Felt a little woozy on my feet as work was ending, yesterday. Safeway chicken (sandwich) in my car too long MAY have been the culprit. I came home and for the sake of stomach sanity and because I was woozy, I stayed on the sofa. Thought there was no way I could take my Mom out today (home care) or get to work, but I figured I would try four acetaminophen (bad for stomach other than moderation) and three Benadryl and an ice pack on head; four hours of sleep later I was fine.
“Perhaps this sounds very simple, but simple things are always the most difficult. In actual life it requires the greatest discipline to be simple, and the acceptance of oneself is the essence of the moral problem and the epitome of a whole outlook upon life.”
“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” John 17:20-26
John 17 is that prayer of Jesus where he asks his Father to make clear what his life and ministry are all about. His own perfect unity with the Father shall be the model for his followers! They are called to be one just as he and the Father are one! It works this way: the Father’s purpose is being fulfilled by the Son as he goes to the cross, where it will be clear that this is how the Father will be glorified, and so the Son with him. Can we begin to grasp what that all means? That the way of the cross is the way of glory? That the Holy One is to be “despised and rejected by men” on the way toward his glory and worship forever?
It is easier for us to think foolishly this way: that the Father is eager to send to Hell all those who despise him and his law, and that the Son is much more understanding and accepting, so let’s vote for the love of the Son and against the holiness of the Father—but that’s not the gospel path to its glorious unity. Instead, the Beloved Son who wins over Satan for forty days is also the one who cries out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? How can that be? We try very hard to think God’s thoughts after him as we answer that question, but in the end we can only say, we confess that Father and Son are One. That God is holy will always be true, and so will “God is love.” We believe with all our hearts this grand unity of Father and Son, and we reject the world’s judgment that we must choose between them.
That transcendent glory culminating in perfect oneness is to be the way for us too, as we are called to be one as they are—how can that also be possible, what can that mean? But we must learn, as Jesus tells us so clearly the way we are to go.
As a church history teacher I was too long content with describing a past theological conflict and then moving on to the next one. It finally dawned on me that what I needed to be doing was helping my students understand how those hard conflicts could be overcome. Finally I learned, as my direction for student term papers went like this: describe a past controversy, relate it to one in our own day, then plan the path to reconciliation. I am so happy I saw that as my task, and happier in how well my students worked to achieve their goals. They were learning how to live for Jesus.
But we disagree on so much, even inside our denominations. I am still sad that my old OPC voted not to join with the PCA because it needed to protect its “distinctives.” I find it hard that there are some congregations convinced that women may not read the Word in worship. My list is long and getting harder: how could my amazing seminary be now so sure that interest in the cultural setting of the Bible is a threat to its inerrancy?
There at Marburg in the Rittersaal were the Lutherans and the Reformed, and they agreed on 16 things! But then came the discussion on how Jesus is present in the Supper, is it “spiritual,” only the way we talk about it, or is it “Spiritual,” by the work of the Holy Spirit? At the end Luther drew the line across the table and said those terrible words, “you have another spirit.” (I asked once if I could come to the Table in that Lutheran church, and got the right question: do you see Jesus there?)
There is always hope. I will forever marvel at the story of my student Marq and his passion to pray for those stubborn unbelievers who had no interest in the gospel. When he was told, no we don’t pray for them to believe since we believe in free will, then he knew that way of thinking was much too unbalanced, desiring only to be against something called Calvinism.
I could continue to rant, showing off how much smarter I am than all those protagonists from long ago. Then I remember the people in the Second Awakening who were so eager for unity that they gave up on all the existing denominations and began a new one, yet another one. I remember how the desire to make clear that all are called to Jesus could undermine the will of God himself. It is just not enough and not helpful to be vigorously against division. We are called positively, that we be one.
We recently meditated on Philippians 2, that we are to be “with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel!” It is “the faith of the gospel” itself that gives us that one mind, as we learn in John 17 the Father’s delight in hearing the prayer of his Son: Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. We see the glory together!
We also hear together the call of our Lord in 1 Peter 4: 7-11: The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
“For the sake of your prayers”—that says so much, as we learn then that the gifts the Lord gives us are not there to emphasize how different, and better, we are from each other, but instead so that we may serve each other! Our great differences we can enjoy, yes we can, as we use them to care for each other, as we rejoice in our own strengths that we have for the blessing of others. Again I think of John Leonard’s Get Real—we must listen, listen to each other. We must not dwell on what is missing in what we hear from others, but delight in how we remind each other of the Father’s and Son’s love for us all.
