Genesis 1.1 and work

I have finally got around to beginning some notes on Work. It's been a busy couple of weeks here in Nebraska, but I have a weekend at home this week. We shall begin with a contemplation of Genesis 1, but it seems wise to start with a look at Luke 10, in order to put some of the rather polemical themes of my thinking into proper perspective.

In Luke 10:40-42, Jesus speaks to Martha about Mary:

Luk 10:40-42
(40) But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me."
(41) But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,
(42) but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."

The tendency of many sermons I have heard from this passage is to treat with this word from Christ as a general principle: it is better to "sit at Jesus' feet" than to work. Or, true worship is best expressed in a meditative experience of quiet introspection of the Jesus within... that might be overstating things slightly. However, I think that it is plain that, for many, 'work' has become the antonym of 'worship'. Genesis 1 ought to color our interpretation, methinks.

Gen 1:1
(1) In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

God, in creating the world, shows that, though he was glorious without any material creation and perfectly happy in Triune fellowship, yet he glorified himself in creating. Mere contemplation of his own excellencies was now complemented by the beauty and might of his deeds in the creation. Matthew Henry articulates six aspects of the glory of God's creative acts in his commentary:

In the visible world it is easy to observe,
[1.] Great variety, several sorts of beings vastly differing in their nature and constitution from each other. Lord, how manifold are thy works, and all good!
[2.] Great beauty. The azure sky and verdant earth are charming to the eye of the curious spectator, much more the ornaments of both. How transcendent then must the beauty of the Creator be!
[3.] Great exactness and accuracy. To those that, with the help of microscopes, narrowly look into the works of nature, they appear far more fine than any of the works of art.
[4.] Great power. It is not a lump of dead and inactive matter, but there is virtue, more or less, in every creature: the earth itself has a magnetic power.
[5.] Great order, a mutual dependence of beings, an exact harmony of motions, and an admirable chain and connection of causes.
[6.] Great mystery. There are phenomena in nature which cannot be solved, secrets which cannot be fathomed nor accounted for. But from what we see of heaven and earth we may easily enough infer the eternal power and Godhead of the great Creator, and may furnish ourselves with abundant matter for his praises.

So, God's work in creation is seen to be a means of glorifying himself. In fact, it is eventually one of the chief means of furnishing his creatures' minds with “matter for his praises.” God did not think it unbecoming of himself to start making the heavens and the earth; he did not think that such work was mere busy distraction, and choose instead to stop and think about himself. He chose to create, and glorified himself in that creation.
To bring this back to the "Work vs. Worship" discussion, we see that it is wrong to think that work is meant only to provide our most basic needs, as a radical Stoic might profess. It is wrong to think that work is a means merely to keep us alive in order to worship at Jesus' feet more fervently. Rather, God, who needs nothing, glorifies himself in this awesome work of creation.

As Mike Rowe might say, "Work is not the enemy."

Lewis on new interpretations

From "Why I Am Not a Pacifist":

If Our Lord's words are taken in the unqualified sense which the Pacifist demands, we shall be forced to the conclusion that Christ's true meaning, concealed from those who lived in the same time and spoke the same language, and whom He Himself chose to be His messengers to the world, as well as from all their successors, has at last been discovered in our own time. I know there are people who will not find this sort of thing difficult to believe, just as there are people ready to maintain that the true meaning of Plato or Shakespeare, oddly concealed from their contemporaries and immediate successors, has preserved its virginity for the daring embraces of one or two modern professors. But I cannot apply to divine matters a method of exegesis which I have already rejected with contempt in my profane studies. Any theory which bases itself on a supposed "historical Jesus" to be dug out of the Gospels and then set up in opposition to Christian teaching is suspect. There have been too many historical Jesuses - a liberal Jesus, a pneumatic Jesus, a Barthian Jesus, a Marxist Jesus. They are a cheap crop of each publisher's list, like the new Napoleons and the new Queen Victorias. It is not to such phantoms that I look for my faith and my salvation.

Kung-Fu Panda and progressive sanctification

A few weeks ago, I watched Kung Fu Panda with six lttle Hajdas and Amelia at the Tiffany Theatre in Broken Bow for $4. That was quite an adventure. While Kids' Movie Day was primarily an oasis of activity in a desert week of babysitting, I was actually taken in a bit by the film, particularly one scene.
It was when Chifu, emboldened by his conversation with Master Ugwe, approached Po and told him that he would train him to defeat Tai Lan. Po's response communicated the deepest lesson that the movie had to offer. He asked of Chifu, "How are you gonna change *me* into the Dragon Warrior?" He pressed his point, demanding, "How?" three times. Finally Chifu admits, "I don't know." I could not help comparing this to the Christian's walk of faith.

Po's question is similar to what Christians ask of their own lives, often while studying Galatians 5:22 or 2 Peter 1. "How?" we ask, "How do I become the sort of person the Bible says I am to be?" We, like Po, seek constantly for someone, some book, some program or class, to make us into the Dragon Warrior... or, rather, to make us Christlike, mature believers. However, the problem with our question, like Po's, is a failure to recognize ontological realities. For Po, the reality was that Chifu was not *making* him into the Dragon Warrior- he already was the master, and had only to realize what was already written in the stars for him. Similarly we can focus so hard on working to *become* like Christ that we fail to consider the change which God already worked at salvation, when he imputed our sin to Christ on the cross and imputed Christ's righteousness to us. The ontological change has already taken place in the believer's spirit, even if there are changes yet to come in his heart, soul, mind, and body.

I also mused on a later scene, when Po discovered "There is no secret ingredient." He found that there really was nothing left to do to be the Dragon Warrior, he was ready to face Tai Lan as he was, because of who he was. This reminded me of how the chastisement for our peace has already been spent on the Cross. There remains nothing for us to do to win God's favor.

A final thought came to me as I watched the video on Peter's birthday. It is especially poignant that, although Po needed to stop trying to become the Dragon Warrior and needed to just be the Dragon Warrior, that did not mean he did not have to work hard, under the discipline and training of a mentor. Thus we watch a ten-minute training montage, with Po mastering his gluttony and self-pity, becoming a strong, heroic Panda. However, this was all a result, not the cause of his position as the Dragon Warrior.
So, one can say, the christian strives to resemble Christ, not in order to become a Christian or even to become spiritually mature, but as a necessary result of his true identity. As Paul said, the believer is crucified with Christ. His identity with Christi is thus complete, and his righteousness is perfect in God's sight. However, as he continues in Galatians 2:20-3:3, Paul's point becomes even clearer.
Identifying himself as having been "crucified with Christ," Paul said,

"The life I now live I live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if justification were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose."

The next few verses at the beginning of chapter 3 continue this thought, saying in essence that, if this is how justification was wrought to bring us to Christ, then this is how it will continue to work out. By grace, not by working under the law. So, do Christians live in sin, forgetting the law of God entirely? No, rather he is moved by the Holy Spirit from the inside to obey God's law (the law that the Christian obeys is another issue or two, but basically I think this is the royal law, loving your neighbor as yourself). To sum up the last couple chapters of Galatians, the seesaw of Resting in Christ versus Striving to be holy seems to be balancing on the fulcrum of the Holy Spirit's ministry in the believer's life. He bears witness in our spirits that we are the sons of God, and his presence and activity in us brings forth his fruit.

Hmmm, I that seems to have gotten more convoluted the longer I have steeped in it. What say ye?

A.W. Pink on Forgiveness

Here is something I was reading in A.W. Pink this morning, from his sermon collection Seven Sayings of the Savior on the Cross (Pink's emphasis):

...are we not to forgive those who wrong us? This leads us to a point concerning which there is much need for instruction today. Does Scripture teach that under all circumstances we must always forgive? I answer, emphatically, it does not. The Word of God says, "If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him."...Here we are plainly taught that a condition must be met by the offender beforewe may pronounce forgiveness. The one who has wronged us must first "repent," that is, judge himself for his wrong and give evidence of his sorrow over it. But suppose the offender does not repent? Then I am not to forgive him. But let there be no misunderstanding of our meaning here. Even though the one who has wronged me does not repent, nevertheless, I must not harbor ill-feelings against him. There must be no hatred or malice cherished in the heart. Yet, on the other hand, I must not treat the offender as if he had done no wrong.

He goes on a bit, but I have to chew on that a bit, as it relates to my dealing with sin. I would often rather let something go, thinking this the noble thing, even the Christian thing to do, when a brother offends me. However, Christ's desire is for the members of his Church to be driving each other to ever-greater heights of holy living and charity.