Respondeo

Devotional Insights #6

On May 18, 2020

Psalm 22:9-11. “Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. On you I was cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb, you have been my God. Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.”

Here is a beautiful expression of the covenant love of God. God’s love from generation to generation of those who seek him. God is working in David from birth so that David recognizes that he has trusted in God from his birth. How did David know that? We don’t need to guess at any extraordinary reason David may have believed in God from birth. Some almost magical working of God that we no longer experience in the regular life of covenantal generations today. David knew from the practice of circumcision that God had incorporated him into his people from birth. His mother had taught him the words of God from an early age.

Here is a mother who faithfully fulfills her calling before God in training up her child in the fear of the Lord. So even though he likely does not remember a particular moment in which he put his trust in God at this time, he sees the trajectory of his faith in God forming as he learns about God in the first years of his life. “You made me trust at my mother’s breasts.”

This early faith doesn’t mean there was no wandering or time to make the word of God his own. We shouldn’t imagine that David’s spiritual journey was radically different than that of the average Christian who is born into the faith. Follow David in the book of 1^st and 2^nd Samuel, and we see the ups and downs. Throughout his life, David had to continue to say “Yes” and “Amen” to the promises of God so that more and more they might become his beliefs, not just his parents’ beliefs.

Behind all this is the doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints. God is forming that initial faith as David receives the word of God from an early age. God is watching over David from the very beginning of his life because he will ensure that the elect David remains in him to the end. For David, that relationship began right from the time when he drank from his mother’s breasts. Ultimately, because God brought him into the world through a covenant family. God used that covenant bond to create faith in David from a very early age.

We pluck these words of Psalm 22 out of the midst of a lament and a plea to God. The Psalm begins with the words, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me?” Throughout the Psalm, he speaks of the trouble that he is in, “they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” “Many Bulls encompass me,” “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint,” and “For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me.”

Even in his lament, his recognition that God has rejected him, he knows that God has caused him to trust him from his mother’s breasts. That gives him a profound certainty during his trouble. When we look back at our lives and we see those little moments of faith, it strengthens our confidence that God is working in our lives. Further, we see how God has ordained the shape of our lives and we rightly rejoice in the work he is doing.

David’s lament foretells Christ’s lament on the cross. Christ takes up the words of David on the cross, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” And it tells us that even as he experienced the wrath of God on the cross, he knew that the fact that he was cast on God from the day of his birth, encouraged him as he suffered for our sake. His entire life of obedience pointed toward this moment on the cross.

The Heidelberg Catechism is striking in the way it draws out the benefits we receive from the fact that Christ was born. “He is our Mediator, and with his innocence and perfect holiness covers, in the sight of God, my sin, in which I was conceived and born.” The first faith of David as a child on his mother’s breast is counted to him as righteousness on the basis of Christ’s work. It is Christ’s work that creates even the possibility of David’s relationship with God. Christ’s entire life of righteousness belongs to me.

How much more for us who are baptized into the death and resurrection of Christ. Those who grew up in covenant households can look back at a life of ups and downs, and they may despair. But if they remember that they were cast on God from birth, they will marvel at his grace. When they approach the bulls of Bashan in their life, the dogs that surround the children of God, they may look back at the words that God pronounced over them in their baptism. They may remember: my God is a God who keeps his word. He has given me his word and sealed it with water so that the suffering and death of Jesus belongs to me. That gives me strength in my distress.

Where then is the comfort for those whom God brings into Christ at a later age? That is not what Psalm 22 emphasizes, but these words are a comfort to all Christians. We understand that when God baptizes us into Christ, his death covers the sins of my whole life. That covering includes my failure to trust God in the first part of my life. More than that, even though at birth we were cast upon God, God in his infinite mercy has chosen me before my birth so that he might cast me upon himself in the appointed time. My whole life now belongs to God even though in the first part of my life, the Lord was not my God. The whole work of Christ, including his birth, belongs to me.

In all this, whatever advantages to those in the covenant, we must remember the sovereignty of God. “Will the molded say to it’s molder, “Why have you made me like this? (Romans 9:20)” Not all those who call me Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. What God ultimately wants is a true child-like faith, which will depend on him even in the hard times. David’s child-like faith, while at his mother’s breast, is prototypical for all faith that begins in complete dependence upon God.

Whenever God brings me into his kingdom, I may look at the way he has manifested himself in my life and my faith. I may continue to find comfort that, yes, God is near, even when there is no-one else to help. So that “I will tell of God’s name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation, I will praise you;” (Ps. 22:22).

Devotional Insights #5

By James

On April 27, 2020

In Devotional

Ps. 73: 16-17, “But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.”

Today, we might say that the Psalmist is dealing with mental health issues. He is processing a lopsided world. He looks around and sees that the wicked are rewarded for their wickedness. Their bellies are fat, and they die in peace. They find power and riches through their oppression of the righteous. The Psalmist, in turn, feels that his faithfulness is vanity. He will not speak that way because that would betray the saints. Yet, he still does not understand what the Lord is doing. It is a wearisome task.

