poolsandpastures
Thoughts on the Gospel, Life, and Ministry
The Prayer God Will Always Answer
During our adult Sunday School class this past Sunday, our congregation studied Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer from Luke 11:1-13. Jesus taught his disciples how to pray by his example and his words.
Luke referred to Jesus’s normal practice of praying alone more than all the other gospel writers. After one of his private times of prayer, Jesus’s disciples ask him to teach them to pray. Interestingly, they don’t ask him to teach them to pray as he prays. Rather, they ask him to teach them to pray like John the Baptist taught his disciples to pray. I think they did this for two reasons. First, they knew Jesus had a unique relationship with His Heavenly Father that they couldn’t mimic. Second, they wanted practical lessons on how they are to pray. They wanted to pray but didn’t feel confident doing it because they believed that they didn’t know how to do it. So, Jesus taught them.
The most intriguing part of Jesus’s instruction on prayer as Luke records it is verse 13 where Jesus says, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
To understand the first clause of this conditional statement — If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children…, we have to understand that Jesus is referring to two illustrations he used in verses 11 and 12. There he taught, “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?” No human father, who has the good of his son or his daughter in mind, would give his son or his daughter something harmful instead of something good. If they need a fish to eat, he’s not going to give them a snake. If they need an egg, he’s not going to give them a scorpion. Being good to your children is intuitive and expected even for sinful men and women. Jesus’s point is simple: if this is true for us, how much truer is it for our Heavenly Father who is inherently and perfectly good?
Jesus takes this spiritual truth and applies it in a specific way at the end of this verse by teaching that our Heavenly Father will not withhold His Holy Spirit from those who ask for Him. Our temptation when reading Jesus’s teaching on prayer, often, is to think God is binding himself to give us everything we ever ask for from him. For instance, Jesus says in Luke 11:9-10 that we will receive that for which we ask, that we will find that which we seek, and the doors upon which we knock will be opened. Is Jesus saying that we will get everything for which we long? No, he is not. God is far wiser than we are and has better plans for us than we could ever imagine. Sometimes he must tell us no for our own good.
What did Jesus mean, then, since he clearly taught that “everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks the door will be opened?” The answer is found in the promise that Father will never withhold His Spirit from those who ask him. Our greatest need in this life is to have the anointing and guidance of the Holy Spirit as we seek to fulfill God’s call to be faithful to Him in our lives. Thankfully, our Father will always meet that need. He will never withhold the Holy Spirit from us, and He will guide us in our prayers. He will enlighten us to our real needs and teach us to prioritize our requests to God as we pray. The more we grow in our relationship with God in Christ through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, our prayers will specifically target our actual needs, which we know God is sure to meet. So, maturing in the faith means we leave behind the broad, materialistic, and human-centric prayers of our youth and learn to make specific, spiritually alive, and God-honoring requests of our good and gracious God. That’s the beauty of Jesus’s model prayer.
“Father, hollowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive our sins.
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.”
May you all be blessed in Christ and may God be pleased to pour His Spirit out upon you as you ask for Him. May he also teach you to pray in the same manner that Jesus taught His disciples while on earth.
A Prayerful Response to an All Too Familiar Reality
This post was originally sent to the members of Chester ARP Church as a pastoral letter written in response to the tragic school shooting in Nashville, TN on March 27, 2023.
Like most of you, I watched the news in horror Monday evening as the reports came streaming in from the most recent school shooting in our country. Sadly, these kinds of reports have become all too familiar to us.
I remember standing in the lobby of Burgaw Hall on the NC State Campus as the news from Columbine High School was reported in 1999. I was shocked that someone would open fire in a school. But that was then. In the 24 years since Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold murdered 15 of their classmates and injured another 24, we have seen over 350 more active shooter situations on our K-12 school and college campuses. That is staggering.
Thankfully, most of those situations have not ended in mass casualties. However, that does not mean that the collective numbers of those shooters’ victims are insignificant. One report following the May 2022 incident at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX indicated that at that time 554 children, educators, and school staff had been victims of gun violence on school grounds since 1999. The same report went on to say that 311,000 students have been exposed to gun violence in its various forms while at school during the same time frame. There have been an additional 23 people killed or injured while on school grounds in 2023 alone. This is simply unacceptable for a civilized nation. We have a problem.
Admittedly, the news from the Covenant School hits me differently. The Covenant School is a ministry of the Covenant Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Nashville, TN. One of the children killed Monday is the 9-year-old daughter of the congregation’s lead pastor, Chad Scruggs. I’m sure you are already connecting the dots. I am a pastor whose kids attend a Christian school. One of mine is also 9. Patti and I can’t begin to imagine the pain and confusion that Pastor Scruggs and his family are enduring today.
The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is a sister denomination of the ARP with whom we have an extremely close relationship. I have spoken with several ministers in the PCA since Monday and they are all hurting for the families who lost loved ones in the tragic shooting and for the Covenant congregation as well. You can certainly imagine how we would rally to the aid of our brothers and sisters if this had happened to an ARP congregation. In the community of God, we can rally to the good people of Covenant Presbyterian’s aid in prayer as well.
