Pastor's Blog https://www.redeemernj.com Mon, 18 Mar 2024 22:35:01 -0400 http://churchplantmedia.com/ Ash Wednesday: How Death Reminds Us of Grace https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/ash-wednesday https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/ash-wednesday#comments Wed, 22 Feb 2023 11:00:00 -0500 https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/ash-wednesday This past Sunday, we wandered away from our passage for a few minutes to look at the words of Jesus from Matthew 25:41-46. It was the section about the final judgement, and in that section, Jesus compares those who will recieve eternal life with those who will receive eternal death: 

Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a foreigner and you did not welcome me, Naked and you did not clothe me, Sick and in prison and you did not visit me. 

A few verses later Jesus said, "'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life". This list, along with a few others found throughout the New Testament, can be described as deeds of death. They are the things we do or the things we do not do that when traced through to their end, lead to destruction and death. The Bible calls these things "sin". 

I bring all of this up because today is Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of the season of Lent, the 40 days that the church throughout her history has used to prepare for Easter Sunday. It is a season marked by repentance and renewal, a time to reorient our lives around the person and work of King Jesus by reminding ourselves of what we've been saved from, namely "the wages of sin, which is death".

Some of you might have grown up in traditions where you received ashes on Ash Wednesday. I have very clear memories of going to church before school, where a priest would mark my forehead in the shape of a cross with gritty ashes, and he would utter the words, "remember that you are dust, and to dust you will return".

And that is really the point of Ash Wednesday, to remind us of our own mortality. To remind us that death is real, and that it is coming for each and every one of us. And in remembering our death, we are reminded of the grace of God and the Good News of our salvation in the Resurrected King! New Testament scholar and Anglican minister, Esau McCaulley says that: 

Ash Wednesday calls us to remember death, and by calling us to remember death it calls us to remember what causes death: sin and rebellion. By forcing us to remember our sin, it helps us to realize that, at the bottom, our sins are lies about the true source of joy

This Ash Wednesday and over the course of this season of Lent, my prayer is that we would not run from the reality of our death, but that we would allow it to serve as a reminder of our sin and our desparate need for a Savior. Anglican Minister, Tish Harrison Warren says, "Don't foreget, we are dust. You and I and everyone we know will die. The stuff we live for is fleeting. Hold on to what is real". What is most real is the sacrificial love of Jesus displayed on a cross, and the Good News that one day death will be overturned completely, and we will cry out, "Death is swallowed up in victory! O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" (1 Corinthians 15:55). 

Some helpful resources: 

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This past Sunday, we wandered away from our passage for a few minutes to look at the words of Jesus from Matthew 25:41-46. It was the section about the final judgement, and in that section, Jesus compares those who will recieve eternal life with those who will receive eternal death: 

Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a foreigner and you did not welcome me, Naked and you did not clothe me, Sick and in prison and you did not visit me. 

A few verses later Jesus said, "'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life". This list, along with a few others found throughout the New Testament, can be described as deeds of death. They are the things we do or the things we do not do that when traced through to their end, lead to destruction and death. The Bible calls these things "sin". 

I bring all of this up because today is Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of the season of Lent, the 40 days that the church throughout her history has used to prepare for Easter Sunday. It is a season marked by repentance and renewal, a time to reorient our lives around the person and work of King Jesus by reminding ourselves of what we've been saved from, namely "the wages of sin, which is death".

Some of you might have grown up in traditions where you received ashes on Ash Wednesday. I have very clear memories of going to church before school, where a priest would mark my forehead in the shape of a cross with gritty ashes, and he would utter the words, "remember that you are dust, and to dust you will return".

And that is really the point of Ash Wednesday, to remind us of our own mortality. To remind us that death is real, and that it is coming for each and every one of us. And in remembering our death, we are reminded of the grace of God and the Good News of our salvation in the Resurrected King! New Testament scholar and Anglican minister, Esau McCaulley says that: 

Ash Wednesday calls us to remember death, and by calling us to remember death it calls us to remember what causes death: sin and rebellion. By forcing us to remember our sin, it helps us to realize that, at the bottom, our sins are lies about the true source of joy

This Ash Wednesday and over the course of this season of Lent, my prayer is that we would not run from the reality of our death, but that we would allow it to serve as a reminder of our sin and our desparate need for a Savior. Anglican Minister, Tish Harrison Warren says, "Don't foreget, we are dust. You and I and everyone we know will die. The stuff we live for is fleeting. Hold on to what is real". What is most real is the sacrificial love of Jesus displayed on a cross, and the Good News that one day death will be overturned completely, and we will cry out, "Death is swallowed up in victory! O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" (1 Corinthians 15:55). 

Some helpful resources: 

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Advent: Using Handel's "Messiah" as an Advent Devotional Guide https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/advent--using-handels--messiah--to-guide-you- https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/advent--using-handels--messiah--to-guide-you-#comments Fri, 30 Dec 2022 13:00:00 -0500 https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/advent--using-handels--messiah--to-guide-you-  

 

Everyone has family Christmas traditions.  I'm sure one of yours instantly was brought to mind.  After years of Alexandra and I trying to establish our own for our kids, we have finally discovered one that was an instant hit, and that is being repeated as we speak - hopefully to be repeated year after year: Using Handel's "Messiah" as a sort of Advent Devotional Guide for nightly family worship.

You may be vageuly familair with the famous "Hallelujah!" chorus due to awful commercials trying to promote a new product of theirs for black Friday, or from this famous flash mob viral video of the chorus being sung in a Mall foot court by a professional choir (a must see!).  But have you ever listened to the entire Oratorio?  If you haven't or if its been a while, its not to late to chip away piece by piece for  your Advent devotional.

 

MESSIAH AS AN ADVENT DEVOTIONAL
The idea came from Cindy Rollin's devotional entitled "Hallelujah" - which does just that.  She has broken apart the entire piece into small daily sizes, complete with poetry and other resources to use for family worship.  

I highly recommend this resource.  Yet, it is possible do without as well.  Messiah is one long, 2.5 hour piece that walks the listener through the prophetic annoucement of Christ's Birth, into his passion, death, resurrection, ascension, and the glory of his victory as he is seated at the right hand of the Father.

The entire Oratorio is sung using Scripture only.  Every word.  It is also divided into three parts, and each part is also divided into smaller sections of Scripture that tell one part of the story.

The music comes as close to matching the glory of the story - as much as I would consider humanly possible.  In fact, the first time it was played public on April 13, 1742 in Dublin, it is said that as soon as the choir began singing the infamous "Hallelujah!" chorus, King George II instantly stood, as did the rest of the flabergasted audience.  The tradition has been kept to this day.  Even my own children stand when the chours plays (how can you not?)!

 

Walking through the Oratorio
Below is a link to a few items that I encourage you to use if you are still on the hunt for an Advent Devotional.  

HANDEL'S MESSIAH AND ITS SCRIPTURE - This is a link to the organiztion of all the moving parts of Handels Messiah, including the Scripture.  I wrote it up using various sources online, filling in some pieces here or there, and stealing work from other public domain sources.  

It also contains time stamps to a specific performance that is currently found on YouTube - Sir Colin Davis as the condctor, which can be found here.  

So how can you use this for your Advent devotional?  Simply begin at the Overture, read through the upcoming Scripture, stop, meditate and refelct on what you just read, then allow Davis' performance of the music to lead you further and deeper into the Scripture you just read.  After each section or two, pause the video, and reflect further.  

You will be lead to deep prayer and deep comtemplation if you challenge your self to embark on such a journey.  And you may even find yourself with a tear in your eye from time to time, if you allow yourself to.  

 

May this beautiful music and the Scripture sung lead you close to Jesus this Advent season,

 

Pastor Daniel Nelms 

 

 

]]>
 

 

Everyone has family Christmas traditions.  I'm sure one of yours instantly was brought to mind.  After years of Alexandra and I trying to establish our own for our kids, we have finally discovered one that was an instant hit, and that is being repeated as we speak - hopefully to be repeated year after year: Using Handel's "Messiah" as a sort of Advent Devotional Guide for nightly family worship.

You may be vageuly familair with the famous "Hallelujah!" chorus due to awful commercials trying to promote a new product of theirs for black Friday, or from this famous flash mob viral video of the chorus being sung in a Mall foot court by a professional choir (a must see!).  But have you ever listened to the entire Oratorio?  If you haven't or if its been a while, its not to late to chip away piece by piece for  your Advent devotional.

 

MESSIAH AS AN ADVENT DEVOTIONAL
The idea came from Cindy Rollin's devotional entitled "Hallelujah" - which does just that.  She has broken apart the entire piece into small daily sizes, complete with poetry and other resources to use for family worship.  

I highly recommend this resource.  Yet, it is possible do without as well.  Messiah is one long, 2.5 hour piece that walks the listener through the prophetic annoucement of Christ's Birth, into his passion, death, resurrection, ascension, and the glory of his victory as he is seated at the right hand of the Father.

The entire Oratorio is sung using Scripture only.  Every word.  It is also divided into three parts, and each part is also divided into smaller sections of Scripture that tell one part of the story.

The music comes as close to matching the glory of the story - as much as I would consider humanly possible.  In fact, the first time it was played public on April 13, 1742 in Dublin, it is said that as soon as the choir began singing the infamous "Hallelujah!" chorus, King George II instantly stood, as did the rest of the flabergasted audience.  The tradition has been kept to this day.  Even my own children stand when the chours plays (how can you not?)!

 

Walking through the Oratorio
Below is a link to a few items that I encourage you to use if you are still on the hunt for an Advent Devotional.  

HANDEL'S MESSIAH AND ITS SCRIPTURE - This is a link to the organiztion of all the moving parts of Handels Messiah, including the Scripture.  I wrote it up using various sources online, filling in some pieces here or there, and stealing work from other public domain sources.  

It also contains time stamps to a specific performance that is currently found on YouTube - Sir Colin Davis as the condctor, which can be found here.  

So how can you use this for your Advent devotional?  Simply begin at the Overture, read through the upcoming Scripture, stop, meditate and refelct on what you just read, then allow Davis' performance of the music to lead you further and deeper into the Scripture you just read.  After each section or two, pause the video, and reflect further.  

You will be lead to deep prayer and deep comtemplation if you challenge your self to embark on such a journey.  And you may even find yourself with a tear in your eye from time to time, if you allow yourself to.  

 

May this beautiful music and the Scripture sung lead you close to Jesus this Advent season,

 

Pastor Daniel Nelms 

 

 

]]>
Can This Be Our Cathartic Moment? (Saint Augustine and our current fragile state of America) https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/-if-rome https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/-if-rome#comments Fri, 30 Dec 2022 13:00:00 -0500 https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/-if-rome CATHARSIS: "A purification that brings about spirtual renewal or release fron tension" (Merriam-Webster)

 

Right now, we are currently observing the fragility of the most powerful nation in the world.  With the arrival of an unknown virus that we are still very much in the early stages at understanding, and as our leaders are making the most educated responses possible, we have seen many stable institutions quickly crack and nearly crumble.  Some hospitals in congested areas are utterly flooded with the sick, many thousands across our nation have been laid off.  The stock market has plummeted at a historic precedent.  Food and supplies are being rationed, and millions of Americans are forced to stay at home in a self-quarantine.  

Thankfully, in comparison to past diseases and plagues that caused mass death (example, the Black Plague which killed 30-60% of Europe), this current virus does not compare.  Yet even with a small, still potentially very deadly percentage that is attached to the Coronavirus, our comfortable ways of life in America are instantly rattled.  In New Jersey only essential businesses have been allowed to remain open, revealing to us the bare bones of what it takes to actually live, and exposing more of the luxuries that we all are accustomed to, but realize that we actually don’t need.  

It may be our modern day cathartic moment, a revelation for us to learn and grow as a people where we can be purged of much that we did not know we needed to be purged of. 

As we fear that many small business owners and their employees may collapse in this quarantine, wrecking havoc on families across the nation, as we fear for many of our elderly and more vulnerable may not survive catching the coronavirus, we all experience legitimate fears that cannot be taken or treated lightly.  Yet, as Christians and human beings, the question is - in the midst of this trial and this new reality, for however long it lasts, can we learn?  Can we be changed?  Can we grow?  How so?  Just how sustainable is our American way of life?  

This is not the first time that the Church in world history was faced with a crisis.  One of my favorite theologians and pastors, Saint Augustine, was forced to minister during one of the most epoch-changing events in Western history.  In 410 A.D., the Goths sacked Rome.  Augustine, ministering in North Africa at the time, found himself needing to care and pastor for many disillusioned citizens of the thousand year old Empire.  He expected many of those who worshipped the Roman gods to be shaken to their core.  After all, their gods were supposed to be the guardians of Rome.  Their entire theological understanding of their world was now faced with a collapse.  Where would they turn for Good News, or for hope?

Yet as he expected this, one unexpected group that came running to him in equal numbers were his own parishioners, his own flock - Christians, who did not know how to process their beloved Rome loosing its glory.  Peter Brown, in his fantastic and landmark biography on Augustine of Hippo, had this to say about this crucial time:

“Above all, Rome was the symbol of a whole civilization; it was as if an army had been allowed to sack Westminster Abbey or the Louvre. In Rome, the protection of the gods for the Empire had been made explicit. For the conservatives of the previous century, Rome had been a sort of 'pagan Vatican'; a punctiliously protected city of great temples where the religion that had guaranteed the greatness of the Empire could survive and be seen to survive.”

In other words, it would be as if modern day Washington D.C. had been sacked and destroyed.  The unimaginable occurred.  Yet the Church was not unattached to the powerful Roman myth.  He continues,

“The Christians had even colluded with this myth: Just as Rome had assembled the gods of all nations to act as talismans, so Roman Christians had come to believe that Peter and Paul had travelled from the East to lay their holy bodies in the city. The one talisman had merely replaced the other; and, after 410, Augustine had to deal with disillusioned Christians quite as much as with angry pagans.”

He concludes with a profound reflection,

“On a deeper level, Rome symbolized the security of a whole civilized way of life. To an educated man, the history of the known world culminated quite naturally in the Roman Empire, just as, to a nineteenth century man, the history of civilization culminated in the supremacy of Europe.  The sack of Rome by the Goths, then, was an ominous reminder of the fact that even the most valuable societies might die.  “If Rome can perish,” wrote Jerome, “what can be safe?” (Brown, Augustine of Hippo, pg. 287).

I hope by reading Brown’s words above, you understand my purpose in writing. 

I do not think it would be a stretch to say that the myth of America and its greatness and prosperity has developed to be one just as powerful on the American psyche as the ancient Roman empire was to its citizens.  

