Approaching The Lord

 

This morning on the reservation there was an invitation for members of our community to join together in prayer over the COVID-19 pandemic. The invitation said, “All denominations of faith are welcome to join whether it be traditional Jicarilla, Christian or other faiths.”

In response to the invitation here is what I shared on our congregation’s Facebook page:

“The COVID-19 pandemic has been going on for nearly one year. Edward Velarde, President of the Jicarilla Apache Nation, and the JAN Legislative Council have asked members of the community to join in a time of prayer today, from 9-10 AM and again at 7 PM. They ask for prayer for the safety of the community, our state, our country, and the world, particularly as the vaccine for the virus is now being made available.

The call for prayer is made as an open invitation to people of all faiths. What I want to say here, as a Christian pastor of a Christian church, is that there is just one God, who reveals Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This God shows Himself, to us and the world, most clearly and powerfully as the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only God who hears and answers prayer. The idea that the people of our community would seek God is a good one. Let us pray being mindful not so much of what we are praying for but Whom we are praying to.”

I believe that the sentiment for members of our community to join together in prayer is a good thing, but that what we believe about the nature of God makes a very significant difference in how our prayers are received by Him, and if we might expect any kind of particular response from Him.

Psalm 145:18 says:

“The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.”

Our congregation is a part of the Reformed Church in America, and one of our denomination’s statements of belief is the Nicene Creed, which is used by many Christian denominations and churches. The Creed says this:

We believe in one God,
      the Father almighty,
      maker of heaven and earth,
      of all things visible and invisible. 

And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
      the only Son of God,
      begotten from the Father before all ages,
           God from God,
           Light from Light,
           true God from true God,
      begotten, not made;
      of the same essence as the Father.
      Through him all things were made.
      For us and for our salvation
           he came down from heaven;
           he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,
           and was made human.
           He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate;
           he suffered and was buried.
           The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures.
           He ascended to heaven
           and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
           He will come again with glory
           to judge the living and the dead.
           His kingdom will never end.

And we believe in the Holy Spirit,
      the Lord, the giver of life.
      He proceeds from the Father and the Son,
      and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.
      He spoke through the prophets.
      We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.
      We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
      We look forward to the resurrection of the dead,
      and to life in the world to come. Amen.

To “call on God in truth,” in this time after the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, means to move beyond understanding God as being merely a Creator but knowing and loving Him as Father, Son and Spirit. People may find it easy to believe in the existence of God but falter at what to do about the person of Jesus. If we say that there is a God, and we pray to this God, but have no time or place in our belief system for the person of Jesus, then we are simply praying to a god, and not the Real and True God.

Take a look back at the middle section of the creed and see what it says about Jesus. Who He is. What He has done. What He is doing. What He will do. God, without Jesus, is nothing. God, with Jesus, is the pathway to everything.

Approaching the Lord is always a good thing. So  lift your prayers, to the Lord, in truth, through faith in the person and work of His Son Jesus.

 

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Photo credit: EmmausBibleChurch.org

Approaching The Lord's Supper

This morning I read an essay on the purpose of the Lord’s Supper[1].  The part of the essay that really struck me had to do with this question: How should Christians approach the Supper? Stephen Charnock provided five basic attitudes of heart and mind we might consider as we come to the Supper, with a few subpoints to further understand each one.

1. Reverentially
1. With a reverence of the holiness of God.
2. With a reverence of the justice of God.
2. Holily
1. With mourning hearts for sin.
2. With deep considerations of the cursed nature and demerit of sin.
3. With strong resolutions against sin.
3. Believingly
1. We should profess our adherence to him.
2. Look up to Christ in His death as a conqueror.
3. Plead this death with God.
4. Plead this death against sin and Satan.
4. Humbly
1. Consider in this representation what we should have suffered.
2. Consider the deplorable misery wherein we were.
5. Thankfully
1. Blessing God for His love in offering up His Son to death.
2. Blessing Christ for His love in dying.
3. The costliness of this redemption by the death of Christ should excite us to show it forth with thankfulness.
4. The gain we have by it should excite us to it. 

