O Christ our God, you lowered the heavens when you came down to earth
to reveal to us your humility and compassion.
You have given us your Forerunner and Baptist as a model of salvation,
for he was a preacher of truth,
an example of repentance,
and a desert dweller.
You made him worthy to fight the good fight,
to finish the reace,
and to win the crown of righteousness and truth.
To those in Hades,
he announced beforehand the good news of redemption and salvation.
Grant that we may scorn earthly pleasures
in imitation of his renowened life and joyful way of penance.
Deliver us from the rulers of this world of darkness.
Protect us under the wings of your goodness.
Bless us, O Giver of blessings,
and make us worthy of the kingdom of heaven.
For through you and with you all honor and glory are due
to the Father and the Holy Spirit,
now and ever and forever.
Amen.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
Not even the gates of hell...
+ 10th Sunday after Pentecost +
August 21, 2011
The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:18b
In the war for your soul, there is no neutrality. Whether we realize it or not, we are all making daily choices to either compromise with evil, or to overcome evil with good. This great divide has been illustrated countless times in books and movies. One of my favorite examples comes from Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings: As Gandalf unravels the mystery of the ring, he discovers to his dismay that the head of his order, Saruman, has compromised with the evil spirit that rules the land of Mordor. In contrast, the little hobbit Frodo offers himself to become the ring-bearer and carry it to final destruction at Mt. Doom, “though I know not the way” as he humbly says. Which will triumph: Saruman’s scheming or Frodo’s sacrifice? Saruman’s foolish compromise or Frodo’s uncompromising faith? A classic illustration of how the Son of Man came to destroy the works of the devil not by building armies or seizing power, but by His perfect sacrifice of love on the cross. In today’s Gospel, Jesus promises “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Strengthened by God’s promises fulfilled in the cross and resurrection of His Son, we can live and work together even in humility and great weakness for the triumph of love over all the forces of evil.
1. Like hobbits, we don’t always realize what powerful gifts God has given us!
a. The first disciples too thought about an earthly kingdom.
b. We are satisfied with forgiveness and heaven when we die.
2. We see in Jesus how the kingdom of heaven conquers all other powers
a. Judges 16:1-3. Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute and went to bed with her. When the Gazites [heard] that Samson was there, they surrounded the place and waited in ambush for him all that night at the city gate. While they were waiting quietly, they said, "Let us wait until dawn; then we will kill him." But Samson stayed in bed until midnight when he got up, took hold of the doors of the city gate along with the two gateposts, and pulled them out, bar and all. He put them on his shoulders and took them to the top of the mountain overlooking Hebron (a distance of no more than nine miles!).
b. Daniel 2:31-44. 31 "My king, as you were watching, a colossal statue appeared. That statue, tall and dazzling, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was terrifying. 32 The head of the statue was pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its stomach and thighs were bronze, 33 its legs were iron, and its feet were partly iron and partly fired clay. 34 As you were watching, a stone broke off without a hand touching it, [a] struck the statue on its feet of iron and fired clay, and crushed them. 35 Then the iron, the fired clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were shattered and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors. The wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 "This was the dream; now we will tell the king its interpretation. 37 Your Majesty, you are king of kings. The God of heaven has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and glory. 38 Wherever people live—or wild animals, or birds of the air—He has handed them over to you and made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold.
39 "After you, there will arise another kingdom, inferior to yours, and then another, a third kingdom, of bronze, which will rule the whole earth. 40 A fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron; for iron crushes and shatters everything, and like iron that smashes, it will crush and smash all the others. 41 You saw the feet and toes, partly of a potter's fired clay and partly of iron—it will be a divided kingdom, though some of the strength of iron will be in it. You saw the iron mixed with clay, 42 and that the toes of the feet were part iron and part fired clay—part of the kingdom will be strong, and part will be brittle. 43 You saw the iron mixed with clay—the peoples will mix with one another [c] but will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with fired clay.
44 "In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be left to another people. It will crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself endure forever.
3. Filled with the Spirit, the Church, despite her weakness, storms the gates of hell.
a. Examples from Acts of the Apostles – intercessory prayer.
b. As we speak the truth in love and exercise simple acts of service we fulfill the promises of Christ. Jude 20-25 But you, dear friends, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, expecting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life. Have mercy on some who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; on others have mercy in fear, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.
Now to Him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless and with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now, and forever. Amen.