The time is now to embrace what may be a harsh reality - America, in all of her greatness, is fragile.  Our way of live suddenly appears to be propped up by systems that could potentially and easily collapse.  If Jerome were an American and alive today, he may exclaim, “If America can perish, what can be safe?”  But indeed, we have a greater City.

As the disillusioned Christians arrived in droves to Augustine’s church, he was inspired to write one of the most magisterial apologetic and theological volumes ever written in Church history - The City of God.  In what appears to be a contemporary statement written just yesterday, Augustine had this to say to those who were economically and even physically suffering after the sack of Rome, words that we must heed to today:

“… the saints loose nothing in losing temporal goods. These are the considerations which one must keep in view, that he may answer the question whether any evil happens to the faithful and godly which cannot be turned to profit. Or shall we say that the question is needless, and that the apostle is vaporing when he says, “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God ?”

They lost all they had. Their faith? Their godliness? The possessions of the hidden man of the heart, which in the sight of God are of great price? Did they lose these? For these are the wealth of Christians, to whom the wealthy apostle said, “Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, find it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment, let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil; which, while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

They, then, who lost their worldly all in the sack of Rome, if they owned their possessions as they had been taught by the apostle, who himself was poor without, but rich within,–that is to say, if they used the world as not using it,–could say in the words of Job, heavily tried, but not overcome: “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; as it pleased the Lord, so has it come to pass: blessed be the name of the Lord.”

(Augustine, Book 1, Chapter 10, City of God)

Christians, as we experience such vitriolic and turbulent times as today, we must consider this as mere preparation for unthinkable events like Augustine was faced with.  May we not be found disillusioned if America were to be sacked, if our precious nation would collapse.  If we were all brought to poverty by such events, may we not consider ourselves “poor” but rather still containing the riches of Christ, and devote ourselves to the loving of our neighbors and the washing of their feet. 

America, like Rome, like every other great empire and nation of the world, is not eternal.  But our resurrected Christ is.  And in him, we can persevere through all things as we look forward to the City that is the come, the New Jerusalem, when he will once and for all, “make all things new” (Revelation 21:5).  

]]>
CATHARSIS: "A purification that brings about spirtual renewal or release fron tension" (Merriam-Webster)

 

Right now, we are currently observing the fragility of the most powerful nation in the world.  With the arrival of an unknown virus that we are still very much in the early stages at understanding, and as our leaders are making the most educated responses possible, we have seen many stable institutions quickly crack and nearly crumble.  Some hospitals in congested areas are utterly flooded with the sick, many thousands across our nation have been laid off.  The stock market has plummeted at a historic precedent.  Food and supplies are being rationed, and millions of Americans are forced to stay at home in a self-quarantine.  

Thankfully, in comparison to past diseases and plagues that caused mass death (example, the Black Plague which killed 30-60% of Europe), this current virus does not compare.  Yet even with a small, still potentially very deadly percentage that is attached to the Coronavirus, our comfortable ways of life in America are instantly rattled.  In New Jersey only essential businesses have been allowed to remain open, revealing to us the bare bones of what it takes to actually live, and exposing more of the luxuries that we all are accustomed to, but realize that we actually don’t need.  

It may be our modern day cathartic moment, a revelation for us to learn and grow as a people where we can be purged of much that we did not know we needed to be purged of. 

As we fear that many small business owners and their employees may collapse in this quarantine, wrecking havoc on families across the nation, as we fear for many of our elderly and more vulnerable may not survive catching the coronavirus, we all experience legitimate fears that cannot be taken or treated lightly.  Yet, as Christians and human beings, the question is - in the midst of this trial and this new reality, for however long it lasts, can we learn?  Can we be changed?  Can we grow?  How so?  Just how sustainable is our American way of life?  

This is not the first time that the Church in world history was faced with a crisis.  One of my favorite theologians and pastors, Saint Augustine, was forced to minister during one of the most epoch-changing events in Western history.  In 410 A.D., the Goths sacked Rome.  Augustine, ministering in North Africa at the time, found himself needing to care and pastor for many disillusioned citizens of the thousand year old Empire.  He expected many of those who worshipped the Roman gods to be shaken to their core.  After all, their gods were supposed to be the guardians of Rome.  Their entire theological understanding of their world was now faced with a collapse.  Where would they turn for Good News, or for hope?

Yet as he expected this, one unexpected group that came running to him in equal numbers were his own parishioners, his own flock - Christians, who did not know how to process their beloved Rome loosing its glory.  Peter Brown, in his fantastic and landmark biography on Augustine of Hippo, had this to say about this crucial time:

“Above all, Rome was the symbol of a whole civilization; it was as if an army had been allowed to sack Westminster Abbey or the Louvre. In Rome, the protection of the gods for the Empire had been made explicit. For the conservatives of the previous century, Rome had been a sort of 'pagan Vatican'; a punctiliously protected city of great temples where the religion that had guaranteed the greatness of the Empire could survive and be seen to survive.”

In other words, it would be as if modern day Washington D.C. had been sacked and destroyed.  The unimaginable occurred.  Yet the Church was not unattached to the powerful Roman myth.  He continues,

“The Christians had even colluded with this myth: Just as Rome had assembled the gods of all nations to act as talismans, so Roman Christians had come to believe that Peter and Paul had travelled from the East to lay their holy bodies in the city. The one talisman had merely replaced the other; and, after 410, Augustine had to deal with disillusioned Christians quite as much as with angry pagans.”

He concludes with a profound reflection,

“On a deeper level, Rome symbolized the security of a whole civilized way of life. To an educated man, the history of the known world culminated quite naturally in the Roman Empire, just as, to a nineteenth century man, the history of civilization culminated in the supremacy of Europe.  The sack of Rome by the Goths, then, was an ominous reminder of the fact that even the most valuable societies might die.  “If Rome can perish,” wrote Jerome, “what can be safe?” (Brown, Augustine of Hippo, pg. 287).

I hope by reading Brown’s words above, you understand my purpose in writing. 

I do not think it would be a stretch to say that the myth of America and its greatness and prosperity has developed to be one just as powerful on the American psyche as the ancient Roman empire was to its citizens.  

The time is now to embrace what may be a harsh reality - America, in all of her greatness, is fragile.  Our way of live suddenly appears to be propped up by systems that could potentially and easily collapse.  If Jerome were an American and alive today, he may exclaim, “If America can perish, what can be safe?”  But indeed, we have a greater City.

As the disillusioned Christians arrived in droves to Augustine’s church, he was inspired to write one of the most magisterial apologetic and theological volumes ever written in Church history - The City of God.  In what appears to be a contemporary statement written just yesterday, Augustine had this to say to those who were economically and even physically suffering after the sack of Rome, words that we must heed to today:

“… the saints loose nothing in losing temporal goods. These are the considerations which one must keep in view, that he may answer the question whether any evil happens to the faithful and godly which cannot be turned to profit. Or shall we say that the question is needless, and that the apostle is vaporing when he says, “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God ?”

They lost all they had. Their faith? Their godliness? The possessions of the hidden man of the heart, which in the sight of God are of great price? Did they lose these? For these are the wealth of Christians, to whom the wealthy apostle said, “Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, find it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment, let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil; which, while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

They, then, who lost their worldly all in the sack of Rome, if they owned their possessions as they had been taught by the apostle, who himself was poor without, but rich within,–that is to say, if they used the world as not using it,–could say in the words of Job, heavily tried, but not overcome: “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; as it pleased the Lord, so has it come to pass: blessed be the name of the Lord.”

(Augustine, Book 1, Chapter 10, City of God)

Christians, as we experience such vitriolic and turbulent times as today, we must consider this as mere preparation for unthinkable events like Augustine was faced with.  May we not be found disillusioned if America were to be sacked, if our precious nation would collapse.  If we were all brought to poverty by such events, may we not consider ourselves “poor” but rather still containing the riches of Christ, and devote ourselves to the loving of our neighbors and the washing of their feet. 

America, like Rome, like every other great empire and nation of the world, is not eternal.  But our resurrected Christ is.  And in him, we can persevere through all things as we look forward to the City that is the come, the New Jerusalem, when he will once and for all, “make all things new” (Revelation 21:5).  

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Lingering in the Text: Reading in the Presence of God https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/stop-listen https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/stop-listen#comments Tue, 05 Jul 2022 14:00:00 -0400 https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/stop-listen I've been slowly working my way through John's Gospel over the last month or so, and the other morning I found myself in chapter 4. Before opening up my Bible, I sat silently before God for a few minutes. I then asked Him to teach me, to guide me through the passage. I started to read. I was in v.v. 46-54. I read it once out loud to myself. I noticed that Jesus came back to Cana, "where he had made the water wine". I kept reading. There was a man who "heard that Jesus had come", and he needed help. His son was dying. I reflected for a minute; the last time Jesus was in Cana, someone needed help. I continued reading out loud, listening to the text. Jesus responded to the man in need in a way that almost felt dismissive. I finished reading the passage. I then read through it a second time. This time, I slowed down at v.v. 48-50. I asked myself some questions. Was Jesus being dismissive? Does he care about this man's dying son? 

What I noticed on this second time through the passage was that the official said to Jesus, "Sir, come down before my child dies". I noticed an act of persistent faith. I asked some more questions. Maybe Jesus wanted the man to prove his faith? Maybe Jesus wanted the man to wrestle with why he was asking Him for help? 

I read through the passage a third time. I was still drawn to v.v. 48-50, only this time something stood out that made it click. In v. 50, after Jesus told him to "God, your son will live", the text says that "the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way". This man did not see a miracle, he did not experience a "sign" or "wonder", he simply heard and "believed the word that Jesus spoke". I was being taught by the Holy Spirit that faith or belief shows up in persistence and movement. The man asked for help, persisted, even when Jesus appeared dismissive, and then he believed the word of Christ by going on his way. 

I then started journaling. I wrote and prayed, and I asked God to show me where I might need to hear this very thing in my life. The question I arrived at was "what am I not believing that God is showing or teaching me, and what does belief look like for me?". 

What I've tried to do is model what "lingering in the text" looks like. This isn't study, and this probably shouldn't be done with large portions of Scripture. The goal is to slowly make our way through a passage with a posture of faith, and humility, allowing the Holy Spirit to shape and form you through the authoritative word of God. This sort of reading has been referred to as "spiritual reading" or maybe you've heard the term "Lectio Divina". The goal of this kind of reading is to slowly make our way through the text, not for the goal of finding an answer or performing in depth exegesis, but rather to simply be with Jesus, so that we might become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did. If the Scriptures really are the word of God, and they are "profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness". If they are "sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart", then sitting under them, and allowing the Holy Spirit to apply them to our lives, will effect change in us from the inside out. 

  • Stop and Pray: Before opening your Bible, ask God to guide you through the passage. Ask him to show you something. Ask him to speak to you through His word. 
  • Listen: This is exactly what it sounds like. Read the text and listen to what you're reading. Maybe you read out loud, or maybe you listen to someone else reading the passage. As you listen, note anything that stands out. Underline, highlight, or mark it off in the margin of your Bible. What questions do you have? Write those down as well. Then read the passage again, doing the same thing. Do this slowly and be sure to do it 2-3 times. 
  • Pray: This is where I typically journal, but you don't have to. Those observations and questions that you made are a great place to start your prayers. I noticed the kind of faith the man in John 4 displayed, how it was a persistent and active faith. That is where I began my prayer. I started praying that God would grow that sort of faith in me, and I asked him to show me where I needed to specifically live this out. Where am I not believing the promises of God? 
  • Obey: James talks about hearing the word, and he compares it to someone who looks in a mirror. If we hear the word, and choose to do nothing about what we've heard, we're like a man who "looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like" (1:24). If spiritual formation is about creating time and space to be with Jesus, then we must be sure to not squander that time and space. If you are reading the Scriptures and you notice that there is a change that needs to take place in your life, that's the Holy Spirit telling you something. You can either obey, opening the door wider for the Spirit to continue working in and through you, or you can ignore Him. But the more we ignore or "quench" Him, the more difficult it will become to hear his voice. 

I would encourage you, along with fasting and prayer, to fold this practice into your regular rhythms. Remember, start small. Spiritual formation is a process that takes time. But God is faithful, and He is calling us to continue "working out our salvation with fear and trembling". 

]]>
I've been slowly working my way through John's Gospel over the last month or so, and the other morning I found myself in chapter 4. Before opening up my Bible, I sat silently before God for a few minutes. I then asked Him to teach me, to guide me through the passage. I started to read. I was in v.v. 46-54. I read it once out loud to myself. I noticed that Jesus came back to Cana, "where he had made the water wine". I kept reading. There was a man who "heard that Jesus had come", and he needed help. His son was dying. I reflected for a minute; the last time Jesus was in Cana, someone needed help. I continued reading out loud, listening to the text. Jesus responded to the man in need in a way that almost felt dismissive. I finished reading the passage. I then read through it a second time. This time, I slowed down at v.v. 48-50. I asked myself some questions. Was Jesus being dismissive? Does he care about this man's dying son? 

What I noticed on this second time through the passage was that the official said to Jesus, "Sir, come down before my child dies". I noticed an act of persistent faith. I asked some more questions. Maybe Jesus wanted the man to prove his faith? Maybe Jesus wanted the man to wrestle with why he was asking Him for help? 

I read through the passage a third time. I was still drawn to v.v. 48-50, only this time something stood out that made it click. In v. 50, after Jesus told him to "God, your son will live", the text says that "the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way". This man did not see a miracle, he did not experience a "sign" or "wonder", he simply heard and "believed the word that Jesus spoke". I was being taught by the Holy Spirit that faith or belief shows up in persistence and movement. The man asked for help, persisted, even when Jesus appeared dismissive, and then he believed the word of Christ by going on his way. 

I then started journaling. I wrote and prayed, and I asked God to show me where I might need to hear this very thing in my life. The question I arrived at was "what am I not believing that God is showing or teaching me, and what does belief look like for me?". 

What I've tried to do is model what "lingering in the text" looks like. This isn't study, and this probably shouldn't be done with large portions of Scripture. The goal is to slowly make our way through a passage with a posture of faith, and humility, allowing the Holy Spirit to shape and form you through the authoritative word of God. This sort of reading has been referred to as "spiritual reading" or maybe you've heard the term "Lectio Divina". The goal of this kind of reading is to slowly make our way through the text, not for the goal of finding an answer or performing in depth exegesis, but rather to simply be with Jesus, so that we might become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did. If the Scriptures really are the word of God, and they are "profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness". If they are "sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart", then sitting under them, and allowing the Holy Spirit to apply them to our lives, will effect change in us from the inside out. 

