Palm Sunday – The Actors

 

For years, I have awaken on Palm Sundays wondering just what part I’d play on stage during the coming week. Would I be a disciple, an apostle, a member of the crowd, a scribe or Pharisee? If consistency is important then I ought to throw my lot in with the scribes and Pharisees – after all, they were the same people on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday that they were on Palm Sunday.

 

As for the apostles, everyone will leave Jesus in the Garden; while at first at least one will fight, when that is not an option they will run. Before the night is over one of the Twelve will vehemently deny Jesus three times, one who had professed his willingness to follow Jesus to death. Later they will fearfully hide in a locked room.

 

While there were other disciples, and followers, beyond the Twelve, it seems as if, with the exception of one group, they followed the pattern of the Twelve. The exceptional group were the exceptional women – they demonstrated consistent love and devotion to Jesus Christ; and that persistent love and devotion would lead them to the discovery of the ages on Easter morning. I don’t think we can overemphasize the deep passionate and devotional love these women had, through the midst of gut-wrenching sorrow they were unwavering in their love for Jesus Christ.

 

I am not ignoring the children singing praises to God; but while I most certainly join them in their singing on Palm Sunday, and while I want to share their enthusiasm and joy, I am not a child and can’t play that part during the week – any retreat I may experience into childhood will be quickly shattered, and rightly so. (Were there a part for an old fool I may very well audition for that part, one I have often played.)

 

What part am I playing during this Holy Week?

 

As a pastor, while I’ve wanted my congregations to revel in Palm Sunday, I’ve also wanted them to understand that our words and behavior on Palm Sunday are tried by fire on Good Friday. I want us to fearfully remember that the crowds crying, “Hosanna!” on Sunday were crying, “Crucify Him!” before Pilate on Friday morning.

 

Let’s face it, we may cry “Hosanna” on Palm Sunday, but few professing Christians identify with Jesus Christ in their daily lives during the week. Few of us share the Gospel with others. This is nothing other than a denial of Jesus – it may not be as dramatic as Peter’s denials, but they are denials nevertheless (see Mark 8:34 – 38, to be ashamed of Jesus and His words is not a thing to be excused).

 

On Palm Sunday I keep Good Friday in mind, just as on Good Friday I keep Easter morning in mind. If I identify with Jesus Christ on Palm Sunday, will I continue to do so on Good Friday? There is a sense in which we replay this scenario every week, and the world pays attention, or at least it used to. The world used to say, “Ah, church people, they act one way on Sunday and another way during the week.” The world isn’t dumb, it often knows what it sees, it knows we’re good for a Sunday parade but nowhere to be seen when the Cross beckons.

 

Of course, we’ve refined our excuses to the point we believe them, but the world doesn’t hear them. There is simply no excuse for not obeying the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for not obeying His commandments, for not laying down our lives for Him and others, for not loving one another as Jesus Christ loves us. Jesus tells us, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My commandments…” (John 14:23) Just to make certain we get the point, the Apostle John repeats the truth, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3).

 

Which part am I playing this week? Which part are you playing?

Ezekiel and the Nations

 

It is my practice to begin the year with Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel; along with other readings. In Ezekiel 25, Yahweh speaks to Ezekiel concerning the peoples of Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia. Then in chapters 26 – 28 Yahweh speaks concerning Tyre. Chapters 29 – 32 are four chapters in which God speaks to Ezekiel concerning Egypt. The latter portion of Jeremiah has much the same flavor, with attention given to nations other than Israel, with an extended “Word” concerning Babylon in Jeremiah chapters 50 – 51.

 

To consider Revelation chapters 17 – 18, without seeing it in the framework of Jeremiah 50 – 51 and Ezekiel 26 – 28; makes it difficult, if not impossible, to see the ongoing Biblical theme of Revelation 17 – 18. There are, of course, other Scripture passages which contribute to our vision of Revelation 17 – 18, but I can think of none that provide as expansive a framework as Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

 

One of the overriding themes of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is that God controls the affairs of nations, of peoples, of history (Daniel 4:17). It is one thing to say we believe this, it is another thing to “see” it so that we know it. When we read the Bible as a way of life we hopefully come to see it, we hopefully come to live in this reality, but this is unlikely to occur if we don’t “receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21).

