Toby J. Sumpter's Blog, page 39

Lay It Down

“You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons” (1 Cor. 10:21).

This warning comes following Paul’s sweeping appraisal of Old Israel who had been baptized in the cloud and in the sea, who ate spiritual food, and drink spiritual drink, but they fell in the wilderness because they were idolaters. They grumbled and complained about God’s provision and craved evil things. And Paul says that in that condition when they offered sacrifices to God, they were actually sacrificing to demons. 

This really is the table of the Lord regardless of who comes and how they come, but Paul says precisely because that is the case, the Lord can be provoked to jealousy, and He can leave you to your idols. One of the ways God deals with hypocrites is by handing them over to their sins.

How does this happen? James says that friendship with the world is enmity with God. Anyone who wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. He continues: Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 

So, do want to be free from every demon? Do you want to resist the devil in such a way that he will flee from you? Do you want to scare all the evil away? Then you must submit to God completely. 

In the Lord of the Rings, Gandalf says Bilbo must leave the ring of power behind before leaving to go to Rivendell, and after a great struggle, Bilbo agrees to leave the ring behind, but he doesn’t actually rid himself of the ring. Gandalf has to remind him that he still has the ring.

So many Christians know that they must give up their sin, and they struggle mightily with the idea of that, and occasionally come to the conclusion that they really must be done with it, and then they mistake that resolution for real peace. But no, you really must put it down, lay it down, and walk away. That is submission to God, and when you do that, the devil will flee from you. 

So as you come to this table, do not merely agree with God that your sin must go, commit to doing whatever needs to be done to actually rid yourself of that sin. 

So come and welcome, to Jesus Christ. 

Photo by Fidel Fernando on Unsplash

Forgiven Women

We live in a culture that hates men and biblical masculinity, and consequently because that is true, it also hates women. But it tries to disguise this hatred of women with thick layers of flattery and other lies. And this means that we live in a culture that demands that women must not be told the truth. They must not be told about their particular sins, their peculiar temptations. And this is also how you know our culture hates women. The one thing our culture does not want is strong women, free women because that would mean hundreds of millions of forgiven women.

Paul tells Timothy in his second letter that one of the marks of difficult times is the prevalence of weak women taken captive and weighed down with sins, led around by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the truth (2 Tim. 3:6-7).

The fundamental thing that makes women weak is guilt – they are weighed down with sins. And this makes them susceptible to scams and lies and flattery. They know they are guilty, they hate the feeling, but instead of dealing with their sin, they let their lusts lead them into one new thing after another: food fads, beauty fads, diet fads, selling-stuff-at-parties fads, education fads, health fads, always learning and never able to come to the truth. Always scrambling, but never really free.

So what is that sin that weighs you down? There are many, but one of them is the sin of vanity: desperate to be beautiful, desperate to be noticed, obsessed with your body, your image, or starving for some form of admiration from others. But that’s an idol. You will never be what the world wants you to imagine. It’s a graven image. Beauty is fading and charm is a lie, but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised (Prov. 31:30). Yes, God made you beautiful and it is your glory, but that is supposed to be a sign to you of what you are to become throughout eternity, beginning on the inside now: an incorruptible beauty, the hidden person of the heart, a gentle and quiet spirit which is most precious in the sight of God. 

So put away all your fear. Put away your fear of man, your fear of what might happen to your children, your husband, your future. A gentle and quiet spirit trusts in God and is not afraid. What is your most treasured possession? Where is it? If it really is your most treasured possession, then you know right where it is, for safekeeping. You a daughter of the King, you were purchased with the blood of Jesus. Put away your fear, trust in His sovereign care: that is most precious in the sight of God, and God knows right where you are. You are in His safekeeping. 

So confess your sins, and be forgiven, so that you may be strong, and wise, and free.