I wish now I could put everything together, at once and comprehensively. I will try, feebly and only as a beginning. Yes, I know of the Presbyterian New School, and how it deliberately minimized the Lord’s sovereign will in order to make room for offering the gospel to everyone. That was tragic. But the more orthodox opponents in the Old School did not have their passion for evangelism, and their desire not to go beyond the Word was the reason they refused to biblically evaluate black slavery, while the New Schoolers did. They did come to hear each other, but it took so long, too long to hold back the liberalism that sought to fill in the gaps of previous Christianity.Yes, we all desire to hold God's truth ever more clearly, but never at the expense of refusing each other’s gifts. Yes, there is the real danger of a preaching that is only about us and not about what the Lord says to us—but there is also the very present danger of disinterest in what we need to hear right now. Yes, there is a real attack today upon the authority of the Bible by relativizing it away—but there is also the real danger of refusing to use all the cultural tools we have for understanding what it says in the first place. I hope my saying that is enough for me and for you?
Today in my own life there are two remarkable testimonies of the Lord’s goodness to us, that he continues to remind us of what we so easily forget. I have just heard from Nessa Parks. Years ago I had this brief conversation with her, as she asked me to recommend a good way to do Bible study. I suggested Paul Miller’s seeJesus, and she took that and ran with it! She just wrote me:
Paul’s book helped me see Jesus more clearly and led me to examine the ways in which I was loving my family members. I knew the insights would help my friends to see the beauty of Jesus and to understand that God’s Word is living and active—relevant for their daily lives and struggles. I received training through seeJesus to help me facilitate the study.
The Lord blesses me also by keeping me in touch with Steve Igo, a student from whom I learned and keep learning so much. He is pastor of the OPC Cedar Church in Hudsonville Michigan. He passes on to me now their mission statement for next year. Shouldn’t we all pray for Cedar, that the Lord will abundantly bless them, as they seek to honor him so personally?
Our Mission for 2016
This year, by God’s grace and fervent prayer, Cedar Church aims
to experience renewal, revival and reformation
through transparent friendship (not loneliness)
authentic fellowship (not isolation)
and deliberate hospitality (not self-absorption)
such that the Holy Spirit radically draws people nearer to Jesus Christ,
through a satisfying and undistracted use of the ordinary means of grace,
producing inexplicable and indiscriminate love
that touches our hearts, our families, our church and our entire community.
Please pray for the Spirit’s unction upon this vital mission and message.
I’m making good progress in my wrist recovery, under the skill and encouragement of kind Sandy my OT. My fingers are getting straight! My thumb moves further! My baby finger can pinch the putty! What a remarkable hand I’m getting. That’s my story over the last 3 months and it’s worth some appreciation. Big picture is different though. I’m still 81 and slowing down. It’s not If I die but When. As I lie there in the casket, with my left hand folded prominently over the right over my chest, will people notice how good it looks? Will that be a major part of the refrain, “he looks so natural?”
How about the true Big Picture, how am I doing with “love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength?” In my theological universe they talk already/not yet. My preacher son Marc does that better with: “let the old man die” and “the lasagna isn’t quite ready.” (Yesterday’s sermon of his did so much for me that I think I’ll just pass it on to you right now: http://www.newlifeglenside.com/index.php?/resources/audio/series/galatians-staying-connected/walk-by-the-spirit-galatians-5-marc-davis ).
I envy those Pentecostals. They eat the lasagna already. It’s so clear that they have the Holy Spirit, they can speak in the language of Glory and heal people right away. They are in the Lord’s presence already without question. It seems so genuine but I’m not sure it is. If it isn’t, then where am I? That David Powlison walk through Psalm 119, our ongoing conversation with the Lord, works so well for me: http://www.ccef.org/sites/default/files/pdf/bethlehembaptist/2204002.pdf “It seems no coincidence that Psalm 119, the most personal of psalms, is the place where the language ‘Revive me’ occurs most frequently, and in the context of candor about our utterly normal, daily struggles”—that is how David summed it up for me. “Revive me,” since I’m a long way behind from where I should be; “candor about struggles,” since I really wasted that moment by feeling sorry about myself instead of immediately turning to the Holy Spirit. Revive me means I’m short on lasagna, candor means I’m learning to let the old man die. That conversation goes back and forth, up and down, doesn’t it? O Lord, how could I have forgotten you were there, again? O Lord, thank you with all my heart that you are still there for me.