  • Stop and Pray: Before opening your Bible, ask God to guide you through the passage. Ask him to show you something. Ask him to speak to you through His word. 
  • Listen: This is exactly what it sounds like. Read the text and listen to what you're reading. Maybe you read out loud, or maybe you listen to someone else reading the passage. As you listen, note anything that stands out. Underline, highlight, or mark it off in the margin of your Bible. What questions do you have? Write those down as well. Then read the passage again, doing the same thing. Do this slowly and be sure to do it 2-3 times. 
  • Pray: This is where I typically journal, but you don't have to. Those observations and questions that you made are a great place to start your prayers. I noticed the kind of faith the man in John 4 displayed, how it was a persistent and active faith. That is where I began my prayer. I started praying that God would grow that sort of faith in me, and I asked him to show me where I needed to specifically live this out. Where am I not believing the promises of God? 
  • Obey: James talks about hearing the word, and he compares it to someone who looks in a mirror. If we hear the word, and choose to do nothing about what we've heard, we're like a man who "looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like" (1:24). If spiritual formation is about creating time and space to be with Jesus, then we must be sure to not squander that time and space. If you are reading the Scriptures and you notice that there is a change that needs to take place in your life, that's the Holy Spirit telling you something. You can either obey, opening the door wider for the Spirit to continue working in and through you, or you can ignore Him. But the more we ignore or "quench" Him, the more difficult it will become to hear his voice. 

I would encourage you, along with fasting and prayer, to fold this practice into your regular rhythms. Remember, start small. Spiritual formation is a process that takes time. But God is faithful, and He is calling us to continue "working out our salvation with fear and trembling". 

]]>
Curiously Numb https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/curiously-numb https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/curiously-numb#comments Wed, 25 May 2022 13:00:00 -0400 https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/curiously-numb On April 20, 1999, 15 people were killed in Littleton, Colorado at Columbine High School. I was 16 years old, and I remember sitting on the couch in my parents sun room for hours watching the footage unfold. I was terrified, angry, sad, and confused. It was all consuming for me. I had so many questions, and sadly there were few if any real answers. I don't believe I was a Christian yet, but at the same time, I was very much aware that God existed. Maybe I questioned why he would have allowed this to happen, or maybe I just sat there stunned. I honestly can't remember, but I do remember being glued to the television. But no matter how much footage I watched, I still just didn't understand. 

My hunt for understanding lasted for days; I would come home from school and put the news on. I remember feeling the uncertainty and anxiety in my body. But still, no good answers were ever given. Nothing of it made sense. Eventually life got back to normal. The following October I got my license, entered my junior year of high school, and enjoyed being a teenager. 

As the years rolled on, other school shootings started making the news. In 2006, 5 Amish girls in Nickel Mines Pennsylvania were killed, the shooting at Virgina Tech in 2006, where 33 people were killed, 20 first graders were killed along with 6 adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, in 2015, 10 people were killed in Roseburg, Oregon, 17 were killed in Parkland, Florida in 2018, 10 in Santa Fe, Texas in May of 2018. This is a snapshot, as there are many more. Not to mention the mass shootings that have taken place elsewhere. 

I list them all out as a reminder, not simply to point out the problem, but to awaken my own soul to the horror of how sin and evil is just ravaging our world. Life has gone on after every single one of these shootings, and life will continue to go on. What is frustrating me is that with each one, I continue to grow more and more curiously numb

In the last two weeks, our newsfeeds have shown us 32 lives that have been taken, 10 in Buffalo and 22 in Texas. I was saddened by the Buffalo shooting, but truth be told, life went on. And last night, when I heard about the shooting that took place in Texas as I was getting ready to drive my son to his first band concert, I stopped for a minute, but life still went on. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I am wrestling right now as I process all of these feelings, especially as I view them through the lens of the pride I felt for my son last night as he played his trombone and performed for the first time. Only this time, I am forcing myself to wrestle. I am forcing myself to wait before simplly moving on. I am asking questions again, questions that my 16 year old self was asking 23 years ago, questions that still go wihout answer, "how long oh Lord?"! 

I don't have an answer for us. There is so much pain in our world right now. There is so much division. We have gone through war over these last few years, globally, nationally, in our families, and even within our own church. Maybe it was God's providence, but I began my ministry here at Redeemer in the Book of Psalms. The Psalms are the place where God gives us permission to lament, to express our anger toward Him, our confusion, frustration, to simply throw ourselves upon Him the way a child throws himself onto his mother when he scrapes his knee. I wish I could give us some action steps that would eradicate this evil from the world. I don't want this to be a political post, and I'm sure everyone has their political opinion on the matter, I know I have mine. One thing I do know for sure, is that we cannot allow life to go on without the wrestling, without the mourning, without the questions. I know I've done that for too long, and it has left me frustratingly and curiously numb. I don't want to be numb to this pain any longer. Jesus entered into the pain and into the suffering. He is calling us to go and do likewise.

Right now, I am praying. I am praying for the pain that these families are experiencing, I am praying for the politicians who are elected to make decisions on how to best protect us, I am praying for some sort of healing to take place for so many, I am praying for the mental health of our young people, I am praying for mothers and fathers as they talk to their children about what happened yesterday, I am praying for our children who are being inundated with so much confusion and fear, I am praying for our church, I am praying for our communities, I am praying for our school districts, I am praying for our police officers, and ultimately I am praying that King Jesus would come quickly. 

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On April 20, 1999, 15 people were killed in Littleton, Colorado at Columbine High School. I was 16 years old, and I remember sitting on the couch in my parents sun room for hours watching the footage unfold. I was terrified, angry, sad, and confused. It was all consuming for me. I had so many questions, and sadly there were few if any real answers. I don't believe I was a Christian yet, but at the same time, I was very much aware that God existed. Maybe I questioned why he would have allowed this to happen, or maybe I just sat there stunned. I honestly can't remember, but I do remember being glued to the television. But no matter how much footage I watched, I still just didn't understand. 

My hunt for understanding lasted for days; I would come home from school and put the news on. I remember feeling the uncertainty and anxiety in my body. But still, no good answers were ever given. Nothing of it made sense. Eventually life got back to normal. The following October I got my license, entered my junior year of high school, and enjoyed being a teenager. 

As the years rolled on, other school shootings started making the news. In 2006, 5 Amish girls in Nickel Mines Pennsylvania were killed, the shooting at Virgina Tech in 2006, where 33 people were killed, 20 first graders were killed along with 6 adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, in 2015, 10 people were killed in Roseburg, Oregon, 17 were killed in Parkland, Florida in 2018, 10 in Santa Fe, Texas in May of 2018. This is a snapshot, as there are many more. Not to mention the mass shootings that have taken place elsewhere. 

I list them all out as a reminder, not simply to point out the problem, but to awaken my own soul to the horror of how sin and evil is just ravaging our world. Life has gone on after every single one of these shootings, and life will continue to go on. What is frustrating me is that with each one, I continue to grow more and more curiously numb

In the last two weeks, our newsfeeds have shown us 32 lives that have been taken, 10 in Buffalo and 22 in Texas. I was saddened by the Buffalo shooting, but truth be told, life went on. And last night, when I heard about the shooting that took place in Texas as I was getting ready to drive my son to his first band concert, I stopped for a minute, but life still went on. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I am wrestling right now as I process all of these feelings, especially as I view them through the lens of the pride I felt for my son last night as he played his trombone and performed for the first time. Only this time, I am forcing myself to wrestle. I am forcing myself to wait before simplly moving on. I am asking questions again, questions that my 16 year old self was asking 23 years ago, questions that still go wihout answer, "how long oh Lord?"! 

I don't have an answer for us. There is so much pain in our world right now. There is so much division. We have gone through war over these last few years, globally, nationally, in our families, and even within our own church. Maybe it was God's providence, but I began my ministry here at Redeemer in the Book of Psalms. The Psalms are the place where God gives us permission to lament, to express our anger toward Him, our confusion, frustration, to simply throw ourselves upon Him the way a child throws himself onto his mother when he scrapes his knee. I wish I could give us some action steps that would eradicate this evil from the world. I don't want this to be a political post, and I'm sure everyone has their political opinion on the matter, I know I have mine. One thing I do know for sure, is that we cannot allow life to go on without the wrestling, without the mourning, without the questions. I know I've done that for too long, and it has left me frustratingly and curiously numb. I don't want to be numb to this pain any longer. Jesus entered into the pain and into the suffering. He is calling us to go and do likewise.

Right now, I am praying. I am praying for the pain that these families are experiencing, I am praying for the politicians who are elected to make decisions on how to best protect us, I am praying for some sort of healing to take place for so many, I am praying for the mental health of our young people, I am praying for mothers and fathers as they talk to their children about what happened yesterday, I am praying for our children who are being inundated with so much confusion and fear, I am praying for our church, I am praying for our communities, I am praying for our school districts, I am praying for our police officers, and ultimately I am praying that King Jesus would come quickly. 

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When Death is At Hand: Reflections on Lent and Ash Wednesday https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/the-season-of-lent https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/the-season-of-lent#comments Thu, 03 Mar 2022 11:00:00 -0500 https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/the-season-of-lent It was the beginning of the pandemic, and we were still living up in Sayreville. We can all remember the fear, the anxiety, wiping down our groceries with sanitizer wipes. It was a stressful time, mostly because we didn't know what was going on. We watched the news, obsessing over the numbers. We were inundated with information about how many people were infected and how many people were dying. It was a scary time. Now, two years later, we are once again confronted with the reality of death, as our newsfeeds are filled with images from Ukraine, stories of young families fleeing to neighboring countries, and again, death toll numbers. 

Death is part of life, and I do not say that flippantly, but while it is part of life, it is not a natural part of life. In fact, the Biblical story tells us that death entered creation through the back door. To be human is to flourish and live in communion with God and others for all of eternity; however, sin disrupted humanity's trajectory, tragically leaving suffering and death in its wake. 

During the season of Lent, beginning with Ash Wednesday, the church is called to reflect and remember. The tradition itself, the use of ashes and the season of Lent, has roots that date back to the days of Tertullian and the Council of Nicea, and it was always meant to be a time of repentance.

As a church, we do not formally participate in Ash Wednesday. At the same time, we do not believe it is wrong to do so. This would fall under the realm of Christian liberty. But the point of this post is not to debate the different views on how we should or should not engage the church calendar. The purpose of this post is to encourage us during a season that is meant to draw our minds to (1) our own mortality, (2) the cross of Christ, and (2) the hope of the resurrection. 

Ash Wednesday reminds us of the reality of death, and while we might not need a reminder these days, and many of us are intentional about running away from it, the Scriptures call us to "number our days". We are also reminded in the Book of Ecclesiastes that so much of life is "vanity of vanities", and James points out the "mist" or "vapor" that is our life. In other words, the Bible is not shy when it comes to the topic of death. In fact, the wisdom of Ecclesiastes tells us that "it is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart" (Eccl. 7:2). 

So we know that the Bible isn't afraid to talk about death, and goes so far as to encourage us to think regularly on it, but why? I think the answer is clear: death reminds us of our mortality and the sin that paved the way to the grave. In other words, when we contemplate death, we are reminded of the sin that separates us from the love of God. In fact, the images of death that we are seeing all over the news remind us of the separation that exists, not only between humanity and God, but between humanity itself. And this is where repentance comes into view. 

As followers of Jesus, we are called to a life of regular repentance and confession. We see this in the Lord's Prayer, where we are taught to ask God to "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil". The season of Lent serves as a regular reminder of our need for repentance and confession, and it is a season that the entire church walks through together. But our prayers of confession are only effectual if they are grounded in something solid enough to achieve their intended purpose. 

The Apostle Paul writes in his letter to the Galatians, "far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (Gal. 6:14). There is nothing other than the self-giving love of Jesus that we should rest our need for forgiveness in. It is through the cross of Christ that our sin is dealt with, but there's more to it than just the forgiveness of sin! It is by the cross of Christ that death is crushed to death and resurrection life is poured out upon the people of God! While Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent serve as a reminder of our own mortality and our need for forgiveness, the season culminates in Good Friday and Easter Sunday where we are reminded every year that the person of Jesus, the second member of the Trinity, died the death we were meant to die, and rose again three days later, defeating death. God not only rolled the stone away from Jesus' grave, but we too will rise up on the last day with Christ. When Jesus ushers in the new heavens and the new earth, every tear will be wiped away from our eyes. On that day, "death and hades will be thrown into the lake of fire" and we will worship together, the King of kings, Jesus Christ! 

During this Lenten Season, I want to encourage all of us to consider our lives before God. If you've never tried fasting, maybe this is the year to give it a try. If you're not used to regular confession, try incorporating that into your prayer life and devotional life. What are some things that you use to distract yourself from reality? Maybe this can be a season where you remove some of those things and replace it with time spent with God, perhaps with members of your community group. The church calendar has a way of spiritually guiding us through the year; use this opportunity to draw nearer to God! 

]]>
It was the beginning of the pandemic, and we were still living up in Sayreville. We can all remember the fear, the anxiety, wiping down our groceries with sanitizer wipes. It was a stressful time, mostly because we didn't know what was going on. We watched the news, obsessing over the numbers. We were inundated with information about how many people were infected and how many people were dying. It was a scary time. Now, two years later, we are once again confronted with the reality of death, as our newsfeeds are filled with images from Ukraine, stories of young families fleeing to neighboring countries, and again, death toll numbers. 

Death is part of life, and I do not say that flippantly, but while it is part of life, it is not a natural part of life. In fact, the Biblical story tells us that death entered creation through the back door. To be human is to flourish and live in communion with God and others for all of eternity; however, sin disrupted humanity's trajectory, tragically leaving suffering and death in its wake. 

During the season of Lent, beginning with Ash Wednesday, the church is called to reflect and remember. The tradition itself, the use of ashes and the season of Lent, has roots that date back to the days of Tertullian and the Council of Nicea, and it was always meant to be a time of repentance.

As a church, we do not formally participate in Ash Wednesday. At the same time, we do not believe it is wrong to do so. This would fall under the realm of Christian liberty. But the point of this post is not to debate the different views on how we should or should not engage the church calendar. The purpose of this post is to encourage us during a season that is meant to draw our minds to (1) our own mortality, (2) the cross of Christ, and (2) the hope of the resurrection. 

Ash Wednesday reminds us of the reality of death, and while we might not need a reminder these days, and many of us are intentional about running away from it, the Scriptures call us to "number our days". We are also reminded in the Book of Ecclesiastes that so much of life is "vanity of vanities", and James points out the "mist" or "vapor" that is our life. In other words, the Bible is not shy when it comes to the topic of death. In fact, the wisdom of Ecclesiastes tells us that "it is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart" (Eccl. 7:2). 