The plight of the Psalmist is often in the face of the success of the wicked. The wicked conspire against the righteous, or the anointed one of God, or the poor, or those who are free. The Psalmist’s distress often comes from the success of their conspiracy.

It’s, for this reason, I believe that today there are conspiracies against the church, the poor, and the freedom of the people in general. Men gather together an make plans to crush the poor, take power for themselves, and, especially, to attack the church. They attack the church because the message of the church, the declaration in the gospel that Christ is king, is an insult to their power. A careful study of history will reveal various conspiracies throughout history. It’s hard to imagine that these types of things do not happen today. It’s for this reason that I do not write off so-called “conspiracy theories,” even though I remain skeptical of any particular theory.

At the same time, I am not afraid. In the short term, a conspiracy may be successful, but God remains in charge.

Like the Psalmist, however, fear remains a temptation. I am tempted to focus on the power and the wealth of the wicked. I wonder at what wickedness they will accomplish. What suffering will they cause? In this way, I am like the Psalmist. In facing the evil of men who hold positions of power in our society, my feet almost slip. I grow envious of the arrogant and the prosperity of the wicked. The problem: I am caught focussing on what is earthly, rather than what is heavenly.

But then: I approach the house of God, I approach the word of God, I come into the courts of Mt. Zion by the power of the Spirit. And there, I see who is really in charge; Jesus Christ. He reigns. We can worry about micro-chips, forced vaccinations, new tyrannical powers in the time of Covid-19. The specter of technocracy or the rule of science is an imminent threat. These are legitimate worries, but these fears should not rule us. God is King. God has exalted Jesus Christ over all powers and principalities. Because he is a righteous king, we know that he will punish the wicked for their evil deeds. Even if they die with “no pangs in their death,” according to the Psalmist, their final end is certain.

God sets the wicked in slippery places; both physically and spiritually. Power and money easily slip away. Power and money that are taken by the sword or by fraud are susceptible to being taken by the sword or by fraud. The Psalms remind us that wicked men turn on each other. Evil men grow suspicious and envious of one another. According to Psalm 9: 15, the nations sink into their own pit; they are snared in their own net. The destruction of the wicked is not necessarily due to smart resistance of the righteous, but the self-destructive nature of wickedness. The nations may rage, but Christ is king.

And in all this, I am confident of my end. “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

(A further note on conspiracy: with the attitude of distrust in our society today toward other groups and toward the elite, we must be very careful about bringing false witness against particular individuals. That is what I mean when I say that I am fairly confident that conspiracies exist against the church and against freedom in general, but I am much more skeptical of particular theories. A look at various quotes from prominent individuals in influential organizations should warn us that men are actively warring against the righteousness of Christ. Over the years I’ve seen statements from UN officials, from the WHO, and from members of the government of Canada that display an unhealthy attitude toward freedom and righteousness.

However, to jump from that to accusing individuals, in the civil government or otherwise, of wrongdoing with insufficient proof is highly offensive to our God in whom there is no lie. We must also remember the call of God to be patient with the weaknesses of those who rule over us. So let’s not be quick to accuse individuals of conspiracy.

It is also a big leap to go from that to a thorough condemnation of the whole government. The government is made up of a huge variety of different people with a variety of influences coming from every direction. Nobody can really control what “the government” does. Often a big part of their decision making relies on “the people” in general. For a great deal of “the government’s” foolishness, we only have ourselves to blame. Let us be very careful and thoughtful in dealing with things we know very little about. Particularly, as Christians who are called to value the truth)

Devotional Insights #4

By James

On April 18, 2020

In Devotional, education

Job 38-41: “Do you know?” “Where you there?” “Have you searched out?” “Look at Behemoth!” “Can you draw out Leviathan?”

God is demonstrating his incomprehensibility. Even as Job cannot fully grasp the answers to the questions that God gives him, so he cannot fully understand God.

In Job 38-39, God goes through the various aspects of his creation and asks Job: “How does the world hold together?” “How does wind work?” “How do the animals get their food?” “Hasn’t God given the things of this world, wisdom to live upon the earth?”

In Job 40 and 41, God goes into a detailed description of two mighty creatures that used to roam the earth in the days of Job, the Behemoth and the Leviathan. We don’t know what these are. Some guess they may have been dinosaurs, but ultimately they may not be animals we are aware of today. God invites Job to study these things to understand how great God is. The God who created such creatures is far beyond the mind of Job.

Job recognizes the challenge that God has given him in chapter 42 and admits that he has forgotten how far the ways of God are beyond him. God used to speak to Job from a distance. No, God has given Job the privilege of talking to himself face to face. In knowing God in this new way, Job recognizes all the more that he is lacking in his understanding of God. He repents in dust and ashes.