I share this as food for thought. Charnock’s outline gives me a lot to think and pray about, not only in my role as pastor in providing the Supper on behalf of the Lord as His people gather for worship, but also as a sinner saved by the grace of God, a sinner who needs to receive this sacrament as a sign and seal of God’s grace as much as anyone else.

“For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”[2]

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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[1] Stephen Charnock, “A Discourse of the End of the Lord’s Supper” in The Works of Stephen Charnock, 4:392-426.

[2] This text, 1 Corinthians 11:26, was the basis for Charnock’s essay.

Unlimited Access

 

Yesterday we had a transition in the leadership of the government of the United States. In the morning the term of Donald Trump came to an end and in the afternoon the term Joe Biden began. We all might have words that we would like to share with either of these men while they hold office but the truth is that being able to do so directly, such as by a phone call, or perhaps dropping over at the White House, would be virtually impossible. Some people, such as their spouse, or the holder of a high government office, would likely be able to do that but the average person? Not so much. Go through the appropriate channels and, perhaps, you can relay your thoughts to them, but it is more likely that the closest you'll get will be to speak with someone working in their office.

In my devotional reading of the Bible this morning I read from the book of Esther. Esther is the queen to King Ahasuerus, a man whom the Bible tells us rules a kingdom that goes from India to Ethiopia. That is a lot of territory and it gives us a glimpse as to how much power Ahasuerus holds. And if you read the first few chapters of Esther you can learn how she wasn’t the queen at the start of the story. When Esther became queen the Bible tells us it happened like this,

“The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.”

Esther is the queen, and it would appear to the highly favored, but she has some well-founded reluctance in approaching the king on her own initiative. She explains to her relative,

“All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law – to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live.”

Esther is the queen, and highly favored, and yet wary of even the thought of approaching the king, her husband, directly.

These two thoughts on access today are in marked contrast to an email I received this morning, titled “Acknowledge the Privilege of Drawing Near to God in Prayer. 

In that email Matthew Henry writes “We must acknowledge it an unspeakable favor and an inestimable privilege that we are not only admitted, but invited and encouraged, to draw near to God in prayer.” He then gives seven different thoughts, all directly derived from the Bible, of how that access to God works. Here is one example,

You say, “Seek my face,” and our hearts say to you, “Your face, LORD, do we seek.” (Psalm 27:8 ESV) For, should not a people inquire of their God? (Isaiah 8:19 ESV) To whom shall we go but to you? You have the words of eternal life. (John 6:68 ESV)

President…kings…have restricted access, but in marked contrast, in terms of power, authority, and access, the Lord God Almighty says, “Seek my face”…anytime, anywhere. 

Unlimited access to God. A privilege that we are not merely allowed, but invited and encouraged to use.

 

 

 

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Photo credit: Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks

Some Days Are Just Like That

 

Yesterday I was running east of town, on the shoulder of US highway 64. It is the main road in and out of town, a two-lane highway with a wide paved shoulder and for the most part having a speed limit of 55, although in some sections it is lower. I run along this highway a lot, mostly because it is the closet thing around here to a road that is paved, fairly flat and with a decent shoulder.

When running on the highway I have a number of rules that I follow, for my own safety and also the safety of the drivers. I run facing traffic. If there is an oncoming car I move to the shoulder. If there is an oncoming semi-truck I move farther over, off the edge of the shoulder. It there is ice on the shoulder and a car or truck is coming by I make a complete stop, as I also do for trucks if I am in an area where a guardrail is, or if a truck will be passing me while we are both on the inside of a curve. If I hear a vehicle coming up behind me I move to the shoulder. Even though that vehicle should be a full lane away from me the truth is that if one vehicle is passing another I won’t hear the second vehicle, the one near to me, until virtually the moment it goes by. If there is a snow plow I come to a full stop and go to the opposite side of the highway as the plow. Plow drivers have enough on their minds without worrying about pedestrians.

Those are the basic rules I follow, not just on the highway, but on any road I run on here in Dulce. If it is dark I may use a headlamp and in darkness or bad weather I also wear a neon reflective vest or jacket.

