Nielsen’s Nook

I have a feature in my blog engine that alerts me when people cite a post I have written. While that sounds like a cool feature, it was quite strange when I saw today for the first time a citation of an article I wrote, entitled “A Reformed Liturgical Diet,” from October 2006. The article itself is an exegesis of the Westminster Shorter Catechism which was aimed to show that Reformed churches have historically had a much higher view of the Sacraments than present day instances.

As one who deeply loves, cherishes and practices expository preaching, you can imagine my shock when the name of the post citing “A Reformed Liturgical Diet” was entitled “Expository Preaching under attack.” I would have appreciated the opportunity to interact with the post 2 years ago; however, since I didn’t then, I will do so now. So before you go any further, please take a moment to do the following:

1. Read my original post A Reformed Liturgical Diet
2. Read Expository Preaching under attack at the Two-Edged Sword blog including the comments.

A Two-Edged False Dichotomy

First, for the record, I believe deeply that expository preaching is crucial in the churches of Jesus Christ. So I take exception to the way I have been misrepresented. Preaching is “Christian storytelling” and it is every bit as sacramental as the Lord’s Table. God, after all, is not words of any language. He certainly transcends the confines of vocabulary and exegesis. Nevertheless, the Church has been picked up and carried throughout history through the Spirit’s attending to the preaching of the Word of God. In fact, I would say that to the extent we unfold the Word of God to the people is the extent to which God empowers the sermon. The point of my article is to urge readers back toward the balanced liturgical diet given us in the Scripture of Word and Sacrament. To pit the preaching of the Word over against the Sacraments is a false dichotomy, at least in the Christian economy.

Second, historically speaking the Reformers were fighting for an increased frequency of the Lord’s Table in worship. At the time of Luther the Eucharist was celebrated only once a year and then the laity only received the cup. Calvin is fairly clear that he would have preferred a weekly communion but had to settle for quarterly with the council at Geneva. So it is a bit strange to me, historically speaking, to hear modern-day Reformed so dismissive of sacraments for which our tradition gives instances of those who were once willing to give even their lives for them. Calvin’s seminary graduates had a life expectancy post graduation of about six months. Influences on Calvin, perhaps we should call them teachers, such as Peter Martyr Vermigli in turn had great impact on Thomas Cranmer such that the 1552 Book of Common Prayer is dedicated to Vermigli.

Third, when “Mr. Baggins” comments that “These guys don’t know what they’re talking about. They are attacking preaching itself,” I am compelled to remind us all that my piece was an exegesis of the Westminster Shorter Catechism on the subject of the Lord’s Table itself. I have spent a bit of time in the Westminster Confession and Catechisms, in particular to study the nature of the Sacraments in the life of the Reformed churches. I do not want to impute such lack of engagement to Lee at Two-Edged Sword; however, Mr. Baggins makes assertions without even hobbit sized amounts of substantive argumentation. Consequently, it is hard to see how he is not dismissing the Westminster Confession and significant influences on its development like John Calvin and other Magisterial Reformers all in one broad stroke.

In short, I would expect that Lee and I have different universes of discourse in approaching the question of the role of the sacraments in the life of the Church. John Chrysostom would never have gone for preaching apart from the sacraments and yet he is held up as substantiating Mr. Baggins assertions. What I leave you is not a gauntlet (for I have no desire to engage in polemics here); but, instead an exhortation to consider how Chrysostom, himself a huge influence on Calvin and other reformers, would approach the balance that has historically always existed between Word and Sacrament.

Behold, Lord
An empty vessel that needs
to be filled.
My Lord, fill it
I am weak in the faith;
Strengthen me.
I am cold in love;
Warm me and make me fervent,
That my love may go out
to my neighbor…
O Lord, help me.
Strengthen my faith and
trust in you…
With me, there is an
abundance of sin;
In You is the fullness of
righteousness.
Therefore I will remain
with You,
Whom I can receive,
But to Whom I may not give.

Martin Luther

“These are the two messages of the entire Gospel: the message of faith and the message of love—through faith before God, through love before or toward one’s neighbor. Here, therefore, he will treat of two kinds of people who sin against love. In the first place, there are the hypocrites, who do the most harm by feigning love. Many seem to have love but do not have it. The fanatics are people of this kind. They wish, ask, and strive for the complete destruction of their opponents. Meanwhile, however, they preach love. Thus the greatest murderers are sometimes concealed under the guise of love and piety.”¹

Yet each man kills the thing he loves
By each let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word,
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword!

Some kill their love when they are young,
And some when they are old;
Some strangle with the hands of Lust,
Some with the hands of Gold:
The kindest use a knife, because
The dead so soon grow cold.