Inevitably, there will be many solutions offered to our ongoing crisis with gun violence. I do not profess to have any of those. I do not understand the ins and outs of policing, school safety policy, or what may or may not be reasonable gun control legislation. I will leave those discussions to the people who are equipped to evaluate our current cultural and legislative moment and make decisions moving forward. I will, however, commit myself to praying for the families of these most recent victims of gun violence as well as the hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children who are impacted by gun violence regularly. I read one telling statistic yesterday that claims that 59% of Americans have experienced gun violence (including suicide by firearm) or know someone closely who has experienced it. That’s 6 out of every 10 of you reading this letter!
God promises to hear our prayers and answer them. He heals the broken-hearted and comforts the grieving. He also moves among the nations to establish righteousness and justice among men. We must pray to that end.
Join me, if you will, in bringing the following requests before our God.
- That He will comfort and heal the victims of gun violence and their families who may be mourning the loss of a loved one.
- That He would protect our children, their teachers, and other school staff members while they attend school each day.
- That He will provide clarity for school administrators who are constantly reevaluating their preparedness in the case of an active shooter incident.
- That He will grant courage to the brave men and women of law enforcement and other first responding agencies as they work on their readiness to respond when called upon in these situations. (Thankfully, he already answered it in Nashville.)
- That He will revive our society’s sense of the sanctity of human life. Human life is priceless and must be protected by all.
- That He will bestow wisdom on our legislators and their advisors as they consider potential actions that may or may not be necessary for us to move forward.
- That He will send his Spirit of revival into the hearts of men, women, and children and draw us to himself in his grace through Christ, our Lord.
As we pray, we should also be willing to take practical steps to improve the safety of our communities and schools. Let’s secure our weapons, practice proper gun safety and teach our children and grandchildren to do the same, advocate for good mental health, and collaborate with people from different backgrounds and perspectives to address our ongoing crisis with gun violence. The number one cause for death among our children should not be “death by firearm.”
May our Lord be pleased to hear our prayers, protect our children, and heal our land.
A Life of Decreasing
Friends,
In our study of John’s gospel on Sunday mornings we’ll jump over some interesting stories in order to hit the highlights. We simply don’t have the time to go verse by verse.
One of those stories we’ll skip is found in verses 22-36 of chapter 3. In these verses, “John the Baptist exalts Christ.” Interestingly, Jesus and John the Baptist were in the wilderness baptizing men and women within eyesight of one another. John’s baptism was one of repentance and preparation for Jesus’s coming into the world. Jesus’s baptism was one of repentance and faith in himself. John pointed to Jesus in his words and baptism. Jesus drew people to himself. They both were of God but had radically different purposes. You may remember that John “was sent from God” and “as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through His testimony” (John 1:6-7).
While the two men were baptizing people John’s crowd got smaller and Jesus’s grew larger. The townspeople were no longer going to see John to be baptized; they went to see Jesus. Why wouldn’t they? Why would they remain with a prophet when the Lord was present? They wouldn’t because it doesn’t make sense. When John’s disciples asked Jesus later in his ministry why his disciples didn’t fast like they and the Pharisees did, he answered “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?” It’s time to celebrate when the bridegroom is present for his wedding.
There were some men, though, who remained loyal to John. He was their ride or die. Their problem, however, is that they failed to see that John wasn’t interested in keeping disciples for himself. He wanted everyone to follow Jesus because he knew that Jesus was “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (1:29) and the one who “came from heaven” and is “above all” (3:31-32). In fact, John had no problem admitting that he was not the Christ. He reminded his disciples of their experiences with him when he said, “You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him'” (3:28). John was simply doing his job and wasn’t bothered by his decreasing ministry and Jesus’s growing one. That’s the way it was supposed to work.
One of my friends, Bob Elliott, told me once that his favorite verse in John’s Gospel related to his own life is John 3:30 — “He must increase, but I must decrease.” John the Baptist made this statement in reference to his own life and ministry. it was his desire and pleasure (3:29) to decrease so that Jesus could be exalted. John wasn’t “in the game” for himself. He wanted Jesus and his fame to grow. He wanted those who came to hear him preach and be baptized, including his disciples, to place their faith in Jesus, “the true light which enlightens everyone” (1:9).
I think Bob’s perspective on John 3:30 is both healthy and inspiring. Like John, all of us have been called to be witnesses to Jesus and his glory. We are to point others to him in our words, actions, and commitments. We should always be pointing to Jesus saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” And, we must always pursue a life of humility that enables us to decrease while he increases. May God be pleased to work in and through us to elevate Jesus.
In Christ,
Clint
Embracing the New Year
Friends,
It’s January 4, 2023! It’s a new year.
I’ve always liked the transition from one year to another. It brings a sense of change. The old is gone — 2022 — and the new has come — 2023. It’s a time for fresh starts, new routines, a new set of goals to accomplish. And, for an optimist like me, it’s a welcomed relief.
Now, we all know that the past doesn’t go away. Most, if not all of the challenges we faced in the previous year stick with us. They follow us into the new year. Our health scares are still with us. Our tense family relationships are still here. Our vices still pull on us. And, the consequences of our sin must still be dealt with. However, 2023 brings an opportunity to us — an opportunity for change, for growth, for forgiveness, for repentance, for maturity, for disciplined lives. We don’t have to be trapped by our pasts, whether they are good or bad. We can change. First, by the grace of God. Second, by faith and repentance. Third, by choices and behaviors. This is what makes New Year’s Resolutions so popular around the globe (a practice that some historians argue goes back to the ancient Babylonians).
