Meditations

The Tale is True

April 6, 2021 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

The tale is true. This world is strewn with hints. All the clues are there. We are tipped off each time we plant seeds in the spring and harvest the fruit in the fall; or every time the sun sets, only to rise again the next morning; or when the dark chill of winter gives way to the bright green of April.

When God spoke the words of creation, it was foretold, for pulsing with life something came from dead nothingness. When God put Adam to sleep and made Eve, He was inviting us into the inside scoop that life would come from death. Noah emerging from the ark. Abraham receiving back Isaac on Mt. Moriah. Joseph being raised from Pharaoh’s prison to Pharaoh’s right hand. Moses leading Israel through the Red Sea. Joshua conquering the five kings, hanging them on a tree, and then burying them in a cave. Samson delivering Israel by bringing the temple of Dagon down upon Himself. David’s psalmody tells of many a time where he was near death, and then by God’s deliverance raised to triumph. The prophets all foretold it, some like Jeremiah were cast into pits to be a sign of it. But for those who have been given eyes to see, ears to hear, hearts to understand, there it is in creation and in scripture, plain as day. Life out of death is the story God has been telling us from the very get go.

Now we, those who believe all this in faith, taste life that came from death. Death that will soon be written out of the story. Death whose days are numbered. Death who doesn’t get the last line of the story.

Earthly bread can’t sustain you forever. Medical science can’t keep you alive indefinitely. Here, in this bread & wine which is Christ’s body & blood, you’re offered life out of death. Eternal life is here, bursting through the seams, that you might truly live. So see, hear, & believe the story that God is telling all around us.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus…

Christ is Speaking

April 5, 2021 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

False gods are mute. They can’t express their will, they can’t proclaim their delight in their worshippers, they can’t speak a single word, let alone a performative word of power.

In contrast, the God of Abraham speaks continually. He speaks generally in the words of creation, and leaves every last soul without excuse, for even the stars hum their assigned tune of Triune glory.

But God also speaks to us personally; and in this service in particular, God speaks poignantly to His people. He speaks to us by His Word, through the preacher, and enables us to hear it by giving us ears of faith. To borrow from Pastor Wilson, we must come to this service and keep one eye on the preacher, one eye on the book, and in so doing hear from Christ.

Christ speaks to us here, because He is alive. Christ’s voice is heard as we admonish one another in psalms, hymns, & spiritual songs. Christ’s words fill this room as the preacher proclaims the Savior’s words of Gospel comfort to us. Christ rejoices over us in the visible words of baptism waters, broken bread, a cup of wine. Christ blesses us as the minister pronounces the closing benediction. Christ walks with us as we go, because His Spirit dwells in us.

We hear Him this morning, because He rose from the grave. The Spirit of the Risen Christ has also raised you from the dead, and so given you ears to hear Christ in His Word and from His gathered body. He lives. He speaks to us. So we must listen. We must obey. We must believe. Don’t turn elsewhere––whether to headlines, social media feeds, celebrity gurus, yoga positions, health experts––for omens of direction or blessing. Listen to Christ, here in His Word in text and in the Word proclaimed, and so receive His life.

Many voices jockey for us to listen to their false doctrines, false promises, false views of the world. They clamor for our attention, demand we listen to their new orthodoxy, insisting that we reject the way God made the world and the resurrection of His Son which took place in the middle of history. We must stop giving ear to these false prophets, and like Elijah of old, we are called to put to death the priests of Baal. God silenced all the gods, by raising Jesus of Nazareth from the grave, confirming that He was indeed both Lord and Christ.

Fellowship Instead of Forsakenness

April 2, 2021 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

We’re gathered here in the midst of a multitude of fellow saints. We are gathered in, rather than scattered; assembled together, rather than cast out. This fellowship with God and each other is ours because the Son of God was forsaken. Although your sin earned desertion, outer darkness, and utter forsakenness, instead it pleased the Father to crush His Son.

He did this so you could be joined together with an innumerable company of saints and angels, and be received into the bright beams of God’s pleasure. As we reflect this evening on Christ’s death, and His cry of holy despair “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?”, remember that it was all done so that you might not be forsaken.

