One More Sabbath Service
Saturday, February 27, 2010 I’m leaving the house soon for Sabbath worship with the smaller of my two churches, the one in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. Planning to preach on Philippians 2.5-11. I’ve wondered if this is out of my own need or because I believe it best for the members. Not an easy question for the heart. It takes time in prayer, study, and visiting the members to know the word God has for each of us day by day, as well as on Sabbath morning.
Too often the preacher’s felt-needs, his spiritual hunger or spiritual drought, dominate his ministry to others; his particular area’s of weakness too often control his mind and heart. They continually spew from his mouth. Only through a daily surrender of myself to the Spirit of God, only by a daily conversion, a rebirth from the flesh to the spirit, am I able to have an abiding, living relationship with Christ.
“Have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus”. The mind of Christ, his humble, self-sacrificing spirit, can be ours “in him”. It is ours together as his body and ours separately as believers alone with God. Knowing the weakness of our flesh as we see ourselves in “Christ crucified”, we will long for and have the spirit of his resurrection. Our obedience is to be the obedience of the cross. It comes out of death and receives the new life of his righteousness. Each day calls us, as Christ calls us, to “take up our cross” and follow him.
Jesus said that unless we do this we cannot be his disciples. That is, only in the daily experience of death and resurrection in him will we be able to follow him in the path of self-denial for the sake of others. Without this daily experience we prefer to be served rather than to serve. Our life will be the working out of our naturally self-centered heart.
The Word of God presents only one solution for the terrible work of the flesh. It is death in Christ. When we are weak enough to count ourselves dead to the world and alive to him we can have the confidence of his own abiding strength in our heart.
I have this one day, this one Sabbath day, ahead of me. I can live it through dying with Christ or I can be dead to the Spirit as I am alive to my selfish need. The choice of faith, as always, remains my own. If I will exercise this faith that he has given me, then I can make Christ my own as he has made me his own. Today I have life and death presented to me by the Word of God. The choice and the privilege of dying to live are mine in Christ.
Reader Comments (2)
I think that this is one of the advantages that denominations following a lectionary have. You preach on the assigned texts whether you want to or not, whether you feel like it or not. Of course there will still be room for interpretation & contextualization.
Hi Jeff....Isn't this a piece of serendipity! At lunch today I was reading out loud to the table from one of your articles reprinted in Lead magazine, the one on a history of SDA attitudes toward beards! We all enjoyed it very much. Evidently my current goatee would not have faired well among some early brethren.
As for the lectionary idea, I prefer the struggle of heart and spirit, whether I like it or not. Though I know Bonhoeffer used a lectionary, not only for preaching, but for personal devotions. It didn't seem to hurt him any.
I do repeat myself too often. A little more order wouldn't go amiss.
Some imagine I lean to the mystical side of things, perhaps because of my theology of paradox in the cross of Christ. For me though, it seems more like mystery than mystical. Surprising perhaps, since my favorite branch of theology is systematics. Just one more paradox to consider :)