But there is something more here as well. Job is, after all a wisdom book. Job is invited to look into the questions that God gives. Why? Because all of these things point to the wisdom and almighty power of God. Paul may be thinking of this section of Job when he says the wisdom and the almighty power of God are clearly known to all men. God’s invitation to Job to ponder on these thing is more than merely saying that he is incomprehensible.

It is by pondering on these things that Job may grow in understanding the incomprehensibility of God. God’s words to Job are an invitation to what we call science. And many Christian scientists have heard the call of God to wonder at his creation in these passages. But this is science, which is done in a particular mode. This science never claims comprehensive knowledge of who God is or even of what creation is. We may discover that “Gravity” determines that things fall at a specific rate, but we cannot understand the forces behind it. Even if someday we do have a better understanding of that, we still will lack understanding of what is going on. God invites Job to science that delights in its limitations.

It is the same with the “science” of theology. Job’s friends think they have God figured out. Job doesn’t necessarily think he has God figured out, but he forgets that truth in his self-defense. The study of scripture and theology is a gradual realization of what we don’t know, which is the wisdom of humility.

The more we learn, the less we know. Wisdom is not merely the knowledge of things, but it is discovering the limits of our knowledge. We become like the Psalmist in Psalm 131 before God. “I do not occupy myself with things too great and marvelous for me. 0But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother.” So God invites Job to be the scientist so that he may grow in wonder and awe at the creator of all things. And in growing in knowledge, Job also becomes humble before his God.

God desires that we delight in his creation. He wants us to take delight in the good that he has given us. On the other hand, pain and suffering often come from the thought that we are somehow in control of our lives. Too often we look to knowledge as a way to control other people. God wants us to discover the knowledge of him and the things he has made through a joyful humility. We should approach creation and wisdom with a child-like joy in discovery; without frustration over what we are unable to discover. God wants us to learn patience in uncovering the mysteries of the universe.

We should have the same approach to God and his word. We are children in God’s garden and we patiently wait upon to him to reveal himself more and more in the pages of scripture.

Finally, as Job had to learn, God calls us to be patient as we discern what he is doing in my experience. Whatever God brings is from his hand and is meant for my good. This is something we take on faith, not by sight. Our suffering can look meaningless but we trust that God has a purpose. And God invites us to discern that purpose.

This process of discovery is not so easy in a world where our fleshly pride is constantly creeping into what we do so that even the righteous Job must repent in dust and ashes. But in Jesus Christ, we have the Spirit of God, and that gives us the patience we need as we seek to grow in the knowledge of our Father.

Devotional Insights #3

By James

On April 14, 2020

In Devotional, eschatology

Revelation 22:7: “Behold I am coming soon: Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

Understanding the text

Christ says, “I am coming soon.” But it’s been two thousand years since John wrote down the things he saw on a particular Sunday in the first century. The final day of judgement has not come. Unless… is Christ talking about the final day of judgment here?

One of the major failures in conservative interpretation of the apocalyptic sections in scripture is ignoring the time markers in the text. They use passages like “to the Lord, a day is like a thousand years,” to supplement their view that these God gave these passages from his time-perspective rather than speaking with man’s notion of time. Or they lift these time markers out of their original contexts and argue that God’s people have to have the attitude that Christ’s coming is always near. They, then, are guilty of abstracting the time markers from their original context.

On the other hand, Liberal text-critics have long argued that the early church believed in an imminent coming. Christ’s final judgment was coming within the 1^st or 2^nd generation of Christians. Christ himself says, “Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place” (Matthew 24:34). We can think of a passage like Romans 13, “For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.” Also, 1^st Thessalonians 5, where Paul encourages the Thessalonians to watch out for the Day of the Lord.

Of course, the problem with the liberal interpretation is their belief that the church was wrong to believe that Christ was coming soon. If Paul and Christ were mistaken about the coming of Christ, how are we to trust in the other promises of God?

There is a third option: Christ did come soon, but not in the way we think of the coming of Christ. We are reading the final coming of Christ into this text. The truth is a lot of the apocalyptic sections in scripture refer to the imminent judgment of God upon the city of Jerusalem. Christ came to call his own to himself, but his own did not receive him. Many continued to reject God, when through his church, God called upon them to repent of their hard hearts and believe in the one they had crucified (Acts 2:36). Further, they persecuted the church of Christ. God is now coming in judgment. In Revelation, God prepares the church for the trials that are coming.

Christ’s coming in 70 A. D. in no way undermines the truth that he is finally coming again to judge the living and the dead. In 1 Corinthians 15 and Revelation 20:11-15, Christ promises that the final judgment is still coming. The judgment upon Jerusalem is a foretaste of that judgment.

This view doesn’t answer every question we might have, but it is by far more satisfactory than any other view. The scripture proves its own integrity. It is hard to argue that there is no sense in the New Testament of the coming of Christ. Here we have confirmation that the scripture means what it says. Just as day means day in Genesis 1, so soon means soon in Revelation 22:7.