The more cynical of us will say, “What’s the point in making New Year’s Resolutions if I’m just going to break them in six weeks?” We’ve all been there. We’ve all started strong on a new health routine, a plan for spiritual growth, or a determination to break a bad habit. My gym will be packed for the next 6-8 weeks with all those who have determined that 2023 is the year that they’re going to drop that pesky 10-20 pounds and get in better shape. By March, a significant percentage of them will stop coming and I’ll be able to use the machines and weights at my normal leisurely pace. But, does that failure to establish a new lasting habit mean that they wasted their time in January and February? No. if nothing else, they got two good months of exercise that they wouldn’t have had they not made the New Year’s resolution to start going to the gym. Those two months were better than nothing.
As you can tell, I’m a big fan of New Year’s resolutions. I think they are good for our overall health and lifestyles. For example, this year, I want to be more present with my family and our congregation, so I have logged off social media. It drains my energy and traps me to my phone as I’m constantly checking to see what the latest political or theological battle is taking place on twitter, or what kind of silliness I can find to numb my brain on Instagram reels. Also, as a family, we want to be more encouraging and grateful of each other and other people, so we have committed to writing more notes and sending more appreciative text messages.
I think the key to a good New Year’s resolution is to take a positive instead of a negative approach. Often we think negative things that we want to change about ourselves because we don’t like them. However, that approach is not beneficial to long-term change. It’s far better to settle on a version of who you or your family wants to be and then make the changes to become that person or family. A common example is: instead of saying, “I want to lose 20 lbs because I don’t like the size that I am now,” say, “I want to be healthier physically so I will get serious about having a better diet and being more active with the goal of dropping 20 lbs.” That way you have a goal to work toward without getting discouraged if you don’t achieve it quickly. The same is true for our spiritual and mental growth too.
So, I ask you, “Who do you want to be moving forward? What do you need to change in order to become the man, woman, or family that God has called you to be for his glory?” Prayerfully determine that and then make the necessary changes in your life while relying on the grace of God and his strength to change you from the inside out.
Have a great new year!
In Christ,
Clint
Be An Encourager by Faith
Friends,
One of my favorite characters in the Bible is Barnabas. In Acts, Luke tells us that he was an early convert to Christianity who came from a rich Jewish heritage. He was also one of the most generous members of the early Church. However, his encouraging spirit is the best reason for which he is remembered, for his name means, “Son of Encouragement.”
Acts 9:26-27 reads, “And when he (Paul) had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him (Paul) and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus.”
Every time I read these verses, I’m struck by how instrumental Barnabas was in bringing Paul into fellowship with the other Apostles. Barnabas stood in the gap for Paul by testifying to his conversion, his initial gospel work, and his defense of the faith against the Hellenists (Acts 9:28-29). Without him, becoming a member of the small and skeptical band would have been much more difficult for Paul, if it was possible at all. They were scared of Paul, and rightly so. He was the one who had violently persecuted the earliest christians and oversaw the stoning of Stephen. How would they know he wasn’t trying to join them so that he could destroy the Christian Church before she ever got started? Barnabas’s testimony provided the necessary proof of Paul’s life-change.
Three aspects of Barnabas’s character stand out to me when I think about his story. First, he had a solid faith in our sovereign God. His faith caused him to believe that Paul could be changed by the gospel. It also caused him to give credence to Paul’s testimony of his own salvation while causing him to rest peacefully in God’s sovereignty over all the events that would take place. Second, he was courageous. Standing up for Paul wouldn’t have been an easy thing for Barnabas to do. It took courage. Everyone in the room was skeptical about Paul’s transformation. The easy thing would have been for him to remain quiet, but his courage wouldn’t let him. Third, he encouraged Paul and the other Apostles. He intentionally spoke positively about Paul’s change while reassuring the Apostles that Paul would be a great addition to their fellowship and a benefit to their mission.
We would do well to emulate these three characteristics of Barnabas’s life. We need faith to believe that life-transformation is possible, that the testimony of that transformation is credible, and that our God is sovereign over everything that happens on this earth. We should be willing to exhibit courage on the behalf of other people. Additionally, we must develop the habit of encouraging one another as we grow in grace together and spread the gospel. If we would commit to being more faithful, courageous, and encouraging our lives would be fuller, and the world would be a better place to live.
Here’s this week’s Pastoral Update where I discuss becoming an encourager in more detail. Have a great day!
In Christ,
Clint
The Reformed Tradition
I wrote the following essay for a video lesson series that our congregation used to study the Church’s history this past summer. The seventh video was on the Reformed Tradition. It particularly answered the question: What does it mean to be Reformed? If you would like to watch the videos, you can find them here.
Introduction
We are back for the seventh lesson in our summer series on the history of the Christian Church. One of the things that we have noticed, or at least said throughout the previous 6 lessons, is that the history of the Church is the history of the Western world since the beginnings of the New Testament Church during Pentecost.
The Church’s history has either shaped Western civilization directly or indirectly, meaning that the society in which we live has either embraced the Church and taken its form from the religion of the Church, or it has taken it’s shape by actively pushing against the Church.