Photo by Tina Dawson on Unsplash

Knit Together

This table is one of the most significant ways God is knitting us together. It really is God’s work and not some kind of lever that we can pull, but we can come together here more or less ready for God to do this work. Remember, when the Corinthians came together, there were divisions among them – I am of Paul, I am of Apollos, I’m not with those guys. And this translated into real mayhem at the Table, with some folks eating and others being left out, and some drinking so much they were drunk. And Paul says that whatever they were doing, it was not the Lord’s Supper. 

So look around you. Look down your aisle, look across the aisle, look behind you, look in front of you. What do you see? Who do you see? Christ says that you must see Him. But you might be tempted to say, but Jesus is perfect. He doesn’t snap and lose his temper. He doesn’t forget His promises. He doesn’t have kids that get into tangles with my kids. But You need to try again. Who are these people? They are the people Christ died for. They are His sheep. They are His treasure. 

Do you have a grievance with anyone in this room, anyone in another service, any other saint at all? Lay it down. Has anyone snubbed you, misunderstood you, forgotten you, ignored you? Lay it down. Your options are to let love cover it – because Christian love really does cover a multitude of sins, or else you may need to confront it. Go to your brother or sister privately, and if it’s particularly thorny, ask a trusted friend or parent or elder to go with you. But you must be at peace with one another, as far as it depends upon you. 

Every week, we say that we are showing the Lord’s death in this meal until He comes. One of the ways we are showing the Lord’s death is by showing the death of all our sin, but not just your individual sin, but also the sin of everyone around you. In Isaiah, the prophet foretold the day when God would swallow up death forever. So we are mimicking that here. When you swallow this bread and wine, you are confessing that Christ swallowed up your sin forever in His death. But if He swallowed up your sin, then He also swallowed up her sin, his sin, our sin. And therefore, you promising as you eat and drink that you have no grudges, no resentment, no bitterness because that is how Christ welcomes you. 

So come and welcome to Jesus Christ. 

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

True Fruit & Real Glory

Jn. 12:20-33

Introduction
It has sometimes been said that people are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good, but that is actually a slander and a lie. In fact, C.S. Lewis said rightly, “If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next.” Likewise, Lewis said, “Aim at heaven and you get earth thrown in; aim at earth and you get neither.”

We’ve had quite a week as a nation, but unless we fix our eyes on Christ and what He is doing, we will not know what to do or what to think.

The Text: There were God-fearing Greeks that came to the Feast of Passover in Jerusalem who wanted to see Jesus, and the disciples told Him (12:20-22). Jesus answered by saying that his hour had come to be glorified – the glory only possible by fruit coming out of the ground after a seed has died (12:23-24). But Jesus is not only talking about Himself since He immediately says that this is true of anyone who would seek eternal life: they must lose their life and follow Jesus to be with Him and receive the honor of His Father (12:25-26). Jesus says He is troubled by what is about to happen, but He prays that the Father will glorify His name (12:27-28). God answers that prayer immediately saying He has glorified His name and He will again (12:28). Some thought God’s answer sounded like thunder, others said it was an angel, and Jesus said the answer was for the encouragement of the people (12:29-30). Finally, Jesus declares the judgment of this world and its prince, and that His death will surely draw all men to Himself (12:31-33). 

The Battle of Thermopylae 
It doesn’t seem to be an accident that Jesus responds this way to the message that some Greeksare wanting to see Him. Whether He made this reply in their presence, or this reply was relayed to them, a message about glory and honor and dying seems well suited for Greeks, steeped in the glory-lore of their civilization, for example the Battle of Thermopylae. In August or September of 480 B.C. hundreds of thousands (or millions) of Persians descended upon the Pass of Thermopylae, called the Hot Gates, manned by 300 Spartan warriors and a few thousand other Greeks. Led by King Leonidas, the Spartans held the Persians off for two full days inflicting massive casualties on the Persian forces. As the third day dawned, Persians had broken through another pass, flanking the Greeks. At that point Leonidas apprised the other Greeks of their doomed position and offered them the chance to retreat, which most took, but the Spartans had no intention of retreating. As they ate breakfast, preparing for the third day of battle, legend has it that Leonidas told his men, “Eat well, for tonight we dine in Hades.” The 300 Spartans launched themselves into the Persian forces expecting to die, and so they did to the last man. And yet, many consider that last stand of the Spartans to have actually saved Greek civilization and with it many common grace virtues of the West. We have a similar story in American history with the Alamo. What was a momentary loss, became a rallying cry for freedom and eventual victory. And there is something in the human psyche — perhaps most evident in the masculine psyche, that loves these stories, that longs to die like that.