However, those who are used to the view that we ought to expect Christ’s final return tomorrow are often left wondering how to apply Christ’s words here to their own lives. How is it a comfort to us today that Christ came upon the clouds to judge Jerusalem in 70 A.D?

The comfort of the text

Christ proved his Lordship by fulfilling his promise to judge Jerusalem. Just as God provides proofs of the cross and the resurrection, so he provides proof of the ascension of Christ. God vindicates those who believe in his name, by destroying the temple, the other institution that claims God’s name. Christ also proves that he continues to be with the church. He preserves her through the terrible persecutions of the Jews and the Romans. Even though she experienced great tribulation, Christ proved that he would protect her to the end. God comforts the church today with the knowledge that he has vindicated his church. He will vindicate her again, even until the final day.

God gives us a perspective on how he works through the church in history. “In history” is the important word here. We are not merely a small group of elect travelling through this world in order to get to heaven, we are on the mission of Christ to reconcile the world to himself. If we abstract the words “I am coming soon” from the text and see this as a reference to final judgment instead of Christ’ active coming in history, we can lose the importance of the work Christ is doing through the church to reconcile the nations to himself.

Through the fall of the Roman Empire, God demonstrated that his church was bigger than the Roman Empire. In the Reformation, God proved that he could save a church that had forgotten the centrality of Christ. Through the modern age, God has expanded his church, despite the predictions of the death of Christianity. God is using the war on terror. God is using failing governments. And God is using the Covid-19 crisis for the sake of his church. God does not wait until the last day to vindicate his church, but he is actively at work in history.

We can think of the vision in Daniel 2. The stone, Christ, that God uses to tumble over the nations of this world, becomes the foundation for a mighty mountain. God is working in history through the suffering of his saints to vindicate his saints. God in Christ is convicting the world of sin and calling all men to repentance.

Revelation reveals a cycle of contraction and expansion. Through the generations Christ brings the saints into various tribulations. At the same time, Christ uses those tribulations to purify his church, but more, to witness to his work. Christ brings his saints through tribulation so he might vindicate them. Once God has vindicated the saints, there is a new outpouring of blessing. This new blessing is followed by a new desire among the nations to serve God. We can think of the vindication of the Jews in the book of Esther. Many convert to Judaism at that moment.

In this way, God comforts us that he is using our suffering to strengthen his church. We reflect Christ, in that through the cross, through tribulation, we point to the salvation of God. We re-affirm here, as well, that this is not through our strength. It is, rather, an application fo the salvation won on the cross of Christ.

That is how we are to understand the current viral crisis. God is doing this for the sake of his church. He will vindicate the righteous one who continues to do righteousness, the holy one who continues to be holy. “Blessed are those who wash their robes so they can have access to the tree fo life and can enter into the city by the gates.” Wash your robes by placing your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord, who lives and reigns with the great Father of all, with the Holy Spirit, calls you to “Come, and drink of the water of life.”

Devotional Insights #2

By James

On April 6, 2020

In Devotional

Job 38:2: “The Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: Who is this that darkens my counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.”

The Lord comes suddenly in the book of Job. He comes from a whirlwind, a whirlwind we did not know about earlier. God appears out of nowhere.

God is answering Job’s prayer. Again and again, Job has called upon God to come before him and even to hear his case. Job is righteous. From the story of Abraham, we know that the servants of God are ultimately righteous through faith. So it is not through good works that Job is right before God, but through a belief that has worked itself out in faithful obedience in his life. We know he is upright because earlier in the text, the author tells us that he is righteous. Job’s life pleases God. Job knows that he does not deserve what he has received. God strikes him, but he has not sinned. Job cries out for the justice of God. God now shows his love through addressing Job.

Contrast the meeting between God and the suffering Job and the almighty God with a book like “The Shack.” In that book, the protagonist, who is also in deep suffering, meets with a Trinitarian God, who predominantly demonstrates empathy. Here God’s first concern is for justice; justice for Job and justice for God’s name. Job 38 does not picture a therapy session, but a courtroom, “Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.” When God comes to us, he reveals to us that he is a consuming fire. That is why God must appear to Job in a whirlwind. The whirlwind helps keep Job from the full effect of God’s awe-full glory.

As Elihu has demonstrated earlier, Job has not rightly honored God’s name. Job’s state is very understandable, but if we are to be challenged by this text, we must recognize that even this righteous man, who was the worst of victims, failed in honoring his creator.

Yet we should also note the honor God shows Job here. He, the mighty God, the one who scattered the stars throughout the heavens, has chosen to respond to the charges that Job has brought against him. God, who is so far beyond us, has made his presence known. The transcendent God has become immanent for the sake of his beloved servant.

