Sunday night recap

First, baseball. I just read that Tony La Russa will very likely be returning as the Cardinals' skipper in 2010. I am glad to hear it. Like all Cards fans, I still have a very bitter taste in my mouth after the 2009 post season: three games, three losses. There is some unfinished work to be done, and who better to see to it than "TLR"?

Now, for the real business of the day - worship. Worship was the general theme of my morning sermon. I preached from Matthew 21:12-17, the account of Jesus cleansing the temple. Matthew includes the intriguing detail that Jesus, after wreaking havoc on the merchantmen and moneychangers, healed the blind and the lame. It is very likely that these people were limited in their access to the temple because of their physical defects (a supposition based on Leviticus 21:18 and 2 Samuel 5:8). For that reason, Jesus' healed them for the very purpose that they might draw near to the altar of God for worship. The lesson for us is that, in order to truly worship God, we must first be healed by Jesus. Christ must cleanse us from our sin and guilt, making us whole, so that we might draw near to God and worship him.

In the evening I preached from Romans 7:14-25. The great question interpreters have struggled to answer is, was Paul speaking of his pre-conversion state, or of his experience as a believer? Following John Murray, whose commentary I am using for my sermons, I based my sermon on the latter understanding. Paul was writing about his struggle with sin as a Christian. I said that, in this passage, the apostle comes within an inch of disowning his sin, i.e., blaming it on the sinful nature within him (v.20). But he says this not to evade responsibility for his sin, but in order to argue that, because he belongs to Jesus Christ, sin is a contradiction of his most basic identity. And as Christians in the heat of the battle against sin, we also must remember that before all else, we are those united to Christ. In a very real sense, our sin is a contradiction of who we are.

I talked with a member after the service about this passage. We both agreed that it is one which can easily be mis-applied, to make excuses for sinning. But, I believe this passage, properly understood, should be a great encouragement for us as we engage in the very difficult struggle with sin.

It was a good day at church. Like always, there were reasons to be encouraged, plus one or two things that were less than encouraging. But, if I believe the words I preached this morning, we were gathered before the presence of Christ to worship him. And that is always a good thing.