Death, Death Everywhere
One of the things the ancients have over us is their general understanding that death comes to all and very soon. On average, in the US, 7-8,000 people die every day from all causes. Around 153,000 people die every day in the world, over 56 million die every year. And the mortality rate is holding steady at 100%. Between average longevity increasing substantially, infant mortality plummeting significantly, and the fact that most death happens in the West in hospitals and nursing homes, we are tempted to be shocked by death. But this side of the Fall, the plan is to die (Heb. 9:27). The only question, Jesus says, is what your death will accomplish. We have been trained to think almost the exact opposite. We are catechized by our culture to do anything we can to put off death since our lives will be defined by what we accomplish before we die. But Jesus says here that a seed cannot bear any fruit unless it goes into the ground and dies (12:24). Jesus says He is aiming for this glory: He expects the great fruit of His life to come after He is lifted up and dies (12:31-33). Anyone who wants eternal life must think and act the same way (12:26-27). Jesus says a life spent in following Him is one that will produce great fruit after it has gone in the ground.

The Hour Has Come
We see this in John’s gospel in the phrase “the hour,” which has been referenced a number of times, usually stressing that it is “coming” or that it is “not yet come” (Jn. 2:4, 5:28, 7:30, 8:20), but here, for the first time, Jesus emphatically says, “the hour is come” (12:23). Clearly, Jesus is talking about His impending death – it was for this purpose that He came to this hour (12:27). But this hour brings with it not only the death of Christ but also the judgement of this world, the casting out of the devil, and drawing all men to Himself (12:31-32). Now this will happen. But we are tempted to ask, has it really? Theologians often refer to these kinds of statements in the gospels as “already/not yet.” For example, the Kingdom was already in the midst of the disciples (Lk. 17:21), but they were also instructed to pray for it to come, as we still do (Lk. 11:2). Likewise, Christ already died, and the deathblow has been delivered to Satan who has been cast down (Lk. 10:18, Rev. 12:9), but he still prowls about seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet. 5:8). His power has already been destroyed (Heb. 2:14), and yet he is not yet cast into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:10). The kingdoms of this world have been become the Kingdom of our Lord (Mt. 28:18, Rev. 11:15), but we do not yet see all things put beneath His feet (Heb. 2:8) and He must reign in heaven until we do (1 Cor. 15:25). And all the indications are that God intends to accomplish this fruitfulness over the course of many generations. What began as 12 men, and grew into a few thousand, has now blossomed into billions. He was lifted up, and He is drawing all men to Himself. And here we are.

Covenantal Conclusions
Having marinated in secular individualism for the last century, even self-conscious Christians find it difficult to think of their lives covenantally, that is, generationally. But this is the underlying logic of what Jesus is talking about. People are connected by ties far deeper than blood and genes and the hurly-burly of life. How were we born into sin? By Adam’s sin, a man who died thousands of years ago. How have we been forgiven and made righteous? By Christ’s obedient death two thousand years ago. He was lifted up on the cross and destroyed the power of the Devil. But this is all to say that Christ is the Lord of history. We are not just trapped in the system. He is at work.