His charge is direct, “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” Job has defended his righteousness, but he has not confessed the righteousness of God. God’s defense is simple. You do not understand me, and you cannot claim to discern my ways. Like Elihu, who spoke for God, God draws Job’s attention throughout this passage to his work in creation, which is beyond Job’s mind, and much which is beyond our understanding today as well.

God is our Creator. We are not only comforted by his love, but also by his power. He is the God who destroys the enemies of his people. He hates the sin that remains within us, and he hates the lies and philosophies of this world that deceive so many. Further, that so often have purchase in our minds and hearts as well. He is the God who continues to come and shake the earth with his almighty power.

How can we face a God like that? Job wonders about that earlier in the book. Job 9:33, “There is no arbiter between us, someone to lay a hand on us both.” Job knows that God is almighty and holy. He is afraid, yet his desire to be declared innocent is overwhelming, so he cries out that God may come and judge him. In Job 38, we see the grace of God in answering Job’s charge.

We have more than Job. We may approach God in Jesus Christ, and we can face the consuming fire of God in the flesh of Jesus Christ. Hebrews tells us, “his flesh is the veil” between God and us. We do so with the same fear as Job, but we may do so with the highest confidence because we do have a mediator. Jesus Christ is the answer to why God is willing to dispute with Job over God’s righteous acts.

Devotional insights #1

By James

On April 3, 2020

In Devotional

(To encourage and instruct, I thought I would take the time to write down insights gained during my devotions. I hope this can benefit you in your day to day life.)

Job 37: 14-24: “Hear this, o Job! Stop and consider the wondrous works of God.”

It’s hard to know how to understand the character of Elihu in the book of Job. However, I argue that we can reasonably say that he speaks for God. He rightly desires to justify God, and he does not talk with the simplistic theology of Job’s friends. Finally, when God himself comes and speaks to Job, he uses similar arguments. “Consider who I am, Job!”

Elihu points out the power of God, how God is far beyond our thoughts and imaginations. He wants to demonstrate to Job that God’s ways are far beyond the wisdom of man. Job does not acknowledge this, particularly in his final summary defence. Elihu’s primary concern with Job is that Job does not take the time to justify God’s actions. Job has gone on at length, defending his righteousness. He has gone on at length, asking the question, “why?” In themselves, this is not necessarily wrong, but Job fails to defend the goodness of God and the justice of God in his life.

Job is a righteous man. He does not deserve what is happening to him. Job rightly asks, “Why is God doing this to me?” How can God treat a righteous servant in this way? But in asking that question, Job must recognize that the ways of God are far beyond him. We can compare Job’s words to the words of the Psalms, where the Psalmist does ask why and speaks of his great misery, but, at the same time, recognizes the character of God is beyond human understanding.

We can point to Psalm 13, where David wonders at how God forgets him. David is in deep distress, and he wonders how God will get him out of that. But at the same time, David recognizes that God is a God of steadfast love. God has not stopped being God at this moment.

Job’s friends made the mistake of thinking that they could understand the ways of God. They could understand how God works. If God strikes Job, he must have sinned against God. Unfortunately, Job makes a similar mistake. He argues for his case, he justifies himself, but he does not seek to justify God to his friends.

We certainly may bring our weaknesses to God. We may wonder what he is doing in our lives. Christians experience deep suffering, and it’s not always clear why. In doing that, we must all remember who God is. In our situation today, with self-isolation, Covid-19, and a sick economy, we are anxious. We are rightly troubled. We wonder what God is doing. What happens to our plans now? But we must remember God is good God is loving, and God is powerful. We can never grasp the fullness of God. He is utterly transcendent.

To demonstrate this, Elihu appeals to the wonders of God’s creation. We don’t know why lightning is bright. God created that within his perfect order. We can’t find a better way to balance the clouds that the way God has done it. We cannot spread the skies. God did that when he created the world. If God’s work in nature is far beyond our ability and our understanding, so is God’s work in our lives. Perhaps we begin to understand the ways of God, but even in that, we know there is always more to learn, a greater maturity to achieve.

Elihu points to the works of God in creation as proof of the supreme wisdom and power of God. And if God keeps in mind the good of his creation. The doctrine of God’s providence comes out here. God is both all-powerful and completely good. Those who trust in him believe that he always has a purpose in what he does. He will also keep those who love him in his mind as well—even, and especially, in our most profound suffering. We trust in the Lord, the creator of heaven and earth.

Keeping it Simple – A Simple Order

By James

On March 26, 2020

In Church, sacraments, Worship

The Bible not only gives us the basic liturgical elements for worship, but the Bible also gives us a pattern for worship. To see my discussion on the basic liturgical elements for worship take a look here and here. Just as there are basic elements to worship are very simple, so the basic order of worship is simple.

I will argue that we are called to first call upon God, follow that with the preaching of the word, and finally, celebrate the Lord’s Supper together. This is an order which almost all churches have gravitated to overtime. Really, this is the traditional order of the church. However, various cultural biases keep churches today from fully realizing even the simple order that God has given.

