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A Preacher’s Reverence

Richard Baxter, in The Reformed Pastor:

“Reverence is that affection of the soul which proceedeth from deep apprehensions of God and indicateth a mind that is much conversant with him. …  I now not how it is with others, but the most reverent preacher, that speaks as if he saw the face of God, doth more affect my heart, though with common words, than an irreverent man with the most exquisite preparations.”

Someone recently asked me how many hours I spend in preparation for a sermon.  I told him “about 20,” but then explained how those hours are preceded by much prayer, scripture reading, and thought.  For example, in a couple months I am scheduled to preach on the temptation of Jesus in the desert.  At this point, I have no idea how I am going to form that sermon.  But I am thinking about it every day, waiting for an epiphany.  Waiting for a “deep apprehension of God,” as Baxter put it, or that seeing of the face of God.

I am reminded of how brightly the moon shines on a clear night.  As we know, it doesn’t actually “shine,” rather it reflects the sun that shines.  A good sermon is like that.  The preacher is merely a mass of dust, but with his or her face toward the truth of God so that others might be illuminated.

A Man of the Cloth

On Christmas morning, I preached a homily about the swaddling cloths of Jesus, and connected them with his burial clothes.

Listen:

Occasionally someone refers to me as “a man of the cloth.”  It’s an old phrase that refers to those of us in Christian ministry who wear clerical robes.  But from now on, I will use it as a reminder of God’s grace.  He is the one who is truly the man of the cloth, the one who took on our sins and then left them in the grave.

David Brooks and Christian Smith / Morality Research

I love it when two men I admire interact with each other’s work.  NY Times columnist David Brooks wrote a piece about Christian Smith’s latest research.  (I have covered both men previously here on this blog).  It’s called If It Feels Right…  Smith is the one who did that huge study called Soul Searching, in which he studied the religious lives of American teenagers.  His latest piece, which Brooks writes about, studies youth and morality:

“Not many of [the young people interviewed] have previously given much or any thought to many of the kinds of questions about morality that we asked,” Smith and his co-authors write. When asked about wrong or evil, they could generally agree that rape and murder are wrong. But, aside from these extreme cases, moral thinking didn’t enter the picture, even when considering things like drunken driving, cheating in school or cheating on a partner. “I don’t really deal with right and wrong that often,” is how one interviewee put it.

The default position, which most of them came back to again and again, is that moral choices are just a matter of individual taste. “It’s personal,” the respondents typically said. “It’s up to the individual. Who am I to say?” [Read more]

This “extreme moral individualism” is a challenge for those of us who believe in an Absolute Truth, but also a quite frightening factor as we think about the future of our society.

We should be reminded that moral individualism is not new.  Isaiah wrote, nearly 2,700 years ago:

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way

And so it is that all people throughout history are in need of redemption, of the substitutionary atonement of which Isaiah prophesied and Jesus fulfilled.  This latest generation is no exception, as Mr. Smith’s research now shows.  All the more reason to communicate to them about Truth, and more poignantly, about salvation.

Wisdom

Lately, Nancy and I have been praying for wisdom.  It’s not simply a prayer for “right choices” or life direction.  Our prayer for wisdom is an attempt to glance eternity with God.  Like a person who has tapped a maple tree for syrup, we humbly seek to glean a small rivulet of an eternal stream.

In Proverbs 8, Wisdom says of herself,

 ²² “The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works,
before his deeds of old;
²³ I was appointed from eternity,
from the beginning, before the world began.
²⁴ When there were no oceans, I was given birth,
when there were no springs abounding with water;
²⁵ before the mountains were settled in place…
³⁰ Then I was the craftsman at his side.
I was filled with delight day after day,
rejoicing always in his presence,
³¹ rejoicing in his whole world
and delighting in mankind.

She concludes this amazing statement by adding, “whoever finds me finds life.”   And when we find wisdom, there before time began, we find the personification of life.  We find the One who spoke life into being and who died in order to restore our life in God.  Colossians 1: “Jesus is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

So when we pray for wisdom, we are looking for Jesus as he stands in eternity.  We are listening for his voice and asking to see the world through his eyes.  It is true that we might better understand “right choices” or life direction when we do that.  But ultimately we are seeking something much more important; we are seeking oneness with Christ.

Body Broken: Can Republicans and Democrats Sit Together in the Same Pew?

My pastor, Charlie Drew, will soon publish his new book, Body Broken: Can Republicans and Democrats Sit Together in the Same Pew?  In the lead-up to the book, he will be blogging here.   Knowing Charlie and his work in the field of faith and politics, I heartily recommend the blog and I look forward to reading the book.

