The 13th of September, which will be here before we know it, is our start in the actual book of Acts though we’ve been prepping for it for a few weeks. Next week we’ll be in Psalm 16 which plays a prominent role in Acts. The week after Ben Colledge is opening the Word.
Today, on this Lord’s Supper Sunday and the following I want to depart from preparation for Acts and even from our typical expository sermon – where we go through a single passage and explain it – and present a topical sermon about the church we aspire to be. It’s a good Lord’s Supper topic because this sacrament – as opposed to baptism – is a communal ritual, where we are told to remember that we are a body together.
Yes, true, we’re Christians individually – we are born from above one at a time as we hear and believe in our heart the gospel of the resurrected Lord. Much of our Christian life is God and I – God alone with us through long, dark nights; God who alone knows our secrets; God whom at our final minute will be all we have to lean on, and all whom we need.
But just as true we are Christians in community. One mark of spiritual maturity is simultaneously affirming both the God and I and the God and we aspects of life in the Spirit.
Affirming the God and we is not Christianity 2.0 – this is basic Christianity. In Romans 12 Paul says that our fitting response to the gospel results in each one of us considering ourselves as members of Christ’s body. Gathered together into a body not under a common history or a common personality, but one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. So from its inception our Chrisitan life should feature the Church.
In the northern Golan Heights some 2000 years ago, Christ vowed, I will build my Church, and the organized powers of hell will not come out on top…though at certain moments it might look pretty bleak.
Since it began in 1968, Somers Baptist Church – and I’m talking about the people gathered in covenant – has been one very small sprig of that great vine of the life in Christ spread throughout the earth. We are a tiny part of what Christ is building. And just as with the Church as a whole, we’ve experienced both the obvious strength of Christ and also passed through times when it looked like we would not prevail.
Yet here we are. And we trust, here is the Spirit. At this communion supper I’d like to convey the Church we’re trying be in the power of the Spirit.
Worship in Spirit and truth is our focus. Another way of saying that is Trinitarian worship that focuses on the Spirit-presented Christ who shows us the Father. Another way of saying that is worship that is Biblical.
In order to work with God in seeking worshipers who worship in Spirit and in truth, we’ll take our Sundays very seriously; we’ll have a well-oiled procedure in proclaiming the gospel to outsiders; we’ll diligently follow up new conversions with 1-1 mentoring; we’ll generally constantly be improving our discipleship process; and we’ll work at partnering with those who are teaching the Bible in other places.
To spell things out:
Sundays are special. Here’s another concept to understand that signals some spiritual maturity. Yes, worship is something that happens 24/7 through the week. And the Sunday gathering is critical to regulating that 24/7 worship. Both of those at once are true.
The Lord’s Day is meant to be given over to meeting with God’s people and thinking on “things above.” “Things above” is not a category that includes only things like prayer and angels… as opposed to carsand naps and work schedules. Rather, acquiring the “things above” mind is about becoming in truth what we are: the temple of God, where heaven meets earth, where the Spirit of the eternal God is directing all our mundane life.
Sunday School/Bible study is geared toward academic knowledge directed at various age groups. Facts. FACTS. Proverbs 24: 3,4 By wisdom a house is built/and by understanding it is established/ by knowledge the rooms are filled/ with all precious and pleasant riches. 2 Peter 3:18 – Grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Yes, it’s true. Knowledge [on its own] puffs up. And love edifies. But love is strengthened by knowledge. The more that I understand God the more I find reasons to love him. The more I understand the created world and history the better equipped I am to skillfully love people. Christians should be sold on the idea of acquiring as much knowledge as possible…not for knowledge’ sake, but in order to serve in commitment to others. We are against ignorance because it is a means of enslavement: enslavement to the present, to unproductivity, to poverty.
If a Christian ever looks down on schooling, it only should be because schooling has become an inefficient way of acquiring knowledge.
Please brothers and sisters: I sometimes get a whiff of this idea coming out of the low evangelical church: I don’t care what my kids learn and know, it’s their heart that’s important. But if they are ignorant, their heart – that is, their reasoning skills and grasp of facts and assumptions – all is in darkness, and one with an ignorant heart isn’t helpful, won’t be productive, is going to be duped.
And – back to Sunday School specifically – without academic knowledge about dates and personages and concepts one will have a hard time reading the Bible properly and thus won’t truly hear from God. What a tragedy!
