Recently claims have been made in evangelical media that Steve Lawson was not a pastor, elder, or even a member of the local church where he was preaching weekly when he was removed from all ministry due to revelation of an “inappropriate relationship” with a woman who was not his wife. If true, as Michael Grant has pointed out, this is a damning indictment of the (ongoing) problem of celebrity preachers, hired guns, in the evangelical and Reformed world. Men with big names and a large following are platformed by churches and organizations that have no meaningful authority to discipline them. These congregations or parachurch organizations can remove them from teaching positions when disqualifying sin is discovered, but they cannot discipline the unrepentant or disqualified person in a biblical and ecclesiastical way.

We have seen this before. A man commits disqualifying and egregious sin, but because he is not a member, or removes himself from membership in a local, independent church, he cannot be effectively disciplined. How can the church excommunicate someone who is not in communion? They can, and should, mark and avoid those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine (Rom. 16:17) as well as note that person and do not keep company with him (2Thess. 3:14), but they cannot remove him from their fellowship since he is not part of it. The Church exercises discipline over members of the Church (Matt. 18:15-17; 1Cor. 5:9-13).

Some in my own camp of more traditional Presbyterianism will immediately say, “This is why ministers should have accountability to higher courts of authority.” Yes, and amen. But that system only works if the members of it agree to abide by it. If members of that judicatory, in this case a church court, do not bring charges and demand accountability of the offender, then he might as well be independent of its authority. When the good old boy network protects those who are offenders, or seeks to deal with problems by a campaign of gossip and slander rather than transparent and biblical action, the system of justice remains ineffective at addressing sin in the camp.

Church discipline is, at the very least, designed to reclaim the offender (1Cor. 5:5), protect the Church from error and pollution (1Cor. 5:6), and vindicate and manifest the honor of Christ (1Cor. 5:7-8). When a man falls into grievous sin, it is a sin not to discipline him. That should begin with admonishment and rebuke, but if he will not hear the correction of his brethren, he must be dealt with more firmly. To leave him in his sin, uncorrected, is neither loving him nor the Church nor the Savior of the Church, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Steve Lawson was not a guest preacher; he was the regular teacher, the “Lead Preacher,” in a congregation to which he did not belong and to which he had no meaningful accountability. Even a hired gun in organizations that operate downrange have standards they are required to maintain and are subject to formal disciplinary action if they deviate from those protocols. The Church is not a business that simply deals with sin by termination of service. The Church is an organic, covenantal fellowship. Serious sin must be dealt with accordingly, not simply by firing a man from a job but by separating him from the life of the spiritual Body to which he belongs and by which he enjoys union and communion with Christ.

A man is only as accountable as he chooses to be. Our own congregation has seen people avoid discipline by fleeing the church or jurisdiction and seeking refuge elsewhere. It can be difficult to know what to do in these cases—it is easy for people outside the circle of knowledge to sit in judgment of the elders and assume the proper action is obvious—my own comments are not meant as an indictment of the Trinity church elders or those who are seeking to hold Mr. Lawson accountable right now. The point is that accountability requires meaningful connection and submission to authority. If even a member sometimes refuses to participate in or abide by a disciplinary process, how much more difficult (or impossible) is it to hold accountable a non-member who is simply functioning as a temporary, contracted resource, i.e. a hireling.

Churches are to be led and fed by pastors who preach, not preachers who refuse to pastor. It is perfectly appropriate for a church’s leaders to sometimes bring in a guest speaker or teacher who can edify the congregation with an outside perspective, but the ordinary instruction, the weekly and daily nurture of the flock must be carried out by men who are under authority and who are connected to and responsible for the people whom they serve. Shepherd the flock of God which is among you (1Pet. 5:1-4). This not only means that the system of celebrity preachers must be rejected and dismantled but also that churches served by “Lead Pastors” who preach but never shepherd the flock should also mend their ways. If your pastor does not know you, visit you, and pray for you, if he is only a teacher and not a shepherd, then you need to plead with your elders to address an unbiblical and unhealthy system.

