Song of the Drunkards

JESUS FACED A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF OPPOSITION FOR HIS HARD WORDS AND UNFLINCHING DEVOTION TO YAHWEH. NO SURPRISE THEN IF WE FIND OUR NAME FESTOONED IN BARROOM BALLADS (CF. PS 69:12).

Refusing to Hear the Church

June 25, 2023 in Bible - NT - Matthew, Discipline, Meditations

Matthew 18:15–18 (NKJV)

15“Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ 17And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. 18Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

The Scriptures make plain that our love for God is directly connected to and demonstrated by the fruit in our lives (Luke 6:43-49). Love for God is not defined by our feelings but by God’s word: Jesus says that if we love Him, we will obey His commandments (Jn. 14:15; 15:10-17). Because our love for God is revealed in such visible fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-26), Jesus instructs us in our text today how we are to respond when a brother fails to bear such fruit and sins against us.

Last week, we studied this passage in company with 1 Corinthians 5. We saw that following private attempts to confirm that our brother really has sinned and that he refuses to repent, the church is to come alongside this brother publicly and correct him. When the church acts in this way, then the brother is summoned “to hear the church” – to take ownership for his sin, make concrete changes in his attitude and actions, and submit to his brethren in the Lord. This is our calling as disciples of Christ.

However, if he refuses “even to hear the church”, then Jesus instructs us, “let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector” (Mt 18:17). Jesus insists that we are no longer to treat him as an erring brother in need of correction but as an unbeliever in need of the saving grace of God in Christ. This action is a mercy to him for it endeavors to speak God’s own word to the man, warning him that a refusal to humble oneself now will only incur God’s judgment later. After all, Jesus’ command is accompanied by the sober promise that heaven itself will concur in the sentence of excommunication: “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven” (Mt 18:18).

As elders it is our duty to apply Jesus’ words to a member of our church, ——. Last year, we told the church that —— had filed for divorce from her husband and was refusing to seek the counsel of her elders both here at Trinity Church and at ————. We urged her to seek our counsel so that we could assist in the reconciliation of this marriage. We recognize that marriage problems are chiefly the responsibility of the husband to repair and assured her that we would not condone any sin on ——’s part. Despite our assurance, admonition, and then Suspension from the Lord’s Table, —— has refused to listen to the elders. She absented herself from worship both here and at ————. Just last week she finalized the divorce proceedings.

Since —— has refused “to hear the church”, our obligation is to put her out of the church. Therefore, in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we, the elders of Trinity Church, hereby excommunicate —— from the church of Jesus Christ and hand her over to Satan, praying that God may yet have mercy on her and restore her to the true faith, that her soul may be saved in the Last Day (1 Cor 5:4-5).

As we do so, we would deliver to you two exhortations. First, remember prayer. As you think of ——, please pray that the Lord would humble her, expose her sin, and bring her back to a true faith in Christ. As you think of her family who remain in the church, please pray that God would empower them, by His grace, to continue to serve the Lord in humility, to honor —— as a mother and fellow image bearer, and to be faithful witnesses to her that they might be a means of touching her heart with the Gospel. Remember prayer.

Second, remember humility. Apart from the grace of God, we none of us would humble ourselves before Him. Our hearts are deceitful, our thoughts are vain, and our consciences are darkened. We all of us stand in constant need of God’s grace and mercy. So if you meet or interact with ——, be gracious, be kind, be loving, express your desire for her restoration, and your commitment to the well-being of both her and her family. Remember that Jesus regularly ministered to tax collectors and sinners, bringing them the truth of the Gospel in the hope that they would repent and turn in faith to Him. —— needs the Gospel. But hear the Word of the Lord: so do you. So beware the lies of the devil, the lusts of your own heart, and the snares of the world. Remember humility.

And so reminded this morning of our call to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord, let us kneel and acknowledge our sin to Him, praying for His mercy and grace. And, as you are able, let us kneel as we confess our sins together.

Thankfulness & Contentment

June 18, 2023 in Bible - NT - Philippians, Meditations, Thankfulness

Philippians 4:10–13 (NKJV) 

10But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. 11Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 

There is an ancient Roman proverb, “Who is it that has the most? Is it not he who desires the least?” The proverb reminds us that our contentment and happiness are often shaped by our expectations. We imagine that we need more, deserve more, are entitled to more and so we are not content with what we already have. We set our expectations so high that they are never met and so we are never content. And our discontent reveals itself in a lack of thankfulness to others and to God. For thankfulness is an expression of contentment—an expression that the expectations we have set have been fulfilled or even exceeded.

These expectations come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Sometimes they focus on our circumstances – if I only had more money; a nicer car; a newer phone; a bigger house; a larger budget. Sometimes they focus on our relationships – if only I were married; had more friends; had a smaller family or a larger one. We can set unreasonable expectations upon our spouses, our employers and employees, our children, our friends—and so we never thank them for the meal on the table, for the folded towels in the closet, for the daily labor at the office, for the opportunity to work, for the work performed, or for the frequent sacrifices made on our behalf. “It’s his or her job to do all those things,” we say to ourselves, and so we never express thankfulness—never look at others with a twinkle in our eye and a full heart and say, “Thank you.” Our expectations are set so high that no one could ever possibly meet them. Consequently, no circumstances however favorable could contrive to make us content.

