Michael Gorman on Paul in one sentence

Paul in one sentence:

Paul preached, and then explained in various pastoral, community-forming letters, 

a narrative, apocalyptic, theopolitical gospel of God’s shocking faithfulness and grace, 

(1) in continuity with the story of Israel and 

(2) in distinction to the imperial gospel of Rome (and analogous powers), 

that was centered on God’s crucified and exalted Messiah Jesus, 

whose incarnation, life, and death by crucifixion were validated and vindicated by God in his resurrection and exaltation as Lord, 

which inaugurated the new age or new creation, 

in which all members of this diverse but consistently covenantally dysfunctional human race who respond in self-abandoning and self-committing faith thereby participate in Christ’s death and resurrection and are 

(1) justified, or restored to right covenant relations with God and with others, and adopted into God’s family; 

(2) incorporated into a particular manifestation of Christ the Lord’s body on earth, the church, 

which is an alternative community to the status-quo human communities committed to and governed by Caesar (and analogous rulers) and by values contrary to the gospel; and 

(3) infused both individually and corporately by the Spirit of God’s Son so that they may lead ‘bifocal’ lives, 

focused both back on Christ’s first coming and ahead to his second, 

consisting of Christlike, cruciform 

(1) faith(fulness) and 

(2) hope toward God and 

(3) love toward both neighbors and enemies (a love marked by peaceableness and hospitality), 

thereby bearing witness in word and deed to the one true God and the Lordship of Christ, and 

participating by the power of the Holy Spirit in God’s mission of reconciliation and restorative justice in Christ, 

even at the risk of suffering and death, 

all in joyful anticipation of 

(1) the return of Christ, 

(2) the resurrection of the dead to eternal life, and 

(3) the renewal of the entire creation.

Gorman, Michael J.. Apostle of the Crucified Lord: A Theological Introduction to Paul and His Letters (p. 183). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition. 

(bolding mine)

Matthean creeds and confessions

 In my personal Bible reading, I'm journaling through the Gospel of Matthew. Every morning, I copy a pericope (short section) and then write a summary explanation, application, and a response in the form of a prayer or action item. Last night, since I've been wrestling with the current evangelical understanding of the gospel, and exploring liturgical renewal, I asked ChatGPT to help me create some creeds and confessions based on Matthew. 

The results were eye-opening -- there is more focus on the continuing story of God with Israel according to the scriptures, continued with the church, bringing in his kingdom, and there is more on our part in continually repenting of hypocrisy and giving up everything to take hold of Jesus' mercy and join him in his covenant community. 

Things like strict definitions of the trinity and inerrancy of scripture and the timing of the second coming, or passive formulations of receiving grace through faith gave way to an active view of living as Jesus' apprentices. 

It's not that I disbelieve in receiving grace through faith, but I believe that our current American conception of this takes an overly passive (lazy) and transactional understanding of some of Paul's words, and uses them to misinterpret the rest of scripture, when we should actually understand each biblical writer on their own terms to fill out the whole picture, which, as Michael Gorman, Matthew Bates, and Volker Rabens argue, is one of active trust in union with Christ, leading to bodily expressions of allegiance in daily worship and ethical living, with a growing understanding that this trust and obedience is a response to God's gift of kindness, and that our growth in trust-obedience, though it takes all our striving, arises out of that union and our union with the saints.

May more and more congregations submit their traditions to the words of scripture, not only their favorite verses, but the favorite themes of each of the biblical writers in turn, and see their faith renewed.

• The Matthean Declaration of Faith revises the Evergreen Bible Church declaration of faith using only content found in the Gospel of Matthew.
• The creed, and a shorter call-and-response version, were generated based on this, for congregational recitation.
• The Confession and Renewal Commitment fills the style and structure of the prayers of confession in Ezra 9 and Nehemiah 9 with the content of Matthew's Gospel. (I got the inspiration from Mark Boda's Return to Me: A Biblical Theology of Repentance, as well as my experience in Anglican churches.)

Take a minute to browse through the four liturgies below, and then ponder the questions at the end.