 

While God’s Word to Jeremiah and Ezekiel was given to their generations, it was also given to each successive generation, not that we would be crystal ball gazers, but that we might fix our eyes on Jesus Christ, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; not so that we might try to predict tomorrow’s headlines, but that the realities of eternal realms might, in Christ, be embedded in our souls.

 

And may I say that it is apparent that we don’t “get” this eternal reality, for our souls most certainly need to be saved from the idolatry of nationalism, politics, the worship of political personages, economics, insurrection, and violence. Just as Israel – Judah prostituted itself with Egypt and other nations, so has the professing church prostituted herself with the foregoing – and we can’t see it, in fact, we justify it.

 

Every generation has nations and peoples who reflect the realties of Babylon and Tyre as portrayed by Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and as revealed in Revelation chapters 17 – 18; we don’t see this because we choose to remain ignorant of the Bible and because we refuse to consider how our own nation reflects these very patterns – gripped in darkness.

 

Alas, since we don’t read the Bible we don’t know the Bible; the eternal patterns and realities of our Father’s Kingdom are far removed from our consciousness.

 

I love reading the Bible for I love seeing Christ in the Bible, in all of His glories, in all of His splendor. Every day is filled with the freshness of Jesus Christ as He comes to us in, and through, His Word.

 

Gandalf's Wisdom

"You can't fight the Enemy with his own Ring without turning into an Enemy; but unfortunately Gandalf's wisdom seems long ago to have passed with him into the True West."

J.R.T. Tolkien, Letter to this son Christopher.

Marsha - Little Sister

This morning I wrote this for Marsha, we lost her yesterday. Do you have a Marsha in your life?  

March 24, 2021

By: Bob Withers

 

Marsha

 

How do you know a person? How do you know who a person really is? In a society where artificial image and what other people think are more important than who a person really is, it can be really hard to know another person.

I suppose we could also ask, “How do we let others know who we are?” In other words, “How do we know others and how do others know us?”

I’m asking these questions because I miss Marsha and can’t believe she’s left us, and I can’t believe she left us so quickly. And I want to ask her, “Why did you do that? Come back and let’s try this thing again.”

Marsha was surrounded by Bonnie, and Scott and Terry, and others who loved her; she was surrounded by love. But she was not only surrounded by people who were physically close to her who loved her, there were others who were hundreds of miles away who also surrounded her with their love and hearts and prayers, such as Vickie and me.

The reason I began by asking questions about knowing others and being known by others is that just in case someone says, “Well Bob, you say you miss Marsha, but since you and Vickie have always lived on the East Coast, and since there have been intervals of years between the times you’ve seen Marsha, how could you have known her, how could you miss her?”

That is an easy question to answer, and it’s because of what I’ll call the “magic of Marsha.” I have learned that the best relationships are those which have aged in oak casks over the years, which have acquired a seasoned flavor, a comfortable aroma, a naturalness about them, an enjoyment. The first impressions people make do not always represent the true person, but over the course of many years, seeing a person in different settings, doing things with a person, listening and watching someone – well, my point is that if what I saw when I first met someone is what I see in even greater depth 25 or 30 years later then I think I can say, “I knew Marsha and it hurts so bad that she has left us.”

Marsha was the sister I never had. The instant I met her I was comfortable with her, and she must have been comfortable with me because over almost three decades we carried on an easy banter of messing with each other, gently picking on each other – there was nothing harsh or mean about it, it was playful and fun. People used to say, “You two are acting like a brother and a sister.” Of course, I’m a generation ahead of Marsha, so being the really older brother was a part I enjoyed playing.

I was always relaxed around Marsha; with her there was no pretension, no meanness, no manipulation – there was just the magic of Marsha – and over the years she did not change the way she was, other than to grow deeper in her character.