The blessings and privileges of Christ are received and enjoyed in connection with the Body of Christ. As St. Cyprian rightly affirmed:

“The spouse of Christ cannot be adulterous; she is uncorrupted and pure. She knows one home; she guards with chaste modesty the sanctity of one couch. She keeps us for God. She appoints the sons whom she has born for the kingdom. Whoever is separated from the Church and is joined to an adulteress, is separated from the promises of the Church; nor can he who forsakes the Church of Christ attain to the rewards of Christ. He is a stranger; he is profane; he is an enemy. He can no longer have God for his Father, who has not the Church for his mother. If any one could escape who was outside the ark of Noah, then he also may escape who shall be outside of the Church.” –Treatise I: On the Unity of the Church 6 (ANF 5.423)

John Calvin echoed the same sentiments by titling the first chapter in Book IV of his Institutes: “OF THE TRUE CHURCH. DUTY OF CULTIVATING UNITY WITH HER, AS THE MOTHER OF ALL THE GODLY,” and observing: “to those to whom he is a Father, the Church must also be a mother” (Institutes IV.1.1). Every believer has a personal relationship with Christ, but no one ever has a private relationship with the Lord. You cannot belong to Christ and be (indefinitely) disconnected from the Body of Christ, the Church. To claim otherwise is to admit that you are an appendage of the Body that has been amputated and lies on the other side of the room. It is possible for a true believer to be separated from the Body for a time, but that is an emergency situation requiring rapid attention and deliberate reattachment.Every man in authority is first, and foremost, a man under authority. Accountability exists not only when there is meaningful connection and responsibility but when that relationship is acknowledged, embraced, and its authority submitted to. A man who only chooses to submit to authority when he finds it convenient is not accountable to authority at all; he is an authority unto himself. It is frightening to be in sin outside of the Body of Christ. The Church deals with erring members as a loving mother correcting a wayward child, but those who are outside God judges (1Cor. 5:13). If the Church will not (or cannot) deal with disobedient Christians, the Lord will, and that, frankly, is a terrifying thought. Lord, keep our hearts humble, and deliver us from evil.

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Many have already seen the news about Steve Lawson who has been removed from ministry after coming as his own accuser for “an inappropriate relationship” with a woman who was, apparently, not his wife. This is both devastating and disgusting. There is no excuse for such wickedness in a minister of the gospel. Those who partner with and shill for the accuser of the brethren will use this to defame and slander the ministries Mr. Lawson has been associated with as well as other traditional and conservative Christians who remain faithful to their wives and Savior. The Lord alone knows the damage that has been done to Mr. Lawson’s family and to the church he has served and what the long-term fallout will be. “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles” because of the sins of God’s people (Rom. 2:24).

The Scriptures warn of the powerful danger of fleshly lust (1Cor. 6:19-20) and admonish Christians not to be presumptuous regarding their own fidelity and purity (1Cor. 10:12). Some will point out that many heroes of the faith have fallen prey to sexual sins, and that is true, but a pastor “must be blameless” (δεῖ οὖν τὸν ἐπίσκοπον ἀνεπίλημπτον εἶναι). A minister may (and in many cases should) lose his ministry due to the kinds of sin he counsels other men for regularly in the church. What is considered only a weakness in a church member may constitute disqualification for a man ordained to the gospel ministry. There is a higher standard for those set apart to represent and serve Christ; there must be. J. C. Ryle said, “The best of men are only men at best,” and that is just as true of every pastor as of every other man in the world.

If we take our eyes off Christ, the result can be devastating, not only for our own soul but to the spiritual well-being of countless others. No one goes to bed a loyal disciple and wakes up as an apostate. No man is faithful to his wife one day only to suddenly become an adulterer the next. Grievous sin arises over time, built upon a series of compromises that are incremental and degenerative. At the same time, one foolish and wicked decision has the power to destroy a lifetime of faithful and fruitful labor. None of us should underestimate our capacity for evil, and none should be careless with the fire and poison that constantly surrounds and seeks to entice the godly.

May God have mercy on those who have been harmed by Mr. Lawson’s sin. May the Savior surround, support, and sustain his family who grieve over a husband and father’s crime. May the Lord comfort, restore, and preserve the congregation that has been betrayed and wounded by their pastor. May the God of grace grant repentance, godly contrition, and lasting change to Mr. Lawson and any others who are involved and implicated in this offense. May the King make his servants wise in the aftermath of this wickedness, that none would take for granted the position they have in Christ, and that all who are growing lax and comfortable with lust would be filled with holy fear and flee to the Lord who alone can deliver us not only from the guilt but also the tyrannical power of our sin.

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The Church has traditionally and historically confessed three purposes or functions for marriage. The WCF, for example, says: “Marriage was ordained for the mutual help of husband and wife, for the increase of mankind with legitimate issue, and of the church with an holy seed; and for preventing of uncleanness” (24.2). We might summarize these three purposes as: procreation, protection, and pleasure, and I want to use these three as an outline for my remarks this afternoon.