Abraham is still the Father of the Faithful, still fathering every nation on earth receiving the blessing of Jesus, and he and Sarah died believing the promises but not seeing them fulfilled (Rom. 4:17-25). Both he and Sarah have been increasingly fruitful as the centuries have gone on (cf. 1 Pet. 3:6). How is that possible? Christ is doing it. Christ is the great Gardiner. His efficacious death and resurrection are making the seeds fruitful. But that is a covenantal fruitfulness that has sprung from Abraham and Sarah’s dead bodies (Rom. 4:19), a fruitfulness we have joined by faith in the death of Christ, sealed in the waters of our baptism. We have already died, and our lives are hidden with Christ in God.

Think about the covenantal blessings we are reaping from saints we have forgotten. Some martyrs dying explicitly for the faith, some faithful plodders dying in old age, some inventors dying at their desk, some dying in infancy, some soldiers dying in battle, some mothers dying in delivery. Now think in the other direction, ten or twenty generations into the future. What fruitfulness will Christ make out of faithful labors, sins confessed, dishes washed, a glass of cold water given, lives laid down gladly, Christian bodies buried in the ground? Christ holds it all together. He holds all of us together. He makes it fruitful.

True fruit and real glory are found in the answer to our Master’s prayer: Father, glorify Thy name. And that is a prayer that God seems very eager to answer speedily – like a thunderclap – in daily faithfulness and obedience. If you seek your life, your glory, your legacy, your name, you will be sure to lose it all, but if you seek the Father’s glory, the glory of Christ, and ask Him to glory His name in you today, He always answers, I have and I will. Because He remembers your name.

Nate and Megan

Song of Songs 8:6-7

A wedding can seem like a real oddity any more. Most statistics say that marriage rates have plummeted, many couples opting to just live together. Why bother with an expensive sentimental ceremony if the chances are good that it will end in divorce? For many this is just an admission of reality. People break things. People mess up. They make mistakes. They fail. They hurt one another. 

But everyone really does long for real love — a love that is as strong as death, the kind of love that many waters cannot quench, as Solomon puts it. But for many modern people that’s like a fairy tale, unlikely, maybe a lucky break for some, like winning the lottery or something. 

So a Christian wedding seems like an even greater oddity. I mean, it’s one thing to have a nice ceremony and hope for the best, but Christians gather and swear oaths before God, covenant oaths, basically asking God and all their family and friends to curse them if they don’t keep their vows. And then, there’s the vows themselves: a man promising to love his wife like Christ loved the Church, to lay his life down sacrificially for one woman, for the rest of his life? I mean, come on, nobody’s perfect, men especially. And a woman promising to respect this man and obey him and follow Him for the rest of her life? Is that even legal, anymore? And how can you know what it’s going to be like in five years? How can you know what it’s going to be like once you’ve been living together for a while? What if it gets old? What if it isn’t what you were expecting? What if someone else comes along who seems more attractive, more understanding, more your style?

The idea of marriage, if taken seriously, can seem like a really crazy idea. And we haven’t even started talking about having kids yet. 

But Christians, of all people, really do have to look at these realities right in the eye. Christians are not blind optimists or hopeless romantics, and we don’t really believe in luck. We actually have a name for what’s wrong with the world, a name for how things tend to fall apart, for how people mess up, fail, and can cause serious pain. The name for it is sin. Sin isn’t just breaking some rules on a list somewhere, like not stepping on cracks or forgetting to knock on wood. Sin is what the Bible calls those things that destroy life and steal joy. They are displeasing to God precisely because they destroy God’s good creation, and sin causes great harm and pain. 

Think about how fathers sometimes treat their kids. Think about how mothers sometimes criticize their children. Think about how deep bitterness and resentment can develop between a husband and wife, a cold war of animosity. Think about how friends can betray us. Think about the lies that can be spread. Or just look at our nation, how hateful and divided we have become. How can you possibly fix any of that? And if you don’t fix it, all you have is trying to ignore that aching feeling in your gut, the voices in your head, the thoughts that won’t stop racing through your mind at night, the guilt, the shame, the regret, the rage. That’s what stands between you and peace.

