Christ, His work, and His word

The Art of Pastoring

A friend of mine (@blakejjohnson) recently asked for any recommendations on pastoral ministry. I looked through my bookshelf and found a few. I found a book I had read several years ago, The Art of Pastoring by David Hansen. I remember thinking it was good, but I don’t remember the details. So, I’m starting to read it again. I don’t think I’m at the point where I can officially recommend it (what does that mean?), but if the rest of the book is as good as the introduction, it looks like it will be helpful:

“By writing this book I am not claiming to have been a good pastor. All I claim - and this seems bold enough to me - is that I have been a pastor. I have failed many times. Many times I have violated my own best precepts of pastoral ministry. As I look back on my ministry I do not see my faithfulness. What I see is God’s faithfulness. My performance has been mixed. God is the one that has been faithful at every point. My faithfulness, to the extent that I have been faithful, has had its roots in God’s faithfulness to the people he has called me to serve” (p. 13).

If you have any recommendations for books on pastoral ministry, pass them my way via twitter - @jimupchurch

The Next Big Thing in Church Services

Just one page into CS Lewis’ “Letters to Malcolm” I was reminded why I like Lewis so much. He’s so readable, sensible, and full of wit.

Here he’s talking about a sort of experimental inconsistency in church services. We might call it, “the next big thing,” or negatively, “the newest fad.” Lewis calls it “novelty.”

“Novelty, simply as such, can have only an entertainment value. And they don’t go to church to be entertained. They go to use the service, or, if you prefer, to enact it. Every service is a structure of acts and words through which we receive a sacrament, or repent, or supplicate, or adore. And it enables us to do these things best - if you like, it “works” best - when, through long familiarity, we don’t have to think about it. As long as you notice, and have to count, the steps, you are not yet dancing but only learning to dance. A good shoe is a shoe you don’t notice. Good reading becomes possible when you need not consciously think about eyes, or light, or print, or spelling. The perfect church service would be one we were almost unaware of; our attention would have been on God.”

“But every novelty prevents this. It fixes our attention on the service itself; and thinking about worship is a different thing from worshipping….”

“There is really some excuse for the man who said, “I wish they’d remember that the charge to Peter was Feed my sheep; not Try experiments on my rats, or even, Teach my performing dogs new tricks.”“

Bonus Twitter Quote: Lewis comments on praying with the saints of all time: “…it is quite different when one brings it into consciousness at an appropriate moment and wills the association of one’s own little twitter with the voice of the great saints and (we hope) our own dear dead. They may drown some of its uglier qualities and set off any tiny value it has.”

Luther's Prayer Guide

In their book on Prayer, (p. 287) Packer and Nystrom point out a guide that Martin Luther used and taught others to use while praying through the Lord’s Prayer. He called it “a garland of four twisted strands.”

1. Celebrate the gracious truths that each clause displays.

2. Thank God for all the good gifts from him of which the clause reminds you.

3. Confess all of your failures, of whatever sort, and take those words seriously as a guide to life.

4. Voice whatever specific petitions the clause might prompt.

Crescendo to Christ

Reading The Christian Ministry by Charles Bridges has been challenging, eye-opening, and encouraging. One recent chapter in particular has been incredibly refreshing… the chapter on “Doctrinal Preaching of the Gospel.” Check out how Bridges crescendos to Christ at the end of this chapter:

“So convince of the all-sufficient righteousness and unsearchable riches of Christ, the immeasurableness of his love, the preciousness of his promises, the fellowship of his sufferings, the power of his resurrection, the beauties of his holiness, the easiness of his yoke, the sweetness of his peace, the joy of his salvation, the hope of his glory - that the hearts of your hearers may burn within them, and they may fly, like doves unto their windows, for shelter and sanctuary into the arms of such a Redeemer, who is able and willing to save to the uttermost those who come unto God by him…”

””Preach Christ Jesus the Lord.” Determine to know nothing among your people, but Christ crucified. Let his name and grace, his spirit and love, triumph in the midst of all your sermons. Let your great end be, to glorify him in the heart, to render him amiable and precious in the eyes of his people, to lead them to him, as a sanctuary to protect them, a propitiation to reconcile them, a treasure to enrich them, a physician to heal them, an advocate to present them and their services to God, as wisdom to counsel them, as righteousness to justify, as sanctification to renew, as redemption to save. Let Christ be the diamond to shine in the bosom of all your sermons.”

What if You Knew How and When You Would Die?