August 21, 2011
The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:18b
In the war for your soul, there is no neutrality. Whether we realize it or not, we are all making daily choices to either compromise with evil, or to overcome evil with good. This great divide has been illustrated countless times in books and movies. One of my favorite examples comes from Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings: As Gandalf unravels the mystery of the ring, he discovers to his dismay that the head of his order, Saruman, has compromised with the evil spirit that rules the land of Mordor. In contrast, the little hobbit Frodo offers himself to become the ring-bearer and carry it to final destruction at Mt. Doom, “though I know not the way” as he humbly says. Which will triumph: Saruman’s scheming or Frodo’s sacrifice? Saruman’s foolish compromise or Frodo’s uncompromising faith? A classic illustration of how the Son of Man came to destroy the works of the devil not by building armies or seizing power, but by His perfect sacrifice of love on the cross. In today’s Gospel, Jesus promises “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Strengthened by God’s promises fulfilled in the cross and resurrection of His Son, we can live and work together even in humility and great weakness for the triumph of love over all the forces of evil.
1. Like hobbits, we don’t always realize what powerful gifts God has given us!
a. The first disciples too thought about an earthly kingdom.
b. We are satisfied with forgiveness and heaven when we die.
2. We see in Jesus how the kingdom of heaven conquers all other powers
a. Judges 16:1-3. Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute and went to bed with her. When the Gazites [heard] that Samson was there, they surrounded the place and waited in ambush for him all that night at the city gate. While they were waiting quietly, they said, "Let us wait until dawn; then we will kill him." But Samson stayed in bed until midnight when he got up, took hold of the doors of the city gate along with the two gateposts, and pulled them out, bar and all. He put them on his shoulders and took them to the top of the mountain overlooking Hebron (a distance of no more than nine miles!).
b. Daniel 2:31-44. 31 "My king, as you were watching, a colossal statue appeared. That statue, tall and dazzling, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was terrifying. 32 The head of the statue was pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its stomach and thighs were bronze, 33 its legs were iron, and its feet were partly iron and partly fired clay. 34 As you were watching, a stone broke off without a hand touching it, [a] struck the statue on its feet of iron and fired clay, and crushed them. 35 Then the iron, the fired clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were shattered and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors. The wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 "This was the dream; now we will tell the king its interpretation. 37 Your Majesty, you are king of kings. The God of heaven has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and glory. 38 Wherever people live—or wild animals, or birds of the air—He has handed them over to you and made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold.
39 "After you, there will arise another kingdom, inferior to yours, and then another, a third kingdom, of bronze, which will rule the whole earth. 40 A fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron; for iron crushes and shatters everything, and like iron that smashes, it will crush and smash all the others. 41 You saw the feet and toes, partly of a potter's fired clay and partly of iron—it will be a divided kingdom, though some of the strength of iron will be in it. You saw the iron mixed with clay, 42 and that the toes of the feet were part iron and part fired clay—part of the kingdom will be strong, and part will be brittle. 43 You saw the iron mixed with clay—the peoples will mix with one another [c] but will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with fired clay.
44 "In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be left to another people. It will crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself endure forever.
3. Filled with the Spirit, the Church, despite her weakness, storms the gates of hell.
a. Examples from Acts of the Apostles – intercessory prayer.
b. As we speak the truth in love and exercise simple acts of service we fulfill the promises of Christ. Jude 20-25 But you, dear friends, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, expecting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life. Have mercy on some who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; on others have mercy in fear, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.
Now to Him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless and with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now, and forever. Amen.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
from the Internet Monk
"…we began to get some clarity on a troubling truth: attracting people to church based on their consumer demands is in direct and irredeemable conflict with inviting people, in Jesus’ words, to lose their lives in order to find them. It slowly began to dawn on us that our method of attracting people was forming them in ways contrary to the way of Christ."
Monday, August 15, 2011
John Stott, Rest in Peace!
God has spoken; but have we listened to his word? God has acted; but have we benefited from what he has done? (p.16). . . nothing can convince us of our sinfulness like the lofty, righteous law of God. (p. 77). . . This exposure of our sin has only one purpose. It is to convince us of our need of Jesus Christ… (p.88). . . Sin had separated us from God; but Christ…suffered for our sins, an innocent Saviour dying for guilty sinners. (p. 107) . . . from Basic Christianity. These then are the marks of the ideal Church - love, suffering, holiness, sound doctrine, genuineness, evangelism and humility. They are what Christ desires to find in His churches as He walks among them. (p. 163-4). . . Basic Introduction to the NT.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Did Spurgeon read Walther?
Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-1892), in his Sunday sermon, December 31, 1871, preached from Nehemiah 8:10:
Holy sorrow is precious before God, and is no bar to godly joy. Let it be carefully noted...that abounding mourning is no reason why there should not speedily be seen an equally abundant joy, for the very people who were bidden by Nehemiah and Ezra to rejoice were even then melted with penitential grief, "for all the people wept when they heard the words of the law."
The vast congregation under the teaching of Ezra, were awakened and cut to the heart; they felt the edge of the law of God like a sword opening up their hearts, tearing, cutting, and killing, and well might they lament: then was the time to let them feel the gospel's balm and hear the gospel's music, and, therefore, the former sons of thunder changed their note, and became sons of consolation, saying to them, "This day is holy unto the Lord your God; mourn not, nor weep. Go your way eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength."
Holy sorrow is precious before God, and is no bar to godly joy. Let it be carefully noted...that abounding mourning is no reason why there should not speedily be seen an equally abundant joy, for the very people who were bidden by Nehemiah and Ezra to rejoice were even then melted with penitential grief, "for all the people wept when they heard the words of the law."
The vast congregation under the teaching of Ezra, were awakened and cut to the heart; they felt the edge of the law of God like a sword opening up their hearts, tearing, cutting, and killing, and well might they lament: then was the time to let them feel the gospel's balm and hear the gospel's music, and, therefore, the former sons of thunder changed their note, and became sons of consolation, saying to them, "This day is holy unto the Lord your God; mourn not, nor weep. Go your way eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength."
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Power of the Eucharist
St. Gregory the Great, ca. 540-604
...for there His body is received, there His flesh is distributed for the salvation of the people: there His blood is not now shed betwixt the hands of infidels, but poured into the mouths of the faithful. Wherefore let us hereby meditate what manner of sacrifice this is, ordained for us, which for our absolution doth always represent the passion of the only Son of God: for what right believing Christian can doubt, that in the very hour of the sacrifice, at the words of the Priest, the heavens be opened, and the choirs of Angels are present in that mystery of Jesus Christ; that high things are accompanied with low, and earthly joined to heavenly, and that one thing is made of visible and invisible? (The Dialogues Bk. 4 Chap. 58)
...for there His body is received, there His flesh is distributed for the salvation of the people: there His blood is not now shed betwixt the hands of infidels, but poured into the mouths of the faithful. Wherefore let us hereby meditate what manner of sacrifice this is, ordained for us, which for our absolution doth always represent the passion of the only Son of God: for what right believing Christian can doubt, that in the very hour of the sacrifice, at the words of the Priest, the heavens be opened, and the choirs of Angels are present in that mystery of Jesus Christ; that high things are accompanied with low, and earthly joined to heavenly, and that one thing is made of visible and invisible? (The Dialogues Bk. 4 Chap. 58)
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Search for the real Adam and Eve
A recent cover story of Christianity Today discusses the historicity of Adam and Eve. The article does not include the following important points:
Jesus affirms the historicity of Adam and Eve and the Genesis account of their creation and marriage in Matthew 19:1-6.
Jesus own human ancestry is, moreover, traced directly to Adam by the Apostle Luke: 3:23-38
And, moreover, the divinely revealed doctrine of the Fall hinges in large part on the existence of a real Adam who truly sinned as the counterpart to the real Jesus who was/is truly righteous and who truly died and rose again:
(Romans 5:12-21)
Obviously Paul understood both Adam and Jesus to be historical figures. To suggest that Adam is a merely figurative character representative of humanity as a whole not only cuts against Paul's clear meaning, but it also destroys the argument of the text itself. The historical man Adam plunged humanity into sin and death through an historical sin. The historical man Jesus redeemed humanity through his historical death and resurrection. Take away the historicity of Adam and the parallel upon which the argument is built no longer works.
Jesus affirms the historicity of Adam and Eve and the Genesis account of their creation and marriage in Matthew 19:1-6.
Jesus own human ancestry is, moreover, traced directly to Adam by the Apostle Luke: 3:23-38
And, moreover, the divinely revealed doctrine of the Fall hinges in large part on the existence of a real Adam who truly sinned as the counterpart to the real Jesus who was/is truly righteous and who truly died and rose again:
(Romans 5:12-21)
Obviously Paul understood both Adam and Jesus to be historical figures. To suggest that Adam is a merely figurative character representative of humanity as a whole not only cuts against Paul's clear meaning, but it also destroys the argument of the text itself. The historical man Adam plunged humanity into sin and death through an historical sin. The historical man Jesus redeemed humanity through his historical death and resurrection. Take away the historicity of Adam and the parallel upon which the argument is built no longer works.
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