Some love too little, some too long,
Some sell, and others buy;
Some do the deed with many tears,
And some without a sigh:
For each man kills the thing he loves,
Yet each man does not die.²

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¹ Luther’s Works: The Catholic Epistles, ed. Jaroslav Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann, Luther’s Works, vol. 30 (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999), 274.

¹Wilde, Oscar. The Ballad of Reading Gaol. http://www.bibliomania.com/0/2/57/104/frameset.html, complete version.

For the human heart trusts goods at hand but mistrusts those not at hand, as the saying goes: “Having gold makes men bold; being poor makes them sour.” But trust in wealth cannot rule in the heart at the same time with faith and love. And this he calls here “to forget the Lord God.” For you do not remember the Lord if you merely mouth His name, but if you cling to Him and love Him with constant faith in your heart.

Martin Luther. Luther’s Works, Vol. 9 : Lectures on Deuteronomy, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald and Helmut T. Lehmann (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1960), 71.

Recently my church has compiled a list of books that different pastors here felt were instructive on prayer or helped them to pray better. I have added a few of my own to the list and would love to hear from you, if you have suggestions. Please leave those suggestions as comments here from which all may benefit. Each listing is linked and will take you to the book on Amazon.com if you would like to purchase it:

• Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer
• So Amazing, So Divine: A Guide to Living Prayer
• Augustine on Prayer/No.171/04
• The Practice of the Presence of God: Writings and Conversations
• Purpose in Prayer: Library Edition
• Dangerous Duty of Delight: The Glorified God and the Satisfied Soul (LifeChange Books)
• A Journey to Victorious Praying: Finding Discipline and Delight in Your Prayer Life
• Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire: What Happens When God’s Spirit Invades the Hearts of His People
• Fresh Faith: What Happens When Real Faith Ignites God’s People
• When God’s People Pray: Six Sessions on the Transforming Power of Prayer (Zondervangroupware(tm) Small Group Edition)
• The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions
• Effective Prayer
• Praying the Savior’s Way: Let Jesus’ Prayer Reshape Your Prayer Life
• Lord Teach Us: The Lord’s Prayer & the Christian Life
• Lord and His Prayer
• The Lord’s Prayer for Today (New for Today) (New for Today)
• The Transforming Power of Prayer: Deepening Your Friendship With God
• Prayers from The Confessions
• Pray With Your Eyes Open: Looking at God, Ourselves, and Our Prayers
• Prayer That Works
• Madame Jeanne Guyon: Experiencing Union with God Through Inner Prayer & the Way and Rescues of Union with God (Pure Gold Classics)
• A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers
• Praying: Finding Our Way Through Duty to Delight
• Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion (2 Volume Set) [Book III]
• On Prayer: Conversation with God

This is a fine meditation for those who would understand the gravity of their sin and the magnanimity of their savior.

From Psalm 130, written by Martin Luther (1523), melody by Martin Luther (1524).

From the depths of woe I raise to thee
the voice of lamentation;
Lord, turn a gracious ear to me
and hear my supplication:
if thou iniquities dost mark,
our secret sins and misdeeds dark,
O who shall stand before thee?

To wash away the crimson stain,
grace, grace alone availeth;
our works, alas! are all in vain;
in much the best life faileth:
no man can glory in thy sight,
all must alike confess thy might,
and live alone by mercy.

Therefore my trust is in the Lord,
and not in my own merit;
on him my soul shall rest, his Word
upholds my fainting spirit:
his promised mercy is my fort,
my comfort and my sweet support;
I wait for it with patience.

What though I wait the live-long night,
and not in mine own merit;
my heart still trusteth in his might;
it doubteth not nor feareth:
do thus, O ye of Israel’s seed,
ye of the Spirit born indeed;
and wait till God appeareth.

Though great our sins and sore our woes,
his grace much more aboundeth;
his helping love no limit knows,
our utmost need it soundeth.
Our Shepherd good and true is he,
who will at last his Israel free
from all their sins and sorrow.

