Building...

As we are coming out of this pandemic and people are returning to worship it has been so good to see familiar faces (albeit altered with masks!) again. We’ve tried any number of “work-arounds” for worship. Here, then, are some sound words for me – especially “do it well” – and I hope for you as we move forward. It’s not up to us – it’s up to Him.

“But it is not we who build. He wills to build the church. No one build the church but Christ alone. Whoever is mindful to build the church is well on his way to destroying it; for he will build a temple to idols without wishing or knowing it. We must confess – he builds. We must proclaim – he builds. We must pray to him – he builds. We do no know his plan. We cannot see whether he is building or pulling down. It may be that the times which by human standards are times of collapse are for him the great times of building. It may be that the times which from a human point of view are great times for the church are times when it is pulled down. It is a great comfort which Christ gives to his church: you confess, preach, bear witness to me, and I alone will build when and where it pleases me. Do not meddle in what is my province. Church, do what is given to you to do well and you have done enough. But do it well. Pay no heed to views and opinions, don’t ask for judgments, don’t always be calculating what will happen, don’t always be on the look-out for another refuge! Church, stay a church! But church confess, confess, confess! Christ alone is your Lord, from his grace alone can you live as you are. Christ builds. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against you.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer, No Rust Swords (London: Collins, 1970), p. 212

Lenten interplay of Law and Gospel

I found this interplay of Law and Gospel in my devotions. It’s from the writing of John Bunyan and it seems fitting for this Lententide.

“I find to this day seven abominations in my heart: (1) an inclination to unbelief. (2) Suddenly forgetting the love and mercy Christ shows us. (3) A leaning to the works of the Law. (4) Wanderings and coldness in prayer. (5) Forgetting to watch for that which I have prayed for. (6) A tendency to murmur because I have no more, and yet a willingness to abuse what I have. (7) I can do none of those things which God commands me, but my corruptions will thrust themselves upon me so that ‘when I would do good, evil is present with me.’ These things I continually see and feel and am afflicted and oppressed with; yet the wisdom of God orders them for my good. (1) They make me abhor myself. (2) They keep me from trusting my heart. (3) They convince me of the insufficiency of all inherent righteousness. (4) They show me the necessity of flying to Jesus. (5) They press me to pray to God. (6) They show me the need I have to watch and be sober. (7) And they provoke me to look to God, through Christ, to help me and carry me through this world. Amen.”

Flags

On a recent trip I picked up Sam Houston and the Alamo Avengers, by Brian Kilmeade. One of the many things I learned was a distinction between flags in warfare. By flags I don’t mean the insignias used to designate various units serving or the ensigns of the countries represented in the conflict.

The flags I’m talking about are the white flag and the black flag (there could be more, I don’t know – these were the ones in the book). At this time (1836) the white flag signaled surrender, as it still does. This I already knew. But a black flag meant that this force in the battle would give no quarter. They would take no prisoners. All who were defeated by the black flag waving soldiers would be executed.

Theologically, when we were born we faced a black flag. “All have sinned…”Romans 3:23. “the wages of sin is death,” Romans 6:23. No matter how much these verses would move us to wave the white flag of surrender, we are still doomed. Don’t get me wrong, our surrender is part of the process. Indeed, it is essential. But it’s not good enough. We are still faced with a black flag of destruction.

That’s why the lifted cross is the one true flag we need. We see here what God was willing to do to release us from the sentence of death – He took it as His own. By the Holy Spirit’s work, we not only surrender when we see how far from God we’ve fallen, but we trust God’s promise that through our faith we are welcomed back home.

“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” John 12:32. Keep this lifted symbol ever before your eyes!