So we know that the Bible isn't afraid to talk about death, and goes so far as to encourage us to think regularly on it, but why? I think the answer is clear: death reminds us of our mortality and the sin that paved the way to the grave. In other words, when we contemplate death, we are reminded of the sin that separates us from the love of God. In fact, the images of death that we are seeing all over the news remind us of the separation that exists, not only between humanity and God, but between humanity itself. And this is where repentance comes into view. 

As followers of Jesus, we are called to a life of regular repentance and confession. We see this in the Lord's Prayer, where we are taught to ask God to "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil". The season of Lent serves as a regular reminder of our need for repentance and confession, and it is a season that the entire church walks through together. But our prayers of confession are only effectual if they are grounded in something solid enough to achieve their intended purpose. 

The Apostle Paul writes in his letter to the Galatians, "far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (Gal. 6:14). There is nothing other than the self-giving love of Jesus that we should rest our need for forgiveness in. It is through the cross of Christ that our sin is dealt with, but there's more to it than just the forgiveness of sin! It is by the cross of Christ that death is crushed to death and resurrection life is poured out upon the people of God! While Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent serve as a reminder of our own mortality and our need for forgiveness, the season culminates in Good Friday and Easter Sunday where we are reminded every year that the person of Jesus, the second member of the Trinity, died the death we were meant to die, and rose again three days later, defeating death. God not only rolled the stone away from Jesus' grave, but we too will rise up on the last day with Christ. When Jesus ushers in the new heavens and the new earth, every tear will be wiped away from our eyes. On that day, "death and hades will be thrown into the lake of fire" and we will worship together, the King of kings, Jesus Christ! 

During this Lenten Season, I want to encourage all of us to consider our lives before God. If you've never tried fasting, maybe this is the year to give it a try. If you're not used to regular confession, try incorporating that into your prayer life and devotional life. What are some things that you use to distract yourself from reality? Maybe this can be a season where you remove some of those things and replace it with time spent with God, perhaps with members of your community group. The church calendar has a way of spiritually guiding us through the year; use this opportunity to draw nearer to God! 

]]>
Chaos Dressed in its Sunday Best https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/chaos-dressed-in-its-sunday-best https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/chaos-dressed-in-its-sunday-best#comments Thu, 07 Jan 2021 12:00:00 -0500 https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/chaos-dressed-in-its-sunday-best I’m not too sure how to say what I want to say. It is January 7, 2021, and we are a day removed from the events that transpired in our nation’s capital. There are so many things I could say in this post. I could talk about the violence that occurred, as a protest turned riot found its way into the Capitol Building, how first responder’s lives were put at risk, how a woman lost her life, and how our president did little to put an end to what was occurring on his behalf. But there was something yesterday that cut deeper.

This Sunday we will be unpacking the nature and content of what the New Testament refers to as the Gospel. I was in the middle of my study yesterday, working through 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 when I was interrupted by the news. Upon tuning in, I was confronted with a scene of chaos. Now chaos is not really all that shocking at this point, especially after the year we have all gone through. But this chaos was different, because this chaos was dressed in its Sunday best. As crosses were raised, and as flags flew with the words, “Jesus 2020”, I couldn’t help but grieve, for our country and all that we’ve been through, but more so, I grieved for the church.

Somewhere along the line, the American Evangelical church replaced the Good News of Jesus with an entirely different gospel, and yesterday the entire world was given front row seats to where that belief system has taken us. This post is in no way meant to take a shot at conservative politics, or even those who cast their ballot for Donald Trump. In fact, what took place yesterday is not representative of conservative politics, nor is it representative of most Trump voters. Rather, this is meant to challenge us. In whom or what are we placing our trust and hope?

The Apostle Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians says in chapter 15, “Now brothers I would remind you of the Gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you – unless you believed in vain”. Throughout the day, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the words, “unless you believed in vain”. The thing about “faith” and “belief” is that it is much more than an intellectual assent to some sort of propositional truth. To “believe” in the Biblical sense of the word is to devote yourself, to entrust, to be shaped by, so if one believes the Gospel, it is something that will profoundly transform one’s entire being.

But there is a warning embedded in this text, to those who “believed in vain”. These are those who have claimed Christ but live their lives entirely divorced from His teachings. And what are His teachings? They are what is outlined in the Sermon on the Mount and throughout the rest of the New Testament, and His teachings call us to a posture of humility, love, peace, self-control, and a radical commitment to our Lord. Our God is a jealous God, meaning that He will not share us with other gods, and this is what it means to believe in vain. John Calvin has stated that the human heart is a “perpetual forge of idols”, or as some have paraphrased, “an idol factory”. Pastor and author Tim Keller defines an idol as "something we cannot live without. We must have it. Therefore it drives us to break rules we once honored to harm others, even ourselves, in order to get it.” There are idols of comfort, security, family, success, power, and as followers of Jesus, we are called to confront those idols within our own lives, that we might walk freely with Jesus, worshipping Him alone. 

What was put on display yesterday for the world to see was nothing short of idolatry as “Christians” bowed down to a god made in their own image. And while they adorned themselves with Jesus fish, crosses and strange taglines (Jesus 2020), none of what transpired yesterday had anything to do with the Jesus portrayed in the pages of the New Testament.

Redeemer Fellowship, as we consider the Good News of Jesus, we need to divorce ourselves from the pseudo-Christianity that was put on display yesterday. The gospel being preached yesterday was a worldly gospel, marked by pride, violence, fear, oppression and power, but the Gospel that was preached to us, by which we are being saved, is a Gospel of grace, peace, love and ultimately death. We must choose this day whom we will serve, and in so doing, the world will see what God is like.

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I’m not too sure how to say what I want to say. It is January 7, 2021, and we are a day removed from the events that transpired in our nation’s capital. There are so many things I could say in this post. I could talk about the violence that occurred, as a protest turned riot found its way into the Capitol Building, how first responder’s lives were put at risk, how a woman lost her life, and how our president did little to put an end to what was occurring on his behalf. But there was something yesterday that cut deeper.

This Sunday we will be unpacking the nature and content of what the New Testament refers to as the Gospel. I was in the middle of my study yesterday, working through 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 when I was interrupted by the news. Upon tuning in, I was confronted with a scene of chaos. Now chaos is not really all that shocking at this point, especially after the year we have all gone through. But this chaos was different, because this chaos was dressed in its Sunday best. As crosses were raised, and as flags flew with the words, “Jesus 2020”, I couldn’t help but grieve, for our country and all that we’ve been through, but more so, I grieved for the church.

Somewhere along the line, the American Evangelical church replaced the Good News of Jesus with an entirely different gospel, and yesterday the entire world was given front row seats to where that belief system has taken us. This post is in no way meant to take a shot at conservative politics, or even those who cast their ballot for Donald Trump. In fact, what took place yesterday is not representative of conservative politics, nor is it representative of most Trump voters. Rather, this is meant to challenge us. In whom or what are we placing our trust and hope?

The Apostle Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians says in chapter 15, “Now brothers I would remind you of the Gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you – unless you believed in vain”. Throughout the day, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the words, “unless you believed in vain”. The thing about “faith” and “belief” is that it is much more than an intellectual assent to some sort of propositional truth. To “believe” in the Biblical sense of the word is to devote yourself, to entrust, to be shaped by, so if one believes the Gospel, it is something that will profoundly transform one’s entire being.

But there is a warning embedded in this text, to those who “believed in vain”. These are those who have claimed Christ but live their lives entirely divorced from His teachings. And what are His teachings? They are what is outlined in the Sermon on the Mount and throughout the rest of the New Testament, and His teachings call us to a posture of humility, love, peace, self-control, and a radical commitment to our Lord. Our God is a jealous God, meaning that He will not share us with other gods, and this is what it means to believe in vain. John Calvin has stated that the human heart is a “perpetual forge of idols”, or as some have paraphrased, “an idol factory”. Pastor and author Tim Keller defines an idol as "something we cannot live without. We must have it. Therefore it drives us to break rules we once honored to harm others, even ourselves, in order to get it.” There are idols of comfort, security, family, success, power, and as followers of Jesus, we are called to confront those idols within our own lives, that we might walk freely with Jesus, worshipping Him alone. 

What was put on display yesterday for the world to see was nothing short of idolatry as “Christians” bowed down to a god made in their own image. And while they adorned themselves with Jesus fish, crosses and strange taglines (Jesus 2020), none of what transpired yesterday had anything to do with the Jesus portrayed in the pages of the New Testament.

Redeemer Fellowship, as we consider the Good News of Jesus, we need to divorce ourselves from the pseudo-Christianity that was put on display yesterday. The gospel being preached yesterday was a worldly gospel, marked by pride, violence, fear, oppression and power, but the Gospel that was preached to us, by which we are being saved, is a Gospel of grace, peace, love and ultimately death. We must choose this day whom we will serve, and in so doing, the world will see what God is like.

]]>
What is Advent? https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/advent-intro:-where-your-treasure-is:-longing-for-the-future-through-the-lenses-of-history https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/advent-intro:-where-your-treasure-is:-longing-for-the-future-through-the-lenses-of-history#comments Mon, 23 Nov 2020 15:00:00 -0500 https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/advent-intro:-where-your-treasure-is:-longing-for-the-future-through-the-lenses-of-history Jesus says in Matthew’s Gospel that “the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” (Matthew 13:44).

In the world of Facebook Marketplace and eBay, selling isn’t as easy as it sounds. I know I personally have items that have been on eBay for months, without a single bite. But that’s not really the point. What Jesus is trying to demonstrate is that the kingdom of heaven is more valuable than anything we can ever dream of possessing. It is a treasure that is worth all we have and more.

However, there were some who didn’t see the kingdom as treasure at all, but rather as something that posed a threat to their own personal treasures, whether that was political power and authority, or religious prestige. We all have things we treasure, and the question we need to wrestle with ourselves is whether we are willing to hold those treasures with open hands for the sake of the kingdom. Jesus tells us that what we treasure is a clear indication of where our affections lie (cf. Matthew 6:21), and this Advent season we have an opportunity to consider our own hearts before God.

So what is this thing called Advent? It is a tradition that dates to at least the 4th century, but specific dating is hard to nail down. The term itself comes from the Latin, adventus, which is a translation of the Greek Parousia. Both these terms mean “coming”. Justin Holcomb argues that Advent “was a season of preparation for the baptism of new Christians at the January feast of Epiphany”. He goes on further, stating that “during this season of preparation, Christians would spend 40 days in penance, prayer, and fasting to prepare for this celebration…[and that] there was little connection between Advent and Christmas”. As history moved forward, the celebration evolved, and during the 6th century “Roman Christians had tied Advent to the coming of Christ”. However, the celebration was not tied to Jesus’ first coming, but rather to His second coming. It was during “the Middle Ages that the Advent season [became] explicitly linked to Christ’s first coming at Christmas”.

In our own cultural moment, Advent and Christmas have become more and more commercialized, and even within the Christian tradition, the focus tends toward the baby Jesus lying in a manger, surrounded by animals, shepherds and wise men. But as we read through the New Testament, and even the prophets of the Old Testament, the trajectory of the narrative tends toward the day when the world will be set right. The truth is that this began with the incarnation (the birth of Jesus), but it culminates with his return. In Philippians 2, Paul writes what has been traditionally referred to as “the Christ Hymn”, and in this hymn, Paul states that Jesus, “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:6-7). Fast forward a few verses, Jesus is now “highly exalted”, possessing “the name that is above every name”. And it is in this highly exalted place that “every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11).

As Paul wrote about the birth of Christ, his instinct was to keep writing. Not only did Jesus enter into this world, but he lived in this world, died in this world, was raised in this world, ascended from this world, and one day he is coming back to this world to bring to completion the new creation project that began at his birth.

The Advent season leads us toward self-reflection, where we are forced to consider what it is that we love and treasure. Jesus is calling us to himself. He is the high and lifted up one who received his crown through the humiliation of his incarnation and the cross. Jesus clothed himself in the flesh of the very ones he was seeking to rescue, and he is calling us to go and do likewise. There is no glory apart from humiliation, so this Advent season, let us consider how we might treasure the kingdom and its king above all by emptying ourselves for the sake of the world around us, that we might share in the life of Christ by loving God and loving neighbor.

This is a link to a 31 Day Advent Reading Plan from Crossway Publishing link

Here is another excellent Advent Reading Guide brought to you by John Piper and Desiring God link

______________________________________________________

1 See Ryan Reeve’s article on The Gospel Coalition (https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-history-of-advent/)

2 See Justin Holcomb’s article at Christianity.com (https://www.christianity.com/christian-life/christmas/what-is-advent.html)

3 Ibid.

4 Ibid.

5 Ibid.

]]>
Jesus says in Matthew’s Gospel that “the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” (Matthew 13:44).

In the world of Facebook Marketplace and eBay, selling isn’t as easy as it sounds. I know I personally have items that have been on eBay for months, without a single bite. But that’s not really the point. What Jesus is trying to demonstrate is that the kingdom of heaven is more valuable than anything we can ever dream of possessing. It is a treasure that is worth all we have and more.

However, there were some who didn’t see the kingdom as treasure at all, but rather as something that posed a threat to their own personal treasures, whether that was political power and authority, or religious prestige. We all have things we treasure, and the question we need to wrestle with ourselves is whether we are willing to hold those treasures with open hands for the sake of the kingdom. Jesus tells us that what we treasure is a clear indication of where our affections lie (cf. Matthew 6:21), and this Advent season we have an opportunity to consider our own hearts before God.

So what is this thing called Advent? It is a tradition that dates to at least the 4th century, but specific dating is hard to nail down. The term itself comes from the Latin, adventus, which is a translation of the Greek Parousia. Both these terms mean “coming”. Justin Holcomb argues that Advent “was a season of preparation for the baptism of new Christians at the January feast of Epiphany”. He goes on further, stating that “during this season of preparation, Christians would spend 40 days in penance, prayer, and fasting to prepare for this celebration…[and that] there was little connection between Advent and Christmas”. As history moved forward, the celebration evolved, and during the 6th century “Roman Christians had tied Advent to the coming of Christ”. However, the celebration was not tied to Jesus’ first coming, but rather to His second coming. It was during “the Middle Ages that the Advent season [became] explicitly linked to Christ’s first coming at Christmas”.