Vickie and I will always be thankful for how Marsha cared for George in his illness; how thankful we are that Vickie’s Dad had Bonnie and Marsha with him during his winter of life.

Now if Marsha is Vickie’s step-sister, then I guess Marsha is my step-sister-in-law; but I just always thought of Marsha as Marsha, as part of our family.

Marsha never wanted anything from anyone as far I knew, other than to have a friend and to be a friend. She was easy to talk to, thoughtful, and giving – she didn’t care about being the center of attention, she was anything but that.

Two particular memories I have of Marsha are about her trips to see us, once with Bonnie and Janet and once by herself. There is a photo we have of the last one that is deep in my heart, Marsha and Janet are curled up together on our sectional sofa, in our family room, sharing an Afghan that Bonnie made for me many years ago with penguins on it. Marsha and Janet are both smiling – comfortable – that is the magic of Marsha. When Bonnie and Janet and Marsha were with us that week it was as if they’d always be there; there was plenty of fun, and laughter, and conversation, and memories, and just pure joy.

While we were in Virginia for that last visit, where we still live, Marsha’s first visit was when we lived in the Berkshire Mountains of Western Massachusetts, that time she came by herself. I have to tell you, that George and Bonnie brought their motor home to see us once in MASS, and one night they heard pounding on the door but didn’t answer it because they thought Vickie and I were messing with them – you should have seen their faces the next morning when we told them that it wasn’t us, which it wasn’t, but most likely one of the many bears in the area…but back to Marsha.

We had a wonderful week with her, with her just being Marsha, enjoying the beauty of the mountains with her and sharing a few precious days. There are some people who wear you out, there are others who energize you, and then there are others who simply have a way of making you feel better, of renewing you, of encouraging you, of appreciating you – Marsha and her magic are in that last, and most rare, category.

My special memory of her Massachusetts visit was a hike Marsha and I took up Monument Mountain. We’d hike a bit then rest, and hike a bit and then rest, and then we enjoyed the beautiful view from the top. What made the hike enjoyable was that we talked all the time. I’d taken that hike many times, but I remember that particular day in a special way because it was Marsha’s hike with Marsha’s magic and it was pure enjoyment. I remember telling Vickie what a great time we had. That hike has been a treasure to me.

Bonnie, Vickie and I love you.

Marsha, we will always love you, thank you for your magic little sister…when the time comes, I’ll meet you on top of Monument Mountain.

Bob

Overcoming – Four Principles in Revelation 12 (Part 6)

 

"And they overcame him because the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even unto death.” Revelation 12:11.

 

Continuing to consider “the word of their testimony,” we’ve seen that one aspect of this testimony is what Jesus Christ testifies about Himself in the Gospels and throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. His testimony about Himself must always be our testimony about Him – without deviation, without addition or subtraction, without mitigation.

 

The second aspect of “the word of their testimony” is the historic confession of the Church. What has the Church believed down through the ages as the core of the Gospel? What are the foundation stones of the Building which God is constructing (Ephesians 2:19 – 22; 1 Peter 2:4 – 10)? While what I believe is important to me and to my relationship with Jesus Christ, what I believe is of no serious importance to the world – but what the Church believes is of critical importance. It is the testimony of the Church that is critical to the world, not my testimony.

 

The third element of “the word of their testimony” is my own “personal” testimony, and while it is indeed important, is only important to the world as it is faithful to the testimony of Jesus Christ about Himself, and as it is faithful to the testimony to the Catholic Church (I use the term “Catholic” in its universal sense – and I use an upper case “C” because of the Church’s transcendence).

 

Why is it that with new professing Christians we are more concerned about their “personal testimony” than about them learning and understanding the testimony of Jesus Christ about Himself, and the testimony of the holy Catholic Church? Do we not see that in the Parable of the Sower it is those who “do not understand” who have the seed snatched away by the evil one? Do we not see that it is those who “have no root in themselves” who fall away? Is it not those who allow “the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of riches” in whom the word is choked? (Matthew 13:18 – 23).

