something a little different

Ideally suited for late night chilling, David Sylvian's album Dead Bees On A Cake is really worth a listen.

Not my usual cup of tea - and maybe not yours either - but I found it compelling.

matthew 18 - a change of subject?

In Matthew 18, Jesus speaks of the need for humility (vv.1-5), the need to protect the vulnerable (vv.6-9) and the need to seek, to restore, the erring sheep (vv.10-14). Then he starts speaking about dealing with sin in the church (vv.15-20) and the importance of a forgiving spirit (vv.21-35) - a complete change of subject? A random gathering of teachings that Matthew had to include somewhere but wasn't too sure where to put them?

Sin matters. Those most vulnerable to the sins of others matter. It has to be handled. But that demands humility. And it demands a real concern to win over, to restore, the guilty. And that can only be done by those who are conscious of grace received.

Seems like Matthew knows how to put a gospel together.

resting place: a present reality

In John 14:2 Jesus tells his disciples that there are many dwelling places in his Father's house. It's usually taken to be a reference to heaven and our future hope but the NET notes on that phrase are worth pondering:

Most interpreters have understood the reference to my Father’s house as a reference to heaven, and the dwelling places (μονή) as the permanent residences of believers there. This seems consistent with the vocabulary and the context, where in v. 3 Jesus speaks of coming again to take the disciples to himself. However, the phrase in my Father’s house was used previously in the Fourth Gospel in 2:16 to refer to the temple in Jerusalem. The author in 2:19-22 then reinterpreted the temple as Jesus’ body, which was to be destroyed in death and then rebuilt in resurrection after three days. Even more suggestive is the statement by Jesus in 8:35, “Now the slave does not remain (μένω) in the household forever, but the son remains (μένω) forever.” If in the imagery of the Fourth Gospel the phrase in my Father’s house is ultimately a reference to Jesus’ body, the relationship of μονή to μένω suggests the permanent relationship of the believer to Jesus and the Father as an adopted son who remains in the household forever. In this case the “dwelling place” is “in” Jesus himself, where he is, whether in heaven or on earth. The statement in v. 3, “I will come again and receive you to myself,” then refers not just to the parousia, but also to Jesus’ postresurrection return to the disciples in his glorified state, when by virtue of his death on their behalf they may enter into union with him and with the Father as adopted sons. Needless to say, this bears numerous similarities to Pauline theology, especially the concepts of adoption as sons and being “in Christ” which are prominent in passages like Eph 1. It is also important to note, however, the emphasis in the Fourth Gospel itself on the present reality of eternal life (John 5:24, 7:38-39, etc.) and the possibility of worshiping the Father “in the Spirit and in truth” (John 4:21-24) in the present age. There is a sense in which it is possible to say that the future reality is present now.

thinking out loud 2 - abraham's justification

When was Abraham declared righteous (i.e. justified) by God?

In Romans 4:3, Paul refers to Genesis 15:6 as God's justifying of Abram, on the grounds that he believed God.

In very similar language, James 2:21 tells us that Abraham was considered righteous when he offered Isaac as a sacrifice (Genesis 22).

Traditionally, the debate over these accounts surrounds the means of justification: was it by faith or by works? Of course, James is saying that Abraham's faith worked and Paul would no doubt agree. Saving faith works - and in Genesis 22 Abraham demonstrated saving faith by his works.

All well and good.

But when was Abraham justified? That question has an underlying assumption: justification is a once-for-all declaration by God that someone is in the right with him (on the basis of faith in the work of Jesus). Perhaps the assumption is biblically unwarranted.

It seems clear that James is positioning justification in Genesis 22, Paul in Genesis 15. And as if that wasn't confusing enough, the same Paul can speak of people being justified at the final judgement: in Romans 2:13 he declares that "it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous". When will this justification happen? "This will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares" (Romans 2:16).

So are these additional justifications? Is a person justified more than once? Or is this making justification a process and not an event, such that a person is not ultimately justified until that final declaration?

It's neither of those. It is simply saying that God can, at any point, declare what is true of someone: that, by virtue of faith in Jesus - a faith that demonstrates itself by appropriate works - they are right with him, they are justified.

In Genesis 22, Abraham is (implicitly) declared to be righteous, not on the basis of his earlier belief in God but because of his present demonstration of the same faith. I can be declared to be a justified man today, not because I believed in Jesus some years ago but because it is visibly so of me today that I have faith in him.

What if that demonstration is presently lacking? Was the earlier declaration only provisional? Was it not as definitive as it seemed? This co-opts the debate about once saved, always saved and the solution remains the same. The declaration by God is real; it is not provisional from his perspective. Yet it is correct to say that it is real in that moment. And it does need to be worked-through in my own experience of it.

