smoking anything illegal, and I don’t have to do any sort of rhetorical acrobatics to pull off the connections. I believe fornication (from whence the word “porn” originates) is just a straightforward biblical category of sin and idolatry that pastors and all Christians are charged to attack, destroy, and burn to the ground. But let me get a running start here:

First off, let’s settle the fact that we are in a culture war. And in order to be in a culture war we must have at least two things: we must be asserting a culture, proposing one, cultivating one, and on the other hand, we must be throwing grenades, tomatoes, and generally giving other false, idolatrous cultures our most enthusiastic and slobbery raspberries. And to be clear, this means people are going to get hurt. You can’t bust out “culture war” rhetoric, and then whine when there’s smoke in the air and someone next to you catches shrapnel in the leg. That’s what a war is, people. This isn’t an excuse for being nasty or vengeful; but it means we can’t sit on the sidelines checking our hair in the mirrors. So for example, if I say that I think Sufjan Stevens is basically a limp-wristed poser with security issues who writes mediocre poetry set to trendy indie rebel tunes (as I think is the case), some of my friends will show up with pitch forks and some of them might think I’m attacking them. But I’m not. (Did you catch that? I’m not!) I’m actually attacking that version of culture, that version of a Christian culture, that version of masculinity, that version of popular/folk aesthetic values. I’m actually not even attacking Mr. Sufjan directly either. I’m challenging his version of the world, the way he’s telling the story, the picture he’s painting and asking us to buy, support, defend, celebrate. No thanks, Mr. Sufjan. But I do occasionally listen to his music (and I don’t become violently ill).  Continue Reading…

In Bible - James, Bible - Romans, Creation, Culture, Marriage Bed, Music, Pastoral Theology, Wisdom
permalink

We Don’t Need A Bunch of Martha’s

October 15, 2012 — Leave a comment

We have said that this table is to be a model for our tables, but it might occur to some of you that this table is different. For example, we say that this table is for all those who have been baptized and are walking with Jesus, not just anybody. At times, the elders have barred people from this table for refusing to repent of sin, and we pray for those individuals regularly, pleading with God to soften their hearts that they would come back and join us at this table again. That would seem to be different than our home tables. You probably don’t have a list of people who have been excommunicated from your home tables! But while it’s correct to point out that our tables are not synonymous in this regard, they are still analogous.

For one thing, there is an open invitation to this table. If you aren’t baptized, we warmly invite you to trust in Jesus and be baptized and join us. On the flip side, as we give particular energy and emphasis to our calling to be ministering to our neighbors and friends through hospitality, through meals together, following the example of Jesus, we are not just inviting neighbors and friends to eat with us. We are inviting them to Jesus. We are inviting them to be baptized, to repent and believe, and follow Christ. Continue Reading…

In Eucharistic Meditations, Evangelism, Family, Food, Theology - Sacraments
permalink

God Never Saved A Friend

October 15, 2012 — Leave a comment

“I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me, that they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides Me.”

Here, in our sermon text for today, God is speaking of Cyrus in particular. God is raising up Cyrus, a foreign, gentile king to perform His salvation for Israel. But Cyrus is a type of every true believer, every Christian. God reveals Himself, God reveals that He is unique and there is none besides Him by saving strangers. God never saved a friend. God never saved someone because they had done their part. God never saved by giving a helping hand. God saves sinners. God saves His enemies. God rescues those who don’t know Him and don’t know they need Him. And He does that by sending Jesus to die for us, in our place. Some men and gods might die for good men, but our God died for bad men, our God died for enemies and strangers and traitors. God clothes strangers and enemies with His glory, so that the world may know that they have never seen a love like this. They have never met a God like this. They have never known grace like this. Continue Reading…

In Bible - Isaiah, Bible - Romans, Exhortations, Grace, Theology - Soteriology, TRC
permalink

Christians Like Food

October 8, 2012 — Leave a comment

When Jesus rose from the dead, He was hungry. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus shows up talking with two disappointed disciples on their way out of town after the crucifixion, and Jesus joins them for a meal. Later that same day, Jesus met all of the disciples in Jerusalem gathered together, and Jesus asks them if they have any food. They had fish and honeycomb on hand, and so He ate some. In John’s gospel, Jesus meets the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias early one morning, and Jesus called to the disciples still out in their boats, “Children, do you have any food?” When they said they didn’t, Jesus suggested throwing the net over the other side of the boat, and when they did, they hauled in an enormous catch of fish. Then Jesus made breakfast for all of them. When Jesus rose from the dead, He was hungry. Part of the point of these meals is to prove that Jesus is really alive. Ghosts don’t get hungry. But another part of the point is to show us what resurrection life is like. Resurrection life is spent around tables. Lots of time is spent around meals. Food is a central part of resurrection life. If you’re alive from the dead, you should be hungry, and I don’t just mean that spiritually. I mean that you should genuinely like food. Why? Because Jesus does. You should love gathering with other disciples of Jesus and eating together. You should be hungry for food and fellowship. Continue Reading…

In Eucharistic Meditations, Food, Theology - Sacraments
permalink

Go Ahead and Squish It

October 8, 2012 — Leave a comment

Sin, the flesh, death, and the devil are the enemies of God, and therefore they are the great enemies of the Church and every believing Christian. God has not made peace with those enemies, and therefore, we dare not either. But we do not wage our warfare against these enemies in the dark. In the dark, the shadows of sin and failure and sickness and temptation loom large. In the dark, they are unknown; they are mysterious; they are scary. In the dark, you may scuffle, you may try to step around them, but you can’t see where you are going. You can’t see where the enemies are. You can’t see to avoid the next pitfall.

But Jesus has come to bring light. Jesus has come to expose the works of darkness. Jesus has come to turn the lights on so that we can see our enemies clearly. John says that if we walk in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. Walking in the light means confessing the sin right in front of us. It means confessing the sin you know about. When we confess the real, actual sin right in front of us, Jesus forgives us and turns the lights on. And when He turns the lights on, you find that the big, bad, dark shadows of sin and death, the flesh, and the devil are not nearly as big and foreboding as you thought. In fact, because Jesus is risen from the dead, they are weak and little and shrinking. Jesus already died for all of your sins, for all of the sins you know about, and all of the sins you don’t know about. Jesus already died for them all. They are already taken care of, already paid for, already dealt with. Continue Reading…

In Bible - 1 John, Exhortations, Grace, Wisdom
permalink

Hasn’t Stifled Enough of Them

October 3, 2012 — Leave a comment

People are always asking me if the university stifles writers. I reply that it hasn’t stifled enough of them. There’s many a bestseller that could have been prevented by a good writing teacher.

Flannery O’Connor

In Culture, Education, Writing
permalink