Hearing the Music

The Membership

One of the marks of a Christian is that they belong - to Christ and to one another. The beloved Heidelberg Catechism says that we are not our own, but we belong body and soul, in life and in death to our faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. The upshot of belonging to Christ is that we belong to one another as members of His body (Romans 12:5; Colossians 1:24; I Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 4:12; etc…). While this is absolutely universal in that we belong to all Christians throughout the world, this is also given expression in the local church. We see such belonging biblically in Philippi, Colossae, and Ephesus. Today, this belonging is given expression in local congregations such as Christ Church. I have been reflecting on this membership as we prepare to receive several new members this Sunday by means of profession of faith and through baptism.

So what are affirming when we join a local church? We are affirming that we recognize that we are God’s glorious creations in need of renewal because His image in us has been shattered. We are affirming that it is only through the finished work of Christ that we have any hope of finding the renewal needed. We further affirm that our healing and renewal is a daily journey of grounding ourselves in gospel promises which tell us we are forgiven, adopted as daughters and sons, and that we are being healed, renewed, and equipped for life in Him. And particularly in mind this week, we also affirm that our healing and renewal depends upon life in community as a member of Jesus’ bride, the Church. 

It is within this membership that the Spirit molds and shapes us. It is because we are created in the image of an intensely relational God that we must refuse to live out our Christianity alone. When we are in pain or struggling, it is incumbent on us to reach out and receive the care that the Body would offer us. Conversely, we must continually seek out those whose situations preclude reaching out. It is within our membership that our deep need for the gospel is exposed. We find in the membership that we both wound and are wounded; we offend and are offended. But it is as we engage these hurts with the truths of the gospel that we remember that it is Christ’s sufficiency which is the shining reality that marks us, as opposed to our perfections or our shortfalls. It is for the glory of this gospel that we must commit not to withdraw when offended, but rather to engage with grace and be a gospel maker-of-peace.

All this sounds great in print. But, it is in the realities of life in a current pandemic, life fraught with political and cultural tensions, life touched by cancer, job loss, and wayward children where we need to lean into our Savior and trust that "greater is He who is in us, than he who is in the world” (I John 4:4). I am so glad to belong to such a membership. And incidentally this is not an exclusive club, at least not in the way many think. This membership boasts homecoming queens and former drag queens. This membership includes people for whom life seems easy and charmed, and delights in welcoming the broken and bruised, weak and wounded, sick and sore. Regardless of the path that brings you to the membership, with a surrendered heart to Jesus and public proclamation of resting in His love, you will find a seat at His table. So if you haven't taken your place yet, we are holding your spot, eager for you to join!

_{photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash}

Continuing Discipleship

Malcolm Gladwell, early in his book Talking to Strangers, tells a story of how Cuba duped the CIA, feeding false information to the US with a couple dozen double agents. Interestingly, over the course of the years while they were being duped, CIA agents would have opportunity to administer lie detector tests to the Cuban double agents. On a number of occasions the Cubans failed the polygraphs and the Cuban scheme could have been found out, but the American agents were so sure of their own tradecraft that they dismissed the lie detector results that contradicted their own beliefs. Pride, they say, goes before a fall.

In contrast to the cocksure agents consider Dr. J.I. Packer. Dr. Packer passed away about a month ago at the age of 93. Over the years he has helped many to know God better through his teaching, preaching and writing. But far from arrogance and pride, listen to these words, from one of his last books, Weakness is the Way:

“When the world tells us, as it does, that everyone has a right to a life that is easy, comfortable, and relatively pain-free, a life that enables us to discover, display, and deploy all the strengths that are latent within us, the world twists the truth right out of shape. That was not the quality of life to which Christ’s call led him, nor was it Paul’s calling, nor is it what we are called to in the twenty-first century. For all Christians, the likelihood is rather that as our discipleship continues, God will make us increasingly weakness-conscious and pain-aware, so that we may learn with Paul that when we are conscious of being weak, then—and only then—may we become truly strong in the Lord. And should we want it any other way?” 

Let me repeat his thought, “as our discipleship continues, God will make us increasingly weakness-conscious and pain-aware”. This, of course, is not an end in itself, but rather it is the path to knowing God. It is the path to understanding and appreciating His strength. God chooses the weak things of this world to shame the strong and the foolish things to expose those who think themselves wise (cf. 1 Cor. 1:18-30), it is only when we are weak that we truly are strong (2 Cor. 12:9,10) therefore Paul says that he will boast only in his weakness (2 Cor. 11:30). These are hard lessons to learn. May God help us along the way.

One way that he helps us is through his word. This week we will continue meeting outside on our grounds. Bring a chair to set up with your church family or stay in or near your car, either way, we gather together as God’s people to worship and to be fed from his word. Going forward we plan to continue these outdoor services along with our online worship guides for as long as we can into the fall (see Session Summary update in bulletin). In the word this week we will look at an intense story from the life of Elisha found in 2 Kings 6:24-7:20. It is a story in which the strong and mighty are eclipsed by the unclean and unnamed, as God’s word through the prophet once again brings life. I can’t wait to unfold it with you!

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Heat, Health, and Hearing

A few random strains of thought for you this week. On the top of my list is Heat (and escaping the heat). It has been quite a string of 90 degree days for us Michiganders. Lisa and I are getting ready to head out camping for a couple of weeks and are looking forward for a break from the heat along the lakeshore. I am grateful for the rhythms of rest, including vacations, that are built into the life of humanity, and we are looking forward to our time to disconnect.

Second thought is Health. Some of you know that our daughter Lydia has sort of a complicated health history. Mostly she is fine; a fully functioning, delightful young adult, but underlying this somewhere at the metabolic level things are not 100%. This foundational metabolic code, which most of us rarely think about, can trigger some scary episodes for her. We had another different sort of episode this week as she passed out unexpectedly and was unresponsive for close to 3 hours. We have appreciated your thoughts, prayers and expressions of love as we seek to help her navigate these challenges. As I sit in the hospital with her and think about these things I am struck by how spiritually we can be on an underlying level not 100%. All can look well on the surface, but deep down we experience imbalances that can cause us to crash. Sometimes these are triggered by events on the surface (i.e. loss or conflict), and other times our crashes seem to come out of the blue. Either way, it is a reminder that we all have this spiritual level that, though we do not always think about it, gives shape to our lives. 

Finally, a thought about Hearing. As we think about the kind of nutrition that our spiritual metabolism is in need of, we come to the Word of the Lord. Romans 10:14reminds us of the connection that exists between the kind of metabolic, Gospel belief we need and our hearing the Word of God. It is only as we hear, read, and feed on the Word of God that the nutrients we need for life are transferred. I think of this as we come to our passage for this Sunday, 2 Kings 4, and the picture of the remnant community that we see in it. Various people, with various needs, who all ultimately find their answers through the Word. I also think of the importance of hearing the Word in connection with our new ministry partners, Campus Outreach (CO). If you have not heard much about our new partnership with CO, I invite you to take a listen to this podcast. This is a group that is passionate about sharing the good news with folks that have not heard. Much more is to come on CO!

It is great to walk this journey with you. I look forward to seeing you this Sunday, but also looking forward to a couple of weeks away. 

_{Photo by Marcelo Leal on Unsplash}