That Glorious Scandal

"The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone," and "A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense." 
-1Pe 2:7-8 ESV

'Paul’s theology of the cross involves his theology of the resurrection and is simply unintelligible apart from it.'
- Richard Gaffin, The Scandal of the Cross

“The Gospel is ‘the greatest drama ever staged … a terrifying drama of which God is the victim and the hero'"
- Dorothy Sayers, Creed or Chaos, ch. 1

"It was not nails that held Jesus to that wretched cross; it was his unqualified resolution, out of love for his Father, to do the Father's will - and, within that framework, it was his love for sinners like me. He really could not save himself."
- D.A. Carson, Scandalous- The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus, p. 30

"There is no better news for sad men, for distressed, desponding and despairing men, than this - the Savior lives, able still to save and willing to receive you to his tender heart."
- Charles Spurgeon, The Lord is Risen Indeed, Twelve Sermons on the Resurrection, p. 102

The drama of the gospel is a story unlike no other. In this story the hero is not hailed, but mocked. He is not sustained by superhuman powers…in fact, he dies. The accolades originally directed toward him give way to rejection and disdain. After all, heroes are not supposed to become the victim. The Creator succumbs to the malevolence of the creation, and this death comes willingly, not with reluctance. He does not save himself. In fact, it is death that brings life. The gospel, in all of its tragedy and offence, brings glory. Death becomes its own victim. Through the mystery and the glory of the crucifixion and the resurrection every enemy is finally overcome. This is the ultimate scandal and if it has no place of offense with us we’ve not understood it well. There is divine wisdom and human absurdity in the cross and resurrection. Surely God could have done it another way…or not. In these singular events God has revealed the very heart of the gospel. The Son has revealed His heart for His Father. God has revealed His own heart for the world. Because of His love God has inclined His heart for the world. By love God has directed His heart toward His creation. By love God sends the emblem of His love, His own dear Son, to die. By love God raises His Son from the grave. And by love God vanquishes every enemy and removes every obstacle to His love for people like you and me. Our redemption has been accomplished by a glorious scandal.

Today I’m rejoicing with you in the scandal signified by a cross, a cross saturated in gospel love.

-DJM

04/09/2020

Post Tenebras Lux

"Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.” 

- Mark 16:6

“But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.”

- 1 Corinthians 15:20-21

“He alone has made a solid proficiency in the gospel who has been accustomed to continual meditation on the blessed resurrection.” 

- John Calvin, Institutes, III:xxv.I

“The issue (of the resurrection) is non-negotiable for Paul. The consequences of denying Christ’s resurrection are massive – for then Paul’s preaching is mistaken, their faith is vain, their sins remain unforgiven, and those who have died have perished.”
- Thomas Schreiner, Paul, Apostle of God’s Glory in Christ, p. 457

“The resurrection of Christ is the beginning of the new and final world-order, an order described as spiritual and heavenly. It is the dawn of the new creation the start of the eschatological age. In terms of the conceptual framework with which Paul views the whole of history, it is the commencement of the ‘age to come.’” 

- Richard Gaffin, Resurrection and Redemption, pps. 89-90

“Post Tenebras Lux” has often been used as the motto for the Protestant Reformation. In Latin it simply means, “After darkness, light”. It has also been used during the Easter season in association with Good Friday. Even today some Lutheran churches have Good Friday services that they describe as a ‘Tenebras’ service, where reflection is made upon sin that brought darkness. Then the following Easter Sunday is described as “Lux” or light. For the Christian the resurrection is that historically glorious and momentous event when the spell-bound darkness is finally broken by light. The curse is reversed.

