Addressing the Symptom or the Source?

Recently, I have been pondering the common usage of “broken” and “brokenness.”  I looked for a dictionary definition on-line and found several definitions:

• infringed or violated
• interrupted, disrupted, or disconnected
• weakened in strength, spirit, etc.
• tamed, trained, or reduced to submission
• (of a relationship) split apart; not intact
• (of a family) disunited or divided by the prolonged or permanent absence of a parent
• not smooth; rough or irregular
• ruined; bankrupt

We know the effects are common to the human condition and empathize with those currently enduring them.  Life is difficult and messy.  Desiring to convey understanding and compassion, we use such language to describe stress and hardship in ourselves and others.  As Christians, we know the real problem: all creation is ruined because of sin.  However, a question remains.  In our efforts to address and ease human suffering, do we go too far in softening our language to ease that pain?

One does not need to go far in Christian circles before encountering therapeutic language in response to the pervasiveness of brokenness.  Evangelism has become communicating the aforementioned empathy.  Songs relate how Jesus can fix the hurts and burdens.  Radio stations bill themselves as positive and encouraging.  Pastors preach a relationship with Jesus.  The problem is not the language.  We are called to compassion.  We can walk through Scripture identifying the passages that are the basis for these actions.  Indeed, we should teach and practice the care due to the downtrodden, discouraged, etc.

This is not a new phenomenon.  Decades ago, mainline denominations shifted from preaching God’s Word in truth to appeasing hearers in order to address societal ills.  In an effort to create a level social strata, immediate conditions were salved, even improved, with the desire that those receiving help would then attend church services and be grafted in the to local flock.  As time progressed, those ills became more varied and debauched as culture shifted in nature from communal to personal: “What I need (or think I need) must be honored or met.”  With this shift, the centrality of what kept the denominations grounded has been replaced with affirmations of the individual and personal choice.

Sadly, sections of conservative denominations and independent churches that watched the decline of mainline denominations has begun sinking into the same morass.  Those groups lacking a formal confessional foundation appear to be particularly susceptible to the downward slide, but they are certainly not alone.  Congregations are seeking to be relevant to the culture for the same reasons that mainline denominations tried—expecting different results.  Instead of focusing on collective ills, the congregations have focused on the personal, offering multiple ways to connect with the local assembly.

We are called to help, but there is a serious flaw in the way the above has been practiced: the root cause is minimized.  Dealing with the symptoms, scant attention is given to the source issue of sin.  Considered the new hymnody of western evangelicalism, Praise & Worship (or contemporary Christian) music gives itself over to personal feelings and experience.  Consider the following first verses from two songs written 150 years apart:

Hallelujah! What a Savior	You’re Beautiful
Phil­ip P. Bliss	Phil Wickham
Man of Sorrows! what a name For the Son of God, who came Ruined sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah! What a Savior!	|   I see Your face in every sunrise |   The colors of the morning are inside Your eyes |   The world awakens in the light of the day |   I look up to the sky and say |   You're beautiful

The differences between them are ever so subtle—not.  While both claim to glory in the Son, the emphases cannot be further apart: the former in a savior, the second in what exactly?  To be fair, both speak of the need for the cross, though in quite different terms:

Guilty, vile, and helpless we; Spotless Lamb of God was He; “Full atonement!” can it be? Hallelujah! What a Savior!

|   I see You there hanging on a tree |   You bled and then you died and then you rose again for me |   Now You are sitting on Your heavenly throne |   Soon we will be coming home |   You're beautiful

The former explicitly conveys our desperate condition and need for rescue, while the latter speaks of a sacrificial act and a reunion, both of which I should appreciation, but what they entail is never given.  We are left with a selfless, humanitarian act, but to what end?  In the final analysis, we can appreciate the effort, but why does it matter ultimately?

This is one example among many methods of communication that can be given.  When presenting the Gospel, we have an obligation to make known the whole truth.  While experiences and outcomes are nice to understand, we should not end there.  Comfort and healing of soul does not come from the outward application of biblical principles.  That comes from believing on God’s promises in Christ Jesus.  In trusting the finality of a full atonement, we rest in the work completely accomplished for each of us.  He died for me, therefore all He gives is mine as well.

Many will say that because we believed once in the the saving work of Christ, we are free to pursue the upward life by through our efforts if we but have enough faith.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  While freed from the law of sin and death, believers carry within them the old man that must be put to death daily.  Only by daily reliance on Christ, on the sure Word of God delivered to us, can the walk of faith be taken much less finished.  The endless appeal to relationships and emotions will produce growth that will wither and die, either through lack of depth or the heat of outward pressure.  Rather than settle for the “feels,” long for and cling to the pure milk of the Word by which you grow and might be part of a crop that produces thirty, sixty, or a hundred-fold.