But, there is no denying the fact that the western world’s history is intertwined with the Church’s history. It’s an historical reality.
Today, I thought we would take a moment to explore the aftereffects of the Protestant Reformation on the Church communities that came from it. Last week I gave you three hallmarks of the Reformation that summarize, to a large degree, the theological and church life commitments of the post-Reformation congregations. They are:
- The Authority of God’s Word;
- Justification by Grace Through Faith Alone;
- The Priesthood of Believers.
These three theological commitments greatly impacted the culture of the congregations within this Reformed tradition. So, today, I thought we’d take our time to work through some of the distinguishing characteristics of the ethos (or culture) of the Reformed tradition. In essence, we’re going to answer the question: What does it mean to be Reformed? Or, what does it mean to be faithful to the historic Reformed tradition?
Why is this Important?
You may be wondering why answering this question is important. I’ll tell you. Simply put, we are a Reformed congregation. And, it’s not because we have reformed in our name — Chester Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. It’s actually because we are Presbyterians. Next week, we’ll get into the specifics of the Scottish Reformation and the development of Presbyterianism. But, for now, we’ll leave it at this: as Presbyterians we are a part of the Reformed tradition.
The Reformation Spread Quickly
As we get started, let me give you an idea of how quickly the Reformation spread throughout Europe. Last week, I said it spread like wildfire due to the printing press, the renewed sense of intellectual advancement, and the growing sense of connectivity among the citizens of the various European countries. Society was becoming more mobile as well.
The Reformation began in Saxony (Germany) in 1517 and spread to neighboring nations immediately. A few years after Luther was excommunicated at the Diet of Worms (1521), Huldrich Zwingli started reforming Swiss Christian congregations in 1523. From there, the movement picked up momentum as it was propelled by the Holy Spirit. Below is a list of Confessional documents that were written and adopted soon after the initial blows of the Reformation were thrown.
- Augsburg Confession — 1530 in Germany
- The First Helvetic Confession — 1536 in Switzerland (Bring unity on Lord’s Supper)
- John Calvin Institutes of the Christian Religion — 1536 in France
- Scots Confession — 1560 in Scotland
- Belgic Confession — 1566 in Holland — Canons of Dort in 1619
- 39 Articles — 1571 in England
- French Confession — 1579 in France
All told, eight Confessional statements, representing 8 different Confessional bodies were written and approved within 58 years of Luther’s excommunication. 60 years is a long time for us. But, when you think about change within the Christian Church throughout all of Europe, it’s an amazingly short time. God worked quickly and broadly to establish the Reformed tradition, which changed the western world. As Martyn Lloyd-Jones said of the Scottish Reformation under John Knox, “It is no exaggeration to say that the Protestant Reformation changed and turned the entire course of history, not only the history of the church but secular history.”
Since this is the case, it behooves us to think about the distinguishing characteristics of the Reformed tradition? Our tradition. Our story.
The Distinguishing Characteristics of the Reformed Tradition
I want to point out six characteristics of the Reformed tradition. I’ve seen as many as nine identified, but for our purposes, six will do just fine. (As always, they’ll be listed in on the video). Here they are:
- A Focus on the Majesty and Praise of God;
- An Understanding of Divine Providence At Work in All Things;
- A Commitment to a Life of Holiness;
- A Dedication to the Principle of Faith Seeking Understanding;
- A Conviction that Preaching Should be Plain and Powerful;
- An Insistence on the Simplicity of Faith.
Let’s work our way through them.
A Focus on the Majesty and Praise of God
For Reformed Christians, God is the center of life and theology. He is the Creator of all things, the Redeemer of His people, and the King of Kings. There is none higher than Him and there will never be one higher than Him. This conviction comes from the Reformed Christian’s belief in the authority of the Bible. No one can read the Scriptures seriously and not conclude that the Bible is all about God and His glory. This reality has at least three consequences for the Reformed Christian.
First, this focus makes worship the principle purpose of the Church and the individual person. Both Church and person share the same chief end — to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Fundamentally, God has created and redeemed His people for the sole purpose of His glory. And therefore, they live lives of humble subjection to Him because they trust Him to accomplish His good purposes.
Second, this focus makes Reformed Christians ask the fundamental question: how is a man or woman made right before this holy, majestic, and powerful God? It’s not about finding a little bit of help in this life, or some physical healing, or a tad of guidance for this life, or some inner peace, or a friend to help with loneliness. It’s about being right with the Creator of the Universe, the maker of our souls. Reformed Christians are convinced that they are at odds with their Creator, and so their concern is reconciliation, which is reflected in the way they worship, the way they live, and the way they minister to others.
Third, this focus causes Reformed Christians to fight against the sin of idolatry. If God’s glory is the supreme end of life, then anything, anyone, or any practice that threatens His glory must be eradicated. It’s simple, really. God and His glory is pursued above everything else.
An Understanding of Divine Providence at Work in All Things
If God is majestic, powerful, and the Creator of all things, then He is sovereign over all things by definition. This means that He is working in and through all things to accomplish His divine purposes for His glory. The Reformed Christian trusts Him and allows Him to be the sovereign God of all Creation. He has a perspective and purpose that the Reformed Christian does not, and the Reformed Christian isn’t bothered by it in the least. He or she rests in the truth that God is working in everything to accomplish His purposes, and those purposes will be good for His people because He has promised so in His Word. God always keeps His promises, for He is a covenant keeper.