The New Testament has very little to say on the order or pattern of worship. This is likely because there was an established order that was used in the synagogues and in temple life, which was integrated into the worship of the church. The New Testament churches probably combined the order of worship, which was already there, God’s teaching on temple worship in the Old Testament, and the teaching of the apostles’ about Christ’s Sacrifice. Ultimately, New Testament worshippers had to examine everything they did in worship in light of what God had done in Christ.

We might use the Hermeneutic that is found in 1 John 2 concerning the commandment to love one another. At once, John admits this is an old commandment and at the same time he says, this is a new commandment. It is new because Christ has shown what love means in a new way. Using this rubric we might say that all parts of the Old Covenant are fulfilled in the cross of Christ and through the cross of Christ are applied to us in a new way.

This means that we can look to the Old Testament for instruction on worship as well, as long as we understand that that particular Christ has abolished the ceremonial elements (such as the temple and the sacrifices) of that administration.

One of the places where we find a great deal of instruction on worship is in the book of Leviticus. Now, the great part of this instruction deals with the activity of bringing sacrifices before God. We are explicitly told in the New Testament that that institution is done away with in Christ, for he is the final and the only effective sacrifice. However, we are also often told that we are to be living sacrifices in Christ. We can think of Romans 12 and 1 Peter 2, both of which refer to the Christian as a living sacrifice. That would mean that there is something in the nature of the sacrifice that can teach us about reasonable worship.

This is a surprisingly productive turn, particularly, in terms of the amount of materiel we may reflect on. If we are to find a basic order to draw through the various sacrifices, we would see five basic parts to the order. Peter Leithart puts it catchily in his Theopolitan Liturgy.

“Lay the hands

Slay the beast

Spread the blood

Burn the flesh

Eat the meal”

These elements can be brought out in five separate elements in the service. For the sake of simplicity, we will simplify these into three elements. First, the laying on of hands. Second the slaughter of the animal and the burning of the animal. Finally, (for many sacrifices) we partake of the animal in a meal.

These three elements correlate to three different sacrifices. The purification offering emphasizes the laying on of hands. Here we have an emphasis on our need to be purified before God. The ascension offering (commonly called the burnt offering) focusses on the burning of the animal. The worshipper burned the entire animal in that offering. Finally, the peace offering focusses on the meal, for that sacrifice focussed on the worshippers eating the offered animal.

So how does that apply to the service of God? The laying on of hands implies a claiming and a transfer. If we are living sacrifices that means the service ought to begin with an acknowledgment that God lays his hands on us and claims us for his own. In responding, we also lay our hands on Jesus as the only effective sacrifice in our place. This involves a recognition that God calls us and a recognition of our sin and the need to deal with that in order to properly approach God.

Then God divides the sacrifice and burns all of it or part of it. Hebrews 4 speaks of the word accomplishing that in the service. The word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword, dividing joints from marrow. In doing so, God the Spirit raises our hearts to the right hand of God in Christ. Figuratively speaking we go up in sweet-smelling smoke before God.

Finally, we have a meal in the sacrifices. The meal symbolizes the peace we may have with God. So we see that the Lord’s Supper, the new covenant meal follows after the preaching of the word.

Jesus follows a similar order in the institution of the Lord’s Supper. He lays his hands on the bread or wine and names it (his body or blood) (the laying on of hands), he breaks the bread or pours the wine (dividing the offering), and then passes them out so that his followers may eat (the meal).

Now two elements that we discussed in our previous blog posts on the elements of worship do not automatically find their place here (find those blog posts here and here). But if we think about what these elements represent we can find their place in the worship service.

The first is the prayers. The prayers will be interspersed through the worship service. A prayer of repentance is appropriate near the beginning of the service. Here we take hold of Christ as our righteousness. A prayer for the Spirit’s work is appropriate before the sermon and a prayer of thankfulness is appropriate in response to the sermon. Of course, it is also quite appropriate to put songs in various parts of the worship service. We might sing an opening song praising God, a song praising God for choosing and calling us, and a song following the Lord’s Supper.

The other element we missed was the collection. We do have a precursor for that in the Old Testament as well: the wave offering. In the wave offering, people brought their gifts of grain and poured our wine before the Lord. God used these offerings to provide food for his priests. This suggests that the fitting place for the collection, the sign of our devotion to the fellowship of Jesus Christ, is immediately before the supper we share with Christ. For the Lord’s Supper signifies, not only what Christ gives to us, but also how we sacrifice ourselves for one another. We give of ourselves to one another under the forgiveness of sins given by Jesus Christ.

So we have a simple order for worship: A call upon God with repentant hearts, the preaching of the word, and the Lord’s Supper. Further, we intersperse this order with prayers, psalms, thanksgivings, and collections for our brothers in distress.

