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).

The Origins of War

February 27, 2022 in Bible - NT - James, Meditations, Sin

James 4:1-3 (NKJV)

1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

This week many of us have watched with dismay as Russian President Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine. Many of our contemporaries believed that we were beyond such barbaric times; that our new global economy would prevent a full-scale national war. But such a belief reveals that many of us have not reckoned with the depth of human corruption. 

What is the basic problem in the world? Is it poverty, ignorance, religion, economic inequality? Where do wars and fights come from? The question James poses is a question that the modern world continues to ask. Unfortunately, the answers given are rarely helpful, usually only partial truths. Consequently, our solutions are impotent. We put a band-aid on the visible wound but fail to stop the bleeding within.

So where do wars and fights come from? James tells us plainly: they come from covetousness, envy, desiring the good things that God has given to others. “Wrath is cruel,” Solomon informs us, “and anger is a torrent, but who can stand before jealousy?” (Pr 27:4) How does James describe this for us?

First, he says, “we lust and do not have.” We look around at all the good things God has given our neighbor and, rather than rejoice for them, we lust for ourselves. Whether what we desire is their Tonka truck, their mp3 player, their nicely proportioned body, their spouse, their car, or their mansion on the lake– we hunger for what they’ve got. And this hunger, this lustful desire, is the source of wars and conflicts – on a personal level and on a national level.

How so? James tells us. “You murder and covet and cannot obtain.” In other words, having eyed your neighbor’s car, his intelligence, or his new sneakers and having desired them for yourself, you proceed to wish ill for your neighbor. “Oh, if only he would die and leave his money to me.” “If only his wife would die, and I’d come comfort him and he’d marry me.” 

And then, having wished this evil upon our neighbor, it is simply a small leap to perpetrating the evil. Imagine you’re envious of a new game that your sibling received but won’t play with you. “Oh, I’m sorry brother, I didn’t realize that was your game I was stepping on.” Imagine you want that promotion at work but Jenkins stands in your way. Why not just lie to remove him? “Boss, I thought I should let you know, that I’ve observed Jenkins playing games on his computer during work hours.” Imagine you’re Putin longing for the glory days of the Soviet Empire; why not just lie to justify your ambition? “The Ukrainian people are mistreating the Russian speakers within their borders, and so now I am justified in invading their country like I have wanted to do all along.”

What is the solution to this type of lustful desire? It is to turn one’s eyes to God and trust Him to supply all one needs. “You do not have,” James declares, “because you do not ask.” But beware. Why are you asking? Are you asking for the glory of God and the good of His Kingdom, or are you asking simply to satisfy your lusts? Because if the latter James declares, “You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”

Reminded that covetousness is a sin and that it is the source of quarrels and conflicts in marriage, in the home, in the workplace, in the church, and in the world, let us kneel and confess that we have coveted our neighbors’ goods. We will have a time of silent confession followed by the corporate confession found in your bulletin.

Authority to Forgive Sins

February 13, 2022 in Bible - NT - John, Forgiveness, Meditations

John 20:21–23 

21So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” 

One of the great controversies that surrounded Jesus’ ministry was the forgiveness of sins. Some men brought a paralytic to Jesus and let him down through the roof into the house where Jesus was teaching. Jesus looked at the man and declared, “My son, your sins are forgiven you.” Immediately, the Pharisees began questioning among themselves, “Who does this man think he is? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

The Pharisees’ question was entirely reasonable. While each of us can forgive those who sin against us, we dare not presume to forgive their sins against God – only God can do such a thing. So the dilemma of our human condition is this: we all have sinned against God, so how can we know whether God has forgiven us? Who speaks for God on earth? In the old covenant, God appointed the priests to speak on His behalf through the sacrificial system:

And it shall be, when [someone] is guilty in any of these matters, that he shall confess that he has sinned in that thing; and he shall bring his trespass offering to the Lord for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin. (Lev 5:5-6) 

The priest shall make atonement for him – the priest shall sacrifice the animal and announce to the sinner, “Believe God’s word! He has provided a substitute to bear the guilt of your sin. My son, your sins are forgiven you.”