Sometimes in God’s providence a couple will be unable to bear children. This may be due to age or physical disability or infertility or similar factors, but it should not ever be simply because the man and woman do not wish to be bothered. Children are a bother, but they are also an heritage of the Lord, a gift of God. The fact that this gift is sometimes inconvenient does not change its fundamental nature. God’s gifts sometimes don’t sleep well at night. They fuss when they are teething. They test the limits of mom and dad’s patience. In fact, God gives us children as a means of sanctification rather than simply for multiplication. When the Lord gives you a gift, you are supposed to say, “Thank you.” You should never say, “No, thank you” or “please give it to someone else.”

God created marriage, in part, so that human beings would have babies. But this was not only so that the human race would continue. God does not mean for us to bear vipers in diapers—he wants a godly seed. That means you must bring your children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Better never to have children than to neglect their spiritual formation. You are not merely raising future citizens. You are raising your own brothers and sisters in Christ. You will spend eternity with these little people, and they will not be little anymore. They will be glorious and glorified worshipers, so love them and lead as those who understand what God is making of them one day.

We are not only formalizing a marriage today; God is creating a new household. Aiden and Rachel, you are no longer independent people. You are becoming one flesh, and that unity is not for yourselves; it is for the glory of God, the growth of the kingdom of Christ, and the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose to redeem and save the world. God will give you children as a gift of his grace, so be thankful for them when they come, and use those gifts well.

Marriage is also for the protection of the man and the woman. The Devil has many tools and enticements with which to lure and subdue the servants of Christ. Sometimes he even manages to use our own marriages against us. But marriage is not meant as a snare; it is more like a mine detector that helps us identify, avoid, and defuse threats along the way. You are to study each other, learn each other, and know each other so deeply and so well that you can sympathize when the other needs sympathy and refuse sympathy when the other needs to toughen up and be strong.

It was not good for man to be alone in the garden. Adam’s singleness was the first thing in all of creation that God said was not good. He needed a helper, someone to walk and work alongside of him, to help him fulfill his mission and ministry. The first world fell into sin and condemnation because Adam and Eve neglected this basic reason for their existence and relationship. Adam did not protect Eve when she was seduced by the serpent, and Eve did not help Adam when she gave him the forbidden fruit and led him to disobey God, even though he knew it was wrong. Both of them neglected their God-given responsibilities, and here we are, making marriages in Wray, CO rather than in the Garden of Eden.

Most people understand how a wife is able to protect her husband from the sexual temptation that is ubiquitous in this world. Aiden, there is nothing that a strange woman —whether in the workplace, on the roadside, or on a computer screen—has to offer in comparison to the delight and satisfaction that a godly wife can offer in your own bed. But you must protect her as well, not only from sexual impurity—though that too—but also from the more common dangers that surround women: the temptation to be vain or to measure her worth by her physical appearance, the appearance of her home, or worldly metrics. She may be threatened by sadness, discouragement, or the lies that the world whispers in her ear rather than the truth and promises God speaks to her heart. Rachel, you must keep Aiden strong and focused so that he can build the kingdom and battle the dragon every day, and Aiden you must keep Rachel happy and content in the way that you love her, praise her, and cleanse her daily with the water of the truth, God’s word.

Finally, marriage is for pleasure, the “mutual help” of the husband and wife. Being married is not always fun, but it can be and, most of the time, it should be. If you are not ever having fun, then something is wrong; you are doing it wrong. God did not bring you together to share misery; he gave you each other to create memories, share happiness, and help one another on the road to glory.

You may not always feel happy. There will be many things that are hard and heart- breaking in the days and years ahead. But you can choose to Rejoice in the Lord, always, and you should. You must. It is your God-given responsibility. The Lord does not ask you to rejoice in the bills, the baby’s colic, the boss’s godlessness, or the bumps and bruises in your own relationship. He commands you to rejoice in Christ, and to do so every day. Who God is, what Christ has done, and what he has promised to those who love him: these truths never change. They are objective, and they form the basis of our joy and hope. You must learn to look beyond the moment, to revel in transcendent joy. The house may burn down, the baby may be hospitalized, and our bank account may be empty, but Jesus died for us and rose again. Therefore we are loved and accepted by God, and the sufferings of this present time are not even worthy of comparison with the glory that awaits.