Ordinary People Used by an Extraordinary God

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.  (Ac 1:8)

To complete his teaching on the book of Acts, our pastor mentioned something he heard from J. D. Greear: the gospel was spread primarily through ordinary people.  In a blog post Greear writes:

Luke goes out his way to show that the biggest advances of the gospel happen through ordinary people.

I know enough about the New Testament to affirm that conclusion.  Consider how unnamed or seldom named men and women from different regions took home the Gospel with them:

• •  Various regions in the Roman empire  (Ac 2:9-11)
• •  Samaria  (Ac 8:4-8)
• •  Ethiopia  (Ac 8:35-39)
• •  Ephesus  (Ac 18:18-21, 19:1)
• •  Central Italy and Rome  (Ac 28:14-15)

Most people look to the work of men like Paul, Silas, Barnabas, etc. as the catalyst for the spread of redemption in Christ; however, as can be seen by the short list, the message went out, not because of the untiring work of the apostles, but rather through common believers engaged in the mundanity of life.  This is remarkable for at least two reasons.

First, fine rhetoric and oratory are unnecessary.  One may or may not be gifted or trained in the finer points of effective communication, but that skill is not required.  The effective witness simply tells of Christ and Him crucified for sin (1 Co 2:1-2, 15:3-4).  Second, the power of the words do not lie within the individual, but within the Word of God (Ro 1:16; He 4:12).  By staying with what Scripture tells of our Lord’s redeeming work in the way it is revealed, the message does its own work, because it is divinely empowered.  It cannot be improved on through "lofty speech wisdom" (1 Co 2:1) in order to win an argument, so much as clearly give a reason for the hope within you (1 Pe 3:14-16).

The spread of the Gospel was effected by ordinary people going about their ordinary lives.  We each do not need to be a trained clergyman or teaching professional to share Christ; nor do we share expecting something wonderful to happen for God in sharing.  We should neither think of the work as out of reach to do, nor dependent on me alone: both attitudes are incorrect.  The work of the Gospel belongs to God alone.  We have the privilege, as His children, to be part of the work and tell forth the saving message of Jesus.  He sends us into our workaday world (i.e., our stations of life or vocations) to make Jesus known from God’s Word in the strength He supplies (1 Pe 4:11-12).

Psalms: Precursor of the Gospel

Though all Scripture is fragrant with God’s grace, the Book of Psalms has a special attractiveness.  Moses wrote the history of Israel’s forefathers in prose, but after leading the people through the Red Sea—a wonder that remained in their memory—he broke into a song of triumph in praise of God when he saw King Pharaoh drowned along with his forces.  His genius soared to a higher level, to match an accomplishment beyond his own powers.  Miriam too raised her timbrel and sang encouragement for the rest of the women, saying: Let us sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; he has cast horse and rider into the sea.

In the Book of Psalms there is profit for all, with healing power for our salvation.  There is instruction from history, teaching from the law, prediction from prophecy, chastisement from denunciation, persuasion from moral preaching.  All who read it may find the cure for their own individual failings.  All with eyes to see can discover in it a complete gymnasium for the soul, a stadium for all the virtues, equipped for every kind of exercise; it is for each to choose the kind he judges best to help him gain the prize.

If you wish to read and imitate the deeds of the past, you will find the whole history of the Israelites in a single psalm: in one short reading you can amass a treasure for the memory.  If you want to study the power of the law, which is summed up in the bond of charity (Whoever loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law), you may read in the psalms of the great love with which one man faced serious dangers singlehandedly in order to remove the shame of the whole people.  You will find the glory of charity more than a match for the parade of power.

What am I to say of the grace of prophecy?  We see that what others hinted at in riddles was promised openly and clearly to the psalmist alone: the Lord Jesus was to be born of his seed, according to the word of the Lord, I will place upon your throne one who is the fruit of your flesh.

In the psalms, then, not only is Jesus born for us, he also undergoes his saving passion in his body, he lies in death, he rises again, he ascends into heaven, he sits at the right hand of the Father.  What no man would have dared to say was foretold by the psalmist alone, and afterward proclaimed by the Lord himself in the Gospel.

Ambrose of Milan, Commentary on Psalm 1

Law and Gospel: Keep Proclaiming Them

I have told the glad news of deliverance
    in the great congregation;
behold, I have not restrained my lips,
    as you know, O Lᴏʀᴅ.
I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;
    I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
    from the great congregation.  (Ps 40:9-10)

It is not God's will that any one should be damned, but that all men should be converted to Him and be saved eternally [2 Peter 3:9].

Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord Gᴏᴅ, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?  (Ezekiel 33:11)

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  (John 3:16)

Out of His immense goodness and mercy, God provides for the public preaching of His divine eternal Law and His wonderful plan concerning our redemption, namely, the holy, alone-saving Gospel of His eternal Son, our only Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.  By this preaching He gathers an eternal Church for Himself from the human race, and works in the hearts of men true repentance and knowledge of sins, and true faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ.  By this means, and in no other way, (i.e., through His holy Word, when men hear it preached or read it, and the holy Sacraments when they are used according to His Word), God desires to call men to eternal salvation, draw them to Himself, and convert, regenerate, and sanctify them.

Formula of Concord II.49-50

The Gospel Goes to All

Paul Receiving the Call to Macedonia

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”  (Acts 1:8)

And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”  And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.  (Acts 16:9-10)

For already had the Lord, according to the preceding words (of the prophet), revealed His Holy One with His arm, that is to say, Christ by His mighty power, in the eyes of the nations, so that all the nations and the utmost parts of the earth have seen the salvation, which was from God.  By thus departing from Judaism itself, when they exchanged the obligations and burdens of the law for the liberty of the gospel, they were fulfilling the psalm, “Let us burst their bonds apart, and cast away their cords from us;” and this indeed (they did) after which “the Gentiles raged, and the peoples plot in vain;” after which “the kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Anointed.”*… Now the Greek letter Tau and our own letter T is the very form of the cross, which He predicted would be the sign on our foreheads in the true catholic Jerusalem, in which, according to the twenty-[second] Psalm, the brethren of Christ or children of God would ascribe glory to God the Father, in the person of Christ Himself addressing His Father; “I will tell of Your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise You.”  For that which had to come to pass in our day in His name, and by His Spirit, He rightly foretold would be of Him.  And a little afterwards He says: “From You comes my praise in the great congregation.”†  In the sixty-[eighth] Psalm He says again: “Bless God in the congregation.”‡  So that with this agrees also the prophecy of Malachi: “I have no pleasure in you, says the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand.  For from the rising of the sun to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to My name, and a pure offering”§—such as the ascription of glory, and blessing, and praise, and hymns.

Tertullian, Against Marcion 3.22

*  Psalm 2:2-3; Acts 4:25-30
†  Psalm 22:22, 25
‡  Psalm 68:26
§  Malachi 1:10-11

Special Delivery

From 1885 to 1997, the U.S. Postal Service offered Special Delivery for mailed items.  When a posted item arrived at the destination office, it would immediately be sent by courier to the intended recipient.  This special service cost extra and would generally be reserved for items of great import deemed to require great care for a prompt, safe delivery.  The item would be received with due regard and acted on accordingly.

In ancient Israel, the prophet Isaiah painted a similar picture: a message was being delivered and needed attention:

How beautiful upon the mountains
    are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
    who publishes salvation,
    who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”  (Isa 52:7)

The God who the nation had forsaken now was delivering the wonderful message of salvation. Isaiah, as the courier of this communiqué, had news that could scarcely be conceived, much less brought to pass: the Servant of the Lord was coming willingly to bear the sin of the world.  All our transgressions were laid on Him (Isa 52:13-53:12).  Now all the world could rejoice by turning to the Lord and entering into the blessings promised through Abraham (Isa 54-55).  The centuries of promise would be realized in Jesus’ atoning sacrifice.

After the Servant had paid the price for all sin, a Pharisee was chosen by the Lord to carry this message beyond the borders of Israel to the Gentiles.  Paul delivered the glories of what God’s Messiah had accomplished on their behalf to deal with sin:

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.  (1 Cor 15:3-5)

Pagans, who were without hope in the world, now had access to the throne of grace through as their Intercessor stood before the Father on their behalf.  And if this was not sufficient, Paul delivered a pattern for approaching and worshiping this God that they had not known.

Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you.… For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you.  Do this in remembrance of me.”  In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.  Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” (1 Cor 11:2, 23-24)

This message of the gospel, Christ crucified, was the center of all that Paul proclaimed as he reasoned with men and women of their sin and need of the Savior.  All that the scriptures had described, typified, and prophesied was brought together in Christ.  It was this body of faith which was handed to the new believers and entrusted to faithful men to pass on to others (2 Tim 2:1-2).  The same message was delivered in every place: each city received the same message, the same body of teaching.  It was this truth and foundation on which believers rested as authoritative as having coming from God Himself.