In the comprehensiveness of Christ’s redemptive act Puritan John Owen called it the ‘death of death’, and John Calvin called the resurrection, “…the most important article of our faith”(John II:191). The resurrection is no small afterthought or appendage to our theological understanding. It is pivotal. Without the historical and bodily resurrection of Christ we are left without hope, we remain in our sins, our faith is in vain, and those who die face immediate corruption and finality. Many churches that call themselves Christian emphasize the cross and minimize the resurrection. For them it is much easier to believe Jesus was crucified, than that He was resurrected. The historical and corporeal (bodily) resurrection is too much for them. How glad I am for the Resurrection. In it Jesus has became the first to conquer death, sin, hell and the grave, and in His resurrection we are guaranteed the same. And if that weren’t enough, the resurrected and ascended Christ has bestowed the greatest of all gifts to His church in the giving of the Spirit (Acts 2:31-33 and Eph. 4:8). The Resurrection is the light after the darkness of the Cross. May we truly comprehend what has been done, and then rejoice in the resurrection of our Savior.

-       DJM

04/09/2020

Loving Our Unemployed Neighbor

“No one shall take a mill or an upper millstone in pledge, for that would be taking a life in pledge.”

-       Deuteronomy 24:6

‘Thou takest his life to a pledge: that is to say, thou cuttest a poor man’s throat, when thou takest from him those necessary tools with which he gets his living.’

- John Calvin, Sermons on Deuteronomy, pp. 844-845, Banner of Truth, 1987

The Old Testament book of Deuteronomy contains lots of ancient wisdom. Given as different types of law God’s intention was to preserve and protect His people from harm, in addition to setting them apart from other nations and marking them out as His people. These laws were given for their benefit. In the context of chapter 24 there is a list of miscellaneous laws and among them is a brief law regarding making a pledge or a contract. In this example a pledge or contract is never to be made at the expense of jeopardizing the way a person is able to make a living. In other words, if such a pledge is made that results in a breach of contract the contracting party (debtor) would be left without a means of personal support and provision should the debt go into default. In the above example half of the millstone would be taken away and the debtor would be left with no way to grind his flour. He would be plunged into poverty…or even death.

In these days of COVID-19 I think there is something to be learned from this. While the example is not one for one I think there is a principle to be learned from this Old Testament passage. We must be very, very careful in our desire to protect lives from a virus, to not endanger lives in other ways, by removing the ability for a man or woman to provide for his or her family. The Apostle Paul's encouragement to Timothy makes an even more stark pronouncement...to not provide for one's family is tantamount to a denying the faith, even to the point of being an enemy of God (1 Tim. 5:8). For some, the prospect of losing everything has become a stark and potential reality, but consigning them to God's judgment for their inability to do otherwise is unfair and unloving. By governmental edict we have taken their upper millstone and given them no recourse...no way to provide for themselves or their family. 

It seems that those with loudest voice calling for a stop to all business and enterprise are those that continue to be employed, whether they are in government, or academics, ‘essential’ business, or by other income means. We have shut down large segments of the economy with little thought to the eventual and tragic fallout. The command to love our neighbor is comprehensive. We must love our elderly neighbor as well as our unborn neighbor. We must love our wealthy neighbor as well as our unemployed neighbor. This is an all-encompassing command to be wise in executing things like stay-at-home orders, with the necessary and forceful compunction to ask for how long? Keep those in quarantine who are immune-compromised, but allow healthy people to work to survive. To prohibit someone from working is to consign many to inevitable poverty. In these days of open-ended quarantines we must wisely weigh the risks of all parties involved and get our unemployed neighbors back to work as soon as we can. Quarantines are one way of loving our neighbor, and getting them back to work quickly and prudently is another.  

- DJM

4/6/2020

     

The Church Militant

"Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him."
- 2 Timothy 2:3-4

"And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle?"
- 1 Corinthians 14:8

"The Church in the present dispensation is a militant Church, that is, she is called unto, and is actually engaged in, a holy warfare. This does not mean that she must spend her strength in self-destroying internecine struggles, but that she is duty bound to carry on an incessant warfare against the hostile world in every form in which it reveals itself, whether in the Church or outside of it, and against all the spiritual forces of darkness. The church may not spend all her time in prayer and meditation, however necessary and important these may be, nor may she rest her oars in the peaceful enjoyment of her spiritual heritage. She must be engaged with all her might in the battles of her Lord, fighting in a war that is both offensive and defensive."
- Louis Berkof, Systematic Theology, p. 565

Lead on, O King eternal,the day of march has come;

henceforth in fields of conquest, thy tents shall be our home:

through days of preparation

thy grace has made us strong,

and now, O King eternal,we lift our battle song.

