Aug
28
Review: A Long Obedience in the Same Direction
Filed Under Bible, Books, Christian History, Christian Living, Prayer, Psalms, Worship | Leave a Comment
Eugene Peterson’s books are either deeply loved or studiously avoided by Reformed folk. I’ve found him to be a thoughtful, literate writer who shares many of my concerns and passions about pastoral ministry. I read The Contemplative Pastor about three months after I finished seminary, and that book helped me avoid many snares and keep my wits about me. I don’t always agree with Peterson, but he is such a gracious and edifying author that I enjoy disagreeing with him more than I enjoy agreeing with many others. Someone once quipped, “I prefer Uriah drunk to David sober.”
I recently read one of Peterson’s first books, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society, first published in 1980 and the released in a revised and expanded version by IVP in 2000. The title is drawn from a surprising place: Friedrich Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil (’The essential thing “in heaven and earth” is…that there should be a long obedience in the same direction; there thereby results, and has always resulted in the long run, something which has made life worth living.’) Peterson takes us to the “Psalms of Ascent” (Psalms 120-134) as a guide and metaphor for following Christ over the long haul. He writes in the introduction:
I knew that following Jesus could never develop into a “long obedience” without a deepening life of prayer and that the Psalms had always been the primary means by which Christians learned to pray everything they lived, and live everything they prayed over the long haul…But the people I was around didn’t pray the Psalms. That puzzled me; Christians have always prayed the Psalms; why didn’t my friends and neighbors?
God has used Peterson’s teaching on Psalms 120-134 to knead them into my imagination again and into my vocabulary of prayer and conversation to speak in practical ways about joy, repentance, service, work, humility, obedience, community and blessing. Here are some samples of Peterson’s work that will give you a sense of the deep, biblical wisdom of A Long Obedience:
On worship: ‘We live in what one writer has called the “age of sensation.” We think that if we don’t feel something there can be no authenticity in doing it. But the wisdom of God says something different: that we can act ourselves into a new way of feeling much quicker than we can feel ourselves into a new way of acting. Worship is an act that develops feelings for God, not a feeling that is expressed in an act of worship. When we obey the command to praise God in worship, our deep, essential need to be in relationship with God is nurtured.’ [54]
On the past: ‘The psalmist is not an antiquarian reveling in the past for its own sake but a traveler using what he knows of the past to get to where he is going–to God. For all its interest in history the Bible never refers to the past as “the good old times.” The past is not, for the person of faith, a restored historical site that we tour when we are on vacation; it is a field that we plow and harrow and plant and fertilize and work for a harvest.’ [168]
On joy: ‘A common but futile strategy for achieving joy is trying to eliminate things that hurt: get rid of pain by numbing the nerve ends, get rid of insecurity by eliminating risks, get rid of disappointment by depersonalizing your relationships. And then try to to lighten the boredom of such a life by buying joy in the form of vacations and entertainment. There isn’t a hint of that in Psalm 126.’ [100]
On security: ‘Discipleship is not a contract in which if we break our part of the agreement he is free to break his; it is a covenant in which he establishes the conditions and guarantees the results.’ [90]
On hope: ‘Hoping does not mean doing nothing…It means going about our assigned tasks, confident that God will provide the meaning and the conclusions…It is imagination put in the harness of faith. it is a willingness to let God to it his way and in his time. It is the opposite of making plans that we demand that God put into effect, telling him both how and when to do it.’ [144]
On repentance: ‘Repentance is not an emotion. It is not feeling sorry for your sins. It is a decision. It is deciding that you have been wrong in supposing that you could manage your own life and be your own god; it is deciding that you were wrong in thinking that you had, or could get, the strength, education and training to make it on your own; it is deciding that you have been told a pack of lies about yourself and your neighbors and your world. And it is deciding that God in Jesus Christ is telling you the truth. Repentance is a realization that what God wants from you and what you want from God are not going to be achieved by doing the same old things, thinking the same old thoughts. Repentance is a decision to follow Jesus Christ and become his pilgrim in the path of peace.’ [29-30]
Peterson includes in the revised edition the Psalms of Ascent in his translation/paraphrase, The Message. This is a plus in the eyes of author and publisher and many readers, but not in mine.