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.  (Jude 1:3)

What had been received through the apostles was recognized as certain, being established on the promises given through Moses and the prophets and fulfilled in Jesus.  There is no alternative truth concerning man’s sin or need of redemption.  To turn from or ignore the apostolic witness freely and gladly delivered is to turn from the Lord of Glory and to spit on His immeasurable gift wrought through the shedding of most precious blood:

For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.  (2 Pet 2:21)

Those who turn away are doomed to everlasting destruction, because they refuse the most wonderful of gifts.  Good news has been delivered via special delivery: God Himself delivered the message by taking on human nature, guaranteed it by delivering Himself up, and gave his apostles charge to continue the proclamation and teaching.

What a blessing we have to tell others this specially delivered news.

The Message Is Simple and Clear

What is the Gospel?  We quickly answer: It is the good news of salvation, the glad tidings of the gracious remission of sin through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. – The center of all Gospel preaching is Christ, as Paul testifies, “I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”  Since the days of the Apostles there has been no other preaching by which the Church was built and spread in the world, by which sinners were converted to God and brought into the blessed fold of Christ, but alone by the preaching of this Gospel.  In the Gospel God meets the sinner and offers him His hand of reconciliation, His free grace and mercy, the full forgiveness of all his sins, the life and salvation which Christ has merited. – When Christ our dear Savior died on the cross and exclaimed, “It is finished,” He had then finished the work of redemption for the entire sinner-world.  Through the resurrection of Christ, God declared that He has accepted Christ’s work of redeeming the sinful world.  Therefore, Christ’s resurrection is God’s declaration of the justification of the entire world of sinners, according to Rom. 4:25, “Who was delivered for our 0ffenses, and was raised again for our justification.”

Christopher Heidenreich, sermon delivered December 15, 1901

Law and Gospel from Elihu the Buzite

White Horse Inn is doing a short series on the gospel in Job.  The latest podcast took up Elihu’s response to Job and his three friends.  Elihu has been listening patiently and attentively hoping to to find wisdom in the conversation of the older men.  Job has been pleading his cause: no intentional unrighteousness has been committed:

Surely you have spoken in my ears,
        and I have heard the sound of your words.
You say, “I am pure, without transgression;
        I am clean, and there is no iniquity in me.
Behold, he finds occasions against me,
        he counts me as his enemy,
he puts my feet in the stocks
        and watches all my paths.”  (Job 33:8-11)

Elihu rebuts with a weighty blow:

Behold, in this you are not right.  I will answer you,
        for God is greater than man.
Why do you contend against him,
        saying, “He will answer none of man’s words”?
For God speaks in one way,
        and in two, though man does not perceive it.
In a dream, in a vision of the night,
        when deep sleep falls on men,
        while they slumber on their beds,
then he opens the ears of men
        and terrifies them with warnings,
that he may turn man aside from his deed
        and conceal pride from a man;
he keeps back his soul from the pit,
        his life from perishing by the sword.  (Job 33:12-18)

Elihu reminds Job that God is responding but in a way he is not recognizing.  Though Job may not have committed intentional sin, he is still guilty as a member of the human race.  God has been making himself known.  His holy requirements are ever before them in the everyday affairs of life.  In abundant mercy, God restrains the intentions of mankind’s sinful, self-destructive ways lest a worse calamity befall.  He sends continual reminders of the vast expanse between holy Creator and fallen created.  Still men fail to comprehend the message and has not learned what David wrote: I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you” (Psa 16:2).

As in Job’s case, there are those times when someone is faced with suffering, and death seems certain.  Even then the Lord is extending his grace, and much more than any has considered possible.

Man is also rebuked with pain on his bed
        and with continual strife in his bones,
so that his life loathes bread,
        and his appetite the choicest food.
His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen,
        and his bones that were not seen stick out.
His soul draws near the pit,
        and his life to those who bring death.
If there be for him an angel,
        a mediator, one of the thousand,
        to declare to man what is right for him,
and he is merciful to him, and says,
        “Deliver him from going down into the pit;
        I have found a ransom;
let his flesh become fresh with youth;
        let him return to the days of his youthful vigor”;
then man prays to God, and he accepts him;
        he sees his face with a shout of joy,
and he restores to man his righteousness.
        He sings before men and says:
“I sinned and perverted what was right,
        and it was not repaid to me.
He has redeemed my soul from going down into the pit,
        and my life shall look upon the light.” (Job 33:19-28)

“If there be for him an angel, a mediator”—this is the very one for whom Job had sought, yet beyond his imaginings.  This one is sent from God, not to “argue the case of a man with God, as a son of man does with his neighbor” (Job 16:21), but to declare mercy and grace.  That mediator would declare deliverance based on a ransom with the end result that the person is restored better than from where he had fallen.  His righteousness and relationship to the Lord can be restored, and there will be fullness of joy in recounting his wicked, sinful condition that was due punishment but received overflowing mercy and grace.  All this he brings it to pass to bring sinners to himself.