Aiden and Rachel, we have enough Christians who walk around looking like they were weaned on a dill pickle. We don’t need any more of that. God is calling you to joy today in your life together, just as he is calling you to eternal joy in union with his Son. Our lives are but a vapor, and your marriage may last seven days or seventy-five years, so make the most of it. Do not waste a moment being bitter, resentful, or ungrateful. Many enjoy joking about how miserable their marriage is. Let them be miserable, and heap coals of fire on their heads by being unashamed and unreserved in letting others see how much you enjoy one another. Your brethren should see you smile at one another across the room on Sundays, your neighbors should see you holding hands when you walk around the block, and your children should see you kissing in the kitchen… a lot. Marriage is a gift from God, and it is not wrong to enjoy God’s good gifts. In fact, it would be wrong, and I mean sinful, not to. So have fun, give thanks, and encourage each other, even when you have to do so through tears.

Aiden and Rachel, we love you and thank God for you. We thank God for his grace and mercy in your lives. We thank him for the kind of people you already are, and we are thankful for the kind of people we expect you will continue to become. We thank God for your relationship, and we look forward to seeing its fruitfulness in the years and decades to come. May the Lord richly bless you and continue to bless all of us through you. May your marriage glorify God and be faithful and fruitful in all the purposes for which he has established it: for procreation, protection, and pleasure, now and forever. Amen.

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Worship is a dialogue between God and his people which the Lord initiates and the congregation responds to in reverence, gratitude, and love. God calls, and we come into his presence. He confronts us with his law, and we confess our sins. The Lord pronounces absolution, and we respond joyfully in faith with thanksgiving. He consecrates us by his Word and Spirit, and we receive, embrace, affirm, and obey his revealed will. Yahweh prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies, and we come to the Table as his children, grateful to be seated in a place of honor and to commune with the Holy One. He commissions us to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it by preaching the gospel and discipling the nations by baptizing them in the Triune Name and teaching them to observe all that King Jesus has commanded.

Many Christians show up for church each week and have a very different experience. They may be entirely passive in their attendance, spectators and consumers rather than participants. If they are in a traditional church, the worship may seem more formal than joyful, patterned more by post-war 1950s Americana than the books of Acts and Leviticus. If they are in a big-box evangelical-ish church, the liturgy will consist of three parts recognizable as: Concert, Ted Talk, and TimeShare (fundraising) presentation. In the traditional American church, attendees are spectators; in the contemporary evangelical-ish church, they are consumers; but in the Bible, both OT and NT, worshipers are participants in a sacred act of conversation and communion with God.

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This week I listened to a couple of sermons by a well-known and greatly beloved Presbyterian minister that were a blessing to my soul. It would take a miracle of grace to make me one-tenth the preacher he was, and I could not hope to make one-hundredth of the impact his life and ministry had and continue to have even after his death. But there was one section in his last sermon that struck me powerfully, and not in the way he probably expected or hoped.

Somebody asked me a question a couple of weeks ago. We were talking about different congregations, and I was telling him how much I love [this congregation]. I said, “It’s a fantastic congregation.” He asked me, “How many people in the congregation do you think are really Christians?” I answered: “I don’t know. I can’t read the hearts of people. Only God can do that. I know that everybody who is a member of the church has made an outward profession of faith. So, 100 percent of our people have professed their faith.” He asked, “But how many do you think really mean it?” I said, “I don’t know, 70 percent, 80 percent.” I may be seriously overestimating or underestimating that, but one thing I know for sure is that not everybody in this room is a Christian.

The point this brother was making is good and right and true, in one sense. He was emphasizing that you must be born again. You cannot rely on your church attendance, church membership, or outward acts of religion for your salvation. You must personally trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, and amen. We might paraphrase Paul’s words in Romans 2 and say: He is not a Christian who is one outwardly, nor is baptism that which is merely the outward application of water to the body. He is a Christian who is one inwardly, whose baptism is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter. As the Lord himself warned: Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not [recited the catechism] in Your name, [sung the psalms without instruments] in Your name, and [kept the Sabbath holy with stiff collars, straight-backed chairs, and sour faces] in Your name?’ Yet the Lord will not acknowledge them. We need this kind of preaching from Jesus and Paul in our pulpits today.

Unfortunately, this was an example of a good point being made in an unhelpful (and, arguably, unbiblical) way. It was not expressed in terms of the need for personal faith but in terms of one’s identity as a Christian. When the pastor says, “I don’t know what percentage of this church are actually Christians, but I am sure not all of them are,” he is making a statement that Paul never made.

The church in Corinth was a hot mess of pride, division, doctrinal confusion, and immoral behavior. Their abuse of the Lord’s Supper was so egregious that the apostle said it wasn’t even the Lord’s supper! But listen to the opening lines of the letter.

