A Good Man...

"...A good heart that contains no kind of evil in it (pg. 178)." Burroughs in this section of his sermon is talking about the ramifications of not sanctifying God's name properly in hearing the Word. Here though he speaks of the damage an evil heart can do. He goes on to say that a good man has no "designs" of evil in him. This is so important and it applies to all of my life, I need to have no evil in me... So the question is what evil am I letting live inside of me/ What is something that needs to be removed?... and how is this affecting my relationships in the body of Christ.

Think!

The reading today in Give Praise to God mentioned that through hymns we can encourage our congregation to think.  I have been coming to realize of what paramount importance thinking must be in the service.  If people want to feel, and want those feelings to come from truth, then they must think.  However, as the book pointed out, many congregants of our times want only to be entertained in church, thinking is not on their agenda.  Honestly, amusement might be a better assessment of what they want than entertainment.  The book puts it this way, "'I come to church to be refreshed--not to work.'"  If this is the attitude that we are facing, but we must create or facilitate an environment of thought, how can we accomplish that effectively?

Weighty Weight of Glorious Glory

As C.S. Lewis discusses "the weight of glory," he comes to express the idea that the promise of glory is that some of us may receive God’s approval, on no merit of our own but by the work Jesus Christ. "To please God... to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness... to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a father in a son - it seems impossible, a weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain. But so it is" (6, emphasis mine). This idea does indeed seem very nearly impossible to comprehend to me. And yet, I find that it is in fact the core desire of all people, is it not? The desire to be loved and accepted that ultimately exceeds the satisfaction derived from friendships and deep relationships is central to all non-Christ-centered world religions and all inter-personal relationships. But earthy pursuits never satisfy.

C. S. Lewis paints this word-picture of God examining us and, if we so choose to allow Christ to intervene on our behalf and by Christ’s power, us actually surviving this examination and pleasing God. For it is not how we think of God that matters, but what He thinks of us. How often do we go through our lives, complacent to think well of God as we gain knowledge of Him?  For complacency is being self-satisfied without awareness of potential danger. In the scope of our churches, how often do our fellow congregants become satisfied in this dangerous way of thinking – that what we think of God is most important? How can the worship leaders in such a church aid in turning this view toward a right way of thinking?

BIBLE, Too Much??

In Gospel Worship, Jeremiah Burroughs talks about hearing the Word as part of worship. In this he gives us different steps to help us worship in hearing the Word. Two of the things he mentioned really made me do some serious thinking and even gave me some conviction. The first one that caught my eye is that “there must be an attending to the Word of God.” (162) Burroughs goes on to say that in order for us to be attending the Word we must have vulnerable heart. This alone was enough to make me wonder if this is something that I do regardless if it is in church, my personal devotions, or even for chapel. The second thing I had to contemplate is his third point: “the careful applying of the Word.”(162) He also continues on to say: “Now God speaks to your hearts. You should apply it.”(163) This is something I am still wrestling with. I know that I should apply what I am being taught. Too often I become caught up in just getting through another class and assignment instead of using the Bible classes I am in and applying, what I am being taught to my life. Why is it that Believers, including myself, get all of this knowledge and things from the Bible and yet we don’t use it to become more like Christ? Can we ever be taught too much? I wonder if the atmosphere of being in Bible classes, going to church, then having chapel, and both dorm and personal devotions can actually make it harder for someone to truly let the Bible and God’s word come into our hearts.

Settling for Less

In The Weight of Glory, C. S. Lewis writes, "The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself."  Essentially, what C. S. Lewis is talking about is settling for less.  We know deep inside of us that sin is a problem - a deadly problem - but we settle for all kinds of makeshift (lesser) repentance.  One kind of repentance says, "I just need to try harder.  I need to deny myself more.  I need to pray harder, eat less, and listen to more sermons."  Another says, "Yeah... God, I'm sorry."  But does not make any effort to stop the sin.  The sin is treated like dirt... I know that I will eventually need to shower, anyways, so is it really a big deal if I get my feet dirty one more time?  Isn't sin more than dirt?  Isn't it more like poison?

I have been learning that this kind of self-denial is really not self-denial at all.  It is selfishness.  When I deny myself by saying "I'll try harder," I am refusing to admit that I need God's help.  And when I deny myself by saying "I'm sorry," but then continue to sin in the same way, I am refusing to admit that my sin is the real and deadly problem that it is.  I think that is why C. S. Lewis describes it as settling for less.

All of this said, has our world influenced us (the Church) to settle for less?  (Have we been influenced by our culture that says, as C. S. Lewis put it, "the world is our home"?)  And if so, what are they?

The Word

One pg. 147 Burroughs states; "Hearing God's Word is a part of God's worship." This statement has been "put into practice" here at school as we are lead in worship on a daily basis. Burroughs who has already spoke on this topic before adds to it slightly; he says that we "profess our dependence on God" by listening to the Word of God. I believe that this is so important to be utterly dependent on the Lord as we worship.
 So my question (not to lift myself up) did you see this happening in worship this morning (Why/ Why not)? And how can we make sure that the church's we serve are hearing God's word as a part of worshiping the Lord?

Unselfishness and Love

In his sermon, The Weight of Glory, C. S. Lewis initiates his discussion with drawing a distinction between the qualities of Unselfishness and Love.  His point is that we value Unselfishness more than Love, unlike our Christian forefathers. This is problem for the following reason: “The negative ideal of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point.” (1) Our thoughts diverge from “loving our neighbor as ourselves” (Matthew 22:39), which is the second greatest commandment (vs.39), and elevate denying ourselves instead. I do not think that C. S. Lewis is negating the value of Unselfishness; rather, he is drawing our attention to where our Unselfishness leads us.  By elevating Unselfishness, we start to think of fulfillment of God-given desires a bad thing, when really, “Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak” (1).  Our Unselfishness is dangerous in that it results in the denial of desires; rather we should seek to love others, to do what is best for others, and demonstrate Unselfishness in service to Love as it allows us to give up what we want for the good of another.

            How does firstly striving after the virtue of Unselfishness instead of Love affect how we worship, privately and corporately?