Category Archives: Faith and Practice

Of Cats and God…

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“All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit.”
(Isaiah 44:9 ESV) 

This Sunday is “All Hallows Eve” otherwise known as Halloween.  I’ve tried to get my kids to dress up this year as the movers and shakers of the reformation (Calvin, Knox, Luther, or Idelette de Bure (Calvin’s wife)) since this Halloween falls on reformation Sunday.  Alas, we will instead have Athena, Jango Fett, Thomas the Train, and Yoda – you can’t win them all.

I am always impressed at how Halloween brings out our long buried superstitions.  We pay more attention to black cats and full moons now than at other times of the year.  Just the other day I was talking with a friend when a black cat crossed our path.  My friend was visibly troubled, and expressed her fear about her ensuing bad luck.  I tried to encourage her, but to no avail.  Just a couple of days later, she informed me that her computer had crashed when she tried to install a new program.  She was sure it was because of the black cat.

There are a lot of superstitions that people still hold onto today:

·         Friday the thirteenth is an unlucky day

·         A rabbit’s foot brings good luck

·         To find a four-leaf clover is to find good luck

·         If you walk under a ladder, you will have bad luck

·         If a black cat crosses your path you will have bad luck

·         To break a mirror will bring you seven years bad luck

·         To open an umbrella in the house is to bring bad luck

But my question to my friend, and to anyone who holds to these or any other superstitions is this: “How do these beliefs relate to your faith in the Almighty and Sovereign Lord?”

We confess every Sunday that we believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.  We affirm the faith of the confessions which teach us that “God from all eternity did by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass… for the manifestation of his glory” (Westminster Confession of Faith), and that “Jesus protects us so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit his purpose for my salvation” (Heidelberg Catechism).  We believe that the great God of the universe has created all things for his pleasure, and has the “whole world in his hands.”  We confess that God is all-powerful, that His will cannot be thwarted – unless, of course, you happen to break a mirror, or come across a black cat.  Then God’s hands are tied.

It’s like this: God, in his eternal decree, has planned today to do you great good.  Perhaps he has ordained that this is the day for you to be set free from sickness or debt, or to find your heart’s true love.  Suddenly, you drop a mirror which shatters to the ground, and a voice from heaven thunders, “Oops!  That’s too bad, I had such great things planned for you.  See you in seven years.”  When you look at it this way, it makes the common superstitions we hold seem a little absurd.  Who has greater power, an untimely placed black cat, or the God who made you, the cat, and the world you live in?

The problem is, we tend to put too much faith in the foolishness of this world rather than trusting in the wisdom of God.  We see a cat or a broken mirror and start looking for bad things to happen, and eagerly assign the cause and effect.  Or maybe we have success and we attribute our accomplishments to a lucky number or our lucky socks.  We forget about the grace of God that has protected us from greater harm and blessed and prospered us with life, hope, and peace.  We’re always looking downward watching for cracks so we don’t break our mother’s backs, that we forget to look up and see the glory of God reminding us of his strength and love.  Holding to these superstitions is nothing more than idolatry – we are giving more power and honor to these lesser things than to the one true God. 

Christ died to set us free from such false gods, and to secure our faith and trust in the Living God.  Shouldn’t we see the rainbow and remember God’s promise?  Shouldn’t we see the golden fields and know that God has blessed us; giving Him all glory and honor?  Shouldn’t we hear the gospel message and know that “neither death nor life, angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor black-cats nor open umbrellas, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

Happy Reformation Sunday!

SDG

What I Believe

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“Contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints…”
(Jude 3 ESV)

What do you believe?  It’s not often that someone will come right up to you and ask you about your beliefs, but if they did, what would you say?  In my sermon on Sunday I shared that the Christian faith has two aspects: an intellectual assent to a standard of doctrine or teaching, and a trust or reliance in the person and work of Jesus Christ for our salvation.  As Beth Moore puts it, “There is Believing in God, and then there is Believing God.”  Both are crucial to the life of faith.

As a member of my Presbytery’s Committee on Preparation for Ministry, I have the privilege of working with those who sense God’s call to serve as Ministers of Word and Sacrament or as Commissioned Lay Pastors in the church.  Our job is to help them discerns God’s call, and to encourage, prepare, and equip them for ministry.  It is a humbling and awesome responsibility.