In our own cultural moment, Advent and Christmas have become more and more commercialized, and even within the Christian tradition, the focus tends toward the baby Jesus lying in a manger, surrounded by animals, shepherds and wise men. But as we read through the New Testament, and even the prophets of the Old Testament, the trajectory of the narrative tends toward the day when the world will be set right. The truth is that this began with the incarnation (the birth of Jesus), but it culminates with his return. In Philippians 2, Paul writes what has been traditionally referred to as “the Christ Hymn”, and in this hymn, Paul states that Jesus, “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:6-7). Fast forward a few verses, Jesus is now “highly exalted”, possessing “the name that is above every name”. And it is in this highly exalted place that “every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11).

As Paul wrote about the birth of Christ, his instinct was to keep writing. Not only did Jesus enter into this world, but he lived in this world, died in this world, was raised in this world, ascended from this world, and one day he is coming back to this world to bring to completion the new creation project that began at his birth.

The Advent season leads us toward self-reflection, where we are forced to consider what it is that we love and treasure. Jesus is calling us to himself. He is the high and lifted up one who received his crown through the humiliation of his incarnation and the cross. Jesus clothed himself in the flesh of the very ones he was seeking to rescue, and he is calling us to go and do likewise. There is no glory apart from humiliation, so this Advent season, let us consider how we might treasure the kingdom and its king above all by emptying ourselves for the sake of the world around us, that we might share in the life of Christ by loving God and loving neighbor.

This is a link to a 31 Day Advent Reading Plan from Crossway Publishing link

Here is another excellent Advent Reading Guide brought to you by John Piper and Desiring God link

______________________________________________________

1 See Ryan Reeve’s article on The Gospel Coalition (https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-history-of-advent/)

2 See Justin Holcomb’s article at Christianity.com (https://www.christianity.com/christian-life/christmas/what-is-advent.html)

3 Ibid.

4 Ibid.

5 Ibid.

]]>
Some Thoughts on the Eve of The Election https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/some-thoughts-on-the-eve-of-the-election https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/some-thoughts-on-the-eve-of-the-election#comments Mon, 02 Nov 2020 15:00:00 -0500 https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/some-thoughts-on-the-eve-of-the-election On the eve of what many are calling, the most important election in recent history, I believe that we as Christians have an enormous opportunity to show the world what God is like. Before I unpack that, let me first explain what I don’t mean. There is an enormous amount of fear surrounding this election.

  • What if we become a socialist country?
  • What if we lose our religious liberties?
  • Who is going to ensure that I have proper healthcare?
  • Who is going to fight for the lives of the unborn?
  • How will people of color ever be granted the dignity they deserve as image bearers of God?
  • What will become of our education system?
  • How will we ever get out of this pandemic if _______________ is elected?

This is only a snapshot, the tip of the iceberg, when it comes to what people are wrestling with this year. And while these are important issues, when I say that we have an opportunity to show the world what God is like, I do not mean that we will do that through legislation, elected officials, and social media battles with friends, family and neighbors. The question we need to be asking ourselves is what are we truly afraid of? Whether we lean Left or Right, many of us are afraid that we are going to lose something when this whole thing shakes out. One pastor said it like this:

"All this angst and fighting for the culture is born out of a fear of losing one’s respectability and influence. Everybody wants a seat at the table…to improve one’s lot, to improve the church’s lot, but Christianity is not respectable, and that is the glorious thing about it." [1]

We talk a lot about what it looks like to be both forgiven by the Cross of Christ, and also to be formed by the Cross of Christ. The thing about Christianity is that it was never intended to be a movement that had a respected voice in the public square. From its very early beginnings, Christianity was a movement of outsiders, people who were persecuted for what they believed.

Now this has not really been the case throughout American history; for much of our history, Christianity has been the air we breathed. God is referenced in our founding documents, we’ve had national days of prayer, White House prayer breakfasts, and the list can go on and on. And while it’s nice to have freedom, influence, and power, these are not things that the Scriptures promise us, at least not on this side of glory. But what we are promised is that suffering, and persecution will accompany faithfulness.

With that said, I would like to talk a little bit about what I do mean when I say that we have an opportunity to show the world what God is like during this extremely volatile election cycle. The first thing I want to bring up is something that I believe is foundational for what it means to be a follower of Jesus. In the book of Genesis, when God spoke creation into existence, he said this: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). While there is so much that we can talk about when it comes to the fact that we are created in the image and likeness of God, what I think is most relevant to our present situation is the intrinsic worth and dignity that every single human being possesses simply because we bear God’s image. The Psalms speak of this dignity and worth as well saying, “what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor”. Did you catch that? We have been “crowned with glory and honor”.

If this is all true, and at Redeemer Fellowship, we believe that this is true because we believe in the authoritative nature of the holy Scriptures, then there is never a reason or an excuse to defame, mock, trash, or tear one of these image bearers down. There are certainly areas where people will disagree, and lively debate is a good thing. But personal attacks on fellow image bearers is a stench to God, especially when it proceeds from the lips of His people.

This sort of behavior is expected outside of the church, and we are seeing it on both sides of the aisle and coming from the desks of political pundits, regardless of what media outlet you tune into on a regular basis. And sadly, instead of the church reflecting the goodness and glory of God to this broken world, we are jumping right in on the action, and in so doing, we are playing the harlot and committing sexual immorality with “that woman Jezebel”. In 1 Kings 16, we see that it was Ahab’s marriage to the Baal worshipping Jezebel that brought this sort of idolatry into the lives of God’s people. It happened then, and then it happened again in the church at Thyatira in Revelation 2:18-29. While we might not be making actual sacrifices to statues of foreign gods, we are doing the exact same thing when we take our cues on how to deal with disagreements and conflict from the world around us rather than the Scriptures.

We also do it when we place our hope and trust in a political party or candidate. When we talk about the gods of the nations (cf. Deut. 32:8-9; Dan. 10:20; Ps. 82), we must remember that the United States is part of that, and to put our hope and trust in an ideal or way of life that is so divorced from the cross shaped life of Christ, we are bowing down before false gods. It is not sinful to love your country, but it must never eclipse our love for God and neighbor.

This Election Day vote your conscience and leave it at that. Of course, be informed and pray for our leaders and our country, but more importantly, pray for your neighbors, your friends and family. Engage those who disagree with you in love and kindness. Have discussions and debates, but do so with humility, honoring your opponent as one who has been “crowned with glory”. Love your neighbors in their brokenness and seek their flourishing. And whether your candidate wins or loses, keep your eyes fixed on Christ. Use wisdom when engaging with others on social media, and refrain from mocking those who disagree with you because it is sin, and God hates it. It is through humility and cross bearing that the world will be able to catch a glimpse of what God is like. Use your words and resources to love your enemies, and trust in the sovereignty of God. Jesus is King, and the gates of hell will not prevail against His church. Regardless of who sits in the Oval Office, we are seated in the heavenly places with Christ!

[1] Jim Cassidy, The Reformed Forum Podcast, episode #86 (9/28/20).

]]>
On the eve of what many are calling, the most important election in recent history, I believe that we as Christians have an enormous opportunity to show the world what God is like. Before I unpack that, let me first explain what I don’t mean. There is an enormous amount of fear surrounding this election.

  • What if we become a socialist country?
  • What if we lose our religious liberties?
  • Who is going to ensure that I have proper healthcare?
  • Who is going to fight for the lives of the unborn?
  • How will people of color ever be granted the dignity they deserve as image bearers of God?
  • What will become of our education system?
  • How will we ever get out of this pandemic if _______________ is elected?

This is only a snapshot, the tip of the iceberg, when it comes to what people are wrestling with this year. And while these are important issues, when I say that we have an opportunity to show the world what God is like, I do not mean that we will do that through legislation, elected officials, and social media battles with friends, family and neighbors. The question we need to be asking ourselves is what are we truly afraid of? Whether we lean Left or Right, many of us are afraid that we are going to lose something when this whole thing shakes out. One pastor said it like this:

"All this angst and fighting for the culture is born out of a fear of losing one’s respectability and influence. Everybody wants a seat at the table…to improve one’s lot, to improve the church’s lot, but Christianity is not respectable, and that is the glorious thing about it." [1]

We talk a lot about what it looks like to be both forgiven by the Cross of Christ, and also to be formed by the Cross of Christ. The thing about Christianity is that it was never intended to be a movement that had a respected voice in the public square. From its very early beginnings, Christianity was a movement of outsiders, people who were persecuted for what they believed.

Now this has not really been the case throughout American history; for much of our history, Christianity has been the air we breathed. God is referenced in our founding documents, we’ve had national days of prayer, White House prayer breakfasts, and the list can go on and on. And while it’s nice to have freedom, influence, and power, these are not things that the Scriptures promise us, at least not on this side of glory. But what we are promised is that suffering, and persecution will accompany faithfulness.

With that said, I would like to talk a little bit about what I do mean when I say that we have an opportunity to show the world what God is like during this extremely volatile election cycle. The first thing I want to bring up is something that I believe is foundational for what it means to be a follower of Jesus. In the book of Genesis, when God spoke creation into existence, he said this: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). While there is so much that we can talk about when it comes to the fact that we are created in the image and likeness of God, what I think is most relevant to our present situation is the intrinsic worth and dignity that every single human being possesses simply because we bear God’s image. The Psalms speak of this dignity and worth as well saying, “what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor”. Did you catch that? We have been “crowned with glory and honor”.

If this is all true, and at Redeemer Fellowship, we believe that this is true because we believe in the authoritative nature of the holy Scriptures, then there is never a reason or an excuse to defame, mock, trash, or tear one of these image bearers down. There are certainly areas where people will disagree, and lively debate is a good thing. But personal attacks on fellow image bearers is a stench to God, especially when it proceeds from the lips of His people.

This sort of behavior is expected outside of the church, and we are seeing it on both sides of the aisle and coming from the desks of political pundits, regardless of what media outlet you tune into on a regular basis. And sadly, instead of the church reflecting the goodness and glory of God to this broken world, we are jumping right in on the action, and in so doing, we are playing the harlot and committing sexual immorality with “that woman Jezebel”. In 1 Kings 16, we see that it was Ahab’s marriage to the Baal worshipping Jezebel that brought this sort of idolatry into the lives of God’s people. It happened then, and then it happened again in the church at Thyatira in Revelation 2:18-29. While we might not be making actual sacrifices to statues of foreign gods, we are doing the exact same thing when we take our cues on how to deal with disagreements and conflict from the world around us rather than the Scriptures.

We also do it when we place our hope and trust in a political party or candidate. When we talk about the gods of the nations (cf. Deut. 32:8-9; Dan. 10:20; Ps. 82), we must remember that the United States is part of that, and to put our hope and trust in an ideal or way of life that is so divorced from the cross shaped life of Christ, we are bowing down before false gods. It is not sinful to love your country, but it must never eclipse our love for God and neighbor.

This Election Day vote your conscience and leave it at that. Of course, be informed and pray for our leaders and our country, but more importantly, pray for your neighbors, your friends and family. Engage those who disagree with you in love and kindness. Have discussions and debates, but do so with humility, honoring your opponent as one who has been “crowned with glory”. Love your neighbors in their brokenness and seek their flourishing. And whether your candidate wins or loses, keep your eyes fixed on Christ. Use wisdom when engaging with others on social media, and refrain from mocking those who disagree with you because it is sin, and God hates it. It is through humility and cross bearing that the world will be able to catch a glimpse of what God is like. Use your words and resources to love your enemies, and trust in the sovereignty of God. Jesus is King, and the gates of hell will not prevail against His church. Regardless of who sits in the Oval Office, we are seated in the heavenly places with Christ!

[1] Jim Cassidy, The Reformed Forum Podcast, episode #86 (9/28/20).

]]>
The Upside Down Kingdom: An Introduction to the Sermon on the Mount https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/the-upside-down-kingdom-an-introduction-to-the-sermon-on-the-mount https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/the-upside-down-kingdom-an-introduction-to-the-sermon-on-the-mount#comments Wed, 02 Oct 2019 15:00:00 -0400 https://www.redeemernj.com/pastorsblog/post/the-upside-down-kingdom-an-introduction-to-the-sermon-on-the-mount The Upside-Down Kingdom: An Introduction

When I first became a Christian, I very quickly learned the acronym, WWJD? (What Would Jesus Do?). That was the question, and still is the question, followers of Jesus are trying to answer? How in the world are we to live this life as Christians? What are we supposed to do? Why are we supposed to do it? What are we allowed to do, and what are we not allowed to do? Where is the line? And so we made rules and lists for ourselves, “don’t drink, don’t chew, don’t go with girls that do”. Many traditions banned dancing and alcohol, while others focused on R rated movies, secular music, and dating. And maybe there is wisdom to some of these prohibitions, but the truth of the matter is that while everyone was making lists and getting caught up in the dos and don’ts of Christian living, we lost sight of what was to shape our lives as followers of Jesus. The question wasn’t altogether bad. We should want to know what Jesus would do in any given situation, and as His followers, we should seek to do the thing that we believe He would do. But getting at that answer has proven difficult for many in the church. And this is where the Sermon on the Mount comes in.

The Sermon on the Mount presents Jesus’ followers with something that is categorically other-worldly; it is a paradigm for Christian living that rubs against all common sense and conventional wisdom because it presents the moral vision of a kingdom that is “not of this world”. This is key for us to understand as we embark on this journey throughout the Fall; the Sermon on the Mount is a new law given from a new world to shape a new people to live as “elect exiles” in this world, so that onlookers might catch a glimpse of the beauty and truth of the new world and its King. Jesus is the point of the Sermon, but that point is not so much a period, as it is rather a comma, because the rest of the story pushes forward and is being written through the faithfulness of His followers. And this is where we find the answer to our questions above? What would Jesus do? Maybe it’s better to ask, “what did Jesus do?” He did the very things he is calling us to do in the Sermon, and He is doing it with a power that is not of this world, which He gives to us through His Spirit, so that we too might walk the path He has laid out for us: A Kingdom shaped life that turns all that we believe to be true on its head, providing a new and better way that leads to the flourishing of humanity and the glory of God.[1]

The purpose of this essay is to lay some tracks to run on as we travel through Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. First, we will look at the historical, literary, and Old Testament context surrounding the Sermon. Second, we will define some key terms found throughout the Sermon, which will provide us with more context, both biblically and historically. Finally, we will discuss the grace filled demands the Sermon places on our lives today as we seek to follow Jesus in Ocean County and beyond.