1. The Matthean Declaration of Faith

We believe the Scriptures reveal the Word of God
We believe that what is written in the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms bears witness to the purposes of God, and that Jesus fulfills all that was written. We receive the Scriptures as true, enduring, and authoritative for the people of God. (Matt. 5:17–19; Matt. 22:29; Matt. 26:54–56)

We believe in the one true God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
We believe in God, the Creator and Lord of heaven and earth, who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We confess the name into which Jesus commands His disciples to be baptized: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Matt. 5:45; 11:25–27; 28:19)

We believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God
We believe that Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit, is Immanuel—God with us. He is the promised Messiah, the Son of David and Son of Abraham, who proclaims the kingdom of heaven, heals the sick, forgives sins, and lays down His life as a ransom for many. (Matt. 1:18–23; 16:16; 20:28; 26:28)

We believe that the Spirit of God is present and active
We believe that the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus at His baptism, led Him in His mission, and empowers the people of God. Blasphemy against the Spirit is the gravest of sins. (Matt. 3:16; 4:1; 12:28–32)

We believe that all people have sinned and must repent
We believe that all must repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Without repentance, there is no escape from judgment. Jesus calls His followers to turn from evil, seek righteousness, and become perfect as their heavenly Father is perfect. (Matt. 3:2; 4:17; 5:48; 7:13–14)

We believe salvation is granted to those who trust and follow Jesus
We believe that those who come to Jesus, hear His words, and do them will enter the kingdom of heaven. Faithfulness to Jesus—shown in repentance, obedience, and perseverance—is necessary. Those who deny Him before others will be denied before the Father; those who endure to the end will be saved. (Matt. 7:21–27; 10:32–33; 24:13)

We believe in the resurrection of Jesus and the promise of His return
We believe that Jesus was crucified, died, was buried, and rose again on the third day. He is given all authority in heaven and on earth and will return as Judge and King. He will separate the righteous from the wicked, rewarding the faithful with eternal life and casting the lawless into eternal punishment. (Matt. 16:21; 28:5–7; 25:31–46)

We believe in baptism as a sign of repentance and allegiance to Jesus
We believe that baptism is the outward confession of repentance and commitment to follow Jesus. He commands His disciples to baptize all nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. (Matt. 3:11; 3:13–17; 28:19)

We believe in the Lord’s Table as a remembrance of Jesus' covenant
We believe that Jesus instituted a meal with His disciples, giving bread and cup as signs of the new covenant in His blood, for the forgiveness of sins. We partake in remembrance of Him, awaiting the day we shall feast anew with Him in His Father’s kingdom. (Matt. 26:26–29)

2. The Matthean Creed

We believe in God, the Maker of heaven and earth,
the Father who is perfect and merciful.

We believe in Jesus the Christ,
the Son of David, the Son of Abraham,
born of the Virgin by the Holy Spirit,
God with us, the Teacher of truth,
the Healer of the sick,
the Shepherd of the lost.

He called us to repent,
to follow Him,
to take up our cross,
to lose our lives that we might find them.

He was handed over, crucified, and buried,
and on the third day He rose again.

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him.

We believe in the Holy Spirit,
who empowers us to obey all that Jesus commanded.

We believe in baptism into the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

We believe in the forgiveness of sins
through the covenant of His blood.

We believe He will come again
to judge the living and the dead,
to gather the righteous into His kingdom,
and to cast out all evil forever.

Until He comes,
we watch and pray,
we make disciples of all nations,
and we walk the narrow road that leads to life.

Amen.

3. The Matthean Creed: Call and Response Format

Leader:
Do you believe in God, the Maker of heaven and earth,
the Father who is perfect and merciful?

Congregation:
We believe.

Leader:
Do you believe in Jesus the Christ,
the Son of David, the Son of Abraham,
born of the Virgin by the Holy Spirit,
God with us, our Teacher, our Lord?

Congregation:
We believe.

Leader:
Do you believe that He called us to repent,
to follow Him, to take up our cross,
and to walk the narrow road that leads to life?