Webster defines “contentment” as, “Rest or quietness of the mind in the present condition; satisfaction which holds the mind in peace, restraining complaint, opposition, or further desire, and often implying a moderate [fitting] degree of happiness.” We see in our text today that Paul’s sense of contentment was not dependent on his circumstances – he had “learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need” (12). Rather, his contentment was grounded in the empowering grace of Christ, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (13). Therefore, in whatever state we are, whether rich or poor, whether slave or free, whether male or female, whether full or hungry, we too can learn to be content. But note that word, “learn”. Paul learned contentment – this was not something that came naturally to him but that he learned through meditation on God’s promises and walking with God throughout his life. 

Paul learned that what is most important in life is not our circumstances but the God who has given these circumstances to us. Let us ask ourselves, when tempted to be discontent and unthankful, “Is God sovereign? Is God in control of every event in our lives both good and bad? Has God orchestrated our circumstances as He sees fit? Has God promised in Christ to sustain me in the midst of every circumstance?” Clearly the answers to these questions are, “Yes!” And since this is the case, and since the God we serve is the same God of love who has revealed Himself in Christ, ought we not to trust Him? To rest in His good providence and be overflowing with gratitude? True contentment comes not by having high expectations or perfect circumstances but by trusting the goodness of our Heavenly Father.

So what of you? Are you content? Are you trusting in the Providence of your Heavenly Father? Or is your contentment dependent on your circumstances? Reminded of our failure to trust the Lord in any and every circumstance and our failure to be thankful, let us kneel as we are able and confess our sins in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

God’s Sovereign Control

June 18, 2023 in Bible - OT - 1 Kings, Meditations

1 Kings 22:34–35 (NKJV) 

34Now a certain man drew a bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and take me out of the battle, for I am wounded.” 35The battle increased that day; and the king was propped up in his chariot, facing the Syrians, and died at evening. The blood ran out from the wound onto the floor of the chariot. 

Periodically, certain events remind us of God’s sovereign control and providential ordering of all things; that there really are no such things as minor decisions or chance events. After all, the decisions that we make upstream inevitably affect what happens downstream.

Some years ago, a tragic accident occurred in the lives of two North Idaho residents, father and daughter, who were riding their motorcycle back from Glacier National Park. While they were driving along Highway 41, a tree fell on their motorcycle and killed them both. Imagine for a moment the slew of so-called “minor” decisions which paved the way for that tragic event – the amount of time spent in the bathroom at the convenience store, the stop to take a picture of the waterfall, the loss of 5 miles per hour while looking at the mountain goat, the acceleration around the car that was going so slow. Any one of those decisions, made differently, would have altered the outcome of the day – and so all those relatively minor decisions proved, in retrospect, to have been incredibly important.

The text before us today reminds us of the same reality. God had warned King Ahab through the prophet Micaiah that if he went out to battle against the Syrians, God would slay him. Endeavoring to foil God’s decree and still accomplish his personal goals, Ahab decided to disguise himself as a common soldier while dressing another as himself. But though the Syrians were fooled by Ahab’s disguise, God was not. And the Scripture uses particularly ironic phraseology to describe God’s sovereign control of this event. “A certain man drew his bow at random” and the arrow just happened to hit Ahab between the creases of his armor so that he died. God’s purpose stood fast; God controls even the so-called “random” events of history.

I draw this to your attention in order to address a nefarious view of God’s sovereignty that is widely embraced in the church today. This view declares that, while God predestines the “major” events in history, He doesn’t ordain the “minor”, day to day events. Why is this such a big deal? Because God’s sovereignty over all events is the basis of our comfort and encouragement amid trials and difficulties. Jesus teaches:

29Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 30But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:29–31) 

If we imagine that certain events come upon us by chance, then we can have no confidence that our Father has crafted each one for our growth in grace. A so-called “minor” trial may just be the one to overthrow our faith and destroy the life that is within us. However, if we know that these events, though seemingly insignificant in light of the major issues of world history, have nevertheless been ordained and decreed by God for our personal growth in grace, then we can face our trials with strength and determination – for He Himself has promised that He will orchestrate all things for our good and for His glory.

And so, how are you doing in the trials that have come your way? Do you view them as gifts from the hand of your Heavenly Father, orchestrated for your ultimate good? For if you do, then you will be able to count it all joy when you encounter various trials knowing that He has crafted them just for you. But if you view your trials as random accidents in a purposeless universe, then you will no doubt respond to them with anxiety and despair. So what does your response to trials reveal about what you really believe about God’s sovereignty? You may call yourself Reformed, or even a “Calvinist”, but are you really? The proof is in the joy in the face of trial, difficulty, and even opposition.

And so, reminded that God is in control of all things and that we ought, therefore, to give thanks always for all things, let us kneel and confess to our Lord that we grumble and act as though the events of our lives were not in His hand.