I return again to my deep desire that the sermons we hear and preach will do more than describe the gospel, but will go on to show us and guide us into the way ahead in following Jesus. That seems so clear and needed to me—but I know the Lord calls me to listen carefully to those who believe that too much lasagna too soon, too much Jesus before he returns, will confuse us from seeing how much we need to repent and to follow him much more closely. Gorging on lasagna slows us down in urging the old man to hurry up and die? Is our conversation all prattling and no hard listening?
We have so much, and there is so far to go. There is where we agree. We need to cultivate that God-given oneness, and listen to each other. In that church that confuses me so much since all I think I hear is description—please tell me how your people are being fed? Do I have this right, that what you want to hear from us is, what are we saying to homosexuals, to tax-cheaters, to gossips? Good question, I want to answer you right away but I have to think about it first, to make sure we ourselves know what our plan really is.
Conversation with the Lord in that Psalm 119 way feeds into our conversations with each other, inside our churches and our denominations and I believe with all believers. I don’t understand Pentecostals yet but they have taught me so much about making and enjoying the lasagna. The Christian Reformed have cared so well for me before that I want to keep learning from them about honoring women, and I’m not there yet either. The Roman Catholics have helped us respond to all those abortions, and I know we can talk about other things too. Those black churches, they’re not as quiet as I’m accustomed to and people move a lot as they sing, but I know what Jesus said, that the poor are the poor in spirit, and I need to know how that is.
I could be oversimplifying, but I don’t think so. “More about Jesus would I know, more, more about Jesus”—that happens as we keep our conversation with him going, never being content with what we know so far. That happens when we stop being so sure that what we have is all there is. That happens when our conversation circle gets bigger, as we learn from our brothers and sisters what they have been learning. There will always be more lasagna ahead, but more there right now than we yet know.
Felt a little woozy on my feet as work was ending, yesterday. Safeway chicken (sandwich) in my car too long MAY have been the culprit. I came home and for the sake of stomach sanity and because I was woozy, I stayed on the sofa. Thought there was no way I could take my Mom out today (home care) or get to work, but I figured I would try four acetaminophen (bad for stomach other than moderation) and three Benadryl and an ice pack on head; four hours of sleep later I was fine.
ReplyDelete“Perhaps this sounds very simple, but simple things are always the most difficult. In actual life it requires the greatest discipline to be simple, and the acceptance of oneself is the essence of the moral problem and the epitome of a whole outlook upon life.”
ReplyDelete-C.G. Jung, Modern Man in Search of a Soul
604zippo
ReplyDeleteGlad to see it worked out RussMan. Is that Ringo Starr on drums there in the background? ^.^Zomba
Yes, certainly, Sir Zomba.
ReplyDeleteIt would be more cool to write that I was recording self, but...
What makes a turkey laugh?
ReplyDeleteFowl language
ReplyDeleteI know a few turkies...
ReplyDeleteOne in Jesus
ReplyDelete“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” John 17:20-26
John 17 is that prayer of Jesus where he asks his Father to make clear what his life and ministry are all about. His own perfect unity with the Father shall be the model for his followers! They are called to be one just as he and the Father are one! It works this way: the Father’s purpose is being fulfilled by the Son as he goes to the cross, where it will be clear that this is how the Father will be glorified, and so the Son with him. Can we begin to grasp what that all means? That the way of the cross is the way of glory? That the Holy One is to be “despised and rejected by men” on the way toward his glory and worship forever?
ReplyDeleteIt is easier for us to think foolishly this way: that the Father is eager to send to Hell all those who despise him and his law, and that the Son is much more understanding and accepting, so let’s vote for the love of the Son and against the holiness of the Father—but that’s not the gospel path to its glorious unity. Instead, the Beloved Son who wins over Satan for forty days is also the one who cries out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? How can that be? We try very hard to think God’s thoughts after him as we answer that question, but in the end we can only say, we confess that Father and Son are One. That God is holy will always be true, and so will “God is love.” We believe with all our hearts this grand unity of Father and Son, and we reject the world’s judgment that we must choose between them.
ReplyDeleteThat transcendent glory culminating in perfect oneness is to be the way for us too, as we are called to be one as they are—how can that also be possible, what can that mean? But we must learn, as Jesus tells us so clearly the way we are to go.