Keeping it Simple – an addendum

By James

On March 6, 2020

In Uncategorized

In the recent article I wrote on worship, I identified three simple elements that we find in the worship of any church which claims Christ as Lord. These elements may take many different forms, and though these forms are not entirely indifferent, the question of form is not as important as the fact that these three elements shine through.

However, I missed one element in discussing the passage. At the very least, the passage implies this fourth element. That element is “the collection” or a formal act of giving. Acts 2:42 lists four different things that the early church devoted itself too. I connected the Apostles’ teaching to teaching or preaching, I connected the breaking of bread to the Lord’s Supper, and I connected the Prayers to Psalms and perhaps a collection of traditional prayers among the Jews. The passage also mentions the fellowship. I took that very generally… as kind of a pre-condition for all the other elements. If the members were to come together, they also took in an interest and enjoyment in one another. I did not attach it to a component in the service. I believe I was wrong because the other elements listed imply that this is a fourth. .

As I have said, this element is “the collection” or making provision for the poor. Of course the word “fellowship” denotes a lot more than just the collection, but it is in the formal moment of collecting in the assembly that we express our devotion to the fellowship. Giving then is another essential part of the act of worship.

It is easy to forget the significance of the collection as an expression of fellowship, especially in the affluent Western World. I offer myself as an example here, having missed this element in this crucial passage here. Too often the church has warped the act of giving, as churches misuse the money that is entrusted to them for the sake of their own gain. In some ways, it is the misdirection of the collection away from the needy that makes God really angry in scripture.

Worship Wars: Keeping it Simple

By James

On January 7, 2020

In Church, Worship

At its most basic worship is meeting with God. The flesh does not know how to do this anymore. It is only the Holy Spirit, on the foundation of Christ’s sacrifice, and the word that God has given which provides a way to the Father. The Scriptures, the word that God gives us, also gives us the elements that should be part of this worship. Worship is simple; It is teaching, prayer, eating bread, and drinking wine.

We read of these elements in Acts 2:42, immediately after Christ has sent out his Holy Spirit, the initial formation of his church. “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” The purpose of this passage is to show the dedication of the new Christians to the newly formed church of Jesus Christ. God did not give this passage as an outline for worship.

But this passage does help us identify what acts are most important in the worship of the church. We see a simple summary of what goes on in the worship of the early church: “teaching, breaking of bread, and prayers.” We have a fourth concept here too, “the fellowship.” The fellowship is not so much an element of worship but designates the fact that the new converts were continually coming together to spend time together in community with both God and one another. It is that “meeting with God,” which we have already mentioned.

For our purpose, though, we will focus on the elements of worship. We assume that you want to come to worship God regularly.

Scripture distinguishes these elements of worship. However, they cannot be separated. Properly, our devotion is manifested as a configuration of all of these elements. To say it with greater simplicity: the elements come as one package. They form a single sacrifice of praise before the Lord. This reality suggests that element may not even be the best word to describe these things; the word “elements” suggest the possibility of isolating parts from the whole. However, for our purposes, the concept is useful.

The first element in our passage is the Apostles’ teaching. The Apostles were sharing and reflecting upon Christ’s words and works before the first Christian congregation. They would later write down this teaching in the gospels. God calls us to continue to reflect on the Apostles’ witness to Christ. Christ did not physically write any part of the Bible. It was the Apostles who wrote down the events of Christ’s life and further reflection upon those events. We continue to teach and apply that teaching without adding anything to God’s revelation, for Christ is the final word. This is the first and most important part of worship; the preaching of the Word.

We devote ourselves to the Apostles’ teaching by seeking to understand the whole Bible in light of what God is doing in Christ. Notice the word “devote” in Acts 2:42. As a church, we are called to devote ourselves, mind, heart, and soul to the teachings of the Word of God.

We next see a reference to the breaking of bread. In light of how this “breaking of bread” is often connected with the church’s worship, we can guess that this a reference to the Lord’s Supper. It could merely refer to eating together, but this is highly unlikely. For this guess is strengthened by the observation that the church would not have automatically used titles like “Lord’s Supper or Eucharist.” The phrase “breaking of bread” fits very well with the language used at the institution of the Lord’s Supper. It would have been an easy shorthand for Luke to use and expressive of the broader fellowship it signified among the body of Christ as well. When we consider these things and the importance placed on the practice of the Lord’s Supper right from the beginning of the church, we are justified in seeing this as a reference to the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.

Finally, we see a reference to the prayers. The definite article “the,” as in “the prayers,” suggests that these are more than just prayer generally speaking. Most likely, this refers to the Psalms, the book of prayers. The Psalms were a regular part of Jewish worship and would become a regular part of Christian worship. “The prayers” would also include other written prayers that were a regular part of Jewish worship, as well is unwritten prayers. The practice of praying closely connects to the practice of singing. We know that the Jewish people sang the Psalms. They sang their prayers. There were choirs among the Levites and they sang the Psalms as part of worship. We know from Colossians 3 and Ephesians 5 that singing was a vital part of worship as well. What is more likely than that these early Christians were singing the Psalms?