Behold, God does all these things,
        twice, three times, with a man,
to bring back his soul from the pit,
        that he may be lighted with the light of life.  (Job 33:29-30)

The above tale is not a fanciful scenario painted by Elihu to encourage Job, but is a plan organized and implemented by the Lord of Glory himself.  Our mediator, Jesus Christ, was purposefully sent to redeem a people:

This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.  (Acts 2:23)

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.  (Gal 4:4-5)

All this because of his love for us.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.  (John 3:16-17)

Law Gives a Glimpse of Duty; Gospel Gives Fullness of Done

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.  For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?  It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.  (Heb 2:1-4)

The ministry of angels was involved in the first giving of the Law, whereas in this case the Lord in person was first to propose the saving teaching, and those who were in receipt of the apostolic grace welcomed it.  While the Law gives us a glimpse of what has to be done, the Lord's teaching is the source of eternal salvation.

Now, since Moses also employed wonder-working, it was necessary for [the author] to show the superiority of grace in this respect, too.  In this case, it was not only the Lord who worked wonders but also his divine disciples and their successors.  He also showed the New Covenant to be resplendent with spiritual gifts: of old the inspired authors alone shared in the spiritual bounty, whereas now all the believers enjoy this grace.

While he said this to encourage them to give heed to the divine teaching more zealously, he brought out the difference between the former and the latter under guise of exhortation.  It was very wise of him to say God witnesses to the message through miracles.  The demonstration is beyond question, and the reliability of the witness indisputable.

Theodoret of Cyrus, “The Epistle to the Hebrews”

Only Sinners Can Be Saved

But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!" (Luke 18:13)

Thus although the message of the Gospel is universal, only those who believe in Christ become active sharers of the goods promised and offered in the Gospel; serious contrition comes before this faith and its handmaid is good works.  Thus they who are influenced by no feeling and hatred of sin but go on in sin securely and yet still have the conviction that the Gospel promises belong to them commit a kind of sacrilege.  About these someone might, and not without merit, declare that the Gospel is preached as a witness against them.  This is a very shameful abuse of the Gospel in these last times of the world.  Alas! This attitude is so strong that almost all hope for a remedy has been removed, although all Scripture declares the Gospel message pertains only to those who experience true repentance, who grieve steadfastly over their sins, and seek anxiously to be freed from them.

• Those who are well have no need for a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. (Matt. 9:12; Mark 2:17; Luke 5:31)
• The poor have the Gospel preached to them. (Matt. 11:5).
• Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matt. 11:28)

Thus John the Baptist, Christ, and the apostles always gave the message of repentance before they preached the Gospel.  Christ does not enter into people’s hearts through the grace of the Gospel unless John first prepares the way for Him through repentance.  God does not pour out the oil of His mercy except into a contrite vessel.

Johann Gerhard, On the Gospel

Keep Giving Me Christ Crucified

For the under-shepherds of Christ's sheep performing their duties while dealing with their own flaws—the vestiges of the sin nature—I pass along this encouragement found at Ad Crucem to remain faithful in service according to God's word.

So, pastor, I plead.  In the middle of all the noise and thankless underpaid chaos that your life can be, give me forgiveness.  Give me the Gospel.  Give me Christ.  I can not tell you it will make your life any easier or even that I will complain any less about carpet color.  But I need it.  And I think you do too.  So give me Christ.  Tell me of the splendor of a king dying a criminal’s death being the best news I have ever heard.  Do not worry about boring me with repeating it: just keep building it up.  Let me sing of mercy shed on me, let me hear the words, "given for you."  Help me fix my eyes on Christ.

And since I may forget later, thank you for doing the often thankless job of preaching Christ crucified for sinners, a stumbling block to Jews, folly to Greeks, and the aroma of death to those who are perishing—but to us life, hope, and peace.