ReplyDeleteAs a church history teacher I was too long content with describing a past theological conflict and then moving on to the next one. It finally dawned on me that what I needed to be doing was helping my students understand how those hard conflicts could be overcome. Finally I learned, as my direction for student term papers went like this: describe a past controversy, relate it to one in our own day, then plan the path to reconciliation. I am so happy I saw that as my task, and happier in how well my students worked to achieve their goals. They were learning how to live for Jesus.
But we disagree on so much, even inside our denominations. I am still sad that my old OPC voted not to join with the PCA because it needed to protect its “distinctives.” I find it hard that there are some congregations convinced that women may not read the Word in worship. My list is long and getting harder: how could my amazing seminary be now so sure that interest in the cultural setting of the Bible is a threat to its inerrancy?
ReplyDeleteThere at Marburg in the Rittersaal were the Lutherans and the Reformed, and they agreed on 16 things! But then came the discussion on how Jesus is present in the Supper, is it “spiritual,” only the way we talk about it, or is it “Spiritual,” by the work of the Holy Spirit? At the end Luther drew the line across the table and said those terrible words, “you have another spirit.” (I asked once if I could come to the Table in that Lutheran church, and got the right question: do you see Jesus there?)
There is always hope. I will forever marvel at the story of my student Marq and his passion to pray for those stubborn unbelievers who had no interest in the gospel. When he was told, no we don’t pray for them to believe since we believe in free will, then he knew that way of thinking was much too unbalanced, desiring only to be against something called Calvinism.
ReplyDeleteI could continue to rant, showing off how much smarter I am than all those protagonists from long ago. Then I remember the people in the Second Awakening who were so eager for unity that they gave up on all the existing denominations and began a new one, yet another one. I remember how the desire to make clear that all are called to Jesus could undermine the will of God himself. It is just not enough and not helpful to be vigorously against division. We are called positively, that we be one.
We recently meditated on Philippians 2, that we are to be “with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel!” It is “the faith of the gospel” itself that gives us that one mind, as we learn in John 17 the Father’s delight in hearing the prayer of his Son: Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. We see the glory together!
ReplyDeleteWe also hear together the call of our Lord in 1 Peter 4: 7-11: The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
“For the sake of your prayers”—that says so much, as we learn then that the gifts the Lord gives us are not there to emphasize how different, and better, we are from each other, but instead so that we may serve each other! Our great differences we can enjoy, yes we can, as we use them to care for each other, as we rejoice in our own strengths that we have for the blessing of others. Again I think of John Leonard’s Get Real—we must listen, listen to each other. We must not dwell on what is missing in what we hear from others, but delight in how we remind each other of the Father’s and Son’s love for us all.
I wish now I could put everything together, at once and comprehensively. I will try, feebly and only as a beginning. Yes, I know of the Presbyterian New School, and how it deliberately minimized the Lord’s sovereign will in order to make room for offering the gospel to everyone. That was tragic. But the more orthodox opponents in the Old School did not have their passion for evangelism, and their desire not to go beyond the Word was the reason they refused to biblically evaluate black slavery, while the New Schoolers did. They did come to hear each other, but it took so long, too long to hold back the liberalism that sought to fill in the gaps of previous Christianity.Yes, we all desire to hold God's truth ever more clearly, but never at the expense of refusing each other’s gifts. Yes, there is the real danger of a preaching that is only about us and not about what the Lord says to us—but there is also the very present danger of disinterest in what we need to hear right now. Yes, there is a real attack today upon the authority of the Bible by relativizing it away—but there is also the real danger of refusing to use all the cultural tools we have for understanding what it says in the first place. I hope my saying that is enough for me and for you?
Today in my own life there are two remarkable testimonies of the Lord’s goodness to us, that he continues to remind us of what we so easily forget. I have just heard from Nessa Parks. Years ago I had this brief conversation with her, as she asked me to recommend a good way to do Bible study. I suggested Paul Miller’s seeJesus, and she took that and ran with it! She just wrote me:
ReplyDeletePaul’s book helped me see Jesus more clearly and led me to examine the ways in which I was loving my family members. I knew the insights would help my friends to see the beauty of Jesus and to understand that God’s Word is living and active—relevant for their daily lives and struggles. I received training through seeJesus to help me facilitate the study.
The Lord blesses me also by keeping me in touch with Steve Igo, a student from whom I learned and keep learning so much. He is pastor of the OPC Cedar Church in Hudsonville Michigan. He passes on to me now their mission statement for next year. Shouldn’t we all pray for Cedar, that the Lord will abundantly bless them, as they seek to honor him so personally?
