Meditations

Living in God’s World

January 18, 2021 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

Mankind is in a constant, but futile, effort to remake this world into something other than what it is. The current madness is trying to make it a world where children are like billiard balls rattling around on a pool table. The world is currently obsessed with the pursuit of absolute individualism. This frees them, the thinking goes, to be whatever they want to be. And so children are persistently told the lie that they can be whatever they want to be.

But mankind doesn’t have the jet propulsion necessary to escape the gravitational force of the way which God created this universe. He made us male and female. He ordained the family into which we are born. He determined the date of our birth.

So here is a son, born into a family of saints. As we baptize this child we’re simply saying about this child what God says about this child: this child belongs to the company of saints, his parents are commanded to raise him to be a mighty man of faith, and he’s called to believe the Gospel which this sacrament declares: repent and be saved. This is how we are to live in the world which God made and which Christ redeemed with His blood.

So welcome covenant child to Jesus Christ…

Get to Work

January 16, 2021 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

Who made work? When you have some hard work to do (like cleaning up your play-dough, or scrubbing jam off your little brothers face, or shoveling snow), it is easy to suspect that some evil villain is the mastermind behind work. How many times have kiddos said to their mom’s instructions to clean their rooms, “I don’t want to?” The reason we don’t like work is not because work is evil, but because our heart is full of sin.

God’s the One who invented work. He gave Adam & Eve a gardening job to do in Eden. Because of their sin, work became a big bummer. It’s only a bummer now because our heart is prone to laziness, or pride, or cheating. But God made work, because He is the great I Am. He never is idle, He is always active. We are supposed to imitate our Creator which means we need to learn to work hard. We do this because God has given you a new heart, He’s forgiven your sins, and has given us this world to make it into a glorious garden castle.

So…get to work.

Arm Yourself

January 12, 2021 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

At the Last Supper, Jesus told his disciples that in the face of the approaching temptations which would arise due to His crucifixion, they should arm themselves spiritually against those temptations. He employed the metaphor of selling your purse, scrip, and other valuables in order to buy a sword for some extreme and approaching danger (Lk. 22:36), to illustrate how they should arm themselves against the imminent temptation. Jesus unapologetically uses the example of self-defense in earthly matters to highlight the greater need for spiritual fortitude against spiritual conflicts. The disciples, as they often did, missed the point. They thought Jesus was calling them to armed conflict then and there (Lk. 22:38).

The turmoil we face certainly raises concerns about preparations which should be made to defend our families. The metaphor Jesus used hits home. If the nation is going to shambles, you might just sell that antique vase which great aunt Martha gave you in order to buy an AR-15 and some ammo. This preparation for self-defense isn’t sinful. It’s godly wisdom.

Self-defense is taught throughout Scripture. Exodus 22:2-3 protects the householder who kills a thief at night; there’s no murder-guilt for defending his castle. Elsewhere, Nehemiah calls the people of God to bear arms while rebuilding Jerusalem because of a clear threat posed by enemies (Neh. 4:13).

You may be asking, “How’s this a preparation to the Lord’s Supper?” In your preparations to defend our liberty, don’t miss Christ’s main point: preparing for turmoil means we should first prepare for temptation. Temptation to charge forward in ungodly haste to shed blood. Temptation to slink back in shameful timidity.

We face a whole host of temptations in normal times. In the midst of this political melee, the panic over the pandemic, the Big Tech overlords flexing their muscle, and the often anemic response of the church we are beset by what seems a greater than normal array of temptations. Temptation to fear man and virus. Temptation to wicked boasting and bluster. Temptation to slink to some flimsy hovel of “safety.” Temptation to rush forward with ungodly crowds. Temptation to gloom and despair. Temptation to soothe our worries in the bottle or on a webpage. These temptations assault us, and Christ invites us to arm ourselves spiritually first and foremost. Indeed, deliver us, O Lord, from evil.

Remember, taking up arms to defend ourselves against tyranny, or fleeing when Jerusalem is surrounded is lawful; but our trust isn’t in weapons. Our trust is in God alone. Only Christ is our true food, but we still buy earthly food. Similarly, we trust Christ alone as our defense; yet we aren’t sinning by making use of lawful means of defending ourselves against wicked men. But don’t miss the first things. Be nourished by Christ first, be built up in faith first. Then, when trouble comes, you’ll stand fast in both spiritual and earthly conflicts.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus…

Stampede or Steadfast

January 11, 2021 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

There’s a story told of a town in Ohio where the entire town started running, helter-skelter, out of town, but no one knew why; only some vague notion that the dam had broken. After everyone realized that they’d simply stampeded out of town for no reason whatsoever, they all, with red-faced embarrassment, headed back to their homes and workplaces.

Men are a herd creature. When they get spooked they stampede. Crowds, when they get moving, are not governable, they’re not going to pause to consider, weigh, or deliberate the arguments for or against their direction. So, what took place in our nation’s Capitol this week––and lest we forget, what took place most of the summer in many of our nation’s most prominent cities––is the result of crowds flowing downhill.