 

Do we not care that a “personal testimony” may be based on significant misunderstanding? Where do we get the idea that “this is my personal testimony and you can’t touch it, you can’t critique it, you can’t question it”? If our children were to come home from school and declare that 2 plus 2 equals 11, and that this is their experience and we can’t question it, how would we respond?

 

Most buildings have load-bearing walls, if these walls are destroyed or compromised, the building will fail. The testimony of Jesus Christ has load-bearing walls, the central and supporting elements of confession and doctrine, teaching and obedient behavior, that are foundationally essential to our life in Christ and participation the Biblical - Christian community.  If our personal testimonies do not rest on, and incorporate, Biblical load -bearing walls, eventually our lives, and the lives of our congregations, will experience failure. Structure failure is often incremental, manifesting itself via cracks, door frames out of square, or floors out of level. Incremental failure can lead to catastrophic failure.

 

There are times we may move into a house that has perfectly engineered load – bearing walls, but then we decide to cut through an interior wall to create a doorway, not realizing that the wall was load – bearing and that we have just compromised the structural integrity of our home. This is what can happen when teaching and behavior are brought into the church that is contrary to the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. If we know and ponder the Nicene Creed, we will have a basic knowledge of the structural load-bearing system of the Testimony of Jesus Christ. Of course, this Testimony must become our testimony, and in this threefold testimony; what Jesus Christ testifies about Himself, what the Catholic Church testifies about Jesus Christ, and what we testify about Jesus Christ; we will overcome by the grace of God.

 

We’ll return to our “personal” testimony in the next post.

 

Master?

 

I continue to think that River of Doubt, by Candace Millard, ought to be read by all divinity students – and a paper required. Indeed, all those who would know Christ would do well to ponder this journey, for we must all, like Jacob – Israel, learn what it is to walk with a limp, and with Paul know what it is to “despair even of life.” (Genesis 32:24ff; 2 Corinthians 1:3 – 11).

 

I don’t expect divinity students to “get it” when they first read it, but later when they are given the opportunity to embark on their own “River of Doubt” they will know that others have gone before them.

 

Can we learn the lesson of Gandalf, in being transformed from “Gandalf the Grey” into “Gandalf the White”? We will certainly not learn this Way of Life unless we say with Paul, “But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24).

 

When I first read Mark 8:34ff as I was coming to Christ, it was burned into my soul – it has kept me coming back, and back, and back to the Cross.

 

Is it any wonder, that when shortly thereafter I read Bonhoeffer, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him ‘Come and die,’” that I knew those words were true and meant for me?

 

O can we not see the seductive blasphemy that intoxicates us into the insanity of “personal freedoms” and “our best lives now” – if, if, if we belong to Christ then we are not our own for we have been “bought with a price.”

 

Who is your Master?

Ecclesiastes – Meditations (3)

 

“There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a season for every event under heaven.” Ecc. 3:1

 

There is a grand difference between knowing what something says and knowing what something means; in education it’s called “reading comprehension.” The Fathers of the Church knew that there are different levels of comprehension, from the moral and ethical which in one sense is accessible to all humanity, to the knowledge and wisdom that only the Holy Spirit can impart. The New Testament gives us many examples of people reading the Old Testament and knowing its content, but not comprehending that content, not “seeing” it (e.g., John 5:39 – 40; Acts 13:26 – 27).

 

The idea of seasons of life is introduced to us in Genesis 1:14, “Then God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from night, and let them be for signs and seasons and for days and years.” In the LXX (the Greek Old Testament), in Ecc. 3:1 the word “time” is chronos, which is where we get the concept of chronology, of linear time; and the word “season” is kairos, which is the concept of “the right time,” or “a certain season” of time and of life. Ecc. 3:1 is telling us that life has times and seasons, we live on both a chronological timeline, and we live through, and in, various seasons of life.