Eating from the Right Tree

So it was necessary that the Word became flesh and lived among us, that He might overcome Satan by the tree of the cross as Satan once overcame man by a tree.  This Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, has dressed us in His righteousness by calling us through the word of the Gospel.…  That Gospel word proclaims Christ as the Tree of Life whose leaves are for the healing of the nations.…  The fruit of this Tree removes the curse from the sons of Adam.  The Holy Spirit has called us into faith by that blessed Gospel of the crucified Lord, that believing in this Word we may eat from the Tree of Life and never die.

Karl Fabrizius, Gottesdienst, 20.4, p. 20

These Shoes Were Made for Walking

Courtesy of The Sacred Sandwich

For the secular contest men are trained and prepared, and reckon it a great glory of their honor if it should happen to them to be crowned in the sight of the people, and in the presence of the emperor.  Behold a lofty and great contest, glorious also with the reward of a heavenly crown, inasmuch as God looks upon us as we struggle, and, extending His view over those whom He has condescended to make His sons, He enjoys the spectacle of our contest.  God looks upon us in the warfare, and fighting in the encounter of faith; His angels look on us, and Christ looks on us.  How great is the dignity, and how great the happiness of the glory, to engage in the presence of God, and to be crowned, with Christ for a judge!  Let us be armed, beloved brethren, with our whole strength, and let us be prepared for the struggle with an uncorrupted mind, with a sound faith, with a devoted courage.

Cyprian, To the People of Thibaris, Exhorting to Martyrdom, Epistle 55.8

Real Problem, Real Solution

Jesus' account of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-35) is rather well-known among church attenders, but how often have we stopped to analyze what it was that condemned the rich man to Hades?  Of course there was sin, but what in the account points at the real issue?  What can be pointed to as the key factor?

One possibility is that the man's riches may have been accumulated through ill-gotten means as Zacchaeus freely admitted (Luke 19:8).  This is a possibility, but we no nothing of the man's occupation or his ancestry, since it could have been largely inherited.  And any act of outright theft would have been brought to justice.

Some would say the sin was the very accumulation of wealth.  This view says that everyone should share alike regardless of who produces or accumulates wealth, and doing so hurts the poor—the very thing God-fearing people are not to do.  Yet the Bible does not say that wealth is a sin, but the love of it (1 Tim 6:10).  We are not told in the text that he loved his money, only that he lived in luxury.

Others will say he was living too well and was probably displaying his wealth for prestige in the community or to influence others.  And yet the account says nothing of intent, only that he spent money on himself, which could be a sign of coveting, but we know he allowed Lazarus to beg at his gate, showing a measure of compassion.

While any of these are possibilities for the rich man's condemnation, the truth does not manifest itself until almost the end.  Both men find themselves beyond the grave, now experiencing the fruit of their lives on earth.  The rich man cries out for relief and is guaranteed by Abraham none is forthcoming.  Changing tactics, he pleads for his brothers so they do not meet the same fate and is rebuffed: "They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them."

And now we come to the rich man's core problem.  What does he say?  "No!  Your word is not good enough."  Imagine that.  The word that called into being all things (Rom 4:17), the word that will not return void but will accomplish all that is purposed (Isa 55:11), the word that is living and abiding (1 Pet 1:23); the word that is living and active (Heb 4:12), that word is deemed incapable of turning a man to repentance.

What does the rich man ask for instead?  What is his solution?  It is a familiar one commonly used today—a gimmick and testimony.  The thought is that if something impacts the senses and sensibilities of an audience, then they will be moved to turn from their ways, but this tactic relies on man's manipulation of another man to be effective and cannot last being based on temporal, subjective experiences.  American Evangelicals have a propensity for this tactic.  Not trusting God to do what he promised, men and women dress up or disguise the gospel with features so that the substance is never considered, only the externals.

The true and correct means to bring men to repentance remains the word of God.  That word that is living and active came into this world and put on flesh and blood (John 1:1-14).  It is that word who was put to death and was raised and now is the sole power of God unto salvation (Rom 1:16).


My thanks to Brian Wolfmueller whose sermon of 6 Jun 2010 gave me the idea for this post.

Trying to Fix What's Not Broken

There is an opinion piece by Michael Brooks at The Christian Post entitled "Does the Gospel Need Innovation?"  Americans love to tinker—even (or especially) with the gospel.  I recommend the read.  Here is the summary paragraph:

Just because the Gospel's message is something many, even the revisionists, do not want to hear or buy-into, does not mean it lacks relevance.  Relevance is not always determined by pragmatic efficiency, or driven by wants of the masses.  Sometimes it is determined by the efficacy of truth contained.  While this may be lost on an age craving for something new and innovative at every turn, its purveyor must remain committed.  The Gospel does not need innovation.  Rather, humanity needs realignment, and the Church needs to reevaluate its commitment to promoting such ends, instead of innovating a product devoid of defect.