When Jesus was on this earth, He knew the circumstances leading up to His death. He knew how it would happen. He knew that Judas would betray Him into the hands of those who would kill Him. He knew death was near. And He knew what a cruel death He would die.

What would we do if we knew all that? We would try to avoid the pain at all costs. We would try to escape our trials. Or maybe we would become worried and afraid and completely fall apart.

Here’s where Jesus is all together different than us. He knew these things were coming, but He didn’t try to escape the pain. He didn’t try to run away from the beatings. He didn’t try to avoid the crown of thorns place on His head. He didn’t try to escape the cross.

He could have, you know? They were mocking Him. He could have come down and destroyed all of His enemies. But He didn’t. He endured the suffering and pain on that cross willingly. Jesus Himself says that they couldn’t take His life if He didn’t let them: “I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father” (Jn 10:17-18). He faithfully trusted in His Father. Jesus died on the cross so that you could have forgiveness and eternal life.

Because Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead, you do not need to be afraid of death. You do not need to be afraid even though you don’t know what tomorrow brings. You don’t need to be afraid even though life is short and death is certain. If you trust in Jesus, then “you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Col. 3:3).

If you have turned from your own selfishness and trust in Jesus Christ, this promise is for you… this promise is for Jesus’ sheep. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand” (Jn 10:27-29).

Jesus Didn't Pity Himself Either

One more thing about how Jesus went through His trials versus how we go through them: He didn’t have self-pity.

Self-pity is a self-indulgent attitude concerning one’s own difficulties, hardships, etc. Really, it’s just a subtle form of pride in which we think we deserve better and no one sees our value.

Isn’t that exactly our default mode when going through trials?

Yet Jesus didn’t look at His circumstances and feel sorry for Himself. He knew His suffering was coming and yet what did He do? He spent His life for the sake of others. He didn’t try to avoid pain. Rather He relieved the pain of others. And again, He didn’t even pity Himself on the cross, but had pity on those who were killing Him, asking the Father to have mercy on them because of their ignorance.

Because Christ endured suffering, died on the cross for you, and rose from the dead, you can endure suffering. You can endure it because Christ is your all-satisfying treasure. Not even comfort can compare with that. But what’s more, you have been freed to look outside yourself to others who are hurting. You have been freed to have compassion on others because you don’t need to pity yourself.

Christ Went Through Trials Too

The truth is we’re weak. And while our weaknesses may not show up when life is good, all too often they are clear when we’re going through trials. We may whine and complain. We ask “Why would God allow this?” We might say “I don’t deserve this pain!” We’re tempted to stop praying, stop worshiping, stop reading, stop trusting God.

Yet in Jesus’ trial He didn’t doubt His Father, but perfectly trusted Him and prayed to Him. He didn’t sin in anger, but He waited patiently in silence. He didn’t curse. Instead, He poured out blessings, saying, “Father forgive them for the don’t know what they’re doing” (Lk 23:34). And He didn’t go after or worship other gods. Instead, He offered the perfect sacrifice… His own blood… His own life on the cross. Anyone who now repents of his sin and trusts in Jesus will be saved. Because Jesus took the bad He didn’t deserve, we can get the good that we don’t deserve.

Jesus is the only hope you have to endure this trial. He gave up peace so you could have it. He gave up comfort so you could have it. He gave up His life so you could have eternal life. Look to Jesus in your trial. Christ alone makes us live in safety.

4 Be angry, and do not sin;
ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah
5 Offer right sacrifices,
and put your trust in the Lord.

6 There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?
Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!”
7 You have put more joy in my heart
than they have when their grain and wine abound.

8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep;
for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. (Psalm 4:4-8)

God Knows Your Days

“I remember well the day when I sat down and calculated the days that my own firstborn child had lived: a mere 8,175 days until a car crash on the way to work ended Sheri’s life as well as that of her own unborn child. At age seven, Sheri had completed nearly a third of her lifetime - and God knew. He had counted the days. When Sheri danced at her senior prom, she had completed more than three quarters of it - and God knew. He had counted the days. At college graduation, she had completed all but seventy-one days. God had already counted them. I am grateful that those counted days were in God’s knowledge, not mine. It is comforting to know that the length of Sheri’s life did not somehow escape the knowledge and the power of God, that her life (far too short by human measure), continues to this day in his presence. God the Creator shapes - conceives, constructs, connects, controls - all that he brings into any mode of being, and this shaping is his omnipotence in action.” (Carolyn Nystrom in Praying)

“In your book were written, everyone of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them.” (Psalm 139: 16)