For the Life of the World

In this morning’s sermon I argued that we begin to correct our posture towards the world by participating in the service of covenant renewal. This is preeminently true as we come to the Table each week. For in offering the ‘creatures’ of bread and wine to God, we are symbolically offering the world to God. Just as Israel was God’s priestly nation and thus worshipped on behalf of the world, even so do we. Under the OC this was given clearest expression in the Feast of Booths wherein 70 bulls were offered, one for each of the nations listed in Gen. 10. For us this priestly calling is fulfilled most clearly in the offertory and prayers of intercession. In this movement of the service we are bringing the world to God and wrestling with God in prayer for her life and redemption. Which brings us to this moment, when we are seated to keep the feast. Yet, even in feasting the life of the world is in view. For in a moment I will break the bread that Jesus described as, “My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” And in feeding upon the bread of life you are being transformed so to live for the life of world; to give your own bodies as broken bread in service for the life of the world. In this light I encourage you to allow this Table to transform the tables in your homes. One of the central occasions that Christ redeemed during his earthly ministry was mealtime. It seems that Christ never passed up an opportunity to eat with “outsiders.” Thus it was around the table, as well as in the streets, that gracious words fell from lips of our Savior. These no doubt proved to be opportune times for Christ to demonstrate wisdom, grace, and wit in answering the questions of tax collectors and sinners. Consider how you might open your lives/homes, to those around you and receive them to your table with the same grace that God receives you to His. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!

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The Blessedness of Christian Unity

The second to last of the Songs of Ascents, Ps. 133, begins with the call to behold something, something not often beheld in our day. David writes, “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” David likens the blessedness of Christian unity to the oil of priestly ordination that flowed down from Aaron’s head and to the dew of God’s glory cloud descending upon the mountains of Zion. What unites these two similes for the blessedness of Christian unity is that they are both symbols of Holy Spirit. The oil of priestly ordination and the dew of God’s glory cloud are both fulfilled in Christian baptism as the Holy Spirit inducts us into his royal priesthood and claims us as His dwelling place forevermore. And Christian baptism is also the starting point for Christian unity, “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Just like your earthly family is given to you by birth, you don’t choose them; even so your Christian family is given to you by baptism, you don’t choose them. If you were baptized as an adult perhaps you selected a particular branch of the Church to identify yourself with, but that’s the funny thing about baptism: you’re not baptized into the PCA, or the SBC, or the AG, or whatever; you’re baptized into the Triune name and thus into the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church that He has established. And Jesus prayed for you, for us, in John 17 that we who would believe in him through the Apostolic Word, “that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that world may believe that You sent Me.” How has our witness to the world been hindered by the fact that Sunday morning at 11:00 am is the most divided hour in America? Even more troubling, given the imagery of Ps. 133, how have we grieved the Spirit of God by our divisiveness and disunity? Join me now in confessing these our sins and seeking to amend our lives to better manifest the goodness and pleasantness of dwelling together in unity. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Eat and Drink for God Accepts You!

In this morning’s sermon we saw how the future judgment according to works serves as reason for us conduct our lives in the fear of the LORD. This judgment of the Last Day is of course anticipated on the cross, but also each and every Lord’s Day as we are summoned to appear before God for evaluation. In this sense every Lord’s Day is an arrival of the Day of the Lord and prepares us for that great day. We recognize this at the beginning of the service when we confess our sins and receive God’s cleansing grace. Thus we confess that we begin in grace being justified apart from works. Yet the Christian life and CRW doesn’t end there. For having been consecrated by the Word of God, read, sung, and preached, we then respond by offering the fruit of hands, our works, ourselves, to God in the tithes and offerings. And the Lord graciously receives our faithful work in union with the perfect sacrifice of His Son. These are the sacrifices that Paul describes as “a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God.” In this we confess our faith in a future aspect of our justification that includes our works as the demonstration of the faith with which we began. Now what does all this have to do with the Table? Well, Solomon has told us that this matter of God accepting our works affects our eating and drinking. In Eccl. 9:7 he writes, “Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has already accepted your works.” We come to this Table with joy and merriment of heart celebrating God’s acceptance of us in Jesus Christ. And Solomon continues, “Let your clothing always be white, and let your head lack no oil.” It is in this way that you come to the Table: clothed in the righteousness of Christ, anointed by the Spirit, with joy and merriment, for God has accepted your works!