Context:

Matthew’s Gospel: In the words of Patrick Schreiner, “The Gospel of Matthew is best understood with one eye looking back to the old story, and the other attuned to shifts in the new story”.[2] In other words, we need to wrap our minds around the Old Testament backdrop if we are going to fully understand Matthew, and in particular, if we’re going to fully understand the Sermon on the Mount. But before we get there, let’s get some introductory remarks out of the way. The Sermon on the Mount is not the whole story; in fact, it is a piece of the whole. In other words, the Sermon “belongs to a book apart from which it was never intended to be read”.[3] To read the Sermon on the Mount, one must understand the broader context of Matthew’s gospel.

Matthew’s gospel is the first book of the New Testament. Tradition holds that this gospel account was written by Matthew (formerly known as Levi the tax collector). Although he never identifies himself as the author, there are a number of reasons why his authorship is probable.[4] According to New Testament Scholar R.T. France, “the contents and tone of the gospel (including the “love-hate relationship with Judaism) seem to make…someone like Matthew as likely a candidate as any”.[5] There is debate surrounding the dating of Matthew’s Gospel, but conservative scholars tend to place it prior to AD70, “while the temple was still standing”.[6] This means that Matthew is presenting his gospel to a people who still have connections to the temple, the sacrificial system, and for all intents and purposes, the Mosaic Law. This makes his content that much more explosive, especially to those of Jewish descent, as Matthew is dismantling categories and traditions one by one.

Along with the historical setting of Matthew, how he structures his gospel also tells a story. Beginning with a genealogy that takes Jesus’ lineage all the way back to Abraham and identifying Him as a son of David, Matthew is showing that Jesus serves as the fulfillment of Israel’s story. Below are some examples of the Old Testament backdrop of Matthew and the Sermon on the Mount.[7]

Jesus as Isaiah’s End Times Prophet: The allusions to the Old Testament throughout the Sermon are numerous. Broadly speaking, Matthew is setting up Jesus as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. As the Spirit rests “upon” Christ at his baptism, Matthew is alluding to Isaiah 42. Additionally, the quotations from Isaiah 9 in Matthew 4 present Jesus as the child upon who’s shoulders the governments of this world would rest.

Zooming in, the sermon itself alludes to Isaiah throughout The Beatitudes. The focus on the mourning and the poor are key themes drawn from Isaiah 61. In showing Jesus as the fulfilment of these Old Testament figures, Matthew is outlining Jesus’ historical authority, and showing how he is not a novel or new idea thrust “on humanity’s religious landscape, [but] he is rather the goal of a story, the history told in the Jewish Bible”.[8] Dale Allison further argues that “Jesus is the anointed [messianic] one prophesied by Isaiah 61, [and that] he has been sent by the same God who spoke to Abraham, Moses, David, and the prophets”.[9] This means that there is “continuity between the new and the old, and that ultimately the one who speaks here through his anointed [messianic] prophet is the one whose words and deeds constitute the religious story of Israel”.[10] In other words, Jesus is shown to be the one to bring Israel’s story to its glorious fruition.[11]

Jesus as the New and Better Moses: It is almost unfair how obvious this is for those who take the time to read the text slowly and closely. The Sermon begins with the following words: “When he saw the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him”. The phrase, “he went up on the mountain” is lifted directly from the Moses narrative of Exodus, where he goes up on the mountain to receive the Law of God (cf. Ex. 24).[12] Furthermore, “Jewish tradition spoke of Moses sitting on Sinai”, so it appears that Matthew is borrowing, not only from the Old Testament tradition, but the broader Jewish tradition as well.[13] Again, paying attention to the broader context, Matthew draws even more parallels between Jesus and Moses:

  • A call from Egypt (Mt. 2:13-15)
  • Slaughter of the infants (Mt. 2:16-21)
  • A passage through water (Mt. 3:13-17)
  • A time of wilderness testing (Mt. 4:1-11)
  • Delivering the Law from a mountain (Mt. 5-7)

While Matthew is clear that Jesus is in fact the “better Moses”, New Testament scholar Dale Allison argues that this is not necessarily the main point; in “Matthew’s world, ‘Moses said’ was the equivalent of ‘God said.’ So to make Jesus one like Moses was a way of saying that…Jesus’ word is God’s word…the parallels with Moses are intended to exalt the authority of Jesus to make him a dispenser of divine revelation”.[14] In other words, to be like Moses is to be one who speaks with authority, the very words of God. And it is the authority of the speaker that makes the Sermon that much more radical and revolutionary; God is asking his followers to structure their lives in a way that contradicts conventional wisdom, to pursue a wisdom that is otherworldly, upside-down, which is the proper means to the flourishing of humanity. Furthermore, Matthew’s gospel is structured around five sections, containing both narrative and direct teaching. These sections are marked by the phrase, “and when Jesus had come to finish”, marking the conclusion of each of his teaching sections within the book. These five sections are intentionally placed throughout the course of the book and some have argued that they further connect Jesus to Moses, as Matthew contains a new Pentateuch or Torah.[15] See P. Schreiner’s TGC article for further links between Moses and Jesus in Matthew’s gospel.

Jesus as the New and Better Joseph: Patrick Schreiner does a great job of unpacking this in his TGC article, but we’ll cover a few things before moving along. Schreiner argues that Jesus’ birth narrative is “described from Joseph’s point of view, [and that] it’s revealed to him in a dream that this child [is] from the Holy Spirit [and] will save his people from their sins”.[16] It is no accident that “there was another Joseph who had dreams”.[17] Matthew is setting up Joseph, Mary’s husband, as a new and better Joseph. But that is not where the story ends. Matthew’s Gospel also portrays Jesus as the new Joseph.

  • Both are chosen by their father (cf. Gen. 37:4; Matt. 3:17)
  • Both are rejected by their brothers (cf. Gen. 37:4; Matt. 20:18)
  • Both undergo suffering and exile (cf. Gen. 37:17-20; Matt. 2; 27:27-31)
  • Both are exalted in a foreign court (cf. Gen. 41:39-41; Matt. 27:27-31)
  • Both turn and forgive their brothers who betray them (cf. Gen. 50:17; Matt. 26:28)
  • Both save their people (cf. Gen. 45:7; Matt. 1:21; 27:41-42).[18]

In other words, the story of Israel is finding its telos or fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus, and Matthew is taking every opportunity to demonstrate that for his readers. All of this is to show that the one teaching and performing good works and miracles throughout the narrative is the one who is teaching and working with the authority of Yahweh himself. The sermon begins with authority, and as he finishes speaking the text reads that “the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes” (Matt. 7:28, 29).

Finally, to further demonstrate that the Sermon should not be read in isolation, we see that Jesus not only preached these words, but he also lived them. Allison argues that “The sermon is a way of preaching Christ”,[19] and that Matthew’s Gospel shows Jesus himself living out the imperatives found throughout the Sermon. Another way of putting it is that “the commander…embodies the command”[20] A few examples are as follows:

  • Jesus blesses the meek (praus), a term later used of himself in Matt. 11:29 and 21:5[21]
  • He is a source of mercy throughout his ministry.
  • Matthew shows him as “being faithful to the Torah [the Law]” (cf. 8:4).[22]
  • He honors his own prohibition on oaths in 26:63-64.
  • parizo – to strike, appears twice in Matthew: in the “turn the other cheek” command, and when Jesus himself is “struck” and spat on while before Caiaphas and the council.[23]
  • In Matthew 6:5-6, he instructs the people in prayer, calling for privacy and simplicity in prayer, which he practices in both Matthew 14 and 26.

Defining Terms: In this section, we will look at some key terms found throughout the Sermon on the Mount. The goal is to clarify meanings where our western lenses and language could muddy the waters.

Makarios/Blessed/Flourishing: What in the world does that mean? This is the term that is found throughout the beatitudes in the first section of the Sermon. In most of our translations, this word has been translated as “blessed”. Many of us use this term, and even popular culture uses the term. Simply type #blessed into Google, and you will see how our culture understands “the good life”. But Scripture takes a different posture. In fact, Scripture provides two ways to understand our english word “blessed”, and our goal is to get at what Jesus had in mind as he peppered the term throughout the beatitudes (5:2-11). But there is a problem. The english word “blessed” conveys something that Matthew was never intending to convey. The historical and Old Testament context of the Sermon on the Mount places it at the nexus of two worlds, both seeking to understand how they might reach a point of success or “flourishing”. The Jewish world and the Greco-Roman world, and every other society leading up to and following, were asking the question of how humanity can succeed, or how we might “flourish”. In other words, how can we live what has commonly been called “the good life”?

Using the backdrop of the Old Testament, the beatitudes seek to answer that very question. Let’s get a little bit technical for a moment. The term makarios is a term that is used throughout the Greek translation of the Old Testament. It is used to translate the Hebrew word asre, which is “found especially in the Psalms and Proverbs. It is particularly appropriate there because it is a poetic and wisdom-related word”.[24] In other words, makarios is a term that deals in wisdom, describing “the happy state of the one who lives wisely”.[25] This means that when we approach the beatitudes, we are approaching a genre of literature known as Jewish wisdom literature. But there’s more, the term in the immediate context of the Greco-Roman world was used to describe “human beings who lived a life of happiness like that of the gods, meaning that their lives are beyond care, labor and death”[26] (I.e., god-like). But nowhere is this term associated with the sort of blessing that comes directly from the hand of God. Rather, the sort of blessing being dealt with in the beatitudes, and throughout the Proverbs and Psalms, is a blessing that one commentator describes as a “ground-up” blessing.[27] In other words, the world has been sovereignly designed in such a way that when one lives their lives in accordance with its design, their life will flourish.

And this is where we begin to ask questions, because the beatitudes do not necessarily fit in line with what we might call “the good life”. In fact, it seems to describe the very opposite of what any of us would describe as “good” or “blessed”. Even Christians tend to think more in line with the #blessed crowd, because we’ve been conditioned by culture, especially our American culture, to see happiness, fun, and pleasure as the end all and be all of our existence. But we need to remember that Jesus is inaugurating or beginning something new, and with this inaugurated kingdom comes a moral vision that is unlike anything the world has ever seen. Yes, the understanding of flourishing that results from a particular way of life was, and still is, common place, but it is the sorts of people being described in the beatitudes who receive this sort of blessing that creates the confusion and cognitive dissonance that characterizes much of Jesus’ teaching. The meek, the poor in spirit, those who demonstrate mercy, those who mourn, and those who are “persecuted for righteousness sake…[who are] reviled”, these are the ones who are said by Jesus to be the blessed ones, the flourishing ones, the ones participating in “the good life”.

What Jesus is doing, and what Matthew is capturing for the church, is showing us that our lives as Christians, as those who have been marked by the crucifixion of Christ, and called to suffer and sacrifice on behalf of others, are the ones who are keeping in step with the true story of the world. We are the ones who will receive the eschatological riches of comfort, inheritance, satisfaction, mercy, a vision of God himself, adoption and the kingdom of heaven. And this is the irony of the Sermon on the Mount, and the confusion it ushers into the world. The “good life” is a life that disrupts the status quo and provides hope for the suffering world of which we are apart. The kingdom of heaven is on a collision course with the kingdoms and powers of this world, and we are “blessed” to go along for the ride.

Teleios/Perfection/Whole or Complete: Matthew 5 closes with a command to “be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect”. Christians have wrestled with this verse for quite some time, and understandably so. Being perfect is something that is beyond anything we can aspire to. The term itself suggests a moral flawlessness that is at best out of reach, if not down right condemning.

The term in question is the Greek word teleios. In order to understand its meaning, we need to look at how the term has been used throughout the Greek translation of the Old Testament and other places in the New Testament.[28] From there, we can determine the range of meaning behind the term. Jonathan Pennington has done that work for us: Teleiosity [or perfection] in the Old Testament is “1. The idea of wholeness or completeness; 2. The giving of oneself to God wholeheartedly, akin to righteousness; 3. Wholehearted dedication that is demonstrated in obedience to God’s will, the idea of walking with God”.[29] With this as the literary and historical backdrop, Pennington argues that “The call to teleiosity in Matt. 5:48 and throughout the Sermon is the same call to ‘holiness’ that we see throughout the Old Testament…not moral perfection, but wholehearted orientation toward God”.[30] In other words, we are called to have a wholehearted devotion to God, but we are also called to have a wholehearted devotion to our neighbor. In the same way God postures himself toward his enemies, “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”, likewise we are called to the same radically natured love, which is why this call to be perfect closes out the section on loving one’s enemies and giving to those who steal from us. Jesus is calling his followers “to be ‘perfect in love’ or to ‘love completely’ in the sense that they are to love not only fellow Jewish neighbors but also enemy neighbors”.[31] This is a command that might rub us the wrong way, especially in our current cultural moment where different groups and tribes are pitted against one another. But the calling of the Kingdom should shape us, that we might manifest something different from the world around us.

Dikaiosyosne/Righteousness: Another term I want to cover is the word behind our english term, “righteousness”. There are massive amounts of debate surrounding this term, so understanding Matthew’s usage is key to gaining a fuller understanding to the Sermon. The term comes up right in the beginning of the Sermon, as the blessed ones are “those who hunger and thirst for righteousness” (5:6). What in the world is Jesus getting at here? What sort of righteousness is in view? Being that the Sermon is part of this kingdom inauguration, this needs to weigh heavily as we seek to determine what is being said. But first, what is the Old Testament background of the term? The Hebrew behind Dikaiosyosne is the term saddiq or “justice”. This is a covenantal justice that deals with God’s desire to “set the world to rights”.[32] The historical backdrop then means that Matthew is not necessarily referring to the theological category of imputed righteousness or the Christian’s individual justification, but rather, to the sense of justice that followers of Jesus ought to possess as we observe a world ravaged by injustice.

The “righteous” person, or the “blessed” person, is the person who is currently experiencing the “wholeness” or “flourishing” of the Kingdom of God. They are the one who has postured their life in such a way, that coincides with the design of creation, so that they are experiencing resurrection life in the here and now. And the irony of this, is that resurrection life, the “whole” and “flourishing” life, is experienced as followers of Jesus live their lives for the good of those around them in the name of the resurrected king! We are the means by which those on the receiving end of injustice might get a taste of the glory of the Kingdom of God, whether that is our work with our local crisis pregnancy center, providing help and counsel to those struggling with addiction, or any other way we breath life into those at death’s door, whether physically, emotionally or spiritually. To desire “righteousness” or “justice” is to desire the flourishing and holistic prosperity of those around us, which typically comes at our own expense.