Nevertheless, if you are drawn toward instant, polished-smile, give-me-patience-now Christianity, be warned: there will be little in this book to soothe and cherish your desires. But Peterson’s aged wine is much better than the Zima of contemporary spirituality. Take, read, drink deeply.
Jul
30
Living grace: sermons of D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Filed Under Christian History, Christian Living, Preaching, Worship | Leave a Comment
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, whose ministry touched thousands in the U.K. and helped revive publishing of Reformed literature and reprinting of the works of the English Puritans in the 1950s and 1960s, continues to influence thousands even nearly 30 years after his death. His recorded sermons are being re-edited into 25-minute broadcasts and podcasts. They are available in streaming audio, download or podcast subscription at oneplace.com.
Back in the late 80s and early 90s I used to borrow cassette recordings of Lloyd-Jones’ sermons from the old Mount Olive Tape Library in Mount Olive, Mississippi. I’ve been downloading the podcasts for two months now, and I continue to be impressed by the depth and simplicity of his preaching. I think you will also.
Dec
26
Martin Luther and Christmas
Filed Under Christian History, Christmas, Music, Worship | Leave a Comment
Dr. Philip Ryken, senior minister of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has written about Martin Luther’s contribution to Christmas hymnody on Reformation21.
To God who sent his only Son
Be glory, laud, and honor done.
Let all the choir of heaven rejoice,
The new ring in with heart and voice.
Nov
8
Cyber-sainthood
Filed Under Christian History, Current Events, Nota Bene, Prayer, The Church | Leave a Comment
Just when you thought the Reformation was old, dusty, irrelevant history–here’s this: Last week marked the 490th anniversary of Martin Luther’s posting of the 95 Theses on the doors of the Wittenburg Church. He was calling for a debate on the Roman Church’s aggressive marketing and sales of indulgences, which, Luther argued, obscured the biblical doctrine of repentance and exploited the poor. Indulgences offered a way to have a sin’s penalty pardoned by the church and therefore to be released from paying for it in purgatory. The sinner’s sincerity was quantified through money–seen as a tangible expression of self-sacrifice. In Luther’s time the indulgences were sold as a fund-raiser for the construction of St. Peter’s in Rome under the leadership of Pope Leo X. But let’s call it what it is: the attempt to buy/do/feel one’s way into right standing with Almighty God.
Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the church door (like a public bulletin board) on 31 October, the eve of All Saints Day–the climax of popular Catholic piety regarding the veneration of saints and relics–much like airing a TV show on 24 December in which you calling Christmas into question!
Why bring this up? Well, in the spirit of ‘There is nothing new under the sun,’ a website exists for the purpose of drumming and up (and funding) popular support for the beatification and canonization of Pope John Paul II. Devotees are asked to share stories, seek the intercession of the late pontiff, request a piece of his priestly vestments and make a donation–all to hasten the efforts to have him declared a saint. The site strongly defends itself against the charge that it is selling relics.
Back in Luther’s day the hucksters who sold indulgences had a great jingle which translates easily from German to English: Once the coin in the coffer clings, a soul from purgatory heavenward springs! Maybe the 21st century version would be something like this: Once the mouse on the website clicks, John Paul one step closer to sainthood flicks/licks/kicks/tricks???
Aug
1
Today is my 29th birthday. Yes, the last birthday I’ll ever have with a two in front of it. I’ve had a little time of reflection today on my past 29 years of existence. I can sum up those thoughts with the following quote, “For now I begin to be a disciple.” I first ran across that quote in the memoirs of Robert Murray MCheyne. He quoted it from Ignatius. I later went back and found the quote in Ignatius’ letter to the Ephesians. Both men used the quote describe their pasts as relatively unimpressive in their own estimations. I happen to agree with them as I estimate my own short existence. I think back on my years of service to my Lord, some 13 of them, and am utterly dumbfounded at how I could have known so little yet been convinced at previous times that I knew so much. I see my past failings. I see my past errors. I see my past sin. I see my past cowardice. I see my past cold heart and apathy. I look to myself now and think, I am now finally beginning to be a disciple.