To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus… eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

(1 Corinthians 1:2-9)

Were all of the members of the church in Corinth Christians? They were sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, recipients of grace and peace from God, servants of our Lord Jesus, eagerly awaiting the coming of the Lord who would confirm them (in salvation) to the end so that they would be found blameless on the day of Christ. But, of course, we can’t know if they are really Christians!

I do not want to sound presumptive, but I know that every member of the congregation I serve is a Christian, truly, objectively, and personally. If you have been baptized, you belong to Christ, have been engrafted into the stock of Israel, made a member of his Body, been given his Holy Spirit, and are called to holiness.

If you are married, then you are a husband (or wife), and you are called to faithfulness in that relationship. We do not say, “We can’t know how many of these married people are really spouses.” All of them are. You may be an unfaithful spouse. You may betray your mate, break your marriage vows, or act hatefully and harmfully to the one you have been called to love. The curses of the marriage covenant may fall upon you for violating that sacred trust, but it is not because you were not really married. It is because you were married and did not live in loyalty to that covenant bond.

The Christian doctrine of sanctification can be summed up by knowing who you are in Christ and acting like it. You have been made a member of Christ, partaker of the Holy Spirit, adopted into the family of God, and given an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. Act like it. Live in reverence, love, faith, and gratitude. Do not neglect or forsake the blessings of that covenant of grace. Be loyal to your covenant God and King.

Knowing whether you are a Christian does not require a gnostic insight into the secret decrees of God. We do not seek that knowledge through a burning in the bosom. We are not required to remain agnostic about who is a Christian or not, hoping only with great reserve that perhaps, in their heart of hearts, they really meant it and so will be found in the secret number of the elect on the last day. We look to the objective work of Christ, the objective promises of God, and the objective ministry of his word in the preaching, sacraments, and obedience of Christ’s Body.

You are a Christian, so act like it: in your marriage, in your parenting and grand-parenting, in your work, in your studies, in your private devotions, in your personal morality, in public and in secret, in your outward acts and in your inward thoughts and desires. Live as a Christian should, by assembling with the Church on the Lord’s Day, confessing your sins and your faith, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord, receiving his pardon and precepts, rejoicing in the means of grace and in the mediatorial work of his Son. Live not in terror but in triumph, not in the fear of judgment but in the holy fear of a son seeking to please his beloved Father and blessed Lord. Live by faith, worship with joy, obey from love, and die in hope. You are a Christian, so live and die like one, resting in the work of the Righteous One and rejoicing in his righteous reward.

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Holy week. “Behold the King comes!” But he rides into Jerusalem not in a chariot or on a charger but on the foal of a donkey. He is lowly and gentle. He is rightly hailed as King, but first he must win the throne. He will win it not by obvious victory but by what seems like defeat. He will enter and plunder the house of Hades from the inside. Giving himself willingly into the jaws of Death, he will subdue the Grim Reaper and make man’s mortal enemy the King’s vanquished slave.

Christ conquers his foes not as the heroes and tyrants of this world do. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God. It is a spiritual conflict, one that cannot be won by swords, bows, and cannon. Faith, humility, prayer, obedience, perseverance, worship: these are the tools of Christ’s conquest. They are the weapons by which Christ prevailed then and his disciples continue to slay their enemies now.

Every Lord’s Day the Church announces yet again that the King has come and is coming again. We proclaim his death in the memorial of the Eucharist. We celebrate his resurrection in our sung prayers and in the assurance of our justification. We receive his word with joy knowing it comes from the Master who rules over all of his and our enemies, who will subdue all of creation someday, the Lord who has become our Savior and who now calls us his friends.

The Jews were not wrong to expect the Messiah to be a King, but they were wrong in how they expected his kingdom to begin and what they expected it to look like. Evangelicals are not wrong to expect that Jesus’ kingdom is otherworldly, but they are wrong in what they often interpret that otherworldliness to mean. There is a political dimension to the kingdom of God, but it is not politics as usual. Christ’s kingdom began with a crown of thorns, not of gold; on a cross, not a throne; and with a procession from the open tomb, not in a splendid palace erected by men. But do not miss the fact that this is a kingdom, the kingdom that will outlast and supersede all the kingdoms of men in this present world. It is ruled by a King who is righteous, powerful, and merciful, a King full of wisdom, truth, and grace. We have never seen another king like Jesus, but one day every true king will bow the knee to their High King, Christ the Lord.