Lead on, O King eternal, till sin's fierce war shall cease,

and holiness shall whisper the sweet Amen of peace;

for not with swords loud clashing,

nor roll of stirring drums,

but deeds of love and mercy,the heavenly kingdom comes.

Lead on, O King eternal: we follow not, not with fears;

for gladness breaks like morning

where'er thy face appears.

Thy cross is lifted o'er us; we journey in its light:

the crown awaits the conquest; lead on, O God of might!

-Lead on O King Eternal, Ernest W. Shurtleff, 1888

Dear Friends,

One of the phrases handed to us by our predecessors in the faith describes the Body of Christ as the 'church militant'. Far from being descriptive of the church as a belligerent combatant, this term simply means the church marches to an entirely different set of orders and submits to a different Commanding Officer than the rest of the world. As she engages the battle the church must look and act different than the world around her. She gets her directives for holy warfare from the reigning King. The church cannot be a passive observer of culture or remain indifferent to battles within her walls. Whether we like it or not God has called us to engage in offensive and defensive warfare both inside and outside of the church. We are the church militant and God has called us to faithful engagement. As good soldiers we must ask what our important and necessary roles will be in the church militant.

DJM

A Plea for Life -

'Loving God and loving neighbor are not separate choices. One flows sweetly from the other. Loving my neighbor will always mean a desire to help him or her find the grace of God in all its manifestations. Loving my neighbor will occasionally arrest me, and maybe even require me to help prevent someone from being murdered. Loving God and loving neighbor are never at odds with each other. Those who try to do one at the expense of the other offend both God and neighbor.'

- John Ensor, Innocent Blood - Challenging the Powers of Death with the Gospel of Life, p. 14

'The most fundamental expression of love is care, concern, and protection of human life. The foundational obligation of all government is to protect, sustain, and maintain human life. This is the very reason for government.'

- R.C. Sproul, Abortion, A Rational Look at an Emotional Issue, pp. 87-88

One of the greatest indicators of the church’s commitment to the pro-life cause is whether she will commit herself to becoming dissatisfied with the status quo. Let’s face it; the abortion debate has been around a long time. The destruction of human life far precedes the recent Veritas videos, and yet heretofore the cost to the church has been minimal.  It is one thing, albeit important, to vote for pro-life candidates, and quite another to materially help a young woman with an unwanted pregnancy as she struggles to get on her feet. The pro-life battle comes much closer to home when we invite the stranger into our own living room. To adopt or foster a child is to invest in something far greater than creature comforts, and at the time it's much more difficult to see a return on our investment. It’s a matter of historical record that the early Christians were pro-life, believing that God was the giver of every life. When Roman citizens looked for ways to dispose of unwanted children it was the Christian communities that took them in and raised them as their own. The early church saw the risk and took it. They knew the way of the cross was costly, particularly for their Lord, but they also knew the servant is no greater than the Master.  

As long as the church loves her ease and eschews her discomfort it’s likely the pro-life battle will be consigned to a passive yawn. We’ll soon forget the videos and settle back into the routine. You see…to care is to commit time and resources. To care is to cast comfort to the wind. To care is to make hard choices. And frankly, there is a certain risk to it all, and risk is…well, it’s risky. There is a war in our midst, with real bloodshed for the innocent, and as long as the church is satisfied with where she’s at there will be little light and little salt. We shouldn’t wonder why the world then looks at us with eyes aglaze and yawns.

- DJM

Adapted (1/18/20) from a September 2, 2015 post