Why Luke got a sequel

Go read Luke 22:54-62.

No, seriously. Go read it. I'll wait.

(La-de-da-dum. Tap-tap-tap.)

So what Luke does is allow us to picture Peter there in the courtyard with a random assortment of strangers and assume Jesus is off being mocked, beaten, and tried unjustly somewhere else. Peter's denial of his Lord thus seems distant and impersonal. But then, in 22:61, he reveals that the trial has been going on in the courtyard: Peter's argument around the fire is just a little bit away from the main event, and in plain view.

(This explains, by the way, why Peter's interrogators refer to Jesus as "he." No name is necessary since Jesus is right there, and probably is being gestured towards.)

Suddenly, Peter's denial becomes simultaneously more understandable and more monstrous. If he's identified as Jesus' follower, he could very well suffer the same fate, and at that very moment. But Jesus is also a witness to this betrayal, and his suffering thereby becomes all the worse.

By telling the story the way he does, Luke clarifies our understanding of what has occurred in a moment, and thereby creates a sudden and visceral sense of horror. Seriously, this Luke is a brilliant storyteller. No wonder he got a book deal for a sequel.

In the bosom

On page 59 of his commentary on John's Gospel, Herman Ridderbos observes that "in the bosom of the Father" is less a familial image than that of two adult friends, reclining together at the dinner table (per the custom of the day) in intimate conversation. Interestingly, this is how John himself pictures his relationship to Jesus in John 13:23.

On the Church year

My series of pastoral letters introducing the seasons of the Church year, or litugical calendar, can be downloaded as a .pdf document from the Park Hill Presbyterian Church website: http://www.parkhillpresbyterian.org/Study%20Resources.shtml.

Irony, people, irony

So much depends on a pronoun

In Luke 2:22 we read, "When the days of their purification had been fulfilled according to the Law of Moses...," a reference to Leviticus 12. The flow of blood involved in birth made both mother and child unclean, or impure, under the Old Covenant ceremonial law. The period of impurity for a male child was 40 days (halved from that of the daughter's 80 days because the son was circumcised); afterward, sacrifices would be offered up to restore both mother and child to a state of ritual cleanness.

The third person plural pronoun in Luke 2:22 is significant because it tells us both Mary and Jesus were impure. Since Jesus was sinless, his being unclean could not have meant he was somehow guilty of sin. Thus, while ceremonial uncleanness in many ways symbolized man's alienation from God as a result of sin, it was only a symbol.

In other words, Luke 2:22 should disabuse all Christians of the unfortunately common notion that ceremonial uncleanness somehow equaled sinfulness.

"Fear Not," the first draft (A meditation on Luke 2:8-11)

[For those of you interested in my process (and if you're still reading this, you're interested, whether you want to admit it or not), here's a look at the original version of "Fear Not," which was published in New Horizons last December. It began as a Christmas Eve homily a few years back when my habit was to improvise that sermon. A week or so before the service, I wrote a rough draft of what I thought I might say. I then cold submitted the piece to NH a few months later. A couple years after that, the editor asked me to expand it to something more than twice the original length, no mean feat since I am a member of the "edit out more than half of what you originally wrote" school. At any rate, I'm guessing I still hold the copyright to this version of "Fear Not," and I don't think the OPC will sue me for posting it here.]

In many ways I envy those who grew up in faithful Churches, but I think I have one advantage over them. By virtue of having been exposed to the literally worst sermons imaginable from liberal protestant ministers, I have an appreciation for the preached Word I think my more advantaged brethren cannot. If one expects a pastor to faithfully exposit Scripture, one can afford to be critical of the manner in which he handles the text. But if one is pleasantly surprised there even is a text as the basis for the sermon, one tends to be perpetually grateful for even the dullest of homilies.

This is why I love Christmas Eve services; traditionally, they do not include a sermon. A collection of set readings and hymns, the service cannot be bent to man’s whims because it includes only the Bible and the most orthodox songs in Christendom. At least, this was the case during my childhood, when the ministers were older than my father and took seriously their obligation to carry on the Church’s traditions, no matter their own theological proclivities. But in my late teens, the ministers became younger than my father and lacked their predecessors’ sobriety. The nadir of all Christmas Eve services came when, instead of Scripture, members of the youth group read from a “novelization” of the Bible and the homily was a lame imitation of Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion monologues. Sadly, it lacked even the slight spiritual insight one finds on National Public Radio.

What I was robbed of that night, and what I hoped for every Christmas Eve of my life, was the angel’s proclamation “Fear not!” I don’t remember many white Christmases, but every Christmas Eve has been dark; very dark. Each year I was with those shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night, surrounded by impenetrable darkness.

As are we all. I have been accused of pedantry for insisting the Bible does not identify evil and sin with the color black, but with darkness. Still, this is not an unimportant distinction. Our problem has nothing to do with color; our problem is we have no light by which to see color. In the darkness, we are blind; being blind, we are afraid. We know our sin, and we know death is impending, and we cannot see any way of escape. I can’t speak for the shepherds, but I know we do not become afraid because of the glory of the Lord. We begin afraid because of sin and death, because of the darkness which surrounds our lives.

And into that darkness shines the glory of the Lord. All of a sudden, light. The presence of God Himself. And should we fear even more? Has God come in judgment?
No preacher, no matter how orthodox, can improve on the words of the angel. “Fear not! For I bring you glad tidings of peace which will be to all men.”

The light is the glory of the Lord. That light shines in the darkness and gives hope to the Gentiles. The angel’s glad tidings, his Gospel, bring you out of darkness into light, from death into life, from sin to redemption.

I was in grave rebellion against the Lord, utterly unfaithful to my baptism, until February of 1988. But in retrospect, I can now admit; indeed, I can now gladly confess that which I refused to all those long years prior. I longed to hear there was born to me, a sinner in the darkness, in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

The light has shone. The Son of Mary has grown and died and been raised again for the justification of all who will turn to Him. He lived in the darkness with us so that you need do so no longer. You need to be reminded, year in and year out, that you live in His light, a light which will only grow and grow until it reaches perfection in glory and night is banished forever. Because of Christ Jesus, because God was and is with us, there is only day here.

I don’t need to read the words; they are written on my heart and mind as I suspect they are on yours. But I need to hear them; we all need to hear them. “Fear not; for behold, I bring you glad tidings of peace which will be for all men. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas

is on sale this week on iTunes for only $7.99. 15 tracks plus 3 alternate takes; the alternate take of "Frosty the Snowman" is a very different Ella. Quite the bargain, and cheaper than you'd pay for a physical copy, if you can find one. And boy, does she swing.

And yes, I am shilling for the man.

Catholicity and conscience

Peter Wallace, a member of the OPC's Committee on Ecumenicity and Interchurch Relations, has a helpful article in the month's Ordained Servant, "Catholicity and Conscience" (http://www.opc.org/os9.html?article_id=128). He argues that on the American Church scene, and particularly in reformed circles, the scruples of one's conscience have been allowed to trump all obligations towards ecumenical practice, that this is a relatively recent development, and that we should work to bring catholicity and conscience back into greater balance.

I generally agree; I've argued in lectures on ecclesiology (particularly when discussing subscription to confessions) that if the pope cannot be head of the Church, then neither can your conscience. Still, all other things being equal, given our presbyterian doctrine of Christian liberty (Westminster Confession of Faith ch. 20), I'd rather defer to conscience than impose what some might consider unbiblical practice in the interests of ecumenicity.

Wallace suggests several ways catholicism can be better practiced on the local level. My essay "All Ecclesiology Is Local," which appeared in the June 2002 (11.1) issue of Ordained Servant, touches on similar themes. You can download it at http://www.opc.org/os_archive.html.

From the perfect to the present

In seminary, I learned the Greek perfect tense indicates a past action which continues into the present; for example, "I have been living in Denver since 1999." In John 1:26, John the Baptist describes Jesus (who is not mentioned by name until John 1:29, a provocative literary move by John the Evangelist which has the effect of building anticipation) describes Jesus with a perfect participial and a perfect active verb: "...in your midst has been standing one whom you all have not known...." Curiously, all the English versions I consulted translate these verbs in the present tense. The ESV is a representative example: "...but among you stands one you do not know...."