In November, 2019, I was running in town near the elementary school about the time kids were being dropped off. Because of the traffic volume I tend to avoid that place and time of day but for whatever reason on this particular day, there I was. I was being particularly careful at the curve of the road and where the drivers were turning in/out of the school. After going past the school, which is basically at the edge of town, I went about another four miles and then turned to come back home. That day I was about three miles into my return when an outbound pickup stopped and a man gave me a neon vest to wear. As best I could guess, someone among the school traffic was concerned for my safety and had sent him out with the vest. He said something about appreciating what I did in the community and no one wanting to see me get hurt while running. Since then I have worn a reflective vest nearly every time I’ve gone to run.

All of which brings us up to yesterday’s run. I was east of town, heading home, when I heard a vehicle behind me. It was slowing down, way down. I was just passing a business and presumed the driver was going there, but as it turned out she was coming to a stop to talk with me, and to give me something. She handed me a pair of neon reflective pants, the kind worn by people working on highway construction crews. I tried to decline her offer but she was concerned for my safety out along the highway, saying something like “We don’t want you to get hurt, Pastor.”  So I thanked her as I took the pants, and she drove off, into town.

For the rest of the run, and sporadically since then, I have mulled one question over and over, without finding a good answer. What on earth am I to do with those pants?

They are good pants for a construction crew, or perhaps being in the woods during hunting season, but they are not really good for running in. Too baggy. And I am a runner who really would prefer fewer and/or lighter clothes to run in.

The woman meant well, and I appreciate her concern for my safety, along with her implicit regard for the way my ministry is present in the community. I’ve learned, here, the hard way, about declining a gift merely because I knew I didn’t really need it at the time. But given that I run outside every day this woman, whom I do not know and very likely would not recognize, will see me, without the pants she gave so that I could be safer, at least from her point-of view. And so I also have the problem of how not to offend this person through not using the gift she gave to me?

And now I am over 800 words into this blog post, with no theological insights, no sense of how to conclude my thoughts, and no acceptable answer to the question of what to do with those pants. I guess some days are just like that.

How Will You Plead?

 

Late Sunday afternoon I accepted a friend request on Facebook. It came from the husband of someone I went to seminary with. Shortly after accepting the request I got a private message that said, “Hi. How are you doing?”

Hmmm, thought I. This has the sound of a hacked account. For whatever reason I’ve received and accepted a number of these kinds of requests in the past two months. They come from people I know, they seem to be legit, and I can’t recall if I am already Facebook friends with the person sending the request.

Since I had exchanged email with my “new friend’s” wife this morning I replied with a follow-up question to clarify things. “Fine. How much longer until the baby comes?” “Soon,” says my new “friend.” I then say, “You sound like a fake account. Here is another chance to prove you are who you say you are. What is your PhD in?”

No reply. And so I sent one more note, saying something along the lines of, “Instead of pretending to be someone you are not why don't you turn to something that is the God’s-honest truth, which is that your sin can be forgiven through saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ?” I included a link to last week’s sermon, Don’t Be Foolish, from Galatians 4:8-20. When I checked Facebook before I began to type this blog post I found that my new “friend” had disappeared.

This exchange brought two things to mind. First is that there will be a day when all people will appear before God for judgment. Second, on that day, what will our plea be and on what basis will we make it?

The Bible makes it crystal clear that all people will appear before God, as their judge. If you are not a Christian than you likely don’t believe this. It is not the most important detail found in the Bible, but it is there and it is an unavoidable truth. As a Christian pastor, one whose faith is grounded in the confessions of the Reformed tradition, I don’t have any doubts that this day of judgement will occur, and that all people, no matter what they believed in life, will be judged.

Which leads to the second point, which is what will our plea be, and on what basis will we make it?

Standing before God, and perhaps shaking in our boots as we are directly confronted with the Lord God Almighty, will we plead a different identity, something similar to my Facebook “friend,” pretending to be someone who will perhaps be more favorably received?

Or maybe we will plead our case based on the worship of something or someone else? Maybe God will cut us some slack because we followed a god, even if it was the god of Mohammed, or Buddha, or Confucius, or Grandfather, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster?