This Lord’s Day is historically celebrated by the Church as Palm Sunday. The crowds that met Jesus as he came into Jerusalem carried palm leaves and laid them, as well as their outer cloaks, on the road, a path made not of red carpet but redemptive-historical symbols and the kind of honor only honest, humble, common men can give. Like the crowd that day, we will shout, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord!” Save us, Lord, for the King has come, the long-awaited Messiah has arrived, and he brings a kingdom of grace and the glory of salvation in his train for the blessing and joy of his people.

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There never seem to be enough hours in the day to get everything done that needs to be done. Most of us have a lot on our to-do list and our wish-to-do list. Those things are not unimportant, even if they may sometimes seem to be. Whether it is a mundane chore or a major project that will revolutionize the world, those daily, weekly, and yearly tasks are a means of Christian fruitfulness that brings glory to our Lord. But the primary work we are made for is the activity we may be most likely to neglect when other duties are pressing upon us. We were made to worship, whatever else we have been gifted and called to do in this world.

Worship is primary. It is the basic human function. Fear God, and keep his commandments, for this is man’s all (Ecc. 12:13). Human beings are literally made to work and pray. As important as the rest of our ordinary labors are—and they are very important—everything flows from and returns to God’s altar. We pray that we may work, and we return from our work to give thanks for what has been done. Rightly understood, all the activities in our lives are an exercise of worship (Rom. 12:1). Our daily activities are not the same as the explicit and formal worship we offer in the hours of prayer: our private devotions, family worship, and the Church’s corporate assemblies. But God is praised, nonetheless. We are to approach all of our tasks with gratitude to God for his mercy and goodness to us and do whatever we do to the glory of his Name.

Nevertheless, when busyness overtakes us, we are most likely to neglect the worshipful aspect of our lives. There is no time for morning prayer and Scripture reading—we have too much to do! We cannot take time to meditate gratefully on God’s gift of our labor—we are too consumed by trying to get it done so that we can move on to something else! Work spills over into the Lord’s Day, we become cranky and resentful, and rather than glorifying God we dishonor him by neglecting that which is of first importance (Lk. 10:41-42) and by working with a selfish and ungrateful attitude.

The Lord’s Day begins the week on the right note, with the proper frame of mind. We work from grace, not for it. Unlike our Jewish fathers prior to the coming of Christ, our week begins with rest rather than culminating in it. The joy and peace of redemption accomplished and applied forms the foundation of our weekly labor. We labor not in messianic anticipation but with the joy of those who belong to the Regeneration. We know that Christ is on his throne, ruling us, defending us, interceding for us, and overcoming all of his and our enemies. We begin the week by worshiping around the throne of our glorious Lord, and as we are sent forth in the benediction and commission so that worship spills out into the world, driving away the darkness and filling creation with the knowledge of the glory of God.

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Christ is the grace of God come into this world, God made Man, given to us, offered for us, reigning over us. Reformed Christians are accustomed to emphasizing the “means of grace,” especially “the word, the sacraments, and prayer.” These are not the only means by which God imparts grace to us and strengthens us. He also does so by Christian fellowship, communion with the Spirit in meditation and solitude, by acts of service, through fighting battles against the world, the Devil, and our own flesh in sanctification. But all of these channels of grace are instruments whereby Christ is communicated to us. It is Christ proclaimed, Christ praised, Christ prayed, Christ obeyed, and Christ enjoyed that strengthens us in the life we have with God, by the Spirit, in Christ.

The means of grace are not pouring a mystical substance into us; they are communicating Christ to us. He comes to us in gospel proclamation and in the forms of water, bread, and wine. We meet him in the prayers and songs of the Church. We see him in the faces and lives of our brothers and sisters who are members of his Body on this earth. We feel his strength as we grow weak in resisting temptation, and even when we do not feel his strong arms, we know by faith that he is there to encourage and support us.

When we talk about the means of grace, we are talking about the ways in which the Holy Spirit brings Christ to us and applies the benefits of his kingly, priestly, and prophetic work. Grace is the milkshake, and the means of grace is the straw by which that sweet goodness gets into our mouth. But grace is not a substance like a milkshake; it is a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are accounted righteous in him. We are becoming righteous through him. We will be fully vindicated in righteousness because of him. “He must increase, and I must decrease.” That is what the means of grace are accomplishing in our lives. They are causing there to be more of Jesus in my life and less of Joel.

