Psalm 127

Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
2 It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.

3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children of one’s youth.
5 Blessed is the man
who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

As I read the first two verses, the psalmist is clear in pointing out that a life that is not founded upon Christ is a life that will ultimately lead to ruin and destruction. The echoes of Ecclesiastes seem to ring true here as Solomon, who is the writer of this psalm, understands a Christ-less life to be a meaningless and anxiety-producing/sleep deprived enterprise. How ironic then that the same psalmist who knew this truth all to well allowed his heart to be diverted and carried away by so many false foundations…love, power, strength, respect, to name a few. Of course, the same irony holds true for us, because those of us who have trusted in the gospel of Christ have done the very things that Christ came to set us free from. Praise God for his persistent and persuasive grace that he leads us back to gospel sanity. Praise God that he shows us again and again that he is our Father and all that we need and have is Him.

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.

As I re-read the first two verses, I also think about starting a new church called Grace Hill Community Church. I think about the kind of foundation that is needed to build up Grace Hill and of course, it’s in the name. The only strong and sure foundation is the gospel which comes to us through the person and work of Jesus Christ. Any other foundation and its builders labor in vain, which means if we build it on our ethics, we labor in vain. If we build it on our personality, we labor in vain. If we build it on our service to the community, we labor in vain. If we build it on our musical abilities, we labor in vain. If we build it on anything else besides the gospel of Christ, no matter how hard we work, we build in vain. More than anything we want to see this church exist as a faithful testimony and living witness to the goodness of our God, so that those who are lost and alienated from the Father, can come home.

3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.
5 Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

This brings me to the last three verses, which often wind up being used as a sermon text on Father’s Day, and rightfully so. But let me use children metaphorically here to speak not of physical children, but of spiritual children. The church is a family to be sure, but it is not built through physical children, but by spiritual children. In other words, the church doesn’t grow by natural birth but through spiritual birth. Whereas only parents have the opportunity to produce physical offspring, the whole church is involved in “producing” spiritual offspring. That means that college students, grandparents, single mothers, junior highers and everyone else in between can be involved in seeing the church grow. As a former pastor to single men and women, who often felt “left out” as many of their friends married and had children, this is a marvelous truth that they are in the family of God and are able to “produce” spiritual offspring. The blessing that is on the man who has many children is certainly on the man who has many spiritual children…How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings goodnews, who publishes peace, who brings goodnews of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” (Isaiah 52:7)

Lord build our house in the gospel that we may delight in you and help our city to delight in you as well.

Have you ever had a hard time calling it a day.  The pull of unfinished work ever lure you to burn both ends of the candle?  I confess I sometimes have great difficulty turning off the voice that urges me to work just one more hour.  I was greatly helped by a quote from Prof. David Nelson that Margie Haack included in her Notes From Toad Hall Issue #3 2009 about leaving our work unfinished and calling it a day. Nelson writes

Our theological reflection (in the sense of reflection upon God) should lead us to recognize that God himself has not chosen to accomplish everything in one day, one week, month or year.  Not only does God’s creative work occur over time, but His providential work of bringing all things to His good end occurs over millenia.  Since God Himself does not accomplish all his purposes in one day, it seems odd that His people might fret, forsake rest, and live disordered lives to do what God Himself has chosen not to do.  What God could do, He does not, and what we cannot do, we attempt to do, to our own detriment.

Lord willing, you won’t be seeing any more midnight posts on the blog or see me on Facebook because I’ll be where I need to be…asleep!

I was reminded of God’s grace to me as I thought about how thankful I am to be employed as a church planter and that I am able to labor and provide for my family.  I continue to grieve for those who are among the 10% or so in our state who are unemployed right now and are emptying their bank accounts or maxing their credit cards to stay afloat.  Only God is able to take such a frustrating and life-altering situation and turn it into good.  I don’t know about you, but I have always put Labor Day right up their with Columbus Day as holidays that I have given very little thought to.  However, I couldn’t help but be overcome with a sense of gratitude to God for the opportunities, the skills, the talents, the abilities and the resources that enable me to work outside the home and for Denise to work inside the home.  It has given me a new appreciation for Labor Day.  Lord willing even as we grow in appreciation for Labor Day where we honor work, we can grow in appreciation for the Sabbath Day where we honor rest.

I trust that your Labor Day Holiday was enjoyable.  Denise, Jackson and I traveled south to Tennessee to visit some of Denise’s friends and to Mississippi to visit my family for an extended Labor Day weekend.  We were also able to pick up a crib for Anna Sloan, whose birth is just around the corner.  As is our custom, we watched a lot of college football, I played a round a golf with my brothers and we topped it off with pizza, burgers and fish.  It was an enjoyable time yet one that wasn’t without its challenges.  When you bring together four sets of families who view life through different lenses, there is going to be frustration.  Views on politics, TV watching, doctrine, and parenting (just to name a few) varied as much as the weather does here in Springfield.  We were constantly faced with the temptation to forsake the gospel and judge the other families whose worldviews differed from ours.  We struggled to resist the urge to see our views as “right” and everyone else’s as “wrong”…to see ourselves as better parents and to take pride in the choices we have made.  I wish I could tell you that we succeeded but we caught ourselves several times being judgmental and prideful in our thoughts for which we had to repent.  How grateful I am for the gospel of God’s grace as it sanctifies my heart and shows me my ever-increasing need for it.

I was also reminded of God’s grace this weekend as I thought about how thankful I am to be employed as a church planter and that I am able to labor and provide for my family.  I continue to grieve for those who are among the 10% or so in our state who are unemployed right now and are emptying their bank accounts or maxing their credit cards to stay afloat.  Only God is able to take such a frustrating and life-altering situation and turn it into good.  I don’t know about you, but I have always put Labor Day right up their with Columbus Day as holidays that I have given very little thought to.  However, I couldnt’ help but be overcome yesterday with a sense of gratitude to God for the opportunities, the skills, the talents, the abilities and the resources that enable me to work outside the home and for Denise to work inside the home.  It has given me a new appreciation for Labor Day.  Lord willing even as we grow in appreciation for Labor Day where we honor work, we can grow in appreciation for the Sabbath Day where we honor rest.