One can easily justify this choice; John the Baptist certainly means that Jesus is still amongst them. However, the present tense implies that Jesus is physically among the delegation of priests and Levites questioning John the Baptist, right at that moment. Since this was almost certainly not the case (Jesus wasn't a priest or Levite, and John the Evangelist tells us he showed up the next day in 1:29), the perfect tense in English more clearly communicates the simple idea that Jesus has "been on the scene" in Judea for some time.

Given that the perfect tense is, well, perfectly clear in English, I can't imagine why so many translators went with the present in John 1:26. This may be a case of "KJV hangover:" since it was translated that way in the King James Version, subsequent translators did the same without too much reflection.

Design Your Life

I drove by a building today which had a rather large sign in front, reading "Design Your Life Ministries." What am I to make of that?

On the one hand, I can remember a time when "ministry" was the term parachurch organizations used to distinguish themselves from Churches. This raises the possibility the building houses some sort of christianized interior design firm.

On the other hand, this could be some sort of church, the gospel of which is, apparently, to enable you to design the sort of life you'd like to lead. So much for a sovereign God who saves, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners after the image of Christ.

What am I to make of "Design Your Life Ministries"? Nothing good.

Umm... not what we meant by "SAD"

The reader has no doubt heard of Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD. As summer wanes and autumn waxes, the hours of daylight in our northern hemisphere decrease. This diminished exposure to sunlight produces in some a change in their emotions and mood, or their "affect."

The Presbyterian Curmudgeon is afflicted with SAD. Right around Reformation Day (or "Halloween" to you papists), my typically dour, and appropriately presbyterian, mood begins to perk up. My step, normally a shuffling gait appropriate to carrying the weight of the world, acquires an unaccountable spring. By Thanksgiving, I've entered into a state of what can only be described as giddiness. For example, I listen to, and profoundly appreciate, the Christmas albums of Elvis Presley and Raul Malo without a trace of irony. If anything, a sentimental tear can  be discerned in the corner of my eye.

This change is so profound that Mrs. Curmudgeon and the curmudgelings can't help but notice it. The day after Thanksgiving, as we were hanging our wreath on the front door (a wreath made entirely out of jingle bells and whose jingling not only fails to annoy, but brings a smile to my face every time the door opens, which if nothing else is proof sufficient of my disorder), Thing One said, "Daddy, I love you when you hang that up." Naturally, he expresses love for me throughout the year (who wouldn't?), but still.

What so disorders my affect? In a word, the season. Or more precisely, the season of the Church year. Last December, New Horizons published my essay, "Fear Not" (http://www.opc.org/nh.html?article_id=529), which I've increasingly come to consider my spiritual testimony. Having been raised with the Church year, autumn brings Advent, and Advent brings the good news that Christ came for a sinner like me. It's no wonder, then, that I suffer from SAD.

Isn't that everyone's experience?

An angel ministered to him

Luke 22:23-24 are textually disputed; that is, they appear in some manuscripts, but not others. Judging their reliability is, in this case, extremely tricky since the evidence for regarding them as original is about as strong as that for regarding them as suspect. In the past, the tendency of critical scholars was to judge against texts like these, but that no longer seems the case. The more recent critical commentaries I consulted favored their inclusion. Perhaps more interestingly, my copy of A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament by Bruce Metzger, which is based on the third edition of the United Bible Societies Greek New Testament, reports that the editing committee gave these two verses a "C" grade. However, my actual UBS Greek New Testament is a 4th revised edition, which grades them as "A."

My own reason for thinking 22:23-24 are genuine has to do with the way Luke has structured his Gospel. He explicitly points out Satan's return as Jesus' Passion begins (Luke 22:3, 31), a theme which is at best only implicit in Mark's and Matthew's Gospels. Thus, in Luke, Jesus' anticipation of his suffering (Luke 22:1-46) is paralled to his temptation by Satan in Luke 4:1-13. Now, Luke's account of Jesus' temptations after his baptism differs from Mark's and Mathew's in that he does not record the fact that Jesus was ministered to by angels. Therefore, it seems likely to me, and possibly because he had the other Gospel accounts in mind, that Luke is the only Evangelist to mention the angel at Gethsemane because he wants his readers to note how our Lord resisted temptations at both the beginning and end of his earthly ministry.

On being the Presbyterian Curmudgeon

I subscribe to Stephan Pastis' Pearls before Swine by e-mail. This is just one reason why.

Setting Up the Sheep for Heresy, again

Modern Reformation has published my piece "Setting Up the Sheep for Heresy: How the Sufficiency of Scripture Is Undermined by Learned Preaching," an expansion of an essay which originally appeared on this blog, in its current (November/December 2008) issue (online at http://www.modernreformation.org/default.php?page=articledisplay&var1=ArtRead&var2=979&var3=issuedisplay&var4=IssRead&var5=102).

On bicycling & belly fat

We finally got our first autumn snow last night: just a light coating, and, given that it was in the 60s yesterday, not nearly enough to make the streets anything but damp. Thus, I geared up and rode my bike to the Church building this morning while it was still in the mid-20s (thank you, Accuweather). As I did so, I wondered whether I really put myself through this frigid misery every winter, and whether I want to do so this year as well.

Then I remembered the recent news of the terrible dangers posed by belly fat (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96922213) and the two bratwursts I had packed for lunch. I decided, no, I do not want to bike in this weather, and I will keep doing so as long as food tastes good.

You are Yahweh, you alone

The tradition of translating the Hebrew name for God as "the Lord" obscures the peculiarity of Isaiah 37:20, in which Hezekiah prays Judah will be delivered from the Assyrian Empire's army so "that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are Yahweh, you alone." Since "Yahweh" is not interchangeable with "God," one would not expect the world to be wondering who, exactly, Yahweh is; if they pondered this question at all, the peoples of the world would think Yahweh is the parochial god of Judah. This was certainly the perspective of Sennacherib, the Assyrian emperor, who viewed Yahweh as no different from the gods of the nations he and his predecessors had destroyed (Isaiah 37:10-13).

In his commentary (vol. 2, p. 487), E.J. Young says the point is that Yahweh is alone; in other words, there is no other god. Alec Motyer puts it more pithily: to say "Yahweh" is to say "the one and only God" (on p. 282 of his Isaiah commentary).

Still, to say "the one and only God" is to speak of divinity, and all that is entailed by the notion of the God who is, who is God alone, and thus is truly divine. But that is not the same as saying "Yahweh," the personal name that God has given himself. By using this name, Hezekiah invokes everything which Yahweh has revealed about his own identity and character. All the kingdoms of the earth will not merely learn Yahweh is God; rather, through his deliverance of his people, they will learn who Yahweh is.

Which, of course, in why in his Incarnation he chose for himself the name "Jesus," which means salvation, or deliverance.

A Conversation on Denominational Renewal

was held at Memorial Presbyterian Church in St. Louis February 26-28, 2008. The denomination in question is the Presbyterian Church in America, a sister Church to my own communion.

I can't say I'm sold on everything the speakers had to say; even the idea of calling a series of lectures a "conversation" strikes me as a wee bit precious. I would also take issue with Matt Brown's implicit assertion that desiring a recovery of "old ways of doing things" is necessarily a "resting on laurels;" in my curmudgeonly opinion, the ecclesiastical disaster we have inherited because our fathers traded the ordinary means of grace for methodism is an excellent argument for a return to historic (by which I mean pre-1700s) presbyterian practice. At the same time, he gets massive bonus points for observing that many locations for new PCA Church plants are chosen as much because they're hip and exciting as because there's a genuine need there for new congregations.

Nonethelesss, I think the analysis presented (particularly in the lectures on ethos and ecclesiology) of the generally schismatic condition of confessionally reformed Churches in our nation (although framed specifically as a description of the PCA in particular) is right on. Again with certain caveats, I very much appreciated Jeffrey White's lecture on missions, in which he called into question the present obsession with "cultural renewal" in many presbyterian circles and recommended instead Church planting amongst the poor.

So, if you're looking for something to fill up your iPod, you can download the conference lectures (for free!) at http://www.denominationalrenewal.org/.

On microphones and live theatre

Over the last couple years, I've seen a few major touring productions here in Denver, and am simply appalled at the use of body mikes. If the audience members are close enough to see those microphones, then they're close enough to hear unamplified vocals. Goodness gracious, I once taught wisps of sixth-grade girls how to project their voices clearly; surely professionals can learn to do it.

