One of my favorite - alright, probably my favorite! - Christian musical groups, Indelible Grace, is offering a free or “pay what you want” sampling of their music. They are worth a listen. Here’s the link.
They are associated with RUF (Reformed University Fellowship) and are dedicated to teaching the “contemporary” (I’m fearful of using that word because I don’t want you to think that they are some cheesy lovey-dovey pop musicians re-making the hymns) church how to sing the hymns.
This week has been a monumental week. Anyone paying attention to the news, even remotely, would have noticed all the beautiful panoramas of our nation’s monuments and government buildings. All of the footage of Washington D.C. makes me want to get back there and take a stroll down the mall and peruse our nation’s museum storehouses. The symmetrical design of our capitol is telling of our desire for order and beauty. Besides being taken back by our nation’s monuments, this week of course has been monumental in a different way: the swearing in of the first African-American president. That’s monumental.
Although most commentators that I’ve read have stated that Obama’s speech was far from being monumental, another speech given, not too long ago (in terms of histories of nations are concerned), by Martin Luther King, Jr. on the steps of the Lincoln monument was indeed monumental. His famous words echoed out across the nation’s mall:
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” …
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. …”
King’s words were prophetic words in 1963. People had become accustomed to a segregated society, not just in the United States but throughout the world. We are a post-Babel society where, because of our human hubris, God confused the languages of the people (Gen. 11). But that’s not to say that diversity (such a “buzz” word these days) itself is a result of our human pride and sin.
Right before Genesis 11 recounts the confusion of the languages, chapter 10 tells of the diversity of Noah’s descendants:
v.2-5 “The sons of Japtheth … From these the coastland peoples spread in their lands, each with his own language , by their clans, in their nations.”
v.6-20 “These are the sons of Ham, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations.”
v.21-31 “These are the sons of Shem, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations.”
How odd, then, that Genesis 11:1 begins with, “Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.” What? I thought that the previous verses stated that the sons of Noah were divided by their own clan and their own language. Perhaps, and this is a perhaps, although the languages were divided, although there was diversity, there was a sense of understanding and unity despite their differences. In this way, when God confuse the languages because of human sin he didn’t create diversity as a curse but rather put an end to the unity in the midst of diversity.
Fast-forward to the New Testament, where I think we get a Babel-reversing and world-shaking picture of God’s church, diverse yet united. The disciples had hunkered down following Jesus’ ascension, waiting for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit when “suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. … And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues [languages] as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. … And they were amazed …” (Acts 2:1-7).
Here the great reversal of Babel occurs. Before Babel, there were diverse languages yet understanding and unity. After Babel, diverse languages and division. After Pentecost, by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit God’s people, men and women “from every nation under heaven” again are brought together despite their diverse clans, languages, lands, and nations” to praise and honor, not themselves as they did at Babel, but the living God.
Maybe you watched it too. Millions around the world watched as nation after nation ceremonially marched in during the 2008 Opening Ceremony of the Olympics. It really is quite a spectacle when you think of it – people from around the world carrying their flag and representing their country. I love the Olympics!
The Parade of Nations reminded me of a different parade – the Parade of Nations before the throne of God. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah captures the beautiful picture of the New Jerusalem (when Christ returns again and finally and ultimately establishes his reign) in Isaiah 60:
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. … Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the arm. Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come. …”
When the day of Christ comes, all the nations with all of their culture will be brought before the great King. Isaiah describes this in his day: herds of camels from Midian, gold and incense from Sheba, rams from Nebaioth, ships from far off Tarshish full of silver and gold, lumber from Lebanon will all be brought to the New Jerusalem. Today we might add to that list: oil from Saudi Arabia, computers from Silicon Valley, beer from Germany, cars from Detroit and Japan, etc…
The twist, however, is that right now the herds of camels, the ships of Tarshish, the oil from Saudi Arabia, and the cars from Detroit are all aimed at man’s glory, not God’s. Isaiah’s prophecy is that one day all nations, all cultures, all good things will be directed towards God’s glory, not ours. As Christians then, we are called to enjoy God’s creation – nations, cultures, and good things – but also work to direct these things to the glory of God.
Today I attended a conference at Regent called “The Beauty of Truth and the Truth of Beauty.” Luci Shaw, a wonderful Christian poet, and Sven Soderlund, professor emeritus of New Testament at Regent, were the two speakers. They both talked about how beauty enriches our understanding of the Christian faith. Luci Shaw explained that by paying attention to the often mundane things in our lives we begin to see God’s thumbprint upon his creation which leads to wonder and awe. She then talked about how writing and reading poetry helps us notice God’s thumbprint. Sven Soderland discussed how the biblical writers used beauty and poetry in their writings to convey theological truth (1/3 of the Old Testament is in a “poetic” form!). He discussed the Psalms, Philippians 2:5-11, Colossians 1:15-20, and the Book of Revelations as highly structured beautiful literature that is used for the service of God. We then concluded the conference by reflecting how we can incorporate beauty into our Christian lives and in particular into our worship services.
Ironically (or providentially) then, when I got back to the house that I’m staying at, I met Mark, the nephew of the people that I’m staying with. As we got to talking, I found out that he is part of an Eastern Orthodox Church and that he was just about to leave to go to their Saturday evening Vespers service. So he and I went to the service together – what a rich and beauty-filled service.
