holidays

Vigilance During the Holidays

by Ben Zornes · Nov 27, 2023

The holidays are rife with a temptation to let down your guard. Drinking to drunkenness. Lowering entertainment standards. Snapping in irritation at family members. Wandering down an internet rabbit hole of folly, envy, or lust. Being slothful and calling it rest.

As Christians, our celebrations are to be glorious. But the glory of our celebrations doesn’t come from reckless self-indulgence. Rather, the glory only comes from being a forgiven people. And, forgiven people ought to be marked as loving people. The equation which Christ gave us is that those who are forgiven much love much. But love isn’t the mushy slop of subjective feelings. The definition for love is found in the deep ocean of God’s attributes.

The love of God which we are to imitate cannot be divorced from the holiness of God which we receive through Christ by the Spirit who dwells in us. Being forgiven is like getting rid the furniture of sin (the musty couch of envy, the chair of arrogance with a missing leg, the creaky bed-frame of lust, and so on). But a barren house, void of the comfort of lovely furniture and the beauty of attractive decor is not a pleasant place for celebration. Pursuing holiness is how the Spirit works in us to bring into our lives the pleasant furnishings of God’s love.

Holiness is loving what God loves and hating what God hates. This maxim holds true at all times, including our celebrations and holidays. The glory of our jollification comes from being forgiven and being holy by the Spirit’s power in us.

So be vigilant during your celebrations. Don’t put down the sword. Don’t fold your hands in sloth when it comes to vigilantly watching for sin. Don’t leave a chink in your armor. For godly celebration is a lethal weapon in overthrowing the darkness of our age.

Our times of leisure are a blessing from God’s hand, a gift of His grace, and a foretaste of the everlasting peace purchased for us through Christ’s blood. As such, we must not neglect to put on Christ in our times of celebration. We must not forsake our duties of righteousness which God has commanded for us. And we certainly must not toy with our temptations instead of slitting their throats. May God give you vigilance in your merry-making, that you may be a clear and vivid testimony of the glory of His forgiveness and the potency of His holiness in us.

Finally, true rejoicing and celebration only from flows from the knowledge that God is merciful to sinners. This mercy was made manifest in the cross of our Lord Jesus, through whom the world was crucified to you and you to the world. So let all your rejoicing this month be grounded upon this everlasting glory, that your sins, which are scarlet, He has washed whiter than snow.

Traditions as Corporate Habits

by Ben Zornes · Nov 15, 2022

Traditions are like a favorite cardigan. It brings the comfort of familiarity and the warmth of consistency. If it gets lost or torn it is a sorrow to the heart. Along these same lines, however, we’ve all known the child who had a stuffed animal or blankie they held onto for far too long. The freshman who takes lamb-y off to college should have been taught at some point to let it go. Many people keep an iron fist on bedraggled traditions, refusing to let go even though the ends are frayed, the fabric has lost its hue, and everyone else is ready to move on.

As we approach the holidays and you prepare for family gatherings, remember that the traditions we have need to be viewed rightly. Traditions should serve the people, the people must not be slaves of the tradition. If you find yourself pouting that your family got the order wrong on some tradition, and you’re muttering to yourself, “the star goes on the Christmas tree before the egg nog drinking contest,” you are like that freshman who won’t let go of their stuffed animal.

If you hold on to the traditions too tightly you’ll find that you’ve drained them of all enjoyment, leaving only a bitter rind. Now, none of this is to disparage traditions in and of themselves. Too frequently the word “traditions” is used pejoratively.

Traditions are a true earthly comfort & can be of great blessing. Think of them as corporate habits. As with any habit, we must thoughtfully weigh it against the Word of God. And, if it’s a lawful activity, enjoy it, maintain it, and then let it die, let it go when the time comes. Traditions ought to add warmth & color to your joyful fellowship. If the traditions aren’t doing that, it’s time to donate them to the thrift store.

God’s Word commands us to “keep the feast without bitterness or malice”; yet because of our envy and self-conceit we often try to wield family & cultural traditions as a club to beat our family members into alignment with our self-centered power trip. On the other hand, we live in a moment that despises the old ways, spurns our Protestant heritage, and is in rebellion to the principles which made Western Civilization flourish. Our duty in this time is to go about reviving good & godly traditions, as well as, with courageous humility, maintaining those traditions which foster true familial love & fellowship, to the honor and glory of God our Father.

Ingratitude & Idolatry

by Ben Zornes · Nov 21, 2016

Idolatry is the necessary result of ingratitude. We see this very evidently in Romans 1. We are taught that God has revealed himself to mankindâ€“from the very beginningâ€“through the clear evidence of creation, and mankind is therefore without excuse (Rom. 1:20). We are then told of mankind’sÂ proclivity, that:Â “when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkenedÂ (Rom. 1:21).”

Though God had made Himself manifestly evident to mankind, we both refused to glorify God (i.e. rendering to Him the honor, worship & obedience due Him), and we were ungrateful for the two-fold fact that God had shown Himself to us and given us the faculties of understanding and recognizing Him as the only God. We know there is a God, we see His handiwork all around us in creation (i.e. Natural Revelation), and refusing to glorify Him (which, as the confession puts it so well, is our chief end) is nothing more than arch-ingratitude.

God made us wise, sentient, able to perceive Him in His creation, and instead we refused to render Him the proper thankfulness for His good gifts unto us. He gave us eyes and we chose to spite Him andÂ pluck them out. The following two verses points out the profound folly of such disobedience and ingratitude “professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping thingsÂ (Rom. 1:22-23).”

God gave us the gift of wisdom and ability toÂ know which far surpasses the dumb beasts; rather than worship Him, obey Him, and be grateful for His gift of making Himself known to us and making usÂ able to know Him, we chose to debase ourselves and worshipÂ idols in the likeness of things far beneath us, and render worship unto them instead. The irony is, God made man in His image and man is far more like God thanÂ the chimpanzees areÂ like man. Whenever man worships idols he is by necessity also profoundly ungrateful. One would think that we would see the folly of worshipping that which is inferior toÂ us instead of what is infinitely superior toÂ us; but our rebellion is such that we willfully debase ourselves.

This week we set aside a day for a reflection of what we are thankful for; first on our list should be the fact that we are not dumb beasts, and we can actually reflect on what we are thankful for and that this blessing (and all the others) flows from God alone. Thanksgiving is as intrinsic a part of our worship of God, as turkey is an intrinsic part of the Thanksgiving Feast.

holidays

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