This reliance on amplification has, ironically, the effect of diminishing the immediacy of live theatre. When I saw "Avenue Q" recently, the cast members at one point entered the audience. (Edgy! Exciting!) But instead of being drawn in, I became disoriented because their voices weren't coming from their persons, but the speakers. As the present crop of teen singing sensations has demonstrated, the cast could just as easily lip-sync to a recording, and the theatre-goer could save the exorbitant ticket price.

The structure of Romans 4:1-12

Romans 4:1-12 is arranged into a chiasm (parallel elements centered around, and thereby drawing attention to, a main element):

A) Abraham our father (flesh)- 4:1
B) Faith vs. works- 4:2-6
C) Blessing over against sin- 4:7-8
B') Circumcision vs. uncircumcision- 4:9-12
A') Abraham our father (faith)- 4:12

Genius update

Thank you, iTunes 8 Genius button, for reintroducing me to "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You" by Black Kids and "Radio Nowhere" by Bruce Springsteen. Pop gems which we are obligated to pass on to our children and their children after them (although I still can understand only about every third word in a given Springsteen song).

Genius is much more taken with Van Morrison than I have ever been, though.

"Remnant" in Isaiah 36:4

In Isaiah 36:4, Hezekiah asks the prophet Isaiah to pray for the "remnant that is left." Contextually, this may refer to Jerusalem, which appears to be one of the few places left in Judah which has not fallen to the Assyrian invader. This seems unlikely, however, because in this military campaign Jerusalem is the real lynchpin. Assyria's victories will only be confirmed and secured when Judah's capital is also taken. Moreover, Hezekiah is not only interested in preserving Jerusalem, but in regaining and keeping all of Judah.

In the Bible as a whole, "remnant" is most often used to refer either to those Jews who returned to Palestine after the terms of the Babylonian Exile were lifted, or to those Jews who remained out among the nations but maintained their faith in the God of Israel. Either way, "remnant" connotes those few left behind after the bulk of the people has been removed. The northern kingdom of Israel (Samaria), composed of ten tribes, had been exiled in another Assyrian invasion some ten years earlier. Thus, Hezekiah sees Israel and Judah, although two nations, as a single people under God; although Judah had remained politically intact, it was in truth only a remnant (two tribes) of the whole people of God (twelve tribes).

That is, Judah is part of a covenant community broader than itself. This recognition is striking because Israel's religion was debased; leaving aside the various centers of pagan idol worship, even the worship of the Lord himself had been corrupted by taking place elsewhere than Jerusalem and through golden calves. Hezekiah's reign was marked by a restoration of the worship God had prescribed for his people in the Scriptures, but the reformer king nonetheless recognizes his erring brethren as brethren. Here, then, we learn we should consider ourselves united to other Christians outside the narrow confines of our particular denominations and traditions.

At the same time, "remnant" indicates that the Church's very future is at stake. If Judah, itself a mere remnant, falls, there is nothing left of God's people. From our vantage point in history, we know God will preserve yet a smaller remnant through the Babylonian Exile which Judah will eventually suffer, but of course Hezekiah couldn't foresee that possibility. When he describes Judah as a remnant, he confesses their situation is desperate; divine intervention is their only hope.

In Romans 9, Paul uses Hosea's prophecies to demonstrate that the Lord has used the remnant of Israel to turn the Church into an innumberable host. Despite her present vast numbers (when reckoned ecumenically), the Church's only hope continues to be divine intervention: in this life, but most especially through the arrival of the new heavens and earth in glory.

Thus says

The use of the phrase "thus says" in Isaiah 36:1-37:7 reveals the actual nature of the struggle recounted there. At first blush, it seems we have a contest between the Assyrian Emperor and the comparatively weak King Hezekiah, waged through speeches, delivered on their behalf, by spokesmen. But when Isaiah says "Thus says the Lord" (Isaiah 37:7), we realize the contest is in fact between the Assyrian Emperor and Yahweh, the Lord God of Israel and Creation. With that declaration, the true nature of the struggle becomes evident, and its outcome certain.

Download iTunes 8

I have more than 3000 songs in my iTunes library. While around 300 of those are spoken word tracks (lectures, Mars Hill Audio Journal, and such), that's still a lot of songs to remember and make sure I take time to appreciate. (And yes, I realize many of you hep young cats out there have a vastly larger collection of mp3s. But it's big for a guy who still has hundreds of cassette tapes in his basement.) This is why I love the "Genius" feature of iTunes version 8.

Select a given track, click on the Genius sidebar button, and iTunes will suggest other tracks you might like to buy from the iTunes store. This is not why I love iTunes 8. I love iTunes 8 because when I click on the other Genius button, it automatically generates a playlist from my library on the basis on the original track. Since the songs all come from my library, I know they're good (because, of course, I have impeccable taste). But I had forgotten they were in there, and so I have the added thrill of hearing really good songs I haven't heard in a long time.

I really should buy some Apple stock. Better yet, Apple should just give me some shares for this unsolicited plug.

So this is what I got

when I finally got to a Barnes & Noble to cash in the birthday gift card from my brother- and sister-in-law. A good album which features the great "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)," a perfect example of the break-up song.

Persuasive, as opposed to accessible, arguments

You may neither know nor care that writers such as John Rawls have argued that only universally "accessible" arguments should be employed when formulating public policy. In practice, this means that religious arguments, because they depend upon a prior acceptance of suprarational propositions which are not held by all citizens (i.e., not all Americans believe/practice the same religion), are ruled out of order. The Presbyterian Curmudgeon does care, however, and this is his blog. Not only does he care, but he finds these sorts of propositions destructive of the great experiment that is American liberal democracy.

This all comes up because Richard John Nehaus (the original blogger, as described by Andrew Sullivan in a rare moment of insight), in the October 2008 issue of First Things (the original blogger, as described by Andrew Sullivan in a rare moment of insight), passes on these observations by Judge Michael W. McConnell of the Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in "Secular Reason and the Miguided Attempt to Exclude Religious Argument from Democratic Deliberation": "Once it is recognized that every worldview is held by some and disputed by others, there is no sound reason to block one family of worldviews–religions–from the public square. Arguments are not more or less 'accessible' in the way Rawls posits. They are more or less persuasive, depending on what listeners make of their underlying premises. Democracy is best served by allowing every citizen an equal right to argue for collective public ends with the most persuasive arguments they can muster without prior limitations based on the epistemic, methodological, or ideological premises of their arguments. Then we allow other citizens to accept or reject those arguements, based on their own opinions. That is liberal democracy. That is free government."

Yeah. What he said.

From vain hope to false hope

In his commentary on Isaiah 36, John Calvin moves from the devastatingly clever speech of the Rabshakeh to make a general observation on the strategies used by Satan to discourage and confuse Christians. The evil one will persuade us to forsake a vain hope (ex. Egyptian military intervention, a large retirement savings account) in order to direct us to a false hope (ex. Assyrian generosity, government intervention in the financial system). God, however, calls us to forsake both vain and false hopes in order to direct us to the only true hope: his grace to sinners through the Cross of Christ.

Come to Zion

In Isaiah 35, the prophet offers a vision of the glory of God's people as a counterpoint to the final judgment of the Lord's enemies, described in Isaiah 34. Although Isaiah frequently uses "Zion" to describe the eschatological community of God's people, he doesn't explicitly employ that term until the very end of the chapter, in verse 10. In terms of literary structuring, Zion may be reserved to the end because that city is our eschatological goal.

Genesis 11 as interpreted by Acts 17

The other day, I was struck by this statement of Paul’s in his address to the Areopagus: “He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons, and the boundaries of their dwellings, that they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.” (Acts 17:26-27) That is, the Lord placed each nation in its particular place, within its particular borders, for the purpose (amongst others, no doubt) of encouraging them to seek him out.

The Lord did this back in Genesis 11. There we read of how all mankind spoke one language and lived in one place. In their vanity, they worked together to build a tower up to the sky so that they might make a permanent name for themselves. The Lord chose to frustrate their vanity and reserve the heavens for himself. “Therefore the name of it was called Babel, because Yahweh confused the language of all the earth, there. From there, Yahweh scattered them abroad on the surface of all the earth.” (Genesis 11:9)

I had seen Babel as punishment, but Paul sees it as grace. The Lord prevented mankind from competing with him, from trying to contest his ownership of the heavens. He took away their common language and flattened their tower by spreading them over the face of the earth. The Lord took away their vanity and pride so that they would stop trying to take over the heavens. He humbled them so they might become humble. In their humility, they might realize they were not the Lord’s competitors, but his creatures. Perhaps they would realize they were sinners whose only hope before this clearly Almighty God would be to appeal to his mercy. Perhaps they would stop gazing covetously at the heavens and look for an almighty and merciful Lord around themselves. After all, he is not far from each one of us.