This is why Jesus came to stand in our place in that place, where all the hurt is piled up, where all the pain gathers, where all the slanders and lies and anger lives. Jesus stood there for us when He was crucified. He did not come for the righteous but for the unrighteous, and to give His life as a ransom for many. The Bible teaches that the wages of sin is death. All sin demands suffering and death; the only question is whether it will be your suffering and death and the suffering and death of those around you or whether you will let Jesus take your sin away. This is the love of Christ, the only love that is strong as death.

So this is what it means to be a Christian. It means believing that He came to this earth to bear your sins on the cross. It means believing that He suffered in your place so that you might go free. It means believing that all of your sins really have been paid for, that He has carried all of your pain and grief, and now you are clean in the sight of God because Jesus suffered, bled, and died for you. When that burden is removed it’s like the sun coming out after a month of rain. It’s like finally getting a full night’s sleep after many days of insomnia. Being a Christian doesn’t mean that you don’t sin or hurt anymore. But being a Christian means that as soon as you do sin, you know exactly what to do with it. You confess it to God, and you ask for forgiveness, you prepare to forgive the one who sinned against you, because it was already paid for in the blood of Jesus. 

And this bring us full circle to why Christians are not crazy to get married. Well, it is crazy, and it isn’t crazy all at the same time. And the point is that Christians can take wedding vows not because they have become perfect or sinless, but because they know exactly what causes all the problems in marriage and now we know what to do about it. 

So Nate, this is my charge to you. You are about to take vows that are way beyond what you can do. This is why you need to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. He is perfect, and He stood in your place so that you could be the kind of husband you aren’t. Maybe that sounds sort of esoteric and cryptic. But think of it this way. Apart from Christ, your sins and failures (past, present, and future) really will haunt you. And if you manage to shove them down, out of your mind, they still hang on you, and weigh you down, and you’ll never be able to love your wife well like that. Many men are angry, depressed, and have an empty aching feeling in their gut, and they don’t know why, but this is why. They need Christ to take their sin away. And practically, this means you need to be a man who confesses his sins. Confess your sins to God, and confess your sins to your wife. This is one of the greatest ways you can lead and love your wife. Because the greatest threat to you, your wife, or your marriage is sin, so confess it as quickly as it arises. 

Megan, my charge to you is similar. The calling of a wife is beyond what you can do, and apart from Christ, your sins and failures will haunt you, and not only that, your husband’s sins can tempt you to bitterness. As Nate confesses his sins and asks you to forgive him, learn to forgive him, just as you have been forgiven. And remember that forgiveness is a promise not a feeling. Forgiveness means promising to reckon his sin as paid for in the cross of Jesus. Was your sin paid for? Then so was his. Don’t allow any bitterness to develop. Of course, as Nate leads you and loves you by confessing his sins, imitate that love and confess your sins to him. And Nate, you also must forgive Megan when she sins against you. 

Perhaps this all seems a bit dreary, all this talk about sin and forgiveness, but for a Christian, this is one our greatest sources of joy and fellowship. This is simply the blessing of God. And may that blessing rest upon your household and all your kids, to a thousand generations. 

In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen. 

Photo by Dmitry Schemelev on Unsplash

Laugh, But Don’t Flinch

Just a quick note on yesterday’s, ahem, festivities in D.C.

Part of what Christians have to remember is that the Devil doesn’t fight fair. He never has and never will. He is a liar, and the father of lies. But Christians are committed to fighting fair. This can seem unfair, but this is what it means to be light and not darkness.

You can’t fight fire with fire; you can’t fight lies with lies. And the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God. No, Christians fight with truth, gladness, Psalm singing, worship on the Lord’s Day, Sabbath feasting with our families and neighbors, and we only fight physically and militarily according to God’s law, defensively and under lawful authority — but not with mobs, vigilante justice, vandalism, or vengeful violence. So every bit of that, which broke out yesterday at the U.S. Capital we condemn. You cannot stand against mobs looting Targets and burning down police stations and then bum-rush a bunch of cops, break out windows, and vandalize office buildings.