There is a mystery to the means of grace that we ought to embrace and celebrate. Exactly how does preaching awaken a sinner dead in trespasses and bring him to new life by the Spirit in Jesus Christ? How does baptism cleanse the penitent believer and seal his regeneration received by sovereign grace alone? How does the Eucharist strengthen our faith and nourish our souls in grace, especially when it is gluten-free communion bread? How can a service of covenant renewal worship make any real difference at all in my relationship with God?

We are not able to explain these things, and if we think we can, it just proves how ignorant we are. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies (1Cor. 8:1). Some Christians think of growth in grace strictly in intellectual and rationalistic terms. The “means of grace” sounds too Catholic to their ears, too superstitious, and so they simply approach the Christian life as a matter of learning and applying information. Others acknowledge the category of the means of grace, but they are inconsistent in how they think about it. “The word, the sacraments, and prayer,” yes, but mainly the word, because we know that the Supper is expendable but the Sermon never is. We may inadvertently elevate the preacher and his wisdom above the ministry of our High Priest and his memorial of grace. The point is not to pit the Table against the Pulpit or debate the relative potency of the Supper versus the Sermon. The point is that both the Sermon and the Supper are a ministry of Christ. He is proclaimed both in the preaching and in the elements. He is eaten by faith with both our ears and also our mouths.

The means of grace are the ways in which Christ comes to us, enters into us, continues to fill us, and finally saves us. The word and water, bread and wine, fellowship and feasting, praises and prayers, celebration and suffering, all become the Spirit’s instruments for proclaiming, applying, and exalting Christ in our hearts. Christ in you is the “hope of glory” (Col. 1:27), and the means of grace are how the Spirit brings our Savior to fill us with hope and, finally, with his glory.

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On a holy day long ago, Ezra the scribe addressed God’s people and said: “This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn nor weep. Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength” (Neh. 8:9-10). I often refer to this passage as a reminder of why churches ought to have donuts after worship and not dill pickles. But there is another part to it, the part that more often gets cross-stitched on pillows and doilies. The joy of Yahweh is your strength. What does that mean? There is a sermon there, or ten, but think about it briefly.

This is a passage I have failed to live up to for most of my life. The longer I read G. K. Chesterton, the more convicted I become over how much I have lacked the joviality of one who knows Jesus. Not that I or anyone else have anything at all to learn from a filthy papist like Chesterton. His cheerfulness is simply self deception and a demonic spirit, as I’ve been assured. If he really knew Christ, he would be sour, depressed, and slightly self righteous like every self-respecting Christian ought to be. But I digress.

I wonder if we realize just how powerful this transcendent, spiritual joy really is and can be? I’m not referring to the sappy and superficial masquerade we sometimes play on Sundays. “How are you doing today?” “I’m blessed,” by which, too often, we may mean, “I’m anxious, angry, and in a foul mood, but I don’t want to talk about it, and I need to sound spiritual so you’ll simply go away.” Other times we are all too free to tell anyone and everyone exactly how we feel, at length, and in great detail, because among our many admirable traits none stands out so greatly as our honesty and transparency.

How is joy a strength? An exegesis of the passage can tell us this and more. Suffice it to say here that the joy of the Lord encompasses joy from God, God’s joy in us, our joy concerning him. This is more than the “joy, joy, joy, joy” I have buried “down in my heart.” Where? Down in my heart, of course, even deeper than my affection for the Book of Church Order and Robert’s Rules. This is the joy that grace and truth bring to us, a joy that transcends sorrow and adversity, a joy that triumphs, the joy that enables us to smile in the face of danger, laugh in the face of opposition, and sing in the hour of death.

When they bury you, what will your friends and family remember about you? I hope all three of the people that attend my funeral remember something more than that he dipped Oreos in coffee and dressed weird. None of them will remember the answers I gave in my theology exam on the floor of Presbytery. They will not recall whether I was an infralapsarian or supralapsarian. Will my children remember the joy I had in Jesus, or will they say that Dad sincerely loved Jesus in spite of how moody, depressed, and melancholy he sometimes was?

If the joy of Yahweh is our strength, is it possible that some of us are 98-lb. weaklings and that the Devil is kicking sand in our faces most days?

What does Christianity look like? I do not mean what doctrinal convictions does orthodox Christianity affirm. I mean what does the Christian faith look like in a Christian. Does it only look like moral uprightness, daily prayer, consistent church-going, temperamental restraint? It does not look like less than any of these, but if that is what Christianity looks like, then it looks a lot like orthodox Judaism, devout Mohammedanism, and Mormonism. But we have a risen Savior.