A prooftext for God’s omnipresence, surely. But also a reminder that God did not reserve the heavens for himself. Instead, he left the heavens to dwell not far from us, to dwell with and amongst us, to suffer and die for us, and in his good time and good pleasure to raise us up with him so that, just as he ascended back up to the heavens after his crucifixion and resurrection, we might rise up to greet him, and dwell with him, in the glorious heavens to come.

And still, he is not far from each one of us.

Farewell to the double-space

I had read that, in this post-typewriter era, one is no longer to place two spaces after periods, semicolons, and colons. This has something to do with the right-hand justification done automatically by word-processing programs; apparently, this makes double-spacing unnecessary, although I’ve never understood why. At a glance, it’s obvious to all but the most text-messaging-addled amongst us that a single space after sentences does not allow time for reflection, or even room to breathe.

Nonetheless, I’ve joined the ranks of the single-spacers. Recently, a magazine asked me to expand a previously written piece, and since their style sheet requires submissions be single-spaced, I spent an inordinate amount of time peering intently at my computer screen looking for the superfluous space in my essay. (Believe me, no matter how cleverly you set the parameters, no global change will convert every double-space into a single.) Since I don’t wish to repeat that experience, I’ve turned my back on the training drilled into me in my high school typing class and (almost successfully) converted myself into a single-spacer.

I can’t help feel, though, that I have given up some inessential but elegant adornment, something which kept us at a remove from the barbarians. Paper napkins may do the job just as well as cloth, but unless one is at a picnic, why? What is gained, and what is lost, by this economy?

I write this, dear reader, not because I expect you to care about the double-space, but so you might understand how a curmudgeon is made. Again and again, they take away from us some thing, some rule, trivial in itself but which gave order to our chaotic lives. This is why we curmudgeons end up sitting in our corners, muttering to ourselves except for the moments when we arise, grasp you by the lapels, and tell you about the way things used to be.

Some sympathy, and just a bit of indulgence, please.

Presbyterian preachers are jazz musicians

The most common form of jazz heard today is often called “straight-ahead jazz.” Whatever the piece, the basic structure is simple: the melody is stated, it is improvised upon, and then a restatement of the melody is played in closing. Improvisation is jazz’s hallmark, and the directions in which the various members of a particular combo might go in a certain piece can become so dizzying and complex that one loses track of the original melody. Nonetheless, the melody is always there; the musician is commenting upon it and finding unimagined corners and depths within it. This is why the restatement of the melody at the close of piece is rarely a flat return to something already heard. Instead, this moment is often exultant and joyful, and the hearer usually realizes he has discovered something profound in what he thought was mundane.

This is, of course, the pattern followed in classic presbyterian preaching. From the pulpit, the text is read. Then, the preacher explores and comments on the text, bringing out its truths which are so obvious, yet to which we all have been blinded in our previous reading. In the best sermons, there are moments which are intensely interesting, yet seem to bear little relation to the text at hand; soon, however, we realize the text speaks directly of those matters, and our paltry imaginations have been futilely limiting the scope and reach of Scripture, just as we have vainly thought to live by our own lights, outside the control of our God. Then the preacher brings us back to the words of the text itself, and we rise for the hymn knowing we can never hear it in the same way again.

Jazz and preaching, then, are kindred art forms. In one sense, they are parasites on the work of others. In a more true sense, jazz and preaching express the fullest and deepest devotion to their texts, displaying their riches and demanding their hearers and the world pay heed.

Miles Davis and me: birds of a feather, baby.

What's going on at fast food restaurants

An explanation of the cheaply priced and enormous quantities of cheese and meats available on nearly every street corner comes this week from Brewster Rockit, one of the most consistently funny comic strips around: http://www.gocomics.com/brewsterrockit/.

The Elements of Style

You must read this book. Even if you're not mildly obsessive about English grammar and usage (and if so, what's wrong with you, exactly?), it's hysterical. A couple examples from chapter 4, "Words and Expressions Commonly Misused":

"Personalize. A pretentious word, often carrying bad advice."

"Prestigious. Often an adjective of last resort. It's in the dictionary, but that doesn't mean you have to use it."

Strunk & White are heroes.

Lipstick

Geoff Nunberg concludes remarks on the recent vice-presidential lipstick controversy thusly: "What's remarkable is how naturally the idiom came to [Republicans], as if they had been speaking it all their lives. For all the ridicule that has been heaped on the language of political correctness and identity politics -- and the right has no monopoly here -- there's no group that hasn't learned to work it to its advantage. Whether or not you ultimately persuade people that your grievance is justified, you can count on owning the discussion for the next few news cycles."

You can listen to his essay, broadcast on NPR's Fresh Air, here:http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94665918.
A transcript is posted at http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~nunberg/lipstick.html.

Daughters of the ostrich

In all the English versions of the Bible (including the self-proclaimed "literal" translations) I've consulted, Isaiah 34:13 says ostriches, along with other wild animals, will take over the palaces of Edom after the Lord has removed all its inhabitants. This is curious, since the Hebrew says these will be the "daughters of the ostrich."

Obviously, the daughters of the ostrich are ostriches themselves, so one could argue that no meaningful content is lost by the omission. But no doubt Isaiah, and the Holy Spirit who inspired his prophecy, knew that as well. One could argue this is merely poetic language, and the meaning is accurately conveyed by the more prosaic choice of the translators. But again, the original was written as poetry; therefore, a prosaic choice is not be a faithful translation.

What we have, then, is an interpretation of Isaiah 34:13. While it is an entirely legitimate interpretation, it cannot be honestly called a translation.

A rather lovely essay on editing, online at the Kenyon Review: http://www.kenyonreview.org/issues/spring08/doyle.php.

"Sojourn" in Isaiah 33:14

Most English translations of the Bible have the godless and profane asking who can "dwell" or "live" with the consuming fire who is the Lord. However, the verb they use is more usually translated "sojourn," which connotes a temporary stay in a particular location while traveling, or traveling as a way of life. In this instance, the idea seems to be traveling through life with the Lord as one's companion.

It's an odd and unexpected choice of verb, but it may be determined by the imagery found in Isaiah 33:20, part of the same passage. There, Zion/Jerusalem is described as a tent which has been staked in a permanent location. This is a picture of the Tabernacle, which was the precursor to the Temple later built on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem. During Israel's Exodus wanderings, the Tabernacle was carried around with them from place to place. Isaiah 33:20 implies, therefore, that the pilgrimage of God's people has come to an end.

This is rather strange, given that Isaiah did not prophesy during the Exodus, but in Jerusalem and well after Israel had been settled in the land for centuries. But all this makes sense within the context of Isaiah 33:13-24, which can be applied to both the Church's experience during the Messianic Age (i.e., today) and in eschatological glory. This life is a time of wandering and pilgrimage, for here we have no permanent home and simultaneously live and sojourn with our Lord (see Hebrews 11-12). And yet, we already have a city with foundations, heavenly Zion, which we will experience in fullness and perfection when our Lord returns in glory and establishes the new heavens and earth.

My father ate this

In Switzerland: bread with gruyere cheese, ham, tomatoes, and a fried egg.

I am jealous.

An omelet

A spinach, bacon, and avocado omelet I had at the Le Peep at Alameda and Chambers in Aurora, Colorado. I thought it was presented particularly well on the plate.

That is all.

Liturgy & prisoners of war

Talking about liturgy (the way in which worship services are planned and structured) with an evangelical or conservative presbyterian can be an exercise in frustration. For example, many think a "formal" worship service is one at which the preacher, and perhaps some of the congregants, wears a tie.

Actually, a "formal liturgy" is one which uses forms: that is, a set order (salutation, call to worship, confession of sin, declaration of pardon, etc.), written prayers, and the like. The more formal Church traditions (Episcopalian, Lutheran) are "high Church" in liturgy, while the more anti-formal (Baptist, many conservative presbyterians) are "low Church."

This is brought to mind by an article in today's Rocky Mountain News (http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/sep/04/rove-recalls-colorado-roots/), which recounts how John McCain was appointed a chaplain at his prisoner of war camp because he had liturgies memorized. This feat is only possible, of course, if the order of service at one's Church is consistent and formal. In many low Church traditions (whether such as a congregation or a denomination), there is no liturgy which the observant participant could memorize.