Are Christians the Antibody or the Contagion?

Bill Muehlenberg has written a good piece reminding Christians of how the world responds to Christ and his church.  He rightly reminds us that by virtue of believing and obeying the gospel we cause trouble because the world does not want to hear it, but most Christians go out of their way to dispel any confrontation with the world system.  He relates this biblical example that includes a great quote from J. M. Boice that explains how the apostle Paul and the early church were viewed.

In Acts 24 we read about Paul’s trial before Felix. In the opening five verses we finding this amazing discussion: “Five days later the high priest Ananias went down to Caesarea with some of the elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, and they brought their charges against Paul before the governor When Paul was called in, Tertullus presented his case before Felix: ‘We have enjoyed a long period of peace under you, and your foresight has brought about reforms in this nation.  Everywhere and in every way, most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with profound gratitude. But in order not to weary you further, I would request that you be kind enough to hear us briefly.  We have found this man to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world’.”

Everything there was nice and quiet, until this Christian troublemaker came along.  And he seemed to have the habit of causing riots wherever he went!  Even if we understand that this is not exactly a friendly witness giving testimony here, there is nonetheless heaps of truth here.

The unbelieving world could only see trouble when they encountered the followers of Jesus. Wherever they went they seemed to stir up trouble–even causing actual riots on a number of occasions.  But Paul and the disciples of Jesus must of necessity be seen as troublemakers, because of their revolutionary message.

I like what James Montgomery Boice has to say about this: “A literal translation of ‘troublemaker’ would be ‘pest,’ but it was stronger than what pest usually means for us today.  For us ‘pest’ usually means a nuisance.  But in earlier days of the English language, ‘pest’ meant ‘plague,’ an idea that we preserve in the stronger but somewhat archaic word ‘pestilence.’  What they were saying was that Paul was a plague of mammoth proportions.  He was an infectious disease.  He spread contagion.  Tertullus was suggesting that if Paul were set free, he would spread turmoil, disorder, and maybe even rebellion throughout the empire.

“This was the charge the Jewish rulers had brought against Jesus Christ at the time of his trial, and for the same reasons.  They knew that the Romans were not interested in religious matters but were intensely concerned about anything that might stir up trouble.  Before Pilate the Jews accused Jesus of making himself a king to rival Caesar, and here before Felix they accused Paul of causing turmoil.”

The question to answer is clear: are you considered a plague for spreading the truth and light of Christ, or are you trying to "live and let live" between the church and the world?

What Is Your Local Church Proclaiming?

Larry Peters had a post on his blog that was rather good, but today it is gone.  Thankfully, I saved a copy.  Here is what I consider the meaty part.

For too many years we have been told to share our faith.  Our faith is not what our Lord calls us to share.  Our faith cannot be replicated either by action, reason, or argument.  We are not here to convince people by our faith to believe as we believe.  What we are called to share is the Word of God.  We are here to scatter the seed of the Word—in words and in actions.  It seems to me the problems in our church body stem less from people not getting out there than from a severe lack of confidence in the Word of God to do what God promises it will do.

We share about everything but the Word.  We host all sorts of self-interest groups.  We cater to a variety of tastes in music and worship.  We have Bible studies for those who want to listen and those who want to talk, for those who seek THE truth and those who are looking for MY truth.  We organize groups for people by age, interest, marital status, hobby, and need.  We have parking and handicap accessibility.  We have buildings that look like the mall and come complete with all the amenities.  What we lack is the courage and conviction to speak clearly and with confidence the Word of the Lord.  Jesus promises that where that Word is scattered, the Lord will bring forth the plant, the fruit, and gather the harvest (at the proper time).  But we have turned the scattering into a business proposition in which we market what we were called to preach and we preach everything people want to hear but that which the Lord has given us to say.

It would seem to me that the biggest problem we have in growing the Church is that we are too focused on the things we do and not focused enough on what God does.  We say over and over again the Word will not return to Him empty but will accomplish His purpose.  Then we adapt worship to fit personal taste and make our preaching and teaching fit the prevailing norms of communication technology.  We cast visions like seasoned fly fishermen and have professional missionals minding the business goals and keeping up the current stats.  But I am not so sure we actually speak clearly and faithfully the Word of the Lord—or if we do, whether that is central to what we do and who we are.

