The King’s Order

I don’t know if it has passed Gunsmoke yet for the longest running TV show, but Law and Order has been on forever. And I’ve always had a bit of a bone to pick with that name. In that show the first half is supposed to be “law” which is taken up with the police while the second half is the “order” which is the lawyers in the courtroom. Lawyers may think their operations are the working of order, but already that is at order’s breakdown. True order springs from the place where the law is just and the people desire to live in peace. In a perfectly ordered society the law becomes an afterthought because it is written on hearts and hearts are attuned to follow, and the law is no longer necessary as even a curb. Isaiah’s picture of the Messianic society in our Old Testament lesson is a picture of perfect order.

The nations’ and peoples’ statement is “let us go up to the mountain of the LORD…that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths (Isaiah 2:3).” It is on the mountaintop that the law is given, but what the nations’ desire is the ways of God. The desire to walk in his paths. The law at best defines the boundaries of those things. The law states what is off the path or what is outside of the way of God. But the desire is the fullness of divine order. To live in harmony with the will of God.

The start of that order can be the law. “Out of Zion shall go the law (Isaiah 2:3).” But the law is not the end. For by the law we only know where we have trespassed. The law multiplies the sin. As Paul would say, those under that law are being tutored. They are under the pedagogue. But Isaiah says parallel to the law “the word of the LORD (goes our) from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3).” It is that Word – the order of God that we seek. Because it is only within that order that we find true peace.

As long as we are testing the boundaries of the law – sinning – we find ourselves at war. We find ourselves at war with the King and his law. We find ourselves at war with our neighbor as we attempt to advantage ourselves at their expense. We find ourselves at war with ourselves. For in our hearts we know the law, and the Spirit in us longs for the Order of God, but we continue the war in our members. It is only when we submit ourselves to the King that we shall find peace. “He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples (Isaiah 2:4).” As the song says “I fought the law and the law won.” God is sovereign. His law is the only true law. And it ultimately decides between nations and peoples. The only question is if we are brought before it as outlaws or as those who desire true justice.

Those whose hearts are submitted to Christ there will find peace. “They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks (Isaiah 2:4).” We can put down our war against God and our neighbor and ourselves. We can do that in repentance and seeking God’s order for our lives. Isaiah’s ultimate vision is that “nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore (Isaiah 2:4).” The peace of the Kingdom of Heaven is what stands as the promise. God’s order will be established. Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess. And that is not some Star Trek Borg like forced compliance – “Resistance is futile.” No, that is the desire of nations. Peoples and Nations tired of war, tired of the disorder, tired of testing laws and finding them wanting at exactly the point they are needed. Tired of sin and its degradation. “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord (Isaiah 2:3).” We are tired of war. May the LORD grant us his peace, his order. And then the King shall come.

Quiet and Peaceable Life

We received in our mailboxes this week our mail-in primary ballot. That is still a bit strange. In NY voting by mail was not really a thing. Everyone trudged to the polls on a Tuesday if they wanted to vote. But that brought to mind one of the petitions that is consistently in the Prayers of the Church. The picture above is the generic form from the Bidding Prayer. The Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 2 bids us to pray for a variety of people. That is the scriptural format of the bidding prayer or the prayers of the church. And one of his bids is “for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way (1 Tim. 2:2).” In our Sunday morning prayers this generic form takes on different specific forms at different times. There are many parts of that generic prayer that can get emphasized. But there is a specific path of meditation I want to follow here.

The prayer is for a quiet and peaceable life. Such a life depends upon those in authority. We might ask why that is. Why doesn’t God just do it? The primary answer in all things in the temporal kingdom is that God works through means. He has revealed his law. And he has ordained those whose job it is to carry it out. As the prayer above puts it, “You have ordained for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do well all the powers that exist.” The first use of the law, the civil use or the curb, is to punish evildoers and to praise the good (Romans 13:3-4). The establishment of good order is so that we are able to live quiet and peaceable lives. And our consistent prayer is that this would be granted to us.