Here, then, is a very pragmatic argument for formal liturgy: it trains and equips congregants to worship even when they do not have access to their home Church or a pastor, even when they are in a cauldron of despair such as a North Vietnamese POW camp. Anti-formal evangelicals, baptists, and presbyterians may learn to think at their Lord's Day services, but not to worship.

I Am Unworthy of Your Love

West Side Story works not despite the lyrics, but because of them. Divorced from their dramatic context, the words to There's a Place for Us are unbearably trite, but within the play itself, they draw the audience in to the universal experience of longing, desire, and romantic love.

I Am Unworthy of Your Love, another Stephen Sondheim piece, is similarly effective. Taken by itself, it's a somewhat overstated expression of romantic infatuation. Nonetheless, it clearly states moods and feelings most of us have felt at some point in our lives. What makes this song amazing is that it's a duet between Squeaky Fromme and John Hinckley from the musical Assassins, about actual and would-be presidential assassins. In just under four minutes, Sondheim universalizes their respective pathological obsessions with Charles Manson and Jodie Foster, and makes us empathize with obviously deranged lunatics. That's something which perhaps only music, and the popular music form in particular, can accomplish.

The Scent of a Cult

In his extremely helpful essay, "The Scent of a Cult" (http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=3977), Benjamin Wittes argues the defining, and distinguishing, characteristic of a cult is its use of what George Orwell called "doublethink" to control its members. In other words, the difference between a cult and a religion, political party, or philosophy is that a cult insists words mean only what it says they mean, and thereby make meaningful conversation with other points of view impossible.

Typology & Conspiracy

Peter Leithart makes this intriguing observation on his blog: "Typology and conspiracy are competing theories of history." Read the entire (and brief) post at http://www.leithart.com/2008/08/23/typology-and-conspiracy/.

Why is God not named in Isaiah 32:9-18?

Isaiah's prophecy is hardly lacking in names for God, so it's somewhat interesting he is unnamed in Isaiah 32:9-18, especially given he's obviously the agent both of blessing and curse in the passage. This may simply be a curiosity, or there may be theological and literary reasons for not mentioning God explicitly. Obviously, I wouldn't be writing this if I didn't think there was some merit to the latter possibility, so here are my two theories.

In the text's first stanza, Isaiah 32:9-14, a prophecy of exile and desolation is pronounced against complacent women. They are complacent because they believe their well-ordered world will continue as always, and so the Lord God of Israel, whether he blesses or curses, is irrelevant to them. Consequently, the Lord may be unnamed in these verses because the complacent women are unable to discern his presence.

In the text's second stanza, Isaiah 32:15-18, we have a prophecy of the Messianic, or Church, Age as a reversal of the previously mentioned desolation. The Spirit is explicitly mentioned, but not as, for example, "the Spirit of God" or "the Holy Spirit." One must have wisdom to notice the Spiritual blessings he is bringing and their divine origin. This is appropriate to the time in which we live, during which the Holy Spirit is the most active member of the Trinity in the world. His work of making the Cross and Scripture efficacious to convict and convert sinners is often ignored by the world's powerful and influential, since it's unaccompanied by fireworks or displays of power; for them, God need not be named because they think he is not present. For the discerning, however, the Holy Spirit is transforming individual lives constantly, and in the process transforming the world by expanding the boundaries of the Church, the Kingdom of Grace.

What's wrong with the Presbyterian Curmudgeon

Disorder	Rating
Paranoid:	Low
Schizoid:	Moderate
Schizotypal:	Moderate
Antisocial:	Low
Borderline:	Low
Histrionic:	High
Narcissistic:	Moderate
Avoidant:	Moderate
Dependent:	Moderate
Obsessive-Compulsive:	Moderate
-- Personality Disorder Test -- -- Personality Disorder Information --

fancy weddings

I hope this pastor is a presbyterian: http://bizarrocomic.blogspot.com/. (Scroll down to "MGM weddings," and enjoy the insightful comments as well.)

If I Were a Bell

So I'm listening to the amazing rendition of "If I Were a Bell" from the first Miles Davis quintet (Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet). The tune comes from the archetypal American musical Guys and Dolls. As is the case with much straight-ahead jazz, the joy of listening comes, to a great extent, from intimate knowledge of the original, which allows one to better appreciate just how the players work with the piece.

So what happens a few years from now, when the only standards known to the broader public are the drivel belted out on American Idol? These songs have little in the way of notable melodic structure, serving merely as vehicles for oral pyrotechnics. The decline of pop music in the country does not bode well for the future appreciation of jazz, the greatest of American art forms.

Against gnosticism, for the Church year

Philip Lee has some interesting observations on the benefits of practicing the traditional liturgical calendar in the section "The Degnosticizing of Protestantism" in Against the Protestant Gnostics.

"The observance of the Christian year, which in some form or other has been practiced since ancient times, has always been an irritant to the gnostic spirit. It recognizes gnosticism's ancient foe, time, as having an important role within the Christian faith. ...The Christian year from Advent through Pentecost is a reminder that God has not approached His creatures in a general unidentifiable way, but in the particularity of space and time.

"The Protestant failure in celebrating Easter is closely connected to the Protestant failure to observe the Lenten season. ...Lent would be an admission that Christians, like all their fellow creatures, are not only captives of time, but in need of times and seasons. ...Without a particular remembrance of Golgotha in terms of the present, is there any wonder that Easter Sunday is unfulfilling for so many Protestants?"

Lord's Day June 22, 2008

This Sunday at Park Hill Presbyterian Church, I'll be preaching on Isaiah 30:1-7 ("Does God Help Those Who Help Themselves?") at 11 a.m., and Luke 20:41-21:4 ("When Jesus Attacks") at 5 p.m.

Lord's Day June 15, 2008

This Sunday at Park Hill Presbyterian Church I'll be preaching on Isaiah 29:15-24 ("Laugh with the Saints") at 11 a.m., and on Luke 20:27-40 ("One Bride for Seven Brothers?") at 5 p.m.

The Presbyterian Curmudgeon is Mr. Eko

Your results:
You are Mr. Eko

Mr. Eko 60% Claire Littleton 60% Sayid Jarrah 55% Boone Carlyle 50% Sun Kwon 50% Michael Dawson 44% Charlie Pace 44% John Locke 40% Dr. Jack Shephard 36% Kate Austen 35% Walt Lloyd 32% Hugo "Hurley" Reyes 32% Jin-Soo Kwon 30% James "Sawyer" Ford 25% Ana-Lucia Cortez 24% Shannon Rutherford 20%

You are neither a leader nor a follower. You are a Bible reader and are motivated by God's will. Many people have respect for you.

Click here to take the Lost Personality Test

An upside to high gas prices?

While it hasn't happened yet in our congregation, I have heard reliable reports of faithful Church members opting out of evening services due solely to the increasing cost of gasoline. Given the distances which some must commute, sessions no doubt understand why a $30 price tag to attend worship is too much for some, with already tight budgets, to pay.

Of course, getting people out to evening services has been difficult for decades, if not longer. But with the slow-but-steady rise in gas prices over the last few years, I wonder if we won't soon have Church members struggling to make the trek to even just one service on a Lord's Day. Now, I don't think this means we'll be facing empty sanctuaries in the near future. However, I wonder if this won't change the way Christians, particularly theologically conservative presbyterians, choose their congregations.

In Denver, as in many American cities, it's fairly common for a presbyterian to drive past one or two (or more) Churches of like faith and practice on his way to his particular house of worship. This is because he joined the Church he liked the best, whether his preference was dictated by the preacher's style, the congregation's demographic, the hymnal, or whatever else. But if his personal preference would mean an uncomfortable hit to the wallet (since, of course, he's already tithing!), he might be willing to "settle" for a faithful presbyterian Church which may not press all his buttons but is closer to home. Assume most people are guided similarly, and soon we will have Church members living in each other's neighborhoods, with the unintended consequence of building relationships on weekdays, not just Sundays.

In other words, high gas prices may bring an end to the consumerist attitude too many take to choosing their home Church. If they can bring a revival of parish (locally-based) Church ministry, I may pray gas prices keep going up.

Lord's Day June 1, 2008

This Sunday at Park Hill Presbyterian Church, I'll be preaching on Isaiah 28:23-29 ("How to Avoid Apostasy") at 11 a.m., and Luke 20:19-26 ("God or Caesar?") at 5 p.m.