Congregation:
We believe.

Leader:
Do you believe that He was handed over, crucified, and buried,
and that on the third day He rose again?

Congregation:
We believe.

Leader:
Do you believe that all authority in heaven and on earth
has been given to Him,
and that He reigns as King and Judge?

Congregation:
We believe.

Leader:
Do you believe in the Holy Spirit,
who empowers us to obey all that Jesus commanded?

Congregation:
We believe.

Leader:
Do you believe in baptism into the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
as a sign of repentance and new life?

Congregation:
We believe.

Leader:
Do you believe in the forgiveness of sins
through the covenant of His blood,
and the promise of the kingdom to come?

Congregation:
We believe.

Leader:
Do you believe that Jesus will return
to gather the righteous into His kingdom
and to bring all things to their fulfillment?

Congregation:
We believe.

Leader:
Until that day, will you watch and pray,
make disciples of all nations,
and live as children of the light?

Congregation:
By His grace, we will.

All Together:
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.

4. The Matthean Confession and Renewal Commitment

(in the style of Ezra 9 and Nehemiah 9)

O Lord, our God,
You are the Blessed One, the Father who sent Your Son, Emmanuel, to save Your people from their sins.
You revealed the kingdom of heaven and called us to repent, for the kingdom is at hand.
You taught us the way of righteousness, mercy, and faithfulness.

But we have been slow to hear and quick to stray.
We have honored You with our lips, but our hearts have been far from You.
We have loved the treasures of earth more than the treasures of heaven.
We have judged others while neglecting the log in our own eyes.
We have been like foolish builders who hear Your words but do not do them.
We have been like the unfaithful servant who buried the Master's gifts in the ground.
We have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness.

O Lord, we confess:
We have been like sheep without a shepherd.
We have stumbled over the stone the builders rejected.
We have hidden our light under a basket, rather than letting it shine before others.
We have heard Your call to take up our cross and follow You, but we have clung to our own lives.

Yet You, O merciful King, are full of compassion.
You invite all who labor and are heavy laden to come to You for rest.
You do not break the bruised reed or quench the smoldering wick.
You forgive sins, heal diseases, and call sinners into Your kingdom.

Therefore we turn again to You, our Lord and Redeemer.
We repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.
We lay aside all hypocrisy and deceit.
We seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
We will love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and we will love our neighbors as ourselves.
We will deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow You.

Blessed is the one who is not offended by You.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed be the name of the Lord, forever and ever. Amen.

Questions

1. What combination of scriptural texts would you like to try, if you were going to make a liturgy?

2. What do you notice about the shape of each liturgy? How does it guide your imagination or your emotions?

3. What are your feelings about using AI to generate ideas for liturgies? Does it help you see old truths more creatively? Does it feel cheap and artificial? Or something else? What boundaries would you like to set on your use of AI in this area and why?

Joining the priestly kingdom

Notes from a sermon on salvation, from Ephesians 2:1-10, to a small group of first and second generation Burmese-American youth and their parents, March 2, 2025

When I was living in Yangon, Myanmar, I bought a black T-shirt at an evangelistic concert. The shirt, produced by Grace Music School, has the inscription in large gray letters, "Raising the Levite generation". What do you think it means? I think it means that church musicians and those who train and support them are raising up the next generation of worshipers, carrying on the tradition of the Levites who led singing and offered sacrifices in the tabernacle and the temple.

I was reminded of this shirt as I prepared to talk about Ephesians 2:1-10 where Paul magnifies the grace of God displayed in saving his people. There, Paul is essentially reenacting in a New Testament context Psalm 136, as performed by the priests at the dedication of Solomon's temple in 2 Chronicles 5. This psalm tells the story of creation, the exodus, and the conquering of Israel's enemies in Canaan, with the constant refrain, "his love endures forever". The Hebrew word for love here is hesed, which has some semantic overlap with the word for grace in the New Testament, according to Bible scholar Will Kynes. Although the Greek word in the Septuagint version of Psalm 136 is eleos, 'mercy, compassion' rather than charis 'grace', the overall thrust of the passage is the same as Paul's, in recounting and thanking God for his past rescue and ongoing kindness.

Typologically, the Psalmist's words "He remembered us in our low estate... and freed us from our enemies" are similar to Paul's when he tells the church that although they used to be dead in sins, following the ways of the world, the world's evil spiritual ruler, and their sinful minds and bodily cravings, God mercifully raised them to life with Christ and seated them (spiritually) with Christ in the heavenly realms where he rules with all authority, just as the Israelites were freed from slavery to the Pharaoh and given possession of the land of Canaan.

While the Levites at the dedication of the temple only had a small part of God's story of redemption to recount, we have its fulfillment. Matthew Bates summarizes the apostolic proclamation of the gospel of Jesus the King in the following ten points:

He preexisted as God the son, was sent by the Father, took on human flesh in fulfillment of God's promises to David, died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, was buried, was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, appeared to many witnesses, is enthroned at the right hand of God as the ruling Christ, has sent the Holy Spirit to his people to effect his rule, and will come again as final judge to rule.

In even simpler form, we form the shape of the gospel story when we hold up two fingers on our left hand in a V for victory. Jesus came down, died, was buried, rose again, and ascended to the Father's right hand. Just as the middle finger is longer than the index finger, so Jesus was raised even higher than before, because his saving work magnified his grace and demonstrated his worthiness to rule the cosmos.

So we, with Paul, are priests, singing the song of this story with one voice. As Revelation 1:5-6 says, "To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever!"

One final point, which I have adapted from Bates's work: We are saved by grace, through faith, and this is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9). If we are to really understand the force of Paul's idea of faith, we could often translate it "allegiance", with the idea that when someone in the early church was baptized, they confessed that Jesus is Lord and, by implication, that Caesar is not -- a preparation for martyrdom and evidence of a new citizenship.

I teach a class to help immigrants prepare for the United States citizenship test. My students have to memorize 100 questions and answers about American history and government, and be ready to answer up to ten of them, read a sentence aloud and write down a dictated sentence to show their English ability, and answer a number of personal questions such as whether they have ever been a member of the Communist Party or any terrorist groups. Last and most importantly, they have to swear the oath of allegiance, promising to be loyal to the United States, to give up loyalty to other countries, including all positions of royalty, and to obey the laws of this country.

When I delivered this sermon to the youth of a Burmese church, all the kids and their parents were very familiar with this test, as the parents had taken it in the last few years. For the rest of us, it would do us good to see the Christian life through the eyes of a recent immigrant. We enter salvation, a relationship of saving rescue and ongoing union with the Messiah, by pledging our ultimate allegiance to him and trusting him enough to obey his will.

If you have not yet entered this kingdom, will you choose to pledge your allegiance to King Jesus, by trusting him, turning from your ways to his way, and identifying with him and his people publicly by asking your parents or your pastor for baptism? 

If you are still learning, will you ask for his Spirit to help you understand? 

If you have entered his kingdom, will you ask him what is the next step he wants you to take to continue in him? 

For me this week, that has meant getting rid of Spotify, Kindle, and ChatGPT on my phone, and praying over a list of the youth at the Burmese church, and praying for my accountability group mates and their wives. What might it mean for you?

Further reading:

Bates, Matthew W. 2021. The gospel precisely: surprisingly good news about Jesus Christ the king. A Renew.org resource.

Kynes, Will. 2010. God's grace in the Old Testament: considering the hesed of the Lord. Knowing & Doing (C.S. Lewis Institute), Summer 2010.

Wright, N. T.. New Testament for Everyone Complete Eighteen-Volume Set: 20th Anniversary Edition with Study Guide (The New Testament for Everyone) (p. 3442-3446). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition. 

Scripture passages:

Ephesians 2:1-10 (The New Testament for Everyone by N.T. Wright)

So where do you come into it all? Well, you were dead because of your offences and sins! That was the road you used to travel, keeping in step with this world’s ‘present age’; in step, too, with the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is, even now, at work among people whose whole lives consist of disobeying God. Actually, that’s how all of us used to behave, conditioned by physical desires. We used to do what our flesh and our minds were urging us to do. What was the result? We too were subject to wrath in our natural state, just like everyone else. But when it comes to mercy, God is rich! He had such great love for us that he took us at the very point where we were dead through our offences, and made us alive together with the Messiah (yes, you are saved by sheer grace!). He raised us up with him, and made us sit with him – in the heavenly places, in Messiah Jesus! This was so that in the ages to come he could show just how unbelievably rich his grace is, the kindness he has shown us in Messiah Jesus.

How has this all come about? You have been saved by grace, through faith! This doesn’t happen on your own initiative; it’s God’s gift. It isn’t on the basis of works, so no one is able to boast. This is the explanation: God has made us what we are. God has created us in Messiah Jesus for the good works that he prepared, ahead of time, as the road we must travel.

Psalm 136 (NIV 2011)

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.

Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.

Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever.

to him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever.

who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever.

who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever.

who made the great lights— His love endures forever.

the sun to govern the day, His love endures forever.

the moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever.

to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt His love endures forever.

and brought Israel out from among them His love endures forever.

with a mighty hand and outstretched arm; His love endures forever.

to him who divided the Red Sea asunder His love endures forever.

and brought Israel through the midst of it, His love endures forever.

but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea; His love endures forever.

to him who led his people through the wilderness; His love endures forever.

to him who struck down great kings, His love endures forever.

and killed mighty kings— His love endures forever.

Sihon king of the Amorites His love endures forever.

and Og king of Bashan— His love endures forever.

and gave their land as an inheritance, His love endures forever.

an inheritance to his servant Israel. His love endures forever.

He remembered us in our low estate His love endures forever.

and freed us from our enemies. His love endures forever.

He gives food to every creature. His love endures forever.

Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.

2 Chronicles 5:11-14 (NIV 2011)

The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place. All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of their divisions. All the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives—stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets. The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang: "He is good; his love endures forever." Then the temple of the LORD was filled with the cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God. 

An algebra of faith

There is an algebra of faith that says Jesus plus nothing equals everything, and Jesus plus something equals nothing.

When some New Testament passages say whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, and others say whoever believes will be saved, the algebra says that belief is required and baptism is optional. 

I get where this logic is coming from, and at its best, it points toward the insight that all our obedience and all our disciplines and all our studies are meant to open us up to the work of God in the Messiah Jesus, and that this is all a gift from him, even our joining in the work. 

But if we take it too far, we become like those who say "Master, Master" but don't do what Jesus says. We follow the six steps of salvation, we "get saved", and we believe we are saved, but we do nothing to continue in him. And if we don't continue in him, what expectation do we have of being saved at the last day?

This, I think, is why the Stone-Campbell movement warned us against "faith only" teachings. This is why the Book of Common Prayer says that baptism is "generally necessary" to salvation, as is participation in the eucharist in some gathering of believers called "church". Some people may do without it in dire circumstances, but if you persistently ignore it, who or what are you actually ordering your life around? (Online shopping? Social media? Sports? Your job? Your family? Your fears?) Are you expecting those things to save you? 

When Jesus said unless you give up everything you have, you can't be his disciple, where is that in our statement of faith or our gospel tract or our wordless book? 

Whoever endures to the end will be saved. And yet this endurance is a result of the warnings, comforts, and instructions found in Scripture, interpreted to us by the Spirit, reminded to us by our friends, both by their words and their presence. 

My Nigerian student's wife's elder sister's son took his own life recently, and so, as is the custom in Igbo culture, he and his wife have been coming over to the sister's house every evening and staying until around midnight, for the past two or three weeks, and they plan to continue doing this until she feels stable again. This is the kind of care that Jesus expects of us sometimes. And this is the kind of comfort that the Spirit brings through fellow humans, to help us endure. 

Let's leave aside the algebra of our faith and move on to the relational side. 

Aspects of Participation in an Evangelical Worship Service

Sometimes I think I'm a passive spectator in a church service. And I've unfairly written that judgment, thinking that was the end of the story, unless something changed. But last night I came back and noticed a number of aspects of participation that I hadn't paid attention to before. All of them involve the body, cognition, emotion, and coordination with others and with the Divine. Each aspect has the potential to activate the embodiment of truth and love - connecting and participating with others for their good because of something you are learning about reality, and receiving care from them as well. 

Walking in, I exchanged greetings by name with two or three people and received a bulletin and printed list of scripture verses and prayer topics. I held the list, wondering what it was for.

Singing, I held and shifted through whatever posture of worship felt meaningful to me while coordinating my voice with others, alternating between (mostly) listening to unfamiliar parts and joining with familiar parts. The songs activated memories, because the worship leader had told me two weeks before that they would play two particular songs, and I had previewed them on a streaming app to learn the tune.

During greeting time, I shook hands and made eye contact with two or three people around me, coordinating facial expressions and coregulating emotions, exchanging names, recent holiday experiences, and details about where we live, our families, and our travels.

During the responsive reading, I listened to the leader read the first part, and joined my voice with the congregation in the second part, coordinating my tempo to match theirs.

During the sermon, I listened to the pastor expressing care for listeners' difficult situations during the introduction to the sermon and opening prayer, which activated feelings of being seen, understood, and comforted. 

I stood for the scripture reading.

I raised my hand in response to questions.

I heard movie quotes and saw movie images, which activated powerful shared cultural memories related to the Bible story.

I wrote notes in the bulletin and filled in missing words in the blanks.

At the end of the sermon, the pastor revealed the purpose of the list -- to guide a few minutes of prayer for the world, the church, and ourselves. A family of three sitting next to me invited me to join them and lead out in the prayer time.

It was easier for me to notice experiencing embodied participation when I visited an Orthodox or Anglican service -- maybe partly because it was unfamiliar and I had to consciously make meaning of it. But intentionally focusing my gaze on the familiar allowed me to see that participation was here, too. One advantage I found with the familiar was that I already knew some of the people, and other people I had seen their names before, which meant for deeper conversation. One fellow I met mentioned that he's visiting from out of state, and hasn't been able to find a church in his hometown, and so I was able to write to a friend near his hometown and ask for local church recommendations for him.

As Louis Agassiz said, "a pencil is one of the best eyes." So I'm writing down what I saw, in hopes that I will remember it next time I feel jaded with the ordinary.

Further reading:

Bob Tierney. 'Let's take another look at the fish: the writing process as discovery.' https://teach.nwp.org/lets-take-another-look-at-the-fish-the-writing-process-as-discovery/

Matthew Lee Anderson. Earthen Vessels. https://matthewleeanderson.com/book/earthen-vessels/

Missing

missing

Tonight, I am missing my mom (1959-2020) and the way my siblings, Dad, and I used to be together. I'm missing my friends in Taiwan, Thailand, and Myanmar. I'm missing my Aunt Sally, who passed away on November 22. I'm missing friends from Fallbrook CA, and friends from churches in the Portland area that I used to know -- Evergreen Christian, Household of Faith, Grace and Glory. 

thankful

I'm thankful that one of my mom's Fallbrook friends texted me back right away when I reached out a couple weeks ago. I'm thankful that I could reunite with old church friends at a wedding and an international student gathering last weekend. I'm thankful that my Grammy is still around and picked up the phone when I called her tonight. I'm thankful that my roommate asks me how I'm doing -- and wants to hear more when I say I'm feeling nostalgic. I'm thankful for friends to eat dinner with three nights this week, for a positive connection when delivering Angel Tree gifts, for students who brought me snacks from their son's wedding in India, and for workmates to laugh with and commiserate with. The road goes up and down, but we are on our way. 

psalms

This morning, I did a search of the sermons at my church that were based on the Psalms. There were 23 sermons on Psalms preached between 2017 and 2022, and none in 2023 or 2024, although I do recall one based on repentance in Joshua 7 that also mentioned Psalm 51. (We went through a long sermon series on the Torah, the Sermon on the Mount, and now Joshua in 2023 and 2024, which explains the lack of psalms recently.) 

Of these 23, six sermons, or 26%, were on psalms of lament. (25-44% of all the Psalms are laments, including repentance and imprecation, according to Laurie Krieg and Matt Krieg, Journey Well, page 72.) The lament psalms preached on included Psalms 42 "As a deer pants", 64 "Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint", and 77 "I cry aloud to God", which are personal laments, and Psalms 51 "Have mercy on me" (twice) and 130 "Out of the depths I cry to you", which are repentant laments, according to the classification in Mark Vroegop, Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, page 201. 

Psalms preached on multiple times were Psalm 1 "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked" (2x), Psalm 19 "The heavens declare the glory of God" (3x), Psalm 51 "Have mercy on me" (2x), and Psalm 84 "How lovely is your dwelling place" (2x). Why do you think these ones were so popular? I think because they focus on living a flourishing life by listening to God's word (Psalms 1 and 19), repenting for personal sin along with King David (Psalm 51), and marveling at being in God's house (Psalm 84). The Bible, repentance, and corporate worship are familiar territory, and since we often don't practice what we preach even in these areas, it is worth preaching on them again.

public grief

And yet, since I'm in a nostalgic mood, I was thinking too about how churches struggle to process grief in public. Why don't we sing and preach on more of the hard psalms? The ones expressing anger, sadness, and need? 

We have GriefShare (which I should probably go to) and men's recovery groups and midweek prayer groups, including praying through the psalms, which I think are very much needed spaces and practices. And grief and lament and injustice come up from time to time in a larger corporate setting, even in sermons not on the psalms, such as the one this week on Ezekiel 34:11-31 on longing for the Good Shepherd during Advent season. We sang "O come, O come, Emmanuel", this week, which is very much a song of longing, both in the words and in the musical setting. And back before Easter at the Good Friday service, we had a prolonged meditation on the darkness that Jesus faced on the way to the cross.

In general, though, maybe we think we aren't ready yet to show our true feelings amongst a larger group. 

how long till is it well?

Remember Horatio Spafford's song "It is well"? Its serene words of confident trust in God after losing his son, his business holdings, and his four daughters, came after a long time of wrestling with his thoughts. And even after penning the song, he walked a long, strange journey that included leading an apocalyptic cult and establishing an American colony in Jerusalem. Despite its aura as a song for sufferers, the only hints of complaint in the song are "when sorrows like sea billows roll" -- but these are echoed and compounded by the highs and lows of the chorus, reminiscent of Mendelssohn's "Fingal's Cave" with the waves of sound crashing against the rocks. Even when we don't voice them, the sorrows still roll. And the words "thou hast taught me" take a lifetime to realize.

crashing an AA meeting

Last Sunday morning I attended an AA meeting by mistake -- Google Maps said it was "Living Word Baptist Church", but it turned out to be "Sunday Solutions AA" at the Salmon Creek Grange. The woman who spoke first said she had been sweating bullets the night before thinking of what to say -- and yet the story she shared of her worst moments and how God met her there and brought her to where she is now was just what I needed to hear. Those 34 individuals at the Grange knew the peculiar joy that comes through participating in suffering together.

five seconds

A friend told me recently about Mel Robbins's "Five Second Rule" -- count to five and start moving your body toward the thing you know you need to do before you finish saying "five". Your present self will follow and your future self will thank you.

an invitation to lament

If you would like to try, and you live in the Portland area, consider joining me at Imago Dei Central City on Sunday, Dec 15, 6-7pm -- they will be having a lament worship night. Details at the following link: https://imagodeicentralcity.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/2572688

another song

Besides "It is well" and "Fingal's Cave", I recommend listening to Carrie Newcomer's song "Holy as a day is spent". I like it so well I've put it as my "go to bed" alarm song -- which I've sadly blown through tonight. Try these lyrics on...

And frying eggs sound like psalms

With bits of salt measured in my palm

It's all a part of a sacrament

As holy as a day is spent

...

Unknowingly we slow our pace

In the shade of unexpected grace

And with grateful smiles and sad lament

As holy as a day is spent

...

And morning light sings "providence"

As holy as a day is spent

Evagrius on fighting the long battle God has already won

 In my last post, I did some wrestling with the song "I'm fighting a battle you've already won", feeling that its bold faith and jaunty tune are hard to square with longterm experiences of hardship until balanced with songs of lament and union with Christ. 

I have one further thought, as I pick up a book from the stack on the floor. This June, I ordered a copy of John Mark Comer's Live No Lies, in a fit of compulsive bookbuying. When it came, I flipped through and found the best part: a neat little appendix on how to create your own handbook for fighting demons. This in turn directed me to the fourth-century monk theologian Evagrius of Pontus, and his book Talking Back. See below (from Book 2, Sections 2-3), where Brother Evagrius speaks the word of God from Exodus to his own tempting voice...

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Against the thought of sadness that arises in us due to the many temptations of ____ that come upon us and cut off our hope by saying to us, "What beautiful thing do you expect after all this labor?":

"If you indeed listen to my voice and do all the things that I will say to you, I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. For my angel will go as your leader and will bring you to the Amorite, the Hittite, and Perizzite, and Canaanite, and Gergesite, and Hivite, and Jebusite, and I will destroy them." (Exodus 23:22-23)

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Against the thought that supposes that in a single hour the evil thoughts of ____ will flee from it:

"I will not cast them out in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the land multiply against you. Gradually I will cast them out from before you, until you have increased and will inherit the land." (Exodus 23:29-30)

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Thank you, Evagrius -- and Moses. Here is both an acknowledgement of the long struggle and the solid hope from Scripture, telling us why the long struggle is part of the plan, and why it is worth it -- and how it is that all our striving is part of God's plan to lead us through and save us from every danger and foe, even and especially our false selves. He will do it and we will do it and it will take a long time and a lot of work and we will be stronger in the end and more aware of our weakness, and of his powerful help supporting us on every side.

=================

And here is the famous song mentioned at the top of the post, so you can come to your own conclusions. I want to take seriously my friend and worship leader Tyler Newkirk's recommendation to read the song as a poem apart from the music and savor the truth it presents:

You've Already Won

(by Shane and Shane, found here)

[Verse 1]

There's peace that outlasts darkness

Hope that's in the blood

There's future grace that's mine today

That Jesus Christ has won

So I can face tomorrow

For tomorrow's in Your hands

All I need, you will provide

Just like you always have

[Chorus]

And I'm fighting a battle

You've already won

No matter what comes my way

I will overcome

Don't know what you're doing

But I know what you've done

And I'm fighting a battle

You've already won

[Verse 2]

There's mercy in the waiting

Manna for today

And when it's gone, I know you're not

You are my hope and stay

When the sea is raging

Your Spirit is my help

He'll fix my eyes on Jesus Christ

I'll say that it is well

Oh, I know that it is well

[Chorus]

I'm fighting a battle

You've already won

No matter what comes my way

I will overcome

Don't know what your doing

But I know what you've done (thank you, God)

I'm fighting a battle

You've already won

[Bridge]

I know how the story ends

We will be with you again (you're the one who saves)

You're my Savior, my defense (so we don't have to be afraid)

No more fear in life or death

I know how the story ends (we will be with you)

We will be with you again

You're my Savior, my defense (no more fear)

No more fear in life or death (alright, y'all, with everything you've got, here we go)

I know how the story ends (we will be with You)

We will be with you again (You're my Savior)

You're my Savior, my defense (no more fear)

No more fear in life or death

I know how the story ends (oh, I need no other, need no other)

[Chorus]

I'm fighting a battle

That You've already won

No matter what comes my way

I will overcome

Don't know what you're doing

But I know what you've done (thank you, God)

I'm fighting a battle

You've already won

[Outro]

I'm fighting a battle

You've already won (hey)