So why was Jesus’ forgiveness of the paralytic controversial? Precisely becaue He was not an Aaronic priest, nor was He at the temple offering a sacrifice, and yet He was declaring the forgiveness of this man’s sins. How dare He presume to speak for God? “Who does this man think he is? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Jesus knew their doubts; He knew their questions. So He asked, “Which is easier to say to this man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or, ‘Arise, take up your mat and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” (he said to the paralytic), “’Arise, take up your mat and walk.’ And immediately the man arose, took up his mat, and walked.”

According to Jesus, the healing of the paralytic proved that He has authority on earth to forgive sins. Jesus was announcing the end of the temple and the sacrificial system; declaring that the Judaic Age was over. In the Messianic Age, this time where Jesus rules over all, the Aaronic priests no longer speak for God; Jesus, the Son of Man, does. And He has commissioned His disciples to announce the forgiveness of sins to all peoples in His Name, through His sacrifice. 

So every Lord’s Day, following our confession, I have the privilege of reminding you, assuring you, that through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, there really is forgiveness with God. My word does not grant forgiveness; only the sacrifice of Jesus can do that. But the good news is that God promises to forgive all who acknowledge their sin and turn from it, seeking His forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Your calling is to hear that promise, even as the paralytic heard the words of our Lord, and to believe it. “My son, your sins are forgiven you.”

So reminded this morning of the gift of forgiveness that God grants through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus, let us confess our sins in His Name, trusting that God will indeed forgive all those who come to Him in faith. And as you are able, let us kneel as we confess our sins. We will have a time of silent confession followed by the corporate confession found in your bulletin.

Keep the Traditions

February 6, 2022 in Bible - NT - 1 Corinthians, Meditations, Tradition

1 Corinthians 11:2

Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you.

Our culture has institutionalized the tradition of anti-traditionalism. Yesterday’s clothes are outmoded; yesterday’s ideas are passé. No sin seems more grievous than being “behind the times.” Each new generation is expected to originate something totally new and eagerly jump on board the new train. Beanie babies have come and gone; Tickle me Elmos have lost their flare; Cabbage Patch dolls are a long-forgotten craze; and fidget spinners have lost their luster. 

Unfortunately, the Church has imbibed much of this cultural food. Several years ago, I read a story about a Trinity Church in Connecticut. It had been founded by folks who were dissatisfied with the traditions in the churches and who wanted something new, something hip, something relevant. However, ten years into their project they discovered something disconcerting: they had developed their own traditions. The Wall Street Journal remarked that “these churches were founded by people in rebellion against established institutions. Ten years down the road, they have become the establishment.” Consequently, the pastor decided to step down. “You don’t want to become ossified,” he said. “You have to keep thinking freshly on how to do church.”

Contrast this way of thinking with Paul’s counsel to the Corinthians in our text today: “Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you.” Paul praises the Corinthians not for their novelty but for their faithfulness to that which they had been taught. In other words, the Word of God teaches us to value a godly inheritance – to take what is given in one generation and to pass down what is good and precious to the next; to tell our children and grandchildren the wonderful works of God so that they in turn can tell their children and grandchildren.

Paul’s words reveal that traditions are not inherently bad; in fact, as I have emphasized before, traditions are inevitable. It is only when our traditions undermine what is biblically important that they become destructive. And the tradition of anti-traditionalism is biblically destructive – the constant pursuit of some new style of worship, the longing to be relevant, the overthrowing of older generations because younger ones always know better – what do any of those things have to do with the Word of God? Hence, it is critical that our faith and our worship not imbibe this mentality, not reflect an opposition to a godly inheritance. 

As we gather to worship, therefore, let us do so with joy, celebrating the great work that the Spirit of God has done in leading and guiding His people to this day – treasuring what is good in our inheritance and passing those things down to the next generation. And the first thing the Spirit does in bringing us into the presence of our thrice holy God is awaken in us a sense of our own sin – today, in particular, our sin of undermining the Word of God through our recent tradition of anti-traditionalism. So let us confess our sins to the Lord and, as you are able, let us kneel as we do so. We will have a time of silent confession followed by the corporate confession found in your bulletin.