We are not thugs, but standing for the truth will get you smeared at times as the thugs. Sometimes because thugs are planted in our midst by our enemies, and sometimes because there are simply thugs in our midst, just as there are still little demon-thugs that need to be put down in every human heart. Remember, Jesus was crucified between two thugs. Paul and the other apostles were persecuted as being part of the various anti-Roman insurrectionist movements, maligned as Jewish zealots and the like. This isn’t the first time, and our faith was made for just such a moment as this.

But if you love Jesus and freedom and there’s joy in your heart, and if you think there might have been some funny business with this last election, that there’s a massive swamp problem in D.C., and that the LGBT Intersectional Gestapo is rounding third on a successful coup of our Christian Republic, the picture the Left and all of their media goons are now working overtime to tag you with is that crazy guy with bull horns presiding over the congressional chambers. While there are no doubt some on our side who will be tempted to defend what happened yesterday, I think the bigger temptation is to go timid in the face of the scolding we are getting for the fools and rabble that broke ranks yesterday.

The usual leftists who celebrated the riots and violence this last summer will smugly lecture you about white supremacy and Trumpism, and who cares what they think. We should be quoting them back to themselves every chance we can get, as the venerable Chris Cuomo told us back in June: “… too many see the protests as the problem. No, the problem is what forced your fellow citizens to take to the streets: persistent, poisonous inequities and injustice… And please, show me where it says protesters are supposed to be polite and peaceful. Because I can show you that outraged citizens are what made the country what she is and led to any major milestone.”

But there are also a bunch of squishy woke “conservative” types who barely said a word about the BLM and Antifa riots and violence who are now bustling about with their skirts hiked up to their armpits wanting you to be embarrassed that thousands of freedom loving Americans showed up in DC to peacefully ask Congress to do something about what they consider a stolen election. Those protestors may well be mistaken about the facts regarding the election or what is actually possible constitutionally at this point (and I strongly disagree with Trump’s insistence that Pence could have done anything legally about it), but these people do see a real coup in progress. They have experienced first hand the tyrannical shut down of their businesses and churches, the mindless, illogical mask mandates, and the massive double standards granted to those who pull down statutes and chuck fireworks at law enforcement officers.

The fact that these arm chair conservative critics of the rally yesterday have nothing but scorn for the vast majority of freedom and peace-loving Christians in that crowd tells you exactly what you should think of their criticisms. Yes, there have been some strong critics of Trump who are dealing out appropriate condemnation on all the violence with appropriate equity. But given the powder keg that was first century Jerusalem, I find it striking that the word the gospels use most frequently to describe how Jesus looked at the crowds, those sheep without a shepherd, was compassion. Had any of those crowds dabbled in zealotry? Had any of them ever showed up at a wrong-headed riot? No doubt some had.

And no doubt there were bad apples at the Trump rally yesterday. I think back on how hard we have worked here in Moscow to keep misguided “supporters” of our Psalm sing protests away from us, and why we opted for the “flash” protests of 10-15 minutes, where it’s harder for things to unravel in an unhealthy way than several hours in the cold without bathrooms. I don’t doubt that most of the crowd storming the Capital were our own modern day conservative zealots, who don’t know what spirit they are of, and the ones who broke laws should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. But even Jesus’ own disciples wanted to call fire down on some cities, and another pulled a sword out the night of His arrest and cut off a man’s ear. There were also no doubt many more in the rest of the crowd outside the Capital yesterday who are thoroughly confused theologically, some real fruits and nuts of the Evangelical world. But don’t let the “Conservative” Nannies embarrass you for a minute for what you’ve seen with your own eyes for the last four years. Trump is no savior, no conservative hero, and he shouldn’t be confused as such, but Trump has put up more of a fight against our enemies than many who should know a lot better.