A Commitment to a Life of Holiness
Since God’s glory is supreme, and in His love and grace He reconciles undeserving men and women to Himself, then those who have received that reconciliation owe a life of holiness and obedience to Him. So, Reformed Christians and their congregations are committed to living holy and disciplined lives. But, this commitment doesn’t apply to Christians only. It also applies to the general public as well. Because of their conviction that all men are to live for the glory of God, Reformed Christians believe that general society should be reformed according to the Word of God and God’s standard of morality as well. This has caused Reformed Christians and their congregations to challenge friends, family, local and national governments to live, educate, and legislate according to the teachings of the Bible.
A Dedication to the Principle of Faith Seeking Understanding
A faith that seeks to understand the character of God, the world He created, and the faith that testifies to Him is a hallmark of the Reformed tradition. Reformed Christians and their congregations are not satisfied with an unapologetically anti-intellectual Christianity. They are convinced that the development of the intellectual components of the faith are both glorifying to God and essential for faithfulness. It is impossible to separate Christian practice from Christian doctrine. Thought informs and determines action. Therefore, Reformed Christians prioritize education within the Church and the society at large. Many of the world’s greatest universities trace their origins to the traditions of Reformed Christianity.
A Conviction that Preaching Should be Plain and Powerful
Reformed congregations not only prize the corporate worship gathering, they also prize the proclamation of God’s Word from the pulpit. But, there are two specific qualities that preaching ought to possess. First, it is to be plain and clear. A sermon should be written and delivered plainly and clearly enough that the worshippers will learn who God is and be challenged to live according to His will. Second, preaching should be powerful, which is dependent upon the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit. Delivering and hearing a sermon is a spiritual experience through which God speaks to His people.
An Insistence on the Simplicity of Faith
Reformed Christians and their congregations insist on the simplicity of the Christian faith in every aspect of it. They do this because of their commitment to the authority of God’s Word. If God prescribes it, then they do it. If God doesn’t prescribe it, then it is not required. Life and worship really are simple when viewed through this lens. Love God, do what He says, worship as He prescribes, and fulfill the ministry that He gives to the Christian and the congregation. There’s no need to add to what God says, and Reformed Christians refuse to do so because of their adherence to the Bible’s teaching on the Sovereignty and majesty of God. What He says is what goes.
Conclusion
And, there you have it. Six characteristics of the Reformed tradition. Now that we have them, we’ll move into the specifics of the Scottish Reformation and establishment of Presbyterianism next week. See you then!
Congratulations! Now, Go Forth.
Last week I had the privilege of addressing the graduates of our local Adult Education Department. The whole class had wonderfully inspiring stories of perseverance, dignity, and strength. Below is my address to them. Maybe you’ll appreciate my words.
Introduction
Congratulations to the 2022 Graduating Class! You’ve earned it. Well done.
I have been asked to address you tonight, and to be honest, I feel a little strange standing before you because I imagine you all have a lot to teach me. You’re the stars of this show.
You’ve overcome many obstacles.
You’ve shed some tears (maybe a lot).
You’ve probably said some stuff you didn’t mean to the people you love.
You’ve stopped and started again, and potentially have done that more than once.
But here you are! You’re finished. Hallelujah!
We’re all proud of you.
4 Things to Do From This Point Forward
I do have to do my job up here tonight, don’t I? So, let me make a few points.
First, thank everyone that has helped you get to this point in your life.
We all come from different backgrounds and different perspectives. We have all faced different obstacles in our lives. I’m not going to stand before you and act as if I know what you have been through because I don’t. It would be ridiculous for me to think that I do.
But, I do know this: you didn’t get to this point in your life without someone helping you. You had a teacher offer a helping hand with a difficult subject. You had a mom keep your children so you could do your schoolwork. You had a child cheer you on as you fought to get your diploma. You had a friend to pick up the emotional pieces of your life when you thought you couldn’t do it. You had a pastor challenge you to go back and finish your schooling. There were countless others who were there for you along the way.
And, yes, that includes those who told you that you couldn’t do it. You’d never amount to anything. You’d never be enough. Thank them for fueling your fire with their negativity.
Tonight, you celebrate a great accomplishment, but don’t think you did it all by yourself. There are many people who helped you get to this point. Make sure to thank them.
Second, take the lessons you’ve learned in grit and determination with you.
You have gained a wealth of knowledge during your time as a student. You’ve learned about English grammar, algebraic equations, geometric shapes, literature, historical events and their significance, how government works, and so on. You have mastered this information. If you hadn’t, you wouldn’t be here tonight.
And, those lessons will serve you well. You intuitively will be able to engage the world in which you live. Your education has seeped into your bones and has become part of you. You’re more capable now than you were when you started. You will no longer struggle to figure out how to compute per unit prices at the grocery store to determine whether or not you are getting the best value for your dollar.
The greatest lessons of a completed education (I have to be careful saying this because I don’t want your teachers and administrators to charge the stage.), however, aren’t the ones you learned as you studied the subject matter. Rather, they are the ones you learned in the process of completing your educational requirements.
Psychologist Angela Duckworth has a defined grit as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals.” You’ve demonstrated grit over the course of your study. Some of you had longer-term goals than others but all of you have accomplished them nonetheless. As you continue your adult lives, this testimony of your grit will pay dividends in your life. It will remind you that CAN set goals, that you CAN persevere to attain them, and that you CAN complete them. Confidence is an invaluable characteristic for anyone who desires to accomplish anything in this life, let alone something great. And, tonight’s accomplishment will supply you with overflowing confidence. Never forget what you have done, and let the story of how you’ve done it inspire you to set goals and accomplish them throughout the rest of your lives. Don’t give up.
Third, fight to make sure you do the right thing, always.
You have probably heard the MLK quote that says, “The time is always right to do what is right.” It’s always the right time to do the right thing.
It’s always right to be kind to others.
It’s always right to be generous with your time, talents, and resources.
It’s always right to be a humble person.
It’s always right to be a loyal friend.
It’s always right to love other people well.
It’s always right to support and train the children around you.
It’s always right to motivate your friends and family while holding them accountable for their actions.
Make sure you fight against the temptation to take the easy way out or to not do the right thing. You learned how to fight this temptation when you were tempted to not turn in those assignments or complete the course of study before you, but you did it anyway. You know how strong those temptations are, and you know you have to fight hard to overcome them.
This is where faith comes into play. As a Christian pastor, I trust in a great and wonderfully powerful God who enables me to overcome the temptations of this world. If you have a similar faith in our God, then I encourage you to rely upon Him and His power. Fight to make sure you always do the right thing.
Finally, strive to make the world a better place.
Education is a wonderful thing. It gives you confidence. It makes you more adept at interacting with our world. It gives you an opportunity to better yourself. You know all of these things, for they are probably the reasons you decided to return to school.
However, your education is for more than just your benefit. It’s for the benefit of others. In this county, we believe in an educated public because it makes the world a better place. It makes everyone more capable of providing for themselves. It informs our public debates. It makes our democracy possible. The freedom, standard of living, and opportunity that we enjoy are only possible because we have an educated population. As education goes, so goes our country.
Now, that you have completed your secondary education, you need to be an advocate in our community for education. Impress upon your children and your grandchildren the importance of being well-educated. Help the teachers in our schools; they have tough jobs. Tutor students. Tell them to behave and commit to life-long learning. Use your influence and experience to make Chester County a better and more educated place to live and work.
As the Scriptures teach us, we all need to focus our attention on other people more than we focus it on ourselves.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I want to say again that it has been my honor to be a part of your special celebration. Thank you for giving me your attention and your time. Again, I say congratulations to you all. Job well done!
May God bless you richly in His grace.
Will You Follow Him?
I wrote the following article was written for the March/April edition of ARP Magazine, a publication of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. May it be an encouragement and a challenge to you.
My task is to write an article on the Moderator of our General Synod, Patrick Malphrus’s theme for this year which comes from Luke 9:62 — “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” You probably already know that this statement comes from a collection of passages in Luke’s Gospel where he defines the cost of discipleship.
In verses 23-27 of chapter 9, Luke records Jesus’s famous teaching on self-denying discipleship where he said that his disciples are duty bound to “deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him.” We must willingly lose our own lives for Christ’s sake in order to save them. There is no salvation for the man or woman who will not forfeit the whole world in order to gain Christ.
Luke 9:57-62 further explains this call to committed discipleship and what it means for faithful Christians in three ways. First, Christian discipleship means life-long struggle and warfare in the pursuit of Christ. Second, it means faith-filled devotion to Christ and his cause. And third, it means a definite break with our old life for the sake of Christ.
Before I expound upon each of these statements, let me quote the passage from which they were taken. It’s imperative that we always root our understanding of discipleship in the Bible.
57As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” — Luke 9:57-62 (ESV)
Struggle and Warfare in the Pursuit of Christ.
The first of the three prospective disciples approached Jesus and boldly stated that he would follow Jesus wherever he went. Now, that’s and admirable statement from anyone, but especially from a scribe (Matt. 8:19). Scribes were the lawyers of the day. They understood the Law of Moses and made opinions on it. As a result, they were well respected in the community. They also frequently aligned with the Pharisees as they shared a common commitment to following the continually growing legal demands of the Law as it was interpreted by the tradition of the elders. Righteousness, for them, was found in how well they kept the law and the traditions of the Jewish faith externally.
This scribe, for some reason, was intrigued by Jesus. In fact, he was so intrigued that he was willing to commit his life to following Jesus. Not surprisingly, Jesus stood ready to welcome him into his band of disciples. But first Jesus wanted him to know what following him would mean in his life. It would mean struggle, conflict, and rejection.
Foxes have holes, birds have nests, but Jesus and his disciples have nowhere to permanently lay their heads in this world. The Christian’s life is described in the Bible as a pilgrimage – from the Old Testament to the New Testament. Think about the people of God in the Exodus. They were delivered by the grace and power of God from the land of bondage. They were given the Law on their journey to the Promised Land. Along the way, God provided for their every need while leading them day and night and meeting with them in the Tabernacle until they arrived in Canna. Consider also the image of Revelation 14 where the redeemed of God in Christ are pictured singing a new song and marching their way behind the “Lamb who was slain” to Mount Zion, the dwelling place of God. Our home – our holes, our nests – are not in this world; they are in the eternal dwelling place of God.