Scriptural echoes in the Gettysburg Address

Peter Leithart posted this interesting suggestion regarding Lincoln's use of Biblical language in the Gettysburg Address: http://www.leithart.com/2008/05/19/american-adam/.

The Presbyterian Curmudgeon is a white person

See post #99 at http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/.

The commonplace book

Alan Jacobs has an interesting essay on literary antecedents to the now-ubiquitous blog in the May 2008 issue of First Things. If you're not a print subscriber, you can read it in two months at http://www.firstthings.com/. If you are, you can read it right this very moment online or in print. (A good reason to subscribe, I suppose.)

On Pentecost

Under the Old Testament liturgical calendar, a harvest festival (also called the Feast of Weeks) was to be held seven weeks after Passover (Leviticus 23). In time, “Pentecost,” the Greek word for that fifty-day period, became another name for the feast, as we see in Acts 2:1. This was the festival which had brought so many pilgrims to Jerusalem on the day when the Holy Spirit was poured out with power on the apostolic band in particular and the Church as a whole after Christ’s Ascension.

Properly speaking, Pentecost Sunday is the end of Eastertide, seven weeks after Easter Sunday. This is because the outpouring of the Spirit was the culmination of Jesus’ ministry. As we learn from John 13-17, Jesus left this world so the Holy Spirit might come in his place to apply the benefits of his Cross and Resurrection to believers, and to sustain them through their earthly pilgrimages. In other words, we need the Holy Spirit to enjoy the blessings we celebrate at Easter.

At the same time, Pentecost is also a celebration in its own right because it marks the day on which the Church became the Church as we know her today. In this New Covenant era, the Holy Spirit has given each believer Spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12) so the work of ministry can be completed by the whole body working together (Ephesians 4), to the end that the Church will spread over the entire world (Acts 1). In terms of the Christian liturgical calendar, it introduces “ordinary time,” during which the focus is not on a particular aspect of our Savior’s life and ministry, but on the “ordinary” life of the Church and believer, as it is taught and described in the whole of Scripture. That life is of course anything but ordinary, since it is empowered by the living presence of the Spirit of God within each Christian. Thus, ordinary time is itself an ongoing recognition that we are privileged to live in the age of the Spirit, as genuinely Pentecostal Christians.

During ordinary time, we leave the Revised Common Lectionary, which has helped us to concentrate on particular aspects of Christ’s work during the appropriate season, and turn to the “continuous lectionary” of entire books of the Bible, through which the Spirit speaks to us today. This year, we will (re)turn to Isaiah, picking up where we left off in chapter 28 back in December 2007. In this, our first year of following the traditional Church calendar, we have been reminded of all Jesus has done for us. Lord willing, this has equipped us to better appreciate the more specific points of application we will hear from the Spirit-breathed Word in coming months.

Lord's Day May 4, 2008

This Sunday at Park Hill Presbyterian Church, I'll be preaching on John 17:1-11 ("The People of the Father and the Son") at 11 a.m., and Luke 20:1-8 ("Questions & Answers") at 5 p.m.

At last, a use for concordances

Like most pastors, I use a Bible program to help with Greek and Hebrew (in my case, Accordance for the Mac OS). Since it includes a dozen or so English translations, its quick and powerful search engine makes it much more useful than the print exhaustive concordance I bought back in college a couple decades ago, and hence never use. Nonetheless, today I found another use for my old concordance.

Commas

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/78087

There was a ravioli-shaped hole in my heart

Earlier this week my wife and I took a few days off to vacation in Grand Junction, on the other side of the Rockies. One evening we ate at Bin 707 (http://www.bin707.com/), and I had the meat ravioli with "italian salsa"/creme fraiche sauce (accompanied by a glass of the house tempranillo). I did not know I had been searching for the perfect ravioli, but I found it that night. By all means, if you're going through Grand Junction (and if you stay on I-70, you will), stop in for dinner at Bin 707. This is the ravioli of a lifetime.

At long last, the ravioli-shaped hole in my heart has been filled.

Lord's Day April 27, 2008

This Sunday at Park Hill Presbyterian Church, I'll be preaching on John 14:15-21 ("Not Orphans") at 11 a.m., and Luke 19:41-48 ("Hate Him or Adore Him") at 5 p.m.

Lord's Day April 20, 2008

This Sunday at Park Hill Presbyterian Church, I'll be preaching on John 14:1-14 ("That Where I Am, You May Be Also") at 11 a.m., and Luke 19:28-40 ("The King Comes") at 5 p.m.

The Presbyterian Curmudgeon in the news

The first time I appeared in the Denver newspapers was about six years ago when a traffic stop in front of the Church of Christ across the street turned into a shootout; a police officer was wounded and the gunman was killed. A Denver Post reporter interviewed me over the phone; I believe my published quote was something profound like, "I heard some banging, and then every cop in the world showed up."

My next appearance was in the Rocky Mountain News of Monday, April 7, 2008. Apparently, there are still lowly cub reporters assigned to flip through the police department's case reports in search of something newsworthy. This time out, said reporter discovered the misfortune which had befallen my truck.

Lord's Day April 13, 2008

This Sunday at Park Hill Presbyterian Church I'll be preaching on John 9:1-7 ("The Light of the World") at 11 a.m., and James 2:8-13 as a a catechetical sermon on Westminster Shorter Catechism #40 in the afternoon, after our monthly fellowship meal.

While we're on the subject, you'll notice from the links on the left of this page that Park Hill Presbyterian Church is now on SermonAudio.com. The selection is small at the moment, but our helpful sermon elves are busily at work editing and uploading more.

Gnostic preaching

  Throughout Against the Protestant Gnostics, Philip J. Lee moves back and forth between liberalism and evangelicalism as he explores manifestations of gnosticism.  Interestingly, he does not clarify which of these two Protestant traditions he has in view in this comment on preaching, which in my experience applies equally well to both.  "These various secular attempts at line-blurring, which have largely been prompted by a gnosticized Protestant thought, ironically are now indirectly exerting an effect on church life itself.  ...A typical Protestant sermon is a verbal essay on a contemporary theme, sometimes employing biblical illustrations in support of the essayist's point of view.  The preacher who is bound to the text, confined to what he or she perceives as the biblical point of view, is a curiosity."

My sad obsessions

  As all right-thinking people agree, Abraham Lincoln was the greatest rhetorician in American history, saving the Union with words alone.  (Okay, and the Union war machine.)  And as anyone who survived the 80s would agree, t-shirts are the finest vehicle available for communicating important philosophical concepts to one's community.  

  Now the fine folks at woot.com have pressed all my buttons with this portrait of Lincoln rendered in the text of the Gettysbury Address.  So tell me that you love me for only $15 by going to http://shirt.woot.com/Friends.aspx?k=5229.

Social Darwinism as Calvinist heresy

  Boy howdy, do I like Against the Protestant Gnostics.  From page 202:  "In the United States, this parallel movement of spiritual individualism and economic individualism was aided by the popular understanding of Darwinism and its 'survival of the fittest' philosophy.  'This anti-social teaching,' [Martin] Marty explains, 'individualized the old Puritan-evangelical ideas about "election," ideas which were previously seen in the context of a covenanted community, and used them to justify personal economic competition.'"

Liberalism is gnosticism

More from Philip J. Lee: "The entire Bible was, for liberals, only a rich source of those truths that we, in our hearts, already know."

The Princess and the Bridegroom

or
Never Go Up Against a High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek When Sanctification Is on the Line

The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
-Matthew 25:5

In The Princess Bride, we encounter a provocative illustration of the relationship between the Lord and the believer. Like Princess Buttercup, we all have given up on waiting for the savior, our bridegroom. Fortunately, our salvation does not depend upon our patience, but rather upon a God who pursues us to bring us into relationship with him, just as Wesley, a figure for Christ, saves his bride from both living and literal death.

Buttercup had vowed to wait patiently for her bridegroom, Wesley, to return for her, but when she was told he had died, she gave up her vigil and all hope. (One could make much of the “God is dead” school of philosophy at this point, but one does not want to draw ridiculous analogies.) As with the ten virgins in Matthew 25:1-13, she gave up looking for her bridegroom when he appeared to be too long in returning. She preferred to trust in the reports of news carriers rather than in the promise of her one true love. She was like those who believe scoffers instead of remembering “(t)he Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (II Pet 5:9)

We too have forsaken the knowledge of God which we hold in our hearts (Rom 1:19-21). As Francis Shaeffer observed in The God Who Is There, we all (as unbelievers) recognize the true shape of the world as it is, but choose to deny that truth in order to be able to live according to our own lights. Unfortunately, the worldview we construct is woefully inadequate, especially in comparison to the joy and glory which is found in fellowship with God.