Our Mission for 2016
This year, by God’s grace and fervent prayer, Cedar Church aims
to experience renewal, revival and reformation
through transparent friendship (not loneliness)
authentic fellowship (not isolation)
and deliberate hospitality (not self-absorption)
such that the Holy Spirit radically draws people nearer to Jesus Christ,
through a satisfying and undistracted use of the ordinary means of grace,
producing inexplicable and indiscriminate love
that touches our hearts, our families, our church and our entire community.
Please pray for the Spirit’s unction upon this vital mission and message.
D. Clair Davis
How Much Hope?
ReplyDeleteI’m making good progress in my wrist recovery, under the skill and encouragement of kind Sandy my OT. My fingers are getting straight! My thumb moves further! My baby finger can pinch the putty! What a remarkable hand I’m getting. That’s my story over the last 3 months and it’s worth some appreciation. Big picture is different though. I’m still 81 and slowing down. It’s not If I die but When. As I lie there in the casket, with my left hand folded prominently over the right over my chest, will people notice how good it looks? Will that be a major part of the refrain, “he looks so natural?”
How about the true Big Picture, how am I doing with “love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength?” In my theological universe they talk already/not yet. My preacher son Marc does that better with: “let the old man die” and “the lasagna isn’t quite ready.” (Yesterday’s sermon of his did so much for me that I think I’ll just pass it on to you right now: http://www.newlifeglenside.com/index.php?/resources/audio/series/galatians-staying-connected/walk-by-the-spirit-galatians-5-marc-davis ).
ReplyDeleteI envy those Pentecostals. They eat the lasagna already. It’s so clear that they have the Holy Spirit, they can speak in the language of Glory and heal people right away. They are in the Lord’s presence already without question. It seems so genuine but I’m not sure it is. If it isn’t, then where am I? That David Powlison walk through Psalm 119, our ongoing conversation with the Lord, works so well for me: http://www.ccef.org/sites/default/files/pdf/bethlehembaptist/2204002.pdf “It seems no coincidence that Psalm 119, the most personal of psalms, is the place where the language ‘Revive me’ occurs most frequently, and in the context of candor about our utterly normal, daily struggles”—that is how David summed it up for me. “Revive me,” since I’m a long way behind from where I should be; “candor about struggles,” since I really wasted that moment by feeling sorry about myself instead of immediately turning to the Holy Spirit. Revive me means I’m short on lasagna, candor means I’m learning to let the old man die. That conversation goes back and forth, up and down, doesn’t it? O Lord, how could I have forgotten you were there, again? O Lord, thank you with all my heart that you are still there for me.
ReplyDeleteI return again to my deep desire that the sermons we hear and preach will do more than describe the gospel, but will go on to show us and guide us into the way ahead in following Jesus. That seems so clear and needed to me—but I know the Lord calls me to listen carefully to those who believe that too much lasagna too soon, too much Jesus before he returns, will confuse us from seeing how much we need to repent and to follow him much more closely. Gorging on lasagna slows us down in urging the old man to hurry up and die? Is our conversation all prattling and no hard listening?
We have so much, and there is so far to go. There is where we agree. We need to cultivate that God-given oneness, and listen to each other. In that church that confuses me so much since all I think I hear is description—please tell me how your people are being fed? Do I have this right, that what you want to hear from us is, what are we saying to homosexuals, to tax-cheaters, to gossips? Good question, I want to answer you right away but I have to think about it first, to make sure we ourselves know what our plan really is.
ReplyDeleteConversation with the Lord in that Psalm 119 way feeds into our conversations with each other, inside our churches and our denominations and I believe with all believers. I don’t understand Pentecostals yet but they have taught me so much about making and enjoying the lasagna. The Christian Reformed have cared so well for me before that I want to keep learning from them about honoring women, and I’m not there yet either. The Roman Catholics have helped us respond to all those abortions, and I know we can talk about other things too. Those black churches, they’re not as quiet as I’m accustomed to and people move a lot as they sing, but I know what Jesus said, that the poor are the poor in spirit, and I need to know how that is.
ReplyDeleteI could be oversimplifying, but I don’t think so. “More about Jesus would I know, more, more about Jesus”—that happens as we keep our conversation with him going, never being content with what we know so far. That happens when we stop being so sure that what we have is all there is. That happens when our conversation circle gets bigger, as we learn from our brothers and sisters what they have been learning. There will always be more lasagna ahead, but more there right now than we yet know.
ReplyDeleteD. Clair Davis