In Christ Alone.
Good Morning Friends,
This morning in a very wet Southwest Florida, the frogs are singing to the light of a harvest moon and it reminds me in a strange way that on November 1 our Choir, in which I sing tenor, my wife and daughter sing soprano and son sings base, will be back up for the Getty’s in a free will offering concert at Moorings Presbyterian Church.
The concert will, I hope, be without frogs in our throats and also will reflect a witness that God’s Hymn Book is bigger than any of our denominations; that dogma does not save us but that Jesus does…that as Eugene Peterson puts it in the Message… “God is kind but He is not soft.” One of the songs we will sing is so popular that it was about to be put in the new Presbyterian hymnal until some people took issue with the theology behind the words describing the death of Jesus on the cross satisfying God’s wrath. They wanted to change the lyrics to “the love of God was magnified.” The song is In Christ Alone.
Scripture: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
Romans1:18 (ESV)
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
John 3:36 (ESV)
Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:17-21 (ESV)
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.
John 15:13-14 (NIV)
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20 (NIV)
Message: Let’s do a little review here on the paradoxes in the Bible. Nothing is something. Christ is exalted through humility… we discover strength in weakness…. in giving we receive… we find freedom through servitude… gaining by losing…living by dying…finding by losing…that we are to be in the world but not of it. Now we can add to it that God’s wrath satisfied and God’s greatest love are the same thing. Friends, God loves us through His perfect Grace and Mercy. In reconciling God’s wrath and God’s love it is helpful to understand the difference between judging and being judgmental. It is helpful to understand that our traditions mold our thoughts.Today, we often think and act as though God doesn’t require us to judge any more. Such ideas do not reflect biblical reality. So not everything makes it into the hymnal, but that does not mean we cannot sing them. My sister who has been singing out of a hymnal different from the one I use on Sunday and recently wanted to sing with me one of her favorite hymns and I did not know the lyrics or the tune. Regardless I rejoiced that the song brought her joy. Maybe in heaven, if we do sing, and I hope we do, it will be a new song.
Pray we realize that God’s wrath and God’s love are both needed to deal with sin. Pray we do not try to make God into something that fits our theology. Pray we realize that there are some things that are at odds but not contradictory. Pray we realize that we do not have to know how our cell phones actually work for them to work, any more than we have to know exactly how Jesus’ death on the cross saves us. Pray we realize the importance judging plays in maintaining high moral and doctrinal standards within the church. Pray we have pure motives and deal with the right things for the right reasons. Pray we realize that refusal to judge and unbiblical judgmentalism are both extremes that weaken the church. Pray we realize we can reform our faith by our actions in ways that help us to see mountains moved. Pray the circle be unbroken. Pray for those who live in places where singing about Christ in worship is not legal. Pray we realize the world in which we live helps to form the songs we sing in worship, only if we are allowed to sing. Pray we realize that the event of the cross demonstrates God’s power to rule in two ways…as both a King and also distributively as a servant. Pray we realize that this does not mean we serve two God’s. Pray what we sing is from the heart not the head alone.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 