So, brothers and sisters of this local church, let us live out our faith together, but let us not forget that we have been commissioned to go to the nations, knowing that we are active participants in the Great Commission with our brothers and sisters around the world, and striving together in prayer, praying: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10).
Author Archives: John Clayton
The Heart of a Pastor
Paul writes to the Ephesians, “[Christ] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:11-12). While not a comprehensive list of New Testament church offices, Paul reminds us of God’s chosen men and means of equipping and edifying the Beloved. As they are listed, we may be tempted to think of each as mutually exclusive, but that is not the case, and while this is typically the case, it’s not always the case.
Take Him at His Word
Hope is one of the defining characteristics of the Christian life. It is not worldly wishful thinking but conviction that what God has promised will be fulfilled. Hope takes God at his Word. Christian hope is also future oriented. For example, in the eighth chapter of Romans, Paul explains, “Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (Rom. 8:24-25). Although we have not yet entered the heavenly realm, we know it exists, that it awaits us. Our Lord has promised us the kingdom, given us the guarantee of his Spirit, and is preparing us for glory.
In Accord for God’s Glory
In a choir, a selfish voice creates dissonance. A submitted voice enjoys consonance. If you can hear one voice above the others, a choir sings not as one voice but a dissonant two. But when every individual submits to one another together, a choir produces the beauty of harmony in one voice. Likewise in Christ’s church, who is composed of many yet sings as one, we submit to one another resulting in harmony, living, singing forth, to the glory of One. May we as Christ’s church, as one voice, sing forth beautiful praise to the One who not only gives us life but also lives that we may glorify him forever.
Living Today as Kingdom Children
In love, let us learn to respect the convictions of one another. Some are ready to enjoy all the liberty the gospel gives. Some are not, and “whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. This calls for sanctified patience with one another. As one commentator puts it, “For a Christian not a single decision and action can be good which he does not think he can justify on the ground of his Christian conviction and his liberty before God in Christ.”[4] Or to put it simply, “If the way you live isn’t consistent with what you believe, then it’s wrong” (Rom. 14:23, MSG).
Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing
It will be before the Lord Jesus Christ that each of us will give an account. And in that moment our highly exalted opinions will dissipate like vapors of insignificance. You will not despise your brother’s eating or drinking habits. You will not debate his worship calendar. You will not defend your preferences as superior over his. In fact, you will not find fault with your brother but will look to your Savior. And when your mouth opens to give an account, you will speak only of what the Lord has done for and through you, directing all honor and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now Is the Time
And so, through his Word, sacrament, and prayer, our Lord has equipped us for our calling. For our God has not called us to put on anything that he has not already provided and prepared for us. So, let us “Be up and awake to what God is doing! . . . Get out of bed and get dressed! Don’t loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!” (MSG). For, now is the time!
The Debt We Owe
We must not let Jesus’ parable be trapped in its first century context. God consistently puts people in our path, in less dire circumstances, to do good to them, to love them as God has loved us. Like our subjection to the governing authorities, we do good not out of a fear of wrath but out of love for God and our neighbor. For, God is love, and in his love “he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
God-given Government
As a people who fought a revolutionary war and founded a country from it, we seem to have an inherent distrust of government. This hasn’t changed over time but has become a sort of defining characteristic of what it means to be American. There can be, of course, a healthy aspect to this, but there is a darker side too. Consider that in the era in which we live hooligans stormed our Capitol, decent people believe weird conspiracy theories, and respect for civil authority falls diametrically along party lines. Such is the temporal age in which we live, but God’s Word is eternal. So, let us look to God’s Word, not jaded by the temporality of our day, but humbly seeking to know the will of God, and specifically considering our God-given government: our subjection to it, our protection by it, our obligation to it.
Loving (and Living with) Your Neighbor
Just as there is no such thing as a churchless Christian, there’s no such thing as a cloistered one either. We are to be living in the world but not of it, not overcome by evil but overcoming evil with good. For, we who were once slaves to evil have been redeemed by the righteous, atoning sacrifice of our Savior. He of supreme virtue became sin for us that we might stand virtuously before our God and live virtuously for our Lord.
Planter, Pastor, Preacher 