 

Genesis 1:14 portrays both of these concepts, for not only do we kairos (seasons), but we also have “let them be…for days and years,” which is chronos. The spiritually intelligent reader of Scripture knows that as we read the Bible that we read on both planes – that of chronos and that of kairos.

 

Another example of chronos and kairos in the Bible is in Daniel 9:1 – 3. Here Daniel reads Jeremiah’s prophecy of 70-years captivity, and he realizes that Judah is coming to the end of that chronos, that linear time. Then Daniel realizes that it is the kairos, the season, for deep intercession. It is one thing to look at the date on a calendar, it is another thing to know what season of life we are in and what we should be doing in light of what God is doing.

 

While chronos and kairos have their distinctives, they also have similarities. In Mark 1:15 Jesus preaches, “The time [kairos] is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel.” Then in Galatians 4:4 Paul writes, “But when the fulness of the time [chronos] came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law…”

 

Some other considerations:

 

“A man has joy in an apt answer, and how delightful is a word spoken in due season” (Proverbs 15:23). Timing can be critical in communication, and there is a time and a place for certain kinds of communication. It is generally ill advised and counter-productive for an employer to correct an employee in front of other employees. If a friend is going through a season of crisis, is there a word of encouragement and affirmation that I can speak to him? If I am in the midst of critical decision-making, is there a wise friend who may give me counsel? (It is not only important to know when we are to speak a word in due season, but also to know when we should seek a word in due season for ourselves).

 

There are seasons when we should simply be quiet and “be” with others; people going through tragedy don’t need simplistic answers from us, they need to know they are loved and supported, they need to know we are there for them.

Life has “windows of opportunity” that do not last forever. Ancient Israel had a window of opportunity to enter the Promised Land; that window closed because of their sin and would not open again for forty years.

 

There are some things that do not require a kairos, while they may have special seasons, they don’t require special seasons, in fact we are taught that we are to practice them in all seasons. We are to love in all seasons of life. In all seasons we are to allow faith and hope to live within us, we are to nurture them. Looking unto Jesus is to be our mode of life in all seasons. Now for sure our Father and Lord Jesus may engage us in different ways in all of these things in various seasons; in some seasons our faith may be particularly challenged, in other seasons our love for God and others can be put to extreme tests, and in yet other seasons we may learn what it is to “hope against hope.” That is, we may be taught to hope in Christ when everything around us shouts that there is no basis for such hope.

 

Paul tells Timothy (2 Tim. 4:2) that Timothy is to “be ready in season and out of season” in his preaching and ministry, exercising “great patience” and instruction. Is this the way we live with respect to our witness to Jesus Christ? Doesn’t it appear that Christian witness is the exception rather than the rule? In other words, rather than witnessing in all conditions and seasons, do we rather witness in some conditions and seasons…if we witness at all?

 

For sure, there are special windows of opportunity to witness, special circumstances in which we can give a particular Gospel witness in due season. However, if we have not cultivated a life of witnessing in season and out of season it is not likely we will respond to special windows of opportunity…we may not even recognize them.  

  

“There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a season for every event under heaven.” It is one thing to recognize a season, it is another thing to know how to live in that season.

Ecclesiastes – Meditations (2)

 

“All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my reward for all my labor.” Ecclesiastes 2:10.

 

The “heart” is our center of gravity, the sun of our inner solar system. It informs and influences all that is within us, indeed, it also, in partnership with the mind, directs and affects our bodies. When we “set our hearts” on a thing, on a goal; when we fill our hearts with a passion; when we enlist our minds in a pursuit, we become transformed into the image of our pursuit. Absent the lordship of Jesus Christ, our pursuits become our idols and we reflect their images, we speak their language; these idols become the arbiter of our lives – we submit our decisions to them. Because our idols are the most valuable things in our universe, our decisions are made in light of their perceived worth.