The duty of the Christian is that no matter which direction the crowd is flowing, he must not get swept off his feet. Crowds entice fools to join them. But as Solomon warned his son, the wise man must learn to stand fast in wisdom, no matter how enticing the offer of the sinful crowd is. It isn’t because crowds are innately wrong. Rather, it is because there’s only one crowd which we are called to rush forward with, and that is the great host without number, which surrounds the throne of Christ. We must join with the company of saints to eagerly offer our worship to the Risen Christ.

The reason our nation is fracturing into tribes, breaking the tenuous alliances that held us together, and drawing battle lines is that we have fled from the worship of the triune God, and run to worship various idols. So, don’t join frenzied crowds who aren’t governed by the Spirit of Wisdom. But do not lag behind when it comes to zealously pursuing the worship of God alone.

God Wants You to Fight

January 9, 2021 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

Did you know God wants you to fight? Now He doesn’t want us to fight each other. He doesn’t want us to fight and hurt widows or orphans. But he does want us to fight sin, to fight bad guys, to fight evil in us and around us.

How do we fight evil? Not with swords or guns first (maybe later). We first fight by trusting Jesus, worshipping Him joyfully at church each Sunday, loving our neighbor, and praying daily “thy kingdom come.” That is how God wants us to fight.

Appetite for Christ

January 6, 2021 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

How many temptations await you later today, this week, this year? How many duties do you have to perform: loving your spouse selflessly, parenting your kids patiently, caring for your aging parents faithfully, working your job honestly, and so on? How many adversaries do you have to face?

How do you plan to resist sin and maintain righteousness in all your dealings? When you look at the mountain of challenges you face, where do you turn for sustenance? What do you crave? Do you have an appetite for this meal? Or do you have a hankering for other meals?

The answer to all those questions is that you need the grace which this meal holds forth. You will not be sustained by the stale crumbs of worldly power and prestige. You will not get far perusing your own pockets for the moldy crusts of self-determination.

Your Lord has promised to sustain you and dwell with you. Here in this meal we partake of a visible word of assurance that He dwells in and with you. His Spirit has been poured out upon you. The Father gladly welcomes you here. So what does your appetite say about you? Do you crave this meal, hungering and thirsting for the assurance which God promises in it?

Every other table can only offer fare that will leave you hungering still. Here is true bread. Here is true wine. Here is true sustenance. Here is grace upon grace for all your trials, for all your duties, for all your battles. Here is Christ crucified, risen, ascended. Here is His body broken for you, His blood spilled for you.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus…

The Promiser of Baptism

January 5, 2021 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

Promises are only as good as the one who makes the promise. A politician’s promise is worth about as much as a Zimbabwean $1,000,000,000,000 bill (perhaps an insult to Zimbabwe’s currency). You should be rightly incredulous if you get an email promising they’ll wire you a share of a Thai prince’s inheritance, if you provide your bank account number.

The word of promise is reliable or suspect all depending on the nature of the Promiser. Baptism is a promise, but Who is promising in this sign of baptism? The One who is promising salvation by grace through faith to this child is the King of Israel. His nature is not fickle; His character doesn’t ebb & flow; His purpose doesn’t change with fads; His will isn’t determined by public opinion polls. As Solomon once prayed, “there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant (1 Kng. 8:56).”

He spoke light into being, and it was. He promised a Seed to Eve, and after many years, He was born in Bethlehem. He promised that He’d die & rise again, and He arose triumphant. Christ the Promiser now promises to these parents & their child, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out (Jn. 6:37).”

So welcome covenant child to Jesus Christ…

Courage without Props

January 4, 2021 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

Courage is not being the first to comment, and the last one to leave a Facebook fight (round about 1am). Courage isn’t talking louder than everyone else. It isn’t the mere presence of adrenaline in the midst of a tense situation. Courage has many counterfeits, while cowardice often wears a bold face.

The coward masks his spinelessness with all assortment of props. Protein shakes & workouts. Or an arsenal of guns & ammo. Or an airbrushed Instagram profile with perfect furniture, perfect clothes, perfect food, perfect family, perfect face. But when push comes to shove, the coward’s props all topple over with him.

Scripture defines courage, very simply, as standing strong. This begins in the inner man; but true courage is too big a thing to stay in the heart, it manifests in our actions. To stand fast when everyone else is fleeing takes firmness of will, confidence regardless of circumstance, and determination to remain in the place which you’ve been assigned.

It takes courage for a couple in the midst of a marital rough patch to remain faithful to their vows. It takes courage to not capitulate when a rebellious teenager is trying to exploit loopholes in your household rules. It takes courage for a citizen to swim against the current flowing quickly to national destruction.

So, do you cover your cowardice with all variety of props? Or do you stand firm? When you give in to temptation, you prove (despite all your props) that you’re a coward. But, if you would be a man or woman of courage, you must remain steadfast in obedience to God’s word, with a godly immovability. Some may call it stubbornness, but if you are standing in the spot God assigned you to stand, it goes by another name: courageous obedience.