Torrey Gazette is the combined work of everyday Christians blogging on books, family, art, and theology. So pull up a seat and join us. Family Table rules apply. Shouting is totally acceptable.
All in Theology
As stated above, just like all stories, a sermon opens up a world of possibility to God's people. Yet, unlike secular liturgies that call us to guilt or transaction, the Christian sermon tells us that Jesus has already opened up that world of possibility; it is already before us, already amongst us!
My admonition to you all is that you listen and believe in the words you will hear and sing this Sunday in
Like most parts of the liturgy, a weekly recitation of a Creed or confession of faith doesn’t really make sense to our modern selves.
Stop trying to claim the hermeneutical "high ground" with your literal approach. You don't actually do it. To some degree or
As many of you might know, my wife surprised me in multiple ways on father's day this year. I found out I would be a dad (for the third time) via a cryptic card. I also received a book that I have been craving for a long, long time.
Baptism serves as a constant reminder that God chooses that which is weak in the world to shame the strong (1 Cor. 1:27). Whereas the priesthood of the old covenant was available only to a select few based on blood. The waters of baptism open the priesthood to all serving as testament forever that water truly is thicker than blood.
The church cannot afford to sit back and assume that their heavenly citizenship opts them out of reforming/heavenizing the world around them. Because the church truly is the Body of Christ indwelt by the Spirit this means that the church, like its Lord, is the connection between heaven and earth and angels ascend and descend upon her. The church is "a colony of heaven" on earth.
In recognizing the ways in which secular liturgical calendars pull on and shape our desires we can more clearly see the wisdom of embracing the liturgical calendar of the church. Following such a liturgical calendar functions as a counter-formation to the liturgical calendars that wish to shape our desires contrary to the Kingdom of God.
NL2K does not mean we retreat from society and let it go to hell, it means that we seek the best for whatever society we find ourselves in, we live at peace with all men inasmuch as it depends on us, we lead quiet lives, and we seek out the welfare of our neighbors.
One side says that if you believe Satan is not bound then you don’t believe in God’s power and you’re just reading the Bible wrong, the other side says that if you believe Satan is bound then you are just blind to the evils of the world and you don’t read the Bible with a “literal” hermeneutic.
Sports, the movies, the mall, the news cycle, etc. all serve in a liturgical manner; they all shape us and form us in certain ways simply by our exposure to them. When Smith speaks of “liturgies” he’s talking about cultural rituals that tend to shape us in ways that we aren’t necessarily aware of. In other words, liturgies don’t ask for permission to shape the way we think and feel about certain things, they just do it.
In a culture that is hyper concerned with crafting a presentable self through social media, yet finds itself bankrupt when it comes to truthful self-reflection and understanding, learning to remember well and speak our lives truthfully is a vital practice to be relearned.
The Church is the gathering together of a people who are self-conscious pilgrims awaiting their heavenly home (or, it should be). Our home is an eschatological reality, but it is not entirely future.
What is necessary is not the creation of symbols. The symbols (like marriage) are already there. What is necessary is that we have our eyes opened to the Biblical symbolism that pervades our world and that we view the world through that lens rather than the symbol-averse of late-modernity.
The disordered desires of a people result not only in individual sins but ultimately take shape in the world we inhabit. Too often we limit the scope of our sin to our personal relationship with God or (a little better) to the ways our sins affect our closest relationships. Now, while sin certain does have a (powerful) affect on those things, Smith points out the cultural and cosmic effects of sin as well.
As the gospel reaches into the cracks of the fallen, depraved and defeated, the firm foundation of Christ’s kingdom is laid. This is postmillennialism.
Many modern Christians have (rightfully) been so taught the notion that we are not saved by our works that they (wrongly) believe that the only use of the law in the Bible is salvific. Yet the law has many uses that have nothing to do with earning favor with God. The law serves as a gracious guide to our rebellious hearts. The law, particularly in it’s liturgical application, helps direct the people of God toward the way of life that God has for them in Jesus.
As the body of Christ, the church should look to emulate Jesus' model. If Jesus is the resurrection and we are his body then we should look to see the ways in which we can expand the world of the resurrection in the worlds that we inhabit.
Like all parts of the liturgy, music is both unavoidable and massively impactful. Whether we like it or not the words and rhythms we sing as a congregation are shaping us into a teleological people (a people facing a certain kingdom). Considering the weight of this proposition we should be increasingly concerned with which kingdom our songs are pointing us.