 

For the Christian, and for the professing church, this is one reason why it is sin to allow anything, anything other than Jesus Christ to be the arbiter of our lives, anything but His glory to be the center of our gravity. I have said more than once in a Sunday sermon, in our nation (the U.S.A.) we might as well stop kidding ourselves and replace our crosses with a large dollar bills in our churches, for it is the dollar we look to rather than the Cross. We look at most things in terms of money, not in terms of the lordship of Jesus Christ.

 

Now, to be sure, those who have little in material things are often the most thankful and the most content. But once we enter the economic strata of consumerism, that consumerism defines our identity, it consumes our hearts and minds – within and without the professing church. Media, in all its various forms, has now reached its tenacles into our telephones, so that that which was once used for two-way communication, is now often used to feed the image of the beast (consume, consume, consume) into our souls.

 

I once knew a man who had a plaque on his office wall which read, “He who dies with the most toys wins.” Perhaps this was Solomon’s attitude during part of his life, perhaps this is what the above verse reflects. Solomon’s heart was all about consumption – he denied himself nothing. Yet elsewhere, at some point in his life, Solomon wrote, “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23).

 

What our hearts desire matters. Will I allow my heart to become polluted with the images of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life (1 John 2:16)? Or will I seek to love the LORD my God with all of my heart and soul and mind and strength; and love my neighbor as myself (Mark 12:28 – 31)?

 

Do we want to know the will of God? Then let us hear His Word to Micah, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk (live) humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). Our Father and Lord Jesus desire to fill our hearts with themselves, so that out of our hearts Living Water will flow to others, the Water of Life in Jesus Christ. We are not called to become consumers, we are called to be producers in Jesus Christ, to be fruitful vines (John 15), to be fountains of Life for others to drink from.

 

Can we say with David, “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:25 – 26).

 

Will I learn to deny myself so that I will not deny Jesus Christ?

Overcoming – Four Principles in Revelation 12 (Part 5)

 

“And they overcame him because the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even unto death.” Revelation 12:11.

 

Continuing to consider “the word of their testimony,” we’ve seen that one aspect of this testimony is what Jesus Christ testifies about Himself in the Gospels and throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. His testimony about Himself must always be our testimony about Him – without deviation, without addition or subtraction, without mitigation; with all faithfulness, with all obedience, with all purity, with all love, and with all devotion. We are called to love our Lord Jesus with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength; and in Him we are called to love others as ourselves.

 

The second aspect of “the word of their testimony” is the historic confession of the Church. What has the Church believed down through the ages as the core of the Gospel? What are the foundation stones of the Building which God is constructing (Ephesians 2:19 – 22; 1 Peter 2:4 – 10)? While what I believe is important to me and to my relationship with Jesus Christ, what I believe is of no serious importance to the world – but what the Church believes is of critical importance. It is the testimony of the Church that is critical to the world, not my testimony. My own “personal” testimony is only important to the world as it is faithful to the testimony of Jesus Christ about Himself, and as it is faithful to the testimony to the Catholic Church (I use the term “Catholic” in its universal sense – and I use an upper case “C” because of the Church’s transcendence).

 

The above has its challenges in our individualistic world, for we have imported that individualism into the professing church. Let’s remember that the Bible was written to a people, it is a Book of the Revelation (unveiling) of God to His People (to the world, yes; but to His People particularly). Even those New Testament letters written to individuals were written to them in the context of their lives within the Body of Christ, the Church, the People of God. Is it not a travesty that we do not read the Bible as it was written, but rather read it individualistically and narcissistically?

 

Yes, of course God speaks to us as His individual sons and daughters; yes the Good Shepherd leaves the ninety-nine and searches for the one lost sheep. But the Shepherd seeks the lost sheep to bring it back to the flock, and the Father speaks to us as His individual children in order for us to live in His Family.

 

Let’s think about Paul’s words to Timothy: “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2).

 

Then we have 2 Thessalonians 2:15, “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions (what has been transmitted) which you were taught, whether by word or by letter from us.”

 

Then compare 2 Thess. 3:6 and Romans 16:17:

 

“Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us.” (2 Thess. 3:6).

 

“Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.” (Romans 16:17).