This scribe needed to hear this message from Jesus. Remember, he enjoyed a comfortable life, a position of honor and influence in the religious community of his day. To follow Jesus, he’d be required to forfeit his familiar and comfortable life. Was he willing to pay the price of following Jesus? Was he willing to join a group of disciples who were rejected, persecuted, ostracized and would eventually lose their lives for the sake of Christ? We cannot tell from the story.
Faith-filled Devotion to Christ and His Cause
The second potential disciple is different than the first and third because he received a direct call from Jesus to join the disciples in their pursuit of Christ. Jesus walked up to him and plainly said, “Follow me.” The man’s response is puzzling because it’s hard for us (at least for me) to imagine anybody telling Jesus to his face, “Hold on. I’m doing something. I’ll be with you when I’m finished.” But that is what this guy does! He responds with, “I’ll come but let me go take care of some other stuff first.” Jesus’s response is equally stunning. “Let the dead bury the dead. You go proclaim the kingdom of God.”
Now, I could write much about burial rites in the culture and whether Jesus is condemning a tradition that placed undue burdens of family members of the deceased. We could even make a spiritual argument that Jesus is distinguishing those who are spiritually dead and those who are spiritually alive. None of those things, however, changes the ultimate meaning of the interaction. The guy simply isn’t ready to devote himself to following Jesus at that moment. Burying his father is nothing but an excuse for not responding to the Lord’s call immediately. You see, discipleship is a matter of faith that plays itself out in devotion to Christ and his cause. It makes our relationship with Jesus and his demands on our lives our top priority.
I want you to notice that Jesus identifies one demand as paramount — “You go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Discipleship is not about “me and Jesus.” Rather, it’s fundamentally missional. That means we are called to join Jesus in the announcement of his kingdom through the proclamation of the gospel message. There is no Christian discipleship without witness and mission. “You follow me and proclaim the kingdom” is the call, not only on this disciple, but on everyone who has ever received the effectual call of Christ on his or her heart.
In this instance, there is something else of note as well. Jesus connects witness to mourning. In no way is Jesus saying that the man shouldn’t mourn the loss of his father. What he is saying is that family duties in the mourning of death or in the celebration of joy should not consume our time to the point that it prevents us from fulfilling our plainly stated religious duties. We are to declare by words and our deeds that our hope rests in Christ and that the world to come occupies our minds. Paul said it well, “We do not mourn as those who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.” So, we proclaim the kingdom of God as we mourn. And that is what Jesus called this potential disciple to do. Did he? We won’t know until we get to Heaven.
Definite Break with Our Old Life for the Sake of Christ
The third man in this story has the easiest story to understand. He came to Jesus and said, “I’ll follow you on one condition, that you wait for me to go home and say goodbye to my family and my friends. It won’t take long.” Jesus said, “No.”
I want to draw your attention back to verse 57 for a moment. There Luke uses a participle to express the movement of Jesus and his disciples from one village to another, meaning that when Jesus meets this third prospective disciple he is literally on the move. To stop and wait on this fellow go home and say goodbye would disrupt the fulfillment of Jesus’s mission. He will not wait.
The significance of this interaction is found in the condition that this aspiring disciple, who approached Jesus about discipleship, puts upon his devotion. “I’ll follow you Jesus but let me go home first.” Jesus is not opposed to closure in personal relationships when his calling on our lives leads us in a different direction. He is, however, opposed to anything that places conditions on our discipleship, especially connections to our old lives. This is because he demands top billing and following him necessarily demands a defined break with our old lives. It’s the essence of repentance.
The Shorter Catechism defines repentance unto life as “a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, does, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience” (#87). Think about this for a moment. A Christian understands his or her sin and the mercy of God in such a way that he or she turns from it and unto God, forsaking the old life and its sin while embracing the new life and its pursuit of obedience to God. This is exactly what Jesus called the third man to do – “Forsake that old life and follow me because were on the move.” Was he willing to do it? We don’t know.
A Pearl of Great Value
Luke leaves us with big questions at the end of this passage. We don’t know, nor can we know, whether any of these three men made the decision to follow Jesus. We don’t know if they were willing to pay the price. And I think that is Luke’s divinely inspired point. He wants us to ask the question of ourselves. Are we willing to pay the costs associated with following Jesus? Each one of us will identify with one of these characters, if not all of them, and we must decide if we are willing to follow Jesus.
Some of us, no doubt, need to decide if we are willing to give up the comfortable and well-respected positions we now enjoy in order to pursue Christ and his call on our lives. Others of us need to make Christ and his cause the top priority of our lives. And some of us need to confront our past lives with its relationships and trappings that pull us away from Christ and our devotion to him.
Inevitably, we will make our decision based on whether we believe that following Jesus is worth the cost. It’s how we make decisions, isn’t it? Is the payoff worth the cost? The Bible’s answer is a resounding, “Yes, Jesus is worth everything.” What is your answer?