So stand your ground in the truth. Stand your ground to protect your liberty. Don’t give up an inch. Condemn all true evil and thuggery and works of the flesh; put away all wrath. Stay disciplined. Hold ranks. And do not allow the slander or folly of our enemies (on the right or the left) to cow you into silence or cowardice or retreat. Do not run away from the hard work of Christian freedom, even if the bozo currently yelling it at the top of his lungs is wearing a fur cap with horns on it, like he was an obsessed extra from Braveheart. 2021 really did just tell 2020 to hold his beer.

What happened is a shame, but you can also laugh. Just don’t flinch.

Better to Be 5 Minutes Late

“There’s there’s an enormous difference between having different perspectives or opinions on some subject and being out of fellowship. Being out of fellowship means you have lost your temper. It means you have sinned against one another. It means you have a grudge, or you are bitter, or you have resentment…

Love deals with sin right away. And since the devil likes to get a foothold here, let me just point out that sometimes marital bumps will occur at the most inopportune moments, e.g. on the way to church, just as friends are walking up to your house for dinner, maybe even during a dinner party, or late at night when everyone is tired and not thinking clearly. Make it a point to deal with sin right away. Do not walk into church out of fellowship. Leave your gift at the altar. Be five minutes late and be reconciled first. Welcome your dinner guests inside and briefly excuse yourselves in order to get back into fellowship quickly. If you’re at a crowded party and something pops, lean over and whisper your confession and forgiveness…

If you’re not in the habit of confessing sin and forgiving quickly, some of this might seem awkward in the beginning, but like many good things, you can actually become good at it. It’s always a bit embarrassing, but it’s always an opportunity to glory in the cross. We are Christians and confession of sin and forgiveness are central to our Christian joy. Christian marriages and homes are not clean because we don’t make messes; they are clean because we’ve learned to pick up. We have fellowship with one another because the blood of Jesus washes us clean.” (No Mere Mortals, 37-39)

www.nomeremortals.com

Photo by The Creative Exchange on Unsplash

So Come

Occasionally we are asked whether we “fence” the table at Christ Church. The answer is yes, but for those who ask, it can sometimes appear that the answer is no. So I want to explain why we fence the table the way we do. 

First off, you may have noticed the paragraph in the bulletin at the bottom of the third page entitled “May I Come to the Lord’s Table?” That is our standing invitation and fencing. It basically says that everyone is welcome to partake of this meal with us (even visitors), so long as they are baptized, under the authority of the Church, professing faith in Christ alone, and not under church discipline. 

Second, we really do want to emphasize that this is the Lord’s Table. It is not our “Christ Church table” or a “CREC table” or even a sectarian “Reformed table.” It is the table of Jesus Christ. He always presides here. He is at the head of the table every week. So we want to mimic His invitation and any warnings He gives. Everyone that Jesus welcomes, we want to welcome. It seems to us that in the historic practice of fencing the table, the emphasis has frequently been heavy on the warnings and light on the welcome. It is true that Jesus warned the disciples at the Last Supper that one would betray Him, and Paul certainly warned the Corinthians that they were playing with fire. But the striking thing is that in neither case were the offenders forbidden from coming. In fact, all the indications are that Judas took the Lord’s Supper and then Satan entered him. 

So what we have wanted to emphasize here is the invitation: Come. This is not because we do not believe in church discipline. We do, and from time to time individual members are suspended temporarily from the Lord’s Supper, and occasionally, when a member refuses to repent of long standing, high handed sin, they are excommunicated and barred from the table until they repent. And the elders of Christ Church do take that responsibility seriously. And this is why we do not believe you should decide whether to take the Lord’s Supper or not from week to week. If you are baptized then you should come, unless the elders say otherwise. If you’re not yet baptized, we invite you to be baptized first, and then come and partake with us. 