Grace and the Sermon on the Mount:

In a tradition that has been so marked by the grace of God, we can approach texts such as the Sermon on the Mount with skepticism. Why all the requirements? Why all the demands? I thought we were saved by grace. Once again, looking at the context will allow us to properly understand what we’re looking at. Dale Allison sees this dilemma, and he makes an important observation:

Before Jesus makes any demands, he shows his compassion by healing the sick among the crowds. The act is pure grace, for the crowds have done nothing. The implicit lesson is that grace comes before task, succor before demand. Jesus’ first act is not the imposition of difficult imperatives but the selfless service of others. Today’s command presupposes yesterday’s gift.[33]

In other words, deliverance comes before the law. The mirroring of the Exodus narrative is in view here, as Jesus delivers people from the enslavement of “various diseases” and the “oppression of demons” (4:23, 24), he is echoing Israel’s deliverance from the enslavement and oppression of Pharaoh. And in like manner, following these acts of grace, he provides the people with a law, and in this case a new law that will serve as a conduit by which the people of God can experience resurrection life in the here and now.

In addition to the deliverance which precedes the Sermon, Jesus begins his talk with the beatitudes. This section is not so much a call to action, but a pronouncement of blessing upon those who are already living their lives in a certain manner. It is a pronouncement of encouragement amid poverty, comfort to those who are mourning, and inheritance and adoption to those who possessed nothing under this present evil age. It is with this understanding that we must engage the commands found throughout the Sermon, that we have been lavished with the grace of God, being delivered from our sins, and offered consolation amid the burdens and difficulties of this life. It is in light of this grace that we are called to live our lives shaped by the kingdom of God, so that we, and those around us, might get a taste of the “good life”, as we are used by God as a conduit to deliver resurrection life into the world around us.

Conclusion:

As we close, the questions regarding how we are supposed to live our life should begin to make more sense. Looking at the Sermon, we are going to see that there is a goal to this life, and that goal is a kingdom shaped goal. It is a life that gives of itself, so that others might live. It is a life that is marked by love and grace, so that the world might catch a glimpse of what God is like. As stated above, the Sermon on the Mount is a new law given from a new world to shape a new people to live as “elect exiles” in this world, so that onlookers might catch a glimpse of the beauty and truth of the new world and its King. And the life we live as “elect exiles” is a life that is moving toward wholeness and perfection. The entire created order will flourish through the resurrection life of Jesus flowing through the veins of his body, the church. We are a people, called to be wholly devoted to Christ, in such a way that it causes onlookers to be radically confused, while at the same time, unexplainably jealous of what we possess as sons and daughters of the living God.  

 

[1] To be shaped by the kingdom is to be shaped by a king. The life, death, burial and resurrection of Christ provide us with the example and power to live our lives in a way that is shaped by his kingdom. When we think of the Kingdom of God, or as Matthew puts it, the Kingdom of Heaven, we should understand it as the rule and reign of God. This means that we are to live our lives in light of the fact that Jesus is seated on the throne, ruling over all of creation.  

[2] Schreiner, Patrick, “Matthew’s Gospel as You’ve Never Read it Before”, The Gospel Coalition Blog (https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/matthew-gospel-never-read-before/), Sept. 2019.

[3] Allison, Dale, The Sermon on the Mount: Inspiring the Moral Imagination, Herder and Herder Books, New York, NY, 1999, pg. 9.

[4] Hendrickson, William, Matthew (pgs. 92-97).

[5] R.T. France, NICNT, The Gospel of Matthew (pg. 15).

[6] Ibid, 19.

[7] The following section uses content from Dale Allison’s commentary on the Sermon on the Mount and Patrick Schreiner’s Gospel Coalition article on Matthew’s Gospel.

[8] Allison, 16.

[9] Ibid. 

[10] Ibid.

[11] Important to note, Matthew begins his gospel with a genealogy that stretches back to both David and Abraham. This is key because it places Jesus in the line of both the Patriarchs and the Davidic dynasty. From the beginning of Matthew’s gospel, he is situating Jesus as the telos, or goal of Israel’s story.

[12] The Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint (LXX) was one of the New Testament writer’s primary texts. This means that often, when alluding or quoting the Old Testament, they would have been alluding or quoting the LXX. This does not mean that they did not also cite and allude to the Hebrew scriptures, but more often than not, it was the Greek translation.

[13] Allison, pg. 17.

[14] Ibid, 19. 

[15] The Pentateuch or the Torah are the first five books of the Bible, which were written by Moses. It appears that Matthew is using a literary device to further link Jesus to Moses, further identifying Him as the fulfillment of Israel’s story. Moses composed five books of law, and now Jesus is presenting five separate teachings.   Additionally, what is being put forth throughout Matthew is this idea of a “new law”, which is what the church needed to flourish as the people of God. See The Bible Project’s video on Matthew to gain a little more insight into the view that Matthew is providing a new Pentateuch for the people of God: https://thebibleproject.com/explore/matthew/.

[16] Schreiner

[17] Ibid. 

[18] Ibid. 

[19] Allison, 19.

[20] Ibid, 20.

[21] Praus - πραΰς is used throughout the psalter, focusing specifically on those who will be exalted; it is used twice in the final eschatological section as well (24:9; 33:3; 36:11; 75:10; 146:6; 149:4)

[22] Allison, 20.

[23] The term is also used in Isaiah 50:6, one of the servant songs, where the innocent is beaten.

[24] Ibid, 44.

[25] Ibid.

[26] Ibid, 46. 

[27] Mcknight, Scot, The Sermon on the Mount, The Story of God Bible Commentary, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, 2013, pgs. 11-13.

[28] Additionally, if you want to gain a full understanding of the use of a term in the Bible, the search should also include its usage in the contemporary historical context. A quick guide to word studies can be found here: https://www.biblicaltraining.org/library/word-studies/how-to-study-your-bible/george-guthrie. Additionally, it is always helpful to watch someone who is proficient in something work. We can learn a ton from just simple observation. The Bible Project has done a number of word studies that are very well done, and can provide some insight into how to go about doing a word study: https://thebibleproject.com/all-videos/word-studies/.

[29] Pennington, Jonathan, The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing: A Theological Commentary, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, MI. pg. 76, (citing Patrick Hartin, Spirituality of Perfection, pg. 26).

[30] Ibid, 78.

[31] McKnight, 146.

[32] Pennington, 89.

[33] Allison, 29 (emphasis mine).

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The Upside-Down Kingdom: An Introduction

When I first became a Christian, I very quickly learned the acronym, WWJD? (What Would Jesus Do?). That was the question, and still is the question, followers of Jesus are trying to answer? How in the world are we to live this life as Christians? What are we supposed to do? Why are we supposed to do it? What are we allowed to do, and what are we not allowed to do? Where is the line? And so we made rules and lists for ourselves, “don’t drink, don’t chew, don’t go with girls that do”. Many traditions banned dancing and alcohol, while others focused on R rated movies, secular music, and dating. And maybe there is wisdom to some of these prohibitions, but the truth of the matter is that while everyone was making lists and getting caught up in the dos and don’ts of Christian living, we lost sight of what was to shape our lives as followers of Jesus. The question wasn’t altogether bad. We should want to know what Jesus would do in any given situation, and as His followers, we should seek to do the thing that we believe He would do. But getting at that answer has proven difficult for many in the church. And this is where the Sermon on the Mount comes in.

The Sermon on the Mount presents Jesus’ followers with something that is categorically other-worldly; it is a paradigm for Christian living that rubs against all common sense and conventional wisdom because it presents the moral vision of a kingdom that is “not of this world”. This is key for us to understand as we embark on this journey throughout the Fall; the Sermon on the Mount is a new law given from a new world to shape a new people to live as “elect exiles” in this world, so that onlookers might catch a glimpse of the beauty and truth of the new world and its King. Jesus is the point of the Sermon, but that point is not so much a period, as it is rather a comma, because the rest of the story pushes forward and is being written through the faithfulness of His followers. And this is where we find the answer to our questions above? What would Jesus do? Maybe it’s better to ask, “what did Jesus do?” He did the very things he is calling us to do in the Sermon, and He is doing it with a power that is not of this world, which He gives to us through His Spirit, so that we too might walk the path He has laid out for us: A Kingdom shaped life that turns all that we believe to be true on its head, providing a new and better way that leads to the flourishing of humanity and the glory of God.[1]

The purpose of this essay is to lay some tracks to run on as we travel through Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. First, we will look at the historical, literary, and Old Testament context surrounding the Sermon. Second, we will define some key terms found throughout the Sermon, which will provide us with more context, both biblically and historically. Finally, we will discuss the grace filled demands the Sermon places on our lives today as we seek to follow Jesus in Ocean County and beyond.

Context:

Matthew’s Gospel: In the words of Patrick Schreiner, “The Gospel of Matthew is best understood with one eye looking back to the old story, and the other attuned to shifts in the new story”.[2] In other words, we need to wrap our minds around the Old Testament backdrop if we are going to fully understand Matthew, and in particular, if we’re going to fully understand the Sermon on the Mount. But before we get there, let’s get some introductory remarks out of the way. The Sermon on the Mount is not the whole story; in fact, it is a piece of the whole. In other words, the Sermon “belongs to a book apart from which it was never intended to be read”.[3] To read the Sermon on the Mount, one must understand the broader context of Matthew’s gospel.

Matthew’s gospel is the first book of the New Testament. Tradition holds that this gospel account was written by Matthew (formerly known as Levi the tax collector). Although he never identifies himself as the author, there are a number of reasons why his authorship is probable.[4] According to New Testament Scholar R.T. France, “the contents and tone of the gospel (including the “love-hate relationship with Judaism) seem to make…someone like Matthew as likely a candidate as any”.[5] There is debate surrounding the dating of Matthew’s Gospel, but conservative scholars tend to place it prior to AD70, “while the temple was still standing”.[6] This means that Matthew is presenting his gospel to a people who still have connections to the temple, the sacrificial system, and for all intents and purposes, the Mosaic Law. This makes his content that much more explosive, especially to those of Jewish descent, as Matthew is dismantling categories and traditions one by one.

Along with the historical setting of Matthew, how he structures his gospel also tells a story. Beginning with a genealogy that takes Jesus’ lineage all the way back to Abraham and identifying Him as a son of David, Matthew is showing that Jesus serves as the fulfillment of Israel’s story. Below are some examples of the Old Testament backdrop of Matthew and the Sermon on the Mount.[7]

Jesus as Isaiah’s End Times Prophet: The allusions to the Old Testament throughout the Sermon are numerous. Broadly speaking, Matthew is setting up Jesus as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. As the Spirit rests “upon” Christ at his baptism, Matthew is alluding to Isaiah 42. Additionally, the quotations from Isaiah 9 in Matthew 4 present Jesus as the child upon who’s shoulders the governments of this world would rest.

Zooming in, the sermon itself alludes to Isaiah throughout The Beatitudes. The focus on the mourning and the poor are key themes drawn from Isaiah 61. In showing Jesus as the fulfilment of these Old Testament figures, Matthew is outlining Jesus’ historical authority, and showing how he is not a novel or new idea thrust “on humanity’s religious landscape, [but] he is rather the goal of a story, the history told in the Jewish Bible”.[8] Dale Allison further argues that “Jesus is the anointed [messianic] one prophesied by Isaiah 61, [and that] he has been sent by the same God who spoke to Abraham, Moses, David, and the prophets”.[9] This means that there is “continuity between the new and the old, and that ultimately the one who speaks here through his anointed [messianic] prophet is the one whose words and deeds constitute the religious story of Israel”.[10] In other words, Jesus is shown to be the one to bring Israel’s story to its glorious fruition.[11]

Jesus as the New and Better Moses: It is almost unfair how obvious this is for those who take the time to read the text slowly and closely. The Sermon begins with the following words: “When he saw the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him”. The phrase, “he went up on the mountain” is lifted directly from the Moses narrative of Exodus, where he goes up on the mountain to receive the Law of God (cf. Ex. 24).[12] Furthermore, “Jewish tradition spoke of Moses sitting on Sinai”, so it appears that Matthew is borrowing, not only from the Old Testament tradition, but the broader Jewish tradition as well.[13] Again, paying attention to the broader context, Matthew draws even more parallels between Jesus and Moses:

  • A call from Egypt (Mt. 2:13-15)
  • Slaughter of the infants (Mt. 2:16-21)
  • A passage through water (Mt. 3:13-17)
  • A time of wilderness testing (Mt. 4:1-11)
  • Delivering the Law from a mountain (Mt. 5-7)

While Matthew is clear that Jesus is in fact the “better Moses”, New Testament scholar Dale Allison argues that this is not necessarily the main point; in “Matthew’s world, ‘Moses said’ was the equivalent of ‘God said.’ So to make Jesus one like Moses was a way of saying that…Jesus’ word is God’s word…the parallels with Moses are intended to exalt the authority of Jesus to make him a dispenser of divine revelation”.[14] In other words, to be like Moses is to be one who speaks with authority, the very words of God. And it is the authority of the speaker that makes the Sermon that much more radical and revolutionary; God is asking his followers to structure their lives in a way that contradicts conventional wisdom, to pursue a wisdom that is otherworldly, upside-down, which is the proper means to the flourishing of humanity. Furthermore, Matthew’s gospel is structured around five sections, containing both narrative and direct teaching. These sections are marked by the phrase, “and when Jesus had come to finish”, marking the conclusion of each of his teaching sections within the book. These five sections are intentionally placed throughout the course of the book and some have argued that they further connect Jesus to Moses, as Matthew contains a new Pentateuch or Torah.[15] See P. Schreiner’s TGC article for further links between Moses and Jesus in Matthew’s gospel.

Jesus as the New and Better Joseph: Patrick Schreiner does a great job of unpacking this in his TGC article, but we’ll cover a few things before moving along. Schreiner argues that Jesus’ birth narrative is “described from Joseph’s point of view, [and that] it’s revealed to him in a dream that this child [is] from the Holy Spirit [and] will save his people from their sins”.[16] It is no accident that “there was another Joseph who had dreams”.[17] Matthew is setting up Joseph, Mary’s husband, as a new and better Joseph. But that is not where the story ends. Matthew’s Gospel also portrays Jesus as the new Joseph.

  • Both are chosen by their father (cf. Gen. 37:4; Matt. 3:17)
  • Both are rejected by their brothers (cf. Gen. 37:4; Matt. 20:18)
  • Both undergo suffering and exile (cf. Gen. 37:17-20; Matt. 2; 27:27-31)
  • Both are exalted in a foreign court (cf. Gen. 41:39-41; Matt. 27:27-31)
  • Both turn and forgive their brothers who betray them (cf. Gen. 50:17; Matt. 26:28)
  • Both save their people (cf. Gen. 45:7; Matt. 1:21; 27:41-42).[18]

In other words, the story of Israel is finding its telos or fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus, and Matthew is taking every opportunity to demonstrate that for his readers. All of this is to show that the one teaching and performing good works and miracles throughout the narrative is the one who is teaching and working with the authority of Yahweh himself. The sermon begins with authority, and as he finishes speaking the text reads that “the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes” (Matt. 7:28, 29).