Jesus taught that the kingdom of God, which we enter through faith and repentance, is like “a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it” (Matt. 13:45-46) The value of the kingdom of God, as it is embodied in the King, the Lord Jesus himself, is far greater than anything you or I could ever dream of possessing on our own in this life or the next. Just ask yourself what in your life is more valuable than an eternity spent in the presence of your Creator who loved you enough to take human flesh upon himself, live a perfect life, and bear the wrath stored up for your sins by dying on a cross in your place? You don’t have anything more valuable than that. I promise.
Friend, sell it all and throw yourself on Christ in faith. He is infinitely worthy of your life. Cash out your faith in yourself, endure the hardships in this world, repent of your sins, and trust him to get you home!
Thankfulness is Necessary — A Pastoral Note
[11] On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. [12] And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance [13] and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” [14] When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. [15] Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; [16] and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. [17] Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? [18] Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” [19] And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” — Luke 17:11-19 (ESV)
One of the most damning passages in Luke’s gospel regarding human pride and forgetfulness is the story of the ten lepers in chapter 17. While making their way to Jerusalem, Jesus and his disciples met ten men with leprosy in a small village between Samaria and Galilee. Collectively, the men begged Jesus to have mercy on them. He answered their plea and cleansed them of their disease. Only one of them turned back to thank Jesus for his gift of grace and healing. The others went on their way to “show themselves to the priest,” as Jesus had instructed them. Troubled by the failure of the nine to return to thank him, Jesus asked the questions, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”
For Jesus, thankfulness is a central and mandatory characteristic for anyone who has been touched by his grace. The neglect of the nine lepers to return to thank him is telling as it reveals the true nature of their hearts before God. Surely, if asked, they’d all say they were grateful for the healing. How could they not be? Being cleansed of leprosy gave them their lives back. They could return to their families, to the Temple, to their jobs, to their community activities. But, they couldn’t be bothered to stop and give God thanks for the healing he specifically brought into their lives. Why is this?
It seems that they struggled with the same phenomenon we battle. They were thankful for their healing. Felt it deeply in their hearts (I believe). However, they weren’t disciplined enough to go back to Jesus to say, “Thank you.” They simply couldn’t be bothered by it. After all, they were don’t what he told them to do. They were going to show themselves to the priest.
I can’t help but note that the nine lepers’ failure to thank Jesus offended him. And, I’m not using the word offended in the same way we use it today. Their ingratitude literally wounded his heart and insulted his grace. Sadly, we often do the same thing.
When we fail to express our thankfulness to Jesus for his great grace and work in our lives, we hurt him. It doesn’t matter whether our failure was intentional or not. It still has the same effect as it communicates our sense of entitlement. We, like the lepers, act as if we deserve God’s good works in our lives when we don’t. This arrogance, intentional or not, is an affront to the glory of God. We glorify him when we recognize our need for him, depend upon him, and thank him for his goodness to us.
Take sometime today to thank God for his goodness and grace to you. Make your plans to join with his people on Wednesdays and Sundays to join the chorus of thanksgiving. He deserves more than we will ever be able to give him, and we certainly don’t want to offend him or rob him of his glory.
Lord be with you.
A Witnessing Church — A Pastoral Note
[44] Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” [45] Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, [46] and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, [47] and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. [48] You are witnesses of these things. [49] And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” (ESV)
As I prepared for this past Sunday’s message on Witnessing as a characteristic of our congregation, I thought about Like 24:44-49 multiple times. These verses contain Luke’s version of Jesus’s final words to his disciples before he ascended into Heaven. Several things in these verses stick out to me.
First, Luke 24:45 says, “Then he (Jesus) opened their (the disciples) minds to understand the Scriptures.” Jesus had to open the minds of the disciples before they could understand that the Scriptures were all about him. Think about that for a moment.
You and I often ask why the disciples didn’t understand what Jesus’s teaching meant nor what he had come to do. He was so clear, we say. But this verse tells us that their minds were closed to the real meaning of Jesus’s life, death, resurrection and mission. It had to be revealed to them and their minds had to be opened. This is why you and I understand it more clearly than they did. Our minds have been opened by the Holy Spirit. It’s also why so many people we know and love, some of whom are incredibly intelligent, don’t get it. Their minds are closed by the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4) and must be opened before they will ever come to know Christ and trust in him. We must pray for them.
Next, verses 46-48 teach us that the gospel of Jesus centers on his death and resurrection and demands faith in him and repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Faith and repentance are the only acceptable responses to God’s grace and love for us in the death and the resurrection of Jesus. Nothing else will please God. He only accepts our faith and repentance.
Finally, verse 48 says that the disciples were to be witnesses of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus as well as the blessed forgiveness that came to them through faith and repentance. Jesus assumed that they would testify to the gospel. Plain and simple. The same is true for us. There’s no other appropriate way for us to live if we’ve been transformed by grace. There is no biblical understanding of a Christian who does not publicly witness to the resurrection of Christ and the joy of being forgiven of our sins through faith and repentance. We are witnesses for Jesus by definition. It’s that simple.
The questions really are: 1. Are we being faithful to our DNA as Christians by witnessing to the glory of our God? and, 2. Do our lives present a good witness to the life, death, and resurrection of Christ or a bad one?
Let’s pray for one another as we seek to be good witnesses for Christ. Let’s also pray that our God will be pleased to open the eyes of our loved ones so that they will see him as he is and repent from their sins while trusting Christ.
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