How sweet and awful is this night? Sweet because our sins are washed away, awful because we see the great horror of our sin and the sacrifice greater than our sin which purchased our pardon. By the Spirit, the cross is held forth to us, that we might savor the glory revealed in the horror. God gathers us who were once far off, and brings us and our fellow saints, into the infinite joy of His Triune being.

No Gleaning at This Table

March 23, 2021 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

God made gracious provision for the poor in ancient Israel. The practice of not harvesting the corners of their fields ensured that at harvest time, no one needed to go hungry. Those who were in need, or were sojourning through, would have access to a means of obtaining their daily bread. This practice gave the dignity of work to the poor, as they’d be responsible to come and glean that which the harvesters had left. It also allowed land-owners to spot potential talent for future harvests, and thus a way out of poverty.

While that arrangement is evidence of God’s kindness to all His people, regardless of their various circumstances, it is not how we should view the harvest which is laid upon this table. Some might think that they should be categorized as a sort of second-class citizen of heaven, left to pick up the crumbs of really holy people. You know the ones who pray for 10 hours a day, read the Bible for another 10 hours, and evangelize for 3 hours, before sleeping for one hour…then doing it all over again tomorrow. We might even have a suspicion that others are getting more out of this than we are, that God is somehow playing favorites.

Let me assure you, there are no gleaners at this table. The full harvest is here. It is extended to you, not by your deserving, or by your income bracket, or by your last name, or by your GPA, or by the size of your tithe check. All of Christ is given to you here. From the wisest to the simplest saint, from the eldest to the youngest, we share the full inheritance which God assures to those who look away from their works of righteousness, and turn to Him alone.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus…

Worry Can’t Be Wielded Responsibly

March 22, 2021 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

Jesus tells us explicitly not to worry (Mt. 6:25). But we, in our boundless pride think that just a wee bit of worry is certainly allowable. “If God could only see my situation, He’d understand why my fingernails are in the condition they are,” so our “reasoning” goes.

No matter what you tell yourself, you can’t wield worry responsibly. Worry is a strong magnet, and if you pass it over the shop floor it will collect every last scrap of metal shavings, lost bolt, bent nails, and pieces of twisted metal which are from some inexplicable source. Laying awake at night and fretting over an exam, or a bill, or a meeting is a surefire way to invite other worries to come for a sleep over. But those sleepovers rarely have any sleep.

Worry convinces you that if you indulge in the exercise of fretting, you’ll be able to escape whatever consternation is facing you. Worry tries to supplant what God has commanded you to do: rest on the Lord’s Day, and then cheerfully work your tail off for the next six days. Anxiety, whatever its source, is a black hole of restlessness. It will never bring you peace, it will overwhelm you.

You see, worry is believing the lie that by worrying you can sneak in and grab hold of God’s sovereignty over all things. If you worry enough surely you can sway the events you are brooding over. AW Tozer once said, “no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God.” Yet we all too often, in our worrying and bustling panics, reveal that we hold far too low a view of God. He spun the galaxies into their ordered dance. He breathed life into every living thing, upholding it all by His creative power and word. Yet we think God has overlooked this, that, or the other thing. Worry is a black sin, because it us planting a flag on some slice of God’s creation and thinking that we can assess and manage the situation better than He can. This is rank pride. Especially in the midst of a world that is in an all out panic, fleeing from every breath of wind, God’s people ought to be bastions of Christ’s peace.

Instead, God has told you to cast your cares upon Him in prayer, obey His clear commands regarding your particular circumstances, and walk in faith that whether good or evil comes You are held by Him who holds the scepter of the universe. Trusting in God’s sovereignty is the antidote to the poison of anxiety.