Buttercup certainly found herself in this situation. Having forsaken her true love (because it appeared he would not return), she chose the fleeting, worldly glory of marriage to the prince and future king of the land, Humperdinck. Like unfaithful Jerusalem (Ezekiel 16), she prepared to forsake her true love for another. Though she had all the outer trappings of greatness, her life afforded her no joy. Indeed, though in appearance a beautiful, vibrant princess, she felt as though she were dead.

All believers were once also dead in their sin, no matter how vital they may have appeared in their pursuit of fleshly gratification (Eph 2:1-3). How grateful we should then be that we have a savior who gave us life out of death! (Eph 2:4-5) Had Buttercup’s only chance of finding joy been to wait faithfully, then she was truly without hope. Fortunately, like us, she had a bridegroom who pursued her despite her faithlessness. (Is there a parallel between Wesley’s pirate persona and Peter’s assertion that “the day of the Lord will come like a thief” [II Pet 5:10]? But I digress.) Wesley rescued her from her kidnappers (as Christ frees believers from the bondage of sin, Rom 6:6 & Gal 4:7), then guided her through the deadly forest (as the Holy Spirit guides us through the travails of life, Jn 14:26, 16:13-15) at great cost to himself. (The journey through this forest can best be understood as a metaphor for the Christian’s struggle with sin. The R.O.U.S.es symbolize besetting temptations, and the fall into the pit the result of succumbing to those temptations. How fitting, then, that the “penalties” fell on Wesley, the Christ figure, for the penalty for our sins was paid by Jesus Christ. But I digress again.)

The clear parallels to the work of the Lord in our lives are staggering. Just as Buttercup rejoiced to find Wesley alive again after death, just as Mary Magdalene cried out to Jesus in the garden (Jn 20:14-17), so we burst forth in hymns of praise when we remember the good news of the resurrection. Like Wesley, we are given new life that we might truly live.

The Christological import of Wesley’s character is significant indeed. At the beginning of the film, we meet him as a servant who gives of himself unselfishly, whose service is quite literally a statement of love. Nor can we overlook his (nearly) death and (sort of) resurrection. This bridegroom sacrificially loves his bride so that she may be joined to him.

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” (Eph 5:25-27)

Lord's Day April 6, 2008

This Lord's Day at Park Hill Presbyterian Church, I'll be preaching on Luke 24:13-35 ("How to be Happy") at 11 a.m., and Luke 19:11-27 ("Faith or Fear?") at 5 p.m.

Lord's Day March 30, 2008

This Sunday I'll be preaching on Psalm 16 ("Pleasures Forevermore") at Park Hill Presbyterian Church at 11 a.m.  Our congregation will join with Providence OPC for worship at 5:30 p.m.

Infant baptism as polemic

More from Philip J. Lee:  "The final decision by the Church Fathers for the universal acceptance of infant baptism was a strong move against spiritual elitism.  The practice should have guaranteed that one brought to Christ in such fashion could take no credit for his or her election."

While we're at it

  In chapter 4 of Creation in Six Days, which in my not-so-humble opinion is by itself worth the price of the book, James B. Jordan argues that gnosticism is not an ordinary heresy, but a tendency to tranform "history into ideology and facts into philosophy."  The distressing prevalence of this gnostic tendency within confessional presbyterian circles is evidenced, again in my not-so-humble-opinion, by the way sermons which fail to preach Christ crucified, but do argue for predestination, are readily received as "reformed."

Gnosticism & elitism

  In Against the Protestant Gnostics, Philip Lee helpfully argues that gnosticism is better understood as a type or pattern than as a historic phenomenon.  That is, gnosticism is a way of thinking (namely, that one attains salvation through the acquisition of specialized knowledge) which has appeared in various guises and continues to manifest itself even within systems, such as Christianity, which are antithetical to it.  He also notes that gnosticism is, by definition, elitist;  only the select few can acquire the special knowledge.

  I wonder whether gnosticism is, or at least can be, consequent to elitism.  This would explain why certain personality types end up as self-described Calvinists.  These tend to view the doctrines of grace as specialized pieces of information which are known only to the few willing to study and understand them.  Ironically, grace (or rather, their knowledge about grace) becomes for them the marker which signifies their superiority to other Christians.

  In my opinion, those who think of themselves as reformed in their theology, and therefore superior, are less Calvinists than gnostics.

Sesquipedalianism

Every once in a while, I indulge in the fantasy of chucking it all to pursue a PhD in semiotics. But then I remember linguist Geoff Nunberg, who no doubt has already accomplished more in the field than I could ever hope to. Seriously, if linguists had fan clubs, I'd own his t-shirt.

On today's Fresh Air, Mr. Nunberg turns a reflection on the late William F. Buckley into a profound meditation on the payoffs and perils invited by the writer who indulges a love for sesquipedalian and little-known words (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88397125).

Check it out, and please let me know where I can get that t-shirt.

This means something

  

  Somehow, this sign is symptomatic of our post-modern age.

  I only wish I knew how.

On Easter

As answer 59 of our Shorter Catechism reminds us, each Sunday is a celebration of Christ’s resurrection: “From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly Sabbath; and the first day of the week ever since, to continue to the end of the world, which is the Christian Sabbath.” After all, this is the central, cardinal, and essential doctrine of our faith. “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:14)
Not surprisingly, then, Easter was the first festival recognized by the Church; the rest of the liturgical calendar formed around it. During the second century A.D., Easter began to be celebrated on the Sunday following Passover. It is not a single day, but a 50-day festival (seven weeks) which culminates in Pentecost. Other feasts and seasons of the Church calendar were added to this foundational celebration, with Advent being last.
Jesus’ resurrection is the Father’s public vindication of his ministry. That is, it testifies to the world that everything Jesus claimed about himself during his earthly ministry was true, and his death accomplished the salvation of his people. It is also the basis of the Christian hope: our own resurrection from the dead on the last day, when sin and death are finally defeated.
Accordingly, Easter ought be a season of joyous celebration. In your personal and family worship, take time to list the things God has done for you and to meditate on all the benefits of the salvation you’ve received from Christ. (I suggest, for example, memorizing Shorter Catechism #32-38.) Come to worship services prepared to sing with loud and glad voices, and stick around afterward to encourage your fellow saints to rejoice in all God’s goodnesses to them through our resurrected Savior and Lord.
If we can come with resurrection joy to all the Lord’s Day services of this Easter season, we will be well on the way to learning how to come to Church each and every week. By making Sunday the first day of the week, the Church has proclaimed the centrality of Christ’s resurrection for the entirety of God’s creation. Thus, we as Christians can and must celebrate each Lord’s Day as an Easter Sunday.

Lord's Day March 9, 2008

This Sunday at Park Hill Presbyterian Church, I'll be preaching on John 11:20-27 ("The Resurrection & the Life") at 11 a.m., and on 1 John 5:1-5 as an explanation of the Westminster Shorter Catechism #39 ("His Commandments Are Not Burdensome") after the fellowship meal.

Broken Vows

  One unfortunate consequence of the divided character of American presbyterianism is presbyteries so geographically large as to make cooperation and mutual support practically impossible.  I am a member of the Presbytery of the Dakotas, which includes Colorado, Utah, Wyoming (if the OPC had any congregations there), North and South Dakota, and the little slice of Iowa which contains G.I. Williamson.  Obviously, there is very little our congregation can do, besides prayer, to help a congregation in South Dakota, no matter how dire its particular straits.  I cannot help but conclude that this geographical dispersion not only weakens the Church as a whole, it cancels out the connectionalism which should be a hallmark of presbyterianism.

  On the other hand, this geographical dispersion has allowed me to get to know the aforementioned Mr. Williamson over the years, which has proved a great blessing to me.  A longtime pillar of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, he is now more retired than he has been for some years, but still far from inactive.  He continues to be a great blessing to the Church, as is evidenced by his essay "Broken Vows" in the most recent edition of the online OPC journal Ordained Servant (http://www.opc.org/os9.html?article_id=93).  In his typically straightforward manner, he lays out the ethical implications of the way in which too many ministers in Presbyterian circles have conducted themselves during recent doctrinal controversies.  I pray our ordained officers will read and take to heart our father's admonition.