In the course of preparation, each candidate is required to submit a brief statement of faith.  Usually one page, this is a succinct statement of their Christian faith.  This is always such a revealing and powerful experience as we read their statements and examine their “theological readiness” for ministry.  For me, I learn so much more about a candidate by reading their statement of faith than just about any other dossier or résumé.  What we say about what we believe says a lot about who we are and about our walk with the Lord.

I can remember how difficult it was in seminary to sit down and write my first brief statement of faith.  There’s so much to say, how does one keep it to one page?  But the process of writing was such an encouragement.  God has redeemed us, heart and mind, passion and intellect.  We are given the revelation of God that we might know God, and to discern the goodness, justice, holiness, and grace of God.  We have been given minds to know Him, and are to believe all that God has revealed Himself to be.  What a blessing, to be able to know God, and to know of His loving mercy towards us.

If you have never written out what you believe, a brief statement of your faith, I want to encourage you to do it soon.  To articulate what you believe helps make it real.  The process of writing out what you believe helps you to answer some of your own questions, or correct your errors as you check your statement in Scripture.  You may even find that you become more comfortable sharing your faith, because you have put it into your own words.

I thought, in closing, I’d share with you my brief statement of faith.  I don’t share this for comparison with other statements, but that you may know my faith, and may hopefully be blessed by it.

I Believe…

  • In Almighty God, who is revealed in His creation as good, wise, and powerful, and who has further revealed Himself in Scripture as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; who is righteous in justice, full of grace and mercy, and steadfast in His love.
  • That all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God for which we were created, and as such we are subject to and deserving of God’s wrath and judgment.  However, “God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8).  When we were lost in sin, as sheep who have gone astray, God sought us out, sending His Son, Jesus Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life we desperately need.
  • That salvation from sin and death is found in Jesus Christ alone, who was, is, and forever will be the Son of God, the Incarnate Word, our Lord and Savior.  Born of the virgin Mary, Jesus lived His life completely for the glory of God, who by the power of the Spirit brought good news to the poor, proclaimed release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, and let the oppressed go free (Luke 4:18).  He was in every way like us, but He was without sin.  He bore our sins on Calvary.  In His death upon the cross, he took our place so that sin and death no longer have dominion over us, and in His resurrection we have the promise of eternal life with God and the assurance of His never-ending love.
  • That by the power of the Holy Spirit the work of Christ is applied to our lives.  Through the Holy Spirit we are brought from death in sin to life in Christ, we are justified by the righteousness of Christ alone, we are given faith to trust in the promises of God, we are empowered to follow after Jesus as His faithful disciples, we are equipped to serve the Lord with the gifts of the Spirit, we are convicted of sin an called to battle against it, and we are assured of our eternal security in God.
  • That the Church, which is the body of Christ, consists of those who confess Jesus Christ as Lord and is called to minister to a broken world; offering forgiveness and hope, encouraging one another in a life of discipleship, so that all may glorify God and worship Him.
  • That Scripture is the inspired, inerrant, and authoritative word of God, our only rule for life and faith.  The Holy Spirit speaks to the Church today through Scripture, and while God alone is Lord of the conscience, the conscience of the Christian is bound to the word in regard to matters of faith and worship.
  • That God has given us the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper as signs of His prevenient grace, which, with the preaching of the word of God, proclaim His gospel.  Baptism is an outward sign of what God’s gracious work; it is our engrafting into the body of Christ and the community of faith, the washing away of sin and the refreshing of new life.  The Lord’s Supper proclaims Christ’s atoning death on our behalf, in which we remember that His life was broken for ours, and that our salvation rests in Christ alone.  Through the Sacraments we are instructed and strengthened by faith to carry the gospel into the world.
  • That my greatest calling in life is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.  In response to the grace of God, everything I do from this point forward in my life ought to be an act of thanksgiving and praise for all that God has done.
  • That the world, now more than ever, needs to understand the blessing of knowing Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord – may they know it through me!

And to Him, my Redeemer, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit,
Three Persons, One God, be glory forever, world without end, Amen!

SDG