Tuesday, August 09, 2011

I Went To Church On Sunday

I went to church on Sunday.

As we gather together on Sundays, a dual reminder is placed before us: experientially, the struggles of the past week consisting of our progress and setbacks, our advances and reversals, our strengths and weaknesses, our salvation and our continuing sin, and hopefully, the glorious future that awaits us providing we hold fast (to) the Word that was preached to us, 1 Cor 15: 2; the hope that is set before us, Heb 6: 18; ".. the confession of our faith without wavering, for he who promised is faithful." 10:23; the Name of Jesus Christ, Rev 2:3; and what we already have, that is, the gospel of Jesus Christ, even Christ himself, 2:25; 3:1.

It is this latter dimension, the hope that is at once already ours in Christ and that yet awaits us, that enables us to embrace our daily struggles and trials. It assures us of our rest in Christ. This rest is confirmed, amplified and vivified when the gospel is preached to our ears and to our hearts, that is to say, when Christ and his saving work are placarded before our very eyes. For it is when we receive this Word, this gospel that was once handed down unto all the saints, whether audibly through its preaching or palpably in the partaking of the visible Word, the Sacraments, that our faith is strengthened and our hope increased. This assurance of our future heavenly rest already partly but properly received and enjoyed in the here and now, stirs us up unto greater faith that confirms its authenticity in love for the brethren expressed in dutiful, delightful and diligent service, Gal 5:6. Thus, the assurance of our rest has practical implications for Christian living. In this regard, this rest in the finished work of God in Christ establishes and undergirds the need for us to faithfully discharge our kingdom responsibilities.

This rest belongs to God's covenant people who share in the Sabbath rest he instituted and enjoyed upon completion of his work of creation, Gen 2:2. It is none other than the perfect peace of our justification, the consequence of God's reconciling grace to those who believe on Christ, Rom 5:1. It is a rest or a peace that we enter through faith alone in the sinless life, death and resurrection, ascension and return of Jesus Christ, indeed, a rest that is embodied in Christ himself, Eph 2:14. This rest has already broken into this present evil age and is now offered freely by God as his unique gift
"For all the saints who from their labors rest,
Who thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy Name, O Jesus, be for ever blest.
Alleluia! Alleluia!" (From the hymn, "For All the Saints" by William W. How, 1823-1897)


Brothers and sisters, it is in church, God's assembled covenant, worshiping community, as we contemplate the Person and work of Christ and as we celebrate his works and cling to his promise of eternal redemption, that our rest is supremely embraced. The question I must now ask you is simply this: in view of the finished redemptive work of Christ and in view of the certain great promises secured by him for us, "What are you doing the rest of your life? The North, South, East and West of your life. I have only one request of your life. That you spend it all with me (no him!)." (A slight but necessary correction to Alan and Marilyn Bergman's classic ballad, "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?")

I went to church on Sunday to hear and to rejoice in the rest of the story.


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