It is astonishing how many of us seem to disconnect our Christian faith from our emotional countenance. “But the joy of the Lord is not strictly emotional!” some will object. Indeed, that is true. But is it true, therefore, that the joy of Yahweh will have no affect on our emotions and countenance? It seems counter-intuitive that we would be able to identify those whose sins are forgiven, who are filled with the Holy Spirit, and who are bound for everlasting glory by watching for those who look as if they were weaned on a dill pickle.

In this new year, whether you make formal resolutions or not, let us resolve to let the joy of Yahweh more visibly and tangibly strengthen us. Let our children and grandchildren see the earthy yet otherworldly happiness we have in our Savior. Let our brethren see the cheerfulness of knowing the serpent’s servants are being crushed under our feet and that the Dragon’s mortal wound will finally overcome him on the last day. Let us sing as those who believe Christ is our greatest treasure. Every Lord’s Day, eat the fat and drink the sweet (or bitter, if you like your coffee black). Sunday is holy to the Lord. This world has plenty of evil over which we must sorrow, but the joy of the Lord is our strength.

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We all are characters in the story God wrote from creation. Every day of our lives was written in a book before the first one began (Psa. 139:16), and when the Lord judges us, he will do so on the basis of what is written in our life story (Rev. 20:12). Yahweh is the Author, and we are the characters on the stage. This is one of the reasons human beings discover themselves and find strength and wisdom and are so powerfully moved by stories, whether written or acted before us.

Stories have been the means by which human societies have communicated values and virtue since the ancient world. You may immediately think of Homer’s Iliad and The Odyssey, but stories began long before either of those masterpieces. What are cave drawings but pictorial stories which memorialize great battles, hunts, and deeds? My office includes many volumes of theology and philosophy, including a large section on ethics. But truth, goodness, and beauty, including values, virtue, and wisdom, are more powerfully and memorably communicated in the books on the shelves which contain great literature, both history and fiction.

I reread great books and stories every year because they are the works that have proven to be the ones that teach and reinforce the lessons that I need. John MacArthur once expressed consternation at why anyone would ever choose to reread a book. I cannot understand why anyone would ever willingly read a book he knows he would never wish to reread. The difference is explained by why and how a person reads. You could be adequately nourished even if you never tasted the same food twice in your life, but a diet without repetition is a life without tradition and culture.

One of the many reasons we ought to reread great stories is because our lives include many of the same scenes and chapters over and over. You have noticed how great stories reappear in the Scriptures multiple times. Liberal scholars claim this is because these episodes are fictional and mythological, the repetition proves they are there for artistic effect and not as a matter of historical record, never seeming to realize that life is a collection of repetition and that the same events and experiences play out again and again in their own lives and on the pages of human history.

Every week, throughout each year, over many centuries, and now millennia, the Church has done the same things again and again. God calls, cleanses, consecrates, communes, and then commissions his people. The Church confesses her sins, celebrates the Father’s forgiveness, concurs with the revelation of the Word, communes in the Spirit, and continues victoriously to live and die by faith as salt, light, and leaven in the world. Our lives consist not in new things each day but in the same things, over and over. Birth and death. Marriage and funerals. Feasting and fasting. Celebration and sorrow. Triumph and trials. But unlike the pagans who saw life as a cycle, Christians recognize forward momentum in every recurrence. We are not spinning in place but moving along a trajectory toward glory. History is teleological; it has a purpose, a goal, and a glorious end.

One day I will close my favorite books for the last time. There will be a final trip to Mordor and then to the Grey Havens, a last battle against the White Witch, a last step through the door into Aslan’s country. We will not forever travel with Ransom through the heavens to visit distant worlds. Odysseus will return home and stay there, and Christian will pass through the river never to face danger and devils again. Each time I finish one of the great books, I wonder if that will be the last time I get to read it. Do not waste your reading. Life is too short to read much of what passes for literature today.

In a similar way, one day there will be a last Lord’s Day, but of course, it will be only the beginning of the true Lord’s Day, the eternal one, the day we were made for and toward which we have been traveling all along. Do not waste your Sundays. Do not underestimate the value of every occasion of worship in this present world. Yes, we are doing all of the same things again, but it is not meaningless repetition. We are revisiting the great story, the true story, the gospel of God’s Son and our salvation.

The Christ story is the one all other stories are telling us about. Every cave drawing and every Greek epic is a Christ story. Every story in the history of the world is true or false insofar as it reflects, anticipates, and echoes the Creator’s story of the redemption of this world. So enjoy the story once again, as long as you live. Fill your days by meditating on that story of redemption. Come and adore the Author of life and Perfecter of our faith.

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