So, Sunday School, or something like it, is among things that are necessary. We’re currently enjoying a two-month break from Sunday School. During this break consider joining a class starting Sep 13. There’s a nursery. God has blessed this church with a stable of competent and committed teachers. To us much has been given!
Another ingredient of Sundays is teaching and preaching that simply unfolds the text, always with an eye toward a) the biblical storyline, b) practically aligning habits to the Word and, above all, c) the accomplishment/victory in Jesus Christ. Every week we’re pursuing that elusive mythical creature called “35-minute Sermon.”
Why is the preaching the center of the worship service? Because Christians are people who fear the Lord. We’re taking him seriously. We’re reverent.
Hebrews 12:28, 29 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.
Let me explain. Sometimes when we think of reverent worship our mind first goes toward an atmosphere that is hushed or highfalutin or an environment that is fabulous and/or layered with various stimuli that bespeaks a rarified culture.
But I’d like for us to rethink that. What has God given and preserved so that we know him? Not an experience! Not an atmosphere! But a collection of books! So what does it look like, chiefly, to take him seriously? To be reverent toward him. To listen to and read his books, to know his books. To be people of the books. Our first thought about reverence should be “paying skillful attention to his books.”
I’m all for eventually adding onto that skillful attention to the books beautiful buildings filled with great art etc…but only as long as the foundation of good bible reading remains there.
The entire worship service is the high point of the church’s week. Let me try to describe what we’re after. The atmosphere is elevated and reverent, yet without aiming for emotional heaviness nor forced joviality. We want gravity and energy. Reverent, but without anything like austerity. Feel free to shout or murmur “Amen” or “Hallelujah.” Down to earth and practical without going totally casual. Important: “Down to earth” can encompass prepared prayers and manuscripted sermons! We’re not going after a certain passionate look… or a worship look at all. Worship that is prepared but certainly not slick. We absolutely are not trying to market to the audience or in any way flatter or pander the congregation. We’re not trying to get people to come back because they really enjoyed the worship. Let us offer to God acceptable worship…
Let’s talk about music. Singing that the congregation can get behind and let them their voices loose! Hymns, songs, and psalms (Yes, psalms!) written with musical phrasing that is eminently singable, and lyrics that aren’t silly or mawkish. Repeat, sing-ability and solidly beautiful/ beautifully solid lyrics are what we’re after, full stop. Any instruments that support this are appreciated. For congregational singing, not selecting songs fitted for performance (not that there’s anything wrong with performance or songs geared for it). Singing the songs of the departed “church of the firstborn whose names are written in heaven,” that is, hymns from all eras, while also lifting to God this generation’s offerings of music. (Though we’ll dip sparingly into songs of the Victorian era.)
Psalm 33: 2,3: Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre/ make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!/ Sing to him a new song/ play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts. That loud shoutsconfirms that our music should be enthusiastic. But notice the ten strings and new song and skillfully. These words suggest music that has some sophistication, new music that is being written, and lessons and practice.
We should be annoyed with and resist the anti-intellectualism and loafing that is sweeping through Christianity that will end up rendering us impoverished. Instead, we – the Church, especially the scattered Church – need to be training up the next generation of musicians, otherwise the church of the next generation will be pretty anemic. If we don’t care for this kind of foresight and training, it’s a sign that we’ve bought into the anti-intellectualism that insinuates there can be a good product without a process of acquiring skills and hard work.
One way that we resist this is that we sign up our kids for music and then force them to practice. Well, if I force them they’ll recoil from it, plus they won’t like me. Well, no. I’ve heard over and over adults skilled in music say something like My parents forced me to sit down and practice and/or I wanted to quit lessons but they didn’t let me…and I’m so glad. This enforcement is the way for kids. Teachers “force” kids to learn material otherwise they fail and then won’t pass the class. This uninvited rigor is good for kids. Babies are born ignorant, rebellious, dirty savages – we know this. So then why should we look to young lives to provide their own direction? Rather, while they’re young we -ADULTS – provide direction and the discipline and the will for them…out of commitment to their future selves, out of trust that God has gifted them, out of ambition for the Kingdom of God.
This will require a great monetary sacrifice. YES.
Well, not all kids are musically gifted. True, but give all of them a try. You’ll know if it’s a lost cause. By the way, we eventually asked our son, Kai, to drop out of piano because hearing him practice became a family trial. But guess what? Today he tells us that we made a mistake, he wishes he had kept at it.