Nestle-Aland 27	16 Μὴ οὖν τις ὑμᾶς κρινέτω ἐν βρώσει καὶ ἐν πόσει ἢ ἐν μέρει ἑορτῆς 1 ἢ νεομηνίας 2 ἢ σαββάτων · 17 ἅ ἐστιν σκιὰ τῶν μελλόντων , τὸ δὲ σῶμα 3 τοῦ Χριστοῦ . 18 μηδεὶς ὑμᾶς καταβραβευέτω 4 θέλων ἐν ταπεινοφροσύνῃ 5 καὶ θρησκείᾳ 6 τῶν ἀγγέλων , ἃ ἑόρακεν ἐμβατεύων , 7 εἰκῇ φυσιούμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ νοὸς τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ , 19 καὶ οὐ κρατῶν τὴν κεφαλήν , ἐξ οὗ πᾶν τὸ σῶμα διὰ τῶν ἁφῶν 8 καὶ συνδέσμων 9 ἐπιχορηγούμενον 10 καὶ συμβιβαζόμενον 11 αὔξει 12 τὴν αὔξησιν τοῦ θεοῦ .
My Translation	16 Therefore, let no one judge you in matters of eating and drinking or with regard to a detail of a festival or of a new moon or of Sabbaths. 17 These things are a shadow of the things to come; however, the reality of these things belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one condemn you, wishing in false humility and worship of angels, going into detail concerning things one has seen, being inflated with arrogance to no avail by his fleshly mind, 19 and not laying hold of the head, out of which the whole body, being supported and knit together by the joint and ligaments, grows the divine growth.
Grammar & Vocabulary	ἑορτῆς gen/sg/fem ( ἑορτή ) festival, feast νεομηνίας gen/sg/fem ( νεομηνία ) new moon, first of the month The word σῶμα is rendered here reality (alt. substance) in lieu of the context (i.e., shadow:reality). See also: Melick, Richard R. Philippians, Colossians, Philemon New American Commentary ; V. 32. Nashville, Tenn.: Broadman Press, 1991, page 267. καταβραβευέτω pres/act/impv/3p/sg ( καταβραβεύω ) to condemn, rob of a prize ταπεινοφροσύνῃ dat/sg/fem ( ταπεινοφροσύνη) false humility θρησκείᾳ dat/sg/fem ( θρησκεία ) worship of God, religious service ἐμβατεύων pres/act/ptc/nom/pl/masc ( ἐμβατεύω) enter into, go into detail ἁφῶν gen/pl/fem ( ἁφή ) joint, ligament συνδέσμων gen/pl/masc ( σύνδεσμος ) that which binds – in this case, tendons or ligaments. [c.f., σύνδ . τῆς εἰρήνης is used by Paul in Eph 4:3 as the bond of peace; σύνδεσμος τῆς τελειότητος in Col 3:14 – bond of perfection, i.e., purposed goal ] ἐπιχορηγούμενον pres/pass/ptc/nom/sg/neu ( ἐπιχορηγέω ) to support συμβιβαζόμενον pres/pass/ptc/nom/sg/neu ( συμβιβάζω ) knit together, unite αὔξει pres/act/ind/3p/sg ( αὐξάνω ) to grow, increase [c.f., Eph 4:15 α ὐ ξήσωμεν ε ἰ ς α ὐ τ ὸ ν τ ὰ πάντα, ὅ ς ἐ στιν ἡ κεφαλή, Χριστός speaks of union with Christ.]

Commentary

³⁵Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. (Jn 6:35 ESV)

I remember as a younger man walking through a shopping mall one day and stopping in my tracks to ponder a phrase printed on the t-shirt of a man who briskly walked passed me in the opposite direction. It read, “Look busy! Jesus is coming.” I stopped because I was not sure whether it was mocking Christians or a serious exhortation to them.

I believe it is most beneficial to understand the shirt as satire. Many of us chase after many things in the name of religion. For some of us it is the approval of others. For some it is knowledge. For others it is service, or many other religious activities.� These activities in and of themselves are often helpful but for some of us at different times can serve to insulate us from the heat of Christ himself.

Think about prayer for a moment as an example. Paul is working out the profound and the simple truth of Jesus the Messiah. Many of us want our prayers to be as poetry, refined and reverent. A refined and reverent prayer is absolutely appropriate; however, the reality is that our lives, the place where we live moment by moment, is neither refined nor is it always reverent. So waiting until you are in the mood to pray, until the words are right, until you have had time to contemplate all that you would like, or whatever else you may want to do as preparation to pray actually can impede your boldly coming before the throne of grace.

God has included books in the bible like Judges and Job and psalms like Psalm 73 to remind us that His people are to just come to him with their heavy burdens and cluttered lives; for his yoke is easy and his burden is light. These texts are rough around the edges because they reflect the rough world that God is working to redeem in time and space.

That is the miracle of the Incarnation, of God coming to the mess of this fallen world in the person of his perfect Son, Jesus. Let us not chase after things that merely camouflage our prayers and service to God, but let us simply pray and serve. How can Paul say this? Paul knows that no amount of barren ritual or paltry preparation sustain life, especially eternal life. We go to God not through outward actions but “in Christ’s skin and on His back.” ¹ That is the nature and the gravity and the centrality of the Christian’s union with Christ.