Someone helpfully suggested that there is a similarity in the multiple attestations that Jesus was God's Son - at his baptism, at his transfiguration, in his resurrection. Those declarations were real and not provisional. Yet they were also 'real in that moment'. They were not made with respect to the past nor to the future (although of course both past & future are in some way involved and implicated). And, very interestingly, the resurrection of Jesus, in which he is declared with power to be the Son of God, is also spoken of as his vindication, his justification.

There might be a big 'So what?' looming at this point. Perhaps the following give some observable outcome to the discussion:

i. If God can declare Abraham justified in the midst of his life (referring to Genesis 22) without any threat to Abraham's confidence in his eternal security within God's covenant, then he can also do so at the end of Abraham's life, again without threat to Abraham's sense of assurance during his life on earth. Each declaration is real, at that point in time. To speak of a final justification on the basis of the whole life lived (Romans 2:13; 2 Cor. 5:10) is not destructive of assurance in the present, because assurance is most-fully rooted elsewhere, in the finished work of Christ. Did the Father's declaration of the sonship of Jesus at his baptism cast a shadow over whether he had been God's Son prior to that event? I think not.

ii. And if God can declare Abraham justified on the basis of works as demonstrative of faith (as in Genesis 22, refracted through James 2:21) without collapsing the whole notion of justification by faith alone, then he can again do so at the end of Abraham's life without subverting the sole efficacy of Christ's saving work. To believe in a final justification on the basis of works is not to believe in works-salvation. The works are only & ever demonstrative.

iii. And if the declaration 'justified' can be made on several occasions (on as many occasions as God himself chooses to examine a person's faith, perhaps - in keeping with Genesis 22:1) then it cannot be said to be a performative declaration; it can only bear witness to what already is. That is, justification is not conversion. It is subsequent to it and declarative of it. It is more akin to the Spirit witnessing to our spirits that we are the children of God - taking & speaking the verdict of 'justified on the basis of Christ's work, as received by a faith that works'. If the declaration can be made on more than one occasion, it cannot be co-terminus with conversion.

hansen: on valuing visitation

A very helpful piece by Colin Hansen on the importance of pastors knowing those to whom they preach and amongst whom they minister.

It doesn't offer a mechanism for ensuring it happens but it's good to be reminded.

hauerwas: on essential liturgy

What do you make of this quote from an interview with Stanley Hauerwas?

It was a bad innovation when the revivalistic structure overtook the church’s primary liturgical form in a way that charismatic preachers replaced the centrality of Eucharist. We’ve suffered from that.

I think he has a point. Sort of.

behaviour: systems & culture

What brings about effective, lasting change in behaviour? In a recent Out Of Ur videocast thingy, Andy Stanley maintains that it isn't great messages, slick events or whatever that changes people but systems (the video is short & he doesn't explain the point beyond making it).

Not long after watching that, I read this post by Matt Perman. Some time previously he made the point that systems trump intentions. I think there's some mileage in that point. But he now adds that culture trumps systems, referencing an article about Obama's response to the recent failures in the security systems of the US to make the point. I think the point is well-made.

Which leads me to pondering: if systems are helpful in creating behaviour (think: godly patterns & structures) yet are not sufficient to secure that behaviour, how can the culture (think: motivation) be impacted in order to bring about genuine transformation?

I think the answer lies in the biblical combination of Word and Spirit. We are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom 12:2) and we are to be transformed into his image with ever increasing glory which comes the Lord, who is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18).

planted

Some mates & me are going to read through Eugene Peterson's seminal work on pastoral vocation, Under the Unpredictable Plant, over these next few weeks. We'll be blogging some random thoughts here.

I've read the book before, some years ago, and have dipped in here & there since then. It's definitely worth another, sustained read. I'm looking forward to the conversation immensely.

raw material

...get it quite clear in your own mind that this state of falling in love is not, in itself, necessarily favourable either to us or to the other side. It is simply an occasion which we and the Enemy are both trying to exploit. Like most of the other things which humans are excited about, such as health and sickness, age and youth, or war and peace, it is, from the point of view of the spiritual life, mainly raw material.

C S Lewis, The Screwtape Letters, Ch.19

on using twitter

This probably isn't a unique-to-me use of Twitter but I find it useful.

I've set my twitter account to private, so no-one can see what I tweet (I'd never tweeted before anyhow...) and now use it to write little notes to myself about pastoral visits, phone calls etc.

What's the benefit? I can write them up 'on the fly' with my iPod Touch and they stay secure (& confidential) for future reference and are easily accessed before a return visit/call.