Just a quick run-down on what the service looked like. There were a number of icons throughout the building which the worshippers kneeled before, crossed themselves, and then kissed. The congregation (about 10 of us!) stood during the entire service (about 45 minutes) while the priest and the choir sang responsively (again the entire time). The priest would walk through the sanctuary chanting and swinging the censor (a chain and ball with smokey incence in it) at the icons, at the cross, and at the congregation. I participated when I felt it was appropriate and refrained at other times (like when they prayed to Theotokos (Mother of God)).
Anyway, it was an interesting and unexpected way to end a day of discussing beauty, truth, and worship.
I thought I would share a quote from John Chrysostom that we discussed in our Desert Spirituality class today. I thought it to be a very helpful reminder about confession (particularly since we evangelicals don’t like to do too often).
Why are you ashamed, why do you blush, tell me, to admit your sins? You are not speaking to a human being, are you, who might reproach you? You are not confessing to your fellow servant, are you, who might expose you? No, rather to the Master, who protects and cherishes you, to the physician you are showing your wound. He is not unaware, is He, even if you do not confess, since He understands everything even before it is done? So why do you not confess? The sin does not become more burdensome because of your self-accusation, does it? Rather it becomes easier and ligher. For this reason He wishes you to confess, not in order to punish you, but in order to forgive you: not in order that He may learn your sin (how could that be, since He knows already?), but in order that you may learn how great a debt He forgives you. If you do not confess the greatness of the debt, you do not discover the excess of grace. ‘I do not force you,’ He says, ‘to come into the middle of the theater and place many witnesses around you; tell your sin to Me alone in private, so that I may treat your wound and relieve your pain.’” (Chrystostom, John. On Wealth and Poverty. trans. Catharine P. Roth. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1984. p.89)
I love the image of Christ the physician healing our wounds – he is our Doctor, our Physician.
So far in Packer’s Puritan class, we have been outlining a basic structure (historical and theological) from which to understand the Puritans. Much of this has been review (except for the historical aspect). However, I want to ponder briefly (I think we will spend an entire day on this in the future) about what the Puritans taught regarding the Sabbath. In comparison to the Continental Reformers (Luther, Calvin, et al) the Puritans were much more strict (for better or for worse) regarding Sabbath observance (that is, Sabbath rest). Towards the end of yesterday’s lecture, Packer mentioned two quotes from the Puritans about the Sabbath. I think they are worth chewing on, particularly because we have become so careless in our Sabbath preparation and observance.
The first from John Geree (1646). “The Lord’s day he esteemed a divine ordinance, and rest on it necessary so far as it induced to holiness. He was very conscientious in the observance of that day as the market day of the soul.”
And the second from the classic Puritan commentator, Matthew Henry: “The Sabbath was ordained to be a day of holy rest in order that it might be a day of holy work.”
The Sabbath was not a day to do whatever, nor a day to not do nothing but eat roast beef and mashed potatoes and then, while watching the football game, doze into a food-induced coma. Rather, it seems for the Puritan that the Sabbath was a resourceful day. The “market day of the soul,” the day when we accumulate the supplies that our spiritual lives need to live on. Or as Henry put it, we take a holy rest so that we may attend to our holy work. The Sabbath is not a passive receptivity, but an active time of work.
The Sabbath is the time (and a space I think) where we intentionally hear God speak through the preaching of his word, encourage our brothers and sisters in the faith, be instructed and instruct one’s family, study God’s word, spend time in self-examination and confession, and so forth. I wonder what this could look like in 2007? What could this look like on a practical level?
I know that I need to frequent the marketplace of the soul more often!
I’ve been reading through the OT in preparation for my OT Theology class in a few weeks. After reading the Pentateuch (the 1st 5 books of the Bible) I was struck by how physical and concrete the Israelite worship services were. If one reads the latter part of Exodus and Leviticus with a bit of imagination (and I think one has to or he will get drown in the abundance of details) he will be able to hear, smell, see, and touch the beauty of worship. Here is just a sampling of the senses. (more…)
Some people simply have the right connections; they know the right people in the right places. They have the best recommendations for jobs, they know who to talk to for free tickets, they always seem to know the owner or manager at the restaurant, they know the right people for the latest scoop on the housing market. They have the right connections. The proverbial saying, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” is a reality for these people. As Christians we have the SUPREME connection in Jesus Christ the Ascended One. (more…)
During the past few months I have been struck time and again on how world-affirming the Scriptures are. I don’t mean the values of the world, for clearly the Bible talks about dying to the world and not being of the world, but I mean the creation itself. The Bible is creation-affirming. I was struck by this again after reading the Resurrection stories and the Ascension stories. (more…)
What type of Christ do we worship? Is it the Christ-child of Bethlehem? The brilliant rabbi of the first century? The suffering servant? The Risen One? Hopefully our answer to these questions is an emphatic “YES!” We worship Jesus and celebrate the various aspects of his ministry through days set aside on our calendars. Christmas – the Christ-child, Good Friday – the suffering servant, and Easter – the Risen One. Some people who are more attuned to the Christian calendar might also know of a season called Epiphany that highlights Jesus’ ministry and teaching. Unfortunately, however, a large segment of the church has all but forgotten a key day and more importantly, the idea that the day reminds us of. That day is Ascension Day.