Jesus is the Good Shepherd who knows His sheep the best. Our job is to welcome you to Him. And so we do, and we do so gladly, knowing that He will deal with you perfectly. Lay down your sins and come. He will comfort your hearts, forgive all of your sins, and strengthen you for the journey.

So Come. Come and welcome to Jesus Christ. 

Photo by Jonas Allert on Unsplash

Men, Lead

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for her, that He might present her to Himself all glorious, without spot or wrinkle, but holy and without blemish. 

No husband can duplicate the substitutionary atonement of Jesus, but the Bible clearly commands husbands to imitate it. Husbands are required to love their wives efficaciously. This means that you are required to see progress. 

No man ever hated his own flesh, but feeds it and keeps it warm, so every man must love his own wife as his own body. Of course, you can do this as a slave, catering to every appetite or lust, or you can do this as a wise steward, training and leading your body like an athlete, like a loving coach aiming for the prize of glory.  

But men are naturally like their father, Adam, and we make excuses, try to shift blame. It was the woman you gave to me. Maybe you call it being easy-going or not meddling in your wife’s business, but if that means leaving your wife in her sin and letting your family coast into the dark, then you are on the hook. And you cannot hide in the bushes; God comes looking for you. You are the covenant head. You are the captain of the ship. You are responsible. Where are you?  

No husband has the luxury of opting out of this. Every marriage is talking about the gospel of Jesus all day long, every day. It is either telling the true story of sacrificial love, efficacious love – a love that makes the bride more lovely – graciously, patiently working out the spots and working in the holiness of God, or else it is a false gospel of apathy, laziness, wrath, and excuse-making. 

The love of Christ is not limp. The love of Christ is fierce and bold. The love of Christ is not a doormat. The love of Christ is not manipulative or moody. The love of Christ is steady. It sacrifices personal comfort in order to lead others to safety. In this world, that goal is no less than Heaven. Men, God has set a number of years of marriage for you to guide your wife safely home. Do not be distracted. Do not despair. Christ is ahead of you, clearing the way. 

Photo by Emily Finch on Unsplash

Christ to Share

This table is a standing invitation to receive the hospitality of God, and so it is also a standing reminder to you to share this same hospitality with others. If you’ve been here for a number of years, you no doubt have a circle of friends and family you serve regularly, and you should know that it is very important that you keep showing hospitality to those people. Hospitality starts in every home with those you are closest to, and please don’t minimize that care in the slightest. At the same time, we want to be practicing in such a way that we are able to squeeze more chairs around the table as God blesses. And if you’re newer to the church, please jump in with us, love your people, introduce yourself, share your table with others. All hands on deck, as they say.  

But the thing we want to keep front and center is the fact that all true hospitality is grace. All hospitality is a gift to be given, not some kind of grievous burden. And we know this because this table is a gift. This table is grace. As we do not get tired of saying, this table is not a reward for being good. This table is for sinners. This table is for the weak, the tired, the downtrodden, the hungry, the dirty. Have you sinned? And do you hate it? Then you are welcome. Have you failed again, and does it make you sick to your stomach? Then come. Are you afraid, struggling with worry and anxiety? God has set this table with you in mind. He knew we needed regular reminders. And this is the thing you need to be reminded of: you do not stand in your goodness. If you stand at all, you stand in His grace. 

You are tempted look at your track record. You are tempted to compare yourself to what others appear to be. But comparing yourself to yourself or to others is actually a terribly low bar and ironically ends up with you settling for far less. But if you look to Christ, you see an incredibly high bar and yet it’s the kind of high bar that lifts you up. And this is because the perfection of God is Christ, come to save sinners. When you look at the perfection of God, the holiness of God, the justice of God, if you’re looking straight at it, all you see is Christ. Because Christ is the fullness of God revealed to man. And therefore, Christ is the hospitality of God, the welcome of God, and if You have Christ, You have Christ to share. 

 So, come and welcome to Jesus Christ. 

Photo by Valentina Locatelli on Unsplash