Finally, to further demonstrate that the Sermon should not be read in isolation, we see that Jesus not only preached these words, but he also lived them. Allison argues that “The sermon is a way of preaching Christ”,[19] and that Matthew’s Gospel shows Jesus himself living out the imperatives found throughout the Sermon. Another way of putting it is that “the commander…embodies the command”[20] A few examples are as follows:

  • Jesus blesses the meek (praus), a term later used of himself in Matt. 11:29 and 21:5[21]
  • He is a source of mercy throughout his ministry.
  • Matthew shows him as “being faithful to the Torah [the Law]” (cf. 8:4).[22]
  • He honors his own prohibition on oaths in 26:63-64.
  • parizo – to strike, appears twice in Matthew: in the “turn the other cheek” command, and when Jesus himself is “struck” and spat on while before Caiaphas and the council.[23]
  • In Matthew 6:5-6, he instructs the people in prayer, calling for privacy and simplicity in prayer, which he practices in both Matthew 14 and 26.

Defining Terms: In this section, we will look at some key terms found throughout the Sermon on the Mount. The goal is to clarify meanings where our western lenses and language could muddy the waters.

Makarios/Blessed/Flourishing: What in the world does that mean? This is the term that is found throughout the beatitudes in the first section of the Sermon. In most of our translations, this word has been translated as “blessed”. Many of us use this term, and even popular culture uses the term. Simply type #blessed into Google, and you will see how our culture understands “the good life”. But Scripture takes a different posture. In fact, Scripture provides two ways to understand our english word “blessed”, and our goal is to get at what Jesus had in mind as he peppered the term throughout the beatitudes (5:2-11). But there is a problem. The english word “blessed” conveys something that Matthew was never intending to convey. The historical and Old Testament context of the Sermon on the Mount places it at the nexus of two worlds, both seeking to understand how they might reach a point of success or “flourishing”. The Jewish world and the Greco-Roman world, and every other society leading up to and following, were asking the question of how humanity can succeed, or how we might “flourish”. In other words, how can we live what has commonly been called “the good life”?

Using the backdrop of the Old Testament, the beatitudes seek to answer that very question. Let’s get a little bit technical for a moment. The term makarios is a term that is used throughout the Greek translation of the Old Testament. It is used to translate the Hebrew word asre, which is “found especially in the Psalms and Proverbs. It is particularly appropriate there because it is a poetic and wisdom-related word”.[24] In other words, makarios is a term that deals in wisdom, describing “the happy state of the one who lives wisely”.[25] This means that when we approach the beatitudes, we are approaching a genre of literature known as Jewish wisdom literature. But there’s more, the term in the immediate context of the Greco-Roman world was used to describe “human beings who lived a life of happiness like that of the gods, meaning that their lives are beyond care, labor and death”[26] (I.e., god-like). But nowhere is this term associated with the sort of blessing that comes directly from the hand of God. Rather, the sort of blessing being dealt with in the beatitudes, and throughout the Proverbs and Psalms, is a blessing that one commentator describes as a “ground-up” blessing.[27] In other words, the world has been sovereignly designed in such a way that when one lives their lives in accordance with its design, their life will flourish.

And this is where we begin to ask questions, because the beatitudes do not necessarily fit in line with what we might call “the good life”. In fact, it seems to describe the very opposite of what any of us would describe as “good” or “blessed”. Even Christians tend to think more in line with the #blessed crowd, because we’ve been conditioned by culture, especially our American culture, to see happiness, fun, and pleasure as the end all and be all of our existence. But we need to remember that Jesus is inaugurating or beginning something new, and with this inaugurated kingdom comes a moral vision that is unlike anything the world has ever seen. Yes, the understanding of flourishing that results from a particular way of life was, and still is, common place, but it is the sorts of people being described in the beatitudes who receive this sort of blessing that creates the confusion and cognitive dissonance that characterizes much of Jesus’ teaching. The meek, the poor in spirit, those who demonstrate mercy, those who mourn, and those who are “persecuted for righteousness sake…[who are] reviled”, these are the ones who are said by Jesus to be the blessed ones, the flourishing ones, the ones participating in “the good life”.

What Jesus is doing, and what Matthew is capturing for the church, is showing us that our lives as Christians, as those who have been marked by the crucifixion of Christ, and called to suffer and sacrifice on behalf of others, are the ones who are keeping in step with the true story of the world. We are the ones who will receive the eschatological riches of comfort, inheritance, satisfaction, mercy, a vision of God himself, adoption and the kingdom of heaven. And this is the irony of the Sermon on the Mount, and the confusion it ushers into the world. The “good life” is a life that disrupts the status quo and provides hope for the suffering world of which we are apart. The kingdom of heaven is on a collision course with the kingdoms and powers of this world, and we are “blessed” to go along for the ride.

Teleios/Perfection/Whole or Complete: Matthew 5 closes with a command to “be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect”. Christians have wrestled with this verse for quite some time, and understandably so. Being perfect is something that is beyond anything we can aspire to. The term itself suggests a moral flawlessness that is at best out of reach, if not down right condemning.

The term in question is the Greek word teleios. In order to understand its meaning, we need to look at how the term has been used throughout the Greek translation of the Old Testament and other places in the New Testament.[28] From there, we can determine the range of meaning behind the term. Jonathan Pennington has done that work for us: Teleiosity [or perfection] in the Old Testament is “1. The idea of wholeness or completeness; 2. The giving of oneself to God wholeheartedly, akin to righteousness; 3. Wholehearted dedication that is demonstrated in obedience to God’s will, the idea of walking with God”.[29] With this as the literary and historical backdrop, Pennington argues that “The call to teleiosity in Matt. 5:48 and throughout the Sermon is the same call to ‘holiness’ that we see throughout the Old Testament…not moral perfection, but wholehearted orientation toward God”.[30] In other words, we are called to have a wholehearted devotion to God, but we are also called to have a wholehearted devotion to our neighbor. In the same way God postures himself toward his enemies, “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”, likewise we are called to the same radically natured love, which is why this call to be perfect closes out the section on loving one’s enemies and giving to those who steal from us. Jesus is calling his followers “to be ‘perfect in love’ or to ‘love completely’ in the sense that they are to love not only fellow Jewish neighbors but also enemy neighbors”.[31] This is a command that might rub us the wrong way, especially in our current cultural moment where different groups and tribes are pitted against one another. But the calling of the Kingdom should shape us, that we might manifest something different from the world around us.

Dikaiosyosne/Righteousness: Another term I want to cover is the word behind our english term, “righteousness”. There are massive amounts of debate surrounding this term, so understanding Matthew’s usage is key to gaining a fuller understanding to the Sermon. The term comes up right in the beginning of the Sermon, as the blessed ones are “those who hunger and thirst for righteousness” (5:6). What in the world is Jesus getting at here? What sort of righteousness is in view? Being that the Sermon is part of this kingdom inauguration, this needs to weigh heavily as we seek to determine what is being said. But first, what is the Old Testament background of the term? The Hebrew behind Dikaiosyosne is the term saddiq or “justice”. This is a covenantal justice that deals with God’s desire to “set the world to rights”.[32] The historical backdrop then means that Matthew is not necessarily referring to the theological category of imputed righteousness or the Christian’s individual justification, but rather, to the sense of justice that followers of Jesus ought to possess as we observe a world ravaged by injustice.

The “righteous” person, or the “blessed” person, is the person who is currently experiencing the “wholeness” or “flourishing” of the Kingdom of God. They are the one who has postured their life in such a way, that coincides with the design of creation, so that they are experiencing resurrection life in the here and now. And the irony of this, is that resurrection life, the “whole” and “flourishing” life, is experienced as followers of Jesus live their lives for the good of those around them in the name of the resurrected king! We are the means by which those on the receiving end of injustice might get a taste of the glory of the Kingdom of God, whether that is our work with our local crisis pregnancy center, providing help and counsel to those struggling with addiction, or any other way we breath life into those at death’s door, whether physically, emotionally or spiritually. To desire “righteousness” or “justice” is to desire the flourishing and holistic prosperity of those around us, which typically comes at our own expense.

Grace and the Sermon on the Mount:

In a tradition that has been so marked by the grace of God, we can approach texts such as the Sermon on the Mount with skepticism. Why all the requirements? Why all the demands? I thought we were saved by grace. Once again, looking at the context will allow us to properly understand what we’re looking at. Dale Allison sees this dilemma, and he makes an important observation:

Before Jesus makes any demands, he shows his compassion by healing the sick among the crowds. The act is pure grace, for the crowds have done nothing. The implicit lesson is that grace comes before task, succor before demand. Jesus’ first act is not the imposition of difficult imperatives but the selfless service of others. Today’s command presupposes yesterday’s gift.[33]

In other words, deliverance comes before the law. The mirroring of the Exodus narrative is in view here, as Jesus delivers people from the enslavement of “various diseases” and the “oppression of demons” (4:23, 24), he is echoing Israel’s deliverance from the enslavement and oppression of Pharaoh. And in like manner, following these acts of grace, he provides the people with a law, and in this case a new law that will serve as a conduit by which the people of God can experience resurrection life in the here and now.

In addition to the deliverance which precedes the Sermon, Jesus begins his talk with the beatitudes. This section is not so much a call to action, but a pronouncement of blessing upon those who are already living their lives in a certain manner. It is a pronouncement of encouragement amid poverty, comfort to those who are mourning, and inheritance and adoption to those who possessed nothing under this present evil age. It is with this understanding that we must engage the commands found throughout the Sermon, that we have been lavished with the grace of God, being delivered from our sins, and offered consolation amid the burdens and difficulties of this life. It is in light of this grace that we are called to live our lives shaped by the kingdom of God, so that we, and those around us, might get a taste of the “good life”, as we are used by God as a conduit to deliver resurrection life into the world around us.

Conclusion:

As we close, the questions regarding how we are supposed to live our life should begin to make more sense. Looking at the Sermon, we are going to see that there is a goal to this life, and that goal is a kingdom shaped goal. It is a life that gives of itself, so that others might live. It is a life that is marked by love and grace, so that the world might catch a glimpse of what God is like. As stated above, the Sermon on the Mount is a new law given from a new world to shape a new people to live as “elect exiles” in this world, so that onlookers might catch a glimpse of the beauty and truth of the new world and its King. And the life we live as “elect exiles” is a life that is moving toward wholeness and perfection. The entire created order will flourish through the resurrection life of Jesus flowing through the veins of his body, the church. We are a people, called to be wholly devoted to Christ, in such a way that it causes onlookers to be radically confused, while at the same time, unexplainably jealous of what we possess as sons and daughters of the living God.  

 

[1] To be shaped by the kingdom is to be shaped by a king. The life, death, burial and resurrection of Christ provide us with the example and power to live our lives in a way that is shaped by his kingdom. When we think of the Kingdom of God, or as Matthew puts it, the Kingdom of Heaven, we should understand it as the rule and reign of God. This means that we are to live our lives in light of the fact that Jesus is seated on the throne, ruling over all of creation.  

[2] Schreiner, Patrick, “Matthew’s Gospel as You’ve Never Read it Before”, The Gospel Coalition Blog (https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/matthew-gospel-never-read-before/), Sept. 2019.

[3] Allison, Dale, The Sermon on the Mount: Inspiring the Moral Imagination, Herder and Herder Books, New York, NY, 1999, pg. 9.

[4] Hendrickson, William, Matthew (pgs. 92-97).

[5] R.T. France, NICNT, The Gospel of Matthew (pg. 15).

[6] Ibid, 19.

[7] The following section uses content from Dale Allison’s commentary on the Sermon on the Mount and Patrick Schreiner’s Gospel Coalition article on Matthew’s Gospel.

[8] Allison, 16.

[9] Ibid. 

[10] Ibid.

[11] Important to note, Matthew begins his gospel with a genealogy that stretches back to both David and Abraham. This is key because it places Jesus in the line of both the Patriarchs and the Davidic dynasty. From the beginning of Matthew’s gospel, he is situating Jesus as the telos, or goal of Israel’s story.

[12] The Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint (LXX) was one of the New Testament writer’s primary texts. This means that often, when alluding or quoting the Old Testament, they would have been alluding or quoting the LXX. This does not mean that they did not also cite and allude to the Hebrew scriptures, but more often than not, it was the Greek translation.

[13] Allison, pg. 17.

[14] Ibid, 19. 

[15] The Pentateuch or the Torah are the first five books of the Bible, which were written by Moses. It appears that Matthew is using a literary device to further link Jesus to Moses, further identifying Him as the fulfillment of Israel’s story. Moses composed five books of law, and now Jesus is presenting five separate teachings.   Additionally, what is being put forth throughout Matthew is this idea of a “new law”, which is what the church needed to flourish as the people of God. See The Bible Project’s video on Matthew to gain a little more insight into the view that Matthew is providing a new Pentateuch for the people of God: https://thebibleproject.com/explore/matthew/.

[16] Schreiner

[17] Ibid. 

[18] Ibid. 

[19] Allison, 19.

[20] Ibid, 20.

[21] Praus - πραΰς is used throughout the psalter, focusing specifically on those who will be exalted; it is used twice in the final eschatological section as well (24:9; 33:3; 36:11; 75:10; 146:6; 149:4)

[22] Allison, 20.

[23] The term is also used in Isaiah 50:6, one of the servant songs, where the innocent is beaten.

[24] Ibid, 44.

[25] Ibid.

[26] Ibid, 46. 

[27] Mcknight, Scot, The Sermon on the Mount, The Story of God Bible Commentary, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, 2013, pgs. 11-13.

[28] Additionally, if you want to gain a full understanding of the use of a term in the Bible, the search should also include its usage in the contemporary historical context. A quick guide to word studies can be found here: https://www.biblicaltraining.org/library/word-studies/how-to-study-your-bible/george-guthrie. Additionally, it is always helpful to watch someone who is proficient in something work. We can learn a ton from just simple observation. The Bible Project has done a number of word studies that are very well done, and can provide some insight into how to go about doing a word study: https://thebibleproject.com/all-videos/word-studies/.

[29] Pennington, Jonathan, The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing: A Theological Commentary, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, MI. pg. 76, (citing Patrick Hartin, Spirituality of Perfection, pg. 26).

[30] Ibid, 78.

[31] McKnight, 146.

[32] Pennington, 89.

[33] Allison, 29 (emphasis mine).

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