But there are times it is not granted. The worst of those times are when “I will make boys their princes, and infants shall rule over them. (Isaiah 3:4).” The longer passage – Isa 3:1-4 (5-8 ff) – is worth pondering. How is this done? The LORD takes away the support and supply of the following in order: mighty man and soldier, judge and prophet, diviner and elder, captain of 50 and man of rank, skillful magician and expert in charms. That list I believe has an intentional order.

The mighty man and soldier are those who can both establish and keep order. They have both natural ability and official office. The judge and the prophet are those who can keep order already established and who can point in the way to keep it. They also have a learned ability and an office. The next step down is the diviner and elder. These are those with natural ability, but no office. They are the judge and prophet in the wild. Following those are their opposites, those who have an office, but probably lack ability – the captain of 50 and man of rank. In our world they have the credentials, but lack true aptitude. And last on the list are the Wizards of Oz. Those who can fake it for a while. They have neither office nor aptitude, but by some dark art can keep the machine working for a bit. Or at least give the appearance of order.

How do you get Children? The supply and support for these are removed. What does it mean to be ruled by children? It means those who lack the ability to create and maintain order. They praise the evildoer and punish the one who does good. They refuse to maintain proper curbs. They tear down fences without wisdom as to why they were there. They point people away from God and toward themselves.

The prayer is that “those who make, administer and judge our laws, bear it according to the Word.” That the curbs are put up in proper places. That within them we might lead quiet and peaceable lives in godliness and honesty. God ultimately controls the supply, but we are the support. When you get that ballot I hope these are thoughts and prayers before checking your support.

Hearing the Signs, Fearing their Silence

Biblical Text: Mark 7:31-37 (Isaiah 35:4-7)

Full Sermon Draft

This was our “Rally Day” or recognition of the start of School week. (We delay a week typically due to the labor day weekend.) So, there are parts of the service – like the installation of Sunday School teachers, and blessing of backpacks – that I couldn’t get on the recording. Physically we did them down in front where our various mic’s don’t capture too well. That blessing was probably the key to thinking about this sermon unfortunately.

In my head the sermon is an existential one. It points out a common thought, looking up at the night sky and what do you see? There are naive answers, but nobody really holds those long. That is the purpose of the Lion King reference. The existential question of that sky (a sign) is: is their order or is it all just chaos?

The answer revealed to us by the Word of God is that there is an order. In our sinful condition we are like the deaf and mute man in our text, unable to hear the music of the spheres. But Jesus has come to give us back the ability to hear. That same Word that tells us of God’s loving order, opens ears and loosens tongues. And in the application to educating, learning/education/wisdom which is based on that word is a worth endeavor, because God desires to be known just as we are known by Him. The universe makes sense, the foundation of which is revealed to us in the Word of God, so we can grow in Wisdom just like Jesus. It is not the dark forest nor the great filter that haunt our minds when we tune out the music of the spheres.

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Not as the Gentiles Do

Biblical Text: Ephesians 4:17-5:2 NLT

Full Sermon Draft

We’ve been reading and working our way through the Letter to the Ephesians this summer, and we have come to the core of the back half of a letter of Paul. If you’ve read these enough you know that the back half of Paul’s letters tend to be concrete application. What he was preaching in a rhetorical way in his intro and main points meets actual life. Earlier in the series we identified three main points.
1. The Father through Christ has blessed us with every spiritual gift.
2. We are being built together though the Spirit
3. We are being built with the purpose of showing the rich variety of the wisdom of God

Last week’s sermon looked at the concrete examples for those first two. This sermon starts Paul treatment of the examples of that third point. What does the rich variety of the wisdom of God look like? Paul’s treatment is deeply tied into the 10 commandments and Jesus’ sermon on the Mount. The sermon brings in Luther’s catechism treatment. All of this demonstrating the remarkable consistency of the order or the wisdom of God. The biggest thing that might shock moderns (as it shocked ancients) is that Paul assumes that we can change. When we were Gentiles (i.e. separated from God) it was potentially reasonable to despair of actual change. But we are not Gentile. We have put off that old life and are being renewed in the Spirit. That is Paul’s emphasis. We are being sanctified which is wild in the variety the God bring out of his free people. So, I’d invite you to listen, and to come back for the next couple of weeks. Paul challenges us who have known Christ to imitate him.

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