Lust & Blessings

March 15, 2021 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

We can scratch our heads and wonder how one becomes a Epstein, a Bundy, a Hitler, a Capone, or any number of celebrities who die of some drug overdose. How does one become a power hungry tyrant, killing millions? Or a vile lecher scarring scores of women? Or a corrupt billionaire, bilking thousands out of their life-savings? Here’s how…

If you indulge in clicking on that link, or you relish publicly cussing out your employees, or you bet your paycheck on a Vegas long-shot, or you photoshop your profile picture to deceptively improve your appearance, you’re simply habituating yourself to become swollen with unbridled desire. The horse-leech, as Solomon tells us, only knows one word, “Give, give, give.” It is always glutted, but never satisfied. You battle the lust for power, or sexual perversion, or financial glory, or celebrity by resisting it in the small matters. Standing up to your little lusts is how you prepare for resisting great lusts.

All of our little lusts—our lust for a bit more recognition, to have what our neighbors have (or what they show they have on Pinterest), for a bit more control over the people around us, for gratification of physical desires—all our avarice, and corrupt desires are just misguided attempts to get the blessing of God. Lust is the futile attempt to obtain the blessings that only come from diligence, duty, self-denial, and above all, delight in God above all things.

Lust in all its gluttonous designs is resisted by faith. Faith that God is the Source of supreme joy. Faith that obedience to His Word brings true blessing––both earthly and divine. Faith that taking up a cross is how we obtain a crown. Faith that Jesus’ blood has forgiven you of all your selfish lusts, and now calls you to delight in Him by joyful faith & obedience.

The Door and The Table

March 8, 2021 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

You’ll have noticed that we not only practice infant baptism, we also welcome those baptized children to the Lord’s table. Israel’s example warns us of the dangers of covenant presumption. So, we must not neglect to teach, early and often, what these sacraments mean, and, more importantly, how to receive them rightly. In explaining these great mysteries to our children, we’re to take expansive theological glories, and put them in half-pint sized terms.

The image of a family home assists in explaining these sacraments. If you’re not in the family, you aren’t welcome to burst in and plunder the fridge. That’s called trespassin’. You must be invited in through the door. That door is baptism. The door is the only entrance into God’s household.

Once in the house, the most important piece of furniture is the table around which the family feasts. The table is this Supper. This is the family meal of God the Father with His children. Those who are welcomed through the door of Christ, are then freely welcomed at the table of Christ.

While many in the Reformed tradition agree with us as to the scriptural foundation for baptizing infants, they make those children wait in line for 13-18 years at the spiritual equivalent of the DMV before being welcomed to eat at the table. But even a child can see the problem with that practice. Haven’t I come through the door? Then shouldn’t I come to the table?

After all, here’s the meaning of these sacraments. Jesus is the only doorway to fellowship with God. Don’t stay out on the porch. He invites all who hear His voice to come in and dine with Him. Once inside, don’t act like a beggar hoping for scraps. Come joyfully in faith to this feast. For that is how we are to receive these sacraments. We receive them by believing that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the door, and Jesus is the table.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus…

Frail Bonds

March 2, 2021 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

Mankind wants fellowship. But instead of receiving this it in this meal by faith and thus be knit together with Christ and His people, they opt for substitutes. Weak bonding agents of by-laws, contracts, or secret handshakes are selected. This is like trying to build a house using sand instead nails. As you all are smart people you’ve already concluded that this just won’t keep the 2x4s together.

We try to bind ourselves together with sports teams, clubs, Facebook groups about comic book characters, annual family reunions, political parties, and even put lines in the ground to say this is our state. But all of those tethers of loyalty are like webs.

The only thing strong enough to hold mankind together is the Father’s love for His Son which is revealed to us by the power of the Holy Ghost. You can’t hold your life together by putting yourself at the center of it. You can’t hold your family together by maintaining strict conservative values. You can’t hold a nation together by passing good moral laws. The only thing that can hold things together is the One who doesn’t need anything to be held together, nor does He even need to be held together.

Here, in this loaf and cup, we’re shown that God sent His Son to die for you, and the Spirit of God opens your eyes to see it and believe. As you eat it, you partake of God Himself. You partake of all His blessings, and you do so along with all the saints through all history past and all the saints yet unborn.

So taste here true union. Drink here true fellowship. By God’s great love which was shown to us by sending His Son into the world to save sinners, and revealed by the Spirit we are bound together in eternal cords of triune love.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus…