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Thoughts on Reformational Gladness



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Grace Meditation #15


Thoughts on Reformational Gladness

(From the 5th Pew)

By: Hunter Rhodes

 

Primary Text for Meditation:

 

Proverbs 12:25

 (25) Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down,

but a good word makes him glad.

 

This is my first go at this, although I hope to do more! As a layperson at NPPC, I don’t claim to be a hermeneutical genius. So, as a simple-minded father, I find a lot of peace in the simplicity in the pen of our authors of what we in the church regard as “wisdom literature” - the sacred book of Proverbs among them.

Wisdom literature is characterized by their ability to make big ideas approachably concise for the reader: heavy truths of God made bottom-shelf-accessible to those of us in the church that find beauty in succinctness: no frills - no additives or sweeteners.

 

Here in chapter twelve, King Solomon contrasts anxiety and its chains and weights to a good word and the resulting gladness.

So, on its face, the more I live apart from the good word found in the finished work of the Son (namely His ‘amazing grace’) the more weight I will feel in the form of social pressure, guilt, or anxiety.

 

 

So, the cross road for me here in praying this text comes into view; do I feel the cold steel of a worrisome and weighty cast-iron heart? - or - Do I feel an abiding lightness because I have once again saturated myself “with the washing of the water with the word”? (Eph. 5:26) Has that wonderful mystery once again sunk into and permeated my mind? My new nature in Christ should resonate in harmony with the Spirit of God that convicts me of sin as made plain for me in the pages of scripture and concurrently allows me to see myself rightly as forgiven. As the reformers would say, “Simul Justus et Peccator” or translated from the Latin as “at the same time the justified and a sinner.” When our minds are thrown again against that reality as believers we should feel a real sense of propelling energy and life, thus consequently, peace with God the Father follows if indeed we are truly joined by the Spirit together with the body of Christ and share by faith in Jesus’ own sacrifice made to ransom even me! Truly we are freed to live free of the bondage of even clinical levels of crippling anxiety.

 

Let’s dive in deeper into that “good word” found in this proverb. The Good News of forgiveness and preservation promised by the chief promise keeper should be our source of comfort as Christians. After all, He is steadfast faithfulness in flesh and blood! When we were far off and still dirty and wreaking of a noxious mix of shame and sin, the Father came out sprinting at full tilt - arms open with heaven’s banquet set warm and ready to receive our broken parts by his Spirit.

 

Romans 5:8

 

[8] God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

 

 

2 Corinthians 1:20-22

 

[20] For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. [21] And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, [22] and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

 

 

 

The palpability of this gospel truth should feel like a targeted medicated salve applied to the callus edges of our stubborn hearts - that scandalous gospel of grace will soften us into something usable to the kingdom. Soothing and almost visceral like warm water and honey running down my horse and raspy rebellious throat. Relief! Good news Christian: We don’t have to run the course alone. The freedom we feel as Christians is based on the position of the Son towards the Father as Christ lives eternally to intercede as high priest before the Father on behalf of the elect - having in himself finished the race in perfection when we could not.

 

 

Romans 8:34-35

 

[34] Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. [35] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

 

You can add into that list at the end of this text ‘anxiety’ in the heart of a saint as a kind of “soul-sourced ‘tribulation.’” This anxious spirit is a character trait left over from that insidious old man Jesus came to kill in all of us, but we are called to follow the model of our shepherding captain: and put to death this plaguing worry by bring it back to Jesus our deliverer, and leaning into his victory as our own. At the foot of the cross we glory in his atoning grace! The glory of the cross is to us a memorial of deliverance and spiritual liberation from sins just like this - and in return we are given savory and sweet communion bread wine to the famished inward parts of us that need daily renewal.

 

Colossians 3:5

 

[5] Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

 

 

The trap set by the enemy is to use our anxieties to cause us to think that by our own will anything is within our control. So, when things aren’t going “my way” I tend to get anxious. I worry if God is still watching. In Greensboro? On a Tuesday? At 3:00 in the afternoon when my mind floods with 2-3 trillion “I should have…” regrets. Or in another form when with a flickering wavering faith my heart cries, “God surely is missing something here; did you see that last news headline?!?!” That distress is a metastasizing fleshy tumor of my old nature the Spirit is calling me by the word to “put to death.” Such worry in the flesh is a denial of God’s sovereignty and omnipotence. The answer the Spirit gives when I read of His truth and power in scripture is that God’s not only ordains my successes but my bad days also, and truth be told, in the light of His grace and our future glory, these momentary distresses loose their luster!  Indeed the Spirit is calling me to put to death my unbelief in the form of anxiety. God has satisfied righteousness before the Father on my behalf! I’m a forgiven and adopted son of the Most High God!

 

But unlike Jesus, it’s not enough to say merely, “Get behind me Satan.” …I’m not a prophet nor the son of a prophet - far be it from me to utter such blasphemy towards my solo attempts at self determination. The chains that bind Satan are in the potter’s grip not mine. That was Christ’s duty and achievement in his victory over death and the grave.

 

However, it is my duty now to revel in it much the same as a sports junky or jock would naturally want to play back highlights of his wins or a game day come back victory. The only small difference here is that it’s not our effort that got us on the highlight reel. In fact, we are called sons and daughters as trophies of his grace to save even me! What a concept. In our weakness He is glorified. It’s easy to loose sight of that truth in this maximalist digital age, but the more we run to that truth the more he renews our minds and revives our new fledgling Spirit. Our hapless dependence on the sustaining work of the Spirit is our glory and assurance!

 

Isaiah 2:3-4

 

[3]    …For out of Zion shall go forth the law,

and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

[4] He shall judge between the nations,

and shall decide disputes for many peoples;

and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

and their spears into pruning hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

neither shall they learn war anymore.

 

 

The Father, knowing He gave me the victory, stoops down, stares into my anxieties to whisper in between the lines of scripture, “Son, stop holding onto MY sword. The war is over. Watch the sparks! I’m bashing this bladed bygone bruiser into a garden spade. Now is the time of gladness - you’ve a harvest to reap! ‘Careful while it’s still hot.”

 

 

Renewing of our minds into our true nature both the justified and the sinner should animate us not just out of temporary anxieties but into habits of gospel powered witness in the ways we spend our time and fill our day.

 

The reformers coined the phrase in the 16th century of “Siemper Reformanda”

which translates to “always reforming.” Those men and women made a habit out of throwing their minds back onto the mold of scripture to reshape their thoughts to align with God‘s reality in an effort to escape our sinful proclivities towards self-righteousness. Return to the pages of scripture to read again, and remind our hearts that the King is ruling and reining now at the right hand of the Father, so we don’t have to carry anything that looks like shame again! He’s finished it and put our names on the golden winner’s cup!

 

Friend, take off the weights of self-reliance and lean back into our Father who by his grace gives us the freedom to live and love like Jesus. Jesus modeled perfect union to this truth in his earthly ministry: to bust knuckles with fishermen, break bread with unbelievers, and see our work and responsibilities here on this side of eternity not as a time constraint that yields frustration and anxious thoughts but as an opportunity for passionate and inspiring kingdom advancement before the God of all our days when we again fix our eyes on Jesus!

 

…even on a Tuesday at 3:00

 

In every anxious minute of the day he is still good - Soli Deo Gloria!

 

Amen

 
 
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