March 2, 2008: Services cancelled

I just noticed that I forgot to post my sermon texts for this Lord's Day, which turns out to be fortuitous.  Due to blizzard conditions in much of the Denver area, session has decided to cancel Sunday School and both services today, March 2, 2008.  So please pray and sing hymns and psalms at home.

Messiah (who is called Christ)

Particularly from John 4:19 on, Jesus' conversation with the Samaritan woman by Jacob's well is concerned with the impending geographic liturgical universalism he will introduce; that is, because he will shortly offer himself up as the final and complete sacrifice to atone for the sins of his people, animal sacrifice will no longer be necessary and worship will not have to occur on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem (John 4:21-24). While one might have lived anywhere in the world and still maintained faith in Israel's God, the restriction of true worship, which of necessity had to include sacrifice to atone for sin, to only one Temple no doubt was a discouragement and hindrance to at least some potential converts. Soon the Samaritan woman, and by implication anyone, will be able to worship God anywhere if they will do so in the Holy Spirit and in truth (i.e., according to the commands of Scripture).

We tend to take this geographic universalism for granted, but that worship might occur literally anywhere on Earth was one of the truly new features of the New Covenant. This universalism may be one reason for John's parenthetical note in verse 25. Jesus was of course the Messiah ("Anointed One") of those who spoke Hebrew, the Jews. At the same time, however, he had been sent by his Father to seek out worshipers from all the nations of the world. Thus John reminds us of the translation of Jesus' title in Greek, the common language of the nations into which the good news, that God might be worshiped anywhere on the basis of Christ's sacrifice, was about to go.

Lord's Day February 24, 2008

This Sunday I'll be preaching on John 4:5-26 ("Living Water") at Park Hill Presbyterian Church at 11 a.m. and Emmanuel Reformed Church at 4 p.m.  At 5 p.m., the Rev. Dirk Boersma will preach on Mark 9:23-24 at Park Hill.

Parking Wild Animals

  The famous San Diego Zoo operates the much larger Wild Animal Park, far from the beach in northern San Diego County. One can see the entire park on the tram ride. (I realize it’s probably not called a “tram ride;” most likely it’s a “Jungle Safari” or somesuch. But you know what I mean.)
  The tram driver delivers a spiel about the different animals and their environments. During the course of this monologue, he tells you how the park is breeding endangered species for eventual reintroduction into their native habitats. The assumption of his speech, and of the park’s management philosophy, is that two environments exist in the world: the Wild, in which man plays no part and where plants and animals follow their natural course; and the Park, where man, for a limited time and for specified ends, controls the lives and breeding of animals and plants.
  But is this dichotomy, between the “natural” and the “controlled,” valid? I think not; it assumes man is not in charge of the natural environment. Scripture, however, teaches that God has given man dominion, the authority to rule, over the entire world (Genesis 1:26-30). Thus, there can be no part of the Earth in which man is not in charge. (One reason that we find human beings living in every imaginable environment on the planet.) Man can never escape his responsibility to rule.
  Given the inescapable universality of dominion, how are we to interpret the existence of the Wild, those vast stretches of land where very few people can be found, where feral beasts seem to run the show? Man, as ruler, has chosen to let these areas “grow free.” Through our land use choices, man creates “natural habitats,” and let wild animals live there. The Wild is the Park!
  The nearest analogy would be a man who puts his mower away forever and lets his lawn go. He may do so for any number of reasons, good or bad: he doesn’t have the time; he’s lazy; he enjoys seeing what turns up on its own; he wants to try xeriscaping; etc. My point is, a choice not to mow is as deliberate as a choice to mow. Both are approaches to his responsibilities as a homeowner.
  The difference between Los Angeles County and Yellowstone Park is not that man is in charge in the one place and animals in the other. Instead, it is that we have chosen to build in the one, and not build in the other; to control water in the one, and let it flow freely in the other; to improve on God’s creation in the one, and observe it in the other. I’m hard pressed to say which is the better choice; in fact, both, in principle, are equally good. God has given us the entire world, and told us to glorify him with it. We ought to do this responsibly, but we have a relatively free hand with the resources.
  The view from the tram is binary: part of the world is natural, where man has no say; the other part, where man runs things, is artificial. This view is false. In the view from the Church, man, as a servant of the Lord, runs everything everywhere. All is natural because all is under man’s dominion. All creation is a wild animal park.

Lord's Day February 17, 2008

This Sunday at Park Hill Presbyterian Church I'll be preaching on John 3:16-17 ("God's Love for the World") at 11 a.m., and Luke 18:31-43 ("Our Warrior King") at 5 p.m.

Lord's Day February 10, 2008

This Sunday I'll be preaching on Matthew 4:1-11 ("Spiritual Warfare") at 11 a.m., and on 1 Corinthians 15:35-49 ("Raised Up in Glory," a catechetical sermon on Westminster Shorter Catechism #38) at around 1 p.m. (whenever folks are finishing up their desserts after the fellowship meal), both at Park Hill Presbyterian Church.

Write smart

  This ad has been running on the back of Kroger brand corn flakes for some time now.  While Kroger properly placed a period at the close of the first sentence of its ad copy, it could not find the question marks required for the three clauses it offered to end the second sentence.  And while Kroger did an admirable job of maintaining subject-verb agreement for the first two of those clauses, it just couldn't keep it up through to the bitter end.

  Eating smart does not, apparently, lead to writing smart.

Lord's Day February 3, 2008

This Sunday at Park Hill Presbyterian Church I'll be preaching on Matthew 17:1-13 ("Hear Him") at 11 a.m. and Luke 18:18-30 ("Being Good") at 5 p.m.

On Lent

On Lent
by Pastor Kingsbury

Because of the unfortunate tendencies and practices of Roman Catholicism, Lent can be perceived as a denial of the Gospel instead of an embrace of it. This season in the Church year is widely thought of as a time in which to take on oneself the sufferings of Christ by giving something up, such as chocolate. When one does so, our Savior’s work on our behalf is simultaneously regarded as incomplete and trivialized.
Instead, Lent is a forty-day period of preparation for Easter, at which time we celebrate Jesus Christ’s Resurrection and God’s public declaration of his completed work for his people. One prepares for this Good News by repentance, putting off the sins which hinder and striving to live righteously in dependence on the Holy Spirit. Accordingly, the Gospel readings for Lent this year bring the Gospel into clear focus.

  Matthew 4:1-11: Jesus is tempted by and defeats Satan.
  John 3:1-17: God’s love for the world is shown by sending his Son to redeem.
  John 4:5-42: Jesus presents himself as Messiah to the Samaritan woman.
  John 9:1-41: Jesus heals the man born blind.
  John 11:1-45: Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead.

Lent (the name comes from the old Saxon word for “spring”) actually begins forty-six days before Easter because it contains six Sundays; since the Lord’s Day celebrates Christ’s resurrection and thus is a feast day on which fasting or other acts of repentance are inappropriate, other days must be added. Throughout Scripture, the Lord uses forty units of time to test people. Mankind was tested for forty days in the Noahic flood; Israel was tested for forty years in the desert. These tests were failed, but Jesus passed the forty-day test he endured at the beginning of his ministry. Because he passed that test for us, we are not tested by God. Instead, we seek to more fully appreciate and lay hold of Christ’s work for us by putting off our sins and living for his glory.
Lent, then, is most especially not a “Sunday-only” season of the Church year. Throughout its weeks, take special care to examine your life and “lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and run with patience the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2) Amen.

Lord's Day January 27, 2008

  This Sunday I'll preach on Matthew 4:17-25 ("They Followed Him") at 11 a.m. at Park Hill Presbyterian Church, and also at 4 p.m. at Emmanuel American Reformed Church in Westminster, CO.  At 5 p.m. at Park Hill, Pastor Boersma of Emmanuel will preach on Exodus 28-29 ("Jesus Brings the Church before God in Full Color").

How about an Evening Service, then?

  The Modern Reformation website has posted a story, reported by Lilly Fowler of the Religious News Service, on how many evangelical congregations are cancelling plans for Super Bowl parties on Lord's Day February 3 because the National Football League, for copyright reasons, prohibits the game being viewed on screens larger than 55 inches. (http://www.modernreformation.org/default.php?page=blog_view&var1=ViewInd&var2=1&var3=246)

  

  I suppose it's too much to hope they'll be holding worship services instead?