We promised to keep it simple. Here’s the simple part. How do we worship God? We take the opportunity to read his word and to explain it. This practice should not be complicated. In many churches throughout history, this was done through the pastor sitting or standing in front of the congregation and going through a portion of scripture verse by verse. The Lord’s Supper is also part of worship. Everybody sit down. Pray over the bread. Pass it out. Pray over the wine. Pass it out. Use the words of institution that Christ gave in scripture. Finally, pray. Pray with written and unwritten prayers. Use speech and song. Use the Psalms. They are God’s prayer book. Allow that to form your selection of hymns; and your hymn-writing.

(I would add that there is an underlying order to worship that God calls us to observe as well, but that is an argument for another blog-post)

Now, I will be the first to admit the importance of many other questions. About what type of music might be better, what might be the better way of preaching, how we ought to order our prayers, and to what degree tradition should affect these choices. Fundamentally, if a church has these identifiable elements in its worship and does not seek to hide them or cover them up, I willingly accept that church as a legitimate church. It is a church that I spiritually worship with at Mt. Zion. It doesn’t matter if they choose to have electric guitars, rap elements, preachers that tell a lot of jokes, whether they look more or less disorganized, whether they have choirs on top of congregational singing, whether they are highly traditional and formal or highly contemporary and informal, and whether they have dancing and hand-raising or they “do church” mostly seated. I argue that some of these practices are better than others, but if we can begin with the regular explanation of the word, the regular practice of the Lord’s Supper, the singing of psalms and hymns, and the constant use of prayer. We can grow from that point.

Too many churches lose God’s word in trying to be relevant or cool. Maybe they are bored with scripture. Too many churches lose the Lord’s Supper because they arbitrarily make it challenging to practice every Sunday. Possibly, they don’t think it’s important or they make it too important. Too many churches lose God’s prayerbook. They lose the Psalms and so their other prayers lose the pattern of worship given by God.

We will make everything a lot more complicated. Scripture has a lot to say about worship. And there is a lot of materials to work through and apply to our worship service. But at its heart, when we gather together to worship God, we want these three things: most importantly, the word of God, secondly, God’s holy supper, and finally prayer.

Worship Wars

By James

On October 12, 2019

In Church, Worship

When we are reflecting on worship, we naturally begin with our own traditions. We grow within a certain order of worship. The way we worship educates us on who God is and who we are. If our tradition teaches us something in the order of worship that leaves us with a twisted or a diminished view of God it should be changed. If our tradition leaves us with a twisted or false view of ourselves it must be changed.

This really encapsulates why worship is so important to the Christian. Here is the reason why so many fights within the church today are over worship. In the traditional understanding, worship is where we meet with God. The way we worship and the things we do in worship affect our understanding of God.

In the last fifty years, we have seen a major reset in the liturgy of the church. People will talk about the worship wars and these probably peaked in the 80s and 90 and they continue to be a part of the dialogue in some of the more traditional churches. While liturgical change is happening all the time, the last major re-set of the liturgy was in the 16th century during the protestant reformation. Roger Olson details our contemporary changes in an article that you can find here.

There were a number of causes for these changes. Already before the changes, there was a growing apathy in some churches. There were doctrinal shifts. There were shifts in worship itself and in understanding worship. We can talk about preaching. The Psalms lost their place in worship. We can talk about growing liberalism. Major shifts like the one we are currently observing are not mono-causal. There is a complexity behind a historical change.

Now, I am on the side of the traditionalists. I am on the losing side. I believe that contemporary liturgies have eviscerated the worship service of its proper content. However, too many traditionalists have simply dug in their heels without examining their own liturgical tradition or the tradition of the church. Little do we realize that part of our contemporary problem arises from developments in traditional liturgies. I hope to explore this more in future posts. The church has not spent the necessary time to create a liturgical culture that is equally robust to the American contemporary liturgy. We need to develop our liturgical tradition so that is deeply and unavoidably biblical.

The service on the Lord’s Day is, after all, a gift to man, a gift to encourage him in continuing to seek after God, so that he grows in mortifying his sin, desiring Christ, and doing good deeds for the sake of his Lord.

I’ve already hinted that I find many traditional churches lacking in this matter. I am a pastor in the Canadian Reformed Churches. We have a very traditional liturgy. There is no doubt that we worship God in Spirit and truth, and we do see and experience God in our worship. There is a lot of God in our tradition, but there is also room to grow. The worship wars and our own struggles, especially over the question of music, give us the opportunity to examine ourselves. I hope to offer some reflection on both the good and the bad over the coming months.

As a bit of a postscript, I do not believe I have the last word on this subject. Liturgical concerns are controverted and they always will be. I merely hope to shed some light on the subject. Ideally, I also hope to encourage those who truly do desire to worship God in the beauty of holiness.