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Corresponding Blessing

Psalm 132, the 3rd last of the Songs of Ascents, celebrates the establishment of God’s dwelling place among His people in fulfillment of His covenant with David. The psalm reveals a wonderful correspondence between the people’s desire for God’s blessings and His intention so to bless them. The people are resolved to worship God at His dwelling place and plead, “Let your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let your saints shout for joy.” Following a rehearsal of God’s promises to David we hear God’s intention to bless His people, “This is My resting place forever; Here I will dwell, for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her poor with bread. I will also clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.” Is that not why we too make our ascent to the heavenly Zion. Beloved, you are the resting place that God has chosen, the “dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” And He desires you; He takes delight in you. Do you doubt that? He sent His only begotten Son to make a way for you to be incorporated into this dwelling place by bearing your sins in His body on the cross. How then “shall He not with Him freely give [you] all things?” He will most assuredly abundantly bless your provision, “with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” And this day as you have been called to gather as His royal priesthood, to perform “your reasonable service,” He will yet again clothe you, His priests, with righteousness and salvation. And thus clothed in the very righteousness of Jesus Christ He has determined to satisfy you, His poor, with bread at His Table. And what will be your response to these abundant provisions? You, His saints, will shout aloud for joy! That is where you are headed. But to get there you must humbly seek these blessings by the confession of your sins. For in this way we make our ascent to Zion.

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The Culture and Discipline of the Table

This morning we considered the calling of fathers to nurture their children in the training and discipline of the Lord. We saw that this training and discipline requires the enculturation of our children into the truth, goodness, and beauty of Christ as well as administering the discipline of Christ. This is primarily the task of fathers, but it is also the calling of the Church. The Church has been given the commission to disciple the nations and this discipleship begins with baptism. Thus at baptism our children join us in the discipleship program of the Christian church. This program, administered through the officers of the church, likewise aims to establish a Christian culture and discipline. And this Table stands at the center of this culture and discipline. Here, at this Table, Christ trains us in truth, goodness, and beauty. Here we feast together in the beauty of holiness with the songs of Zion upon our lips. Here, the goodness of God is lavished upon us in the rich provision of the body and blood of Christ for our salvation. Here, by faith, we feed upon Christ who is the Truth. And so feeding upon Christ we are transformed to be a true, good, and beautiful people. Our senses are attuned to perceive that which is truly good and beautiful in everyday life: self-giving service, peace and unity among the Body of Christ, the simple joys of feasting together. This Table also administers the discipline of Christ for it is to the Church, not fathers, that Christ committed the keys of the kingdom. To be cut off from this Table is to be subjected to the discipline of Christ so as to be taught not to blaspheme. And in coming to the Table Christ deals with us, training us to more truly reflect His likeness in our relationships with one another. Here then, at this Table, we are gathered as the children of God to receive His fatherly care. Let us embrace this culture and discipline with joy and gladness.

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Put No Hope in Presidents

Psalms 130 and 131 are psalms that express trust in the LORD that evidenced by waiting upon Him. The first, Psalm 130, depicts this waiting upon the LORD by employing the image of the watchman waiting for the morning. This image evokes a sense of expectation for morning shall surely come. The second, Psalm 131, depicts waiting upon the LORD by employing the image of a weaned child with his mother. This image evokes a sense of trust and safety in mother’s arms. In light of the events of this Tuesday, I exhort you to heed the words of the psalmist and put your trust in the LORD. As the people of God you “do not put your hope in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.” Instead, put your trust in the LORD the maker of heaven and earth, and in His Son who has been given all authority therein. Christ is even now sitting at the right of the Father directing all things after the counsel of His will for the good of the Church and for the advancement of His kingdom in the earth. Whatever the outcome of Super Tuesday, you can know that God’s kingdom is advancing in the earth and the gates of hell shall not withstand our march to the ends of the earth. Yes, you should vote. Yes, the issues before our nation are important. But the kingdom doesn’t advance by the power of the sword. The kingdom advances by the power of the Spirit working by Word and Sacrament in and through the worshipping community that is the Church. The kingdom advances as we do what we’re doing right here this morning. Whether our next president is Obama, or McCain, his heart will be in the hand of our LORD and He will turn it like a channel of water to do whatsoever He pleases (Pr. 21:1). And one day all the kings of the earth will join us in worshipping our Triune God. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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