This all sounds like typical birthday pessimism but I mean it with the best of intentions. The grand theme of my life is God working in spite of me to the glory of his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. That is my hope as the Lord grants me more birthdays, that he will continue to work in spite of me. I am pretty certain that one of my dying thoughts will be, I am now finally beginning to be a disciple. I close with J. C. Ryle’s encouraging thoughts on this:
I believe that just as ‘no man liveth unto himself’ (Rom 14:7), so also no man is converted only for himself, and that the conversion of one man or woman always leads on, in God’s wonderful providence, to the conversion of others. I do not say for a moment that all believers know it. I think it far more likely that many live and die in the faith, who are not aware that they have done good to any soul. But I believe the resurrection morning and the judgment day, when the secret history of all Christians is revealed, will prove that the full meaning of the promise has never failed. I doubt if there will be a believer who will not have been to someone or other a ‘river of living water’, a channel through whom the Spirit has conveyed saving grace. Even the penitent thief, short as his time was after he repented, has been a source of blessing to thousands of souls!
On this, my 29th birthday, I praise the God who has been faithful to work in spite of me.
Jul
31
Book review: The Holy Trinity
Filed Under Apologetics, Books, Christian History, Holy Spirit, Worship | Leave a Comment
The best and most challenging class I took in seminary was an elective class during my final semester under my favorite professor, Dr. Douglas F. Kelly. The class was ‘The Doctrine of the Trinity.’ The lectures and the reading were like hiking in high elevation–awe-inspiring, humbling views, but the oxygen was thin and I tired easily. Murray Garrott and I co-wrote a paper on ‘The Trinity and Personhood’ which was not all that great, but I managed to do well on the oral exam at the end. Those who want to catch the vistas these days have a great guide and companion along the mountain paths in Robert Letham’s The Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship (P&R, 2004).
Letham is senior minister of Emmanuel Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, Delaware, and adjunct professor of systematic theology at Westminster Seminary and the Washington/Baltimore extension of Reformed Theological Seminary. His book is divided into four parts: 1) Biblical foundations, 2) historical development, 3) modern discussion, and 4) critical issues (the incarnation, worship and prayer, creation and missions, and persons). While writing from a Reformed perspective, Letham interacts with theologians from all periods of church history and from a wide variety of backgrounds, from East and West, from Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.
Most Christians do not have a biblically solid and precise understanding of the Trinity, finding it all ‘a mathematical conundrum, full of imposing philosophical jargon, relegated to an obscure alcove, remote from daily life’ (1). Letham is not attempting to write a ‘Trinity made simple’ book, but one that is thoroughly biblical and wide-ranging in its survey of the doctrines development and implications. For example, Letham observes that in Eastern Christianity (e.g., the Greek and Russian orthodox churches) there has been a tendency to fall into the error of subordinationism, viewing the Son and the Holy Spirit as deriving from the Father and thus not quite as much ‘God’ as the Father. In Western Christianity (Roman Catholicism and the Protestant churches) the tendency has been toward modalism, blurring or eclipsing the personal distinctions so as to view God as a single person who simple manifests himself at different times as Father, Son and Spirit.
All of this has daily significance because Christian experience of God and communion with God is inescapably Trinitarian. The design, accomplishment, and application of our redemption is a work of all three persons of the one true God. The Father, Son and Spirit are vitally united to worship and prayer. Letham presents a deep and thrilling case that embracing a full Trinitarian theology equips us to engage Islam and post-modernism with the claims of the Gospel, to engage Darwinism and pagan environmentalism with the biblical vision of order, coherence, unity and diversity in the universe, and end manipulation and lovelessness in our relationships with others. The ‘critical issues’ section of the book are worth the effort of working through the thicker parts of the historical development sections.
A Prayer from Service Book of the Syrian-Antiochene Orthodox Church, the all-night vigil service, the third hour:
Glory to thee, our God; glory to thee,
O heavenly King, the Comforter, Spirit of Truth, who are in all places and fill all things;
Treasury of good things and Giver of life:
come and take up thy abode in us,
and cleanse us from every stain; and save our souls, O Good One.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal One, have mercy upon us.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal One, have mercy upon us.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal One, have mercy upon us.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
now and ever, and unto ages of ages.
O all-holy Trinity, have mercy on us.
O Lord, wash away our sins.
O Master, pardon our transgressions.
O Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
now and ever, unto ages of ages. Amen.