So, yes, parents, sign up your kids, and force them to practice. If they resent you for that, if they’re allowed to resent you for that, your parenting is out of whack and you need to come get advice from the pastor.
Ok, back from that side trail. The Lord’s Day worship service is supposed to re-calibrate the soul, and no matter what lament it might pass through always resolves in the joy of “God for us in Jesus Christ.” The effect is that on Sundays the gathered church is equipped and encouraged and renewed to be the church scattered during the rest of the week.
Gathering for Lord’s Day worship is also a testimony to ourselves and to the world: The Dead Man is alive. Humanity in him has a future. The creation and cosmos has a future. Gathering for the Lord’s Day is an act of hope! It is also a testimony to the State: the One the State crucified is raised from the dead and raised above all powers. The Beast out of the sea doesn’t win but rather the Lamb. Be warned, O rulers of the earth!
For these and other reasons I encourage you to gather with the Church every Sunday for the rest of your days. Every Sunday. Do you want to bear witness to the Resurrection? Do you want to leaven society with the Kingdom of God? Do you want to see Christ’s authority advanced? Then, address the structures, the structures of space and of time. When you treat Sundays as the Lord’s Day you’re saying that He is over all time and implying that the earth is the Lord’s and all its fullness, the world, and those who dwell therein.
So schedule your travel time around gatherings. Gather with the church while you’re on vacation. When you’re at the campsite head into town and find a local Bible-preaching church, even if you’re a little mangy looking. If you’re in the middle of the wilderness, well, then, on Sunday morning sponge yourself down, make your breakfast a little nicer, and then worship with your family. Reading, singing, offering of money (at least you can discuss what you plan to give), and then a lesson from Scripture.
If youth sports fall on Sunday morning, then don’t do those sports. If a couple events fall on Sunday mornings, your child can tell their coaches they won’t make it because Christ is risen from the dead. Let your child be so fast, so strong, such a boss on the court or the track or the field that your coach regrets scheduling on Sunday and will think twice the next time he schedules things.
A good part of what we’re trying to do with all the teaching through lessons, sermons, and music is to equip everyone so that the word of Christ dwells among us richly, so that we will teach and admonish one another with all wisdom. A big part of corporate teaching is so that away from the formal worship members will speak the word of God to one another. Sunday worship informs and inspires Mon-Sat correspondence with other believers. Just as important as Sunday teaching is the teaching that it feeds throughout the week. More on this another time, I just wanted to state it.
And all of this as we continue in prayer. We need God’s Spirit for all the above, and we know that we receive the Spirit or more of the Spirit’s life and clarity when we ask for it. Luke is at pains to show that the early church prioritized prayer. The Lord’s Day is a great day to pray!
I’d like to try something at least a couple times, though my counselors have questioned whether it’s a good idea. I get the idea both from a concept in Scripture and Jewish tradition. The concept is words found in the first page of the Bible: and evening and morning was the first day…was the second day etc. That is, the day begins in the evening, before we go to sleep.
Here’s what I’d like us to try: Saturday around 4 or 4:30 gather in a home with your family, including extended family, and eat a great meal. If you’re not close by to family, find Christian friends to gather with. Eat the meal on good plates at a slow pace…perhaps have a scripture reading or two mixed in. Poetry too? Then at 6:30 meet with the Church at 40 Battle and have a 45-minute prayer time, including prayer for the morning’s gathering at SBC and our ministry partners’ gatherings and the gathering of the church throughout the world including the persecuted Church. At 7:15 return home and let it be a quiet night with the family…or if you’re single…just you and God in Scripture and prayer. That night think about some Scriptural phrase or Scriptural question or Scriptural comfort you can offer to individual church folks on the morrow: perhaps something that came out of last week’s sermon, perhaps something you read that night.
Go to bed early.
Wake up. Shave. Put on your best clothes, even if that’s clean, pressed blue jeans. Read a psalm and ask again for God to meet with the Church that morning. Get to SS 10-15 minutes early. Throughout the morning, take notes. Always be thinking: how can I myself use this word of scripture in conversation with other Christians?
For the rest of the Sunday – relax! Play pickleball. Hike. Don’t mow the lawn!
Repeat Saturday evening into Sunday morning. And gradually and then all at once take over the world.
AMEN