The world would offer us a million excuses, or ways to rationalize our case, as we stand before God, but on that day none of them will fly. None of them will give us the slightest bit of favor from God.

In Romans 3:22-23 Paul writes, 

“For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

There is only one viable option at the moment of judgment. It is a good and beautiful path, provided by God Himself, and it is to have saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Acts 4:12, speaking of Jesus, Peter says,

“There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

And going back to Paul, this time from Romans 10:9, we are taught that the salvation that may be ours in the Lord Jesus Christ is something that is very freely available to all people, as long as they place their faith in Him while they are in this life.

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” 

Turn to the Lord Jesus, now, and stand before God then, with humility and confidence, not to receive judgment, but mercy. Know that your sin and its judgment will have been completely removed, by your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

 

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. 

Photo credit: Jupiterimages 

Tell Yourself No

 

It is just about noon here, Saturday, of a quiet week. All week long I have been looking for an idea to develop into a blog post, without much luck. 

Most weeks I get an idea from something that comes out of my Bible reading, or a book I am reading, or something connected to my sermon prep, or perhaps something that I ran across online. Or a thought may come to mind while I am out running or doing something with the family. But this week? Nothing really, at least not like most weeks.

What has my mind been up to this week? Well, high on the priority list every week is sermon prep. Tomorrow’s sermon is from Galatians 4:21-31. You can watch it, or any of the other sermons I’ve preached since mid-March at our church YouTube channel. You’ll find sermons from Zechariah 5:1-11 to the end of his book, all of James, and as of tomorrow the first four chapters of Galatians. When I finish Galatians I’m going to begin Psalms. I plan to preach about 30 of the 150 Psalms in the Bible. Anyhow, there was nothing from my sermon prep that I wanted to blog about.

I’ve kept up with my other Bible reading. I follow the M’Cheyne plan, which gets me through the New Testament and Psalms twice a year, and the remainder of the Old Testament once. It usually calls for reading a chapter from four different books of the Bible each day. I modify it so that I read four chapters from one book each day. That helps me to better follow the flow of a particular book. This week I read all of Ezra and sections of Genesis, Nehemiah, Matthew and Acts. I read lots of really good things, but nothing to turn into a blog post.

In my other work-related reading I am working my way through three different books. I began an outstanding book on the Apostle’s Creed, read some chapters in an outstanding book on pastoral theology, and began a pretty good book on prayer. Good stuff? You bet. Blog post ideas? Not this week. I did some other reading for fun, but nothing that I found I should think over and then write my own thoughts about.

This week I made my first trip out of town in two months, going to the very same places as I did then. My dentist, in Pagosa Springs, and then over to Wal Mart in Durango, to pick up the groceries we ordered online. It was a good day to travel through the mountains. Sunny and clear roads. The highlight was when I saw an eagle and a group of ravens feeding on an elk carcass. Eagles are always exciting to see but it wasn’t blog-worthy.

I’ve done some pastoral care over the phone and by text. Occasionally pastoral care can spark a thought to share with a wider audience, but not this week.

There have also been a lot things in the news this week, and as I am sure you know, lots of people commentaries on those events. I don’t think that I really have anything to add to those conversations.

But now, after writing all of this, I find that I’m changing the conclusion because perhaps I do have something to say.

I took the picture above just as a view of the countryside from our window this morning. I took two of them, one from the upper pane, where there is no screen, and one from the lower pane, looking through the screen. You’ll notice that in this picture, the one from the lower pane, that there is a little, blurry, rectangle on the upper right. That is where Robin and one of the boys patched the screen this week. They actually patched a number of screens this week. Curious boys, their fingers and window screens are not always the best combination.

The lesson we are trying to teach the boys from this is “Tell yourself “no”. You don’t need to act on every idea or impulse that comes through your head. Tell yourself “no.”” And right now, this week, that strikes me as a good thing for us all to keep in mind. We don’t have to act, or respond, or react, to everything that comes along. Sometimes the best choice is just to "tell yourself "no.""