 

Not only are we to teach what we have received from Jesus Christ and His apostles and prophets, we are to live in conformity to that teaching. We are not to look the other way when fidelity in word and deed to the teaching of Jesus Christ is violated, we are to take action. There is a historical consensus, from New Testament times forward into the Reformation, that a foundational mark of a Biblical church, a congregation, is discipline. While we often use the word “accountability” in our discussion of small groups and churches, it seldom means anything because we seldom actually hold people Biblically accountable for their actions or their teachings. Since “discipline” is seldom found within local congregations and denominations (or whatever we chose to call associations of churches), perhaps we might consider whether or not there are any Biblical churches in our midst. Virtually all of the New Testament letters, including Revelation, contain a prominent theme of discipline and accountability.

 

The Church, the Temple of God, is “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone” (Eph. 2:20).  Paul writes that we must be careful how we build on the foundation of Jesus Christ, that some material will stand the test of Divine fire, while other material will be burned up by that same fire (1 Cor. 3:10 – 15).  

 

Yet, frankly it seems as if we remain infants, needing milk again and again and again (1 Cor. 3:1 – 2), not able to receive solid food. When congregations, and the greater church, ought to have significant groups who are able to teach, we must return to the “first principles” again and again and again (Hebrews 5:11 – 6:3). No wonder we don’t know what we believe! How can we maintain the testimony of Jesus Christ, and overcome with that testimony, which has been transmitted by the Church through the ages – if we don’t know what that testimony really is?

 

The fact that we do not acknowledge the infantilism of the professing church does not seem to bother many people. It does not seem to concern the publishers of Sunday school and small group material. It does not seem to be a problem for many best-selling authors and popular preachers and teachers. There is an entire “Christian” industry built on producing the equivalent of baby food and pampers. Pastors are expected to run adult daycare centers – this is what many “churches” have become. This is one reason why we do not know what we believe, any more than an infant knows where its food comes from prior to being fed.

 

My desire is to never preach or teach anything “new,” but rather to transmit that which is faithful to the testimony of Jesus Christ, His apostles and prophets, and which has been believed by His People from ancient times. Yes, I may communicate this in contemporary language and images, but never at the expense of the original language and images – I must always begin with those ancient words and images and seek, by the grace of God, to make them real and living to my contemporaries. We are called to exalt the language and images of Scripture – not to bring them down into the dirt of profane thinking and living. God’s Nature has not changed, nor has fallen human nature – humanity needs Divine language and images to deliver it from its slavery.

 

The Nicene Creed

I believe in one God,

the Father almighty,

maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.

 

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.

 

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.

 

I believe in one, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

 

Are we “contending earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints”? Do we know that this faith really is?

 

Ecclesiastes – Meditations (1)

 

This is the third month of the year, and in my Bible – reading schedule every three months I venture into Ecclesiastes. This morning 1:18 caught my attention.

 

“Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.”

 

In 1:7 Solomon writes, “And I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this also is striving after wind.”

 

Well now, the Wisdom books lend themselves to much meditation and cultivation if they are to yield their fruit, and I don’t imagine that this crop will ever cease producing if we submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit.

 

There are times I think it is better to be stupid than knowledgeable, blind to what goes on around us than have a measure of insight. Knowing wisdom leads us to see “madness and folly,” but the reverse of course is not true; madness and folly lead to increasing madness and folly.

 

Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is Wisdom, knows the pain of our sorrow and sin and madness and folly. Our Lord Jesus in Whom is found all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3) has borne our sin and evil, He is that Man of Sorrows who is well acquainted with grief.

 

He calls us to participate in His sorrows, He calls us to intercede for the world, He calls us to participate in His sufferings for the sake of His People (Col. 1:24; 2 Tim. 2:9; 1 Tim. 2:1 – 4).

 

How can we not look around us and experience grief and pain? Superficial wisdom and knowledge can appeal to our egos; the wisdom and knowledge found in Jesus Christ leads us to life in His Cross.