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¹ Luther, Martin. Vol. 42, Luther’s Works, Vol. 42 : Devotional Writings I. Edited by Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald and Helmut T. Lehmann. Luther’s Works. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999, c1969. Page 23.

Psalm 70:4-5 (ESV)
⁴ May all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you!
May those who love your salvation
say evermore, “God is great!”
⁵ But I am poor and needy;
hasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
O Lord, do not delay!

My burden in preaching the Gospel of Jesus to His Church is one which, I hope and think, recognizes that there are different facets of this marvelous gospel which need to be applied differently at different times in the history of redemption. At least in the circles in which I find myself ministering, I find that people are often consumed with a false guilt; often the result of well intended and yet ever destructive fundamentalism. On the other hand, I have found that in wanting to communicate the biblical doctrine of “total depravity”, the idea that there is no aspect of human existence that has not been polluted by sin,[1] I have found that parishioners often will get stuck there. In other words, it is true that Christ comes to us when we were dead in our trespasses and sins (Eph 2); however, may it never be that the deadness of the “old man”, as Paul terms our pre-salvation state, eclipses the fact that Christ has made everything new (2 Cor 5:17)!

We have forgotten that God has bound himself to us in Christ by way of covenant. We have overlooked the dignity that this communicates to us as Christians who are in covenant with God. It speaks to our destiny, for He has saved us – not just to say that we are saved – but to deliver us into His likeness, which is found in Christ alone. Nevertheless, Christians who are attuned to the realities of this world also know the bitterness of stumbling in the midst of our procession with Christ to the end of days. Commenting on John 6:56, Luther writes:

Outwardly Christians stumble and fall from time to time. Only weakness and shame appear on the surface, revealing that the Christians are sinners who do that which displeases the world. Then they are regarded as fools, as Cinderellas, as footmats for the world, as damned, impotent, and worthless people. But this does not matter. In their weakness, sin, folly, and frailty there abides inwardly and secretly a force and power unrecognizable by the world and hidden from its view, but one which, for all that, carries off the victory; for Christ resides in them and manifests Himself to them. I have seen many of these who, externally, tottered along very feebly; but when it came to the test and they faced the court, Christ bestirred Himself in them, and they became so staunch that the devil had to flee.^[2]

It is precisely in this poverty that we find the wealth of Christ, our deliverer, who does in fact bestir himself in His people. It is this God to whom we make the petition, the plea, “I am poor and needy; hasten to me!… Do not delay!” The marvel is that he does hasten to us in perfect time. Luther expresses his own reflections on the figures of speech (tropology is the study of such figures) used in Psalm 70:4 when he writes that such figures speak:

First, against the vices and sins of the past, lest they lead you to despair. Second, against the reviling of the lust of the flesh and its works. Third, against the attractions of the world and the promptings of the devil, lest they prevail over you, but that you may persevere in hope and faith, in grace and union with Christ.

Say: “Lord God, be pleased to deliver me.” For this prayer is the shield, spear, thunderbolt, and defense against every attack of fear, presumption, lukewarmness, security, etc., which are especially dominant today, as was said above. 

Then, so that you might be able to prevail over them, and this quickly, to destroy such evil impulses, add: “Lord, make haste to help me.” For haste is necessary to drive them away, especially in our age of defects, security, and lukewarmness.

Then continue: “Let them be confounded and ashamed,” that is, that their every reproach be revealed to me to be false and foolish, namely, of past sins for despair, of the world for sins of the flesh, etc., so that in this way I might see that these confound the spirit if they are followed. Then let the proud ideas about my own holiness, the impulses of being alone, as though I were making much progress, be turned backward, so that I may see that they are nothing and blow me up from nothing and falsely suggest to me that I have made progress, and thereby wish evil for me, so that, the more they make me seem to be better than others, the worse I fall.^[3]

May God have mercy on us, that we would not be lukewarm in our relentless pursuit of Christ. That pursuit is driven by the cylinder of faith and repentance, churning up and down, two sides of the same coin. For when we stumble in faith we repent and when we find victory in faith we cry out for meekness and humility. Lord have mercy. Deliver us. Do not delay.

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^[1] N.B. This is not to be confused with the misunderstood version of this teaching that would say that people are as bad as they might possibly be. Such “utter depravity” is not the “total depravity” of Calvin.^[2] Martin Luther, vol. 23, Luther’s Works, Vol. 23 : Sermons on the Gospel of St. John: Chapters 6-8, ( ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan et al.;, Luther’s Works Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1959), 23:146.

^[3] Martin Luther, vol. 10, Luther’s Works, Vol. 10 : First Lectures on the Psalms I: Psalms 1-75, ( ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan et al.;, Luther’s Works Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1974), 10:391.