The Leap of Faith

I remember being young and attending my first circus.  When I looked up at the trapeze swinger, I was both horrified and enchanted as she let go of one swing and flew toward the other.  It seemed so dangerous and at the same time beautiful.

Trusting God with big life decisions is like that.  It’s not safe.  It’s not always a “wise” move, in the human understanding of wisdom.  So often we calculate, we scheme, we plan.  We build our 401(k)s and we ready our resumes for the next career move, striving for upward mobility or larger living space.  But Scripture says:

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
(James 4)

If there really is a God who has created us and calls us and loves us, then what have we to fear when we leap in faith?  We will either be landed precisely where God wants to use us for his purposes, or we will freefall until we land safely (if painfully) in the arms of grace.

 

Jesus: The Enemy of Cynicism

I want us to think further about cynicism.  The true definition of that word tells us that a cynical person believes other people are motivated by selfish or untrustworthy motivations. In other words, to be cynical is to believe that everyone around you is a schemer, a liar, a self-interested go-getter.  Only secondarily does cynicism lead one to believe that one’s own heart is also selfishly motivated.

So when cynicism spreads in a given community, everyone views everyone else as selfishly motivated.  Do you remember middle school, when this thought dawned on you?  I remember being “ditched” by my best friend Bill.  He and I were locker partners, but one day I opened that metal door and noticed that all of his belongings had been removed.  Finding him on the basketball courts playing with the cool kids, I asked him what happened.  He called back to me, nonchalantly, and informed me that he had moved in with someone else.  Our friendship was over.  Bill had moved up on the social hierarchy by ditching me.  A deep and abiding cynicism was born in me that day.

Contrast that behavior with the radical behavior of the early Christians.  Romans 12 is a perfect example.  Read the whole chapter below and let it dissolve the cynicism in your heart.  Remember, all Christian love is modeled after Christ’s death, which itself triumphed over cynicism.  See, in one sense, Jesus was cynical.  He believed that everyone around him was acting selfishly and cunningly, because in fact they were.  But when he saw this, he was unlike you and me.  He was not motivated to replicate their selfishness.  He overcame evil with good by serving the self-serving.  Romans 12 could be a description of what he did.  But it is an instruction to us who attempt to emulate his amazing love:

 ¹ Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. ² Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. ³ For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. ⁴ Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. ⁶ We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. ⁷ If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; ⁸ if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

Love
 ⁹ Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. ¹¹ Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. ¹³ Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. ¹⁶Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. ¹⁹ Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. ²⁰ On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Cynicism: the Enemy of Faith, Hope, and Love

By now you’ve probably heard of Rachel Beckwith, who died tragically shortly after her 9th birthday.  In the weeks leading up to her birthday, she was inspired by her church to raise money for clean water wells through charity:water, asking people to donate $9 to her campaign instead of buying her a gift for her 9th birthday.  Through her death, which raised awareness about her, God used her simple request to inspire generosity in many people’s hearts.  Her original goal of $300 (which would have enabled 15 people to receive clean water), has now been surpassed many times over and has exceeded a million dollars so far.

It is a classic case of God doing something wonderful with a seemingly terrible situation.

But the one detail in this whole story that made me weep is found in, of all places, a New York Times column from last weekend.  Typically, NYTimes columns are active volcanoes of cynicism, spewing oh-so-smart magma about this or that cultural phenomenon.  But last weekend, for a moment, the eruption cooled.  Nicholas Kristof learned about Rachel’s last fundraiser, and began his column with these words:

Isn’t it clear that in contrast to our glorious selves, kids these days are self-absorbed Facebook junkies just a pixel deep?

No, actually that’s wrong at every level. This has been a depressing time to watch today’s “adults,” whose talent for self-absorption and political paralysis makes it difficult to solve big problems. But many young people haven’t yet learned to be cynical. They believe, in a wonderfully earnest way, in creating a better world.

I implore you to read the whole piece to see how Rachel’s story impacted him and can serve as a Christlike example for us all.

I am reminded of Jesus’ admonition to the disciples, instructing them to be childlike in their faith.  Mark 10:

¹³ People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵ I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” ¹⁶And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them. [Keep reading]

I think that when Mr. Kristof encountered Rachel, he stumbled upon the truth that Jesus was trying to communicate to his disciples.  Cynicism is the enemy of faith, hope, and love.  We cynical adults have a lot to learn from our uncynical children.  May God continue to use them to save us from ourselves.

Green Pastures in Context

Another video from RVL somewhat related to our theme.  Enjoy.