If there is a common malady affecting congregations, it is not getting out into the community but getting the Word out into the community.  All in all it does no matter how well known we are if we have nothing to say to those folks who know us.  It is not our caring that will save them or our winsome welcome but the Word spoken with courage, confidence, and conviction.  We do not need to see the results to know that God is at work when the words and deeds of His people proceed from and return to the message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Bread in a Desolate Place

I am reading the current issue of Gottesdienst and have enjoyed a sermon written on Mark 8:1-9 by Pastor Larry Beane II of Gretna, LA, using as the opening text: "How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?" (v. 4)

In summary, he tells how this world is a desolate place because of sin, and only through Jesus' coming into this world can we hope for nourishment unto eternal life.

For the Lord Jesus Christ came to our desert, to be born among sinners, to be worshiped by sinners, to be baptized like a sinner, to be tempted by the devil in the stead of sinners, to be crucified for us poor, miserable sinners, to rise from the grave as a victory on behalf of sinners—all to save sinners.

And as Jesus preaches to sinners in the desolate place, He does something else for sinners. Moved by “compassion on the crowd” (v. 2), He offers them a different kind of bread. “Having given thanks, he broke [the pieces of bread] and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd” (v. 6).

He then ends with:

Our fainting flesh is infused with satisfaction in body and soul by means of the forgiveness of the cross, the satisfaction of the Lord’s blood, the sharing in the Lord’s body, the miraculous work of the Spirit in the Word—bringing us to a garden of life that has no end!

To the question, How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place? we have the answer, dear friends: the bread of life come down from heaven!  In Christ’s work, in Christ’s Word, in Christ's Sacraments, in Christ’s recreation of the world anew as a garden of life, and in Christ’s Communion that we share in this miraculous bread that is for us, a feast that never ends!

Thanks be to God, now and forever!  Amen.

What a glorious thought to know Christ is our satisfaction both here and eternally!

Replacing the Gospel with Life Skills

Pastor Larry Peters has posted on obesity and how preachers have wrongly replaced the message of Christ's redemptive work with life-skill tips.  Here is a portion:

My concern with the health craze is that when the Church takes up a cause, it becomes a spiritual cause, a cause of the Gospel. Living healthy is a good thing.  Losing excess weight is a good thing. But that is not why Jesus came into the world.  Your BMI is not what will get you in or keep you out of the kingdom of God.  I worry when causes, even noble and good causes, become associated with the Gospel in such way that the very word Gospel becomes diluted and its focus made more fuzzy.  It is diluted and fuzzy enough.  We don't need to help it along in that direction.  We have got some preachers preaching about sex lives and calling it Gospel, and now we have preachers preaching about weight loss and healthy living and calling it Gospel.  Everyone who takes up a cause, no matter how noble or good, and calls it Gospel, ends up diluting, confusing, and distorting the real Gospel.

His thesis is that the church needs to remain focused on its mission of making disciples and not get off track into these other areas.  From whom else will you hear the gospel but from a representative of Christ's church?

One Gospel, All of Grace

As Paul wrote to the believers in Galatia of his work in the gospel, he wanted to impress that the message he and Barnabas preached from Antioch was the same as that preached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem.  He retells an occasion (Gal 2:1-10) when the Lord had revealed that he, Barnabas, and Titus should make the trip to Jerusalem and meet with the church leaders explaining the work among the Gentiles.

This act would benefit both the church in Antioch and Jerusalem.  Paul and Barnabas could tell firsthand how the gospel was being delivered and what was being required of the Gentiles concerning the Law.  The Jerusalem leaders could readily give their acknowledgment for the work and fruit of the labor.  Titus was the example of how a Greek could receive and abide in salvation wholly of grace, apart from circumcision or other works of Law.  Even when false brethren had made their way into the church seeking to require adherence to Moses, Paul and Barnabas stood firm.

They met quietly with James, Peter, and John who noticed immediately the grace going forth from Paul's teaching and sealed the fellowship.  The work being accomplished was validated. Both churches had clear mandates concerning the gospel, and this meeting acknowledged the ministries as being undertaken by co-laborers in different fields of service.

I do not see this passage as a blueprint for how to resolve conflict between Christians.  There is no hint animosity on either side.  Tension might be expected on a human level from Jerusalem: it was the "mother church," some of the original apostles were still in the city, and Jesus' half-brother was an elder.  On the other hand, Antioch was a growing work with the giftedness of Paul and his companions.  This was where things were happening.  Yet there is neither jealousy nor fear circulating between the two churches.  They affirmed the same gospel was going forth from both locations to the glory of God.  His people were of one mind.  Only those of the evil one had wrongly crept in and sowed discord.  Rather this passage is a testament of the gospel of grace manifesting that

There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all (Eph 4:4-6).