Simple. Easy. Useful.

on using illustrations

Craig Barnes makes a solemn point that all preachers know they need to think about. Writing about the use of illustrations he comments,

few things can be more subversive to the point of the biblical text than our efforts at illustrating it.

Been there. Done that. Got the t-shirt. Alas.

By way of contrast, he mentions the use of images (noting along the way that "the Bible has very few illustrations, but it is filled with powerful images"). He writes,

Illustrations tell stories that exemplify the point of the text. Images embody the point.

(The Pastor as Minor Poet, pp.129,130)

lamech's prophecy

He says of his son, Noah (by way of explaining his name),

He will comfort us in the labour and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the LORD has cursed. (Genesis 5:29)

An experiential knowledge of the fall and its consequences. The longing for a redeemer.

These were days when people had begun to call upon the name of the LORD (Genesis 4:26b).

methuselah

The oldest man in the Bible. The son of Enoch, who walked with God. The grandfather of Noah, who found favour with God.

He died, aged 969, in the year of the worldwide flood.

Was his death the 'signal' for the time of judgement to begin? Or was he lost in the flood? We're not told. Speculation isn't helpful.

But the possibilities are sobering.

sound advice

How important is sound? How important is the right sound? Check-out this 5-minute talk.

limits & grace

As a minor poet, the pastor doesn't simply tell people to be satisfied with their limited lives but instead helps them to find the joy and sacred purposes to these limits. Some of the things that are missing from the garden are good and certainly desired. When a couple discovers that they cannot have children, when a spouse is buried, or when a terminal disease is discovered, it isn't helpful for the pastor to point to all of the other blessings in a person's life. What is helpful is for the pastor to walk into the sorrow in search of the sufficient grace of God. Anyone who finds more of the steadfast love of God from which we are never separated has found something far greater than that which is missing from the garden. And it is for that grace that we are most grateful.

M Craig Barnes, The Pastor as Minor Poet, pp.96,97

The missing half

Not infrequently, helpful preachers remind us that 'It's not about you'. Such a reproof can often be timely and needed.

Craig Barnes believes the same. But he fills-out the point by adding, 'You are about it.' And so the point is not simply negative; it has another side that is both affirmative and formative of genuine spiritual maturity, by emphasising reconciled identity.

(see The Pastor as Minor Poet p.69)

'These are the generations...'

It's an interesting phrase and it recurs in Genesis a number of times, at 2:4, 5:1, 6:9; 10:1; 11:10; 11:27; 25:12; 25:19; 36:1; 36:9 & 37:2. The NET Bible notes make the observation that

It is always a heading, introducing the subject matter that is to come. From the starting point of the title, the narrative traces the genealogy or the records or the particulars involved.

They further note that,

The subject matter of each תּוֹלְדֹת (tolÿdot, “this is the account of”) section of the book traces a decline or a deterioration through to the next beginning point, and each is thereby a microcosm of the book which begins with divine blessing in the garden, and ends with a coffin in Egypt.

Yet each decline is not without some spark of hope in divine intervention - thank God.

how should life be seen & approached?

The biblical depiction of life begins with the words 'In the beginning God...' And it ends with a magnificent future that is also created by God. Just about everything in between also testifies to the eternal truth that life is made, redeemed, and certainly blessed by God. It's a gift to be received with humility and gratitude, not an achievement. Most of the biblical narrative for our lives can be seen as the unfolding drama of what happens when we do and do not accept our created identity as males and females made in the image of God, for communion with this Creator.

M. Craig Barnes, The Pastor as Minor Poet, Eerdmans, pp.8,9

fierce

I looked at you
with eyes that, I knew,
shone an intensity
that was fierce;

I shook your hand
with a grip that, I knew,
was not simply firm
but fierce, too;

and I looked,
and I gripped,
because I had no words
fierce enough

for your grief,
and our loss.

the great books (xv) - the screwtape letters

I think The Badger might approve of this one (and I do have to confess to being influenced by him in choosing to pursue more Lewis reading).

I hesitated to include it here because this is ostensibly a list of works of fiction. But what is a mild dilemma for me is, fully and truly, the genius of Lewis. His choice to write about the Christian life and, in particular, the struggle of a Christian to overcome temptation and to be, with Paul, wise to the schemes of Satan, by means of letters from a senior devil to his nephew makes his work rise to a greater height than any straightforward work of theology could have attained.

I've quoted on this blog from it before, here & there. Those excerpts - and they could be multiplied many times over - show an acuteness of insight that regularly leaves me speechless with admiration and sombre in reflection. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

And if The Caped Marauder (sorry, The Masked Badger) and I ever get around to posting a list of theological works, I daresay it will appear there too.

Deservedly.